Day 3614

We took Jasmine with us to Petfair today. It's been a while since we've participated in this annual event, but the rescue program has a lot of dogs now and we wanted to give them a little extra exposure. Jasmine was a good candidate to be an ambassador for Dalmatian Rescue. She loves people, is good with other animals, and is less scared of new situations than some of the other newcomers.

Being at a public event was completely new to Jasmine. She'd never even worn a harness before. It took her a while to get used to wearing the harness before we left the kennel this morning. I don't think she ever got used to riding in the car. I wish we'd known ahead of time that Jasmine gets carsick. She threw up several times before we arrived at the adoption event. As soon as the car stopped, she was fine. I understood what she was going through. As a kid, I used to get carsick all the time. I've thrown up in cars, ships, and planes all over the world. We'll know in the future to give Jasmine Cerenia before she takes a car trip.

Jasmine was a little shy when we first arrived at the event. This was all new to her. It didn't take long for her to discover the smell of hamburgers on the grill however. Every time I would take her on a little walk, she would head straight for the big smoker in the back where they were grilling hot dogs and hamburgers. We bought her a hamburger without any seasonings and she loved it. After a few bites of her burger she decided that rescue events weren't so bad after all.

Despite her problems with motion sickness, Jasmine had a very good day. Someone has been interested in Jasmine for a while and her adoption was finalized today. She will be going to her forever home soon. A lot of people enjoyed saying hello to Jasmine this afternoon. Everybody loved her. Maybe her afternoon as a rescue ambassador will help some of our other dogs find their forever homes as well.

It was a long day for all of us, but it was a good one. I think Jasmine was glad to be back in her comfy bed when we returned to the kennel. She was tired and ready for a nap. I was ready to throw my clothes in the washing machine when we returned home. For some reason Jasmine felt most comfortable throwing up when she was sitting in my lap in the car

Tomorrow should be a busy day as well. I will need to finish all of my Saturday errands before I can start my Sunday errands. I should still be able to find time to go to the gym, but I doubt that it will be a 20,000 step day. I've got my priorities. If it's still nice outside tomorrow, I'm going up on the roof and try to find the last of the torn spots. As always, more rain is on the way.

Alvin is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3607

Road Trip. We went to Palestine, Texas today to see Union Pacific's Big Boy 4014 arrive on it's journey through the Southwest. It was definitely worth the four hour trip to see this historic train traveling under its own power. The Big Boy was the largest steam locomotive ever built and the 4014 is the last one running. Union Pacific spent over four years restoring this train. It was pretty impressive. I was amazed at how close we could get to the tracks. As I was taking pictures I realized that if I had tripped I might have fallen into the train. Closer to the depot the police had the tracks pretty well blocked off, but we went to the outskirts of town to get better pictures. We had a good clear view and I could put my camera anywhere I wanted.

There were several other photographers with the same idea. One of them had been following the train for several days, carefully picking different locations to get the best shots. A few of the older photographers were walking encyclopedias about old steam trains. I was definitely an amateur in this group. The train was moving faster than I would have thought. It was all over in a matter of minutes. I managed to get a few decent pictures though. I don't think looking through a viewfinder is as enjoyable as watching the same event without a camera. You always concentrate on getting the shot and in the process you miss a lot of the whole experience.

There were so many railfans watching the train arrive in Palestine that I kept wondering why Union Pacific didn't sell tickets and carry passengers on this historic run. The big steam engine was pulling a long line of restored passenger cars and they were all empty. Union Pacific definitely missed a marketing opportunity here. Anyone dedicated enough to follow this trains journey in a car would almost certainly prefer going along for the ride. The passenger cars were the very best from the railroad's glory days too. It would have been quite an adventure.

It's weird that I'm so apprehensive about traveling. Once I'm underway I always have a good time. Janet is a good traveling companion too. She's always up for going somewhere. Last night I was thinking that it wouldn't be worth making this trip. It was just an old train and my arm still hurt from yesterday's pneumonia shot. Luckily, I woke up in a better mood. It was a beautiful Fall day. Too bad the weather wasn't this nice when we went to McDonald Observatory.

The car did well on the trip. It probably would have made it to Fort Davis or even Kennedy Space Center. My gas mileage certainly leaves something to be desired. It's terrible actually. You just can't expect good mileage from a 500 horse power supercharged V-8. My bad shoulder leaves even more to be desired. It can be very tiring driving long distances with a bad shoulder. These were minor issues though. All in all it was a very enjoyable trip.

We thought about stopping in Corsicana on the way home and picking up a fruitcake from The Collin Street Bakery. Neither of us like fruitcake though, so we kept driving. We arrived back in Dallas around dinnertime and stopped at Knife for burgers. The place was crowded since it was a football weekend at SMU. We had to sit at the bar where you can watch the chefs cook. It was much more interesting than I thought, although sitting here for very long would drive a vegan insane. We watched lots of beef being cooked tonight. I was amazed at how thick the uncooked steaks were. They shrink to about half their size as the fat in the heavily marbled meat melts. Our burgers were delicious, but I don't think I'll be eating much tomorrow. I might have to spend some extra time at the gym as well.

I really need to overcome my fear of traveling. I've enjoyed every journey I've taken this year and there's definitely nothing compelling keeping us in Dallas.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3525

This was the first day I haven't walked in quite a while. There just wasn't time. I had quite a few things I needed to do before we headed up to the Dalmatian Rescue kennels, so I decided to skip my morning walk. By the time I ran a few errands and went to the post office it was time to go. I can't say that I missed walking today. It was way too hot to be outside for any length of time.

The dogs were all doing well. Since there aren't a lot of dogs in the program at the moment, we were able to spend quite a bit of time with each one. Dalmatians love attention. I think they were all glad to see us. It's fun to see their personalities develop as they become more relaxed. Rolly still needs to finish his heartworm treatment before he can go to his forever home, but other than that, these dogs are ready. I hope that they all find great homes.

As we were driving back from the kennel it became apparent that school was back in session. Traffic seemed to double overnight and there were school zones everywhere. When school is out, mid-afternoon is often the best time to avoid bad traffic. The lunch crowd is back at work and rush hour hasn't started yet. Those days are over. This afternoon it seemed like the entire city was starting to queue up to pick up their kids from school.

Janet likes watches and loves going to the gym, so I thought she might be able to use my old Apple Watch while she was working out. I figured out how to restore the watch to its factory settings and gave it to her. She reminded me that she had given me the watch in the first place, but I think she was still glad to have it. The Apple Watch workout app is much better than Fitbit. At least the watch will get used. I don't need to wear two of these things.

Janet and I both try to eat healthy, but we love a good burger. In recent years we've been exploring new burger places on our birthdays. This evening we went to a place that has gotten great reviews for several years but that neither of us had ever tried. It was surprisingly close to home, but we don't go out much anymore. Eating healthy is almost impossible if you spend too much time in restaurants. It's OK to indulge every once in a while though. We got lucky tonight. The reviews were accurate and the burgers were delicious. I'm very full. I don't think I'll be eating much tomorrow.

We're both 71 now. All things considered, we're doing pretty well. Two years ago at this time, Janet was getting ready for a second round of cancer surgery. Five years ago, I was being treated for Hepatitis C. We're both healthy now and reasonably happy. I hope this continues. The older you get, the more you realize that having your health is a blessing. All the things you worried about when you were young just don't seem that important.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2625 - President's Day

Holidays that move around from year to year confuse me. I'm old enough to remember when Washington's birthday was celebrated on February 22, which happened to be the day he was actually born. Now, in an effort to give people more three day weekends, this birthday is celebrated on the third Monday in February. We don't call it Washington's birthday anymore though, because Lincoln's birthday and Washington's have been rolled into a single postal holiday, simply called President's Day. If it weren't for the fact that we didn't get any mail today, I would never have realized that today was a holiday at all.

I definitely realized that we were having a thunderstorm last night. The thunder and lightning woke up Dot and Dash but I think it was the wind that woke me up. I checked the weather radar and quickly realized that it was going to be a long night. Dot calmed down when I closed a door that gave her a view of the storm. After I covered Dash with a blanket, he seemed to relax as well. I think the dogs weathered the storm better than I did. I was nervous until the wind subsided because I was afraid that one of our trees would come crashing down. I stayed on the floor with Dot until she went back to sleep, which was probably a mistake, since I woke up with a sore shoulder. By morning, the storm was largely over, but I was very tired.

The storm wasn't the only strange thing that happened last night. When I woke up this morning I noticed what looked like a pile of dirt on the bathroom floor. Where did this come from? On closer inspection, the dirt turned out to be a small ant hill, populated with hundreds of tiny sweet ants crawling around. Apparently the ants invaded the house through a small crack in the tile floor. I found some bug spray, killed the ants , and cleaned up the mess. Hopefully, they won't come back. I have a feeling that last night's torrential rains flooded the ants home and forced them inside. Either that, or the ants were already in the house and just waiting for the right time to cause havoc.

There isn't much to do on a rainy day, so after making a few minor website updates, I was faced with vacuuming the house. Why not? I knew I couldn't avoid this unpleasant task forever, so I got to work. The canister filled with dirt quickly and the house still looked dirty. Cleaning things would be much more satisfying if they actually looked clean when you were finished. I was temped to leave the vacuum cleaner running in the bathroom in hopes of sucking up all the remaining ants, but I knew the ants would outsmart me anyway. They're probably already plotting their next move.

Janet brought home burgers tonight. They were delicious, but I'm always surprised that what would have seemed a normal sized meal ten years ago, now leaves me stuffed. I need to start ordering children's meals. I don't know if it's natural for your appetite to decrease as you age, but mine certainly has. I should have cut the burger in half and had the other half for tomorrow's dinner.

I'm sure Dash wishes we were feeding him cheeseburgers. He was still finicky with his food today. I have no idea what is going on. Janet bought a different brand today to see if he liked that. He ate the new food just fine, but we now have four different brands of food for Dash. It's getting confusing. Dot will still eat anything, even if it takes her all day to chew her meal. The food goes in one end and comes out the other. That's how I spend my day.

I think the weather is supposed to clear up tomorrow. If it does, I may actually get something done.

Odie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2566

Janet and I decided to go out for an early Christmas dinner before she leaves for the holidays. We went to Knife to try their burgers. Knife is basically a steakhouse, but after a well known food critic wrote that Knife's hamburgers were in his opinion the best in the entire world, I've been curious to try them. I'll have to say that I wasn't disappointed. These burgers were amazing.

I've learned not to check the pet cam when we are trying to do something enjoyable away from home. It always spoils everything. We had a relaxing and very enjoyable dinner, but I wasn't surprised to see that the house was a disaster when we returned. Dot is completely unpredictable now. When she poops, it might be ten hours before she goes again or ten minutes. I thought we had a chance this time, because she'd pooped about an hour before we left the house. It wasn't meant to be. My poop forensics abilities were able to determine that she'd heard a noise outside and pooped while she was struggling to get up and investigate. It's so much easier when Dot poops while she's asleep. This time she stepped in the stuff and tracked the mess all over her penned in area in the hallway. Three blankets and a large waterproof floor protector all needed to be hosed off and thrown in the washing machine. Dot needed quite a bit of cleanup herself.

Janet had a vacation day today, but it still seemed like a normal Friday to me. I checked to make sure the trash had been picked up, went out for my regular Friday morning breakfast, and then returned home to finish writing my last article before the Christmas holidays. I wrote the article quickly enough, but then I discovered that my client hadn't been receiving my mail all week because their IT department was blocking me again. This happens every couple of months and it is infuriating. Guys, how many times do I have to tell you that I'm not a spammer. I'm sure that there are a few spammers using Bluehost servers, but you don't have to block the entire hosting company to catch them. To make a long story short, it took more time to successfully send the article than it took to write it.

This has got to be the worst weather for fighting a cold. It's cold and damp outside and warm and dry inside. I'm constantly taking Dot out without adequate clothing, because there isn't time to bundle up. At least I've got a bunch of cough drops now. I'm surprised that the dogs haven't caught colds too. It's really nasty out. If Dot didn't need me, I'd probably spend the entire holiday weekend sleeping. It's almost certain that she's going to wake up at 5:30 AM tomorrow morning though, just like she always does. If I don't get her outside by 5:31, there will be pee on the floor.

I hope it dries out and warms up a bit tomorrow. There are too many wet leaves on the floor and too many wet paws on the bedspread. It would be nice if I quit coughing too. At least I didn't cough during dinner tonight. Dinner was definitely the high point of the day.

Ziggy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1662 - Independence Day

In recent years, I've seen twice as many people celebrating Cinco de Mayo in the park as I do on the Fourth of July. Sign of the times, I guess. There are still plenty of flags on front lawns and backyard barbecues, but something has changed. There just isn't the sense of unity and common purpose I felt on this day as a child. Granted, as a kid, I was much more interested in fireworks  than patriotism, but it was still a special day where neighbors gathered together and everyone smiled a lot.

I'm surprised that I didn't blow myself up on the Fourth of July when I was young. Everything was legal back then. In the weeks leading up to Independence Day we would buy huge stashes of cherry bombs and M-80s from roadside fireworks stands. Makeshift cannons were fashioned from lengths of cast iron drain pipe and contests were held to see who could shoot Coca Cola cans filled with sand the longest distance. This was incredibly foolish in retrospect, but not any dumber than the game my young friends and I made of shooting arrows straight up in the air and seeing how close we could get them to land to us. We didn't wear seat belts either when our parents drove us around in the family car. It's amazing that so many of us survived.

These days, the Fourth of July is much more subdued. I took the dogs on a nice long walk while Janet went to a neighborhood parade that her company helped sponsor. After breakfast, I thought I'd get a couple of more watches running again before I lost interest in this tedious activity entirely. I've already forgotten a lot. I had to look up some information on Google before I could even get the case opened on one obscure mid-70's relic. I did manage to get three more watches running this morning though. That's three down, three hundred to go.

When Janet and I went to the grocery store to get ingredients for this evening's cookout, it appeared that the entire city had the same idea. Central Market was jammed with people buying holiday food. I guess we're not the only ones to wait till the last minute. Dinner was delicious. It doesn't get much better than burgers on the grill, fresh potato salad, and coleslaw. The only thing missing was the beer. I still can't bring myself to drink alcohol after all the effort I've made to get my liver back in shape.

It seemed like Saturday today. I'm sure it will seem like Saturday tomorrow as well. That's OK. Two Saturday's in a row is much better than two Monday's in a row.

Matao is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1426

Pet Fair occupied most of our day today. Janet and I went and set up the Dalmatian Rescue booth after we finished breakfast this morning. When everything was ready, we came back and got our Dalmatians. We were joined at the event by our friend Turtle The Painting Pit Bull, who creates original paintings with her paw. Dot and Dash aren't nearly this creative, but they put on a good show begging for dog treats. The kids seemed to enjoy our "Make a Dalmatian" game today. They completely ignored the realistic looking adhesive spots I cut out last night though, preferring novelty spots made to look like hearts or dog bones. We has a steady group of people come to our booth throughout the afternoon, but we certainly weren't the most popular attraction. What kids really wanted to do was hold a snake. There was a reptile education booth where kids could hold a large snake if they wanted. The kids were lined up five deep to hold these snakes and get their picture taken. The snakes were more popular than a nearby booth filled with cute puppies, which tells you something about the next generation in this country.

Dot and Dash were remarkably good, considering how long the event was. They were gentle and friendly when kids came up to pet them and they didn't even bark excessively. At some point during the afternoon, we has a psychic at a nearby booth read the dogs paws. I'm as skeptical as the next guy about psychics and palm readers, but this lady nailed it with the dogs personalities. She knew nothing in advance about Dot and Dash, but was able to describe their somewhat unique personalities with great accuracy.

By the time we packed up our stuff and took the dogs home again, the day was almost over. I barely had time to take Dot and Dash on a short walk before the sun set on the Western horizon. When we returned to the house, there were burgers for dinner. Cheeseburgers are always a good way to end a busy day. This type of meal isn't on my diet anymore, but what the hell. I worked hard today and deserved a treat.

Tomorrow, it's back to work again. I have a combination medical exam and website meeting scheduled with one of my physician clients. I have a feeling that I'll find out a lot more about the health of the website than about my own health.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day