Day 2730

I tend to procrastinate. Usually I can find a good reason. I've been postponing getting my passport renewed because there's really no place I want to go. I've been postponing going to the doctor because I'm tired of hearing that most of my problems are the inevitable result of aging. I postpone cleaning as long as I can because it's just going to get dirty again.

I think I've postponed cleaning under and behind all the furniture as long as we've owned the house. My theory about dust is if you can't see it, it doesn't exist. Now that Janet's doctors have decreed that it is essential to have a clean house, I have to make up for lost time. I know I said that I cleaned under the bed the other day, but I really just cleaned around all the photo equipment that has been sitting under there for decades. Today, I pulled out all the dusty flight cases and canvas bags full of backdrops, tripods, strobe lights, and light stands. It was time for an honest cleaning job. Most of the canvas bags were coated with a thick layer of dog hair. All our dogs have slept on the bed and I think there was hair from every dog we've ever had. I vacuumed and scrubbed each bag, dusted each case, and then gave the carpet a complete cleaning. The dust from the small area under the bed filled the entire Dyson canister. I hope I don't have to do this again anytime soon. The low platform bed is too heavy to move and my aching joints aren't very nimble anymore. You really have to be a contortionist to clean under this bed.

I wish I'd left the guitars under the bed. When my photo gear began to accumulate, I move the guitars somewhere else many years ago and put my photo gear under the bed where it would be easier to access. Unfortunately, I put the guitars in a closet where the humidity was too high and ruined a rare Vox Mark VI from the 1960's. If only I'd known about dehumidifiers back then. Live and learn is my motto, but sometimes I don't learn quickly enough.

I don't know what to do about Dash. Yesterday he was fine. Today, he's back to being moody again and was reluctant to take a walk. He didn't even want to go outside this afternoon until Janet came home from work. When we both took a walk together with him, he was fine. The only thing Dash wants to do with me during the day is eat and nap. If I get on the bed with him, he will immediately curl up to me and seems happy. When I try to take him out in the yard to play or go on a walk, he has no interest. I'm sure this all has something to do with Dot being gone, but there is very little I can do about it.

I'm planning on going out to breakfast again tomorrow morning. There's no reason to stay home. If I was really industrious, I'd go down to the passport office when it first opens and beat the long lines. Like I said, there no place I want to go though, so this can wait a while. One thing that can't wait much longer is treating the yard for mosquitoes. I can't go outside for two minutes without getting bitten. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. I'm determined to get one thing checked off my to-do list. Two things might be a little ambitious.

Shadow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2728

I spent most of the day cleaning. Janet has to have surgery later this month and she wants the house spotless to reduce the risk of getting an infection when she returns. The chances of making our house spotless are about the same as you'd have of riding a unicorn to the moon, but I'm giving it my best shot anyway. Today I cleaned inside the air conditioning vents, which were full of dust and dead bugs and under the bed where I found an enormous accumulation of dog hair. I don't know how our house gets so dirty. We never open the windows and always use the best HEPA filters on the HVAC system. Dalmatians do shed a lot, but dog hair is only a small part of what I vacuum up every week. When I was a kid we lived across the street from a mechanical engineer who designed a special positive air pressure system for his house. When you opened the front door inside air flowed out, but outside air never flowed in. His house was always dust free. I wish I had something like that. I suspect that the engineer's custom made system was pretty expensive. I've never seen anything else like it.

Now that the envelope printer is working again, I finally managed to get my invoices in the mail. It's not like it matters much anymore. Every month I seem to bill out less than I did the previous month. The last time I saw my financial adviser, I asked him to run a projection to see what my odds were of outliving my money. I didn't like the results. I suppose I'll be just fine if I'm real frugal, but who wants to be frugal. I'll have to stay reasonably healthy too. That's always a problem.

I'm worried more about Dash's health now. I made an appointment to take him in for his triglyceride test early tomorrow morning. The last time we did blood work on Dash, his triglyceride levels were through the roof. I'm hoping that the last test results weren't accurate. Dash didn't fast for 12 hours before the previous blood tests and that can often skew the results. This time we'll do it right, even if it means that Dash will have to wait until later in the morning for his breakfast.

I'm having a hard time deciding what to do about the solar eclipse. Should I fly to Kansas City and rent a car? Should I take some camping gear and drive up from Dallas so I can stay flexible? I'd really like to go out to Wyoming where the chances of clear skies are better, but that's either a very long drive or a very expensive flight. I need to be more optimistic. Right now I keep thinking that whatever destination I choose will be the one place where it rains all day.

I was surprised to get a comment today from someone who used to read my posts on Usenet back in the early 90's. Am I the only one who misses Usenet and dial up modems? I liked the Internet a lot better when it was a quiet text-only place that only a few like minded nerds bothered to visit. It's like a ten lane freeway at rush hour now. I think we've become too connected. OK, I'll admit that I look at Facebook every day just like you do, but I think I could live without it.

Marcie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2168

It's November 22 and I haven't heard a single thing about John F. Kennedy on TV today. That's odd for Dallas, because there's almost always a local feature about Dealey Plaza.

It was just an ordinary chore day for us. We are determined to regain control of the house. I finally got out the leaf blower and cleared all the leaves off the front and back porch. Maybe for a day or two we won't track in enormous amounts of dead leaves every time we take the dogs outside. Like all tasks, this one took longer than expected because I couldn't find a long, heavy duty extension cord to run the blower. I used to clear away leaves every week during the Fall when we first moved here. Now, once a year seems fine.

Janet cleared out the liquor cabinet to make room for several laptop computers that had been sitting on a living room chair for six months. We got rid of an unopened bottle of Baileys that said "best used before 2002.' There were several bottles of Scotch with duty free stickers. Neither of us could even remember the last time we traveled out of the country. We tasted several things to see if they were still any good. Scotch and Bourbon hold their own pretty well. Any flavored liqueur completely loses its infused fruity taste after ten or fifteen years. I think vodka just evaporates. So, why was there so much old booze in the liquor cabinet? Probably because I quit drinking entirely after I discovered that I had Hepatitis C and Janet prefers wine now. We kept some of the stuff though. You never know when a well prepared cocktail might brighten your day.

I continue to be amazed at how much dirt and dust the Dyson picks up. I would think that after the first good house cleaning, each subsequent vacuuming effort would yield less and less dirt. That hasn't been the case. Every single week there is an enormous amount of dirt and dog hair in the clear Dyson canister. It seems almost impossible that we could be tracking in this much dirt. I always feel better after I vacuum the house. The feeling doesn't last long though. Usually it rains the next day and the rugs and carpets get dirty all over again.

Dot pooped in her bed again last night. She soiled two blankets and I accidentally soiled another two trying to clean up the mess. I wonder how long the washing machine is going to last. We've been using the washer and dryer like a laundromat for the past several months. Dot's incontinence is so predictable that you'd think I would have come up with a solution by now. I don't think there is one. Doggie diapers don't work. They fall off and if you secure them tight enough so that they won't fall off, then Dot can't sleep comfortably. Creating a penned-in safe area doesn't work either. Dot likes to sleep right next to me and if we put her in the X-Pen at night, she just barks until one of us lets her out again. For a lot of reasons, it's easier to just spread blankets around the area where she likes to sleep, clean up the mess the best we can using doggie poop bags, spray any remaining stain with Nature's Miracle enzyme and throw the blankets in the wash. This system works pretty well unless I inadvertently step in the poop while I'm trying to turn the light on so I can assess the situation.

The weather was beautiful today. It was cold in the morning, but warmed up to "brisk" later in the day. I didn't even have to wear a jacket when I raked and cleared away leaves this afternoon. The dogs love the cooler weather and we were able to give them two good walks today instead of the single walk they typically get on weekdays. I'll be glad when the days start getting longer again. Now, it is completely dark before Janet gets home from work, so we've had to curtail Dot's evening walk.

I noticed that Google+ has changed its format again. Why do Facebook and Google keep changing their format and features all the time? It's irritating. One thing I like about Twitter is that it never changes. The new Google format features little square boxes right at the top of your profile page that showcase the Collections you've made and the Communities you've joined. I don't like this because I haven't made any Collections or joined any Communities. Because part of my job is helping my clients with their Social Media efforts, I can't ignore these things. I grudgingly made a couple of Collections this afternoon and added them to my profile. Google says Collections are the next big thing, but I think they're just a big nuisance. I've got two more Collections to make to fill up the empty boxes on my profile and then I'm done with Collections forever. The ironic thing is that I actually like to collect things in real life. It just seems silly to put something on my Google page that is a blatant copy of Pinterest.

It's going to be a short week, since most people get Thursday and Friday off. I don't know if this is good or bad at this point. I've already had to change Dot's physical therapy appointment. I'm sure there will be other changes to come.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day