Day 3200

I got a text message this morning saying "Busy now. Please text me." I was immediately suspicious, since nobody sends me texts like this. I think Apple has patched the IOS, but I knew it was possible at one time or another for hackers to install malicious malware on your phone if you replied to the wrong text. I looked up the number in my contact list and since it didn't correspond to any known contact, I immediately blocked the sender and deleted the message. I shouldn't have to do this. Most of my land line calls are from spammers and telemarketers. I used to think my cell phone was safe, but increasingly mobile phones have become targets too.

I never though the world would get to a point where I was reluctant to pick up my phone or answer the front door. That's were we are, unfortunately. You have to be suspicious of everyone. I would even be reluctant to open my door to someone in uniform. There are too many documented cases of people buying a police or fireman's uniform at a uniform store and then staging a home invasion if you open the door. I would never even think of picking up a hitchhiker even though I used to hitchhike myself in college.

Even though I don't trust much these days, I thought there'd be a good chance that I'd get a decent breakfast if I went back to the hotel and ordered the same thing I had last week. I don't know how many weeks I can continue these unadventurous outings, but as I've told you many times before, I like consistency.

I like French Toast, but I definitely don't like dealing with family problems. I'm not close to my family. I go to great lengths to avoid most of them, but occasionally our paths still cross. It always seems to blow up in my face. I made a small effort to resolve a few things today, but it won't amount to much. I think I'd be better off thinking I was raised by wolves.

I had to go to the storage warehouse and bring home some more rugs for Dash. The bricks have become too slippery for him. Dash is so shaky on his feet that you could knock him over with a feather these days. Hopefully, the additional rugs will help him maintain his footing. There are still more rugs in the warehouse, but I hesitate to bring them all home yet. Dash is far worse about pooping in the house than Dot was. Pooping on the bricks is bad enough, but it is going to be a real mess when he starts pooping on rugs.

I'm dozing off at the computer again. I guess it's time to get ready for bed. I hope I get more sleep than I did last night. Dash got me up again at 3 AM. By the time I cleaned up all the poop, I was wide awake and couldn't get back to sleep. Hate when that happens.

Spanky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2990

It was so nice to see the sun today. The weather was beautiful. Dash was in a good mood. I even felt like getting up this morning. We need more days like these. After a nice long walk with Dash, I went out for breakfast. I was seated near a table where several employees were talking with their boss about personnel problems. Everyone was trying to make themselves look good and their co-workers look bad. Jeez. I don't think I could ever work in an office again. There is way too much drama for me.

I'm beginning to think I might not be able to work with anyone again. Every time someone dangles a job in front of me, I try to talk them out of it. I've been corresponding with the person who wants me to update their website. When I try to explain the pitfalls of sticking with a flawed concept, I get the dreaded "I appreciate your honesty" response. Usually this just means "why aren't you agreeing with me?" Strangely, the job hasn't gone away, so I may end up doing it after all. Who knows. Maybe they actually do appreciate my honesty.

I was going to repair my dog walking shoes this afternoon, but when I took a closer look at the shoes, it seemed like a waste of time. I should just buy a new pair of boots. I didn't feel like cleaning or going up on the roof, so I wrote a letter to my sister instead. I do this about once a month. I haven't actually spoken to my sister or anyone else in my family in years. Sporadic letters seems like a good way to keep in touch to me. Anything more would be overkill. I truly don't understand how people spend so much time on their phones. What do they talk about? I really have nothing to say.

The weather remained nice for our afternoon walk. If it stays warm, I'm going to have to start mowing the grass again soon. The first time I get out the lawn mower is a good test to see whether I've gotten stronger or weaker during the year. With each passing year, the mower seems a little heavier. Last year I though that 2017 might be my last year pushing the mower. We'll see how it goes this year.

I think allergy season might have started. It's a little early, but my eyes are already itching and I'm sneezing a lot. Janet is already suffering from seasonal allergies, so I guess it's just a matter of time. Every Spring I am miserable until the allergy season passes. I start thinking how nice it would be to live in Arizona, and then I remember all the rattlesnakes and scorpions. Can't we just have nice weather without all the pollen?

I dont have any plans for the weekend. This usually means that I'll do a little cleaning and then end up wondering why things don't look any better. After a house reaches a certain age, I don't think cleaning really helps much.

Tucker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2071

A busy day is not always a productive day. I was very busy today, but I don't feel like I accomplished anything. Dot seemed weak when she woke up this morning, but we still managed to finish our pre-dawn walk. I made my breakfast smoothie and listened to the dogs bark at me as soon as I began to peel the bananas. Eventually the loud barking stops but it's not an atmosphere where you'd want to linger over your last cup of coffee. I can tell that Janet is eager to get out of the house and off to work. Early mornings can be pretty chaotic.

After breakfast, I went and found a place where I could get my vehicle registration sticker. They didn't even ask to see my safety inspection results, or my proof of insurance card. All that information was already on their computer screens. You'd think since they've made the registration process simpler, that prices would come down. Nope. They actually went up quite a bit. I remember when the annual vehicle registration sticker was in the $30 range. Then it was $50 for a long time. Today I paid over $75 dollars for my sticker. Oh, well. At least I'm legal for another year.

The second of my Dad's two sisters died this morning. She was 99 years old. My parents both passed away quite a while ago, but now all the Aunts and Uncles are gone as well. We were not a very prolific family. To the best of my knowledge, I'm the last remaining male Sealander. For years I used to think that the family name would die out with me since I never had children. Now I'm not so sure. The rules for marriage and gender have changed so much in recent years that maybe one of the Sealander girls will decide to keep the name going.

A lot of people are saying that it's going to rain later this week. I'll believe it when I see it. There actually is rain in the forecast though. I'm glad that the roofers finally came out and made all the patches I requested. I'll have to take a look tomorrow and make sure they dried properly. There is nothing that could turn these highly anticipated showers into my old nemesis again like another roof leak. The roof is actually in pretty good shape, but roof leaks have been a part of my life for so long now that it's still hard to believe that I've managed to put these problems behind me.

Dot has her annual exam tomorrow. I still can't decide whether she's going to be fourteen or fifteen years old on her birthday. You never know for sure with a rescue dog. Today Dot seemed more like 25 years old, but that was probably just because I was feeling pretty tired myself. It's been a long, hard journey this year. I'm glad my family has good genes. It's going to take some hereditary magic if I ever make it to 99 years old.

Toby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1283

The road crews were back in front of the house again this morning. This time it was paving machines, re-applying the same sort of asphalt surface they had scraped away a few weeks ago. Is this progress? Sadly, in today's world, I suspect it is. Millions of tax dollars were spent to fix a road that was never broken in the first place. Meanwhile, dozens of nearby side streets are still full of potholes and will probably never be fixed.

In honor of my advancing age, I fell on my butt and sprained my wrist while doing yard work. I was tugging on a large vine, trying to get it out of a tree. When the vine snapped, down I went. Oh, well. Now my right wrist matches the other one I'm always complaining about with the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

I got a ton of social media birthday greetings yesterday. Most of them were from people I'd never actually met. At least I had a vague idea who most of the Facebook greetings were from. I didn't have a clue who sent me birthday greetings on Google+. Not only did I fail to recognize the people, in many cases, I didn't even recognize the language the greeting was written in. For the record, I received no greetings at all from actual family members. They probably learned years ago that it just wasn't worth the trouble.

I wasted quite a bit of time today trying to apply online for a legitimate and well-deserved exemption on my real estate taxes. The powers that be couldn't have made the process more difficult if they tried. After I finally assembled and filled out the required forms, I noticed a little note at the bottom of one form that said everything had to be notarized. Why have an online form at all if it has to be notarized? It kind of defeats the whole purpose. I guess I'll finish this task another day.

Dot had very little energy on our morning walk. Even though we started out earlier, while the weather was cooler and there was still a breeze, I could tell she was getting too hot. We turned back well before our usual halfway point and made it home safely, but I'm really starting to worry about the old girl. She still loves to walk, but one of these days, I'm going to have to carry her home. That's not going to end well for either of us.

I've already taken the trash out to the curb for tomorrow's weekly trash pickup and am starting to salivate, thinking about my Friday breakfast outing. Staying on my wheat, sugar, and salt free diet forever is not going to be easy. I can still have meat in moderation though and I'm hungry for meat. I see a tasty, meat filled omelet in my future tomorrow.

Alamo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day