Day 2440

I was going to take Janet out for a birthday dinner this evening, but there was a horrendous rainstorm and both dogs were freaking out. We canceled our dinner and huddled with the dogs until the storm blew over. You really don't have a lot of flexibility with storm phobic dogs. Dot and Dash get so upset that they could easily injure themselves. Since Dot is already injured, there isn't much margin for error. I learned my lesson about Dalmatians and thunderstorms with an earlier dog we had. We came home after a surprise thunderstorm to discover overturned furniture and a big hole in the bedroom carpet where Petey had apparently tried to dig an emergency storm shelter. He dug completely through the carpet, the carpet pad, and the plywood sub-floor. When the weather's bad, it's much easier to just stay home.

I felt bad about canceling dinner, since Janet thinks I never do anything fun anymore and seldom leave the house. Some things can't be helped though. We'll go out for a nice dinner when the sun returns. I wish Dot and Dash were a little calmer when it rains, but that's just the way it is. Back in the days when the roof used to leak, I was probably just as bad are they are.

With the exception of the bad weather, the day was pretty uneventful. When I went out for breakfast this morning, there were two huge trucks in the parking lot, apparently transferring sewage from one truck to another. I took a gamble that the restaurant's air condition system would filter out the smell and went inside for breakfast anyway. Throughout my meal, I kept thinking that the smell was seeping through the walls, but I was probably just imagining things. I still have no idea why the trucks were there or what their smelly cargo really contained.

It's been so wet lately that mushrooms are cropping up everywhere. They're in the yard and they're in the park. Some of the mushrooms are pretty, but I have no idea which ones are poisonous. I do my best to keep the dogs away room all of them. I have enough trouble keeping Dash from stepping on broken glass or getting stung by a bee. The last thing I need to worry about is whether he's been eating mushrooms.

My credit card bills were lower this month. It's a start. I've been trying to cut back on spending to compensate for my paltry income, but the exercise hasn't been easy. I'd still rather go buy something than read a book. I saw an article the other day about how important it was for older people to begin downsizing and simplifying their lives before they become senile. It was disheartening to realize they were talking about me.

Hopefully, the weather will improve this weekend. The dogs aren't calm on a normal day and it's even worse when they've got cabin fever.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2054

I repaired something fairly complex today by watching a YouTube video. I set my laptop next to the project and every time the guy on the tape said to unscrew a certain bolt or grab a wrench, I would pause the video and do that step exactly the way he said. The whole process took about 45 minutes and worked like a charm. I'm going to start looking for YouTube videos every time I need to fix something. Watching someone else repair the exact same thing you're trying to fix is so much easier to understand than reading poorly written instruction manuals, or my time honored method, taking something apart without following any instructions at all. I think Ikea should include an assembly video with everything they sell. Trying to assemble something using those cryptic numbered drawings Ikea uses to avoid translating the instructions into forty different languages can be maddening. At any rate, YouTube has become my go-to source for learning things these days. I've managed to find detailed instructions on everything from designing mobile websites to fixing the refrigerator.

As I suspected, it was a slow day, so I went out and bought a pair of shorts and some new shoes at an end-of-Sumner sale. I didn't really need any new clothes, but 70% off is hard to resist. I don't think Summer is ending any time soon in Dallas, so I ought to get a lot of use out of these bargains. I also picked up some groceries for the weekend while I was out and about. No bargains here, but I always find it easy to rationalize purchasing the tasty things I find at Whole Foods and Central Market.

Maybe I'm watering the lawn too much, because I'm starting to see mushrooms growing in the back yard again. I always try to remove these as soon as possible, since I don't know my mushrooms well enough to recognize the ones that could be harmful to the dogs. Dot probably wouldn't eat mushrooms, but Dash would. He'll eat just about anything under the right circumstances. If mushrooms are an indication that the yard is too wet, the frogs that appeared out of nowhere to get under the sprinkler while I was watering shrubs this morning, are an indication that things are too dry. I'm never sure what to do about the lawn. I try, but I definitely don't have a green thumb.

Dot pooped in her bed again. There is no rhyme or reason to these accidents. Today's accident happened right after I'd taken her outside, so it caught me by surprise. I need to get one of those "Shit Happens" bumper stickers. This is quite literally what happens in our house these days. I try my best to be patient when Dot has an accident. She can't help it. I just hope the same thing doesn't start happening with me a few more years down the road. Getting old basically sucks, no matter who you are.

The weather forecast said there was a 20% chance of rain this afternoon. No such luck. After all the complaining I've done about rain over the years, you wouldn't think I'd be wishing for a downpour, but I was. It's gotten way too dry. The dogs hate the heat. The plants are dying. I'm ready for some rain.

Shelby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1976

I got up at six this morning and wasn't finished with the breakfast routine until well after nine. I don't know if the the routine is growing more complex or if I'm just becoming slower. At any rate, it takes forever to do the simplest things. The first thing I do when I wake up is take the dogs out to pee. Since the ground is so wet, I have to clean each of the dogs paws before we come inside again. Occasionally, we go back to sleep after we do this, but usually the dogs want their breakfast immediately.

I fill all their water bowls with fresh water, put Dot in the little pen we now call the breakfast nook, and get their food out of a big container we keep in the kitchen. When the food is in their bowls, I let Dot join Dash for a quick eating frenzy. I have to put a big rubber Kong in Dot's bowl to slow her down so she won't eat so fast. Sometimes she tries to eat so fast that she chokes on the food. When the dogs have finished their breakfast, I give them their meds. Dash's pills go in a dog food meatball, because they aren't chewable. Dot's are chewable, but of course she wants a meatball too. At this point, I normally take them on a walk, but now that I've started eating bananas with my breakfast, the dogs have become obsessed with bananas. It's easier to go ahead and eat my own breakfast, feeding them each slices of banana as I drink my morning coffee and sip my banana, strawberry and egg milkshake. When breakfast is finished, I clean the Vitamix machine and we begin our walks.

Dot goes first because she is the most eager to get out of the house. She doesn't walk far, but her short walk around the block takes just as long as Dash's much longer walk, because she's so slow. She's getting better at holding herself up, but I still use the Help 'Em Up Harness and two leashes to keep her from slipping. The tail leash has kept her from falling countless times. I don't even bother taking a camera when I walk Dot. I have my hands full. Dot is usually tired when we return and is content to sleep on her dog bed while I walk Dash. Dash is slow too, because he likes to smell things and pee on every bush. I let both dogs take their time, because these morning walks are the best part of their day. Walking slow gives me the opportunity to observe things too, like the tiny mushrooms you see today.

When Dash and I return home, I clear Dot's blankets out of the hallway and put them away, make the bed, put the breakfast dishes away, clean my teeth and rinse with he special mouthwash the dentist gave me. When all this is finished, I turn the computer on and go to work. Luckily, there wasn't a huge amount of work today, because right after lunch, I needed to take Dot downtown for her weekly physical therapy appointment. Dot did really well in the underwater treadmill today, which surprised me a bit, since she seemed tired this morning.

There were a few light showers during the day, but rain wasn't really a problem today. I wrote a letter to my NASA contacts asking why all the NASA sites were down. I got a quick reply saying that the sites were working fine in California. Why would be they not be working in Texas, I wondered? I haven't been able to access any of the NASA websites for over a month, so I've probably already missed out on opportunities to apply to observe another satellite launch. I doubt that I could have gone anyway. Life with the dogs has just become too complicated.

It's been a long week and I'm looking forward to my breakfast outing tomorrow morning. I'm sure that some of my delicious meal will end up getting stuck in the empty wisdom tooth socket, but it will be worth it.

Lady is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1281

I needed to pick up a paint pen today to repair some gear. Paint pens are handy little tools for touching up nicks and scratches on camera lenses and just about the only place you can find them is in a hobby shop. Have you been in a hobby shop lately? I'm always amazed when I go into one of these places on a normal work day and discover it is filled with grown men who appear to have never worked a day in their life. They are all busy contemplating the latest radio controlled cars, or busy buying a new paintball gun. I think the only time women venture inside a hobby shop is when they are buying a birthday present for small boys. The rest of the time, these places are filled with grown men. I found my little paint pen and left, but it was hard to resist the urge to buy some sort of model myself. Hey, all guys like model cars, don't they?

While I was working this morning, I heard a loud noise outside, followed by flickering electricity for a moment. I though maybe another electric transformer had failed in the neighborhood. It wasn't until a few hours later that I discovered that the source of the noise was one of the large Oak trees in our back yard. Wind and rain had weakened one of the limbs and it had come crashing to the ground. I didn't notice the limb immediately because it landed vertically and looked like another tree had suddenly appeared inside a patch of ground cover. It's a good thing the dogs were inside when the tree limb fell. It landed right where Dot usually pees.

It rained again this morning. It's been raining so much lately that mushrooms are starting to grow in the new backyard landscaping. I'd really prefer grass to mushrooms, but I guess you can't have everything. I'm going to have the landscaping guys come over tomorrow and haul away the broken tree limb. Maybe they can tell me why the grass still isn't growing very well after all the work they did. I suspect they will tell me that a few more tree limbs need to fall, so the yard can start getting some sun.

I had quite a bit of writing work to finish today. I kind of envied those guys at the hobby shop with nothing better to do than play with radio controlled cars and helicopters. I've never bought a radio controlled car, but I'd probably have fun with one. I could attach a GoPro camera and photograph squirrels in the backyard. I remember years ago I had a fashion shoot at the home of Ozzie Osborne's drummer. When this guy wasn't on tour, all he did was play with radio controlled cars in his driveway. I kind of envied him too. Of course at the time, I had the job most guys wanted. I photographed fashion models.

Today, it's just me and the dogs in a quiet room with a powerful computer. I finished all my writing work and went up on the roof to clear away the rain water. The roof doesn't leak anymore, but it still doesn't drain well. I'm disappointed that after all the money I spent that I still have to climb up on the roof at all. Tomorrow is my birthday. I suspect that it will be a lot like today.

Rugby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 920

I could write a book about the breakfast choices in my neighborhood. Every Friday morning for the past three months, I've been sampling the menus of all the restaurants within a three mile radius of my house. OK, so I've only been to four different restaurants. There aren't a lot of restaurants close to where I live. Nevertheless, a full breakfast menu times four still gives you a wide variety of choices. After all this frivolous experimentation, I still haven't decided on a favorite breakfast destination. One restaurant has the best service. Another has the best ambiance. A third has the best food. And the fourth has the best coffee. None of them are very consistent. 

One thing I have learned is that restaurant quality can vary dramatically, depending on who shows up for work that day. In some restaurants, I've ordered the same thing over and over again, but it never comes out the same way twice. One restaurant never puts salt and pepper on the table because they think their food is seasoned just right. It isn't. Another restaurant is so stingy with the coffee that they make you pay a dollar every time they refill your cup. All of them use too much salt when they cook. All in all, the food is delicious though, and I've picked up some great ideas if I ever decide to cook on Friday again. I've kind of gotten addicted to eating out on Friday morning. It's a simple pleasure, but a very genuine one.

I had to run a bunch of errands today, and on the way back from the grocery store, I decided to stop in the local Guitar Center and look at guitars. I am baffled by the huge variety of absolutely identical looking Fender and Gibson guitars at totally different price points. You could buy a Fender Stratocaster for $300 or $3000. There is almost a mythology built up around why the more expensive versions are worth more. Was the guitar manufactured in Mexico, Japan, or the USA?  Was the wood aged and seasoned before it was shaped into a guitar body? Are the pickups hand wound? Did the electronics come from China? The list goes on and on. To the untrained eye though, the cheap Fender Stratocasters look exactly the same as their expensive cousins. If cameras were marketed this way, it would drive photographers crazy.

I'm amused at all the New York news anchors and talk show hosts going on and on about the awful heat wave they're having. They ought to come to Texas. The temperatures that New Yorkers are experiencing now aren't just a two day event in Dallas. We have to deal with 100 degree days for months at a time.  In addition to the heat, I also have to deal with mushrooms. Mushrooms are starting to appear everywhere in the new grass we just planted. Mushrooms normally grow in the dark. This isn't very auspicious. If I needed a sign that the St. Augustine grass isn't getting enough sunlight, this is probably it.

Kirby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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