Day 2475

I believe in redemption. Every month or two I return to my original breakfast restaurant to see if they've finally got their shit together. I'm rooting for them, but so far they haven't made much progress. It's kind of sad, because you can tell they are trying. The staff is really friendly now. Portions are bigger. There are even some new items on the menu. Unfortunately, these guys don't realize what they lost. I don't know what happened, but the restaurant lost it's authenticity.

Authenticity is hard to define, but is very easy to see. The hipster restaurant that opened across the street is authentic. The place has its flaws and I deplore their use of paper plates and plastic silverware, but you can't question their authenticity. I can tell the owners really believe in what they are doing and it makes a big difference. The restaurant where I'm eating today used to be authentic. I could feel it. Now, it appears they are just trying to stay in business. Instead of using fresh potatoes for their hash browns, they are now using frozen prepackaged potatoes straight off the Sysco Food Service truck. There were canned tomatoes in my Migas too. People notice these things.

Why do people cut corners? When your first concern is quality, the bottom line usually takes care of itself. I would much rather have smaller portions made with fresh ingredients than larger portions that were sitting in a freezer yesterday. My concerns about quality may be misplaced though. Many of the companies I've grown to love over the years have gone out of business. This is troubling, because if I really like something, I know it isn't going to last. The little vegan take out place in the neighborhood is completely authentic. I'd better start eating more of their food, so I can get healthy before they go out of business.

Dot threw up today, which was odd, since Dash is the one who's been eating crap lately. Dash seemed fine. We're very careful what we feed Dot and she isn't mobile enough to find dead things in the park on her own. Hopefully, this is just an anomaly. If I have to start watching both ends of this dog, it's going to make life even more difficult.  I have a feeling that Dot will feel better in the morning. She's sleeping peacefully now.

Not a lot happened today. The trash got picked up, I answered a few questions, and did some minor maintenance of a couple of websites. The dogs couldn't be bothered to look busy and spent most of the day sleeping. I should have done the same. From listening to the pundits on TV, you'd think that the Superbowl was approaching. Somehow, I don't think the debates are going to be as exciting as everyone anticipates. I still think they should have let Gary Johnson and Jill Stein join the fray.

Sage is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2248

I couldn't figure out why I've been getting more telemarketing calls lately and then I discovered that Facebook had added a "Call Now" button to my company page. They didn't ask me if I wanted this button. They just added it. This is typical of Facebook. They add, subtract, and change things routinely without any warning. Needless to say, I didn't want a "Call Now" button on my Facebook page. I get enough junk calls as it is. I deleted the button and hopefully things will go back to normal.

It's time to renew my car insurance again. Why do insurance rates always go up? They never seem to go down. I now pay more to insure one car than I used to pay when I insured two. Homeowners insurance, health insurance, liability insurance; it's all the same. Rates go up, but when you read the fine print, you discover that your coverage has actually decreased. There's not much you can do unfortunately. I paid my bill and resigned myself to another month of frugality and living within my means.

At least I had a few good years back when the world was sane. I'd hate to be young and entering the workforce right now. For the most part, young people are fucked. Salaries have declined. Job security is non-existent. And virtually everything has gotten more expensive. I think I only paid about $1,500 per semester for college and I got a very good education. I had no student loans and graduated with no debt. I had a part-time job in the college library that paid for most of my expenses. This would be impossible these days. No wonder college kids are overwhelmingly for Bernie Sanders. High taxes mean nothing if you've got no money to begin with. If I were young, I'd definitely be feeling the Bern.

When I was fixing dinner tonight, I noticed that the steamed vegetables I was going to warm up for dinner had a bad smell to them. I threw them away. I only bought these vegetables on Sunday, so they shouldn't have gone bad already. This happens frequently now. Janet and I don't cook much anymore, so I buy a lot of food at the chef prepared counter at Central Market. Everything tastes great if you eat it right away, but it doesn't last long. I'm beginning to think that Central Market uses this deli counter to get rid of food in the store that is nearing it's expiration date. Nothing in the chef prepared section seems to last longer than three days, and if you pick up something that was made using milk or dairy products, you'd better eat it right away. I still don't like to cook. I wish I could find fresh, tasty food that lasted all week and didn't require much preparation. My breakfast smoothies are perfect. Eggs easily last a week. Bananas and fresh fruit last quite a while, if you make sure they're not too ripe when you buy them. Ice cream lasts forever in the freezer. Ditto for oatmeal. Dump these ingredients in the Vitamix and thirty second later you've got a delicious meal. Dinners are more problematic. I like to eat something solid for dinner.

I need to remember that Dot's physical therapy appointment is earlier than usual tomorrow. It's hard enough staying on schedule at her regular time. I'm going to have to get up early. Wait. I get up early every day. I'm going to have to do something else.

Landry is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1734

Dot ended an impressive five day accident-free streak by throwing up shortly after she woke up this morning and then frantically trying to eat leaves and grass in the yard. I don't think the vomiting had anything to do with her cancer, but it was still a bit unsettling. When a healthy dog vomits, you immediately suspect that the upset stomach was caused by eating something dead and disgusting in the yard. When a dog that has had cancer vomits, you always suspect the worst. I think Dot is fine though. We gave her a Pepsid AC and she went back to sleep for another hour and was completely normal for the rest of the day.

I don't usually work on Sunday, but since I always like to start the week with a clean slate, I finished my remaining writing assignments and made a few website revisions before going to the gym for a long overdue workout.

I had the usual aches and pains associated with my infrequent visits to the gym, but at least I'm still going. A lot of the runners and cyclists the dogs and I see in the park everyday seem to genuinely enjoy their exertion and activity. To me it's just a necessary evil. While I don't enjoy exercise, I would like to avoid diabetes, heart attacks, and further deterioration of my aging body. I'll have to admit that I do enjoy the fact that I can still wear the same size 32 jeans I wore in college.

I picked up some food for the week on my way home, but I may have to rethink my plan of stocking the refrigerator every Sunday afternoon. For some reason, Central Market always seems twice as crowded on Sunday, but that's not the real problem. I am discovering that fresh food won't stay fresh all week. I had to throw out some of the groceries I got last Sunday toward the end of the week, because they had spoiled already. No wonder people eat so much crap. Eating healthy is time consuming. It's so much easier to just grab a frozen pizza from the freezer and warm it up.

Dot is going to have a busy week. She has her long delayed annual exam on Tuesday and then returns for another physical therapy session and acupuncture on Thursday. We postponed the exam while she recovered from surgery because she is due for another three year rabies booster shot. I think she also needs the DAPPV combo shot this year, as well as her annual Leptospirosis vaccination. Dash will be glad that he can just stay home and take a nap.

It's hard to believe that September is already almost half over. Wasn't it August just a few days ago?

Nicholas is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1597

When I called to confirm my appointment at the liver center tomorrow, they congratulated me on taking my last pills today. I told them that I'd actually taken my last pills yesterday, and they seemed confused. "Do you think you lost a pill," the nurse asked me? Nope. I took every last one of them. I think I know what had happened but it would be hard to prove things at this point. The first batch of pills arrived a day earlier than expected and when I called the liver center to let them know that they'd arrived, whoever I talked to on the phone said to go ahead and start taking them immediately. They must have left the original projected start date on a spreadsheet somewhere. This just proves that if you do anything long enough, the inevitable memory fog trumps everything. I vaguely remember starting the pills one day early, but my memory of the whole situation is a bit suspect as well.

I've started to notice that when we tell the nurses at the cancer center that we're worried that Dash might be in pain, they give us a prescription for pain pills. When we worry about  infections, they give us an antibiotic.  When we say nothing, they give us nothing. So, are they just giving us these pills to keep us happy, or are they actually prescribing them because Dash really needs them? I don't know. Pain pills and antibiotics are among the most over prescribed medications for both animals and people. I think doctors have gotten used to passing out pills like candy because their patients demand them. We are a nation hooked on pills. I wish I knew if Dash really needed these additional pills, but he's not talking. I hate unnecessary medication, especially antibiotics. On the other hand, antibiotics are absolutely necessary at times. How do you know if you're are doing the right thing? The information I received about supplements from my nutritionist was largely proved wrong and some of stuff I took did more harm than good. Several medications my doctors wanted me to take ten years ago are now featured on those 1-800-BAD-DRUG commercials you see on TV.  Things change all the time, and doctors and vets, like everyone else, are far from infallible. All that being said, they know far more than I do about health and healing, so I usually do exactly what they tell me.

My work load is starting to wear me out. One of the animal rescue sites I maintain has tripled the number of animals in their program. I am constantly adding and subtracting adoptable pets from their website. As soon as I finish processing one batch of animals, there's another waiting for me the next day. Writing has been erratic lately as well. If I knew exactly what I was facing, it would be easier to plan. Now, I'm usually in a situation where I'll go several days with nothing and then have a ton of website and writing projects all due on the same day. I must have been dreaming when I though that I might be able to retire to a tropical island when I turned 55. If you have a small business in today's economy, you're probably doomed to keep working forever.

I had to pick up some more groceries on my way to get Dash this afternoon. The combination of trying to eat healthy, fresh food and being busy all the time is causing me to have to go to the grocery store a lot more often than I used to. You can't stock up on a week's worth of fresh vegetables and expect them all to stay fresh forever. I've started to buy food as I need it, but it's a lot of trouble. Life was so much easier when I could just pull a frozen pizza out of the freezer and grab a beer from the refrigerator.

Tomorrow, the dogs get their monthly heartworm pills. It's trash day as well, so I'll need to remember to take the garbage can out to the curb. Sooner or later, it will be Friday again. I can't wait.

Bea is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1345

Dot's veterinary trifecta is over for the week. She definitely came away a winner today. I was amazed at how well she did at her physical therapy session. The vet assured me that the water therapy wouldn't hurt her injured leg, so Dot got a combo of acupuncture and water therapy at today's session. She even tried the balance ball for a short time, but she's got to get stronger before she can do anything strenuous. The good news is that all her vets seem confident that Dot will make a full recovery. If you've got an older or geriatric dog, you really ought to consider physical therapy. Even though she has had her setbacks, physical therapy has made Dot visibly stronger and has improved her confidence.

I was so impressed with Dot's progress that I decided to go to the gym myself. I really didn't have time today, but it looks like I'll have to find a way to make the time if I want to see any real improvements. Last week I was so busy that I only made it to the gym once. That's not really enough to make much of a difference.

I finally made it to the grocery store to pick up some things for dinner as well. One of the downsides to eating fresh food is that you've got to go to the store a lot more often. No more picking a six month old can of tuna fish off the shelf and making a tuna and mayo sandwich on white bread for dinner.

There was lots of website work to finish today, but it all went fairly smoothly. I even had time to finish another article, although I was running late all day. By the time I got home from the gym, it was already time for dog training class. We debated whether it was wise to take Dot to class this evening, but she likes to go, so we went and just had her do the easy, non-strenuous exercises. Dash did all the exercises, and even did a few of them well.

One of my faithful readers reminded me this morning that yesterday was actually Tuesday, even though I'd written that I'd done pretty well for a Monday. It's been that kind of week. I don't know what day it is. I just keep moving along, in hopes that Friday will eventually arrive.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1190

The landscapers came during breakfast and spent the next five hours raking leaves, hauling away bad soil, and pruning trees. At two-thirty they abruptly left and didn't return. I'm sure they'll be back because they left all their tools in the yard. It looked like they left in a hurry, since one guy left his coat hanging on the bird-feeder. I would have thought the crew would have spent the rest of the day finishing up the preparation work, but clearly they had other plans. I certainly wouldn't leave my own tools lying around the job site on a multi-day assignment, but then my tools are cameras, not shovels and wheelbarrows. Who knows? I'm not going to be judgmental. All's well that ends well, as far as I'm concerned. I still have high hopes that these guys will transform my dog of a yard into something beautiful.

Dot was amazingly good today, considering all the activity she had to deal with. She barked for about fifteen minutes and then got tired of barking and went to sleep by my desk, just like she usually does. It probably helped that the crew worked fairly quietly. No boisterous singing or loud radios this time. Or maybe that acupuncture treatment yesterday has really made Dot a calmer dog.

Dot was so calm this morning that I felt safe leaving her alone while I took Dash to the vet for his bi-weekly antigen shot. Dash is anything but calm at the vet. He thinks the only reason we go to the clinic is so people can pet him and feed him treats. After Dash got his injection and a few doggie treats, we returned to the house for an afternoon of work.

I typically get quite a bit done when I have to keep the dogs confined to the office. Since staying in the office with them is the only way to keep Dot and Dash quiet, it's usually a good time to tackle long and tedious web projects. With five hours confined to the computer, I managed to finish several projects that I've been postponing for a long time. I could have finished a lot more if the landscapers had stayed until 5 or 6 PM like I expected. Oh, well. There's always tomorrow.

I'm having trouble eating my fresh vegetables in the right order. After years of eating things with a ten year shelf life, I'm still getting used to how quickly some fresh things go bad. If I had more time, I would go to the store more often and buy smaller quantities. I've never had more time though. I probably never will. With my time already stretched between being a dog nanny, a webmaster, a photographer, and an increasingly busy writer, I'm amazed that I have any time for groceries at all.

Pringles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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