Day 4480

Dawn got a bath this afternoon. It wasn't a big event, but it will have to do. Today was a slow day. All our dogs have hated getting a bath. They seem to love getting dirty though. Dawn loves to roll in the grass in the back yard. The grass is pretty thin in places, so she is mostly rolling in the dirt. Of course as soon as she's back in the house, she likes to roll on the bed. If you have a dirty dog, you also have a dirty house.

Dawn always feels better after a bath. She just doesn't like the whole process. We always take her to one of those self bathe places. I'm glad that someone came up with this idea since it works a lot better than trying to take your dog in the shower. At least it was a nice warm day. The whole ordeal was over quickly and now we have a clean dog again for a few days.

I printed out all my reservations, maps, and directions for my trip this morning. I always do this when I travel and carry around a yellow manilla envelope with all this information wherever I go. Everything in the envelope is readily available online, but I like having things on paper. 

When I drive I'll often take a road atlas with me. Even though the atlas is out of date, it still makes more sense to me than Google Maps.  I'm about as old school as you can yet, but I do try. I've finally realized that the app on my phone is much more convenient that a paper airline ticket.

It was such a nice day that Dawn got two walks. I continued walking after Janet and Dawn returned home this afternoon, but I didn't make it very far. My feet really bothered me today and by the time I'd walked two miles I realized that it was time to head for home. None of this makes a lot of sense to me. Yesterday I walked much further with relatively little foot pain. Today was terrible.

It's time to get the lawn mower running again. It's an electric mower and I usually have to replace the batteries every couple of years. I kept the battery inside this winter, so hopefully it will take a charge. We'll see. The large batteries are kind of expensive, but I still like the electric mower better than the old gas powered mowers I used to use. I just wish this mower was self propelled. I'm tired of pushing the heavy thing up and down our hilly front yard.

I'm supposed to pick up my press credentials at the Starfish Room in the Cocoa Beach Hilton. I looked up the hotel online and it doesn't have a Starfish room. This kind of stuff drives me crazy. Every time I go to Florida I'm always thinking "What if I get down there and they're not even having a launch?" I have no faith in anything these days. I usually call to double check everything, which probably annoys the people who put all their information on a website just to avoid people like me.

I've taken this week's trash out to the curb and am halfheartedly thinking about going out for breakfast tomorrow morning. I'll probably just stay home and have another bowl of shredded wheat, but I should resume my Friday morning restaurant breakfasts one of these days. It's been a while, but I know I used to enjoy them.

Smiley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4450

Dawn got a bath today. It seemed like a good day for a bath since it was unseasonably warm. Also Dawn has been rolling in what is left of the backyard grass a lot and was getting pretty dirty. It's hard to keep the bed clean when a dirty dog likes to spend the day there. Dawn goes into full tilt drama queen mode when we go to the self-bathe place. She hates getting a bath. All our dogs have been this way even though they feel better afterwards. I guess I understand. I've gotten to the point where I don't like getting wet either.

It's hard to believe the weather we've been having. Every day is completely different. Today it got up to 80 degrees. The air conditioner in our house came on and I wore a t-shirt on my long walk. I probably should have worn shorts. We have had years where it snowed on the 1st of March. This definitely wasn't one of them.

I thought my little WiFi hotspot was going to go dead today, but I tried it and it still worked. I re-read the letter I got from T-Mobile and it turns out that they aren't discontinuing 3G service until July. I'm a little confused why I even got the letter. I always thought my hotspot was a 4G device. I wonder if I even need the hotspot anymore. It was useful when I traveled a lot, but those days might be over. I probably still need some sort of alternate way to connect to the Internet though. We still get the occasional power outage.

Today was not a good day for foot pain. My discomfort seems to vary just as much as the weather. Maybe I overdid it yesterday.  Who knows. At any rate I had to cut my walk short this afternoon. It was a shame because it was such a nice day. I was able to complete three miles, but just barely. I really need to order some Hoka boots even if they have discontinued the style I really wanted. I'm not even sure the boots will help, but if I get them I will feel like I'm making an effort.

It looks like we have four new dogs in the Dalmatian Rescue program. Janet heard that the dogs arrived today. They are all at the vet now getting checked out. Depending on their condition, they will probably be at the kennel sometime next week. We haven't had this many dogs in the program for quite a while. I'm looking forward to meeting the new guys. There will be lots of pictures that will need to be taken.

There's a new study out that says daily walks may significantly reduce the risk of Alzheimer's. This is good news for me. I walk so much that my brain may actually be improving. On the downside, my feet are probably getting ruined. I guess you've got to pick your poison. If I were still lifting weights at the gym I'm be ruining my knees and shoulders instead. I don't know how I ever used to be able to walk Dot and Dash at the same time. When they were young they were a handful. Now, I'm always telling Dawn to slow down because I have a hard time keeping up with her. I still believe that you've got to keep moving even if that means moving a lot slower.

It's hard to believe it's March already. February went by in a flash. I hope we have an early Spring. After today's nice weather, it would be a shame to see Winter return. You never know about March though. Anything can happen in March.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4099

What a weird day. We were getting ready to go visit the rescue Dalmatians when Janet discovered that she had a flat tire. Neither of us could remember how to change a tire, so we called AAA. A guy came out to the house and put on the strange little skinny tire that a lot of cars have nowdays so Janet could go to a garage and get the flat fixed. On the way to the garage, all the warning lights lit up on her dash and she had to have the car towed to the dealership. This all took a long time, so we didn't go visit the Dalmatians at all today.

It was a nice day, but I knew that Dawn wouldn't walk with me if Janet wasn't around. I left the back door open so she could go in and out and sun herself in the backyard when she felt like it. Unfortunately, what she really felt like doing was rolling in the dirt. When my back was turned, she managed to get absolutely filthy. She also came back inside and hopped on the bed. I had to get her cleaned up, but I knew it wasn't going to be an easy task. When Janet isn't around Dawn becomes very wary of me. I got some wet towels and gently began to clean her off. Not surprisingly, this frightened Dawn and she began to whine and cry. It's sad to see how easily Dawn can get herself in a panic. I managed to get Dawn reasonably clean, but I still have to wash the bedding. I don't know why Dawn is so fearful, but I don't think it is going to change. I'm learning to live with her weird ways.

I called Janet and asked if I could come pick her up, but she said that the dealership was going to look at her car soon and she was going to stay until it was finished. I didn't understand why all the warning lights came on at once, but apparently they just needed to be reset. I left Dawn to chill out in the bedroom and went on my long walk. It was a windy day, but very warm. I think the temperature got up to eighty degrees today.

I hope that we don't get any more freezing weather because the trees are definitely starting to bud. Every day I walk, the park looks a little more green. Our own trees are starting to bud as well, so I think that everything with the exception of a few shrubs survived the freeze. The yard could definitely use some sprucing up though. The house could use even more. I don't know if I have the energy to do anything substantial, but I'll give it a try. 

By the time Janet returned with her car it was almost dinnertime. We took Dawn on a short walk and called it a day. Dawn is starting to freeze on her short walks now. We got her going again and completed our short one mile loop, but it is frustrating to realize that we haven't really solved anything. Janet did manage to get Dawn clean again though. She doesn't seem to mind Janet cleaning her with wet rags. We should have just hosed her down, but that would have brought on a major panic attack. 

Very little was accomplished today, but there's always tomorrow. I need to make one more sweep of the yard and see if there is anything else that I can take to the curb for the bulky trash trucks. The trucks might actually come tomorrow. At least the washing machine is working well again. I'd better go wash the bedspread while I've got a chance.

Carmine is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day