Day 1502

Janet and I started the day with a cholesterol screening at our neighborhood health food store. This was the second blood test I've had in two days. I'll have another one on Monday. It's kind of ridiculous to have this many blood tests, but each one was ordered by a different doctor and doctors seldom talk to each other these days. Actually, today's test wasn't ordered by anybody. I've just become hooked on blood tests. I'd have one every day if I could. It's interesting to see how your body's chemistry changes hour-to-hour and day-to-day. If you only get a blood test once a year during your annual physical, you have to realize that it doesn't really mean much. If you took the same test six hours later, you would get different results. Over time, the tests show distinct patterns though. It's kind of like watching the stock market charts. I like to do that too.

Since we had to fast for the test, we went out to breakfast afterwards. "Where do you want to go," I asked Janet. "You're the breakfast restaurant expert," she said. So I introduced her to a place within easy walking distance of the health food store. There are breakfast restaurants all over the place in our neighborhood.

My ISP called today and told me that my account had been compromised. We changed some passwords and tried to figure out whether the breach was on my end or the server end. I'm still not sure, but did what I always do in these situations: I bought some new virus/malware checking software. After I installed the software and ran the scan, I read on the Internet that if I upgraded my operating system to Mountain Lion with this software installed, my computer would crash. Damn. Another case of the cure being worse than the disease.

I don't know what's going on with Dash these days. For a reason known only to him, he has completely revised his pooping schedule. He no longer does his business on our evening walk like he's been doing for years, preferring to wake us up at three in the morning instead. There is nothing wrong. He doesn't have a stomach virus or diarrhea or anything. He just seems to have shifted his internal clock by about six hours. Dot is still as regular as clockwork, but she is just as irritated by this new development as the rest of us. When Dash decides he needs to go outside in the middle of the night, he wakes everybody up.

The temperature got into the mid-sixties today. Quite a change from yesterday's freezing weather. It's strange to be whipsawed back and forth like this. I can't tell whether we are having a cold Winter or a warm Winter. It appears like we're having both at the same time. I try to enjoy the nice weather whenever it decides to appear. Hopefully, this warm trend will continue thru tomorrow. Today would have been a great day to go to the dog park.

Bones is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1427

It was one of those days. I was late to a meeting, but when I arrived full of excuses for my tardiness, I discovered that my client had completely forgotten about the meeting and I had to reschedule anyway. This was the start of a day jam-packed with miscommunication.

The service that put my account on auto-renewal without my knowledge is now saying that I have to formally request a discontinuation of service in writing before I can leave them. When I asked why, they said the necessity of making a cancellation request in writing was listed right on the back of their invoice. I looked on the back of the invoice I had just received and this unusual requirement was nowhere to be found. I can already tell that severing ties with this bunch is going to be a problem.

 I took a bunch of stuff from this weekend's rescue event back to the storage warehouse today. Janet told me later that I had taken back the wrong stuff, so I'll have to go back and bring it all back home again. I guess we're going to use some of the stuff at the Santa Paws photo events that begin later this month. There are a bunch of these fundraising photo events this year. Since my knees are even worse than they were last year, it makes me tired just thinking about photographing dogs all day.

There was one silver lining in the largely dark cloud that was today. I got some lab results back that said my lipids and cholesterol levels were all back within the normal range again. My glucose and blood sugar levels have come back to acceptable levels as well. Now, all I've got to do is get my liver working as well as my other organs.

I clicked on one of those "would you like to upgrade" buttons that frequently appear when you launch certain types of software. When the upgrade finished installing itself, I discovered that it would no longer work. After spending almost an hour trying to track down the problem, I discovered that the new upgrade will only work with the new Mavericks operating system. Jeez, it would have been nice if the company had told me this before I clicked the upgrade button. I don't want or even need Mavericks yet. I was eventually able to re-install an older version of the software, but I wasn't able to regain the time I lost messing around trying to fix this irritating problem.

Maybe everything will click smoothly into place tomorrow. One can always hope. Dash has a vet appointment and there's a writing assignment with a tight deadline as well. As long as the sun is shining, I should be able to get everything done without a problem.

Today is Veteran's Day. I noticed that a lot of people were changing their profile picture to World War II era photos of their Dad in uniform. This is a nice tribute, but it made me wonder if this tradition will continue when today's children grow up. They didn't call our parents The Greatest Generation for nothing. Today, we all express gratitude to those who serve, but fewer and fewer of us have actually worn a uniform ourselves. It's a much different world than our parents lived in. I'm not sure it's a better world though. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's not.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1418

When I went to mow the lawn this morning, the mower wouldn't start. I was baffled. Everything worked perfectly the last time I mowed the grass. I went through all the normal troubleshooting procedures, and then out of frustration, I hit the mower with a hammer and it sprang back to life. It's sad that it's come to this. I just don't have the patience to carefully and methodically take things apart and put them back together anymore. I used to be able to fix anything, and now I just feel like hitting my recalcitrant machines with a hammer.

I had a hard time getting to sleep last night. Sometimes this happens for no apparent reason. When you can't sleep, the night can seem pretty long. Listening to the two snoring and farting dogs on either side of me didn't make the time go any faster, but eventually it was morning again.

When I went for my blood test at the health food store, there was already a line of old people waiting ahead of me. I usually try to go early and avoid the lines, but I couldn't seem to get organized today. The line moved surprisingly quickly and since I has to fast for the test, I went to breakfast at a nearby restaurant afterwards.

I took the suit with moth holes to the tailor and listened to a little Chinese lady explain the process of re-weaving to me. Somehow, I don't think the results will be nearly as invisible as promised, but what are you going to do? I can't let the moths win this one.

By the time I made a few remedial website updates, did the laundry, and made the bed, it was time to feed the dogs again and take them on their evening walk. This might be the last full daylight evening walk for a while. The sun will be setting an hour earlier now, so we'll be taking a lot of sunset walks during the month of November.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1416 - Halloween

Halloween is a non-event at our house. I don't eat candy anymore, because I've got to watch my sugar intake, and all the kids in our neighborhood have grown up anyway. I didn't even buy a pumpkin for the front porch this year. I usually get a couple of pumpkins and leave them sitting on the porch until they eventually rot in mid-February. I finally realized that this is pointless. Now, the only pumpkins you'll find at our house are those that wind up in a pie. I do like pumpkin pie.

Our beautiful Fall weather has returned. When I walked the dogs this morning, the blue sky was dotted with puffy white clouds. As the sun rose, the landscape looked spectacular. This was one of the last mornings I'll be able to enjoy the Sunrise at a decent hour. Daylight Savings Time ends this Sunday and starting on Monday morning, the sun will almost certainly be high in the sky before the dogs and I venture outside.

Blue skies always put me in a good mood. The dogs had a nice long walk this morning. I finished all my work by 2 PM, and went to the gym again. Today, other people were using the basketball court, so I put on some boxing gloves and hit a punching bag for ten minutes. Much to my surprise, this was quite satisfying.

The local health food store sent me a reminder that they're having another cholesterol screening this Saturday. I just had a blood test at my doctor's office last week, but I think I'll go to the cholesterol screening anyway. I've got to confess that I've become addicted to blood tests. If insurance would pay for them, I'd have one every week. These tests are just about the only way to see if the meds I take and the many changes I've made to my diet and lifestyle are actually working. I always want to see good lab results, because I'd hate to be doing all this work for nothing.

This week has gone quickly. I've got a rare out-of-the-office meeting tomorrow, but I think I've still got time for a nice breakfast at one of my favorite restaurants. Who knows what November will bring? Hopefully, lots of interesting work and a continuation of the nice weather the dogs and I enjoyed today.

Roxy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1292

Today was a day of inconsequential activities. I was certainly busy enough, but did any of it really matter? I cleaned lint out of the dryer with one of those Lint Lizard things you've probably seen advertised on TV. I scraped loose paint and plaster off the rain damaged living room ceiling in preparation for doing something more substantial later. I bought new bags for the vacuum cleaner at an odd little store that should have gone out of business twenty years ago. I fixed a broken latch with superglue on a VHS tape deck that I'll probably never use again. I hadn't been up on the roof for a while, so I swept leaves off the dry roof. Much to my chagrin, I discovered that wild animals have been peeing on the new white roof and leaving stains. At least I hope it was wild animals. While all this was going on, the large format printer ran its lengthy cleaning cycle and wasted a lot of expensive ink.

Probably the only useful thing I did today was get my blood tested at the local health food store's Summer cholesterol screening. Janet and I thought we'd beat the crowds by arriving before the store opened, but apparently everyone else had the same idea. There was already a line when we arrived. The line moved fast though and we were in and out in less than twenty minutes. Afterwards, we went home and had a big breakfast. A friend of Janet's had given her some fresh eggs from chickens she was raising and you could sure taste the difference. I guess the only way to get really fresh, healthy food is to grow or raise it yourself.

Every time someone tells me about the beauties of nature, I take what they say with a grain of salt. I walk through nature every day. I see sparrows chasing the purple martins away from their homes. I see ugly Johnson Grass encroaching on the beautiful native prairie behind our house. And since it's almost July, I'm starting to see bagworms again. Bagworms have destroyed countless trees in the park. They get into our own trees as well. Once these things get established, they can be very difficult to get rid of. Oh, well. At least we don't have rats anymore. The neighborhood feral cat population has grown so large that they've eaten them all.

I don't think we'll spend long at the dog park tomorrow. It's too hot. Dot and Dash still expect an outing on Sundays, but they also expect the weather to be nice when they get out of the car. Sorry guys, I can't help you with the weather. If I could, I'd have done something about these oppressive Summers years ago.

Sparky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1291

I had the dogs out on their morning walk at 7 AM this morning. The extra hour or so makes a big difference in the temperature. At 7 AM, it's actually quite nice outside. By 8:30 AM the pleasant weather all seems like a dream. At least we don't live in Las Vegas. I hear they might experience all time record high temperatures this weekend.

I certainly didn't get any more done today by getting up early. I dawdled over breakfast and spend longer than usual getting groceries for the weekend. By the time I actually sat down at the computer to work, I was just as late as I usually am. My motto is better late than never, so I still managed to get quite a bit done. After writing two articles, updating a website, and doing a load of laundry, I officially declared the week over.

Janet and I are thinking of taking the dogs to the beach later this Fall. It's too bad there isn't a beach nearby. Padre Island is quite nice, but it's a long drive. Galveston is closer, but the beach isn't as nice. We'll see. I'm not even sure if the dogs would like a beach. Dash would probably run away if we ever let him off leash and Dot doesn't like water. Most dogs love a beach though.

There still a lot of time between now and any potential Fall trip. We've still got to survive the Texas Summer. Tomorrow, it's time for one of the periodic cholesterol screenings at the neighborhood health food store. Even though we have to fast and skip breakfast, we usually go to these things because the price is so reasonable. The only downside to these blood tests is standing in line with a bunch of old people with hard to find veins. Sometimes it takes forever.

Maybe I'll try to fixed the damaged Sheetrock in the living room this weekend. I'm getting tired of staring at the can of spackling paste and drywall tools that have been sitting on a table in the hallway for over a month now. You can only avoid things for so long. Even unpleasant tasks have to be done eventually.

On our evening walk, I noticed that a bunch of gnats and flying insects were hovering around Dash, while completely ignoring me and Dot. I tried to shoo them away, but they kept coming back to pester him. No wonder Dash has skin problems. Mother Nature just doesn't cut the little guy any slack.

Patch is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1077

When I arrive for my physical exam, my doctor always starts the conversation by asking how I'm feeling. Today, I asked how he was feeling. Doc said he was tired. He'd been working ten hour days, since he was having trouble filling a couple of staff vacancies. The doctor and I have become friends over the years. We are about the same age and take a lot of the same meds. I understood exactly what he was saying. I work ten hour days a lot myself and am almost always tired.

That's the trouble with these annual physical exams. They don't make you any younger. At best, they just provide a road map for what to expect next. I've got my cholesterol and blood pressure under control. I've been immunized against all manner of terrible things. I eat a healthy diet and haven't gained any weight in years. Despite all this, it's still a long, slow downhill slide toward oblivion.

I appreciate how thorough my doctor is. I've learned a lot about medicine along the way by learning to interpret the mountains of tests I've been subjected to. It's fascinating stuff in a macabre sort of way. Since the dogs receive the same overprotective care that I do, I often get confused. Is it Dot that has the heart murmur, or me? Does Dash need to change his diet because of a fatty liver, or do I? Dash and I have both had kidney stones. And Dot and I both have problems with acid reflux. It gets complex.

There were a lot of website updates to attend to today. I'm glad that November is going out with a bang instead of a whimper. Business was slow during the first half of the month and it's nice to know that I haven't been forgotten. Cyber retailers certainly haven't forgotten me. My inbox was bombarded with Cyber Monday messages today. I even saw some new Apple laptops on sale. I didn't think that Apple ever put anything on sale. Although some of the deals were tempting, I didn't succumb to the ad onslaught. After a certain point, another technology toy doesn't change anything.

The doctor says that I need to start doing more exercise to combat the muscle atrophy associated with the Statin drugs I'm taking.  More?  You'd think walking five miles a day would be enough.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day