Day 4319

No pain meds today. I was able to complete my regular six mile walk without much of a problem. I think I will always have some foot pain. I walk a lot and there isn't a lot of cartilage left between these old bones. The foot doctor told me that in severe cases they can fuse the bones of the foot together, but that seems like a terrible idea. It would seem like the foot needs to stay as flexible as possible when moving.

We like to eat out on Thanksgiving and I started looking for places today so we could make reservations. Some places we have enjoyed in the past just weren't there anymore and others weren't offering a Thanksgiving buffet this year. Many restaurants had scaled back service and a few major hotel restaurants were only open for breakfast now. The restaurant landscape has really changed since Covid. I finally found one place where we'd eaten before that still had a nice Thanksgiving brunch and made a reservation.  Hopefully, it will be an enjoyable meal that will remind us of a time when life was less complicated.

I've noticed a huge increase in spam calls, telemarketers, and even spam text messages in recent months. Did somebody get my number, or is this just part of modern daily life? The spammers are irritating, but I don't know how to stop them. I have two different call blocker services on the land line but spam still gets through. I block callers almost every day now on my iPhone. I wonder if there is a limit on how many calls I can block? This information must take up some memory in the phone. Why do people do this? Are there really than many gullible people out there who fall for these telephone scams? You really feel under siege at times. The post office delivers tons of junk mail every day but seems to lose the occasional legitimate mail I send out. The phone company knows they are bombarding me with spam calls. They even identify these calls as "suspected spam." Why do they even put the calls through? I suspect that the spammers might be their best customers.

A neighbor wanted to talk about dogs while I was out walking today. I slowed down as we reminisced about various dogs we'd owned, but I kept thinking that the conversation was messing up my Fitbit pace. I've become a slave to the Fitbit and the Apple Watch. I kind of measure my day by how well I'm able to walk. I must be a fixture around the neighborhood though, because people frequently ask why Dawn isn't with me. Sometimes they still ask about Dot and Dash. Few people ask about Petey anymore, but every once in a while someone will still mention Spot. 

Dawn still enjoys her sunrise walk, but she wouldn't dream of walking six miles with me anymore. She used to take long walks with us, but not lately. I don't know if she is getting old and tired or if she has finally become comfortable with her new life and is doing exactly what she wants. She certainly seems happy enough spending most of the day sleeping on the bed. I can't fault Dawn for being lazy. I'd spend my day sleeping too if I could get away with it. Unfortunately, if I sleep too much during the day, I'm awake all night.

I have an appointment to get a haircut tomorrow. Usually I have some place to go right after I get a haircut. There are no travel plans in the works now though. I doubt that I will be going anywhere before the end of the year. I can't even think of any place I'd like to go other than the space center and the observatory. National parks are overcrowded, cities aren't safe, and a lot of foreign countries are still off limits. Dawn's going to have to get used to sharing the bed with me during the day.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3626 - Thanksgiving

It was a nice relaxing day. We stopped cooking on Thanksgiving years ago and just go out to a nice restaurant. It's a no dishes, no stress holiday for us. I think we finally found the best Thanksgiving buffet in Dallas and we've been returning to the same place for the past four years.

Eating out on Thanksgiving is more popular than you might think. We see young couples, families of all sizes, retired people, and today there was a large family gathering of at least thirty people. The food is delicious. I just had a bagel and a cup of coffee this morning so I'd have room to try everything that looked good. Janet and I eat healthy all year long. This is probably the one time where we overindulge. We start with a salad plate of interesting salads, move on to a seafood plate, and then have a big plate of traditional Thanksgiving fare. You've got to have sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top at Thanksgiving. I finally decided that you don't have to eat turkey though. In recent years I'll have prime rib instead. There's something old fashioned about prime rib. It reminds me of going to Lawry's when I was younger.

We checked on Ginny using the iCam app while we were out. She was fine. She actually did better than Dot or Dash tended to do when left alone. As soon as we left the house, Ginny immediately went to her Kuranda bed and went to sleep. She was glad to see us when we got home though. I think she smelled that we had a treat for her almost immediately. We gave her a little bit of turkey and prime rib and she loved it. Ginny is such a sweet dog. It will be sad to see her leave, but I know she is going to a great home.

It was a lot warmer last Thanksgiving. This year it was pretty cold and nasty. It rained a lot last night and I got the pumps on the roof running as soon as I got up. I should have just taken a nap when we returned from dinner, but I decided to walk it off instead. This was probably a mistake because the light mist was still enough to get me quite wet after the first three miles. There was nobody in the park except for a few dedicated runners. It was very cold so I was wearing two coats. After an hour the outer coat was soaking wet and felt twice as heavy. My shoes were wet as well. I decided to cut the walk short so I could come home and warm up again. I guess the walk did me a little good. I don't feel as lethargic as I usually do after a huge meal.

Our backdrop for the Santa Paws events is coming from Singapore. We'll see how long it takes to get here. I think it shipped today. I have a feeling that it will arrive before our first event. DHL is usually pretty fast. I used to have to ship things internationally and was often amazed at how quickly air freight arrived. Hey, if it doesn't get here on time, I've still got plenty of backdrops from prior years.

Tomorrow, I'll make my travel arrangements for the NASA event at Michoud Assembly Facility. It's going to be a busy December. I definitely won't be going out to breakfast tomorrow. I'm so full I may not eat breakfast at all.

Scooter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3454

We had a terrible storm today. Our power is out. Our large elm tree got blown over and is sitting in our yard. The roof got blown off the greenhouse and I don't even know where some of it is. The worst thing is that the power company doesn't expect to have electricity restored before 8:30 PM tomorrow evening. We don't even have good cell phone service now because a lot of cell towers got knocked down during the storm.

This storm caught almost everybody by surprise. It certainly caught me by surprise. I had returned from the gym and was taking my three mile walk when the storm arrived. Luckily, I was near a shelter at the time, so I didn't get too wet. I'm so glad the shelter was nearby. The straight line winds were so strong that dozens of large trees were blown over. We kept hearing them come crashing down all around us. The wind was blowing sheets of rain horizontally through the gazebo. At one point there was a lot of nickel sized hail and I saw several power lines come down nearby. Even though I was wearing waterproof boots, my feet were soaked. The water was coming in through the top of my shoes.

A small group of cyclists, joggers, picnickers, and myself were trapped in the gazebo for over an hour as the storm passed through. We saw a large tree land on somebody's truck in a nearby parking lot. We kept hearing fire trucks and emergency vehicles off in the distance. This was a very bad storm. When the storm finally moved off to the East, I started heading for home. I knew the power would be out, but I was hoping that I wouldn't find a tree on our roof. I passed dozens of uprooted trees on the way home. They looked like they had just been ripped out of the ground by a giant hand.

The yard looked terrible when I arrived home, but when I went up on the roof I didn't see any serious damage. Luckily the tree appeared to have missed hitting the house when it fell. I tried to call my tree guy right away but the phones weren't working. I couldn't send or receive calls until Janet and I went out for dinner later this evening. Large sections of Dallas are still without power. We had to drive quite a way to find a restaurant that still had electricity. We'll see what tomorrow brings. I may need to fill a cooler full of ice to save the food that is in the refrigerator. We still have WiFi using backup battery power, but I don't know how long that will last.

I'm hoping that the power will come back on during the night, but I'm not very optimistic. The Oncor website says that over 300,000 people were affected by the outage. It's troubling to be so dependent on electricity. Everything grinds to a halt without it. Thank goodness the gas works. We can still take hot showers.

I was worried that I might not be able to upload tonight's post since cell service is so spotty. Luckily the fiber optic line doesn't seems to be dependent on electricity. All I need to do is use a backup battery to power the router and we're in business. If the power is still out tomorrow I might be in trouble. All the backup power is being depleted fast. We're both charging our phones now.

I'd almost forgotten how bad severe straight line winds can be in Texas. Today was a good reminder that the weather always has the upper hand.

Liberty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3417

Today was mostly about food. I went back to the hotel for breakfast this morning. This is the place I always go when I'm in the mood for French Toast. At the table next to me were two guys wearing expensive suits. They seemed to be bankers or hedge fund managers. They were mad because they couldn't do business in Iran. They were also mad because of the high taxes in New York. It was hard to tell whether they were Democrats or Republicans. Their conversation pretty much confirmed my opinion that business doesn't really care who is in power. They just want to know what the rules are so they can learn how to exploit them.

I took my walk after I returned from breakfast. So far the weather forecast has been wrong all week. I was worried about rain when I woke up, but the skies were actually starting to clear by the time I started walking. I'm seeing lots of nesting ducks now. They must have gotten a late start this year. I'm also seeing a lot of turtles. Every submerged log in the lake seems to have a turtle sitting on it. I frequently see Red Eared Sliders, Yellow Mud Turtles, and Missouri River Cooters. Occasionally I see large snapping turtles, but I keep my distance from these guys. Water turtles are surprisingly difficult to photography. As you approach, they almost always slide off their log and go back in the water.

Three miles doesn't seem quite so far anymore. When the dogs were healthy I used to take longer walks. Maybe I will again. I'm not really trying to walk fast, but I've already managed to take five minutes off my elapsed time. I can see a time where I increase the distance to five miles. I can also see a time where I get bored with all this and quit walking entirely. Right now it just seems like a good way to spend my time.

Janet and I went out for dinner this evening. We used to do this frequently, but it's been a while. Once cooking special meals for the dogs and getting them to eat became a complicated ritual, we quit going out entirely. Our dinner tonight was delicious but neither of us eat this much anymore. I'm stuffed. We're going to have to start ordering one meal and splitting it. One dinner would have been plenty tonight. Especially since both of us like seared scallops.

I'm glad I didn't stay up late to watch the Space X launch last night. It got canceled again. The CRS-17 Mission was one of those events I could have applied to watch in person as a guest of NASA. I'm glad I didn't. This launch has been postponed again and again. It was originally scheduled for October of 2018. The people who got accepted to blog about this event have probably had to reschedule their flights and hotel accommodations quite a few times by now. If NASA continues their outreach program for bloggers and social media influencers, I'm definitely going to send in my application when opportunities arise in the future. Why not? I certainly don't have anything better to do.

This week has gone quickly. I've spent an inordinate amount of time looking at the weather radar lately, but the rainy season should be over soon. By June I won't be complaining about the rain anymore, I'll be complaining about the heat.

Milo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3255 - Thanksgiving

Even when the world is sliding toward the abyss there is always plenty to be thankful for. Dash is still with us and still appears to be enjoying life despite his many problems. Janet and I have both successfully navigated the world of work and arrived at retirement in one piece. Knock on wood, but my doctors still think I'm relatively healthy. Janet has survived cancer. We're not rich, but we're not going to starve. Basically, life is pretty good.

I hope I can remember this in the years ahead. It's not always easy for a grumpy curmudgeon to be thankful. Complaining is easy. Realizing that you are surrounded by good things takes a little practice. Sometimes it takes a relaxing day like today to put things in perspective.

The weather was beautiful today and Dash was in good spirits. His paws are finally starting to heal. The combination of special slip-in bandages and some medication recommended by a Facebook friend is helping us turn the corner. I'm sure there will be more bleeding as long as Dash is taking Plavix, but we know what we need to do now.

We went out for Thanksgiving Dinner again. We found a place that has a wonderful Thanksgiving  Brunch several years ago and have been going back ever since. As usual, I ate way too much. I think it's just fine to drink champagne and eat too much food ocassionally. I'll get back to normal tomorrow. Over indulging is always part of the fun on Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving doesn't typically fall on November 22, but when it does I always remember where I was when Kennedy was shot. It seems such a long time ago now. I was in high school in Alaska at the time. There was no live network television in Alaska in 1963, so we didn't see the tapes of Kennedy's funeral until several weeks later. I never thought I'd end up living in Dallas back then, but here I am. I've visited Dealey Plaza several times on November 22 but I didn't go today. There used to be large crowds, but the day is slowly being forgotten. I didn't hear a single thing about Kennedy on the news today. Someday 9/11 will be the same way. You only remember history if you've lived it.

I don't think I'll go out for breakfast tomorrow. I'm way too full. Right now, a piece of toast and a cup of coffee seems like all I'll need. I will need a walk in the morning. So will Dash. I can't imagine living in a place where you can't walk along the shoreline of a pretty lake every day. This is one more thing to be thankful for.

I hope I get some sleep tonight, but if I don't I can always take naps. Dash sleeps right next to me and when he moves I wake up. It's OK. I'm glad the little guy is still with us even if he does poop in the bed. I'm hoping that he'll still be here with us next Thanksgiving, although I know that's a long way away. We can't make long range plans anymore, but each additional day is something to be thankful for.

Chelsey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2868 - Halloween

When did Halloween become an adult holiday? I remember trick-or-treating as a kid, but cosplay, elaborate costumes, and role playing must have come much later. It was all about the candy for me. My little friends and I would wander around our neighborhood in the dark for hours, unaccompanied by adults, filling our bags with as many treats as we could. It was a different world then. Nobody worried about being abducted and a Halloween terrorist attack was beyond comprehension. I miss those days.

You'd never know it was Halloween at our house. A few people in the neighborhood have decorated their yards, but there aren't many children anymore. We haven't had trick-or-treaters in years. When the dogs went to obedience class we would make costumes for them. There was an annual Halloween costume party and once Dash won first place. That was quite a while ago. Now we don't even put a pumpkin on the porch.

The only thing that was scary today was the threat of rain. I was determined to get the roof fixed before it rained, so I drove 30 miles to a roofing supply store and bought a bucket of the special elastometric coating. I would have preferred that the roofers had taken care of this, but they never showed up. I drove very slowly on the way home, because I didn't want the top-heavy bucket of silicon liquid to tip over and spill. The messy stuff would have ruined my car.

I really thought I had enough time to make a quick repair of the damaged area, but the weather forecast was wrong. Shortly after I finished re-coating the hole in the elastomer, it started to rain. The coating didn't have time to dry and my repair quickly washed away in the rain. Now, I'll have to wait until the roof completely dries out again and start over. It's frustrating. I'm still hoping that the roofers will eventually show up and take care of this for me.

I made a reservation for Thanksgiving dinner at the same restaurant that double charged us last year. Janet says the billing error was just an accident, but it did take forever to resolve. I guess a double charge on your credit card is better than food poisoning, but I hope there won't be any problems this year. It's hard to find a good place for Thanksgiving dinner. I wonder why we ever bothered to cook a big turkey? Eating out is so much easier.

I made an appointment with my new doctor for my annual physical. I feel healthy, but you never know. Like everyone else, they want me to fast before I have my lab work. Since I can't go very long without eating, I always schedule blood work for early in the morning and then find a restaurant for breakfast on the way home. I'll get the blood tests done later this week and go see the doctor next week to go over the results. I'm curious whether this new guy will want me to continue all my meds. I'd love to cut back on the pills I take. A second opinion is always good. I've been taking some of these pills for so long, I can't even remember why I take them.

The refrigerator is empty, so I'm going to have to go grocery shopping tomorrow. At least the refrigerator is cold. I think the latest repair actually worked.

Roxy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2537 - Thanksgiving

"Be careful who you hate, it could be someone you love." I don't have any idea who originally said this, but I've always liked the thought. It certainly seems appropriate for the first Thanksgiving after a particularly rancorous election. Janet and I went out for Thanksgiving brunch at one of our favorite hotels today. There were people dining with us from all walks of life. I saw large families with children, senior citizens eating alone, young couples, mothers and daughters, groups of friends who didn't appear to be related, and then there was Janet and I. It's a safe bet that everyone in the dining room didn't vote for the same candidate on November 8, but they all seemed like very nice people.

I wonder how many of these people spent the past year posting dire warnings or hateful memes about the other side on their Facebook pages? To me, it's time to move on. I have friends on both sides of the political fence that don't seem to understand that not much is really going to change. Things didn't change much after eight years of George Bush and things didn't change much after eight years of Barack Obama. All presidents mean well, but when they push too hard, the pendulum swings back the other way the next time there is an election. Bush pushed too hard when he got the country tangled up in meaningless wars in the middle east and got Obama elected. Obama pushed too hard when he tried to disguise a massive income redistribution program as health insurance and got Trump elected. All politicians need to remember that the pendulum swings both ways. Voters are generally more pragmatic than politicians. They don't really care about ideology. A good job and a safe place to live will keep most people happy.

There was a gay couple taking their Moms out to dinner at the table to the left of us. A large Hispanic family was seated at a big round table directly in front of us. Two senior citizens were seated to our right. Somehow, I think all of these people are going to do just fine in the years ahead.

Dinner was fabulous. I don't think Janet and I will ever cook a big holiday dinner again. It's fun and a lot less stressful to enjoy a well prepared meal at a nice restaurant. Families who dine out probably also discover that there is a lot less fighting at the dinner table when you are eating in public. I was basically full after the salad course, but I went ahead and had a second course that included Eggs Benedict and a third course with Prime Rib. There was dessert too. It was a week's worth of calories in a single meal, but what the hell. We only do this once a year.

We weren't gone all that long, but as expected, Dot pooped in her bed and ate all the evidence by the time we got home. I purposely didn't check the pet cam on my phone while we were at the restaurant, because I knew it would spoil our dinner. There is nothing we could have done anyway. Even if we were only five minutes away, there would have still have been plenty of time for Dot to eat her poop. After we changed clothes, we took Dot outside and cleaned her up. The bedding went in the washing machine and all was good.

Tomorrow is Black Friday. I guess that's a holiday too. I love gadgets and gear, so it will be hard for me to ignore all the online Black Friday sales. I really don't need anything, so I should restrain myself. A better idea would be to take an extra long walk tomorrow morning and work off some of today's monster meal.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2325

Things seemed kind of chaotic when I took Dot to her therapy session today. It turned out that there was a termite infestation in the building and termites were falling out of the ceiling. I kept looking overhead, hoping that none would fall on me. Dot must have sensed that something was wrong because she pooped in the lobby as soon as we arrived. Actually, this was a good thing. If she'd gone any sooner, it would have been in my car. If she had waited, she would have gone in the underwater treadmill, which would have been a real mess. Dot's vet often tells me how much trouble it is to clean the large water tank after a dog has pooped in the water. I keep thinking it's just a matter of time before Dot gets on the shit list. Putting an incontinent dog in water is just asking for trouble.

I never get much done on physical therapy days. It takes me longer and longer to do the most basic things. We get up early and walk the dogs. I fix my breakfast after Janet has gone to work. I check my e-mail, take a shower, and clean up poop in the yard so I won't step in it when I take Dot outside after dark. Sometimes I water the grass or do a load of laundry before it's time to feed the dogs their lunch. Then I fill the back of the car with waterproof protective pads and get Dot ready to go for therapy. By the time we return, there's usually just enough time to do some simple website updates, feed the dogs their dinner, and take Dash on his evening walk. If Janet gets home early, we walk Dot and Dash around the block. Dot won't walk without Dash anymore, so it takes two of us. One of us walks ahead with Dash, so Dot has something to follow and the other holds up Dot's rear legs as we slowly make our way around the block. It's not very exciting, but that's it. There just isn't time for anything else.

Web design keeps changing. I have a growing list of things I need to learn to refine my skills creating responsive, mobile-ready websites. I wish I could get more excited about doing this. I often find myself thinking "what's the point." There might be some incentive if I were getting lots of new design assignments. I'm not. I've actually done a pretty good job of staying current and relevant, but it doesn't seem to matter. I've still got a little curiosity, even if it doesn't generate much money anymore. Maybe I'll read some of the tutorials I've been accumulating tomorrow. It looks like it's going to be a slow day.

Yesterday's severe weather wasn't as bad as everyone was predicting. There were no tornadoes and the hail was only pea sized. Everything blew through overnight and it was mostly clear today. It was so clear this evening that I was temped to go down to the park after sunset with my binoculars and look for Mercury again. Actually, I think the moment has passed. Mercury doesn't stay above the horizon for very long and it is already setting again. I didn't have time anyway. If I were looking for Mercury, I wouldn't be writing tonight's entry.

I wonder if I'll eventually wind up being one of those people who goes to Luby's every evening for the early bird special? I'm completely losing interest in cooking. It would be tempting to go out for breakfast tomorrow morning, even though it isn't Friday. I'm resisting this temptation for the moment because if I ate out all the time, meals would become much more expensive and I'd definitely gain weight. Friday's are fine. It's important to have a little discipline in your life, even if nobody else is watching.

Chance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1807

It did seem a bit like Friday today. I took the dogs on a leisurely walk and then went out for breakfast. I was surprised that the restaurant was more crowded on a Wednesday than it is on Friday. This seemed a bit counter-intuitive. There were also different cashiers and servers than there are on Friday. I guess this makes sense. Everyone is on flextime now. I know very few people who work a traditional 40 hour week anymore. Breakfast was good though. I'm sure it was just a prelude to all the overeating I'll be doing for the next two days.

When I took Dot for her physical therapy session later in the day, everyone was in a holiday mood. Some of the nurses had family coming in for the holidays and others were planning to visit friends and family out of town. I wished them luck on their journey. The traffic was so heavy when I drove to the vet this afternoon that it appeared as if everyone in Dallas was already on the road.

I'm happy that the days of Thanksgiving road trips are behind me. To say my family was dysfunctional would be an understatement. This was always a stressful holiday back in the day. It is so much nicer now that Janet and I just go out to a nice restaurant and have a relaxing meal. If the weather is warm enough, we usually take the dogs to a dog park when we return. There is no cooking, no cleanup, and no arguments. There will be no Black Friday shopping either. Even though I like a bargain as much as the next guy, I don't understand that tradition at all.

I didn't think there would be much work today, but I did get a few assignments. The website revisions were minor and I finished them quickly. None of the writing assignments were even due until after Thanksgiving, so I didn't even bother to start them. Hey, if I get bored on Friday, there will be something to do.

When I was driving home from the vet this afternoon, I listened to an interview with Ray Davis of the Kinks on the radio. They were releasing a special five CD boxed set to mark the band's 50th anniversary. Jeez, it's been 50 years? You Really Got Me was the first song I ever remember playing in public. I played the song in high school. I played it in college. I think I've played it in every band I've even been in. It doesn't seem like 50 years though. It seems like yesterday. It also seems like all the eventful things in my life happened in 1964. Well, not really. We landed on the moon in 1969. That 50 year anniversary will be coming up pretty soon as well.

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. I love a huge buffet in a grand hotel. Janet and I started this tradition about fifteen years ago and never looked back. This is so much better than arguing about politics, religion, and the state of the world with family. I wish we could bring the dogs. Dot and Dash would love a huge buffet in a hotel.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1801

It's nice to feel caught up on things. I've finished this week's writing assignments. My websites are up to date. The vet bills at the cancer center have been paid. Even the trash has already been taken to the curb for tomorrow's pickup. I'm sure there are still a lot of loose ends, but everything seems reasonably tidy. I like a tidy life.

I continue to be pleased with Dot's progress at her physical therapy sessions. Our vet cautioned us not to expect miracles, but now that we've been doing this for over a year, I can really see a difference. Even after her battle with cancer, she is still stronger than she was a year ago. I would highly recommend physical therapy for anyone with a senior dog. I'm sure physical therapy is equally beneficial for people, so I ought to consider finding a good therapist myself. With the proper care and exercises, my shoulder might actually begin to heal.

The temperature has warmed up considerably, but I'm still dressing as if it were below freezing. Consequently, I felt hot for most of the day. I definitely overdressed for this morning's walk. I always have this problem, because I don't respond quickly to change. I'm inclined to wear my Winter clothes all Winter long, but you can't do that in Texas. You always have to be ready to put on a pair of shorts one day and a parka the next.

Once again, I had a choice between going to the grocery store and picking up some take-out at a nearby restaurant. I should have gone to the store, but I took the easy way out and brought home a burger for dinner instead. It was just one burger and an order of fries, but I feel so full. When did restaurant portions get to be so huge? I never eat like this at home. I have a feeling that diabetes, heart disease, and a half a dozen other ailments could be cut in half if we just quit going out to eat so often. A special breakfast once a week is fine, but I think this is where I should draw the line. If I ate out more frequently, I'd gain ten pounds before you could say do you want fries with that.

Much to my surprise, people are actually buying my pictures on Shutterstock. Unfortunately, I only uploaded ten images to my account before I lost interest. If I can make a little money with ten pictures, just think of what I could do with a hundred, or a thousand. I need to get serious about uploading more pictures. I've certainly got plenty. Who knows. Maybe even some of my blog pictures might get accepted.

There was another package from Klout in the mailbox today. This time it was a big box of dog biscuits for Dot and Dash. They could smell them before I even opened the box. My influence seems to be limited to dogs and thermostats, but I can't complain. Free stuff is fun. Hey, with a cheeseburger in my belly and an empty to-do list for tomorrow, I'll have to admit that life is pretty good.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1785

All day rain. Those three little words can really throw a wrench in the works at our house. Both dogs hate the rain and stubbornly refuse to go out side and pee when it's wet. They seem to think that I control the rain, somewhat like a light switch. They both wait at the door for me to turn it off. When the rain continues, they get mad and start barking. I think they're  convinced that the wet weather is all my fault. Eventually, when their bladders are about to burst, they will go outside and take a quick pee in the rain, but it is an uphill battle every step of the way. At least I got them out around daybreak for a short walk before the weather got nasty. Once the rain started, it was a lost cause.

With restless dogs and no place to go, I quickly get cabin fever on rainy days. My workload was light today, so I basically divided my time between trying to take Dot outside at regular intervals so she wouldn't pee in the house and doing a little bookkeeping. As much as I hate bookkeeping, it was still easier to balance my checkbook than it was to get Dot to pee in the rain. Even though her incontinence is much better than it was several months ago, she still needs to go outside every few hours to avoid accidents. So far, so good, but I sure hope it doesn't continue raining tomorrow.

I'm glad I voted early. I doubt that there would have been long lines at the polling places with all the rain, but getting out in traffic would have been a mess. I was happy to just stay home today. Even when cabin fever has me pacing around the house, I still have little desire to drive in the rain. Even though the rain probably decreased voter turnout, I doubt that it changed the outcome of any races. Elections are seldom even close in Texas.

It's time to make Thanksgiving dinner reservations. Last year we waited too long and had trouble finding a restaurant that could seat us anywhere near lunchtime. We haven't cooked a Thanksgiving dinner at home in years. It's easier and a lot more fun to try an interesting new restaurant. When my parents were alive, I vaguely remember large family Thanksgiving dinners, but these were not always pleasant events. I like this way better. It would be nice to find a place where the dogs could come along too, but you can't have everything.

If it continues raining tomorrow I might cook an elaborate breakfast. It's a good way to kill time and the smell of food in the kitchen keeps the dogs occupied. We'll still need to work in a walk sometime, but hopefully there will be a break in the weather. It never did stop raining today. I hear rain pounding on the roof right now, but thankfully there are no leaks. No leaks is good!

Ginger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1725

I seem to be spending more and more time doing less and less. The dogs have slowed down, and so have I. Our morning walks take twice as long now. Dot isn't a sprinter anymore. We walk slowly and enjoy the surroundings. Now that the dogs aren't tugging at their leashes and racing ahead, they seem to enjoy smelling things more. They smell their way from bush to bush and eventually we find our way home again.

I work faster when there are tight deadlines to meet. Without deadlines, just about any job expands to fill the available time. It is ironic that I actually feel busier when there is less work to do, but that's just the way it is. I know I wouldn't have spent so much time on today's web project if I had something more important to do.

I lose things and spill things more often than I used to. I must spend several hours a week looking for my reading glasses. I take them on and off so frequently that I never know where they're going to wind up. Ditto for the remote control on the television. Dot may pee on things, but I spill things. I seem to have a perpetual cup of coffee in my hand and when the cup is full, it tends to spill. Sometimes I spill water in the kitchen when I'm doing dishes and then I'll look down later and think that Dot peed on the floor. Nope, it was just clumsy me.

Janet and I decided it was time to start giving Dot the Incurin pills. Her incontinence has actually gotten worse this week. It's been long enough since her surgery that we should have seen some sustained improvement by now. Several people I know have given their dog these estrogen replacement pills and all of them were happy with the results. My vet says that she has treated over a dozen dogs for incontinence using Incurin and said there were significant improvements in every single case. I had considered using phenylpropanolamine instead, but several people told me that dogs build up a resistance to the drug over time and that you have to keep increasing the dosage. You do the opposite with Incurin, gradually decreasing the dosage after an initial two week loading dose. It would be better if Dot could resolve this problem herself, but it doesn't look like this is going to happen. We have actually waited quite a bit longer than the six weeks the specialists at the cancer center recommended and I think it's finally time to do something. We should know within two weeks if this is going to work.

Just about every time I picked up my new phone today, it kept asking me for passwords. I had to reset most of them, because I just couldn't remember the old password. Some passwords were easy to re-set and others were so difficult they required a call to tech support. I have over 80 apps on my phone and probably use less than ten of them. It will probably be easier to delete the applications I no longer use than it is to reauthorize all of them. At any rate, the important apps are all working now. I'll probably never get around to the rest of them.

Breakfast was good this morning. It's probably only a matter of time before I start going out for breakfast every morning.

Alie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1547

It was that kind of a day. I went out for breakfast this morning, just because I didn't feel like making coffee or doing the dishes. I didn't go far because it was a busy day, but it was nice to have someone else take care of things for me. I have a feeling that my Friday breakfasts are eventually going to expand to other days of the week. I save money eating at home and I can keep an eye on the dogs, but I'll have to admit that I enjoy eating a lot more than I enjoy cooking.

While I was waiting for my meal, I overheard a group of people at the next table casually talking about getting robbed. Apparently they had all worked in retail at one time or another and they all seemed to agree that everyone in retail eventually gets robbed. The guy who used to work at a jewelry store clearly got robbed the most. I don't know what was sadder: that these people had all been victims of a robbery, or that they seemed to accept these robberies as an inevitable part of modern life.

I called about Dash's pathology report today and discovered that it had been sitting in the oncology clinic for four days and nobody had bothered to notify me. This place had fabulous physicians, backed up by a terrible administrative staff. They really need to do something about this. I finally ended up talking with a surgeon who went over the report with me. Yes, Dash definitely had cancer. No, he wasn't sure if the results indicated that Dash would need further radiation of chemotherapy. He told me that I needed to talk to the oncologist to get an in depth interpretation of the results. It was never clear why I wasn't talking to the oncologist in the first place. Hopefully I will be able to touch base with this guy tomorrow. I know nothing about the pathology of cancer cells, but I did hear one good thing from the surgeon I talked to today. Evidently, there were compressed thyroid tissue cells all the way around the periphery of the growth they removed. I asked the surgeon what this meant and he suspected that the cancer was still encapsulated and was pressing outward toward the edge of the thyroid, compressing the remaining thyroid tissue. Maybe this means that the cancer has not fully metastasized yet and hasn't spread beyond the thyroid gland. I wish I'd found out more today, but something is better than nothing.

Jawbone sent me a new UP fitness band today and Klout sent me some dog food as a Perk. Klout is finally learning what motivates me. Maybe this means they'll send me fewer tickets for movies I'll never attend and more things I'll actually use. It's not my favorite brand of dog food, but it's a step in the right direction. I'm glad Jawbone honored my warranty and sent me a new UP band too. I bet they've built sending a new band to customers every year into their cost structure. They probably already know that the internal batteries only last a year. This continual replacement strategy would certainly explain why these little bands are so expensive.

Today was a busy day. I did a lot of writing and a fair amount of website updates. I never got around to starting my taxes at all. There are so many things on my "to do" list that I don't think I'll ever get caught up. Things involving the dogs and their health and welfare come first. Things involving making money to pay the bills come second. Things involving my own health come third. Things involving broken things in the house come fourth. Things involving fun? Well, I haven't gotten to those yet.

Tyson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1444 - Thanksgiving

All days should be like this. I got up late. I spent most of the day eating. I walked the dogs in a vain effort to to burn off my gargantuan meal. Then I watched TV for the rest of the day. We gave up entertaining on Thanksgiving years ago when the dogs embarrassed us by eating the guests dinner. We gave up on cooking a few years later when we realized it just wasn't worth the effort for two people.

Ever since, we've been going out to eat on Thanksgiving. We pick a nice restaurant and enjoy having someone else serve us dinner. Some years, we have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, sweet potatoes, green been casserole and pumpkin pie. Other years we are more adventurous. This year we went to The Mercury. They have a great Thanksgiving buffet. The food is fresh and varied. As always, I ate way too much.

Although it was chilly this morning, the day ended up being quite nice. Since there were no time constraints, the dogs got some bonus time on their walks. Janet walked them in the morning and I walked them in the evening. I was in such a good mood after my fabulous dinner that I though I'd take a decent camera along with me. That was a mistake. I used to take a DSLR with me frequently when I walked Dot and Dash, but I think they were better behaved then. Lately, I have trouble even getting the scene in focus before one of the dogs knocks me off balance chasing a squirrel or trying to eat something nasty they've spotted on the trail. Once the leashes get tangled around my camera strap, it's hopeless. I snapped a few sunset shots, but failed to capture anything spectacular. The shot you see above shows what happened after Dash flushed a covey of birds out of some bulrushes along the shoreline.

Although Thursday is one of my regular days to go to the gym, it seemed wise to postpone any sort of a workout until tomorrow. After the monster meal I ate this afternoon, I don't think my workout would have lasted long. Probably, the gym wasn't open today anyway. I never bothered to check.

Few things seem less appealing to me than fighting crowds of shoppers on Black Friday. That being said, I'll probably end up going to Home Depot tomorrow anyway. The blinking overhead light in my office is driving me nuts. I've got to find a new fixture soon. I hope I can find what I need at Home Depot. I would dread having to go to IKEA tomorrow.

Scooter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1434

I guess I waited too long to make Thanksgiving dinner reservations. I called a few of our favorite places and they were all booked solid. I did a Google search for Thanksgiving Brunch and came up with a few more interesting choices, but they were booked as well. This all seemed a bit strange to me. We haven't cooked Thanksgiving dinner in years. It used to be super easy to get Thanksgiving reservations at a nice restaurant, because everyone else in town was having a big family dinner at home. Maybe the rest of the world finally realized that big family meals were stressful and it was a lot easier to go out somewhere. I suspect that family meals are still the norm though. The more likely explanation for the dirth of available restaurants is that the entire family goes out to eat these days because not as many people like to cook anymore.

We finally found a nice place to eat, but it took a while. Just because the Internet gives you instant access to everything doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to find what you're looking for. I'm still looking for a nice looking cargo mat for the new car. I'm growing tired to throwing blankets in the back for the dogs and would like something fitted that looked like it came from the factory. As I said, I'm still looking.

I'm also spending a lot of time looking for ticks. I saw a tick crawling up my arm as I was writing this morning. Almost every day, I find a tick on one of the dogs. The weather seems perfect for an explosion of ticks in the park and they all seem to be looking for Dot and Dash. I don't like to use chemical deterrents on the dogs, since Dalmatians have sensitive skin. This means that I've got to make a careful search of their fur after every walk. I was hoping that our freezing weather a few weeks ago would last three or four days, to kill off some of the bugs, but that wasn't in the cards. Although it wasn't as hot as it was yesterday, I still had the air conditioner on for a while today.

I was surprisingly busy today, considering how dead Monday's usually are. I had a huge website revision to complete this morning and as soon as I finished that job, there were three new articles to write. I only managed to finish one of the articles today, but at least I know where we'll be eating on Thanksgiving. I'll finish the other articles tomorrow. I'm going to try to find some time later this week go go down to Dealey Plaza on November 22. The Grassy Knoll is an interesting place on a normal year. On the 50th Anniversary, it ought to be a bubbling caldron of conspiracy theories.

Puppies are our Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 885

I went to a new breakfast restaurant this morning. I'd driven by the place many times but had never eaten there before. As soon as I went inside, I knew I had entered the Twilight Zone. I was the youngest person in the entire restaurant. Lots of people were reading the newspaper. No, they weren't looking USA Today on their iPads, they were looking at real paper newspapers. Nobody was using an iPhone or Android. The few people who were talking on cell phones had ancient brick-like models that I hadn't seen in years. The food was good though. Most importantly, the all important coffee refills just kept on coming.

After breakfast, I paid a visit to my safe deposit box to look for some documents that my real estate agent needed. I couldn't find the documents, but I did notice that there was nothing of real value or importance in my box. I found two old music publishing contracts with record labels that had gone out of business years ago. I found a detailed inventory of office equipment that I no longer owned. I found an expired passport. I found an old will that I should have thrown away because the beneficiaries are already dead. I don't know why I even keep this safe deposit box. Everything in it is worthless.

I had to fight rush hour traffic to go to the airport this afternoon. Ordinarily, I don't even leave the house at this time of day, but rush hour just happened to be when Janet's plane arrived from Las Vegas. I keep thinking we're in a depression, because that's all I hear on TV. When I'm out and about though, people look like they're doing pretty well. If you judged things by the volume of rush hour traffic, you'd have to call Dallas a boom town.

Neither Janet or I felt like cooking when we finally made it home again, so we took the dogs out for dinner at Cafe Lago instead. It's amazing how well behaved Dot and Dash are when we take them to a restaurant. They're been to this dog friendly restaurant enough now that they both understand how things work. If they're well behaved, they're going to get food. They just sit at our feet quietly like model canine citizens. People come over to pet them at our table on the patio and would never believe how badly behaved this pair can be at home.

Skippy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day