Day 3066

Dash has the weirdest eating habits imaginable. I feel like I'm feeding him little mini-meals every ten minutes. He never eats the same thing twice, but by the end of the day he has eaten just as much as he used to when he was younger. Janet thinks Dash always wanted to eat this way, but ate quickly because he was always afraid that Dot would grab his dinner. Dot would have too. Now Dash doesn't have any competition for food. He eats a little, then goes back to the bedroom and sleeps a little, then comes back and eats a little more. This is how we spend our day. It's all eating and sleeping around here.

Dash has been surprisingly good about walking while Janet is away. We walk right after we wake up in the morning, while it's still cool outside. It's a little hard to get his protective boots on, but we manage. Somebody needs to make a better boot sock for dogs. The boots aren't waterproof and when the grass is wet the moisture causes the socks to come loose and bunch up in the bottom of the boot. Today the entire boot came off before we had gone 500 yards. I was able to get the boot back on again, but I still need to come up with a better solution. Dash is becoming an expert at losing his shoes.

I was going to call the roofers again today, but I was glad I didn't. I just noticed that there are thunderstorms in the forecast for next Monday. There's no sense being a pest if it's just going to rain anyway. I wonder what it's going to take to get an entire week without rain? That's what I really need. Of course, all the roofer's other customers probably want exactly the same thing. Fickle weather is one of the main reason that it's hard to pin a roofer down.

I think I'm going to have to call an electrician. The security lamp in the back yard isn't coming on automatically at sunset anymore. The sensor is probably just covered with spiderwebs again, but I don't want to climb up on the pole and clean them off. The lamp is mounted dangerously close to where the electricity comes into the house. I'm clumsy and I definitely don't want to electrocute myself clearing away spiderwebs. Too bad I've gotten hooked on having this lamp working normally. Without it, I can never see where Dash is pooping at night.

I'm hooked on too many things I never thought I needed. It's looks like I'm going to have to get a new fitness tracker because my attempts to repair the silicon band on my Jawbone tracker have been abysmal. I wish I could get my money back on the special silicon glue I ordered. It doesn't work at all. I've been reading reviews about other trackers and nobody seems to be happy with theirs. Either the heart rate monitor is too slow, or the gadget doesn't count the correct number of steps. Some people say their tracker still counts steps while they are sleeping. Others, like me, use two different trackers and can never figure out why they don't agree. I really like my UP3 tracker. Too bad the build quality is terrible and they only last about six months.

I remembered to take the trash out to the curb this evening. I've got lots of reminders so I'll remember to give Dash his pills in the morning. I'm not sure I'll go out to breakfast though. Breakfast isn't as appealing as it used to be. Maybe I should start eating little mini-meals too.

Susie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2998

Thirty minutes after I finished bragging about how good Dash was doing last night, he threw up. It's hard to predict these things. I didn't see any of the usual signs of a vestibular event, so I have a feeling that Dash may have just eaten too much. He certainly seemed unusually hungry yesterday. At any rate, I got dressed, cleaned up the mess on the carpet, took Dash outside to make sure he wasn't going to throw up again, and then we all went back to bed.

That wasn't the only strange thing that happened last night. I woke up twice with cold sweats again. Maybe I overdid things yesterday as well. I thought my cold was completely gone. I hate to look up symptoms on Google because the results are so alarming. Evidently, night sweats can signal low blood sugar, cancer, heat attacks, and severe anxiety. Luckily, night sweats are also common when you have a cold or flue. I don't think it's a big deal, but it is irritating to have to change the sheets so often. If things don't return to normal soon, I can always call my doctor next week.

The weather was so warm today that the air conditioner came on. I wasn't expecting that. The good news is that the air conditioner still works. The bad news is that if this warm weather continues, our electric bill will start going through the roof again. I'm not a big fan of Winter, but it is nice to get a break from high electric bills for a while.

Since Dash seemed back to normal this morning, I didn't bother to give him a Cerenia pill. I think I need to save the anti-nausea medication for when there are clear signs of a vestibular event. It looks like periodic vomiting is going to be part of our life for the foreseeable future. At least it doesn't happen very often. A large portion of our house has brick floors. Why does Dash always vomit on the carpets? The mess would be so easy to clean up if he would just learn to throw up on the bricks. Jeez. Last night he would have only had to move ten feet to reach a safe, easy to clean area. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be.

I washed the car today because it was much easier than fixing Dash's rubber shoes. The protective shoes are getting pretty worn and it's time to reinforce them again with more tire patch material. I bought more Shoe Goo and a tire patch kit to make the repairs, but it's a messy job and I keep postponing it. Maybe tomorrow.

I've had this cold for a week now. That seems long enough. I do feel like I'm getting better, but I'm impatient to put this all behind me. I'll probably go to the gym tomorrow no matter how I feel. I'm not contagious and I definitely need the exercise.

Ely is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2949

I've been complaining about the cold weather for weeks and today it was over 70 degrees. I find these sudden changes confusing. I put on my winter coat this morning, just like I usually do. As soon as I opened the back door, I realized I'd made a mistake. It felt like Spring today.

In addition to my normal Saturday errands, I went looking for dog socks today. These are not exactly a big seller in pet stores, so they are hard to find. Dash needs the socks, because they keep the rubber boots he has to wear from rubbing at his skin. The socks work great, but they wear out quickly. If I could ever find a good supply, I'd just buy them by the dozen. Eventually, I found what I was looking for and bought all the large sizes the store had.

I had to renew my Sam's Club membership today so I could get gas. I got a business membership when I started my company and I think the cost was $15 a year. Now the cost is $45 a year. Everything is this way. Little by little, the cost for almost everything keeps rising while the pundits on TV keep telling me that inflation is at historic lows. I don't get it. If inflation is so low, why has the cost of everything I use on a regular basis doubled in twenty years?

My laptop seems really slow, so I thought I'd rebuild the directory like I did on the desktop computer earlier this week. The procedure took a lot longer than I thought, but it worked. I don't know what I was expecting, but the changes certainly weren't dramatic. The computer still seems slow. I have a feeling that the problem wasn't the directory after all. The laptop is just too old to be running Sierra. I should really stop installing new operating systems on old computers. It destroys the performance.

My own performance has been even worse than the laptop this weekend. I had big plans to clean the house and fix a few things around the office, but none of it got done. By the time I walked Dash, took a shower, and fiddled with the computers for a while, I was done. I don't know where the day went. I couldn't have spent that much time looking for dog socks.

Dash got me up three times last night to go outside. I hate this new schedule of his. He eats his dinner really early now and then he needs to poop in the middle of the night. Sadly, we may have caused this problem ourselves. We noticed that when Dash eats early, he is less likely to throw up at night. He hasn't vomited in over a month, so something must be working. I guess eight hours of sleep at night just isn't in the cards for me. I've started napping with Dash during the day and it seems to work fine. You've got to stay flexible when you have a Dalmatian.

April is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2842

It's getting harder and harder to see and touch something in a store before you buy it. Specialty products are almost never available in retail stores anymore. Everything is online. We ordered some new protective boots for Dash because the description sounded perfect on the website. When the boots arrived in the mail today, they were a lot different than I imagined. They were certainly sturdy, but they were also stiff and heavy. Dash doesn't lift his rear legs very well anymore, which is why we wanted him to wear the protective boots in the first place. When I got him fitted with the new boots, he immediately started stumbling. The boots were too stiff and heavy for him to walk normally. We'll have to return these boots, but if we could have tried them on in a store, we never would have bought them in the first place.

The boots we're a failure, but at least Dash is walking today. He wouldn't walk early in the morning like he normally does, but while I was having my smoothie this morning, I could tell he was ready to go outside. I put my drink in the refrigerator, got Dash's harness, put on the old boots, and off we went. He actually took a pretty decent walk and his boots only came off twice. I'm learning to keep a careful eye on his rear legs when we walk. The boots aren't hard to put on, but they are almost impossible to find if they become lost in the grass.

I went ahead and purchased the new mother board for the refrigerator. I figured that if this expensive part didn't solve the problem, the remaining parts that might cause the evaporator coil to freeze are all pretty cheap. I miss the days when washers, dryers, and refrigerators were controlled by simple mechanical switches. Now, just about everything has a computer inside of it. You can't fix these mother boards. You can only replace them. I've already had to replace the mother board in the dryer when a power surge fried it.  

Power outages and surges are common in our neighborhood. I have surge protectors and filtered power for the computers, put it's too much trouble to protect everything this way. I depend on electricity, but I don't really trust it. I have experienced too many power outages and had too much equipment ruined by leaking bad batteries. I'm intrigued by the idea of electric cars, but I don't think I'd ever buy a Tesla. The thing is powered by 6216 lithium ion batteries. What could possibly go wrong.

It's been a long day, even though very little happened. I fell asleep after dinner and almost forgot to take the trash out. Actually I forgot is was Thursday as well. We may not need to start Dash on the Cerenia pills again. He is still challenging to feed, but I can tell he is eating better. I must be eating better as well, because I'm starting to gain weight again. That won't stop me from going out for breakfast tomorrow. I'm hungry for pancakes and sausages.

Lightning is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1974

Today was a little stressful. I woke up to the sound of Dot trying to throw up. She was acting frantic like she did on the day she ate the carpet. This was alarming, because the house is now filled with assorted rugs and carpets. I immediately put on some pants and took Dot outside. When this happens, Dot tries to eat any available grass or leaves and that only makes the situation worse. I did the only thing that works. I sat quietly on the brick patio with her until she calmed down. Sometimes this can take up to thirty minutes. She doesn't wake up like this very often, but it still happens. Once Dot was calm and breathing normally again, I fed the dogs breakfast and Dot was normal for the rest of the day. I've asked various vets many times why this happens, but have never received a real answer. Maybe she has an upset stomach from time to time, but her diet is so consistent that this is hard to imagine. Dot doesn't get into the trash either. That is Dash's specialty.

I was tired of drinking a liquid breakfast this morning so I ate some sausage patties and a slice of quiche instead. The dogs seemed upset that I didn't share a banana with them so I peeled one and gave half to the dogs and ate the other half myself. It was a satisfying meal, but a large percentage of it got stuck in my teeth. After spending an inordinate amount of time rinsing my mouth out with hot salt water, which always spoils the taste of a good meal, I vowed to go back to my banana and egg milkshakes tomorrow.

I think my big success today was getting both dogs walked before the rain started. There were no severe storms and it didn't rain all day, but the weather was certainly enough to keep everyone inside most of the day. The dogs usually sleep on rainy days like this, but I feel compelled to be productive. To stay busy, I finished my entire backlog of writing assignments and made a good start on getting my May invoices out. I should have saved some of this work for tomorrow, but I keep hoping for a day when the dogs will let me sleep in late. Today was not that day.

Dot isn't walking as far in the morning, now that she can't walk with Dash for a while. The only way we can walk the dogs together is when Janet walks one and I walk the other. When they were both younger and healthier, it was easy for me to walk Dot and Dash together. Now, I have a hard time when Dot wants to turn around and go home while Dash wants to keep on going. With two people, Dash will eventually turn around and follow Dot. With one person holding the leash, they both just tug in opposite directions. While I was walking Dash this evening, a lady pushing a child in a stroller noticed Dash's protective sock and mentioned that she'd seen one just like it in the park last week. She thought it was a baby's sock, but didn't pick it up. I wish she had. I've been looking for that missing sock for weeks.

I don't know what tomorrow will bring my way, but I do hope the skies are dry, the dogs are calm, and my teeth don't hurt.

Dixie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1972

There's nothing like waking up to the sound of tornado warning sirens. The dogs and I were sleeping soundly when the sirens went off, but we got up quickly to see what was going on. The dogs know what these sirens mean by now, so they were both agitated and upset. They refused to go outside and pee and generally acted like the end of the world was near. Storm phobia didn't keep them from eating though. I don't think anything would keep them from eating.

When the warning sirens went off, the storm was still about ten or fifteen minutes away. This would have been a good time for them to do their business, but they just looked at me like I was crazy when I opened the back door. Since the weatherman on TV said the approaching storm might have 70 mile per hour winds, I thought I'd eat breakfast quickly in case the power went out. This was an excellent time to try a Vitamix smoothie. I dumped two raw eggs, a banana, four strawberries, a little heavy cream and one scoop of ice cream in the blender and turned it on. Delicious! I don't know why I haven't tried this before, because the Vitamix has been sitting on a kitchen shelf for months. There were no problems with my teeth either. I think I've found a new favorite breakfast.

There was a horrendous amount of heavy rain during the morning, but around 1 PM the skies cleared a bit and I was finally able to take the dogs on a walk. I was surprised that they didn't poop in the house, because they both refused to go outside while it was raining. Dot didn't walk very far, but Dash was ready to go the distance. He's still wearing his protective sock, but wet grass makes it fall off even more than usual. I have to keep a close eye on his rear leg while we are walking, or the sock will be gone for good. Since the little rubberized socks cost fifteen dollars for a pack or four, I can't afford to lose one every time we take a walk.

There's not much to do on stormy days like this. When the rain was really bad, I curled up with the dogs on a big blanket on the office floor and took a nap. The dogs are pack animals and this helps to keep them calm. I'm never opposed to a nap anyway. Later, when things calmed down, I wrote an article and made my to-do list for Monday a bit more manageable. Later in the day, I went up on the roof and tried to see if I could hook the pump up to automatically remove some of the water while it was still raining. This seldom works for very long, because the pump gets clogged with tree debris, but it was worth a try. Heavy rains like we had today can almost double the weight of the roof. This is not very good structurally, so I've got to continue trying to removing the water as quickly as I can.

I was so pleased with my banana and strawberry smoothie this morning that I decided to use the Vitamix again and make soup for dinner. I seldom read instructions or recipes, so sometimes my cooking experiments are delicious and other times they are terrible. Today, I just dumped all the leftover vegetables in the refrigerator into the blender and turned it on. Oops. I forgot that soup is supposed to be liquid and ended up making something very much like hummus instead. Rather than admit defeat, I just poured a cup of water into the mixture and ran the soup program on the Vitamix again. This time the results were delicious. I had created a thick, very savory soup that seemed like it might belong on the menu at a nice Thai or Indian restaurant. I doubt that I could ever recreate this dish, because I just dumped in a bunch of leftovers, but it sure was delicious. I think the main ingredients were spinach, carrots, an orange peel, fresh salsa, ground pepper, cream, green chilies, a little diced chicken, and of course a cup of water. The VItamix is super easy to clean too. You just put some hot soapy water in the container and run the cleaning cycle. One minute later you rinse the container out and you're done. This is my kind of cooking.

It looks like we're going to have stormy weather for the rest of the week. Not a problem. I've got lots of new articles to write, a dozen bananas, a tub of fresh strawberries, and a blender. We'll be fine.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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