Day 3081

One year ago today, Dot passed away. It's been a long year. Shortly after Dot died, Janet was diagnosed with breast cancer. Then Dash almost died after experiencing a severe vestibular seizure. Later in the year I discovered that my sister also had cancer and Dash had a large blood clot inside his heart that could break apart and travel to his brain at any moment. We're all still here. Janet is doing great and so is Dash. I hope there is a lot less drama in the year ahead. It would be nice to have a year with no life threatening emergencies whatsoever.

The tree trimmers came early this morning. I hadn't even eaten breakfast or walked Dash when I heard the sound of their chain saws. It's sad that the Oak trees are slowing dying. They are very old and we lose a few limbs every year. I hope we can keep the trees as long as we are in the house. The yard would look pretty bare without them. I'm glad the crew was able to remove a large dead limb that was hanging over the house without dropping it on the roof. That would have been a disaster. Luckily, everything went well. I think the trees are safe and secure again for another season. The neighbors didn't even get mad at us today. They don't like it when work crews have to block their driveway.

I'm discovering that it is much more complicated to sell fine art than it is to sell model trains. I was on the phone with several galleries in New York today and there is some initial interest. It appears that I have a fairly discerning eye as a collector. The next step seems to be establishing provenance for the artwork I'm thinking of selling. This might not be easy, since I obtained some of these pieces many, many years ago. If you're the collecting type, be sure to save everything. Model trains without the original boxes were only worth half as much as those where I'd saved the original box and receipts. Artwork without a clear provenance is basically worthless. I save almost everything, but receipts and records from the 1970's might be very hard to find.

I cooked dinner for Janet tonight. It was only spaghetti, but she seemed to like it. I'm always surprised that I'm a pretty decent cook when I put my mind to it. Janet is a superb cook, but neither of us like to spend much time in the kitchen these days. We end up buying "Dinner for Two" at Central Market over and over again. I can see why meal kits like Hello Fresh and Blue Apron are so popular. Nobody really had time to cook anymore.

I still really miss Dot. When Dot and Dash were both young and healthy, life just seemed to make more sense. Dash finally seems to be getting used to being the only dog but I don't think he likes it. Dot was the Alpha dog and Dash looked to her for everything. Even though Dash has become more confident, you can tell that he'd much rather have his sister at his side. I'd much rather have both dogs together again too. They were perfect companions.

You can't bring back the past, but there's always the future. Here's to the future.

Charlie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2729

I'm always amazed at how terrible morning traffic is when I have to drive somewhere during rush hour. This morning's early morning errand was taking Dash to the vet for his triglyceride test. When a dog has to fast for twelve hours, early morning is the way to go. I can't imagine waiting until noon to feed Dash. I'd rather face the traffic than listen to Dash barking in the kitchen all morning. Luckily, everything went smoothly at the vet and we were back home in time for breakfast. Dash was hardly inconvenienced at all. Hopefully, his triglyceride levels are back to normal. We've got a big problem if they aren't.

I forgot to pick up Dash's blood pressure and thyroid medication while I was at the vet, so I had to go back later in the day. When I got home, I thought I'd picked up the wrong meds, but after talking to the pharmacist, we determined that the prescription was correct but the label was wrong. I put the new pills in the old bottle with the correct label and everything was fine. You should always check your meds carefully before you take them. A lot of pills look alike and it's very easy to make a mistake.

As I listened to the news while I drank my fruit smoothie this morning, a felt sad about the level of hate in this country. This wasn't a middle eastern terrorist shooting at congressmen this morning. It was a Bernie Sanders campaign worker. Our politics have become tribal and we're really not that different from the Sunni and Shia anymore. I really never thought I'd see this happen in our country. I wish people would realize that politics isn't worth fighting about. Eight years of George Bush didn't change much. Eight years of Obama didn't change much either. I can't imagine that Trump is going to end up changing very much. Real change doesn't happen over election cycles. It takes generations. When the baby boomers are gone and the millennials take charge, it's not going to matter what political party you belong to. Things will definitely change when my generation is just a memory. They'll probably change a lot.

I was planning on doing some more house cleaning today, but my veterinary errands ended up taking more time than I thought. I'm really not good for more than one task a day anymore. Somehow, whenever I manage to check one thing off my list, the day is gone. There's always tomorrow though. With any luck, I'll accomplish one more thing tomorrow.

The more I read about the August solar eclipse, the more I'm thinking that driving to the totality zone might be a disaster. According to reports, most accommodations in the totality zone are already gone. Enterprising municipalities are now selling spots in high school parking lots for $100 a night. I think your $100 includes access to a porta potty, but maybe not. State highway departments are predicting total gridlock on eclipse day. They say that if you are not exactly where you want to be at least a day ahead of time, you are probably out of luck. I may have to rethink this trip. I hate crowds and one of my worst fears is having car trouble in heavy traffic.

If I can wait seven more years, there is going to be another total eclipse of the sun that comes straight through Dallas. Seven year is a long time when you're old though. I might not even be around by then. It would be nice to see the eclipse this summer. It's just not going to be as easy or trouble free as I thought.

Tomorrow, it will be two weeks since Dot passed away. I still find myself listening for her breathing when I wake up at night. It's weird to only fix one bowl of food for Dash at mealtimes. Life is different now. I'm going to miss that dog for a long, long time.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2720

The rat has vanished. When I went to set the rodent free this morning, it wasn't in the trap. How could this be? The trap was still closed and locked. There were no signs that the rat had tried to chew its way through the heavy wire mesh. The trap looked exactly like it did last night, except there was no rat inside and all the cheese was gone. I was dumbfounded. I still have no idea how the rat escaped, but if it was smart enough to get out of a closed and sealed Havahart trap, it will probably never go near one again. This is very irritating. Now, how am I going to catch this rat?

This morning was way too quiet. This was the first time since Dot passed away that Dash and I were alone in the house, resuming our solitary weekday routine. The house seemed empty and so did I. For the past two years, everything I've done has been centered around Dot. I kept thinking "what do I do now." There was no bucket list and few pent up desires. I tried to take Dash on an extra long walk, but he seemed lost as well. Dot's oncologist had warned me that something like this might happen. "When you invest as much of your time as you have," she told me, "you aren't going to get over this quickly."

Life will never return to normal, because it was never really normal in the first place. I'll adapt though and find new priorities. I always do. I don't think there's any rush. A little floundering around never hurt anybody. I can certainly stay busy cleaning the house for a while. There is a lot of work that needs to be done. I'd like to make sure that Dash feels comfortable. He's a nervous dog who always depended on Dot. It's going to take him a while to regain his confidence. Probably the best thing I could do for Dash is to regain my own confidence as well.

I had one of my periodic meeting with my financial adviser today. For the first time in a long time I wasn't mad at him. We seem to be on the same page again, but I'll be the first to admit that this is always easier to do in a rising market. I've already lived through too many market crashes and feel that I might not have time to recover from another one. We mostly talked about how to preserve what I've got in the event that Armageddon is on the horizon. I don't have a lot of faith in the future, but I still want to beat the odds.

I wish this rain would stop. We've been having thunderstorms almost every day. Dash hates the thunder and lightning and I hate all the mud in the yard. Ordinarily, the landscapers would have replaced all the backyard grass by now, but there are a lot of bills this month, so I'm not in a big hurry to incur any more expenses. I paid my annual homeowners insurance, so that's out of the way, but ever time I start up the car, I see that irritating "Service Required" warning on the dash. How much is that going to cost?

It's a shame that my main writing client has gone dormant. Writing is always a good way to stay busy. Now, the most important thing on my calendar is catching a large rat.

Scooby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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