Day 4824

Dawn is getting tired of wearing her harness all the time, but it's for her own good. We need a handle to grab if she starts to go down. No falls today, but she's still pretty fragile. Dawn is learning to walk up the step to the bed, but you've got to watch her like a hawk. Her instinct is still to jump on and off the bed like she used to. We have a nice dog bed on the floor, but she is reluctant to use it. Dawn is a very stubborn dog.

I hate to see Dawn so sedated, but if it's bed rest she needs the plan seems to be working. I watched her this morning while Janet was grocery shopping and she mostly just slept. There is no anxiety now and she seems relaxed. The real test will come when her meds run out. Strangely, the hematoma on her ear seems to be getting better because she can't shake her head anymore. I think the swelling in her neck is better today, but it's hard to tell.

Yesterday's hard rain just seems like a bad dream now. Today was beautiful and the ground was dry again. Did the sudden storm even happen? The sky was clear this morning and our roof leaks stopped fairly quickly. I guess I'll take what I can get. Historically it always rains a lot during this time of year. Increasingly, it does seem like we are having an early Spring. It's hard to imagine more snow and ice when the air conditioner is running in March.

I wrote a letter to my sister today and took it to the post office. Traffic on our street has gotten impossible, It took me ten minutes to get out of the driveway. It doesn't matter what time of day you are out and about. It always seems like rush hour these days. The traffic and crime in the city make me wish I lived in a small town. That's not going to happen though. We like our neighborhood by the lake, the house is paid for, and moving anywhere is way too much trouble. Moving is for younger people. I moved around a lot during my 20's and 30's. It didn't seem like a big deal back then, but I can't imagine doing that sort of thing now.

I wonder how long I'm going to be able to continue walking six miles a day? It seems harder now. My last mile was terrible today. I walked a lot faster when I was trying to avoid the rain yesterday. I'll continue walking because it's good exercise and so much easier than driving to the gym. I do wish that it wasn't such an effort to remain physically fit. Growing old isn't all that fun.

I think I'm going to need a new phone, a new computer, or maybe both. Increasingly, things I use a lot aren't supported anymore. I can't update the system on my phone, computers, or even my watch because they are all too old. Safari is worthless on my computer now so I've had to switch to Firefox. I can't even upgrade my watch anymore because the watch says I need a newer phone. On and on it goes. Apple basically does a terrible job of supporting old hardware. Like most companies they just want you to buy new stuff.

Tomorrow is my grocery day. I wonder how expensive everything is going to be this week? Inflation seems fairly relentless when you like to travel and are living on a fixed income.

Ely is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3882

These weeks go quickly. How did it get to be Dalmatian day again? We still only have three dogs at the kennel. Luckie seems to be adjusting to kennel life. She didn't seem frightened this week and even appeared glad to see us. Charlie was full of energy and got a good workout chasing after a big red Kong. Hank evidently caught a rat in one of the outdoor play areas this week and ate it. Yuk. Dogs will be dogs I guess.

My new walking shoes fit well but my feet still hurt after a long walk. I doubt that there is much that can be done. It's just a combination of arthritis and old age. I've worn all types of shoes, including some very supportive ones. There is no magic bullet. I doubt that I could walk all day anymore no matter what I was wearing.

I'll be glad when Fall arrives. Getting up early helps, but it's still pretty hot. To keep Dawn from getting overheated, we have to make sure we're back at the house by at least 8:30 AM. We did manage to get an early start this morning and are going to try to get up even earlier tomorrow. Walking before sunrise is really the only thing that works.

I need to go get my car safety inspected sometime this week. It really doesn't seem like a year since I've done this. Last August seemed so much busier. I'd recently returned from a trip to Kennedy Space Center to attend a Falcon Heavy launch and was getting ready to make my first trip out to McDonald Observatory. No plans this year at all. Everything is still in limbo.

Some of my friends in the space and astronomy world have started doing podcasts and Zoom meetings. Makes sense, I guess. What else can you do these days? As far as I can tell, these virtual events are similar to the conversations you would have over a few beers at lunch, except that everyone is in a little window on your computer screen. I listen to these things occasionally, but never join in the conversation. Writing seems natural, but talking still seems weird. I don't like to hear my own voice. I skipped an online reunion of my architecture school class because I don't want to be in a little window on someone's screen. I should have been born a hundred years ago. It still seems more natural to write a letter and then wait two months for a reply.

I haven't used my large production printer in so long that it has become hopelessly clogged. I don't even think the Epson repair shop I used to use is even in business anymore. I haven't used my video editing equipment in ages either. I assume this gear still works, but I don't even have any blank Betacam tapes to test it with. Logically, I should just get rid of all this stuff. I'll never use it again. It's so much trouble though. What do you do with high quality, obsolete equipment? My solution is to let the stuff gather dust, but I don't think Janet likes this plan. So far, I'm finding it impossible to clean out the office.

Maybe I'll do something useful tomorrow. Who knows. I'm still hoping to get media accreditation to return to Kennedy Space Center. There are some interesting launches this Fall. I check my e-mail every morning, but so far no response. I've been waiting for months. They say patience is a virtue, but this is getting ridiculous.

J-Lo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3769

It's bulky trash removal time again. I've never seen such huge piles of trash in front of our neighbor's houses. Everyone appears to be using the lockdown to clean out their garage and tidy up their yards. We added our own pile on the curb today by cleaning out the tool shed next to our carport.

As the pile became larger I kept thinking "What is this stuff and why did I buy it in the first place?" I have a habit of buying supplies for repair projects and then never getting around to doing the project. When I finally get motivated to start working, I can't find the supplies I bought and go to Home Depot and buy them all over again. I found unopened boxes of tile grout that had become solid bricks after years of sitting on a shelf. There were dozens of tubes of caulk, glue, and paint that had turned solid as well. Some sheetrock I'd bought for repairs had turned into a crumbling, soggy mess after sitting in the leaky shed for way too many years. I found four large and very heavy steel bars that I had bought for something but couldn't remember why. Such a lot of unfinished projects! There were rusty tools that had to be thrown away because they simply didn't work anymore. I found two large boxes full of gimme caps with different corporate logos on them. Lord knows where I accumulated those. We made quite a pile for the trash truck to haul away, but we're far from finished. The other half of the tool shed remains untouched. Sorting through thirty years of accumulated junk felt a lot like clearing out my Dad's house after he died. We weren't trying to save this stuff. It just seemed to grow and multiply.

After today's initial cleanup effort, I'm really dreading cleaning out my office. Nothing is rusty or ruined in here, but a lot of things will never be used again. In my line of work, equipment become obsolete fairly quickly. It's hard to throw the stuff away though. I'll remember how something saved the day twenty five years ago and fool myself into thinking that maybe I'll use it again. Truthfully. I'll probably never use a film camera again. Modern digital cameras are so much better. I'll probably never use most of my audio gear either. I don't play in a band or produce commercials anymore and the equipment is woefully out of date anyway. All this stuff is hard to throw away because there are memories attached to everything. Eventually, the stuff in the office will be just like the stuff in the tool shed. I'll forget what it is and then it will be easy to throw away.

We miscalculated on our walk this morning and ended up getting caught in a thunderstorm. Luckily, we were close to a picnic pavilion when the heavy rain started so we didn't get very wet. It was nice to discover that Dawn wasn't scared of storms at all. She just sat calmly at our side until the storm passed. It's amazing what a calm, well behaved dog Dawn is. She still doesn't like to ride in a car, but other than that, very few things seem to bother her.

We got a lot of rain today but the roof still hasn't leaked. I'm not about to declare victory yet, but things are looking good. When normalcy returns to the world it might be time to make some serious improvements to the house. We need a lot more than a new roof. I think it's time to find a good general contractor who can fix everything. It's probably better to spend the money and have a nice place to live rather than watch it disappear in an investment account when the next pandemic arrives.

One hidden benefit of these crazy times is that we are eating very well. Janet is quite a good cook. I imagine we'll go back to take out meals when things get busy again, but for now life is good. Long walks and great meals are hard to beat.

Marley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3131

People are adjusting their schedules to beat the heat. We set an alarm this morning so we could walk Dash before the weather became unbearable. The sun wasn't even up yet and the park was already full of joggers, cyclists, and people walking their dogs. I can't recall seeing so many people out so early. I'm sure everyone had the same idea we did. If we'd waited even one more hour to walk, the temperature would have been ten degrees higher.

Once the sun came up, I had no desire to leave the house. There were the usual Saturday errands unfortunately, so I tried to get them finished as soon as I could. I thought I'd drop off an uninterruptible power supply at the battery store while I went grocery shopping. After disconnecting the heavy box and lugging it to the car, I discovered that the battery store is no longer open on Saturday. Bummer. I've gone to this place on Saturday morning many times before. Why do people keep changing things? Now I'll have to go back during the week to get the UPS repaired. We're prone to power spikes and surges in our neighborhood, so I definitely need this thing.

It's like Russian Roulette when I get gas at Sam's Club now. They never tell you when they run out of premium gas. You have to run your credit card and select the grade you want. If no gas comes out of the pump, you're out of luck. Even worse, you're still charged one dollar for every attempt you make. I have several of these one dollar charges on my latest statement. It's irritating, but not worth the trouble to protest. Luckily, there was plenty of premium this morning. I guess I could just get gas somewhere else, but I'm a creature of habit.

When I turn the sprinklers on in the morning, a wide variety of birds, squirrels, and even bugs come out of their hiding places to enjoy the water. There were tons of birds using the birdbath this morning. I feel sorry for the critters in the park. This weather must be tough on them. We don't see many animals when we take our morning walks now. I hope they survive. I have a feeling that even the ducks are getting hot.

Every once and a while I still wonder if there still are any uses for my old video equipment. I did a Google search this afternoon and discovered that nobody is even talking about BetaSP anymore. Crickets. Some of the last entries about how obsolete this stuff is were made in 2012. It's weird how $20,000 cameras can be worth absolutely nothing literally overnight when the technology changes. You can't even give this stuff to schools anymore. Nobody wants it. The only articles I could find at all were about the importance of transferring old archive material to a digital format before all the tape machines disappeared. I have a feeling that ship has already sailed. Jeez. I still have a couple of old 2" master tapes from my documentary series. I bet there aren't any working Quad machines left in the entire country.

After I became completely depressed about being surrounded by ancient, obsolete equipment, I got started on my weekly routine of recharging batteries. Batteries are such a pain. While the batteries were recharging, I watched cooking shows on PBS. Why am I fascinated by cooking shows when I don't like to cook? Probably for the same reason I'm fascinated by owning a Tesla while I hate batteries.

Dash seemed like a happy camper today. He's been doing surprisingly well this week, considering that it feels like a furnace outside.

Katie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3029

One thing leads to another when you've got too much time on your hands. Spending time last week trying to get an old MIDI keyboard controller to work has somehow rekindled my interest in music. I've been thinking about reassembling my songwriting studio. Some of the equipment is still sitting here in the office. Other stuff is gathering dust in the storage warehouse. Is this gear obsolete, or is it still usable? If it is usable, where would I put it? There isn't much space in the office anymore. It's easy to waste hours thinking about stuff like this. Today I reread an instruction manual for an old Yamaha synthesizer that has been sitting in a corner for years and still couldn't figure out how to use it. It didn't help that there wasn't a keyboard attached to the synthesizer anymore. Was this thing still useful? Who knows.

While I was trying to evaluate old music gear, I got a call from my friend in Kentucky who is going to help me liquidate one of my collections. This is my dilemma. I want to hang on to stuff and need to get rid of it at the same time. The logical part of my brain tells me that anything that has sat in a box for over five years really isn't necessary. The crazy part of my brain still thinks that everything in the storage warehouse will still come home again someday.

As I talked with my friend about the logistics of selling my collection, I realized that it wasn't going to be easy. Not a lot of people share my interests. There's no point in keeping a collection in cardboard boxes though. Especially if you've completely lost interest in collecting. I think the stuff will sell at my friend's store, but it might take a while. At any rate, I made a commitment to inventory everything and eventually say goodby to all the dusty boxes. It's time to start downsizing.

I think I've been eating smoked ham for too long. I'm starting to get heartburn again. This is frustrating, since I really thought I'd put my acid reflux problems behind me. I guess I could start taking Protonix again, but my doctors have warned me that taking a proton-pump inhibitor for an extended length of time is not a good idea. Probably a better idea would just be to start eating healthy, bland food again. I switched to a healthy, plant based diet when I was being treated for Hepatitis C and it took care of a host of problems. The only problem that remained was that I didn't really enjoy being a vegetarian. I've kind of slipped off the wagon now and am eating more red meat than I should.

Dash has his own diet issues. He's eating consistently again, but insists on boiled chicken breasts for breakfast now. He won't touch anything else. Today we tried to add some vegetables to his breakfast by adding peas to his chicken. Surprisingly, he ate the peas, but since he has trouble chewing, a lot of them fell out of his mouth. I've been finding little green peas all over the house today.

I saw a Red Tailed Hawk on our morning walk. I like these birds because they are loners like me. You never see a bunch of hawks sitting together on a telephone wire. Hawks usually hunt alone and other birds seem to defer to them. Mockingbirds, Blue Jays, and Starlings irritate me, but there is something noble about a hawk.

I hope I think of something useful to do tomorrow. Today was a waste. My brain is full of new information about MIDI keyboard controllers, but I still can't play the piano very well.

Apollo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3012

I was determined to fix the toilet today. I printed out a parts list and drove to the only plumbing supply store in town that has just about everything. The store was closed. If I was thinking, I should have known the store would be closed. Just about the only people who go to this store are plumbers. Have you ever tried getting a plumber on a Saturday?

When I finished the rest of my Saturday errands, I took the flush valve apart and cleaned everything again. This time I must have done something right. When I reassembled the valve and turned the water back on, the water level in the tank was almost an inch lower and the flush valve leak had been reduced to a slow drip. I probably still need new parts, but at least I accomplished something. I'm convinced that Porcher and Citroën must have had some connection in the part. Both French companies feature very clever engineering and make products that are virtually impossible to fix. I have owned several Citroën automobiles. They are wonderful cars to drive but you never want to break down on a lonely stretch of highway. I reluctantly sold my last Citroën when the only Citroën mechanic in Texas retired.

Dash woke me up last night and went racing for the back door. I thought I got the door opened in time. I watched Dash go out in the yard and poop. What I didn't see until the next morning was that he really didn't make it to the yard after all. It was dark and I didn't notice that he'd pooped right on top of the door threshold. When I closed the door and locked up, I inadvertently squished the poop under the bottom of the door and made a huge mess. It was a very unpleasant job to clean the aluminum threshold and underside of the door. The entire door had become a poop sandwich. I thought I was going to get a break from cleaning up poop after Dot passed away, but Dash is already following in her footsteps.

Dash didn't want to take an afternoon walk today. I sure wish this dog could talk. I don't want to make him walk if he's feeling tired or uncomfortable, but it would be nice to know how he felt about things before I spent a lot of time getting him suited up in his protective gear. If he won't walk, I have to remove all the gear because he can't get up on the bed with his boots and leg brace on. We go through this ritual several times every afternoon and I never know what the outcome is going to be. Sometimes he walks and other times he doesn't.

At least the large printer is working again. I finally managed to get the thing unclogged. The printer is making nice prints, but it looks like I'm already going to have to order some more ink. I ended up using half of the expensive ink I received recently running five cleaning cycles. Why do I still have this printer? Probably for the same reason I still have several Beta-SP tape decks. It's a bitch when you've become obsolete.

The grass is already starting to grow in the front yard again. It's almost time to see whether the lawn mower battery survived the winter. I really don't like mowing the lawn, but it's probably no worse than getting the water off the roof or fixing the toilet.

Chelsey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day