Day 4053

Last year at this time I had plans. I was getting ready to go to Florida for the ESA Solar Orbiter launch while simultaneously planning to spend several weeks out at McDonald Observatory. I had no idea that the world was about to change. NASA still had the welcome mat out. One of the last in person NASA Socials was taking place and there didn't appear to be any press restrictions. The Solar Orbiter launch would be my first with full press credentials and I remember enjoying riding on the press bus and sharing war stories with an interesting group of seasoned professionals. There wasn't a mask in sight.

The observatory needed my help for their annual Spring Break festivities when hundreds of people would converge on the visitor center every evening for the largest star parties of the year. I did see several Asians wearing masks when they visited my telescope at these star parties, but I didn't think anything of it at the time. Covid still seemed to be something happening a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

It's amazing how much has changed in a year. The observatory has been closed to visitors for months and it is very difficult to get press accreditation at Kennedy Space Center these days. I'm not even making plans anymore. Every time the world seems to try to return to normal, the virus says "not so fast" and introduces a whole new set of problems. My daily routine hasn't changed much at all, but I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. When I turn on the TV in the morning I always expect a surprise and often wonder how long this madness can continue.

One good thing about having dogs is that it gets you used to a fixed routine. Dog expect consistency. They like to be fed at a certain time, walked at a certain time, and even go to bed at a certain time. Add this to my own desire for consistency and you've got a day that is very regimented. I get up. Dawn eats her breakfast while I make the bed. I fix and slowly drink my humongous fruit smoothie. I check my e-mail and pay bills. We walk Dawn and then I continue on a much longer walk that can take two or three hours. When I return there's usually time for a few chores before dinner and then I write my blog post. Repeat this routine day after day and you can see why I'm ready for a trip.

There was an injured bird in the yard today. It didn't appear that the bird had been attacked by another animal, so we decided that it had probably flown into one of our large glass windows and was just dazed and confused. This has happened before and I've learned that it is best to just leave the bird alone for a while. The bird must have knocked itself silly, because it stayed in the same place for over three hours. Eventually it hopped up on a nearby ledge, looked around, and then flew away completely normally. I'm glad we didn't try to intervene. Trying to move the bird would have just made the situation worse.

Maybe I'm imagining things, but Dawn seems more relaxed with me lately. She followed me out to the kitchen when I was fixing her dinner this evening and she even hung around for a while when I was having breakfast. She's still pretty jumpy, but I think we are making progress. People occasionally ask me what happened to Dawn while I'm taking my long walk. I tell them that she's getting older and just doesn't like to walk as far any more. I imagine that's pretty close to the truth.

Thursday evening still seems like the end of the week to me. I've taken this week's trash to the curb and was very happy that it didn't include a dead bird.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4038

Janet walked Dawn by herself again today. She said that Dawn was more enthusiastic this time and didn't freeze at all. They still only walked about a mile, but I guess this is progress. We'll continue this routine for a few more days and then I'll start walking Dawn again and see if it makes any difference. It will be very disappointing if it turns out that I'm part of the problem, but I'd like to know.

I thought I would have heard something from the dehumidifier company by now, but so far nobody has replied to the letters I've sent. This is disappointing as well. There is something wrong with the replacement unit the company sent and they are basically the last resource I have. I've already discovered that there are no repair shops in town who will work on these things.

I wish I wasn't losing interest in walking because I need the exercise and can't think of a better way to stay active. My Fitbit says that I'm not doing as well as I was this time last year. I have a feeling that this is because I stopped going to the gym. I didn't go that often, but my workouts were fairly strenuous compared to walking in the park. I guess I could walk faster. Nope. I actually can't walk any faster.

I wait for the mail every day, but I don't think I'm ever going to get my author copies of SpaceFlight Magazine. Everything in London is so chaotic right now with all the severe virus lockdowns that I think sending out these magazines is the last thing on anyone's mind. Nevertheless, I would still like to receive the magazines someday. It's still hard to believe that my articles have been published until I can hold the magazine in my hand.

Janet was gone a lot this afternoon and I had to put Dawn on a leash to get her to go outside and pee. She would also not eat the dinner I fixed until I left the room and went back to the office. Maybe I'm wrong, but it feels like she has reverted back to being a kennel dog and I am the kennel attendant. Could it be that she experimented with freedom for a while when she joined our family and then decided that she felt more comfortable in a kennel environment with strict rules? I have no idea. It does feel like the bedroom has become her kennel run though. This is where she feels safe and comfortable.

I watched the Boca Chica live feed for a while today. The SN9 Starship prototype had three static fire tests in a single day. Clearly they are getting ready to fly this thing. I don't think anyone has done three back to back static fires before. Elon must be getting confident. Meanwhile, the Artemis-1 rocket has been waiting for over a year for it's static fire test. I still wish I was going to Stennis Space Center for this, but NASA had other plans.

I watched the latest episode of The Expanse later this afternoon. I have to admit that watching the show was a little more interesting when watching a static fire test, but episodic television is pretty predictable as well. It's something to do though and gets my mind off obsessing about dehumidifiers and wondering about Dawn.

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4037

I tried to catch up on some correspondence today. I doubt that I accomplished much, but at least I tried. I wrote my editor at SpaceFlight Magazine and told him that I won't be attending any space related events this Spring because of Covid. I'm sure he'll understand because he lives near London and people in the UK are under even more severe restrictions than we are. 

I wrote the dehumidifier manufacturer and describled the problems I'm having with the replacement they sent in great detail. I sent pictures as well. I don't know what this will accomplish but it's frustrating that I'm having just as many problems with the replacement unit as I was with the dehumidifier they replaced. I took care of a few other odds and ends as well, but mostly I was just avoiding starting anything new.

We experimented with Dawn today. Since Dawn is sometimes scared of me, Janet walked her by herself to see if that made a difference. Nope. Dawn walked about a mile, which is exactly the same distance she's been walking when we all walk together. Dawn just doesn't want to walk anymore. This is baffling to us, since she used to love her walks. We still don't know if the issue is physical or mental. All our other dogs loved their walks. Dot and Dash loved to walk even when they got old and could barely move. We didn't learn anything during Dawn's recent vet exam. Other than having too much protein in her urine, she seems to be quite healthy.

Maybe I'm trying to read too much into this. I didn't really enjoy my walk today either. It was a beautiful day, but I felt like I was on a forced march. The park is quite large, but I've practically memorized all the paths by now. There isn't much point in going somewhere else to walk. This is the largest, most interesting area for walking within fifty miles. Driving to go walking seems counterproductive too. One of the main reasons I started doing this was to avoid using the car.

I wonder why I've been spending so much time looking at telescopes lately. If I got a better telescope, there's nothing to see. I went outside last night and could barely see Orion. The light pollution in Dallas is really that bad. I still like gadgets and gear though, so I guess this telescope quest is a good way to daydream. There are a lot of interesting dark sky sites within driving distance, but there is little point in making travel plans until Covid is over. One of the main reasons that infections got so bad in rural West Texas was the surge of bored city people visiting Big Bend National Park. Staying put and doing nothing is really the best plan until I get vaccinated. I've abandoned my plans to go out to JPL in February for the Mars Perseverance landing. It just isn't worth the risk.

Maybe there will be a new episode of The Expanse to watch tomorrow. The Season 5 isn't over yet, but I'm not sure how frequently new episodes are released. One a week seems reasonable, but that's probably because I'm used to watching old fashioned episodic television. There are thousands to movies to stream these days but very few things capture my interest. I'm really surprised that I'm even watching this show.

I wish Dawn could talk and would tell us why she has lost interest in walking. There's got to be a simple answer for this. I lose interest in things all the time for no real reason. Who knows. Maybe dogs do the same thing.

Suzie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4031

Today was dismal. It was supposed to rain all day, but for the most part it was just dark and overcast. When we tried to walk Dawn, she wanted to turn around before we even finished our first mile. She always starts out very enthusiastic, but as soon as she spots a way home, she's done. We keep wondering if she has arthritis or if something else is wrong, but she always makes the journey home just fine. All she seems to want to do these days is lie on the bed.

After we returned home with Dawn, I continued walking. I was pretty sure I would get wet, but there was nothing to lose. Wet or dry, I had very little to do today. Although I got a little damp, the rain never really amounted to much today. I ended up walking about six miles.

I had trouble getting motivated today. I didn't take down the Christmas tree and I didn't start my next astronomy article either. I certainly didn't begin raking the leaves. You never want to rake leaves when they are wet. I ended up watching the Space X Starship static fire test in Boca Chica, but I couldn't bring myself to watch any of the news channels. It was just too discouraging. 

I think there's a new season of The Expanse available now on Amazon Prime. I think this would be season five. Maybe I'll watch that tomorrow. I always liked this show and the previous seasons seemed to get me through dismal days before. Unless I'm really motivated to start my astronomy article tomorrow, a little science fiction seems to be in order.

Janet was gone this afternoon and I had a hard time getting Dawn off the bed. I had to take her outside to go pee on a leash. She does fine on a leash, but she won't come when I call whenever Janet is gone. Sometimes she won't even leave the bedroom to eat her dinner. When I fixed her dinner this evening, she wouldn't leave the bedroom to eat until I went back to the office and ignored her. I heard her eating, but I didn't leave my desk because I didn't want to scare her. As soon as she finished her meal, I heard her go to the front door and wait for Janet to return. As soon as Janet came home, everything was fine again. It's kind of sad. I'm always here and Janet is gone a lot. I'm sure Dawn would prefer the opposite.

I'm going to have to disable some more things on my Apple Watch. After I upgraded the system, it's become way too intrusive. The watch is reminding me to go to bed now and asking me if I want a wake up alarm. I disabled the feature that calls 911 if you fall, but there are apparently more things I need to disable as well. A watch that tells the time, tracks my walks, and provides a decent weather forecast is all I need. Actually, I don't need any of this. I'm pretty content not wearing a watch at all.

I hope I'm more motivated tomorrow. It really is time for the Christmas tree to come down. I'm sure there's water on the roof as well. I should be getting to know my new camera and sending queries and proposals to magazines. I'm doing nothing instead. January is never a great time for me, but I should be able to do better than this.

Nellie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4030

I don't think anyone is going back to work after the holidays. Things are usually quiet on a Tuesday, but the roads were crowded, the stores seemed full, and the park looked like it was Sunday afternoon. Granted, it was a nice day, but I've never seen so many people in the park on a Tuesday. 

We're still trying to figure out why Dawn has lost interest in walking. Today we drove her to a new section of the park and started walking on unfamiliar trails. Dawn seemed very excited for a while. She was walking briskly and smelling everything. Then we inadvertently crossed a trail she knew and everything changed. She didn't want to explore anymore. She let us know in no uncertain terms that she wanted to follow the old trail back home.

Oh, well. We tried. We walked back to the house along the familiar trail and Dawn was happy again sitting on the bed. Unfortunately, we then had to walk back to the park to get the car. So much for this new plan. At least the car was only several miles away. Janet got in the car to run some errands and I continued walking. I got plenty of exercise today. This is one good thing about being retired. You don't really need a plan for anything. The goal is usually just to get from sunrise to sunset.

The Christmas tree comes down tomorrow. We left it up a little longer than usual this year, but why not. The tree looks nice and there is nothing else festive on the horizon. With Christmas in the rear view mirror, all we've got to look forward to in January is raking the leaves. We used to hire a lawn service to do this, but they've become very expensive. I think everyone becomes more frugal when they retire. My parents were and so were my grandparents. Living in retirement is like having a full tank of gas, but no gas stations. You really don't want to run out of gas.

I got a letter from my accountant saying that it was time to start gathering my tax materials together. How did this happen? It seems like I just finished last year's taxes. At least I made a little money writing for magazines last year so I can deduct my travel expenses. I thought I'd be traveling a lot this year writing about astronomy and space, but Covid has thrown a wet blanket over my plans. Basically, I'm superstitious. I've managed to stay healthy so far, but I don't want to push my luck. I wanted to go out to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the Perseverance landing in February and I've been thinking about visiting Mount Wilson as well. That's not going to happen. California has become a Covid disaster area. You'd have to be crazy to want to travel to Los Angeles right now.

I guess I should start writing my next astronomy article before I forget everything I learned at the astrophotography workshop. My editor at Sky & Telescope said to send an outline first. I can do that. Actually, writing an outline is a good way to procrastinate. Usually, I just start writing and make a lot of revisions, but outlines are OK too. Occasionally, advertising clients would want an outline first. I definitely know how to do them. I just don't know how to follow them.

I still haven't heard from my contact at the dehumidifier company. Maybe they fired him for giving away too many dehumidifiers. I'd really like to know how to stop the rattling noise. I've got the unit placed in a bathroom next to the office and the noise is driving me nuts. It's too bad I threw away the the old dehumidifier on last month's bulky trash day. It didn't work well, but it was very quiet.

Will Dawn walk tomorrow? That seems to be the question of the day lately. We've been trying to build Dawn's confidence ever since she joined our family. I think she's finally confident enough now to let us know she's a very lazy dog.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4021

Houston, we have a problem. We found a new route for Dawn this morning and after several miles we found ourselves on the other side of the lake. Dawn was doing great. She was walking without any hesitation and was enjoying herself. When we decided it was time to go home, Dawn had other ideas. She wanted to keep going. It was way too far to circle the entire lake and come home the long way. We had to turn around. Dawn refused to budge. We tried everything. The cheese didn't work. Getting her over to a road that ran parallel to the trail we took didn't work. She wanted to keep going, but we could tell she was getting tired. We went a little further, hoping that we could convince her to turn around but that didn't work either. The dog was way too heavy to carry home.

This certainly wasn't what we expected today. We found a good place to rest and I walked back home to get the car to come and retrieve Dawn and Janet. I told her that this might take a while. If Janet managed to get Dawn turned around and headed in the right directions again, I told her to text me. When I got back home again, there was no message. I put Dawn's blanket in the car and went back to the other side of the lake to find them. When I arrived where I had left them, they weren't there. I drove to the next place the road intersected the trail and they weren't there either. Eventually, I reached Janet on the phone and she said they were almost home. Evidently Dawn refused to move for about twenty minutes and then she decided she wanted to follow two Vizslas who were heading in the right direction. 

Did Dawn have a seizure or was she just being very stubborn? We'll probably never know. Janet did say that Dawn's eyes looked very strange while they were waiting for me at the rest area. Once Dawn began moving again, she and Janet made it home without incident. She didn't hesitate at all. We've been walking together in the park for ages and Dawn never used to act like this. It's a shame that we probably won't be able to take this route again. We kind of need a shortcut home now in case of emergencies.

Once we were all back home the day was uneventful. My feet hurt because I tried to make the return trip to get the car as quickly as I could. After a short nap, I started thinking about updating my company website. I've been wanting to do this for a while because the site is sadly out of date. I'm apparently sadly out of date as well. I used to be fairly adept at coding, but I couldn't figure out how to duplicate some of the fancy new things I've been seeing on other modern sites. Before I got too discouraged, I decided to watch a video on how to edit deep sky photographs instead. I got about halfway through the video before I became bored with the very technical steps that were outlined and decided to call it a day.

I went up on the roof this afternoon and was pleased to discover that all the water had completely evaporated. Most of the leaves had blown away as well. This was good because we have more rain in the forecast next week. There is even a chance of snow on Thursday. I'm definitely not looking forward to snow. We'll see what happens. I just take things one day at a time now.

I finally figured out whey I have been unable to syndicate the blog to Facebook. Facebook algorithms still find the blog offensive. Any of you who have been reading the blog for a while know that this is ridiculous, but it is impossible to talk to Facebook about anything. Facebook is a one way street. I'm kind of disgusted with social media in general. If it all disappeared tomorrow it would be fine by me. I'd just go back to keeping my journal in a little leather book and life would go on. 

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3915

Hank and Luckie have left the building. Janet helped transport them to their new home in Austin today. We've already received pictures showing Luckie sitting on the sofa. It doesn't take long for these dogs to adapt to a better life. Charlie is the only Dalmatian at the kennel right now. He probably won't be alone for long. I've heard that two more dogs will be entering the rescue program soon.

After bragging endlessly about the shopping app that lets me bypass the checkout line, the app has failed me two weeks in a row. After entering all my items and heading for the door, the app fails to connect with my bank and I have to erase all the entries and go back and check out all over again with a cashier. This app used to work perfectly until the company decided to "upgrade" it so that the same app could be used for several different stores. It hasn't worked since.

I shouldn't complain. My shopping day is still very simple. I just buy the same things over and over again. Today I filled my cart with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and peaches. I bought some coffee pods for the Keurig and a case of bottled water. That was it. That's not all we eat, but Janet got the other stuff yesterday.

The weather is still pretty nice. We didn't need jackets on our walk this morning, but it still felt like Fall. It was even reasonably nice this afternoon. Maybe Fall has actually arrived. Fall always seems to be the shortest season here in Texas. Some years it only seems to last a few weeks. Hopefully, this year will be different. After a long hot Summer, I could use an equally long Fall.

The bridge that they've been working on in our neighborhood for over a year is finally done. It looks exactly like the old bridge it replaced. Maybe the new bridge is a little wider, but it's hard for me to tell. It sure looks the same to me. I wonder what led to this bridge being replaced? Was the old bridge structurally unsound? Is the city anticipating a lot of growth in this area. Who knows. Road construction in Dallas is a mystery to me. The roads are always torn up. Will there ever be a time when the construction is finished?

Today was really uneventful. There were a lot of things I should have done. I didn't do any of them. The older I get, the harder it is for me to get motivated. You start asking yourself "does this even really matter" and the answer is often no. This is how things start to decay. I don't think I'll ever become like the Beales of Grey Gardens, but I'm starting to see how this all happens.

Dawn refused to come out of the bedroom until Janet returned late this afternoon. She wouldn't even leave the room when I went to the kitchen to fix her dinner. She seemed comfortable enough when I was sitting on the bed with her, but she just wouldn't get off the bed. As soon as Janet came in the front door, Dawn went straight to her bowl and ate her dinner. Weird. Maybe we do need to see a behaviorist.

Marcie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3907

There's been rain in the forecast all week. We planned our walk this morning to avoid getting wet, but it never rained. It was certainly humid enough though. I'm definitely ready for some crisp, cool Fall weather. I'm never sure when Fall begins or ends. Sometimes it's 80 degrees here on Christmas.

I paid some of my September bills today. You'd think paying bills online would be quicker and easier than writing checks, but it isn't turning out that way. For some reason there are often small discrepancies between Quickbooks and the online accounts. I must be entering the information wrong in Quickbooks, but the errors are often hard to find. I'd like to put everything on autopilot, but you've got to check on recurring expenses because they frequently change. I'm surprised at how often Medicare related stuff changes. This is often why my books don't balance.

I think once you go on Medicare, the amount of spam and telemarketing calls you get goes up exponentially. Janet and I both get way more spam and dubious offers than we used to. Older people are sitting ducks for spammers and scammers. Just about the only way you can avoid them is to never answer your phone. I block numbers almost every day, but these people keep finding us.

Dawn seemed nervous around me again today. This only happens when Janet is away for long periods of time. As soon as she returns, everything is fine again. In these situations, I've found that it's best to just ignore her. The harder I try to convince Dawn that I'm friendly, the more it seems to upset her. The Pandemic probably hasn't helped things. Neither of our schedules are like they used to be. I guess I should be encouraged that Dawn seems a little more comfortable now. This is just going to be a long, slow process.

Dawn is our first retirement dog. It was completely normal for all our other dogs to spend their day with me. I was the one who was always here. I walked them, fed them, and played with them while Janet was at work. Things are different now that we're both here all the time.

Very little happened today. I should have gone up on the roof and removed the standing water, but I thought if I did it would just start raining again. I had an excuse for everything today. It was too muddy for yard work. It was too early to write the editors at Sky and Telescope again. I definitely wasn't in the mood to clean out the office. Maybe that's why I just took a long nap.

Tomorrow is grocery day again. Is it even worth looking for peaches when they are all being recalled? Why is it harder to find extra sharp cheddar cheese? I've given up on Clorox Wipes. Did we ever even need them? We seem to be doing fine without these things.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3625

As Ginny continues to become more relaxed, she is acting more and more like every Dalmatian I have ever known. She is a velcro dog who follows me everywhere. I have to be careful not to trip over her because she is always nearby. If she wants something, she will nudge me with her snout or if I'm at my desk will slap me with a paw. Usually what she wants is food. If I'm up, she always heads straight to the kitchen. She loves to take naps and already has a favorite blanket. As luck would have it, I'm fond of naps too. Ginny is always right beside me on the bed. If this girl didn't already have a good home after she finishes recovering from her heartworm treatment, it would be very hard to take her back to the kennel.

We wanted to make sure that Ginny was comfortable being alone in the house, so we set up a camera to watch her in a safe gated area while we walked around the block. She wasn't frantic at all. She sat in her Kuranda bed looking at the door for a few minutes and then curled up and went to sleep. We repeated this exercise twice and she was fine both times. When we returned, she got off her bed and began following me around again. I'm glad she used the Kuranda bed. When we're here, she doesn't go near it and prefers the comfort of our large king-sized bed. Like I said, she appears to be a very normal Dalmatian.

When we were doing our little test, I was disappointed to discover that our Baby Monitor doesn't work anymore. I don't know when it broke. We haven't used it since Dash died. Luckily, there was an alternate way to keep an eye on Ginny. I still have the iCam app on my phone. Even though this app is very old, it still works. You can use any computer or another phone to sent the pictures and then you receive them on your iPhone. I wrote the Withings company to see if they could fix the broken Baby Monitor but I doubt there is much they can do. Like many things in our house, this handy monitor is too old.

I wrote the editor of Spaceflight Magazine to see if they'd be interested in an article about the Artemis Program and then signed up for a rental car loyalty program. Now that I'm visiting observatories and getting invited to NASA events, I'm renting more cars than I ever thought I would a few years ago. Maybe if this continues, I'll get a free rental one of these days.

I probably spent more time napping with Ginny than anything else today. I did take my five mile walk though when Janet returned from her errands. Walking is when I think and plan things. I'm not sure how much good this does since my mind wanders and much of what I'm thinking about evaporates as soon as I return home. Even though I'm not a disciplined planner, I do think I'm making progress. I've been to Johnson Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, and McDonald Observatory this year. Oh, and I managed to see the Big Boy steam engine in operation too. Hopefully, by this time next year I'll be able to add more interesting things to this list.

No fruit smoothie for me tomorrow morning. Thanksgiving dinner is almost an all day event and I need to save room for some holiday indulgence.

Spots is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2823

My Fall allergies have returned with a vengeance. It's a shame, because the weather has been beautiful lately. They say that most Fall allergies are caused by ragweed pollen. Since we had a lot of rain this Spring and Summer, the ragweed in North Texas is even worse than usual. I hate taking antihistamines, but I may have no choice this year. My eyes have been itching and my nose has been running constantly for several days now. These allergies are making me miserable.

Using a dehumidifier is supposed to help with allergies. I've got that covered. Running the air conditioner at night is supposed to help too. These things aren't helping much. It probably doesn't help that Dash sleeps right next to me and his fur is probably covered with pollen. There is so much pollen in the park now that our shoes are sticky when we return from our morning walk. I wipe Dash's legs off with a wet rag, but I'm not sure how much good this does. I always forget about Fall allergies when the weather starts to get nice. Them several weeks later I remember that there aren't really any good seasons in Texas.

When we were walking this morning, we discovered that we were on the same path with thousands of runners. We learned later that this was the annual Tour des Fleurs half marathon. Even though the path was crowded with runners, Dash still wanted to criss-cross from side to side like he always does. I didn't think the runners would appreciate this, so we eventually convinced Dash to walk down by the shoreline instead. This is probably why my allergies are so bad today. It was a windy morning and there were ragweed plants everywhere. The one benefit of taking this alternate route is that I saw some Buttonbush flowers. Of all the weird and wonderful flowers I see in the park, these are probably the weirdest.

When I was running errands today, I took my dog walking boots to the shoe repairmen to get some new heel taps put on. The shoe repairman didn't want to take a credit card for such a small repair, so I told him to keep the boots and dye them brown again. This made him happier, but when I got home I realized that I won't have any comfortable dog walking shoes for a while. I should have thought about this. The sturdy boots will look nicer now, but what will I wear tomorrow morning?

Dash has gotten in a bad habit of wanting something to eat every hour from 8 PM until it is time for him to go to bed. We started giving him his evening meds earlier in case he throws up in the middle of the night. The unintended consequence of doing this is that Dash still expects something to eat when he used to take his pills. When Janet was recovering from surgery we were going to bed earlier too, so we would give him a rice cake at 9 PM. Now that life is more or less back to normal, Dash expects something to eat at 8, 9, and 10 PM. If he doesn't get what he wants, he starts barking very loud. Training an old, stubborn dog to behave again is not easy, but we're working on it.

I finally vacuumed the house today. We've only got one dog now, but there's still a mountain of dog hair. House cleaning was my exercise today. Tomorrow, I'll need to go to the gym.

Phantom is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2103

Sometimes when I take Dash to the vet, I think I should be taking him to a psychiatrist instead. He used to ride nicely in the car, but now he barks and whines and generally is a nuisance until we arrive at our destination. Dash acted this way when we first adopted him and it took a long time to convince him that car rides were the gateway to dog parks and other fun activities where he got to play with other dogs. Eventually he grew to like the car. Now, after all his cancer treatments, he has reverted to his original fear of traveling in cars. It's too bad he doesn't know or understand the full story. The place he was whining about visiting today saved his life.

Dash sailed through his six month recheck with flying colors. There was no evidence that the cancer has returned and his oncologist said he looked like a healthy and happy dog. We don't have to go back for another re-check until February of next year.

I need to see how much time I've got left on my car's warranty. For over two years the car has performed flawlessly. No problems at all. Now, I'm beginning to hear squeaks and rattles that I've never heard before. This is usually not a good sign. On any other car I've ever owned, the squeaks and rattles were never a problem until the day after the warranty ran out. Then they miraculously turned into a major repair almost overnight. What makes these squeaks and rattles even worse is that they are sporadic. Sporadic problems never show their ugly face at the dealership. You describe the problem in detail and then when the mechanic takes the car for a test drive, nothing appears to be wrong. The mechanic thinks you're nuts. Then on the way home, the problem reoccurs. This happens so consistently that it drives me nuts.

The car isn't the only thing that is showing it's age. We've got a sodium vapor security light in the back yard that flickers on and off all night. Whenever the air conditioner compressor cuts in, the lamp cuts out. The flickering light wakes me up at night occasionally and when it randomly goes on and off while the dogs are outside, they think it is lightning and it scares them. I finally broke down and called our electrician today. I always hate to call the electrician to fix something this simple because electricians are notoriously expensive. Unfortunately, the pole the lamp is attached to is located right next to where the power lines comes into the house from the street. I'm always afraid that if I attempt to replace the lamp myself, I will slip and touch the power lines and electrocute myself. I guess it's worth paying the electrician.

There a brand new Dr. Who episode tomorrow evening. Last year I waited and waited for the new series to begin and was almost immediately disappointed. Hopefully Season nine will be better. Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman are both back for another year. A lot of people seem to think that Peter Capald is edgy and great, but I still like Matt Smith better. In my humble opinion Vincent and the Doctor was the best episode ever. There wasn't a single episode in season eight that even came close. I'll still watch the show tomorrow though. What better have I got to do?

I hope the dogs let us sleep in tomorrow morning. After a week of getting up in the middle of the night to clean up poop, I need a break. According to my fitness band, I'm hardly getting any sleep at all.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

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Day 1524

Dash is a smart dog. When he was having his incontinence problems recently, he learned that if he scratched at the back door with his paw, we would come running to let him out. That little scratching noise would wake me from a sound sleep, because I knew that if I didn't get there in time, Dash would poop in the house. Now that Dash is completely better, he has remembered what a quick response he gets from scratching at the back door. Now he scratches at the back door whenever he wants anything. It's irritating. Since his bowels have been a bit unpredictable as long as he's been with us, I still come running, only to discover that Dash has cleverly gotten me out of bed for a dog treat or an early walk. He has become particularly bad with this behavior on weekends when the rest of the family likes to sleep in a little longer. Although Dash spends half his life sleeping, he apparently doesn't understand the concept of sleeping in. Sunday's are a great time to sleep in, but Dash was determined to get us out of bed and walking in the park by 6:30 AM. Eventually he won this battle.

It was a nice day, but Dash still should have cut us a little slack. Would it kill him to sleep a little longer on Sunday morning? Jeez, doesn't he know that he gets to go to the dog park on Sunday's anyway? At any rate, the day got off to an earlier start than I had hoped, but it wasn't a bad day. The dogs got their walk. Everybody had a nice breakfast. Janet and I did a few chores around the house. And then we all went to the dog park.

On days like these, you can be easily fooled into thinking that Spring has already arrived. Almost every year, there is a week in February when the weather is so nice that trees start to bud and a few hardy flowers begin to poke through the soil. Inevitably, just when things are starting to look green, there is a final Winter freeze that kills all the early growth. It happened last year, and it will probably happen again this year. That's just the way it is in Texas. Eventually, it all gets sorted out and by April the meadows behind our house are thick with wildflowers. April and May are usually wonderful, but by June I will be complaining again about how hot Texas gets in the Summer.

I made it back to the gym this afternoon and started doing some of my old routines again. It's amazing how quickly a few idle weeks can throw you off your stride. It hasn't been that long, but I can already tell that my strength and endurance aren't as good as they used to be. The shoulder still hurts a bit, but the inflamation is all gone, so I think it's time to start working on the muscles again. If I waited for my shoulder to feel completely normal again, I'd be waiting for a long, long time. It's never going to be completely normal again.

Janet has the day off tomorrow. I hope she decides it's a lazy day instead of a housecleaning day.

Joshua is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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