Day 3037

I'm losing track of the days again. The main thing that make one day different from the next is how Dash is acting. He is totally unpredictable. Last night he slept all night, although I woke up several times in anticipation of his usual need to go outside. He seemed disoriented when he woke up this morning, but returned to normal after about thirty minutes. He seemed in good spirits on our morning walk and then slept most of the day after we returned. When it was time for dinner, he turned his nose up at everything. I couldn't tell if he was feeling nauseous or just being stubborn. I tried all his favorites and he wouldn't eat anything. I left some food in his bowl and went about my business.  About an hour later I noticed that he'd changed his mind and decided the food was OK after all. He wouldn't take an afternoon walk with me, but when Janet came home from work he decided that walking was OK again. I wonder what causes these mood swings? Dogs are supposed to be predictable.

I'm having trouble getting people to return my calls. I'm ready to clean up the back yard and get new St. Augustine grass put in, but the landscaper hasn't called me back. I haven't heard from the roofer either. He sent me an e-mail about a month ago saying he'd take care of things, but that was the last I've heard from him. I did finally get a call from the tree guy, but he just told me that he was in the middle of something and to call him again tomorrow. Eventually, I'll get all these things taken care of,  but nobody seems very excited about my little projects.

I was slightly excited when I the UPS guy delivered the special silicon glue I ordered. I had to order two tubes of this exotic adhesive to meet the company's minimum order requirements and shipping cost $10. I could have found a replacement UP3 fitness band for about the same price. I wonder why I'm so obsessed with fixing things? Oddly, I'm really curious to see whether this glue works.

We encountered a bunch of Great Egrets along the shoreline this morning. I wanted to get closer so I could take a good picture, but Dash wasn't interested. Dash is not interested in birds at all. I always carry a small pocket camera with a 30x zoom but the pictures often leave a lot to be desired. I never take a good camera while I'm walking Dash. Dash is a great companion, but he's a terrible photo assistant. It's easier to just concentrate on walking.

I watched another Space X launch on my computer this afternoon. These guys are really getting good at this stuff. Today's payload was a telescope that will look for planets orbiting other nearby stars. I wonder whether humans will eventually reach the stars or just become extinct after we ruin our own planet. It's a toss up.

Mattie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2850

It was a fairly benign Friday the 13. Nothing really bad happened. I didn't tempt fate though. I didn't climb up on the roof today or attempt to remove wasp nests. All I wanted was a quiet, peaceful day where nothing went wrong.

It's often hard to tell if something is wrong with Dash, or if he's just being stubborn. Today he refused to take a morning walk, even though the weather was nice and he ate all his breakfast. I don't try to force him to walk because so many thing are wrong with him now. Maybe he was feeling weak due to his heart condition. Maybe his leg hurt. It's hard to tell with Dash. He's often reluctant to leave the house, but once he arrives in the park, he has a great time smelling every bush along his path. I wish I knew whether he was in a mood to walk before I spend ten minutes getting him suited up in his protective gear. I initially thought he might be reluctant to walk because he didn't want to wear the knee brace. He walks just fine wearing the brace though. When he's in a good mood, he's not even aware he's wearing it.

I try to give Dash a pass for his occasional moodiness, because I can feel the same way myself. Some mornings I'm really eager to go out for breakfast on Fridays, and other mornings nothing interests me at all. Today I mostly went out because there was nothing in the refrigerator that didn't require a lot of preparation. If we still had peaches and strawberries, I probably would have just stayed home and made a smoothie.

When I returned from breakfast and grocery shopping for tonight's dinner, I got started on repairing Dash protective boots. I cut several pieces out of the rubber tire patch material and then glued them in place using the Shoe Goo that I purchased the other day. I debated whether to use rubber cement or the Shoe Goo and decided that the Shoe Goo would last longer. If this doesn't work, I'll use the rubber cement next time. The flexible cement has to cure for 24 hours, so we'll try the boots out tomorrow. If the repair seems to be holding up after a few walks, I'll repair the other boots Dash has already ruined.

I actually had a website problem to solve today. Sadly, the problem isn't actually solved yet, but at least I got the process started. I remember a time when you could call technical support and resolve fairly complex problems on the spot. Most of those knowledgable people have disappeared. Now, it's rare to talk with anyone who can actually code or solve IT problems. The friendly guy I talked with today just took down my information and said he'd pass it on to his supervisor. He didn't have a clue how to fix problems with forms and databases.

Dash walked just fine this evening. I think he just wants the whole family to walk with him. I don't know what we're going to do when Daylight Savings Time begins and it gets dark an hour earlier. It's already sunset when Janet returns from work. Life was so much easier for Dash when Dot was alive. She was always the alpha dog who showed Dash how to behave. Now, he just seems lost.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2809

If I wind up in hell, I'll probably be fixing a leaking roof for eternity. This is the worst job. It's messy. You get stung by wasps and bitten by fire ants. It's almost impossible to tell if your repairs are any good until it rains again. Worst of all, if you get too tired, there is always the danger of falling off the roof. I'll really be glad when I'm finished with this little project. No matter how careful I am, I always wind up with the sticky silicon coating on my hands and clothing. I try to wear the oldest, most threadbare pants I can find, because if I spill the elastomer coating on them, I pretty much have to throw them away.

The area I patched a few days ago has cured and seems to have bonded well to the roof. Today it was time for round two. When I started this project, I thought I'd just need to re-coat the fairly small areas that had worn bare. Now I'm realizing that the damage extends much further, because water has gotten under the coating and caused it to delaminate. I'm going to have to go buy some more paint rollers. You can't clean the rollers after you use them to spread the material. Maybe the roofers have a way to clean their tools, but it probably involves some dangerous solvent that I don't want around the house. It's much easier to just throw the paint rollers away. I want to finish this project before the oak leaves start falling. Already some leaves are starting to fall off the elm tree and when they land in the wet elastomer, they are there permanently. On a more positive note, when the coating cures properly, it seems to be impervious to water. If they'd put this stuff on in the roof in the first place, I wouldn't be having the problems I'm having today.

The place I got gas yesterday was empty today. So was the Chevron station where I saw the gasoline tanker yesterday. Evidently it didn't take long to empty the place out again. A few stations actually are being replenished with gas. There just doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to the process. Most stations were still empty today, but I did see one station with a line of cars at the pumps. They say Quick Trip stations are more likely to have gas, since they get their supplies from Oklahoma instead of South Texas. I wonder how long this shortage will last? Contrary so what some in the media are saying, this isn't a one day event. I did learn something from all this. My car runs a lot better on regular gas than I thought. The owners manual says to never use regular gas, but so far I can't tell any difference.

It's time to mow the grass again. I usually only mow when my neighbors mow their grass. Yard shaming is actually fairly effective. If I mow the grass, I won't have the energy to go up on the roof again. That's just as well. It really takes two days for the patches to cure anyway. The only reason to hurry on the roof repairs is if there was rain on the horizon. I think we're looking good. The completely inaccurate weather app on my phone says there will be clear skies for at least a week.

I wonder why Dash is so moody in the evenings now. This is something new. He barks at me while I'm writing the blog and if I don't stop what I'm doing and pay attention to him, he starts knocking books off low shelves with his paws. I always get up and see if he needs to go outside and pee, but usually he heads straight for the kitchen. The little shit just wants more food.

I got another jury summons in the mail. I guess I'll postpone this one too. I just don't feel up to dealing with jury duty now.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2807

Dallas is out of gas. No, there isn't a fuel shortage. Everyone just panicked and decided to fill their tank at the same time. The gas lines were unreal today. I haven't seen anything like this since the 1970's. I still had plenty of gas in my tank, but eventually succumbed to the panic myself. I figured that if so many people were waiting in long lines for gas, they all must know something I don't. The first line I joined ran out of gas right as I approached the pump. I had waited thirty minutes for nothing. I tried one more time and this time all the station had left when I approached the pump was diesel. I gave up at this point and came home. I don't drive very much and could probably make my remaining gas last three weeks if I had to. If gas still isn't readily available in three weeks, I'll just have to assume that the zombie apocalypse has started. They say that if everyone had continued filling their tanks the way they normally do, there would have been no lines at all today. This was all just a Facebook induced panic. One of our local TV stations kind of stirred the pot last night as well.

Since it wasn't a very auspicious day to be driving around town running errands, I decided to get started on my roof repairs. I didn't get off to a good start. The can of sealer the roofers gave me was way too heavy for me to lift up on the roof. I couldn't even pull the container up with a rope. I made a big mess in the driveway transferring the sticky liquid from the five gallon drum to smaller one gallon paint cans. When I cleaned and prepared the damaged areas, I discovered that the problem was worse than I thought. Water had entered through the bad spots and seeped under the good spots. Large sections of the coating that I thought were OK, just peeled away when I pulled on it. I sealed about a 25 square foot area, but this is just the beginning. I don't think I have enough of the elastomer on hand to complete the repairs. I'm not even sure that the sealer I applied today will work. I called the roofer and asked him to come out again. I think this repair is way beyond my pay grade.

I need to take Janet to Baylor for some more tests tomorrow and was planning on running a few errands on the way home. I don't think I'll be getting in any more gas lines though. If tomorrow is anything like today, you could run out of gas just looking for gas. I'll wait until the tanker trucks return. When gas is available again I bet there won't be any lines at all. Everyone in town already has a full tank.

I dread going up on the roof tomorrow. There is so much more that needs to be done and until my first set of patches have fully dried, I won't know whether they are firmly adhered to the substrate. I've got enough of the elastomer material to make quite a few patches, but I'm afraid that this is just a temporary solution. What I really need is a new roof.

Dash has been very moody this week. He doesn't want to eat at the regular time. He turns up his nose at his regular food. Lately, he's been stealing my place on the bed at night. I wish he understood that life is so much easier when he's a good dog. The problems are minor and usually they get resolved. I'd just like a day without any problems though. That would be nice.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2758

My doctor thinks I'm making good progress. There are no signs of infection. The swelling in my left leg is starting to subside. I'm even starting to be able to move my wrist again. My problem now is patience, or more accurately, a lack of patience. The healing process is so slow that it's driving me nuts. I'm still supposed to sleep with my feet elevated for another week and my doctor says it's too early to start walking again. I wish someone had told me to keep weight off my legs in the very beginning. I probably didn't help myself by walking as much as I did right after the injury.

Janet got a good report after her own doctor visit today as well. We are both doing everything we should and are on a trajectory to return to normal one of these days. You don't really realize how critical staying healthy is to a normal life until you're not healthy. So many little day-to-day necessities get thrown off track when all you can do is rest. I certainly couldn't have cared for Dot the way I did unless I was very healthy. I wonder sometimes if Dot might have known what was in the future for Janet and I. They say that dogs can smell cancer sometimes. Dot was very old and very tired at the end, but it was almost as if she made her final exit at the perfect time just to avoid being an extra burden for Janet and I now.

I just hope that Dash will stay healthy until we both get well. We've always known that Dash's vestibular disease could return at any time. He has seemed very agitated for the past two days and occasionally that is a precursor to further seizures. Dash has always been a moody dog and is used to an active lifestyle, so hopefully he is just irritated at Janet and I for spending all our time sleeping. It's ironic that this would bother him at all, since that's what he does most of the time. I do know that dogs like a fixed and regular routine and our routine has been temporarily broken. "Be patient, little buddy," I try to tell him. We'll be back to normal soon.

The doctor talked me into doing a bone density scan while I was visiting about the dog bite today. My bone density is declining, although it is still pretty average for my sex and age. I asked if I should start taking more calcium and he gave me an ambiguous answer. "Too little calcium is bad, and too much calcium is bad," he said. He asked whether I used dairy products and I told him that I loved cheese. Basically, it is hard to tell if you are getting the right amount of calcium to keep your bones strong as you age. Walking is good though. I'll be glad when I can get back to taking long walks.

Our air conditioner quit working for a while this afternoon and Janet and I immediately went into a panic. The last thing we need right now is a hot and humid house while we are both still wearing bandages. Luckily, the air is back on now, so we dodged a bullet. Sometimes in weather like this, the coil can freeze and it will shut the system down until the coil thaws out and the system stabilizes. I'm not sure if this is what happened, but it's happened before. I just shut the AC off for ten minutes and then turned it back on again. This seems to be the universal solution for everything these days. I turn the network router off and on again several times a week when the U-verse TV freezes or goes out.

I don't know whether I'll go out for breakfast tomorrow morning or not. I can drive again, but I'm just not very hungry. All I really want to do right now is get back on my feet again.

Watson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2747

I had to go to Walmart today to pick up something for Janet. It was just as bad as I'd imagined. Sam Walton would roll over in his grave if he could see what his stores have become. To save time, I found the location of the item I was looking for on the Internet. I kept asking employees where aisle N30 was and none of them even knew that the huge store had aisle numbers. I then tried describing the item and was sent to opposite ends of the store by two different employees. Some of the employees didn't speak English. They didn't speak Spanish either. Maybe this store wasn't typical. I sure hope it wasn't.

I was pleased that I'd finished a major computer upgrade without any problems and then Dreamweaver crashed this morning. I knew it was all too good to be true. Since I use Dreamweaver all the time, this wasn't good news. The program would launch and then immediately crash as soon as the welcome screen appeared. Everything was fine three days ago, but I have been upgrading a lot of software lately. Somehow Dreamweaver had gotten corrupted. I tried to reinstall the program but it kept asking for a serial number I lost years ago. I tried to get Adobe to send me the serial number, but they just directed me to password protected user website. Did I have the password to login? Of course not.

Eventually I managed to get the website I was working on updated by dragging files from one computer to another. The new photos were on one computer, the HTML files were on another, and my only working FTP program was on a third. Remind me to never upgrade software again. For me it's always like open up a Pandora's Box of problems. It took me hours to retrieve lost passwords and serial numbers, delete the corrupted software and start over again. I finally got a copy of Dreamweaver working, but in the process, I'd lost most of the passwords to the sites I manage. If one program had to crash, this was definitely the worst one.

Dash didn't want to walk this morning and didn't want to eat his breakfast either. It was hard to tell whether he was sick or just being moody. Eventually, he decided he needed to pee. I quickly put a leash on him and out the back gate we went. We took a normal, uneventful walk and when we got home he ate his breakfast. It's all about timing with Dash. If he won't do something, I just try again an hour later. I thought he'd want to walk real early when it was nice and cool outside, but apparently he had other ideas.

When I finished mowing the grass and running errands for Janet, I didn't feel like going to the gym. I felt I'd had enough exercise for one day. After spilling laundry detergent on the utility room floor this morning and dealing with a major software crash, I didn't even feel like mowing the grass. There was little point in postponing the chore. I knew I wouldn't feel like mowing the grass tomorrow either.

Today was tiring. I think software disasters are much harder to deal with than physical chores like mowing the grass. It took all the ingenuity I had left to get today's websites updated without using Dreamweaver. Only time will tell whether I repaired everything correctly. I hope none of today's problems re-appear tomorrow. If I wake up and Dash eats his breakfast, we're off to a good start.

Bud is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2730

I tend to procrastinate. Usually I can find a good reason. I've been postponing getting my passport renewed because there's really no place I want to go. I've been postponing going to the doctor because I'm tired of hearing that most of my problems are the inevitable result of aging. I postpone cleaning as long as I can because it's just going to get dirty again.

I think I've postponed cleaning under and behind all the furniture as long as we've owned the house. My theory about dust is if you can't see it, it doesn't exist. Now that Janet's doctors have decreed that it is essential to have a clean house, I have to make up for lost time. I know I said that I cleaned under the bed the other day, but I really just cleaned around all the photo equipment that has been sitting under there for decades. Today, I pulled out all the dusty flight cases and canvas bags full of backdrops, tripods, strobe lights, and light stands. It was time for an honest cleaning job. Most of the canvas bags were coated with a thick layer of dog hair. All our dogs have slept on the bed and I think there was hair from every dog we've ever had. I vacuumed and scrubbed each bag, dusted each case, and then gave the carpet a complete cleaning. The dust from the small area under the bed filled the entire Dyson canister. I hope I don't have to do this again anytime soon. The low platform bed is too heavy to move and my aching joints aren't very nimble anymore. You really have to be a contortionist to clean under this bed.

I wish I'd left the guitars under the bed. When my photo gear began to accumulate, I move the guitars somewhere else many years ago and put my photo gear under the bed where it would be easier to access. Unfortunately, I put the guitars in a closet where the humidity was too high and ruined a rare Vox Mark VI from the 1960's. If only I'd known about dehumidifiers back then. Live and learn is my motto, but sometimes I don't learn quickly enough.

I don't know what to do about Dash. Yesterday he was fine. Today, he's back to being moody again and was reluctant to take a walk. He didn't even want to go outside this afternoon until Janet came home from work. When we both took a walk together with him, he was fine. The only thing Dash wants to do with me during the day is eat and nap. If I get on the bed with him, he will immediately curl up to me and seems happy. When I try to take him out in the yard to play or go on a walk, he has no interest. I'm sure this all has something to do with Dot being gone, but there is very little I can do about it.

I'm planning on going out to breakfast again tomorrow morning. There's no reason to stay home. If I was really industrious, I'd go down to the passport office when it first opens and beat the long lines. Like I said, there no place I want to go though, so this can wait a while. One thing that can't wait much longer is treating the yard for mosquitoes. I can't go outside for two minutes without getting bitten. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. I'm determined to get one thing checked off my to-do list. Two things might be a little ambitious.

Shadow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2721

I'm sleeping longer now. I guess that's a good thing. I wish the extra sleep left me filled with energy and motivation, but that's not the case. I'm still kind of floundering around and searching for a direction. Fortunately, I'm so slow these days that it's not hard to fill up the day even with no plan whatsoever.

I've determined that the rat is still in the atrium. I haven't seen him since he escaped from the trap, but I know he's there. I placed several pieces of cheese outside the trap last night and they were gone in the morning. The rat avoided the larger piece of cheese inside the trap though. I think I'm dealing with a smart rat. I purchased some old fashioned rat traps that will kill the rat, but I am reluctant to use them. I'll give him one more chance. I added a big scoop of peanut butter to the bait in hopes of enticing him inside. I wish this rat knew that I had his best interests in mind. If he would just go inside the trap again, I'll take him down to the park in the morning.

Recently, I remember someone posting "Do you remember when Bluehost didn't suck" on Facebook. I laughed because I did remember. Bluehost used to be a great web hosting company. I recommended them to many of my clients. Unfortunately, things have changed. I don't know what happened. Maybe someone else bought the company. At any rate, calling technical support is a nightmare these days. You have to wait on hold forever and when someone finally picks up the phone, they don't know anything and always have to talk to their supervisor. I had a problem today and it drove me crazy trying to get a simple answer from the tech support people. I wanted to hang up on them several times but I knew that I'd be sitting on hold for another twenty minutes if I tried to start over. After spending an hour on the phone, I still didn't receive an answer to my question.

I wish I could get Dash to take long walks again. I think it would be good for both of us. He wants to stick close to home though. I've been having trouble getting him to walk all week. I noticed he was panting a bit this morning and it was still cool outside. This worried me a bit. We've known for a long time that Dash has an enlarged heart and a bit of a heart murmur. He's got to go to the vet to check his triglycerides again soon and I'll have the vet look at his heart. It's always hard to tell if Dash has a medical problem or is just being moody.

I'll try to cut Dash some slack because I'm feeling a bit moody myself. Hopefully, this will pass. I certainly didn't accomplish much today. I paid a few bills and took them to the post office. I picked up a bottle of rubbing alcohol at CVS and bought a couple of pair of anklet socks. I used to hate the idea of anklet socks, but they do make sense in the summer.

The sun has finally returned and the yard is drying out. Maybe I'll figure out how to use the new pressure washer tomorrow. There is certainly a lot that needs to be cleaned. I hope there is a rat in my trap in the morning. I'm not looking forward to resorting to Plan B.

Wendy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2652

We got lucky. There was a horrendous storm last night with 70 mile per hour straight line winds. Our power was out for about five hours, but the electricity was restored around breakfast time so we hardly even noticed the outage. At some point during the storm I heard the heavy thump of a tree limb hitting the roof, but when I looked this morning there was no damage. The limb was small enough that I was able to remove it without much difficulty. For the most part, Dot and Dash slept through the storm, so we didn't have the usual thunder and lightning issues.

I didn't really realize how bad the storm was until we took our morning walk. There were dozens of large trees that had been blown over in the park. Some looked like a giant had pulled them out of the ground by their roots.  There were sticks and twigs everywhere. Some of the tree limbs were in fields where there were no trees, so the wind must have blown them there. Even the birdhouses for the Purple Martins had been blown over.

When I turned on the television I saw that entire houses had been demolished in some parts of town. Thousands of people were without power this morning. Often our electricity is the last to be restored after a major power outage, but this time it looked like they got to us first. As I said, we got lucky last night.

I really need to remember to always keep all my devices charged. My first thought when the power went out was that I hadn't charged my phone or laptop. When the company was busy and I had lots of deadlines, having a working computer available at all times was a top priority. Now the computers aren't as much of an issue. What I worry about these days is losing the washing machine. A day without a washing machine with Dot peeing all over the place would be a disaster.

The refrigerator was looking kind of empty, so I went back to Central Market and got another one of those bowls for dinner. These tasty one-dish meals are great. It would be difficult to make something like this myself. The shredded beef was braised in soy sauce. The kale and mushrooms were roasted and had kind of a smoky flavor. The carrots and cucumbers appeared to be marinated. Even the barley that everything was piled on top of was delicious. I'm not even going to pretend to cook things anymore. It's so much easier and fun to buy something like this.

Dot had a good day, but Dash was moody again. The first two times I tried to walk him this afternoon, he wouldn't leave the back yard. I gave up and walked Dot instead. After dinner this evening, Dash decided that he wanted to walk after all and we had a nice sunset stroll. I have no idea what goes through this dog's mind. Why would he refuse to walk at 4 PM, but be eager to walk at sunset? I have to stay flexible because Dot is not very predictable either. Some days she wants to walk first. Other days she is tired and doesn't want to walk at all.

I hope the nasty weather is over for a while. I know we'll have more storms, because Spring is all about stormy weather here in Texas. I'm glad I had the trees trimmed a few weeks ago, because I'm sure that some of the limbs they trimmed would have fallen last night. Actually, I need to get the tree guy to come back. I saw several more dead limbs when I was up on the roof this morning.

I need to get the water off the roof tomorrow. The car is dirty and the grass needs to be mowed as well. I guess it all depends on how well I sleep tonight.

Elliot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2585

I keep forgetting what day it is. There certainly isn't much to distinguish one day from the next. I know you're tired of hearing about dog walks, dietary quirks, and disappearing clients, but those are the most interesting parts of the day. Maybe you'd rather hear about my efforts to unclog a slow shower drain, or lubricate a sticking sliding glass door. There are days when I feel like the king of a kingdom that's in ruins. Why is everything falling apart? The house could use a new coat of paint. The large trees in the back yard are nearing the end of their natural life. The warranty on my car will run out this Summer. My passport is about to expire. There are so many things that need attention, but I've used all my energy on caring for the dogs.

Everybody knows about Dot's problems, but Dash is getting old too. He has trouble getting in the car now. Last week I noticed that he was having difficulty hopping up in the bed. Occasionally, he sleeps on the floor with Dot. Sadly, his years of running and jumping are almost over. When our first Dalmatian began having problems with his rear legs, I had a special step made to help him get in the bed at night. I went to the storage warehouse and got this step for Dash today. Sooner or later, all our dogs have ended up using it. I'm glad that Dot finally accepted sleeping on the floor next to me. The step helped her for a while, but she is way beyond that now. Trust me, you don't want an incontinent dog sleeping in your bed.

I ran five cleaning cycles after I installed the new ink cartridges that arrived for my printer yesterday, but the printer is still clogged. The folks at Epson are evil geniuses for using expensive ink to clean their printers. They could give the printers away for free and still make a ton of money. I've easily spent more on ink than I spent on the printer in the first place. It costs over $400 to fill this printer with ink and I'm convinced that over half of it is used to continually unclog the lines that carry the ink from the cartridges to the print head. Some of my designer friends have thrown their large printers away and just use online print services when they need to print something large. This makes a lot of sense, but like I've told you many times, I have trouble throwing things away.

A life where everything is falling apart wears you out. It breaks my heart to see Dot falling apart. The house can be fixed, but there is no remedy for old age. I'm really hoping that Dash stays reasonably healthy while Dot is still with us. Dealing with two dogs who can't walk at the same time might be too much. I'm so tired of dealing with things that break. The shower drain flows freely now, but I'm sure it will clog again. The sliding glass door in the living room opens now, but every year the house settles a little more. Eventually. the whole thing will need to be replaced. Every time I do a load of laundry, I wonder if this is the day the washing machine will give up the ghost. The last time I got a new washer and dryer, it was hard to find something that would fit in our small utility room. It will probably be even harder now. Furniture and appliances keep getting bigger and bigger.

If I take Dot outside every three hours, she doesn't pee in the house anymore. Maybe the Incurin is working. We still have problems making it all the way through the night, but this is a definite improvement.  We still have a week to go before the loading dose period is over, so there's a chance that this restart will succeed. I'm not sure where the big victories are going to come from anymore, so I relish the little ones. Today's victory was getting Dash to walk in the afternoon again. He's been refusing to take his afternoon walk for three days now. I finally figured out what was wrong. He was mad that I was walking Dot first. The little shit was just being moody. When I walked him first this afternoon, all was fine.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day