Day 4418

Today was busy. I fixed the other toilet after breakfast and then I finally bleached the rust stains in the living room ceiling where the worst water leak was. The ceiling looks much better now. I'm tempted to get some drywall mud and finish repairing the ceiling but I need to remember that I never found where the water was getting in on the roof. It might be worth repairing things even if it is a temporary fix. I'm getting tired of looking at the crack in the ceiling.

I hope the toilet repairs last a while this time. Little by little, everything on my to-do list is getting done. Janet wanted me to change the battery on the key fob to her car today. I followed the directions, but couldn't get the key fob to open up. Clumsy hands I guess. Janet finally got the key fob to open herself. I think the key fob for my car has a better design. I had to change my key fob battery a few months ago and it opened up in less than a minute. It doesn't take long to learn that there are some things on modern cars that are better to do yourself. All it takes is a two dollar watch battery to fix a key fob. The dealership wanted to charge me twenty dollars.

I keep putting off upgrading the firmware on my star tracker. For now I'm content to just read the user forum and see what the other Kickstarter backers are doing. Maybe I'll feel more like using this thing when the power line tree crews arrive in our neighborhood. Right now two big trees block my view of the southern horizon from the back yard. The utility company has eminent domain and about every six years they come and butcher these trees so they don't get too close to the power lines that run down the alley. After decades of doing this the trees look really ugly now. 

Janet and I decided to just ask the crew to cut the trees down this time. It would be easier for them in the long run and it would also make it easier for us to reroute our driveway to the back yard someday. Backyard astronomy might become easier as well. I don't know if the utility company will remove the trees though. I've been watching the crews inch their way toward us in the neighborhood and it looks like they are only doing minimal cutting this time. The last time these guys were here they made such a mess of everybody's trees that the entire neighborhood rose up against them. There were lots of threats of lawsuits, although I don't know if any were actually filed. Eminent domain laws are pretty powerful. If you have a power line running next to your property the utility company can pretty much do whatever they want to any trees that are in the way.

I keep getting 20,000 steps a day despite my foot problems. My pace has slowed quite a bit though. Now my right knee is starting to bother me as well. I feel like I'm slowly falling apart. Unfortunately, the alternative is falling apart much more quickly if I became less active. I still think it is important to keep moving. I think Dawn wishes I moved a lot faster. Her natural pace is a lot quicker than mine. Hey, I'm doing the best I can. I'm kind of amazed that I used to walk two young, strong Dalmatians at the same time. I couldn't do that anymore.

It's time to make a grocery list again. I wonder how expensive things are going to be this week. It's easy to forget that there have been high gas prices and rampant inflation before. I remember gas lines in the Jimmy Carter era and the first time I bought a house, interest rates were over 11%. There have always been problems. You expect things to get better though. It's disappointing when we keep making the same mistakes over and over again.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1967

The two Live Oak trees in our back yard are destroyed. The power company tree trimmers arrived early this morning and began butchering the trees. By noon, they both looked like stumps. If the tree crews came every year, they could trim the trees just enough so that the power lines running down the alley would be completely safe without destroying the trees. These guys only want to come every five or six years though and they always cut the trees back way more than necessary, so they won't have to return the following year. I assume that this saves money, but it makes a mess of the trees. I think they require a clear area of at least twelve feet around the each power line. Three or four feet would easily keep branches from touching the wires even on the windiest day, but of course, I have no say in the matter.

I am so sick of trying to clean food particles out of my mouth after meals without touching the hole where my wisdom tooth used to be that I almost feel like quitting eating. Eating has always been one of my few real pleasures and now it is a total nuisance. Hard crunchy things are difficult to chew and soft things get stuck in my teeth. Nothing seems to work. My teeth have become so sensitive to cold beverages that I almost welcome the warm salt water rinse I have to swish around in my mouth three or four times a day. Apparently, going to the dentist is like opening a Pandora's Box. One of my other dentists called today and wanted to set up an appointment to fix tooth number 31. The oral surgeon has already told all the referring dentists that he'd done his part. Now I need to repair the tooth next to the wisdom tooth that was removed. After that, I probably need a new crown on tooth number 30 as well.

Dot must be almost deaf by now. She slept completely through all the noisy chain saws and loud voices of the crew in the back yard this morning. It's a bit sad to see her growing deaf, but it's a blessing in a way. She's a lot calmer when she doesn't hear all the odd noises that used to upset her. When she finally woke up for a late lunch, the tree crews had gone. When she went out in the yard to investigate, she knew something had happened, but she wasn't sure what. I hate seeing the Live Oak trees chopped up like this, but maybe the St. Augustine grass will finally start growing. There's certainly a lot more light in the yard now.

I paid a few bills today and tried to resolve a doctor bill that slipped through the cracks two years ago and never got paid by insurance. I think I got things cleared up, but you never know with this type of thing. The sign company called and said the banner I ordered yesterday was ready, so I picked that up on my way home from the post office. By the time I got home, it was time to feed the dogs again. Dash lost one of his protective socks yesterday, so we tried to find it on our walk this evening. It was a futile effort, since Dash never likes to go the same way twice. We almost lost another sock this afternoon, but luckily I noticed it was gone just a few feet after he kicked it off. That's it. It wasn't a very exciting day, but hey, that's how I roll.

Bunny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1966

I called the dentist today to see whether I might have a dry socket. "Do you have a fever," the nurse asked? Nope. "Is there a foul smell or bad taste in your mouth?" Nope. "Are you in excruciating, unbearable pain?" Not really. "Well, you don't have a dry socket," she told me. When I mentioned that there was still a lot of discomfort, I'm surprised that she didn't tell me to "just deal with it."

My photo assignment today was documenting a veterinary dental procedure.  The dog that was having her teeth cleaned experienced a very rare allergic reaction to the anesthesia and had a sudden and rather serious loss of blood pressure. The mood in the operating room immediately went from routine to emergency status. I was very impressed at how quickly and calmly the veterinarian and her two assistants dealt with this life threatening situation. In less than a minute, countermeasures had been taken to restore blood pressure and stabilize the dog. As soon as a strong pulse was re-established, the anesthesia was quickly withdrawn in what is known as a "hard wake up" procedure. The dog is fine now, but still has terrible looking teeth. I don't know how she's going to get her teeth cleaned now. If I had seen all this before my own dental surgery, I would have freaked out. My biggest worry before having my wisdom teeth extracted had always been that something would go wrong with the anesthesia. Ironically, the veterinary clinic used exactly the same monitoring equipment as the dental surgeon did.

Today was very busy for a Monday. In addition to the photo shoot, I had some extensive website revisions to make and a large banner to prepare for printing. A new writing assignment came in toward the end of the day, but I'll have to deal with that tomorrow. Increasingly, I'm finding that I have difficulty getting everything done during the day. There just isn't enough time. Dot doesn't walk far in the morning's, but she walks very, very slow. I'm eating slower, because it's hard to chew. Nobody likes to talk on the phone anymore, so I'm spending a lot more time answering client's questions via e-mail. I wish simple questions didn't require complicated answers, but frequently they do.

Tomorrow will be a mess because the power company tree trimming crews have finally arrived in our alley. Dot always goes into a barking frenzy when she sees all these trucks and hears the chain saws. Hopefully, I can pen her in the office with me so she won't be distracted by all the activity behind the back yard fence, but I don't think it's going to work. Once the barking starts, it's very difficult to stop. In addition to all the noise they make, these tree trimmers have a history of butchering the large Live Oak trees in the back yard. They always trim way more than they need to and the trees look horrible when they're finished. There's nothing I can do to stop these guys. The power company has eminent domain over anything that gets close to the power lines and, like it or not, they have the legal authority to ruin my trees. They've done it before and they'll do it again.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be less hectic than it was today. I'll need to run up to Fastsigns and pick up the banner order I called in today. There's the new article to write, and one more website to update. Lord know long it will take to get all the food particles out of my teeth.

Crosby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day