Day 4238

I think August is off to a good start. I really got a lot done today. We left the house late on our sunrise walk and we should have noticed that Dawn didn't want to go very far. The sun was already up and you could tell it was going to be a hot day. Later, when we took her on her Sunday outing, she was tired and we needed to rest from time to time under shade trees. I was a little worried that she would get overheated, but we made it back to the car just fine. If it's this hot next Sunday, we'll skip the walk and just have ice cream instead. You always have to worry about heat stroke with dogs. We know the signs to look for and weren't in any danger today, but it is always a worry on a hot day. 

This morning's hot weather should have been a warning to me, but I was determined to get the grass mowed today. I knew there was rain in the forecast for later in the day, so I got the mower out right after breakfast. I mowed the front and back yards and removed all the spider webs from the Asian Jasmine ground cover as well. I guess I thought that Dawn would be fine on her Sunday outing because I wasn't any worse for wear after all this activity. The yard looks much better now and the late afternoon rain will help keep everything green. Usually I dread the rain, but we really needed it. Everything in the yard was starting to look really dry.

I cleaned up the atrium area today. It's almost impossible to get into the atrium these days because the sliding glass door is broken. I think one of the metal rollers has snapped and the broken piece causes the door to jam in the track when you attempt to move it. Usually I can only open the door about a foot and squeeze through the narrow opening. Today the door opened almost five feet which really surprised me. Maybe the summer heat had changed something. Unfortunately, this was just a fluke. The second time I tried to open the door, it jammed after moving only four inches. I never close the door when I am in the atrium because I'm afraid I won't be able to get back in the house. I wish I could find someone to fix this thing. The oversize door is huge and nobody seems to know how to fix it. The only guy who worked on these doors died a few years ago and was probably the last of his kind. Sign of the times I guess. I'm having trouble even finding a decent plumber.

When the rain finally arrived it was quite heavy. We really needed the rain, but whenever I hear rain pounding on the roof I start to worry about roof leaks. No leaks so far, which is a little surprising. The pumps are working well today and maybe that helped. The roof still might leak later tonight. Sometimes it takes a while for water to work it's way inside. I still can't figure out where the current leak is coming from. Since the leak only seem to happen when there is an unusually heavy downpour, my current theory is that the water is getting in through a ventilation duct on another part of the roof and then traveling sideways on a beam or electrical conduit to the crack in the sheetrock where it gets into the house. Let's hope the rain wasn't strong enough this afternoon to cause this to happen. So far, so good. I'll put a bucket out tonight though. I don't have much faith in this roof.

I did a lot of other little chores around the house that aren't even worth explaining. Unless you lived here you wouldn't understand the need to use a wet/dry vac to remove water that collects underneath the tiles in the shower stall. The buckets that collect water in the dehumidifiers need to be cleaned and disinfected periodically as well, because a biofilm tends to develop on the walls of the buckets. 

Hopefully, I can get the plumber to come out tomorrow and fix the line to the refrigerator so the ice maker will work again. It's weird. Almost all of my current problems have something to do with water. Water is not my friend.

Snoopy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4203

We did a lot of walking today. We took Dawn on her short one mile loop before sunrise like we usually do. Then we came home and ate a quick breakfast before getting in the car and taking Dawn on her Sunday outing. The whole point of doing everything so early was to beat the heat. It worked. It was only 8:30 AM when we arrived at Dawn's Sunday park and it was still quite cool. The sun was up, but it was cloudy and there was a nice breeze. We were wondering if Dawn would want two walks in quick succession and the answer was an emphatic yes. Dawn loved the extra attention and walked briskly through the park. Janet worked on some of her training exercises and I worked with her a little as well. She actually did surprisingly well healing with me. We weren't able to get ice cream cones on the way home because it was too early and the ice cream place wasn't even open yet. We didn't forget about the cones though. Dawn got a second car ride later in the morning for her ice cream cone. 

Between the first set of walks and the trip for ice cream cones, there was time for me to take my long walk. I wanted to do this as early as I could because the temperature was starting to rise. It was pretty pleasant for the first couple of miles and then the sun came out and it quickly started to get hot. The surprising thing is that even though this is a normal Texas summer, it is still a lot cooler here than many other parts of the country. We're getting a lot more rain here as well and are not experiencing the drought conditions that many of the Western states are dealing with. Who knows. Maybe Texas summers aren't so bad after all.

The park was filled with cyclists and runners when I was taking my long walk. I think everyone who is trying to stay active has gotten the message by now. If you want to do something outside, do it early. You don't see nearly as many animals in the summer. Animals are smart. They instinctively know to avoid the heat.

I was beginning to get tired by the time I finished my long walk, but I still needed to go up on the roof and look for the source of our recent roof leak. I measured everything carefully inside and then took a tape measure up on the roof so I could find the spot where water was leaking. It was pretty hot at this point and I had to wear gloves because parts of the roof were too hot to touch. I was disappointed, but not terribly surprised when I couldn't find any damage where the leak was supposed to be. Sometimes is it next to impossible to find the source of a leak. If water manages to get under the silicon elastomer coating it can travel a long distance before it finds a weak spot where it can enter the house. It's hard to defeat water and gravity. Somehow, water always wins.

I cleaned up all the loose paint and spackling material on the ceiling where the water had been leaking in the living room and kitchen. I'm hoping that if the leak reappears I might get a better idea where it is actually coming from. I've been avoiding doing this because it is a messy job. The job is done though and I've cleaned up all the mess that fell on the floor. There is still a big stain in the ceiling and there will need to be sheet rock repairs if we ever get a new roof, but the house does look a little better now. It's supposed to rain again tomorrow, so we'll see what happens. I really didn't fix anything, so I won't be terribly surprised if the leak reappears.

Janet has dental surgery tomorrow, so we probably won't be visiting the rescue Dalmatians. I'll be driving her to and from the dentist and I suspect that she'll want to sleep when she returns home. Dawn will still get her morning walk though. We'll do that before leaving for the dentist.

Rascal is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day