Day 2076

Janet and I went to a barbecue and going away party for one of Dot's nurses today. She's leaving Dallas to begin vet school in London. What an adventure. I always admire people who have the nerve to take a big, bold step forward. Going to vet school at the Royal Veterinary College in London is a big deal. It is consistently ranked among the top three vet schools in the entire world. Of course, Texas A&M, where a lot of my veterinarian friends went to school, is ranked number six in the world. There are a lot of really good veterinarians in Texas. Dot will miss her friend at our water therapy sessions, but she's going to be a very good veterinarian someday.

I've got to start getting more sleep. I got to bed late last night, and even though we slept in a little longer because it was Saturday, my activity tracker still said I'd only gotten 4 hours and 10 minutes of sleep. That's really not enough. Whenever I wake up a little late, my first thought is how to get Dot dressed in her harness and outside before she poops all over the place. Sometime I succeed and sometimes I don't. It's kind of like watching a ticking time bomb. You know it's going to explode sometime. Today, we did manage to get Dot to the back door in time, but neither of us had our shoes on and Dot pooped in the doorway. I should have had my shoes on before we headed for the doorway, but it's hard to be coordinated when you're still half asleep.

The poop soiled area rug is finally dry again and it's actually cleaner than all the other rugs in the house. Maybe I need to take the all the other rugs outside and hose them down with the pressure hose. It couldn't hurt. There are some things even the Dyson can't handle. I've just about concluded that it's physically impossible to keep a tidy house with old, sick dogs. It's just not going to happen. It doesn't help matters that the house itself is older than the dogs, and Janet and I are older than the house. Everything in our little universe is slowly falling apart. I used to wonder why my parent's house looked like it had been hit by a tornado as they got older. It was always as neat as a pin when I was a kid. Now I know the answer. Priorities change, and a messy house can end up being the least of your worries.

One of my worries today was gaining access to my coffee pods. The door to the kitchen cabinet where I store all the Keurig pods was jammed shut. Somehow the latch had broken in the closed position and it was impossible to open the door. I tried everything I could think of the get the latch to release, but nothing worked. I finally had to pry the door open with a large screwdriver and ended up ripping the two screws holding the latch to the door right out of the wood. I was really lucky that I didn't end up cracking the door. Now I've got to find a new latch. Nobody makes them anymore. I bought a dozen of the peculiar looking latches at an old hardware store when I first bought the house. One of my rent properties used the same type of latches and I knew I'd use them. I think they're all gone now though. A lot of door latches can break over a twenty year period. I'll think of something. It's already one of my projects for next week.

Dot seemed pretty perky today. From time to time she would get up from her dog bed and wander around the house with no assistance from me whatsoever. Baby steps. I'm still hoping we can manage to get her a little stronger.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1271

It was a typical Saturday. I went to the doctor's office to straighten out a fouled up prescription. I watered the big patch of yellowed grass in the front yard that the roofers killed, in hopes that it would come back to life. I put clean sheets on the bed, vacuumed the house, and unclogged the large format printer. I tried to re-attach some of the plywood that had come loose under the carport when water poured though the unfinished and largely unprotected roof a few weeks ago. The roofers should have done this themselves, but they didn't. The dogs got a walk too, but they didn't want to go far. It was pretty warm today.

Before getting started on my weekend chores, I finished up an article that I knew would be due Monday. Next week is going to be busy enough anyway, so I might as well try to get ahead of the game.

There are so many bills this month, it's driving me crazy. Homeowner's insurance is due on the house. There a big car repair bill. And of course there's the roof. Month after month, small checks from clients arrive in the mail and much larger checks are written to pay the relentless onslaught of bills. My investments are supposed to make up the difference, but that hasn't been working out so well lately. It's frustrating to say the least. I don't understand all these economists on TV saying that we are in a non-inflationary environment when the price of gas, food, utility bills, and just about everything else seems to have doubled. When the phone bill is twice what is used to be, that's inflation to me.

I bought some new jeans when I was running errands this afternoon. As my waistline keeps shrinking, my old pants are starting to feel too large. If simply losing weight was my goal, I'd think I've just about reached it. I suspect getting healthy isn't quite so simple, however. I'm beginning to wonder if I might have lost too much weight. Since periodic blood tests are the only way to tell if I'm headed in the right direction, it's really hard to tell on a day-to-day basis. It probably can't hurt to lose twenty pounds though. I'm not sure my liver appreciates the slimmer, trimmer me, but maybe it will help keep diabetes at bay.

I couldn't figure out why the dogs were both barking so wildly until I looked out the living room window and saw the cat they were looking at in the back yard. I'd never seen this cat before, but it was obviously stalking something. I told the dogs to be nice to the cat, because it was helping us get rid of rats. I don't think Dot and Dash were listening, because they kept right on barking.

Our neighbors are having a party. There's one of those gourmet food trucks parked in their driveway. You can tell the kids are getting older when a food truck replaces the ubiquitous birthday bounce house. I'm curious what the food truck is serving, but not curious enough to become a party crasher.

Lacey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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