Day 2014

Today was all about the weather. Things got off to a very early start when I smelled poop as I got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Dot had pooped in the house again. I kind of suspected this might happen when she refused to stay outside long enough to do her business before we went to bed last night. Who could blame her. The yard was wet and she was tired. I cleaned the mess up, put the soiled dog blankets in the washer and we went back to bed again. The rain continued sporadically throughout the night, but when daylight arrived, it had stopped. Since the radar showed that more storms were on the way, we dressed quickly and used the opportunity to give the dogs their morning walk. Dot and Dash were in no hurry, so we barely made it home again before the next round of rain started.

Whenever Dot poops in the house, it sets off a clean frenzy. We start by cleaning the soiled blankets and rugs. Then we notice how dirty everything is surrounding these areas and the vacuum comes out. It doesn't take long for the house to get dirty with two dogs and the seemingly endless rain we've been having. I'm glad the new Dyson has a five year warranty, because we're going to wear the thing out. By the time I was finished cleaning today, I had emptied the Dyson several times. I'm glad I got the yard taken care of yesterday, because today would not have been a good day for yard work. It wasn't a good day to fix the screen door either. That will have to wait.

The skies had cleared quite a bit by mid-afternoon, so we decided to take Dash to a new dog park in the neighborhood. Since everyone in the house has been having cabin fever lately, it seemed like a good idea to let Dash do something fun for a change. We hadn't been at the park for five minutes before I noticed some ominous looking black clouds to the South of us. We made several circles around the park perimeter to let Dash smell things and then headed home again. On the way home, the rain started again. It was like this all day long. There would be a short torrential downpour, followed by a dry spell of an hour or so, and then the rain would start again.

It was just as well that I was mostly housebound today. I had a huge website update to complete and rainy days are generally good for this type of thing. I added over 60 new dogs and cats to a rescue website I manage. It's hard to keep these type of sites current. By the time the photographer has time to take pictures of the new animals, half of them have already been adopted. I imagine that I will get a call in the near future asking me to remove many of the animals I just finished adding today. It's not an entirely futile effort though. The dogs and cats do get homes and sometimes it is the website that brings people and pets together.

When I finished working on the rescue website, I started writing another article. By the time I managed to come up with a decent headline, I realized I was very tired and took a short nap. That was it for writing today. When I woke up, it was time for dinner and a brief evening walk with the dogs. Dot pooped right on schedule this time, so maybe we'll all be able to get a good night's sleep tonight.

Next week is already looking pretty busy.  There are two vet appointment, a doctor's appointment for me, an appointment to get a haircut, and then there is a meeting I really ought to attend even though I detest meetings. Of course there are still all the usual articles to write and websites to update. I often feel like a hamster with one of those exercise wheels in their cage. I'd like to get caught up on everything and have absolutely nothing to do, but I don't think it's going to happen.

Barley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1702

So, what did I accomplish today? I misspelled a client's name on her own website. I replaced dozens of cat pictures on an animal rescue website with pictures of the same cats when they were a little older. I'm no expert on cats, but the two sets of pictures looked identical to me. I haven't been able to come up with an effective way to keep Dash's tail from bleeding, so I spent the day cleaning blood stains off walls and doors. It was that kind of day.

Dot's progress with incontinence has been erratic at best. She has good days and bad days. Today wasn't so good. Basically, she peed every time she took a nap. Dogs nap a lot, so I did a lot of laundry. I'm glad she's learned to sleep on the waterproof mats I've strategically placed around the house, because things would be much worse without this thin layer of protection. I can't figure out why she pees in her sleep so frequently, because she still does her business completely normally outdoors as well. Maybe she's just drinking too much water.

I'm beginning to feel like Sisyphus, or one of those hamsters on a spinning wheel. Every day there are more urine soaked pads and towels to wash. I though I'd managed to get Dash's bleeding tail to heal completely and now I'm starting all over again. Whenever I get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, I take Dot outside so she can go too. The water bowls get taken up and put on the kitchen counter at 8 PM every evening and refilled again at 6 AM the next morning. The protective vinyl and waterproof pads go on top of the bed every evening and come off again the next morning. It all blends in with my morning oatmeal and the noise of the washing machine and old Dr. Who episodes on BBC that I've seen ten times already. I'd like to think I'm making progress, but sometimes I wonder.

I called to confirm Dash's cancer recheck for next week and the receptionist at the cancer center said "Isn't he up here with us today?" "I don't think so," I told her, "He's standing right her next to me." Apparently, there had been a mix up and Dash's appointment was for today and not for next Wednesday. I wonder why they never called to remind me? The appointment was made months ago, so there was no way of telling who wrote it down wrong on their calendar. We just rescheduled for next Wednesday. I suspect the cancer center was wrong because Dash hasn't run out of Palladia pills yet and Janet thought the appointment was next week as well. I get dates mixed up all the time, but she seldom does.

Tomorrow Dot goes back for another water therapy session. Physically, I think she's making great progress. I'm more worried about the incontinence now. Maybe she has a problem that's totally unrelated to the surgery. I'm probably driving my vet crazy with questions about Cushing's Disease and failing kidneys, but you can't find answers unless you ask questions.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1288

Sometimes life reminds me of one of those hamster wheels. No matter how fast you try to move, you somehow always end up in exactly the same place. Summer seems to accentuate this feeling. It's hot. It's monotonous. To conserve energy, you tend to reduce everything to a series of simple repetitive actions. Around and around you go, just like a hamster on an exercise wheel.

I seldom feel like doing anything new when the temperature is over 100 degrees. By the time I get up in the morning, it is already hot. By the time we have finished our morning walk, it is often unbearable. When we return, the dogs immediately lie down on the brick living room floor to cool off and I warm up the computer to begin another work day.

The house is kept cool because Janet and the dogs like it that way. I can never seem to find the right temperature. I'm always either too hot or too cold. I often wear a jacket around the house in the middle of summer because it's too much trouble to constantly be resetting the thermostat. Sometimes I think there is something wrong with my ability to regulate my own body temperature. Other times I think I'm just impossible to please.

Today was a website update day. There were a lot of things to change and the updates kept me busy most of the day. Website maintenance is a bit like a hamster wheel too. You change out a bunch of photos and text and then when you're all done, you find yourself with exactly the same website you started out with. The different words and pictures are important to clients, but I just see textures. It all looks the same to me.

I thought the road in front of our house was finished, but I was wrong. Today the paint striping trucks were here, painting white lines on the road. I found myself trapped in the driveway again for a while, because the last thing I wanted was white paint on my brand new tires. The paint seemed to dry very quickly. Who knows? Maybe it was even dry when it was applied. At any rate, I waited an hour and then took Dash to the vet for his regular antigen shot. Dash had a new nurse give his shot today. I wanted to ask for his regular nurse, but I forgot her name.

By the time the dogs and I took our evening walk, it was so hot outside that we didn't even attempt to go very far. As soon as Dot and Dash had done their business, we turned around and went home. It looks like more of the same scorching weather tomorrow, and according to the weather forecast, for the rest of the week. It's kind of ironic. If I had just waited just one month to put on the new roof, I wouldn't have had any rain problems at all.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day