Day 3431

Every one in a while I will revisit a restaurant I've abandoned just to see if the menu has changed or if there is a new chef. Today I went back to a neighborhood place that used to be a favorite of mine and much to my surprise the restaurant was gone. The building was completely empty and there was a big For Lease sign on the window. I wonder what happened? I guess I don't understand the restaurant business. The last time I was here the food was decent and there were lots of customers.

Since I couldn't eat in an empty building, I went to another restaurant I hadn't visited for a while. This one was still open, but it seemed pretty empty. This was another place that used to have a good breakfast crowd. My Eggs Benedict came on a pretty square plate, but the chef clearly didn't know how to poach an egg. I felt like going back to the kitchen and showing him how to make this dish.

I don't know where I'm going to go next Friday. Clearly I didn't have a lot of luck today. Breakfast is a simple meal. It's easy to tell if the restaurant is using fresh, real ingredients or just something they got off the Sysco food service truck. You can always tell if the hash browns are fresh or frozen. I suspect that my entire meal was frozen food service fare this morning.

I took my regular long walk when I returned home, but I must have been a glutton for punishment today because I decided that it was a good day to clean all the windows and remove the spiderwebs from the house. This is a messy but necessary job. I try to do it just once a year.

I thought the pressure washer would make the job easier, but it actually made the situation worse. The spray was strong enough to remove paint but apparently wasn't strong enough to remove spiderwebs. I should have just used a garden hose. It took forever just to get the pressure washer started. The ground lift safety feature that was supposed to keep me from being shocked wasn't working properly and the power kept cutting out. To make matters worse, Mud Dauber wasps had tried to make a nest in the nozzles and sealed the tubes with mud. I guess I don't use the pressure washer very frequently.

The windows look pretty good now although it still feels like I've got a few spiderwebs in my hair. Sadly, I just finished the back half of the house. I've got to do this all over again to remove the spiderwebs from the front. These spiders are relentless. They build webs that are stronger than Superglue and then they poop all over the window trim. Nature is nice, but there are times when when I'd rather live on the seventeenth floor of a nice new high rise.

Mr. Fitbit should be happy today. I certainly took quite a few steps. Staying active doesn't seem to be a problem. I take two long walks every day now and usually try to do something useful around the house. Finding something I actually enjoy doing is going to be more problematic.

Susie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3129

We broke a 93 year old record. The temperature was 108 today, making this the hottest day of the year as well as the warmest July 19th on record. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow. They say it is going to be even hotter. I walked Dash really early this morning, but we should have stayed inside. The temperature was already above 90 degrees at sunrise. Even though we walked slowly, Dash became overheated. I was worried about him when we came home. I found him panting in the bedroom with his tongue hanging out. I covered him with a cool damp towel and watched him until his breathing became normal again. He seemed fine while we were walking, but this heat can be deceptive. I shouldn't have taken him out this morning. We'll either take a very short walk tomorrow, or no walk at all.

Our air conditioning system is struggling. It does fine when the exterior  temperatures are in the low 90's, but we were way above that today. Realistically, you can only expect an air conditioner to lower the temperature by twenty degrees. When the temperature is 108, it is difficult to keep things at 75 degrees inside. I'm worried that there will be a power outage. Our power grid is old and everyone is using their air conditioners at once. It's not a good combination.

I was surprised that the roofers even showed up today. The crew power washed the roof to prepare the surface for a new elastomer coating. The roof does look clean, but unfortunately it's wet again. Now, even more of the old coating is peeling away. I guess it doesn't matter since all the damaged areas will be recoated tomorrow. I wish the guys would just replace the entire roof, but that's not going to happen. If I can get them to repair all the bad spots, this is probably as good as it's going to get. I hope the guys get started early. If they wait until the afternoon to begin, it is going to be unbearably hot.

Dash is fine now, but he really gave me a scare this morning. With his bad heart, we really can't take chances. As much as he enjoys his walks, I think we're going to have to stay inside until the weather cools down a bit. I wonder how long that will take? The ten day forecast shows triple digit temperatures as far as the eye can see.

Texas weather is basically horrible. Every Summer I can't wait until Winter arrives and every Winter I can't wait until Summer. Spring and Fall only seem to last around two days. Every time I start to get complacent, there's a tornado warning to remind me that things can get even worse. I wonder where the good weather is hiding? I used to think I'd like to live in Colorado, but that part of the country is having terrible wild fires now. Hurricanes, tornados, floods, wildfires, and drought. There always seems to be something just beyond the horizon waiting to spoil the party.

I actually enjoyed my breakfast last Friday. Maybe I'll go back to the same restaurant again tomorrow. It all depends on when the roofers arrive and whether Dash remains calm without his morning walk.

Jade is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3097 - Father's Day

Since my birthday is always close to Father's Day, my Mom used to tell Dad that I was his Father's Day gift. I think this annoyed my Dad. I was often a thorn in his side. I abandoned a childhood love of physics and astronomy to go to architecture school. Just when my Dad was getting used to the idea of his son as an architect, I abandoned architecture for a career in advertising. Dad had little use for advertising. He was a devout Lutheran and he never really understood when I abandoned the church. We were not always close, but I always admired my Dad. He was an honest man, a Navy veteran, and a proud member of the greatest generation.

Dad was a scientist who enjoyed watching The Three Stooges on TV after work. He was an avid reader and often gave me books he thought I should read. We never shared the same taste in books. To this day I don't know why he enjoyed Don Marquis so much. He probably wouldn't understand why I liked John Kennedy Toole. I've tried to read The Old Soak and A Variety of People and always lost interest after a few chapters. I never thought Don Marquis was funny. I usually lost interest in watching college basketball with Dad as well. Dad loved basketball. The one time when he seemed a little interested in my advertising career was when I told him I was producing a series of commercials with famed basketball announcer Dick Vitale.

I'm not a Dad myself, but I did a few dad-like things today. I reluctantly hooked up the pressure washer and did my best to clean all the spider webs off the living room windows. Spider webs are almost impossible to remove. The pressure washer will remove paint from the window trim before it will dislodge the pesky spider webs. The webs are full of spiders too. I have to remember to wear a hat when I do this chore, or I will end up with a mess of spiders in my hair. The windows look better now, but this is such a messy job. Water always seeps around the edges of the large single pane glass and I have to mop up water spills on the inside of the house. I wish there was a special paint that repelled spiders. It would be worth repainting the house just to get rid of these nasty insects.

I got a lot of exercise today. We started the day with a long sunrise walk. Dash really enjoys these early morning walks. I went to the gym right after breakfast and did pretty pretty well throwing free throws on the basketball court. Dad would have been surprised that I enjoy shooting baskets. Hey, it's a pleasant way to develop hand eye coordination. I still don't follow the sport. I couldn't fill out a NCAA tournament bracket to save my life.

I don't know how long the windows will stay clean, but I'm not looking forward to cleaning the rest of the house with the pressure washer. I usually do this once a year. Cleaning the exterior of the house and tending to the yard are largely symbolic gestures. Mother nature won this battle many years ago.

The landscaper still hasn't showed up with the replacement grass. I should introduce him to the roofer. These two guys are peas in a pod.

Bali is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2767

I finally finished cleaning all four sides of the house with the pressure washer this morning. This is a somewhat futile effort, since spiders have already returned to the part of the house I cleaned first. I've finally learned to wear long pants and a hat when I do this job. It's pretty messy and the spiders aren't happy. I also learned that my wrist hasn't really healed yet. It wasn't very comfortable holding the pressure nozzle for any length of time.

In an attempt to beat the heat, we got up before sunrise to walk Dash. There was a light breeze and the temperature was only in the mid-80's, so the walk was actually enjoyable. Two hours later, it would have been an entirely different story. We got an unusual amount of rain in June. As soon as we put the new grass in, the rain stopped. I run the sprinkler for an hour or so every morning, but I still worry that the grass will dry out before it gets established.

I think we had a heat index of over 105 degrees today. When it gets this hot, it's hard to get motivated to do anything. I did go grocery shopping, but came right home afterwards because I didn't want the fresh fruit to spoil in the car. Several times today, I joined Dash on the bed for a nap. Hey, I had already battled spiders and won. I deserved a nap. Later in the day I did manage to finish one quick website update because I knew that the guy who sent me the job probably wasn't napping with his dog.

Janet and I are becoming so forgetful. We never used to forget things. When we finished our errands this afternoon, we had both forgotten essential  things that should have been on our lists. Oh, well. I guess we will have to go back to the store tomorrow. This is probably what happens when you get old. You spend your entire day trying to remember what you forgot.

We're still debating whether to take a car trip somewhere before Janet returns to work. It would be nice to get away, but the thought of being on the road in August with a dog who could have a seizure at any time in a car that could break down at any point just isn't very appealing. This is probably why we never take car trips. There was a time when we used to travel quite a bit. It was easier when the dogs were young and healthy and we didn't have to leave them in a boarding kennel. We had good friends who would look after Spot when we were away. Spot absolutely loved visiting Lynn and Bob and got along well with their dogs. That was a long time ago. Bob is dead and we haven't seen Lynn in years. I can't imagine leaving Dash. There are just too many health issues.

I was thinking about going to the gym again tomorrow, but after wrestling with the pressure washer this morning, I don't think I'm ready yet. I'd hate to screw up my wrist before it has had time to heal. I asked the doctors at the emergency room how long I needed to wear the splint on my wrist. They just said to ask the orthopedic specialist they referred me to. I don't think they realized that it would take a month to get an appointment though. I don't see any need to wear the splint now, but I probably shouldn't be lifting weights yet.

I just fell asleep at the computer while trying to think of what to write next. I assume that means it's time for bed.

Pongo os today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2733 - Father's Day

Every Father's Day I see all these pictures on Facebook of people with their Dad. I can't recall any pictures of me and my Dad together. Even when I spent a lot of time with him toward the end of his life, we never took a picture together. To be fair, I can't recall any pictures of me and my Mom together either. I don't know what this means, but our family certainly didn't spend a lot of time recording family events.

Maybe this odd tradition continues. Janet and I have taken an enormous number of pictures of our dogs in every conceivable situation, but we have very few pictures of each other. I wouldn't read too much into this. Animals are just more fun to photograph.

I moved the pressure washer to another part of the house this afternoon and continued my quest to clean the exterior. There seems to be a fine line between removing spider webs and removing paint. The exterior paint is old and if I try too hard to remove a stubborn web, I can easily strip the paint away too. I'm going to have to go to a hardware store and see if there is some kind of spray I can apply to keep the spiders from returning. It would be a shame to have invested this much time cleaning the place, only to have all the spiders return in a few weeks.

I wish good house painters weren't so expensive. I've gotten bids several times and have always been appalled at the cost of professionally repainting the house. I repainted the interior myself about eight years ago and I think this might have been the origin of my shoulder problems. Painting the ceilings with a roller was a bitch. About halfway through the job, I discovered a power roller that made the job quicker, but holding a paint filled roller at the end of a long pole was still tiring. Maybe painting the exterior will be easier since there are no ceilings. The exterior walls are mostly brick, so a few wooden walls shouldn't be a huge problem. Oops. I forgot that the long back porch has a ceiling. That's were all the spiders congregate. This area needs some kind of special spider proof paint.

Janet took me out for a birthday dinner tonight, since she'll have to work late tomorrow. Sometimes my birthday falls on Father's Day and even when it doesn't, the two days are always close together. Mom used to say that I was her Father's Day gift to Dad. I think Dad would have preferred a new fishing rod or some wood carving tools. It was enjoyable to go out to dinner for a change. We haven't been out together since Dot got sick and couldn't be left alone. We didn't forget Dash though. We ate early, so there would still be time for an evening walk before it got dark.

The older I get, the less I look forward to birthdays. I'll be 69 tomorrow. Despite what some people say, 69 is not the new 49. The aches and pains are real. I feel old. I look old. I am old. My Mom didn't even live this long, so I really should look at each additional year as a gift. It would be beneficial to develop a positive attitude. Youth is very forgiving to negative people, but it's silly to be negative when you're old. You just don't have that many years left. I don't want to waste the time I've been allotted. There might not be a bucket list, but there is still a lot of stuff I'd like to do.

Rugby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2732

It seems pretty clear that there are no more rats in the atrium, so I decided to tackle the job I've been avoiding for years. Cleaning the atrium is difficult because it is basically an outside space that can only be accessed from the inside. Each time I use the pressure washer, I grow a little wiser. I don't point the nozzle at old paint anymore, because it will peel the paint away. I definitely don't point the nozzle at myself. I learned that the hard way. Today I wore a large hat with a brim to protect my head from falling spiders. I lined the inside of the sliding glass door with rags to soak up the water that I knew would leak into the living room. When we first bought the house, I used to do this job once a year, but when our first pressure washer broke I lost interest and convinced myself that the dust and dirt looked just fine. Originally, the atrium seemed like it would be a nice place to have dinner in the Spring or Fall, but we really weren't prepared for how brutal Texas weather can be. It didn't take us long to realize that eating inside with the air conditioner cranked up was much nicer.

As the pressure hose slowly peeled away layer after layer of dirt and grime, the atrium gradually began to look like it used to be. I tend to forget that this house is sometimes considered architecturally significant. All the other Glen Galloway houses have been featured in magazines. Ours has been destroyed by dogs. Architecture was still important to me when we bought the house. I used to be an architect at some point in the distant past and having a cool house seemed essential. Now, I realize that a house is just a place with a roof over your head that you share with dogs.

Although cleaning the atrium was a dirty job that took most of the afternoon, I'll have to admit that I did feel pretty good when I looked at the final results. The flagstone floors and exposed brick look like new. All I have to do now is put a coat of paint on the wood walls and I'll be done.

I had to move the emergency generator while I was cleaning the atrium and it seemed like a good time to fill it with gas and see if it still worked. The generator started easily and the engine seemed to run just fine but it wasn't producing any electricity. This didn't make sense. The generator was practically brand new. It should work perfectly. Since so many computer problems are solved by turning them off and back on again, I use this technique for everything now. I shut the generator down and then restarted it. Amazingly, that's all it took. I have no idea what the problem was, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with spiders.

Over half of the house still needs to be cleaned, but the pressure washer doesn't intimidate me anymore. Little by little, I'll get this job done. I'm going to wait a while to call the landscaper again because he likes to be paid in cash, but by the Fourth of July, the house and yard should be looking great.

I think I've done enough cleaning for one weekend. Tomorrow I'll either finish my website updates or go to the gym. I doubt if I'll do both. That seems too much like multi-tasking.

Bali is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2725

We thought we'd see if Dash would take a longer walk if we both walked him. That seemed to do the trick. Dash took a nice long walk without any hesitation. I'm not sure what this proves, but it isn't a very practical solution. It's rare that we have time to take a family walk. I know that Dash always preferred to walk with Dot. Hey buddy, I'd rather walk both dogs too, but that's not going to happen anymore. We're all going to have to adjust to Dot being gone. I wonder if Dash knows what happened? He saw us carry Dot out the door and she never returned. I wish I could tell him that everything is going to be OK.

Today I learned that the pressure washer is great for cleaning bricks and concrete, but it is terrible for removing spiderwebs. I tried to clean the windows on the back of the house this afternoon and ended up getting spiders all over me.  The webs were so sticky that I had trouble dislodging them with the water spray. Once again, nature wins. The water was powerful enough to penetrate the window frames and get inside the house, but the webs seemed impervious to damage. I also learned that it's not a good idea to use use the power washer nozzle to spray away a spider that landed on your leg. Ouch. It was just instinct, but I shouldn't have done that.

The windows eventually got cleaned, even though I had to resort to a bleach soaked wet rag to finish the job. The sad thing is that in two weeks, the spiders will all be back. They build web near the windows because it's a great place to catch bugs. Flying insects are attracted to the light from the windows at night and the industrious spiders ensnare them with their webs. Don't even get me started about the lizards. In a month from now, there will be lizards crawling on our windows at night as well.

I can live with most of these critters, but I draw the line at rats. I went to a pest control store and bought some attractant that is supposed to be much better than peanut butter or cheese as bait. I cleaned all the traps, moved them around to new locations, and baited them with the attractant gel. We'll see. I"d better have a rat in the morning.

I started doing a little research about viewing the eclipse this August. It became apparent very quickly that the big problem will be the weather. Once you've picked a location, you pretty much rule out all the other locations. I'm sure there will be people who decide to change locations at the last minute to increase their odds of clear skies, but all this is going to do is create monumental traffic jams. Based on prior history, there is about a 40% chance of cloudy weather at many of the best locations. Based on my own experience, you just can't predict the weather. We were supposed to have clear weather when my Dad and I traveled to see the Alaskan eclipse in 1963, but a cloud covered the sun at the last minute. When NASA invited me to Vandenberg Airforce Base to view a satellite launch a few years ago, everything was going perfectly until a few minutes before lift off. Once again, weather surprised us and the launch was scrubbed at the last minute. I guess if you want to see the eclipse, you've just got to pick a location and take your chances. Just like my experience with the spiders, mother nature is going to win this one too.

I got a lot done today. Hopefully, I will do the same tomorrow. I plan on going to the gym. Since the gym is indoors, there will be no rats or spiders to deal with. It's sad that it takes a rat to make the gym appealing to me, but if this gets me exercising, I guess it's a good thing.

Escher is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2723

I got a jury summons today. I've been hoping that they'd forget about me for one more year so I could finally be exempt from this chore forever. No such luck. I've sat in the jury pool many times, but have never been selected for a jury. I don't think I fit the profile that lawyers are typically looking for. I doubt that I'll be picked this time either, so it all seems like a giant waste of time. Maybe I'm not suited for jury duty because whenever I go to the courthouse, everyone seems guilty. People in the elevator seem guilty. Other jurors seem guilty. The lawyers always seem guilty of something. I've always been convinced that the defendant was guilty before anybody even opened their mouth. Instead of "innocent until proven guilty," I seem to think that people are guilty until proven innocent.

It's hard to avoid a jury summons. You can postpone things, but they'll keep bugging you again and again until you finally give up and go to the courthouse. The only good thing is that this is probably the last time I'll have to do this. They seldom call anyone more than once a year.

I don't think the pressure washer and I are going to be friends. It became apparent that Janet bought the pressure washer because she wants me to clean the exterior of the entire house. I got started today, because the sooner I start on this project, the sooner I'll finish. This is a messy job. Most of the wasp and mud dauber nests, spider webs, and dirt are located above my head. When I use the pressure wand to dislodge things, the debris falls on me. I definitely should have waited until after I used the pressure washer to take a shower today.

I cleaned the front porch and carport this afternoon. That was enough. I'll have to admit that the entrance does look a lot nicer. It will take a lot of time to clean the entire house, but I've got nothing but time these days. I'm hoping that I'll get some new website or writing projects soon. Legitimate paying jobs are always a good excuse to avoid doing things around the house.

I've got three different traps in the atrium now and the rat is ignoring all of them. I'm really kicking myself for not removing the rat immediately as soon as I noticed I had it trapped. Sure, it was raining at the time, but getting wet would have been a small price to pay for getting rid of the rat before it got wise to traps. I'm not sure what to do now. The rat is still there, but it appears to be smarter now. It could easily jump in the house if I open the sliding glass door. All I can say is that rats are almost as irritating as jury duty.

2017 appears to be a year of transition. I started the year with two dogs and will end it with one. I started the year believing I still had a viable business and will probably end it by finally acknowledging that I have retired. The world is always changing, but I'm not comfortable with these changes yet. I guess that is the challenge. Like it or not, I've got to keep moving forward.

Lacey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2722

I'm thinking about going to see the solar eclipse this August. There's really no reason not to anymore. It's probably a little late to be planning something like this, since motels and even campsites in the path of totality have probably been booked for months now. We'll see. At least this is worth thinking about. The last time I experienced a total eclipse of the sun was in 1963 when I was going to high school in Alaska. My Dad and a few of his friends took me with them to view the eclipse. All went well until a few minutes before totality when a large cloud covered the sun. I guess technically I still haven't seen a total eclipse.

Although seeing the eclipse is the big thing on my Summer to-do list, there are other things I need to do as well. I've been avoiding making a doctor's appointment for months because I didn't want to worry about Dot while I was enduring the inevitable long wait in the doctor's lobby. I don't have an excuse now.  I also need to renew my passport soon. I certainly haven't used it much during the past ten years, but there was a time when my passport was filled with visa stamps. Who knows? Maybe I'll travel again.

The pressure washer works fine. It's a bit messy to use and there is no convenient place to store the hoses and cords, but other than that, it does exactly what it is supposed to do. I cleaned the bricks on the front porch and the wheels on my car and then put the thing away. Removing the spiderwebs from the windows and eaves will have to wait until later. I'm sure the windows will leak when they are sprayed, so this will be a two person job. One person will have to use the pressure washer and the other will have to quickly mop up any water that gets inside.

I wish I could convince Dash to take long walks again. He used to love taking long walks. We're only walking half as far as we should this week. I don't think anything is wrong with Dash. He just doesn't seem to be in the mood. This is the perfect time of year for long morning walks. A month or so from now it will be too hot. We'll see. Maybe he'll snap out of this moodiness soon. Dash did share a banana with me this morning. That's a start, I guess.

I got an e-mail from Apple with information about the new products they introduced at the developer's conference. I think I'd like the get the new iMac Pro. There's no earthly reason I need a super fast computer anymore, but this thing sure looks cool. I've had my current desktop computer since 2010. That's much longer than I used to keep them. It was easy to justify new computers when I was doing large scale video editing projects every week, but those days are gone. If I get an iMac Pro, it will just be an indulgence.

I put out some new traps for the rat, but so far he has avoided all of them. Maybe I should just make my peace with the rodent and let him stay in the atrium. He's a smart little devil. Maybe he'd like to be my financial adviser. I wish rats weren't so destructive. They've already chewed up everything in the greenhouse. I don't want rats to ruin the atrium too. I have a feeling that this battle will continue for a while.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2719

I stayed busy today. There were several more trips to the storage warehouse. I don't know why I saved all the rugs, but they will be useful to someone. Janet packed up a box of stuff to donate to a local rescue group. Dot's wheelchair joined another wheelchair that was custom made for Spot. Unfortunately Spot's chair was not adjustable so it probably will never fit another dog. We've tried to let friends use it, but the fit has to be exact or these things just don't work. Dash will inherit Dot's adjustable chair at some point. I'm in no hurry to bring it home again. We hope that Dash remains healthy for a long time.

Yesterday, I discovered that we've got a large rat living in our atrium. The rat startled me and almost jumped into the house when I opened the sliding glass door. This is the first rat I've seen around the house in a long time. We used to have a huge rat problem until our neighbors got several large outdoor cats. These cats, along with the existing feral cats in the neighborhood, did a good job of controlling the rats. Unfortunately, coyotes started eating the cats and the rats eventually returned. This isn't a good place to be an outdoor cat. The rabbits haven't fared so well either.

I hate to use poison to kill the rats, so I've always trapped them with a Havahart trap. Yesterday, I baited one of these traps with cheese and set it in the atrium. This morning, the cheese was gone, but the trap was still open. I was either dealing with a very smart rat, or my old trap had gotten rusty. I know these traps work, so I went to the hardware store on the way home from the storage warehouse and bought another one. This new trap worked like gangbusters. I baited it with cheese again and an hour later a large black rat was sitting inside. I usually take these rats down to the park and turn them loose, but this one will have to sit in the cage overnight. It's dark already and it's raining outside. Oh, well. The rat has plenty of cheese to eat.

After I finished my chores this afternoon, I went to the gym. I need to start going several times a week. I haven't been working out regularly since Dot started requiring additional attention and it shows. I did my usual routine today and I was exhausted. Getting in shape shouldn't be this hard. Cleaning the house shouldn't be this hard either, but what are you going to do. I don't burn calories sleeping and the house doesn't clean itself.

Janet bought a pressure washer recently to clean away all the spider webs on the porch. I sure wish things like came assembled and ready to use. When I tried to put the pressure washer together this afternoon, I could have sworn it was made by Ikea. Simple instructions like "press with your thumb until you hear a click" just didn't work. I wasn't going to press too hard, because there is nothing worse than getting your thumb out of joint. After failing to install the wheels using a hammer and a crescent wrench, I finally discovered that the tool I use to open the water meter in the front yard worked perfectly. The pressure washer is now ready to go. Spiders beware.

After taking all the rugs to the storage warehouse, I went back and brought one of them back home again. Dash liked to sit on one of these rugs in the kitchen while we ate dinner and he seemed irritated when it wasn't there today. When a Dalmatian gets irritated, they start barking, so I went and got the rug. I hope he didn't become too attached to the other things I put away. It had to be done. Our house was a mess.

It's weird not having a time limit when I leave the house. For over a year, I've been very careful to never leave the house for any length of time when Janet wasn't there. I learned quickly that it didn't take long for Dot to get in trouble. Dash is fine on his own, but I still think he's lonely.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day