Day 3194 - Autumnal Equinox

I woke up to an ominous dripping sound this morning. The roof was leaking. I guess if I had to have a leak, now would be the time. We've had a tremendous amount of rain during the past 24 hours. I think we set some kind of all time record. I'm glad we live on a hill, because there was lots of flooding in town. When the rain subsided and we were able to take Dash for a walk, it was amazing to see how high the lake was. Most of the boat docks and piers were completely under water. Not only was the lake over its banks, the water completely covered a road that circles the lake.

It's so discouraging to realize that all the work the roofers did toward the end of the Summer basically proved nothing. The roof still leaks. I went up on the roof and made an obligatory inspection, but couldn't find an area where the water might be getting in. The house needs a completely new engineered roof with a slight pitch so water will drain off quickly. Redesigning the house is not in the cards unfortunately. It would cost a fortune and wouldn't really add any value. People want larger homes now. If we ever moved, our house would probably be scraped and replaced by another McMansion. It just doesn't make sense to put a lot of money into a tear down.

Truthfully, nothing makes a lot of sense right now. Someday, historians will look back and realize that this was the time when the second civil war started. Nobody knew what was happening at first. It wasn't a conventional war. The North wasn't fighting the South. There were guns of course, but the really dangerous weapons were words. It was neighbor against neighbor. Parents against children. Brothers against sisters. Worst of all there were no winners. Everybody lost.

Have our divisions become this great? Is this how the world ends? I hope not. When I watch the news I'm not encouraged. Polarization prevails and it seems like the war has already started. Maybe that's why I prefer cooking shows these days. I watched a show about making fish tacos this afternoon. Very tasty.

The weather forecast says it's going to rain all next week. It's officially Fall now. It always seems to rain a lot in the Fall. Jeez. How am I going to stop this roof leak? How am I going to be able to even get the roofers to come back? I think they're done with me. The drip finally stopped right after lunch. I got some bleach and cleaned the stains off the living room ceiling. A few hours later another storm arrived and the roof started leaking all over again. It's hopeless. I'll leave a big bucket out tonight to catch the water. There isn't much else I can do at this point.

Tomorrow's another day. Maybe I'll get some sleep tonight. The water from the roof is still dripping into a bucket in the living room. I'm not hearing the drips as frequently though. That's good. Dash hasn't pooped since early this morning. That's not so good.

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3119

About thirty minutes after the roofer made a firm commitment to come out and repair the roof tomorrow, it started to rain. It rained quite a bit, so I doubt that the roof will be dry any time soon. I'm probably back to square one. I wonder if this promise to fix things on a rainy day was on purpose? I'll never know for sure. It is hard to predict the weather here in Texas. The forecast changes every day. I check the weather all the time and today's rain even caught me by surprise.

Whether the roofer comes out or not, it looks like it's going to be a busy week. Dash has a vet appointment on Wednesday, I need to take my car in for an annual required maintenance on Thursday, and I have an appointment with an art conservator on Friday to see if an Ellsworth Kelly that has been damaged by humidity can be saved.

I dread taking Dash to the vet. He's terrible riding in the car. He often poops in the lobby while we are waiting for our appointment. And he's going to need his nails trimmed again. Dash won't let anyone near his feet, but there is one vet who seems to have the magic touch. If she ever gives up on us, we're doomed. I wish Dash's nails didn't grow so fast. They seem to grow even faster now, since we are protecting his feet on walks. It's really important to keep the nails short, since he is taking Plavix. If Dash ever ripped out a nail again, it would be very hard to stop the bleeding.

I didn't accomplish much today, so I guess it was a pretty normal day. I repaired another pair of Dash's protective boots. Dash is pretty hard on these boots, so I always have to keep several pairs in rotation. I fixed a Waterpik that has been leaking for about a month. The leak wasn't bad, so it was easy to ignore. I got the pump started on the roof, but it won't be enough to get things dried out by tomorrow. It probably doesn't even matter. I think it's supposed to rain again tomorrow anyway.

I wonder if people realize that all the turmoil about the Supreme Court nomination isn't exactly new. If memory serves, there was a similar uproar when Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas were nominated. Thomas survived and Bork didn't. I suspect that Brett Kavanaugh will survive, but what do I know. This is basically a fight between people who think the Constitution is the law of the land and people who think the Constitution has become outdated and needs to change. I hate to see Americans fighting like this, but I don't think it's going to stop any time soon.

I wish we had the ability to blend our opinions together the same way I make my morning smoothie. American politics needs a Vitamix. I don't even taste the bananas, strawberries, peaches, eggs, oatmeal, blueberries, cinnamon, and ice cream anymore. My creation is much better than these ingredients. Blending is good. It would be hard to convince me that polarization is equally good.

Greta is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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