Day 3712

Today has been uneventful. Dawn is learning our routines and acts like she's been here for years. I don't feel bad when I have to run errands now because I feel confident she'll be fine in the house. We still gate her in a safe area like we always did with Dot and Dash, but since this area includes the bedroom and the big bed that she loves so much, Dawn has no problem with being somewhat confined. She's always sitting on the bed when I return.

I got a letter from the observatory today confirming some travel arrangements. These people always seem so friendly and inviting. I'm really looking forward to joining them on the mountain. The trip isn't imminent, but it's on my mind. I still have a lot of decisions to make about what to take with me. Do I need a lot of clothes? I wonder whether I'll have laundry facilities on site? I'm sure the people who live on the mountain have washers and dryers in their homes, but I'm not so sure about the Astronomer's Lodge. I'm not so sure about WiFi either. WiFi access is important so I can continue blogging. I'm thinking about buying an ultra-wide angle lens so I can take good pictures of the Milky Way. It seems a bit extravagant for a picture I've already seen over and over again. Maybe I just want to take one of my own.

I can't even decide whether to rent a car or take my own. A rental car would add to the expense, but there is no Land Rover service even remotely nearby. I didn't see a single Land Rover when I was out in West Texas. I don't think snakes will be a problem in the Winter, but I always worry about snakes. I probably should worry more about shoes. I'll be on my feet a lot and will need some comfortable shoes. I don't think comfortable shoes even exist for my feet. Shoes are always a problem. A normal person would just get in the car and go. Not me. I'll fret about all this for weeks.

I need to remember how we taught Dot and Dash to heal. Dawn loves her daily walks but she's all over the place. One of these days I'm going to trip over her. It's understandable that Dawn is still nervous about other dogs. Dash was nervous about other dogs for the rest of his life after he was attacked. Hopefully, memories of the attack will fade and be replaced by memories of our big soft bed.

My walking schedule has changed a bit. Janet and I take Dawn on a walk together and then later I take another walk on my own. I walk about the same number of miles as I did before. It's just divided up differently. Today was certainly a good day for a walk. Dawn thought so too. It was a little chilly but the sun was out and the result was just a nice, brisk day. I could use a few more days like this.

Janet is at a Dalmatian Rescue fundraiser this evening. I don't think Dawn is much of a blogger. I can tell she'd rather have me sitting on the bed with her. Hey, I'll be there soon enough. It's been a long day.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3711

Dawn got her stitches out this morning. The vet examined her and said that all her wounds were healing nicely. We were worried that she might have an ear infection, since she keeps trying to scratch at her ear. It was probably just the stitches though. The ear looks fine. Hopefully, she feels more comfortable now. She had a lot of stitches.

I kept thinking it was Saturday today. Friday and Saturday seem virtually the same. I wrote a letter to my Luddite sister, took it to the post office, and then went to the grocery store to pick up some things for dinner. I'll go back to a different grocery store and do the same thing tomorrow. Maybe that's why it felt like Saturday.

I wish I had more of the silicon material. This would have been a good day to re-coat the entire area above where the leak appeared. Unfortunately, there aren't many places that carry the special silicon coating. When I can't get the roofer to give me some, I usually have to special order the stuff. Janet wants me to hurry up and put on a new roof, but all the bids I've gotten so far leave a lot to be desired. Most roofers don't have a good plan for adding a slope to the roof and I don't want to pay a lot for a new roof that is still going to have standing water after every rain. Basically it's all a complicated mess.

The weather looks like it is getting better. Maybe I'll get a chance to schedule a night at the little observatory north of town after all. I'd really like a refresher course on Winter galaxies before I leave for McDonald Observatory. It might be nice to know how to correctly set up an equatorial mount telescope in a hurry as well. I want to be familiar with the night sky and learn how to find objects quickly before I start helping with star parties. Basically, I just don't want to look like an idiot.

Dawn is a smart dog. She's only had a few walks and she already knows the way home. It was fun watching her lead the way home. She knows exactly where our house is now and goes straight to the back gate. She seems to know where the vet is too. She was shaking and shivering in the car on the way to the vet this morning, but was very calm and went to sleep on the way home.

My seasonal allergies are terrible this year. I've had watering eyes and a runny nose for weeks now. It seems like the allergy season starts a little earlier with each passing year. I shouldn't be having Spring allergies until it is actually Spring. Today was nice, but it is definitely still Winter. I wish this would stop. I'm running through a lot of Kleenex.

I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow. I've finished my Solar Orbiter article and received an acknowledgment that it will be published. I've sent my best pictures to the magazine. Dawn is getting better and doesn't need as much supervision. It's too early to pack for the observatory as well. Dawn is scared of loud noises, so I'm definitely not going to vacuum. Sounds like a day for a long walk.

Lizzy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3573

Is today the day our long awaited cold front arrives? Some say yes, others say no. The weather radar seems to indicate that a big change is coming, but it's still 93 degrees outside. I don't know how I feel about the weather anymore. We could certainly use the rain, but I hate dealing with roof problems. We'll see what happens. There are still two big trees in the backyard that could fall in the next big windstorm. Our power can go out at any time. It often does when it rains. The roof probably won't leak, but it always could. My pumps are far from reliable.

This morning I wasn't even thinking about rain. I slept in late, so I got a late start at the gym. Everything seemed a little harder this morning, so maybe I should have slept in even longer. I wish it was easy for me to get eight hours of sleep, but that's not going to happen. Even without dogs to wake me up at night, I still wake up early. I was certainly wide awake by the time I got home and prepared to take my five mile walk. Too bad it was so hot. I'm hoping that the cold front everyone is talking about is real. October is way too late in the year to be having July temperatures.

I've been visiting websites about how to outfit a van. It's much more complicated than I thought. Marine toilets vs Porti Potties? Propane vs Electricity? Diesel vs gas engines? Solar power vs a second alternator? Options are almost unlimited and usually quite expensive. This type of complexity puts a live-in van squarely in the daydream category. I can't imagine making a decision anytime soon.

Truthfully, it's hard to make a decision about anything these days. Decisions that open doors are OK. Decisions that lock you into something and might close some doors are to be avoided. Any decision that involves a lot of money is especially tough. I always start with easy things. I think I'm going to have McDonald Observatory go ahead an start a background check on me. That's a pretty open ended decision. If I get certified as a star party assistant, it becomes much easier for me to become a volunteer and stay at the observatory for extended lengths of time. I don't have to do anything though. I could just continue thinking about this for another year.

We take Treasure back to the vet tomorrow to get her stitches out. Hopefully, she is good to go now and won't have any further problems. Treasure is currently our only mix in the rescue program and often gets overlooked because people are usually looking for a purebred dog. There is nothing wrong with this. People go to breed rescue groups because they are looking for a particular type of dog. There are tons of rescue groups that specialize in finding good homes for mixed breeds. There's basically something for everyone out there. That being said, I wish more people would look at Treasure. She's really a great dog.

I used to dread Mondays. They aren't so bad when you're retired. Sure, there are still bills to pay and appointments to make, but there are also dogs to visit. Visiting the Dalmatians on Monday has become a regular part of our week. Everything else can wait until Tuesday if needed.

Cassie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3519

When I was walking this morning an old guy on a bicycle pulled over and started giving me advice on being out in the sun. His advice basically consisted of putting your head under the water every time you passed a water fountain or a hose and sitting under a tree frequently. As he was talking, two older woman passed us on the trail and he wondered if I should accompany them home in case they might fall. "They just live around the corner," I told him. As we parted ways, I kept thinking that those who think they are invulnerable are usually the first to fall. This dude was older than me, wasn't wearing a hat or a bicycle helmet, and has a badly sunburned head. I suspect that he had been out in the sun a little too long himself.

There is rain in the forecast again and the roofer still hasn't delivered the can of silicon material he promised. I'm not terribly worried because it is so hot outside that the water on the roof evaporates quickly. Who knows, maybe it just boils away. If I run the pumps, the residual water shouldn't be a problem. I'll send the roofer another e-mail. Eventually, he'll drop off the product. I definitely don't feel like buying an industrial sized drum of this stuff myself.

Truthfully, I haven't been thinking about the roof much lately. I've totally forgotten about keeping my big printer unclogged. I haven't bought ink in months and the printer is probably ruined. I can only think about a few broken things at a time. Now I wonder why the security light in the back yard comes on normally every evening at sundown, but shuts off again at 10 PM. The bulb is good and the photocell works. What is wrong with this thing? The dehumidifier isn't working properly either, but we've already ordered a new one. There's no sense wondering about the machine's inability to bring the humidity below 45%.

A word of warning. Don't ever let an assassin bug bite you. These things are nasty. I thought I was out of the woods when the pain of the sting and the hard welt the bite produced started to subside. I guess that was just stage one. This morning my arm was itching like crazy and there was a large soft swelling where the bug had bitten me. Nothing serious, but an itch that won't go away is irritating. I tried some Hydrocortisone Cream but it didn't do anything. The weird thing about these bugs is that I've seen them outside on our window screens for ages. I always thought they were harmless.

The big event of the day was taking a phone bill to the post office. Every time I get in the car I debate whether to take it to McDonald Observatory or not. The car runs well and I haven't had any problems in quite a while, but I don't trust it. The problem is that I don't really trust anything. Would a rental car really be any better? Maybe my initial idea of taking the train wasn't such a bad plan anyway. I've got some time to think about this but there doesn't appear to be an easy answer.

I can't believe that I still see people letting their dogs swim in the lake. Don't these people listen to the news? Dogs are dying all over the country because of blue-green algae in lakes. There have already been problems in other Texas lakes and our lake isn't looking all that clean. I wouldn't go near the water right now. If it isn't blue-green algae, it's flesh eating bacteria, rotting seaweed, or sharks. When I was a kid in Colorado, rivers were so clean you could drink out of them. I'm afraid those days are gone forever.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3463

We spent the afternoon with the rescue Dalmatians again. All the dogs love to have visitors. There were fewer dogs this week because Xander, Chloe, and Little Penny all found their forever homes recently. We're hoping that the remaining dogs will find homes soon as well. Each of them has their own unique personality, but they all would make a wonderful companion. We always spend some time trying to teach them basic commands like sit and stay, but mostly we just feed them treats, pet them, and throw the ball. These dogs love to chase a ball.

It's really starting to get hot outside. I may have to start walking on the indoor track at the gym soon. When I  took my regular morning and evening walks today, I was drenched in sweat by the time I returned home. I guess I could always start walking before sunrise like I used to do with the dogs, but I'm enjoying getting enough sleep. It's a new experience getting to sleep as long as I want. I don't think I'm going to get tired of this any time soon.

I'm glad I abandoned my plan to drive to Florida. Based on current forecasts, I would have been driving most of the way in heavy rain. There is so much rain in the long range forecast that I keep waiting for NASA to postpone the launch. We should find out more this week when they finish the static fire test of the rocket. If that goes OK, they only thing that can delay the launch is bad weather. I guess I'm ready when they are. All my travel plans are flexible now and can be changed with little notice.

I hope my sister isn't disappointed that I won't be visiting after all. I wrote her a 'change of plans' letter two days after the letter where I said I'd be passing through her town on my way home from the space center. I wish I was more decisive about these type of things. If I knew I wasn't going to drive, I could have saved some of the money I spent getting the car ready for the trip. I don't really think I needed new tires to go to the post office.

Janet asked where I wanted to go to dinner on my birthday and my immediate response was "Where do you want to go?" "It's your birthday," she said. Jeez. I have no favorite restaurant anymore. I looked up a few place I'd heard about recently and was totally confused by the reviews. People seem to either love a place or hate it these days. I kept seeing one star reviews followed by five star reviews. It was hard to believe that people were even talking about the same place.

The dog in the picture above is Jenga. He's deaf, but you'd never know it. This well adjusted, happy boy was a pleasure to visit with today. Actually, all the dogs were a pleasure to visit with. We'll be back soon.

Rugby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3460

I've been going back and forth all day about whether to fly or drive to Florida. Surprisingly, the cost is about the same either way. My car gets atrociously poor gas mileage and I'm not much of a long distance driver anymore, so there would be more stops along the way than you might expect. Airfare isn't exactly a bargain either since I need to have the flexibility to change my schedule at the last minute. It's hard to decide. I don't like to drive, but I don't like to fly either.

If I do decide to drive, my car is ready. The dealership called me this morning and said the service department was slow today. If I wanted, they could put on my new tires and do the other maintenance I need now instead of waiting until next week. Why not. I drove up to the dealership and picked up a loaner for the day. They gave me a Jaguar SUV. New cars are so totally electronic that they are confusing to me. I had to get someone to come show me how to get the car out of park. It wasn't intuitive at all. I also had them show me where the little button was that keeps the motor from shutting off every time you stop at a traffic light. Having your car die every time you pull up to a traffic light is unnerving. What if it won't start again? Does this feature really save energy or just cause road rage when the gizmo fails in heavy traffic?

When I was taking my walk today, I saw some guys from a local work-working store loading hardwood logs from somebody's front yard into their trailer. This never even occurred to me before. Neighbors are selling their downed trees to woodworking shops. My Dad was a wood carver and would frequently pay what I though was a lot of money for choice blocks of Walnut or Cherry wood. Since our part of town is full of old hardwood trees, there's probably a lot of valuable wood. Some people will throw this wood away. Others will use if for firewood. A few have wood stoves or like to grill using wood. The city seems to prefer to grind the wood up and use it for mulch. All I really wanted was to get the wood out of my yard. I don't think Elm is a very desirable carving wood anyway. People use Mesquite and Hickory for their smokers, but I'm never heard of anyone using Elm to smoke their meat. I've heard of Elm being used for furniture, but my tree wouldn't make many chairs. The wind turned it into a bunch of jagged splinters.

I've been really tired lately. This isn't new, but I thought my energy would return when I started getting more sleep. It isn't happening. Everybody slows down as they grow older, but it's hard to find a reference point. I know people my age who have a lot more energy than me, but I know other people my age who are dead. I'm doing better than either of my parents were at this age, but I can't keep up with Janet. I guess this isn't a big deal. Very few people can keep up with Janet.

It's off to the gym again tomorrow. Going to the gym is good. The active people I know seem to live much longer than the sedentary ones. Maybe a good workout will make me more decisive. I'm going to have to make the fly or drive decision soon. The whole country seems to be on the move. It won't be long before the planes fill up the same way the hotels in Florida did.

Shadow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3459

Travel is stressful. NASA finally confirmed a launch date for the Falcon Heavy, so I started looking for a hotel. Literally as I was looking online, I started seeing hotels disappear from the availability list. In less than four hours half of the hotels were already gone. I guess everybody else attending the launch was looking at the same time I was. I'm not good making quick decisions and hotel prices can be confusing. The price you see online is usually meaningless because most hotels change their prices everyday based on demand and availability. I picked a few places that looked nice and called the front desk, even though the website showed no availability. I ended up getting one of the last two rooms available at a nice hotel very near the space center. I felt like the clock was ticking the entire time I was making the reservations. The whole experience confirmed my opinion that it is always better to talk with a real person. You can make changes and compromises when you are talking to a real person. Websites aren't flexible at all.

I went back to the hotel with the good French Toast for breakfast this morning. Breakfast was delicious as always, but my appetite keeps shrinking. I could barely finish my meal. Even though I'm a creature of habit, I need to eat less. During the power outage Janet and I just has some fresh fruit for breakfast that didn't need to be refrigerated. A small bowl of peaches, strawberries, and blueberries was just about perfect. Maybe I need to make this my regular morning meal. Even my smoothie is starting to seem too complicated now.

I'm so glad the weather was cooler during our power outage. It's starting to warm up again and we would have been miserable without power with temperatures in the nineties. We were really lucky that temperatures were in the seventies while we had no electricity. Although life is getting back to normal in Dallas, I'm still hearing the sound of chain saws everywhere. The storm must be a bonanza for tree services and lawn care companies. I had no idea there were so many tree trimming services in Dallas. They're everywhere in our neighborhood. So far, the city's Park and Recreation Department seems to be doing the best job of tree removal. City workers were out in force in the park today, sawing up downed trees with chain saws and hauling away the debris in large trucks.

I wrote a letter to my sister asking if she'd like us to stop and visit when we return from Florida. It might be difficult to coordinate a visit with someone who only communicates through the U.S. mail, but we'll see what happens. I mentioned in my letter that a visit might be easier if she started using her phone.

I guess the week starts on Monday, but it always seems to start on Friday for me. Friday's have seemed like Saturday to me for years. I guess that an empty trash can and breakfast at a nearby restaurant signals a new start. It certainly seemed like Saturday today. I almost started to run my regular weekend errands, but then I finally remembered. I hope my memory doesn't become even worse in the years ahead. I forgot to wear my hat again on my morning walk. I guess a sunburned head will eventually jog my memory.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2984

I saw a little patch of blue sky this afternoon. A lot of dog owners must have seen that same patch of blue, because there were more people walking their dogs in the park than I've seen all month. I noticed that there were no loose dogs today. Probably the people who are fond of letting their dogs run free aren't so fond of muddy dogs. Although we saw the sun for a while, the park is still pretty soggy.

I was surprised that the weather improved today, because we woke up to thunderstorms again. The rain quit as we were finishing breakfast, but it was still pretty foggy. It would have been a good morning to photograph ghostly sailboats, but Dash comes first. By the time we returned from our walk, the fog had already lifted and I was starting to see shadows on the ground.

I don't think it's time to celebrate yet. Thunderstorms are supposed to return on Tuesday. Hey, at this point I'll take what I can get. They say it's going to be a nice day tomorrow. I can't decide what to do about the roof. On one hand, it's probably better to leave the water up there until the rain finally quits for good. On the other hand, I've got an actual leak now, so removing the water is more of a priority. Getting rid of the water is a good thing, but I risk damaging the elastomer coating if I'm up on the roof in wet weather. My whole life is like this now. It's almost impossible to make a decision about anything.

I can't figure out why more people don't use the little app I use to bypass the checkout line at the grocery store. Whenever I get groceries on Saturday, I'm the only one in the store using this app. Everyone else is standing in long checkout lines. The app is free and saves a ton of time. What's not to like? I guess I should be glad that few people use this convenient app. If everybody chose to bypass the checkout line, the app would probably crash all the time and it would just irritate me.

Just as I was starting to get into watching the Olympics, it's over. I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed watching curling. It's kind of a mash up of shuffleboard, billiards, and bowling. Since the curling competition is finished and here doesn't seem to be any more halfpipe or skating excitement, I found myself watching a Time/Life infomercial about music from the sixties this afternoon. I kept trying to guess the names of the bands before they showed them on the screen. Say what you will, but music from the sixties and seventies was still the best. I won't be buying the overpriced 9 CD set. I think I've already got all these tunes on vinyl in my storage warehouse.

Dash was much better today. I still don't know what triggers his periodic vestibular episodes, but I'm glad he is still able to fully recover from them. Vestibular disease seems to affect dogs differently. Some never recover from their initial seizure and others are more like Dash. He has had dozens of vestibular events, but has been able to bounce back from each of them. The blood clots in his heart have nothing to do with the vestibular disease. Dash's heart problems are a totally separate issue.

It's time to go to the gym again. I've been saying that I need to go more often for years now and yet I never do. It's ironic that my excuse is always that I don't have the time. I should have plenty of time. I don't do anything. I think I've become so good at doing nothing that it consumes my entire day.

Nora is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2691

Dash threw up again today. I'm pretty sure that Dash's problem is that there are seven different brands of dog food in the house now and it's driving him nuts. He always tries to steal Dot's food unless I pen him in the back of the house while I'm feeding her. Dash has had a sensitive stomach for most of his life and he can't handle eating something different everyday. The rich canned food that Dot is eating now was not meant for dogs like Dash.

Feeding the dogs is complicated. The whole process works best if Dash eats before Dot even wakes up and I don't begin feeding Dot until Dash has gone back to the bedroom for his morning nap. This works great when all the stars are aligned perfectly, but on a normal day, things are fairly chaotic. Today Dash ended up eating a fair amount of Dot's food. I feel like I don't have enough hands anymore. It takes both hands to hold Dot's harness while she eats, poops, walks around the house, or basically does anything. Dash takes advantage of the situation whenever he can.

We gave Dash a Cerenia pill tonight and hope that it will take care of the situation for a while. He's got to go back to his special diet though. There just isn't any other alternative. I wish Dash understood how difficult it is to keep Dot with us a little longer. Dot is special to Dash too. When we first adopted Dash, he was scared of everything. Dot was the one who gave him confidence. You can't expect a dog to act differently though. He sees all the attention Dot is getting and all the exotic food she is allowed to eat. All he wants is to be treated the same way.

It's weird being the one to make all these decisions for the dogs. What is kind and caring for Dot would be unkind and irresponsible for Dash. As I try to keep life in balance for both dogs, I sometimes wonder how people with severely disabled kids keep it together. One of our neighbors has a boy who looks a bit like Steven Hawking. They have to do everything for him. How do they do it without going crazy? My problems are nothing compared to the problems that many people have. I think I've reached my limit though. So far, I'm doing pretty well, but I don't think I could handle much more.

Maybe we just don't know what we can handle until we try. I felt that I needed to up my game at the gym today. I can't really help the dogs if I'm always tired myself. My workout was more strenuous this afternoon and a doubled my free throw goal on the basketball court. The fitness band on my wrist told me that I did pretty well, but I still didn't really enjoy the exercise. All in all, I would have rather taken a nap.

While I was walking Dash this evening we happened to see the woman who gave us the can of food for Dot last Sunday. She was really pleased to hear that her food proved to be the key to getting Dot eating again. I still have no idea who this woman is.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2460

I finished one of my articles today and when I started on the second, something seemed very familiar. I looked through my files and discovered that I'd already written this article last November. How quickly they forget. As much as I hate to turn down work, I told my client that this ship had already sailed. I wonder whether they completely forgot about the first article I wrote, or if something minor had changed about the product. I compared the pictures and the product looked identical. I'm an honest guy, but I wonder whether I could have just copied the original article and turned it in again.

I called the roofer and he wants me to draw a circle around all the bad spots on the roof, so his crew won't miss them when they return to patch the areas they forgot. Sounds fine by me. I have a feeling that there are going to be a lot of little circles up on the roof. I'd better use a laundry marker, so my identifying marks won't just wash away the next time it rains. So many areas have been patched by now that I keep thinking that it would have been easier to just re-coat my entire roof. It's pretty obvious by now that the first material they applied was defective.

We've had to change the route of our short morning walk because we've noticed that one of the more aggressive dogs in the neighborhood has almost learned how to jump over it's fence. Yesterday, I saw the dog leap at the ten foot wooden fence and manage to get his paws over the top. The dog fell back to the ground, but it's only a matter of time before he learns to pull the rest of his body over the fence. There would be no way to protect Dot from this dog. Actually, there would be no way to protect Dash either. Why can't people spent more time training and socializing their dogs? There is no good reason why anyone should have an aggressive dog. They're everywhere though. I'm always on the lookout for loose, aggressive dogs. I've been bitten before and I hope I'm never bitten again.

I ordered some more expensive ink for the large production printer. I just can't bring myself to abandon this thing. I doubt highly that I'll ever be making beautiful, oversize Giclée prints again, but the printer still seems cool to me. It's too bad it's such a pain in the ass to keep it running. I guess I could say the same for the two multi-track tape recorders I recently restored. They're still sitting on the floor in a corner of the office. I haven't even bothered to hook them up again. It goes without saying that downsizing doesn't come easy to me.

Maybe nothing comes easy anymore. I can't even decide where to have breakfast tomorrow. Do I feel like pancakes, eggs benedict, biscuits and gravy, or breakfast tacos? I don't have a clue. Hopefully, my trash can will be emptied properly tomorrow morning. At least that will get the day off to a good start.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2030

Dot is limping today. Her left rear leg has been a little weaker than the right leg for quite a while, but today she could barely put any weight on it. The limp seems worse when she first wakes up, so maybe she's sleeping on it wrong. When she circles around to change position during the night, she has trouble extending her legs after she lies down again. One leg often gets stuck under her body and I have to gently move it for her so she can relax and stretch out. I don't always wake up to do this when she wakes up though. Maybe the problem is neurological and has nothing to do with the way she sleeps. The doctors have always told us that some of her nerves may never grow back completely after the spinal injury. Maybe I'm exercising her too much. It's hard to tell. She walks better after she's been moving around for a while, but she's pretty frail. There's a fine line between getting enough exercise and overdoing things. Unfortunately, Dot doesn't know where that line is. Neither do I on many days. I'm doing the best I can, but this is not an easy rehabilitation.

When you get an Apple Watch, they give you two weeks to decide whether you really want it. At any time during the initial two weeks, you can return the watch and get your money back, or exchange it for a different model. Since my two weeks are just about up, I stopped by the Apple Store to see if I'd made the right decision. I have a small wrist, so I had selected the smaller 38 mm model. The watch fits perfectly and is about the same size as some of my favorite mechanical watches. Maybe I should have gotten the bigger watch though. Bigger frequently seems better to me. I'll always pick the biggest cheeseburger at a restaurant and I've never liked to drive a small car. You can tell that I probably didn't have much on my mind today. At any rate, Apple was out of stock of the larger 42 mm watch, so the decision was made for me. I should learn to stick with my initial instincts. They are usually right. Back when I was playing in a band, I would frequently trade guitars on a whim. Several of the initial guitars I bought turned out to be very collectible. The guitars I exchanged them for after I got bored turned out to be worthless. You should learn to trust your instincts and not be distracted by new shiny objects. I'm a Gemini though, so this is difficult.

I'm really curious to see what Pluto looks like. The NASA New Horizons mission is less than a week away from it's encounter with the ninth planet. This will be the last time that anyone alive today will get to see images from a brand new planet we've never seen before. We've already landed on or flown around all the other planets. We've even landed on a comet. It's amazing to me that Pluto is so far away that it take over four hours to send a signal to the spacecraft or receive a picture back from it. Even more amazing, in an odd way, is that the New Horizons spacecraft, along with all its sensors and cameras, is carrying a small container with the ashes of Clyde Tombaugh, the astronomer who discovered Pluto in 1930. I should have been an astronomer instead of an adman. I was never good at math though. I was always much better at convincing people to buy things they didn't need.

I don't know what I'm going to convince myself to do tomorrow. It's going to be a slow day. I'm just about caught up on converting the websites I manage to new, mobile friendly versions. My writing assignments have slowed to a snail's pace, although that could change at any time. My doctor's appointment got canceled tomorrow. Dash probably won't even want to take a long walk, because it's getting too hot. Maybe I'll fix myself an elaborate breakfast. Maybe I'll play the guitar. Maybe I'll just spend the day feeling ambivalent.

Delaney is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1893

We have scheduled Dot for surgery. This was and will remain a very tough decision. Dot is an old dog. She doesn't know this however. Her irrepressible spirit has carried her through tough challenges before and I'm hoping it will again. Watching her progress this week, I am convinced that she is determined to walk again. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that prednisolone alone will ever provide a realistic path to recovery. After a week on the drug, she still can't stand on her own. Prednisolone isn't a long-term solution anyway and we have already had to reduce her dosage to avoid risks and complications. The real problem is that her spinal cord is still compressed and pinched by the herniated disc. Until this pressure is released, there is a real danger that she could damage the cord further, eliminating any chance for recovery.

If Dot could continue to make small improvements day after day until she eventually walked on her own again, I probably wouldn't even consider surgery. Both the neurosurgeon and my regular vet have already told me that this outcome is unlikely. The initial improvements we saw from giving her prednisolone have already slowed and we can't continue using steroids forever. I'm becoming more and more convinced that despite the risk, spinal surgery is the only alternative that will give Dot a realistic opportunity of walking again.

I really hate making decisions like this, but avoiding them is even worse.You've got to be able to make decisions to lead a normal life. I have known some genuinely indecisive people in my life and most of them were miserable. You simply can't stay sane if you are continually second guessing every aspect of your life. I know that Dot wants to walk again. I also know that Janet, Dot and I cannot continue living like this forever. Our current routine is unsustainable. When Dot finally realizes that she can no longer move, she will become depressed and lose her will to keep going. Janet and I will simply burn out at some point. The surgeon told me today that in the best of worlds, Dot could be walking again within two weeks after surgery. In the worst of worlds, recovery could take up to three months. I can live with that. Of course there is always the possibility that the surgery will fail completely. Everyone says this possibility is very small, but you've got to be prepared for it.

I'm glad I had an opportunity to go out and have my special breakfast this morning. The rest of the day was extremely busy and stressful. I spent the day trying to anticipate what Dot was going to do next while I was working on completing my writing assignments and fine tuning the new business presentation my friend and I are working on. There were some website revisions as well, but I haven't even had time to get around to them yet. I wish that Dot preferred sleeping right next to my computer, but she usually doesn't. The petcams work pretty well for monitoring Dot's activity in other rooms, but I have to act fast if I sense that she is going to try to get up on her own. We don't want her to do that! Dot needs to go outside and pee a lot more often now as well. That's one of the side effects of the prednisolone. So far, I am juggling all these activities pretty well, but it is exhausting.

I'm glad that Dot is still happy. That helps a lot. I wish I could sleep all day tomorrow, but I suspect that tomorrow will be exactly like today. They say that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. If that's true, I should be pretty strong by Summer.

Odie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1679

Dot is going in for surgery tomorrow morning. When we visited her early this morning, there was a lot to be encouraged about. Her temperature had remained stable. Her white blood cell count was slowly returning to normal. She even wagged her tail when we arrived. The doctors were still worried though. Dot hasn't eaten since last Thursday and was still refusing to eat this morning. The specialist wanted to do a CAT scan, and told us that based on Dot's vital signs she could safely handle the anesthesia. I was worried about the anesthesia required for a CAT scan, but everyone assured me that Dot's vitals signs looked very good. We gave the OK for the CAT scan and Janet and I went back to work.

Later in the day, we got a call with the results. The doctors had found a golf ball sized growth in her small intestine and wanted to do surgery tomorrow morning. They were confident that this growth was the source of her problems. Janet and I are both reluctant to subject an older dog to surgery, but we listened to what the internal medicine specialist had to say. She told us that since the growth had not yet become large enough to perforate the intestinal wall and cause systematic infection, the chances for a successful outcome were excellent. She didn't call the growth a tumor because, as she explained, there were literally dozens of benign growths or lesions that could attach to the intestinal wall. She said that surgery on the small intestine was routine these days and that Dot would have the same surgeon that performed the thyroid surgery on Dash earlier this year.

If we did nothing and Dot still refused to eat, she would die. Even if she did start to eat, the growth in her intestine would continue to grow larger, until it eventually caused the intestinal walls to burst. Dot was still weak when we visited her this morning, but her eyes were bright, her tail was wagging, and there was no question that she wanted to go on living. As frightened as Janet and I are of major surgery, we decided to give her that chance.

I think we made the right decision. The surgeon who will be operating on her is superb and was largely responsible for saving Dash's life. The specialist took the time to explain exactly why it was so important to remove the growth now, before it grew even further and caused her intestines to rupture. When I talked to the specialist on the phone earlier in the day, I imagined that the growth she was talking about was the size of a grape. When we heard that it was already the size of a golf ball, Janet and I became convinced that we had no choice.

There are no promises when you are wheeled into a surgery suite. It doesn't matter if you are a dog or a person, there are literally hundreds of things that could go wrong. We have been through this before and it never gets easier. We made the right decision with Dash. We made the right decision with Spot. And we made the wrong decision with Greta. The key thing with any serious medical condition is that you've got to be able to make a decision. You've also got to be able to live with the consequences, even if something goes wrong. Hiding from problems and pretending that they doesn't exist is almost always the worst decision you can make.

When we came back at the end of the day to visit again, Dot greeted us warmly. I walked her outside in the grass in front of the hospital and she squatted and peed normally. We brought her favorite blanket and let her rest with us in an exam room while waiting to see the specialist again. Her doctors wanted to see if Janet and I could get her to eat something. It is apparently important to preserve normal Peristaltic movement in the intestinal tract prior to surgery. Without any food to process, there is a danger that Peristalsis could stop. Dot wasn't interested in dog food, but when we opened a small jar of baby food, she eagerly ate the entire thing. This was a very good sign. It was almost as if Dot was telling us that the surgery was OK and that she definitely wanted to live.

Tomorrow is going to be a rough day. Not only is Dot having surgery, Janet is having a Colonoscopy on the same day. Neither of these things could be postponed or avoided. I hope we made the right decision with Dot. I don't know what will happen tomorrow, but I do know what would happen if we did nothing. Dot deserves better than that.

The thought of having two dogs with cancer at the same time is both emotionally and financially draining. It's hard to believe this is even happening. It goes without saying that this has been a very tough year. Many people think of me as a negative person, but I am totally positive when it comes to the dogs. I believe in them. Dot is incredibly strong willed and tenacious. She may be old, but she loves her life and wants to keep on living. Our efforts may not succeed, but we're going to give her the best chance she's got. When she ate the baby food out of my hand this evening, I think she gave me her blessing.

Katie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1677

We had to make some tough decisions today. When we returned to the animal emergency clinic early this morning to check on Dot, it was clear that she wanted to go home. It was equally clear that her condition was becoming worse. Her temperature was still normal, but she refused to eat anything during the night and was having trouble controlling her bladder. When we took her outside to see if we could get her to pee normally, she headed straight for the car. We wanted to take her home as much as she wanted to go, but we had an appointment with an internal medicine specialist first.

The doctors at the emergency clinic had arranged the appointment with the specialist for us during the night and luckily it was right next door, at the cancer center where we have been taking Dash. The doctor we saw was very good. She did new blood work and told us that with the exception of the severe infection that was making Dot so sick, her basic vital signs were good. She also agreed with us that it was important to get Dot home to eliminate the stress and depression that was probably making her condition even worse. She thought that if we could get Dot to eat anything at all without vomiting, we could take her home for the weekend. Dot could have hamburger, boiled chicken, rice, anything she wanted. She prescribed some new antibiotics, anti-nausea drugs, and pain medication that she thought would be more effective. She explained that Dot's incontinence was caused by being pumped up with fluids and she should begin urinating normally again after she was off the IV fluids for a while.

When we asked about danger signs to look out for, she told us that the biggest near-term danger was if she became dehydrated or started vomiting. If she started vomiting, we were to get her back to the emergency clinic immediately. The doctor prepared a package of medication to get Dot through the weekend until we could bring her in for an ultrasound test on Monday morning. We really thought we were finally going home. The nurse gave Dot an anti-nausia pill in a little meatball for the car ride home. As we were walking through the lobby on our way to the car, Dot vomited. She wasn't even able to keep the small amount of food she had just taken down for a minute.

When Dot vomited in the lobby, the doctor's tone changed immediately. She said this was a potentially life threatening situation and that Dot needed to go back on fluids immediately. She recommended that Dot be kept under observation during the weekend or we might lose her. We had two choices. It was a Saturday and the cancer center closed to the public at noon. We could leave her under 24-hour supervision at the cancer center, but we wouldn't be able to visit her at all during the weekend. Alternately, we could take her back to the emergency clinic next door, where we could visit or even take her home if her condition improved. If we did this, we wouldn't have access to the veterinary specialists and comprehensive support that the cancer center provided until Monday. It was a really tough choice. If we left her at the cancer center, we couldn't even call in to check on her condition until early Monday morning. They said that if her condition deteriorated, they would call us. This was harsh, but I understood why they had this policy. The cancer center routinely deals with the sickest of the sick. All these pets owners are just as worried as we are. The doctor told us that if their overnight emergency team accepted inbound calls, and had to answer constant questions from worried owners, they wouldn't be able to provide the dedicated level of of care that their patients required. I appreciated their honesty. These were people who were more interested in keeping Dot alive than they were with customer relations.

We could do whatever we wanted, but if we left Dot at the cancer center with the specialists, we had to trust them. I brought in a blanket from the car and we sat with Dot for what seemed like the longest time on the lobby floor. I was very sad. I knew Dot wanted to go home. I also knew that these doctors saved Dash's life. They are amazing. We finally decided to leave her at the cancer center over the weekend, even though there is a small possibility that we will never see her again.

I have to remember that Dot's basic vital signs are good. These doctors are the very, very good. I have seen how quickly a dog can die if help is not nearby. If she was at home over the weekend and we had to get her back to an emergency vet in a hurry, there's a good chance we wouldn't make it.

It's going to be a very long and very lonely weekend. I know that Dot is not ready to die. If anyone can save her, she's in the right place. Please keep her in your thoughts this weekend.

Jade is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1372

I guess if you snooze, you lose. The car I was thinking about buying was sold to someone else today. I wish I was quicker about making these kind of decisions, but I'm not. I've always gone back and forth about big decisions. There's a good chance that the next car I find will be snapped up by someone else as well. Eventually, I'll find something I like though. I always do.

One of my doctors keeps submitting bills to the wrong insurance company and then I get billed for the entire amount when the insurance company says they never heard of me. I call and get things straightened out, and then a few weeks later the same thing happens all over again. I am slowly losing faith in people's ability to do anything correctly without having the luxury of a "do over." Sometimes I think the whole world has become incompetent.

One of my favorite rescue dogs passed away today. Connor was one of the lucky ones, because he found a wonderful second home. I just wish he had been given a little more time, because he was an amazing dog. Our canine friends just don't live long enough. I am reminded of this every day as I watch Dot's steps become slower and slower. She stumbles easily now and I have to be careful where she walks. Dot does the best she can and I do the best I can to take care of her. Hopefully, this will give us the additional time we both still need.

Dash is still a young dog, but he has his own health issues. He was back at the vet again today for his antigen shot. Along with the phenobarbital he is taking for seizures, he will probably have to continue these bi-weekly antigen shots for the rest of his life. If controllable epilepsy and skin problems are all Dash has to worry about though, he's doing pretty well. I have seen so many dogs who have had to deal with far worse.

I'm so tired of dealing with health issues that I suspect this is one of the reasons I want a new car. I can't guarantee that the dogs will stay healthy any more than I can guarantee my own health. When you realize you can't make yourself new again, and even the prospect of making your house new again seems remote, maybe making your car new again might be as good as it gets.

I need to remember to get up early tomorrow for my Wednesday morning business networking breakfast. I hope getting up before sunrise once a week eventually becomes second nature to me, but the desire to "rise and shine" certainly hasn't kicked in yet.

Connor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1371

It was an unlucky day for a lot of people. Before I even heard about the mass shootings at the Navy Yard in Washington DC, I saw a man fall off his bicycle after an apparent heart attack while I was walking the dogs in the park this morning. The good news was that it only took paramedics about four minutes to get to the scene with an ambulance. The bad news was that the fellow cyclists who tried to administer aid on the scene probably made the man's condition worse.

Later in the day, I saw a cement truck run into a Mini Cooper. You can guess who won that confrontation. The cement truck driver seemed very distraught. I don't know if he was worried about the other driver, or that the cement in his truck was going to harden, because he had to stay at the scene until the police finished their accident investigation.

In between these calamities, I managed to get a lot of work done. I'm still making steady progress on the new website I'm currently developing for a client. I ordered more ink for the large format printer. I paid my third quarter estimated taxes and got a check in the mail to the IRS. Since there weren't any writing assignments due today, I even found time to go to the gym. For the first time, I managed to score three baskets in a row while I was waiting for one of the weight machines to become free.

I still don't know whether there's a new car in my immediate future. I think I've narrowed things down to two choices, but there is nothing decisive to swing my decision one way or the other. If it weren't for the fact that the Defender could fall apart at any minute, I might not make any decision at all. I know the time is right through. I have a feeling that sometime within the next several weeks, I'll be driving by the dealership and buy something on impulse.

Tomorrow looks like another busy day. I've already got several requests for website revisions and Dash needs to go to the vet again. One of my doctors has been sending bills to the wrong insurance company too. I've got to get that straightened out as well. At least the weather is improving. I saw the first hints that leaves are starting to change color today. Could Fall be right around the corner? Maybe it's time to buy some pumpkins and put them on the front porch.

Phantom is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day