Day 3803

Dawn woke us up last night barking at the wind and rain. She's not scared of storms, but definitely doesn't like things that go bump in the night. The power went out just long enough to cause all the backup power supplies to start beeping which got Dawn barking all over again. Eventually things calmed down and we all went back to sleep. I reset the clocks and timers in the morning and wondered why we were having such a rainy Spring.

We walked Dawn as soon as we woke up since it looked like it was going to rain again. Starting early was a good idea. The rain never arrived and it ended up getting quite warm and humid later in the morning. I didn't feel like going up on the roof today, but since the pumps are working I don't think there will be a lot of standing water. Maybe I'll do this tomorrow.

My chore for the day was mowing the grass in the front yard. I think I'm the only one in the neighborhood who still mows my own grass. It's not my favorite chore but it's a small yard and I don't feel like dealing with a lawn care service. Pushing the mower does seen a little harder with each passing year however. Maybe I'm just a creature of habit. I've mowed this yard for as long as I can remember.

I had a lot of things on my grocery list today. I found most of the items we needed fairly easily but I don't think Clorox Wipes are ever going to return to the shelves. Shopping is certainly different now. Although stores are officially open again, it looks like some of the pandemic rules are here to stay. I'm still not a fan of one way aisles.

My e-mail server was down for most of the day. Being without e-mail is no great loss. Most of my messages are spam anyway. I never learned what the problem was but it must have been major. Service wasn't restored until almost supper time.

We haven't had barbecue for a while so I picked up some ribs from one of my favorite barbecue places. The restaurant was open for table service, but there wasn't a single customer inside. All the table were spaced out for social distancing and there was a full staff on duty. I really feel sorry for restaurant owners. They really got hit hard by the pandemic and it still doesn't seems very fair. I hope this place manages to stay in business. They definitely know how to smoke meat.

I keep getting letters from my gym telling me to be patient. They still can't decide when they are going to open again. I'll probably return to the gym as soon as they open. The place was never very crowded to begin with. I'm not so sure about restaurants. Many of the places I like are quite small. I guess we all choose what to believe about this virus. The theory that recirculating air from building air conditioning systems might be a problem sounds reasonable to me. I guess that's the problem in airplanes as well. My plan is to wait a month and let other people try these things first. We'll see how bold I actually am if I manage to get media accreditation for the upcoming Mars 2020 launch this Summer.

I didn't have much to write about today. I may have even less tomorrow. No Sunday plans at all.

Willie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3328 - Superbowl Sunday

I guess I expected the Patriots to win today. It was almost inevitable. What I didn't expect was that this year's Superbowl commercials would be even worse than last year. I've spent most of my adult life in advertising and I never thought I'd see the day when we collectively lost our sense of humor. Superbowl commercials used to be hilarious but today's batch were no laughing matter. Have the bright young creatives who made these commercials forgotten how to laugh? Everything was so serious this year. The commercials were all about social justice and saving the planet. Even my favorite commercial featuring a good looking Dalmatian with her ears flapping in the wind was all about using wind power to brew beer. Where are the companies who are willing to poke fun at themselves and make people laugh?  I think everyone was playing it safe this year. Humor can be controversial and nobody wanted to risk being politically incorrect. It's sad that we've come to this. I don't think shows like Seinfeld and All in the Family could even get on the air anymore.

I was really hoping that the Rams would win today's game, but it wasn't meant to be. Jared Goff got knocked around so much by the Pats that I was amazed he finished the game. At least our Superbowl meal was a winner. I picked up some pork ribs from my favorite barbecue place on my way home from the gym. They were delicious. The people waiting for the pit-master to get their order ready weren't exactly a testimonial for eating smoked meats. They were overweight, looked to be in poor health, and one guy was pushing a walker. Maybe this is why I save barbecue for special occasions. I know the difference between "good for you" and "good with a beer," but I still think that few things can top well prepared brisket and ribs.

Dash felt a little better today. The diarrhea is gone and he is pooping normally again. Keep in mind that "normal" for Dash still means pooping in the house, but at least his poop isn't a liquid mess anymore. We discontinued the Metronidazole because it seems to be making him even weaker and more confused than he usually is. Hopefully, when the medicine gets out of his system he won't be quite so shaky on his feet. He was still pretty weak today, but we think we are seeing some improvement.

It's time to fit Dash for his Help 'Em Up Harness. It's becoming too difficult to keep him upright on walks using the Ruffwear harness. The fitting was more difficult than I thought, because Dash can't stand upright on his own for very long. The Help 'Em Up Harness comes in male and female versions, but I'm not sure how well the male rear section of the harness will work with Dash. Due to the way he normally pees, I could end up washing the thing every day. I've got the front section of the harness sized correctlly now, but the rear section still needs some work.

None of my trains sold in January. This was disappointing. My friend who is helping me sell the collection says the market for collectibles isn't what it used to be. I'm not surprised. Few people younger than me probably even know what a train is.

Casey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3171

I sent in my application to join the InSight team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the spacecraft's November landing on Mars. A little while later, I received a conformation from NASA thanking me for my interest while telling me that I was application number 61005. Wow. The last time I did this in 2014, there were only several hundred applicants. Now there appear to be over sixty thousand. Times have definitely changed. I probably don't have a chance in hell of being selected. Only 30 people will be given social media credentials.

Hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained. At least I made an effort to venture out of my comfort zone and expand my horizons beyond picking up dog poop. We'll see what happens. If Dash's condition remains stable, everything should be fine. I had to decline an invitation to view an Orbital ATK Cygnus launch at Kennedy Space Center when Dot became very sick, but I'm going to remain positive for the moment. What have I got to lose? It would be pretty cool if I made the final cut.

Dash got me up several times last night, but he ate well today and seems to be in good spirits. So far, there has been no pooping in the house. Lets hope this continues. I wish Dash had more energy, but he's actually doing amazingly well, considering the severity of his heart condition. I wish there was a cure for Dash's heart problems and vestibular disease. There isn't. We do the best we can managing the symptoms, but it is stressful knowing that your faithful companion could die at any time.

One day at a time has become my motto. When you take things one day at a time, long-term goals become irrelevant. There are just good days and bad days. Today was a reasonably good day. Dash didn't fall down. He didn't poop in the house. And he seemed happy.

Dash's mood must have been contageous, because I felt pretty good as well. I got off my butt and applied for the NASA media credentials. I even had an appetite and went out and got some delicious barbecued ribs for dinner. This was probably my first mistake of the day. Damn. I've already got heartburn. I wish I had the discipline to eat like Janet does. Her post-cancer diet is about as healthy as you can get. I don't do so well. My health regimen is basically occasionally eating her leftovers.

This month has flown by. I can't believe it is almost Labor Day. Pretty soon I'll have to start watching out for School Zones again. I don't drive much, but wherever I go, there always seem to be lots of schools. It really slows things down when you get stuck in one of those lines of people waiting to pick up their kids. Traffic in the city seems to double when school is in session.

I set the bar pretty low, but I think I was adventurous today. I wonder if I can be as adventurous tomorrow and try eating breakfast at a brand new restaurant. We'll see.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2964 - Super Bowl Sunday

I've never been a fan of the Patriots or the Eagles, but I'll have to admit that today's game was great. I didn't know who was going to win until the very last play, but I'm glad the Eagles pulled off the upset. They might have been the underdog, but they certainly deserved this win. The commercials weren't nearly as good as the game. Most of the ads sucked. Ad agency creative types seem to have lost their sense of humor. Some of the commercials didn't even make sense. To make matters worse, the Budweiser Clydesdales didn't make an appearance at all. I guess Justin Timberlake was OK, but he didn't even come close to the epic performances of Michael Jackson and Prince.

Even though Janet and I aren't huge football fans, we always have a Super Bowl dinner worthy of the game. I went out and got several pounds of ribs from our favorite barbecue place and we enjoyed them with potato salad and baked beans. I even had beer with my dinner, which is extremely rare for me considering that I don't drink anymore. Dash got to enjoy a little barbecue, but we didn't let him get anywhere near the bones. Years ago, one of our dogs grabbed a pork rib off the table and swallowed the entire thing including the bone. We thought Spot was going to need emergency surgery, but the vet said to wait. The bone slowly dissolved and after a week or so it was soft enough to pass through his system. We were very lucky and made sure that our dogs never got near rib bones again.

For the first time in years I didn't buy a thing at my favorite Super Bowl Sale. Today's styles seem just as weird to me as today's Super Bowl commercials. Jeez. When did skinny jeans get to be a regular item in a clothing store that caters to grown ups? I'm thin enough that I can wear these pants, but they look ridiculous. The narrow legs don't cover your shoes like a normal pair of pants. They just bunch up on top of the shoes. Are you supposed to buy a shorter length or just let the fabric bunch up? I hate stretch fabric too. Men shouldn't wear stretch denim. I guess I can avoid these issues by continuing to buy regular old fashioned boot cut jeans at a western store.

Dash's appetite still hasn't returned to normal, but at least he seems better than he was yesterday. He had no interest in food when he woke up this morning, but after his walk he ate a little. He would return to his bowl and take a few bites throughout the morning and by noon, he had almost finished his breakfast. We gave him another Cerenia pill this morning and hopefully this will help stabilize his system.

I thought the gym would be empty today since it was Super Bowl Sunday, but it was surprisingly full. I had to wait to use the basketball court because there was a full court game going on when I arrived. These guys were burning way more energy than I do shooting a few baskets. The more I looked, the more I realized that everybody at the gym was working up a sweat except for me. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

I'll probably have heartburn tonight after eating a big plate of barbecued ribs, but the meal was worth it. The game was worth it too. All in all, it was a pretty nice day. Tomorrow it's back to wondering where the next job is coming from and looking for a replacement refrigerator. If I'm lucky, the stock market sell off will stop and Dash will start eating normally again.

Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2245 - Superbowl Sunday

Today had its ups and downs. We woke up to discover that Dot was having difficulty walking. As most of you know, she has had trouble walking ever since her spinal injury last year, but today was worse than most days. She couldn't put any weight on her left rear leg at all. This has happened before, so we let her rest in hopes that she'd just slept on the leg wrong. Occasionally, her leg gets twisted in an awkward position when she attempts to get up and re-position herself during the night. If I wake up I'll check and make sure her legs are straight, but sometimes I sleep through her attempts to move. The only thing you can do is let her rest for a while and hope for the best.

Dash likes the mornings when Dot has to rest, because he gets a long walk by himself. We were out for over an hour this morning, walking along the shoreline, reacquainting ourselves with sections of the park that are too distant for Dot to reach these days. Dash didn't seem the least bit concerned that Dot was having a tough day. He just seemed happy that he was finally getting some individual attention. By the time we returned, Dot was already feeling a little more stable. The next time I took her in the back yard to pee, she was already starting to put a little weight on the rear leg. It's always a judgement call when we have to decide if Dot has had enough. If we quit trying to keep her moving, she would quickly become an invalid. Pushing her too hard is equally bad. You have to find the sweet spot where she remains motivated, without asking her to do anything that might make her condition worse. For Dot, and myself as well, life has become one long physical therapy session.

After breakfast, Janet went to a Dalmatian Rescue event and I went to the gym. I probably should have just taken the day off and rested with Dot, since my bad shoulder was really acting up today. I have a feeling that we both slept awkwardly last night. Dot twisted her leg, while I must have gone to sleep with my arm in the wrong position. It happens. I concentrated on cardio training this morning and didn't do any routines that would aggravate my shoulder further.

On the way home from the gym, I stopped by my favorite barbecue place and picked up two pounds of pork ribs, some fried okra, a pint of potato salad, some barbecue beans, and a couple of Corona beers. This seemed like the kind of food you should eat watching the Superbowl.

I enjoyed the game and was happy that Denver won. I always root for the old guys these days. I was glad to see Payton Manning go out on top, becoming the first NFL quarterback in history to have 200 wins as a starter. Everyone looked good today. Lady Gaga sang the best rendition of the Star Spangled Banner since Whitney Houston's memorable performance twenty five years ago. Lady Gaga seems to have grown up. Hanging out with Tony Bennett has been good for her. Nobody will ever top Michael Jackson's half time performance, but Coldplay, Beyoncé, and Bruno Mars put on a good show.

I'm still laughing at Larry David's take on the Bernie Sanders campaign last night on Saturday Night Live. Larry David is perfect as Bernie. The Iowa Caucus skit where Bernie lost by five votes because he alienated a voter by refusing to shake hands with a her after she coughed in her hand, and then compounded his error by refusing to try to pop another woman's shoulder back in place while he was going out for coffee was hilarious. Sienfeld meets politics, meets reality. This political season is very confusing. Am I watching an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm? Am I watching an episode of Celebrity Apprentice? Who knows.

Stortz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2215

I ran into a photographer buddy at breakfast this morning. We hadn't seen each other in quite a while, so it was enjoyable to spend some time catching up on things. We talked about how radically our business had changed. We wondered why time seems to speed up as you grow older. We couldn't remember the names of people we both used to work with. "You know the guy," my friend said. "He used to take a lot of ballet pictures." "Sure, I know who you're talking about," I replied. But what was his name? Who knows. Basically, we were just a couple of old men talking.

This morning started out even foggier than yesterday. Ground fog is interesting. When we left the house on our morning walk, I could see the stars. It was clear enough for me to spot a faint Saturn right below Venus in the Eastern sky. As we walked down toward the lake, we were quickly enveloped in fog. It was like we were inside a dense cloud. Looking back toward the house, you could see the top of the cloud, with blue sky above. It was strange and very pretty. There were still patches of fog when I finished breakfast, so I got my camera and went back to the lake again. Just like yesterday, I was too late to catch the sailboats peaking through the fog, but I did see some nice White Pelicans.

I've been wondering about an elderly neighbor who's house has seemed vacant for the past month. I finally ran across someone who might know what was going on and discovered that the husband, who had already fallen and broken his hip twice, started to fall again. His wife tried to catch him and ended up falling on top of him. They were both injured and are currently in a rehab center learning to walk again. Their son is trying to convince them that it is time to move to assisted living. Evidently, they don't want to leave the neighborhood, but their house has become hazardous for them. The EMT ambulance has already been to their house six times. This sounds so much like what happened to my Dad. Getting old isn't pretty.

Since I spent so much time talking with my photographer friend at breakfast, I didn't have time to go to the grocery store. I went home to make sure the dogs were alright and completed all the website updates that were due today. It didn't take long for me to get my January invoices out. There were so few of them this month that I wondered why I even bothered. When I finished all my work for the day, I decided to go to my favorite barbecue place and bring home a surprise dinner for Janet. We both love ribs and brisket, but don't have it that often anymore. I came home with two pounds of pork ribs, a pint of potato salad, some fried okra, a generous helping of barbecue beans, and several big dill pickles. Almost as an afterthought, I added a couple bottles of Corona Extra beer to my order. Barbecue this good really deserved to be accompanied with beer. Janet was pleased when she got home from work and we had a tasty and somewhat nostalgic dinner.

I noticed this morning that the top of Dash's head is covered with little bumps. What now? He used to have skin allergies, but his coat has looked great for the past two years. Maybe he is allergic to the shampoo we used to give him a bath last week. Maybe an insect bit him. We haven't changed his diet, so I don't think the irritation is caused by food. If he doesn't improve over the weekend, I'll take him to the vet next week. It's always something with these dogs.

I'm hoping that the weather stays warm this weekend and that the dogs let us sleep in a little later tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

Jordan is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1880

I've noticed that I get a lot better response to these posts when there's some sort of point to the day. You guys like an adventure. I've been an advertising writer for long enough that it would be pretty easy to make each day seem like a voyage of discovery. What would this prove though? If you like embellishment, you've already got Brian Williams? I'm comfortable when nothing happens. Much of life is uneventful and that's OK. When I was younger I would have been embarrassed to share a succession of uneventful days with you. Now I hope you enjoy your uneventful moments just as much as I do. As far as I'm concerned, the occasional challenge builds character. Constant challenge just wears you down.

Today was a pleasant non-event. I enjoyed seeing the ghostly disc of the sun through thick fog as we walked the dogs this morning. I took some pictures, but thought you'd prefer seeing flowers blooming in February. There was a small patch of Pink Thrift in full bloom along the trail this morning. I think these are the first flowers of the year.

I ran my usual Saturday errands, filling the car with gas and buying bulk items at Sam's Club. I stopped at a pet store and got the dogs some more biscuits and treats. I did my stretching exercises, although it's hard to tell if my shoulder is improving much. Since it was warm enough to wear shorts this afternoon, I got out the hose and washed the car. Washing the car is much more satisfying than cleaning the house. In less than an hour I can have a shiny, clean car. I could spend days working on the house and it still wouldn't look very different.

I must have seen a dozen hammocks strung between trees near the lake this afternoon. When did it become cool to spend your weekend lying in a hammock? I never used to see hammocks in the park and now they are everywhere. Some people read books in these hammocks. Others seem to string them up just to watch the sunset. Seems like a lot of trouble to me. If I'm outdoors, I'd rather keep moving.

Janet brought home ribs from Backcountry Barbecue for dinner. I love ribs and brisket. When you've got a big rack of ribs in front of you, along with some beans, home made potato salad, and cornbread, you don't need much more excitement. After tonight's dinner, it seems like a trip to the gym tomorrow is almost mandatory.

Stortz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1478 - New Year's Day

Some people think that what you do on New Year's Day foretells what you'll be doing for the rest of the year. I certainly hope that isn't the case. I thought I'd organize a growing pile of healthcare records in a ring binder this afternoon. It took a lot longer that I thought to decide which records to keep and which I could throw away. When I started to shred the throw away pile, I realized that the paper shredder was jammed and completely full. I took the machine apart and cleaned it out, which took longer than I thought as well. When I got this task finished, I got out the vacuum cleaner to clean up my mess and discovered that the bag was completely full. I knew I had more vacuum cleaner bags somewhere, but once again it took a lot longer than I thought to find them. This was kind of how the entire day went, as one easy task after another morphed into something more difficult than I anticipated.

The dogs, on the other hand, might have a great year to look forward to in 2014. The first thing they did on New Year's Day was go to the dog park. The weather was perfect, there were no aggressive dogs in the park, and Dot and Dash both had a great time. They've been waiting for this outing since November, so we spent a long time at the park, letting them both get a lot of pent up energy out of their system. Dot was surprisingly strong today. Even though we take things one day at a time with Dot, it is always gratifying to see her defy the odds and act like a much younger dog.

Eating pork on New Year's Day is supposed to bring you luck. We had pork ribs for dinner, so who knows. I'm not superstitious, but I do love ribs. I'll take good luck whenever I can get it. I didn't have any chicken today either. They say eating poultry on New Year's Day will bring poverty in the year ahead. You're not supposed to wash clothes today either, but that's going a bit too far.

Maybe in a week or two, I'll get back on schedule again. It's seems like Sunday evening, but it's really just hump day and we've got two more work days before the weekend. Dot has her acupuncture session tomorrow, although it is usually today. On Friday, I usually go out for breakfast, but I already did that on Tuesday. It's all very confusing. I wonder if 2014 will be a good year. 2013 was a mess, although the stock market did surprisingly well. If we learned anything last year, it would be that it is totally pointless to try to predict the future.

I wonder if the weather on New Year's Day is a harbinger of what's to come as well. It would be nice if that were the case. The weather was fantastic today. The sky was clear, there was no wind, and the temperature got up to 70 degrees. Pretty nice for a Winter's day.

Hunter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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