Day 3656

It rained a lot today. I tried to avoid getting wet, but there weren't a lot of breaks in the weather. I tried something different for breakfast this morning. Since I was out of fresh fruit, I made the dish I submitted to the SXSW Cookbook many years ago. I was actually an SXSW presenter back in the day. When they asked me if I wanted to be included in a cookbook featuring recipes from various other SXSW presenters and participants I jumped at the chance. Most of the recipes were from famous people like Sheryl Sandberg. And then there was me. Not surprisingly my recipe was something to eat for breakfast.

I managed to go to the grocery store after breakfast and get some more strawberries and blueberries before the heavy rain started. Luckily, the pumps on the roof were working today. Even though the roof hasn't leaked in quite a while, I'm always nervous when it rains.

I had to postpone my walk because of the weather. There wasn't a lot to do around the house. I did a little searching on the Internet and discovered a retired astrophysicist who offered private viewing opportunities on his rather large backyard telescope. As luck would have it, the guy only lives about an hour from Dallas, so I sent him an e-mail and asked if he'd be interested in giving another retired guy a refresher course in deep sky objects. It looks like I'll go visit this guy on a clear moonless night sometime early next year.

Eventually, the rain stopped a little before sunset. I took an abbreviated walk just to make sure I made my quota of 10,000 steps today. I knew the park paths would be muddy, so I just walked through the neighborhood streets. Wow. There are a lot of new houses since I used to walk these streets with Spot and Petey years ago. Everything is bigger and more expensive than it used to be. I probably couldn't afford to buy a house in this neighborhood anymore.

For a dismal, grey day we ended up having a spectacular sunset. I almost missed it, since I was walking back towards the East. I was quite surprised when I returned home and looked westward before going inside. The sunset was pretty, but I knew it would be gone before I could go grab my good camera. I took a quick picture with my phone and then began fixing dinner.

Hopefully, the weather will be better tomorrow. I had a bad case of cabin fever today. For some reason I'm not very interested in watching movies even though we have Netflix and Amazon Prime. I've been reading some interesting histories of the Davis Mountains and the McDonald Observatory recently. I have to read things two or three times before I start to remember everything.

I'm not sure I'll make it to the gym tomorrow. I'm not even sure I'll remember it is Sunday.

Petey & Dot are today's Dalmatians of the Day

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Day 3347

I didn't go out for breakfast this morning. It took me way too long to get organized. Dash was out of sorts when he woke up and wouldn't take his morning meds. We tried hiding the food in ham, turkey, canned dog food and even cake. Nothing worked. I thought that maybe he'd be hungry after a walk, so we suited him up and off we went. It wasn't raining yet, but it was so foggy that my jacket was wet when we returned. Dash seemed to like the weather, but he still wasn't hungry when we got back to the house.

The pills Dash takes are essential, so I knew I wasn't going anywhere. One way or another, he needed to take his meds. I fixed myself an omelet while Dash took a nap. I added some ham, sausage, and smoked Gouda cheese to the eggs and the result was delicious. The smell enticed Dash to the kitchen and this time he was ready to take his pills. I rolled each pill in a small slice of the same ham I'd used for my omelet. Mission accomplished.

Dash didn't poop in the house this morning and it made me nervous. I heard his stomach rumbling while we were walking in the park and I kept expecting the volcano to blow. Dash always poops a lot in the morning. Today was different. He peed in the bed instead. By the time I finished cleaning up, doing the laundry, and washing the breakfast dishes, it was noon. I didn't mind. It was raining outside anyway and there was no place I wanted to go. My omelet tasted better than a restaurant omelet anyway.

After breakfast, I watched a webinar from one of the large auction houses about how to sell your collection. I learned a lot, but it was a little late. I've already sold or consigned most of my collection. The whole presentation seemed to be directed at people who have inherited art and don't know what to do with it. Maybe that's where most of the art at auction comes from. I can see how this happens, but hopefully I can unwind my collections and clean up my mess before I die. If you've ever had to deal with settling an estate, you quickly realize that it's not a pleasant task. Your heirs will enjoy getting a check someday. They probably won't enjoy sorting through a huge pile of your junk.

Dash seemed exceptionally tired today. He spent most of the day sleeping. When this happens, I worry that his walks are wearing him out. I always let Dash set the pace and we walk very slowly, but maybe even this mild exercise has become too much for him. He really enjoyed his walk this morning, but when we returned home, he seemed exhausted. There are no easy answers about aging. I wish Dash could talk so he could tell me whether I was walking for him, or if he was walking for me. I'm just guessing that Dash loves these daily walks. He seems to enjoy walking, but what if all his joints hurt and he's just walking to please me?

I was happy to see the Dow close above 26,000 today. I'd have been even happier if I'd seen the sun.  It was such a dismal day that all I could find to photograph was an ugly weed with water drops on it. Who knows. Maybe the weekend will be nice. As long as I'm wishing, maybe Dash will be stronger tomorrow as well. Maybe I'll even get some sleep.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3052

The first thing I did this morning was look at the weather radar. A line of storms was on the way, but it looked like I'd have enough time to walk Dash. I'm getting better at gauging how long our slow walks will take. This time we made it back home with several minutes to spare.

The sky was dark and ominous by the time I finished breakfast. I made sure the pump on the roof was working and then settled in for a long day of doing nothing. It's a blessing in disguise that Dash's hearing isn't so good anymore. He didn't even flinch when the thunder started. After Dash fell asleep, I watched the show I had recorded yesterday. Season Three of The Expanse was worth the wait, but I hate waiting an entire week for each new episode. No wonder binge watching on Netflix has become so popular. A TV drama series is a lot more like a movie when you can watch the whole season at once. I think I'll set the DVR to record the entire series. When I watch this on TV, I can fast forward through the ads. When I stream the same thing on my computer, you can't mess with the ads at all. You are forced to watch each and every one in it's entirety.

I wish I had more to watch today. There wasn't much to do when my show was over. I checked the mail, paid the bills that arrived, and waited for the rain to stop so I could take them to the post office. Dash didn't provide much incentive to be more ambitious. He spends an enormous amount of time sleeping these days. It's hard to even remember that Dash was once a high energy whirling dervish who always wanted to walk or go to the dog park. It's equally hard to remember that I used to have a lot more energy too.

It rained a lot today and I was worried that the roof was going to start leaking again. So far, so good. The living room is still dry. I think it's supposed to dry out tomorrow and be mostly sunny next week. Maybe I've dodged a bullet again. I'll sure be glad when the roofers come back to repair things.

As soon as the weather improves, I need to start boxing up my model trains at the storage warehouse. My heart isn't in this, but there's no point in leaving the collection in storage forever. My friend will find a new home for the collection and maybe I'll recover some of the money I've spent. I used to have a lot of these things proudly on display in my office. I ran out of space a long time ago though. Now, the office doesn't look much different than the storage warehouse.

I can't decide whether to go out for breakfast tomorrow. I can talk myself out of almost anything when the weather is bad. I've used up all the fresh fruit, so I couldn't make a smoothie, but there are still eggs. Maybe I'll make myself an omelet. Actually, a bowl of oatmeal sounds fine. So does staying in bed and sleeping till noon.

Milo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2920

I spent the day trying to stay warm. Last night's forecast was right. It did end up raining for most of the day. It was a cold rain too. The temperature was in the high 30's, but the wind chill made it feel below freezing. I stayed home and fixed pancakes and sausages this morning. I kept hearing rolling thunder off in the distance. Thunder often triggers Dash's panic attacks and it was pointless to leave the house for a breakfast that I probably wouldn't like anyway. Actually my pancakes were quite good. I should stay home on Friday mornings more often.

Around noon it looked like there was going to be a break in the rain, so I took Dash for a walk. For a dogs that is terrified of rain, he certainly doesn't seem to mind walking in wet grass. We should have had plenty of time before the next storm cell arrived, but Dash was even slower than usual. He wasn't having trouble walking. He just likes to smell things. We ran out of time on the last half mile of our walk and got soaked. I kept telling Dash to hurry up, but he seems to have no idea that rain is approaching until he actually gets wet.

It was bad enough getting caught in the rain once, but the same thing happened again on our evening walk. This time I was almost certain that the rain was over, but another rain cell popped up out of nowhere as we were approaching the house and we got soaked again. Note to self: a down jacket is great in cold weather. Not so good in wet weather.

After I dried Dash off a second time and changed my clothes again, I didn't feel like leaving the house anymore. I needed to go to the grocery store, but luckily Janet said she'd pick something up for dinner on her way home from work. I don't feel like I accomplished much today. Even with weather radar on my phone, I managed to get caught in the rain twice.

Janet and I decided not to exchange gifts this Christmas. There is nothing we need and it seems silly to keep getting things that don't end up being used. Our house is way too full of clutter as it is. We'll get something fun for Dash. He loves food gifts. We probably should have done this a long time ago. Adults can spend a lot of money but it's almost impossible to recreate the sensation of being a kid at Christmas. Christmas is for kids and dogs. I guess it's not surprising that my favorite Christmas memories are childhood memories. I know Christmas is an important religious holiday, but I haven't been inside a church since my Dad's funeral. To me, it mostly seems like a time when people are slightly nicer to each other.

I'm having problems with my new website project. It's not the layout that has me stumped. I can think of plenty of cool designs. I just can't think of a solution that would genuinely improve my client's business. Unless you're in the business of selling things online, a website isn't really a game changer. Sure, you've got to have one, but it will never matter as much as what your customers say to their friends about you. Word of mouth is still the best advertising. I'm going to give this a lot of thought. My client certainly deserves a website that makes a difference. If I had the answer, I'd probably build one for myself too.

I can't wait until it gets warmer again. I know people who love snow and bundling up in sweaters. I'm not one of them

Two sisters are today's Dalmatians of the Day

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