Day 4767

Today was very busy. Dawn got a bath. I went out and got ink for both printers and got them working again. All the batteries for my devices have been charged. The laundry has been done. I've answered my e-mail and caught up on all my messages. Of course Dawn got her early morning walk and I took a longer walk later in the morning. I still haven't finished packing, but there's still time. Hey, I've got to save something for the last possible minute.

I was surprised at how cold it was this morning. It was over 80 degrees yesterday, so I expected that it would be warm today as well. Nope. Texas weather is never predictable. The temperature was in the low 40's and there was a stiff wind. I was chilly on our early walk, but Dawn seemed to love the brisk weather.

Everything I did today seemed to take twice as long as I expected. The shower drain was clogged when I took a shower. Every towel we own seemed to be in the laundry. I wanted to switch to using Firefox on my laptop, but I had trouble importing my desktop settings. I still can't decide what clothes to take to Florida. Right now it's colder down there than it is here.

I felt like skipping my long walk today, but I went ahead and got my steps. I was reasonably fast today. I had to be. I doubt that I'll have time to take a long walk tomorrow, but Dawn will still get her early morning walk. Today I walked my regular route, counted all the ducks, and made it home in time to help Janet get Dawn ready for her bath. We go to a self bathe place in the neighborhood and Dawn always gets her nails clipped and her anal glands expressed while she's there. Needless to say, bath time is not one of Dawn's favorite activities. She looks so much better though. Her coat is actually white again. It's hard to keep Dawn clean after a bath because she loves to roll in the grass. Oh, well. She'll look good for a couple of days anyway.

I guess I'll finish packing after I complete this blog post. I hate packing. No matter how hard I try, I always forget something. Sometimes it's reading glasses and toothpaste. Other times it's a raincoat, or a sweater for cool mornings. At least I'm pretty good at getting the computers and cameras ready. I can spend hours transferring information from the desktop to the laptop and then just spend a few minutes throwing some clothes into the suitcase. True luxury would be having a Titusville apartment stocked with a full complement of everything I need. That's never going to happen, but it's something to daydream about on my long walks.

I've got my writing assignments now. The article the magazine wants isn't going to be as easy as some I've written in the past, but I'm pretty sure I can deliver what is needed. I've downloaded my boarding pass on my phone, so I guess I'm ready to go. Oops. My suitcase is still empty. I guess I've still got some work to do.

Suzie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4766

Another unseasonably warm day. It got up to 80 degrees again and the air conditioner kicked in during the afternoon. This is very strange for January. It was a pleasant day though. The sky was clear and there was very little wind. Dawn definitely enjoyed her walk this morning.

I've finally managed to catch up with almost everybody I've been trying to reach. SpaceFlight is sending me author copies of the issues with my Falcon Heavy and Artemis articles. My editor has contacted me with article suggestions and I now have all the info I need from Space X for the upcoming Falcon Heavy launch. I still haven't heard back from the contractor I'm trying to reach about fixing the house, but that's an entirely separate matter.

I think the older I get the stupider I get. I had real problems today transferring information from my desktop computer to the laptop. I always do this before I travel. I recently updated all my passwords on the desktop computer to more secure versions, but I forgot that I hadn't updated the laptop. Initially, I couldn't check mail on the laptop or open several websites. I can never remember these new passwords because they are long and complex. Some passwords were easy to retrieve, but others were maddeningly frustrating. All I could see in the password field was a series of dots. Janet says I should write these things down, but I never do. I just depend on password managers. I eventually got everything on the laptop to work, but I ended up having to change a few passwords. I miss the old days when you could just use one simple password for everything.

When I was trying to print out all my travel information I discovered that both of our printers were out of ink. I hate it when the printer won't work just because your Cyan cartridge is low. Printers ought to have a black and white mode where you can just bypass the low colors. Now I've got to go out and buy more printer ink in the morning because I have to have all my contact and reservation information printed out so I can put it in a little manilla envelope that I carry with me everywhere. Just a quirk. I could probably find most of this information on my phone, but I prefer paper.

I was actually hot on my long walk this afternoon. I just wore shorts and a t-shirt and it felt like summer. We might have set another record today. I think it's colder in Titusville than it is in Dallas right now. I shouldn't complain though. 80 degrees is very pleasant even if it happens to be January. At least we aren't having torrential rain and flooding like they are in California now.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. I need to pack, go get the printer ink I need, make sure all my photo equipment is working properly, wash the clothes I will be taking with me, and take my long walk. I'm sure I will forget something important on this trip. I always do. I don't think Dawn will miss me while I'm gone, but hopefully she will be glad to see me when I return.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4457

Today was busy. Well, it was busy for me anyway. I finished working on my taxes and took the files down to my accountant. For many years I've burned a CD of my Quickbooks files to support all the paper documents. Nobody's computers except for mine seem to have a CD drive anymore, so I took them a zip drive this year. I have no real idea what I owe these days. It's too complicated. Hopefully, the damage won't be too bad this year. There are already plenty of other bills I need to pay.

On the way home I stopped to get some printer ink. All I needed was the Cyan cartridge, but I had to buy a three pack with a Magenta and Yellow cartridge as well. Since the Magenta and Yellow cartridges currently in the printer are pretty full, I will probably lose this new ink long before I need it. It's weird that the colored ink gets used at all since all I print are black and white documents. Computer printers are probably going the way of CD drives pretty soon. There is very little use for them anymore. I could have probably sent all my tax files to the accountant's Dropbox as PDF files, but old habits die hard. Tax season to me still means a big manilla envelope full of paper documents. 

When I returned home I added the three new dogs to the Dalmatian Rescue website. The site is up to date now, even though my Dreamweaver software barely works anymore. It's a good thing I know HTML fairly well. I haven't upgraded any Adobe software since they went to a subscription model, so the copy of Dreamweaver I use is ancient. It probably wouldn't work at all if I had the latest OS running on my Mac. I stopped upgrading the computer quite a while ago too. I hate the relentless desire of companies to monetize everything and turn owners into renters. I still think you should be able to buy software in a pretty box with a CD inside and be able to use it forever. The box should include a decent instruction manual too. Why does everything have to be a cumbersome PDF file that takes forever to read on your computer?

This weather is driving me nuts. The temperature fluctuates wildly from day to day. I never know what to wear anymore. I was cold when we took Dawn on her morning walk, so I dressed warmly when I took my long walk later in the day. I didn't think it had warmed up much, but I was hot before I had gone two miles. I never should have worn two coats, because the outer coat was too bulky to tie around my waist. My feet hurt a lot today as well. Foot pain seems just as unpredictable as the weather. 

The weather is going to get a lot colder by Friday. We may even get snow. Why does this happen every year? We have an early Spring. Things start to turn green and then we get a late hard freeze that kills all the early growth. We've frequently had terrible weather in March, so I wouldn't be surprised if we did get some snow this weekend. At least April is always nice. April isn't that far away is it?

I've been trying to get Dawn used to having me do the things that Janet usually does in preparation for her upcoming trip. So far, it isn't going so well. Dawn is still very nervous around me when I am alone with her. She will come and eat her dinner after I fix it for her, but I have to go back in the office while she eats. She won't eat if I am in the kitchen. She finally comes to the backdoor when I call her to go outside and pee. There is a whole breakfast routine she still needs to learn though. Janet always feeds her breakfast and gets her to take her pills while I am making the bed. Often Janet will take her down in the park to poop as well. She won't even leave the backyard with me unless Janet is nearby. It's going to be an interesting week. Dawn is a very smart dog and Janet has been able to do amazing things with her at training class. Hopefully it won't take her long to realize that I mean no harm and am actually her friend. Dawn needs to understand that Janet needs vacations too. I've had the opportunity to go to Kennedy Space Center and McDonald Observatory last year, but Janet hasn't gone anywhere since Covid started. 

Val is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3385 - April Fool's Day

I went to Fry's to get some printer ink today. This used to be the place everybody went for anything related to technology. The store is a ghost town now. The aisles look like they haven't been restocked in months and there are usually only one or two people manning 45 empty check out registers. Most of the printer ink was gone. The few ink cartridges that remained seemed like they'd been sitting on the shelf for five years. Of course they didn't have the ink I was looking for. I really wonder how this store manages to stay open. It looks like I'll have to start buying all my ink online.

I had a lengthy work related conversation this afternoon. It's been a while. A former client and I were trying to figure out something we'd done five years ago. Google was finding html documents that we both thought had been erased long ago. Where were these files located and how could we get rid of them? We finally figured out how something had slipped through the cracks and were able to find the files on a server I thought wasn't even being used anymore. Hopefully, we erased the files correctly this time.

Dash is getting really picky about food again. This has happened before, but I thought we'd put this problem behind us since Dash has been eating well for quite a while now. It's been really hard to give him his meds this week and we've had to look for alternatives to his regular meals. He'll eat a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but you can tell he just isn't interested in food. Today he only ate about half of what he should be eating. This isn't good. Dash was losing weight even when he was eating well. I'm really hoping this is temporary. Maybe he just has an upset stomach. We've got a vet appointment scheduled for Wednesday. Maybe the vet can give us some suggestions.

I couldn't find my regular coffee this week, so I bought another brand that seemed similar. It tasted fine, but there is more caffeine than I like. My head has been buzzing today. I've also got heartburn from eating leftover pizza. None of this stuff used to bother me. It sucks getting old. I'm sure Dash would agree. Probably something similar is going on with his stomach. I wish he could tell me what is bothering him. If I knew, I'm almost certain it wouldn't be that hard to find something he would eat.

I've got a dental appointment tomorrow. In theory this is just a routine cleaning, but you never know when you go to the dentist. I guess I'll take the broken Essix retainer with me. I'm hoping they'll tell me that I don't need to wear this thing anymore, but probably they'll want me to come in next week so they can make new impressions.

The first bid to replace the roof came in today. A little higher than I expected. A lot higher actually. I think I bought my first house for less than these guys want to put on a new engineered roof. I wish I could fix the roof by buying a few cans of that Liquid Rubber in a Can that you see advertised on TV. Unfortunately nothing is ever that easy. Maybe the remaining bids will be more reasonable.

The roof can wait. All I want now is a good night's sleep. Are you listening Dash? I need you to cooperate.

Haley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3135

As expected, Dash is a handful. So much of his care is a team effort these days. The day started out normally enough since Janet didn't leave for the airport until after Dash had taken his morning meds and finished his sunrise walk. It was only after Dash discovered that his friend wasn't coming home from work at the regular time that things became more complicated.

Dash lives according to a very rigid schedule. He usually finishes his dinner while Janet is eating hers. Since he couldn't do this tonight, a large part of his dinner is still untouched. I did get him to take his evening meds, but it required putting the pills in a little ball of white angel food cake and then coating the whole thing with peanut butter. To be fair, Janet often has to do this too. It just isn't easy to get the little guy to take his meds.

I thought a short evening walk might get his appetite going. After struggling to get his protective gear on by myself, he refused to leave the house. This wasn't entirely surprising either. He's gotten in the habit of wanting someone to follow on his walks. Either Janet or I will walk ahead and the other person will hold the leash. This usually works pretty well. It might have just been too hot this afternoon, but we walked yesterday at this same temperature without any problems. Hopefully, Dash will finish his dinner later this evening. I'm trying to keep an eye on him, but there's a good chance that he'll poop in the house while I'm finishing tonight's blog post.

I got a call from the computer repair shop saying that the battery I'd ordered had arrived, so I took Janet's laptop in to get it installed. I hope this little repair shop does well. It's not too far from the house and the staff are friendly and knowledgable. Unlike the Apple Store, these guys are actually interested in keeping my older computers running. While the battery was being installed, I went next door to a hiking and camping store and looked at overpriced gear. I happened to see a new brand of dog boots that actually looked quite sturdy. I would have bought some, but I couldn't remember Dash's shoe size. I'll have to measure his paws again.

When I was taking Dash out for one of his middle of the night bathroom breaks last night, I noticed how bright Mars had become. The planet is close to opposition now and is making its closest approach to Earth in fifteen years. I went back in the house, got my binoculars, and was amazed to see a red disc about the size of Jupiter. I've never seen Mars this large before. Sometimes you can't see a disc at all. It might be worth actually setting up the telescope for this. The only problem is that the only time I can get a clear view of the planet through the thick tree canopy in the back yard is about 3 AM. Personally, I'd rather sleep at this hour, but Dash will probably get me up anyway.

The UPS guy delivered the new printer ink this evening. There's no point in installing the cartridges yet. I don't have anything to print. I think I could put my time to better use looking for the telescope. Where did I put that thing?

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3134

I think I'm getting used to the heat. The temperature was only 95 degrees today and it actually seemed cool. Janet didn't have to work this morning, so she got me up early and we were able to give Dash a nice morning walk before the sun ruined everything. Walking before sunrise really makes a big difference.

I'm still wondering how I'm going to maintain this routine while Janet is gone. It takes two of us to get his boots and leg brace on in the morning. One person holds Dash still and lifts his legs one at a time while the other person puts on the socks and protective boots. I've been able to get Dash dressed alone before, but it continues to get harder as he gradually becomes weaker. We'll do the best we can. I know Dash loves his walks, so maybe he'll be cooperative.

I finally went up on the roof and inspected the repairs this morning. Generally, the workmanship looked pretty good, but there were a few glaring errors. There are several telephones lines on the roof. A series of wood blocks elevates these lines, keeping them about five inches above the roof's surface. The roofers removed the blocks and poured the elastomer material directly over the lines. Now, they have become embedded in the roof. There is no way I can remove these wires without ripping a hole in the silicon coating. There is also a mysterious air bubble in one section of the new coating. Where did that come from? I hesitate to complain about these things. All in all, the roofers did a pretty good job and I know they don't want to hear from me again.

The large production printer ran out of ink today while I was trying to clear the clogged lines. Against my better judgement, I called my supplier and ordered some more of the expensive ink. It's doubtful that I'll ever be making large Giclée prints again. I hate to give up on the aging printer though. Unlike some of my obsolete equipment, this thing still works as long as I keep it clean.

The light in the back yard stayed on all night and automatically shut off at sunrise. Weird. There is no rhyme or reason to this thing. Some days it works and other days it doesn't. I like things orderly and predictable, so this stupid light is driving me nuts. If I was a superstitious person, I'd have to conclude that the light was haunted. We'll see what it does tonight. I hate to keep bugging the electrician if the thing is actually working.

I think I've got Dash's complex diet and pill routines memorized. If not, Janet has written everything out for me. She, more than anyone, knows how forgetful I am. All Dash's daily pills are neatly packaged in sandwich bags, labeled with the appropriate day of the week. There is a bag for morning meds and a different bag for evening mets. The refrigerator is filled with tasty things to make improvised pill pockets out of. If Dash isn't eating chicken, there is steak. I think we'll be OK.

I wish I wasn't such a nervous person, but I've spent the past three years caring for sick dogs. There are so many things that can go wrong.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3011

I was pleased to discover a repair manual for my French toilet that I'd never seen before. Unbeknownst to me, the float is adjustable. Rotate the float clockwise in the assembly to lower the water level in the tank. Rotate it counterclockwise to raise the water level. Cool. I followed the instructions and the styrofoam float did rotate exactly as advertised. I couldn't move it very far unfortunately, because it kept getting stuck on the side of the flush valve which had somehow frozen in place at a slight angle. In theory, lowering the float should lower the water level, but I wasn't able to lower it enough to make much of a difference. After monkeying around for an hour, I actually made the situation a little worse. No wonder plumbers don't want to touch this thing.

I couldn't decide on a restaurant this morning, so I just picked up some precooked bacon and eggs at the grocery store breakfast bar. It wasn't very good. I should have just cooked breakfast myself at home. At least I didn't have to make a separate trip to get groceries for the weekend. I think I'm just not willing to admit that I've lost my interest in food. Nothing I eat seems to taste very good anymore. I know I need to eat to stay healthy, but there are times when I wish I could exist without food.

Dash doesn't have this problem. He seems to want to eat all the time now. This is certainly better than not eating, but I wish we could strike a balance. I don't want Dash to get fat because his rear legs are so weak. If I'm not in the kitchen feeding him, Dash wants me napping with him in the bedroom. He gets irritated when I spend a lot of time at the computer and then starts knocking things over in the office. I try to give Dash the benefit of the doubt because he's got so much wrong with him, but I think our boy has become a little spoiled.

The printer ink I ordered arrived today and I've been watching it disappear as I run the cleaning cycle to clear the clogged lines. Epson is really just an ink company. They sell you complex printers at artificially low prices knowing that you'll have to buy their ridiculously expensive ink. Half the ink is wasted running these cleaning cycles. Pigment ink makes beautiful prints, but it clogs very easily. You've got to keep the printer running to keep it clean. Basically, you should never buy one of these large printers unless you plan to print something every day. If I hadn't become a slave to my machines, I would have ditched this cantankerous printer a long time ago. A big ink jet printer isn't nearly as essential as a toilet.

I finally got Dash to take an afternoon walk, but it wasn't easy. He doesn't like to walk down the alley in the afternoon. I practically had to carry him down the alley today, but once we got to the park, he was just fine. I don't understand this behavior at all. Dash probably thinks the same of me and wonders why I waste so much time trying to maintain old things that any sane person would have thrown away by now.

Ariel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2867

I don't watch baseball very often, but I'll have to admit that last night's World Series game was pretty darn good. It certainly beat watching another Perry Mason rerun that I'd seen five times already. I've been trying to get to sleep a little earlier, but Dash has other ideas. He's usually fast asleep when I go to bed, but just when I get comfortable, he wakes up, drinks a lot of water, and than goes to the back door, waiting for me to let him out to pee. I have to get dressed and go outside with him, so he won't eat cat poop. By the time I lock up and go back to bed again, Dash has already returned to bed and stolen my place. This happens every night.

This morning, I was determined to do something productive. I turned on the large format printer for the first time in over a month and ran the cleaning cycle. As I expected, the printer was hopelessly clogged. I ran the cleaning cycle three times and just as the lines were starting to clear, I ran out of ink. I called my supplier and ordered some more ink. It's insanity to keep this printer running when I no longer use it, but it is a perfectly good machine. I can't bring myself to toss it.

Since rain is in the forecast this week, I redoubled my efforts to get the roof fixed. I called the roofer again, and then I found a commercial supplier who carries the special coating material used on the roof. Ouch. The stuff is expensive. I ordered a five gallon can, because what choice do I have? After I committed to buying the material, the roofer finally returned my call and told me that he'd have his foreman drop some elastomer product by the house. It's probably just as well that I bought my own elastomer. The roofer didn't exactly say when he was going to come by. Given his track record, it could easily be Christmas before I see him again.

I noticed a raw spot on one of Dash's paws where the hair was starting to wear thin. It looks like the boots might be rubbing against his paw while he walks. Good grief. Now I'm going to have to make socks to go with the boots. I thought the insides of the boots felt soft and smooth, but something must not fit as well as I thought. This is getting complicated. If I have to put on socks, and shoes, and the knee brace, along with his regular harness, it's going to take forever to get him out the door in the morning.

Since I wasn't able to obtain any of the roof coating today, I turned my attention to the shower drain. I thought if I cleaned out the inside of the drain, I might be able to see a crack that was allowing water to seep under the tiles. It was a messy job. I sure wish soap manufacturers would invent a soap that didn't leave a film of soap scum behind. I thought the soap scum was bad on the tiles, but it was even worse on the inside of the drain. I did find one area that might be leaking, but it's in an awkward place and I don't know how to seal it. The best solution would be to have a plumber replace the entire drain and then get a tile guy to repair the damage the plumber made. I don't even want to think about something this drastic yet. Maybe I can just use some of the roof coating material that I'll hopefully receive tomorrow to seal the small crack.

I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow. It sure would be nice to repair the hole in the elastomer before the rain turns it into an even larger hole. With my luck, I'll have everything I need to make the repair the day after it rains.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2727

I thought today might be a good day to renew my passport. It wasn't. Things have certainly changed a lot since the last time I renewed a passport. I was thinking that I would be in and out in ten minutes, but the line extended outside the building. Entire families appeared to be applying for passports. I quickly turned around and went home. If I joined that line, I would have been at the passport office for the rest of the day. I dread going back to that building, but it doesn't appear that I can renew online. You can renew a passport by mail, but I tried that once years ago and after weeks of waiting, they told me that the photo I sent wasn't the official size and they rejected my application. I'm not doing that again. It's weird that you can't renew online like you can with a driver's license, but I gave up trying to understand the government years ago. Sometime this Summer I'll have a day with absolutely nothing to do and I'll go see if the line is any shorter.

The trip to the passport office wasn't the only thing that didn't go smoothly today. Dash is reluctant to walk again. I finally convinced him to take a short walk this morning, but I couldn't get him to leave the yard this afternoon. I wish I knew what was going on in his head. Our walks in the park used to be his favorite part of the day.

It was time to send my June invoices out today, but when I turned on the envelope printer, it was out of ink. This printer is old, so a lot of places don't carry the ink anymore. Unfortunately, I can never figure out how to print envelopes properly on the other printers. I thought I was going to make my second wasted trip of the day, but amazingly, Fry's had the ink I needed. The fact that nobody shops at Fry's anymore probably worked in my favor. The boxes of ink were dusty and had probably sat on the shelf for years.

I was planning to take Dash to the vet tomorrow for his triglyceride test, but I couldn't find anyone to confirm whether he's waited long enough since his previous test. I know they told me at the time, but I forgot. I'll try to call the vet tomorrow and schedule something for Wednesday. Dash hates the fasting tests that force him to delay his breakfast. He doesn't even know that he dodged a bullet today.

I wonder when life is going to start feeling normal again. It still feels pretty empty. After three years of making Dot's special needs my only priority, a lot of stuff just doesn't seem to matter anymore. I suppose things will change, but I don't know when. For the time being, I'll just keep checking necessary chores off my list. It keeps me busy.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day