Day 3447

Weird. I didn't realize it at the time, but at exactly the same time I was walking around one end of the lake yesterday evening, police were fishing a body out of the other end. Sadly, this is not an uncommon occurrence. Most of the deaths are by drowning. People go boating without wearing a life jacket. They even go boating when they are unable to swim. Accidents happen.

I haven't been boating in the lake in a long time. It used to be fairly easy to take my kayak down a little hill from the backyard to the lake. I attached a pair of wheels to one end and pulled the boat behind me. Unfortunately, the path I used to take has become overgrown with brush and it is virtually impassible now. The small sandy beach where I used to launch the kayak has eroded, making it difficult to get the boat in and out of the water. I'm so close, but I'd need to put the kayak in the car now and drive to a public boat dock. I'm not even sure that the kayak would fit in the car. I no longer own the Defender with its convenient roof rack. I doubt that any of this even matters. The last time I went kayaking I saw a huge water moccasin swimming along beside me. Kayaking has never seemed the same since then.

Kayaking provides a great upper body workout, but I get my exercise by walking now. I had another 20,000 step day today. I hope all this additional activity makes a difference. I don't feel that much stronger but I am able to go the distance. I've started wearing a hat now and hopefully sunburn will no longer be a problem as the days grow warmer. I don't know what to do about the chiggers though. There seem to be a lot of them this year. People say to dust your clothes with sulfur or spray them with distilled vinegar. Others believe that eating a glove of garlic a day will do the trick. None of these methods seems very appealing to me.

I've started going to the gym earlier on Sundays. This leaves more of the day for other things. Today, I went back to the store and got strawberries for my smoothie. There were none yesterday and a huge supply today. I guess I need to find out when the produce truck arrives. I need to mow the grass again but it's still too damp. Grass is much easier to mow when it's dry. Actually, I didn't feel like mowing anyway. I'm not even sure how much time I have left for household chores. Several walks a day takes a long time.

If I drive to Florida for the Space X launch, I noticed that the route I was planning to take passes right through several flooded areas. There is some major flooding along the Mississippi River right now. I wonder if any of the roads are under water. I probably should check this out. I imagine that the water will recede before it's time for me to go, but you never know. Weather is so weird now. Maybe when all the flood water from the Arkansas River joins the Mississippi, the flooding will actually get worse.

I doubt that there will be many surprises tomorrow. If the weather is nice, Janet and I may go up and visit the Dalmatians again. Visiting the rescue dogs is always enjoyable.

Abby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3408

Every time we get a heavy rain my first thought is that this was the worse storm ever. I felt this way last night when the rain was pounding down, but when I took my walk today I had to acknowledge that I've seen higher water levels at the lake before. I think my tolerance for bad weather isn't what it used to be. The rain was pretty bad though. Especially since one of my pumps on the roof wasn't working. I'm really glad that I wasn't traveling. I saw on the news this morning that one of the parking garages at the airport had flooded and lots of cars were completely underwater. This was the same garage where I parked when I went to Houston recently. A lot of travelers are going to be really surprised when they return home.

I was surprised that I even got a chance to walk today. Basically, it rained all day. I saw a little break in the clouds around noon and took advantage of it. I almost finished my three mile trek, but the rain started again when I was about 100 yards from home. I got wet, but it didn't matter. The next thing on my list was taking a shower.

I was almost certain that the roof would leak again last night, but the living room is still dry. So far, so good. Maybe judicious use of the two sump pumps is helping. The second pump started working again this afternoon, so I didn't have to go up on the roof and fix it. I don't know why these things are so balky. Sometimes they become clogged with leaves. There might be a bad electrical connection too. All the extension cords are underwater when it rains.

My contact at the auction house wants to re-offer some of the art that didn't sell recently with a lower reserve. Sounds good to me. The only other alternative is to take the art back and wait until the artist dies. A lot of art spikes in value after the artist dies. This plan probably won't work though, since the artist is younger than I am.

I found out today that the training class where we used to take the dogs on Wednesday evening had made a donation in Dot and Dash's memory to Dalmatian Rescue. This was so nice. Dot and Dash hadn't gone to class since they became sick several years ago and I was surprised that anyone still remembered them. I've still got some dusty ribbons that Dash won sitting on my desk. I continue to be amazed that he won ribbons for obedience when he was young, because as he became older and more stubborn he wouldn't even come when you called. Both dogs enjoyed the class. They probably thought the exercises were silly, but the weekly class was their chance to make friends and socialize with other dogs.

I hope that the weather improves tomorrow. Rainy days give me a bad case of cabin fever. It's not that dry days are all that exciting, but at least I'm not fretting about water leaks. I'll see if I can do something useful when the skies clear again. The back yard could certainly use some work.

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3194 - Autumnal Equinox

I woke up to an ominous dripping sound this morning. The roof was leaking. I guess if I had to have a leak, now would be the time. We've had a tremendous amount of rain during the past 24 hours. I think we set some kind of all time record. I'm glad we live on a hill, because there was lots of flooding in town. When the rain subsided and we were able to take Dash for a walk, it was amazing to see how high the lake was. Most of the boat docks and piers were completely under water. Not only was the lake over its banks, the water completely covered a road that circles the lake.

It's so discouraging to realize that all the work the roofers did toward the end of the Summer basically proved nothing. The roof still leaks. I went up on the roof and made an obligatory inspection, but couldn't find an area where the water might be getting in. The house needs a completely new engineered roof with a slight pitch so water will drain off quickly. Redesigning the house is not in the cards unfortunately. It would cost a fortune and wouldn't really add any value. People want larger homes now. If we ever moved, our house would probably be scraped and replaced by another McMansion. It just doesn't make sense to put a lot of money into a tear down.

Truthfully, nothing makes a lot of sense right now. Someday, historians will look back and realize that this was the time when the second civil war started. Nobody knew what was happening at first. It wasn't a conventional war. The North wasn't fighting the South. There were guns of course, but the really dangerous weapons were words. It was neighbor against neighbor. Parents against children. Brothers against sisters. Worst of all there were no winners. Everybody lost.

Have our divisions become this great? Is this how the world ends? I hope not. When I watch the news I'm not encouraged. Polarization prevails and it seems like the war has already started. Maybe that's why I prefer cooking shows these days. I watched a show about making fish tacos this afternoon. Very tasty.

The weather forecast says it's going to rain all next week. It's officially Fall now. It always seems to rain a lot in the Fall. Jeez. How am I going to stop this roof leak? How am I going to be able to even get the roofers to come back? I think they're done with me. The drip finally stopped right after lunch. I got some bleach and cleaned the stains off the living room ceiling. A few hours later another storm arrived and the roof started leaking all over again. It's hopeless. I'll leave a big bucket out tonight to catch the water. There isn't much else I can do at this point.

Tomorrow's another day. Maybe I'll get some sleep tonight. The water from the roof is still dripping into a bucket in the living room. I'm not hearing the drips as frequently though. That's good. Dash hasn't pooped since early this morning. That's not so good.

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2803

Everyone in Dallas knows someone in Houston. I've been mesmerized by the news coverage today. The flooding seems biblical. It just doesn't seem possible that we are talking about feet of rain instead of inches of rain. I saw a picture of the Houston airport today. It was a lake. Freeways are under so much water that even the overhear directional signs are buried. I've been to Houston many times and I can't even comprehend this scale of devastation.

Dallas is 400 miles away and even we are getting rain from this storm. The rain here is gentle and in many cases needed, but the fact that the outer bands of rain reach this far shows you just how big this weather system is. I've heard that they're opening a huge center for hurricane evacuees here in Dallas tomorrow. Similar centers will probably be opening all over the state. The problem is that I don't think many people can evacuate yet. The roads in and out of the area are flooded.

I didn't do much today. Dash got his walks in between rain showers. It was so messy outside that I didn't feel like going to the gym. When I took a shower this morning, I noticed a small leak. I still haven't been able to completely seal the shower floor. I used to be much better at this sort of thing. I'm losing my touch.

Today would have been a good day to take a camera down to the shoreline and photograph water birds, but I'd let my camera batteries run down and by the time I got them charged again the light was fading. It's probably just as well that I stayed inside. If I took my camera down to the lake, I almost certainly would have gotten caught in one of today's many intermittent rain showers.

It would have been Dot's birthday today. We don't know if she was actually born on this day, since she was a rescue, but we adopted her on September 27, 2004. I remember the day she came home with us well, but it seems like such a long time ago now. We have had many dogs and some of the memories are starting to muddle together in my head. Dot's memories haven't faded yet. I still can't believe she's not here with me. I wonder if that amazing dog ever knew how important she was in my life.

It's probably going to be a while before I can use the can of elastomer coating material the roofers left on my porch. It looks like we'll be getting intermittent rain every day until Harvey completely dissipates. It's hard to believe that they're forecasting even more rain for the Houston area. How much more rain can that city take?

Janet has decided that she feels well enough to start driving again. She ran a short errand as a test this afternoon and will drive herself to the doctor tomorrow. I'm glad her recovery seems to be going so smoothly. I hope the surgeon approves of the way we've been changing bandages. I have a feeling that we're using twice as much gauze and tape as a proper nurse would, but we're doing the best we can. It hasn't been a great summer. I think 'doing the best we can" might sum things up for quite a few people this year.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2717

We got up early this morning and took Dot on her final journey. For as long as we've had dogs, we've always wrapped them in their favorite blanket when they passed away and driven them to be cremated ourselves. It was a long drive this morning, but it gave Janet and I a chance for closure. We talked about our favorite memories with Dot and when the time came, I lifted Dot up and placed her on the brick floor of the retort as we said our final goodbyes. Maybe it's just a silly symbolic gesture, but I always feel better knowing that I was there until the very end.

Death is such a strange process. One minute you're alive and then a few seconds later, you're not. The body looks exactly the same, but the spirit has vanished. As I stood next to Dot at the crematorium and stroked her soft ears, it seemed like she was just sleeping. She looked peaceful and remarkably similar to the dog I've watched sleeping next to me on the floor for the past year.

I have no idea how a dog's mind actually works, but I hope that Dot had come to terms with the temporary nature of life before she passed away. I not sure either of my parents came to terms with death and I'm not sure I will either. Life is very fragile. I think all of us should embrace and make the most of the gift of life, but I don't think we should fear death either. It's going to happen to all of us.

When my Dad died, I was the only one who sat in a room and talked with him just before he was cremated. Nobody else in the family wanted to face death that closely, but I found this time peaceful and comforting. I had a long conversation with my Dad. I thanked him for all the opportunities he'd given me over the years and chided him for being such an idiot to fall for one of those Nigerian prince scams toward the end of his life. We weren't always close, but this was one of the better conversations we'd ever had.

Dot knew that we loved her, but as I talked with her in the crematorium's viewing room, I wondered if she realized what a huge influence she had on me. This small dog had made me a better person. Janet and I were quiet as we returned to Dallas. We both knew that there was a large hole in our lives that would take a while to fill.

I'm glad we made the trip when we did, because later in the day there was a horrendous thunderstorm that caused localized flooding all over the place. If we'd been on the road in that storm, our trip would have taken ten times as long. I had planned on returning to pick up Dot's ashes later today, but I'm glad I didn't. Dash was terrified of the loud thunder and I spent a good part of the afternoon sitting under a makeshift blanket tent on the bed with him.

The power flickered this afternoon, but it didn't go out. Janet's drive home from work took forever, but at least the road wasn't underwater like it was in some parts of the city. We had a nice quiet dinner as the storm subsided. As we looked around a house strewn with traction rugs, dog beds, gates, and improvised pens designed to keep Dot safe, we realized that it was going to be a long time before life returned to normal.

Charlie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1991

We got a horrendous amount of rain last night. You probably saw it on the morning news. Eight inches of rain in just a few hours is definitely newsworthy. There was severe flooding in many parts of town, including some areas not far from where we live. We are nearing all time record rainfall levels now. This is uncharted territory. The rain seems to be the main topic of conversation with everyone I see. Every time we have a storm like we did last night, I'm really glad that we live on top of a hill. It's a modest, very gentle hill, but it does put us at least 50 feet above the nearest water. Last night's storms knocked out our power again, but the outage didn't last long. By the time I calmed the dogs down and called in the outage report on my cell phone, the power had already been restored.

Nobody got much sleep last night. The thunder was loud enough to wake Dot, and the lightning was bright enough to send both dogs into a storm induced panic. I got a blanket and slept on the floor with Dot for a while in an effort too calm her down. When my bad shoulder started to hurt, Janet traded places with me. By the time her back started to hurt, the worst of the storm was over. When we all woke up this morning, the storm had turned into a gentle shower. The dogs got their morning walk right on schedule and then I went out for breakfast like I usually do on Friday mornings.

It's a good thing I was headed South towards the restaurant, because Northbound traffic was gridlocked in front of our house. I suspect that a major intersections a few miles down the road was still underwater. Most of the small creeks that feed the lake behind our house are outside their banks and low lying areas are flooded. Since I wasn't headed downtown to go to work, I didn't have a problem. I left the roads with bridges and underpasses to other people had a nice breakfast in the neighborhood instead. By the time I finished my meal, a lot of the high water seemed to have subsided. With things returning to normal, I went to Central Market to get groceries for the weekend, and then headed home to finish this week's work.

Today was busy. I cleared the water off the roof again, updated a few more websites, and finished writing another article. That was more than enough for one day. I'm getting used to all the new rituals imposed by wet, stormy weather and aging dogs, but it is a bit tiring. Everything is peaceful now, although another wave of thunderstorms is scheduled to arrive sometime after midnight. Lets hope that tonight's rain isn't accompanied by thunder and lightning like it was last night. We all could use some sleep.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 771

There was an unbelievable amount of rain last night. Of course, Dash would have to choose this nasty weather to have an upset stomach, so I ended up spending half the night letting him outside. I know he wanted to eat grass, but with the rain pounding down, he didn't even get off the porch. On our third attempt around 2 AM, he finally threw up on the porch and we all went back to bed.

This morning on our walk, we got to see what the rain had brought with it. The water level in the lake had risen at least three feet and had flooded a lot of nearby low areas. We live quite near the lake, but luckily we are on high ground. From the news helicopter I saw hovering nearby, I got the feeling that a few passing motorists weren't so lucky. There are a few streets in the vicinity that always flood when it rains this much and there are usually a few fools who think they can drive through anyway. They often end up on the evening news.

Dash seemed quite intrigued with all the water this morning. He tried to drink out of gutter spouts, and whenever we passed a nearby puddle, he would splash around with his front paws and try to dig a hole. Dot appeared to be disgusted with these childish antics and just wanted to go home where it was warm.

After breakfast, I got up on the roof and swept away all the accumulated water. There was a small leak in the living room last night, but nothing of any consequence. I've learned that if I can get the water off the roof quickly, there usually isn't any damage. The only time the leak gets bad is if I forget that there is standing water on the roof and it gradually leaks in, one drop at a time.

So far, so good with OS 10.7. I've been using the new system software for two days now and haven't had a single crash. I'm impressed. In the past, whenever I've updated my Apple system software, there were so many problems that it took me weeks to get everything sorted out again. No problems at all this time. In fact, things have been going so well with Lion that I've decided to retire Firefox and switch to Chrome while I'm changing things around on the desktop. I've become a big fan of Google+ recently, so I might as well start using a browser that is optimized for Google+.

No training class tonight. Actually, there might be training class, but we're not going. Although the rain has stopped, it's certainly not dry outside. The field where we train the dogs is a giant mudhole right now. I think Dot and Dash would agree that it is much more enjoyable to sit at home on their blankets and watch TV than to have their trainer tell them to sit in a puddle.

Bones is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day