Day 3990 - Thanksgiving

I've got a lot to be thankful for. Janet and I are still together after all these years. We have a wonderful dog even though we both swore we wouldn't get another dog after Dot and Dash died. I'm still healthy. This grows more important with each passing year. Too many classmates have already passed away. I've found several things that I really enjoy doing during my retirement years. Since one of those things is writing about astronomy and space travel and I'm actually getting published, I've managed to convince myself that I'm really still working. It's important to feel like you are still necessary. I don't know how many years I've got left, but I'd be happy to continue living like this for a while longer. Life is good when your expectations are low.

Life was certainly good today. The weather continued to be nice and we had a great walk with Dawn this morning. There was very little traffic on the roads and the park was quiet. I like it this way. After breakfast, I started reading the instruction manual for my new camera and Janet began preparing our Thanksgiving meal. Later in the day I put up the Christmas tree.

Dinner was delicious. We had smoked ham, bacon wrapped asparagus, candied yams, Italian sausage dressing, and cranberry sauce. I seldom drink wine, but a nice glass of Cabernet Sauvignon seemed to go perfectly with this meal. This was Dawn's first Thanksgiving with us. She got some tasty treats, but we made sure not to feed her anything that wasn't safe for dogs. We use to watch the Cowboys game on Thanksgiving, but lately that would spoil the day. The Cowboys are terrible this year.

I used to dread Thanksgiving when it involved going home to visit with family. Now that it's just Janet, myself and a dog, Thanksgiving has become one of my favorite holidays. What could be better than a lazy day, a delicious meal, and a chance to reflect on things. I really prefer Thanksgiving to Christmas now. Christmas has become far too commercialized. Birthdays should just be forgotten. I don't need to be reminded that I'm even older than I was last year.

Even though it was a holiday, it was still trash day. As I took the trash out to the curb this evening I looked up at the sky and wondered if there was any point in being interested in astronomy in Dallas. You can't see anything. It was a clear night but basically all I could see were Mars and the Moon. Light pollution is terrible here and I don't feel comfortable driving at night to a rural location where the sky is darker. I think my stargazing is going to be limited to periodic trips to the Davis Mountains.

I think our new dehumidifier might arrive tomorrow. I've still got to figure out what to do with the old one. In theory, I can get this unit replaced by the manufacturer if I can find an HVAC company who will write a diagnostic report that details what is wrong with the unit. Since the little dehumidifier is almost impossible to disassemble, this might be difficult. Oh, well. One more thing on my to-do list.

I hope that all of you had a nice Thanksgiving. Covid or not, there is still plenty to be thankful for.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3987

No big problems or revelations at today's doctor visit. Apparently my Vitamin-D levels are too high and I need to start taking a smaller dose. All my other lab results were right in line. My A1C levels keep decreasing, so diabetes continues to be less of a worry. All in all, I'm feeling pretty good for a senior citizen with all the usual aches and pains. 

I finally remembered to ask the doctor about my foot pain and my tendency to have coughing spells while I eat. I have referrals now to see a podiatrist and have some imaging done on my esophagus. The doctor wants me to take part in a swallowing study where I swallow a variety of liquids and solids while x-ray imaging is being filmed. The procedure is called fluoroscopy and it reminds me of of those machines they had at shoe stores when I was a kid where you could look through a viewing window and see the bones of your feet in real time. I asked the doctor what would happen if they found a problem. "Well, a speech pathologist will probably show you how to eat your food properly," he said.

We had time to walk Dawn before my doctor's appointment, but I didn't have time for breakfast.  This was a good thing because I wasn't supposed to eat anyway. Surprisingly, I wasn't even hungry when I returned home. I had a piece of toast and a cup of coffee and I was good for the rest of the day. I probably still eat too much, but I'm not gaining weight, so I'm not going to worry about it.

I called the manufacturer of our dehumidifier today and talked to their tech support guy. He told me that my problem was most likely a low refrigerant level in the compressor and encouraged me to take advantage of the company's five year warranty. He said that small portable dehumidifiers were hard to service and the even their own dealers didn't like to work on them. I told him when I bought the machine and he said all I need to do is get a diagnostic report from one of their authorized service centers and the company would send me a new dehumidifier. The only problem is that the closest service center is fifty miles away. The whole process takes a while, so Janet and I just ordered a new dehumidifier on Amazon Prime. I'll probably still do the warranty replacement procedure eventually. You can't have too many dehumidifiers.

Since it was Monday, we went and visited Charlie at the kennel this afternoon. He is always glad to see us and we enjoy playing with him and teaching him new tricks. Charlie is definitely not a calm dog. He's not very predictable either. This is probably why he's been at the kennel so long. Charlie is extremely smart and probably would excel at agility. He does have issues with other dogs however and would require a patient and careful owner. I'm convinced that the right person is out there. Charlie will make a great companion for the right person.

We will be doing Santa Paws pictures at the kennel in early December and I was surprised at how many people has already made reservations. It looks like we'll have a busy day. This wasn't what I expected. I thought traffic would be light because of Covid. Apparently few people are concerned about the virus in Texas even though infection rates keep rising. Oh, well. I've got my new N-95 masks. The chances are higher that I will get bitten by a dog than catch the virus at one of these photoshoots anyway.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3968

I reluctantly made my travel arrangements for the Crew-1 launch today. I still haven't received the official media schedule from NASA, but it looked like return flights from Orlando were filling up fast. Two of the three available flights on the day I wanted to return were already full and the third only had three seats left. Jeez. How can these flights be full when I keep hearing that people aren't comfortable with flying yet? Clearly a lot of people have returned to the skies. I can't recall making reservations this early even before Covid hit.

With airline reservations taken care of, I went ahead and booked a hotel and reserved a rent car as well. I guess I'm all set now. Just waiting for NASA to change the launch date so I can do this all over again. You'd think with all the stories about how the travel and hospitality industries are struggling, there would be lots of bargains out there. I didn't find any. Airline, hotel, and rental car rates were all higher than they were the last time I traveled to Florida.

I looked at dehumidifiers today. There weren't a lot available locally and most looked pretty shoddy compared to the one we already have. When I was looking online a few days ago, I found that there were very few portable models available with a 70 pint capacity. Everyone was selling 50 pint capacity portables now. When I looked at Lowes, several brands said "equivalent to older 70 pint models" on their 50 pint dehumidifiers. How can this be? What happens to the extra 20 pints? So many questions and nobody knows anything about dehumidifiers here. Most of these are sold up North where people have damp basements.

On the way home from my dehumidifier search, I stopped at a luggage store and got a new carry-on bag. I'm getting tired of having to open my entire suitcase to get the laptop out so TSA can examine it. I wanted something with an outside pocket for a laptop. Janet said I should look at AWAY bags and that's what I ended up getting. Luggage has come a long way since the last time I bought any. This bag was well thought out and extremely well made. I'm all set now for future rocket launches and observatory trips.

Our beautiful Fall weather continues. We had a pleasant walk with Dawn before breakfast this morning and when I took my second walk later in the afternoon, the temperature was still only in the low seventies. I hope this weather continues. Dawn loves the cooler temperatures and I definitely need the exercise. When I'm walking, I realize that I still need to go to the gym. Walking is relaxing, but it doesn't elevate my heart rate much and does nothing for my arms and upper body. I wish I actually enjoyed going to the gym. Janet returned to her gym weeks ago, but I'm still making excuses. 

People who were expecting a blue wave didn't seem happy this morning. Investors were pleased with the prospect of a divided government though. The stock market had a great day. Investors almost always like a divided government because it means that politicians can't do much of anything. Perhaps this is for the best. Politicians seem incapable of making the right decisions anyway. Given a choice, I'll take gridlock any day over what either party would do if left unchecked. 

Ginger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3554

Today was a little different. Instead of taking a walk right after breakfast, I turned on the computer and recreated the missing business card. Why didn't I do this in the beginning? It only took me about fifteen minutes to redo the card from scratch. I spent hours looking unsuccessfully for the old files. I uploaded the layout to one of the same online printing companies I thought might have printed the original card and I was done. Is there a lesson in this? Probably not. If there is an easy way and a hard way, I usually pick the hard way.

After I got the business card taken care of, I edited some of the new Dalmatian pictures I've been taking and got dressed to go to my doctor's appointment. This was just a yearly checkup with a specialist I don't see much anymore. I was hoping that they'd have a better nurse this time. I remember she had a hard time finding a vein during my last visit and ended up sticking me multiple times. You'll never feel it when a good phlebotomist draws your blood. An inexperienced one can make you want to skip your appointment.

Todays blood draw was fairly painless, but my blood pressure seemed abnormally high. I mentioned this to the doctor and he just laughed. "We don't even need your blood pressure," he told me. "We're required by law to take a reading before every exam though, so we just buy the cheapest monitors we can find." "Throw that cuff away," he told his nurse. "It's been reading high all day." The doctor seemed pleased with my exam and said that I didn't need to see him again until this time next year. I don't have nearly as many doctor's appointment anymore. I feel healthier and apparently the most of my doctors agree.

I finally did a side-by-side comparison of the old and new dehumidifiers today. The old one clearly isn't working as well as the new one. It's hard for me to throw the old machine away because it still looks brand new. Rationally, the dehumidifier isn't worth fixing. I've had trouble finding a repairmen who works on this brand and I know that the repairs would cost almost as much as a new machine. This is why we bought the new dehumidifier in the first place. Too bad. I was kind of hoping I could fix the old machine and then we'd have two. Hey, you can't have too many dehumidifiers.

This morning, I was convinced that I wouldn't have time to take my long walk today, but when I got home from the doctor's office, I decided to walk anyway. Skipping a day now and then is no big deal, but I've gotten hooked on taking a lot of steps for my Fitbit to count. A walk at the end of the day is really no different than a walk in the morning. It was still way too hot.

I watched the third episode of Ken Burns documentary about Country Music. After the first hour, I got bored and wandered away from the TV to do something else. Ken Burns films are well done and really interesting, but they are way too long. I think I've got the message now. I'm not sure if I'll watch the final episode at all.

I'm sure that tomorrow won't seem nearly as busy as today. I don't have many busy days anymore. I'll figure out something to do though. I always do.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3550

It looks like the highway department is already late on their bridge project. Our road was supposed to close today, but now it looks like it won't close until late tomorrow evening. From what I've read, the new bridge won't have any more lanes than the old bridge but will have better sidewalks. Pretty expensive sidewalks if you ask me. Construction is supposed to be finished by March of next year, but that seems unlikely. Highway projects never seem to get finished on time.

I thought today would be a good day to see if I could fix the old dehumidifier. I've been meaning to do this for a long time, but the unit has proved very difficult to disassemble. I finally got the thing apart after removing almost forty screws. Even then, it was difficult to gain access to the guts of the machine. The dehumidifier is put together like a Rubik's Cube. I patiently disassembled the unit one slow step at a time and then discovered what the words "sealed system" mean. Although there was plenty of dust inside the unit, the parts I really wanted to clean were inaccessible. I was able to clean the front surface of the evaporator coil, but the rest was out of reach. Maybe my cosmetic cleaning job will help, but I doubt it. I should have just believed the instruction manual when it said "no user serviceable parts."

I wasted a lot of time today with my futile repair efforts, but at least I was inside. Our Fall heat wave doesn't show any signs of abating. When I gave up on the dehumidifier and decided to take my walk, I was wondering if we were ever going to get any Fall weather. Hey, it's supposed to be nice in September. I read that somewhere. For now, I'll continue to drink lots of water and sweat even more.

I ate too much today. Not only did I have a big breakfast, we went out for dinner at one of my favorite smokehouses. I had Burnt Ends, which are even tastier than a rack of ribs. The food was delicious but barbecue is always too salty. I'm going to have heartburn tonight. I don't know why I continue to eat food that I know will give me heartburn. There are plenty of things that don't. I do try to eat a healthy plant-based diet, but pizza and barbecue are just too tempting at times.

I doubt that I'll be eating much for breakfast tomorrow, but there will be plenty of errands to run. Saturday's are always busy. I need to get more fresh fruit for my smoothies. I need to get some batteries and light bulbs at Home Depot. Maybe I'll do a side-by-side test of the old and new dehumidifiers. If the old one still isn't working well, I guess it goes out to the curb with the lawn mowers.

The new Dalmatians are finding homes quickly. It looks like Bandit will be the next to find a home. He might get adopted tomorrow. I wish more people would take a look at Charlie and Treasure. They've both been at the kennel a long time. Everyone finds their forever home eventually. I think the dogs are more patient than I am.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3523

All the grocery stores seem to be replacing cashiers with self-checkout stations. When I was shopping this morning there were only two cashiers and a long row of brand new automated stations. I've read that people don't like these things, but why not? Self-checkout is faster and you don't have to interact with anyone. I've already gone one step beyond self-checkout. Whenever I can, I buy things using an app on my phone. I scan the items as I find them and when I'm finished I just walk out of the store and leave. Like it or not, this is the future. Cashiers, bank tellers, and even waiters at restaurants are going away. Probably a lot of manufacturing jobs I don't see are going away too. Many already have. The simple truth is that companies prefer robots. Robots don't complain. They don't need health insurance. And they never go on strike. The little kids who are growing up now playing games on their iPads instead of going to a playground with their friends will probably prefer robots as well. Why not. They grew up with them.

I'm glad I grew up before all this happened. I did well in an old fashioned analog world. I'm not sure how well I'd thrive in a world where the best jobs went to the people who design and program the robots. Maybe I could repair them though. There will always be a need for people who can fix machines.

I was going to try and fix the old dehumidifier today, but I never got around to it. By the time I finished my Saturday shopping and took my long walks the day was almost over. There are YouTube videos that show you how to fix almost anything, but I can't find one about my particular brand of dehumidifier. I won't let this deter me though. Eventually I'll figure out how to take the thing apart, clean it, and put it back together again. There's no hurry though. We've got a new dehumidifier now that seems to work perfectly.

We've also got a new toaster oven. Janet bought one while she was doing her shopping today. She said she was tired of using the big oven just to make cinnamon toast. Works for me. The little oven is probably great for cooking a pizza too. We ran out of space for new appliances long ago, so we just set the toaster oven on top of the little emergency refrigerator. It's not actually in the kitchen, but it's close.

When I was walking this afternoon, I saw a guy with a guitar and a microphone on a stand singing to no one at all. He had a little battery powered amplifier and his voice was quite nice. Nobody was listening though. Not even the ducks were listening. I wondered what this was all about. Was he trying to attract an audience, or did he prefer putting on a little concert for himself? It was very hot outside too. There are certainly better places to practice on an August afternoon. I'll probably never know what the guy was doing. I see a lot of strange things in the park.

I slept better last night. I have no idea why. All the variables are always the same. I go to bed at the same time. The temperature in the house is the same. There is very little stress in my life. My sleep should be very consistent, but it's not. One of life's mysteries I guess. I go to sleep quickly, but I wake up too soon. Maybe this means that I'm actually getting all the sleep I need. Old people always seem to wake up early.

Toby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3522

I see a lot of families at the new neighborhood restaurant. I'm amazed that even little babies seem to know how to use iPhones and tablets. It appears that they become familiar with these devices even before they can talk. When a kid starts to act up in public, Mom just pulls a phone out of her purse and the kid become mesmerized. It's going to be a different world when these children grow up. I forget the first thing I learned when I was small, but it certainly wasn't to swipe right.

I made a point to get an early start this morning because I wanted to mow the grass before the heat became unbearable. I was back from the restaurant before 9 AM, but there was no avoiding the heat today. This was going to be another triple digit day. By the time I finished the front yard, I was drenched in sweat. I had thought that the dead patch caused by the June brush pile was filling in nicely, but on closer examination, the new green areas were just weeds. Oh, well. The weeds are nicely trimmed now.

I'm impressed at how much more water the new dehumidifier is collecting. The bucket was almost full when I woke up this morning. I have to empty the bucket several time a day now. It makes me wonder what it is that makes performance gradually deteriorate on these things. Probably the condenser coils that aren't readily accessible get really dirty. It could be something else though. I doubt that it's worth the trouble to find out. You can buy a new dehumidifier for less than it would cost to repair one.

I rested for a while and changed my clothes after I finished mowing the grass and then I got started on my first walk of the day. The long walks are starting to become boring, but I still think the effort is worth it. The changes to my body have been gradual, but I can tell that I am in better shape than when I started these forced marches. I'm surprised that so many people run because walking provides most of the same benefits with a lot less wear and tear on the knees.

I'm still not sleeping as well as I was last month. There must be a reason. Is the temperature too warm? Has our mattress become too soft? Maybe I need the glow from the security light coming through the bedroom window? I wonder a lot about any inconsistency in life. Why is the stock market so volatile? Why aren't cars more reliable? Why does the Internet go down for no reason at all?

Actually the Internet was down when I woke up to drink some water last night. I only noticed because I saw a message on the thermostat on my way to the refrigerator. I reset the router and brought everything back online before I returned to bed. This is probably why I had trouble getting back to sleep. I knew that if I ignored the problem until morning I would just lie in bed thinking about it. It's better for me to take care of these things immediately.

Maybe I'll sleep well tonight. I've had lots of activity today. I can't say that I accomplished much, but I'm certainly tired.

Pogo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3521

The new dehumidifier arrived today. It seems to be working fine although the humidity is about the same as it was before. We'll see how much water is in the bucket tonight. The defrost function isn't coming on, so that's a good sign. I'd feel stupid if the new dehumidifier was exactly the same as the old one. Instead of immediately throwing the old machine away, I'm going to make more of an effort to disassemble and fix it. What have I got to lose? If I fail, it will just go out to the curb in pieces. Hey, if I succeed we've got two dehumidifiers. In my world, two is always better than one.

It must have rained a lot harder than I thought a few days ago. When I went up on the roof to check on things there was a lot more water than I expected. It took almost an hour to clear the standing water away. I was hot and sweaty before I even began my morning walk. I sent the roofer another e-mail explaining how some of the damaged areas appeared to be getting worse. It seems like I was doing exactly the same thing last year at the time. Probably the year before as well.

As I was finishing breakfast this morning the tree guy arrived and wanted to look at what remained of the Elm tree again. He gave me a bid on removing the tree and hauling it away. I can get on his schedule in early September so it won't be that long before I can check this item off my to-do list. The stump will be too close to the house to use a stump grinder, but that is the least of my worries now.

If you look closely at the yellow coreopsis flower I photographed today you can see one of the milkweed assassin bugs that bit me. They're quite common and feed mostly on other insects. I'm adding these critters to a long list of things I avoid. The bite appears to be getting better, but it is still quite noticeable. I wonder now why one of these thing has never bit me before? They're everywhere in Dallas.

I'm encountering fewer people on my walks these days. People are finally getting the message that it is hot outside. The joggers are gone, but the cyclists remain. Many of these people I see everyday. They are probably just as locked into their routines as I am. There is one group of men who ride recumbent bicycles together every morning. They are all older and most have little white goatees. They all wear long pants and long sleeve shirts too. Must be hot. I wonder why younger people never ride recumbent bicycles? I've never seen anyone under fifty on one of these things.

I saw a ton of Egrets and Blue Herons today but I haven't seen an owl in months. The lone White Pelican is still there though. The bird never ventures far from the small bay where it calls home. Counting and trying to identify birds helps me pass the time. I can't wait for cooler weather to arrive. I enjoy walking, but I hate this heat.

The trash has been taken to the curb and I'm already thinking about where to eat breakfast tomorrow. These weeks go surprisingly fast considering that nothing really happens.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3520

It rained this morning. The temperature was noticeably cooler and I should have taken my morning walk as soon as I got up, but of course I didn't. I slowly drank my smoothie as I always do while watching the morning news. The news was pretty dismal. The stock market was crashing. Police were in the streets in Hong Kong. And there were predictions that a recession was on the way. None of this was all that surprising, but it would be nice to have some good news for a change.

There was a light rain when I started my walk. It was actually kind of pleasant. Instead of being drenched in sweat, I was covered in rainwater. The morning shower didn't last long. As soon as the sun peeked from behind a cloud the water turned to steam. For the rest of the day it was extremely humid.

There were a ton of things I needed to do today, but I had an excuse for most of them. It was too wet to mow the grass. There wasn't much point in going up on the roof, since there was still rain in the forecast. I finally ended up vacuuming the house because I felt guilty for doing nothing. The carpets were certainly dirty. I haven't vacuumed in a while.

I'll be glad when the new dehumidifier arrives. For a while last night I thought that the old dehumidifier had turned into a humidifier. I turned it off for a few hours and watched the humidity in the house actually become lower. The only thing that I can think of is since the defrost circuit is coming on frequently now, the dehumidifier must be blowing moist air back into the room.

I took another bill to the post office today. Seems like I just did this yesterday. I could easily save these bills and pay them once a week, but going to the post office gives me something to do between my walks. I've lost interest in shopping and I don't eat lunch anymore. I guess this is all the reason I need to go to the post office.

I should be getting more sleep. In theory I could sleep till noon, but I keep waking up early. Maybe it's the weird dreams. I woke up last night when I found myself being chased by the neighbor's dog. I went back to sleep and woke up again when I found myself lost in a huge hotel again. When I eventually found my room, it was filled with strangers. Somehow in a dream this all seems normal.

I was hoping for some cooler weather for tomorrow, but it looks like we're going to have triple digit temperatures for the foreseeable future. Oh, well. At least the water on the roof will evaporate.

Elliott is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3517

It's time to retire the dehumidifier. It has been running almost continuously since we got it after we had the water leak under our foundation quite a few years ago. This has been one of our most reliable appliances, but nothing lasts forever. The trusty little machine just doesn't remove much moisture anymore. Since this unit is still available, we ordered an identical dehumidifier to replace it. If the new one will run continuously for five years as well, it's hard to complain. Janet wants me to haul the old dehumidifier out to the curb on the next big trash day. I'm more inclined to try to fix it. I will probably fail since I've already tried to fix the machine several times. It's probably just worn out.

I feel pretty worn out today as well. There was no air conditioning at the gym this morning. I'm glad this doesn't happen very often. The place felt like a sauna. I found a brand new basketball when I went on the court today. I was curious whether I'd shoot any better with a new ball. Nope. I was also curious whether I'd burn more calories when the gym was hotter. Nope again. I'm not even sure my Fitbit is working correctly. Maybe it wasn't measuring calories right. It tracked five minutes of "aerobic activity" while I was sleeping last night. I remember sleeping peacefully, but maybe I had a weird dream.

I did manage to get my 20,000 steps today, but if there was anything interesting to watch on Netflix I might have just stayed inside. We are in the middle of a major heat wave. I think it was 105 degrees when I took my long walk this afternoon. I guess the only reason I continuing doing this is to see if I can. I like to have a routine as well. If you have a fixed routine you don't need to think of what to do next.

I'm beginning to wonder whether I should have waited until late Fall or Winter to visit the observatory. Unless it starts to cool down quickly, it's going to be a very hot trip. The weather in the Davis Mountains will be a lot cooler than it is here, but it is a long drive to get there. A rental car is looking better and better. If the rental car breaks down, they'll just get us a replacement. Maybe my next car won't be a Land Rover after all. If reliability issues make me nervous about leaving the city, what's the point of having one?

Janet and I will be going up to visit the Dalmatians tomorrow. That's what we do on Monday's now. Hank is back at the kennel again and they say that the bleeding has stopped and his stools are normal. Hopefully, all he needed was a change in diet. Hank is going to have to be monitored carefully for the next several weeks, but it is encouraging that he appears to be getting better. At least all his vital signs are good. He's been tested for just about everything.

I guess I'm ready to start another week. The laundry is all done and I've got a new supply of fresh fruit for my smoothie. Maybe something exciting will happen this week, but I hope not. All I want at this point is cooler weather.

Hannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3327- Groundhog Day

I've always associated Groundhog Day with the Bill Murray movie instead of Punxsutawney Phil, It seems somehow appropriate that Groundhog Day takes place on Superbowl weekend this year. The Patriots keep playing in the Superbowl over and over again. A lot of things in my life seem to take place over and over again as well. Recurring events aren't necessarily bad but they do make you wonder. Is Tom Brady playing in the Superbowl again because he's the best quarterback in the league? Is there some luck involved? Why do I have a fruit smoothie for breakfast every morning when it would be easy to eat just about anything? I'd never order a fruit smoothie at a restaurant, even if it were on the menu. I've come to realize that a lot of repetition is pure laziness. Sometimes it takes a lot of dedication and practice though. I'm still trying to learn the difference.

Apparently, not everything happens over and over again. For many years, I've been going to a Superbowl Sale at a clothing store that used to be a client of mine. This was a fabulous once a year sale and it was generally the only time I could afford these type of clothes. Even though I have little need for work clothes anymore, I've continued going to this sale. Today I learned that the Superbowl Sale is gone. It has been discontinued. I don't know why I thought this would never happen. Nothing else lasts very long in today's world. Why should this odd three hour 75% off sale be any different.

Dash seemed a little better today. There was no diarrhea last night. Maybe the Metronidazole worked or maybe there was so much diarrhea yesterday that his entire digestive tract is empty. I guess we'll know when Dash poops again. That hasn't happened yet. Unfortunately, some common side effects of Metronidazole include lethargy, confusion, and loss of appetite. Dash is already dealing with these problems so it is hard to tell if Dash's difficulty in walking this morning was caused by the pills or was just something he would have experienced anyway. Later in the day he seemed fine and the diarrhea hasn't returned, so I've got to assume that the medication is working.

I think my dehumidifier has broken. It was leaking water this afternoon. The dehumidifier is meant to run continuously, but it has been running for about three years so I guess problems are inevitable. I wonder if my appliance repair guy can fix dehumidifiers? This dehumidifier has made a real difference in keeping the house livable, so I may need to buy a new one. I've discovered that the leak stops when I tilt the dehumidifier to one side. I've propped a book under one corner of the machine so it runs at an angle now. This is a temporary solution at best. It's weird that almost every single problem I've had with the house involves water. Water has become the enemy around here.

Janet has a meeting tonight so it's up to me to give Dash his evening meds. You'd think this would be easy but Dash has become very particular. Some days he will take his pills in canned dog food. Other days the pills need to be rolled up in a small strip of delicatessen turkey. Occasionally I have to use a little piece of Angle Food Cake. One way or another he always takes his pills though.

I'm sure we'll watch the Superbowl tomorrow, even though the Pats and the Rams aren't our favorite teams. The Pats are probably my least favorite team. My favorite commercial of course is the Budweiser spot featuring a Dalmatian with its ears blowing in the wind.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3161

Good grief. The dehumidifier has started to leak. This trusty little machine has been running 24/7 ever since we had our big water leak several years ago. I've grown to depend on this thing. Now it has joined both toilets, the shower stall, a bathroom sink, and of course the impossible roof in a coordinated effort to drive me crazy. Why do I have all these water problems? I've come to the conclusion that there's only one thing for certain about water. Eventually it's going to wind up someplace it doesn't belong.

I guess I'll go ahead and order a new dehumidifier. I'll probably even get the same brand again. This thing has worked like a champ. Nothing lasts forever unfortunately. I'm reminded of that almost every day.

It certainly seemed like Monday today. I'm perpetually slow anyway, but on Mondays it seems like I'm moving around underwater. I guess I accomplished something, but it would certainly be hard to prove. Our morning walk took forever. There was nothing wrong. Dash just didn't feel like going very fast. Breakfast was equally slow. I don't think I made my smoothie larger than usual, but it took almost until lunch to drink the whole thing. I spent a long time trying to figure out where the leak in the dehumidifier was coming from. No luck there. Water just seems to be dripping through a screw hole on the bottom of the sealed system.

When I went to the bank this morning, I noticed that a client had failed to sign a check they sent me. The bank took the check anyway. Did they not notice or did they just not care? I didn't care that much. This client has done this before. The bank probably sees unsigned checks like this everyday. I have a feeling that the entire world is becoming sloppy and forgetful. Hey, I'm certainly doing my part.

I wrote a letter to a friend with a sick dog who thought the diagnosis they received from their vet might be wrong. I encouraged them to get a second opinion. It is not that uncommon for an initial diagnosis to be wrong. Dogs can't talk and symptoms are often confusing. It has often taken us several tries and an expensive MRI or two to figure out what was going on with Dot and Dash. The important thing is to never give up. Especially when you think there is still hope.

I got a lead this weekend about someone who might be interested in another collection I have. I tried to call the guy, but of course he wasn't in. I wrote him a letter instead. Letters still have their uses. They somehow seem more serious than a voicemail message that would probably be mistaken for spam anyway. Whether I hear back from the guy or not, it is going to take a long time to unload these collections of mine. It definitely took a long time to assemble them.

Maybe I actually accomplished more than I thought today. It just seemed like everything was moving in slow motion. I'll try to pick up the pace tomorrow. There's no point in going too fast though. I've got an entire week to fill.

Blackjack is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2712

I've lost all sense of time. Dot was restless last night and I ended up walking her around and around in the back yard around 1 AM. I think she wanted a walk, but I'm not walking down the street with a crippled dog in the middle of the night in Dallas. Eventually Dot got tired and we all went to sleep. I don't know why she is always restless right around the time I want to go to bed. Dot is usually calm and peaceful after her first and second set of pills. After her third set of pills around 10 to 11 PM, she becomes active and restless. I don't think she is in pain. She is just restless for about two hours every night. Unfortunately those two hours are always after midnight.

I didn't bother going to the gym today. It was a gray, rainy day and I had plenty to keep me busy at home anyway. Getting Dot to eat has become an all day challenge. You can't force her to eat, so you have to take advantage of those brief moments when she is interested in food. I actually got her to eat something this morning which is a rarity these days. A little later in the day, I discovered that she wanted to eat my leftover bacon from breakfast. I hand fed her little pieces of bacon and since my hands smelled like bacon, I was able to put other food in my hands and she'd eat that too. Eventually, Dot ended up eating almost a full cup of dry kibble in between bites of bacon. In hope that this trick might work again tomorrow, we cooked up some more bacon so it would be ready if we needed it again.

I changed the sheets on the bed and washed a few rugs that got peed on today. My fitness tracker refused to sync with my phone this morning, so I looked for a solution on Google. As usual, there were other people who were having exactly the same problem and it only took about five minutes to find a fix. Since that reset went relatively smoothly, I decided to go ahead and update the system on my phone ad iPad. I also unclogged the large format printer for the first time in weeks. Electronic housekeeping seems to take more time than real housekeeping these days. There's always something that needs to be updated or fixed. Meanwhile in the real world, I still need to vacuum.

It was so humid today that I've already had to empty the dehumidifier bucket twice. I don't know how we lived so long without the dehumidifier. It's ugly and a bit noisy, but we don't have much of a problem with mold and mildew anymore. Now I need to find a solution for slow drains. It might be time to call Roto-Rooter again. All our drains seem slow.

I have a feeling that the house will remain a disaster as long as I'm dealing with Dot. It takes an enormous amount of time to make sure she's comfortable, is still getting a little bit of exercise, and is eating enough to keep from starving. I genuinely think this is what Dot wants, but I can't read a dog's mind. Although Dot is very weak and has a ton of serious problems, she certainly seems to want to stay with us for a while longer. 

Tomorrow is a holiday. It's a luxury to be able to sleep in two mornings in a row. The downside of this extra sleep is that Dot pees in her bed. We were prepared though. This morning, I removed the wet puppy training pad, cleaned her up a bit, and placed a fresh pad under her butt without even waking her up. Then I went back to bed.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2581

It was fifteen degrees when I woke up this morning. Wisely, we decided that there was no need to walk the dogs right away. Dot still had to make her morning race to the back door to pee, but we were back inside twenty seconds later. As soon as the sun came up, the temperature started climbing. When we all finished breakfast and were finally ready to walk, everybody thought that twenty two degrees was a lot nicer than fifteen.

It's amazing what a difference having a good dehumidifier has made in our lives. Normally, during cold Winter days like this, every window in the house would be dripping with condensation. The condensation got so bad in cold weather that it was starting to rot some of the windowsills. After lowering the average humidity in the house by about 20%, the windows are now clear and dry in all types of weather and the closets aren't damp anymore. I wish I'd known about the benefits of having a dehumidifier when we bought the house. So many things were ruined by moisture over the years. I had a beautiful old Vox Mark VI teardrop guitar that was totally destroyed by storing it in a damp closet for over a decade. Live and learn, I guess.

We restarted Dot on the initial loading dose of her Incurin pills this morning. It's too early to see any results yet, but I'll be looking for them. A medical emergency caused her to become incontinent several years ago after being on IV fluids at the cancer center for almost four full days. I don't remember how long it took the Incurin to work the first time, but I do remember how happy we were when she stopped peeing all over the place. Dot's vet cautioned us not to be overly optimistic, but hopefully these synthetic estrogen pills will work their magic again.

I wonder if traffic is ever going to return to normal? When I was running errands today, it seemed like everyone was still doing their Christmas shopping. Roads were crowded and parking lots were full wherever I went. Shouldn't the holiday rush be over by now? Maybe things will get better when schools are back in session. Maybe the traffic will get worse though. I forget how this works. I think Dallas is a much bigger city than I like to imagine it is. Things have changed a lot in thirty years.

Even though walking the dogs in freezing weather burns off a lot of energy, I need to start going back to the gym. I haven't been for several weeks because Christmas and New Year's both fell on a Sunday. I know that visiting the gym once a week isn't much of a commitment to fitness, but it's all I can manage at the moment. I'm not a slacker though. My fitness tracker still says I average about 12,000 steps a day.

Can you be a Luddite and still like gadgets? That's me. This time of year I'm always fascinated by the new things that make their debut at the CES show in Las Vegas. 3-D printed cars and cheap solar power are cool. I'm probably all in on any technology that allows people to live independent, productive lives off the grid. Technology that connects people together makes me nervous. As metaphors go, I like the image of the lone wolf. I don't like thinking of myself as a bee in a beehive. This is the challenge of growing older. How do you remain independent while your body is deteriorating and forcing you to become more dependent on others? My Dad never found the answer to this question. I probably won't either.

Misty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2453

We have become the bad back family. It goes without saying that Dot has the worst problems. Neurological damage resulting from a ruptured disc in her spine has nearly crippled her. Last week Dash's vet said that his stiff awkward walk may be caused by a bulging disc in his spine as well. Janet has had lower back problems for years, and this morning I woke up with a bad back for the second day in a row. It's kind of hard to have a normal day when your back hurts. Hopefully, a little extra rest and avoiding heavy lifting for a while will get me back to normal. Several years ago I had a pinched nerve in my neck and I discovered how debilitating spinal problems can be. To this day, I have no idea what I did to cause my neck injury. I don't have a clue why I woke up with a bad back yesterday either.

I activated my free satellite radio trial today and of course it didn't work. I remember that I had the same problem connecting to the satellite the last time I took advantage of one of these free trial offers. Last year it took three or four phone calls and fifteen minutes of sitting in the car with the motor running before Sirius XM finally found my car.  I never bothered subscribing to the service before and I probably won't this time either. I never listen to music in the car anyway, so all I wanted were some extra news and weather channels. The sound quality of these voice only channels was terrible. Everything was severely compressed to save bandwidth. It wasn't what I was expecting. Probably the only reason I signed up for the trial again was the message that said "absolutely no obligation. no credit card required." I'll eventually get the car paired with the satellite, listen to a few programs, and then receive six months worth of junk mail asking me why I didn't subscribe.

I got another writing assignment today, but there wasn't enough input to actually start writing. I asked some questions, received a few vague answers, and decided to postpone this project until tomorrow. I often receive very little input on my writing assignments. I think people hire me because I'm pretty good at just making stuff up. Show me a picture and I'll invent a plausible story. I'm surprised that I never got into writing political speeches. Making absolutely nothing sound good has always been a specialty of mine.

I did write a letter to my Luddite sister. Since she lives directly in the path of that hurricane heading for the Florida coast, there's a chance that my letter will never arrive. Maybe the mailbox will just float away. I wonder why people live in hurricane zones? Hurricanes seem to hit the same places again and again. Of course, I live in what many would call a tornado zone, so you could say the same thing about me.

I got my electric bill today and it was even higher than it was last August. I could have sworn that last August was a lot hotter than it was this year, but maybe I was wrong. I have a feeling that the bill increased because of the dehumidifier. Dehumidifiers use a lot of electricity. I guess a large electric bill is better than mold in the closets though. The house seems a lot more livable since we've got the humidity under control.

I'll write my article tomorrow and see whether I can convince Dash to get back to his regular walking schedule. I'm debating whether to drive a little further and look for a new breakfast restaurant. It kind of bothers me that I don't have a favorite place anymore.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2274

Instead of calling a plumber today, I tried to fix the problem myself. This isn't always a good idea, but I didn't think I had much to lose. My plumbing skills are so limited that I seldom even attempt anything that could cause real damage. I've been thinking that the garbage disposal in the kitchen has been making a funny noise, so I ran the disposal for a long time while flushing it with water from the sink. Eventually, the noise went away and the sink seems to drain normally now. There must have been something clogged inside the disposal. The slow shower drain took a bit more work. I unscrewed the cover to the drain and discovered that soap residue had narrowed the diameter of the drain pipe to about half of its normal width. I got a piece of metal and scraped away as much of this gunk as I could, while trying to make sure it didn't fall down the pipe and make the clog worse. After visibly widening the drain hole, I put the drain cover back on and took a shower. The shower worked just fine. I've either saved several hundred dollars in plumbing bills, or just postponed dealing with the real problem a few weeks. Time will tell.

The weather forecast said it was going to rain all day, but failed to mention that the rain would be intermittent. The intermittent showers proved to be a stroke of good luck, since it gave us time to walk the dogs and make sure they both pooped before settling in for a long damp day. I had time to take a few bills to the post office without getting the car wet too, so when the rain did arrive, it was no big deal. The dehumidifier has to work a lot harder on rainy days. I emptied the bucket twice today and even though the unit extracted a lot of water, it never was able to get the humidity below 40%.

I've been seeing ads on TV saying that if you have both AT&T U-verse and an AT&T wireless account, that you would get free unlimited data. Since I have both of these services, I though I'd do a little investigating to see why I wasn't already getting the free 4G data on my phone. I was not terribly surprised to discover that nothing AT&T offers is actually free. Sure, it was possible to have a phone with unlimited voice, text, and data, but you had to pay twice as much per month as I'm currently paying. Also, your data download speed was severely limited after you reached a certain threshold. At least I didn't have to go to the AT&T store to learn this disappointing information. Whenever I go to the store, they aggressively try to sell me one of their overpriced home security systems or convince me to add a second phone to my wireless account. I'm not a big fan of the phone company. Probably neither are you. We all depend on our phones these days, but I've yet to meet anyone who actually liked dealing with their wireless provider.

I thought I'd get started on my taxes today, but that will have to wait until another day. It's amazing how little I get accomplished on grey, rainy days. The dogs don't like the rain and neither do I. We'd better get used to it though. It looks like the rest of the week is going to be even worse than it was today. For those of you who think I'm always too negative, there were no accidents in the house today. Dot pooped outside in the morning and after dinner. That's today's little ray of sunshine.

Connor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2206

Dash went to the vet today for some routine maintenance. He needed his anal glands expressed and was due for a Bordetella shot. Dot has become such a high maintenance dog that it's easy to forget that Dash still has his own needs. Luckily, he is pretty healthy right now. His cancer is still in remission and his blood pressure is finally under control. One we got the dose of Phenobarbital right, Dash hasn't had a seizure in years. When we first got the dogs, Dash was the one with multiple problems, while Dot was always a picture of health. Now it's exactly the opposite.

After I upgraded Pro Tools last week, I started thinking that maybe I ought to upgrade Media Composer as well. I don't use either of these applications very often anymore, but since they remain the gold standard for professional audio and video editing, I still like to stay in the loop. Avid Media Composer, like Pro Tools, has it's own special end-of-the-year upgrade offer. Upgrading isn't easy though. Before you download the software, you need to determine if your computer hardware will still run the newer program. You don't want to discover that you need a new operating system to use the upgrade either. Then you need to make sure your license will still be good after the upgrade. The last thing I want to do is accidentally switch my perpetual license to an annual subscription model. I think I'm OK, but I still need to make a call to customer service to make sure. Do I even need software that could be used to edit a feature film? Probably not. I'm not sure I need anything at this point in my life.

Since today was even slower than yesterday, I thought it would be a good day to repair a large rug in the living room that had gotten torn last month. Dot's rugs help give her traction and keep her from falling, but they will never get our house in Architectural Digest. Most of the rugs are pretty ugly. The torn rug was the ugliest of all, so I got a large upholstery needle from the sewing basket and hand stitched the tear back together. My stitch-work wasn't very precise or beautiful, but it did the job. The ugly rug looks much better now.

After using the dehumidifier for several weeks, the house feels much drier. The air even smells different. I wish I had bought the little machine twenty years ago. It would have made a big difference. When I started using the dehumidifier, the average humidity level in our house was over 55%. Today, the humidity inside was only 35%. This is almost Arizona desert humidity levels. I like it. The only downside to low humidity is that occasionally I wake up with nosebleeds.

I was pleased that I remembered the sanitation department was still on holiday schedule. I took the trash out last night and sure enough, a big garbage truck came lumbering down the street when we were returning from our morning walk. Now I need to remember that we go back to our regular Friday morning trash pickup next week.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, but I'll be lucky if I'm still awake at midnight. If I am awake, I'll have a glass of champagne and a slice of pumpkin pie or maybe a piece of cheese while I watch the celebration in Times Square on TV. I have no resolutions. Just the hope that Dot will stay with us one more year.

Penny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day