Day 3007

We're making progress. It only took the new appliance repairman five minutes to find something that all three of the previous repairmen missed. It wasn't a bad component. It was just a loose wire. None of the previous repairmen had bothered to remove the evaporator fan. If they had taken this extra step they would have clearly seen the loose wire behind the fan housing that prevented the defrost heater from operating properly. After reconnecting the wire, today's repairmen tested all the components in the defrost circuit to make sure they worked and then told me that he suspected that none of the components I'd replaced were bad in the first place. We'll see if today's visit solves my problem. I think there's a good chance that it did.

I guess today was my lucky day. Not only did the refrigerator get repaired, Dash took an afternoon walk as well. I still have no idea why he'll refuse to leave the yard on some days and walk normally on others. I think it has something to do with smell, because Dash always smells the air intently before deciding whether to walk or not. The decision doesn't seem to have anything to do with whether he's tired or not. Sometimes he refuses to walk when he clearly has a lot of energy. I'll probably never know what goes on in Dash's mind. I was just glad that he decided to take two walks today,

I like talking with good repairmen. They seem similar to me in many ways. They all seem to enjoy the problem solving aspect of fixing things and can't stand to work in an office environment. Most of them like working on their own. The guy who came over today used to be an auto mechanic, but said he preferred repairing appliances because most garages weren't air conditioned. "It just gets too hot in the Summer," he told me. I've learned a lot by talking with repairmen. I doubt that I'd make a great repairmen myself, but I do enjoy knowing how things work.

I picked up the wrong meds for Dash again today. I've done this several times in a row this month. I really need to remember to check the pills before I leave the vets office, but my brain seems to be on autopilot. I always take the bag home and then I open it up. Old habits die hard I guess.

They say today's big market sell off was caused by Facebook. I don't know why people are so upset that Facebook is selling their secrets. I've known this for years. If I even think about buying something, there will be an ad for the same thing on my Facebook timeline within a matter of minutes. Every time you take one of those online quizzes, marketers know a little more about you. I think most people would be shocked at how much Google and Facebook already know about us. They didn't have to pry the information out of us either. We willingly just gave it away. I wouldn't be selling any Facebook stock. People aren't going to close their accounts because Facebook is selling their secrets. They're already addicted to social media.

I hope I have put my refrigerator woes behind me. I won't know for sure whether the repair was successful until the refrigerator goes through several normal defrost cycles. If the refrigerator is really fixed, I'm going to move on to the toilet. Fixing the toilet should be a piece of cake compared to this refrigerator.

Pringles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3004

I met a refrigerator repairman while I was grocery shopping this morning. He was parked next to me and the message on his company truck sounded intriguing. I knocked on his window and asked him if he was familiar with my refrigerator. The guy was very knowledgable. I was actually surprised that he spent so much time talking to me in the Central Market parking lot. I asked for the guy's business card and told him I'd give him a call. When I looked up the company website when I got home, they had excellent reviews. For comparison, I looked up the repair shop I'm currently using and they had terrible reviews. I've never seen so many single stars. I wish I'd checked out the Yelp reviews before I'd scheduled three unsuccessful service visits. The new company I discovered today offers a full year warranty on parts and labor. The parts warranty actually ran out at the other place before they even fixed my problem. I knew Janet would be skeptical, but I decided to try one more time to fix my existing refrigerator.

I think there are a lot of good reasons to try to save this refrigerator. The GE model that I have has a better service history than the Maytag I'd be replacing it with. The Maytag is smaller and holds less food. It also doesn't have an ice dispenser in the door like the model I have now. I always read the testimonials and a lot of people said the Maytag model didn't keep food cold enough and that the ice maker had a tendency to leak. So here we are. I may be throwing money down a rabbit hole, but I'm going to give this new company a try. I really like the refrigerator I have now. I wish GE still made this model.

After spending so much time thinking about refrigerators this morning, I decided to go ahead and defrost the evaporator coil before the weekend. The refrigerator is still cooling fine, but I know this drill pretty well by now. I've probably got four days before performance begins to suffer. It made sense to go ahead and take care of this now. I removed the ice on the coil and put everything back together in less than an hour this time. I think the repairman I met this morning was surprised that I knew actual part numbers and was familiar with the inner workings of kitchen appliances. It's too bad I don't know a little bit more or I could fix this thing myself.

Breakfast wasn't bad this morning, but it wasn't great either. I just picked a restaurant that was on the way to the grocery store. Maybe my problem is that I'm just not as interested in food as I used to be. I eat smaller portions now and occasionally even the thought of food turns my stomach. If a great meal can't turn my day around, I wonder what can? Food used to be an easy, almost foolproof way to perk me up. It doesn't work anymore.

Luckily, food still works for Dash. His appetite has really improved. I hope this means that his heart condition is improving as well. I have a feeling that when he was refusing to eat, he was in worse shape than we or the vet thought. The only problem with Dash's new interest in food is that he wants a treat before he'll do anything. He learned too well that we really want him to eat and now he wants to eat all the time. It's hard to teach a dog to do things in moderation.

The weather is still nice. Our Oak trees are starting to bud and that means the messy catkins are starting to fall. The pollen in these tiny flowers stains the car, causes me to sneeze, and makes a huge mess on the roof. I guess even nice weather has a downside. If this weather continues, it won't be long before I'm mowing the grass again.

Ruthie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2995

I felt productive today, but it was just an illusion. I knew I was filling my day with the same mindless stuff I always do. I wasn't expecting to defrost the refrigerator until this weekend, but I recognize the signs of a frozen evaporator coil by now. It was time. It was also time to deal with the roof. There wasn't as much standing water as I expected. I don't know whether the water evaporated or if it is starting to seep through the roof. I cleaned up the remaining water and sent an e-mail to the roofers, reminding them of their promise to come out and fix this mess.

When I had the refrigerator apart this morning, I looked for loose wires while I was defrosting the coil. I'm convinced that something very minor is causing all the problems, but I can't seem to locate a defective connection or faulty part. I sure wish this refrigerator had a diagnostic function like our washer and dryer. These newer appliances have a special circuit that allows technicians to quickly locate the source of the problem. My car has the same sort of feature. I think modern service technicians have become so dependent on these advanced diagnostic boards that they no longer know how to fix things the old fashioned way. Unfortunately, I don't really know how to do this either. The inside of the refrigerator is a spaghetti maze of wire. If I were to disconnect each component and test it for continuity using a multimeter, I would probably just make matters worse.

It's really frustrating to be faced with spending thousands of dollars on a new appliance when you know in your heart that a ten dollar part is probably causing the problem. To make matters worse, I just got a notice about a nifty new portable multi-track recorder that costs about exactly the same as a new refrigerator. You can guess which of these things I'd rather have.

At least I got Dash to take two walks today. I still don't understand why he acts so differently in the afternoon. It makes no sense. Today I could tell that he was eager to go outside this afternoon, but he froze when he got to the alley, just like he usually does. I practically had to carry him down the alley to reach the park, but as soon as we were in the grassy meadow behind our house, Dash was fine. We had a nice walk. There is something about the alley that frightens Dash in the afternoon. Maybe it's a smell. Your guess is as good as mine.

I picked up a generic version of an expensive prescription I take this afternoon. My doctor said to try both and just keep taking the one I thought worked best. You'd think there'd be a more scientific way to do this, but maybe not. I still don't understand why brand name drugs are so much more expensive than their generic equivalents, especially if they are chemically the same. With my luck, I'll probably like the expensive drug better. I always seem to be drawn to expensive things.

I saw a hawk today with the moon setting behind him. I wanted to get a shot with the moon directly behind the hawk's body, but Dash wanted to go home and was tugging on his leash. I would have had to move backwards about ten feet to frame the shot properly and Dash doesn't do backwards. Sometimes I'm amazed that I get any shots of wildlife at all. I just set the camera on auto exposure and hope for the best. Dash is not very patient. When he wants to move, we move.

This week has gone quickly, especially considering that I haven't been feeling my best. My cold seems to be gradually getting better. I should be back to normal by this weekend if there is such a thing.

Connor os today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2986

I had to defrost the refrigerator again today. Didn't I just do this? I can't even remember whether it was a week ago or two weeks ago. Either way, this process is a pain in the neck. I have to take all the food in the freezer and put it in an ice chest. Then I have to remove all the shelves and the ice maker bucket to gain access to the back panel. Six screws are removed and then the metal back panel easily slides out to revel the frozen evaporator coil.  I turn the refrigerator off and then thaw the coil with a hair dryer. I put some thick bath towels on the bottom of the freezer to sop up all the water. The whole process takes about an hour.

I was so frustrated when I finished that I drove to Home Depot determined to end this madness and buy a refrigerator today. The appliance salesperson was helping another customer, so I started looking at refrigerators again. I noticed that all french door refrigerators have a weird folding flap that seals the two doors when they are closed. This flap makes it virtually impossible to open the left door first. Couldn't somebody have come up with a better design? I found the refrigerator that has replaced the one I currently have. It was exactly the same except it was one inch wider and won't fit in my kitchen. Why did you have to do this General Electric? That extra inch didn't make the refrigerator any more useful. All it did was make me mad. Eventually, I got tired of waiting for the salesperson to sell the other customer something, so I went home with nothing again.

Dash was a picky eater again today. I had to open several cans of food before I could find something he liked. He wouldn't take his afternoon walk either, even though it was one of the nicest days we've had this month. I wish I knew what was going on in his head. Janet thinks some of the problems started when the vet increased his Phenobarbital dose. I think he may be be experiencing some mild nausea from the vestibular disease all the time. It's really hard to tell, because even when Dash was young and healthy, he was always a moody and stubborn dog.

Another round of thunderstorms begins tomorrow morning. I'm getting so sick of this weather I could scream. I have no idea how long the wet weather will last, but we've certainly had enough rain for the month of February. At least I heard from the roofers today. They promised that they'll be back when things dry out. Hopefully the roof will last that long.

We take Dash in for another echocardiogram later this week. I wonder if these expensive scans are even useful at this point? They were supposed to track the effectiveness of the blood thinner medications he's taking, but the blood clots haven't moved or changed in size for several months. I don't know if the Plavix is even working. I guess we'll continue these monthly checkups. They may not help Dash get any better, but at least they provide a heads-up that lets us know what's happening.

I'm going to try to get to bed earlier tonight. I'm not getting enough sleep. I think I'd do a lot better if I just didn't bother to get up in the morning.

Bingo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2980

The rain was horrendous today. At least it was just rain. A nearby town south of us got hit by a tornado and several towns north of us are being warned about freezing rain overnight. There was widespread flooding across town, but luckily the roads were clear and above water during my short excursion to the post office and pharmacy. I really didn't want to leave the house at all, but Dash was getting low on Plavix and I had bills to pay.

Since the rain didn't start until around 9 AM, I was able to give Dash his morning walk. Who knows when we will be able to walk again. The rain is still pounding down on the roof and according to the weather forecast, the wet weather will continue for the rest of the week. Needless to say, this is not my favorite time of year. During our rainy season, we typically get a year's worth of rain in just a few months and then when Summer rolls around, it is bone dry. It would be nice if our allotment of water was divided more evenly, but that's not the way it works in Texas.

As you might expect, Dash wasn't very happy today. He hates rain almost as much as I do. This wasn't your garden variety rainy day either. There were intermittent high winds and plenty of thunder and lightning. On days like this, Dash's safe place is under my desk in the office. I wish I had a safe place. I spent the day wondering whether a gust of wind would knock over one of our Oak trees, or if the roof would spring a leak again. Everything is fine so far, but that doesn't keep me from fretting.

After paying this month's bills, I couldn't bring myself to buy a refrigerator. I felt broke. I can't postpone this decision much longer unfortunately. Something is obviously wrong with the temperature controls. After I defrost the coil, the refrigerator section is too cold. It doesn't matter if I turn the thermostat to the warmest setting; the temperature is still too cold. Then, as the evaporator coil gradually becomes covered with ice, the refrigerator slowly becomes warmer. Eventually it quits working. This process takes several weeks, but it shouldn't be happening at all. As soon as the rain stops, I'll buy a new refrigerator. I don't feel like buying anything on a rainy day.

On the way to the post office, I stopped at the tailor shop to get a new zipper put in an old fleece jacket. "Are you sure you want to do this," the tailor asked, indicating that the repair might cost more than the jacket was worth. I like the worn old jacket, so I told her to go ahead. "This jacket is at least fifteen years old," she told me, "because they don't make this fabric anymore." As if to prove this to me, the tailor went to the back of the store and returned with an equally worn fleece jacket. "I have one just like yours," she said.

I spent a lot of time watching the weather radar today. I kept thinking there would be a break in the rain, so I could take Dash on an afternoon walk, but the rain was relentless. Every time it looked like the skies might be clearing, a new storm cell would develop, keeping the rain falling. The ten day forecast doesn't look promising. I wonder how they can predict these things ten days in advance anyway. Today looked pretty random to me.

Odie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2979

Part of the greenhouse roof blew off this morning. Jeez. I didn't even think it was a windy day. Apparently, it didn't take much. One minute the roof was fine and the next minute it was on the ground. As if I didn't have enough to fix already. I knew it was going to be a rainy day, so I hurriedly tried to get the roof section back in place. I managed to cover the hole, but a proper repair will have to come later.

The damaged greenhouse wasn't an auspicious way to begin the day, but is was a sign of things to come. We did manage to get Dash walked before the rain began, but while we were fixing breakfast, I noticed that there was a coating of ice on the back wall of the freezer again. It was time to defrost the evaporator coil. I had been overly optimistic. I was hoping that the refrigerator would operate normally for a few more weeks because things have been going well this month. Apparently, the coil freezes faster when the humidity is high. When I disassembled the freezer, I found that the coil was frozen solid. This process only took half as long as it did when the humidity was lower.

All bets are off. When the refrigerator was working well in January, I thought I knew exactly the part I needed to get things running reliably again. Now that the coil is freezing rapidly, I don't have a clue. I'm ready to give up. Maybe I'll go out and buy the new refrigerator I don't really want tomorrow.

I can't get the toilet to stop running either. It doesn't seem that cleaning the parts helped at all. Plumbers tell me that I should give up and buy a Toto toilet. Of course, it was a plumber who told me to buy the ridiculously complicated toilet I have now. Am I asking for trouble to go from a French toilet to a Japanese toilet? I should have just kept the old toilet that came with the house. It used a ton of water, but it was virtually indestructible.

Dash's eating habits are driving me crazy. At the end of the day he's usually eaten enough to satisfy his nutritional needs, but he doesn't eat consistently anymore. He'll eat a little and then turn up his nose at the rest. I'll have to put the food back in the refrigerator and try something else. Often he'll like something in the afternoon that he hated in the morning. This reluctance to eat seems to have something to do with his sense of smell. He carefully smells his food and even his water bowl before he eats or drinks. He didn't used to do this. If it doesn't smell exactly right, he won't touch it. Dash spends a lot more time smelling thing on his walks now too. It is as if he has developed a hyper sensitive nose. I know dogs can smell things a lot better than we can, but this is getting ridiculous.

I hope the weather forecast is wrong. It's going to be a very long week if it doesn't quit raining. There is no point to even examining the roof now. I know it is covered with standing water. I've just got to hope that the elastomer coating holds up. I've learned the hard way that the coating is very fragile when it's wet. I can do more damage by tramping around on the wet roof than the rain can.

It's hard not to get discouraged. This is not what I imagined retirement would be like at all.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2966

I've been interested in space for a long time, but I never thought I'd see a sporty convertible floating above the earth with a mannequin in a space suit at the wheel. The long awaited Falcon Heavy launch was spectacular. I thought it was audacious of Elon Musk to send his own Tesla Roadster to Mars on the Falcon Heavy's maiden voyage. It was pretty cool to see the two booster rockets return to Cape Canaveral and land simultaneously as well. If this doesn't get people interested in space travel again, I don't know what will.

I defrosted the evaporator coil in the freezer today. There was definitely ice on the coil, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I probably could have gone another week before the refrigerator stopped working. It's a nuisance to take all the food out of the freezer, remove the shelves, and unscrew the back panel to gain access to the frozen coil, but melting the ice with a hair dryer seems to cure the problem every time. It seems odd now that frost free refrigerators are a relatively new development and my parents routinely defrosted their refrigerator this way.

After a thousand point drop yesterday, the stock market had a thousand point intraday swing today. The market was down over 500 points at the open and was up over 500 points at the close. It was a very volatile day for traders. At times like these I think it is best to lay low and do nothing. The economy is good and businesses are thriving, so I think the market will recover. If there wasn't so much high volume program trading by machines, the sell off probably wouldn't have happened in the first place. They say a lot of people who were shorting the volatility index because the market has been so stable lately got totally wiped out. I bet they won't do that again.

Dash seems to be feeling a little better. He still won't eat when he gets up, but his appetite seems to return about mid-morning. I don't know if this is permanent or not, but adjustments can be made. The only real problem is getting Dash to take his morning pills. If the morning and evening meds didn't have to be given twelve hours apart, it would be easy to just have Dash take the morning meds later in the day. Unfortunately, that would push the schedule for his the evening meds back until after our bedtime. Hopefully, this loss of appetite is temporary. It certainly makes life more difficult.

I hear thunder outside, but Dash still seems calm and normal. That's odd. Maybe he's growing deaf along with his many other problems. Dot was virtually deaf in the final months before she passed away and the deafness was a blessing. For the first time in her life, she wasn't scared of storms.

I have no plans for tomorrow. With no deadlines to meet, I'll fret about my jury summons. Then I'll fret about Dash's lack of appetite. Then I'll wonder why our cable bill went up again and how long my refrigerator repair will last. I don't think I'll fret about rain. The rain is supposed to be over by morning.

Landry is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2958

The refrigerator broke again. This was very discouraging, considering the time, effort, and money I've already spent repairing this thing. The appliance repair folks weren't much help. Despite three separate services calls and hundreds of dollars worth of parts, they still made no promises. They told me the first part they installed wasn't under warranty anymore because they installed it more than 90 days ago. The second part is still covered, but they have no idea whether it is causing the current problem. The third part, which actually ended up getting the refrigerator running again for several months isn't covered at all because I purchased it myself. Basically, I'm screwed. They could keep coming back forever and never solve the problem.

I think it's time to abandon this refrigerator and buy a new one. The main reason I haven't already done this is that our current refrigerator is much nicer than what is currently available. Nobody makes the size we have anymore. You can get a basic, slightly smaller model, or a wide variety of larger models that won't fit in the kitchen alcove where the current refrigerator sits. To make matters worse, the small refrigerator is actually more expensive that the larger fancy models because it is considered a low volume "specialty" appliance.

I give up. I'm tired of taking the freezer apart so I can thaw out the frozen evaporator coil. It took over two hours to do this today. The refrigerator is working again, but since something is causing the automatic defrost cycle to malfunction, the coil will just freeze again in a week or two. I have no confidence in the appliance repair folks anymore. They've had three chances to fix this problem and they've failed every time. I can keep replacing parts and hope for the best, or I can buy a new refrigerator.

After spending the morning getting the refrigerator running again, I spent the afternoon driving around looking at new ones. I finally found two refrigerators that will fit in my aging mid-century modern kitchen, but neither was what I was hoping for. I think my entire house has passed it's '"use by" date. The plumbing is old and hard to replace. The utility room is too small for my front loader washer and dryer. The electrical system is not really designed for modern power hungry appliances. You've already heard about my ongoing roof problems. Nobody is interested in fixing old things either. I really don't want to buy a new refrigerator in the same month that my car insurance is due, but what are you going to do?

At least Dash was fairly normal today. He slept through the night and had a good appetite. He even left me alone while I was disassembling the freezer and removing all the ice from the evaporator coil. We took a nice long walk this morning, but I sure wish Dash was a little faster. Since I hadn't fixed the refrigerator yet, I kept imagining food spoiling during our entire journey. At some point during the day, I noticed that I had a stripe of dried poop on my pants leg. It probably happened yesterday when Dash had diarrhea. I immediately threw the pants in the laundry, wondering how long I'd been walking around that way.

I hope nothing goes wrong tomorrow. Days like today really wear me down. Eventually the refrigerator problem will get resolved and then something else will break. Something always breaks. I hope I can count on my car for a while longer. A new car is a lot more expensive than a new refrigerator.

Spirit is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2872

My life is starting to resemble Ground Hog Day. I feel like I am doomed to repeat certain things over and over again until I finally get them right. Today I defrosted the evaporator coil on the refrigerator for the fourth or fifth time. The latest visit by that appliance repairman apparently accomplished nothing. The coil is frozen again. I can always tell that the evaporator coil is completely frozen when the temperature rises in the refrigerator compartment by ten degrees. So far, I replaced three expensive components, but I've always suspected that there's just a loose wire somewhere. At any rate, the appliance repair shop is going to get another irate call from me on Monday morning. I'm really getting tired of this. You'd think the repairmen would have a way to test their work before they leave. Nope. They always just say they think they've solved the problem and tell me to call them again if something goes wrong.

I let the refrigerator cool down again while I went to the grocery store and then I prepared to tackle the roof. Fall is not a good time to be applying a sticky liquid to the roof. The leaves will continue falling until the middle of January and I can' afford to wait until them. It was a nice warm day, but it was windy. By the time I finished my repairs today, dozens of falling oak and elm leaves had already become stuck in the wet elastomer. Too bad it takes twelve hours for this stuff to completely dry.

I quit trying to peel off more of the old coating material because I'm beginning to think that the thin film of water I'm finding between the silicon coating and the asphalt substrate covers the entire roof. From now on I'll limit my repairs to plugging holes. At least I applied the material with the right consistency today. It helped a lot using the stirring attachment I attached to a power drill. I tried really hard to be neat today, but when I was finished I noticed that I'd spilled the elastomer coating all over my leg. If I'd bothered read all the fine print on the bucket, I'm sure I'd learn that this stuff is hazardous to your health. At least it comes off with soap and water. When I return to the roof tomorrow to inspect my work, I'm sure I'll find a carpet of dead leaves glued to the cured silicon.

My repairs were ultimately futile today, but I did accomplish something. The refrigerator will work fine for at least two weeks, whether the repairman returns or not. Also, the next time if rains, I have greatly reduced the chances of a major roof leak. Maybe there will always be a thin film of water between the silicon and asphalt layers, but at least I've sealed the obvious holes.

I had to use the wet/dry vacuum to extract water from under the shower tiles again, but that's hardly worth mentioning anymore. I think I may have found how the water is getting under the tiles, but I can't stand going without a shower for the amount of time it would take to fix it. For the moment, it's easier just to suck the water out with a vacuum every four days.

Janet found some socks for Dash that should prevent the rubber boots from rubbing against his paws. Now it takes even longer to get him ready for a walk. First we fit his regular harness. Then the knee brace attaches to the harness. Next we put on the cotton socks and then finally we put on his boots. It is not surprising that sometimes he has lost interest in walking by the time we get him dressed. I guess it's all worth it though. The nails on his rear paws are starting to grow again and the raw areas have healed.

I should continue repairing the roof tomorrow, but I've had enough for a while. I'll probably just go to the gym and take a long nap.

Ginger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2860

The refrigerator repairman arrived right on time. The first words out of his mouth were "We've got a problem." He showed me the box with the part I've been waiting for. "This control board is for a Bosch refrigerator," he said. "You've got a GE." Good grief. The part arrived last Thursday. They had four days to notice that it was the wrong part. They even put the wrong part on the truck and nobody noticed.

I'd already taken all the food out of the freezer and put it in an ice chest before the repairman arrived. I'd even taken all the shelves out of the freezer so the guy could get started right away. I really wasn't expecting him to arrive with the wrong part. I told the repairman I was getting tired of this. I showed him the parts I had ordered myself and said I could have a control board shipped to the house overnight if I need to. There was just no excuse for this level of ineptness. The guy went back to his truck and called his supervisor. He came back a while later and said his company could have a new part shipped overnight as well. He could come back Wednesday and install it. I didn't believe him, but I said "Sure, go ahead."

The repairman left to go to his next job and I took the freezer apart and defrosted the evaporator coil with a hair dryer again. I also installed one of the parts I bought. The other part was more difficult to install, so I'm going to have the repairman replace it when he returns on Wednesday. Why do I think I'm going to get a call on Wednesday morning saying that the control board hasn't arrived yet.

Dash wouldn't walk again this morning. Maybe if Janet hadn't had to go to work early, we could have tricked him into leaving the house, but it wasn't meant to be. I really don't understand this new aversion to leaving the house in the morning. When Janet returned this evening, Dash was eager to walk. I wish this dog could tell me what's wrong. The vets can't explain his behavior, but something has definitely changed.

I had an animal rescue meeting tonight. I thought I wouldn't be able to attend because of the refrigerator repair, but since the repairman didn't actually do anything, I had plenty of time. Not much was accomplished at the meeting, but at least I made an effort to show up. Janet was able to come home early, so Dash got an evening walk as well. It wasn't the kind of day I expected, but I really can't complain. The refrigerator will be fine for another week after I defrosted the coil. Dash ate his dinner and seems happy. I even have plenty of time to finish tonight's blog entry.

I meet my new doctor tomorrow. At least I assume he'll be my new doctor. Who knows. Maybe I won't like the guy. I hope this transition goes smoothly. The last thing I need right now is one more unexpected hassle. I've been postponing my annual physical since last Summer in anticipation of this switch. If I become a patient of this new clinic, I'm going to be immediately due for a lot of tests.

I need to figure out how to get the roofer out here before it rains again. There's an alarmingly large hole in the elastomer that needs to be patched. The house is wearing me out. The roof needs attention, the shower still leaks, and the refrigerator is driving me crazy. I wish everything would return to normal, but does normal even exist these days? I don't think so.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2851

I'm so tired of continually fixing things. Today I noticed that the refrigerator was about ten degrees warmer and I knew it was time to defrost the evaporator coil again. The refrigerator seems to cool things normally for one and a half to two weeks before the coil freezes. It's not that hard to thaw the coil with a hair dryer, but it is a nuisance. I have to take all the food out of the freezer and put it in a large ice chest before I can begin. The shelves have to be unscrewed and removed so I can access the metal back panel. When this panel has been removed, I can see the evaporator coil. It takes about twenty minutes to thaw the coil and mop up all the dripping water. Then I put everything back together and the refrigerator works fine for a while.

I'm really disappointed that the appliance repairmen weren't able to diagnose the source of this problem on their first visit. The repair strategy seems to be to replace parts one at a time until everything starts working again. To the repairman's credit, he isn't charging me for service calls anymore, but I'm convinced that there's got to be a better way to repair things. In anticipation that the logic board he ordered won't solve the problem either, I ordered a few parts myself today. Two can play this game. If his part doesn't work, I'll ask him to install one of mine.

We tried the dog booties I repaired a few days ago on Dash's evening walk and I was pleased to see that the glue and patches held together. This is good news and means that I'll be able to extend the life of these protective shoes. Now I've got to start repairing the other boots, because they're all starting to become worn. The good news is that Dash can walk normally while wearing his boots and knee brace. The bad news is that he'll only walk when Janet and I both go with him. When Daylight Savings Time returns soon, our evening walks are going to become more difficult. Janet doesn't return from work until after dark in the Winter, so Dash doesn't have much time to get used to walking alone with me.

I've noticed that the neighbors have started piling up stuff on the curb for bulky trash pickup. This means that I've only got a few days to move all the elm tree branches from the alley to the curb. I should have done this today, since it is supposed to rain tomorrow. I just didn't have the time. By the time I'd finished dealing with the refrigerator and the dog boots, my day was finished.

I picked up one of my watches this morning and the bracelet fell apart in my hands. This seemed symbolic of everything in my life. I got my watch tools out and put the bracelet back together, but I don't know why I even bothered. I never wear these watches anymore. It just seems strange that I spent so much time collecting them. You should never have a lot of old mechanical things. Old machines require constant maintenance. Vintage cars, vintage houses, vintage watches, and even vintage guitars are nothing but trouble.

I hope nothing breaks tomorrow. Like I said, I'm tired of fixing things. Even my Sunday trip to the gym is an attempt to fix something. I'm falling apart too.

Abby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2848

The refrigerator part that was supposed to arrive today won't be here until next Monday. Am I surprised? Not really. Am I disappointed? Of course. It takes a lot of patience to get something repaired these days. No wonder so many people just download a YouTube video and try to do things themselves.

In an attempt to keep the refrigerator working until the repairmen arrive, I pulled it out from its cubby hole in the kitchen, removed the back panel, and tried to clean the condenser coil. You're supposed to do this once a year, but it's just too difficult. I'm not even sure that I found the condenser coil, but I cleaned something that was very dirty and looked like a coil. After working in the cramped space behind the refrigerator for an hour, I found it difficult to extricate myself. The knee joints just aren't that flexible anymore. I have a feeling that I'll have to defrost the evaporator coil with a hair dryer later this week. I've done this several times already. If I keep this up, I could probably become a refrigerator repairman myself.

The cancer center called and rescheduled Dash's appointment several times today. The first schedule change was because the technician doing the echocardiogram wasn't going to be at the clinic in the afternoon. The second schedule change was because there was an out of town emergency appointment that required an ultrasound scan as soon as the dog arrived. We're still going tomorrow, but our appointment is a lot earlier than it originally was. My biggest concern is getting Dash to poop before we put him in the car. Since there won't be time for a morning walk, this might be a problem. We really hope that the echocardiogram shows some improvement in Dash's heart. He does seem to have more energy and is eating better, so maybe the Plavix pills are working.

I found some stuff that is supposed to be good for repairing shoes. It's called Shoe Goo. I was going to attempt to repair Dash's protective booties today, but I discovered that a seam had torn and needed to be sewed back together first. I wish I knew how to use Janet's fancy new sewing machine. I used to use the old Singer machine to make small repairs all the time, but this new machine seems very unfamiliar. I just don't want to risk breaking it. Dash's boots will still get repaired. It just might take a little longer.

It's getting to the point where I am reluctant to even turn on the television. The news has become an endless parade of disasters. Where is the good news? All I see are floods, hurricanes, massive wildfires, mass shootings, and threats of nuclear war. It almost feels like we are living in some dystopian science fiction novel. There is no real solution to this mess, so perhaps the best thing is to turn off the TV and concentrate on things that are closer to home.

Dash's health is certainly close to home. I really hope we get a good report tomorrow.

Kuuipo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2847

I was surprised at how cold it was this morning. The furnace was running when we woke up and I needed to wear long pants and a jacket on our morning walk. Typically, these nice October mornings don't last very long. As soon as the sun comes up, the temperature is quickly above ninety again. Today was different. I don't think it got above seventy degrees all day long.

Since the weather was nice and cool, I thought it would be a good day to fix the big gash in the front yard. I measured the bare spot where the runaway car had ripped away the grass and went to buy some St. Augustine sod. I'd forgotten how messy is is to carry grass around in your car. I used to haul sod in the Defender quite a bit, but I don't think I've ever done it in this car. I had quite a bit of cleanup to do when I got home.

I can't say that I did a super job on the yard, but at least the dirt is covered up now. With this chore marked off my list, I went looking for a cheap orthotic insert for my dog walking shoes. I found something at CVS that looked identical to the expensive REI inserts for 1/3 the price. If I was willing to go to Walmart, I might have found something for even less.

Now that we're feeding Dash what he wants, he's eating quite well. I hope the loss of appetite scare wasn't just an elaborate ploy to get us to change his diet. Dash can be pretty clever when it comes to getting what he wants. I feel confident that what we're feeding him now is healthy and nutritious. The only thing I don't like is that his poop is softer and harder to clean up. He may be getting too much protein as well. We don't want to deal with crystals in his urine again.

I've noticed that the refrigerator is starting to get a little warmer again. If the replacement part doesn't arrive in the next day or so, I'll have to manually defrost the evaporator coil again. It's easy enough to melt the ice with a hair dryer, but it takes a while to remove all the food from the freezer and unscrew the back wall plate so the coil is exposed. I wonder why this coil freezes up so quickly? I remember having an old fashioned refrigerator without the frost-free feature in one of my first apartments and I think I could go six months without having to defrost the thing.

I guess I'll just watch the new Blade Runner movie on my computer. It's going to be available on iTunes soon and I don't feel like dealing with theaters or driving at night. I can really understand the appeal of Hello Fresh, Netflix, Amazon, and all the other things that bring the world to your doorstep. When you look at what the world has become, there's a lot to be said for just staying at home.

Neo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2840

Dash was really lethargic today. He had no energy and wouldn't even take a morning walk. I guess this is understandable, considering his heart condition, but it makes me sad to see him this way. There is nothing we can do at this point. We just have to be patient, keep Dash eating the best we can, and hope that the Plavix works.

Although Dash mostly just slept today, he is continuing to eat. I'll take this as a good sign. His diet has changed, but I think he is getting enough nutrition. He eats a Castor and Pollux stew in the morning. We have several varieties on hand. If he turns his nose up at Venison, we'll try turkey or chicken. There's too much gravy in this stuff to hide his morning pills, so we're still using banana bread at this point. At lunch time he'll eat a mix of dry food mixed with a rice cake. He won't eat the dry without the rice cake. Go figure. By evening, he'll eat just about any wet food, so we usually feed him Hills ID since we still have a lot of that on hand. It's complicated, but the good news is that he is continuing to eat without the Cerenia pills.

The refrigerator is starting to fail again. I don't think the new heater the repairmen installed last week is working. The symptoms are always the same. After about a week, the evaporator coil becomes frozen and cool air stops flowing from the freezer to the refrigerator. I never really realized that this is how a refrigerator works. A thermostatically controlled vent lets cold air from the freezer into the refrigerator. When the evaporator coil freezes, this vent doesn't work anymore and the refrigerator starts to warm up.

I made an appointment for the repairman to come out tomorrow. While I was waiting to get the appointment scheduled, the dispatcher told me that she had the same brand of refrigerator and that they were impossible to fix. I'm not sure her boss would have wanted her to say this, but it's probably true. Tomorrow's repair visit is free, but if the repairman can't figure out why the defrost heater isn't working, I'm probably looking at buying a new refrigerator anyway. This is all very disappointing.

A former client asked me if I could check and see if a security breech warning she received was a scam. I did a little research on Google and concluded that it probably was. I didn't want to contact the company though because I was afraid that the scammers might start targeting me. It's a shame that the  world has come to this. I feel like I'm under siege. Almost all my phone calls are from telemarketers. Most of my e-mail is spam or thinly veiled phishing schemes. Facebook is a sea of fake news. Even gift cards aren't legit anymore. A gift card I received for my birthday was drained of funds before I even opened the packaging. If you're surprised that I'd like to find a time machine and travel back to the 1950's, you shouldn't be.

I was always worried that Dot would get too excited and frantic when repairmen came to the house. That's not the case with Dash. He can sleep through just about anything. I'm just worried that he will go to sleep sometime and never wake up.

Hobbs is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2810

Our refrigerator is not cooling properly. I hate the thought of looking for new appliances. The last time we replaced our refrigerator, it was almost impossible to find one that would fix in the small slot designed for it in the kitchen. We have the same problem with the washer and dryer in the utility room. Appliances seem to have grown over the years. What would have been normal for the mid-fifties house we live in just isn't made anymore. Maybe the refrigerator isn't really broken, since the freezer side still works well. I suggested unplugging it for a while and then plugging it in again like we do for everything else in the house, but Janet said the food might go bad. Actually turning the refrigerator off may actually work, since I suspect that the evaporator coils have become frozen. This happens from time to time with the air conditioner. You just let the ice melt and everything is fine. Refrigerators are problematic. If you spend too much time monkeying around with them, the food goes bad. It's always hard to fix something when you're using it.

I didn't fix much today, but I did keep busy. I mowed the grass in the front and the back and then treated the yard for mosquitoes. I hope the treatment works, since I'm getting eaten alive at night when I take Dash out to pee. We had a mild winter and chiggers, mosquitoes, and ticks are everywhere. I had planned on getting rid of some wasp nests too, but I couldn't find the wasp and hornet spray. Usually, after I do a lot of yard work I just feel like taking a nap, but today I decided to go to the gym.

I've come to the conclusion that if I don't work out more, my muscles are just going to continue to atrophy. The older you get, the harder it is to build muscle mass. For a long time I thought I was losing weight because I was eating healthier. I'm really just slowly losing muscle mass. One way or another, I've got to reverse this process. Going to the gym three times a week is probably a good place to start.

I probably should have continued my work on the roof this afternoon, but enough is enough. After my trip to the gym and an afternoon walk with Dash, I was finally getting tired. Janet found gas today, but I didn't bother to take my car to the same station. I may regret this decision later, but I have a feeling this self made gas crisis may soon be over.

It remains to be seen whether we will go looking at refrigerators tomorrow. I'm still hoping that the problem miraculously cures itself overnight. This is unlikely. Broken things rarely fix themselves. I'm not looking forward to going back on the roof, but I've got to make sure that everything is patched and has time to cure before the next rain. I'm pretty sure that I've got a few days left, but it's bound to rain eventually.

I guess tomorrow is a holiday. It probably won't seem any different to me. I still have a long list of chores to finish and a refrigerator full of food that keeps getting warmer.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day