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

Day 3287

Since there is still rain in the forecast for Christmas, I thought I'd get the roof as ready as I could. I went to the hardware store and got a new hose for the pump to replace the current hose that had developed a kink. I thought the container the roofers left on the porch was some silicon material I could use to make emergency repairs. Unfortunately, it was just an empty container that they didn't bother to throw away. I thought there might be just enough elastomer material in the bottom of the bucket to fill the one remaining hole the roofers forgot. Jeez. I shouldn't be allowed near this stuff. I always make a mess. Even though I was very careful, I got some of the sticky silicon on my hands. I managed to fill the hole, but then later in the day I accidentally stepped in the still wet patch while I was changing the hose on the sump pump. I ruined a pair of cheap shoes and messed up my patch. Fortunately, there was just enough elastomer material left in the bucket to repair the hole again. I don't think I accomplished much, but at least I made an effort.

Dash had me worried today. For a while we wasn't putting weight on one of his rear legs. Did he tear an ACL? Has the neurological damage in his legs gotten worse? It was hard to tell. We got a treat he likes to see if he would follow us to get it. When we was distracted by the treat, he started walking normally again. We shortened his walk this evening and watched carefully to see if started limping. Dash did fine. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether we're pushing Dash too hard, or whether the exercise he's getting is beneficial. His condition is definitely getting worse, but he's going down hill slowly. We were dealing with a lot of the same problems last Christmas.

Last Christmas Dash was already having trembling spasms where he would start shivering violently for about ten minutes. The odd shivering spasms continue, but they haven't gotten much worse. His legs have gotten weaker, but he still does pretty well when he's moving forward. Dash has no reverse gear anymore. When he tries to back up, he falls over. The only thing that has dramatically changed during the past year is the incontinence. Dash is pooping all over the place these days. It's not all bad news though. We think the blood clot in his heart has actually gotten smaller or might have even disappeared this year. We have one more echocardiogram planned for January, just to make sure.

One benefit of my broken desk chair is that I have to sit up straight now. I have a tendency to lean back and slouch as I type, which is probably what broke the Aeron chair's tensioning spring in the first place. This new state of affairs may be great for my posture, but I'm definitely going to have to get this chair fixed. I'm a sloucher and my favorite chair just isn't comfortable anymore.

My financial condition doesn't feel very comfortable either. The stock market took another tumble today. It was a pretty dramatic sell off, considering that the market wasn't even open all day. I hope this downturn isn't as bad as 2007, but it's hard to tell at this point. There's certainly a lot of uncertainty in the world. I hope sanity returns in 2019, but I have my doubts. I spend so much time worrying about Dash and the roof that I might not even notice the apocalypse anyway.

Rain or shine, we're looking forward to a pleasant Christmas. Presents aren't a big deal anymore, but I'm still hoping that the roofers left me a gift. A roof that doesn't leak when it rains would be great. A dog that didn't poop in the bed on Christmas morning would be pretty nice too.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2461

The day didn't start auspiciously. We weren't able to get Dot outside quickly enough and she peed on one of the large rugs again. In an effort to get the dogs walked before Janet had to go to work, I didn't make the bed, and of course that's where Dash hopped with muddy paws as soon as we got home. As soon as one of the soiled rugs came out of the washer, the sheets went in.

I shouldn't have bothered to go out for breakfast,  By the time I got finished taking Dash on a second longer walk, it was already too late. The sweet spot where the restaurant was relatively empty was over and I was forced to eat with a large crowd who had pushed several tables together for an impromptu business meeting. I keep changing destinations, but I can't seem to bring back the old magic. Eating out on Friday morning just isn't as much fun as it used to be.

I worked on a writing assignment today, but I had trouble getting the finished piece to its destination because the client's anti-spam software kept blocking me. This is especially irritating, because although I'm on the receiving end of a lot of spam, I'm definitely not a spammer myself. Apparently, the Securence anti-spam service the client uses really doesn't like Bluehost, where I have my e-mail account. Good grief guys, Bluehost is a large, reputable company with millions of customers. Somebody in the client's IT department needs to figure out a way to Whitelist me. It's hard enough doing these assignments, without having to jump through hoops to get them where they need to go.

Dot was restless today. It seems like I spent half the day helping her walk back and forth to her water bowl. She'd want to go outside and then as soon as I got her out on the back porch, she'd want to come back in again. We did this over and over again. I can tell that her lack of mobility is frustrating for Dot, but I don't know what to do about it. Like it or not, if she's going to go anywhere, she's going to need me to be her back legs.

The trash truck picked up my garbage this morning, but it didn't do so well with my neighbor's garbage. The robotic arm that picks up the cans must have malfunctioned, because it ended up dumping their garbage all over their front lawn. The truck didn't even bother to stop and try again, because the garbage was still there the last time I looked. The city should go back to the old way of picking up trash. More people will be employed and grumpy homeowners like me will be a lot happier.

The new Apple Watch has built in GPS and the new iPhone 7 has a much better camera. Why does Apple keep doing this to me? I have way too much Apple stuff already, and now I wish I had these two newcomers as well. Do I actually need a new phone? Of course not. Now that I've found a place that will replace my phone batteries for a reasonable price, I might never need a new phone.

What I do need is more sleep. Janet can't get Dot to pee at night, so I have to take her outside an hour after everyone else has gone to sleep. I'm usually the one who wakes up in the middle of the night to clean up her poop too. It's wearing me out. My fitness tracker says I'm getting absolutely no deep sleep, but lots of REM sleep. I know I'm dreaming a lot, but ten seconds after I wake up, the dreams evaporate. I can't even remember whether they were good dreams or bad dreams. If the dreams are better than my day time existence, it would be nice if I remembered them.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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