Day 3280

Janet and I both wonder how we used to accomplish so much when we were younger. It seems to take so long to do even simple things now. It's a good thing I don't have a full schedule these days. By the time I make the bed, clean up dog poop, get Dash dressed for his morning walk, and fix my breakfast, I'm ready to call it a day.

It's dark when I wake up, but by the time I finish making the bed, it is already time to get Dash ready for his walk. I guess I could just leave the rubber sheet and protective pads on the bed, but I carefully fold all the nighttime bedding and put it away so the bedroom looks nice for a few hours. Protecting Dash's feet for his walks is a complicated ritual. First we put on a par of fitted bandages that are secured with velcro. Over the bandages goes a cotton sock and on top of all this go the Ultra-Paws boots. Dash has four pairs of these boots now because I need to keep reinforcing the toe with Shoe Goo to cover worn spots caused when Dash drags his feet. It takes the Shoe Goo 48 hours to fully cure, so I rotate the boots to make sure there is always a good pair available. In addition to his special footwear, Dash also wears a brace for a partial ACL tear in his right knee along with his Ruffwear harness that I can use to keep him from slipping and falling. Needless to say, I can get dressed much quicker than Dash can.

It was cold and overcast on our walk this morning, but there was no sign of rain. Knock on wood. I'm going to be nervous about the roof until the roofers com back to finish their repairs. In fairness, the damaged areas probably need to dry another day before they can be successfully patched, but I still wish I'd seen the crew working today.

I didn't accomplish a lot today. I never do. I picked up a Plavix prescription for Dash at the pharmacy and paid a bunch of December bills. I still need to pay my 2018 property taxes, but I've got until the end of the year to write that check. I always pay my bills on time, but I find it irritating living on a fixed income. Especially when the stock market is tanking. Hey, welcome to retirement. When I was working I always felt like I controlled my own destiny. Now I feel like the world is always throwing me a curve.

The house smells good tonight. Janet is doing Christmas cooking this evening. Most of the goodies will be given away as gifts, but maybe there will be some leftovers for me. I'm sure that Dash is thinking the same thing. I especially like the sausage balls. We should have these around all year. Of course, if we had Christmas food around all year, I'd be twenty pounds heavier.

I hope I see the roofers tomorrow. Sadly, even if they are successful in patching the leak, it is only a temporary solution. The high-tech silicon membrane just wasn't a good solution for this house. My new year's resolution is to start over and put on a new roof. I'd rather have a new car, but it's much more important to have a dry house.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2592

I have lost the ability to be spontaneous. If I deviate from my routine even slightly, everything falls apart. I almost didn't get my blog posted by midnight last night just because I left the house for a few hours. When I tried to make up the time I'd spent attending last night's meeting, I didn't watch Dot closely enough and she ended up pooping in her bed with her harness still on. This always makes things messier. Even worse, I was so tired that I fell asleep at the computer for a while and didn't notice that Dot had pooped on herself until after midnight when I was getting ready for bed. I had to wake her up and take her outside in the rain where I could clean her off and fit her in a fresh harness. Since I disrupted Dot's sleep to clean her up, she became stressed and peed in her bed later in the evening, which we discovered the next morning. I kept thinking that none of this would have happened if I'd done everything on schedule.

I'm really getting tired of all the rain we've been getting lately. My shoes get muddy every time I take Dot out in the back yard to pee and often I don't have time to take them off again while I am guiding her back through the house to her bed. The rugs are a mess. If I see a brown clump on a rug, the only way I can tell whether it is mud or poop is to kneel down and smell it. Dot has trouble getting traction on the slick, wet ground, so I have to be extra careful that she doesn't stumble and fall. I'm able to prevent a lot of the falls, but I can't catch them all. I felt bad today when she stumbled in the hallway while I was doing dishes and ended up cutting her foot.

Since I'm caught up on work again, I thought I'd get caught up on the bills that are stacking up on my desk. I paid all the December bills today and took them to the post office. I'm glad December only comes once a year. Every time I pay a stack of bills, I'm dismayed by the thought that I'll be doing this on a fixed income in just a few years. When I was younger I always thought the solution to money problems was to just make more money. It seemed to work pretty well when I was in demand, but I'm afraid that train has already left the station. I don't even want to think about what life will be like twenty years from now. Given my family history, I might not even be around by then, but if I am I'll probably be broke.

I need to catch up on sleep tonight. I didn't get to bed until 1 AM and then had to get up again at 6 AM. That's not enough sleep. I wish I could write my blog entries faster. I remain committed to my goal of writing for 5000 consecutive days, but it's getting harder. Eventful days are actually much easier to describe than days when nothing happens. Sometimes I'll stare at the screen for thirty minutes before I can even write the first sentence. This would be so much easier if I were still attending space launches, traveling around the world to create ad campaigns, and getting included in cookbooks.

I certainly won't be doing any of that tomorrow. There are two bananas left and a pint of strawberries, so I'll be having my regular fruit smoothie for breakfast. I don't know what I'll have for dinner though. The refrigerator is looking pretty empty. There's my goal for tomorrow: to find something for dinner.

Dovey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day