Day 3388

I'm glad I never had a parent with Alzheimer's to take care of. Now that Dash is showing signs of dementia, it's easy to see what a monumental task this could be. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether Dash's problems are physical or mental. I suspect that is usually a combination of both. Dash gets confused on his walks and sometimes reverses direction for no apparent reason. We end up walking in circles occasionally. There are no regular mealtimes anymore. Breakfast can be at noon and dinner can be at midnight. Dogs are creatures of habit and I think it bothers Dash that he can't always remember his old habits. I wish I could help, but I can't always remember my old habits either. I do what I can. I make sure he takes his pills, gets enough food, and has a little exercise. Most of Dash's day is spent sleeping.

I never realized that half of my blog readers came from Google+. Now that the platform is gone, so are the readers. I guess it all makes sense. I had over 30,000 followers on Google+ at one time. Most of these people were photographers or loved photography, but some of them must have become blog readers. I'd almost forgotten what a great place Google+ was for photographers in the early days. You could actually have conversations with and get tips from some very well known photographers. I learned a lot.

I think the Covenia is working. The open sores on the underside of his muzzle are already starting to heal. I think the loose flaps of skin on the sides of a dogs mouth are called flews, but I keep wanting to call them lips. I guess dogs don't really have lips. Since Covenia targets bacteria on the skin, I'm not sure how well it will work with Dash's periodontal disease. Bacteria under the gum line, especially under the teeth can be very hart to eradicate.

I'm getting discouraged with my attempts to liquidate my collections. I've spent so much restoring my vintage synthesizers that I probably won't make any money at all when they eventually sell. The same thing is true for an Ellsworth Kelly print I had an art conservator restore. She did a fantastic job, but the print is expected to go under the hammer at auction for about the same price as I spent restoring it. I thought the vintage guitars would go quickly, but that hasn't been the case. One guitar sold quickly but the buyer changed his mind and convinced the dealer to let him exchange it for a different guitar. I'm still waiting for the guitar to sell. The main problem with the train collection is that nobody knows what a train is anymore. Old men still buy these things, but there are fewer and fewer of them left. I've consigned my collection with one of the best dealers in the entire country, but sales are still very slow.

I wish sleep would restore Dash's energy. He certainly sleeps a lot. Unfortunately, he still seems to be getting weaker. We had a real problem on our walk this morning. He was determined to keep going, but I could tell he was getting tired. I tried several times to cut the walk short and return to the house, but Dash refused to turn around. He is very stubborn. It was almost like his brain and his body weren't on the same page. When we eventually made it home, Dash was exhausted.

Somebody parked their car where I usually take my trash on Thursday night. Little things like this bother me. I'm superstitious about the garbage truck and always want to make sure that my trash is in exactly the same place so the driver will see it. One more thing to fret about tonight.

Dottie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3387

I should have learned by now that there is little to be gained by looking up symptoms and side effects on the Internet. Dash got a Covenia shot this morning to help with his infected mouth. I wasn't familiar with Covenia, so I did a little research on Google. Unbeknownst to me, there is a raging controversy about this drug. Some people say it has killed their dog or cat. On the other side of the coin, many veterinarians say that the drug is safe, effective and that complications are very rare. All drugs can have complications but the problem with an injectable antibiotic like Covenia is that once it is in the body, you can't get it out again.

I trust our veterinarian and Dash seems to be tolerating the drug well. Nevertheless, it makes you nervous when you listen to sad YouTube videos from people who are convinced that Covenia killed their pet. In fairness, I've read some terrible things about meds that I take myself. You ultimately have to make your own judgement about just about everything. Another person's experience is not necessarily yours. Often Internet accounts can be very distorted. If someone has had a bad experience you will almost always hear about it. Good experiences tend to be considered normal and are often not reported at all.

I'm hoping that the Covenia injection will help clear up the infection. If this doesn't work we can always try the Clindamycin. I have a feeling that no antibiotic will completely cure Dash's peridontal disease. When the antibiotic wears off, the plaque on his teeth, especially under the gum line, will just cause the infection to reappear.

When I got my monthly statement from the dealer who is selling my train collection, it appears like several trains have been sold twice. I hope this isn't the case, since I'd hate to return the March payments I've received. I'm hoping that this is just a data entry error. Honesty is still the best policy. I told my friend about the mixup and we'll see if he wants the money back. You can't keep selling the same thing over and over again.

I'm glad we don't have to take Dash to the vet very often. It has become a nightmare transporting him in the car these days. We always take an emergency clean up kit with us now. Amazingly, Dash didn't poop in the car this morning. He waited a few minutes and then pooped inside the vet's office. We managed to get a few nails clipped while we were there, but after his exam and the shot it was clear that Dash wanted to go home.

I sent invoices to my few remaining clients today and wrote a letter to my sister. It's weird that going to the post office is such an important ritual to me. Nobody else I know goes to the post office at all. Nobody else writes a daily blog either. To each his own I guess.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3320

The original Bladerunner took place in 2019. We don't have replicants or flying cars yet, but in many ways we are already living in a dystopian world. The pumps are falling apart at the place where I regularly get gas. I have to stick my credit card in the slot four or five times before it registers and activates the pump. The thing that prints your receipt is perpetually out of paper and sometimes the switch that selects premium gas doesn't work. I could go somewhere else, but this place is convenient. I've learned to adapt to the dilapidated machinery.

When I go to the grocery store, I rarely get a cart where all four wheels work. Usually at least one wheel is stuck, twirls around aimlessly, or doesn't even touch the ground. Again, I've learned to adapt to pushing a three wheeled cart around the store. Slowly but surely we are getting used to living in a world where nothing works. I don't pick up the phone anymore because it is just an automated voice trying to sell me something. When the cable TV stops working, which it does almost every day, I just turn it off, wait thirty seconds and then turn it on again. Sometimes this works, but nobody knows why. Going to the airport is a nightmare. So is driving in rush hour traffic. This isn't going to end well. Not only have we lost the ability to build a better world, we can't even cope with living in the world we've got.

I certainly don't have any answers, I can barely cope with an old house and a sick dog. Dash wouldn't poop before he went to bed last night, so I knew I wouldn't get much sleep. At around 3 AM, he had to go. He pooped on his puppy training pad, got up, pooped again in the hallway, and then about thirty minutes later, pooped a third time on a fresh puppy pad as we were trying to get back to sleep.

I've been trying to trim Dash's nails while he takes his morning nap. I can usually only trim one or two nails at a time, but he takes a lot of naps, so it's worth a try. Today I managed to trim both his dewclaws. Then I hit the quick on one of the nails on a rear paw which quickly ended today's grooming session. The all black nails are hard to trim because you don't really know where the quick is. It took a while to stop the bleeding. Amazingly, Dash never woke up during this entire process. It was a blessing that he stayed sleeping, because otherwise there would have been blood all over the house.

I think we may have found something that will work to protect the bed at night. It is a rubberized canvas mat that we used to use when we took the dogs in the car. I originally thought that this would be too heavy and awkward on the bed, but it seems to stay in place. Our motto these days is "whatever works."

I read an article today that said gum disease can contribute to the development of Alzheimer's Disease. Maybe this is what is happening with Dash. He does have gum disease and his cognitive abilities have certainly declined. It's really a shame that you can't effectively clean a dog's teeth without anesthesia. We brush his teeth and use an oral rinse to keep his mouth clean, but it is an uphill battle. I wish the vet had cleaned his teeth one more time before everybody decided that Dash wasn't a candidate for anesthesia anymore. They don't think he would wake up if he was anesthetized again. I feel bad that we can't do a better job of keeping Dash's teeth and gums healthy, but we're doing the best we can.

Tomorrow it's time for the gym again. I'd really rather just sleep, but something tells me that in a dystopian world you've got to keep moving.

Jazz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3252

I think bulky trash pickup is tomorrow, so I thought I'd join my other neighbors in piling old junk on the curb. I certainly have enough junk. Hmm. Should I start in the back yard, the greenhouse, or the utility room? There was a heavy steel cargo carrier I used to use with the Defender that I wanted to get rid of, so I thought I'd start with the utility room. This thing attached to the trailer hitch receiver on the Defender, so there was no way Janet or I could use it with our current cars. Neither of us has a trailer hitch installed. I can't believe I used to haul heavy St. Augustine sod and buckets of river rocks with this carrier in an attempt to do my own landscaping. I remember spending three days a long time ago transporting tons of smooth river rocks to create decorative areas around the base of our Oak trees. How did I manage to do something like this? Now, even the empty steel carrier seemed almost too heavy to drag to the curb.

I managed to get rid of quite a few totally useless things, but the utility room still seems full. Where did this stuff even come from? There were bags that attached to the lawn mower to catch grass clippings. I never used those things even when new. The lawn mower they belonged to is long gone anyway. There was a huge sacks of old towels that must have had something to do with animal rescue at some point. Why didn't I throw these away years ago? There were lots of disintegrating canvas tote bags and old paint cans. Eventually I gave up. There was just too much junk. Hey, I made a start. If I do this every month before bulky trash pickup, someday it will all be gone.

Dash did a lot of pooping in the house today. Some days are better than others. Dash tries to head for the back door, but I don't even think he's even aware that he needs to poop until about two seconds before everything comes out. I try to be optimistic. At least he didn't poop in the bed last night.

Since I'd already started the day by cleaning up poop, I thought I'd tackle a few other loathsome tasks as well. I cleared out a slow shower drain and cleaned the filters on the bathroom sink faucets. A few weeks ago, I listened to a program on NPR about all the microscopic creatures that live in our houses and cleaning suddenly seemed prudent. Evidently tiny creatures live in our water pipes, our air vents, and even our hot water heaters. The scum that forms on your shower head and tiles is called a biofilm and it provides nutrients for the little critters. Our house must be a luxury hotel for these organisms. because there are biofilms everywhere.

I'm almost caught up watching the National Geographic Channel show about Mars. The show has become a little preachy for my taste, but it is still very interesting. I wonder if we'll ever get to Mars? It's so easy to get distracted by problems right here on Earth. I hope I live to see the first humans on Mars. It's a long shot though. At the rate we're going, we might not even make it back to the moon.

I did my best to apply a disinfectant to Dash's gums today. His teeth are terrible and I worry that he's going to get periodontal disease. Dash hates the medication, so it is very difficult to do this everyday. Janet distracted him with a cookie while I cleaned his mouth. I need to do this every day. I need to clear away a little junk everyday too. There are so many things that need to be done and none of them are particularly pleasant.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1490

There was so much to do today that it was hard to believe it was only Monday. There were photos to reformat and transform in Photoshop. There were websites to update. And of course, there were the inevitable articles to write. None of these tasks were particularly challenging on their own, but collectively they just about wore me out.

I've got a meeting with my financial adviser later in the week. I wish I could get the guy to give me an honest answer about my remaining resources. If I can continue my current lifestyle without jumping through all these hoops, there is little point in continuing doing a multitude of things I don't really enjoy. I know we wants me to keep working though. He and I both know that there is no reliable way to predict the future. If you stay in the game, at least you have the reassurance that your fate won't be determined by the fickle nature of corporate dividends or government programs. I don't mind working, mind you. I just wish it was fun like it used to be when I was the Wizard of Oz.

Have any of you seen that show called Sherlock on the BBC? I don't know why I'd never seen it before, but I watched my first episode last night and it is brilliant. I guess it shouldn't be surprising that I liked the show, since it was written by Steven Moffat of Dr. Who fame. I really liked the idea of taking Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective stories and re-interpreting them for the 21 Century. I've never been a huge fan of mysteries or crime fiction, but I found this show mesmerizing. I'm sure I'll watch it again.

The dogs were bored today. They don't like it when I spend all my time working at the computer. In their minds, I'm just some sort of a dog butler who is here to keep them entertained whenever they're not sleeping. When they're bored, the dogs bark a lot and try to slap things off my desk with their paws to catch my attention. We has some nice, long walks today, but apparently that wasn't enough. Maybe they were just trying to tell me that the work I was doing was pointless. Of course, I know that already.

Tomorrow, Dash goes to the vet to have his teeth cleaned. We've done this before, but I always get nervous. Basically, I just don't like anesthesia. I worry when I have to be under anesthesia myself, and I worry even more when the dogs need anesthesia. I've heard all the arguments about the safety of Isoflurane and Propofol when administered by a trained anesthesiologist, but these are still strong and dangerous drugs. It's too bad it is so difficult to properly brush a dog teeth. Every two or three years the risk of periodontal disease overcomes my fear of anesthesia, and I schedule the dogs for a dental cleaning. Tomorrow is the day for Dash. If all goes well, Dot will get her teeth cleaned a few weeks later.

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day