Day 3136

Our new schedule got off to a shaky start this morning. Dash didn't want to get up. I tried everything I could think of to rouse him, but nothing seemed to work. It's important to get an early start, because if we sleep in, it quickly becomes too hot to walk. I was almost out of options, but I thought I'd try waving a fresh piece of steak in front of his nose. That worked. He quickly became excited and headed toward the kitchen. The steak not only stimulated his appetite, it also stimulated his urge to poop. I was going to cut up the steak and use it as pill pocket to administer his morning meds. We'd finished half the pills when Dash got a funny look on his face and went racing for the back door. He didn't make it.

I cleaned up the poop, finished giving Dash his meds and got him dressed for our walk. Amazingly Dash stood still through this ordeal. I learned quickly that Dash needs to be standing on carpet when I suit him up. The brick floors are too slippery and he falls over. By the time we left the house, the sun was already peaking over the horizon. An hour makes a big difference. We had to shorten our walk this morning because of the heat, but we'll try to do better tomorrow.

6 AM until 9 AM can be pretty hectic, but after that, nothing happens. Dash sleeps most of the day. After I finished my breakfast and washed the dishes, I went back to the camping store and bought the dog boots I saw yesterday. Will these boots be any better than the boots Dash already has? Who knows. It's worth a try though. We've finally found boots that will stay on his feet, but nothing really lasts that long. After about three months of wear, they start to fall apart. I can keep the boots going for six months by fixing the worn areas with Shoe Goo, but the holy grail is something that would last as long as my own shoes. We've got a long way to go.

Our vet recommended giving Dash SAMe to help prevent dementia and cognitive disfunction. I used to take this stuff for my liver, but I guess it has many functions. I started giving him these pills recently. He's no Einstein yet, but hopefully the SAMe will help. Dash is definitely becoming more forgetful and is showing some early signs of dementia. This is one of the saddest parts of aging. It happened to Dot. It happened to my Dad. And it will probably happen to me.

I found the telescope, but it was much smaller than I remembered. My image stabilized binoculars actually provide a much better view of the sky. I didn't want my search efforts to go to waste last night, so I took the telescope out and looked at the moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, and a bright red ball called Mars. It's too bad the sky never really gets dark here in Dallas. There's a lot more up there to see.

Dash has taken his evening meds and appears ready to call it a day. Hopefully, things will go a little smoother tomorrow. It's a learning experience.

Smokey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3135

As expected, Dash is a handful. So much of his care is a team effort these days. The day started out normally enough since Janet didn't leave for the airport until after Dash had taken his morning meds and finished his sunrise walk. It was only after Dash discovered that his friend wasn't coming home from work at the regular time that things became more complicated.

Dash lives according to a very rigid schedule. He usually finishes his dinner while Janet is eating hers. Since he couldn't do this tonight, a large part of his dinner is still untouched. I did get him to take his evening meds, but it required putting the pills in a little ball of white angel food cake and then coating the whole thing with peanut butter. To be fair, Janet often has to do this too. It just isn't easy to get the little guy to take his meds.

I thought a short evening walk might get his appetite going. After struggling to get his protective gear on by myself, he refused to leave the house. This wasn't entirely surprising either. He's gotten in the habit of wanting someone to follow on his walks. Either Janet or I will walk ahead and the other person will hold the leash. This usually works pretty well. It might have just been too hot this afternoon, but we walked yesterday at this same temperature without any problems. Hopefully, Dash will finish his dinner later this evening. I'm trying to keep an eye on him, but there's a good chance that he'll poop in the house while I'm finishing tonight's blog post.

I got a call from the computer repair shop saying that the battery I'd ordered had arrived, so I took Janet's laptop in to get it installed. I hope this little repair shop does well. It's not too far from the house and the staff are friendly and knowledgable. Unlike the Apple Store, these guys are actually interested in keeping my older computers running. While the battery was being installed, I went next door to a hiking and camping store and looked at overpriced gear. I happened to see a new brand of dog boots that actually looked quite sturdy. I would have bought some, but I couldn't remember Dash's shoe size. I'll have to measure his paws again.

When I was taking Dash out for one of his middle of the night bathroom breaks last night, I noticed how bright Mars had become. The planet is close to opposition now and is making its closest approach to Earth in fifteen years. I went back in the house, got my binoculars, and was amazed to see a red disc about the size of Jupiter. I've never seen Mars this large before. Sometimes you can't see a disc at all. It might be worth actually setting up the telescope for this. The only problem is that the only time I can get a clear view of the planet through the thick tree canopy in the back yard is about 3 AM. Personally, I'd rather sleep at this hour, but Dash will probably get me up anyway.

The UPS guy delivered the new printer ink this evening. There's no point in installing the cartridges yet. I don't have anything to print. I think I could put my time to better use looking for the telescope. Where did I put that thing?

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3134

I think I'm getting used to the heat. The temperature was only 95 degrees today and it actually seemed cool. Janet didn't have to work this morning, so she got me up early and we were able to give Dash a nice morning walk before the sun ruined everything. Walking before sunrise really makes a big difference.

I'm still wondering how I'm going to maintain this routine while Janet is gone. It takes two of us to get his boots and leg brace on in the morning. One person holds Dash still and lifts his legs one at a time while the other person puts on the socks and protective boots. I've been able to get Dash dressed alone before, but it continues to get harder as he gradually becomes weaker. We'll do the best we can. I know Dash loves his walks, so maybe he'll be cooperative.

I finally went up on the roof and inspected the repairs this morning. Generally, the workmanship looked pretty good, but there were a few glaring errors. There are several telephones lines on the roof. A series of wood blocks elevates these lines, keeping them about five inches above the roof's surface. The roofers removed the blocks and poured the elastomer material directly over the lines. Now, they have become embedded in the roof. There is no way I can remove these wires without ripping a hole in the silicon coating. There is also a mysterious air bubble in one section of the new coating. Where did that come from? I hesitate to complain about these things. All in all, the roofers did a pretty good job and I know they don't want to hear from me again.

The large production printer ran out of ink today while I was trying to clear the clogged lines. Against my better judgement, I called my supplier and ordered some more of the expensive ink. It's doubtful that I'll ever be making large Giclée prints again. I hate to give up on the aging printer though. Unlike some of my obsolete equipment, this thing still works as long as I keep it clean.

The light in the back yard stayed on all night and automatically shut off at sunrise. Weird. There is no rhyme or reason to this thing. Some days it works and other days it doesn't. I like things orderly and predictable, so this stupid light is driving me nuts. If I was a superstitious person, I'd have to conclude that the light was haunted. We'll see what it does tonight. I hate to keep bugging the electrician if the thing is actually working.

I think I've got Dash's complex diet and pill routines memorized. If not, Janet has written everything out for me. She, more than anyone, knows how forgetful I am. All Dash's daily pills are neatly packaged in sandwich bags, labeled with the appropriate day of the week. There is a bag for morning meds and a different bag for evening mets. The refrigerator is filled with tasty things to make improvised pill pockets out of. If Dash isn't eating chicken, there is steak. I think we'll be OK.

I wish I wasn't such a nervous person, but I've spent the past three years caring for sick dogs. There are so many things that can go wrong.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2571

Jeez. I completely forgot about my blogiversary this year. It was two weeks ago and it never even crossed my mind until today. Can you believe I've been doing this since 2009? Years ago, a blog's anniversary date used to be a big deal for many bloggers. Obviously this is not the case anymore. I didn't even remember the date myself.

I'm getting better at managing the dogs by myself, but it sure would be nice if they'd be more consistent. I never know what to expect when I wake up in the morning. Dash is moody. Some days he will race out the back door and other days he won't even get out of bed. It's hard to tell which dog wants their walk first, but it's easier to get Dot started immediately after she's finished her breakfast. Dash is lazy and usually doesn't mind sleeping a little longer. One way or another, everything gets done. I'm just glad that I wasn't very busy this week.

I decided to renew my Pro Tools and Avid Media Composer subscriptions for another year. It would be a miracle if I actually needed either of these applications again, but it's hard to abandon them. Maybe it's just a matter of professional pride. I want to be ready if the call comes. I'm not even sure  the latest version of Media Composer runs on my current computer. Each new edition seems to require faster processors and more memory.

Janet returned to Dallas today. In a perfect world I would have cleaned and straightened the house before she arrived, but it's far from a perfect world. At least things don't look much worse than they did last week. We got two new rugs almost a month ago to replace a large one in the living room that was becoming worn and haven't even found time to exchange them yet. The new rugs are still sitting rolled up by the front door. It's hard to get ahead of the game when Dot is always pooping on something. I wish the house had a big laundry room with giant commercial washers like some of the veterinarians have. I could keep them running full time.

Dot doesn't look like she's almost 17, does she? She tires easily and we stop to rest frequently on our walks, but she definitely hasn't given up yet. In her own mind, or at least what's left of it, she still thinks she's a young dog. Walking Dot is a strange experience. Occasionally I feel like she is a marionette and I'm the puppeteer holding the strings. She enjoys these short walks though. They are the high point of her day.

Only three more days and 2016 will be over. I'm strangely optimistic about 2017. The dogs both survived this year and I became a little more adept at dealing with adversity. I'm ready for a new year. Work slowed down quite a bit, but somehow I'm still able to pay all the bills. Maybe the nice little stock market rally we've been having will continue. Maybe Dot might actually make it to her 17th. birthday. I don't really expect all that much, so I doubt that I'll be disappointed.

Dot & Petey are our Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2567

Today was certainly different. Janet got up real early and went to the airport before I was fully awake. I vaguely remember saying goodby before I went back to sleep again. When I woke up, I noticed that I had done a terrible job cleaning up Dot when she pooped during the night. I guess I should have turned the light on, but I didn't want to wake anyone. At any rate, I failed to clean her completely and the poop had dried on her fur and blankets. It took a lot of time and a lot of wet rags to clean her properly.

Our new routine still starts by getting Dot outside to pee as soon as I can, but after that it gets more complicated. I give the dogs their morning meds and then feed them their breakfast. Dot gets her walk first and then I fix my own breakfast. Both dogs like to eat slices of banana while I have my morning coffee and drink my smoothie. Dash is lazy, but barking for bananas usually gets him energized enough so that he's ready for his own walk when breakfast is finished. When both dogs are back at the house, I wash the dishes and then go outside and see if I can find where Dash has pooped in the yard. If I don't do this, it is inevitable that I will step in the stuff when I take Dot out late at night. Today was somewhat of a work in progress, but I was amazed at how long everything took without Janet's help. By the time I had finished the complete morning routine and was ready to turn the computer on for the day, it was almost noon.

Once both dogs were sleeping, I took a quick shower and ran to the store, since everything will be closed tomorrow. The first thing on my list was a big box of puppy training pads. We are running through these things at an alarming rate. Now that Dot's incontinence is getting worse, I must use five of six of these things a day. The weather is so wet and humid that pee isn't the only problem. Both dogs track water and mud into the house every time they go out. Cleaning Dot's paws was always a two person job. Since she can't stand up properly, one person has to hold her up while the other cleans the paws. Did I mention the house is pretty dirty.

I hope I can refine my plan a bit in the days to come. I thought I'd try writing the blog in the morning when the dogs are sleeping, but that never happened. The walks took a lot longer than I expected and I needed to go to the store. When Dot is in her evening restless period, she is constantly whining to get up, wandering around aimlessly, and falling over if I'm not nearby to steady her. Consequently, I'm writing the blog one sentence at a time this evening.

Today was one of those foggy days that I love to photograph. Everything looks so ghostly in a thick blanket of fog. Dash had no interest in turning his morning walk into a photo excursion unfortunately. I grabbed a few quick shots with my phone, but that was about it. The sailboats on the lake are often quite beautiful in a thick fog, but I couldn't get near the sailboats with Dash. He just wasn't interested. Sure, I guess I could have gone back on my own later, but there wasn't enough time. There is never enough time these days. It took over an hour just to clean the poop off Dot this morning before we had breakfast. Hopefully, I'll wake up tonight before she has time to make a mess of herself again.

There's enough food to last until Janet gets back. I doubt that I'll have many work assignments between Christmas and New Years either. That leaves plenty of time to see if I can perfect caring for one sick dog and one crazy dog on my own. I still need to give the dogs their evening meds and then try my best to get Dot to pee outside before I put her to bed. If I can't get her to pee around 11 PM, she won't make it through the night.

The Dr. Who Christmas Special is tomorrow. Maybe I'll watch it. Maybe I won't. This is the first year in a long time that I'm not all that interested in Dr. Who.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2565

I had to do some last minute Christmas shopping today, so I used my free time while the dogs were sleeping to make a quick trip to the mall. I'll have to remember that early mornings are a good time to go to the mall. Even though it was only a few days before Christmas, the crowds weren't that bad. I had no trouble finding a parking place. If I had waited until this afternoon to do my shopping, parking would have been impossible. Sad to say, I'm still not feeling the Christmas spirit. I navigated my way through the holiday shoppers and mall displays filled with thousands of Poinsettias as quickly as I could. My time is limited these days.

Dot was just starting to wake up when I returned and there was no poop on the floor, so I considered my trip a success. I should have gone to CVS and bought a giant bag of cough drops. I should have gone to the Container Store and bought some new wrapping paper. I should have done a lot of things while I was out, but I just didn't want to clean up any more poop.

Since I had already squandered today's productive time, I had trouble finishing my one remaining article. I literally had to write the thing one sentence at a time. I don't know why Dot is so active in the afternoons now. She sleeps from the time she returns from her morning walk until about 1 PM. After that, she tries her best to stay on all fours for the rest of the day. I think it's great that she's trying to walk around; I just wish she was more successful at it. To keep Dot from injuring herself, it is really essential that I have her back at all times. I follow her around, steadying her rear legs by holding up the rear of the Help 'Em Up harness. Dot is showing signs of dementia. Sometimes she just forgets where she is. Other times she is alert and seems like a young dog trapped in an old dog's body. I'm learning how to adjust to these changes and hope that she is too.

Caring for Dot has got me wondering what will happen to me when I get really old. Humans without strong family ties are pretty much on their own. It's bad enough now, and I'm still pretty healthy. I often feel like I am operating without a safety net. What would happen if I had a heart attack or fell off the roof? Nobody would even notice. Even if I managed to call 911, I worry that the dogs might escape or get taken to the pound when the EMT's arrived. With that in mind, my goal while Janet is away is just staying alive.

I wish I could shake off this cold. It has lingered far longer than I thought it would. I still haven't taken any antihistamines. I just try to remember to keep a few cough drops in my pockets in case I need to talk with someone. The cough drops won't cure anything, but they do seem to prevent violent coughing spasms. It probably doesn't help matters that I race out of the house every morning in my underwear, trying to keep Dot from peeing on the floor. Once I see her start to wake up, there just isn't time to get dressed. I was successful this morning, but the odds are about 50/50 that we won't make it to the door.

I guess I'll finish writing my article tomorrow. I don't think there's much else on the agenda. I'm going to try my best to go out for breakfast in the morning. I've had to skip my weekly breakfast outing for several weeks in a row due to bad weather or dog emergencies. A tasty meal and an hour or two of peace and quiet can make a big difference.

Two sisters are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2550

These days are getting longer and longer. The dogs are typically pretty good in the morning. After breakfast and a long walk, they're usually content to sleep the rest of the morning. This brief quiet time is when I get most of my work done. Things begin to fall apart after lunch. Dot will usually sleep until 1 PM and occasionally as late as 2 PM. After that, she is determined to stay up for the rest of the day. This would be great if she could walk, but she can't. She has perfected a pitiful look and bark that summons me from my desk every time she needs something. All afternoon we walk from her bed to the water bowl in the kitchen and then out the back door. Sometimes she pees when we go outside, but usually she just pees in her bed. Every time she sits or lays down I have to make sure there's a puppy training pad strategically positioned under her.

Dash gets bored now because I don't have time anymore to take him on brisk five mile walks like I used to. When dogs get bored, all they want to do is eat. I've had to split their dinner into two smaller courses spaced an hour and a half apart so we can make it through the afternoon in one piece. It may seem silly, but it works. Usually, Dot and Dash will go back to sleep for a short while after the first half of their dinner. This is when I run errands and go to the post office. After they finish their two part dinner, they both get an evening walk. Dot only walks to the end of the street, but her short walk takes just as long as it takes to walk Dash several miles. Lord, that girl is slow.

Janet usually helps with the evening walks, but she's really busy during the holiday season and often gets home late. Now is as good a time as any to learn how to make this work by myself. When Janet leaves to visit her family for Christmas, there won't be any choice. Walking Dot alone has been slow going so far. She likes to follow Dash, but there is no way I can walk the two dogs together while holding up Dot's rear end with the harness. We're learning though. We did a little  better today than we did yesterday.

I finally figured out why my fitness tracker app was still tracking steps even after I lost it and the battery ran out. It turns out that the UP band app on my phone also receives information from my Apple watch. It wasn't ghost data after all. It was just information from my watch. Cloud computing has made everything so interconnected and complex that I have no idea what is going on anymore. My appointment calendar seems to be everywhere now. Text messages appear on my watch and I can answer my phone in the car by pressing a button on the steering wheel. Who knew that the watch was sending information all over the place too.

I tried to download some new Avid software before my upgrade subscription runs out in a few days. I forgot my password to the download site and had to request a new one. After I finally got the lengthy download started, our Internet went out. I had to start the download all over again after I rebooted the U-Verse router and re-established the connection. Was the latest version of Pro Tools worth all this trouble? Maybe. I didn't use Pro Tools at all this year, but next year I might start getting audio jobs again. You never know.

I'd love for tomorrow to be peaceful and productive, but I'm probably just going to be spending most of my time cleaning up poop. We have our tree up now, but I'm definitely not feeling the Christmas spirit yet.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2364

I took Janet to the airport this morning. The road to DFW has been perpetually under construction since the day I moved to Dallas. I don't think they'll ever finish it. They keep making the road wider and wider, but it never seems to be wide enough. I drove carefully today. I'm always worried that I'll get in a wreck and the dogs will starve to death before anyone notices I'm gone. Taking care of the dogs has always been a team effort and it still makes me nervous to operate without a backup.

I promised Janet I wouldn't go up on the roof while she was gone. It would definitely be bad news if I broke my neck and nobody noticed. There are still plenty of things that could go wrong, but I think we'll do OK. All the dogs meds have been neatly organized in little packets with the date and time to give them marked on the front. The refrigerator is well stocked and the dog walker is coming tomorrow morning to help with Dot's morning walk. Dot and Dash are so set in their ways that they always act a bit restless the first few days that Janet is gone. They're dogs though, and as soon as they settle in to a new routine, everything is fine.

Unfortunately, we haven't reached that transition point yet. Whenever they hear a noise, they run to the front door to see if anyone is there. Well, Dot doesn't run anywhere, but she whines for me to lift her up and take her to the front door. If I get the dogs settled in one room, five minutes later they want to be in another.  Their routine has been broken and they're not happy campers at the moment. I try to be accomodating, but there's only so much I can do. Things are going to be different for a while.

I don't know why the dogs are so upset. Things aren't actually very different at all. Our life is always pretty much the same. I went to the grocery store today, like I always do on Saturdays. Dash got a long afternoon walk and they both got their dinner right on time. Maybe they want the television on. As soon as they both settle down and go to sleep, I'll have to wake them up again to give them their evening meds. Then we'll go through this all over again.

I was going to try to get to bed earlier and get some additional sleep, but I'm not off to a good start. Despite the best of intentions, I ate dinner when I always do and couldn't get started writing the blog until the dogs settled down and went to sleep. By the time I reconfigure the dogs beds in their  nighttime mode, give the dogs their pills, brush my teeth and empty and clean the dehumidifier, it will be close to midnight. An hour after I go to sleep, Dot will poop in her bed and I'll be up again.

I hope that Dot and Dash cooperate with the dog walker tomorrow. Life will be so much easier if we can get their regular morning and evening walks out of the way without a giant hassle. I tried to take Dot on a short walk by myself this evening and that didn't go all that well. She really has very little interest in walking unless Dash is walking in front of her. The dogs don't know it yet, but they're going to be getting a banana tomorrow. We usually have a big breakfast, with bacon, eggs, biscuits, and fresh fruit on Sunday mornings. I think I'm going to revert to my weekday banana and strawberry smoothie tomorrow, which means sharing a banana with the dogs. Anything to make life a little easier.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1533

Dash goes in for surgery tomorrow morning. The CAT Scan was fairly conclusive. The bad news is that he does have thyroid cancer. The good news is that the tumor does not appear to have metastasized yet. Dash's lungs are clear. There are no signs that the cancer has spread beyond the thyroid gland itself. From all appearances, this is an encapsulated tumor, which makes it much easier to remove.

I have been very impressed with the team at the cancer center. We have talked with a soft tissue specialist, an oncologist, and the surgeon who will be operating on Dash tomorrow. These doctors are clear, concise, and have a well defined plan that will give Dash a good change to live a normal life again. They make no promises though. All three told us that with any cancer, you don't really know what you're dealing with until you make the incision and take a look at it. They did appear confident that surgery was the best option in this case.

If the surgery is successful, they said there is a high probability that Dash will still need radiation therapy to destroy any remaining cancer cells. Radiation treatments would not begin until two or three weeks after the surgery is completed. He might need three radiation treatments a week for three weeks. This is going to be very expensive. I only hope it works.

The weather is turning cold again. The temperature is already dropping and it is supposed to be below freezing by sunrise. Some reports says we might get freezing rain again. I certainly hope not. I asked the folks at the surgery center if Dash would be OK if the power went out tomorrow. They looked at me like I was some sort of alarmist nut. Well, of course I'm an alarmist nut. I just wanted to make sure they had a backup plan.

I was able to get all my work completed, despite the trips back and forth to the cancer center. Writing this blog day in and day out appears to have helped my writing in other areas as well. I get my assignments finished now no matter what happens. If I worked this hard back in the days when I was a creative type at the big ad agencies, I would probably own a big agency now, instead of leaving behind a legacy as the agency troublemaker.

All that is ancient history now. I've been on my own for over twenty years. I can't say that my little company has exactly set the world on fire, but it pays the bills. I can fix the furnace on cold days. I can fix the roof on wet days. And I can take care of the dogs on troublesome days like this. That's all that really matters. Wish us luck tomorrow and keep Dash in your prayers.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day