Day 1421

The rain continued for a second straight day. I put raincoats on the dogs this morning, but halfway through their walk, they decided that they didn't want to wear them anymore. I took the coats off, and the dogs got wet. They didn't like that either. Sustained rain really tests my patience. The car gets muddy. The house gets muddy. The dogs constantly need to be cleaned up. On days like this, I'm either cleaning dogs, doing laundry, or looking at the weather radar on my iPhone.

My doctor's appointment took a lot longer than expected this afternoon. When the doctor finally arrived, he apologized for the delay and said that there had been complications in a surgery he had just completed. This was certainly better than my typical excuses for being late. The best I can usually come up with is that the dogs wouldn't poop on their walk.

My delayed doctor visit ate up so much of my time that I didn't even come close to getting to the gym today. Like it or not, it looks like it might be a two workout week. While I was sitting in the doctor's lobby, I checked on the dogs using the nanny cam app. Both dogs have a highly refined sense of time. Ten minutes before their dinner time, they were both sleeping. Thirty minutes after their normal dinner time, they were sleeping again. Right at dinner time, they were barking and making a big commotion. They were mad that I was late.

It was dark before I got home to take Dot and Dash on their evening walk. I hate walking at night for a variety of reasons. We didn't see any coyotes tonight, but we did see three suspicious looking people lurking around in the dark and what appeared to be a drug deal taking place in one of the parking lots. I prefer the park in daylight myself.

The rain is supposed to continue through tomorrow. This means that my morning networking breakfast, Dot's acupuncture appointment, and our evening dog training class will all be impacted by the bad weather. I don't know why rain bothers me so much, but it does. When the sun finally reappears, I'll clean the house, wash the car, and my tidy little world will be back to normal.

Coach is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1392

This is the only time of the year when we don't need either the furnace or the air conditioner. For a few weeks, a rare condition exists where you can actually open the windows. I've learned to enjoy the nice weather while it lasts, because it certainly doesn't last long. Sometime later this month, I'll wake up freezing cold, turn on the furnace again, and discover that it is broken. Fixing the furnace is a Fall ritual at our house. It's hard to imagine the arrival of Winter without the furnace repairman arriving first.

I finally made it to the gym today. I'd like to go  more often and haven't yet figured out how others manage to go everyday. I was surprised at how full the place was today. With today's near perfect weather, I would have thought everyone would have been outside.

Since work was slow today, I used the opportunity to run some errands. I took some letters to the post office, picked up a prescription at the pharmacy, and got some new shoelaces for my dog walking boots. On the way back home, I stopped by Fry's to pick up more ink for Janet's printer. I've never seen the place so empty before. Many of the shelves were virtually bare and only four of the store's over fifty check-out registers were actually open. The place looked like a ghost town. I bet on-line retailers are killing this place. I used to buy a ton of electronic gear at Fry's myself, but it's easier and cheaper to buy online these days. Shipping is usually free, there is no sales tax, and everything is delivered right to your door.

I may have to get another nanny cam. When I set up the camera to monitor Dash while I'm away, I can't see Dot. If I point the camera at Dot, I can't see Dash. Apparently the dogs don't want to have anything to do with each other while I'm gone. Dash seems to favor the bedroom and Dot usually stays in the office. This is curious to me, since the dogs usually sleep right together while I'm in the house with them. Have I ever told you that Dalmatians are moody? They act just like people sometimes.

All my work assignments came in toward the end of the day. I may not have had much to do today, but it looks like tomorrow will be very busy. Almost everyone wants some sort of change to their website and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a new article to write as well. Wednesday is always a lost cause, so it looks like I won't be able to get back to the gym until Thursday.

Hershey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1347

Dot has resumed taking normal walks in the mornings again. Dash's condition seems to have stabilized as well. I still feel a need to check in on the dogs while I'm away though, so I set up a laptop to monitor Dash in lieu of the still non-functional nanny cam. By the time I arrived at the cool restaurant for breakfast, the dogs were already asleep on the bed. For the time being at least, things are back to normal.

Yesterday I contacted various customer service departments with a laundry list of questions. It's always surprising who responds and who doesn't. A video equipment manufacturer responded within an hour with helpful suggestions about how to find a replacement quick release plate for their discontinued fluid tripod head. The French nanny cam company responded within a day, saying they were still working on the server problem. The GPS watch company never responded at all.

I made it to the gym again today. I seem to be able to manage two days a week, but it seems next to impossible to find time for a third day. I would think I'd be starting to see some increase in muscle mass now that I've been working out for a while, but I can't see any difference. I'm definitely stronger, since I can do more repetitions on the machines now, but I'm still way too skinny. With all the things I have wrong with me, there could be a dozen reasons why my muscle mass is not increasing the way I'd like. I'll continue the workouts though. At least they make me feel stronger.

It looks like a busy weekend. Janet and I are going to a concert tomorrow and on Sunday Dot and Dash are going to be ambassadors for Dalmatian Rescue again at a rescue event. There's always a trip to the dog park if the weather cooperates and I'm sure there will be grocery shopping and errands to run as well. I hope I don't have computer problems this weekend. I upgraded one of the computers to Mountain Lion today. I hate system upgrades, but some of the work applications I use regularly are starting to require this system. If Mountain Lion doesn't cause a mountain of problems on the laptop, I'll eventually upgrade the other computers as well.

It's hard to believe that September is just around the corner. It's not like anything exciting happens in September, but at least the weather will be getting cooler.

Mickey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1346

When I went to my doctor's appointment today, my blood pressure was low. I wonder what that's all about? My blood pressure has been on the high side for as long as I can remember. Low blood pressure would definitely be a new wrinkle. My test today was to determine how elastic my arteries were and whether they were filled with plaque. I think I did OK on this test. The images on the screen were mostly blue anyway. I've had these tests before. Blue is usually good and red is bad.

Dot thinks she is better now and wants to resume her regular life. When I got Dash ready to go on his morning walk, Dot stood right by the front door and started slapping her leash with her paw. She was determined not to be left behind again. Since it's always hard to reason with a Dalmatian, I took both dogs on a shorter, non-strenuous walk. The walk seemed to put the dogs in a better mood, and the rest of the day was quite peaceful.

My new nanny cam quit working today. Par for the course, I guess. The camera works fine when I'm actually in the room with it, but the signal drops out as soon as I leave the house. This severely limits the usefulness of the gizmo. There was a cryptic message on the company website that said they were experiencing server problems. I'm just guessing, but the server appears to be in Sweden. Maybe that's part of the problem.

Land Rover still hasn't finished repairing the Defender 90. When I took the car in, they told me they'd have it fixed in two days. When Land Rover says two days though, they really mean two weeks. I suspect the car will be ready at the end of next week. I'm actually in no hurry to get the Defender back. The air conditioning work great on the Evoque loaner car, even though nothing else seems very reliable.

I'm really glad that Dot's condition is improving. Life seems to be returning to normal. It looks like I'm up to date on website updates and all the pending articles in my queue have been written and submitted. I even remembered to take the garbage out to the curb for tomorrow's trash pickup. Now, I just need to decide what to have for breakfast tomorrow.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1340

It had to happen. My nutritionist and my physicians are at odds with each other. The doctors now want me to stop taking all the supplements the nutritionist recommended to improve my liver function. The doctor's say these supplements and herbal medications are the only unexplained variable that might be contributing to my elevated liver enzyme levels. Not surprisingly, my nutritionist doesn't agree with this assessment. He says the enzyme levels would be even higher without the supplements. Either party could be right, but I'm inclined to go with the doctors on this one. After a very extensive Google search, I could find nothing that convinced me the recommended supplements even worked at all.

It's obvious to me that the food we eat has a huge impact on how healthy we are. What's not so obvious is why the medical community and the nutritional experts can't seem to get together on this fundamental issue. It's frustrating. Would it be too much to ask for everybody to be on the same page when it comes to diet, exercise, supplements, and meds? It' probably never going to happen though. Nobody agrees on anything these days. Pick any subject at random and you will find diametrically opposed and deeply held views.

It is my deeply held view that the technology gods were angry today. My fancy new Range Rover Evoque loaner car wouldn't go in reverse this morning. At first I didn't know what to do, since there is nothing mechanical on this car. Then I remembered what I always do with malfunctioning computers: I switch them off and then turn them back on again. I tried this a couple of times with the Evoque and it worked like a charm. As far as I'm concerned it's pretty pathetic when you have to re-boot your car to get it out of the driveway.

Later at breakfast when I tried to check on Dash using the nanny cam, there was a big red warning message on my phone that said "We are not able to establish a connection with your baby." I bet this message has made a lot of worried parents rush back to check on their baby in a big hurry. Instead of rushing home, I remembered how I'd gotten the car to go in reverse an hour earlier. I turned off the iPhone and then turned it back on again. The next time I checked the nanny cam, it worked perfectly. Dot and Dash were sleeping peacefully on the bed, just like they always do.

I still haven't gotten the standing water of the roof. It was a very busy day.  In addition to my doctor's appointment, there were photos to edit and color correct, websites to update, and two more articles to write. Somehow, I managed to squeeze in my Friday breakfast outing as well.  I don't know how peaceful the weekend will be, but there will definitely be fewer pills to take. I'm going to follow my doctor's recommendations and cut out the supplements for now.

Pogo it today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1321

Today was pleasant. The weather was surprisingly mild for a July day in Texas. Janet fixed a nice breakfast. The dogs enjoyed their visit to the dog park. They even saw several dogs that they knew. When we returned home, I got the lawnmower out and mowed until the yard looked presentable again. I'm more or less caught up on work assignments too. The only thing that was missing today was a mid-afternoon Dr. Who marathon on BBC.

Since I finished my weekend cores early, I decided to brave the crowds at the mall and go looking for a better WiFi camera to monitor Dash when I'm away. I may have overdone it. The camera I came home with not only has a great picture, it also monitors sound, keeps track of the temperature and humidity, allows two way communication, and plays a lullaby on command. Yes, I really bought a baby monitor instead of a pet monitor. I guess people with babies are even more apprehensive than I am with the dogs, since this thing had features that had never even occurred to me before.

The icing on the cake was that the camera actually worked. Sometimes they don't. I read all the reviews and they were split 50/50. Half the people thought this was the best WiFi camera on the planet and the other half thought it was a worthless piece of junk. I bought the camera making the assumption that the 50% who hated the camera had never hooked anything up to a WiFi network before. Routers, firewalls, and wireless gateways aren't always friendly with each other and it is often difficult to introduce a new piece of equipment to the system. Luck was on my side today though. The camera works like a charm.

The electrician is coming to fix the garbage disposal at 7:30 AM tomorrow. Lord knows why he wants to come so early, but it's just as well. Maybe he'll be able to get the faulty wiring fixed in time for me to take the dogs on a walk at their normal time and proceed with my Monday work day. You never know with electricians though. He may fix the problem in five minutes, or he may tell me that the entire house is not up to code and that everything needs to be rewired.

I hope I have time to go to the gym tomorrow. It's been more difficult to establish a regular schedule than I anticipated. Dash has a vet appointment every other Tuesday and Dot has a vet appointment every Wednesday. Walking the dogs and carting them around to their various appointments eats up a lot of time. Work is erratic too. Some days there is so much to do that I don't even have time to eat. Other days are so quiet that I have trouble staying awake. Workout or no workout, I'll be a happy camper if I have a working garbage disposal at the end of the day.

Queenie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1320

I got a new push broom today. It was a day of very small accomplishments. I didn't have to pay for the broom though. I took my broken push broom to the store and they exchanged it for a new one after saying that they'd never seen a broom break like that after only a month of service. The rest of my Saturday shopping was equally uneventful. I got some more supplements at the health food store. While I was at the store, my nutritionist told me that he had some new ideas for me. I thought he was going to tell me about some interesting lifestyle or diet ideas, but he just recommended an additional pill. I was disappointed. I didn't buy the extra pills.

This morning we made juice with an apple, an orange, a mango, and a peach. The fresh juice was quite tasty. Oh, I put fresh sheets on the bed too. Did I tell you that not much happened today.

Since the day was so slow, I thought I'd get a head start on my monthly writers group assignment. I usually wait until the last possible minute to finish these things. Hey, I could have waited until tomorrow to finish the article. I've been writing so many articles and advertising assignments this year that I'm starting to get burned out on writing. I'm wishing I had more photography jobs now. I only want the type of jobs that don't require me to lug a ton of equipment around with me though. I'm tired of that too.

I almost went to the Apple store to look for a better WiFi camera. It's taking me too long to set up the laptop to monitor Dash every time I leave the house. Probably a dedicated camera would be much better. On my way to the mall, I remembered my iron-clad rule of never visiting a shopping mall on a weekend unless it is absolutely necessary.  I turned around and came home. The camera definitely wasn't absolutely necessary. I"ll go back sometime at 10 AM when nobody's there.

The weather was really mild today. It's been cooler than normal all week and I hope this trend continues. Dot has much more energy on cooler days and so do I. With any luck, the weather will still be nice for our weekly visit to the dog park tomorrow. It may seem strange that a visit to a dog park is the high point of the weekend, but it's actually quite enjoyable. Dogs are so open and direct about having fun that you feel good just watching them. It certainly beats buying a broom at any rate.

Deuce is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1312

Sometime I wonder how people with small children cope with all the uncertainties that come along with the inevitable childhood illnesses and injuries. Just dealing with one sick dog is more than enough for me. I had a lot of errands to run today and I was still worried that Dash might have another seizure. I found myself checking the nanny cam feed on my phone every five minutes or so. Dash was fine. The only thing I observed was that he is a very lazy dog. He didn't move an inch the entire time I was away. I wish I could say the same thing for Dot. There were scattered showers again today and Dot was a nervous nellie. Even though I was watching the camera to check on Dash, it was Dot who forced me to return home. At some point during the afternoon, I could tell she was going into her storm phobia mode. I looked at the weather radar app on my phone and sure enough, there was a storm directly over our house. I knew what to do. I curtailed a trip to the gym and came home. The dogs spent the rest of the afternoon huddled under my desk until the rain stopped.

It would have been nice to go to the gym, but I probably got enough exercise today anyway. I swept the water off the roof again this morning after another overnight rain. So far, the new roof is exactly like the old roof except that it doesn't leak. I'm surprised at how much rain we're getting in July. Most of my efforts to get the standing water off the roof have been an exercise in futility. Usually it is dry as a bone at this time of year. Since the roof doesn't leak anymore, I'm actually kind of happy to have the rain. It keeps the temperature lower, which means that Dot can still take her walks.

The garbage disposal quit working this morning. It didn't get stuck or jammed. It just won't turn on anymore. I can't find a circuit breaker on the disposal either. Do I call a plumber, an electrician, or an appliance repairman?  It could be a mechanical problem with the disposal itself. It could be an electrical problem. Or maybe there's some sort of internal fuse that burned out. The only thing I'm certain of is that I'm not going to try to fix the garbage disposal myself. Years ago, I tried to fix one of these things and ended up with such a bad leak under the sink that I had to call a plumber anyway.

I still haven't picked a recipe to send to the film festival recipe book. I think the deadline is tomorrow. My few original recipes are so simple and boring that a child could make them. I asked Janet what I should do and she told me to just pick something I liked out of one of our many recipe books and change it up a little. Wouldn't that be cheating I asked? She said that most recipes originate from other recipes anyway. This is probably true. There are literally thousands of recipes for lasagna, but they are all just different kinds of stuff layered between lasagna noodles and cooked in a baking dish. Omelets are all pretty much the same too. Beat some eggs, pour them into a skillet, and fold in whatever you want. Maybe I'm just not cut out to be a cook. I'd still like to be featured in that cookbook though.

Jade is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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