Day 4794

When going to the dentist turns out to be the best thing about your day, it's usually a pretty dismal day. The dental hygienist is always very complementary about the way I take care of my teeth. My gums are healthy. There is very little plaque on my teeth and no cavities. One more dental cleaning is in the books. I'll go back for another in August.

It's been raining nonstop for almost 24 hours. Dawn didn't get a morning walk and I almost didn't get an afternoon walk. There are leaks everywhere in the house. I've run out of buckets again. It was raining pretty hard when I drove to the dentist, but by mid-afternoon most of the precipitation had finally moved out of the area. I did get to eventually take a long walk and get my steps, but it was very cold outside. Although the temperature was almost fifty, it felt more like thirty. There was a light mist and a strong wind. Lets just say that it wasn't a very pleasant walk.

The roof leaks are driving me crazy. I never know where the drips are going to occur. This time the leaks appeared in a different location than they did during the ice storm last week. My Fitbit didn't register any sleep at all last night. I know I must have slept, but the dripping water kept waking me up. Every time I heard a new sound I had to get up and investigate. At least this time there has been no water flowing down the walls. Those type of leaks are almost impossible to capture in buckets.

I was the only person on the trails today. I literally did not see anyone else when I was out walking this afternoon. I'll admit that I'm a bit obsessive, but walking gives a structure to my day. The exercise is good for me too. Even the ducks looked miserable on today's walk. I feel sorry for the animals on days like this. They have no place to hide. The geese seemed angry since no one was feeding them. I should have taken them some dried corn or frozen peas. People are always feeding the ducks and geese bread, but that's just about the worst thing you can give them. I just kept moving today. I wanted to get back home where it was warm and relatively dry.

I got a surprise e-mail this morning. The local historical society in a small Pennsylvania town asked me for a copy of a story I'd written about their town many years ago. I'd almost forgotten about the story and no longer had a copy. Why would someone even remember this so many years later? It was thirty years ago. I told the lady that I'd look for the story but I doubt that I'll find it. I remember it was somewhat controversial and I ended up taking it off my website. I don't like controversy and prefer to remain invisible. Lesson learned I guess. This is why I mostly just write about myself these days. 

The rain has moved to the East but the roof is still leaking. I'll have to empty all the buckets before I go to bed tonight and if the weather is nice tomorrow I suspect that I'll have to climb up on the roof and sweep away the standing water. The roofing company did call me today. They want to schedule a time for their flat roof specialist to come out and take a look at things. Maybe if all goes well we can replace this roof in the Spring. Until then, I just hope it quits raining.

Hopefully it will be dry enough to give Dawn a walk in the morning. She didn't get to go to her training class tonight and appears to be getting cabin fever. Although Dawn is basically a lazy dog who spends most of the day on our bed, she does like to go smell things in the park. 

The medical and dental appointments never end. Now the dermatologist wants to see me again. Didn't I just see this guy a little while ago? It appears that doctors want to see you every six months now. This week has gone quickly, but not quickly enough for me. I just want it to be warm and dry again. Hopefully tomorrow will be an improvement.

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1967

The two Live Oak trees in our back yard are destroyed. The power company tree trimmers arrived early this morning and began butchering the trees. By noon, they both looked like stumps. If the tree crews came every year, they could trim the trees just enough so that the power lines running down the alley would be completely safe without destroying the trees. These guys only want to come every five or six years though and they always cut the trees back way more than necessary, so they won't have to return the following year. I assume that this saves money, but it makes a mess of the trees. I think they require a clear area of at least twelve feet around the each power line. Three or four feet would easily keep branches from touching the wires even on the windiest day, but of course, I have no say in the matter.

I am so sick of trying to clean food particles out of my mouth after meals without touching the hole where my wisdom tooth used to be that I almost feel like quitting eating. Eating has always been one of my few real pleasures and now it is a total nuisance. Hard crunchy things are difficult to chew and soft things get stuck in my teeth. Nothing seems to work. My teeth have become so sensitive to cold beverages that I almost welcome the warm salt water rinse I have to swish around in my mouth three or four times a day. Apparently, going to the dentist is like opening a Pandora's Box. One of my other dentists called today and wanted to set up an appointment to fix tooth number 31. The oral surgeon has already told all the referring dentists that he'd done his part. Now I need to repair the tooth next to the wisdom tooth that was removed. After that, I probably need a new crown on tooth number 30 as well.

Dot must be almost deaf by now. She slept completely through all the noisy chain saws and loud voices of the crew in the back yard this morning. It's a bit sad to see her growing deaf, but it's a blessing in a way. She's a lot calmer when she doesn't hear all the odd noises that used to upset her. When she finally woke up for a late lunch, the tree crews had gone. When she went out in the yard to investigate, she knew something had happened, but she wasn't sure what. I hate seeing the Live Oak trees chopped up like this, but maybe the St. Augustine grass will finally start growing. There's certainly a lot more light in the yard now.

I paid a few bills today and tried to resolve a doctor bill that slipped through the cracks two years ago and never got paid by insurance. I think I got things cleared up, but you never know with this type of thing. The sign company called and said the banner I ordered yesterday was ready, so I picked that up on my way home from the post office. By the time I got home, it was time to feed the dogs again. Dash lost one of his protective socks yesterday, so we tried to find it on our walk this evening. It was a futile effort, since Dash never likes to go the same way twice. We almost lost another sock this afternoon, but luckily I noticed it was gone just a few feet after he kicked it off. That's it. It wasn't a very exciting day, but hey, that's how I roll.

Bunny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1626

We all keep getting healthier. Dot had dental x-rays today and got years of tartar removed from her teeth. There were no abscesses and no teeth needed to be pulled. Now that Dot and Dash both have clean, pretty teeth, I'm the only one who still needs to go to the dentist. I'm always a little worried when Dot needs to go under anesthesia, since she's so old, but she did fine. She even took a walk this evening.

I got a call from one of the nurses at the liver center saying that my hemoglobin and blood platelet levels had all returned to normal. I won't need another blood test until July. Now that Dot's seizures and muscle atrophy has been stabilized, Dash's cancer is either in remission or entirely gone, and I have been cured of Hepatitis C, my faith in doctors and veterinarians has been renewed. It's really been a pretty remarkable Spring.

I managed to get quite a bit done today while I was waiting for Dot's dental procedure to be completed. I finished a rather lengthy article, retouched some images for a client in Photoshop, and did several loads of laundry. You notice how I lump my creative efforts in with doing the laundry? It's all the same to me. I do think I'm a good commercial writer, but my work appears on cereal boxes and in the junk mail you receive. You can't really take it too seriously.

I think I've figured out why the new cat in the neighborhood wants to spend so much time in our yard. This morning while I was walking Dash, I saw one of the regular neighborhood alley cats chase the new cat at full speed all the way down the alley, hissing all the way. Apparently all the existing alley cats have their own territories and don't tolerate interlopers well. They don't like the new cat and want to keep all the mice and rats to themselves. The new cat apparently thinks our yard is a safe zone, since the alley cats don't come here. The little cat should have asked the alley cats why they don't come here. Sorry, little cat. No safe zone here either. Your new owners need to keep you indoors.

The weather forecast has been wrong every day this week. Severe weather and thunderstorms have been predicted every single day, but so far we've only had a few light showers. This has been great news for me. I managed to get all my important out-of-the office errands completed without the worry of hail damage to my car, or a stray tornado hitting the house. If we can just keep this dry streak going for one more day, I might be able to enjoy my regular Friday breakfast outing as well.

I'm not sure what I'll be working on tomorrow. I'm just sure it's going to be Friday. That's enough for me.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day