Day 4795

Another slow day. The roof is still leaking, but the amount of water I'm collecting in the buckets has slowed down considerably. I guess that's progress. If I'm lucky, the leaks will stop just in time for another round of rain. The roofers are coming out again tomorrow. Hopefully I can get a firm estimate soon and get started on putting an end to this mess.

It was a beautiful day today. There wasn't a cloud in the sky this morning and the temperature was much warmer than yesterday. Dawn enjoyed getting her morning walk. The fields behind our house were still a little soggy, but that didn't bother her. She finally had lots of things to smell again.

After breakfast I wrote a letter to my sister and took it to the post office. I do this about once a month now.  I used to write lots of letters to friends, but this type of correspondence is becoming a lost art. Almost nobody writes letters anymore. I still don't leave outgoing mail in our box for the postman to pick up. Force of habit I guess. We never have the same postman for very long and I don't have a lot of faith in any of them. I need to take my mail to the post office and put it in the slot myself.

Today was a good day for a long walk. The weather was nice and the temperature was just about perfect. My feet are still giving me problems, but I'm getting used to the discomfort. I keep thinking that I need to go back to the gym where I can work on my upper body strength as well, but it's so much easier to go walking in the park. I just walk out the back door and I'm there. I'm sure I could be doing more, but six miles a day seems to be more than enough activity for me.

After I returned home I upgraded the star tracker software for what seemed like the 100th time and tested the unit again. That's all I do is continually test this thing. The Polaris tracker still works, but it has never seemed very reliable. Reliability probably isn't even an issue at this point. I don't spend a lot of time looking at the stars these days. It's not even worth attempting astrophotography in the city. The light pollution is terrible. I knew that comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was going to be near Mars tonight but I didn't even bother to look for it. The green comet is fairly dim and I just didn't have the patience to search for a pale fuzzy thing in the sky.

I'm still having computer problems. Nothing is broken, it's just that everything is too old. If I was still working this would be a huge problem. Not an issue anymore. Instead of thinking about a new computer, I spend more time thinking about getting offline altogether. It's becoming harder and harder to see the point of it all. Maybe a little notebook and a ball point pen is all I need.

I've taken the trash out to the curb and emptied all the water buckets. These weeks go quickly, but Spring still seems distant. I'm hoping that the roofing people have good news for me tomorrow, although I'm not terribly optimistic. I wish I'd never bought a house with a flat roof.

Jazz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4793

I've been waiting for rain all day. For most of the day there have only been a few sprinkles. That's changing quickly though. Is the roof going to leak again? Probably. I just hate the suspense. I'll probably go to sleep tonight thinking that everything's fine and then wake up in the middle of the night hearing the dreaded dripping sounds I've grown to hate.

Most of my problems today weren't related to water. They were with my computer. The hardware is too old to upgrade to a modern operating system and that means most of my software is not supported anymore. A lot of things still work fine, but if something crashes it's very hard to reinstall it again. I've tried to upgrade my antivirus software, but current versions require a newer system. I've had to quit using Safari because it is considered system software and I'm still running Sierra. I guess I could upgrade to High Sierra which is the last OS that my computer will recognize. High Sierra wouldn't make any difference though. It is still ancient. Basically, when I fire up the computer every morning I'm taken back to 2010. Hey, there's nothing wrong with 2010. It was a good year. A lot has changed though. Especially when it comes to Internet security, WiFi, and how websites function. A lot of websites just won't work with my antique browser and hardware.

Will I give in any buy a new computer and upgrade all my software, or will I just abandon the Internet altogether? It's an open question. Computers were a vital and very essential tool when I was working, but I'm retired now. Basically just about the only thing I use a computer for these days is writing this blog. With my blogging goal less than a year away, we'll just have to see what happens. I still spend a lot of time online, but it is just force of habit. I have a feeling that I could make better use of my time.

Even though it's been a dreary day, Dawn and I both got our walks. It was surprisingly warm today. I only needed a light jacket on my long walk and probably could have gotten away with wearing shorts. I got a little wet on my walk, but the heavy rain is just starting now. I can hear thunder outside so I'd better get the buckets ready. 

I haven't heard anything yet from the flat roof specialist who was supposed to call me. I'm going to remain optimistic for a while, but I have my doubts that this story has a happy ending. When roofing companies take a good look at my problems, most just walk away. I'm so tired of dealing with leaks I could scream. This has to be dealt with though. Will I weather these storms or will I go batshit crazy? Only time will tell.

I've got a dentist appointment tomorrow. That's actually where my computer problems started today. The program I've used for years to remind me of upcoming events crashed and I had trouble reinstalling it. The program has completely disappeared on the app store and I think the company has gone out of business. I'm sure there are similar programs out there, but I liked this one. This isn't the first software that has bit the dust on my computer. It probably won't be the last either. For the moment I just wrote all my appointment information on a piece of paper and put it on the kitchen table where I will see it when I eat breakfast tomorrow.

No wonder I like to go to launches in Florida. It's an imaginary world where none of these problems exist. Reality is an old house, an old car, and an aging body that are all falling apart. I think I'm doing a pretty good job of staying healthy, but long walks won't fix an old house. It's a shame that my carefully curated list of craftsmen have all died or retired. These guys could have fixed anything in this house, but they're all gone now. There's no use crying over spilt milk. I'm already starting to hear dripping water. I'd better get the buckets out.

Stortz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4766

Another unseasonably warm day. It got up to 80 degrees again and the air conditioner kicked in during the afternoon. This is very strange for January. It was a pleasant day though. The sky was clear and there was very little wind. Dawn definitely enjoyed her walk this morning.

I've finally managed to catch up with almost everybody I've been trying to reach. SpaceFlight is sending me author copies of the issues with my Falcon Heavy and Artemis articles. My editor has contacted me with article suggestions and I now have all the info I need from Space X for the upcoming Falcon Heavy launch. I still haven't heard back from the contractor I'm trying to reach about fixing the house, but that's an entirely separate matter.

I think the older I get the stupider I get. I had real problems today transferring information from my desktop computer to the laptop. I always do this before I travel. I recently updated all my passwords on the desktop computer to more secure versions, but I forgot that I hadn't updated the laptop. Initially, I couldn't check mail on the laptop or open several websites. I can never remember these new passwords because they are long and complex. Some passwords were easy to retrieve, but others were maddeningly frustrating. All I could see in the password field was a series of dots. Janet says I should write these things down, but I never do. I just depend on password managers. I eventually got everything on the laptop to work, but I ended up having to change a few passwords. I miss the old days when you could just use one simple password for everything.

When I was trying to print out all my travel information I discovered that both of our printers were out of ink. I hate it when the printer won't work just because your Cyan cartridge is low. Printers ought to have a black and white mode where you can just bypass the low colors. Now I've got to go out and buy more printer ink in the morning because I have to have all my contact and reservation information printed out so I can put it in a little manilla envelope that I carry with me everywhere. Just a quirk. I could probably find most of this information on my phone, but I prefer paper.

I was actually hot on my long walk this afternoon. I just wore shorts and a t-shirt and it felt like summer. We might have set another record today. I think it's colder in Titusville than it is in Dallas right now. I shouldn't complain though. 80 degrees is very pleasant even if it happens to be January. At least we aren't having torrential rain and flooding like they are in California now.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. I need to pack, go get the printer ink I need, make sure all my photo equipment is working properly, wash the clothes I will be taking with me, and take my long walk. I'm sure I will forget something important on this trip. I always do. I don't think Dawn will miss me while I'm gone, but hopefully she will be glad to see me when I return.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4762

Another week of being amazed at how grocery prices keep going up. The price increases aren't dramatic, but they are relentless. I don't think I've seen prices go down on the things I routinely buy for several years. Oh, well. It is what is is. Price inflation doesn't seem very fair for seniors. When you're living on a fixed income you get a little further behind with each passing year.

I still haven't heard anything about next week's falcon heavy launch. This doesn't look good. I have a feeling I won't be going to this thing. I suppose it's no great loss. I've already been to several falcon heavy launches. My bigger worry is that my magazine has abandoned me. Without this connection it would be a lot harder to get press credentials. We'll see what happens. There are still a few day for everything to come together.

We had a nice early walk with Dawn this morning. The weather was warmer and we waited until after sunrise to walk today. I prefer sleeping in, but Dawn and Janet are morning people. I get out of bed when I get my ten minute warning and I know not to be late. Sometimes I'm still sleepy, but there's plenty of time to take a nap later. 

I had plans to go to the gym today, but ended up taking my regular walk in the park instead. The traffic was heavy when I did my grocery shopping and I just didn't want to get out on the roads again. I think I could take this walk blindfolded now. The route is so familiar now that I practically have every step memorized. Frequently people will wave at me as I walk by. I don't know who these people are, but I guess I've become a familiar face. I can guess my pace fairly accurately now, but I still don't know why I'm faster or slower on any given day. I was slow today even though the temperature was pleasant and there was no wind.

I haven't received any updates to the star tracker in over a month. I've noticed that this unit is available in stores now, so maybe Benro is finished with the development phase. I guess I got a good deal for all my efforts with Beta testing. The retail price for the tracker is almost double what I paid. Am I ever going to use this equipment? I'd like to think so, but it probably won't be in Dallas. I don't feel safe in this town after dark anymore.

I'm getting frustrated with my computers. Neither my desktop or laptop will run the latest Apple system files. The machines are too old, even though they both still work fine. Since I'm running an older system I can't update Safari and Mail anymore. Safari crashes a lot now since my version doesn't incorporate the latest security updates. It's gotten so bad that I've had to switch to using Firefox, which I never particularly liked. I've been a huge Apple fan for decades but Tim Cook's Apple is not the same as Steve Jobs Apple. I miss the old days.

Tomorrow it's time for a walk through the mall and Dawn's Sunday outing. I wish my gym would start opening on Sunday again, but that's probably not going to happen. Sunday hours are just another Covid casualty. I guess mall walking is a good substitute. I actually enjoy looking in the store windows.

Misty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4621

Today is Janet's birthday. We dressed up a little, went to a nice restaurant, and had a great dinner. We were both born on the 19th, but two months apart. Neither of us is getting any younger, but we seem to be doing well. Janet is still doing a better job of staying in shape than I am. The birthdays come too fast now. It doesn't seem like a year has passed since our last birthday celebration. Hopefully, there will be many more.

The weather is still a little cooler. Dawn enjoyed her sunrise walk and it was still nice enough for me to take a long walk in the park later in the morning. I probably should have gone to the gym because it did seem pretty hot by the time I returned home. I managed to complete my full six mile route, but it's starting to seem a little harder that it did a year ago. I'm determined to keep moving though. I think I would deteriorate pretty rapidly if I stopped moving.

I had trouble posting the blog to Facebook last night. I finally discovered a work around, but it did make me wonder why I still post something every day. I really don't have that much to say. Computer problems are becoming more common now. I keep getting messages that my browser is out of date and is no longer supported. The computer is old and can't run new systems. I don't feel like buying a new one though. As far as I'm concerned the computer worked fine ten years ago. Why do people insist on changing things? At any rate, I hope the blog posts normally tonight. I'm tired and want to get to bed at a reasonable hour.

There were more bills to pay today. Living on a fixed income in inflationary times is not something I'd recommend. When I was working I could just work a little longer and make more money when prices started to rise. Now I have to pay more attention to budgeting. I don't buy as many things I don't need now. Maybe if I did this when I was younger, I wouldn't even need the storage warehouse.

I think there might be a Space X Starlink launch while I'm down in Florida. It would be nice if I could see two launches in a single trip. I'm not sure about the date though. Some places say the Space X launch will take place two days before the Artemis launch. Other places say the day before and one website says that the launch has been postponed until some time in September. Probably the most accurate website just said "launch date subject to change."

I think Dawn finally accepts me as a family member. We're getting along pretty well now. We certainly share some of the same interests. We both like to eat and we like to nap. I don't think that Dawn will ever be completely comfortable with men, but this is close enough for me. She is a good dog.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3788

Fake news isn't limited to politics. If you try to fix a computer using online tips and suggestions, you will encounter an almost unlimited amount of nonsense. It's frustrating to wade through inept YouTube videos, argumentative user forums, and out-of-date manufacturer tutorials, but you can still learn a lot. That's how I spent my morning. I'm still trying to figure out what went wrong in yesterday's botched computer upgrade. I eventually learned enough to ask some intelligent question when I was able to connect with a tech support person later in the day. A sane person would probably realize that this computer is too old and give up, but I am determined to fix it.

We got a lot of rain overnight, but the skies were already starting to clear up when we got up this morning. As soon as the rain quit, we took Dawn on her morning walk. We took a different path today and saw some parts of the park we rarely visit. Dawn loved the cool, overcast weather. It was windy though and I should have worn a light jacket. It's almost impossible to know what to wear at this time of year. You can be cold one minute and then hot five minutes later. No complaints however. 60 degree days are so much better than 100 degree days.

Our Pulse Oximeter arrived in the mail today. Janet and I both have excellent blood oxygen levels. We'll add this little gadget to the infrared forehead thermometer and growing stack of masks on a shelf in the entry hallway. I was curious how pulse oximetry works. The device clamps on your finger  and sends two beams of light through your skin, measuring the level of oxygen saturation in your blood. By comparing the ratio of the red light to infrared light that is absorbed by the blood, a little computer in the oximeter can quickly determine your current blood oxygen levels. For an inexpensive little device, it is all very complex and surprisingly accurate. I have an oxygen saturation level of 97%. Not bad.

I wonder what I'll be measuring next month. People have become obsessed with their health lately.  Some of this is a good thing, but there is a lot of paranoia as well. Nobody wants something invisible in the air to kill them. When I see people driving around alone in a car wearing a mask and gloves I thing we may have gone too far. I'll give these people the benefit of the doubt however. Maybe they are headed toward a crowded destination and just wanted to get ready ahead of time. The masks I see in the park still baffle me. Usually these people are walking alone and are nowhere near another person. This is what fear will do to you. I continue to believe that fresh air is good. I'm not going to ride in a crowded elevatory with you any time soon though.

Tomorrow it's time to go to the store again. I don't really enjoy these excursions, but they don't take long. Grocery shopping is the only time I feel like I'm living in a science fiction movie. I don't know if I'll ever get used to seeing a store full of people walking around wearing masks. I ordered a new battery this evening, along with a few more installation tools for my laptop. I don't know if this will solve my problems, but I hope so. The computer still runs on AC power with the battery removed, so at least I haven't ruined the logic board. I'd like to say tomorrow is a new day, but it's still groundhog day at our house.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3773

I did it. I successfully installed a new solid state drive in my main work computer. Not surprisingly, the upgrade process was a lot harder than I expected. I had practically memorized the install video, but when I removed the glass in front of the screen and started to remove the eight T-10 screws that held it in place, I could only find five. Did the last guy who serviced this computer lose three of the screws? Probably. They are pretty small and hard to reach. After I removed the remaining screws, I put on gloves and carefully extracted the delicate 27" screen from the case. That's when things really got strange. The computer logic board I was looking at was different from the pictures I"d been seeing on the install video. Where were the wires I was supposed to detach from the screen? Nothing looked familiar. I had a real sinking feeling at a this point. I got a bright light and a magnifying glass and finally found what looked like the appropriate connections. Here goes nothing, I thought.

The damaged hard drive wasn't attached to the logic board with the proper screws, so it was difficult to reattach the new solid state drive. This was supposed to be a plug and play installation, but nothing was fitting correctly. Why did I trust that install video? Luckily, after rummaging around in the office for a while I managed to find some longer Torx screws with the same pitch as the new drive adapter.

I was apprehensive when I put everything back together. Did I attach all the loose wires to the right connectors on the logic board? It was hard to tell. To get the wires to reach their connection points, I had to partially reinstall the screen and then reach my hand behind it to push each cord into its socket. I couldn't see what I was doing, but eventually I managed to get each cord connected. I was hoping that I didn't manage to attach any of the cords upside down. Some of the connectors were easy to install backwards.

I was actually amazed when I reassembled the computer and plugged it in that it still worked. I had to boot from an external drive and format the new solid state drive before I could begin restoring everything, but everything seemed to be working normally. The new drive showed up on the desktop and appeared ready to go. I just had to figure out how to add a system. I wanted to install a fresh copy of Sierra but Apple wouldn't let me download anything that old. My only other option was to chain my Time Machine drive to the external boot drive and restore everything that way. Restoring everything from two external Firewire drives to a blank internal drive is very slow. It looks like I've only got twelve hours to go.

I guess I'll find out in the morning if this marathon upgrade session worked. Since the computer is out of commission until the restore process is finished, I'm writing the blog on a laptop tonight. I don't think I"d want to do this again. Several times this afternoon I was convinced that I'd destroyed the computer. Everything ended well, but there were some stressful moments. I see a few dog hairs sandwiched between the screen and the protective cover glass. The dog hairs will have to stay. I'm not taking this thing apart again.

Basically, this extended exercise was my entire day. We did take Dawn on a nice walk early this morning before it got hot. The weather has turned warm again. That's fine by me. We managed to escape the storms that caused a lot of damage south of us. The roof has had a chance to dry again. All is well. I don't think Dawn is going to like Texas summers. Even today seemed a little hot for her.

Wyatt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3755

Today was uneventful. In today's world, that's a good thing. We have plenty of food. There's a pot roast cooking in the slow cooker. Dawn is content and sleeping on the bed. If I turned off the television, I could easily imagine that everything was normal.

I miss going to the gym on Sunday. I was never a dedicated gym rat, but my exercise routine did make me feel like I was making an effort to stay healthy. Shooting baskets on the gym basketball court was fun too. My exercise mostly consists of walking now, with an occasional excursion to the roof to remove the standing water. It looks like we are going to have quite a few rain free days next week, so today was the logical day to clear the water away. As always, I was amazed at how much water still remained after the pumps quit working. It's hard to remove the water when the pumps get clogged. It's Spring and the pumps frequently get clogged with catkins that fall from our Oak trees.

I spent several hours clearing away the water today and in the process, discovered several new areas that need to be repaired. I wasn't surprised to find some damage. We've had record amounts of rain this Spring and water is relentless. If it sits for long enough, it eventually destroys the coating. Luckily, I still have plenty of silicon coating material. As soon as the roof gets dry enough, I will spend another afternoon making repairs. This is a seemingly endless process, but I can see the results almost immediately. My repairs either work or they don't. Eventually I still need a new roof, but it's probably wise to see if the world ends first.

Everything seems to be working smoothly in the park now. The city has reopened the parking lots, but banned parking in non-designated areas. This seems to work great on cool, overcast days like today. The park is never crowed on rainy days anyway. We'll see how things go on Easter Sunday next week. Joggers, people walking their dogs, and cyclists have never been a problem. Maybe the city should think about banning slacklining and hammocks. That would take care of the kids who like to hang out in large groups.

I think I finally found my lost e-mail from 2018 and 2019. It was located in an invisible file that I finally learned how to view. As soon as I can copy the mail to an archive and save it, I might find the nerve to erase the damaged hard drive and try to reformat it. There's certainly no hurry to do something so drastic. It's not like I'm in a hurry or anything. Working from an external drive has been fairly trouble free. The computer responds much slower now, but like I said, I'm not in a hurry.

I'm starting to hear a lot about the need to build herd immunity. Some say this is the only way to stop the virus. Others say that reducing quarantine restrictions to allow herd immunity to build among healthy people is too dangerous and will cause needless deaths. All I know is that herd immunity is a real thing. Animals can develop it and so can humans. If enough people develop immunity to a specific disease, they can indirectly protect the rest. It may take months or years for a large population to develop herd immunity, but if they are all in quarantine, this acquired immunity won't develop it at all. I have a feeling that this will be the big question in the months ahead. How can we quickly identify the healthy ones, so we can get the process started. We need the healthy people to keep the world running. Right now, we are all just treading water.

Angel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3751

Well this sucks. Our washing machine broke. I called my favorite repair shop and they're gone out of business. Damn. Their phone has been disconnected and their website has vanished. This was sudden and unexpected. The repairman I liked gave me his name once, but he doesn't seem to exist either. The only person I could find with that name lives in London. Obviously the world is facing much larger problems, but this isn't the best time to be dealing with a broken washing machine full of dirty clothes.

Dirty laundry wasn't today's only problem. The city closed our park. Why? Police with bullhorns were driving around telling people to go home this morning. I wonder what caused this? I doubt that it was a safety issue. The park was virtually empty on Monday and Tuesday. Just blocking the entrances to motorized vehicles on Sunday evening seemed to accomplish everything the city had been wanting. I can only guess, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were people who complained that anyone in our neighborhood could still walk to the park while they couldn't drive there. It's all or nothing for some people these days. Even on the busiest days a walk in the park is still ten times safer that going to the pharmacy or grocery store. People always stayed six feet apart when they passed on trails and if you were going the same direction you were usually several hundred yards apart. I don't know what this closure proves. The joggers and cyclists aren't going to stay inside all day. They will just start using city streets which is actually much less safe. A police officer told me that they didn't want to close the park, but had to because of a few knuckleheads. I didn't ask who he was referring to. I know it wasn't me.

Even Dawn had a bad day. We got the results of her urinalysis and she has urate crystals. The vet suspects that she may have a few small bladder stones as well. We're going to start by putting her on Allopurinol for a month and then do another urinalysis. Dalmatians are prone to having urate crystals and Allopurinol often helps cure the problem. Dash took the drug for years and it really helped. We may have to switch Dawn to a low purine diet as well. The food she eats now is fairly low in purines, but there are options with an even lower purine content. Unfortunately, most of them don't taste as good. We'll see what happens. We've definitely been through this before.

My temporary computer solution is far from perfect. If I were busy with work it would be driving me crazy. Apparently, some of the files that were lost when my hard drove crashed were those secret hidden files that record a successful software installation. I've had to reinstall several things today, including Microsoft Office. My version of Office is so old that you can't register it over the Internet. You have to call a special telephone number. You can imagine how long that took.

I eventually found an appliance repair company that is still making service calls. I was a little surprised that they agreed to come out tomorrow, but I'm glad things aren't shut down completely. Will the repairman arrive wearing a hazmat suit, or will he be oblivious to the pandemic and sneezing all over the place? Either way, I'll stay out of his way. I've learned that repairs go much faster when I leave the repairman alone.

Haley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3750

The world is starting to look like a Steven King novel. For the first time in years I was able to back out of the driveway during the afternoon rush hour without any worries about traffic. The streets were empty. I took some bills and a letter to my sister to the post office today and there were giant sheets of clear plastic hanging from the ceiling separating the postal employees from the customers. I saw no need to add to the madness and quickly dropped my mail in a letter box and left. I stopped by the bank on the way home and discovered that the lobby was closed but a drive thru window was still open. There were lots of cars at the drive thru, but I was already here, so I waited in line with everybody else. I guess a line of cars is social distancing. All the neighborhood stores and restaurants were closed and parking lots were empty. The lack of activity make me feel uneasy. In one empty parking lot there were two crazy people wandering around aimlessly and yelling loudly at nobody. Was this how The Stand started? I was glad to get back to my own house.

The park was almost empty this morning. Blocking the entrances has made a huge difference. I still saw my neighbors walking their dogs, along with a few cyclists and joggers, but that was it. It was almost like the old days before the city passed a big bond issue and decided to make the park a recreation destination. I enjoyed the solitude but I'm sure this is temporary. Someday the crowds will be back.

I don't know how she did it, but Janet managed to catch a urine sample from Dawn this morning. I haven't had any luck at all. Hopefully, Dawn doesn't have urate crystals or bladder stones. It is a common problem with Dalmatians and you often have to change their diet. Dawn really likes what we are feeding her now so I'd hate to have to switch to a different type of food.

Operating my computer from an external drive is going surprisingly well. The only problem is that the computer is painfully slow. If my company was still busy, fixing the damaged drive would be priority one. A slow computer doesn't seem to matter as much anymore. I'm equally slow. Just about the only thing I use the computer for anymore is writing the blog and storing Dalmatian pictures. I have a feeling that if I deleted all my old client files, I wouldn't even need a huge hard drive anymore.

When you hear on the news that 200,000 people in the United States could die from the virus, it makes you wonder whether you should leave the house at all. I guess you could have your groceries delivered, but who is actually delivering them? So few people are being tested that almost anyone could be a carrier. I still think long daily walks are healthy for both the body and the mind, but what do I know? What if the virus can be aerosolized and is floating around in the air? What if masks actually do work, but are still unavailable? Janet may be sewing masks instead of dog bandannas for next years Dalmatian Rescue gold tournament.

I'm starting to forget what day it is. They all seem the same.

Amy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3132

It was 111 degrees at our house today. Yikes. That's only two degrees away from the all time record for Dallas. Any way you look at it, the weather is brutally hot. Lately, our entire day revolves around surviving the heat. There were still a few stars in the sky when we got up this morning. There wasn't much of a breeze, but the temperature was only 85 degrees. Dash seemed to appreciate our attempts to protect him from the heat. He was enthusiastic about his early walk this morning and for the first time in over a month wanted to explore the shoreline. This was actually very encouraging. Dash has so many medical problems that it's nice to see that he can still enjoy some of the things he loved to do when he was younger.

I'm not sure the backyard plants are going to make it, but we're trying our best to keep them alive. The water from the sprinklers probably benefits the squirrels and birds as much as it helps the yard. There were dozens of squirrels enjoying the water while we were eating breakfast. You'd think with a large lake nearby, these critters would migrate to the shoreline, but they seem to prefer their favorite trees.

I went to the gym right after breakfast. Why not. The gym has a better air conditioning system than we do and the place is nice and cool. Only the regulars were exercising this morning. The park wasn't very crowded either. The longer the heat continues, the less you want to do. After a while, the only thing that seems appealing is eating a big bowl of ice cream.

Janet's laptop had a weird problem today. The trackpad popped out and the case wouldn't close. I've had lots of Macs, but had never heard of this happening before. I did a little research and discovered that this was actually a very common problem. When Macintosh laptop batteries get old they have a tendency to swell, and this can cause the trackpad, which sits directly above the battery, to pop out. Luckily, the fix is pretty easy. The computer just needs a new battery.

One day next week is going to be battery day. I promised Janet I'd get the laptop fixed and I still need to replace the backup batteries in my uninterruptible power supply as well. Since batteries were on my mind, I recharged my own laptop and replaced the batteries in the wireless mics for the video camera as well. I haven't used the microphones for a while, but you never know.

Since Janet is leaving to visit her family soon, she's been trying to teach me the routine she uses for giving Dash his daily meds. It's a complex system since Dash hates taking pills and we never know what he will eat from day to day. On good days we can still hide the pills in a meatball of Hills ID dog food. When that doesn't work, we have to resort to more exotic treats. Sometimes peanut butter works. Other times we've tried to hide the pills in angel food cake. When nothing else works, we always keep some fresh steak in the refrigerator. When I master Dash's meds, I've still got to figure out how to get his protective boots on by myself.

The security light went out again last night. Jeez. This thing was fixed for the second time just last week. The light comes on normally at dusk and then shuts itself off around 1 AM. The circuit breaker is not tripped and the light comes on normally again the next evening. I have no idea what is going on. The electrician doesn't have a clue either. The only thing I can think of is that the special LED bulb is not compatible with the photocell. Who knows. Maybe the light just won't work during a heat wave.

Since it's not getting any cooler tomorrow, I'm going to have to try getting Dash to take a walk while Janet is getting ready for work. Usually he won't walk until after she leaves the house, but it will be too hot by then. Dash is a stubborn dog, but maybe he'll listen to reason. Leaving early is for his own good. We'll see.

Pongo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2949

I've been complaining about the cold weather for weeks and today it was over 70 degrees. I find these sudden changes confusing. I put on my winter coat this morning, just like I usually do. As soon as I opened the back door, I realized I'd made a mistake. It felt like Spring today.

In addition to my normal Saturday errands, I went looking for dog socks today. These are not exactly a big seller in pet stores, so they are hard to find. Dash needs the socks, because they keep the rubber boots he has to wear from rubbing at his skin. The socks work great, but they wear out quickly. If I could ever find a good supply, I'd just buy them by the dozen. Eventually, I found what I was looking for and bought all the large sizes the store had.

I had to renew my Sam's Club membership today so I could get gas. I got a business membership when I started my company and I think the cost was $15 a year. Now the cost is $45 a year. Everything is this way. Little by little, the cost for almost everything keeps rising while the pundits on TV keep telling me that inflation is at historic lows. I don't get it. If inflation is so low, why has the cost of everything I use on a regular basis doubled in twenty years?

My laptop seems really slow, so I thought I'd rebuild the directory like I did on the desktop computer earlier this week. The procedure took a lot longer than I thought, but it worked. I don't know what I was expecting, but the changes certainly weren't dramatic. The computer still seems slow. I have a feeling that the problem wasn't the directory after all. The laptop is just too old to be running Sierra. I should really stop installing new operating systems on old computers. It destroys the performance.

My own performance has been even worse than the laptop this weekend. I had big plans to clean the house and fix a few things around the office, but none of it got done. By the time I walked Dash, took a shower, and fiddled with the computers for a while, I was done. I don't know where the day went. I couldn't have spent that much time looking for dog socks.

Dash got me up three times last night to go outside. I hate this new schedule of his. He eats his dinner really early now and then he needs to poop in the middle of the night. Sadly, we may have caused this problem ourselves. We noticed that when Dash eats early, he is less likely to throw up at night. He hasn't vomited in over a month, so something must be working. I guess eight hours of sleep at night just isn't in the cards for me. I've started napping with Dash during the day and it seems to work fine. You've got to stay flexible when you have a Dalmatian.

April is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2747

I had to go to Walmart today to pick up something for Janet. It was just as bad as I'd imagined. Sam Walton would roll over in his grave if he could see what his stores have become. To save time, I found the location of the item I was looking for on the Internet. I kept asking employees where aisle N30 was and none of them even knew that the huge store had aisle numbers. I then tried describing the item and was sent to opposite ends of the store by two different employees. Some of the employees didn't speak English. They didn't speak Spanish either. Maybe this store wasn't typical. I sure hope it wasn't.

I was pleased that I'd finished a major computer upgrade without any problems and then Dreamweaver crashed this morning. I knew it was all too good to be true. Since I use Dreamweaver all the time, this wasn't good news. The program would launch and then immediately crash as soon as the welcome screen appeared. Everything was fine three days ago, but I have been upgrading a lot of software lately. Somehow Dreamweaver had gotten corrupted. I tried to reinstall the program but it kept asking for a serial number I lost years ago. I tried to get Adobe to send me the serial number, but they just directed me to password protected user website. Did I have the password to login? Of course not.

Eventually I managed to get the website I was working on updated by dragging files from one computer to another. The new photos were on one computer, the HTML files were on another, and my only working FTP program was on a third. Remind me to never upgrade software again. For me it's always like open up a Pandora's Box of problems. It took me hours to retrieve lost passwords and serial numbers, delete the corrupted software and start over again. I finally got a copy of Dreamweaver working, but in the process, I'd lost most of the passwords to the sites I manage. If one program had to crash, this was definitely the worst one.

Dash didn't want to walk this morning and didn't want to eat his breakfast either. It was hard to tell whether he was sick or just being moody. Eventually, he decided he needed to pee. I quickly put a leash on him and out the back gate we went. We took a normal, uneventful walk and when we got home he ate his breakfast. It's all about timing with Dash. If he won't do something, I just try again an hour later. I thought he'd want to walk real early when it was nice and cool outside, but apparently he had other ideas.

When I finished mowing the grass and running errands for Janet, I didn't feel like going to the gym. I felt I'd had enough exercise for one day. After spilling laundry detergent on the utility room floor this morning and dealing with a major software crash, I didn't even feel like mowing the grass. There was little point in postponing the chore. I knew I wouldn't feel like mowing the grass tomorrow either.

Today was tiring. I think software disasters are much harder to deal with than physical chores like mowing the grass. It took all the ingenuity I had left to get today's websites updated without using Dreamweaver. Only time will tell whether I repaired everything correctly. I hope none of today's problems re-appear tomorrow. If I wake up and Dash eats his breakfast, we're off to a good start.

Bud is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2435

I don't recall sleeping much at all last night, but my fitness band tells me that I got almost six hours of sleep. Perhaps I was just dreaming about being awake. I certainly didn't feel rested this morning. There is no rest for the weary on Sunday. It is a self-defined chore day. At least it was cooler outside today. The dogs got their walks. The sheets got changed. The house got a much needed vacuuming. There was a lot of activity, but it didn't feel like anything had been accomplished. That's just the way it is on Sunday.

Dot seems a lot more restless now. I don't know if this means she is getting stronger, or if something is making her uncomfortable.  It's really hard to tell what is going on. She doesn't really like it when I follow her around, but she falls and can't get up if I'm not holding the rear end of her harness. I'd probably be restless too if I spent most of my day lying on a dog bed. For the time being, I'm going to assume that her current restlessness is a good sign. At least she seems to have a little more energy. She got a good report from her physical therapy vet last Wednesday and we'll be seeing her oncologist again toward the end of the month. Hopefully, there's a logical explanation for this change in behavior.

There were people using my favorite machines when I went to the gym today, so I had to change the order of my workout. I did all the things I usually do, but in a different order. Somehow, this made me more tired. My fitness band said I burned more calories too. This doesn't make sense to me, but what do I know. Maybe I ought to do my workout backwards all the time.

My computer seems to be slowing down. I've tried optimizing my hard drive. I've turned off some unnecessary start up items. I've looked up strange files names I see on my network monitor in Google, but I can't figure out what is going on. The computer is certainly working well enough to do everything I need to do, but I can detect a difference. Something new is happening and I don't like it. This is why Dot's restlessness bothers me too. I always equate something new with something bad. Maybe something new with Dot is actually a good thing, but change frightens me. I wish everything could stay the same. Of course with Dot, I would back up time a bit so she would be healthy in my monotonous world. With the computer, I would take things all the way back to System 9. I've never been fond of Macintosh since System 10 changed everything.

It didn't rain today at all, which kind of surprised me. It did seem a lot cooler though. Only in Texas would you describe 89 degrees as cool, but it felt nice outside for a change. There's still rain in the forecast for tomorrow, so we'll see what happens. I don't want a lot of rain; just enough so that I don't have to use the sprinklers to keep the grass green. My water bill is high enough already.

I need to schedule Dash for a neurological exam and Dot for her annual physical. I'm not sure whether either of these exams is even necessary or will make a difference, but I'm conditioned to think that it's bad to ignore these things. The dogs will always get everything they need. I prefer to ignore my own health.

Elliott is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2434

I used my new Scan and Go app when I went to the grocery store today. It worked like a charm. I was really pleased at what a time saver this was going to be until I finished my transactions and was leaving the store. Evidently, part of the process is having someone scan the receipt on your phone to verify the transaction. The lady who normally counts the number of items in your buggy seemed unfamiliar with the hand held device and couldn't get it to work. She called her supervisor for help. The supervisor said the machine was broken and called the manager. "Wasn't this supposed to make things faster," I asked the manager. "It's really fast when it works," he told me. Eventually, the manager found a backup machine and pointed it at my phone. As soon as I heard a beep, I was good to go. I could have checked out faster today the old fashioned way, but I still like this new technology. I bet it won't be long before they replace the person at the front door with a machine that just senses the phone in your pocket. People always seem to be the weak link in the chain.

I got my 2017 vehicle registration sticker today, so my car is legal again for another year. The hardest part of this whole process is removing the old sticker from your windshield so you can attach the new one. You can't just peel these stickers off. Parts of the sticker always remain attached to the windshield and you have to carefully scrape them off with a single edge razor blade. After I cleaned all the sticky residue off with window cleaner, I attached the new sticker, wondering why we don't still put the vehicle registration sticker on our license plate like we used to.

Dot's digestive system seems to have calmed down a bit. Compared to yesterday's disastrous series of accidents, today was a piece of cake. She pooped in her bed right after she woke up this morning, but that was my fault. We don't usually set the alarm clock on weekends, but Dot has her own alarm system. She expects us to be up by six AM and to be fed and ready to walk before seven. If I'd gotten up at six and immediately taken her outside, we wouldn't have had a problem.

We got a little rain today and I think we're supposed to get some more tomorrow. Since the roof has been patched and the patches appear to have cured well, I welcome the rain. The yard is really dry and our old fashioned sprinklers don't really do a good job of keeping things green. Since I don't think we'll be getting a fancy underground sprinkler system anytime soon, rain will have to do.

I'm having all sorts of minor computer problems. My phone keeps sending me messages saying that there is no SIM card attached. I can make the error message go away if I reboot my phone, but I shouldn't be getting it in the first place. There's a weird little process called mDNSResponder that is sucking up all my memory in my main computer. I can't just delete this process because it is used to connect me to the Internet. The battery has gone bad in my iPad, but they tell me that it is not replaceable in my older Series 1 model. I don't know about you, but I think Apple hardware and software was a lot more reliable when Steve Jobs was alive.

The weeks go by so fast these days. I'll try to make to most of my trip to the gym tomorrow.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2355

Sometimes on a completely normal day I'll suddenly find myself feeling incredibly sad. I don't know why, but I suspect this is because a number of important things in my life are reaching their logical conclusion at the same time. Even on the best of days, I have to acknowledge that Dot is on a glide path, headed directly towards the Rainbow Bridge. It's amazing that she's made it this far. When I watch video tributes to dogs who have left this world, they make me cry. When I watch Dot take painfully slow steps from the bedroom to the kitchen, I remember days when she and Dash could run like the wind. I wish I could turn back time.

As Dot begins the final chapters of her journey, so does my business. It's hard to believe that twenty five years ago I started a company that would soon be making national Pepsi commercials and providing me with opportunities to work around the world. Like Dot's incredible life, I'm amazed that we've managed to make it this far. If only the clock turned a bit slower. When I pull my aching bones out of bed in the morning and survey my crumbling kingdom, it seems like everything happened way too fast.

There was a life before loving Dalmatians and running a small business, but I barely remember it. Did I really play bass in a rock band? Did I used to stay out late and laugh uproariously with friends? Was I really an architect? It all seems like dream memories now. Why did I ever move to Dallas? It's a mystery. All I know is that life is a jumble of memories and after a while you can't even put them in the proper order.

After a while I'll never remember that the plumber came today. He was very nice and tightened all the fittings to eliminate a leak that was so small that I probably should have just ignored it. I was hoping that Dot would ignore the plumber, but the part of her brain that guards the house is still working and she barked the entire time he was here. The plumber was gone in fifteen minutes, but Dot continued to pant and act agitated for the next two hours. She is so weak and tired now that it takes her a while to bounce back from anything.

Eventually Dot fell asleep and started breathing normally again. I started up the computer was was amazed to see that everything worked normally today. The UPS man delivered the new router sometime this afternoon, but I'm reluctant to install it. I think I'll just leave it in the box until things start acting up again. It crossed my mind that since tech support calls are usually monitored, maybe the supervisor of the idiot I talked to yesterday listened to my irate call and actually made the minor configuration changes I was requesting. If things aren't working tomorrow morning, I'll chalk today's smooth sailing up to pure coincidence.

Dot has her monthly recheck at the cancer center tomorrow, but since both ultrasound technicians are out sick, I wonder if there is any point in going. Dot won't mind if I have to reschedule, but I'd like to know what's going on. I worry too much already and knowing exactly why Dot has been so tired this week might help me keep things in perspective.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2187

I spent the day trying to solve a series of vexing technical problems. I still can't figure out why the camera I normally use to take Santa pictures fails to trigger the strobe lights when I press the shutter button. It didn't used to do this. I think it an auto-focus problem with the lens. I could be wrong. Whenever I hear a beep confirming focus, everything is fine. When the lens starts hunting and fails to focus, the shutter won't fire. I tried a variety of different lenses and metering styles trying to isolate the problem, but I didn't have much luck. Nothing I did made the problem go away. Oh, well. I guess I'll have to use the back up camera again tomorrow.

I want to upgrade the system of my desktop computer so I can run the current version of Pro Tools.  The problem is that a lot of software I use everyday still needs my much older operating system. I'm not touching any of the Apple operating systems after they stopped naming them after cats. If I installed El Capitan or Yosemite, nothing would run. My software is all too old. There's got to be a system that's new enough to run Pro Tools 12 and old enough not to crash everything else. Maybe Mountain Lion is what I need. This OS may already be obsolete to most people, but it's still new to me. When I tested Mountain Lion on my laptop, everything seemed to work. When I tried running my desktop computer with an external boot drive with Mountain Lion installed, there were all sorts of problems. Sure, I guess I could upgrade all my software, but the newer versions of Adobe products are all subscription based now. I prefer to own software instead of rent it. At any rate, I still don't know if Mountain Lion will run the software I need and I don't have the nerve to install it just to find out.

Janet thinks the dehumidifier still isn't getting her closet dry enough, so I decided to move it to the bedroom today and see if that made any difference. The only difference I noticed was that the bedroom quickly became warmer than the rest of the house. There wasn't enough air flow through the room and the warm exhaust air from the dehumidifier gradually made the bedroom five degrees hotter than the rest of the house. Basically, my experiment with moving the dehumidifier failed. My search for the perfect operating system for my aging desktop computer failed. And my attempt to discover what was wrong with my camera failed. I'm three for three today.

At least breakfast was good. Actually, dinner was pretty good as well. I've started using our little George Foreman Grill to cook burgers and pork chops. It's quick, it tastes almost as good as cooking on the grill outside, and there's virtually no mess.  In six minutes I had a tasty, perfectly seared burger without any pots and pans to clean. That's my kind of cooking.

All the photo equipment is packed and ready to load in the car tomorrow morning. If I can make it through the next two days, I will have survived another year of Santa pictures. Maybe when things settle down, I'll finally get around to putting up a Christmas tree. It's hard to say this year. I'm so tired that I could easily imagine waking up Christmas morning and not even remember what day it was.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day