Day 3349

I always get more done on a sunny day. Nothing important was accomplished, but I did stay busy. Dash was ready to go early this morning. We took a nice long walk and I was back at the house fixing breakfast before 8 AM. Janet usually fixes breakfast on weekends, but she wasn't home this morning, so I made my regular fruit smoothie instead. While I was watching morning TV and drinking the smoothie, I forgot it was Sunday for a while.

After breakfast I fixed the loose roof panels in the greenhouse. The repairs were shoddy as usual, but at least the greenhouse will have a roof until the next wind storm comes along. Since the roof on our house wasn't leaking today, I soaked a sponge with bleach and tried to eradicate the new rust stains on the ceiling. I wonder if I'll ever have the nerve to have a tape and bed guy come out and replace the sheetrock. I've thought the leak was fixed several times before, but it always seems to come back.

Since I already had a sponge soaked with bleach, I tried to remove a stubborn stain on the kitchen counter and then cleaned the toilets. I knew I would make a mess and wore old clothes, but despite my best efforts to be neat, I still spilled some bleach on my shirt. The house still looks more or less the same, but it does small like bleach now.

I got to the gym later than usual and the basketball court was already being used when I arrived. Bummer. Shooting baskets is the only thing I enjoy at the gym. Everything worked out though. By the time I'd finished with the hand bicycle and the treadmill, the court was empty again. On the way home I stopped at Bed, Bath and Beyond to look for a bread knife. I didn't find what i was looking for, but I didn't have my big blue coupon with me anyway. I should have gone to REI instead.

I watched the Oscars for a while during dinner. What was Billy Porter thinking? The guy looked like Mary Todd Lincoln. I liked the idea of having Queen opening the show, but I didn't watch long. Maybe the Oscars needs a host after all. I hadn't seen any of these movies, even though most of them are available on iTunes. I just don't watch many movies anymore. The last movie I saw in a theater was The Theory of Everything back in 2014.

Dash had a good day. He was active and engaged for most of the day and felt strong enough to take two walks. It didn't hurt that it was a beautiful day. Even my allergies didn't bother me today. I spotted a few Spring flowers starting to bloom this afternoon. These early signs of Spring usually mean that another cold front is on the way. If flowers are blooming tin February, I wouldn't be surprised to see snow in March.

I hope that Dash stays strong tomorrow. The good days are a blessing now. It is becoming harder and harder for him to move around without falling.

Nora is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3348

The roof is leaking again. I definitely wasn't expecting this. It was a clear sunny day and there wasn't even that much water on the roof. Apparently the roofers hadn't stopped the leak, they had just slowed the water down. Somehow, water was still getting under the elastomer coating and finding its way inside through a bad seam. I put a bucket under the drip in the living room, cleared the remaining water from the roof, and looked for a damaged area where the water might be getting in. I couldn't find anything. The dripping water stopped in about an hour, but that wasn't the point. There shouldn't be a leak at all. I sent an e-mail to the roofer, informing him of the bad news and made a mental note to contact the people who still owe me a bid for completely replacing the roof. This is getting old.

Dash pooped in the bed three times last night. I think this is a new record. The poop landed right on the puppy pad each time, so there really wasn't much of a mess to clean up. Dash never woke up. We wondered why he never pooped yesterday. Now we know. Despite the interruptions, I actually got a good night's sleep. Apparently Dash did too. He was eager for a walk this morning.

The weather app on my phone has been saying that today was going to be windy for the past several days. It was pretty calm when we took our morning walk, so I thought the forecast must be wrong. Nope. This afternoon it suddenly became fiercely windy outside. I could see the wind trying to rip the roof off of the greenhouse again. Some of the new nails I added held and some of them didn't. None of the fiberglass roof panels blew off this time, but they all were loosened. The problem is that I can't climb on the shed roof to secure the top of the fiberglas panels because the greenhouse is too flimsy. When a panel falls off, I just push it back in place and nail the bottom to the top of the greenhouse wall. Apparently this is not enough.

My to-do list today included getting phenobarbital for Dash, a small plunger to help clear a slow drain in the bathroom, and fresh fruit for next week's breakfast smoothies. Kroger has peaches again, so the smoothies will taste a little better. I wonder why none of the other stores have peaches yet?  When I filled the car with gas, I noticed that the station had brand new pumps. It still took two tries to get the new pump to accept my credit card.

The strong winds only lasted a couple of hours but they stirred up a lot of dust. When I was taking Dash on his evening walk it looked like there was a dust storm on the horizon that partially obscured the sun. I hadn't seen skies like this for three or four years and though it would make a great photograph. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me. Dash walks so slowly now that by the time we got home, the sun had completely set. I guess the dust storm photo will have to wait until the next dust storm.

Today was discouraging. I can't believe I'm still dealing with a roof leak, a slow bathroom drain, and a dilapidated greenhouse. There is no joy in replacing a roof. It is expensive and you can't even see the results when it's done. I don't even think a new roof will increase the value of the house. The neighborhood is slowly becoming gentrified and our small house will ultimately become a tear down no matter what we do.

I hope that Dash wakes up with lots of energy tomorrow. Janet has an early charity event to attend and it's up to me to get the day started. We'll see how it goes. I'm not a morning person and neither is Dash

Joey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3337

I had trouble getting back to sleep after I took Dash outside last night, so instead of counting sheep, I tried to remember all the ad agencies I'd worked at in the correct order. This was surprisingly difficult. The first three agencies were easy. So were the last four. The ones in the middle were a muddled mess though. I guess my memory lapse is understandable. I worked at seventeen ad agencies before starting my own company. I eventually fell asleep, but I still have no idea where I worked before I went to Popejoy & Fischel. I can't remember who Popejoy was either.

It was nice to see the sun again. The temperature was warmer too. Dash thought is was a nice day as well. For the first time since his severe diarrhea episode, we were able to take two walks again. Dash still isn't walking normally and probably never will, but he has quickly learned how to use the Help 'Em Up Harness. I basically provide just enough support to keep him from slipping. Dash is still moving his legs on his own. If you have a dog with mobility problems I can't recommend these harnesses enough. They really help.

It was time to vacuum again. Actually it was long past time. There has always been a ton of dog hair in the house, but lately I'm finding Dash's food all over the place. He's having trouble chewing now and food just falls out of his mouth. There are dog biscuit crumbs and little bits of chicken and rice all over the place. Dash's teeth and gums are terrible now, but it is not safe to anesthetize him anymore, so a regular dental cleaning is impossible. I swab his mouth every day with an oral dental rinse and we try to brush his teeth, but it's a losing battle.

Since it was clear and warm this afternoon, I went up on the roof and removed the remaining water. The pumps actually did a pretty good job during the rain. There wasn't as much standing water as I anticipated. I had the entire job finished in less than thirty minutes. The forecast looks good for the immediate future, so maybe I can stay off the roof for a while.

I was happy to see the stock market rebound today. It's unsettling at times that I need to depend on this increasingly volatile market. When I was younger I never gave the stock market a lot of thought. If I needed money, I knew I could always go earn more. Not so easy these days. My skill set has become largely irrelevant. At least I believed in saving when I was younger. Some of my friends didn't. We'll see what the future brings. Somehow I don't think it's going to bring a guaranteed return on my investments. I see a very bumpy road ahead.

A roof panel blew off the greenhouse again last night. Jeez. I thought I'd already fixed that. Apparently, I'm not a very good carpenter.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3313

First it was the rain and now it is the wind. The weather is not my friend in the Winter. A cold front swept through town last night, bringing sustained thirty mile per hour winds along with it. The high winds continued for most of the night and blew the roof off the greenhouse again. The old greenhouse was built in 1955 and is pretty frail by now. It doesn't take much to bring it crashing down.

I've fixed the greenhouse roof before, but it's hardly worth the effort. When a stiff wind catches the edges of the translucent fiberglass roof panels, they just blow off again. Unfortunately, I couldn't ignore the roof panels all over the yard, so I got a hammer, some nails, and a ladder and put the dilapidated greenhouse back together again. It's anybody's guess which will last longer: my greenhouse repairs or the roofers efforts from last week.

It was so cold this morning that we all had to wear our warmest clothes. Getting Dash dressed on a cold morning is quite an effort. First we put on his sweater. Over that goes his Ruffwear harness. Then we attach the leg brace and put on a fitted bandage, a pair of socks, and the Ultra Paws boots on his rear paws. Since it was extra cold this morning, he also wore a hat to keep his ears warm.

If Dash didn't love his walks so much, we wouldn't go to this effort. I'd just as soon sleep in a little longer on cold mornings like this. Walks are still Dash's favorite part of the day. He is transformed from a dog who falls down every five minutes in the house to a dog who strides purposely through the wet grass in the park, smelling every bush and tree along the way. It's kind of amazing that he gains stability if he is moving forward. If he is standing still, his rear legs start to sink fairly quickly. I often have to hold him up now while he is eating or drinking water from his bowl. Even smelling things along the way can be hazardous. If he gets too interested in the scent of another dog who has peed on a tree, he will lose control of his rear legs and stumble.

My attempt to repair the greenhouse made me pretty late this morning, but I still had lots of errands to run. When I'm shopping on Saturday, I buy the same staples over and over again. It's amazing how much the price of things like paper towels, toilet paper, and laundry detergent have gone up over the years. How can people continue to say that inflation isn't a problem when the cost of many ordinary things has doubled?

The skies are starting to clear, so I might actually be able to see tomorrow's blood moon lunar eclipse.  I've tried to photograph these things before, but our yard doesn't provide a very scenic backdrop. A red blood moon always looks good when it is near the horizon in a national park. Not so much in my yard. I think the moon will be more or less directly overhead at totality, so a scenic backdrop probably doesn't even matter. I'm only going to be outside for a few minutes anyway. It's not worth getting cold just to see a red looking moon.

I go to the gym again tomorrow. I think putting the greenhouse back together this morning provided more of a workout than going to the gym ever does. Actually, just putting on Dash's winter clothes today was quite a workout.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3051

I'm trying to get organized. I spoke with the guy who is going to sell my model trains and made some final arrangements for him to pick up my collection. I finally contacted the right person and got a refund for the worthless broken activity tracker I ordered several weeks ago. I left another message for the landscaper. He's almost as hard to get hold of as the roofer. None of these things are all that important, but at least I felt like I was doing something.

Dash was really slow today. His energy level varies widely from day to day. It took well over an hour to complete our morning walk. When the dogs were healthy, we could complete this distance in less than thirty minutes. I let Dash take his time. He still enjoys smelling things and I don't have anything better to do with my time anyway. It's sad to see him slowly decline, but I think he's doing the best he can. Dash was a picky eater today as well. I don't think he was sick, but he was very lethargic.

I found a new app for my phone that lets me manually focus the camera. I've been looking for this feature since my very first iPhone. If a third party developer could figure out how to manually control the phone's camera, why hasn't Apple already done this? Probably a focus group told them that the selfie generation didn't care about manual focus and exposure control. Amazingly, the new app works like a charm. Maybe I'll finally be able to keep flowers without sharply defined edges in focus.

I've been waiting all day for the rain to start. It's still dry outside, but there are some ominous looking storms to the West of us. According to the forecast, it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow.
None of this would matter if the roof was in better shape. I've had roof problems for so long that it seems like the roof was always this way. Except for a brief period after the last new roof was installed, the roof probably always was a problem. Even a brand new flat roof can be a nightmare. My one piece of advice to new homeowners would be to never, ever buy a house with a flat roof.

There's a new episode of The Expanse on tonight. I'll probably just record it and watch it later. There is very little incentive to watch a show when it originally airs anymore. I wonder if anybody watches live TV these days? Even the news is easier to tolerate if you watch it later.

Another roof panel blew off the greenhouse this afternoon. Apparently, I'm not doing a very good job of reattaching these things. The slightest wind can knock something loose now. The greenhouse is so old that a lot of the nails holding things together have completely rusted away. I need to get a bid to repair things properly, but I already know that it will be more expensive that it's worth.

If it rains, Dash wont get a walk in the morning. I hope Dash is feeling better tomorrow. Rainy days are even worse when I spend them worrying about his heart.

Bogart is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3038

The tree trimmer came over today to give me an estimate. The dead limb I was worried about hangs directly over the house and it seems like it would be difficult to gently lower it down with a rope. No problem, the guy told me. I'll take his word for it. This is something I would never attempt by myself. I need to schedule this work before the roofers come over, but that shouldn't be a problem. I'll be lucky if I can get the roofers over here by June.

I was reading the instructions for the special glue I bought to repair my fitness band and I noticed something in the fine print that said "Do not let this product come in contact with skin." WTF? How can I repair a wrist band if the repair can't come in contact with my skin? I need to contact the manufacturer about this. Silicon is used in all sorts of medical products. Silicon masks are also common in film and the theater. Why would anyone make a repair product that couldn't be used in these situations? Maybe the glue just can't come near skin until it has fully cured. I'll be real disappointed if I can't use this glue. Basically, if I can't glue the fitness tracker back together, it goes in the trash.

Dash seems to be slowly inching back to a more regular schedule. He got me up at midnight and again just before sunrise. While this may seem inconvenient, it is much better than getting up at 3 AM. I was hoping that Dash would sleep through the night like he did yesterday, but no such luck. At least he is eating normally again.

It was a nice day to be outside, so I tried to repair some of the roof panels on the greenhouse. It's been really windy this Spring and these panels keep coming loose. I definitely should have worn a long sleeve shirt. The translucent panels are made of fiberglass and my arms were itching for the rest of the day. Fiberglass is terrible stuff. It looks solid but there are always sharp little fibers that come off when you touch it. It's ironic that I was worried about the silicon glue today when I really should have been worried about the fiberglass.

I'm dreading going over to the storage warehouse and taking an inventory of my collection before my friend from Kentucky arrives in town to pick it up. This is going to take a long time and I'm sure I'll have misgivings about liquidating a bunch of stuff it took me so many years to accumulate. If I could go back in time, the first thing I'd do is tell my younger self not to bother with collecting things. The older you get, the less collections matter. In the long run, it is a lot better to have the cash than a bunch of dusty stuff in a storage warehouse.

This week has gone quickly. It is already time to take the trash to the curb again. On Thursday evenings I often read Yelp reviews about restaurants I'm thinking about visiting the next morning. Usually I just end up confused. There will almost always be great reviews right next to terrible reviews. It must be hard to run a restaurant. It's probably just about impossible to please everybody.

Marley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

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

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