Day 4847

We had a little bit of everything today. There were clear skies this morning and we were under a tornado watch this evening. I walked indoors at the mall and Dawn got a nice walk outdoors when we resumed her regular Sunday outing. I even mowed the grass today, although that was somewhat of a failure. It's time to replace the mower batteries again.

There were few signs that we were going to have nasty weather later in the day when we took Dawn on her sunrise walk this morning. It just felt like a nice Spring day. Janet had to help evaluate a dog this morning, so I had my weekday breakfast of shredded wheat and berries while Dawn pouted in the bedroom. I told Dawn that she was still going to get her outing later, but I don't think she believed me.

After breakfast I went mall walking. I'm always surprised at how many things change week-to-week at the mall. New stores open and others close on a regular basis. There's certainly a lot of activity. Some stores change their window displays every single week, while others haven't changed anything in several years. I still have no desire to buy anything, but it's a pleasant experience to do my five laps around the mall perimeter. This is as close as I need to get to the rest of society.

I wasn't sure that Dawn was strong enough to take her regular walk at her Sunday park, but she was full of energy today. She did well. We're reduced her meds to a minimal dose and she still doesn't seem to be in any pain. Dawn hasn't fallen or stumbled in almost a week. These are all good signs, but we are still a bit cautious. Right now it seem like the muscle tear in her shoulder was the cause of the falls instead of the bulging disc in her neck. Either way, we still need to keep her quiet for a while longer. Dalmatians are so full of energy that they are often their own worst enemy when they are trying to heal.

I really need to find someone to mow the lawn for me instead of continually trying to keep our old mower running. Lawn care prices have always seemed high to me and we have a small yard, so I keep thinking that I can do it myself. Pushing the mower is getting harder though. Oh, well. At least I made an attempt today. I'll finish things up when the weather turns nice again.

I was a bit surprised to be under a severe weather alert this evening. The weather had been nice for most of the day, so this kind of came out of left field. Luckily the storm wasn't as bad in our part of town as the Weather Channel had been predicting. We got about ten minutes of very heavy rain and that was it. There was no hail and definitely no tornado. I think other parts of the state did get tornados though. It's that time of year.

I had to pick up a prescription this afternoon and once again discovered that GoodRx had much better prices than my Part-D prescription drug plan. I'm still not sure how GoodRx actually works. It's not a drug plan and you don't pay anything to use the app. Today I paid about a third of what I would have paid using my Part-D plan. The Part-D prescription drug plan prices are considerably less than retail as well. If there is so much flexibility in drug prices, why don't the pharmaceutical companies just charge less in the first place? It would be tempting to just drop my Part-D coverage, but I suspect that GoodRx only covers certain drugs. I have a feeling that a lot of expensive cancer drugs or the Sovaldi I had to take for Hepatitis-C wouldn't be listed on the app at all. 

I need to pick up my unsold gear at the music store this week and decide what to do about my broken large format printer. It would be nice if I'd hear something about my credential status from Space X, but I'm not holding my breath. They'll probably wait until the last minute to send out notices again. At least Dawn is getting better and we weren't hit by a tornado tonight. Everything else will eventually work itself out.

Miracle is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4816

The squall line with severe winds just passed through our area and I'm happy to report that we survived without any damage. I was expecting the worst because of all the media hype about this storm. We were told to expect hurricane strength winds and tornados. I don't think any tornados touched down nearby but there were some strong winds. Love Field had gusts of over 75 miles and hour but I don't think the wind in our neighborhood ever got above 35 miles an hour. We've still got power and there are no downed trees, so all is good. Luckily Dawn is not frightened by bad weather. Some of our previous Dalmatians went nuts during bad storms. Dawn was cool as a cucumber. All she was concerned about was getting her dinner on time.

Amazingly, the pumps on the roof didn't get blown over by the wind and are still working. I'm going to wait a while to take the trash out to the curb though. There's still quite a bit of wind and I'm afraid the trash can will get blown away. We're going to get more rain this evening, but I think there are clear skies in the forecast for tomorrow. Clear skies couldn't come soon enough for me. I hate severe weather warnings because we don't really have a safe space in our house. There are no interior rooms in the entire house and there is floor to ceiling glass everywhere. It's not a great place to be during a tornado.

The day started normally enough. We had a pleasant sunrise walk with Dawn before breakfast and then I took my long walk earlier than usual in case the weather forecast was wrong. For the most part this morning was just a normal overcast day. Maybe it wasn't that normal though. It was still very warm for early March this morning. Of course all that's changed now. When the squall line blew through town about an hour ago the temperature dropped by at least twenty degrees.

I had a tele-visit with my gastrointestinal doctor this afternoon. I don't know why doctors love these things, because they seem next to worthless to me. I got a text message on my phone with a link to the doctor's tele-visit app. My cell phone gets terrible coverage inside the house and I didn't feel like doing the entire tele-visit sitting out in the back yard, so the app kept crashing. I finally convinced the doctor to just call me on the land line phone. We mostly talked about the meds she prescribed for me several years ago. They work great, but you are not supposed to take this medication long term. The doctor says I'm on a low dose and it's completely safe. I'm not so sure.

The heavy rain will ensure that the roof keeps leaking for the next several days. If the weather is nice tomorrow I'll go up on the roof and sweep the remaining standing water away. I don't expect to hear from the roofers anytime soon. With severe winds throughout the metroplex today, I suspect that they will be busy with emergency work for a while. Quite a few roofs got damaged today. I'm glad that ours wasn't one of them. I can deal with a leak, but losing your roof in a storm is another matter entirely.

Here's hoping that tomorrow is a completely uneventful day. I'm tired of dealing with severe weather and am ready to go back to talking about roof leaks and foot pain.

Tucker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4737

We woke up this morning under a tornado warning. Several tornados did touch down in the area, but luckily none were near us. We managed to get Dawn walked before the bad weather arrived. Somehow Dawn always seems to get her walks. I watched the storm arriving on the weather radar as I was eating breakfast. Typically bad storms pass to the North or South of us, but this one looked like it was going to pass directly overhead.

The storm didn't last long, but the rain was quite heavy. It wasn't long before the roof started leaking again. I can't seem to catch a break this year. Every time things are starting to dry out it rains again. It's been too wet to rake leaves or mow the grass for weeks. As soon as the leaks in the roof stop dripping, it rains again and the leaks start all over again. I know this is the rainy season, but this year has been over the top. The continual wet weather is wearing me out. I'm ready to move to the desert. Of course I'm kidding. I'm not ready for any type of big life change. I'm tired and those days are behind me.

The rain was over before noon. I paid some bills while I was waiting for the weather to improve and then I took my long walk. We got lucky here in Dallas. Even though high winds were predicted, I saw no downed trees in the park. Everything looked normal. It was actually a nice day for a walk. The temperature was in the low seventies and the fast moving storm had cleared away some of yesterday's humidity.

I saw both bald eagles today along with a gaggle of geese and all three of the Muscovy ducks. The White Pelicans were gone however. Where did they go? The pelicans always seem to do everything together. I'm sure they'll be back. It's not time to migrate North again. Maybe they just needed a break from all the gawkers watching the eagles.

My feet were bothering me today but I still made pretty good time. All the walking I'm doing is great for my heart but it is doing nothing for building muscle mass. It's a shame because I enjoy walking and don't really enjoy lifting weights at the gym. There's really no substitute for weight training for building muscle mass. I hate that muscle atrophy is a natural part of the aging process. I've been in reasonably good shape my entire life, but age is starting to catch up with me. I've got to work harder now and it's not easy with bad knees and shoulders.

I wrote a letter to my sister this afternoon. I'll take it to the post office tomorrow. I always answer whenever she writes. We've been communicating this way for decades. We never call or visit. We're not a close family and I think we know our limits. 

Dawn was mad that Janet was out doing volunteer work today. My companionship wasn't good enough for her. When I was in the back of the house, she would go out to her dog bed in the kitchen. When I went out to the kitchen to fix myself some lunch, she went back to the bedroom. There are days when I think Dawn is warming up to me. Today wasn't one of them.

Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow. All this rain is really getting me down. Just a reminder: if you read the real blog at https://john-sealander.blogspot.com instead of the Facebook JPEG facsimile, you can click on the Dalmatian of the Day link and learn more about each dog. You can also click on the picture of the day and enlarge it quite a bit. There is also an index of all the old blog posts. It's a better experience. Oh, well. Just dreaming. If I could train you guys to read the real blog, I wouldn't have to be on Facebook at all.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4734

Another wet day. The roof is leaking again and I've had to dry out my shoes several times. Today's heavy rain kind of surprised me, since the day started out normally enough. We had a nice early morning walk with Dawn, ate a big weekend breakfast, and then I did my grocery shopping. I stayed dry the entire time. I even had time to take a long walk in the park before the rain started. I walked pretty slow today and my feet hurt towards the end, but I did manage to see both of our resident bald eagles. All in all it was a pretty good morning even though grocery prices continue to creep upwards.

Everything changed around mid-afternoon when the rain started. It was a heavy driving rain, so I knew the roof was going to leak. I pre-positioned buckets, but I guessed wrong and the leak started in a place where I didn't have a bucket. No problem. That's what towels are for. These leaks are frustrating because there's not much I can do about them at the moment. This is the worst time of year to replace a flat roof. At least the pumps are working today. I need a few more pumps, but they are high wattage gizmos and even two of them running at the same time tends to throw circuit breakers. 

Dawn is really starting to relax. When I took an afternoon nap today, she stayed on the bed with me and didn't appear nervous or alarmed. She still has good day and bad days, but I'm starting to see a real improvement. This is happening just in the nick of time, because Janet will be visiting her family over Christmas and Dawn and I will be alone together for a while. That's always interesting, but somehow we manage.

This evening Janet and I went to the annual Christmas party for Dawn's weekly training class. I haven't been to one of these events since we used to take Dot and Dash to training class quite a few years ago. The party was held in a park event building just down the hill from our house. I offered to drive, but Janet said we should just walk since it was so close. We got a little wet, but there was plenty of time to dry out once we arrived.

It was an enjoyable evening. We had a great dinner with some exceptionally good brisket and then there was a gift exchange. Everyone had a number and when your number was called you could pick from a large pile of wrapped gifts on a table or steal a gift from someone who had picked out a gift previously. After a gift had been stolen twice, it was retired and couldn't be stolen again. The most popular gifts always seems to be dog beds, but dog blankets seem desirable as well. Gift cards are very desirable, but don't turn up all that often. I've you happen to pick a package containing a gift card, you can expect that it will be stolen. There is a name for this kind of humorous gift exchange, but I've forgotten what it is.

Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow. There is no rain in the forecast anyway. I don't know how I managed to get 23,000 steps today with all the nasty weather. I must have been pretty busy this morning. Tomorrow I'll go mall walking and weather permitting, we'll take Dawn on her Sunday outing. If this sounds like exactly what I did last week, you'd be wrong. Last week I was taking Santa Paws pictures.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4698

We got a lot of rain today, but all is well. The storm did produce tornados, but there were none in our area. No trees fell in the yard, the roof hasn't leaked, and the day wasn't totally disrupted. We were able to give Dawn her regular sunrise walk and I even had time to take a long walk in the park after breakfast before the weather got bad. The entire storm system moved through town very quickly, leaving much cooler temperatures in its wake. I was really surprised at how cold it feels now.

I walked earlier than usual this morning in an effort to beat the rain. Although I've only seen the eagles once since their return to the park, I did find their new nest today. Eagles don't appear to be that smart about picking a nest location. Once again they've built their nest at the top of a dead tree. Hopefully, the tree won't blow over in a storm and destroy the nest like it did last year. Everyone seems to assume that these are the same two eagles that made their home in the park last year. You couldn't prove it by me. Every eagle I've ever seen looks exactly the same.

My feet certainly aren't improving. I'm starting to have a lot of foot pain again. For a while I thought this might be because my walking shoes are starting to wear out. That's not it. I wore some new Hokas on my last trip to Florida and my feet felt exactly the same. The pain isn't bad enough to stop me from walking, but it is irritating. It's just another aspect of growing old I suspect.

The media logistics e-mail for the next Artemis launch attempt came out today. I now know when and where to go throughout the entire launch window. I'm glad everything meshed well with the plans I've already made, because it's way too late for me to change anything. I really hope the next launch attempt is successful. I can't afford many more trips to see launches that get scrubbed.

I'll continue to look for a better hotel, but I doubt that I'll find anything. Even if a room does open up, I'm sure that someone pushier or with a lot more clout than I have will grab it first. Oh, well. You win some and you lose some. I've usually found very nice places to stay while I'm in Titusville. I guess my luck had to run out sometime.

I'm glad we didn't get any damage from today's storms. Storms are not my friend. After years of downed trees and roof leaks, I always expect the worst. I don't know what I'd do without the weather apps on my phone. They are really pretty accurate. I know when the rain is going to start and stop, as well as how bad it is going to be. Without these apps, I probably wouldn't have had the nerve to take a long walk today. You don't want to be out alone in the woods when tornados are in the forecast.

The weather will be a lot better tomorrow. We'll have to dress warmly for Dawn's sunrise walk though. The temperature will be in the low 40's. I haven't made a grocery list yet, but that's on the agenda. It looks we're going to have a fairly normal weekend. As far as I'm concerned, normal is good.

Ginger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4624

What a lot of rain. It rained more in one day than it has during the entire summer. I think we got over ten inches today. This wasn't a gentle rain either. It was a downpour. Not surprisingly, the roof leaked. I put a bucket under the leak before I went to bed last night but I underestimated how fast the water was dripping. When I woke up this morning the bucket had overflowed and the carpet in the office was soaked. Such a mess. I guess I should consider myself lucky that only one area in the house had a leak. It could have been worse.

Dawn didn't get a walk this morning. She got a trip to the vet instead. This visit was for lab work she needed before getting her teeth cleaned. Dawn is a healthy dog but she has a lot of anxiety. She definitely didn't like being at the vet. It's kind of embarrassing how she acts in the exam room. As soon as we returned home Dawn headed straight for the bedroom and took a long nap. I felt like doing the same, but I had lots to do.

After I finished breakfast I went up on the roof. This wasn't a pleasant job since it was still raining, but I needed to get the pump working. I also trimmed some of the low hanging branches on the pecan tree that were interfering with the pump. I don't know how much this will help, but at least I eliminated one source of problems. I didn't even bother to sweep the water off the roof since it was still raining. I must have done something right because eventually the leak in the office roof stopped. I still need to go buy a very long heavy duty extension cord so I can put the second pump back in operation. 

The combination of roof leaks and ants has made me totally disgusted with the house. The running toilet in the second bathroom doesn't help either. It's definitely time for a new roof. I've interviewed lots of roofing companies over the years and haven't really liked any of them. Companies that specialize in flat roofs tend to only want to do commercial work. Our house is too small for them to bother with. Everyone is too expensive. The problem with our house is that is has settled over the years and the roof no longer drains properly. There are always puddles and duck ponds on the roof after a big rain. Nobody seems to have a great solution for this problem.

Even though I hate to drive in the rain, I went to the gym this afternoon. I needed to get my steps. The gym was fairly empty today and was even colder than usual. I was terrible on the basketball court and slower than usual on the indoor track. Basically, I just felt tired. Trimming branches on the roof in the middle of a rainstorm was hard work this morning.

It didn't even get up to 80 degrees today. For the first time in months it's colder outside than it is inside. There's still a chance of rain tomorrow, but I don't see anything ominous on the weather radar. Who knows. We may even be able to take a sunrise walk with Dawn tomorrow morning. I don't think it is going to rain tonight but I'm going to leave the buckets out just in case. Be careful what you wish for. I've been wishing for rain for weeks, but this was too much.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4485

It's déjà vu all over again. My bags are packed. I've reprinted everything in my manilla itinerary envelope with updated information. As long as there's not another last minute launch postponement I guess I'm ready. Truthfully, I'm never ready to travel. I usually second guess my decision even after I'm on my way. When the trip is over though, I'm almost always glad I went. I've really got to force myself to expand my horizons. It would be easy for me to stay home all the time and do nothing, which is never good.

We set a new high temperature record today. It got up to ninety-six degrees this afternoon. Those are Summer temperatures, so I'm hoping that Spring isn't over yet. It's too soon for Spring to be over. Most of the Spring wildflowers haven't even bloomed yet. Dawn probably wishes she had walked earlier today. She didn't want to walk this morning because the ground was wet. We got a lot of rain last night. At least the temperature was cooler though. By the time we walked after lunch, it was already too hot. We took a short walk so Dawn wouldn't get overheated and then I tried to walk a little further myself.

I didn't make it very far today. It wasn't the foot pain that bothered me, it was the heat. I'm not used to the heat yet. Last Summer when I took my long walks I would soak my clothes in water before I left the house and they would be completely dry again before I returned. It's a shame that there is so little genuinely nice weather here in Texas. It is always too hot, too cold, too wet, or too dry. Maybe I'm being too picky, but I wish our summers could be more like those I remembered when I used to live in Colorado.

I got another notice that my little mobile internet hotspot is going to cease working soon. Evidently this device still uses the phone company's 3G network which is going to be turned off in the near future. I love this little pocket sized hotspot and it has been my companion on every trip I've taken for many years. It wouldn't have been possible to continue my daily blog posts without it. I have been looking for a 5G replacement and there isn't much available. Technology has changed and now a lot of phone companies want you to use a tethered cell phone as a hotspot. The 5G hotspots I've found so far are all larger and much more expensive. It's such a shame that technology has to keep changing. I was completely happy with the technology I was using twenty years ago.

I'm amazed that we didn't have a roof leak last night. The rain was really heavy for several hours. I turned the pumps on before I went to bed, but there was no way they could keep up with this deluge. When I finished last night's post I felt that the storm would pass to the north of us. I was wrong. I think northern counties did get a lot more rain, but a few heavy cells passed directly over us. I'm really glad that thunder and lightning doesn't bother Dawn. She slept through everything. Dot and Dash would have been terrified.

I'm not looking forward to tomorrow morning. I have to get up really early and am depending on Janet and several alarm clocks to get me up in time. I have a bad habit of lying in bed when I wake up, thinking that I'll get out of bed in "just a few minutes." Usually I immediately fall back to sleep again. Did I mention that I'm not a morning person. That's why I always write these blog posts late at night.

Maybe returning to Kennedy Space Center and seeing another rocket launch will invigorate me and snap me out of my current lethargy. One can always hope.

Angel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4325

I now have a flu shot in one arm and a covid booster in the other. The rest of my exam this morning was fairly routine. The doctor always asks what medications I am taking, even though he was the one who prescribed them in the first place. He listens to my breathing with a stethoscope, tests my reflexes, asks a few questions, and then a nurse comes in and draws my blood. The whole process doesn't take very long and it is always the same. I hope doing this every six months keeps me healthy, but life is full of surprises. 

The doctor never told me that I would need gallbladder surgery this year. He did ensure that I got excellent care while I was hospitalized though. You can't ask for more than that. I still believe in preventative medicine. That's probably why I have so many exams every Fall. I still need to see the eye doctor, the dermatologist, and the urologist. There's that Colonoscopy/EGD procedure coming up soon as well. I guess I'll have to add one more doctor to the growing list of people keeping me alive.

I had to fast this morning because of the blood work. No breakfast today. When I got home from the doctor I was hungry and fixed myself a ham sandwich. It's hard to believe that I used to eat lunch every day. When I worked at the ad agencies, lunch was a big deal and we ate a lot. It's amazing that I never gained weight. I'd certainly gain weight if I ate three meals a day now. Breakfast and dinner is plenty these days. Sometimes I don't even feel like dinner.

It rained a lot last night and there was a very small roof leak in the office. The pumps worked well, so hopefully there isn't still a ton of water on the roof. I need to get up there and sweep the remaining standing water away. Now that it's cooler, the water just isn't going to evaporate. I hate going up on the roof now. I'm getting older and it seems much harder to climb up the access wall than it used to be. I guess I've got an excuse for a few days. My arm hurts from the covid shot. I was wondering if both arms were going to hurt, but it's only the left arm. I feel nothing from the arm that got the flu shot.

Last night's rain must have brought a cold front along with it. It was much colder today. I had to wear a light jacket on my long walk. The leaves are starting to drop, but I don't think we're going to get much Fall color. The leaves that were turning red last year are only turning yellow this season. The pelicans certainly seems to know that the seasons are changing. They are on the move now. When they first arrived at the lake, they just sat on logs for weeks at a time. Now they are swimming and flying around. They move around in large groups and usually the double-crested cormorants follow them. The pelicans always seem to know where the fish are and the other birds take advantage of this.

I really need to decide on a roofer and go ahead and replace the roof. I've been disappointed in every roofer I've interviewed, but the situation is just going to get worse if I keep ignoring it. I'm really getting tired of these leaks. I wish I'd never bought a house with a flat roof. I guess I'll never learn though. Every house I've ever owned has had a flat roof. 

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4251

Life is full of little surprises. The battery in my smart key fob went dead and I discovered that I couldn't start my car without it. You'd think this would be a simple fix, but it wasn't. I couldn't figure out how to get the old battery out of the key fob so I went to the Internet for help. Before I could find what I needed, a sudden storm appeared and the power went out. I called in the power outage on my phone and then attemped to restore our WiFi connection using back-up power. I couldn't find everything I needed, but luckily the power came back on about an hour later. I found a YouTube video that showed how to disassemble the key fob and replace the battery, but I didn't have the correct battery in my watch battery box. I found another video that showed how to start your car without the key fob and went to the grocery store to get a new battery. Everything is fixed now, but it took an enormous amount of time to do something that should have been very simple.

I'm glad went to the gym and I got all my grocery shopping done this morning, because we got a lot of rain this afternoon. There was quite a downpour and I wasn't expecting it at all. So far the roof hasn't leaked. This doesn't really mean anything though. Water could have gotten inside the elastomer coating on the roof and is still working its way toward a crack in the ceiling. I'm not really sure where to put a bucket out, because the leak could basically appear anywhere. Hopefully the rain is over and a new leak won't appear. I'm very tired of roof leaks.

The gym was surprisingly crowded this morning and so were the grocery stores. It appears that people are determined not to go back into lockdown mode. When we were taking Dawn on her sunrise walk, we passed a large group of people running together. They didn't appear to be worried about anything. I worry a little, but still find it strange that the pandemic feels so distant from me. I probably wouldn't even know that Covid exists if it weren't for Facebook and cable news.

Dawn isn't licking as much today, so maybe the new allergy pills she's taking are working. She also doesn't seem to have as much energy, so maybe the pills have something to do with that as well. I'm probably overthinking this, but I don't like the idea of solving Dawn's problems through trial and error. Maybe there is no other way. Dawn may know what's bothering her, but she sure isn't talking. 

Every time the power goes out there are all kinds of things that need to be reset. I've already reset the two dehumidifiers and a few clocks but I'm sure that there are all sorts of things that will surprise me tomorrow. I'm sure the coffee maker won't turn on at the correct time but I don't want to mess with it now. A lot of things seems to have a life of their own in this house. Some stuff will reconnect to the WiFi network automatically when power is restored, but other things won't. At least the lights are on and the computer is working. I'd love to have one of those whole home backup generators, but they are very expensive and our power outages usually don't last that long.

Maybe today's rain will keep thing cooler tomorrow. I hope so. Last week it was too hot for Dawn's Sunday outing although we still got ice cream. The gym is closed tomorrow and I don't want to sit around the house all day. Let's hope for no roof leaks tonight and walking weather in the morning.

Elliott is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4207

I think the dog days of summer are here. When we take our early walk with Dawn, it's easy to see what lies ahead. The humidity is high and as soon as the sun clears the horizon you can feel the temperature start to climb. Our sunrise walks are still the nicest part of the day. Dawn enjoys them and so do I.

I did make an attempt to find the source of the roof leak after I finished breakfast, but I didn't accomplish much. There was still standing water from the last time it rained, so I had to clear that away and let the roof dry before I could even attempt to do any patching with the silicon material. I measured the leak's location from a different corner of the house and came up with pretty much the same spot on the roof as I did yesterday. There is a seam under the silicon coating near this spot, so I think the seam has gone bad and water is finding its way in this way. When the roof is completely dry I will examine the entire seam from one end of the roof to the other and see if I can find anything.

An hour up on the roof showed me that it was way too hot for my long walk in the park. I decided to go to the gym again. The gym is making a real effort to return to their pre-pandemic hours. They have a lot of nice new equipment but they are having problems hiring staff. Nobody seems to want to work anymore.  I got a notice from the city the other day saying that they have temporarily stopped picking up the recycled trash because they don't have enough sanitation workers. Luckily, they are still picking up the regular garbage though. Everything seems to be this way. Our mail delivery has been spotty because there has been a lot of absenteeism at the post office. Restaurants and small retailers are having a terrible time finding workers. There are plenty of shitty jobs out there, but nobody wants them. I guess this just proves that when you disrupt everyone's lives for a year, there are consequences.

I've been trying to spend more time on the treadmill and other machines I use frequently at the gym . I actually did increase my heart rate and was sweating in the cold, air conditioned building today. Hey, I'm making an effort. A lot of the upper body exercises are giving me trouble because of my bad shoulder. I still don't want to consider shoulder surgery though. The recovery period is long and arduous. I've known people who have had the surgery and never regained the mobility they wanted either. As you grow older, there are certain things you just decide you can live with.

There's been rain in the forecast all day and it finally arrived this evening. The rain will be great for our new grass, but not so good for the roof. I remember going through this on previous leaks. It's hard to fix anything when the roof is continuously wet. All I can do at this point is keep the pumps running and strategically place a few buckets in the living room and kitchen. The leak is not bad at this point, but I know from experience that it can get much worse. Architects love flat roof houses, but they are nothing but trouble. Put a slope on a roof and the water drains away naturally.

I'm really glad that Dawn isn't afraid of storms.  We're getting a lot of thunder and lightning now, but Dawn is still sleeping peacefully on the bed. Any of our other dogs would have been in a total panic by now. It's weird. Dawn isn't scared of thunder and lightning, but she's scared of me. I'm glad she trusts Janet completely or life would be difficult.

The rain has been heavy this evening. I'm pretty sure I'll be listening to a drip from the ceiling as I try to go to sleep tonight. It is what it is. A new roof is inevitable even though there will probably still be standing water after it is installed. Don't ever buy a house with a flat roof.

Bentley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4197

We like to bring the rescue dogs a new toy to play with when we visit on Monday. Today we brought a stuffed possum with us. We thought that Charlie would destroy this toy and get the squeaker out in less than five minutes, but he surprised us. He carried the toy around gently the way a mother dog might move a puppy. He didn't thrash the toy around or make it squeak at all. He seemed a little confused, but it sure looked like he had found a friend. We'd never seen Charlie act this way before. Dogs tend to be predictable, but they are often full of surprises. When we put the toy possum away, Charlie immediately reverted to his old self and begain to play rough with all his other toys. Cooper had no interest in befriending the little possum. He was determined to get the squeaker out.

I knew it was going to rain today, so we walked Dawn as soon as we got up and then I took my long walk right after breakfast. It wasn't terribly hot this morning, but it was incredibly humid. I had to change clothes when I returned home because I was drenching wet. I wish Spring had lasted a little longer. There isn't a lot to like about a Texas Summer. 

It didn't start raining until we were driving home from the kennel. The rain didn't last long but it looked like it had been intense in our neighborhood. When we went in the house I was extremely disappointed to discover that we had a roof leak again.  It's been almost two years since there has been a leak. I was actually beginning to believe that I had solved the problem. Why did the roof leak today? We've had a lot heavier rain earlier in the Spring. This leak was right over Dawn's food bowl, so I don't think she was very happy about it either.

I really had no choice. I climbed up on the roof and spent the next two hours sweeping all the standing water away. The roof was a mess. I hadn't been up there in a while, having convinced myself that the hot weather must have evaporated any standing water. There was a lot of water from today's rain, but since there was algae developing in some of the puddles, it was apparent that there had been water on the roof for quite some time.

I'm really getting too old to remove standing water from the roof every time it rains. It's hard work pushing hundreds of pounds of water over the edge of the roof with a big broom. It's slippery up there as well. By the time I finished removing all the water my heart was pounding. I'm going to be really pissed if it rains again later tonight. I don't want to go up there again. 

I hate to spend a ton of money putting on a new roof and still have problems with standing water afterwards. I've gotten multiple bids from different roofing companies to replace the roof and they all say that since the house has settled, there will still be standing water in the low spots after they are finished. It's discouraging. I guess you could completely remove the roof and start over, but that doesn't seem like a good solution since we are still living in the house. The only times I get really depressed is when I'm up on the roof. It seems hopeless up there.

The only thing good about today's rain is that it is supposed to be a lot cooler tomorrow. One forecast says we will get more rain tonight. The other says we are in the clear. I guess we'll see what happens. I'll leave a bucket out in the kitchen just in case.

Barley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4107

Another beautiful Spring day. In theory, I should get a lot accomplished on days like this, but I seldom do. Things are moving along slowly though. My 2020 taxes have been submitted, so I don't have to deal with that for another year. The Kickstarter project I backed has funded, so it looks like the product will go into production. If all goes well, I should get my hands on one of the first available versions sometime this Fall. One of the tree trimmers I called finally returned my call, so it looks like I'll be getting a bid on removing the Oak tree in the back yard. Janet wants to remove the tree more than I do, but I would hate to have it fall on the neighbor's cars and have everybody tell me "I told you so." The tree will probably be gone before the Kickstarter project ships.

Dawn did well on her walk today. There was no hesitation or freezing at all. I still have no idea what influences her behavior. She did get excited by another dog and tugged on the leash hard enough to make my hip hurt when I walked. I have so many aching joints now that I have to walk slow and steady. Sometimes I feel like that slow walking Duane Toddleberry character created by Tim Conway on the old Carol Burnett show. It's hard to believe now that I was ever nimble and agile.

I haven't heard anything from the Air Force yet about getting my credentials reinstated for 2021. We were supposed to hear something by the middle of March, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised that things are running late. Everything seems to be running late this year. It's just as well that I won't be tempted by launches in Florida for a while. My trip out to McDonald Observatory later this Spring is all I can afford anyway.

I need to get a new plastic mat to put under my office chair. I've worn a hole in my existing mat and the wheels of my chair get stuck in it all the time. It's irritating. I used to see these mats everywhere, but now I can't find them. I probably haven't looked very hard. That will be my task for tomorrow. I also need an accordion folder for my 2021 receipts. I usually get one of these every January, but it's March already. I'm slipping. Looks like a trip to Office Depot might be in order.

It must have rained a lot last night because the water level in the lake looked a lot higher today. If there's more water in the lake, there's probably more water on the roof as well. I really should get up there and sweep the standing water away, but it is supposed to rain again tomorrow night, so maybe I'll wait. The way my hip feels right now, I probably couldn't make it up on the roof anyway. It sucks getting old. All these things that used to be easy aren't all that easy anymore.

Something weird is happening with our mail. Instead of getting a single batch of mail once a day, we are getting several deliveries during the day. Today we got three deliveries, each with a few letters and flyers. Is the mail actually getting delivered more often, or is our mail just getting misplaced in neighbor's boxes. Maybe neighbors are just returning misplaced mail. I really don't trust mail deliveries anymore. We used to have the same mailman for decades. Now there seems to be a new delivery person every week. 

I've slept well for two nights in a row. What changed? Probably nothing. My nights are probably just as random as my days. I hope this trend continues though. It really makes a difference.

Ariel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3902

We got a lot of rain today. It started raining before we woke up this morning and continued through midmorning. There was no early walk this morning. Dawn wouldn't even go outside to pee. The rain was so heavy that I began worrying about roof leaks again. It didn't help that the pumps weren't working. I had to wait until the rain subsided a bit before I could go outside and discover that the circuit breaker for the pump circuit had been tripped. I got one of the pumps working and disconnected the other one so the breaker wouldn't trip again.

We ate breakfast and waited for the rain to stop. We were finally able to walk Dawn around 10:30 AM. The rain had cooled things down considerably. It was only 75 degrees when we left the house. There was a nice breeze as well. Unfortunately, this didn't last very long. As soon as the clouds began to dissipate and the sun came out you could feel the temperature immediately start to rise. Before we returned home it was already oppressively humid and you could tell it was going to be a hot day.

The first order of business after we returned home was getting the water off the roof. I knew if I waited, it would be too hot later in the day. When the pumps aren't working correctly there is a huge amount of water on the roof. A lot of the water was stained a dark brown by the pecans falling from a neighbor's tree. Squirrels eat the pecans and then the shells rot.  It's a mess. I've always thought that chemicals in the pecan shells cause the roof coating to deteriorate. I've always had the most problems with leaks during this time of the year. While I was up on the roof, I replaced one of the pump hoses. These things don't last long in the summer heat.

There must have been a power surge or a very brief outage last night. The breaker for the security light in the back yard had also been tripped. Oddly, I didn't notice anything strange inside the house. Only the outdoor circuits seem to have been affected.

There were several rocket launches today and I watched them on the computer between household chores. Space X was supposed to do a short hop with it's latest Starship prototype in Boca Chica and then launch a Falcon 9 down at Cape Canaveral later in the day. The SN6 hop never happened, but it was interesting to watch. Boca Chica is only about a mile from the Mexican border. After the pad had been cleared and the launch site had been secured there were two illegals who walked right past the rocket carrying a bucket. After passing near the pad, they pulled some clothes out of the bucket, changed outfits, put on facemasks, and disappeared into some nearby brush. The announcer for the launch coverage seemed startled and said "I wonder if these guys realize that 250,000 people are watching them." I have no idea what happened to the guys. They probably have jobs in Brownsville by now.

By the time I took my afternoon walk, the temperature was over 100 degrees again. It's weird to have temperature swings of over thirty degrees in a single day. That's Texas for you. I guess I shouldn't complain. We don't have to worry about hurricanes and we haven't had a tornado in a long time. I think we're going to try for another pre-dawn start to our walk tomorrow. By the time we returned home today, it was way too hot. Maybe the weather will improve in September. It would be nice if everything else improved as well.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3432

It doesn't seem to take much to knock out our power. Lately, every time a big storm passes through, the electricity goes out. We definitely got a lot of rain today. At least the tornadoes we were warned about never materialized. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get both the fiber optic network and the pumps on the roof running again using various backup power supplies. A small gasoline generator powered the pumps and a solar powered generator took care of the WiFi and computers. When the power eventually returned, nothing important was disrupted at all.

Even though we had quite a storm today, I was still able to take both my walks and do the Saturday grocery shopping without getting wet. Accuweather's Minute-by-Minute  weather forecasting service is pretty amazing. Type in your street and zip code and you know exactly when the rain is going to start and stop within a two hour window. I knew how long it takes to walk three miles and the forecast said I was OK, so off I went. The sky looked a little menacing and I heard thunder off in the distance but the rain didn't start until five minutes after I returned. I love when technology works.

The storm had already passed when it was time for my evening walk. There must have been some high winds. Several large trees were down in the park and smaller limbs were scattered everywhere. One of the creeks feeding the lake was a rushing torrent. Even though the rain had subsided, the water level was still rising. Several piers along the shoreline were under water and the dock for a local rowing club seemed to have floated away. None of this deterred the fishermen. After a big rain fishermen are always attracted to the lake. I saw ten this evening. Are fish more likely to bite after a rain? There must be a reason for this.

There seems to be a reason for everything. I've been noticing that the wildflowers always bloom in a very specific order. The grape hyacinths seem to bloom first followed by lots of showy and evening primrose flowers. Next I'll start to see the bluebonnets. Next a variety of different daisies arrive. I see lots of cowpen daisies, shasta daisies, engelmann daisies, and blackfoot daisies on my walks. The firewheels are blooming now and I'm starting to see milkweed, coneflowers and mexican hat. There are always lots of tiny flowers like crow poison and blue eyed grass. I like to learn to identify the plants and animals I see. Jimson weed is blooming now. I learned to identify this poisonous plant a long time ago because I didn't want the dogs eating it. I learned to identify poison ivy, oak, and sumac a long time ago too.

It's still raining, but it's just a gentle shower and both pumps are working. All is well. Janet fixed chili tonight which is the perfect antidote to a dismal day. I'm recharging all my backup batteries and looking at dog pictures on my Facebook feed. I think I am ready for tomorrow.

Skippy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3294

Another year bites the dust. I guess it was fitting that the year ended in such a typical fashion. It rained all night. Dash pooped in the bed. And the roof started leaking again. As usual, I noticed the leak when I stepped in a puddle of water while I was taking Dash outside to pee in the middle of the night. I had a towel in my hand to dry Dash off with, but ended up using it to mop up the water on the floor. After strategically placing buckets under the leaks and cleaning Dash so he wouldn't get mud on the bed, I went back to sleep.

This morning I was puzzled that no water was being pumped from the roof. I went up to investigate and discovered that the pump had tipped over during the night. No wonder there was over three inches of standing water directly over the leak. I spent two hours removing all the water from the roof, but the effort was probably all for nothing. There is snow in the forecast for Wednesday.

I took a small check from one of my few remaining clients to the bank and got a bunch of buckets at the Dollar Store on the way home. You can't have too many buckets when your roof is leaking. I never go to the Dollar Store, but Janet said that if I'd quit being such an elitist, I could get the buckets for only a dollar. She was right. I would have paid five dollars for a similar bucket at Home Depot.

Not much has changed this year. Last New Year's Eve Dash was already wearing his knee brace and was having major problems with vestibular disease. The elastomer coating on the roof was falling apart and my accountant was telling me it was time to shut down the business. I was starting to think about selling things, but hadn't actually started yet.

One year later, Dash has exceeded all his doctor's expectations. He poops all over the place, but his heart is actually stronger than it was last year. He still has vestibular disease, but the seizures seems to have subsided. Considering that he can barely stand up at times, the little guy is proving to be remarkably resilient.

The house hasn't been resilient at all. I guess this is to be expected since it was built in 1955. I'm going to need a new roof, new toilets and tile in the bathrooms, new sheetrock on the ceiling, fresh paint, and a new sliding glass door in the atrium. It's too bad that my services are no longer in demand because this is going to be expensive. I hate to spend a lot of money on this house, since it will probably be torn down if we ever move. On the other hand, I hate living like this. I've almost forgotten what living in a trouble free house is like.

I think we'll make it to midnight this year. We've been staying up later lately because Dash usually pees around midnight. It's easier to go to bed after this happens. There's some champagne cooling in the refrigerator. We'll lift a glass to the new year and hope that it is better than 2018.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3289

The rain is here. It's been pouring for hours now. There is thunder and lightning. The phones are beeping with flood alerts. Dash is scared and confused. He can't crawl under desks and tables anymore and I think he feels vulnerable. I feel a bit vulnerable as well, because I don't know if the roof is going to start leaking again.

I've done all I can. Before the rain started I went up and walked the roof to makes sure all the rips and tears in the elastomer material had been sealed. The new silicon patches have had time to fully cure and they look pretty good. I've got both pumps running now. So far, so good. We'll see if the roof can weather the storm.

At least Dash got one walk today. He certainly didn't get an evening walk. I knew the rain was coming, so I tried to get all my errands finished before the storm arrived. I paid my property tax today, so there are no more bills for 2018. I contacted the manufacturer of my Aeron chair and found out that there are two authorized Herman Miller repair centers in the Dallas area. Both were closed today, but it looks like I'll be able to get the chair repaired whether it is under warranty or not.

I have no idea why the stock market went up 1000 points today. Of course I have no idea why it went down 600 points yesterday either. They say this extreme volatility is caused by algorithmic trading. These automated, computerized high frequency trades make up almost 70% of the overall trading volume these days. This is what happens when we let artificial intelligence take over our lives. It's only going to get worse. AI is here to stay. I hate to think what is going to happen when our highways are filled with driverless cars. There are unintended consequences to everything.

I wish I could go back to 1955. Cars were cool then. Most machines could be fixed by someone of average intelligence. A 30 point move in the Dow was considered a huge day on Wall Street. We certainly weren't backward in the 50's. We already had atomic energy and Wernher von Braun was planning to take us to the moon. The pace was slower though and that was a good thing. I think we've gotten ahead of ourselves by allowing technology to advance faster than we have.

Since I can't turn back time, I live in a crumbling mid-century modern house plagued by roof leaks. I guess I've benefited from modern advancements, but sometimes I wonder. My blog is really no different than the hand written diaries I used to keep long before the Internet was invented. I could actually type much better using a manual typewriter when I didn't depend on spell-check and had to start over whenever I made a mistake. I suspect that my life with dogs would be exactly the same no matter what era I was living in.

They say the skies will be clear tomorrow. I'll be a happy camper if the house is still dry. Dash is almost certain to poop in the bed tonight because he won't go outside in the rain. We'll see what happens. Hey, I made it through 2018. I'm not going to let a little poop and water bother me.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3217

This was one of those day when you couldn't help but wonder what was going to go wrong next. The relentless rain has caused the roof to start leaking again. Dash was restless because he wasn't able to take his walks. We had lots of pooping in the house today. During breakfast, the Internet, phones, and TV all went out. Later in the day I discovered that lightning had struck a major AT&T facility and started a fire. Most of Dallas and Fort Worth is still without service. If that wasn't enough, the temperature was in the low forties all day. This was the coldest and wettest October 15th on record.

There isn't much you can do when it's raining cats and dogs and your Internet and TV are out. I was finally able to connect the TV to an antenna so I could receive a few over-the-air stations and I can still connect to the Internet over 4G using my phone. U-verse and WiFi are gone though. Who knows when service will be restored.

I felt sorry for Dash today. Every time he went outside to pee, he got soaked. I kept a towel by the door so I could dry him off when he came back inside. I'm glad he still pees outside. When we were dealing with Dot's incontinence, it seemed like the pee often made a bigger mess than the poop. I could tell that Dash really missed his walks today. Even though he has to wear a knee brace for a partial cruciate tear and rubber boots to keep his paws from bleeding, the walks are still special. This is probably his one opportunity during the day to sniff things and feel like a normal dog again.

Every time I hook the TV up to an external antenna, I wonder who watches these over-the-air stations. It's definitely a weird selection. We can receive ABC and CBS, but NBC is too far away, since the transmitter is located in Fort Worth. The signal from PBS is too weak to receive and I don't know where the rest of the channels originate from. There seem to be a lot of Asian channels, including one Vietnamese channel. QVC has an over the air channel and so do several televangelists. No wonder people still pay for cable. Watching over the air television is like visiting the Twilight Zone.

I'd like to think that things will improve tomorrow, but I'm not counting on it. According to the weather forecast there won't be a break in the rain for at least 48 hours. They say it might stop raining for a little while on Wednesday, but then it will resume again for the rest of the week. I just hope we don't lose power. I was bored today, but at least it was nice and warm inside. I don't even want to think about spending the week without power. It's very cold outside.

When the mail came today, it was so soggy that I couldn't even open the letters. I set everything on baking trays so it could dry. Five hours later, most of the mail was still soggy. I haven't even been able to call AT&T about our U-verse service because their customer service lines are down as well. Hopefully, something will improve tomorrow. Dash keeps looking at me like he expects me to stop the rain. I keep trying to explain to him that I don't have any superpowers.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day