Day 4566

Dawn and I made it through the first day OK. She was reluctant to eat her breakfast this morning, but finally decided she was hungry when I added a little gravy to her bowl. She did much better with dinner tonight. She's taken her meds and we're still working on getting her outside to poop. Things that were easy when Janet was home are a bit more difficult now. I'd say all in all we're doing fine.

I got groceries much earlier than usual this morning. I should do this more often. The stores weren't crowded at all. My list wasn't long this week, but there were still a few things I needed. I don't know why I  always worry that I'm going to have car problems when I'm on my own. Probably because occasionally I do have car problems when I least expect it. All went well though, and I was back home again before we're usually finished with breakfast on the weekends.

I thought about going on a long walk this morning, but it was way too hot. Dawn didn't get a sunrise walk because she didn't want one. When Janet is gone, she does her business as quickly as possible and heads straight back to the house. That's OK with me. The last thing I want is to have her freeze in place or start acting weird when we are far from home.

Since it was already near 100 degrees when I finished my grocery shopping I wisely decided not to attempt a long walk today. I went to the gym instead. Hey, the car worked well for grocery shopping so I figured it would work well again. My gym is never crowded on Saturday. This seems a bit counterintuitive to me, but I always like an empty gym. I shot baskets for a while and then walked long enough on the indoor track to keep my Fitbit happy. I think I exercise more to keep consistent stats than to actually improve anything. There are a lot more serious people at the gym than me, but I'm still probably getting some benefit from this. It's always good to keep moving.

I wrote a letter to my sister today and took it to the post office. I wouldn't need these letters if she read the blog. That's a lost cause though. I may pretend to be a Luddite but she's the real deal. No complaints about writing letters though. Writing letters is good. It's better for the soul than adding three or four emojis to the end of a text message. I used to keep up a running correspondence with at least half a dozen people. Now it's down to this one letter a month.

Dawn isn't going to get an ice cream cone tomorrow. She seldom rides in my car and would be terrified if I tried to take her somewhere without Janet. She seemed terrified just going down to the meadow behind our house to pee this evening. Hopefully she will start to relax soon, but it will probably take a couple of more days.

I don't have any big plans for tomorrow. No little plans either. I'm going to have to start my long walk really early to avoid the heat. Going to the gym isn't an option because it is closed on Sunday. This would actually be a good time to binge watch movies on Netflix, but I'm not that kind of guy. I'd rather lie on the couch and stare at the ceiling than watch movies on TV. Maybe I'll fiddle with the star tracker again. That's definitely still unfinished business.

Shiner is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4274 - Labor Day

I'm making progress. I completed my full six mile walk in the park this morning. I was pretty slow, but who's counting. It helped that the weather was nice. For most of the walk it was overcast with a nice breeze. When I returned home, I felt no different than any other day. I'm still not supposed to lift anything heavy, but I think my recovery is progressing nicely. The big black and blue blotch on my belly is even starting to fade. When that disappears, I'll consider myself back to normal again.

The park was really busy today. I guess Labor Day is a real holiday after all. There were even a lot of people on the trails when we took Dawn on her sunrise walk. When I took my long walk right after breakfast it felt like the Fourth of July. I wouldn't mind seeing a lot fewer people in the park, but it's still nice to have a huge wooded area right outside your back door. When we moved here many years ago I didn't realize that we'd accidentally picked the best part of the entire city.

When I left on my walk this morning. I had to put Dawn's cone on because Janet hadn't returned from the gym yet. Dawn was totally disgusted. Dawn hates the cone, but her paws are looking so good now that I'd hate to see all this progress go down the drain. Dawn could still do a lot of damage if she started licking and biting at herself again. Luckily, I'm never gone for long. I don't think Dawn has it too bad.

I need to find some new ways to occupy myself. For the past several years most of my activities have been centered around trips to McDonald Observatory and Kennedy Space Center. I've learned a lot about astrophotography and made some valuable contacts at the space center. I wrote quite a few articles and many of them got published. Somehow, that all seems to have disappeared. Many of my contacts have retired and Covid restrictions have changed everything. I kind of feel like I'm back to square one and I'm not all that excited about starting over.

It's way too easy to spend the day sleeping. You'd think that if I slept during the day I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. This doesn't seem to be a problem. I've been getting a lot of sleep lately. I've been able to convince myself that all this rest is helping my recovery, but I won't be able to get away with this excuse much longer. I'm either going to have to find a new project or just admit that I'm lazy.

Dawn and I should be soulmates. She likes to walk and she likes to sleep. This sounds pretty good to me as well. Dawn still seems a little miffed that she has to share the bed with me, but she's learning. The room is quiet and I never watch television. Dawn usually falls asleep before I do. It bothers her if I'm staring at her so I usually turn away. We coexist pretty well, although she still hops off the bed and races to the front door as soon as she hears Janet's car in the driveway.

I've got a pile of bills I need to pay tomorrow. I find no joy in paying utility bills. The gas bill is lower in the summer, but the water and electric bills are much higher. You've got to water the grass in the summer and the air conditioner is running non stop. At least the air conditioner is working. The house is nice and cool.

Tomorrow will be much like today. Probably the entire week will be much like today. You realize that it's been a slow summer when the only excitement is a trip to the hospital.

April is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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