Day 2163

The day sure ended differently than it began. We were hoping things would dry off after an all night rain, but the weather wouldn't cooperate. Reluctantly, we took the dogs out in the rain and by the time they both did their business, everybody was soaked. I'm much more aware of humidity now. A simple walk in the rain raised the relative humidity in the house by 10%. Wet clothes, wet dogs, and a lot of open doors were all it took to upset the balance. Taking showers raised the humidity as well. Just about everything raised the humidity. When the skies cleared after lunch, the humidity went down again. I'm at the mercy of the weather.

My HVAC contractor said he'd come out and see if there was a way to install a whole house dehumidifier that worked in conjunction with the furnace and air conditioner. He told me that a dehumidifier was just a band-aid though and that something was fundamentally wrong with my house. I suspect he's right. "Everyone else says their house is too dry in the Winter," he told me. "You're the first person who wants it even drier." I think when you've got an entire house constructed of porous brick, it's kind of like having a moisture sponge. The bricks absorb moisture and then radiate it back into the house. Having tons of single pane glass probably doesn't help either. When I went to Home Depot to look for portable dehumidifiers, they didn't even stock any. "We mostly sell those up North," said a guy in an orange apron. "People put them in their basements." Yup. That explains it. The house has always felt like we were living in a basement.

I must be sleeping better now, because I didn't even hear all the wind and rain last night. There must have been high winds, because there was a big branch in the back yard when I woke up. Maybe if these dead branches keep falling off our Oak trees in windstorms, I won't have to hire the tree trimmers this year. I hauled the big limb out to the curb and added it to my pile of stuff that is still waiting for bulky trash pickup. Later in the day, I saw on Facebook that a tornado had passed through the area last night. You could have fooled me.

Now that my plumbing problems have been largely resolved, I'm starting to get caught up on work.  Today I updated a few websites and did some routine bookkeeping. It seemed like I spent a lot of time cleaning mud off the dogs paws, but that's just what we do in the Winter. Other than my strange new obsession with the humidity, it was a completely normal day.

I wish I didn't have to waste so much time dealing with water problems. I spent about fifteen minutes clearing a slow shower drain before I took my shower this morning. This afternoon, I spent another forty-five minutes getting the water from last night's rain off the roof. These things have become so normal that I don't even think about them anymore.

I'll probably continue my search for a good portable dehumidifier tomorrow. If the weather remains clear, Dash will finally get the long walk he's been waiting for. I need to confirm our reservations for Thanksgiving dinner too. Thanksgiving will be here before you know it.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1464

Neither of the dogs seemed very excited about going to training class tonight. They gave us these looks that clearly said "What is the point of all this?" I certainly didn't have the answer. I couldn't tell you what the point is of much of what I do. We went to class anyway of course, because that is what we do on Wednesday evenings.

I've been noticing big piles of branches starting to appear along the curb on our street. Coincidentally,  I've noticed that nobody has returned to pick up the huge pile of branches the power crews left in the alley after the ice storm. Putting two and two together, I finally realized that the only way these branches were going to get picked up was if I dragged them all out to the street myself and piled them with the other branches for bulky trash day. So, when is bulky trash day? I've forgotten again. It must be soon though, since there is a lot of trash piled outside the neighbor's houses.

It took me more than an hour to drag most of the tree limbs out to the street. When I was finished, I noticed that one of my hip joints felt loose and wobbly, just like my shoulder typically feels. I hate growing old. After a while you began to feel like you are the caretaker of a rusty old machine that has seen better days.

I think Dot is doing better than I am about keeping in shape. She's doing great with her weekly water therapy sessions. It's interesting that she seems to like the underwater treadmill, but has become disinterested in the Wednesday evening training class. Probably the therapy session is just more enjoyable. The water is nice and warm and she gets tons of attention and positive reinforcement from the vet and nurses. Physical therapy is kind of like a spa day for Dot, while training class is more like military boot camp.

Somebody left a note on my windshield saying that they wished they'd known I was selling the Defender 90 because they wanted to buy it, and then going on to ask if I was planning to sell my house anytime soon. Maybe I should save the letter, since I will be selling the house when Janet and I retire. Then again, maybe I should just throw the letter away. Business propositions made to strangers that are written on a page torn from a children's Big Chief school tablet usually aren't very reliable.

Alvin is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 984

Life is full of little surprises. I went up to inspect the roof this afternoon and discovered that a huge branch had broken off one of the large Oak trees in our back yard and landed squarely on the roof. The branch extended from one end of the roof to the other and was ten inches in diameter where it broke off from the tree. I'm kind of glad we were gone when the branch fell. The sound must have been horrendous and I'm sure it would have had me fretting about structural damage to the house. Fortunately, I don't think anything is wrong. The tree missed the natural gas line angling across the roof and didn't appear to tear up any electrical cables either. I'd like to blame this mishap on the multitude of squirrels that live in our trees, but judging from the size of the trunk, I think the tree is just getting old.

Now, I've just got to decide what to do with the thing. The branch looks way too big for me to cut up using my trusty reciprocal saw. I think this is a job for professionals who are still foolish enough to walk around with big chain saws. I won't use a chain saw myself. I had a friend who slipped while using a his chain saw and seriously injured himself when the blade hit him in the face. Ten years later, he still has a huge scar. I don't even think plastic surgery can fix the damage that saw did.

I just heard on the news that Neil Armstrong has died. I'll always remember where I was on that eventful day in 1969 when he said "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," All the Apollo astronauts are getting older now. It won't be long before there won't be anyone left on the entire planet who has set foot on the moon. I think that's extremely sad. We had such potential as cosmic adventurers. I wish our country was still spending money trying to expand the boundaries of what is possible instead of wasting money trying to make failure impossible. When are we going to learn that building safety nets is ultimately futile. We should be working a lot harder to give people the confidence and skills they need to work without a net.

Performers always work without a net. We're going to see one of Janet's friends sing tonight. She's quite good. Few people realize the hours and hours of practice that take place between each concert she gives. I admire people who have the patience and tenacity to keep practicing something until it's perfect. We need a lot more people like this. It has always been difficult to do great things, but isn't that the whole point? We need more great artists. More brilliant scientists. And definitely more folks like Neil Armstrong. RIP Neil.

Pinky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day