Day 2410

Go outside and take a look at the moon. 47 years ago today Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin touched down on the lunar surface with less than a minutes worth of fuel left. They navigated their way from the earth to the moon using a computer that was less powerful than the one you currently have in your phone. More than half a billion people watched live as Neil Armstrong stepped out of the lunar module and said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” For one short moment in time, the world was united and the world was proud.

I was one of those proud people.  I was still in architecture school and had my entire life ahead of me. I never would have dreamed that almost half a century later we would leave the moon behind and never return. What happened? I think we were at our best when we were explorers and adventurers. We are at our worst right now. Nothing unites us the way Apollo 11 did. No politician is bold enough to commit the nation to accomplish the impossible in less than ten years. John Kennedy was my favorite president. Sadly, I don't think his own party would elect him today. He wasn't politically correct. He was an unabashed nationalist. I think John Kennedy would be appalled that we never returned to the moon.

The dogs got a little excitement today. The electric company arrived at the house around mid-afternoon and informed me that my electric meter had gone bad. I asked the guy at the front door how they knew the meter had gone bad and they told me that the meter sent them a fault warning. There aren't any meter readers anymore. The meter sits quietly behind my house, electronically informing the power company whenever I turn on the television, or cool down the house. The meter knows too much, so I hope nobody ever gets elected who decides I'm an energy waster and rations my power. It's already happening with water. I thanked the electric company guy for installing the new meter and apologized for the barking dogs. Somehow I think that this new meter isn't going to lower my electric bill at all.

I had some website updates to complete today, but I have a feeling that the slowdown in my business is permanent. As I watch Dot's slow decline, I am simultaneously witnessing my own decline. I hope I'm not witnessing the decline of my country as well. All I know is that July 20, 1969 was a much better time than July 20, 2016. I know you can't turn back time, but maybe you can change direction.

I canceled Dot's physical therapy session again today. We did increase the length of her walk a little though. So far, she's doing well. This is the kind of progress I understand. Tomorrow, we'll repeat the process and start all over again. In 1969 I was convinced that we'd have colonies on Mars by now. What I didn't know is that 47 years later, my life would be focused around Dalmatians and that the moon would just be a soft light shining through my window.

Lady Jane is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1966

I called the dentist today to see whether I might have a dry socket. "Do you have a fever," the nurse asked? Nope. "Is there a foul smell or bad taste in your mouth?" Nope. "Are you in excruciating, unbearable pain?" Not really. "Well, you don't have a dry socket," she told me. When I mentioned that there was still a lot of discomfort, I'm surprised that she didn't tell me to "just deal with it."

My photo assignment today was documenting a veterinary dental procedure.  The dog that was having her teeth cleaned experienced a very rare allergic reaction to the anesthesia and had a sudden and rather serious loss of blood pressure. The mood in the operating room immediately went from routine to emergency status. I was very impressed at how quickly and calmly the veterinarian and her two assistants dealt with this life threatening situation. In less than a minute, countermeasures had been taken to restore blood pressure and stabilize the dog. As soon as a strong pulse was re-established, the anesthesia was quickly withdrawn in what is known as a "hard wake up" procedure. The dog is fine now, but still has terrible looking teeth. I don't know how she's going to get her teeth cleaned now. If I had seen all this before my own dental surgery, I would have freaked out. My biggest worry before having my wisdom teeth extracted had always been that something would go wrong with the anesthesia. Ironically, the veterinary clinic used exactly the same monitoring equipment as the dental surgeon did.

Today was very busy for a Monday. In addition to the photo shoot, I had some extensive website revisions to make and a large banner to prepare for printing. A new writing assignment came in toward the end of the day, but I'll have to deal with that tomorrow. Increasingly, I'm finding that I have difficulty getting everything done during the day. There just isn't enough time. Dot doesn't walk far in the morning's, but she walks very, very slow. I'm eating slower, because it's hard to chew. Nobody likes to talk on the phone anymore, so I'm spending a lot more time answering client's questions via e-mail. I wish simple questions didn't require complicated answers, but frequently they do.

Tomorrow will be a mess because the power company tree trimming crews have finally arrived in our alley. Dot always goes into a barking frenzy when she sees all these trucks and hears the chain saws. Hopefully, I can pen her in the office with me so she won't be distracted by all the activity behind the back yard fence, but I don't think it's going to work. Once the barking starts, it's very difficult to stop. In addition to all the noise they make, these tree trimmers have a history of butchering the large Live Oak trees in the back yard. They always trim way more than they need to and the trees look horrible when they're finished. There's nothing I can do to stop these guys. The power company has eminent domain over anything that gets close to the power lines and, like it or not, they have the legal authority to ruin my trees. They've done it before and they'll do it again.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be less hectic than it was today. I'll need to run up to Fastsigns and pick up the banner order I called in today. There's the new article to write, and one more website to update. Lord know long it will take to get all the food particles out of my teeth.

Crosby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day