Day 3205

I should have mowed the grass earlier. The heavy rains that caused the roof leak also caused the grass in the front yard to grow amazingly fast. It was almost a foot tall on some places. Technically, grass this tall is really a weed, but hey it's green. It's amazing how much harder to do manual work like this when you're 70. Mowing the grass seemed a lot easier when I was 40.

I called the roofer today, but I didn't get a response. That wasn't surprising. It usually takes at least five calls before anything happens at all. Dealing with this new leak isn't going to be easy. There was a general understanding that the repairs the guys made late this Summer would be the last. I actually thought the crew did a good job, so I was quite surprised when the roof started leaking again. I need to be persistent though. The roof really shouldn't be leaking at this point.

My contact at the auction house called me this evening while I was out walking Dash. I hope it wasn't anything important, because the auction is tomorrow. I'm pretty sure they just wanted me to confirm the reserve price. This price fluctuates, depending on whether there are advance bids. The auction starts while we're at the vet with Dash tomorrow, but my lot doesn't go under the hammer until the afternoon. I'll nervously watch what happens online.

I'm also a bit nervous about Dash's exam at the cancer center tomorrow morning. It's been two months since Dash has had a major exam and he's definitely gone downhill since then. Actually, Dash's appetite has improved since our last visit, but almost everything else has gone downhill. Dash has real trouble walking now and his incontinence has gotten worse. His teeth are terrible and I'm really looking for a way to prevent him from getting periodontal disease. We briefly tried an antiseptic rinse that Janet uses, but our other vet said it probably wasn't safe since the the ingredients included an artificial flavoring that wasn't safe for dogs.

I need to learn more about weather. For the past three mornings, when I've taken Dash out to pee at 5 AM, the sky has been crystal clear. I've noticed the sky because Orion is rising in the East. This is my favorite constellation and one of the few things you can reliably see through all the light pollution in Dallas. The weird thing is that when I go outside again an hour or two later, the sky has become completely overcast. Where did all these clouds come from so quickly?

I hope the auction goes well tomorrow. Like I've said before, this is my Antiques Roadshow moment. I may get really lucky and then again, maybe I won't. Auction results still seems kind of random to me and it's hard to anticipate what buyers are thinking. It's kind of the end of an era. I definitely won't be buying any more art after this is all over.

Hobbs is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2287 - Vernal Equinox

It was nice that the first day of Spring turned out to be a Spring day. Since this is Texas, we could just as easily have had snow. It was a little cold in the morning, but by mid-afternoon there was definitely a hint of Spring in the air. I used the pleasant weather to catch up on yard work. I pruned some backyard bushes and hauled an abandoned agility course we used when the dogs were younger out to the curb for this week's big trash pickup. I thought about mowing the grass, but I forgot to charge the mower battery, so that will have to wait until another day.

On the way to the gym this afternoon, I stopped at the REI store to look for some flip flops. I like to wear socks around the house and when the dogs need to go outside in a hurry, it's always hard to put on my shoes quickly enough. I've had to go outside barefoot occasionally when Dot couldn't wait. At any rate I was looking for some slip on sandals without the band between the big toe and the other toes that you typically find on flip flops. I finally found a pair that I liked, but they were $130. WTF? How did flip flops get so expensive? There were nice hiking boots in the store for the same price as these flip flops. I left without buying anything, because the price seemed ridiculous. I'll probably come back later though, because the shoes were exactly what I was looking for. Why do I always have to like the expensive things?

While I was at the gym this afternoon, I got to thinking about the yard work I'd done this morning.  Yard work is strenuous. When I did more around the house, I had no need to go to the gym. I used to mow the grass with a push mower. I hauled in tons of round river stones in the back of the Defender to make decorative areas in the shady spots where grass wouldn't grow. I used to put in the St. Augustine turf myself instead of hiring landscapers. I did lots of things that kept me fit and made me tired. I quit using the push mower first. It was simply too exhausting. Gradually other things fell by the wayside as bones got brittle and joints got sore. Today, when I was pruning the Photinia bushes I couldn't even reach a lot of the branches because of my dislocated shoulder. Age has definitely taken its toll. As I finished my twenty minutes on the treadmill, I concluded that going to the gym was for people who work in offices. If you do any type of manual labor, you don't need to go to the gym.

Dash gets his teeth cleaned this week. I always worry about dental exams because a long time ago a friend of mine had a dog who died during a routine dental exam. Dash is what they call a "hard wake up" dog as well. He freaks out sometimes as he is coming out of anesthesia. Dash has a great vet and I know everything will be OK, but I still worry. I don't like going to the dentist myself, but it's something you can't ignore. Gum disease can be very serious in an older dog.

I actually got a good night's sleep last night. My activity tracker said that I reached 90% of my recommended sleep goal. That's as close as I've ever come. Usually I get about 40% of my sleep goal. I don't expect to sleep nearly as long tonight. It's a work day tomorrow and we all get up early.

Baxter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1276

My feeble attempts at home improvement today were an epic fail. I bought some self-tapping screws and tried to batten down the loose 4x8 sheets of plywood under the carport. I drilled hole after hole, but never found a stud where I could attach the screws. Maybe there weren't any studs and the plywood sheets were just being held by the edges. Who knows? That would certainly explain why the wood was sagging so badly.

I didn't have much better luck up on top of the roof. I also bought a new push broom while I was getting the self-tapping screws, but it didn't seem to work as well as the old broom. The new roof has a gritty, gravel-like texture that made the broom hard to push. This was unfortunate, because after three full days of sunshine, there was still standing water on the roof. I'm beginning to think that the new roof puddles up even worse than the old roof. It doesn't leak anymore though. That's one good thing!

To add insult to injury, I got stung by bees while I was working. These were the same type of honeybees that built a hive in our house a few years ago. I looked around, but couldn't find any evidence of a hive near the house. I have a healthy respect for these bees. Wasps and hornets will often ignore you, but honeybees almost always sting. There's got to be a beehive nearby. Where there are bees, there is honey.

All this futile manual labor probably explains why I am a writer instead of a carpenter. I've never been fond of sweating or lifting heavy objects. I am pretty good at working with my hands, but only out of necessity. In a perfect world, I would live on the seventeenth floor of a luxury high-rose and never do yard work or home maintenance at all. I would spend my time sharing stories with friends over cappuccino at a friendly coffee bar. Maybe someone would make movies like "My Dinner with Andre" about me.

The dogs don't have such delusions of grandeur. I'm beginning to think they do have delusions about the temperature though. Every morning they bound out of the house as if they're eager to run for five miles. It usually doesn't take them five minutes to discover that it's hot outside and they both decide they want to turn around and go home again. I don't like the heat either, but it's getting harder and harder to get my requisite 10,000 daily steps on the Jawbone UP band with such lazy dogs.

This week has gone very quickly. I guess there's something to be said for staying busy. I'm glad tomorrow is Friday though. I'm really looking forward to my regular breakfast outing. I can't say that adding flax seed to my oatmeal has added much excitement to my life.

Marcie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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