Day 4444

What a nasty day. The temperature has been well below freezing all day with periodic sleet and freezing rain. We tried to take Dawn on a sunrise walk, but it didn't take her long to realize that she'd rather be in the house. Needless to say we didn't make it very far this morning. I kept hoping that it would warm up a bit, but it never did. Janet had to go to a doctor's appointment and said the roads were slick in places. I started my car to warm up the engine, but didn't attempt to leave the house.

All I do on days like this is hope the power doesn't go out and the roof doesn't leak. So far, so good. Our electric and gas bills are going to be high next month though. Sadly, tomorrow is going to be just as cold. We've had worse winters, but I'm getting tired of this. No wonder so many people retire to Florida.

Although I had no real desire to leave the house today, I did want to get a minimum of at least 10,000 steps. Around mid-afternoon I bundled up in my warmest clothes and took a not so long walk. It didn't seem like it was raining when I left the house, but there was a light sleet that froze on my outer jacket. A cloth mask is actually useful on days like this. It kept my face warm better than a scarf. Today I mostly walked through the neighborhood because I knew the weather would be even worse down by the lake.  No bicycles or joggers today.  I seemed to be the only person out and about. I only completed two miles this afternoon, but that was plenty.

Both Olympus and Panasonic have come out with new micro 4/3 cameras recently. The GH6 and OM-1 sound intriguing and I've been reading a lot about their capabilities. What else do you do on a cold day when it's sleeting outside? I'm like a bug attracted to a light when it comes to new gear. The last thing I need is more cameras. I haven't even learned how to use all the features of the cameras I already own. I'm probably the same way with cars. I don't even like to drive, but I've bookmarked lots of sites about the new Ford Bronco. I don't need a new car any more than I need a new camera. Probably I find reading about new gear more satisfying than reading about current events.

I wish my office wasn't so cold. The little ceramic heater is running full time now. This room is the furthest from the furnace and it shows. I think the warm air in the ducts has already cooled off by the time it reaches me. This is still the room to hang out in on a cold day though. It's got the best computer screen. Dawn gets grumpy if I sit on the bed with her and if I'm out in the kitchen I eat too many snacks. The days would pass faster if I still had a few clients but the young kids in advertising and marketing aren't fond of hiring someone older than their grandfather. I guess that leaves me with reading about new cameras and planning trips I probably won't take.

I don't think Dawn is going to be any more excited about walking tomorrow than she was today. I'm not going to be very excited about walking tomorrow either. At least it's supposed to warm up a little on Friday. I'm waiting for next week when the temperatures will be back in the 70's again.

Joey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4067

What a nasty day. There was black ice on the roads that caused a 100 car pile up in Fort Worth and the temperature never got above freezing all day. Janet postponed going to the gym this morning and needless to say, I certainly didn't need to go anywhere. As I slowly drank my morning smoothie, it was clear that this was going to be a very cold and uneventful day.

It doesn't take much to shut us down in Dallas. This would be a normal winter day in much of the country, but here the mail didn't get delivered and I got an e-mail from the city saying not to expect normal trash pickup tomorrow. Oddly, the message said to put your trash out tonight anyway and they would just come when they can. I feel sorry for those who had their vaccine appointments today. That's not something you would want to postpone.

Dawn is no fan of winter weather. She was a little reluctant to walk this afternoon, but completed her short one mile walk anyway. I dressed in my warmest clothes so I could keep on walking. The trails were virtually empty. I only encountered a single runner today. There were no bicycles at all. For the most part, the roads and trails were clear, but I had to cross two bridges that were still completely iced over. I walked slowly and carefully across each bridge because at my age falling is definitely not a good idea.

You could tell that the birds and other animals knew that something was up with the weather. The resident geese had moved to the opposite side of the lake and the Muscovy Ducks were more than a mile away from their usual habitat. There were some visiting Canadian Geese where the local geese usually live. I hardly saw any squirrels at all. Most of them probably had a nest to take cover in.

On bad thing about taking my long walk right after I finish my morning smoothie is that I have to take bathroom breaks. I didn't have to do this when I was younger, but I didn't drink several quarts of liquid every morning then either. These days I need to plan my route between strategically place porta-potties in the park. It's a nuisance but it's also a necessity.

While I was walking, I heard a bunch of fire truck sirens that appeared to be headed in the direction of my house. This is always a little alarming when you are on foot and miles away. I got out my phone and checked the petcam. Dawn was sleeping on the bed and everything was fine. I like the petcam. Who knows. Maybe the Chinese are spying on us, but the little camera does provide some reassurance that Dawn is safe when we are away.

I got a reminder from my accountant that my tax information is due soon. I haven't even started yet. One more unpleasant task in my immediate future. I wish seniors were exempt from dealing with taxes. Hey, if you can be exempt from jury duty, why not taxes as well? 

It's hard to believe but they say the temperatures will be in the single digits next week with a good chance of snow accumulations of up to a foot. Yikes. I really hope this isn't true. Spring can't come soon enough for this Southern boy.

Lady Gogh is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2261

Every time we have a day like this, it's easy for me to forget that we've actually had a very mild Winter. I'm trying to be charitable here, but I can't think of many nice things to say about today. It was nasty outside. The combination of high winds and heavy rain made it miserable to walk the dogs. Luckily, there was a short break in the rain when we took Dot on her early walk, but later when I walked Dash, we got soaked. It's been raining continuously for almost 24 hours and shows no sign of stopping yet.

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that Dot was tired today. It could have been the rain and cold weather. It could have been the cumulative effects of the Palladia pills. It could have been further evidence of her losing battle with the aging process. I feel bad for her on days like this. She still needs to go outside and pee and do a minimal amount of walking around to keep her legs from getting stiff, but she tires easily. We took a shorter walk than normal this morning, and when we returned she was exhausted.

Dot slept for the rest of the day while I picked up my car at the dealership and took Dash to his vet appointment. I was surprised that they fixed my car so quickly. It's a shame that the weather was so bad today. The dealer always cleans and washes my car after a service appointment, but by the time I finished driving home and taking Dash to his vet appointment, all this effort was wasted. The car was already dirty inside and out.

Dash wasn't sick, but with all Dot's problems he's been a bit neglected. I wanted to check and see if he needed his teeth cleaned. He does! He's been having digestive issues lately, so I wanted to make sure he didn't have Giardia or some other nasty parasite that could be causing his diarrhea. He has a small growth on his tail that I wanted to make sure was still benign. The vet checked him thoroughly and expressed his anal glands for good measure. Dash is OK and I feel much better now.

The awful weather and Dot's general state of exhaustion were probably one of the reasons why she pooped in the house twice today. It can take her a long time to poop on a normal day and today wasn't normal. Every time I took her outside, I could tell she didn't want to be out in the cold. To her, it probably made a lot more sense to just poop in her sleep. One of her favorite blankets appears to be indestructible. I've washed it so many times that it should have begun to fray and come apart at the seams long ago. It still looks as good as new, even though I washed the blanket twice today.

Despite all the errands I needed to run, I still managed to get quite a bit done. I finished updating a website and completed the first of three articles that are due this week. I think that's plenty for one day. I've still got a cough, but my cold is definitely getting better.

Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2228

I just solved a problem that has had me stumped for the past three hours. It feels good. I inherited a Wordpress site from another developer who used a lot of strange and unfamiliar widgets to create much of the site's functionality. When I opened the dashboard this afternoon to make a few changes, I discovered that the latest version of WordPress no longer supports the third party widgets. The site was broken. I was totally screwed, because the functions the obsolete widgets added were not included with the theme the original developer used. This is one reason I hate WordPress. The themes only seem easy because they hide all the code away. They can be really hard to fix when something breaks. I needed to figure out an alternate way to duplicate the functions without starting over from scratch. After hours of research on Google and WordPress forums and quite a few unsuccessful experiments, I finally came up with something that worked without destroying the original theme. I still hate WordPress though. I need to convince this client to start over and do a proper responsive website.

The website debacle was just one facet of a rather nasty day. The weather was horrible. It started out cold and damp and kept getting colder throughout the day. It started raining hard just before I had to leave the house for Dot's physical therapy appointment. I was a bit apprehensive, since Dash is just as scared of storms as Dot. He usually sleeps on the bed when I'm gone, but I left the door open to my office because he often hides under my desk when it storms. That's where I found him when I returned. I felt bad, but it's pretty essential that Dot's gets her acupuncture and water therapy.

Dot actually did pretty well today, considering how damp and cold it was. Her vet spent some extra time working on her shoulder muscles during her acupuncture session in an attempt to relieve some of the tension. I think it worked, because Dot was very relaxed on the way home. I wasn't very relaxed because the rain was getting worse and the roads were a mess. I had to drive through a construction zone and the car ended up getting muddier than I've seen it in months. At least the rain washed off the bird poop. The evil bird has started pooping on the right hand side of the car where it is unprotected by rubber snakes. I guess I'll have to go to the Dollar Store and buy some more snakes.

I'm glad that this week is about over. I've had enough of disastrous stock market losses, cold weather, difficult assignments, and lack of sleep. There's water on the roof again, but it's too cold to deal with it yet. The shower drain is backing up and the refrigerator is just about empty. It's almost time to start thinking about doing my taxes again too. Hey, the skies are supposed to clear off tomorrow. Maybe a good breakfast, some strong coffee, and a little sunshine are all I need to jump start my mood and get my Mojo working again.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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