Day 3990 - Thanksgiving

I've got a lot to be thankful for. Janet and I are still together after all these years. We have a wonderful dog even though we both swore we wouldn't get another dog after Dot and Dash died. I'm still healthy. This grows more important with each passing year. Too many classmates have already passed away. I've found several things that I really enjoy doing during my retirement years. Since one of those things is writing about astronomy and space travel and I'm actually getting published, I've managed to convince myself that I'm really still working. It's important to feel like you are still necessary. I don't know how many years I've got left, but I'd be happy to continue living like this for a while longer. Life is good when your expectations are low.

Life was certainly good today. The weather continued to be nice and we had a great walk with Dawn this morning. There was very little traffic on the roads and the park was quiet. I like it this way. After breakfast, I started reading the instruction manual for my new camera and Janet began preparing our Thanksgiving meal. Later in the day I put up the Christmas tree.

Dinner was delicious. We had smoked ham, bacon wrapped asparagus, candied yams, Italian sausage dressing, and cranberry sauce. I seldom drink wine, but a nice glass of Cabernet Sauvignon seemed to go perfectly with this meal. This was Dawn's first Thanksgiving with us. She got some tasty treats, but we made sure not to feed her anything that wasn't safe for dogs. We use to watch the Cowboys game on Thanksgiving, but lately that would spoil the day. The Cowboys are terrible this year.

I used to dread Thanksgiving when it involved going home to visit with family. Now that it's just Janet, myself and a dog, Thanksgiving has become one of my favorite holidays. What could be better than a lazy day, a delicious meal, and a chance to reflect on things. I really prefer Thanksgiving to Christmas now. Christmas has become far too commercialized. Birthdays should just be forgotten. I don't need to be reminded that I'm even older than I was last year.

Even though it was a holiday, it was still trash day. As I took the trash out to the curb this evening I looked up at the sky and wondered if there was any point in being interested in astronomy in Dallas. You can't see anything. It was a clear night but basically all I could see were Mars and the Moon. Light pollution is terrible here and I don't feel comfortable driving at night to a rural location where the sky is darker. I think my stargazing is going to be limited to periodic trips to the Davis Mountains.

I think our new dehumidifier might arrive tomorrow. I've still got to figure out what to do with the old one. In theory, I can get this unit replaced by the manufacturer if I can find an HVAC company who will write a diagnostic report that details what is wrong with the unit. Since the little dehumidifier is almost impossible to disassemble, this might be difficult. Oh, well. One more thing on my to-do list.

I hope that all of you had a nice Thanksgiving. Covid or not, there is still plenty to be thankful for.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3910 - Labor Day

It didn't seem like a holiday today. The park wasn't crowded at all. There were a few families having picnics, but I saw a few yesterday as well. Maybe Labor Day seems irrelevant if you aren't working. They say that more people are returning to work in Dallas than in most cities, but you couldn't prove it by me. I still see a lot more people wandering around in the park than I did at this time last year.

We got a reminder that today actually was a holiday when we discovered that the Dalmatian kennel was closed. We weren't able to visit the dogs today, but maybe we'll go later in the week. I'd still like to see Hank and Luckie before they make the journey to their new home in Austin.

Without our regular visit to the kennel, today seemed even more uneventful than usual. We had a nice morning walk, but we should have started a little earlier. By the time we returned home we were all pretty hot. Dawn went back to bed and I felt like joining her. Doing nothing can be very tiring.

I watched SN6 travel down Highway 4 back to the Space X shipyard and then later in the day watched the 7.1 pressure vessel travel back down the same road to replace it on the launch pad. The 7.1 tank won't fly anywhere. It will just be pumped full of liquid nitrogen until it explodes. These pressure tests seem to be common in the space world. NASA tested an Artemis liquid oxygen tank to destruction at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama earlier this Summer. I'm still waiting until the real Starship makes it's debut. An early version may take off from Boca Chica before the end of the year. I only mention these live feed videos to illustrate how little is going on at the moment. Who would have thought that I could spend an hour watching what looked like a shiny grain silo travel slowly down a country road.

I've noticed that the people who go to the park in the morning are very different than the people who go in the afternoon. The morning people seem very industrious. They are jogging, cycling, and walking dogs. The afternoon people are mostly sitting in hammocks looking at their phones. I identify more with the morning people. Why would you want to sit in a hammock on a 100 degree afternoon anyway? It makes a lot more sense to take a nice walk on a 75 degree pre-dawn morning.

We saw a lost chicken in the park this morning. The bird seemed bewildered to be wandering around in a world full of ducks. A lot of people have backyard chickens in the neighborhood, so this one probably just escaped. We thought about taking the chicken to a nearby rescue that takes almost any type of animal, but how do you catch a chicken when you've got a dog with you? We'll probably never see the little rooster again. It will make a tasty meal for the coyotes who live nearby.

I wish I'd hear something definitive from Sky and Telescope. I always worry that there will be changes at the magazine and my story won't get published after all. I try to be patient with these magazines, but I really need some good news to get me motivated. It's a lot easier to start a new story when I see one of the older ones in print.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3479 - Independence Day

For the first time in ages Janet and I went and watched the fireworks displays. A succession of dogs that were terrified of fireworks made this impossible in the past. We couldn't take them with us and we didn't want to leave them home alone. Missing the fireworks was no great loss, but it was kind of nice to see them again.

When I took my walks through the park today I was surprised at the lack of crowds. The park used to be packed with people on the Fourth of July. Often you could smell the smoke from dozens of barbecue fires all the way up at our house. Times have changed I guess. There were still some large family picnics but the crowds were nothing like I remember in the past. Actually, Cinco de Mayo celebrations seem to attract more people than Fourth of July celebrations these days.

If you felt like grilling something, today was a good day to do it. It was typical July day with billowing white puffy clouds dotting the sky. Although it was hot, there was a nice breeze and it didn't feel oppressive at all. Some parts of town got a little rain late in the afternoon, but the park stayed dry and no picnics were ruined. We even did a little grilling ourselves. All we cooked were hot dogs, but somehow hot dogs seemed appropriate for the Fourth of July.

Every Fourth of July I am thankful that I am still in one piece. I cringe when I think of all the dangerous things my friends and I did as kids. We would take the powder out of firecrackers and combine it to make bigger explosions. You could buy cherry bombs and M-80s everywhere and it's a miracle that one of us didn't blow off our hands. I remember making cannons out of steel pipe and filling coke cans with sand to use as shells. A couple of M-80's and a heavy rock blocking the end of the pipe would send those cans traveling a long way. We would also put cherry bombs in the center of  full rolls of toilet paper and throw them up in the air. It was great fun, but I still wonder why no parents intervened.

I enjoy petting a dog a lot more than lighting a firecracker these days. Solitude and quiet is preferable to noise. There are still some Independence Days I remember however. In 1976 I remember sailing into Seattle harbor at night after spending the day in Vancouver. The bicentennial was being celebrated and the fireworks overhead were awesome. I remember selling glowsticks to a huge crowd that had gathered in downtown Dallas to watch the fireworks. We were raising money to help the Dalmatians and I don't think anyone in the group would have the nerve to do something like this today. Dallas seemed a lot safer back then. The whole world seemed safer when my young friends and I were tossing cherry bombs around in the late 1950's. Maybe that's why we felt no danger doing very dangerous things.

I think I'll go try out the new neighborhood breakfast restaurant tomorrow morning. It would be nice if this place were good. It's so close and convenient. The rest of the day is up in the air. I need to start getting bids on fixing some things around the house. I hate to spend the money though. I'd rather go to another rocket launch.

Matao is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3245

What a day. Dash started us off by pooping in the bed. He strayed off his protective pad during the night and ended up pooping on the bedspread. Then when he tried to get up, he stepped in the mess. I took the bedding outside so I could hose it off before putting it in the wash and discovered that it was pouring rain. It was a very cold rain too. By the time I got the bedspread in the washing machine, I was freezing and fairly wet.

I didn't even notice until the next morning that the roof had started to leak in an entirely new location. This time the leak was in the hallway. Since the first leak appeared over a month ago, it has never been dry enough to inspect the roof for damage. With all the rain we've been having, there has been standing water one the roof for the entire time. The roof seems hopeless at this point. I don't want to put an entirely new roof on the house, but it may come to that.

Dash wouldn't walk this morning. Maybe it was too cold for him, but I suspect that it was because Janet wasn't with him. He follows her around like glue these days. I tried several times to get him out the back door, but all I succeeded in doing was get him to poop in the house again.

We walked later in the day when Janet returned. That's all he wanted. As soon as she was leading the way, he was eager to follow behind. It makes it a lot harder to walk Dash if we both have to be there, but that is apparently what Dash wants. It is almost impossible to get him to walk alone with me anymore.

I woke up this morning with an upset stomach, heartburn, and a bad back. These middle of the night cleanup routines are taking a toll on me. I'm a light sleeper anyway and now it seems like I'm getting no sleep at all. I take naps during the day, but it would be much more enjoyable to do my sleeping at night like a normal person. This new routine doesn't seem to bother Dash at all. He still seems to sleep eighteen hours a day.

This afternoon, I went to check out the location for the photo shoot this weekend. I was happy to discover that I'll be inside. I have a feeling that it will still be very cold this weekend. I still can't decide whether to get a flu shot before the event. The last time I got a flu shot I actually came down with a mild case of the flu. I still blame the flu shot and haven't got a shot since. My fear of crowds probably trumps my fear of flu shots though. Whenever I'm around a crowd of people, I'm convinced that I'll catch a cold.

Once again, I checked the mail for most of the day before I realized that it was a holiday and there was no mail delivery. I wish the stock market was closed today along with the post office and the banks. We had another major sell off. Basically nothing went smoothly today. Hey, there's always tomorrow.

Jada is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2892

On television, Black Friday looked like a madhouse, but from my vantage point it just seemed like another normal day. Janet and I went out for breakfast this morning and there wasn't even much traffic on the road. I don't know what made us think we even needed breakfast. We were still full from yesterday. We should have just ordered one item and split it. Neither of us could finish our meal and ended up taking the rest home for tomorrow.

On the way home, Janet wanted to stop at Old Navy and get a coat she'd seen on sale. No mob of Black Friday shoppers here. Everything is already so cheap at Old Navy that I wondered why they even bother with giant sales. The clothes aren't made in China here. The labels come from places like Haiti, Vietnam, and Bangladesh. Who would have thought you'd have to go to stores like Bloomingdales or Nordstrom to find clothes from China? Made in China is reserved for upscale retail now. So where do you go to find clothes that are actually made in the United States? You'd probably need a time machine.

I think a lot of people must have gone out of town for Thanksgiving. The roads weren't really crowded. The park was virtually empty yesterday and wasn't very crowded today either. That's fine by me. Any day that I can walk Dash without worries about being attacked by a loose dog is a good day. I am going to have to worry about coyotes this winter. When we were walking Dash this afternoon, a firetruck went by and the siren caused our local pack of coyote pups to all begin howling at once. From the sound of things, this is a large litter. I haven't seen these coyotes yet, but it's pretty easy to tell where they live. We had a bad problem with coyotes several years ago until they ate all the small animals and moved on. I have a feeling that it is going to be a bad year for bunnies this Winter.

I took advantage of the warmer weather today to continue my work on the roof. This is one of the more discouraging projects I've undertaken yet. There was a small tear in an area I had patched last month and when I began peeling away the damaged elastomer coating, I discovered that water had seeped under a much wider area than it looked like on the surface. The roof really needs to be fixed in July when it is hot and dry. Unfortunately, it always becomes damaged during the Fall and Winter months when the weather is cold and damp. I didn't re-coat anything today. All I managed to do was remove about a square yard of elastomer in hopes that the asphalt underneath will completely dry out before it rains again.

Dash must have known it was a holiday today. He didn't want me to walk him alone like I normally do on Friday and insisted that Janet and I both go with him. This wasn't a problem in the morning, but he could have made life easier if he'd taken his normal walk this afternoon. By the time Janet returned from running errands, it was almost dark. It's hard to explain these things to a stubborn dog though. Dash knew that Janet hadn't gone to work because she wasn't wearing work clothes when she left the house.

It seemed like Saturday today, so it will probably seem like Sunday tomorrow. I'm not sure what I'll do tomorrow, but I won't be able to ignore everything. I got a new writing assignment today. There is a big website project to work on. And sometime very soon I am going to have to test all my ancient equipment prior to next week's first Santa Paws photo shoot. I sure hope everything works. One of these years it won't.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2824

There are pumpkins everywhere. It isn't even October yet. I've even seen Christmas lights in a few stores. Couldn't we just give it a rest? I'm sure that some of these early pumpkins will rot before Halloween even arrives. I used to dutifully get pumpkins every year to decorate the front porch. They would often sit there until February when I would eventually notice that they had turned into a pile of mush.

I don't buy pumpkins anymore. We don't cook a big turkey on Thanksgiving either. There is still a tree at Christmas, but it is a very small simple tree. I think I have finally mastered downsizing the holidays. Now, if I could just figure out how to downsize everything else.

I'm going to miss those pictures of Saturn from Cassini. I wonder what the team in charge of this mission is going to do now? They spent more than a decade working together to learn about the planet and now their spacecraft is gone. I wonder if I'll see other missions on this kind of a grand scale in my lifetime? People still thought big when Cassini-Huygens was conceived in 1988. More than 5000 people worked on the project during it's lifetime. The 22 foot tall spacecraft weighed over 12,000 pounds and traveled almost 5 billion miles to take hundreds of thousands of pictures and discover 6 new moons. I wish were still doing things like this. We still could if we weren't tearing ourselves apart with hatred and bickering.

Maybe this is why I'm not all that excited about the iPhone X. We've gone from discovering the universe to discovering new ways to take a selfie. Who am I to criticize though. The folks in silicon valley who are discovering new ways to communicate with emojis are still doing more than I am. All I did today was go to the gym and use the wet/dry vacuum to suck more water from under the shower tiles.

I was looking for some alternate dog walking shoes while my boots are at the shoe repair shop. In a dusty corner of my closet, I found a pair of my Dad's boots I used to wear when it snowed. I forgot I even had these boots because it hasn't snowed much lately. What was amazing is that even though these boots were over fifty years old, they were still in better condition than most brand new shoes today. My Dad wore these shoes trapping animals in Alaska. I've worn them off and on for decades and they still look like they could last a lifetime. I know I sound like a broken record talking about shoddy, disposable products, but it's true. Nothing is built to last anymore.

I think I spotted the tip of a new nail starting to grow where Dash ripped his dewclaw out. He still doesn't want me near the area, so I try to clean the wound with saline solution while he is asleep. I'll be glad when his dewclaw has grown back. Dash is not a good patient. I still have to have him wear the cone whenever I'm not watching him closely.

My allergies didn't seem so bad today. I still used a lot of Kleenex and Visine, but it wasn't like yesterday. It's weird how the amount of pollen in the air can vary so much from day to day. I'm going to have to start checking the pollen count every morning.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2590

I've grown to hate vacuuming. There are fifteen rugs that continually get sucked into the vacuum cleaner brush. There are foam pads covered with blankets for Dot to rest in almost every room. There is an X Pen in the dining room, so Dot can be part of the family while we are eating without falling over every ten seconds. All these things need to be moved whenever I clean. It used to be so easy to clean the house before the brick floors were covered with rugs and dog blankets. All it took was a few minutes with a wet mop and the place was spotless. If you wanted the floors to look really nice, a coat of wax would have them shining for six months.

Unfortunately, bricks are about the worst thing imaginable for a dog that has trouble standing. Dot couldn't walk around the house at all without the rugs that give her a little traction. The rugs help give Dot some mobility and I appreciate how they have improved her quality of life. They sure are ugly though. All this clutter is almost impossible to clean. Dirt gets under the rugs. They seem to attract leaves and debris like a magnet. Dot has trouble chewing now and bits of food fall out of her mouth long after she has finished eating. Frequently, a rug will get peed on, and occasionally pooped on as well. We picked sizes that will fit in the washing machine when necessary, but it is still difficult to keep the place from looking like a barn.

I did my best to clean the house today. The dogs followed me around and got in the way. They both used to be scared of the vacuum cleaner, but now they are strangely attracted to it. Since this is the season where the dogs track leaves into the house from the back yard, I pulled the covers off the air conditioner vents and cleaned all the leaves and dog hair out of the vent registers. What should have been a fifteen minute job took well over two hours. The sad thing was that I didn't have anything better to do anyway. There is still a writing assignment that I haven't finished yet, but I can do that tomorrow.

I kept thinking it was Sunday. I guess if I spend the day doing Sunday chores, it's going to seem like Sunday. I knew that I had some prescription to pick up at the pharmacy on Monday, but of course I'll be picking them up tomorrow, when I will resume my weekday writing assignment as well. I'll probably be confused about what day it is for the rest of the week.

At this time of year it's hard to find something interesting to photograph every day. The trees are bare. Most of the small animals we encounter on our walks are in hiding. There won't be any wildflowers until April. Even sunsets are hard to capture because Dash doesn't like to walk by the shoreline anymore. I think I've photographed every square inch of the park by now, but occasionally there are still surprises. I haven't photographed a coyote yet, even though I have seen them from time to time. When I'm with the dogs, flowers and sunsets are much easier to deal with.

Tomorrow, it's back to work. There are articles to write and a meeting I need to attend. Meetings, especially long ones, are especially difficult for me now, but I think Janet will be able to come home from work early. I continue to take things one day at a time. I just don't know what day it is.

Shelby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2589

I love fog. We've had foggy mornings for the past several days and I like the way it allows me to look at the ordinary things I see every day from a completely different perspective. Fog has a way of separating the foreground from the background, forcing you to look at one thing at a time. The effect is very similar to the out of focus bokeh you get when when you take a photograph with a very shallow depth of field. Almost everything looks prettier when it is the only object in sharp focus. I try to look at life this way, always concentrating on one thing at a time. One a clear day, my eye is always multitasking, trying to interpret too many things at once. A foggy day seems much more natural to me.

On my way to the gym this afternoon, I stopped at the REI store and got a cool winter coat with a Christmas gift card that Janet had given me. I've certainly changed the way I dress over the past five years. There was a time when I had a menswear client and chose to get paid in clothes. I dressed fabulously for a while, but it was all kind of pointless. Who was I trying to impress anyway?  Nobody needs big dry cleaning bills and I prefer clothes that look good covered with dog hair anyway. I just wonder why it took me so long to discover camping clothes.

I'm beginning to realize that I don't get any more sleep on weekends. Sure, we get up later on weekends, but we tend to go to bed later too. The net result is about the same. Maybe I'm destined to get 5 to 6 hours sleep, no matter what happens. One thing I've learned by wearing a fitness tracker is that I go to sleep very quickly. Apparent insomnia is not a problem with me. Even when I wake up several times a night to take care of Dot, I'm back asleep again five minutes later. When I eventually got up for breakfast this morning, I'd almost forgotten that I'd already taken Dot outside to pee at 4:30 AM and then re-made her bed for her before we both went back to sleep.

It's raining cats and dogs right now. I took Dash outside to pee right after dinner and he was just getting ready to go when a giant thunderclap scared him and he went racing for the back door. He must not have had to go very bad, because he's sleeping under my desk right now. I'm glad we don't live in Fort Worth, because they're under a tornado watch right now. I think we're in the clear though. The storm is headed in a northerly direction. If it were headed east, I'd be under the desk with Dash.

I've often wondered why I'm not building any muscle mass as the gym. Now I know the answer. I read an article recently that said almost everybody will eventually lose up to 30% of their muscle fiber as they age. The muscle atrophy begins when you reach 50 and becomes much more dramatic when you reach 60. This muscle tissue won't come back, no matter what you do, so if you want to remain strong you have to work extra hard to build up the muscle fiber you still have left. Normal cardio exercises like cycling or walking on a treadmill won't build muscle mass at all. You need to start lifting free weights and push yourself to your limits. This explains why I'm not making much progress. It's too bad that I hate lifting weights. Oh well, at least my heart is in pretty good shape.

Tomorrow is a holiday. I'm sure this makes a difference to Janet and everyone else to goes off to work every morning. It's going to just seem like a Monday to me though.

Betty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2252 - Valentine's Day

We got to sleep in until almost 8 AM this morning, which is almost unheard of. Both dogs slept soundly. There were no accidents during the night. And best of all, after our morning walk, we had bacon for breakfast. Who could ask for more. I didn't make it to the gym today because I had to catch up on a lot of Saturday errands that got postponed by yesterday's photoshoot. It was no great loss though. I didn't really feel like going to the gym anyway.

When I was out running errands this afternoon I noticed that I had another nail in one of my tires. Damn. It's almost impossible to avoid getting nails and screws in your tires in Dallas. Janet has had three nails in her tires during the past year and I've had two. I don't know where these nails come from, but they're everywhere. The situation has gotten so bad that I've even thought of investing in a set of run-flat tires. I can't imagine changing a tire on the side of the road in this city. The traffic is so bad that you'd probably get killed. The tire is still holding air, but getting it fixed is the first thing on my to-do list for tomorrow.

I'm apparently not the only one who has made Sprinkles Cupcakes a Valentine's Day tradition. Every time I go to the store on this day there is a huge line out front waiting to place their order. The wait wasn't so bad today, because it looked like it was going to rain any minute and even though the cupcakes are delicious, they are not worth getting wet for. I didn't even have to pay for the cupcakes today because Janet discovered a gift certificate she won in a charity silent auction quite some time ago. I thought the certificate had probably expired, but the store honored it and even told me that I could redeem the gift certificate a little bit at a time since I really only wanted four cupcakes today, plus another two small ones for the dogs.

I received an e-mail from a veterinarian this afternoon asking if I was still interested in designing a website for him. I had initially contacted this guy over two years ago and then just assumed he wasn't interested because I never heard back from him. This just goes to show that some things take time. I'm always delighted when these sleeper cell jobs come back to life. I've made tons of contacts over the years, but I just don't have the energy or inclination to make cold calls anymore. There are certainly a lot more people out there that I haven't heard from in a long time. If even half of them still remembered me, I could be busy for a long, long time.

Dot is ageless. I took this Valentine's Day portrait of her quite a few years ago, but she still looks absolutely the same today. Dash looks pretty young too, but that's probably because he actually is a lot younger than Dot. We're all getting older though. Now Janet is the only one in hte family who isn't taking blood pressure medication.

Tomorrow is President's Day. Is this a holiday for all the presidents, or just the ones like Washington and Lincoln who used to have their own holidays? It's a weird holiday. The post office is closed, but FedEx and UPS are still making deliveries. Some banks are closed, but others remain open. Mattress stores seem to love this day, because they always seem to have huge President's Day sales. For me, it's just another day, I hope I can get my tire fixed.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2092 - Labor Day

You could tell it was a holiday this morning. The park was filled with cyclists and joggers when we took the dogs on their early morning walk. Judging from the number of people we saw, Labor Day is pretty universally observed. Unlike President's Day and other seemingly optional holidays, everybody stayed home from work today.

I stayed home too, but that didn't keep me from working. As soon as we finished breakfast, I went up on the roof and removed the water from Saturday's brief, but surprisingly heavy rainfall. Just like our last rainfall, I wished that I'd remembered to sweep away all the pecan shells first. If you've ever gathered these nuts, you've probably realized what an effective and permanent brown dye they make. Nothing seems to remove the stains left by pecan and walnut hulls. I"m really tempted to ask the roofers if they could paint the roof to match the color of these persistent stains, because they are not going away. You may wonder why I chose a white roof in the first place. I was under the impression that the special coating would get me a nice tax credit the year it was applied, but my accountant said the roof didn't meet the government's energy efficiency guidelines for some odd technical reason. Oh, well. Screwed by the government once again.

Since I was already outside, I decided to wash the car when I finished with the roof. The car seems to get dirty whether I drive it or not. Birds shit on it. Sticky tree sap sticks to the windows. And the wheels are perpetually coated with a mix of road grease and brake pad dust. It's almost impossible to clean the house theses days, but the car is a smaller challenge. It makes me feel good to see a clean car. I may not be able to keep everything spotless, but at least this tiny little chunk of the universe is still under my control.

I thought I'd finished my website work yesterday, but apparently not. I got input for some additional pages that needed to be created in this morning's e-mail and then I noticed on Facebook that two dogs needed to be removed from an animal rescue website because they had been adopted. Increasingly, animal rescue websites are just an afterthought. The real news goes out on Facebook now.

I think we've solved Dash's eating disorder. He was just bored. Janet got two different brands of food to try yesterday and we filled Dash's bowl with one of the new choices this morning. He gobbled it down like he was eating a steak dinner. It's a shame that Dash doesn't like his regular food anymore, because it was perfect for him. It made life easier to feed Dot and Dash the same thing too. Maybe if he eats this new food for a while, we can re-introduce the original food and he'll think it's new again. You can't fool a dog all the time, but sometimes you can. It's worth a try anyway.

Janet goes back to work tomorrow. I go back to having my fruit smoothies for breakfast. Hopefully, Dot doesn't go back to pooping on the floor. We've had a nice accident free holiday.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1860

We started out the day by moving some stuff from Janet's storage warehouse to my storage warehouse. I'm not sure what this accomplished, but it did keep Janet from throwing a few things away. She is trying to de-clutter, while I have apparently still failed to grasp the meaning of the word.

Today was even nicer than yesterday.  We were graced with another day of clear blue skies and 70 degree temperatures.The park is a mine field on days like this. The dogs amuse themselves by trying to grab all the chicken bones and barbecued ribs that picnickers throw on the ground. They can smell food scraps from fifty feet away. They can smell horse poop from even further, and there's plenty of that as well. There are stables in the area and a nice Sunday afternoon ways brings out plenty of riders. Somehow, we managed to negotiate all these pungent smells without Dot and Dash eating a bunch of crap. Although I enjoy walking a lot more on days when the park is empty, I don't think the dogs agree. They see days like today as a treasure hunt.

Since it was a pretty day, there was nobody at the gym. I counted only five people in the huge building, which was fine by me. I almost always prefer to do things when other people are doing something else. Maybe this is why I tend to prefer a matinee to an evening movie. In an empty movie theater you can always find the perfect seat. I hate rush hour traffic and always try to schedule meetings at either 10:30 AM or 2:30 PM. I studiously avoid trendy restaurants. I discovered long ago that the food is just as good after the bloom is off the rose and the trend-setters have moved elsewhere.

Since I feel so comfortable going against the grain, I spent a portion of this warm and sunny afternoon sitting in my office catching up on writing assignments. Why not? I'd already had a nice early morning walk before the rest of the world got out of bed. I had a good workout in an empty gym. I even organized my storage warehouse a bit and Janet fixed steaks for dinner. It was a good day.

Tomorrow is a holiday, but I bet I'll have work to do anyway. Banks are closed and government workers get the day off, but almost everything else seems to continue as normal. I'm not sure about my schedule, but I know I still have a physical therapy appointment. If the rest of the day turns out to be just like today, that would be fine by me. I'm not a huge football fan, but I still can't figure out how Green Bay lost that playoff game today. They were ahead the entire game and all of the sudden they inexplicably lost. That's life, I guess.

Dovey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1815

I wonder how much more forgetful I'm going to become? When I was driving Dot to her physical therapy session today, I noticed my skin turning a beet red color as I felt an intense burning sensation. It only took me a few seconds to realize that I'd inadvertently taken my evening Niacin pill with my breakfast meds. You're always supposed to take Niacin just before you go to bed, because one of the common side effects of this drug is an intense flushing sensation caused by the dilatation of small capillaries under the skin. When the blood rushes to these small capillaries, you feel like you're on fire. It's best if you're asleep when this happens. Luckily, Niacin flushing only lasts a couple of hours, so I was almost back to normal by the time Dot and I returned home.

Dot did really well in the underwater treadmill today. Everyone agrees that it is important for her to continue the treadmill therapy, but some days are better than others. Dot tires easily now and if we walk too far in the morning, or if she overexerts herself, we have to take it easy during her therapy session. Today was a good day and I hope there are many more to come.

This time of year quickly becomes so busy that I often wonder how I'm ever going to get everything finished. I looked at my calendar today and noticed that I have something major planned for every single day from now through the 23rd of December. Most of the things I have to do aren't even related to Christmas, but they will keep me very busy nevertheless. Dash has another cancer re-check coming up. I have several dental appointments, plus an initial evaluation by my new physical therapist. The weekends are filled with Santa Paws pet photo events and I have an appointment to get a haircut as well. I'm really starting to slow down. The thought of something major on my to-do list every single day seems almost overwhelming. When I was younger, I would have tried to schedule all these things on the same day.

I might have mixed up my meds this morning, but I did remember to take out the trash this evening. The dogs got both their walks, even though there was a light mist in the air for most of the day. Dot and Dash don't seem to mind overcast, damp days like today. It's the thunder and lightning they really hate. I didn't get around to investigating dental insurance like I had planned, but I'd better not postpone this too long. It would be just my luck to have the insurance go into effect after all the dental work was completed and not get any benefit from the policy.

I'm glad it's Friday tomorrow. This has been a long week. I definitely need to go to the grocery store, since the refrigerator is almost empty. I'm going to get a haircut in the afternoon, but the most important thing is going out for breakfast in the morning. I've been eating cold Swedish Muesli cereal all week and it's definitely time for something delicious.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1806

I finally got around to paying my property taxes today. Hopefully, this is the last large bill I'll need to pay this year. I'm tired of all these bills. Property taxes are particularly irritating, since I feel I'm just funding more government waste. I wouldn't mind paying taxes if I got to choose what programs my tax dollars would support. I don't particularly think I should be expected to pay for schools, since I've never had children. I'm a big fan of space exploration though, and would love to be able to use my tax payments to help restore a few of NASA's canceled projects. You may have your own priorities, but I think everybody should get to choose what they think is important. If you think we need to increase defense spending, your money goes there. If you want to rebuild roads and bridges, direct your tax dollars to fund infrastructure projects. If you want to expand public assistance programs, well that's your choice.

I didn't get around to uploading any stock photos today, because I got busy with other things. The dog blankets were filthy, so I washed them all. A client I am seeing tomorrow had a website request, so I tried my best to get everything done ahead of our meeting. I think I made all the requested changes, but we'll see how I did tomorrow. It's amazing how quickly the day goes by just doing the same routine things over and over again. Walking the dogs takes a couple of hours. Fixing breakfast and dinner takes a couple of hours. The writing and website assignments usually take at least four hours. Pretty soon the day is gone. Writing the blog everyday takes quite a while too. This is probably why it takes me so long to work anything new into the schedule. Once you've established your priorities, spontaneity becomes somewhat of a luxury.

The possum has returned. I saw it this afternoon, hanging out with the neighbor's cat. I think it's sad that the cat is so lonely that it's trying to make friends with a possum. The cat has tried to befriend Dot and Dash several times but the dogs always want to chase it. All the other feral cats in the neighborhood chase the cat away too. I don't know why so many people think they need an outdoor cat. This cat would definitely prefer to be indoors. Hopefully it won't get eaten by the coyotes. This seems to be the fate of many cats that do their mouse hunting in the park.

Since it's Thanksgiving on Thursday, I rescheduled Dot's physical therapy and acupuncture sessions for tomorrow. Maybe I ought to go out for breakfast tomorrow as well. So many people seem to be taking the entire week off that I have a feeling that Wednesday is going to seem a lot like Friday.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1739

Since most stores are already overflowing with an abundance of pumpkins, can Thanksgiving and Christmas be far behind? It still seems a little early to be thinking about Halloween to me, but apparently that's not how it works anymore. For the next three months we will be continually reminded that there is nothing more American than conspicuous consumption. I've already seen Christmas lights on sale in a few stores. These holidays come and go so quickly now that I already feel like 2014 is almost over. It has been an interesting year, but definitely not one of my favorites. I sincerely hope that the dogs stay healthy in the year ahead. There were way too many medical emergencies this year.

I must have gotten up early this morning. I had a leisurely breakfast at my favorite restaurant, retrieved some equipment from the storage warehouse, picked up groceries at Central Market, and was still home by 9:30 AM. It was good that I got an early start, because work was busy today. I finished my writing assignment first and then got started on a complex Photoshop job. The client loved the photo, except they wanted me to replace the eyes on one model with a different set of eyes, eliminate blemishes on another, and completely replace the head of a third model. It all had to look natural and believable too. I thought I did a good job, but the girl with the new head might be a bit surprised with the finished shot.

The new iPhone 6 went on sale today and I didn't buy one. That's a first. I haven't downloaded IOS 8 either. I must be slipping. Usually, I can't wait to try something shiny and new, but this time my old phone seems just fine. Truthfully, my interest in all types of gear is declining. I don't think I've purchased a new camera, lens, guitar or watch this entire year. It's just as well. I don't have any money anyway.

Today was a chemotherapy day for Dash. Dot is finishing her loading dose of the Incurin pills and we'll begin decreasing the dose this weekend. Between me and the dogs, it's amazing how much time is consumed dealing with meds. There is always something that needs to be renewed or reviewed. I picked up two prescriptions for myself this afternoon and am still trying to figure out which pill is giving me a runny nose. Sometimes I wish I could go back to the days when I took no meds at all. Then I remember that I am much healthier now. I tend to forget that before I made a concerted effort to get things under control, I had already had a minor stroke, a bleeding ulcer, and my blood pressure often hovered around 160 over 110. There is a reason for all these pills.

I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend. The weather is getting cooler. The dogs are getting healthier. Fall is finally here.

Rhett is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1721 - Labor Day

Since it was Labor Day, I thought I'd undertake a laborious task. I got out the the toxic bottle of cleaning fluid, moved the teak lawn furniture to a dog-free zone on the side of the house, and set about making the wood look new again. The job wasn't as bad as I anticipated when I initially read the warning label on the bottle. Nothing caught on fire and the wood didn't boil or bubble as I applied the cleaner with thick rubber gloves. I was surprised that the stuff actually worked, since it had been sitting on a shelf for over ten years. After much scrubbing with an abrasive cloth, I rinsed the chairs off and was delighted to discover that they did look like new. After spending the past year giving Dash his chemotherapy drugs, I've gotten pretty good at handling hazardous materials. Cleaning the teak chairs was a piece of cake.

I discovered today that my iPhone is eligible for Apple's battery replacement program. Evidently, my phone was part of a small batch that received defective batteries when they were manufactured. The battery has never held a charge well, but I always though that I had just installed too many battery draining apps on my phone. I thought I'd investigate how hard it was to actually obtain my free new battery and got nowhere. The Apple stores are completely automated now and it is impossible to talk to a real person on the phone. I hit a dead end with the automated system. I couldn't even find out if the stores were open on Labor Day. I thought about just driving over to Northpark to see for myself, but then I remembered all the Labor Day sales at the mall and decided to wait until a quieter day. If experience is any guide, I will have to make an appointment to see someone at the Genius Bar online and then when I go to my appointment I will be told that I have to make another appointment to actually get the battery replaced. When I go to this second appointment, I will be told that the store ran out of batteries at 10:30 AM and that they will call me as soon they arrive. Then I won't hear from anyone for another month. That's the way it works at the Apple store now.

When we were having dinner last night, Janet asked me if I considered myself retired now. This seemed like a strange question, since I still fire up the computer every day and go to work. Sealander & Company is still open for business. I guess it was a fair question though. Much of the work I do these days pays very little and is largely meaningless. I've been losing the high-end jobs to younger, hipper companies for at least five years now. Maybe I just can't see the forest for the trees.

Since I didn't feel like fighting the holiday crowds at the shopping malls, there was very little to do after I finished cleaning the lawn furniture. After walking the dogs this morning, Janet set up a production line and began sewing dog bandannas for the upcoming Dalmatian Rescue golf tournament. She does a different design each year and this year's seems the best ever. I wasn't so productive and eventually wound up watching old Top Gear episodes on the BBC channel.

In keeping with today's toxic theme, I found another patch of Jimson Weed to photograph. It's amazing to me that these pretty flowers are poison. They look just like Easter Lilies to me.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1718

I thought I'd do something useful today, so I decided to clean the teak outdoor furniture in the back yard. I had a bottle of special cleaning liquid and made the mistake of reading the fine print on the back of the bottle. Before using this product, I was supposed to put on rubber gloves, wear protective eyewear, and dispose of any clothing that inadvertently became exposed to the product. The warning message also told me to cover the ground under the bench I was about to clean, so the product wouldn't seep into the soil when I rinsed the furniture off with a garden hose. WTF? If this stuff is this dangerous, why was it sitting on a shelf in a hardware store begging to be purchased by idiots like me. Needless to say, I didn't open the bottle. I only read the label to make sure the cleaner would be safe around dogs. I never dreamed it would be hazardous to my own health. The last line on the warning label included the number for the poison control hotline, just in case something went wrong.

With my plans to clean the patio furniture thwarted, I decided to go ahead and finish my August writers group essay a few days early. The prompt for this month was "windows," but it could just as easily been kangaroos. I'm not particular about what I write about. As my regular blog readers have already learned, I often write about nothing.

The weather was strange today. We woke up to the sound of rain pounding on the roof. By the time I had gotten dressed and made the bed, the rain has stopped. I took the dogs on a nice walk and then went out for breakfast. Almost as soon as I returned home again, the rain started again. It went back and forth like this for most of the day. One minute it would be bright and sunny, and the next minute there would be ominous dark clouds on the horizon. Everything worked out well. The dogs got both of their walks. I was able to run all my errands. And the plants in the yard still got some much needed water.

Dot had a good day. There were no accidents at all. We woke up in a dry bed and the day proceeded normally from there. I still can't figure out why Dot would be completely normal one day, and pee all over everything the next. Dot does appear to be getting better, but her progress certainly isn't linear. There are still good days and bad days, but the good days seem better than they were two weeks ago and the bad days aren't as bad. I wish I could take Dot along with me the next time I see my urologist. Maybe he might be able to explain what is going on.

I'm looking forward to having a three-day holiday. We don't have anything planned for Labor Day, but that's OK. Doing nothing is always fine with me.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1715

Today is National Dog Day. I was curious how this holiday originated and quickly discovered that creating your own "national day" has become somewhat of a cottage industry. Creating recognized national days has become a hobby for some and a calling for others. It is remarkably easy to create your own special day. You or I could do it if we had the inclination. The woman who created National Dog Day in 2004 has also created National Cat Day, National Living Room Day, and National Farm Animals Day. Although there are only 365 days in a year, there are already over 13,000 officially recognized national days. This all seems kind of weird to me. Here I had been thinking that National Dog Day was a real holiday and it is just a totally made up event created by a woman who likes holidays.

My own important dog day is tomorrow. It is Dot's birthday. Our best guess is that she will be 14 years old tomorrow. I say this because we've been telling people she was 13 all this year. It's hard to know exactly how old a rescue dog is. When we initially adopted Dot, we thought she was about three years old. Our vet thought that this was a good guess. She was fully grown at the time and her teeth looked like those of an adult dog. We may be wrong. Dot could be older or younger than we think she is. August 27 is not the day Dot was born. It was the day we adopted her. It is still a very special day. Especially this year. When Dot had a 105 degree fever a few months ago and was clinging to life in the ICU, we didn't know if she would make it to her next birthday. The fact that both of our dogs survived cancer this year and are now healthy and happy again makes this a very good year. We will definitely celebrate tomorrow.

I spent more time taking Dot to her physical therapy session today than I did working. It's time consuming being a dog's rehab nurse. Dot did great on the underwater treadmill and walked a full twenty minutes. She is strong enough now that I've started walking both dogs together again. We had an enjoyable pre-dawn walk this morning and another not so enjoyable, but very necessary, walk in the afternoon heat. Dot really got her exercise today.

We used to bake the dogs a special three layer cake on their birthdays. At some point in the past, I even took a cake decorating class and became quite adept at decorating fancy dog cakes. Neither of us has the energy for that sort of thing anymore. I don't think we've baked a dog cake in over three years. These days, we either go buy a cake or do nothing at all. In truth, the dogs would rather have a nice juicy piece of chicken than a cake anyway. We'll conjure up some sort of a celebration.

I wish it were Friday tomorrow. I actually wish every day were Friday. I could make that happen easy enough by just going out to eat for breakfast every morning and picking up something tasty for dinner at Whole Foods or Central Market. This seems all wrong though. Once a week is a treat. Every day would be an indulgence. We can't have that. Indulgence has always been my personal road to ruin.

Cammy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day