Day 4461

Well, the return of Winter only lasted one day. The cold front has moved east, clear skies have returned, and by the end of the day the temperature was back in the high fifties. I think we're finally ready for Spring. The forecast shows clear skies and temperatures in the seventies for the rest of the week. It was still very cold when we woke up this morning so we didn't bother to take Dawn on a sunrise walk. She does much better when it is warmer. Later in the day she had a very enjoyable walk.

My shopping list was small this week and I was back home in less than an hour. Even though Janet's doctor says she still treats Covid cases every week, the pandemic appears to be over in Dallas. I saw very few masks in the stores today. I didn't notice any big price increases either. Actually strawberries went down in price. Since I didn't need gas today, I'll deal with prices at the pump later. I hear they have gone up dramatically this week.

Since the weather was nice, I walked my entire route today. My feet were bothering me so I was pretty slow, but who's counting. I'm still pretty slow on a good day. The Hoka boots I've been wanting have been in short supply all Winter, so I'll probably just get another pair of the Bondi 7 shoes I'm wearing now. Too bad these shoes don't last longer, but they're the only things that keep me on my feet.

Sammy, the new mama dog in the rescue program, had her puppies today. Six males and three females. From what I've heard, Mom and the pups are all doing well. They are not at the kennel. Sammy left to be with her foster parents shortly after we took her picture last week. I still think that Sammy might be related to Dawn in some way. Several of the puppies have black ears just like Dawn's.

There is already a new version of the star tracker software. I haven 't even figured out how to use the previous version. I haven't bothered to install the new software yet. It will give me something to do the next time I have a really boring day. I'm beginning to question my interest in astronomy. I see all these pictures on my Facebook feed of people setting up their telescopes in the snow. I would never do that. It's got to be a really nice night before I'll even consider going outside.

I picked up take out for dinner from a new Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood. This was so much easier than going to PF Chang's in Northpark and spending forever looking for a parking place. Our tasty meal was more affordable too. Neighborhood restaurants are a win win. Luckily we appear to be getting a lot more of them. There are quite a few other new places in the neighborhood I'd like to try.

Daylight Savings Time starts tomorrow. I've always preferred Standard Time. I like to wake up to sunlight and not have to wait until past my bedtime to go out and look at the stars at night. Now it will be dark in the morning when we get up and it will be harder to get Dawn to walk in the morning. I wish we could just leave the time alone. Nobody seems to like these twice a year time changes. It's hard to change something once it has become established though. We'll probably be dealing with Daylight Savings Time forever.

It looks like tomorrow will be a good day for Dawn's Sunday outing. The native prairie is turning green again and I'm hoping we'll see some wildflowers. So far, there haven't been many Spring flowers this year. There will always be ice cream though. A nice walk with Dawn and some ice cream is always something to look forward too.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2643

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I ventured outside the neighborhood this morning. My breakfast was delicious, but I felt oddly uncomfortable. The restaurant was crowded and nobody knew me by name. The place seemed like a more upscale version of the restaurant I frequently dine at near my house. Maybe this was it. This new neighborhood was more upscale than my own and I didn't really fit in. Don't get me wrong. This was a nice place and the atmosphere was friendly and warm. You know when you fit in though. I guess I'm just more comfortable in my own neighborhood.

After breakfast, I picked up some groceries for dinner and then drove down to the UPS service center to get the WiFi blood pressure monitor I'd ordered earlier in the week. I never bother with having the truck come to the house anymore. Shippers seem to demand a signature these days and it's just not worth the trouble waiting around for the driver. I go to the UPS service center so often now that these guys know me by name.

The WiFi blood pressure monitor is very cool. It automatically takes three readings and then averages the results and sends them to an app on your phone. My own doctor never bothers to take three readings, but this is always what the vets do when taking Dot or Dash's blood pressure. As usual, the veterinarians are more professional than the human doctors.

I was glad to see that my blood pressure was still normal, even though my doctor reduced the blood pressure medication I was taking a few months ago. Evidently, my blood pressure had been so low that it was screwing up something else. I wish someone could steer me to the perfect diet so I could discontinue all my meds. It's hard to get specific dietary advice from a doctor. They know all about pharmaceuticals, but not that much about nutrition. It's difficult to get beyond generalities like "eat a lot of vegetables." Once a doctor told me that he liked pills better, because most of his patients didn't have the discipline and self control to eat properly for years at a time. This is probably true. I'm a very disciplined person, but when I'm under stress, comfort foods call out to me. Kale does nothing to alleviate stress. Ice cream, on the other hand, works pretty well.

Dot does seem more comfortable now that we've increases her pain medication. I guess I'm going to have to acknowledge the fact that Dots cancer has grown to the point where she is starting to feel it. At this point she is still taking a rather minimal dose of Tramadol and Gabapentin. We'll probably have to increase the dose in the future. For now, Dot is comfortable. I wish the pills made her stronger. I'm spending more time than ever lugging Dot around. She wants to do more, but her body just isn't strong enough. If I were a Zen master, I could probably handle this whole situation a lot better. It takes so much patience to hold up a dog's legs all afternoon. I'm not a patient person, but I'm slowly getting better at it. Maybe when I begin to get weak and senile myself, I'll finally have the patience I need.

Ely is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2081

Today is Dot's birthday. No, it's not the day she was actually born, it's the day we adopted her. Dot was a stray and we'll never know for sure what her history was before she found us. She was definitely a young dog, perhaps two or three years old. That would make her fourteen or fifteen years old today. I'd like to think she's fifteen, because I want her to have lived a long and happy life. When we were younger, we used to make elaborate birthday cakes for our dogs. I even took a cake decorating class once. The little dog cakes were gorgeous, but neither of us have the energy to make them anymore. We take the easy route now. I went to Sprinkles and got exactly the same thing I got for Janet's birthday: chocolate marshmallow cupcakes for the people and dog cupcakes for the dogs.

There's been a huge film crew in the park for the past several days and I've been curious to find out what's going on. I thought someone must be filming a big budget feature, since there was a forty person crew and a huge eighteen wheeler full of equipment. Today when I was taking Dash on his evening walk, I asked one of the crew members what they were doing. It turns out they were filming a brand new show on the Food Network channel called BBQ Blitz. There's currently a show called Food Network Stars and the winner gets their own show as the grand prize. This year's winner was an ex NFL football payer named Eddie Jackson who loves barbecue. They were filming the first episode of his new show, which will air sometime in October. I guess it's kind of like Top Chef, except that everyone makes barbecued food. Lord knows why they picked our park to film the first episode, but it will be interesting to see the show.

Dot did really well during her physical therapy session today. I do think she's getting stronger since we stopped her chemotherapy. Everybody, including Dot's vet, seems to agree that quality of life is more important to an old dog than the actual amount of time they live.  Nevertheless, it will be a really hard decision to make if we discover that the cancer has grown when she has her next Ultrasound scan in September. I'm hoping that the tumor has not grown at all or is growing very, very slowly. I'd hate to start the chemotherapy again, now that I know it was making her uncomfortable.

This is the weirdest political season I can ever remember. The only authentic candidates in the race are Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. Everyone else has already been bought and paid for by special interests and huge corporations. Sanders and Trump couldn't be more different if they tried, but they both resonate with people because they just say what they think instead of having a focus group or talking to their pollsters every time they open their mouth. It's kind of refreshing to see the political insiders in both parties get their feathers ruffled by these two. I don't know about you, but I'm sick of professional politicians.

I noticed that another neighborhood restaurant has started serving breakfast and I was going to try it tomorrow until I read the Yelp reviews. Most of the reviews were from people in the area and said things like "I was so hoping to like this place, but the food just isn't that good." Without Yelp, I probably would have tried the place and might have even liked it. No wonder most of my local retail clients hate Yelp. It really changes things. I guess I'll just go back to my regular restaurant. Since I only go out once a week, it would be a shame to be disappointed.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1165

There must be some money in the neighborhood. When I left the cool restaurant this morning, I noticed that my car was parked right next to a brand new McLaren MP4-12C. What a beautiful car! I've seen plenty of Ferrari's in Dallas, but this was the first time I've spotted a McLaren. I was curious who actually owned the car, since everyone in the restaurant was dressed like a homeless person. I guess this just underscores how blurred the boundaries between style and substance have become. Any one of the disheveled looking guys wearing grungy wool hats and plaid shirts could have been a hedge fund manager or the star of a new reality series. Maybe the guy who owns the McLaren will give me a ride someday. I'd love to tool around the neighborhood in a 618 horsepower rocket that goes from 0 to 60 in three seconds.

Sadly, my "go-to" breakfast at the cool restaurant may soon be off limits. I ran the scrumptious concoction made with two over-easy eggs on a bed of spicy pulled pork, spinach and hash browned potatoes through my tracker app and discovered that this single dish contained 171% of my entire daily cholesterol allotment. I had always considered this dish a "healthy" meal too. Sad!

I finally got a new assignment that isn't due in two hours. One of my European clients has given me an entire week to write an article for them. Such luxury! I've also been asked to bid on a new video project. Things are looking up.

When I was walking the dogs this morning, Dot tripped on a rock and started limping. We stopped for a while and I gently massaged her leg. Within a few minutes she seemed fine again. Dot is getting old and it is sad to see her start to fade. She seems a bit fragile now. Dot is the most athletic Dalmatian we have ever had and it's going to be hard on her when she starts to lose her mobility. Aging isn't much fun, for humans or their pets.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1081

The restaurant was filled with platitudes this morning. People would say things like "It's not the destination it's the journey" and their companion would excitedly exclaim  "Exactly, that is so true." These people had to be teachers. Who else would talk like this at 9 AM? I didn't say anything. I just ate my pancakes in silence, while wondering why there was a big sign on the wall saying "Have you tried our new menu yet?" As far as I could see, everything on the new menu was exactly the same as the old menu.

Since this weekend is another Christmas pet photo marathon, I did my grocery shopping right after breakfast. Maybe I ought to go to the grocery store in the morning more often. I did this last week as well and the meat and produce seems fresher than late in the day when I usually shop. I don't think early shopping will ever become a regular part of my routine though. I'll do just about anything to sleep in an extra hour.

When I got home, I began carefully re-assembling the broken guitar amplifier that I had taken apart yesterday. The broken pieces I had glued back together appeared to have dried well and everything fit back together perfectly. I was quite proud of my work. You could hardly tell that the amp had been dropped by FedEx at all. I don't know if the music store will appreciate all my hard work though. They might actually be expecting me to send them back a box full of bits.

Since our own dogs get their Santa pictures taken during one of this weekend's photo sessions, Janet wanted them to have a bath again. Dot hates a bath. She has gotten so good at gluing herself to the back seat, that it is just about impossible for me to get her out of the car and into the dog cleaning facility. Maybe she'll get lucky though. After this bath, I can't think of a good reason why she would need another one this year. I'm just the opposite of Dot. I like taking a shower. What I don't like is getting out and starting another boring day of work. Eventually, the hot water runs out though and makes the decision for me.

Belle is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1074

Janet convinced me to venture a little further away for our Friday breakfast. We went to a restaurant one of her friends liked a lot. This was a neighborhood breakfast place like the ones I usually frequent. It was just in a different neighborhood. While our own neighborhood is in the process of gentrification, this neighborhood was headed downhill. Although the restaurant was surrounded by pawnshops and empty buildings, it still had a loyal crowd of regulars inside. The food was good, but I doubt that I'll return very soon. I like my neighborhood better.

On the way home from breakfast, I stopped by the grocery store and picked up some things. With that chore out of the way, I could spend the rest of the day finishing up my web and writing assignments.

Since yesterday was Thanksgiving, I got confused and failed to take my garbage can out to the curb last night. I heard the truck when I was making the bed this morning, but by the time I got out to the street with my can, the truck was long gone. Just when I though I was going to be overwhelmed with two weeks of trash next week, I saw the big eighteen wheelers that pick up bulky brush once a month off in the distance. When the truck got closer, I convinced the driver to take my trash along with the brush he was collecting. Here's how silly the city is. Before the bulky trash truck would take my trash, I had to take it out of my can and dump all the garbage on the ground with the rest of the brush. This seemed totally ridiculous to me, but when I looked later in the day, my pile of garbage was completely gone.

It's almost time to put the Christmas tree up again. There aren't many presents under the tree anymore, but it still seems worthwhile to put the tree up. All the ornaments are Dalmatians. Some are wooden. Some are glass. And others are ceramic. You wouldn't think there would be so many different kinds of Dalmatian tree ornaments, but we've been collecting them for quite a few years. It's a pretty little tree, and best of all, the dogs don't try to knock it over anymore.

The stock market had a good day today. Maybe they ought to close the market early every day. The market went up in the morning like it often does, but then it closed around noon, before it had a chance to give up all the gains in the afternoon session. Sounds good to me.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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