Day 2655

I thought my plan to go to the dentist early in the morning was pretty clever, but I forgot one important thing. The drive was right in the middle of morning rush hour. Ouch. As much as I complain about cleaning up dog poop, it's still not as bad as driving in rush hour traffic. All it takes is one small fender bender wreck to back traffic up for miles. I think I'd go insane if I had to do this every morning. Luckily, I have other things to drive me insane.

Every time I go to the dentist, there is a new dental hygienist.  Sign of the times I guess. The first dentist I went to had the same dental hygienist until he retired. Now there's a new hygienist every six months. The woman who cleaned my teeth today was pleasant enough, but she talked the entire time. It's very difficult to carry on a conversation while there are dental instruments inside your mouth.

I got new x-rays today and the dentist said my teeth are in good shape. No cavities. I'm not surprised. I use a Waterpik Flosser every day and brush with one of those Sonicare electric toothbrushes. I thought I was ahead of the curve, but apparently not. They now make WiFi toothbrushes that connect with your phone. This seemed a little over the top to me, but the hygienist said that the high tech brush provides feedback to let you know if you are cleaning your teeth properly and reminds you if you forget to brush. The robots are coming. I'm sure there will be a plate soon that reminds you to eat all your vegetables.

I knew I should have taken Dot outside to pee last night before I went to bed. She was sleeping peacefully though and I hated to wake her. Big mistake. When I woke her up this morning, she peed all over the place. Three rugs got soaked before I was able to get her outside. The house would be much easier to clean if we didn't have the rugs, but they are essential to keep Dot from falling. I tried to air dry the rugs in the back yard today after I washed them. They are making a mess in the dryer because little bits of the rubber backing flake off and clog the lint trap. There is no good solution though. By the time the rugs are dry, there will be spiders building webs in them.

I went to the vegan store this afternoon to pick up something for dinner. I always look at the website first to make sure they have something I like. Typically, when I get to the store, there is a completely different selection of meals. It doesn't seem to bother these people that the website and the store are perpetually out of sync. It's frustrating to me because I'm picky about my vegetables. I like chickpeas, brown rice, lentils, and any type of bean. I don't like sweet potatoes though. I'm not wild about tofu either. I ended up getting something I didn't really like, thinking that I really should have gone up the street and ordered a bowl of Pho from the neighborhood Vietnamese restaurant.

I need to call the roofer again. They still haven't come out and patched my roof. I need to call the landscaper too, even though it will be a waste of money. I wonder if there are any bedding plants that can tolerate being stepped on again and again? Years ago, Janet and I thought about putting artificial turf in the back yard. It probably would have been a good idea.

Brooke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1953

It's been a long day. Dash woke up limping and he's still limping this evening. I was hoping our vet could come up with a quick fix during his annual exam this morning, but a torn paw pad is painful and Dash will probably continue limping until the pain goes away. The vet cleaned the wound and then glued the split pad back together with medical suture glue. This will keep the cut from getting dirty or infected, but it will still be painful for a while. It's going to be tough on the little guy. He loves to walk and can't seem to keep his protective sock on for more than a minute. The rest of Dash's exam went well, although he does have high blood pressure and is going to have to start taking more or less the same blood pressure medication that I take.

On the way home from the vet, Dash peed in the car. He's never had an accident in the car before. I was really surprised, since he had already peed on his morning walk and again while he was at the vet. Oh, well. I reminded Dash that he and his sister were the reason I can't have nice things anymore, and then proceeded to clean up the mess when we got home. This wouldn't have been a big deal if Dash hadn't lifted his leg and made a direct hit on one of the speakers mounted in the rear door. Since the grill cover won't come off, I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to clean the speaker enclosure. The car will probably smell for a long time.

As I updated websites today, I kept wondering how much trouble it will be to convert these sites into mobile friendly versions. It's almost inevitable that I've have to convert all the sites I manage at some point. I"m not looking forward to this. Many of my clients are fond of their old designs and they're not going to be happy that these familiar workhorses will eventually have to be retired. I worked on my own test site a bit more today, but it was slow going. Just because something looks easy on the tutorial video, doesn't mean that it actually is easy. I learned some new things and made a few refinements today, but I'm still not ready for prime time.

Dot was really good while I was at the vet with Dash, This is the first time I've left her alone for any length of time and she did fine. I checked her on the baby monitor and she was just sleeping calmly on her dog bed. Actually, she seemed better behaved while I was away than when I'm home. When I'm here, she's either barking or getting herself stuck in tight places. I could just keep her penned while I'm working, but she's much happier being able to move from room to room. The bedroom and the office are pretty safe, but if she heads for the kitchen, I make sure to follow her. That's where she always seems to get stuck.

Dash's bad leg certainly complicates things. It took me forever to get both dogs walked today. Dot walks very, very slow and Dash seemed to lose his protective sock about every twenty yards. The dogs still want to walk, but they're not at the top of their game right now. If something happens to my own leg, we're really going to be in trouble.

I hope the dogs are walking well tomorrow. I hope I sleep well tonight. Neither of these things happened today. That's probably why everyone is so tired.

Joe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1785

All day rain. Those three little words can really throw a wrench in the works at our house. Both dogs hate the rain and stubbornly refuse to go out side and pee when it's wet. They seem to think that I control the rain, somewhat like a light switch. They both wait at the door for me to turn it off. When the rain continues, they get mad and start barking. I think they're  convinced that the wet weather is all my fault. Eventually, when their bladders are about to burst, they will go outside and take a quick pee in the rain, but it is an uphill battle every step of the way. At least I got them out around daybreak for a short walk before the weather got nasty. Once the rain started, it was a lost cause.

With restless dogs and no place to go, I quickly get cabin fever on rainy days. My workload was light today, so I basically divided my time between trying to take Dot outside at regular intervals so she wouldn't pee in the house and doing a little bookkeeping. As much as I hate bookkeeping, it was still easier to balance my checkbook than it was to get Dot to pee in the rain. Even though her incontinence is much better than it was several months ago, she still needs to go outside every few hours to avoid accidents. So far, so good, but I sure hope it doesn't continue raining tomorrow.

I'm glad I voted early. I doubt that there would have been long lines at the polling places with all the rain, but getting out in traffic would have been a mess. I was happy to just stay home today. Even when cabin fever has me pacing around the house, I still have little desire to drive in the rain. Even though the rain probably decreased voter turnout, I doubt that it changed the outcome of any races. Elections are seldom even close in Texas.

It's time to make Thanksgiving dinner reservations. Last year we waited too long and had trouble finding a restaurant that could seat us anywhere near lunchtime. We haven't cooked a Thanksgiving dinner at home in years. It's easier and a lot more fun to try an interesting new restaurant. When my parents were alive, I vaguely remember large family Thanksgiving dinners, but these were not always pleasant events. I like this way better. It would be nice to find a place where the dogs could come along too, but you can't have everything.

If it continues raining tomorrow I might cook an elaborate breakfast. It's a good way to kill time and the smell of food in the kitchen keeps the dogs occupied. We'll still need to work in a walk sometime, but hopefully there will be a break in the weather. It never did stop raining today. I hear rain pounding on the roof right now, but thankfully there are no leaks. No leaks is good!

Ginger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1708

I've been sleepy all day. Dot woke me up about 3 AM needing to go outside and then I had trouble getting back to sleep again. After three uneventful nights of restful sleep, I thought we had put most of Dot's incontinence issues behind us. Evidently not. Rehabilitation is not an exact science. There are still good days and bad days and today was not one of the better ones. When we went for our physical therapy session later in the day, I asked the vet why Dot appeared to be regressing. She said Dot probably just drank too much water later in the evening yesterday and said I should start withholding her water around 7 PM until her kidneys started concentrating urine normally again. Maybe it's as simple as that. Actually, I did let Dot drink water later in the evening last night because I thought she was back to normal. I need to remember to be patient.

It wasn't all bad news though. Dot had another good day on the underwater treadmill and continues to get stronger. I walked the dogs together again this evening and Dot had no trouble keeping up with Dash. Physically, she's doing great. She just pees all over the place. Despite the lingering incontinence issues, I'm still reluctant to give her estrogen. It would be so much better if she can resolve this on her own.

Sometimes it seems like these dog problems are never ending. Exactly one year ago Dot was having some serious issues with seizures. We managed to get those issues resolved and then Dash got sick. Dash appears to have made a complete recovery from his cancer, but he's still under treatment. In fact, he goes back to the cancer center tomorrow for another evaluation. We're hoping that Dash's oncologist will give us the green light to discontinue the chemotherapy. They're going to do an ultrasound tomorrow and if everything looks good, he might be finished with his cancer treatment entirely. We'll follow the doctor's recommendations though. We've come this far and Dash is doing well. If he needs more treatment, that's what he'll get.

You'd hardly know it was Janet's birthday today. She left for work early after we each walked a dog around sunrise. We still don't walk them together in the morning, because Dash likes to walk much further than Dot can manage in the mornings. When Janet came home from work later in the evening we had chocolate Sprinkles cupcakes and opened presents. Then it was time to waterproof the bed again. Our birthdays may not be glamorous anymore, but we've got a lot to be thankful for. Both our dogs have survived some pretty serious illnesses and are happy to be alive. We're also managing to stay reasonably healthy ourselves. We're all survivors. At this point in our lives, that's enough.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1707

Today was a mixed bag. I walked the dogs together again for the first time in over a month. I had to slow Dash down a bit, but generally everything went fine. I'll try this again tomorrow. If I can go back to walking both dogs together, it will simplify things a bit. We won't have to get up so early every morning and Janet can go back to her regular schedule. I was so pleased with Dot's progress that I became over confident and let her roam around the house unsupervised while I was eating dinner. She promptly peed on the carpet in the bedroom. I was surprised, since we'd just returned from a walk and Dot hadn't had any prior accidents today. I guess it's hard to predict when a dog with a weak bladder is going to need to go. Maybe she just drank too much water with her dinner. I'm not going to let a little pee dampen a great day. Dot is still making fantastic progress. Last night was the third night in a row that we all slept peacefully and woke up in a dry bed. Dot had lots of energy today and was eager to take her walks. Hopefully, tomorrow will be even better.

I took care of most of the weekend's unfinished errands today. After a trip to the post office, the pharmacy, the bank, and the grocery store, I went to Sprinkles to get cupcakes for a birthday celebration. I've never been to this store when there wasn't a long line. Even at 2:30 in the afternoon on a workday there was a long line. I was gone longer than I expected, so I thought that Dot might have had an accident while I was gone. Nope. No problems at all. Unbeknownst to me, she was saving it up for dinnertime.

I've more or less lost interest in collecting things, so I don't visit eBay much anymore. I keep getting notices to change my password though after the big security breach, so today I finally got around to changing it. Out of curiosity I checked a few of the categories I used to follow. Nobody was bidding on anything and prices were much lower than they used to be. All my collectible treasures had fallen out of fashion. I guess it makes sense that nobody would collect film cameras anymore when you can't even buy film for them. The same thing probably goes for model trains. Why would you be interested in trains if you'd never ridden in one? Even though there were bargains galore, I wasn't tempted to bid on anything. I just felt old.

Dot has another physical therapy day tomorrow. It's too bad she can't just go to the gym with me. It would sure save time if she could work on strengthening her legs while a worked on strengthening my shoulder. I guess I shouldn't worry about running out of time though. I've got plenty of time. I just can't figure out what to do with it.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1695

On hot, humid days like today, Dot's progress seems much slower. She tires easily and sleeps a lot longer. Sleep is good, because she certainly needs the rest. Unfortunately, the longer she sleeps, the more frequently we have incontinence accidents. Dot slept a lot today and I did a lot of laundry. When Dot is up and active, life seems pretty normal. When she sleeps, she pees. Janet found some larger, more durable waterproof pads on her way home from work today. She also found a different kind of doggie diaper. We'll try those tonight and see if they work.

Work was slow today, so I did some bookkeeping and paid a stack of bills. The most irritating bill I paid today was the U-Verse bill. We scaled back our service a few months ago in an effort to control costs and every month since then, AT&T has been adding weird little charges to the bill in an attempt to get just as much from us as they always have. Now, our bill is just about the same as it was before, but with 100 fewer channels. We still get way more channels than I'd ever actually watch, but the principle of the thing is frustrating. The cable companies are always trying to get you upgrade to the next level, but if you have the gall to actually downgrade your service package, you are suddenly not their friend anymore.

I left the house for about twenty minutes today to go to the post office and the bank. I made sure that Dot was contained in a small, safe area in the front hallway before I left, and she was still sleeping in exactly the same spot when I returned. She did pee on the bricks a little, but no harm was done.  I'm going to ask Dot's physical therapy vet for a second opinion about the incontinence tomorrow when we go to resume Dot's water therapy treatments. Although everyone says the incontinence is normal, it sure doesn't seem very normal to me.

I'm still putting on the purple hazmat gloves every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to give Dash his chemo pills. Today was a chemotherapy day and I noticed that the pill bottles are finally starting to get empty. We have a meeting with Dash's oncologist toward the end of August and hopefully when he finishes his current supply of Palladia pills, his treatment will be complete.

I'm getting ready to waterproof the bed for another long night. Maybe the new doggie diapers will work. Dot hated the last pair we tried though. I sure hope I never become incontinent. It's a giant mess. Janet thought the house smelled a little musty when she came home tonight. I told her she was just smelling pee.

Margo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1686

We hit a little snag today. Incontinence. Dot began having urinary incontinence when she was hooked up to IV tubes in the ICU. Now that she's recovering from surgery and beginning to eat normally again, we expected the incontinence to stop. She doesn't wake up in a puddle of pee every night, but last night she did. What a mess. Despite the fact that Dot was sleeping on top of three waterproof baby crib liners, all our bed linen got soaked. I'm glad I had the forethought to get a waterproof mattress pad years ago when we bought the bed, or the mattress would have been ruined as well.

Until we can resolve this issue, we need to be a lot more diligent about getting Dot outside in the middle of the night to pee. Three hours seems to be the maximum amount of time she can hold it. Needless to say, we didn't get up last night and I spent most of the day doing laundry. If I didn't need to keep a constant eye on Dot, I would have gone to a commercial laundry. The bulky comforter and mattress pad took forever to dry in our dryer. Everything is fine now, but I must have done ten loads of laundry today. If you think the solution is just to have Dot sleep in a crate or on the kitchen floor until her condition improves, you haven't owned a Dalmatian. They all insist on sleeping in the bed with you. Heaven help you if you try to get them to sleep somewhere else. Dalmatians are very stubborn and tenacious dogs.

When I was throwing away junk mail and trash today, I came across some financial papers I should have signed and returned three weeks ago. That's the trouble with the mail these days. So little of any importance finds it's way to our mailbox anymore that I tend to ignore all the mail. Checking the mail had become just like checking the spam folder on my computer. Mostly it's all junk, but you still have to check, because every now and then something important winds up there by mistake.

I got a call from my hepatologist this morning telling me that the lab results from last week's tests had come back and I was still virus free. This is probably as close as I'm going to get to being declared officially cured of Hepatitis-C. Since I was one of the first to receive the new Sovaldi treatment, I'll probably continue to get tested periodically indefinitely. That's OK by me. With all the advanced testing the dogs and I have been subjected to recently, I've become somewhat addicted to test results.

Sometimes technology is just too complicated. There is no sound on the TV in the bedroom. The sound works fine on the TV in the kitchen though. My deductive mind tells me that either something is wrong with the TV, or something is wrong with U-Verse. Hmm. The TV in the kitchen is receiving the U-Verse channels, so U-Verse is apparently working. The TV in the bedroom gets sound from the Hulu channels, so there's nothing wrong with the TV itself. Why am I getting cable on only one of the two TV's when they are getting the same signal from the router? It's a mystery. I guess I'll just go to bed and hope I remember to get Dot up at 2 AM to pee.

Queenie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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