Day 4330

Today started normally and ended weird. We took Dawn on her sunrise walk and then I had a bowl of green Jello for breakfast. The Jello was delicious compared to the Colonoscopy prep medication I'm drinking now. This stuff is vile and I have to drink a gallon of the disgusting liquid before I can call it a day. I couldn't eat solid food at all today, but that wasn't as bad as I thought. Coffee and Jello for breakfast really isn't that bad. Hot chicken broth for dinner wasn't terrible either. I used the same chicken broth we put on Dawn's food.

In between all the weird food was a fairly normal day. I took a long walk this morning and Janet and I visited the Dalmatian Rescue kennel this afternoon. Charlie, Oliver and Pepper are still there and are as playful as ever. Since there are three very playful dogs at the kennel now, we are spending more time there than we used to. Charlie is still the best trained of the three. We are trying to teach Oliver and Pepper some new commands but they both have short attention spans. They are all very food motivated, so we use treats to teach them new things. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't. Everyone has fun though. I was surprised that Pepper was still there this week. She is small and very friendly and cute. Typically a dog like this gets adopted almost immediately.

I wish I'd been able to take the newer Colonoscopy prep medication. The new stuff still tastes terrible but you don't have to drink nearly as much. When I asked why I was given the older prep kit, a nurse told me that it was the only thing Medicare covered. It's a shame that I wasn't given a choice. I would have paid retail to be able to drink less of this stuff. As it is, I'll be up till midnight and that doesn't even count all the times I'll have to get up to go to the bathroom later.

Actually the upper endoscopy test I will be having tomorrow is more serious than the colonoscopy, but all I can think of is the colonoscopy because of the prep liquid I have to drink tonight. I hope I didn't make a mistake agreeing to have the EGD and the colonoscopy done at the same time. I've had both of these procedures done before and the recovery period is very quick. Usually you are back to normal the next day. Janet wants to go vote tomorrow after she picks me up from the hospital. I have a feeling that I might be a little groggy for that. There are just some obscure propositions on the ballot, but we always like to vote.

One thing I hate about all the medical appointments I'm having lately is that I have to answer my phone more often. You never know if the call is important and doctor's offices seldom seem to enable their caller ID. To avoid missing medical calls, I end up answering a lot more spam and telemarketing calls by mistake. I feel under siege by telemarketers lately. We must get twenty unwanted calls every day. I don't know what these guys have to gain by calling me. I never want what they have to offer.

Janet drops me off at the hospital early tomorrow morning. I hope everything goes well. I'm really looking forward to eating a decent meal again tomorrow evening. I'm certainly not hungry now though. I haven't drank this much liquid at one time since my last Colonoscopy over ten years ago.

Jada is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4328

Every time I go shopping, the world seems a little more dysfunctional. The stores are far from empty, but I'm having a harder time finding what I need. I used to find everything in one store. Now I have to go to three. Gas has been more expensive in the past, but it's definitely creeping up there again. The increasing prices and decreasing inventory isn't dramatic, so you don't really question it. You just wonder why your grocery bill keeps getting a little higher every week.

The doctor still hasn't filled my colonoscopy prep prescription. This might be a problem. I tried to call the doctor's office but they were closed for the weekend. When I called the pharmacy, nobody answered. The pharmacist I've known for years isn't there anymore. He either retired or quit. The kids that are running the place now seem very disorganized. Of course the front desk at the doctor's office seems a little disorganized too. I'll see if I can sort out the problem tomorrow when I go to the hospital for a pre-admission Covid test. I guess multiple Covid tests have just become a regular part of modern life. I keep expecting life to eventually return to normal, but maybe all this is normal now.

I'll be glad when the time changes in early November. It is completely dark when we get up in the morning now. We wait until the sky lightens a little before we leave on Dawn's sunrise walk, but we still need to take a flashlight. The flashlight isn't really to help us see. It is mostly so cars and cyclists can see us. We used to have a little red light that we clipped to Dawn's collar, but it got lost. Pretty much anything you clip to a dog's collar will eventually get lost. One vigorous shake and it's gone.

It's still nice and cool for my long walk, but I'm getting tired of walking. Maybe I need to go back to the gym for a while. The park seemed congested today and my feet are starting to hurt again. I think I prefer walking on cold, gloomy days when I'm the only one in the park. Right after a rain is usually a good time. The air smells fresh and there are a lot fewer bicycles when the roads and trails are wet. Since it was a nice day, everyone was out and about. I shouldn't complain about foot traffic in the park though. It isn't nearly as bad as traffic on the roads. Traffic was horrible when I was grocery shopping today. It doesn't matter when I leave the house. It always feels like rush hour.

After my last astrophotography workshop I joined several astrophotography groups on the Internet. I still read these things every day but it it is becoming clear that I don't have the same temperament as most of the other amateur astronomers. They will spend weeks planning and executing a single shot. To get good results, you often have to take hundreds of images and then combine them all together using special software. It's a slow tedious process and very often things go wrong and you have to start over. My roots were in fashion photography, which actually made me well suited to taking pictures of dogs. I'm pretty good at capturing a moment, but I find technical photography boring. I like to see the results right away. I still love to look at the night sky though and am eager to return to the observatory again. Maybe next Spring.

Until then, I'll continue my regular routine here in Dallas. It looks like it will be a good day for Dawn's Sunday outing tomorrow. I scheduled my Covid test early tomorrow so I will be back in time for a walk and some ice cream.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

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