Day 3014

Near the top of my to-do list today was a trip to the store to get more dog treats for Dash. You don't ever want to run out of dog treats in this house. Since Dash is a picky eater, there is a particular brand of treats he likes. Of course you can't find this brand at the neighborhood pet store. I drive further to find things for Dash than I do for myself.

While I was out, I returned to the plumbing supply store. Surprisingly, they actually did have some of the parts I was looking for. I bought some of the easy to replace parts, but the water control assembly, which was the main thing I was trying to replace didn't look quite the same. The parts guy said to bring the old fill valve in and it would be easy to tell whether the two parts were the same. My idea was just to buy the part now in case it was unavailable in the future. I didn't actually have the nerve to try to remove the old part yet. It has frozen in place and there's a good chance I could break something trying to remove it. The guy who was helping me couldn't figure out why I wanted to buy the part if I wasn't going to use it. "If this part doesn't fit, you're going to have to buy a new toilet anyway," he told me. The guy had a point. "Just leave the part here until you really think you need it," He said. "Nobody else is going to buy this thing."

I decided to leave well enough alone. It would be nice to have all new parts, but the toilet is actually working now. There's a good chance I could break it again if I keep monkeying around. I should have thanked the parts guy. He saved me $75.

It was a pleasant surprise to see the stock market go up almost 700 points today. We're still down for the month, but they say this was the third largest gain in history. These wild market swings make me nervous. There was no fundamental reason for last weeks huge loss and no reason for today's big gain. I'm going to have to learn to live with this volatility though. I think it's here to stay. Computerized trading platforms make it possible to buy and sell huge quantities of stock in a fraction of a second. Humans like me are just along for the ride.

It was kind of hot this afternoon, so I wasn't entirely surprised that Dash refused to take his afternoon walk. I dutifully suited him up anyway, just in case. I still think that Dash needs a little more exercise, but like they say, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

Since we had a mild Winter, I'm already starting to see a lot of bugs. A lot of these bugs seem to find their way inside. When I'm out in the back yard it looks like an invading army is preparing to strike. There are cockroaches in the trees, ants crawling on the bricks, and crane flies hovering around the back door. The spiders haven't returned yet, but it won't be long. I hate the crane flies because every time I let Dash out, a few of them fly in the house. It's going to be an uphill battle to keep these critters outside this Summer.

I shouldn't complain about Spring, because Summer is so much worse. It was actually a beautiful day today. It's too bad that Dash thought it was too hot.

Bubba is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2883

From the looks of our mailbox, you'd think that Dash was the only one who lives here. This dog gets more mail than I do. In addition to notices and reminders from various vets, Dash receives a steady supply of homemade dog treats. Dash's "Thanksgiving Dinner" came in the mail today. I'll have to admit that it did look pretty good.

Janet finds these things on Facebook. I'm amazed at the number of people who have created a viable business making products specifically for Dalmatians. There's a guy who make dog coats specifically for Dalmatians. He started his business by showing pictures of his coats on Facebook Dalmatian groups and now he gets orders from all around the world. Now, there's a woman who makes dog treats targeted to Dalmatians. She posts a picture of her Dalmatian wearing a chef's outfit every time he is "baking" and the orders pile in. I applaud these strange and wonderful little businesses. They are so specific that you'd think they couldn't possibly work, and yet they do. Maybe Janet could make dog cookies the next time she decides to retire. Her cookies were amazing, but she only made them once a year for the dogs of friends and neighbors. I still remember delivering them around Christmas time while I was walking Spot. This seems like thirty years ago, because it probably was.

Dash seems so much better than he did two months ago. I don't know if his health has really improved, but he definitely seems happier. I think he decided that if he was on the verge of death, he was going to start living life his way. He didn't want to walk when it was convenient for me. He wanted to walk when he felt like it. He was tired of eating kibble and convinced us that he really needed cans of super premium Castor and Pollux stews. I don't know why he feels like interrupting my breakfast with a long walk, but it really doesn't hurt anything. I've adapted to this new routine fairly easily. I can see why he got tired of eating kibble. I don't think I would enjoy living on healthy crackers.

I hope some of the changes we've made are actually doing some good. Dash is definitely spoiled now, but he doesn't seem as anxious now and his stress levels are much lower. He even stands still and lets me put on his rubber boots before we walk now. I think he's finally learned that it feels better to walk while wearing these protective shoes. Almost every day, people stop us on our walks to ask about the boots and knee brace. I've told the story so many times that the manufacturer should give me a discount.

The heavily modified boots are clever and comfortable. I could probably sell these on Facebook if I could ever figure out how to manufacture them myself. Manufacturing almost anything is much more complicated than it seems. The big problem with dog boots is that they have to fit exactly to be effective. Every dog's paws are different. They have to be soft and easy to put on, while remaining tough enough to stand up to sidewalks and asphalt roads. My design is improving each time a make a modification, but I don't think this will ever be a commercial product. I've spent way too much time on these things.

We have an early appointment at the cancer center tomorrow for another echocardiogram. We'll probably do these monthly tests indefinitely. I keep hoping that one of these days we'll see that the blood clots in Dash's heart are getting smaller.

Honey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2831

I fixed the refrigerator this morning. I remembered what the appliance repairmen did the last time they were here and did exactly the same thing. I was a little worried about electrocuting myself since I didn't unplug the refrigerator before I started taking it apart, but the repairmen left it plugged in too. The repair won't be permanent because there is still a thermostat that needs to be replaced, but I think I did a good job. Everything is working perfectly now and I saved $175 by not calling in another emergency repair.

It took me about two hours to get the refrigerator running properly again. I put all the frozen food in an ice chest while I was working and nothing thawed. I could do this again if I have too, but I would prefer to have the two thermostats replaced so the automatic defrost circuit works properly again. I wonder why it is taking so long to get those parts? Either the repairmen have forgotten about me, or the parts are on backorder. I'll call tomorrow and remind the guys that I'm still here.

Dash is still not eating well. I eventually got him to eat enough to make sure he is still getting proper nutrition, but it was an uphill battle. Feeding Dash these day involves lots of little meals and judicious food substitution whenever he refuses to eat something. I sure hope that his vet can come up with an explanation for this odd behavior. He'll turn up his nose at something and then two hours he'll scarf the same thing down like it was his favorite meal. He won't eat wet and dry food mixed together anymore, but he will sometimes eat dry for if it's mixed with a broken up rice cake.

Walking Dash has become equally problematic. I'll put his harness on, lace up my boots and then he won't go out the back door. It took four tries to get him interested in an evening walk. The first three times he refused to leave the house. The fourth time he walked eagerly out the door and headed straight for the back gate. I don't know what's going on in that dog's head anymore.

Once I was sure that Dash was ready for a long nap and wasn't going to lick his injured dewclaw, I went outside and began cutting the pile of branches I had thrown off the roof yesterday into smaller pieces so I could take them back to the alley. Cutting up the Elm Tree branches took me even longer than fixing the refrigerator, but I did get the job done. Now there is a neat pile of wood in the alley that will have to sit there for another month before I can take it to the curb for October big trash pickup.

Dash was happy to see Janet when she returned from the Dalmatian Rescue Golf Tournament this evening. She brought him some hand made dog treats she won in the silent auction. For some reason Dash had no problem at all eating these.

Scout is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 949

On most Saturdays, I do what thousands of other men do. I go to Home Depot. I don't have a shopping list or a plan. I just wander aimlessly up and down the aisles, looking for things that might be useful. I always manage to come home with something, but some of my essential supplies don't get used for months or even years. The problem is that after running Saturday errands, the last thing I want to do is start a home improvement project. The various nuts and bolts and cans of paint get put in drawers, or on top of shelves and are eventually forgotten about. Typically, when I get one of those rare urges to fix something, I can't remember where I put my supplies and have to go to Home Depot all over again and buy the stuff again. This isn't the best plan in the world, but I do feel ready to repair at a moment's notice.

It turned out there weren't any Dalmatians to photograph today after all, because the new guy was already on his way to his forever home in Houston. It's great the dogs are finding homes so quickly. It wasn't always this way. When I took our two dogs on their afternoon walk, they didn't want to go far. It was just too hot. I think my hopes for a mild Summer have been dashed. It's just another blistering hot Texas Summer like last year and the year before.

All day, the television news was filled with the unfolding story of the theater shootings in Colorado. It's such a shame that you can't even go to the movies anymore. I used to love going to the movies when I was a kid and nobody ever worried about our safety. They didn't have to, because it actually was safe. Times have certainly changed. When I was growing up, there wasn't a murder in my hometown for fifteen straight years. Now, in most big cities, there's probably a shooting every fifteen minutes. I wonder when someone is going to look at the big picture and see the obvious. If you spend your time playing violent video games from the time you are five to the time you're twenty four, it is going to color your perspective on things. It just is.

I went to the pet store this afternoon to get some more rawhide sticks for the dogs to chew.  These sticks look like fat little pencils and are made of shredded rawhide, so they will digest easily. Dot and Dash love them. The guy at the store told me that they no longer carried the sticks, because they were trying to eliminate products that were not made in America from their inventory. This seems like a good thing, but I still think the sticks are harmless. The pet store guy tried to sell me some raw butcher bones instead, saying it would be good for their teeth. I'm not so sure. We gave our first Dalmatian those cow hooves that pet stores used to sell and they almost ruined his teeth. They were too hard. Butcher bones seem just as hard and they're messy too. Our dogs would carry them right back to the bed and ruin the bedspread.

Why do I mention this? I guess because it's so hard to know what's right anymore. Everything from choosing healthy dog treats to raising kids so they will become responsible adults has become a lot more difficult.

Katie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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