Day 1914

3 steps forward, 2 steps back. That's kind of how life has become these days. We found the perfect pen to secure Dot while we are away. It was durable, easy to assemble, and just the right size. The picture in the catalog showed a six sided hexagon. When I opened the box, there were only five panels and there was no way to connect all the panels together to make a self-contained pen. This contraption was meant to attach to a wall. The instructions said that if you wanted a self-contained pen, you had to buy an additional panel and remove the wall hinges. When we looked for the additional panel on the Internet, we discovered that the company had been sold and the new company now markets the pen with all six panels. We had apparently bought old stock at the pet store.

Everybody has become like Ikea. Pet stores seldom have assembled dog crates on display anymore. You just buy something sealed in a box and find out what you've actually got when you get home. It's been an uphill battle to find the equipment we need for Dot's rehabilitation. Half the stuff we've bought had to be returned because it wasn't right when we got it out of the box. We ordered another pen with all six sides off a veterinary website and will return the five sided one to the pet store tomorrow.

On a positive note, we now have a working dryer. The repairman wasn't sure how long the dryer will continue working, but said the part was warrantied for 90 days. At least I don't have to go to the laundromat this weekend. Since the neurologist said it was bad for Dot to become overly agitated during her recovery, we gave Dot a doggie Xanax about 30 minutes before the repairman arrived. It seemed to do the trick. Dot didn't even know the repairman was there until she had to go out and poop midway through the repair. She did a little "stranger danger" barking and then Janet took her back to the bedroom, where she went to sleep again. I'm not a big fan of mood altering medications, but the vet insists that mild sedation is much better for Dot at this point in time than stress and undue agitation. Hopefully, nothing else will break in the house for the next couple of months. Dot is completely calm until a stranger arrives. Janet and I are the only people who seem to have her seal of approval.

The weather forecasting app on my phone is worthless. It's been wrong almost every day this week. Last night it said that it would be dry and overcast today. but when I woke up it was raining again. Luckily, I managed to find a few breaks in the rain to walk Dash, but for the most part, it was a very wet and dreary day.  I must have a bad case of cabin fever, because I went out for breakfast despite the rain. Ordinarily, I would have just eaten a bowl of cereal at home on a day like this, but I needed to get away for a while. I can clean the car later. I never did get a chance to patch the roof before today's rain, but I don't see any leaks. Maybe we're OK.

A small group of Wood Ducks have taken up residence in the park recently. They make the much more numerous Mallards look rather ordinary. I finally got a chance to photograph one of these colorful ducks today. I'll have to admit that the picture brightened up a pretty dreary day.

Wyatt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 949

On most Saturdays, I do what thousands of other men do. I go to Home Depot. I don't have a shopping list or a plan. I just wander aimlessly up and down the aisles, looking for things that might be useful. I always manage to come home with something, but some of my essential supplies don't get used for months or even years. The problem is that after running Saturday errands, the last thing I want to do is start a home improvement project. The various nuts and bolts and cans of paint get put in drawers, or on top of shelves and are eventually forgotten about. Typically, when I get one of those rare urges to fix something, I can't remember where I put my supplies and have to go to Home Depot all over again and buy the stuff again. This isn't the best plan in the world, but I do feel ready to repair at a moment's notice.

It turned out there weren't any Dalmatians to photograph today after all, because the new guy was already on his way to his forever home in Houston. It's great the dogs are finding homes so quickly. It wasn't always this way. When I took our two dogs on their afternoon walk, they didn't want to go far. It was just too hot. I think my hopes for a mild Summer have been dashed. It's just another blistering hot Texas Summer like last year and the year before.

All day, the television news was filled with the unfolding story of the theater shootings in Colorado. It's such a shame that you can't even go to the movies anymore. I used to love going to the movies when I was a kid and nobody ever worried about our safety. They didn't have to, because it actually was safe. Times have certainly changed. When I was growing up, there wasn't a murder in my hometown for fifteen straight years. Now, in most big cities, there's probably a shooting every fifteen minutes. I wonder when someone is going to look at the big picture and see the obvious. If you spend your time playing violent video games from the time you are five to the time you're twenty four, it is going to color your perspective on things. It just is.

I went to the pet store this afternoon to get some more rawhide sticks for the dogs to chew.  These sticks look like fat little pencils and are made of shredded rawhide, so they will digest easily. Dot and Dash love them. The guy at the store told me that they no longer carried the sticks, because they were trying to eliminate products that were not made in America from their inventory. This seems like a good thing, but I still think the sticks are harmless. The pet store guy tried to sell me some raw butcher bones instead, saying it would be good for their teeth. I'm not so sure. We gave our first Dalmatian those cow hooves that pet stores used to sell and they almost ruined his teeth. They were too hard. Butcher bones seem just as hard and they're messy too. Our dogs would carry them right back to the bed and ruin the bedspread.

Why do I mention this? I guess because it's so hard to know what's right anymore. Everything from choosing healthy dog treats to raising kids so they will become responsible adults has become a lot more difficult.

Katie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 888

I almost got my car towed today. I went into an office tower to pay a bill and when I came out less than five minutes later, there was a big orange sticker on my windshield that said my car was scheduled to be towed away in two minutes. I pulled the sticker off the windshield and got out of there fast. As I left, I noticed a small sign that said there was no parking allowed in lots 3 & 4. All cars must park in lots 1 & 2 it said. Lots 1, 2, 3, and 4 were all identical. There were other cars already parked in the same lot that I parked in too. Of course, some of these other cars also had orange stickers on their windshields when I returned to the parking lot. I still don't know what was so special about parking lots 3 & 4. There was no explanation. I did notice what appeared to be a homeless man sitting in a beat up old car with all the windows open. He was watching each car that entered the parking lot. I bet the building management had hired him to slap the orange stickers on errant cars like mine. I don't think I'll be going back to this building anytime soon. Next month, I'm just going to mail my payment in.

The rest of the day was uneventful. The dogs got their walks. The new grass in the back yard got watered. A load of laundry got done. A few more invoices got sent out. I updated two websites and wrote a watch article. That was about it. Even though it was a completely normal day, I found myself getting bored as the day wore on. Repetitive tasks wear you down, no matter how interesting they might have been in the beginning. I'd love to work on something completely new and different. If I can't even get caught up on the old tasks however, a switch to something new seems very unlikely.

The synchronizers on my Defenter 90 are starting to go out. I have to double clutch to get from first gear to second these days. At least I know how to double clutch and keep on moving, but I still find this new development disconcerting. I vaguely remember two service technicians laughing when I first bought the car, talking about how the Defender turned from reliable transportation into a money pit once the transmission and transfer case started to go. Maybe I won't even notice the difference. To me, the car turned into a money pit years ago.

The neighborhood dog friendly restaurant happened to be closed on Mondays, so we took Dash to a nearby pet store to pick out some special treats for his birthday. We brought home some yummy dog treats, but Dash seemed disappointed that we didn't get him a ferret or parakeet instead. He was trying so hard to get at the cage with all the birds in it that I'm surprised the manager didn't kick us out.

Casey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day