Day 4312

The rain appears to be over for a while. I'm glad because we did get a small roof leak last night. This wasn't in the living room where it usually leaks. It was in the office. Water was dripping around the edge of one of the can lights in the ceiling. There have been leaks in this location before, but they are rare. I've never found the source. Since there was a leak, I decided I couldn't postpone going up on the roof any longer. I had to remove the standing water.

Since the drip in the office stopped after about an hour,  I was in no hurry. I had breakfast and took my long walk first. Dawn got her sunrise walk as well. The standing water refused to go away on its own, so I eventually climbed up on the roof and dealt with it.

I really hate this job. It's fairly strenuous and it's getting harder and harder for me to climb up on the roof. The neighbor's pecan tree is no friend of mine. It drops tons of pecans on the roof every Fall and the squirrels break them open and make a mess. The pecans turn the standing water into a brackish brown mess which stains the roof and makes it harder to find any tears in the elastomer. I really need to bring the power sprayer up on the roof and clean up this mess, but the sprayer is heavy and I'm afraid that power washing the roof might cause even more leaks. I still push all the standing water over the edge with a big push broom which resides on the roof permanently. Even on a good day it takes me well over an hour to remove the water. Today, since I was removing a ton of broken pecan shells as well, it took me even longer. I've said this many times, but never buy a house with a flat roof.

It would be nice to live in a new house with no problems, but I've never seriously considered moving. The house was paid for years ago and we live in a great neighborhood. I like living by the lake. There isn't a better place in the entire city to have a dog. Things will continue to break and I will continue to fix them. It's too bad that all the repair people I used to use have either retired or died. This new generation of repair people aren't nearly as talented as those older guys. Back in the day I always felt like the guys from "This Old House" were coming over to fix things. Not anymore. That's why I try to do as much as I can myself.

The launch photographers I know are all getting ready for the Lucy launch this weekend. Somehow major science missions always seem a little more interesting than your routine communication satellites. I can't help being a little envious of these Florida photographers. Photographing rockets is one of the few things I actually enjoy, but traveling to the space center for every launch is way too expensive for me. I probably won't return until the Artemis 1 launch in early 2022.

The city finally mowed the meadow behind our house. This will make it much easier to return home after Dawn's sunrise walk. When the grass was tall, our shoes and socks would get wet for several days after a rain and Dawn's paws and legs would always get sticky from the grass pollen. Every morning we'd have to clean Dawn with a wet rag before we went back in the house. Maybe since it is so late in the year, the grass won't start growing again until Spring.

The week's trash has been taken out to the curb and Dawn is sitting alert on the bed, waiting for Janet to return from a meeting. I'm happy to say that this day is just about over.

Abby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4204

I knew it was going to rain today. It was just a matter of when. There was plenty to do while I was waiting for the leak to reappear. We took Dawn for an early walk before I dropped Janet off at the dentist for dental surgery. I went home and ate breakfast while waiting until it was time to go pick her up again. When Janet was back home and resting with Dawn at her side, I started checking my weather radar apps to see if I still had time to take my long walk. Maybe. The rain was on the way, but I might have time to take a shorter walk. I walked about half my usual distance and arrived home again about two minutes before the downpour started. I don't know if I'm getting better at calculating how fast storms move or if I just got lucky. I'm glad I didn't get soaked though because it was a pretty heavy rain.

Janet slept through the storm and Dawn never left her side. I thought for a while that the roof wasn't going to leak after all, but it was only a matter of time before I started hearing the inevitable sound of dripping water hitting the brick floor. I mopped up the water with a towel and placed a bucket under the drip. How am I going to stop this leak? I looked carefully yesterday when I was up on the roof and couldn't find anything that looked suspicious. I can't complain to the roofer anymore. He stopped returning my calls over a year ago. I can't really blame him. The silicon elastomer roof is no longer under warranty and has had so many problems over the years that the roofer has basically replaced the entire roof already. The silicon material turned out to be a very bad solution. It's definitely waterproof, but it is fragile and is easily damaged by falling branches from our large Oak trees.

While I was waiting for the rain to stop I looked on the Internet for some replacement foam inserts for an old Zero Halliburton aluminum camera case. I discovered by my case was considered a vintage model and was more valuable than I thought. I also found a company that still makes foam inserts for this case. I think the foam inserts cost more than the case did many years ago. I couldn't find any pre-cut inserts for my old Nikon F2 system, so I will have to cut them myself. You'd think that someone would have come up with a better way to protect equipment by now. Polyurethane foam turns into a messy goo after five or ten years and can ruin your equipment if you don't change the foam at regular intervals. The foam in my case has already turned into a messy goo, but luckily I had the forethought at some point to wrap the camera and all the lenses in blue Scott shop towels. Why do I even keep the old Nikon camera when I know I'll never use it again? It's just the way I am. I keep a lot of old stuff and the F2 was one of my favorite cameras.

The roof leak is in an awkward place because the water is dripping right in front of Dawn's dog bowls. It's hard enough to get her to eat already and I'm sure that getting wet wouldn't improve things. I've moved her bowls to a new location and this seems to work for now. The dripping water is clear, so this probably means that the source of the leak is located directly above where it is entering the house. If it was traveling down a beam from another location it would be probably be stained brown. As soon as things dry out I'll go look for the source of the leak again. That may be a while. It is supposed to rain all week.

I hope Charlie and Cooper didn't miss up today. We'll be back to visit them next week. Penny has already gone to her forever home. She lives with horses now and appears very happy from the pictures we've seen. Dawn gets a bath at the vet and her nails trimmed tomorrow. Maybe this will keep her from biting at her nails in the middle of the night and waking me up. The leak has stopped for now, but I'll leave the bucket out tonight just in case. 

Patch is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4182

Dawn is a smart dog. She knows we sleep in late on Sunday and stays in bed with us at least an hour longer than her usual breakfast time. I don't know if she is being patient or lazy. Maybe she would sleep in late every day if Janet didn't get up early on weekdays. Dawn also seems to know that she gets a special outing on Sundays. As the time for our departure approaches she starts pacing around, whining and barking. I think we've overcome her fear of the car. Dawn is eager to hop in the car on Sunday morning. Maybe she never was fearful of the car; just fearful of where the car might be going. Dawn still doesn't like to get in the car if we are going to the vet or to get a bath. I think she knows.

We had a nice walk this morning. We had a lot of rain last night, but it was over by morning. The ground was still wet but the grass is thick everywhere now and it is easy to avoid getting muddy. Dawn seems to listen to me outside when I am holding her leash. She never listens to me inside the house. This is a very strange dog. I think I am slowly beginning to understand her. After our regular walk, Janet worked on a few training exercises. Dawn wasn't very interested. I think she knew it was time for ice cream cones. We always get ice cream at Andy's on the way home They call their ice cream frozen custard, but it tastes like Dairy Queen to me. I"m not particular about ice cream. I like all ice cream.

I wasn't that eager to go on my long walk today because I knew it would get hot quickly as soon as the sun came out. I decided to walk earlier than usual in hopes that the skies would stay cloudy. I almost got my wish. It stayed overcast with a little breeze until I was almost home. I was slow today but I wasn't in a hurry. I'm trying to not be such a slave to my Fitbit. I really ought to stop wearing the Fitbit on walks and start carrying a small camera again. I used to take better pictures in the park. Now I mostly just depend on my phone. Sometimes I'll just use an old picture for the blog. I've photographed everything there is to photograph in the park by now. If I see something interesting on my walks, I can almost always find an old photograph of exactly the same thing.

I'm beginning to hate taking a shower after I walk. The shower drains slowly if any hair gets in the drain and water alway seems to get under the tile floor through various small cracks in the tile grout. I usually end up having to snake out the drain and use the wet/dry vac to extract the water that has gotten under the ceramic tiles. This is a huge pain and it almost make staying hot and sweaty a viable option. Old houses are an endless problem and so is finding knowledgable and dependable repair people. You learn to live with the problems. I've already learned that a small bag of party ice will last almost three weeks in the freezer. I could buy party ice forever for a lot less than the cost of having an appliance repairman install a new ice maker.

I thought about watching some more tutorials about PixInsight this afternoon but my heart wasn't in it. I have to admit that I'm just not very interested in the technical aspects of astrophotography processing. I can get fairly decent looking photographs just using Photoshop. Maybe I'll just stick with what I know. I read an article today where various amateur astronomers were recounting stories about being stalked by mountain lions, bears, and coyotes while observing in remote wooded locations. These stories were a little sobering and took some of the fun out of staying at the Astronomer's Lodge. I can't be fearful of everything though or I'd never leave the house.

We'll probably go see the rescue Dalmatians tomorrow. I'm curious to see who's still there. Charlie is a safe bet, but the others might all be adopted by now.

Wendy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3687

It rained again last night. It looked like the roof was going to leak again, so I set some buckets out in the kitchen and went outside to turn the pumps on. Water is not my friend this year. One of the toilets keeps running. It's hard to shut off the kitchen sink. Water is getting underneath the tiles in the shower. The water heater is starting to show its age as well.

There's not an easy fix for any of these things. When I first became a homeowner it seemed much easier to find repair people who could fix anything. I can't find these people anymore. The ones I really liked have all either died or retired. I can fix a lot of things myself, but it's hard to even find the proper parts these days. Basically, your typical mid-century modern house is 70 years old. Nothing lasts that long.

I waited for the roof to start leaking while I was eating breakfast, but it never did. I could tell the sheetrock was getting damp though, so there is definitely still a problem. I decided not to tempt fate and went up on the roof to sweep the water away. How is this water getting in? The silicon coating looks solid and I don't see any obvious problems. When I got all the water removed, it started raining again. It's too bad that the rainy season isn't even close to being over. I won't be able to examine things more closely until we get a few weeks of really dry weather. Even though it was a nasty day, I still found some time to take my walk. There was a light drizzle while I was walking, but I managed to stay reasonably dry by dressing in layers. When I returned home, I threw my damp clothes in the dryer and got some rags and a ladder to try to dry out the damp spot in the kitchen ceiling. I guess things could be worse. There was no need for buckets today. I can stop the toilet from running by taking the lid off the tank and jiggling things a bit. The kitchen faucet will probably last a few more years if we are gentle with it. I still with I could find really talented repair people who were interested in fixing things instead of just replacing them. I keep thinking that repair people should all be like those guys you see on that "This Old House" TV show. Unfortunately, real life is a little different.

Since water seemed to be the theme for the day, I looked at the long range weather for my trip to Florida. Jeez. There is a high probability of rain on launch day. I bet this launch is going to get postponed again. The forecast looks a lot more promising for the trip to McDonald Observatory later this Spring. It's going to be cold though. It looks like nighttime temperatures will still be below freezing the entire time I'm there. Maybe I ought to get my old Alaska coat out of the storage warehouse after all.

Hopefully, I'll see a little blue sky tomorrow. I'm definitely not at my best on a rainy day. We'll see how it goes. I have a feeling that I'll be battling water for a long, long time.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3592

We got an enormous amount of rain last night. I apparently couldn't even escape the rain in my sleep. About 3 AM I woke up from a bad dream in which I was walking through a flooded house. The house appeared to be the house I grew up in, but you can never tell about dreams. Once I was awake, I got a drink of water and looked around. I could hear the pumps running on the roof and I didn't see any leaks, so I went back to bed. There were still no leaks when I got up the next morning, so I thought I was in the clear. Sadly, I wasn't. Later in the day I heard an ominous drip in the office. Water had started leaking through a can light in the ceiling. It was a small leak, but there shouldn't have been a leak at all. I thought I'd done a good job of making repairs.

I decided to take a walk when the rain appeared to stop about an hour after I finished breakfast. Both the weather apps on my phone confirmed that there would be no more rain until later in the afternoon.  It was cold and wet outside, so I wore a warm jacket and my old waterproof dog walking boots. The weather radar apps apparently aren't sensitive enough to measure mist. It wasn't raining, but after a mile or so I realized that I was pretty wet. The mist had soaked my jacket.

The park was empty today. The cyclists, joggers, and dog walkers were all gone. I only encountered two people during my entire walk. There was a Japanese guy in shirtsleeves who tried to give me a pamphlet and asked if I had found Jesus. He looked very cold. Later, I passed a girl in dance attire who was using a camera with a self timer on a tripod to take pictures of herself on a very wet pier.

When I got home I threw my clothes in the dryer and had no desire to go outside again for the rest of the day. The dripping noise in the office finally got to me though. I went up on the roof to try and find the source of the leak. I failed. I still have no idea how the water is getting in. All the patches I applied the other day held up very well. I couldn't find any new areas where water might be getting in.

Unfortunately, the water is getting in somehow. I cleared all the standing water away and hope that the roof will have a chance to dry again before the next rain arrives. I need to find the source of this leak. There are still a few areas where the old acrylic coating was never replaced with the silicon material. When the roof dries out again, I will first look for suspicious damp areas and then make sure that the entire roof is coated with the more durable silicon material. Will that work? Who knows.

Because I am losing patience with this roof, I called a fourth roofer to give me a bid for replacing the roof. This guy comes highly recommended, but so did the other three. So far, nobody agrees on the best way to solve my problems. It doesn't help matters that the architect who designed this mid-century modern house thought it would be cool to have an garden atrium right in the middle of the house. Having a big square hole right in the middle of the roof definitely complicates the process of replacing the roof. The house was built in 1955 and like all old houses has settled over the years. Water now drains toward the atrium at the center of the house instead of toward the edges of the roof.

I hope I sleep better tonight. When I was young I used to have exciting dreams where I could fly and do amazing things. Having a dream where your house is flooded is just a bit too close to real life.

Patch is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3294

Another year bites the dust. I guess it was fitting that the year ended in such a typical fashion. It rained all night. Dash pooped in the bed. And the roof started leaking again. As usual, I noticed the leak when I stepped in a puddle of water while I was taking Dash outside to pee in the middle of the night. I had a towel in my hand to dry Dash off with, but ended up using it to mop up the water on the floor. After strategically placing buckets under the leaks and cleaning Dash so he wouldn't get mud on the bed, I went back to sleep.

This morning I was puzzled that no water was being pumped from the roof. I went up to investigate and discovered that the pump had tipped over during the night. No wonder there was over three inches of standing water directly over the leak. I spent two hours removing all the water from the roof, but the effort was probably all for nothing. There is snow in the forecast for Wednesday.

I took a small check from one of my few remaining clients to the bank and got a bunch of buckets at the Dollar Store on the way home. You can't have too many buckets when your roof is leaking. I never go to the Dollar Store, but Janet said that if I'd quit being such an elitist, I could get the buckets for only a dollar. She was right. I would have paid five dollars for a similar bucket at Home Depot.

Not much has changed this year. Last New Year's Eve Dash was already wearing his knee brace and was having major problems with vestibular disease. The elastomer coating on the roof was falling apart and my accountant was telling me it was time to shut down the business. I was starting to think about selling things, but hadn't actually started yet.

One year later, Dash has exceeded all his doctor's expectations. He poops all over the place, but his heart is actually stronger than it was last year. He still has vestibular disease, but the seizures seems to have subsided. Considering that he can barely stand up at times, the little guy is proving to be remarkably resilient.

The house hasn't been resilient at all. I guess this is to be expected since it was built in 1955. I'm going to need a new roof, new toilets and tile in the bathrooms, new sheetrock on the ceiling, fresh paint, and a new sliding glass door in the atrium. It's too bad that my services are no longer in demand because this is going to be expensive. I hate to spend a lot of money on this house, since it will probably be torn down if we ever move. On the other hand, I hate living like this. I've almost forgotten what living in a trouble free house is like.

I think we'll make it to midnight this year. We've been staying up later lately because Dash usually pees around midnight. It's easier to go to bed after this happens. There's some champagne cooling in the refrigerator. We'll lift a glass to the new year and hope that it is better than 2018.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3141

There is a suspicious rust colored stain on the living room ceiling that wasn't there a few days ago. I think the roof is leaking again. This really isn't supposed to be happening. I actually thought the roofers did a pretty good job when they made their repairs recently. I went up on the roof to remove the standing water from yesterday's surprise rain and look for signs of a leak. I couldn't find anything. Where is this water coming from? I'm about ready to give up. This house is a series of never ending problems. Maybe all old houses are this way, but I'm beginning to think that it would be a lot easier to just live in a hotel.

The weather was nice this morning. The temperature was only in the high seventies when I woke up. Dash could smell the difference in the air. He was ready to walk as soon as he'd finished taking his morning meds. I was surprised at how eager he was this morning. He didn't even want to wait until Janet had left for work. We had a nice walk and then he went back to sleep. That's what he does these days. He eats and sleeps and occasionally poops in the house.

There has been a campaign to save some historic trees in an older shopping center near my post office. When I went to the post office today, I noticed that the developer had chopped down the trees anyway. So much for listening to the customers. I think most of the neighborhood wanted to keep the trees. I'm not even sure what the developer was trying to prove. I think all they are are going to do is add a few more parking places. What was that old Joni Mitchel song? "You don't know what you've got till it's gone. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."

Now that Janet has returned, it is time to stock up on groceries again. I went to the store after breakfast this morning and bought a bunch of fresh fruit. Janet thought I might have got too much, but it all looked so good. The strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and peaches were all really fresh today. I should go shopping on Tuesday more often. All the produce looked much better than it does on Saturday.

I wish I could teach Dash to sleep on the floor. He's really having trouble climbing on the bed now. The special step we built at the base of the bed helped for quite a while, but now he's having trouble even getting on the step. He's so stubborn about trying to do things that were easy when he was younger that I'm afraid he's going to hurt himself.

Dash goes to the cancer center tomorrow morning for another series of tests. We're hoping that his blood clot hasn't gotten worse after we were forced to discontinue one of his blood thinners due to internal bleeding. The internal bleeding problem seems to be gone, but we're still worried about the blood clot in Dash's heart. My sister is undergoing a similar series of tests to see how she's responding to a new cancer treatment. I hope everyone's test results are good. There's way too much illness in my little corner of the world.

Shelby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3035

It's amazing how long it takes to do nothing. Maybe I accomplished something today, but it would be hard to prove. I found a place that sells the weird silicon glue I've been looking for in a smaller more affordable size. I was just about ready to order the glue online when I discovered that the seller wanted to charge $18 to ship the small 1/2 ounce tube. Jeez. The glue itself only costs $11. This seemed ridiculous, especially since you could easily put the small tube of glue in a bubble pack envelope and mail it with two first class stamps. I canceled the order and did some more looking until I eventually found a place in town that stocked the glue. Do I want to drive 20 miles on a busy freeway to pick this stuff up, or pay way too much for shipping? It's a tough choice.

I heard on TV that the supreme court is hearing a case tomorrow that could end up forcing online retailers to charge sales tax. That would really suck. I have purchased computers, cameras, and electronic equipment online for years specifically to avoid paying sales tax. Sales taxes, gasoline taxes, property taxes, cigarette taxes, and much, much more never seem to be enough. The government always wants more. We'll see what happens, but I'm going to be real disappointed if I have to pay sales tax when I order something from Sweetwater or B&H Camera.

I made an appointment to take Dash tomorrow morning for his rabies booster. He's so old now that I don't think he needs the shot, but it's the law. At least the city doesn't require the vaccine every year like they used to. You only need a booster shot once every three years now and many vets think that the vaccine is actually effective for up to seven years. Dash has had a bad reaction to some immunizations in the past, so I never look forward to these shots as he becomes old and frail. I wish these decisions could just be between the vet and the pet's owner. Why does the government need to get involved?

Our neighbors are having to replace their sewer line. What a mess. Since our houses are about the same age, I've started to wonder about the condition of our own sewer line. We've already had problems with our water lines, so it's something to think about. When our house was built in the mid-1950's, they used copper pipes inside the house and heavy cast iron pipes outside. These pipes were pretty durable, but everything rusts or corrodes eventually. I wonder how the PVC pipes they use today will look fifty years from now? The plastic pipes will probably be fine, but I can't imagine that the purple glue they use to join these pipes together will last that long.

I have only a single outstanding invoice now. When even the slow and delinquent payers are current on all their accounts, do I even have a business left? Probably not. I'm a pretty good dog nurse, but I'm really going to have to find something to do with myself when the business officially dies.

Becker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2958

The refrigerator broke again. This was very discouraging, considering the time, effort, and money I've already spent repairing this thing. The appliance repair folks weren't much help. Despite three separate services calls and hundreds of dollars worth of parts, they still made no promises. They told me the first part they installed wasn't under warranty anymore because they installed it more than 90 days ago. The second part is still covered, but they have no idea whether it is causing the current problem. The third part, which actually ended up getting the refrigerator running again for several months isn't covered at all because I purchased it myself. Basically, I'm screwed. They could keep coming back forever and never solve the problem.

I think it's time to abandon this refrigerator and buy a new one. The main reason I haven't already done this is that our current refrigerator is much nicer than what is currently available. Nobody makes the size we have anymore. You can get a basic, slightly smaller model, or a wide variety of larger models that won't fit in the kitchen alcove where the current refrigerator sits. To make matters worse, the small refrigerator is actually more expensive that the larger fancy models because it is considered a low volume "specialty" appliance.

I give up. I'm tired of taking the freezer apart so I can thaw out the frozen evaporator coil. It took over two hours to do this today. The refrigerator is working again, but since something is causing the automatic defrost cycle to malfunction, the coil will just freeze again in a week or two. I have no confidence in the appliance repair folks anymore. They've had three chances to fix this problem and they've failed every time. I can keep replacing parts and hope for the best, or I can buy a new refrigerator.

After spending the morning getting the refrigerator running again, I spent the afternoon driving around looking at new ones. I finally found two refrigerators that will fit in my aging mid-century modern kitchen, but neither was what I was hoping for. I think my entire house has passed it's '"use by" date. The plumbing is old and hard to replace. The utility room is too small for my front loader washer and dryer. The electrical system is not really designed for modern power hungry appliances. You've already heard about my ongoing roof problems. Nobody is interested in fixing old things either. I really don't want to buy a new refrigerator in the same month that my car insurance is due, but what are you going to do?

At least Dash was fairly normal today. He slept through the night and had a good appetite. He even left me alone while I was disassembling the freezer and removing all the ice from the evaporator coil. We took a nice long walk this morning, but I sure wish Dash was a little faster. Since I hadn't fixed the refrigerator yet, I kept imagining food spoiling during our entire journey. At some point during the day, I noticed that I had a stripe of dried poop on my pants leg. It probably happened yesterday when Dash had diarrhea. I immediately threw the pants in the laundry, wondering how long I'd been walking around that way.

I hope nothing goes wrong tomorrow. Days like today really wear me down. Eventually the refrigerator problem will get resolved and then something else will break. Something always breaks. I hope I can count on my car for a while longer. A new car is a lot more expensive than a new refrigerator.

Spirit is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2860

The refrigerator repairman arrived right on time. The first words out of his mouth were "We've got a problem." He showed me the box with the part I've been waiting for. "This control board is for a Bosch refrigerator," he said. "You've got a GE." Good grief. The part arrived last Thursday. They had four days to notice that it was the wrong part. They even put the wrong part on the truck and nobody noticed.

I'd already taken all the food out of the freezer and put it in an ice chest before the repairman arrived. I'd even taken all the shelves out of the freezer so the guy could get started right away. I really wasn't expecting him to arrive with the wrong part. I told the repairman I was getting tired of this. I showed him the parts I had ordered myself and said I could have a control board shipped to the house overnight if I need to. There was just no excuse for this level of ineptness. The guy went back to his truck and called his supervisor. He came back a while later and said his company could have a new part shipped overnight as well. He could come back Wednesday and install it. I didn't believe him, but I said "Sure, go ahead."

The repairman left to go to his next job and I took the freezer apart and defrosted the evaporator coil with a hair dryer again. I also installed one of the parts I bought. The other part was more difficult to install, so I'm going to have the repairman replace it when he returns on Wednesday. Why do I think I'm going to get a call on Wednesday morning saying that the control board hasn't arrived yet.

Dash wouldn't walk again this morning. Maybe if Janet hadn't had to go to work early, we could have tricked him into leaving the house, but it wasn't meant to be. I really don't understand this new aversion to leaving the house in the morning. When Janet returned this evening, Dash was eager to walk. I wish this dog could tell me what's wrong. The vets can't explain his behavior, but something has definitely changed.

I had an animal rescue meeting tonight. I thought I wouldn't be able to attend because of the refrigerator repair, but since the repairman didn't actually do anything, I had plenty of time. Not much was accomplished at the meeting, but at least I made an effort to show up. Janet was able to come home early, so Dash got an evening walk as well. It wasn't the kind of day I expected, but I really can't complain. The refrigerator will be fine for another week after I defrosted the coil. Dash ate his dinner and seems happy. I even have plenty of time to finish tonight's blog entry.

I meet my new doctor tomorrow. At least I assume he'll be my new doctor. Who knows. Maybe I won't like the guy. I hope this transition goes smoothly. The last thing I need right now is one more unexpected hassle. I've been postponing my annual physical since last Summer in anticipation of this switch. If I become a patient of this new clinic, I'm going to be immediately due for a lot of tests.

I need to figure out how to get the roofer out here before it rains again. There's an alarmingly large hole in the elastomer that needs to be patched. The house is wearing me out. The roof needs attention, the shower still leaks, and the refrigerator is driving me crazy. I wish everything would return to normal, but does normal even exist these days? I don't think so.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2158

Sometimes, you've got to be the squeaky wheel. When Dot pooped in her bed again last night and we still couldn't use the washing machine because of our ongoing plumbing problems, I'd had about as much as I could take. I called the president of the plumbing company and told him as politely as I could that waiting until Tuesday for a plumber simply wasn't acceptable. "Your ads say you guys are on call 24/7," I said. "So, what's with making us wait a week and a half to get this fixed?" When I started going on and on about living in a house full of dog poop without running water, the guy told me he would see what he could do. An hour later the plumbing company said they could have a plumber out early Friday morning. Friday was much better than next Tuesday, so I was happy that my little tirade had achieved its purpose. Another hour passed, and the plumbing company called again and said they'd have someone out this afternoon.

When the plumber arrived he asked me to turn on all the water in the kitchen and utility room to help him find the drain leak under the house. Simply turning on the faucet wasn't producing the desired results, so I filled the kitchen sink with water and then let it go down the drain all at once. Not a good idea! The sink wasn't draining. At that point, the dishwasher, which was also on, began to empty and the water had no place to go. A line broke under the sink and the kitchen was flooded with water. Luckily, there were two plumbers several feet away watching this new disaster unfold.

Eventually the leaking cast iron pipe under the house was replaced, the leak under the sink was repaired, and the entire drain line was snaked out. I ran a load of poopy dog blankets to test the system and nothing leaked.  I think we're back in business! The two plumbers were at the house the entire afternoon. Mercifully, Dot slept for the first three hours. When she eventually woke up, she made up for lost time and barked for the rest of the day. Despite all the barking, she didn't poop in the house again. I think this was because she had already pooped in the vet's lobby, right before she got in the underwater treadmill.

There is still a huge hole under the house and one of the loud dehumidifiers is still running in the living room, but I think we're making progress. The tunneling crew will come back tomorrow to backfill the tunnel, unless another leak appears while I'm taking a shower tonight. I think the old house is trying to tell me something. If houses had "use by" dates like milk, this house would have expired and gone sour by now. Don't let me ever buy a house with a flat roof and a slab foundation again.

Since fixing things was the theme for the day, I tried to fix some ad copy that my client wasn't too happy with yesterday. I also tried to fix the layout in my new mobile friendly website so the iPhone view didn't look so wonky. I tried to explain to the client that making the mobile friendly site look perfect on every available device just wasn't that easy. I told them that the site was a work in progress and it would gradually become more refined with each passing day. I think the plumber tried to explain to me that my house was a work in progress too. There was no way he could fix all my plumbing problems in a single day. Fair enough. There was no way I could pay for everything I need right now anyway. The important thing was that the two major leaks had been repaired. The toilets are working again and I can do the laundry. That's enough for one day.

Hopefully, there will be no surprises when the tunneling crew returns tomorrow. I've had enough surprises for an entire year.

Jade is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2156

We've got water! The broken pipe was exactly where the plumber said it would be, which kind of amazed me. The leak was located right on schedule too, which amazed me even more. I was afraid it might take weeks to resolve this problem. If you're wondering what actually caused the leak, it turns out that a section of the copper pipe that supplies water to the house was located right next to a larger cast iron pipe that carries waste water away. There were places where the two pipes touched and over the years, the rusting cast iron caused the copper to corrode and fail. That's what the plumber said anyway. He showed me a small hole in the damaged pipe about half the diameter of a pencil. It's still hard to believe that such a small hole could have caused so much damage.

I asked the plumber if there might be other places under the house where the copper supply lines could be touching the cast iron drainage lines. "Sure," said the plumber. "There could be lots of places like this." "Is there anything you can do to prevent this from happening again," I asked. "Nope," said the plumber, "You could have another leak like this tomorrow, or it might never happen again." That wasn't the kind of reassurance I was looking for, but I guess I'll have to live with it. Even though there's a huge hole under the house, it only exposed a tiny fraction of what the builders had put there over sixty years ago. Lord knows what still lurks under the dirt.

In the grand scheme of things, the problems we've experienced this week are tiny compared to the disasters some people have to deal with. The house wasn't hit by a tornado. It didn't catch on fire. A tree didn't crash through the roof. Life was a little inconvenient, but it could have been so much worse. You always see these stories on TV about people rebuilding their lives from scratch after a major disaster has destroyed their home. I don't know how they find the strength to put the pieces back together. Just having no toilets or running water for a week just about drove me over the edge.

There is still a lot of cleanup to do, but life is already starting to return to normal. I ran the dishwasher today and will do a big load of laundry tomorrow. The tunneling company is supposed to come out in the morning and fill in the big hole they created. It's too bad they can't just add concrete walls to the sides and put a door on top. It would be the tornado shelter I've always wanted. They could just keep digging and we could put in a full basement, but it would be much cheaper to just buy a new house.

The environmental cleanup company is supposed to clean our vents before they haul away their big dehumidification machines and leave. When the water was off, I used the opportunity to re-grout the shower stall, so maybe we'll see some improvements there as well. We'll have a lot of bottled water left over when this is all finished with. I was anticipating a long siege and bought too much.

If there's a silver lining to all this, it would be that being trapped here at the house forced me to buckle down and finish the complicated mobile ready website I've been working on. I'm actually caught up with all my work now. Tomorrow I get to see whether the tunneling crew can make the huge mountain of dirt in our back yard disappear. I bet they can't. They'll probably leave us with a smaller pile of dirt and tell us to plant a garden. I'm going to miss taking showers at the hotel. Their shower was so much nicer than ours.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day