Day 3383

Go home Texas weather, you're drunk. I had just about convinced myself that Spring was here and then I wake up this morning to hear the furnace running again. Winter has returned. It was cold and windy when I walked Dash, which was fine with him. He was still slow and forgetful, but the cold seemed to invigorate him and he was determined to explore new paths. We followed a coyote trail this morning which is never a good idea. It wasn't raining, but the ground was damp. By the time we returned, Dash was dirty and his protective boots were wet. So were mine.

Dash didn't want to take his pills this morning. He kept rejecting all the usual treats we use as pill pockets. He didn't like ham. He didn't like cheese. He didn't like turkey. Eventually, he took the pills in some leftover Jimmy Dean sausage. I could always pill Dot by placing pills directly down her throat when it became necessary. This doesn't work with Dash. He tries to bite you and if you do manage to get the pill down, he gags and tries to throw it up. As always, all's well that ends well. Once Dash decided to take his meds, the rest of the day went smoothly.

I had to get a bunch of things at Sam's Club today. They completely rearranged the store this week. Every single aisle had been moved and nobody could find anything. All the customers kept asking employees where things were, buy nobody seemed to know. It was as if somebody had come in during the middle of the night and reinvented the store. Even the brands on the shelves had changed. To make matters worse, the app I use to bypass the checkout line had been discontinued and I was forced to download the replacement app in the store. Of course I couldn't remember my passwords and I had to start over from scratch. The old app was simple and just recorded your transactions. The new app was complicated, played ads while I was shopping, and tried to get me to buy things I didn't want. Jeez. Who thought this was a good idea? I was so disgusted by this display of corporate hubris that I completely forgot to go to Kroger and finish my shopping on the way home. I'll have to go back and get peaches tomorrow.

I'd forgotten over the years that Blogger and Google+ have always shared a lot of functionality since the are both owned by Google. I've been getting warnings for several weeks that I need to remove any shared profiles and widgets from the blog before April 2 or they would just disappear. I clicked the "return to Blogger profile" button this morning without realizing that I never had a Blogger profile in the first place. Suddenly my blog description was blank and there was no way to return to the Google+ profile to see what I had written. I had to write a new profile from scratch. I briefly wondered why I was even doing this. Very few people read the blog anymore. Blogging has become passé. I think the cool people have moved on to podcasts now. The popularity of blogging peaked quite a few years ago.

When I was walking Dash this afternoon, one of his rubber boots and a sock came off. This is the equivalent of having a flat tire in your car. I needed to replace the boot so Dash's paw wouldn't bleed, but Dash wasn't being very cooperative. I couldn't hold him up and replace the boot and sock at the same time, so I had to get him to lie down in the grass. The grass was wet and Dash wasn't pleased. I eventually got the boot back on, but when I got home I noticed that it was inside out. I'm glad this doesn't happen very often.

I hope it is warmer tomorrow. Flowers are blooming. Trees are turning green. It is supposed to be Spring.

Sparky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3347

I didn't go out for breakfast this morning. It took me way too long to get organized. Dash was out of sorts when he woke up and wouldn't take his morning meds. We tried hiding the food in ham, turkey, canned dog food and even cake. Nothing worked. I thought that maybe he'd be hungry after a walk, so we suited him up and off we went. It wasn't raining yet, but it was so foggy that my jacket was wet when we returned. Dash seemed to like the weather, but he still wasn't hungry when we got back to the house.

The pills Dash takes are essential, so I knew I wasn't going anywhere. One way or another, he needed to take his meds. I fixed myself an omelet while Dash took a nap. I added some ham, sausage, and smoked Gouda cheese to the eggs and the result was delicious. The smell enticed Dash to the kitchen and this time he was ready to take his pills. I rolled each pill in a small slice of the same ham I'd used for my omelet. Mission accomplished.

Dash didn't poop in the house this morning and it made me nervous. I heard his stomach rumbling while we were walking in the park and I kept expecting the volcano to blow. Dash always poops a lot in the morning. Today was different. He peed in the bed instead. By the time I finished cleaning up, doing the laundry, and washing the breakfast dishes, it was noon. I didn't mind. It was raining outside anyway and there was no place I wanted to go. My omelet tasted better than a restaurant omelet anyway.

After breakfast, I watched a webinar from one of the large auction houses about how to sell your collection. I learned a lot, but it was a little late. I've already sold or consigned most of my collection. The whole presentation seemed to be directed at people who have inherited art and don't know what to do with it. Maybe that's where most of the art at auction comes from. I can see how this happens, but hopefully I can unwind my collections and clean up my mess before I die. If you've ever had to deal with settling an estate, you quickly realize that it's not a pleasant task. Your heirs will enjoy getting a check someday. They probably won't enjoy sorting through a huge pile of your junk.

Dash seemed exceptionally tired today. He spent most of the day sleeping. When this happens, I worry that his walks are wearing him out. I always let Dash set the pace and we walk very slowly, but maybe even this mild exercise has become too much for him. He really enjoyed his walk this morning, but when we returned home, he seemed exhausted. There are no easy answers about aging. I wish Dash could talk so he could tell me whether I was walking for him, or if he was walking for me. I'm just guessing that Dash loves these daily walks. He seems to enjoy walking, but what if all his joints hurt and he's just walking to please me?

I was happy to see the Dow close above 26,000 today. I'd have been even happier if I'd seen the sun.  It was such a dismal day that all I could find to photograph was an ugly weed with water drops on it. Who knows. Maybe the weekend will be nice. As long as I'm wishing, maybe Dash will be stronger tomorrow as well. Maybe I'll even get some sleep.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3338

I knew it was going to be a long day when Dash refused to pee before he went to bed last night. I wish he'd plan ahead. Sure enough, he got me up to go outside around 3 AM and then I woke up twice more to change out puppy pads when he pooped in his sleep. When I finally woke up this morning, the sun was up and Janet had already left for the gym.

Taking care of Dash is definitely a team effort. It always takes a lot longer to get him ready for the day when I'm on my own. Dash would look like he was sound asleep until I left to do something in another room and then almost immediately I could hear him struggling to get up. He never wanted to be in the same room I was in. When I was trying to make the bed, he wanted to be in the kitchen. When I was in the kitchen, he wanted to go back to the bedroom.

Eventually I got him to take him morning pills by making little ham roll ups that I fed to him one by one while he was laying in his kitchen dog bed. He had no interest in eating his breakfast and definitely didn't have enough energy for a morning walk. He slept for most of the morning. This behavior used to alarm me, but I was almost certain that he'd be fine in a few hours. Sure enough, he perked up about five minutes before Janet came home. He was standing on his own and waiting at the front door when she arrived and I don't think Janet even believed that I'd had trouble with him earlier.

Dash seemed like a different dog when we took our morning walk around noon. It's still a mystery how he can go from seeming half dead to wanting a walk in the park in just a few hours. We had a nice walk and for the rest of the day, Dash seemed fine. Maybe he's just conserving his energy for the things he likes. Makes sense to me. I'd conserve my energy for the things I liked too, if I could just figure out what I liked.

I made one short excursion to pick up a new supply of Plavix for Dash, but that was about it. The rest of the day was spent just dealing with the basics. It's amazing how long it can take to make the bed when it's covered with protective material to keep your dog from ruining the mattress. It also takes a long time to do the laundry when there is always something soiled. I usually have the TV on during the day, but I don't have the attention span to watch a movie and I'm totally fed up with political news. There ought to be a channel that has nothing but dog rescues, weird weather stories, and updates from NASA. I'd watch that.

I did watch a press conference where the Opportunity Rover team officially called an end to to the little rover's mission. Kind of sad. Hard to believe that it's been fifteen years since I learned that Opportunity and its companion Spirit had both successfully landed on the red planet. I watched the landing on the same computer I'm using now. I'm amazed that Opportunity remained functional that long without regular trips back to the dealership for repairs. Even my computer has been repaired several times during the past 15 years. It's pretty clear that Land Rover could never make a Mars rover. I've never had a car that lasted fifteen years and I don't even drive very much.

I hope I can convince Dash to do his business before he goes to bed tonight. When Dash sleeps well, I sleep well.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3336

Dash had no desire to get up this morning. Neither did I, but I knew I had a limited time to get him outside to pee before he wet the bed. I finally managed to get him out of bed, but as soon as he went outside and did his business, he headed straight back to the bedroom. He knew it was a rainy day and he wasn't going anywhere. Since I couldn't make the bed with Dash in it, I went to the kitchen and fixed my smoothie instead. I thought Dash would follow me to the kitchen, since he's always interested in food. He didn't budge. He has to take his morning meds on a regular schedule, so I took the pills and some sliced ham back to the bedroom with me. I rolled each pill in a small slice of ham and fed them to him one by one while he was lying in bed. The fact that he took the pills let me know that he was just being lazy. I suspect that he knew that Janet had already left for the morning and he could get away with anything with me.

Usually Dash poops right after he's taken his morning pills, so I was reluctant to leave him unattended for very long. I kept checking on him every few minutes as I was having my own breakfast and luckily I managed to catch him just as he was getting ready to poop. I quickly slid a puppy pad under him and made the save. No mess this time.

When I finished my smoothie, I went up on the roof and made sure the pumps were working before the heavy rain I saw on the radar arrived. These pumps help keep the water level on the roof from getting too high when it rains, but they are finicky and always seem to get clogged at the worst possible time. Luckily, I was able to get both pumps working today.

Dash's morning walk didn't take place until noon today, but at least he still got one. There was a light drizzle, but we didn't get too wet. After Dash's exceedingly lethargic morning, I thought that he wouldn't even want a walk. I was wrong. These slow, stumbling, and often aimless walks are the high point of his day.

Janet added me to her Costco membership last month, so we went to the store after lunch so I could get my membership card. Their card printer was broken, so I'll have to go back later. I'd never been to a Costco before. This one seemed like a giant Sam's Club with a more upscale suburban customer base. It was a little bit overwhelming. I'll probably continue going to Sam's.

Today's rain was strong enough to be a legitimate test of the roof repairs. Fingers crossed. I will be watching the ceiling very carefully for the next few days looking for signs of moisture. I've learned that the water doesn't always appear immediately. Sometimes it can take quite a while to find it's way inside.

I actually got a decent amount of sleep last night. Hey, lets go for two day in a row. There's still a lot of catching up to do. All I seem to think about these days is sleep and food. Of course I think about water on the roof and dog poop too, but you get my point. Life has become very simple. I suspect that life was always pretty simple. I just didn't realize it when I was younger.

Lady Gogh is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day