Day 4813

Things did not go smoothly today. The roof has started leaking again in the office. Enough already. Dawn's hematoma seems to be getting worse, even though she's been wearing her head wrap. I couldn't renew my prescription this morning because the pharmacy said it had expired and I wasn't able to reach my doctor. Why did the bottle say I still had refills left? 

The roofers made an appointment to come over this afternoon and then never showed up. I guess all roofing companies are the same. I made an appointment with the appliance repairman and then did a load of laundry and everything worked fine. Should I cancel the appointment? Who knows. Even my long walk was strange. There was an air quality alert on my phone and when I went outside there was such a thick haze that I couldn't even see the city buildings on the horizon. Probably another dust storm.

It wasn't just my own little world that was haywire either. The Crew-6 launch got scrubbed last night with two minutes left on the countdown clock. Something was wrong with the engine ignition system. I don't think there's been a problem with a crewed Space X launch before. Things are even worse out at the observatory. There is currently a big uncontrolled forest fire near Mount Locke and the entire facility has been without power for several days. Residents living on the mountain were under an evacuation warning for a while. I'm sure other things have gone wrong in the world as well, but these are the only things I follow.

At least the severe weather that was predicted for last night never materialized. It never even rained. There were high winds though and the wind probably brought along all the dust from West Texas. I took my long walk early today because of my appointment with the roofers. I should have known better. I've done something to my shoulder so both my shoulder and my foot hurt today. I still completed my six mile walk, but I think I probably aggravated my old shoulder injury by climbing up on the roof too frequently this week. I didn't make that mistake today. I'm tired of messing with these roof leaks.

I shouldn't complain too much though. If you could ignore all the dust on the horizon it was a very nice day. It was certainly warm enough. I was able to wear shorts and a t-shirt on my walk again. It felt like we were having an early Spring this afternoon. The trees are even starting to bud. This is seldom a good sign because an early Spring usually insures that there will be a late freeze in March that kills everything. We'll see what happens. I'd be happy enough if Winter were over, but March is usually full of surprises.

Hopefully tomorrow is uneventful. No surprises please. I should probably be more flexible, but that's not going to happen. I'm happy enough with my rigid little routine, punctuated with a few trips to Florida and West Texas. Sometimes I wish I were working again, but then I remember what clients are like. It's probably best that I learn to enjoy my retirement.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3820

The weather was full of surprises today. I was expecting our morning walk to be hot, but there was a nice breeze. Actually it was quite windy. With the wind in our face, the walk was actually quite enjoyable. We had been thinking about shortening the walk for Dawn, but we easily completed our five miles this morning. Probably the wind and cooler temperatures were just a fluke. It's still Summer. We might have to shorten the walk tomorrow.

By mid-afternoon there was evidence that this morning's breeze might have stirred up more than I thought. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, but everything looked weird. There were hard shadows on the ground, but the sky wasn't blue. It had a strange grey tint and everything looked less bright than usual. It almost reminded me of the way the sky looks during a partial eclipse. When I got home I looked up the weather conditions and discovered that the air quality was very poor. Evidently there was a lot of particulate matter in the air. Was this a dust storm where the particles were so small that they didn't look dusty? I don't know. There were some high winds to the west of us earlier in the day.

When I was getting dressed this morning I noticed that the carport security light was on. Had it managed to fix itself overnight? The light went out after about five minutes just like it is supposed to do. Later, I went outside and waved my hands in front of the sensor trying to get the light to come on again. Nothing happened. I tried again this evening and the light was still dead. Things like this frustrate me. It this thing broken or not?

Today was really slow. I did a little correspondence in the morning, but that was about it. I need a new project that doesn't involve fixing things. There are certainly enough things that need fixing around the house. Broken things are discouraging though. I feel like the house has let me down. Couldn't the place just keep its act together for a few more years? I don't even know how to find good help anymore. All my favorite carpenters, plumbers, and craftsmen have either retired or died. No wonder traveling seems so appealing these days. You are quite literally just running away from your problems.

It still seems weird that everything is opening up while coronavirus cases still keep climbing in Texas. I read that Dallas is considered a hot spot now. It's almost like everyone collectively got tired of the whole thing and just decided to ignore it. I think masks will eventually just become fashion statements. There will be little sections in clothing stores selling them right next to the socks.

I've given up on life ever returning to normal. Actually, life probably never was normal. Weird stuff just keeps happening in endlessly repeating cycles because we never learn from our mistakes.

Liberty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3348

The roof is leaking again. I definitely wasn't expecting this. It was a clear sunny day and there wasn't even that much water on the roof. Apparently the roofers hadn't stopped the leak, they had just slowed the water down. Somehow, water was still getting under the elastomer coating and finding its way inside through a bad seam. I put a bucket under the drip in the living room, cleared the remaining water from the roof, and looked for a damaged area where the water might be getting in. I couldn't find anything. The dripping water stopped in about an hour, but that wasn't the point. There shouldn't be a leak at all. I sent an e-mail to the roofer, informing him of the bad news and made a mental note to contact the people who still owe me a bid for completely replacing the roof. This is getting old.

Dash pooped in the bed three times last night. I think this is a new record. The poop landed right on the puppy pad each time, so there really wasn't much of a mess to clean up. Dash never woke up. We wondered why he never pooped yesterday. Now we know. Despite the interruptions, I actually got a good night's sleep. Apparently Dash did too. He was eager for a walk this morning.

The weather app on my phone has been saying that today was going to be windy for the past several days. It was pretty calm when we took our morning walk, so I thought the forecast must be wrong. Nope. This afternoon it suddenly became fiercely windy outside. I could see the wind trying to rip the roof off of the greenhouse again. Some of the new nails I added held and some of them didn't. None of the fiberglass roof panels blew off this time, but they all were loosened. The problem is that I can't climb on the shed roof to secure the top of the fiberglas panels because the greenhouse is too flimsy. When a panel falls off, I just push it back in place and nail the bottom to the top of the greenhouse wall. Apparently this is not enough.

My to-do list today included getting phenobarbital for Dash, a small plunger to help clear a slow drain in the bathroom, and fresh fruit for next week's breakfast smoothies. Kroger has peaches again, so the smoothies will taste a little better. I wonder why none of the other stores have peaches yet?  When I filled the car with gas, I noticed that the station had brand new pumps. It still took two tries to get the new pump to accept my credit card.

The strong winds only lasted a couple of hours but they stirred up a lot of dust. When I was taking Dash on his evening walk it looked like there was a dust storm on the horizon that partially obscured the sun. I hadn't seen skies like this for three or four years and though it would make a great photograph. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me. Dash walks so slowly now that by the time we got home, the sun had completely set. I guess the dust storm photo will have to wait until the next dust storm.

Today was discouraging. I can't believe I'm still dealing with a roof leak, a slow bathroom drain, and a dilapidated greenhouse. There is no joy in replacing a roof. It is expensive and you can't even see the results when it's done. I don't even think a new roof will increase the value of the house. The neighborhood is slowly becoming gentrified and our small house will ultimately become a tear down no matter what we do.

I hope that Dash wakes up with lots of energy tomorrow. Janet has an early charity event to attend and it's up to me to get the day started. We'll see how it goes. I'm not a morning person and neither is Dash

Joey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 768

Another weird Winter day in Texas. It was clear and cool when I woke up this morning. As the day progressed, it got much warmer and windier. By the end of the day the winds were quite strong and seemed to be bringing the remains of a West Texas dust storm with them. The setting sun was almost totally obscured by dust and haze. I've been waiting for one of these days to get one of those pictures of a red ball sun hovering just above the horizon. Unfortunately when the conditions were perfect, I only had my iPhone with me. I could have gotten a lot better picture with a proper camera and a telephoto lens, but at least I have a record of this dusty, hazy day.

Earlier today at the dog park, we had trouble even finding a parking place. The warm weather brought people and their dogs to the park in droves. There were plenty of small, well behaved dogs for Dash to play with, but he didn't seem to be in the mood. I still can't figure out what it takes to bring out Dash's playful side. Some days, he'll race around the park with great abandon and other days, like today, he's kind of shy and never leaves our side. Even when the dogs aren't playful, I still think they enjoy the trip to the dog park. They love being off leash and having the opportunity to roam around and take in all the new smells.

Even though I would have preferred spending the afternoon watching Dr. Who re-runs on TV, I took advantage of the nice weather and did some tree pruning in the back yard. I removed all the dead limbs on the Photinia Bushes that I could reach with a pair of pruning shears. Some of the branches were too big and I'll have to go back later with a saw. While I was working, one of our older neighbors was walking down the back alley and told me how nice our yard looked. This is a sure sign that the poor guy has gone senile. The yard actually looks terrible.

I continued downloading Logic Pro today. I didn't realize how long it would take to download 15 GB of files over a WiFi connection. When I get everything in place, I'll be all set to do nice scores for TV commercials again. Never mind that nobody has asked me to do music for a commercial in almost three years. When they do, I'm ready.

Raider is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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