Day 2862

Janet helped me get Dash's orthopedic and protective gear on before she left for work this morning. I let him wander around the house while I was fixing breakfast, hoping that he'd forget he had it on. This plan seemed to work. He quickly became far more interested in begging for treats from me than in obsessing about his knee brace. About halfway through breakfast, Dash headed toward the back door and I knew he was ready. I was ready too. I put my smoothie in the refrigerator, grabbed a leash, and off we went. Could it be that Dash just wants to walk a little later in the day? Who knows. We took a nice long walk and then I finished my breakfast.

Since this little excursion went well, I decided to take him to the vet to get his anal glands expressed. As usual, he was terrible in the car, but at least I didn't have to worry about poop. He'd already taken care of that on our walk. While we were at the vet, I had the nurse trim his remaining dew claw. Since he tore the first dewclaw riding in the car, I'll always be apprehensive that this type of accident will happen again.

By the time I got Dash home and finished washing the breakfast dishes, it was almost noon. I'd already spent almost half a day dealing with a lovable but very stubborn dog. I fired up the computer to see if there was anything important that I needed to deal with. Of course there wasn't. It was time to get ready for the refrigerator repairman.

I was planning to have the repairman install the new temperature sensor I bought, so I watched a YouTube video to locate where the old sensor was. Locating and installing the sensor seemed simple enough, but after watching the video, I learned that the repairman was right. This particular sensor had nothing to do with my problem.

When the repairman arrived, he had the correct part this time and it only took him about thirty minutes to install it. We didn't bother to defrost the evaporator coil this time, because I'd already done this less than two days ago. The repairman said he was confident that the refrigerator would work this time, since we'd replaced all the parts connected with controlling the defrost cycle. I hope he's right. Having to deal with food that could spoil and go bad is almost as irritating as having to go to the laundromat when your washer breaks. When the repairman left, he told me not to worry. The parts are guaranteed for a year and if the evaporator coil still keeps freezing, he'll keep coming out until the problem is resolved. I thanked the guy and told him I hoped I wouldn't see him again for a long time.

A stray cat has been pooping in our yard and Dash is obsessed with finding and eating the stuff. Now, I've got to shadow him every time he goes outside to pee, so he won't sneak off and eat cat poop. The elusive poop is very hard for me to find, but apparently very easy for Dash to smell. I don't know how I'm going to put an end to this nuisance. The smell will go away eventually, unless the cat keeps coming back. Feral cats should know better than to hang around this neighborhood. There aren't many mice anymore and some of the cats routinely get eaten by coyotes.

I contacted the roofer again and tried without much success to get him to commit to finishing the repairs. This is the only major issue left on my Fall to-do list. There are a couple of holes that need to be patched immediately. I'd much rather have the roofing crew repair the damage, but I'd settle with another five gallon drum of the elastomer material at this point.

If I wasn't so apprehensive about leaving Dash, I'd go see Bladerunner 2049 tomorrow. I'm not very busy. This would be a good time to go. The film has done so poorly at the box office that it probably won't be around much longer. There are even matinee showings now. It won't be long before it will be at the dollar theaters.

Patch is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2232

Where did today go? I stayed busy all day, but really accomplished almost nothing. It was still dark when we walked the dogs because Janet had to leave for work early. I saw four of the five visible planets, but the illusive Mercury was still hidden by low clouds on the Eastern horizon. I watched the Impossible Planet episode of Dr. Who on the BBC channel during breakfast, which made breakfast take even longer than it usually does. I always liked this episode. When I took the dogs out to pee again before I fired up the computer and started working, I noticed another dead bird in the yard. This explained what the dogs were so interested in last night. The feral cats in the neighborhood do help control the rats, but I hate all the dead things they drag in the yard.

The first thing I discovered when I turned on the computer was that the backup batteries had gone bad in my Uninterruptible Power Supply. Since I wasn't that busy anyway, I took the power supply down to the battery store and had them rebuild the batteries. I think this is the third time I've had to replace the batteries in this particular UPS, but it was still cheaper than buying a brand new Uninterruptible Power Supply.

Dash was low on Phenobarbital, so I stopped by the vet to get a new supply and then returned to the battery store to pick up my refurbished UPS. When I finally did get to work, there wasn't much to do. There are still a couple of unfinished website projects, but no impending deadlines at all. I used my free time to write a letter to the watch winder people expressing my displeasure at their refusal to repair or replace my two broken winders. I don't expect much of a response, but at least I got that off my chest.

I discovered that I could buy The Martian on iTunes for half of what it would have cost to purchase a physical DVD in a store. No wonder stores don't carry many DVD titles anymore. I downloaded the movie and may never buy a DVD again. Why bother. I watch DVD's on my computer anyway and a downloaded file plays more reliably anyway. Half price seals the deal. No wonder Apple isn't making computers with DVD drives anymore. They really want to convince people to buy everything on iTunes. Now, all I have to do it get the little Apple TV box and I can watch my downloaded files on the big TV in the bedroom. Not that it matters, but I did remember to order ink for the large format printer.

The weather has got me confused. I bundled up like I did yesterday, but the minute I stepped out the door I realized was overdressed. As soon as the sun came up, it quickly got even warmer. By the time I was running errands this afternoon, I didn't even need a jacket. I think by the end of the week, temperatures are supposed to be in the mid-seventies. It's strange weather for this time of year, but I'll take it. It certainly beats cleaning up after the East Coast's giant snowstorm.

Unless somebody's website crashes unexpectedly, tomorrow will probably end up being a carbon copy of today. That's OK with me. I've got fresh bag of Fritos and a new movie to watch.

Bones is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1806

I finally got around to paying my property taxes today. Hopefully, this is the last large bill I'll need to pay this year. I'm tired of all these bills. Property taxes are particularly irritating, since I feel I'm just funding more government waste. I wouldn't mind paying taxes if I got to choose what programs my tax dollars would support. I don't particularly think I should be expected to pay for schools, since I've never had children. I'm a big fan of space exploration though, and would love to be able to use my tax payments to help restore a few of NASA's canceled projects. You may have your own priorities, but I think everybody should get to choose what they think is important. If you think we need to increase defense spending, your money goes there. If you want to rebuild roads and bridges, direct your tax dollars to fund infrastructure projects. If you want to expand public assistance programs, well that's your choice.

I didn't get around to uploading any stock photos today, because I got busy with other things. The dog blankets were filthy, so I washed them all. A client I am seeing tomorrow had a website request, so I tried my best to get everything done ahead of our meeting. I think I made all the requested changes, but we'll see how I did tomorrow. It's amazing how quickly the day goes by just doing the same routine things over and over again. Walking the dogs takes a couple of hours. Fixing breakfast and dinner takes a couple of hours. The writing and website assignments usually take at least four hours. Pretty soon the day is gone. Writing the blog everyday takes quite a while too. This is probably why it takes me so long to work anything new into the schedule. Once you've established your priorities, spontaneity becomes somewhat of a luxury.

The possum has returned. I saw it this afternoon, hanging out with the neighbor's cat. I think it's sad that the cat is so lonely that it's trying to make friends with a possum. The cat has tried to befriend Dot and Dash several times but the dogs always want to chase it. All the other feral cats in the neighborhood chase the cat away too. I don't know why so many people think they need an outdoor cat. This cat would definitely prefer to be indoors. Hopefully it won't get eaten by the coyotes. This seems to be the fate of many cats that do their mouse hunting in the park.

Since it's Thanksgiving on Thursday, I rescheduled Dot's physical therapy and acupuncture sessions for tomorrow. Maybe I ought to go out for breakfast tomorrow as well. So many people seem to be taking the entire week off that I have a feeling that Wednesday is going to seem a lot like Friday.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1292

Today was a day of inconsequential activities. I was certainly busy enough, but did any of it really matter? I cleaned lint out of the dryer with one of those Lint Lizard things you've probably seen advertised on TV. I scraped loose paint and plaster off the rain damaged living room ceiling in preparation for doing something more substantial later. I bought new bags for the vacuum cleaner at an odd little store that should have gone out of business twenty years ago. I fixed a broken latch with superglue on a VHS tape deck that I'll probably never use again. I hadn't been up on the roof for a while, so I swept leaves off the dry roof. Much to my chagrin, I discovered that wild animals have been peeing on the new white roof and leaving stains. At least I hope it was wild animals. While all this was going on, the large format printer ran its lengthy cleaning cycle and wasted a lot of expensive ink.

Probably the only useful thing I did today was get my blood tested at the local health food store's Summer cholesterol screening. Janet and I thought we'd beat the crowds by arriving before the store opened, but apparently everyone else had the same idea. There was already a line when we arrived. The line moved fast though and we were in and out in less than twenty minutes. Afterwards, we went home and had a big breakfast. A friend of Janet's had given her some fresh eggs from chickens she was raising and you could sure taste the difference. I guess the only way to get really fresh, healthy food is to grow or raise it yourself.

Every time someone tells me about the beauties of nature, I take what they say with a grain of salt. I walk through nature every day. I see sparrows chasing the purple martins away from their homes. I see ugly Johnson Grass encroaching on the beautiful native prairie behind our house. And since it's almost July, I'm starting to see bagworms again. Bagworms have destroyed countless trees in the park. They get into our own trees as well. Once these things get established, they can be very difficult to get rid of. Oh, well. At least we don't have rats anymore. The neighborhood feral cat population has grown so large that they've eaten them all.

I don't think we'll spend long at the dog park tomorrow. It's too hot. Dot and Dash still expect an outing on Sundays, but they also expect the weather to be nice when they get out of the car. Sorry guys, I can't help you with the weather. If I could, I'd have done something about these oppressive Summers years ago.

Sparky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day