Day 2881

The only thing I've been making any progress on lately is in getting Dash to walk. We're taking nice long walks again. Dash doesn't appear to be in any discomfort. He is walking normally and seems to be enjoying himself. We walk very slowly now. I think his doctors would approve. It takes well over an hour now to complete our morning rounds. The knee brace and boots don't seem to slow him down. He just likes to smell everything. When I was busy, this would have driven me crazy, but there isn't much on my schedule these days. A long walk certainly beats watching morning TV.

I took my November invoices to the post office today and paid some bills. All my bills come with an admonition to pay online instead. One of the envelopes I addressed today even had a little message where the stamp goes. "Can't find a stamp? Pay online instead," it said. I wonder why everyone hates checks? My bank doesn't even like to take deposits. They would prefer that I scan a check with their smartphone app and deposit it electronically. I think I'm becoming even more of a Luddite than my sister. I still like paper.

I got a new writing job today. In the old days I used to send a FedEx package with my completed copy to the client. Sending a PDF file via e-mail certainly saves money, but I kind of liked having the FedEx man come to pick up packages every day or so. I had the same delivery guy for many years and he got to know me by name. Sending and receiving packages this way made me feel like I had a real business a lot more than pressing the send key on my computer.

I see so many signs that the world has permanently changed. Our neighborhood used to be filled with nice, but very modest houses. Now, whenever somebody dies, the house is scraped and replaced with a larger, much more opulent dwelling. I don't think you could call this gentrification. The neighborhood was always nice. It doesn't appear to be nice enough for today's affluent buyers though. Perfectly good homes that my parents would have been proud to live in are being torn down to make room for mansions. This doesn't seem like a good thing, but then very little I see these days seems like a good thing.

I certainly don't understand the whole bike-share phenomenon. The rental bicycles from LimeBike, Spin, VBikes and others are popping up all over town. A huge number of them seem to be abandoned in the park. I counted twelve abandoned bicycles on our morning walk. People do ride these things, but they are a real eyesore and seem like littering to me. Maybe I'm too old and set in my ways for the sharing economy. LimeBike, Uber, and Air B&B all seem a little weird to me.

I hope I can finish my roof repairs before the coating product goes bad. I noticed a little message on one of the containers saying that the product should be used within 72 hours of opening the seal on the bucket. That's not going to happen. I guess the stuff starts to cure inside the container if you don't use it fast enough. Oh, well. I have no control over the weather. I'll finish things as quickly as I can.

There's no point in going up on the roof this week. There is more rain in the forecast. I'll write my article tomorrow and do what I can to make the day enjoyable for Dash. Sounds like a plan to me.

Ivy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2362

There was no avoiding the rain today. I thought I could run a few errands between showers, but ended up being caught in a downpour. Later in the day, I thought I could do the same thing on my evening walk with Dash and got soaked again. The weather radar said we had some time, but I guess we were too slow. By the time we got home, Dash and I looked like we'd gone swimming. Basically, I spent the entire day getting wet and then throwing my clothes in the dryer so I could get them wet all over again a few hours later.

Dot didn't feel like going outside at all and consequently ended up pooping in her bed twice. I've gotten so used to her incontinence that I actually thought this was preferable to standing outside with her in the rain. Cleanup has gotten a lot easier now that I always try to position a disposable pad under her butt before she goes to sleep. If I'm lucky, I can slide out the soiled pad and replace it with a fresh one without even waking her up.

When I was walking Dash this afternoon, I noticed that another house in the neighborhood had been scraped. There was absolutely nothing wrong with this house. It doesn't seem to matter. Slowly but surely, solidly built, unpretentious homes are being replaced by McMansions. What would have been a dream house for our parents doesn't seem good enough anymore. I don't think the new homes with their granite countertops and media rooms will last nearly as long as the older houses that are being torn down, but that doesn't seem to matter. I have a feeling that my own home will be torn down when Janet and I eventually move. It's just too small for today's expansive tastes.

The new battery for my WiFi hotspot arrived today. Ironically, I haven't had to use this alternate Internet access point since AT&T sent me the new router and mistakenly decided I was already using it. I don't know what they've done to my account, but it's never worked better. I'm almost scared to call them now, because I'm afraid they'll run some tests and end up screwing everything up. I hope my curiosity doesn't get the better of me. I'd really like to know what they did.

The city never did pick up last week's trash, so this evening I hauled two weeks worth of trash out to the curb. I hope I have better luck with the garbage truck tomorrow morning. I don't know why taking out the trash has become so problematic. Now, one of the new neighbors has decided to park one of their cars where I usually place my can. This shouldn't bother me, but it does. I have to wheel my can up the street to another location where cars won't block the automated trash truck. Like so many things in life, this used to be so easy.

I don't have a clue where I'm going to have breakfast tomorrow. If this nasty weather continues, I might not go out at all. Actually, when I fixed myself French Toast and sausages last Friday, it was a better meal than I've had in months. Maybe I just go out to eat on Friday's because I'm bored.

Abby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day