Day 2560

The weather couldn't have been weirder today. The temperature was warm and humid this morning. I even turned on the air conditioner for a while, because it was almost 80 degrees. Everything changed around 1 PM. After that point the temperature started to drop swiftly. I think it's been dropping at last five degrees an hour all afternoon. Add the wind chill effect from a really stiff wind and you've got some nasty conditions. It is supposed to get colder for the rest of the night, with single digit temperatures around sunrise.

Not surprisingly, the dogs don't like this weather at all. They enjoy cooler temperatures, but dealing with a polar vortex is another matter entirely. Dot dutifully walked to the end of our street, seemingly perplexed by the sudden change that had taken place. Dash wouldn't go outside at all. I don't blame the dogs for their reluctance, but it sure would have been nice if they'd both pooped. Now we've got to deal with taking them out in the back yard over and over again as the temperature drops even further.

I washed the car this morning while it was still warm. I don't know why a clean car is such a big deal to me. Maybe it's because it's one of the few things that is still under my control. A clean house is hopeless these days, but a clean car is still possible. I did change the sheets today and washed three rugs that Dot peed on this morning, but the house is far from clean. We're in the process of changing our rug configuration. In the future, all rugs will be small enough to fit in the washing machine. The really large area rugs are simply too hard to clean. In the Summer you could take these large rugs outside and hose them off. They would be dry again the same day. It's a different story now. If I tried to clean a rug outside now, it would remain damp for the rest of the Winter.

I wish I knew who was selling my cell phone number to telemarketers. My land line has been inundated with telemarketers for years, but until recently my cell phone has remained relatively immune from this nuisance. The older I get, the more telemarketing calls I get. I'm sure people think that once you reach a certain age, you will become senile enough to fall for their ridiculous sales pitch. I'm still sharp enough to realize that these people aren't my friends. I rarely answer my phone at all.

My cold is getting worse.Today I had a sore throat, chest congestion, coughing, and a runny nose. As colds go, this is pretty much the whole nine yards. Janet thinks I should start taking antihistamines like she is, but I don't think they help much. At best, antihistamines mask some of the symptoms, but they don't make the cold go away any quicker. Time is the only thing that cures a cold. I'm trying to be patient, but time seems to be moving pretty slowly. I'm ready to start feeling normal again.

Every time the weather gets bad, I start to worry that something is going to break. It would be a disaster if the washing machine broke and I needed to go to to the laundromat to clean Dot's bedding and a house full of rugs. I'm hoping that I did my furnace repair properly. I'd hate to wake up to a cold house tomorrow morning. I don't want the pipes to freeze either. I can't believe that I used to live up North. I don't think I could do it anymore.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1986

We got a new vacuum cleaner today. The old Hoover had done a yeoman's job picking up dog hair over the years, but it was no match for two aging Dalmatians, a wet muddy Spring, and a house filled with mismatched rugs. Could a Dyson Animal restore order to this mess? Before we could answer this question, I had to assemble the Dyson. Inside the box were a bunch of pieces and the world's worst instruction manual. Dyson may have re-invented the vacuum cleaner but their instruction manuals are even worse than Ikea.

Eventually I got the thing put together without breaking anything and put it to the test. I thought the house was relatively clean and was dumbfounded by the huge amount of dirt and dog hair the machine was able to pull out of the carpets and rugs. We have a small house, but I had to empty the Dyson canister twice before I was finished. Janet said the house even smelled better after I finished, but I'll have to take her word for it. All I can smell anymore is sausages cooking and good barbecue.

Tornado warnings woke us up twice during the night. Now the phones and WiFi devices seem to have their own weather warnings. These weather warning are kind of like Amber Alerts. They are almost impossible to turn off. I think I have been more successful at turning off notifications than Janet, because most of last night's alerts came from her devices. Maybe the real sirens went off too. It was hard to tell. At any rate, we turned on the TV in the middle of the night and learned that the really bad weather was to the North of us and then went back to sleep.

It was still raining when we got up in the morning, so the dogs didn't get their morning walk until after 10 AM. Luckily, Dot didn't poop in the house this time. Maybe the new Dyson will help remove any remaining evidence of her previous storm related accidents. The ads are true. That machine is remarkably powerful.

When the skies cleared, I removed the standing water from the roof. I have a new system now. I leave the pump in place and plug in the extension cord dangling over the edge of the roof right after I wake up in the morning. By the time I have finished breakfast and walked the dogs, most of the main roof is clear. When I climb up on the roof to move the pump to the smaller carport, all I have to do is sweep the residual standing water from the main roof. This system only works when there is not a lot of gunk on the roof to clog the pump, but it worked today.

I didn't bother going to the gym because I felt like clearing the roof, walking the dogs, and testing the new vacuum cleaner was all the exercise I needed. I probably wouldn't have had the time to go out anyway. The new website forms I built for my client yesterday already needed to be changed today.

I noticed that there is another opportunity to apply for NASA press credentials to view a Space-X Dragon launch in late June. As much as I'd like to go, I'm going to have to pass on this one. Dot still needs to be supervised during the day. I've got some major dental bills in June. And our annual homeowners insurance is due. I think Dot needs another ultrasound scan at the cancer center too. A three day trip to Kennedy Space Center would be a little much on top of all this. I'm glad I had the opportunity to go to the SMAP launch at Vandenberg back in January. Life was less complicated then.

Ziggy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day