Day 4788 - Groundhog Day

I didn't need Punxsutawney Phil to tell me that we were going to have six more weeks of winter. All I had to do was look out the window. The freezing rain actually stopped around noon today and the temperature eventually climbed to two degrees above freezing. This was good news for anyone out on the roads, but it was bad news for me. The thawing ice on the roof just caused my roof leaks to get even worse. I've got more leaks than I have buckets now. The pumps still aren't working either.

It was hard to get to sleep with all the leaks last night. Every time I'd hear a different cadence of dripping water, I'd jump out of bed and investigate to make sure nothing was being damaged. Janet eventually went to sleep with headphones on to block the noise. Fitbit says I fell asleep too, but it doesn't seem like it.

The first thing I did this morning was empty all the water buckets. The whole process seemed to take several hours. Whenever you remove a full bucket, you have to have another empty one ready to immediately slide under the leak. I try to put a sponge at the bottom of each bucket to dampen the splashback, but as the water rises in the bucket, the sponge becomes useless. Sometimes the leaks are too close together for the dripping water to fall into the five gallon buckets. I also need a few large rectangular plastic tubs like people often store sweaters or winter clothes in. I always have to put a towel under each bucket because water inevitably splashes outside as the water drips. If a leak is near a wall it is very hard to capture the water. Trust me. It's a huge mess.

I typically have to empty the buckets three times a day. I have to do this one more time tonight before I go to bed. There is so much standing water on the roof that I will have to get up on the roof either tomorrow or Saturday, depending on when everything thaws completely. Slush is just as slippery as ice. I think this is probably the worst roof leak we have ever had. Probably because the roof is not in good condition. I called a roofing company today that came highly recommended by a friend we trust. I looked at their website before I called and it seemed like they were quite knowledgable about flat roofs and the problems they create. We'll see. At any rate, an estimator is supposed to call me back tomorrow to set up a time to come over. 

In between all my cleanup woes, I still found time to walk. Dawn remains in the yard for the time being because it is still too dangerous to get her down to the park. Maybe tomorrow afternoon we can finally give her a walk. I was able to walk my entire route in the park today. Except for a few bridges, the roads and pathways were free of ice. There was lots of slush, but it wasn't slippery. I had good traction with my Hoka boots and never felt I was in danger of falling. Yesterday I had fears of twisting an ankle while I was off the trails tramping my way through the icy woods. Today was just a regular long walk. The only difference between any other day was that it was messy. I also got rained on for a bit. The cold rain didn't last long, but my outer jacket was wet by the time I returned home.

I got my steps today and am doing the best I can to manage the leaks. I still feel very tired and discouraged though. This is the rainy season and even if I do get a new roof fairly soon, we're going to have to wait until everything dries out to remove the existing roof and replace it. Lord knows how many times it's going to rain again before that happens. I may have to be dealing with the bucket brigade over and over again until it drives me completely crazy.

The roads are definitely drivable now. I may go to Home Depot tomorrow to get more tubs and five gallon buckets, along with some rags and sponges. I may get a ladder too. It's not really safe for me to climb up the bricks anymore. I'm in a bad enough mood as it is. If I break a leg, things will be even worse.

Hopefully, I'll still like the roofing company after we talk. I'm ready to do this. A new roof on a house like ours will be expensive, but it's clear that I need a new roof a lot more than I need a new car. I'm looking forward to a reasonably normal weekend. Hopefully it will be warm enough to take Dawn on her Sunday outing again. She hasn't had a proper walk since this mess started and she's starting to get cabin fever.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4787

It's hard to believe, but today was even worse than yesterday. The temperature is still below freezing and we got more freezing rain overnight, adding another layer of ice to the ice that was already there. Dawn was smart enough to poop in the back yard this morning. I think she knew how treacherous it would be to go down to the park. Unfortunately Janet and I weren't as smart as Dawn. We tried to duplicate the walk we took yesterday and failed miserably. The roads were so slick that it was impossible to even walk up the street that led to the park. Neither of us wanted to fall, so we came back home.

It didn't take long for the roof to start leaking. As I predicted, heat from the house caused the bottom layer of ice on the roof to melt and eventually the trapped water found its way inside. The pumps are useless in this type of weather. They are metal and are the first things to freeze. It will have to warm up quite a bit before the pumps are functional again. Needless to say, I can't go up on the roof and remove the ice. I have a hard time even walking on our front porch. It would be insane to attempt to climb up on the roof.

I ate my breakfast, puttered around the house for a while, and paid some bills online. I kept thinking about my steps though. I hated to give up. I eventually decided that if I walked through the neighbor's back yard, I could avoid the slick roads and driveways and make it to the park where I could walk through the wooded areas. The meadows and wooded areas were covered with ice too, but it wasn't as slick as the roads and bike paths because my boots could crunch through the surface ice and provide the traction I need. That was the plan anyway.

I dressed as warmly as I could without hampering my mobility and set out on my 10,000 step quest. This was one of the most difficult walks I have taken in a long while. I couldn't shuffle along like I often do. I had to consciously lift each leg and plant my foot firmly to crack through the ice and keep from slipping. It was extremely cold outside, but I felt my body heating up just from the amount of effort involved. I did pretty well until I came to a road. It was just a small internal park road, but I knew almost immediately that I couldn't make it across. I retraced my steps through the woods in the other direction until I eventually came to another road. By the time I gave up and decide to come back home, I had walked over two miles.

Believe it or not, I did get my 10,000 steps today as well as closing all three rings on my Apple watch. It might be hard to do this again tomorrow. According to the weather forecast, we are going to get even more freezing rain tonight. So far, the precipitation has been mostly sleet and it hasn't been sticking to the tree limbs or power lines. We've still got power, which is more than a lot of people in Austin can say. The only good news is that it is supposed to get above freezing by tomorrow afternoon. Maybe by Friday afternoon we can finally get our cars out of the driveway.

It's driving me crazy listening to the water drip from the roof. So far, all the leaks are in the office. I've got three buckets placed and I hope I won't need any more later tonight. My worry is always that a new leak will crop up while I'm sleeping and that there will be a big mess in the morning. By Sunday most of this will probably just be a bad memory, but right now I'd give this day a 1 on a scale of 1 to 10. We've had worse ice storms in the past, but this one is pretty bad. Janet and I are getting too old for this. Dawn probably is too. It would be much nicer to be sitting on a warm beach somewhere.

Myles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4425

Another very cold day. There was no new snow or ice, but very little melted. As I expected, we have a small roof leak caused by heat from the house melting the ice on the roof from the bottom up. There is still a layer of ice on the roof, but it has started to melt underneath. It's way too slippery to climb up on the roof and fix things, so I'll just have to live with this for a while. At least it's a very small leak so far.

Dawn hates the snow, so she went without a walk again today. I should have done the same, but I run out of things to do in the house fairly quickly. I need a long walk to kill time. Janet can't go back to the gym until the roads clear up, so we took another walk together in the park today. I tried some different boots but they were worse than yesterday's boots. I really need to find some of the more comfortable Hoka boots, but they seem to be out of stock nationwide. I'm sure they'll be back in stock this summer when I won't need them anymore. I think we saw one of the eagles in the nest this afternoon, but we couldn't get closer because melting snow has turned the best vantage point into a swamp. It was a nice day for a walk though. The sun was out and there wasn't much of a wind. I just wish it were a little warmer.

I think I've finally figured out how to use the star tracker. Since I was house bound for most of the day, I spent a lot of time trying to master the surprisingly complex gadget. You can't really track stars indoors during the day, but you can see if the camera and tracker are pointed in the right direction using planetarium software on my computer. At any rate, I think I'm making progress. I was able to go back and forth between several targets without the software crashing. I also learned how to use the tracker to create panoramas and time lapse sequences. I still haven't taken the device outside and photographed anything, but that day will come. All in good time.

It's too bad I don't enjoy watching Netflix movies. Snow days are perfect for binge watching something. I'm not sure what I enjoy anymore. Astronomy is a strange hobby to have if you don't feel comfortable going outside at night. Dallas feels too dangerous for astronomy. I love my time out at McDonald Observatory, but it is way too far away for casual observing. The worse my foot gets, the more I dread making a long car trip as well. I'm even starting to feel out of the loop down at Kennedy Space Center. There's a lot going on right now and if you only make one or two trips a year, it's hard to be considered a serious part of the space reporting community. Some of my Florida friends are on site almost every week. Hopefully, I'll still get to cover the Artemis 1 launch later this year, but you never know. I'd better take advantage of any opportunity I get. I'm starting to think my traveling days are numbered.

It looks like I will be traveling to the grocery store tomorrow. The larger roads are almost completely free of ice by now and tomorrow should be even warmer than today. I'm sure prices will continue to get higher.  Almost everything is higher these days. I got a bill from my web hosting company yesterday and the annual rate almost doubled. Do I even need a website anymore? Probably not. You think more about the cost of things when you are retired. When I was working I never gave a second thought to the cost of anything. In retrospect, those days were pretty good.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4423 - Groundhog Day

Things aren't looking good. Milltown New Jersey had to cancel their annual Groundhog Day festivities when their popular groundhog, Milltown Mel, died a few days before he was able to prognosticate the length of this year's Winter. Granted, this wasn't Punxsutawney Phil, but Milltown Mel was still a very popular rodent. I'm not sure if this unfortunate event had any effect on today's weather in Dallas, but it isn't looking good down here either. It's currently 32 degrees and raining hard. The temperature has been steadily dropping all day long and the rain is expected to turn into sleet and ice before midnight.

Janet got groceries today and brought home extra blankets from the storage warehouse. I started the gasoline generator to make sure it worked properly and made sure the smaller solar generator is fully charged. I started my car to make sure the battery was good, but didn't leave the driveway. I don't plan on going anywhere until this winter storm is over. Northerners probably think this is overkill, but ice storms have a way of knocking Dallas out cold. We just aren't prepared for stuff like this. Everyone who has lived here a while has memories of a bad ice storm and nobody wants another one.

We got an early start this morning in anticipation of what was coming. Dawn's sunrise walk was actually the warmest it was going to be all day. I took my long walk right after breakfast and I could feel the cold front arriving. I dressed warmly though and I was fine. I pretty much had the park to myself today. Everyone else was probably out emptying the shelves at every grocery store in town. The empty park turned out to be good for me though. I ended up seeing both eagles today. I saw the female in her nest and the male was sitting atop a nearby tree looking for food. I even had my camera with me. My pictures are definitely getting better. I was pretty pleased with today's results.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. I've got the pumps on the roof running to try and get as much water off the roof as possible before everything freezes. Janet and I both did our laundry so we wouldn't have a big pile of dirty clothes if the power goes out. I need to remind myself that this is only a two day event. The freeing rain should stop by tomorrow morning and Friday should just be very cold. By Saturday afternoon, Dallas should be back to normal again. I don't think everyone is nearly as worried about the weather as they are about the power company's inept response to freezing temperatures. We're pretty good at keeping cool in the Summer. Not so good at keeping warm in the Winter.

Dawn definitely won't be getting a sunrise walk tomorrow morning. I won't be taking my long walk either. I may be foolish but I'm not an idiot. An old guy who has balance issues has no business walking on ice. It's kind of a shame that my long streak of 20,000 step days will be broken. Despite the foot pain, I was really making progress.

I guess I've done everything I can get prepared for something that still may turn out to be a non-event. Better safe than sorry though. Just about the only thing I hate worse than cold weather is ice. Ice is something you should put in your drinks. It definitely shouldn't be toppling trees, bringing down power lines, and coating the roads. Forget everything I ever said about hot Texas summers. Texas winters are even worse.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4421

We picked up a new dog at our vet on the way to the kennel today. Peanut is a six month old male owner surrender. He was a little thin, but very healthy and well cared for. I never make judgements about why someone would give up their dog, but it does puzzle me when a dog this nice turns up in the rescue program. Peanut came with a big box of blankets and dog toys, along with a list of what tricks and commands he knew. Peanut knew quite a bit and totally charmed Janet and I, along with the entire kennel staff. We spent quite a while playing with him today because we suspected that this might be the last time we see him. Young dogs like this get adopted incredibly quickly. Don't worry. Charlie and Oliver didn't get left out. We spent a lot of time playing with them as well.

The weather was nice today, but the cold front keeps moving closer and closer. The bad weather isn't supposed to arrive until Wednesday but I can already feel a change in the air. I'm trying to take advantage of the nice weather while I can. I took my long walk early this morning so we'd have plenty of time to visit the kennel. On the way home I finally spotted the eagles nest, along with both eagles. I was totally surprised at where the eagles built the nest. I had always suspected that it was hidden deep in a thick wooded area away from human contact. Nope. These two eagles built their nest right next to a busy road in plain sight of everyone. It's only a few miles from our house. I don't know why I never noticed this before. I drive right by the nest every time I go to the post office. I've heard that the eagles have actually built two nests. I have no idea whether the nest I saw today was the new one or the old one. It was definitely occupied though. The female was sitting in the nest and the male was guarding it from a nearby tree.

The closer the winter storm comes, the more apprehensive I become. Everyone remembers the big fiasco last winter when big chunks of the entire state lost power for days. The cold is bad enough, but this storm comes with freezing rain. Ice storms are the worst because they knock down trees and power lines. I remember a few ice storms where we had to go stay in a hotel for a few days because the power company wasn't making restoring power to our neighborhood a priority. This was back when Janet was still working so we could all go to Janet's office during the day and warm up. Don't have that luxury anymore. I'd be nervous taking Dawn to a hotel anyway. She freaks out about doing anything new. Hopefully, the storm won't be as bad as it already is in my mind. We'll probably be OK. Most things aren't nearly as bad as they are in my mind.

Janet has cataract surgery tomorrow, so I'm the designated driver for a while. I hope the surgery goes smoothly and is as trouble free as most people say it is. I'm next on the list for this same procedure. I'll probably delay my surgery until next year, but I can already tell that I'm going to need it. I've made my living using my eyes for a long time and the thought of a doctor doing anything to them makes me cringe. They say you are back to normal remarkably quickly though. At any rate, I'll be paying close attention to what happens with Janet's procedure.

I took a camera back to the park late in the day to get a picture of the eagles in their nest. Not surprisingly, they were gone. If they went to this much trouble to build the huge nest, they'll probably be back though. I'll keep watching for them. Maybe I'll even have a camera with me. The birds are interesting, but dogs are still much easier to photograph.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1897

Another cold, grey day. Although the temperature hovered around freezing all day, a lot of the ice melted anyway. I'd say the worst is over, except that I'm hearing we are supposed to get snow tomorrow. Our Winter is so mild compared to what people are experiencing on the East Coast, but it's still too cold for me. I'm ready for Summer. Truthfully, I think I'm always ready for the next season, never fully appreciating the season I'm currently experiencing.

Work was slow today. I think I finished all my assignments before noon. On days like this, I usually fret. What happens if it snows when we have to take Dot to the specialty center for surgery? What happen if my teeth start to hurt again before I get Dot's surgery paid for? What happens if the water heater starts to leak? What happens if I fall off the roof? The list is endless.

In a lot of ways it's better when I'm overworked and trying my best to meet impossible deadlines. When I'm trying to meet a deadline, I don't have time to think about anything else. I seldom fret when I'm really busy. I think this is one of the reasons that Janet wants to go back to work. Having time to think can be a dangerous thing.

I made a list of questions for Dot's vet and neurologist. I feel a little better now that most of them are answered. I actually learned a few things by asking questions today. Does Dot get her heartworm pill on March 1, while she is still in post-op recovery at the hospital? Nope. It's better to wait until she comes home again and is a bit stronger. Does Dot continue taking prednisolone while she is at the hospital. Yes. Actually the dose will probably be increased right after the surgery to minimize inflammation. Will Dot became incontinent again? Maybe. She will have to be on fluids for a few days.

I got a call from an insurance company in Indiana this afternoon, asking me about the accident in California. I told them that Hertz was handling the entire thing, but they didn't seem to be aware that Hertz's insurance was taking care of this or was even involved. I have a feeling that this is going to be like dealing with Medicare problems. I'll have to explain the entire story to ten different people before the whole thing gets resolved.

A few people in Dallas are looking forward to snow tomorrow. Most of us have more sense. We didn't move to Texas to deal with snow. When you've got rattlesnakes, tornadoes, and 110 degree days in August, you don't need to be throwing snow into the mix.

I must not be sleeping well. For the past several days my fitness band app has been asking me if I was actually asleep the night before. Apparently, I've been sleeping so lightly that the UP band can't tell whether I'm awake or not. When I say say "yes" of course I've been sleeping, the app prepares a pitiful chart that shows three or four hours of light sleep. I'm sure that the sleep deprivation and fretting are connected somehow. It's weird. It's so easy for me to just not care at all about so many things, but I really do care about these dogs.

Nora is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1896

The dreaded ice storm wasn't as bad as everyone expected. There was certainly a fair amount of ice and sleet on the ground when we woke up this morning, but we still had electric power and a few brave souls were even out on the roads. I had no desire to join these people. Driving on black ice is just asking for trouble. I started the car to make sure the battery still worked in the sub-freezing temperatures, but I never left the driveway.

There was plenty to do around the house anyway. Taking care of Dot is almost a full time job. She's starting to get cabin fever, so I try to walk her around a bit using the harness whenever she appears restless. Neither of the dogs wanted to be outside for long today. It was just too cold. Dash has become a model of efficiency about doing his business lately. He used to take forever to poop on his evening walks, but for the past two days he poops and pees almost immediately. We had completed our walk and were back in the house within five minutes this evening.

There were no writing jobs today, so I took care of my usual website updates and began editing another video. I can edit using either the laptop or desktop computers, but I've got to choose one or the other. Dot must have thought I picked the wrong one, because almost as soon as I began the tedious editing process in the office, she wanted me out in the living room with her. Even though Dot mostly just sleeps, you can't really let her out of your sight. You never know when she'll try to get up on her own, and since she's still taking prednisolone, you have to be able to get her outside to pee in a hurry.

I'm so glad that our power didn't go out today. Ice and snow days seem to last forever anyway, but enduring frigid weather while trapped inside a freezing house is even worse. Dealing with all these things with a sick and very immobile dog would have probably driven me over the edge. Dot did surprisingly well navigating our icy back yard when I took her out to pee. She had lots of help of course, but it was still encouraging to see her front legs move so confidently on the slick ground.

There is already another NASA event on the horizon and it appears that two people in the group that joined me at Vandenberg Air Force Base are planning to attend. I'm a bit envious. I wonder how these people have the time and money to do this so frequently. This event will be the first test firing of the rocket that will eventually take astronauts to Mars. This is a static test, so the rocket will never leave the ground, but it will still be very impressive. The test site is located near Promontory, Utah, which is even more remote than Vandenberg Air Force Base. Lord know how expensive it would be to fly there from Dallas. Oh, well. Maybe in a year or so, when Dot gets healthy again, I can start thinking about attending these events again.

It's going to be another very cold day tomorrow, but at least the danger of ice is receding. I'm mainly worried about the weather on Thursday, when we have to transport Dot to the specialty center in Lewisville where she will have her spinal surgery. It would be nice if you could deal with all stressful things on clear, warm Spring days, but nature doesn't work that way. As long as we continue to have electric power this week, I guess I'll be OK.

Joey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1895

I took my morning shower armed with a plunger and drain cleaning tools. Before the hot water ran out, I managed to unclog the slow moving shower drain, do several of my shoulder stretching exercises, and wash my hair. This is as close to multitasking as I'll ever get. Later in the morning, I changed the furnace filters and discovered that, much to my surprise, there was nothing wrong with the Anton Bauer camera batteries after all. Silly me. For weeks I had thought I was going to have to buy new Pro Pac batteries because they would no longer power my LED lights. I completely forgot that the Gold Mount adapter I had added to the lights actually had to be plugged into something. Oops. When I plugged in a little cable I found in my camera bag that connected the battery adapter to the power input, the lights worked just fine.

It was nice to have a free flowing bathroom drain and some movie lights that actually work, but I couldn't rest on my laurels. As the day progressed, it kept getting colder and colder. The dreaded Icemageddon storm is on it's way. I did a big load of laundry to make sure that we didn't have a washing machine full of dirty towels if the power went out during the ice storm. I started systematically charging up my electronic devices. I wish there was a way to store up heat in advance, but there isn't. We have lots of single pane glass in the house and no fireplace. Once the power goes out, it gets cold almost immediately.

I dread taking Dot out to pee during the night if the ground ices over as everybody expects. It's hard enough to choreograph our short walks as it is. The goal is to keep Dot upright using the special harness without falling over myself. It's pretty easy to step in poop in the dark as well. Maybe we won't get freezing rain and sleet tonight after all. That would be nice. I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch though. It's currently raining outside and the temperature has already dropped to 32 degrees. This sounds like a recipe for an ice storm to me.

Even with her crippled legs, Dot is still better about doing her bathroom business in bad weather than Dash. When she needs to go, she takes care of her business quickly and immediately comes back inside again. Dash, on the other hand, freaks out whenever he gets wet. I tried to use a brief lull in the rain this afternoon to take Dash on a walk. It was still sprinkling a bit though, so Dash thought the sky was falling. He didn't pee or poop at all and we both came home wet. This means that he will probably whine at the back door tonight, but refuse to go outside when I open it. He still seems to think I have the power to stop the rain and gets mad when I don't make the bad weather go away.

Janet is listening to the Oscars in another room. I can't sit through these award shows anymore. They are just too long. The Oscars and the Grammys both make the Superbowl seem short. If you count all those red carpet fashion shows that precede the Oscars, you could easily spend the entire day watching this event. I did manage to see two movies that were nominated for an Oscar this year. That's two more than I saw last year.

Jeez, I hope we wake up with electricity and heat tomorrow morning and don't see any downed trees in our back yard. Ice storms have not always been kind to us.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1842 - New Year's Eve

Ordinarily I'm in bed by midnight, but I guess I'll stay up late tonight to welcome the new year. The bloom is definitely off the rose when it comes to New Year's Eve celebrations. I think I lost interest over twenty years ago when the band I played in was always booked for big New Year's Eve parties. When you're up on stage looking down at a sea of drunk faces, the appeal of getting wasted is less than zero. I hated these New Year's Eve parties. The weather was usually terrible. It seemed like we had to play longer than normal. And it was a bitch to pack up all the equipment at 2 AM. Somehow, it's a lot nicer to watch the ball drop on TV, enjoy a glass of champagne in the kitchen, and go to bed a few minutes after midnight.

I thought I'd come up with a clever plan to lower my prescription cost. I got my doctor to renew everything for another year and I was going to get all the prescriptions filled today before the cost of my drug plan went up again. Every year the cost continues to go up. My plan didn't work very well, because the pharmacist said most of the prescriptions couldn't be filled until I ran out of my current supply. He filled two out of the eight scripts and said I could pick up the rest when needed. "When I pick up these other prescriptions in January, will I have to pay next year's higher rates," I asked. Of course I will.

It was only a few degrees above freezing when we took our morning walk. The dogs still didn't want to wear sweaters under their harnesses, but they did decide they'd had enough when we'd covered about half our normal route. I wish I could convince Dot and Dash that the sweaters are a good thing, but it's hardly worth the effort to get them to wear them anymore. They both run away whenever I get the sweaters out. It's hard to get Dot's sweater on too, since her legs have gotten so shaky. I guess we'll just have to take shorter walks until the weather gets a bit warmer.

The weather forecast is predicting sleet or freezing rain later tonight. I hope this forecast isn't accurate, since freezing rain is always a big mess in Dallas. This is when the highways turn into a roller derby and large trees fall over under the weight of the ice. Many of the power outages we've experienced over the years have occurred during ice storms.

I hope that 2015 is pleasant and uneventful. We overcame many adversities this year, but it would be nice if we could avoid them altogether in the year ahead. I hope the dogs stay healthy. I'd like just enough work to keep me busy, but not enough to make me crazy. I'm still debating whether to have any champagne tonight. It's a nice tradition and my liver is back to normal again. My doctors have told me that the occasional drink will cause no problems at all. On the other hand, I'm kind of proud of my sobriety. Maybe I'll just have some eggnog.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1796

Today was one small errand after another. I don't know why there were so many things to do, but it was definitely a busy day. The car needed gas, there were groceries to buy, the dogs needed a new stash of dog treats. I needed to pick up a bottle of astringent at CVS. As the day progressed, the sky got darker and darker. I'm glad I got everything done, because it looks like we might have sleet or freezing rain tomorrow.

While I was  out and about, I stopped by an AT&T store to take a look at the new iPhone 6. I don't think I like it very much. Even the smaller of the two new models is too large to fit comfortably in my pocket. Even worse, the phone is so light and thin that it appears flimsy. I think I'll just stick with my current phone, especially since Apple replaced mine with a brand new one just a few months ago.

I received a bunch of new assignments towards the end of the day yesterday and I felt compelled to work on some of them this afternoon. I could have easily waited until Monday, but I hate to have work looming over my head.  I did a little writing and updated a website before I remembered that I still needed to do the laundry and change the sheets on the bed. Weekends have their own set of priorities and writing assignments aren't usually high on the list.

While I was walking the dogs this evening, we encountered another search and rescue team, presumably searching the lake for a drowning victim. When I first moved to this part of town, years would go by without anyone drowning in the lake. Now, I see the fire department rescue crews out here several times a month. I guess that's just what happens in a growing city. There are an abundance of people with no common sense at all. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've seen kayakers or people using those popular new SUP boards without even bothering to wear a life jacket. It's easy to tip a kayak over or fall off a SUP board. The water is pretty cold at this time of year too. You'd have to be crazy to go out on the water on a day like this.

I continue to be impressed by the new thermostat. I programmed it to turn the temperature down while we slept and then raise it back to normal again when we woke up. Everything worked like a charm. We didn't even realize that it was 65 degrees inside during the night. By the time we got out of bed this morning, everything was toasty warm again. It's weird. A thermostat may seem dull to most of you, but Klout couldn't have send me a better product to evaluate if they tried. All I do these days  is fret about the temperature.

I hope the rain we're having now doesn't freeze on the roads tonight. Even a small amount of ice can bring this city to a standstill. If the weather's OK, I'll probably go to the gym tomorrow. If it's sleeting outside, I'll just curl up with the dogs and take a nap.

Honey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1462

Well, UPS will probably never deliver to our neighborhood now. While I was writing this morning, I heard a huge crash out on the street in front of the house. When I went to investigate, I discovered that a car had plowed into the back of the UPS truck while it was delivering a package to my next door neighbor. Then a van hit the truck again, trying to avoid the first wreck. The woman who initially hit the truck said she didn't see it. Jeez, how can you miss a huge brown UPS truck? I can spot these things from a mile away.

The embattled UPS driver didn't have any packages for me. I divert almost everything to the main depot now and drive down to pick it up. I did that again today and ran into another long  line of angry people waiting to send, receive, or complain about their package. My advice. Just send your stuff FedEx instead.

The weather was nice again today. I only had to wear a light jacket when I walked the dogs. This would have been a good opportunity to clean up the debris from the ice storm in the back yard, but I still have too many holiday related advertising assignments to complete. As some of you have already guessed, this is not my favorite time of year.

Only one day after I washed my car, the neighborhood redbirds are already pooping on it again. The only thing these tiresome birds enjoy more than pooping on the car is pecking on my office window in a vain attempt to get inside. I don't know why anyone would want a bird as a pet. Birds are filthy creatures. If Dot and Dash didn't like to chase cats so much, I would get a cat, just because they like to eat birds.

Did you know that the Chinese successfully landed a rover on the moon a few days ago? I'm amazed that there has been almost no news coverage of this event. Hey, it's a big deal. This is the first time anyone has landed something on the moon since the 1970's. So what are we talking about instead? Obama's selfies at the Mandela funeral. More school shootings. The healthcare mess. When somebody actually does something truly impressive, nobody seems to care. Nobody seems to read blogs anymore either, but that's another subject entirely.

Hannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1455

We've got power again! It's definitely been a long four days. Last night the temperature got so cold in the house that we gave up and went to a hotel for the night. It's hard to find a place that will take two 65 pound dogs, but the people at the Palomar couldn't have been nicer. They treated Dot and Dash just like any other guest. Dash was scared of elevators, but other than that, both dogs seemed to enjoy their night away from home. The dogs enjoyed sleeping in the big, fluffy hotel bed so much that I think they were disappointed when they returned to our own house today. We almost had to spend two nights in the hotel, but the power finally returned about 6 PM this evening. The house is still cold, but the temperature is steadily increasing at about three degrees an hour. By morning, we should be back to normal.

Since the house was still ice cold this morning, Janet let me use an empty cubicle at her office to work and we took the dogs to board for the day with our vet. Dot and Dash were disappointed that we weren't taking them to another posh hotel, but they'll survive. They are always well taken care of at the vet. Dash even got his antigen shot today, so I won't have to take him back again tomorrow.

Here's the difference between doctors and ordinary people. The last time I went to see the doctor I had an appointment with today, I had to wait over an hour and a half in the lobby because he got tied up in surgery. Today I was the one who was late. I was fifteen minutes late because of bad traffic and when I arrived, the doctor had already left for the day. So, I guess it's acceptable for me to wait an hour and a half and he can't wait fifteen minutes. I don't get it. I'm always the one who is expected to wait.

When I was driving home from my aborted doctor visit, I got a call from a friend in the neighborhood saying the power was back on. About five minutes later I got another call to say "never mind." The power had flickered out again. It appears that getting the power back on line is a tricky business. When I arrived home, the power was still out, but there were power company trucks everywhere. It was a power company crew from Alabama who eventually turned the lights on again. I asked one of the guys what it took to get all these people to Dallas on such short notice. He said it was just professional courtesy. He said if they got in trouble, Dallas crews would come down to help them. It's nice to know that the concept of professional courtesy still survives. It disappeared from the advertising world years ago.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1454

What a day! Our power is still out. After three days without power and temperatures in the 20's, the entire neighborhood feels like we've been abandoned. I finally talked with someone from the power company this morning. When I saw a guy in the alley wearing a hard hat and looking up at the power lines, I rushed outside to ask when we'd be getting our power back. The guy was nice enough, but he wasn't very encouraging. "We're just the assessment team," he told me. "This is a three stage process," he said. "First we identify the dead lines, then tree cutters come out and remove the debris around the lines, and finally the linemen will come and replace the damaged lines." "How long will that take," I asked. The man gave me one of those looks like he'd been asked this question way too often already. "It's a complicated process," he finally said. "I wouldn't expect anything to be fixed before Wednesday."

After that dismal assessment, I was happy to pack up my photo gear and head off to our third Santa Paws photo shoot for Dalmatian Rescue. Since the weather was still atrocious and it was sleeting again when I left the house, I didn't think anyone would show up for today's event. Surprisingly, we actually had a great crowd. Along with our usual assortment of Labs and small terriers, we photographed quite a few Dalmatians today, including one very cute puppy who seemed to really like Santa.

We took Dot and Dash with us to today's event, because we didn't want to leave them in the cold house. They were excited at first, and then were disgusted when they realized that they had to be kenneled while Janet and I worked. I think they were both happy to be warm again though, because after about fifteen minutes of barking in their kennel, they settled down on their dog beds and went to sleep.

I think the same people who designed the ObamaCare website designed the power company's emergency outage website. We've been looking at the website for three days now and nothing has changed. It looks like exactly the same number of houses are without power as there were when the storm started. I'm sure the power crews have done something, but you couldn't prove it by me. There are supposed to be over 3000 repairmen working on the problem, but I've only seen one. My guy seemed overwhelmed. He was from out of state, had a big bundle of engineering drawings in his hand, and was still looking for where the telephone poles were. This doesn't look good.

At the end of a very long day, Janet, the dogs and I are exhausted. We took the dogs to a dog friendly hotel and are relaxing over a nice dinner while we unwind and warm up. Lord knows what we'll have to deal with next week. I've got another lost UPS package to locate, five more articles to write, and a doctor's appointment. That's just Monday.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1453

Things are bad in Dallas. Our power has been out over 30 hours and we still don't have any reliable information about when it will be restored. Yesterday was miserable. As the temperature got colder and colder, we watched everything slowly shut down. After the power went out, the land line phones were the first to go. An hour after the phones died, the WiFi went out. Next, the back up battery for the security system went dead. The UPS power supply for the main office computers had enough juice to recharge the laptop and iPhones twice, and then it went dead as well.

By mid afternoon, all electrical devices in the house were completely dead and the house was silent. We put all the food in the refrigerator outside on the porch, because it was much colder there. When we let the dogs out in the back yard to poop, a large branch fell from one of the Oak trees and almost hit Dash. We were very lucky that the falling tree branch missed him by three feet. The limb was heavy enough that it might have killed him. The dogs only go out on a leash now, so we know exactly where they are at all times.

There wasn't much to do after dark. We didn't even know what was going on. The TV was out, and we couldn't even find much information on a battery radio. There is so much satellite programming now on radio that very few stations even provide their own local news any more. We piled all the dog blankets on the bed and turned in for the night right after a dinner of very cold ham and cheese sandwiches from our outdoor fridge. By morning, it was dangerously cold in the house. It was 20 degrees outside and probably around 34 degrees inside. 

Since Janet's downtown office still has power, we packed the dogs and the electronic gear into the car and and headed for someplace where we could all warm up again. We really should have stayed at a hotel last night, but I never dreamed that it would take over two days to get the power restored in sub-freezing weather. Usually I hear the chain saws from the repair crews clearing away fallen trees within hours of an outage. This time, there has been no activity whatsoever.

One of my neighbors went to Northern Tool in his 4-wheel drive truck yesterday and bought a $1000 generator to power a small TV and his wife's hairdryer. Another neighbor got out all his camping sleeping bags and the family slept in sleeping bags. Since we didn't have either sleeping bags or a generator, we were very cold last night.

All is well now though. Both of our cars started this morning and Janet's office is toasty warm. Dot and Dash are sleeping on blankets under Janet's desk. We counted three downed power lines on the way to Janet's office.  I have yet to see a repair truck in our neighborhood and all bets are off for full power restoration. You know things are bad when the city canceled tomorrow's Dallas Marathon. Runners seem to love adverse conditions and the marathon is a big deal to the city. I don't think it has ever been canceled before.

Hopefully power will be restored this weekend. When things get back to normal, I'll need to find someone to clear away the fallen trees on the roof and in our yard. I have a feeling that Dallas tree trimmers are already booked solid through next March.

Wilson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1452

A loud crash woke me up about 4:30 this morning. An ice laden tree had fallen on the roof. About two hour later, our power went out. It's about noon now and the power is still out throughout much of the city. Yes, Dallas is in the grip of another monster ice storm. We don't get snow like most places do in the Winter. We get freezing rain instead. Usually it starts at night, and by morning the roads are like ice rinks. Luckily, there is no need to leave the house today. Not much is open anyway.

Since I can't function without coffee, I walked over to a nearby gas station to get a cup. I was hoping to get a breakfast taco too, but the power to the Green Spot kitchen was out. I filled a to-go mug with coffee, bought a muffin to go along with it and walked back home again to eat my meager breakfast in the rapidly cooling house. Since our house is mostly floor to ceiling single pane glass, there isn't much insulation. Within two or three hours after a power outage, the inside of the house starts to feel a lot like the outside.

It's always difficult to deal with the dogs when things get icy. Neither of them have the good sense to poop in the yard, and on days like today, taking them in the park can be treacherous. I took Dash on a short walk when I got up this morning, but Dot had to stay home. She is too frail and unstable to navigate the icy conditions. Luckily, Dot will eventually poop in the yard when she really needs to. Dash thinks he needs to go on the park no matter what's going on with the weather. We didn't walk far this morning, but I saw dozens of trees uprooted. The heavy, wet ice clinging to the branches just knocked them over.

I have lots of work to do today, but I'm no sure how I'm going to get it done. The power is out. Our primary WiFi is out and I don't know how long the secondary WiFi connection will last. The laptop batteries are getting low as well, so I may be out of business pretty soon.  I haven't missed a day yet as a blogger, so I'll manage to get this posted one way or another.

I really hope the power company gets to our neighborhood soon. I'm bundled up in sweaters and the dogs are huddled under blankets on their dog beds in the living room. Janet is still trying to decide whether to go in to the office or not. I envy those people in the neighborhood who have fireplaces. I see smoke rising from chimneys up and down the street. No smoke rising from our place though. We don't have a fireplace. Since it's a lot colder outside than inside, Janet is moving the perishable food from the non-functioning refrigerator to a cooler on the back porch. I hear lots of sirens from fire engines and emergency vehicles going up and down the street. I don't hear any power company trucks unfortunately. It's going to be one of those days.

Chance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1451

I've done everything I can. The car has a full tank of gas. I bought a bunch of D-Cell batteries for the emergency lanterns. I got some food at the grocery store that we can eat either hot or cold if the power goes out. The roof has been swept clear of falling leaves. All the electronic devices have been charged up. I've got the outside faucets dripping a bit, so they won't freeze. The dog's warmest sweaters are clean and ready to go. I guess that's it.

As much as I hate to admit it, I'm as irrational as any other Texan about cold weather. We take our tornadoes in stride, but if there's even a hint of snow in the forecast, the shelves will quickly be emptied in every grocery store in town and portable generators and batteries will be on back order at Home Depot.

Dot and Dash love the cooler temperatures that Fall weather brings to Texas, but when the thermometer dips below freezing they don't like going outside any more than I do. Dot has problems with arthritis on cold days as well. I could tell she was really stiff today and had trouble getting up and down from her dog bed in the living room. To keep my own joints from getting too stiff, I made sure I got to the gym before the weather got really bad. When I left the house, the roads were still dry, but by the time I returned, there was already a light freezing drizzle that stuck to your windshield. I may skip my normal Friday morning restaurant outing and just fix something here at the house tomorrow instead. There just aren't many good reasons to drive on icy roads.

If the weather is as bad as they say it's going to be, I ought to get a lot done tomorrow. Maybe I'll get caught up on my writing. Hey, what else is there to do on an icy morning? If the power goes out, all bets are off. Falling tree limbs cause power outages in our neighborhood fairly frequently. Once we lost power for three days in the middle of Winter. I don't look forward to repeating that experience any time soon. When the power goes out, you're basically just camping indoors. There's a good chance that the city's worries about an impending ice storm are overblown. The weather reports are often wrong in these parts. We'll know how it all turns out by morning. If there is a lot of ice, I think the dogs and I will just stay under the covers.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1438

What a miserable grey day. A cold, penetrating rain kept threatening to turn into sleet, while a brisk wind made the Wintery mix even more uncomfortable. With this kind of weather, it's easy to see why so many people decide to retire to Florida or Arizona. Tired old bones and damp, frigid days just aren't a good mix.

The conditions have to be pretty bad before the dogs prefer to stay inside, and they definitely didn't feel like going out today. Even though I warmed up their Winter coats in the dryer before I put them on, they made sure to let me know they were ready to go home again as soon as they has done their business.

As you might expect, I didn't attend the Dealey Plaza ceremonies today. I didn't have a ticket anyway, but I'm not sure if I would have attended even if the weather was warm and attendance was open to everybody. I've gone down to Dealey Plaza quite a few times on November 22, just to see the interesting crowd that gathers there. All these people were banned this year. The city fathers wanted a dignified ceremony for the 50th Anniversary. The aging eye-witnesses to the event, the protesters, and the conspiracy theory nuts hawking their self published books weren't invited to today's event. I'm sure they'll be back next year though. I"ll probably go back next year myself.

I went to the Land Rover dealer today instead. There was nothing wrong with my car. I just missed seeing everybody. There were so many things wrong with the Defender 90 in its later years that a trip to the dealership was just about as common as a trip to the grocery store. I knew everybody at that place. Repairs to the Defender grew quite expensive once the warranty ran out, but the service folks were always as nice as they could be. They were still nice today and gave my car a quick check to make sure it was ready for tomorrow's freezing weather.

The thought of doing pet photography during a sleet storm isn't the most appealing thing in the world, but what are you doing to do? You can't take Santa pictures in the Summer. We always get some bad weather during the Santa Paws photo season. I just hope that tomorrow turns out to be a little better than the weather forecasters are predicting.

Since I didn't want to go outside any more than the dogs did, I managed to get quite a bit of work done. The stock market went up today, which helped to compensate for the miserable weather. The house was toasty warm and the furnace appears to be working flawlessly this season. We had a delicious dinner this evening as well. I guess it wasn't such a bad day after all.

Chelsey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day