Day 1345

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

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

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

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

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

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1344

If you didn't know any better, you'd probably think I operated a pet taxi service. The day was spent carting Dot and Dash back and forth to various vet appointments. I'm happy to report that Dot's condition continues to improve. She's moving around fairly well now, and although the Rimadyl she's currently taking to reduce inflammation in her leg might be partially responsible for her seemingly overnight recovery, it does appear that she suffered no serious damage last weekend. All Dot's vital signs looked good at her annual physical today. If I can keep her calm for a few more days while her leg continues to heal, I think she'll be walking normally again.

When I got Dot back home again, it was time to take Dash to the vet.  Nothing was really wrong with Dash this time. He just needed his bi-weekly antigen shot. There's one more vet appointment with Dot tomorrow, and then it's time for me to go back to the doctor again. A new ultrasound test one of my doctors wanted me to take got approved by insurance today, and I made an appointment to get the test done on Thursday.

The touch screen display quit working on the Evoque loaner car this afternoon. Now, when you touch the on-screen buttons, nothing happens. I can't believe that so many things are broken on a car with only 6,000 miles on the odometer. Of course there is always a chance that the odometer is broken too. I may be driving an older car than I think. I'm definitely never going to buy one of these things. The entire car is just a giant electrical problem waiting to happen.

Even though I was continually driving around, running errands, getting prescriptions filled, and taking dogs to the vet, I still managed to get quite a bit done today. The web-servers that were down for repairs yesterday were running normally again, so I was able to upload quite a bit of new material to client websites. There was a rush article that needed to be written in a hurry, as well as some pictures that still needed to be edited in Photoshop. I may have forgotten one or two things, but I think I did pretty well for a Monday.

I didn't have time to go to the gym today, which meant I didn't have time to stop at the grocery store on the way home either. Although there was nothing to eat for dinner in the refrigerator, there was plenty of soup in the cupboard. Janet loves soup. No matter how forgetful I am about grocery shopping, there is always plenty of soup to eat.

I'm hopeful that Dot's condition will continue to improve and that after tomorrow's vet appointment, life will return to some semblance of normality. If two dogs leave me with a feeling that I have a full plate, I wonder how people with small children and busy lives manage at all. Maybe they all have nannies.

Blackjack is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1318

Just before the appliance repairman was scheduled to arrive this morning, I got a call from the technician asking me if I really wanted him to come to the house. "Garbage disposals can't be repaired," he said. "They can only be replaced." "Can you just replace it then," I asked. "Only if the plumbing connections exactly match those on your old unit," the technician told me. "Well, what if it's just an electrical problem," I asked. "You'll have to call an electrician," said the technician. I canceled the appointment and called a plumber instead. It was apparent that this guy was going to come out to the house, charge me for a $75 service call and end up telling me he couldn't fix anything. Now, I've got to go through this whole charade again tomorrow with the plumber. Maybe I'll get lucky though. I did call a good plumber.

Since the appliance repairman didn't come today after all, there was little point in spending the entire day writing. I finished two articles with short deadlines and went to the gym instead. Some people must go to the gym every single day. No matter when I go, there are a few folks who always seem to be there. They are usually working out on the same machines too. Since I don't go at any particular time, I find this strange. It's almost as if these guys live at the place.

Dot seemed tired on her morning walk. Usually she is perky and energetic on these early walks, but she seemed lethargic today. Maybe she was sore from yesterday's water therapy session. I guess that would make sense. I'm certainly sore the next day after a workout. I didn't want to push her too hard, so we turned around and came home much earlier than we usually do.

I had an animal rescue meeting after dinner this evening. When the meeting was over, my car was hard to start. Hopefully this was just because it was so hot outside, or because the car was at an angle on a hill. I'm afraid the starter motor might be starting to go out though. That's about the only expensive thing I still haven't replaced. We'll see how the Defender starts tomorrow. If I have to wait for the plumber a long time, I might not be going anywhere anyway.

I'd hate to miss my regular restaurant outing tomorrow morning, but I'd hate even more to go much longer without a working garbage disposal. To keep the sink from clogging, I have to fish little bits of food out of the disposal every time I rinse the plates off after a meal. Even though the machine is completely turned off, I don't trust it. I certainly don't want the disposal to mysteriously come back to life with my hand is inside it.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1308

It's been raining for two solid days and I haven't gone up on the roof once. There's still a lot of water up there, but I'm not nearly as worried about it because there are no longer any leaks. Any regular reader will quickly realize that two days of standing water on the roof with no attempt to remove it is nothing short of astonishing. Even without troublesome roof leaks, rain can still be problematic though. It's hard to walk the dogs. Today was a waiting game. The rain was fairly steady throughout the day, but I discovered if I kept an eye on the iPad weather radar, I could still manage to find little pockets of relative dryness when the rain would slow to a trickle and the dogs became brave enough to venture outside. It was one of those days where I used up a lot of towels. We would get wet. Then I would dry everyone off. And then we would repeat the process again.

I was invited today to send a recipe to be included in the 2014 SXSW Interactive Cookbook. It was quite an honor, since my recipe will apparently be included with other recipes from luminaries like Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, Zappos founder Tony Hsieh, and BuzzFeed founder Jonah Peretti. This invitation just shows how far I have fallen in recent years. Yes, I not only used to attend SXSW on a regular basis, I used to be a speaker there as well in the early years. There's only one problem with submitting a recipe of mine to this cookbook. I don't have any. I can only think of two original recipes I have created in the past twenty-five years and I can no longer eat either of them.

These days I hardly cook at all. I've succumbed to stopping by Central Market several times a week and picking up some tasty, semi-healthy items from the Chef Prepared section. It's kind of like eating out, except that I can eat at home with the dogs and there are no waiters to tip.  Today, I picked up a container of Kale, Chard, and Orange salad and another container with Walnut, Grape and Blue Cheese salad on the way home from the gym.

The gym is already starting to feel like a familiar place. I'm starting to establish a routine that suits me. I stay about an hour or so and work mostly on exercises designed to build up my upper body and core strength. A lot of people at the gym seem to be doing cardio workouts using treadmills and elliptical machines. I don't think I need this type of workout quite as much, since I spend so much time walking the dogs. Maybe I do though. I'm just making this up as I go along.

Even though it was a slow day, I still managed to get a few writing assignments finished. I have a feeling that tomorrow will be busier.

Lizzy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1303

It's a good thing that most of my chores were inside today, because it was way too hot outdoors. Even though we got started at 7 AM, the dogs and I were drooping by the time we finished our morning walk. Dot and Dash sprawled out on the brick floor to cool off, while I made myself a pot of coffee and some breakfast.

Under the protection of the air conditioner, I actually managed to get quite a bit done. I managed to get all my July invoices posted and in the mail. I changed some contact information on a website. And I finished another article.

Since my to-do list went so smoothly, I went to the gym after I mailed my invoices. It's still a little disconcerting to see people ten years older than me with more stamina than I have, but I'm making progress already. I have a feeling that this is one lifestyle change that's going to stick.

I don't know why we bothered to go to dog training class tonight. The dogs were hot. The people were hot. And there were little flying insects biting everyone. Everyone brought buckets of water for their dogs to drink. We brought water too, but Dash seemed to think all the other dogs water tasted better. Somebody brought a kiddie pool and it was amusing to watch Dash try to work up his nerve to get in the water. You could tell he wanted to, but he is timid about everything. He would put one paw in the water and then another, but never two paws at once. When Dash finally got the nerve to put all four paws in the water, a big Labrador Retriever took over the pool and splashed all the water out.

When I was driving around today, I saw a Fedex truck flashing its lights behind me. When the truck pulled alongside, the driver waved at me and I recognized him as my regular delivery guy. You know you're buying too much stuff online when the FedEx guy recognizes you in traffic.

Who knows. Maybe the FedEx guy will bring me something tomorrow. I could use a diversion. It looks like all I've got to look forward to is a lot of work. I wish it was Friday tomorrow, but I've got to wait another day. I'm bored with the oatmeal already. I saw a recipe online where you take half of a fresh avocado and poach an egg in the center after you remove the seed. I think you just bake the avocado in the oven until the egg cooks. The picture showed the avocado with some cheddar cheese melted over the top. It looks good. Maybe I'll make this tomorrow.

Keller is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1301

I've already learned a few things by going to the gym. Most importantly, I've learned that I'm not in nearly as good shape as I thought I was. For years, I've been telling myself that I got all the exercise I needed by taking the dogs on long walks. Maybe this was true at some point, but the dogs are getting older now and don't walk as far or as fast as they used to. I still spend quite a bit of time walking the dogs, but a lot of this activity consists of Dot and Dash looking for new places to pee while I look for flowers to photograph. We may be on the trail for an hour, but when we return, we usually aren't even breathing hard.

I am winded when I leave the gym, and I guess that's as it should be. So far, my exercise strategy is to watch the people who come with their own personal trainers and just do the same things they do. I don't even attempt to copy the true fitness fanatics though. I saw someone today going full speed on a stair climbing machine for 45 minutes without stopping. My legs would have turned to jelly within fifteen minutes. I do think I'll be able to incorporate a trip to the gym into my regular routine though. I'm going to try to go a minimum of two days a week, and hopefully I'll find time for three.

One nice thing about the gym is that I never have to make an appointment. I can just go whenever I feel like it. Everything else in life seems to require elaborate planning, with appointments made weeks in advance. Haircuts require appointments. Doctors require appointments. I even had to make an appointment to get my oil changed. I used to just show up at the dealership with the Defender and enjoy a cup of coffee while they serviced my car. Evidently those days are long gone. I was able to make an appointment for tomorrow however. The oil change is two hours earlier than Dash's vet appointment. It's going to be a busy day.

Every time I get interested in one of the many new services AT&T offers, one of my existing services crashes or breaks and I'm thrown back into the land of reality. Today I kept getting notices on my computer that I had new voicemail messages waiting, but whenever I tried to access them, I was locked out. I tried to listen to the messages using both the phone and the computer, but neither of them would accept my password. By the time I finished dinner, the system was back to normal. As usual, all the messages were from telemarketers.

I didn't get around to working on the Sheetrock today. I had the time, but it never occurred to me because I didn't look up at the ceiling much today. I did find some more bees however. Just as I thought I was winning the battle with the critters outside, I spotted another hornet's nest on the back porch. Although I managed to get rid of the nest without getting stung, I'm sure this wasn't the last of the bees and hornets I'll be seeing this Summer.

I need to get to bed earlier. I'm a habitual night-owl, but this doesn't lend itself to early dog walks. I have no desire to rise with the sun, but it's becoming increasingly necessary to give the dogs a chance to enjoy themselves before the weather becomes unbearable. We got started at 8 AM this morning and it was already too late. Maybe 6:30 AM would be better. Janet says the weather is quite nice at that time of day. I wouldn't know anything about that.

Trevor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1294

I joined a gym today. A regular exercise program has been the missing link in my return to health for quite some time now, so I decided it was finally time to do something about it. You might think that I get plenty of exercise already by walking Dot and Dash five miles a day. Unfortunately, these walks have done nothing to stop the slow muscle atrophy that comes with age. I have weights and resistance cords at home, but I never use them. Basically I don't like to exercise. I never have. Walking as much as I do has already done me a lot of good, but I don't walk because I love the activity or the outdoors. I walk because the dogs love to walk, and I love the dogs.

I picked a gym that's on the way to Central Market. I may not like to exercise, but I do love food. My theory is that if I can make a trip to the gym part of my grocery shopping routine, it just might become a habit. I skip a lot of things, but I rarely skip a trip to the grocery store. This gym has everything. There's a large pool, an indoor running track and a ton of fancy looking machines. I'll never use most of these things. I just want to build back my upper body strength. The rest I'll take care of with dog walking, just as I always have.

There may be a major heat wave out West, but it's actually been quite nice in Dallas the past several days. It only got up to 85 degrees this afternoon and there was a nice breeze all day. The cooler weather allowed Dot to walk normally again. Dash never walks normally, but he enjoyed the cooler weather too. I hope this brief respite from the Summer heat lasts for a while. 85 degrees is much nicer than 110 degrees.

I thought this was going to be a very slow week, but my clients had other ideas. I've already got enough new assignments on deck to keep me busy for the rest of the week. I made an appointment to get my hair cut later in the week and confirmed Dot's acupuncture appointment for Wednesday. The only day I don't have something scheduled is the Fourth of July itself. We stopped watching fireworks displays years ago. The noise scares the dogs and I usually get bitten by fire ants or mosquitoes. A good movie on TV is much better than fireworks, as far as I'm concerned.

Bentley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day