Day 3157

Today was disappointing. Yesterday I thought I'd already sold one of my guitars. Today I learned that the guy who put it on layaway changed his mind. That wasn't the only surprise. I also learned that the guitar store wants me to take care of repairing the broken synthesizers. Originally, they were going to handle this themselves, but I guess they got cold feet. I can understand. It's difficult to estimate the cost of repairing old things. It wouldn't be hard to invest more money in repairs than the synthesizers were worth. I'll go ahead and get the instruments repaired on my dime, but it sure would have made life easier to let the store handle this.

Maybe life just isn't meant to be easy. When I went up on the roof today, I discovered a small defective area that the roofers inexplicably failed to fix. The roofers may have missed this bad spot, but the rain found it easy enough. Now I've got to convince the roofers to come out again. That won't be a a pleasant task.

A client that I'd thought I'd lost about six months ago now wants me to do more work for him. Strangely, I have mixed feelings about this. I'm getting used to the idea of being fully retired. It's also good to have an income, so I'll definitely do the work. I just wasn't as happy to get this new job as I should have been. I guess I don't know what I want anymore. When I'm idle, I think that work and deadlines would add structure and a sense of purpose to my life. When I actually get a job, it just seems like a giant nuisance.

Dash has added a new wrinkle to his bag of tricks. He wakes me up at night, acting like he really needs to go outside and pee. As soon as he gets outside he just stands there looking confused. He'll wander around aimlessly for a long time and then come back inside without doing anything. We repeated this process three times last night before he actually peed. When I finally thought I might be able to get back to sleep, he got me out of bed again. This time he needed to poop. I was outside at least 45 minutes with Dash between 2 and 3 AM. Needless to say, by the time he had finally done his business I was wide awake. I don't know what makes Dash seem dazed and confused at night, but it seems to be getting worse.

This morning he was fine, even though I was exhausted. If Dash does his business quickly, I can usually get back to sleep very easily. When he keeps me up for hours at a time, it's hardly worth the trouble to go back to bed. Once I'm fully awake I might as well just stay up.

Hopefully things will be better tonight. I don't know how much more sleep deprivation I can take. I don't think Dash is really worried about losing sleep. He sleeps all day.

Pogo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3148

It was a busy morning. I walked Dash earlier than usual because I needed to drive Janet to the dentist for dental surgery. It's surprising how nice our mornings have been lately, considering how hot it gets later in the day. Dash still hadn't touched his breakfast by the time Janet and I left the house, but I was confident he would eat later. This is his new schedule. He gets up, takes his morning pills in little bites of steak and then we walk. When we return, Dash goes back to sleep. Usually, a little before noon, he wanders out to the kitchen and eats his breakfast. It seems odd to have a Dalmatian that wakes up uninterested in food, but I'm willing to go with the flow these days. As long as Dash continues eating, we're good.

Janet's dental procedure didn't take that long. As soon as I took a shower and washed the breakfast dishes, it was time to pick her up again. It was easy to see why the dentist didn't want Janet driving today. They must have given her some pretty powerful drugs. Dash was happy when Janet returned. He had someone to nap with for the rest of the day.

The guitar store confirmed that one of my guitars did sell recently. Yay. One down, two to go. The store put the guitar on layaway for the buyer, so I won't get a check until the guy finishes paying for it. That's OK. I'm kind of surprised that the whole concept of layaway still exists. My parents used to buy things on layaway when I was a kid, and it still seems like a frugal, rather sensible way to make a purchase. Layaway has definitely fallen out of fashion. People don't like dealing with delayed gratification these days. They'd rather just put something on a charge card and worry about coming up with the money later.

I think the SAMe pills we've been giving Dash are working. He's still weak, but he seems a bit more engaged and interested in life these days. He really likes his morning walks now. I'm not sure who discovered that SAMe helps with cognitive dysfunction in dogs. This stuff seems to be good for everything. I'll admit I'm a bit skeptical of a drug that supposedly helps with everything from depression and hepatitis to joint pain and degenerative myelopathy. How can a single drug help with so many non-related problems? Both of Dash's doctors believe that SAMe is worth a try though. We'll see. If it works, maybe I should start taking it myself.

Looks like another exciting day tomorrow. You'd think I'd be bored out of my mind, but I'm not. I've just about perfected how to turn a walk with Dash, a morning smoothie, an afternoon nap, and some idle time on Facebook into an entire day.

Lou is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day