Day 4374

My FedEx package still hasn't arrived. Actually I think it is even more lost than it was yesterday. After I initiated a trace on the package, I received a message saying that duplicate tracking numbers had been found. One of the identical numbers appeared to originate from Oregon and the other from New Jersey. I was asked which of these numbers was correct. How would I know? I have called Fedex for help numerous times but the only people I am able to talk to are contract call center workers based in another country. They don't know any more than I do. I tried to contact the distribution warehouse myself and eventually found their website. It was filled with a seemingly endless list of one star reviews written by people who were experiencing the same shabby treatment that I'm getting. One person had discovered an unlisted direct line to the warehouse and posted it on the site. When I called the number, nobody answered. FedEx used to be good. Now, it appears that nobody cares. Packages are lost routinely and drivers just make up excuses why they weren't able to make a delivery. I'm not sure if I will ever get my package.

I'm continuing to walk even though my feet are starting to hurt again. Foot pain was pretty bad today even though I'm wearing my newest pair of Hoka shoes. I know I walk a lot, but these shoes should definitely last more than six months. At least it was a nice day for walking. The temperature really varies a lot from day to day. Yesterday was cold. Today was so warm that I didn't even need to wear a jacket. I actually think I made good time today, but I forgot to wear my Fitbit. I hate when that happens. Now I don't get any credit for two hours of exercise.

The photo backdrop we used for the Santa Paws events finally got washed today. Now that it is clean, I'll take it back to the storage warehouse and probably forget where it is when I we need it again next year. It is hard to believe that Christmas is so close. Where has this year gone? We still haven't decided what to have for Christmas dinner. Last year we had a crown roast. The year before we had a smoked ham. Often we go out to eat on holidays, but Christmas Day isn't a good time to go to a restaurant. 

It looks like Dalmatian Rescue is getting two five month old puppies. I don't know if these dogs will be at the kennel next Monday, but it will be fun to meet them when they arrive. We haven't had any puppies in the program for a long time. I guess Oliver is still a young dog, but he is definitely not a puppy.

I don't know why the missing FedEx package bothers me so much. My life isn't going to change much even if I never receive the package. I guess I just hate when things are out of my control. I feel totally powerless to resolve this situation. I've called again and again and nobody seems to care. The entire company seems to be run by a bar code reader. Once something is scanned and in the system the scan becomes the reality. If your own eyes are telling you something different it just doesn't matter. Even today, someone on the phone told me that the package was at the FedEx Print Center and ready to pick up. Umm. No it isn't. I've already been to this store twice and called them again this morning. They are getting tired of hearing from me too.

I finally got a lead on a good contractor from someone I trust. Hopefully we can start fixing a few things around the house soon. Of course "soon" for a busy contractor might mean three to six months from now. Hey, at least I've moved the ball forward a few inches. 

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3274

Another long day. Dash continues to lose control of his bodily functions. It didn't surprise me that he pooped while he was sleeping last night. It did surprise me that he peed on the bed when he was trying to get up. Oops. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. Urinary incontinence is even messier than all the poop we've been dealing with lately. If this continues, we may have to try putting Dash on Incurin like we did with Dot. Until we make that decision we brought home a large plastic sheet that was waiting in the storage warehouse just in case we needed it again. A plastic sheet isn't a perfect solution, but it sure beats spending all day doing laundry.

Dash seem totally unaware of what a high maintenance dog he's become. I guess that's a good thing. Although you could knock him over with a feather, he still enjoys stumbling along on his daily walks. He loves the special meals we cook for him now, although a lot of what he eats just falls out of his mouth. Along with many other neurological problems, he's starting to have trouble chewing. I don't think there is a cure for the incontinence at this point. We just have to learn to deal with it.

Amazingly, I did get some replies to the enquiries about the house I sent out yesterday. A few people I trust recommended contractors and repair people. I'll give these companies a call and see what they suggest. Although the roofer told me he is too busy to make repairs right now, he did say he'd drop off a bucket of the elastomer coating so I could make some emergency repairs myself. Hey, that's better than nothing. If this guy is true to form, he'll drop the stuff off on a rainy day after the leak has started again.

I did some research on the Internet and found some special extra wide construction tape that was supposed to bond instantly with anything and provide a quick and permanent waterproof seal. The stuff was called APOC Incredible Tape. It sounded perfect for my needs. I called the commercial roofing supply company to see if I could buy some this afternoon and they'd never heard of the stuff. This happens to me again and again. Doesn't anyone else know how to use Google?

I ordered a few Christmas gifts on Amazon.com today. Now I can check one more thing off my 2018 to-do list. It is so easy to order on Amazon that it's hard to believe I ever shopped any other way. Amazon even keeps a list if what I bought for people in previous years so I don't inadvertently order the same thing twice. This is a great feature because I could easily order the same thing twice. My memory is a sieve.

Now that Janet has fully retired it's become a lot harder to remember what day it is. It certainly didn't seem like Tuesday today. Basically all days are more or less the same. Poop gets cleaned up. Wash gets done. Fruit smoothies get consumed. Dash gets walked. The blog gets written. And I fall asleep watching Perry Mason. Tomorrow will be different though. It will be Wednesday.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2792

When I was doing some yard work this morning, I noticed a huge army of sweet ants crawling from a crack in the patio and making their way up the side of the house to the roof. No wonder I've been seeing ants in the bathroom. I found some ant and roach spray in the kitchen and killed the ants that were visible, but I'm sure there are thousands more wherever these came from. While I was trying to eliminate the ants, I also saw several wasp nests. The wasps were rebuilding in exactly the same places where I had removed their nests a few months ago. I've been doing this year after year for as long as I can remember. Keeping the insects and critters out of the house is next to impossible. It's hard enough just to keep Dash from eating the June Bugs.

It doesn't look like my repairs to the shower stall were successful. After I took a shower this morning, I noticed a small stream of water flowing from one of the corners I had just sealed with the silicon caulk. The problem is that there is a small area under the glass shower door frame that is inaccessible. I think some of the tiles have cracked under the door and are letting water seep in. The leak isn't bad, but if there is any leak at all, it will only get worse.

I spend way too much time in this house. It's disheartening to see everything slowly disintegrate around me. Thirty years ago the doors and windows opened and closed a lot more smoothly. The brick floors were completely free from cracks. And the wool carpets looked wonderful. I could never afford to restore the place to its original condition, but it sure would be nice. I have fantasies about those guys from the This Old House show on PBS coming over and fixing up the place. Real contractors aren't like This Old House though. They want to do the work as quickly as possible using substandard materials they picked up at a nearby Home Depot. Sadly, the house will probably just continue to deteriorate.

For years, Dash used to be eager to take an evening walk right after he'd finished his dinner. Now that Janet has been home for most of the summer, Dash refuses too walk without her. It makes things awkward on days like today when Janet had a company dinner. Dash wouldn't walk at all. I tried three times and he refused to leave the yard. It was almost dark when Janet returned, but Dash decided he needed a walk after all. We all walked to the end of the street and back, but he could have had a much longer walk if he'd just gone a few hours earlier.

Janet's been having trouble finding an iPad, so I told her that I'd go locate one for her. After doing a little looking around, I found exactly the model she wanted at a local AT&T phone store. The Apple Store in the mall said there would be a three or four week wait before they had this model back in stock. This doesn't make any sense. You'd think that the Apple Store would always keep a good supply of their own products on hand. It's getting harder and harder to be an Apple fanboy. I think that Apple has become too rich and powerful for its own good. They don't even try to keep customers happy anymore.

I don't know what it will take to keep me happy. I still miss Dot a lot. It would be nice to have a steady income, but I don't really want a job. I wake up each day with a small list of things to do and I usually do all of them. There is no grand plan anymore.  I'm just going from one day to the next.

Pogo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1536

The only thing worse than a sick dog is a dog who doesn't realize he's sick. I decided today that the best way to keep Dash calm and sedate is to keep his routine as close to normal as possible. All the complicated instructions the vet gave me just seem to agitate him. He hates going out in the back yard on a leash. Using the logic that the meadow behind our house is really just an extended back yard, I took Dash on a short walk today. It made a world of difference. He got to smell his favorite bushes. He did his business much quicker than he would have in the yard. And, best of all, he was calm. When we got back home, he was a good dog for the rest of the day. A lot of people don't understand Dalmatians. You've got to meet them halfway to get anything accomplished. Dash and I have an understanding now. He'll still get his walks. In return, he'll walk nicely on a harness and keep his incision away from stray branches. As long as he gets to go outside, he seems fine with these shorter, more sedate walks.

It was a very busy day. The tree trimmers arrived promptly at 9 AM to clean up the trees that were damaged by last December's ice storm. I'm glad I finally got this taken care of, because eventually one of the precariously attached tree limbs would have broken loose and fallen on my neighbor's car. The tree looks much better now. My only problem was when I had to negotiate a truce between the tree trimmers and a neighboring fence contractor when they both wanted to park their trucks in the alley at the same time. As I expected, Dot slept through the whole thing. I wonder if they make hearing aids for dogs. Dot's hearing definitely isn't as good as it used to be.

I realized today that being able to get out of the house myself, even for a few short minutes, can make a big difference. I didn't even make a quick trip to the bank or post office today and the day seemed to drag on forever. Staying housebound for a while gives me an opportunity to observe Dash under a wide variety of different conditions and make sure he won't do anything stupid. So far, he's been an excellent patient. There is still no swelling at the incision site, so I don't think hemorrhaging is going to be a problem. Now that Dash and I have agreed to compromise on a few important points, he is being very calm and reasonable. Let's hope this continues.

My writing assignment today was long and complex. I'm still not finished with it. Maybe I'll get up early and do my editing tomorrow morning. I definitely don't like these assignments hanging over my head during the weekend. Tomorrow, I'll see if I can catch up on a few household chores as well. Maybe I'll even get to go to the gym again later this weekend.

Dash is still on pain pills, but he already seems better than he did yesterday when we brought him home. The little guy is a trooper. I only wish I could bounce back as quickly as he's doing. I'm just barely hanging in there these days. Bounce is no longer part of my vocabulary.

Connor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1275

I felt sorry for Dot's acupuncture vet when we went to our appointment today. She had just opened a brand new clinic a few days earlier and was still dealing with contractors. Her tales of contractor woes made my own recent problems with my roof seem like nothing. Sometimes I wonder if anyone since the dawn of time has had a good experience dealing with contractors. You always expect that things will go smoothly when you hire a contractor, and it almost never does. The problem is that the contractor, by definition, doesn't do the work themselves. They contract it out to other vendors who may or may not work well together. The more people on the job, the more chances there are for things to get fouled up. In my experience, a contractor's primary job is explaining to the client why things aren't going according to  plan.

I think there might finally be some sort of resolution to the problems I've been having with the aggressive dogs in the neighborhood. The dog's owner and his landlord agreed to keep the back gate to their property locked when the dogs are out in the yard and to eventually build a taller fence. The owner also said that he would no longer let dog walkers handle the dogs. It turns out that it was a dog walker who lost control of the dogs when they got loose and attacked another neighbor's dog. I was glad that the owner actually acknowledged that one of his dogs was a problem. So many times,  people with aggressive dogs just get defensive and make excuses. We'll see what happens. I'm hopeful though. The dogs are both rescues and I can tell that the owner cares about them.

Today was a pretty good day. My missing prescriptions finally got filled, I got caught up on my writing work, and the brown patch of grass in the front yard is starting to show signs of turning green again. Nothing all that astounding happened today. It was just the absence of bad news that made things look encouraging. On days like today, I have high hopes that my car will continue to run for the rest of the Summer and that my roof will never leak again.

Even the dog's training class went well this evening. It was hot and a bit muggy, but Dot and Dash enjoyed being back with their friends again. We had missed class for several weeks in a row due to bad weather and travel conflicts, so it was good to be back on schedule again. It's nice to have the sun back as well. We won't have to worry about having class after dark until sometime next Winter.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1257

If you've never worked with a contractor before, here's what to expect. First you meet the contractor. He sounds knowledgeable and fills you full of hope and anticipation about the project you are about to undertake. After you agree on a price and the work begins, you never see this guy again. Next, you meet the foreman the contractor has selected to oversee the job. This guy drops by every couple of days to give the work crew their marching orders for the day. If something goes wrong, the foreman always smiles and tells you that the problem will be fixed later. The work crew never listens to the foreman. To a man, they are convinced that they already know the best way to do everything and just continue doing what they were going to do anyway as soon as the foreman gets in his pickup and leaves for the day. Did I mention that I don't enjoy dealing with contractors.

It rained again today and just as I thought, the unfinished carport leaked like a sieve. You would think that with the forecast predicting a rainy Memorial Day weekend, the roofers would have put a giant tarp over the roof to protect it. Nope. They did nothing. When I mentioned the leaky, unfinished carport to the contractor, he just said that these things happen and that they would fix things later.

It was such a busy week that Janet and I forgot Dash's birthday. We tried to make amends tonight with a little celebration that featured special doggie cupcakes from Sprinkles. Dash must have gotten high on cake, because he started racing around the house and refused to stay still for his birthday picture. I think the dogs enjoyed the party though. They always enjoy anything that involves food.

I took a nap with the dogs this afternoon because it is the only thing that seems to calm Dot down during a thunderstorm. Dash didn't used to care one way or the other about the weather, but Dot has managed to convince him that the sky is falling every time it rains. Now, his storm phobia is just as bad as Dot's. I huddled under a blanket on the bed with a warm dog on either side of me and fell asleep immediately. The short nap was the most enjoyable part of my day.

Maybe the weather will improve tomorrow. I certainly hope so. A few of my readers have suggested that I try being a little more upbeat and positive in the future. Me? Negative? What on earth would give you that idea? Hey, this is just the way things are. I'm a pragmatic realist. Most of the happy people I know are all on Prozac.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1176

The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an all time high today. Unfortunately, my own portfolio is still nowhere near its all time high. This seems irrational and even a bit irritating to me. You'd think that my investments would have recovered proportionally with the rest of the market. They probably would have if I had just left them alone. It's hard to leave well enough alone when the whole world is in a panic though. When the big market crash hit toward the end of 2008, I tried my best to stop the bloodbath, just like a lot of other investors. Five years later, the results are in and they aren't pretty. Instead of frantically buying and selling and putting money into gold, I should have just done nothing. During the big financial crash of 1987 that was exactly what I did. I didn't look at my brokerage statements for almost three years, and eventually I recovered virtually everything. It was a lot harder to do this in 2008. All the pundits were predicting Armageddon and nobody knew whether it would take five years or fifteen years for the market to fully recover. I'm a bit chagrined by today's market news. I guess it just proves that the more decisions you make in life, the greater your chances are of being wrong.

I had to sit around and wait for the FedEx guy today, so I actually got quite a bit done. I couldn't leave the house until I had signed for my package and I had no excuses. I redoubled my efforts to annihilate the bugs that have invaded the house. I wrote several articles. I updated several websites. I even got caught up on my invoices. If I had to wait on the FedEx guy every day, who knows what I might accomplish.

What I didn't do today was spend much time outside. There was a fierce wind all day that made it seem much colder than it actually was. The dogs ears were flapping in the wind during our walks today and I think Dot and Dash were both happy to return to the house where they could take a snooze on their warm new velour blankets.

Tomorrow, the first of the roofing companies I asked to bid on replacing the roof is coming over to give me an estimate. I kind of dread this whole process, because I've been through it before with contractors. Everybody talks a good game. You get all excited listening to the sales reps explain all the benefits you are going to get and then when the workers show up later with their hammers and saws it is usually a huge disappointment. Contractors typically plan on doing a job as quickly as they can, so they can keep prices reasonable. I'm always envisioning having a group of master craftsmen around for an extended length of time who will do everything according to my specifications. Not very likely! Contractors hate people like me who work out of their house. They'd much rather do their work when the homeowner is away at the office somewhere. At any rate, I'm still hoping I can find a good roofer.

Rory is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day