Day 4981

Another triple digit day. They say we've broken an all time record for consecutive days above 80 degrees. I wouldn't be surprised if we've broken records for days above 100 degrees as well. Hey, we're supposed to get a break tomorrow. A cold front is on the way and it's only supposed to reach 95 degrees.

The day started normally with Dawn's sunrise walk. There wasn't much of a breeze this morning. Even before sunrise you could tell it was going to be a hot one. I had my breakfast of shredded wheat and fruit and then did a load of laundry. When the first load was in the dryer I changed the sheets on the bed and washed them as well. Changing the bed upset Dawn for obvious reasons. I was messing with her throne. I had to lead her out to the living room on a leash and then gate her out of the bedroom until I finished. She was not a happy dog.

Changing a fitted sheet sure seems harder than it used to be. Bad knees and a dislocated shoulder make this simple task a bit of a struggle. I got the job done though. I even washed all the bed coverings because they routinely get filled with dog hair. I remember when my Dad got older he started sleeping on top of his bed because he got tired of making it every day. Makes sense to me.

When I finished with the household chores, I went to the gym again. No matter what the weather is doing outside, I'm going to continue to get my steps. Traffic seemed worse than usual today and then I remembered that school is in session again. I need to remember where all the school zones are. It's an easy way to get a ticket if you aren't careful. There are more people using the gym than you typically see in August. I think this heat is driving everyone indoors. I did my three mile walk on the indoor track, completed ten free throws on the basketball court, and lifted weights for a while. Even though I completed my routine, it wasn't a great day. I was slower doing everything today.

Since I went to the gym a lot later today, I didn't return home until mid afternoon. This was probably a good thing because I was out of the way when Janet did her housecleaning. I often run out of things to do in the afternoon which makes me wonder what I'm going to do with myself when I reach my blogging goal. I've genuinely grown tired of writing these daily posts, but I like a life with structure. I've been spending my evenings blogging for so long that it's going to seem strange doing anything else. I don't watch much TV and reading tires my eyes now. I imagine I'll think of something though. Nature abhors a vacuum.

I'm looking forward to a break in the hot weather. They say the temperature will only be in the mid 70's when we take our sunrise walk tomorrow. Sadly this respite from triple digit temperatures isn't going to last. On Thursday the heat wave returns and temperatures are supposed to reach 108 degrees. I have no idea how long this is supposed to last, but it's definitely been long enough. Cooler Fall weather can't come soon enough.

Elliott is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4797

I found a tick on my leg when I woke up this morning. This doesn't seem to be the right time of year to be on the lookout for ticks, but we live near the park and we have a dog. It goes with the territory. We checked Dawn and couldn't find anything on her. Then we washed all the bedding just to make sure. It was going to be a busy day anyway. This just made it a little busier.

I had a lot on my grocery list this morning, so shopping took a little longer than I expected. As usual the stores and the roads were crowded. Maybe I'm imaging things but it seems like a whole lot more people have moved here in the past year. I don't remember Dallas ever being this crowded before.

Considering how cold it was yesterday, I was surprised at how warm it was today. It was actually a beautiful day. Dawn had an enjoyable early morning walk and then I had a nice longer walk when I finished my grocery shopping. The walk itself was uneventful, but my feet didn't hurt as much today. I have no idea why each day is different, but I'll take what I can get. I only had to wear a light jacket today. What a difference a day makes.

I was tired when I returned from my walk, but I still had work to do. Since the roof wasn't going to stop leaking until I swept away the remaining standing water, I reluctantly climbed up the brick wall and started pushing the big broom that resides permanently on the roof. Within an hour after I finished removing all the standing water, the leaks inside the house stopped. I'm good for now, but there is a 60% chance of rain next Tuesday. It looks like it is going to be a long Winter with lots of leaks because realistically I doubt that a new roof can be installed until April. 

Janet started making the bed when I was out walking, but there was still some bedding in the dryer so I finished things up after I got done with the roof. Dawn was taking her customary afternoon nap but it was surprisingly easy to get her off the bed. All I had to do was lie down on the bed for a few minutes and she left the room. I could see her peeking in the bedroom door occasionally as I put a variety of pillows, blankets and comforters back on the bed. Dawn knew she had been tricked, but she didn't return to the bedroom until I was finished.

I think I can put all the buckets away, but I'll probably leave a few out overnight just in case something starts leaking again. The only other chore I did today was empty out the ice maker in the refrigerator. The ice maker shuts off when the tray is full, but we don't use much ice and the ice in the bucket eventually fuses into a solid block. Sometimes it's almost impossible to even get the ice bucket out of the freezer. I take the bucket outside and chisel the ice block out and then clean the bucket and put it back in the freezer. I've tried turning off the ice maker but that causes even more problems. Water can freeze in the supply line causing the plastic line to split. Evidently this refrigerator was meant for people who use a lot of ice.

It looks like the weather is going to remain nice over the weekend, so Dawn will get her Sunday outing tomorrow. I'll go mall walking as well. Walking in the park is actually better exercise, but I've spent enough time in the park this week. It's time to go look in store windows and ponder how screwed up the world has become.

Lady Gogh is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4758

I stayed surprisingly busy today. Janet had an early class at the gym, so we took our early walk in the dark again. Walking in the dark doesn't seem to bother Dawn at all. She uses her nose more than her eyes anyway. It was a little chilly early this morning, but it warmed up quickly. I could tell it was going to be a nice day.

I always think I'm going to do something different for breakfast, but I never do. When I have my shredded wheat and fruit I don't have to think and I don't have to cook. It's always the easy way out. After breakfast, I changed the sheets on the bed, did three loads of laundry, and paid some online bills. With bad knees and a dislocated shoulder it's harder to change the sheets than it used to be. Somehow lifting up the mattress to tuck in the fitted sheets is always a problem. I'm starting to understand why my Dad decided to just sleep on top of the bed in his latter years. It saves a lot of trouble if you don't have to make the thing every day.

I had to trick Dawn to get her off the bed so I could change the sheets. She wasn't very happy about that but we survived. Everything is clean and fresh again, but it will be covered in dog hair in a matter of days. I won't give this chore another thought until Janet reminds me that it's time to do it again.

When I finished my household chores, I went to the bank and took some stuff back to my storage warehouse. There was a long line at the drive up window today. The bank probably need to hire some more staff. There was just one guy handling both the inside and outside transactions. He seemed very busy.

It was a good day for a walk, but my heart wasn't really in it today. I felt tired and my pace was slower than usual. It is discipline, not a love of the outdoors that keeps me walking. Sometimes I see interesting things, but often the long walk is boring and just hurts my feet. There were no eagles today at the nest site.   There weren't many people on the trails either. I guess everybody is returning to work.

I don't know what I'm going to do about the house. I still can't find a carpenter or a contractor I like to undertake the needed renovations. I've got a long list of roofers, but I don't like any of them. The house isn't going to fix itself though. I've got to do something. I wonder why it's so much easier to find a good appliance repairman or plumber than a carpenter? Is carpentry becoming a lost art? 

I made no New Year's resolutions this year. My old resolutions to write 5000 consecutive blog posts and walk at least 10,000 steps every day are keeping me busy enough as it is. It's amazing what a little discipline can do. I'm basically a very lazy person.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4532

What a difference a day makes. Finally, a proper Spring day. The temperature was in the sixties for most of the day and there was a nice breeze. Dawn was pleased with the situation and so was I. This would have been a great day for walking, but my feet refused to cooperate. This was a bad day for foot pain. After our two walks with Dawn today, I really didn't feel like walking much further.

Dawn really enjoyed our Sunday outing today. I think she knows where we are going by our schedule or maybe by what we wear. It's weird to see a dog get so excited to get in a car she hates riding in. The ride is short fortunately and pretty soon she is back on the ground again, tugging at her leash and smelling everything in sight.

After our walk, we always go for ice cream. The ice cream place raised their prices about a month ago, but now the price has gone back to what it used to be. There must have been complaints. There's always more than one way to achieve your objective though. I noticed today that the cones are smaller than they used to be. The cones used to be filled all the way to the bottom and now there's just a scoop of ice cream on top and the cone itself is largely empty. I feel cheated. Maybe the price increase would have been better.

Today changing the sheets was on the agenda. Why has putting on a fitted sheet gotten so hard? I struggle with lifting the heavy mattress and tucking in the bottom sheet now. This never used to seem like a difficult task, but my wrists still ache hours later. Now I think I know why my Dad started just sleeping on the top of his bed after Mom passed away. It was probably too much trouble to make the bed. Janet says I need to go back to the gym because I'm losing my upper body strength. She's probably right.

Today's long walk was just a short walk through the neighborhood. A lot has changed over the years. One by one all the small frame houses are being torn down and replaced by McMansions. I wonder how people can afford these monster houses or why they even want them. Who really needs a third story on their house? I'm old enough that I don't even like the idea of stairs.

I feel perpetually tired these days. After every activity I feel like taking a nap. You'd think that after a number of short naps I wouldn't feel like sleeping at night. That isn't the case at all. I go to sleep quickly and sleep soundly. Sleeping has become one of my favorite activities. I'm starting to remember my dreams better than my daytime activities. I lived in Seattle for several years right after I graduated from college and I can't ever remember going to the grocery store there. How did I eat? I remember furniture stores and art galleries, but no grocery stores. Weird. The other day I was thinking about a production house that I used to use when I started my business. I went there frequently, but now I can't remember why. What client was I working for and why wasn't I doing the work in my own studio? I could go on and on. I still think I'm pretty sharp, but I'm sure I've lost a few brain cells along the way.

I guess I'm going to have to get the uninterrupted power supply fixed tomorrow. I've already lost one computer due to power surges and I don't want to lose another. The UPS is heavy and awkward though, so I'm not looking forward to this. I'm definitely going to have to take a nap after finishing this chore.

Rosco is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4352

Very little happened today. I got up when I heard Dawn barking in the back yard. Dawn and Janet always get up earlier than me. I got dressed and we went on our sunrise walk. The weather was crisp and cool but Dawn wasn't interested in walking very far. Before eating breakfast I changed the sheets and began a load of laundry. All the bed coverings got cleaned today and Dawn spent the day sleeping on an old worn out blanket I've had since my days in Seattle. There were several holes in the blanket, but I can't remember which dog chewed them. Eventually, everything was cleaned and dried and I put the bed back together while Janet and Dawn were eating lunch. Making the bed seems complicated now. There are all these layers and lots of pillows. Was it always this way? It seems like changing the bed used to be much easier, but everything is easier when you are younger. A word of advice. Don't get a low platform bed if you have bad knees.

I read an article today that the city wants to pass an ordinance that bans loud leaf blowers. Seems like a weird thing for the city to be spending their time on, but I'm in favor of this one. When I take my long walk in the morning all I hear is the sound of leaf blowers. Some of the yard crews bag the leaves and take them away, but mostly they just blow them in the street and the wind immediately blows them back in the yard. What is the point of all this? Nobody blows the leaves away in the park, but by Spring they are always gone. 

My new Fitbit still doesn't count steps the same way as my Apple Watch. At the end of the day there is quite a difference in the step count. I don't know why this bothers me, but clearly one of these devices is wrong. After many years of wearing a tracker, I still don't know which device is right. Maybe they are both wrong. The new Fitbit adds quite a bit of new information, but as you might expect, most of it is useless. I pride myself on not being addicted to my phone, however I'm the weird one with a different tracker on each wrist.

I'm amused at all the birders I see out in the park lately. They usually have huge telephoto lenses that I don't know how they can hold steady without a tripod. There are always a lot more nature photographers on bright sunny days. Don't these guys realize that this is when the light is at its worst. An overcast day without any hard shadows usually leads to much more pleasing pictures. At least these folks are taking pictures though. My cameras are still sitting in a bag at the house. If I didn't have a phone in my pocket I wouldn't be taking any pictures at all.

The phone in my pocket has a new case again. I bought the case about three months ago but never got around to using it. Finally my old case broke and I realized that I already had a spare. When I bought this thing I wondered why it was more expensive. It was exactly the same as the other two Lunatik cases I've used in the past. Turns out that this case wasn't the same. This one was made of metal. I'm glad they finally thought of this. Maybe this one will last a little longer than the other two.

On slow days like this I sometimes think about filling a few paragraphs with political or social commentary. I really try to avoid this. Everybody's got an opinion these days, but very few have the facts. I don't even know how you find facts anymore. It seems like we live in a world with multiple realities. When I'm channel surfing cable news while eating breakfast I realize that there are just a bunch of competing narratives out there trying to convince you that your own preconceived conclusions are right. Are any of these narratives even close to the truth? I doubt it.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4170

We've had every type of weather imaginable today. Pounding rain, high humidity, pleasant breezes, a little sunshine: take your pick. The heavy rain came early and it was relentless. It overwhelmed the pumps on the roof, but luckily the roof still didn't leak. In my younger days I would have climbed up on the roof during a dry spell and unclogged the pumps, but I'm just not up to it anymore. The roof will have to wait.

I'm going to have to come up with an alternative to watching television while I eat breakfast. Not only is the news unrelentingly depressing, the commercials are even worse. I seem to see the same seven mindless commercials over and over again. Most of them are for pharmaceutical products that will probably end up killing you in the long run. Even the business channels have gotten weird. I'm tired of hearing about bitcoin and non-fungible tokens. Nobody really understands these things, but everyone has a story about someone who got wealthy by buying or selling them. Young people seem to love bitcoin, but today's blockchain millionaires seem a lot like the Dutch tulip moguls of the 1600's. I'm old, so gold, boring blue chip stocks, and old Perry Mason movies make more sense to me.

I had to change the sheets today, which is always difficult with Dawn. It takes me a long time to make the bed now with a bad shoulder and weak knees. I usually try to make the bed while Dawn is eating breakfast, but when I'm changing the sheets I can never get finished in time. When Dawn finishes her breakfast she runs back to the bedroom and hops on the bed again. It doesn't matter to her whether the bed is made of not. I could shoo her away easy enough, but I don't want to make her even more fearful of me. I usually just let Dawn sleep on the bed until Janet returns from the gym for lunch and then Dawn goes out to the kitchen again. I eventually got the job done today, but it never used to take this long.

The more I hear about the post-pandemic surge in travel, the more hesitant I become to even try to return to Kennedy Space Center. There are plenty of launches this year, but hotel prices are rising rapidly, rental cars are scarce, flights are full, and everyone is encouraged to plan ahead. You can't really plan ahead with rocket launches. The dates are always changing. Maybe I'm just making excuses, but this doesn't seem like as much fun as it used to be. I'll be glad when everyone has taken their post-pandemic vacation and life returns to normal.

My long walk was certainly normal today. The skies had cleared, my foot wasn't bothering me, and I managed to complete my full six miles. It was still humid outside, but there was a nice breeze and I felt comfortable. There weren't a lot of people out today because of the recent rain and I pretty much had the park to myself. I like days like this. Even all the ducks were in their regular places, so they were easy to count.

I stopped taking famotidine last week because I thought I was taking too much of the heartburn medication. Bad move. Now, everything seems to give me heartburn. Even my breakfast smoothie gave me problems this morning. I always expect that my doctor will provide a solution to problems like this when I go in for a physical exam. He never does. I complain about feeling tired and having heartburn and he checks my vital signs and tells me how healthy I am. My blood work and EKG were perfect this time. So why do I feel so tired? If I made an effort to be vegan, I probably wouldn't have heartburn at all. Unfortunately, I love spicy food and have very little willpower about eating.

There's going to be an eclipse of the moon early tomorrow morning but I suspect that I will miss it. The forecast predicts cloudy weather with a chance of rain. The moon will be near the horizon anyway, which makes viewing difficult even on a good day. I"ll probably have to wait until I get back to West Texas to enjoy the night sky again.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4150

What a beautiful day. This would have been a good day to do yard work, but by the time I changed the sheets on the bed and did several loads of laundry I was too tired. Somehow putting a fitted sheet on a low platform bed is a lot harder than it used to be. I had my normal smoothie for breakfast, checked my messages, and got ready to walk Dawn. We walked Dawn early today because Janet was going to be away during the afternoon. Dawn was fine with the change in schedule. She liked the nice Spring weather too.

I knew there was going to be a Starship launch today, so I checked the computer from time to time to see how things were progressing in Boca Chica. The launch didn't take place until late in the day, but it was worth the wait. The fifth time was the charm for the Starship. It didn't blow up this time and made a perfect landing. It's impressive how quickly things are moving down at Boca Chica. I still think Elon might make it to the moon before NASA. I've really got to get down to Boca Chica and see one of these launches for myself.

There was plenty of time for a long walk while I was waiting for the Starship launch to take place. I made pretty good time today even though I was unusually tired. I think I didn't get enough sleep last night. The wildflowers are looking good this season. Somehow they weren't affected by our big freeze this winter. The Rhododendrons and Azaleas in Dallas didn't do so well. Most of these popular plants died. Usually in the Spring, I spend a day or two photographing all the wildflowers before the Summer heat dries them out. I've got plenty of flower pictures now, but I ought to schedule another photo day anyway just for old time's sake. 

I shouldn't have bookmarked the page of that telescope I'm interested in. I found myself going back to the page today and trying to justify purchasing the little telescope. It's really just a telephoto lens that has been optimized for astrophotography, but it's pretty cool. It even has a cool name: Redcat 51. I'll probably wish I'd ordered it when I return from the observatory and discover that the telescope is out of stock again. If this thing was available three weeks ago I probably would have ordered it instead of the telephoto lens I got recently. Oh, well. Maybe next time. I'm sure this won't be my last trip out to the observatory.

I still can't decide whether to apply from some June launch opportunities at Kennedy Space Center. I feel like I'm jinxed now and it hardly seems worth the effort, but if you don't apply you're never going to get accepted. I wish I knew why my applications were being rejected now. I've gotten a press pass before and I can't figure out what has changed. Maybe it's just one more thing to fret about. I'm not good at going with the flow. I'd like to have the rest of my year mapped out in great detail and then I'd just follow the schedule. 

I do have something on my schedule for tomorrow. I get a haircut. A haircut isn't a big deal but it fits in with my one activity a day philosophy. A haircut and a long walk. That ought to take care of the day.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3908

No rain today. Luckily, it was still cloudy and cool. We had a nice walk before breakfast this morning, although the park was already filled with weekend athletes. I don't know if there is an increased interest in fitness or if people just haven't returned to the gym yet. Janet says her gym is still pretty empty. I've never seen so many people jogging and cycling in the park before. Maybe one hidden benefit of the pandemic is that people are finally starting to realize that it's a good idea to be healthy.

I found almost everything on my grocery list this morning. They even had rubbing alcohol today. Strangely, peaches have returned to the produce section less than a week after I received that notice from the store to throw mine away. Maybe they realized what I've known all along. There's nothing wrong with most of these peaches.

It was long past time for some serious house cleaning. I hate changing the sheets now because it hurts my dislocated shoulder to remove and replace the fitted bottom sheet. Like getting up on the roof, this is something that still needs to be done unfortunately. I also washed the comforter and all the dog blankets. Dawn sheds a lot. Actually all Dalmatians shed a lot.

Dog hair means I need to vacuum more often than I'd like as well. I did a lot of vacuuming today. My part of the cleaning duties are done for a while. I try to do my share, but Janet actually does a lot more cleaning than I do. She still cares about a clean house.

I didn't bother to take an afternoon walk today. Even though it never rained, I kept hearing thunder in the distance. We were able to complete our full five miles this morning and I got plenty of exercise cleaning the house this afternoon. I still haven't removed the standing water from the roof. No sense in overdoing things. Maybe I'll take care of the roof tomorrow. It looks like we've got several days of clear weather ahead and I still don't feel like going back to the gym.

When I looked at the Boca Chica cameras today there was a torrential rainstorm going on. The rain knocked out several of the remote cameras but it didn't seems to stop work at the facility. Nothing seems to stop these guys. It's fascinating to watch how quickly this brand new spaceport is developing. They're still making the rockets in tents, but that's about to change. By the time the real Starship makes it's debut next year, this place will look a lot different. I've got to figure out a way to get down there and do a story. This dusty little strip of land is definitely where the future is happening.

There's not much happening here. Whenever I venture out on my shopping day, I'm appalled at how everyone seems to be totally ignoring the virus. Restaurants are full. Masks are required everywhere, but nobody wears them correctly. Almost half the people I saw today were wearing their mask below their nose. A lot of people take their mask off to talk to store employees too. It must be frustrating to be a store employee. I'm still doing my part, but it's mostly because I don't like people anyways. It's easy to stay six feet away. I'll be keeping my distance long after this is over.

Allie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3280

Janet and I both wonder how we used to accomplish so much when we were younger. It seems to take so long to do even simple things now. It's a good thing I don't have a full schedule these days. By the time I make the bed, clean up dog poop, get Dash dressed for his morning walk, and fix my breakfast, I'm ready to call it a day.

It's dark when I wake up, but by the time I finish making the bed, it is already time to get Dash ready for his walk. I guess I could just leave the rubber sheet and protective pads on the bed, but I carefully fold all the nighttime bedding and put it away so the bedroom looks nice for a few hours. Protecting Dash's feet for his walks is a complicated ritual. First we put on a par of fitted bandages that are secured with velcro. Over the bandages goes a cotton sock and on top of all this go the Ultra-Paws boots. Dash has four pairs of these boots now because I need to keep reinforcing the toe with Shoe Goo to cover worn spots caused when Dash drags his feet. It takes the Shoe Goo 48 hours to fully cure, so I rotate the boots to make sure there is always a good pair available. In addition to his special footwear, Dash also wears a brace for a partial ACL tear in his right knee along with his Ruffwear harness that I can use to keep him from slipping and falling. Needless to say, I can get dressed much quicker than Dash can.

It was cold and overcast on our walk this morning, but there was no sign of rain. Knock on wood. I'm going to be nervous about the roof until the roofers com back to finish their repairs. In fairness, the damaged areas probably need to dry another day before they can be successfully patched, but I still wish I'd seen the crew working today.

I didn't accomplish a lot today. I never do. I picked up a Plavix prescription for Dash at the pharmacy and paid a bunch of December bills. I still need to pay my 2018 property taxes, but I've got until the end of the year to write that check. I always pay my bills on time, but I find it irritating living on a fixed income. Especially when the stock market is tanking. Hey, welcome to retirement. When I was working I always felt like I controlled my own destiny. Now I feel like the world is always throwing me a curve.

The house smells good tonight. Janet is doing Christmas cooking this evening. Most of the goodies will be given away as gifts, but maybe there will be some leftovers for me. I'm sure that Dash is thinking the same thing. I especially like the sausage balls. We should have these around all year. Of course, if we had Christmas food around all year, I'd be twenty pounds heavier.

I hope I see the roofers tomorrow. Sadly, even if they are successful in patching the leak, it is only a temporary solution. The high-tech silicon membrane just wasn't a good solution for this house. My new year's resolution is to start over and put on a new roof. I'd rather have a new car, but it's much more important to have a dry house.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1727

When I go to the gym, I warm up for twenty minutes using the hand bicycle. Most people start by jogging around the track or using one of the treadmills for a while, but the hand bike works for me. I spend so much time walking the dogs that my legs are fine. It's my upper body that need work. All I do with my arms and upper body is type. The first five minutes on the hand bike are murder. My joints ache and my arms are sore. Then my body starts to warm up and I get into a rhythm. By the end of the twenty minutes, I'm daydreaming as usual and I've almost forgotten that I'm using the machine.

That's the way it is with most things in life. I hate getting out of bed in the morning. When I wake up, all I want to do is roll over and go back to sleep again. I do get up though. I get up at the same time even on days when I have had little sleep. By the time I've made the bed and prepared my morning coffee, life seems bearable again. After walking the dogs and eating a leisurely breakfast, I've almost always forgotten how much I disliked getting out of bed just a few hours earlier.

The dogs probably felt this way today. Dot and Dash both got a bath this morning and Dash suffered the additional indignity of going to the vet to have his anal glands expressed. As much as the dogs protest these occasional trips to the local dog washing emporium, they always feel better afterwards. They stop itching and scratching for a while and concentrate on more important things like begging for treats. A bath is kind of like a thunderstorm for Dot and Dash. As soon as it's over, they totally forget it was something to worry about.

Before going to the gym today, I watched the new Dr. Who episode that I taped last night. This show, which involved taking Clara to meet Robin Hood, was much more entertaining than last week's awkward trip inside a Dalak's head. I think the scriptwriters are getting used to writing for Peter Capaldi. One of the benefits of watching your favorite shows using a DVR is that you can skip all the commercials. Maybe I'll start watching more shows this way. Either commercials are much worse than they used to be, or I've just lost my tolerance for them. They break up the narrative and are generally irritating. I can't believe that I spent a big chunk of my life writing these things.

My new phone is kind of mysterious. Even though it looks identical to the phone it replaced, there is something different about it. The phone runs IOS 7.1.2, just like the old phone. The same apps are installed. So why does it act so differently? I bet that Apple has updated the firmware of its later model phones. It doesn't really matter anyway. The iPhone 6 will make its debut in a few weeks anyway.

Dot had another good day today. No accidents at all! Maybe the pills are starting to work.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1706

We had another peaceful night with no incontinence accidents. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be a peaceful day. About 5:30 AM a big thunderstorm rolled in that seemed to meet the dog's storm phobia threshold. Once the thunder and lightning started, all bets were off. This was going to be one of those all day rains with very few dry interludes to take the dogs outside to do their business. Even though I could tell they needed to go, Dot and Dash wouldn't even stick their head out the back door. Dot couldn't hold it and ended up pooping on the living room floor. Dash stubbornly refused to go until the rain stopped. About an hour after breakfast there was a brief break in the storm and I took him out to the park. Luckily, he did his business quickly, because a huge thunderclap sent us both running back to the house within minutes.

The weather was so terrible that I didn't even bother to go to the gym. Traffic is a nightmare when it rains in Dallas and I'd just as soon avoid it whenever I can. Instead of working out, I got out the Stratocaster and played guitar for a while. I need to get the guitar out of the case more often. Like many things I used to do well, I really need to practice. It doesn't help that the carpal tunnel in my wrist has gotten worse. I couldn't play for a full evening anymore. The wrist just hurts too much. I was thinking that shooting baskets at the gym was helping my carpal tunnel syndrome, but apparently different muscles are used playing guitar. Even though I didn't have the guitar out for a long time, it's was still enjoyable to play a little blues on a rainy day.

After I convinced myself that I was no longer guitar hero material, I did what any geek would do on a rainy day: I updated software and recharged batteries. When all the computers and tablets were up to date, I vacuumed the house. Since I hadn't cleaned anything since before Dot's surgery, the carpets were filthy. I guess it makes sense to clean the carpets whenever you wash the dogs. Both get dirty at about the same rate. Everything is clean now. We've got clean dogs, clean sheets, clean carpets, and clean towels. It won't last long. As soon as Dash discovers how soft the ground is in the back yard after all this rain, he's sure to dig a big hole.

The weather is supposed to be nice tomorrow. If it is, I'll finish the list of errands I was planning to do today. There are bills to pay, prescriptions to pick up, a refrigerator to restock with fresh vegetables, and maybe a trip to the gym. It looks like it is going to be a busy week. Janet and Dot have birthdays this month as well.

It's almost time to get the bed prepared for another unpredictable night. This whole ritual is strangely reminiscent of camping. I'm not sure exactly when we can trust Dot again, because she's not talking. Waterproofing the bed sure beats replacing the mattress though, so we'll probably continue adding the waterproof layers long after we really have to. I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up becoming one more insane thing I continue to do forever without questioning, just like sweeping all the water off the roof after it rains. Yep, I've got to do that tomorrow too.

Toby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1611

It was a quiet day. Since I haven't run out of food yet and had no appointments, I basically just stayed around the house all day. The dogs got their walks, but the car never left the driveway. It was good that there were no writing assignments today, because the website revisions I needed to complete just about overwhelmed me. I have a couple of clients who only seem to look at their website twice a year and then make a ton of changes all at once. I'd rather make small incremental changes every week than do a huge makeover twice a year, but I don't get to make the rules. Let's just say that I had a lot of changes to make today.

It was also time to get the water off the roof again. It was a good day to do this, since the weather was nice and there is no more rain in the forecast for the rest of the week. I need to get the roofers to come out and inspect the roof this Spring, while it is still under warranty. There are no leaks, but there are a few spots that are already starting to show significant wear. With my luck, the roof will start leaking again the day after the warranty runs out, so I'd better get this issue addressed while I still have a chance.

I need to remember to call my insurance agent and take the Citroën SM off my policy, since I no longer own the car. I tend to forget things like this. When I quit using the fax machine and removed it from my office, I forgot to remove the fax line from my phone bill and kept paying for it for another year. I paid the cable company for HD channels for quite a while too, before I finally realized that Janet and I never watched things in HD. Standard definition is just fine if your eyes are bad. I always forget to file a protest about real estate tax increases, even though some of my neighbors do this every year. There's just too much to remember. It's hard enough to remember the dog's pills everyday and taking out the garbage on Thursday night.

Some of the videos on my YouTube channel have arbitrarily been set to private. I never changed any of my settings, so I wonder what this is all about. Since I mostly use my YouTube channel as a place to store videos for clients who don't have their own YouTube acount, this has already created problems. A number of embedded videos have already gone dead. When I went to my account to fix things, I discovered that the whole interface had changed. Why does Google love to continually change things? It drives me nuts. It much harder to embed videos in websites in custom sizes now because Google seems to have taken away the scaling tool. I eventually got all the client website videos working again, but I never did figure out why they had been marked private in the first place.

I haven't made the bed all week. I haven't unmade it either. I just sleep on top with the dogs. They seem to like things this way, and it's easier for me as well, since I don't have to make the bed every morning. If Janet ever took a really long trip, things would probably slide downhill in a hurry.

Maybe I'll go out for breakfast tomorrow. I know it's not Friday yet, but I'm really getting tired of oatmeal.

Lady is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day