Day 2511

I'm not catching many breaks with this roof. When I went up on the roof to inspect what the repair crews did yesterday, I was simultaneously pleased and disappointed. It looked like the crew had applied the elastomer coating properly, but there was one big problem. It was a windy day yesterday and tons of small leaves had fallen from our Elm Tree and become embedded in the coating before it had time to dry properly. Now the leaves are probably going to be there forever. If I try too hard to rip them out, I could damage the coating. If I ignore the leaves and leave them where they are, they could react chemically with the coating and cause it to deteriorate prematurely. For over 30 years nature has been trying to tell me that nobody should have built a house on this property. The large trees are pretty but the root systems have penetrated our sewer lines, large tree branches have broken off in storms and landed on the roof, and squirrels have claimed the entire area as their own. I think I lost this battle years ago, but it is still discouraging to be reminded about how relentless the natural world can be about reclaiming what it rightfully owns. The forest will be here long after the house is gone.

Security concerns have forced me to have so many passwords that I can't even begin to remember them all. I felt foolish when I couldn't even remember how to add my existing e-mail account to my new iPad. The hosting company had forced me to start using a new more complex password recently and all I could remember was the original one. I ended up having to call tech support and asked them to guide me through the process. This was embarrassing, since I routinely help other people set up their e-mail accounts for a living. Almost every day something like this happens to remind me that I'm not getting any younger. At any rate, when I finally got the e-mail account working, I set it to remember my log-in information, so I won't have to go through this again.

I saw some Kestrels on my walk with Dash this afternoon. These little hawks appear to be thriving in our area. I see more of them every year. They usually sit on the top of trees looking intently for something to eat. I don't have the patience to be a serious birder, but I do enjoy learning a little more about the animals I see everyday. It's an eat or be eaten world out there. Perhaps if we humans weren't at the top of the food chain, we'd be a little more realistic about our place in the world. Hawks know what to do. All animals know instinctively how to keep things in balance, except for us. We seem to think we're exempt from the cycle of life and I'm convinced that this will lead to our extinction.

I wonder if there is anything that would actually change people's minds in this election. Trump supporters aren't swayed by his frequent displays of incompetence. Hillary supporters are even worse. They could care less about the implications of compromising national security or selling favors to the highest bidder. Politics have become like sports. Everyone is just rooting for their favorite team. I don't think this is going to end well, no matter who wins.

I'm old, so I don't think my life is going to change all that much. If I were young, I'd be worried. How did we let ourselves get to the point where the Kardashians have become role models and two self-centered idiots are running for president. What's scary is that one of these two is going to win.  Idiocracy is just a movie now, but in ten years it's going to seem like a documentary.

Dakota is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2404

Dot walked down to the end of our alley and back this morning. It was a very short walk, but it was a big step. We're making progress. She can support her weight on both front legs now and is able to walk slowly without an obvious limp. I know that Dot would like to walk further than the 300 hundred yard journey she took today, but she doesn't know her own limits. We're going to have to take this very slowly.

I finished my last writing assignment this morning and sent it off to the client. At least I think I sent it to the client. I'm still having e-mail problems. You'd think it would be easy for my hosting company to track down the spammer who is causing all the problems, but apparently not. It seems like they could just flag the high volume mail coming from the suspect IP address and see who was sending it. What do I know though. Maybe in today's politically correct environment, making an effort to track down the spammer  who is getting me blocked violates someone's privacy.

I continue to read articles about bee colonies disappearing around the world, along with an absence of birdsong in many forests. I'm sure this is true, but you'd never know it here. When I take Dash on his early morning walks, I am surrounded by a symphony of chirping birds and am amazed at all the bees I see busily pollinating flowers. Lake levels are high, ducks are having ducklings, and the tall prairie grass provides a home for tons of small animals. The world may be falling apart, but it is comforting to know that my little corner of it appears to be doing just fine.

Maybe this is why I stick close to home these days. Many of the places I used to visit seem like they belong in a horror movie now. I've been to Nice. It's a lovely city. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that a terrorist attack would someday turn this picturesque French Riviera town into a kill zone tonight. This is only going to get worse unless we can acknowledge what is really happening. There is a war going on between Western Civilization and a medieval religion. Only one side can win. It's not just a few bad apples who are causing all these problems, it's an ideology.

I'm glad this week is almost over. It's been stressful dealing with Dot's latest mishap. I understand how frail Dot has become and worry that if I let her fall or do something wrong, she might never walk again. So far, we're making progress, but it isn't easy. I hope my e-mail problems get resolved soon. Clients typically aren't very patient and if it isn't easy to communicate with them, they just might go somewhere else. I'm not a spammer. I don't think it's fair that I suffer the consequences when someone using the same IP address is. When I asked my hosting company how many of their customers might currently be using the suspect IP address, they said it could be in the thousands. Hey, that's not my problem. They still should fix this. If I had a larger audience I would call them out, but I don't think they're very scared of my ten readers.

I've got to have a fasting blood test before I can go to breakfast tomorrow. I should have done this two months ago, but it hasn't been a priority. I've had so much blood work done over the years that I don't think I'm going to learn anything new. My doctor still likes to do these tests at least once a year, so I guess tomorrow is as good a day as any.

Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1568 - April Fools Day

April looks like it's off to a good start. Dot's vet called today and told me that Dot does not have any internal bleeding. That's good news! Lord know what is making her poop so dark, but at least it not life threatening. My accountant called and said my taxes are ready to submit. As is typically the case, my refund this year is almost exactly the same as the amount I will owe my accountant for doing my taxes. Things like this used to irritate me, but now I don't care. I'm just glad to have income taxes behind me for another year.

Dot did great on the water treadmill today. She still has days where she seems like a much younger dog. Today was one of those days. I'm convinced that the water therapy is helping her maintain her mobility as she grows older. The water makes her buoyant and takes weight off her legs when she is using the treadmill, allowing a full range of motion without a lot of stress on her joints. Adding acupuncture to the mix helps to reduce inflammation, remove toxins, and improve blood circulation. It's too bad I can't ask her directly if she thinks these treatments are working. Anecdotally, I would say the answer is yes. She seems stronger, more relaxed, and appears to be suffering from less joint pain than she was nine months ago.

I can see why the missing Malaysian jetliner continues to dominate the news cycle. I am baffled by this story. How can something as big as a Boeing 777 simply vanish into thin air? You'd think when something went wrong, at least a few of the passengers would have tried to use their cell phones. On a plane this big, there's a good possibility that a few passengers even had satellite phones. And speaking of satellites, why haven't we seen any pictures from US satellites? Don't we have way more weather and spy satellites than all the other countries put together? All the satellite images I've seen are coming from countries like Thailand and France. I didn't know Thailand even had any satellites. Maybe they will never find this plane and it will turn into another Amelia Earhart legend.

This is a great time of year to take pictures. Flowers are blooming and animals are moving about. Unfortunately, it is increasingly difficult to take a camera along with me on our daily walks. Dot and Dash require more attention now. I've got to watch Dash like a hawk, so he won't eat some weird crap in the park that might interact with his cancer medication. Dot is frail and I've got to baby her and make sure she doesn't stumble or fall. None of this really lends itself to taking pictures. I guess it doesn't really matter though. I've been taking pictures in the park for so long now that every time I notice something interesting, I realize that I've already taken a picture of it before. Nature is fairly predictable. The same flowers bloom in the same locations every year. The same birds migrate in and out of the park every season. Even the beautiful sunsets seem to repeat themselves at predictable intervals.

Tomorrow, Dash goes to the cancer center for another radiation treatment. My Wednesdays have gotten a bit easier now that I've stopped going to those Wednesday morning business networking meetings. I don't miss those meetings at all. There are still plenty of websites to manage and articles to write. Wednesdays go quickly though. Pretty soon Friday will be here again. I live for Fridays these days.

Haley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1167

On days like this I realize that I'm no match for Mother Nature. Since it is supposed to be cold and possibly wet later in the week, I took advantage of today's nice weather to get an early start on Spring cleanup activities. It only took a cursory inspection of the house to reveal galvanized gutters that had rusted through, rubber window seals that had dried and cracked, and a lot of peeling paint. The sun, the wind, and the rain had taken their toll, like they always do. I find it harder and harder to stay ahead of the game. Inexorably, the house and the yard it sits in are being reclaimed by the forces of nature.

I remember seeing a short animated film a few years ago that illustrated how cities like New York and Paris would revert to nature if all the people that inhabited them disappeared. In only a few hundred years, the cities were crumbling. In less than a thousand years, all traces of them were gone. We may think we have tamed the earth, but in the end nature always wins.

I'm not comfortable with decay. I wish our bodies didn't deteriorate. I wish my aging but beloved Defender 90 wasn't falling apart. I am continually irritated to see the sun, wind, and rain do their best to convert my house back to the elements from which it came. Wood rots quickly. Metal rusts faster than you think. Constant painting and upkeep just slows the process down. Like Dr. Who said in the Waters of Mars episode. "Water is patient. Water always wins."

There are some good things to this constant cycle of birth and decay. Last week's rain and this week's warm weather have already produced a bumper crop of early Spring flowers. When we took the dogs to the dog park today, I noticed that all the trees had already started to bud. In a few weeks the redbud and dogwood trees will be in full bloom. I will continue to try my best to stay on top of things. We'll plant some new grass next month and hope for the best. I'll put on a new roof which will immediately come under attack from the sun, wind, and rain. Life will go on. For a while anyway...

Nora is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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