Day 2689

I didn't get any sleep last night, but today went reasonably well. I actually had time to run down to the hipster restaurant and pick up some breakfast to go before Janet left for work. I gave Dot her morning pills and then sat down to enjoy some delicious cinnamon pancakes. Dot didn't eat her own breakfast until almost 11 AM, but who care about timing anymore. She ate pretty well and wanted to eat out of her bowl again instead of being hand fed.

The reason I didn't get much sleep last night is that Dot can't seem to sleep all the way through the night anymore. She peed in her bed around 3 AM and while I was cleaning her up, she decided to poop as well. It was a mess. By the time I took her blankets and harness outside to rinse off with the garden hose before throwing everything in the washing machine, I was wide awake. Maybe I went back to sleep and maybe I didn't. It's hard to tell.

The only benefit to this nocturnal mishap was that it was pretty easy to get her outside again when I woke her up around sunrise. There were no leaks on the way to the back door at all. Usually Dot sleeps for hours after breakfast, but she remained active today for some reason. Maybe she's starting to feel a little better. She certainly kept me busy. I could tell that all this activity was making it hard for her to stand, so we used the wheelchair for our evening walk. I wasn't sure if she'd ever be strong enough to use the wheelchair again, but she did pretty well today. I continue to be amazed at how easily Dot is able to walk using this contraption.

I made an appointment to get a haircut tomorrow. I'm way overdue, but it's been hard to get out of the house this Spring. Today I made a ten minute trip to pick up breakfast and another ten minute trip to pay the phone bill, but that was it. The rest of the day was non-stop dog wrangling.

My new driver's license arrived today. That was quick. I was convinced that the process would take months. I probably should start doing more things online like this. The whole world is optimized for online transactions these days. Nobody wants you to go to the post office or the bank anymore.  I'm afraid I'm becoming a Luddite just like my sister. I'm just more comfortable doing things the way I've done them for most of my life.

I'm curious to see if Dot's blood work and vital signs have improved the next time we take her to the cancer center. She was genuinely close to death for almost a week and now she seems to be slowly improving. Dot is still very week and has a lot of trouble swallowing, but the fact that she is trying to eat on her own again and still wants her daily walks is pretty amazing. I'm not going to get my hopes up, but it would be really nice if she could make it to her seventeenth birthday. Hey, it's possible. Her birthday is this summer.

It took about five tiny meals, but Dot ate her full two cups of food today. I had a decent breakfast for a change and Janet and I had a nice dinner. Even Dash acted pretty normally. Not a bad way to end the week.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2678

Dot got her wheels today. We really didn't know what to expect. Some dogs are baffled by these contraptions and others start walking almost immediately. Dot was a natural. It only took her a few minutes to discover that the wheelchair provided some much needed stability and allowed her to walk without struggling to stay upright. For the first time in months, she seemed to relax.

The key to success with a doggie wheelchair is making sure you've got the height adjusted properly. You want all four of the dogs paws to touch the ground and encourage a natural stride. If the chair is too high, the dogs can't get any tactile feedback from the pavement and probably won't walk at all. If the chair is too low, it won't provide the necessary support, placing too much weight on the legs. If you get the chair adjusted just right, the injured dog will feel like it is walking normally, without the burden of supporting its own weight.

I was pleased with how quickly Dot seemed to adapt to walking with wheels. It probably helps that we've been helping her walk with the Help 'Em Up Harness for over a year now. She's used to having some sort of assistance. Dot knows she can't walk on her own anymore and seems to appreciate anything that will help her keep moving. The vet said that most dogs take a lot longer to adjust to walking with wheels. Dot seemed to get the hang of things in a matter on minutes. Maybe she's not as senile as we think she is.

Sadly, I think I'm the senile one in the family. I took my jacket off at the vet because it was hot in the exam room and then promptly forgot about it. I didn't even think about the jacket until about three in the afternoon when I looked in a mirror and realized that I'd put my shirt on inside out this morning. I'd been wearing it inside out all day and didn't even notice. Damn. Now, I've got to drive all the way downtown again to retrieve the jacket and it's not even jacket weather anymore.

I was pleasantly surprised today to get a letter from the State of Texas saying that I was eligible to renew my driver's license online. This was great news, because nothing is worse than standing in line at the DMV, except maybe being called for jury duty. I renewed my license immediately, just in case the state decided to change their mind later. I wish I could renew my passport online. I think you need a new photo every time you renew your passport, so I'll need to take care of this chore in person. Oddly, the driver's license folks don't seem to care how old their photo is. My photo is out of date already. Lord knows how different I'll look five years from now.

My morning smoothie tastes normal again. I still have no idea what caused things to go terribly wrong last week. The ingredients I use are always the same. One of life's many mysteries, I guess. Another mystery is why Dot has trouble swallowing her pills in the morning, but does just fine in the evening. I'm determined to solved the mystery of the bug bite on my leg that refuses to heal, so I finally made a doctor's appointment. The vet suggested trying Velveeta cheese to get Dot to take her pills. I wonder what the doctor will suggest for me. I bet it's a pill.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2649

It's that time of year. There are tornado warnings in the area and the weather radar shows a storm is headed our way. I think the really bad weather will pass to the north of us, but you never know here in Texas. One way or another, we're due for thunderstorms this evening and that's never good with two storm phobic dogs.

I was actually surprised to hear all the storm warnings on the evening news because, for the most part, it was a nice Spring day. The park was full of people today, including several weird ones. While I was walking Dash this morning we encountered a couple walking their miniature donkeys. They had the donkeys on leashes, just like dogs. Later in the day when I was returning from the gym, I noticed a group of men in another section of the park dressed in suits of armor, apparently reenacting medieval battles. At least there were no loose dogs today, although I was followed by a drone for a while.

The people in my gym keep getting older and older. I'm beginning to feel out of place. When I was on the treadmill this afternoon there was a group of old men next to me complaining about their doctors. One of them didn't want to have a biopsy done and thought he could resolve his problems through the power of prayer. Good grief. Just get the biopsy done. I didn't join the conversation though. It was none of my business. I wish a few younger people would join this gym, although I do tend to have the basketball court to myself.

Dot woke up in the middle of the night and I decided to take her outside. It was a good move, because she went right back to sleep after she peed and I was able to sleep in until almost 8:30 this morning. I wouldn't mind taking Dot outside every night, but it doesn't work very well unless she wakes up on her own. If she's sleeping, you want to let her sleep.

I forgot to go to the grocery store and look for blueberries this morning. I also forgot to go to REI on the way to the gym and use a coupon I got in the mail. Basically all I did today was take a nap and go to the gym. I did do the laundry, but when I washed the sheets, the bottom fitted sheet tore in the washer. Damn. I love bamboo sheets, but I wish they weren't so expensive. Bamboo sheets are more comfortable than cotton, but they don't last any longer. I guess it's time to look for some more.

It's hard to believe it's almost April. Pretty soon I'm going to to have to renew my driver's license and my passport. I hope I can just mail in my driver's license renewal. Spending time at the DMV is even worse than jury duty. I think when they take my passport picture this time, I'll finally look exactly like my Dad. I sure wish I still looked like I did in my first passport picture. Time definitely isn't kind.

I guess I'll have to make my morning smoothie with blackberries this week. Oh, well. Blackberries are pretty tasty too.

Bubba is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2574

I can safely say that I've mowed the grass for the last time this year. The grass has been dormant for some time now, but I always mow it one last time so it looks nice for the winter. Since it was a pleasant warm day, I thought I'd tackle the leaves as well. The trees are bare now and all the leaves are on the ground. There are an enormous number of leaves on the ground in the back yard, making it difficult for Dot to walk. It would have taken me a week to bag them all up, so I just used the leaf blower instead. Leaf blowers are a silly invention. You don't really get rid of the leaves. You just move them around. Maybe there's a temporary sense of victory, but sooner or later a big wind will just blow them all back.

Hey, at least I tried. The house has been vacuumed, the grass has been mowed, and at least Dot has a fighting chance to make it to the back of the yard to pee. There is a certain futility to all this. It is almost impossible to keep Dot, or anything else, clean for very long. Literally two minutes after I got Dot's blankets out of the dryer this morning and placed them back on her bed, she pooped on them again. I always wanted to acquire more patience, but this is not the path I thought I'd be taking to get there. You just have to understand that Dot has no control over what happens anymore.

I keep hearing a lot of people says that 2016 was the worst year ever. Mostly this was just because their favorite singer died, or they didn't like the election results. Those kind of things seem so distant to me. Singers and celebrities die every year. I'm almost certain that a lot more will die next year. I measure each year by what happens much closer to home. I've known that Dot is dying for a long time. The fact that she is still here, barking and pooping, and sharing her life with us is definitely something to be happy about. I know that my working years are just about over too. This was the year I finally learned to accept it. It's OK. If somebody wants to hire me for something, I'll be happy to take the job, but I'm not looking for business anymore. I'm not seeing as many doctors as I was several years ago. My health seems to have stabilized. That's good. Sure, I liked David Bowie too, but my dog and my health are far more important.

Next year I have to renew my passport and my driver's license. Every time I renew my passport, it looks like I've aged 10 years. Of course, this is because I actually have aged ten years. I've had quite a few passports by now. I liked the old ones before the creation of the European Union best. Each country had it's own distinctive stamp and many of my passport pages were filled with stamps from countries I will probably never visit again. My current passport looks like I haven't been anywhere.  I'm a bit more apprehensive about my driver's license. My vision has deteriorated over the years and I'm afraid they might make me wear glasses. I don't particularly want to wear glasses. A slightly fuzzy world is fine by me.

We haven't gone out for New Year's Eve in ages, but I probably will stay awake until midnight and have a glass of champagne with Janet. Years ago when I played in a band, New Year's Eve was always a work day. We made our best money playing big New Year's Eve parties. I loved the various bands I played in, but I don't miss those parties at all. There were too many drunks and too few people to help pack up the equipment when it was all over.

I hope you have big plans for the year ahead. I'm not sure what I'll be doing, but there are a few things I'd like to do. Did you know that there is going to be a total eclipse of the sun next August that crosses the entire United States? It's going to be one of the best opportunities to see a total eclipse in this century. I almost saw a total eclipse when I was going to high school in Alaska but the sky clouded over at the last minute. Maybe I'll get another chance. The eclipse is a big deal, but if Dot is still around on her birthday next August, that would be an even bigger deal.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 527

I had to go down to the Department of Motor Vehicles today to renew my drivers license. I try to do this over the Internet whenever possible, but this time they wanted a new picture. As you might expect, the picture they took was horrendous. I think the DMV has perfected the art of taking a bad picture. One problem is that they never actually take the picture when you expect they will. You smile, and wait for the flash to go off, and then you continue to wait and wait and wait. When you think they have totally forgotten about you and get that weird "what's wrong with this camera" look on your face, well that's when they always take the picture.

When I stand in a long line at a concert or sporting event, I usually feel like I am among friends. When I stand in a long line at the Department of Motor Vehicles, it's another story entirely. It's just as depressing to stand in the DMV line as it is to sit in the jury pool room. I don't think anyone in line with me today possessed any useful skills whatsoever. If this was a representative sample of what America has to offer, we're hosed. All of these people wanted to drive a car, but half of them came to the building with no documentation whatsoever and quite a few couldn't even speak English. At any rate, after a considerable wait, I got my new license and hopefully I won't need to return to this building again for a long time.

There are a lot fewer bees on the side of the house today than there were yesterday. I'm still not certain who won the first battle, however. When I woke up this morning, I noticed that I had quite a few more bee stings than I initially thought I had. Why do bee stings hurt more on the second or third day than they do when you get stung? I hate these bees. Eventually they'll be gone, but they sure are tenacious little critters.

You'd think with all the writing I've been doing lately that I'd be faster, or better, or make fewer spelling errors. Nothing has changed though. I still make the same dumb mistakes. I'm just a little more tired when I make them.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day