Day 3737

It's going to be a very long Spring. They say that new cases of the coronavirus won't begin to peak for another 45 days. Even if infections begin to decrease after that point, it's going to be mid-Summer before life returns to normal. I hope the experts are wrong. I'm not really prepared for toilet paper riots at the grocery store.

So far, nothing has changed for me. The only time I left the house was for my long walk. Janet and I walk Dawn three miles every day and then I continue walking another two miles by myself. Janet has started jogging, since she can't go to the gym anymore. We may be bored, but we're going to be in good shape.

I started writing my Sky and Telescope article today. The first draft is almost done, but the article will need considerable editing before I'm ready to submit it to the magazine. So far, so good. I've got some human interest stories about life at the observatory. There are descriptions of the astronomical targets I viewed through the 36-inch Dall-Kirkham telescope. There are side trips to the Tull Spectrograph and the Hobby-Eberly Telescope. I think this will be interesting to other amateur astronomers, but what do I know. I hope the article gets published. Sky and Telescope actually pays for articles.

The house continues to deteriorate. A light fixture in Janet's bathroom quit working today. I can't decide whether to problem is in the wiring or in the switch that controls the light. I just finished paying the electrician for his last visit to the house, but it looks like I'm going to have to call him again. The problem isn't a bad bulb and I'm not all that good with wiring. I took the fixture apart and couldn't find any loose or burned wiring. Anything beyond that and I'm likely to electrocute myself.

My taxes are done. Once again I owe money. It doesn't seem fair that I'm paying more now than I was when I was working. It makes a big difference when you have nothing to deduct. I sure wish I had converted my IRA to a Roth IRA a long time ago. The mandatory distributions all count as earned income. It would have made a lot more sense to pay the taxes upfront when I was making a good income rather than now when I am living on a fixed income.

Dawn becomes more relaxed with every passing day. It is clear that she calls our place home now. Sudden movements still spook her, but that's understandable. After the way she was attacked, I don't think she will ever be completely comfortable approaching strange dogs again. She's certainly got a personality. I've never seen a Dalmatian smile quite as often as Dawn does.

I certainly hope the medical experts are right. Shutting down the entire country is pretty drastic. I've been around a long time and have never seen anything like this. Our collective reaction to 9/11 wasn't nearly this severe. I guess this is a perfect storm. What we have is a fear of financial ruin combined with a fear of dying. That pretty much covers all the bases. A lot of senior citizens are going to lose their savings. A lot of younger people are going to lose their jobs. Some people are going to lose their lives. Any way you look at it, this pandemic is not good.

Luckily, we're not running out of toilet paper and there's enough food in the freezer to last for quite a while. I'm going to take things one day at a time.  What else can you do.

Nick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3381

The vet called me back and said that the warnings I'd read about Clindamycin were mainly intended for people and that dogs tolerated the drug well. That's good to know. Dash is still going to need some sort of an antibiotic for his mouth. A friend suggested feeding Dash a cod and sweet potato recipe her vet recommended to cure his diarrhea problem. That's good to know too. She even gave us a sample for Dash to try. The meal she fixed looked delicious. We'll see how our picky eater responds.

There were no accidents in the house last night. I had to take Dash outside around 2 AM to pee, but he slept pretty good for the rest of the night. I actually got some sleep as well. I wish I could count on nights like these, but I've learned you really can't. Every day is different. If there was a formula that worked, I'd have it memorized by now. I'm happy when Dash has a good walk and eats his food. I'm worried when he stumbles a lot and wakes up during the night with a bad cough. Often I'm pleased and worried at the same time.

One of Dash's vets called to ask if we had any recommendations for dog boots. I guess we've inadvertently become the dog boot experts. I was kind of amazed at the detailed knowledge I had about just about every brand of dog boot and sock. I recommended a few brands and told him about the benefits of multiple layers and how to repair boots when they became worn. I hope the information was useful. I think we've done a pretty good job of protecting Dash's feet. He definitely wouldn't be able to walk far without the boots.

My taxes are done. I signed an amended return today and shifted some money around so I'll be able to pay the IRS. I'm curious what makes electronic signatures official. They certainly don't look very official, but that's what everyone is using these days. I haven't signed a paper document in a long time. Forms for just about everything are completed online now. If you didn't have a computer in today's world, you would be at a serious disadvantage.

Just about everyone on Google+ is saying goodbye now. In less than a week the platform will be gone. It's remarkable how many things I like disappear. It doesn't matter if it is a furniture store, a brand of clothing, or an Internet platform; if I'm fond of something, it's a pretty good bet that the general public won't be. Maybe I'll go back to Usenet. Amazingly, Usenet is still around after all these years. For a writer, text based forums are just fine. I never missed not being able to share pictures anyway. Usenet worked just fine on a 300 baud dial up connection. Try that with Facebook.

I'm going to have to go out this weekend and take pictures of wildflowers. They're starting to bloom. It's become just about impossible to take pictures while I'm walking Dash. I've got a leash in each hand. There's one for the front part of the Help 'Em Up Harness, and another for the rear. It's a full time job to keep Dash upright. I couldn't even get my phone out of my pocket today. When worse comes to worse, there are always houseplants. There are definitely no orchids growing in the park.

The trash has been taken to the curb, Dash has taken his evening meds, and I'm ready for bed. I've got to think about what I want for breakfast tomorrow.

Doc is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3376

It has become so obvious Dash is old and tired that people are stopping me on our walks to tell me stories about their old dogs. Every week I hear about dogs that have recently passed away or are having difficulty walking. Despite all the stories, we see very few other older dogs on our walks. When the weather is bad, Dash is often the only dog walking at all. I feel sorry for the old dogs who just get a towel under their belly occasionally to help them go out in the yard and pee. With a little help, a lot of these dogs could still lead a relatively normal life.

I don't think Dash even realizes that I am helping him walk. He can still move his legs. He just isn't strong enough to fully support his own weight. I can feel his legs moving through the leash. I provide just enough support to keep him from sinking, while letting his legs move naturally. It took three dogs to perfect the technique, but I think I've gotten pretty good at walking disabled dogs.

One thing I can't do is give Dash more energy or help him think clearly. He's starting to become senile and sometimes appears lost or confused on our walks. You wonder when senility becomes dementia and if dementia can turn into Alzheimer's? When Dash's mind goes blank, you've just got to be patient. Eventually he clicks into gear again and off we go. I think being outside helps. Dogs have such an amazing sense of smell that the abundant smells in the park reconnect him to the world. I think he could take his walks blindfolded because he's really just moving from one smell to the next. The smells are a trail of breadcrumbs that take him away and then bring him back home.

My accountant called today to let me know that he had some preliminary results on my taxes. I was really disappointed to learn that despite my paltry earnings this year, I still owed money to the IRS. I think old people get screwed. Your social security gets taxed as income. Required distributions from your IRA account are taxed as income. If you planned ahead and managed to save something, your dividends and interest are taxed as well. It's ironic that when my business was booming I paid less in taxes than I do now. When you have lots of clients, there are lots of business expenses you can deduct. It goes without saying that without clients or business activity, there are very few expenses  either.

It rained again today. I'm glad that Dash still got to take his walks. I'm not so glad about going up on the roof again. I'll wait until the forecast clears, but the key to keeping the leaks at bay is getting the standing water removed as soon as possible. The pumps help, but I've always got to go up on the roof and finish the job. I'm surprised that I still haven't gotten any bids to replace the roof.  Apparently I'm not a priority. The same thing happened the first time I put a new roof on the house. Since the house is small, roofers are always more interested in larger and more lucrative projects.

I should go to the gym tomorrow since I missed my workout last week. I'm not getting much exercise walking Dash. I guess my arms are getting stronger but the walks certainly don't provide much of a cardio workout. We move at a snail's pace these days. I doubt that my heart rate changes at all.

Ariel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2918

There always seems to be more bills to pay in December. Instead of spending my time with Dreamweaver and Photoshop today, I found myself staring at Quickbooks. It looks like I survived another year, but I still hate paying all these bills. Since I was thinking about financial matters anyway, I began wondering whether this new tax bill was going to be good or bad for me. Depending on who you're listening to, this bill is either the best thing since sliced bread or one of the seven signs of the apocalypse. There is no middle ground here. In our polarized society, you either love something like this. or you hate it. Actually understanding the bill doesn't even seem to matter.

At first I thought the bill was going to be terrible for companies like mine because I heard that a lot of common Schedule C deductions were going away. Then I heard that small businesses could take advantage of new pass through provisions that would tax business profits at a much lower rate. That would be good. Who knows. It's all speculation at this point. I won't really have a clear idea of how this affects my own business until I start doing my 2018 taxes in the Spring of 2019. I'll be over 70 then and probably won't even have any clients, so I doubt that it matters much.

I finally got some feedback on the website project I finished a few weeks ago. The client likes it. That's a relief. Without this project hanging over my head, it will be a lot easier to throw myself into my new website project. I'd like to do something bold and original, but I think the client would be better served by just picking a readily available website template tailored to their specific industry. There are very sophisticated templates available now that cater to the needs of just about every type of industry. You don't need me anymore. Jeez, what am I doing? It's become way too easy to talk myself out of work.

The weather was much better today. It was foggy this morning, but there was no rain. Foggy days are great for photography, but I really didn't have the time. I had bills to pay, prescriptions to pick up at the pharmacy for Dash and myself, and a dog crate to find in the storage warehouse. Janet had loaned the crate to a friend of hers and they wanted it today. Since the large collapsible metal crate got relegated to the storage warehouse after Petey died many years ago, it was buried under tons of other stuff by now. I did manage to find the crate, but it would have been easier to buy Janet's friend a new one.

I took a raggedy pair of jeans to the tailor this afternoon to get some sturdy knee pads sewn on. These pants are so worn that I should have thrown them away a long time ago, but they are still my favorites for walking the dogs. When the pants are repaired, they will be a perfect match for the old rubber boots that I've repaired using shoe goo and tire patches. Never say die. Years ago, I had a client who was one of the best menswear retailers in the country. He would be embarrassed to see me now. I have gone from sartorial splendor to a haphazard hobo look. Ugly but serviceable. That's me these days.

I don't have any plans yet, but I'm sure tomorrow will be just as exciting as today. I really need to find a good book to read.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day