Day 3406

Eventually there will be nothing left to clean. Housecleaning seems kind of pointless to me, but it does occupy time. Today I brought a tall stepladder in the house and applied bleach to the stained areas on the ceiling. I've done this once before but the roof leak returned and stained the sheetrock all over again. Not surprisingly, I ruined a shirt while I was applying the bleach. While I was making a mess, Janet took a large comforter and other bedding that won't fit in our washing machine to the laundromat. The white comforter needed some bleach as well.

I don't know how long I'll continue taking a three mile walk in the morning, but for now it seems to be the most convenient way to get my 10,000 steps a day. Usually I see ducks nesting at this time of year, but they are strangely absent. Maybe the ducks have moved to the other side of the lake. I did see some Black Swallowtail butterflies and a few Red Wing Blackbirds. A couple of meadows are covered with small Huisache Daisies now. The season is still early, but it looks like it's going to be a good year for wildflowers.

I say all this but I'm really not much of a naturalist. I only took these long walks for the dogs. The jury is still out on whether I'll continue walking indefinitely. Walking is good exercise, but I'm just killing time. I've photographed all these flowers before. I've counted the ducks and learned how to avoid the poison ivy. I've seen rainbows and spectacular sunsets, but without a dog it's hard to see the point of it all. For now the Fitbit will keep me going. I've become a slave to the Fitbit.

Janet thinks I should volunteer for something. I try to explain that it's hard to avoid other people when you're volunteering. I guess I miss my old life. Writing and website development jobs kept me very busy. Clients paid my bills and the dogs kept me company. I sat in a little room in front of a large computer monitor and solved problems. I worked largely unsupervised and avoided meetings at all costs. The money was good and I had little to complain about. I think the dogs liked the arrangement too. I was always around and they became very spoiled. Basically, for many years I was just a well paid dog butler.

I was supposed to pick up the Sequential Circuits synthesizers today. The repairs have been finished for at least a week, but I've been avoiding picking them up. What am I going to do with these things? There is no room to bring them back to the office and I don't want to take them to the storage warehouse. The synthesizers need to be in a climate controlled environment. Keeping them in the storage warehouse for too many years was how they became damaged in the first place. The guitars were easier to deal with since there are plenty of vintage guitar dealers. Vintage analog synthesizer dealers are a little harder to find.

If you are a decisive person I'm probably going to drive you crazy as I slowly inch my way toward whatever comes next. I'm very patient and have a high tolerance for boredom. Don't expect any big changes in the next few weeks or months. I realize it's time for a change. I just don't know what the next chapter will be. Some people search for things. I have better luck just waiting for something to find me.

Mindy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3401

Weather reports can be frustrating. Ever since I woke up this morning I've been waiting for the monster storm with baseball sized hail that was headed our way. Janet changed her plans and stayed home because her previous car was damaged during a hailstorm. I took my morning walk in a slow drizzle because I was convinced that the weather was going to get worse as the day progressed. The rain never arrived. Actually, the sun is shining right now. Go figure.

There is still rain in the forecast. Now it is supposed to arrive around midnight. We'll see what happens. Texas weather is often totally unpredictable. I just hope that the storm moves through town and is well to the East by morning. We need to pick up Dash at the cancer center early tomorrow morning and drive him to our cremation appointment. I definitely don't want to do this during a hailstorm.

It's been easier than I thought to keep taking 10,000 steps a day. There's always plenty of time to walk when there's nothing else to do. I don't think there's any danger of turning into Forest Gump or anything, but I might start taking much longer daily walks. Why not? Walking alone in the woods is a great way to collect your thoughts. There are people who think I need to find a hobby. Actually, daydreaming is a pretty good hobby.

More of my art sold at auction this weekend. These secondary auctions aren't nearly as exciting as the  big ones in New York last Fall, but at least things are selling. So far, I've only had one piece that didn't get any bids at all. I've replaced most of the art that used to hang on our walls with pictures of the dogs. These pictures make me happier anyway. It's been a long time since I was an avid art collector. I'd rather look at pictures of Spot, Petey, Greta, Dot and Dash.

When we were cleaning today we found a humongous pile of dead ants under the microwave. I wonder how many years it took for that pile to accumulate? When the house settled, it left a small crack near a window frame in the kitchen. Ants came through this hole every Spring. I always sprayed, but apparently the ants were tough. Most of them kept going until they reached the microwave.

One of Dash's vets sent us a lovely bouquet of fresh flowers. They smell wonderful and remind me that we always used to keep fresh flower in the house. That didn't last for long. As we both got busier with work, the flowers would often be dead for weeks before we even noticed. I think Spot ate some flowers too. That episode put an end to the flowers. It just became too much trouble to keep track of which plants were safe for dogs and which were dangerous. With Dalmatians it's better to assume that everything is unsafe unless the dogs are being supervised.

Now that I'm getting more sleep, I thought that my resting heart rate would go down. Surprisingly, the opposite has happened. Fitbit is full of mysteries. It tells you just enough to get you wondering, but not enough to do anything really useful. I probably was just as healthy before I started counting my steps.

Bella is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3400

I like round numbers. 3400 seems reasonably close to 3500 and 3500 makes 4000 seem possible. I still don't know if I can reach my goal of writing something every evening for 5000 consecutive days, but I haven't given up yet. The thing that keeps me going is that I really don't know what is going to happen in the future. Anything could happen. Maybe the future will be worth reading about. I certainly hope something interesting occurs in the days ahead. Right now there isn't much of a story line. The blog has always been the story of two special dogs. Now that Dot and Dash are gone, so has a lot of my reasons for blogging.

We'll see what happens. Right now, I'm just trying to clean up the house. I took another load to the storage warehouse today. With Dash's support system gone, the house is stating to look bigger. I kind of miss the dog beds and kiddie gates, but there's far too much clutter around here already. It's time to restore some order to the place.

Janet brought an old computer home and wanted me to remove the hard drive so she could donate it. Nobody really wants old computers, but we've found a place that will take them. This was one of those Apple computers that looks like half of a bowling ball with a screen on a swinging chrome arm protruding from the top. I thought it would be easy to remove the hard drive, but apparently Apple didn't think this was a good idea. I had to disassemble the entire machine to access the cleverly hidden drive. It's a good thing I had a complete set of Torx screwdrivers. You couldn't even open the case with regular screwdrivers. Eventually, I finished the task, but I'm still wondering if it was worth the effort.

I got a voice message from the crematorium saying that they were unable to meet our request for a Saturday cremation. WTF? Dash's cremation is scheduled for Thursday morning. When I called to find out what was going on, the receptionist apologized immediately and told me she has been trying to reach someone else named John and had called me by mistake. "I'm so sorry," she said. "We'll see you tomorrow morning." "Tomorrow is Wednesday," I told her. "Our appointment is for Thursday morning." "Oh, I'm so sorry," she told me again. "I don't know why I even said that. Your appointment is definitely scheduled for Thursday." Somewhat reassured, I hung up the phone and continued my housecleaning.

I'm continuing my efforts to keep walking. Walking without a dog is just exercise, but at least Mr. Fitbit is happy. Somehow I've convinced myself that I need to take at least ten thousand steps a day. Ten thousand steps is easy with a dog. It's a little harder when you're just wandering around the house.

This is going to take a while. Dogs of ours have gone to the Rainbow Bridge before, but there was always another dog waiting to greet us when we returned to pick up the pieces. This is the first time there have been no dogs in the house for a very long time. It's awfully quiet around here.

Becker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2990

It was so nice to see the sun today. The weather was beautiful. Dash was in a good mood. I even felt like getting up this morning. We need more days like these. After a nice long walk with Dash, I went out for breakfast. I was seated near a table where several employees were talking with their boss about personnel problems. Everyone was trying to make themselves look good and their co-workers look bad. Jeez. I don't think I could ever work in an office again. There is way too much drama for me.

I'm beginning to think I might not be able to work with anyone again. Every time someone dangles a job in front of me, I try to talk them out of it. I've been corresponding with the person who wants me to update their website. When I try to explain the pitfalls of sticking with a flawed concept, I get the dreaded "I appreciate your honesty" response. Usually this just means "why aren't you agreeing with me?" Strangely, the job hasn't gone away, so I may end up doing it after all. Who knows. Maybe they actually do appreciate my honesty.

I was going to repair my dog walking shoes this afternoon, but when I took a closer look at the shoes, it seemed like a waste of time. I should just buy a new pair of boots. I didn't feel like cleaning or going up on the roof, so I wrote a letter to my sister instead. I do this about once a month. I haven't actually spoken to my sister or anyone else in my family in years. Sporadic letters seems like a good way to keep in touch to me. Anything more would be overkill. I truly don't understand how people spend so much time on their phones. What do they talk about? I really have nothing to say.

The weather remained nice for our afternoon walk. If it stays warm, I'm going to have to start mowing the grass again soon. The first time I get out the lawn mower is a good test to see whether I've gotten stronger or weaker during the year. With each passing year, the mower seems a little heavier. Last year I though that 2017 might be my last year pushing the mower. We'll see how it goes this year.

I think allergy season might have started. It's a little early, but my eyes are already itching and I'm sneezing a lot. Janet is already suffering from seasonal allergies, so I guess it's just a matter of time. Every Spring I am miserable until the allergy season passes. I start thinking how nice it would be to live in Arizona, and then I remember all the rattlesnakes and scorpions. Can't we just have nice weather without all the pollen?

I dont have any plans for the weekend. This usually means that I'll do a little cleaning and then end up wondering why things don't look any better. After a house reaches a certain age, I don't think cleaning really helps much.

Tucker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2732

It seems pretty clear that there are no more rats in the atrium, so I decided to tackle the job I've been avoiding for years. Cleaning the atrium is difficult because it is basically an outside space that can only be accessed from the inside. Each time I use the pressure washer, I grow a little wiser. I don't point the nozzle at old paint anymore, because it will peel the paint away. I definitely don't point the nozzle at myself. I learned that the hard way. Today I wore a large hat with a brim to protect my head from falling spiders. I lined the inside of the sliding glass door with rags to soak up the water that I knew would leak into the living room. When we first bought the house, I used to do this job once a year, but when our first pressure washer broke I lost interest and convinced myself that the dust and dirt looked just fine. Originally, the atrium seemed like it would be a nice place to have dinner in the Spring or Fall, but we really weren't prepared for how brutal Texas weather can be. It didn't take us long to realize that eating inside with the air conditioner cranked up was much nicer.

As the pressure hose slowly peeled away layer after layer of dirt and grime, the atrium gradually began to look like it used to be. I tend to forget that this house is sometimes considered architecturally significant. All the other Glen Galloway houses have been featured in magazines. Ours has been destroyed by dogs. Architecture was still important to me when we bought the house. I used to be an architect at some point in the distant past and having a cool house seemed essential. Now, I realize that a house is just a place with a roof over your head that you share with dogs.

Although cleaning the atrium was a dirty job that took most of the afternoon, I'll have to admit that I did feel pretty good when I looked at the final results. The flagstone floors and exposed brick look like new. All I have to do now is put a coat of paint on the wood walls and I'll be done.

I had to move the emergency generator while I was cleaning the atrium and it seemed like a good time to fill it with gas and see if it still worked. The generator started easily and the engine seemed to run just fine but it wasn't producing any electricity. This didn't make sense. The generator was practically brand new. It should work perfectly. Since so many computer problems are solved by turning them off and back on again, I use this technique for everything now. I shut the generator down and then restarted it. Amazingly, that's all it took. I have no idea what the problem was, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with spiders.

Over half of the house still needs to be cleaned, but the pressure washer doesn't intimidate me anymore. Little by little, I'll get this job done. I'm going to wait a while to call the landscaper again because he likes to be paid in cash, but by the Fourth of July, the house and yard should be looking great.

I think I've done enough cleaning for one weekend. Tomorrow I'll either finish my website updates or go to the gym. I doubt if I'll do both. That seems too much like multi-tasking.

Bali is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2718

Today almost seemed normal. In addition to my usual Saturday chores, I returned to Euless to pick up Dot's ashes. Since I don't typically drive much further than the post office anymore, these two back-to-back trips to the crematorium have reintroduced me to a city that has totally changed. There are parts of town that I don't even recognize anymore. I think I liked the city I moved to in the mid 1970's better than the sprawling metropolis I see now.

With Dot safely back on the coffee table with Spot, Petey, Greta, and Mindy, I began the daunting task of transforming a dog hospice back into the home I remembered two or three years ago. Over a dozen large rugs were cleaned and placed in the car for a trip to the storage warehouse. I disassembled the six sided x-pen that has dominated the living room for the past two years. I must have lost a critical part, because I couldn't figure out how to fold the thing up the way it originally arrived in the box. It doesn't really matter because the box disappeared a long time ago. At least I was able to fold the pen enough so that it would fit in the car. I never realized how heavy these rugs are. I'm pretty sure that I put over 100 pounds of rugs in the car.

I hope that Dash stays healthy for a long time because I don't look forward to bringing these bulky rugs back home again. I'm not going to throw them away though. Dash is twelve. In a few years. he will probably need some help to keep from slipping on the brick floors.

The house looks different now. It seems bigger. I can't say that I'm going to miss all the clutter, but the rugs and dog paraphernalia did make the house feel cozy. There is still a lot of cleaning that needs to be done, but at least I've got things started. I have a feeling that we've going to need new carpet, but I'll worry about that later. It seems weird not to administer pills every eight hours or continually mop pee off the floor. There are so many odd little things that became part of my daily routine. I'm going to have to relearn how to live a normal life.

Dash seems a bit lonely to me. Truthfully, he's probably completely normal and I'm the one who's lonely. I'm going to miss Dot for a long time. I believe that it's important not to wallow in sorrow or be consumed by grief. I need to stay busy and I will. There are certainly a lot of things that I've overlooked for the past three years.

Janet and I are both dealing with health issues but are determined to resolve them. Maybe we will travel more when everything settles down. Janet would like to foster rescue dogs occasionally. Maybe we'll start taking Dash back to training class. I'll have to ask Dash though. I'm not sure he ever liked training class. Truthfully, I have no idea what we'll be doing this time next year. I do know that we've got a few good years left and it's important not to waste them. I hope you'll keep reading because this story isn't over yet.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day