Day 4361

My eye exam was a pleasant surprise. I've been dreading this exam for weeks because last year my doctor told me that I would be needing cataract surgery soon. Well, it's not going to be this year. My eyes have actually improved. There were no signs of diabetic retinopathy. There were no signs that my cataracts had gotten worse. Actually my doctor said that there was less cloudness in my right eye this year. The left eye has never been a problem. I aced the eye chart this year. I could read everything on the bottom line and the doctor's assistant said that I still had 20/20 vision.

In fairness, I think I could read the eye chart better this year because it was closer. I mentioned this to the doctor's assistant and she said this didn't matter because the projection system ensured that the chart would appear the same size to the viewer even though the far wall in the other exam room was further away. "This may be true," I told her, "but the closer projected image is definitely brighter and brighter images are easier to see." She gave me a strange look. I know she knew I was right. I bet everyone who gets their eyes examined in the smaller exam room gets a better score.

I asked the doctor about different types of cataract lenses and he told me that the Crystalens system didn't work as advertised and that most people who opted to go this route ended up having serious problems. He didn't recommend bifocal or trifocal lenses either, saying that they felt strange to everyone not already wearing bifocal or trifocal glasses. When I asked him if drops were being developed that could just dissolve the cataracts, he just laughed. "It's not going to happen," he told me. "Cataract eyedrops would put me out of business." Hey, at least the guy was honest. I didn't want to argue, but they are already using eye drops to treat cataracts in dogs. The Lanosterol treatment has also proved to be effective with guinea pigs, horses, rabbits. I think it's only a matter of time before these eye drops, or something even better, is approved for use in humans. 

Sometimes it is better to wait. When I first discovered that I had Hepatitis C, there were several treatments available that had serious side effects and didn't even work for many people. Then Sovaldi was invented and this little pill revolutionized everything. My Hepatitis C was totally eliminated in twelve weeks with no side effects whatsoever. Cataract surgery is a safe and very common procedure. Lots of people I know have had the surgery and are very happy with it. Given a choice, I'd much rather keep my natural lens so I can continue to focus at all distances. I was happy that my doctor thought my eyes looked just fine today.

The weather continues to be wonderful. I took my long walk early this morning because I didn't want to walk in the bright sunlight after my eyes had been dilated. This was probably a good idea since it takes four or five hours for your eyes to completely return to normal after they've been dilated. I always hate driving home after an eye exam. Everything is fine now. I only have to see the dermatologist and the dentist now and then I'm done with the medical parade.

Dawn was good with me today. I took her outside after my long walk and then again after I returned from the eye doctor. Both times she came when I called and followed me to the door. I sat with her for about fifteen minutes while she sunned herself in her favorite spot and she appeared completely relaxed. She also followed me out to the kitchen when I fixed her dinner tonight. It's a slow process, but we're making progress.

Gretta is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3669

The weather could have been better, but it was still a very good day. Selena went to her forever home this morning. I think Selena hit the jackpot. The couple who adopted her were wonderful. They were very patient and understood the challenges of building a shy dog's confidence. Selena liked their dog too. She even hopped into their car on her own for the journey back to Houston. A few hours later, Janet and I were happy to hear that Selena and her new family had safely arrived at her new home without getting getting caught in the severe storms that were traveling through Texas today. We were also happy to hear that Lake will be going to his new home tomorrow. There are still a lot of dogs in the rescue program, but Dalmatian Rescue has been doing a great job of finding them good homes.

When we returned home from the kennel, I discovered that I will be going to the Solar Orbiter launch after all. NASA has taken me off the waitlist and given me social media credentials. I wasn't expecting this. These events for social media influencers have become so popular that very few people cancel after they have been accepted. When you are waitlisted, it is usually the end of the line. I actually though I had a better chance of getting traditional media accreditation through SpaceFlight Magazine. That still could happen, but it doesn't really matter now. I will be going to the launch.

All day we've been hearing that severe weather was on the way. There were prediction of extremely high winds, large hail, and a possibility of tornados. One reason we met the couple who adopted Selena so early this morning was so they would have plenty of time to get back to Houston before the storms hit. I'm sure somebody experienced storm damage today, but luckily we were spared. We got a lot of rain, but that was about it. There were no high winds and all the trees are still standing. The storm has already moved to the East and the rain has almost stopped. The weird weather isn't over though. Another cold front is on the way and we have a chance of snow by morning.

Since the weather wasn't as bad as it was predicted to be, I was still able to take a walk today. The walk was shorter than usual and I got a little wet, but I did walk several miles, got my 10,000 steps, and closed all three activity rings on my Apple watch. When I got home I managed to get the pumps working as well, so there shouldn't be a huge amount of water on the roof tomorrow morning.

I always expect the worst when severe weather is in the forecast. I guess today proves that when there is rain, there is often a rainbow as well. It looks like I am going to have a very busy Spring. I have two very interesting trips to plan and one by one all the rescue Dalmatians are finding homes. It would be uncharacteristic of me to say that life is good, but occasionally even I feel this way.

Murphy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3196

I'm fascinated by the new quick and easy meals I've discovered. I never heard of Cadence Gourmet before, but I'm going to remember the name. Gourmet recipes using fresh, organic, locally sourced ingredients are flash frozen using liquid nitrogen so the ingredients maintain their texture, color, nutrients and flavor. The fish, meat, vegetables, and sauces are encapsulated in what can only be described as rock solid frozen eggs. Toss these weird looking nodules in a frying pan and fifteen minutes later you have an amazing meal that looks and tastes fantastic. Why didn't I discover this concept earlier? Flash freeing in nitrogen doesn't taste frozen at all. Portion sizes aren't a problem either. Each recipe is sold by the pound at a self-serve kiosk. Buy as much or as little as you want. It would have taken me forever to fix the Thai Green Curry Shrimp I had this evening. Piece of cake. This is a game changer for a lazy gourmet like me. Maybe I'll have the Chicken Tikka Masala tomorrow.

Dash has thrown me another curve. When he wakes up at night, he now has trouble standing. I have to be ready to help him off the bed, so he won't stumble and fall. I have to steady him as he regains his footing and hope that he doesn't poop before I can gently lead him out the back door. He's already fallen off the bed once or twice when I didn't wake up in time. I wish I could convince Dash to sleep  on the floor in a dog bed, but he is very stubborn. He doesn't want to wear his harness to bed either. It would be a lot easier to lift him on and off the bed using the handle on the harness. This is still a work in progress. Dot went through a period when she still wanted to sleep on the bed, even though it was no longer practical. She eventually learned that it was safer and more comfortable to sleep on the floor. Hopefully, Dash will learn this too.

The weather is improving. I saw a patch of blue sky today and the water dripping from the living room ceiling has finally stopped. Since there is still some standing water directly over where the leak is located, I'm not sure where this leak actually originates. Water tends to follow the path of least resistance, so the leak could be anywhere. I'll call the roofer tomorrow, but I'm not very optimistic.

One of the dogs Janet and I photographed recently has already been adopted. That's good news. I wish there was more good news. With a deteriorating house, an aging sick dog, and a crumbling business, good news is in short supply. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Maybe I'll see another Great Egret on our walk. Maybe Dash's poop will be firm. Maybe the stock market will rally. I'm certainly not going to watch the cable news channels. That would spoil everything.

Scout is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3031

Good news. When the doctors reviewed Dash's latest echocardiogram this morning, they were unable to detect any signs of the blood clot in his heart. There's always a chance that the clot just didn't show up during today's scan, but the folks at the cancer center are usually very thorough in their exams. We think that Dash's dangerous blood clot may have finally dissolved. Dash's doctor wants to give him one more scan in June before he gets a clean bill of health, but things are looking very good at this point.

I wish Dash were better behaved during these exams. The tests are non invasive and completely painless, but Dash freaks out whenever we take him to the vet these days. It's embarrassing to sit in the lobby and hear your dog bark and whine during the entire procedure. Everybody else's dog was sweet and well behaved today. Not ours. Maybe Dash would be happier if he realized that he only had to endure one more scan. We won't tell him that he's going to need his teeth cleaned when it's safe to sedate him again.

The day always gets off to a slow start whenever there's a vet appointment. We try to make the appointments as early as possible, so Janet won't miss too much work, but our normal routine still gets delayed quite a bit. By the time I finished my breakfast and got Dash ready to walk, it was well past noon. I don't know why I even try to keep a schedule. When I finally turned my computer on around 1 PM, there was still noting but junk mail in my inbox. I would be totally shocked if I found myself looking at a new assignment these days.

With Dash taken care of and nothing else on my plate, it was hard to avoid mowing the grass. I thought it might be better to care care of this task today, because it's expected to rain tomorrow. The good news is that the mower still works. The bad news is that it seems even harder to push this year. All my trips to the gym really haven't produced any dramatic results. What has happened to me?  Mowing the grass used to be easy.

I installed some music production software on my laptop this afternoon, so I could use the new keyboard outside the office. I probably never will, since the laptop is slow, but it's nice to have options. I was pleased to discover that Logic Pro and GarageBand have a new "teaching" mode where you can learn to play guitar and piano from within the software. Cool. I'll have to try this. I'm certainly pretty rusty playing the piano. I hope I can maintain my interest in music for a while. It would be nice to start writing songs again.

I'm still amazed that Dash's blood clot seems to have disappeared. There was always the possibility that it would, but I wasn't very hopeful. I can't even remember how many echocardiograms Dash has had now. We've been monitoring his condition for many months now and until the scan we had a month and a half ago, nothing ever changed. I'm glad we never lost faith and kept up with his treatment even when it didn't seem to be doing any good. The good news we heard today reminds me how important it is to be patient. Some things in life just take a lot of time.

Nellie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2989

Dash finally got some good news today. The large blood clot in his heart is a little smaller this month. The change isn't dramatic, but it is a step in the right direction. This is the first time the blood clot has become smaller since we began measuring it. I asked the doctor what was happening with the second blood clot. He said this secondary clot appeared to have been reabsorbed. This is good news too. Now, we only have one blood clot to worry about.

At this rate, it is still going to take a long, long time for Dash to return to normal. It is encouraging though that he has made it three or four months without getting worse. We will continue the blood thinners and the monthly echocardiograms, always hoping for the best. I wish Dash would behave better at the cancer center. He used to be so good when we came here for radiation therapy after his thyroid cancer. Now, he has decided that he hates the echocardiogram procedure and refuses to cooperate. Simple things like routine blood work have become quite difficult now.

As always, the vet appointment took longer than expected and Janet and I got off to a late start. By the time I finished breakfast and was ready for work, it was already afternoon. Shortly after I turned on the computer, I got a frantic call from someone who said their website had been hacked and was infected with malware. This had to be a client or former client, but I couldn't place the guy's name. I asked the guy some questions, hoping that his answers would reveal who I was talking to. Eventually something clicked and I remembered working on the guy's website. He actually used to be a pretty good client, but my records showed that I hadn't uploaded anything to his site since January of 2015. He asked me what he should do and I suggested completely erasing his current site and then reloading my old file copy. This sounded too drastic for the guy, so I said "How about if I just get rid of some of the stuff that looks really weird and shouldn't be on the server." This seemed OK. How did these files get on the server in the first place? It wasn't me and it wasn't my former client either. He didn't even remember his password.

It rained a lot last night, but by the time we arrived for our vet appointment this morning, things were already starting to dry out. By mid-afternoon the weather was quite nice and Dash and I were able to take a long walk. Maybe it will stay dry enough for me to take a look at the roof this weekend. I'm not really looking forward to going up on the roof again, but it needs to be done.

When I went to the post office today, I discovered that the price of stamps had gone up. Now it costs $50 for a single roll of first class stamps. This seems ridiculous. Maybe I should start paying for things online. With a gas guzzling car and stamps costing fifty cents each, it probably costs more to take my bills to the post office than I realize.

Another panel fell off the greenhouse roof this morning. I must have repaired this building with duct tape the last time I was having problems. The greenhouse is so old that it is starting to disintegrate. I'll add the building to the growing list of things that are starting to disintegrate. I'm pretty sure I can fix things myself, but it's a big job and my heart isn't in it.

Maybe I'll go out for breakfast tomorrow. It's been a long, dreary week. Ordering a stack of pancakes with sausages might perk me up.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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