Day 4787

It's hard to believe, but today was even worse than yesterday. The temperature is still below freezing and we got more freezing rain overnight, adding another layer of ice to the ice that was already there. Dawn was smart enough to poop in the back yard this morning. I think she knew how treacherous it would be to go down to the park. Unfortunately Janet and I weren't as smart as Dawn. We tried to duplicate the walk we took yesterday and failed miserably. The roads were so slick that it was impossible to even walk up the street that led to the park. Neither of us wanted to fall, so we came back home.

It didn't take long for the roof to start leaking. As I predicted, heat from the house caused the bottom layer of ice on the roof to melt and eventually the trapped water found its way inside. The pumps are useless in this type of weather. They are metal and are the first things to freeze. It will have to warm up quite a bit before the pumps are functional again. Needless to say, I can't go up on the roof and remove the ice. I have a hard time even walking on our front porch. It would be insane to attempt to climb up on the roof.

I ate my breakfast, puttered around the house for a while, and paid some bills online. I kept thinking about my steps though. I hated to give up. I eventually decided that if I walked through the neighbor's back yard, I could avoid the slick roads and driveways and make it to the park where I could walk through the wooded areas. The meadows and wooded areas were covered with ice too, but it wasn't as slick as the roads and bike paths because my boots could crunch through the surface ice and provide the traction I need. That was the plan anyway.

I dressed as warmly as I could without hampering my mobility and set out on my 10,000 step quest. This was one of the most difficult walks I have taken in a long while. I couldn't shuffle along like I often do. I had to consciously lift each leg and plant my foot firmly to crack through the ice and keep from slipping. It was extremely cold outside, but I felt my body heating up just from the amount of effort involved. I did pretty well until I came to a road. It was just a small internal park road, but I knew almost immediately that I couldn't make it across. I retraced my steps through the woods in the other direction until I eventually came to another road. By the time I gave up and decide to come back home, I had walked over two miles.

Believe it or not, I did get my 10,000 steps today as well as closing all three rings on my Apple watch. It might be hard to do this again tomorrow. According to the weather forecast, we are going to get even more freezing rain tonight. So far, the precipitation has been mostly sleet and it hasn't been sticking to the tree limbs or power lines. We've still got power, which is more than a lot of people in Austin can say. The only good news is that it is supposed to get above freezing by tomorrow afternoon. Maybe by Friday afternoon we can finally get our cars out of the driveway.

It's driving me crazy listening to the water drip from the roof. So far, all the leaks are in the office. I've got three buckets placed and I hope I won't need any more later tonight. My worry is always that a new leak will crop up while I'm sleeping and that there will be a big mess in the morning. By Sunday most of this will probably just be a bad memory, but right now I'd give this day a 1 on a scale of 1 to 10. We've had worse ice storms in the past, but this one is pretty bad. Janet and I are getting too old for this. Dawn probably is too. It would be much nicer to be sitting on a warm beach somewhere.

Myles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4732

We've been having a lot of nasty weather lately. I guess it's like this every year. I feel like I'm spending most of my time looking at the weather radar and trying to find time to squeeze in walks between rain showers. I was successful today, but you never know. I could get drenched tomorrow.

I ordered Christmas gifts on Amazon this morning. The web site said that they will be delivered on time, so I guess I'm done for another year. I used to send out Christmas cards, but I haven't done that for a long time. We used to get a ton of Christmas cards, but now we just get a few. Most of them are business cards from insurance agents and doctor's offices. I don't even know if sending Christmas cards is a tradition anymore. 

I hope the roof doesn't leak tonight. It rained enough today that it probably will. I usually go to bed thinking that everything's fine and then wake up in the middle of the night when I hear the ominous drip, drip, drip of another leak. I never know where to put the buckets ahead of time. The leaks usually originate near ceiling light fixtures or small cracks in the sheetrock, but you never know. Water is creative and can always seems to find someplace new to get into the house.

I've just about finished changing all my online passwords. I don't know if this is a futile gesture, but you've got to make an effort. So many people I know have gotten hacked recently that it would be foolish to think I'm immune. I really wonder if staying online is even worth the effort. Online shopping is really convenient, but I got along just fine without it for decades. I have a feeling that once I reach my 5000 day blogging goal, I'll be on the Internet a lot less. Now that I'm retired and the Internet is no longer an integral part of my business, it just doesn't give me much joy.

I did get to see Mars for a few minutes last night as it emerged from the other side of the moon. I missed the actual exit point of the occultation by a few minutes because I couldn't find any accurate times for the occultation in Dallas and I didn't feel like staying outside all night. The beginning and end times were different for every city. I did manage to see Mars very close to the Moon when there was a brief break in the clouds, so my efforts were at least semi-successful.

It's hard for me to resist the urge to buy things I don't need at this time of year. Almost every day I receive notices about big sales on astronomy and photographic gear. It's tempting, but I don't really need anything. How many cameras do you really need? When I feel like buying something I should go to the storage warehouse instead and take a look at where the stuff will wind up in a few years.

I find it interesting that Goblin Mode is this year's Oxford English Dictionary word of the year. I had to look up what the term means because I had never heard of it before. Maybe this term never resonated with me because I am never in goblin mode myself. My life is very regimented. I don't binge watch television. I don't eat snacks in bed. I actually make the bed every morning and always pick up my clothes. It just seems strange to me to celebrate self-indulgent, slovenly behavior. I find a structured life comforting, so I guess I'll continue methodically writing a blog post every evening and trying to walk six miles every day. 

Willow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4460

What a nasty day. The weather wasn't actually as bad as the forecasters predicted, but it never is. Weather forecasters like to alarm people just as much as the next guy. Dawn wanted no part of today's cold weather. We tried twice this morning to get her to go down to the park and poop, but she wasn't interested. She stubbornly waited until later this afternoon to do her business.

I had planned to just stay inside today, but eventually I couldn't stand to break my Fitbit streak. I've gone over 111 days walking at least 10,000 steps and I wasn't going to let a little sleet stop me now. I put on my warmest clothes and left the house around 11 AM. Unfortunately my timing wasn't very good. I ended up getting caught in the only heavy rain of the day. It didn't last long. Just enough to get me soaking wet and very cold. Needless to say I didn't complete my route today. I headed for home after one mile which meant I only walked two miles today. That was more than enough. I threw all my wet clothes in the dryer and spent the rest of the afternoon warming up. It wasn't a total loss. I did get 12,000 steps. 

If I had just waited a few hours I wouldn't have gotten wet at all. So much to trusting the weather reports. I was convinced that the weather was going to get worse as the day progressed. When Janet returned home around 3 PM, we took Dawn down to the park again and she finally pooped. She wasn't up for a walk though and immediately headed back to the house. I think Dawn is a lot smarter than I am about the weather.

I hate sitting around the house on a cold day. Typically there is absolutely nothing I feel like doing. I'm not a big fan of Amazon, Netflix, or Hulu movies and I haven't read a book in quite a while. That's why work projects were so beneficial. They gave me something structured to do during the day without having to interact with other people. As a bonus, I got paid well for avoiding the idleness I didn't like anyway.

I should probably stop watching cable news, abandon social media, and just start methodically rereading the thousands of books that line all four walls of my office. I've forgotten what's inside most of these books, but I remember really liking most of them. I used to love the novels of John Fowles. I read every one of them. John Nichols Milagro Beanfield War was a favorite of mine. I always liked John McPhee's nonfiction books. The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed was fascinating. Maybe I just liked authors named John. Of course there was Ken Kesey, Hunter S. Thompson, R.V Cassill, and many more. Even Andy Warhol's autobiography was interesting. I don't remember any specifics about these books on my shelves but I was a prolific reader for many years. I wonder what happened? The only books I've read recently are Andy Wier's The Martian, Jenny Lawson's Furiously Happy, and a self published book by an old ad agency boss of mine.

It was cold enough today that I went through the ritual of starting my car and warming it up without leaving the carport. The car would probably start tomorrow anyway, but I hate to leave anything to chance these days. There is water on the roof, but the pumps seem to be working well. I'm hoping that I don't hear a drip coming from the ceiling during the night. Janet sent me a text message saying that there was a dead animal on the front porch after she left the house this morning. When I went out to dispose of it, there was definitely something gross on the porch but it wasn't an animal. I'm still not sure what it was. Maybe it was the rotted remains of an old squirrel nest or something a dragon threw up. Life is always full of surprises.

Tyson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4409

Yay. We've got heat again. Our gas was shut off for most of the day while a work crew repaired a gas leak in the alley behind our house. I didn't give the outage much thought at first because the repair people had already told me that they would be finished before the end of the day and that service would be restored. As the day progressed and the cold front got closer and closer I started to get nervous. The house was starting to get cold and the two things you need the most during freezing weather are a working furnace and hot water.

Toward the end of the day a gas company technician arrived and hooked up our gas meter again. I asked if he could come in the house and start the water heater and furnace again. He said he wasn't allowed to come inside. What? "But that's where the gas appliances are," I said. He said it was gas company policy and he could get fired for violating it. He did call me a plumber though and said I wouldn't be charged. Very weird. Why was it OK for a plumber to come inside, but not a gas company technician. I'm pretty sure that I could have restarted everything myself, but I didn't want to screw up and burn down the house. I've always had a healthy respect for flames. 

Surprisingly, the plumber arrived quickly and restarted the old and cranky water heater. I actually restarted the furnace myself because I was cold and impatient. I was a lot more familiar with the furnace as well. I've had to restart it numerous times to clean the flame sensor. The furnace has sophisticated shut-off features as well. I wasn't so sure about the water heater. Oddly, the water heater flame has never gone out before. The water heater has been one of the few totally reliable things in the house. 

I still don't know what was wrong with the gas line. Whatever they fixed was buried at least four feet underground. How did they even know the pipe was leaking that far underground? I don't know why they replaced my gas meter either. I suspect that the new meter allows them to read the meter remotely and I was due for a replacement anyway. All is well though. We are headed for one of the coldest nights of the year and the house is nice and warm again.

I really didn't get a lot done today. I took my long walk in a light mist, but didn't get very wet. My feet were terrible today, so maybe the foot pain does have something to do with the humidity. The weather is definitely getting nasty. Janet and Dawn didn't even go to training class tonight. I'm tired of winter already although I know that the worst is yet to come. Often February is our coldest month. At least we haven't gotten snow yet. I hope we don't. A winter without snow would be a blessing.

I was going to resume testing the star tracker today since there has been another update to the software. I decided to wait however, because I didn't want to be aggravated by two things at the same time. Dealing with the natural gas outage was enough for one day. I have absolutely no faith that things will go as planned anymore, so I was actually expecting to be sleeping under a big pile of blankets in a very cold house. The gas company actually did pretty well today. Much better than I expected.

I hope tomorrow goes smoothly.  I don't like surprises and I've grown weary of dealing with problems. A boring day is a good day as far as I'm concerned. Dawn is a good role model for me. All she does is eat, sleep and walk. Basically, that's all I do as well.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4025

Today was a fitting end to 2020. The weather was absolutely miserable. There was a heavy all day rain and the temparature was in the mid thirties. It felt even colder with a wind chill in the twenties. Needless to say, Dawn didn't get a walk today. She wouldn't have wanted one anyway. It was hard enought to get her to go out in the back yard and pee. Yesterday and today have broken my Fitbit streak. The only steps I got today were walking back and forth between the office and the kitchen to get more snacks.

It's too bad I don't like watching television. Today was tailor-made for watching movies on Netflix or binge watching a new series on Amazon Prime. Without our long morning walk, the day seemed impossibly long. I looked at Facebook for a while, watched some astronomy videos on YouTube, and kept checking on the pumps to make sure that they weren't clogged. I can turn on the pumps from indoors now, but unfortunately I can't see if water is coming out the hoses. To do that I have to go out in the back yard and look around the side of the house. It still beats climbing up on the roof though.

Eventually I got bored enough to start building the new company website I've been postponing forever.  I deconstructed a few websites I like and examined their code to see how they accomplished all their fancy tricks. Once I figured out how these things worked, I started building something similar myself. I didn't really think I'd make much progress, but I had all day. By dinnertime, I had the outline of a pretty nice site. I'm pretty sure I can finish this over the weekend. I don't really expect the new site to bring me any business.  It's just a way to keep my hand in the game.

I'm not really sure who visits my existing website anymore. There was a time when it was considered somewhat innovative and I remember that it used to bring me business. That's ancient history now. It's literally been decades since one of my sites was nominated for Website of the Year and even longer since another site I designed was included in a Ryder Publications book called The World Wide Web Top 1000. I was a very early adopter and did pretty well designing very simple static sites. When Google decided that websites needed to be mobile friendly to be included in their search results, it was time for me to pack it in and pass the torch to a younger generation. To this day I have never looked at a website on my phone.

New Year's Eve is one more thing that never changed for us during the pandemic. Many years ago my band used to routinely play New Year's Eve parties, but it has been a long, long time since Janet and I have left the house to celebrate. We struggle to stay awake until midnight. We'll have a glass of champagne and eat some cheese and crackers as we watch the ball drop on TV. That's what we'll do tonight if we don't fall asleep watching Perry Mason. 

I hope that 2021 ushers in a return to normalcy, but I have my doubts. Realistically, things will probably get worse for a while. Many people are starting to say that Covid will become like the flu and never really go away. Society has already changed so dramatically that there isn't going to be a return to normal. Whatever was normal a few years ago is gone. Have you seen that Boston Dynamics video with the dancing robots? When robots can dance better than you can, you can probably kiss your jobs goodbye. Companies have already learned to operate with a lot fewer people during the Covid lockdowns. I'm convinced that this trend will continue. All things considered, this is a good time to be retired.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3805 - Memorial Day

Another all day rain. This one was a soaker. We thought we could squeeze in a shorter walk this morning, but we were wrong. The storm moved faster than we did and by the time we returned home we were all very wet. Oh, well. We tried. I think Dawn would have preferred to sleep in late.

I must have done a decent job on roof repairs because even though we have had a ton of rain this Spring, there is still no evidence that the leak has returned. I left the pumps running all day today. They can't keep up with the rain, but over time they do help reduce the amount of standing water on the roof. It's clear that I will be up on the roof again soon. I've just got to wait for the rain to stop.

The wet weather didn't stop us from visiting the Dalmatian kennel. Today, in addition to playing with all the dogs, we photographed Murphy, our new arrival. Murphy is an owner surrender. Like most owner surrenders, I can't imagine why anyone would even consider giving this dog up. Murphy was extremely friendly and had obviously had some obedience training. He knew how to sit, stay, and lie down. He also seemed very adept at catching treats in the air. I don't think Murphy will be with us for very long. He's an amazing dog and should find his forever home very soon.

There were no Memorial Day picnics in the park today. There wasn't even much traffic on the roads. A hard rain really puts a damper on things. There is more rain in the forecast for tomorrow, but I hope the forecast is wrong. I'm sick of this wet weather. Pandemic confinement is bad enough on a good day, but wet weather makes it seem even worse. As long as I can take a long walk, I'm fine. Sitting in the house watching TV while rain pounds on the roof gets old quickly though. I'm totally over listening to "experts" disagree with each other about the virus. It's refreshing to occasionally hear a thoughtful person admit to the world that actually nobody has any answers.

The weather isn't looking good for Wednesday's Demo-2 launch. Maybe NASA's new media restrictions just saved me from making an expensive trip to Florida to view a launch that ended up getting scrubbed. This has happened to me before. Sometimes it is possible to stay an extra day or two, but other times you end up going home without seeing anything. Hopefully, everything will go according to schedule. Whatever happens, I'm sure I'll be streaming the event on my computer.

I'll add Murphy to the Dalmatian Rescue website tomorrow. Hopefully the skies will clear so we can take a decent walk without getting wet. Maybe I can think of something else to do as well. It's hard to believe that it's almost June. Half the year is already gone and the world is still on hold. I'm certainly on hold myself. There are no observatory trips to plan. I have no idea when Kennedy Space Center will open again. I haven't heard from the Air Force yet either. I'm a self-motivated person by nature but it's hard to get excited by anything when the world feels like a giant jigsaw puzzle that has just been dropped on the floor. I'm not smart enough or patience enough to put all the pieces back together. You probably aren't either.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3681

All day rain. Ordinarily, that's all you'd need to say about a day like this. Today, I'll add two more words. Roof leak. Yes, the roof is leaking again. It's been so long since we've had a leak that I didn't initially recognize the ominous dripping sound I heard early this morning. The leak didn't last long, but it destroyed any notions I might have had that the roof had been fixed.

This leak was in a new location that I'd thought was pretty safe. I'll have to check when things are dry again, but I can't remember any questionable areas above the kitchen. I guess I should have turned on the pumps last night, but I was asleep. It's unfortunate that it rained so hard while we were sleeping. You can't turn the pumps on ahead of time because they get hot if they run dry and it's easy to burn out the motor. By the time I woke up, it was too late.

Things didn't really get better as the day progressed. I was going to make my reservations for the Florida trip and discovered that the hotel where I wanted to stay was completely full. I wasn't expecting this either. I still thought I had plenty of time. I looked for other hotels in the vicinity, but they were either twice as expensive or had terrible reviews. You really don't want to stay at a place where reviewers say "If you like threadbare towels and roaches in the shower, this is your place."

I'll have to find some place acceptable tomorrow and wrap this up. If I wait much longer to make my reservations, I'm afraid that the most convenient flights might be booked as well. I guess the days of traveling without a plan are long gone. When I was young, I remember driving until I felt like stopping and there were never any problems finding a room. I've gone to the airport without reservations too, but I'll admit that was a long time ago.

I kept waiting for the rain to stop so I could take my walk, but it never did. Finally, I gave up and went to the gym. As much as I hate driving in the rain, I hated having a day without 10,000 steps even more. At least it was warm and dry at the gym. I was going to enroll in my healthcare plan's new  free membership program, but I discovered that my current membership was automatically upgraded to the new plan at the first of the year. No more gym membership bills. At least there was some good news today.

I hope this rain moves out of the area by tomorrow. I need to go up on the roof and see if I can find where this new leak is coming from. I am not optimistic. I have a feeling of hopelessness about this whole situation. I have gotten bids from reputable companies and they all say that because of the way the house has settled over the years, there will still be standing water even after a new roof is installed. Give me a break. I don't want to spend a ton of money on a roof and still have to climb up and sweep the water away after every rain.

This day needs a do-over. I'll see if I can get a fresh start on things tomorrow. If I look up and see a little blue sky, I can almost guarantee that the day will end better.

Raider is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3352

It's raining again, so I can't find the muddy patch in the back yard anymore. The entire yard looks muddy now. I guess I'll have to wait until things dry out again before I can call a plumber. At least all the drains appear to be working normally. I'm going to assume this means that the sewer pipe has a leak but there has not been a clog. It's a lot better to have a leak in a drain line than in a supply line. Water under pressure can make a huge mess very quickly.

Dash seemed really tired this morning, so we didn't walk before breakfast. Every day is different. Some days Dash wakes up hungry and eager for a walk. Other days he can barely move. He seemed to sleep well last night, so I'm not sure what's going on. A long nap usually helps. Sure enough, around noon Dash woke up, ate his breakfast, and seemed ready to go outside. I don't know why Dash even wanted a walk today. It was a nasty day. The weather didn't seem to bother Dash, but I wish I'd worn a warmer coat. I'm pretty sure that there's standing water up on the roof,  but I didn't feel like sweeping it away today. What's the point. There's still more rain in the forecast. I did call another roofer that an architect friend recommended. Eventually, I'll get several bids and pick someone. Knowing me, I'll probably pick the wrong roofer. Reputation matters more than price to me, but a good reputation isn't a guarantee of anything. Things can always go wrong.

All the news outlets were providing wall-to-wall coverage of the Michael Cohen hearings today, but the only news that captured my attention was a story about a fat rat who got stuck in a sewer grate and was unable to move until a team of nine German firefighters came to her rescue. Oh, the humanity. The hapless rotund rodent immediately captured the attention of an overweight world. Apparently a lot of people could identify with this awkward situation. There was a lot of sympathy for the plump German rat. Not so much for Michael Cohen. I guess they were different types of rats.

Tomorrow looks like it's going to be a repeat of today. Maybe Dash will feel a little better.  Maybe the stock market will go up. Chances are that whatever happens, it will still be grey and cold. That's just the way February usually is. If I remember correctly, February was even worse last year. Enough with this dismal weather. I'm ready for Spring. Probably everybody is ready for Spring.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3341

What happened to our nice weather? One day it's 70. The next day it's 30. I wonder if the entire Winter is going to be this way? Since I like consistency, these extreme fluctuations are driving me nuts. It was cold and nasty outside this morning, but Dash still wanted his walk. I would rather have slept in a little longer, but off we went. Dash continues to do better than expected. I don't know where he got his second wind, but it's nice to see him with a little enthusiasm again.

After breakfast, I filled the car with gas and did my weekend grocery shopping. The list was small this week and that was fine with me. This seemed like a day for staying home and keeping warm. Dash seemed to agree. We took a long nap together this afternoon. It certainly beat cleaning the house.

As a consumer of healthcare, I've been following the debate about how to reform the system. I have a feeling that this is going to be the next battleground that divides us even further. I was listening to a proponent of Medicare for all explain that one of the most effective ways to pay for universal healthcare would be to stop approving all these elaborate procedures for really old people. "They're all going to die soon anyway," the guy said. You can imagine how well this idea went over. It's certainly true that most of your medical expenditures are going to occur during your last ten years of life, but if you need a new knee on your eightieth birthday, are you really going to say "never mind, I'll just keep using this cane?" I wonder how this will end? When the women are all fighting the men and the young are all fighting the old, today's political skirmishes will seem like child's play.

I'd be the first to admit that the earth's population is already too large to sustain life indefinitely. I'd still like to live as long as I can though. That is the dilemma. We desperately need to slow down population growth but we all want to live. Humanity has become the ultimate Kudzu vine. Since we are at the top of the food chain, there is absolutely nothing to stop us from consuming everything in our path. There really needs to be some fire breathing dragons or evil alien invaders to keep us in our place.

I don't see how you can be a student of history and still believe that you can change human nature. We have a pretty dismal track record. This is why I'm such a fan of exploring space. We're pretty clever. Maybe we can learn to tame wormholes and conquer the speed of light before we destroy our planet and become extinct. If we thought our destiny was to expand into the universe and destroy an infinite number of other planets one by one, it would provide a tremendous source of hope.

I saw us plant a flag on the moon, but I'd have to stay pretty healthy to see the same thing happen on Mars. Population explosion or not, I'll take advantage of every medical miracle that comes my way. I'd love to see Elon Musk succeed. It would be the first step in what could become a very long journey.

Joshua is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3310

I try to leave myself plenty of time whenever I make an appointment. Let's face it, I'm slow and Dash is even slower. You'd think an appointment at noon wouldn't present a problem. Wrong. I actually got up early this morning, but by the time I'd walked Dash, made the bed, cleaned up dog poop on the living room floor, fixed breakfast, and taken a shower, I was already late.

I get my hair cut every couple of months. I've been going to the same stylist for decades and see no reason to change now. This periodic trip to the mall gives me an opportunity to see if the outside world has changed. It seldom does. There was a new Model 3 on display at the Tesla store and I noticed that a new KAWS Companion sculpture had been added to the Mall's art collection. Everything else was the same. I was surprised at how nice the low cost Tesla looked considering the bad press it has been getting. I'm always surprised at the popularity of Brian Donnelly's art. I guess I'm getting old. I don't understand the popularity of Banksy either.

I didn't linger at the Mall today. I skipped the usual window shopping at the Apple Store and watch boutiques. There is just no desire to buy stuff anymore. It was good to get a haircut though. I always feel better after a haircut. My hair is almost white now, but at least I still have hair. I'm looking more and more like my Dad every year.

I finished the day by paying a few bills and picking up a new supply of Plavix for Dash at the pharmacy on my way home from the post office. It seemed like a very busy day, but as usual I didn't get much done. Janet and I both wonder how we used to get so much done when we were younger. Now, just taking care of the bare necessities can eat up an entire day.

It was a little warmer today, but the weather is still damp and nasty. This type of weather must accentuate smells, because Dash spends even more time than usual smelling things on damp days. Smell is everything to him lately and he will frequently walk straight through muddy areas to get to a smell he likes. I've always got to have a spare set of footwear for him because his boots and socks usually need to go in the laundry after a walk. My own boots are usually muddy as well. Sometimes I feel like I spend half my day cleaning stuff. When Dash poops in the bed, I might spend the entire day.

After today's excursion, I see no need to leave the house tomorrow. The outside world just isn't that enticing. I still enjoy walking through the park, but I don't take many photos anymore. I have to concentrate on keeping Dash from falling. I didn't realize how good I had it when Dot and Dash were young and healthy. Walks were a joy back then. We walked a lot further, but it was relaxing. Relaxing isn't a word I use very often anymore.

Shelby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3296

Cold rain. Leaking roof. Incontinent dog. Put these ingredients together and you've got the basis for a sad country song. Basically, today was a mess. I started putting buckets on the floor as soon as I got up. The pumps weren't working, so I had to climb up on the roof in the rain to prime them. When I returned, Dash was stumbling down the hall, knocking over the buckets I'd placed a little earlier. There was no morning walk today, but there was definitely poop to clean up. There's always poop to clean up.

The rain didn't freeze today, but it still might. It is very cold. As the day progressed, the leaks in the ceiling continued to spread and I ran out of buckets. I had to go to Home Depot and pick up a few of those big plastic containers that people use to store sweaters and children's toys. I thought a big container would be better at catching water than three or four smaller buckets. It's a shame that I had to buy more containers. I already have a ton of these things in the storage warehouse, but they are all full of stuff. The containers worked, but they made it even harder for Dash to navigate the hallway.

I'm stuck with this mess until the rainy period is over. Lord knows when that will be. There is bad weather in the forecast as far as the eye can see. You can't repair the roof when it's wet and I'm not sure the roofers can find the leak anyway. They certainly failed the first time they tried.

I went out and picked up some meds for Dash after lunch because driving in the rain was preferable to listening to water drip into plastic buckets. I'm sure I'll be driving in the rain tomorrow too. Dash has an appointment for one of the periodic echocardiograms we use to monitor his heart. Hopefully, the blood clot hasn't returned. I'm also hoping that he won't poop in the car on the way to the cancer center. That's always a possibility since it is very doubtful that he'll get a walk before his appointment.

I finally got the pumps on the roof working but they don't remove enough water to stop the leak. The pumps are basically useless. I'm just about out of ideas for stopping the leak while it is still raining. I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm going to have to use my new car fund to replace the roof. Jeez. What's the fun in that? Even with a new roof, it's still going to be a very old house with a host of other problems. I'd rather have a new car.

The first pictures from New Horizons were received today and Ultima Thule looks like a big snowman. Weird to think that a big icy snowman has been lurking at the edge of the solar system for billions of years and we didn't even know it existed until last year. I bet there's lots of other stuff floating around in space that we don't know about either.

Clearly I'm no rocket scientist. The New Horizon's team at Johns Hopkins was able to fly their spacecraft directly to a tiny 19 mile long speck in the sky billions of miles away from Earth and I can't even find how water is getting into my house.

Maybe things will be better tomorrow. If Dash gets a clean bill of health at the vet, maybe he won't have to take Plavix anymore. Realistically, this isn't very likely. It's not very likely that the rain will stop or the stock market will rally either. The Apple earnings warning today even surprised me. Apple hasn't had a dire warning like this since 2002. For many investors this news will seem like a sign of the apocalypse. I have a feeling that 2019 is going to be a very bumpy ride.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3269

It was cold and rainy today. We got up early and managed to get Dash walked before the rain started, but I spent the rest of the day inside. I accomplished virtually nothing today. I turned on the TV during breakfast and the Bush funeral was still going on. I wonder how expensive this funeral was. The casket was riding on a special train today. I switched channels and the stock market was still crashing. It's pretty easy to see how expensive this is going to be. I turned the TV off and drank my smoothie in silence. It was that kind of day. I wonder why it always seems colder in the house on a rainy day? The furnace is working fine and the thermostat indicated that I should be toasty warm. Nope. I was cold all day. I put on a sweater but I couldn't relax. I kept looking at the ceiling and wondering when the roof was going to start leaking again. No roof leaks yet, but it hasn't stopped raining yet.

An old client that I hadn't talked to in years called in a panic today. Evidently their office manager abruptly walked out and quit and nobody else at the company knew the passwords to anything. How did they expect me to still know their passwords? I think these guys fired me five years ago. I wished them luck and tried not to laugh. They should have treated their office manager better. They should have treated me better too.

Since it was a very slow day, I watched the latest episode of the National Geographic Channel's Mars show. I think I've finally figured out the format for this show. In every episode there is a disaster on Mars that is used as a teaching moment to illustrate how similar disasters here on Earth could destroy the planet. In today's episode an unknown pathogen in the water on Mars was causing the crew to get sick and die. The parallel story on Earth was about how warming weather is causing anthrax spores to be released from the soil in Siberia which is also also causing people to get sick and die. Something like this happens in every episode. It's a miracle we aren't extinct yet.

Dash seems to be sleeping better now. He stays in one place for long periods of time and hasn't pooped in the bed for several days. This morning, he slept until 6 AM and then went outside and did his business like a normal dog. Are we doing something right, or is this just blind luck? It's really hard to tell. You'd think with Dash sleeping better that I'd be sleeping better as well. This doesn't seem to be the case. My Fitbit said I got virtually no sleep last night. Maybe the Fitbit is wrong. I do remember having a dream, so I must have been sleeping.

A lot of software and domain names come up for renewal at the end of the year. I'm thinking of letting some things expire this year. I haven't used Pro Tools or Avid Media Composer in several years. Do I really need these expensive subscriptions? There are several domains I have never used at all. Maybe this would be a good time to start simplifying my online world as well. I've got a week to decide. I always like to be ready for any contingency, but if I was smart I would just acknowledge that I'm not going to be doing much video editing anymore and let the Avid subscriptions expire.

I discovered a new place to try for breakfast tomorrow. Chili Rellenos Crepes sound delicious right now. The rain has got to stop first though. I'm not going anywhere in this weather.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day