Day 3326

An incontinent dog who can barely walk with explosive diarrhea is not a good combination. Needless to say, we didn't get a lot of sleep last night. We still don't know what caused the diarrhea, but Dash was very sick. Every hour on the hour he had to go and he usually didn't even come close to making it outside. It had to be our messiest night on record. We debated about taking Dash to the emergency vet, but we knew we would just sit in the lobby in the middle of the night for two hours and they wouldn't really do anything. This morning I got some Metronidazole from Dash's regular vet and hopefully it will help stabilize him. This all happened pretty suddenly. Dash was acting normally yesterday. He's eating the same food he always eats and I don't think he got into anything. You never know with a dog though. It only takes a few seconds for them to eat something bad.

Pooping in the bed is one thing, but diarrhea in the bed takes matters to a whole new level. I hope the Metronidazole is starting to work, because I'd really like to get some sleep tonight. There are so many things wrong with Dash that's it's hard to tell if this diarrhea is the result of an upset stomach or if it is connected to some other ongoing problem. Our instructions from both his vets were to watch him carefully and report anything alarming. Just the smell was pretty alarming last night.

Other than spewing runny poop all over the place, Dash seemed relatively normal this morning. We took a short walk, got him to take his morning meds, and then he was ready for a long nap. Janet stayed home to keep an eye on things while I went out to breakfast and then I stayed home for the rest of the day. Dash seems calmer now but he still isn't eating much.

I was planning to go back to the hotel this morning, but it took so long to clean Dash up and tidy the explosive mess in the house that the hotel kitchen was already closed by the time I was ready to leave. I went back to the trendy new restaurant I discovered and had Shrimp Grits again. This place is really popular but it seems kind of strange to me. The waiters are super friendly, but they dress like homeless people. I'm old school. I guess I like the starched white coats the hotel waiters wear. This place is only open for breakfast but it has a full bar and serves alcohol. I saw several people having drinks with their breakfast. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but coffee is fine with me. There were several couples with young children this morning. These children were crying and acting terrible until their Mom took an iPad out of her purse and stuck it in front of the kid's face. The kids calmed down immediately. I don't think this will end well. We've got an entire generation who are already addicted to sitting in front of a screen before they turn three. The food was delicious this morning, but I think I'll go back to the hotel next week. It feels more like home. The trendy restaurant seems like something you might see in Bladerunner.

It's been a long day. Luckily it was warm enough that we could take Dash outside and give him a bath. He definitely needed one. I've done a ton of laundry today, but everything is finally clean again. All bets are off for tonight. If we're lucky, Dash will sleep calmly. We could easily have a repeat of last night though. I put another case of puppy training pads on the shopping list for tomorrow. We're going to need them.

Myles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3286

There were only two people at the gym when I arrived this morning. This is a huge facility with a basketball court, a running track, and an Olympic sized swimming pool, so it's always weird to see the place so empty. Maybe everybody had Christmas plans. My own plans seldom change, so I hope this gym is still around five years from now. The giant hospital chain that owns the place could easily decide that it wasn't worth keeping the lights on for two people.

The weather was clear and cold today. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. There wasn't even much dew on the ground when we walked Dash this morning, so I felt like the the silicon coating on the roof might actually have a chance to dry properly. After breakfast, I went up and took a look and was mildly disappointed that falling leaves had become stuck in the elastomer as it was drying. The crew also missed a spot, but it wasn't in a critical location. Hopefully, we'll be ready for the next band of thunderstorms that are headed our way.

A spring broke in my Aeron Chair today and the back no longer stays upright. Damn. When I bought this chair many years ago, they were guaranteed for life. I've had the chair repaired twice by Herman Miller, but the last time was well over ten years ago. Even back then, the lifetime guarantee was becoming the stuff of myth. It was kind of like the legendary JC Penny battery. A few people knew of the guarantee, but nobody had actually seen a chair that qualified. I think my serial number is low enough, but I lost my purchase receipt long ago since I bought the chair right after it was introduced in the early 1990's. I wonder if it is even worth the effort to try and get another free repair?

Dash's poop stayed on the puppy training pads last night, but then later in the day he pooped on the carpet in my office. I don't know why it never even occurred to me that the danger of an accident was just as real during the day. I guess I'm going to need to place a puppy pad under him at all times now. When he wakes up from a nap, it seems to take a lot more effort for him to get up. Sometimes this extra effort causes him to poop. There are different techniques to cleaning the bricks, the carpet, and the bedding. I'm becoming an expert at all three.

I listened to a show about big data on the way to the way to the gym where a researcher had compared the results of large scale surveys with Google searches during the same period of time. His conclusion was that everyone lies when taking a survey because we lie all the time. Even though the surveys were anonymous, people want others to think well of them. We tend to say we voted even when we didn't and tend to say we care even when we don't. Conversely, there is no incentive to lie when you are looking for something on Google. If you lie, you won't find what you were looking for. So, I guess Google knows what we are really thinking, but the politicians don't. Sounds about right to me.

I felt like taking a nap when I came home from the gym, but I vacuumed the house instead. Hey, I put a few more steps on the Fitbit that way. Sundays are often 20,000 step days. I wonder if staying active just to get a higher Fitbit number is a subtle form of lying? Who am I kidding? Everybody knows I prefer napping to vacuuming.

Ziggy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3285

I found myself driving all over town today in search of a Christmas ham. When I went to my favorite smokehouse, the guy behind the counter gave me this look that clearly said "Dude, you should have ordered your ham three weeks ago." They told me they wouldn't have any more smoked hams available until after Christmas. I didn't want a grocery store ham and there weren't many places nearby that smoked their own meat. I finally went to a good barbecue restaurant and convinced them to sell me some smoked ham by the pound. They only wanted to sell me a whole ham, but it was huge and I knew it would take Janet and I a month to eat it. "I only need three pounds," I said. "Your customers will order the rest of this ham before you close today anyway." The restaurant was crowded with hungry people and the manager agreed. I got my ham.

I also got the roof fixed today. At least I hope I got the leak fixed. One of the guys on the crew showed me a place where it was pretty obvious that water was getting in. They made their repairs and drove away. We'll see what happens when the rain returns. I'm cautiously optimistic at this point. The weather will still be good tomorrow and the elastomer coating should have a full 48 hours to cure before the rainy weather returns.

I think I'm on good terms with the roofer again. He agreed that even under the best of conditions today's repairs were probably only temporary. Its' going to take some serious work to make this type of membrane roof completely reliable. Silicon definitely preforms well under standing water. That's good. Unfortunately silicon doesn't really stick to anything. That's why the material is often used to make molds to manufacture other products. If I've got a roof that won't stick to the rest of the house, I've got a big problem. It's probably time to forget about high-tech solutions and go back to a conventional roof.

Dash missed the puppy training pad last night, so I was back to going outside in the middle of the night, cleaning his blanket with a garden hose and then throwing it in the washing machine on the high temperature disinfect cycle. Dash moves around too much at night. It's almost impossible to keep these absorbent puppy training pads under his butt. I'm not giving up though. I went to the storage warehouse after breakfast and brought back a large carton of the pads that we used to use for Dot.

Dash got an early Christmas present today. Another box of Devon's Doggie Delights arrived in the mail. It always amazes me when someone manages to build a successful business just by selling to Facebook friends, but the lady who owns this company appears to have done it. Half the people we know with Dalmatians order from her regularly. Devon, not surprisingly is the owner's Dalmatian. Dash absolutely loves these treats. We always know when it's time to order more.

I wish Dash knew when it was time to pee and poop. I think that's too much to ask at this point unfortunately. A good day for Dash is when he is able to get up on his own and walk around for a while without falling over. I guess that's a good day for anyone who's growing older. If I don't fall over tomorrow, I'm going back to the gym. I definitely need some exercise before we eat our Christmas ham.

Two sisters are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3254

My eye exam went better than I expected. I still have 20/20 distance vision and while my close range vision has deteriorated, the doctor said wearing readers was normal for someone my age. I wish I didn't need the readers. You don't realize how nice it is to be able to focus your eyes from two inches to infinity until you lose this ability. Years ago, I use to think I could strengthen my eye muscles by alternately focusing on close and distant objects while walking the dogs. The plan didn't work. Almost everybody loses some close range vision as they get older.

I show no signs of macular degeneration, which is a good thing since my Dad already had macular degeneration at my age. There were no signs of diabetes related damage either. The only bad thing is that I've started to develop cataracts. The doctor said that it would be at least five years before he would recommend surgery, but eventually I would need it. Fair enough. Evidently, it is very common for older people to develop cataracts. Considering that I haven't had an eye exam in almost twenty years, I was happy with today's results.

I do wish I didn't need to have my eyes dilated for the exam. The drive home from the eye doctor was interesting to say the least. There is a new high-tech machine called an Optomap that makes eye dilation unnecessary, but this clinic didn't own one. Janet's eye doctor uses one of these scanning laser ophthalmoscopes and she loves it. I can see why. It's been over four hours since my exam and my eyes still aren't back to normal.

I'm not worried about my eyes anymore, but I am worried about Dash's paws. It's turning out to be very difficult to keep them from bleeding. The combination of blood thinner medication, the vertigo associated with vestibular disease, and the neurological problems that are making his rear legs weak are really making a mess of things. We can get the bleeding to stop, but almost anything can open up the cut again. The rear paws are the problem, but he even managed to hurt one of his front paws this morning when he fell.

Dash pooped in the bed again last night. We're going to try disposable puppy training pads tonight, but I'm not very optimistic about their success. Dash still moves around at night. If we put a pad under his butt when we go to sleep, he'll be using it as a pillow when we wake up. Luckily, we've got a good washing machine. I never dreamed that the super hot 'sanitize' cycle would turn out to be so useful.

I received another auction payment today. It still seems curious to me that some objects hold their value while others don't. I wish I'd held on to childhood toys and baseball cards. When you are a kid, you never think that baseball cards will be worth money when you are an adult. They were just pieces of cardboard wrapped with bubble gum inside. Most of my art was just pieces of paper too. Why do these things still have value and my old computers are worthless? My warehouse space is filled with old computers that were state-of-the-art when I bought them. Now they are just door stops. The movers literally used one of the computers as a doorstop while they were moving my unit last week.

It's hard to believe that it's Thanksgiving tomorrow. This year is almost over. We've been going to the same Thanksgiving Brunch for five years now. I hope the food is as good as it was last year.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3249

It's been quite a challenge getting Dash's paws to heal while still continuing to walk him. The least little scrape causes them to bleed again. Even walking around the house is starting to cause problems. I found some extra soft socks and we are only using new boots now. Mostly the bleeding has stopped, but I still see little drops of blood on the floor from time to time. The cuts are minor and will definitely heal over time, but cuts like these are much more problematic when you are taking blood thinners.

Even though Dash doesn't stay still at night, I'm going to try placing a puppy training pad under his butt before I go to sleep. It couldn't hurt to try. It's really getting old cleaning blankets and bedding every day. Dash didn't even wake up when he pooped in the bed last night. This is actually a good thing. If he starts staying asleep when he poops, I can put a puppy pad under him and cleanup will be easy.

It was a little warmer this morning, which made our morning walk chilly but pleasant. I'm enjoying this weather. For the second day in a row there wasn't a cloud in the sky. After checking to make sure Dash's paws were OK after our walk, I left for breakfast. Even though I almost always order the same thing, I'm still enjoying going to the hotel. It's pleasant there. The staff knows me by name now. Since most customers are travelers, I'm one of the few regulars.

A trip to the bank was on my to-do list today. I had to clear up a snafu that I probably caused myself by not listening carefully when I opened a new account several months ago. I thought I had one kind of account, but I actually had another. I could have sworn that I opened an account that had no fees associated with it. Nope. I've started noticing fees and charges I wasn't expecting. Eventually I managed to get the fees removed but they shouldn't have been there in the first place.

Getting my bank account straightened out was easy compared to getting a new TV remote from AT&T. I don't know why you can't get a TV remote at an AT&T store. That would be too easy. I had to talk with an offshore customer service representative who couldn't speak English very well. At first he tried to change my U-verse plan. Then he tried to sell me a TV remote. It took forever to explain the my remote was broken and he needed to send me a replacement for free. Who knows if I will get a new remote in the mail. I'm not counting on it. I could barely understand this guy.

I wrote a letter to my sister this afternoon and watched another episode of Mars. I was hoping that this series would be like The Martian. The script isn't nearly as good as Andy Weir's novel. This is definitely not something i could binge watch. After a single episode, I was ready to start repairing dog boots again.

I'm still tired a lot, but I'm sleeping better now. I don't know what has changed. Dash continues to wake me up every night. I'm just getting back to sleep a lot quicker.

Alvin is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2601

I was seated near a couple of writers at breakfast this morning. It appeared that these guys had agents and publishers and had written several books each. They weren't happy though. As I ate, I listened to them loudly complain about how they were being ignored by their publishers, weren't receiving their royalties, and were being plagiarized by their peers. I felt like asking them why they didn't just go into advertising if they felt so miserable about their profession. I kept my mouth shut though, because I knew this idea would have been met with disdain. You could tell these guys both thought they were "real" writers. I guess everyone who has a way with words thinks about writing a novel, but I have few regrets about choosing to write jingles for commercials when I was the age of the two complainers sitting next to me. Writing advertising has actually been fun. Writing a novel that nobody wanted to publish probably wouldn't have been fun at all.

Dot has started peeing in her sleep again. We lowered her Incurin dose last week like we were told to do, but apparently only the highest dose has any effect on her. This isn't good. I'm going to call Dot's vet and see what she thinks, but I can't imagine keeping her on the initial loading dose forever would be a good idea. It's sad to watch Dot deteriorate. It was sad to watch my Mom and Dad deteriorate too. Aging is relentless and more than a bit cruel. I'm amazed that Dot still seems happy, but it sure would be nice if her body would cooperate a little more.

I had to re-do parts of the website I updated yesterday because I didn't do a good enough job proofreading. It's weird. These days I have all the time in the world to do a job properly and I still make mistakes. I often don't see my own mistakes until somebody else points them out to me, and then they're embarrassingly obvious. I'd like to think I'm still as sharp as I was in my 30's, but the truth is that I'm operating with a few less brain cells. Familiar problems are still easy to deal with, but don't ask me to solve a calculus problem or learn a new language. Those days are over.

I made an appointment to get a haircut tomorrow. Probably nobody would care if I just let it grow, but long, wispy white hair doesn't look good on anyone. I tried to make the appointment during a time when Dot is usually asleep, but it would be just like her to surprise me. Oh, well. I won't be gone that long. The need to get back home in a hurry will keep me from visiting the Apple store and spending money on something I don't need. The Apple store is near where I get my hair cut and it is always tempting.

I'm already starting to get mail with "important tax information" stamped on the envelope. It's hard to believe that tax season is just around the corner. I save all these letters in a big manila envelope but I seldom read them. Taxes have become so complicated that I don't even attempt to understand them anymore. I just hand the envelope to my accountant in early April and hope for the best.

It's time to buy more puppy training pads for Dot. I buy these things by the case at Sam's Club now. Five years ago I never would have dreamed that there would come a time when my life would be centered around pee and poop, but life is full of surprises. I think we've all seen that lately.
 

Sophie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2567

Today was certainly different. Janet got up real early and went to the airport before I was fully awake. I vaguely remember saying goodby before I went back to sleep again. When I woke up, I noticed that I had done a terrible job cleaning up Dot when she pooped during the night. I guess I should have turned the light on, but I didn't want to wake anyone. At any rate, I failed to clean her completely and the poop had dried on her fur and blankets. It took a lot of time and a lot of wet rags to clean her properly.

Our new routine still starts by getting Dot outside to pee as soon as I can, but after that it gets more complicated. I give the dogs their morning meds and then feed them their breakfast. Dot gets her walk first and then I fix my own breakfast. Both dogs like to eat slices of banana while I have my morning coffee and drink my smoothie. Dash is lazy, but barking for bananas usually gets him energized enough so that he's ready for his own walk when breakfast is finished. When both dogs are back at the house, I wash the dishes and then go outside and see if I can find where Dash has pooped in the yard. If I don't do this, it is inevitable that I will step in the stuff when I take Dot out late at night. Today was somewhat of a work in progress, but I was amazed at how long everything took without Janet's help. By the time I had finished the complete morning routine and was ready to turn the computer on for the day, it was almost noon.

Once both dogs were sleeping, I took a quick shower and ran to the store, since everything will be closed tomorrow. The first thing on my list was a big box of puppy training pads. We are running through these things at an alarming rate. Now that Dot's incontinence is getting worse, I must use five of six of these things a day. The weather is so wet and humid that pee isn't the only problem. Both dogs track water and mud into the house every time they go out. Cleaning Dot's paws was always a two person job. Since she can't stand up properly, one person has to hold her up while the other cleans the paws. Did I mention the house is pretty dirty.

I hope I can refine my plan a bit in the days to come. I thought I'd try writing the blog in the morning when the dogs are sleeping, but that never happened. The walks took a lot longer than I expected and I needed to go to the store. When Dot is in her evening restless period, she is constantly whining to get up, wandering around aimlessly, and falling over if I'm not nearby to steady her. Consequently, I'm writing the blog one sentence at a time this evening.

Today was one of those foggy days that I love to photograph. Everything looks so ghostly in a thick blanket of fog. Dash had no interest in turning his morning walk into a photo excursion unfortunately. I grabbed a few quick shots with my phone, but that was about it. The sailboats on the lake are often quite beautiful in a thick fog, but I couldn't get near the sailboats with Dash. He just wasn't interested. Sure, I guess I could have gone back on my own later, but there wasn't enough time. There is never enough time these days. It took over an hour just to clean the poop off Dot this morning before we had breakfast. Hopefully, I'll wake up tonight before she has time to make a mess of herself again.

There's enough food to last until Janet gets back. I doubt that I'll have many work assignments between Christmas and New Years either. That leaves plenty of time to see if I can perfect caring for one sick dog and one crazy dog on my own. I still need to give the dogs their evening meds and then try my best to get Dot to pee outside before I put her to bed. If I can't get her to pee around 11 PM, she won't make it through the night.

The Dr. Who Christmas Special is tomorrow. Maybe I'll watch it. Maybe I won't. This is the first year in a long time that I'm not all that interested in Dr. Who.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2339

The electricians came today. So, how many electricians does it take to change a light bulb? In the past, it has taken as many as three. Today, there was only one guy, but perhaps there should have been more. Things didn't go all that smoothly. The sodium vapor bulb has burned out, so we decided to just replace the bulb instead of the entire unit. Amazingly, Home Depot had these strange bulbs in stock, but the model the electrician selected turned out to be bad and he had to take it back. To avoid trying out bulbs all day, he suggested that I replace the sodium vapor lamp with a modern LED fixture. This sounded fine by me. Unfortunately, the only fixture the electrician could find was bright enough to light a tennis court at night. Then the guy's boss called and told him he was spending too much time looking for light bulbs and he needed to move on to the next job. The electrician left, but told me that he'd be back before dark with a light that worked. I didn't expect to see him again, but he was true to his word and eventually returned with a smaller LED fixture that worked. Hopefully, we won't need to do this again for a while.

Dot and I skipped our physical therapy session for the first time in over a year. I think the added rest is helping. She hasn't gotten much stronger, but she does seem a lot more comfortable.  Hey, it's only been two days now. I'm encouraged, even though the progress has been small. We only walk Dot around the block now. If she gets stronger, we'll gradually start increasing the distance, but I don't think she'll ever walk up and down the hills of her old route again. Since incontinence is becoming a bigger problem, I went to a pet store and got a giant box of puppy training pads. We put one of these disposable pads under her at night, so if she pees, it won't soak through the blankets.

My project for the day was turning an old iPhone without a SIM card into a pet cam. This phone was abandoned long ago when the battery went bad, but it still works when you plug it into a charger and it will connect to WiFi. Our regular pet cam won't reach the small area where Dot stays now, so I thought it was worth a try. I downloaded an app that turns your phone into a security camera and amazingly, it worked. Now, I have a camera that is small enough that I can put it right next to Dot's bed when I have to leave.

The other day when I was updating firmware on a camera body, I discovered that a lot of modern lenses have firmware too. I found several lenses that were out of date, along with detailed instructions on how to update them. After installing the new firmware in each lens, I'll have to admit that I can't see any differences at all. I suppose that the auto focus is smoother now or something. I didn't need to do any of this, since I tend to use the manual settings on my cameras, but this is what geeks do on a slow day.

I sent out my May invoices today. This was the smallest batch of invoices I've mailed in a long time. Sad. I miss the days when I was busy and headhunters were calling me every month to offer me a better job. I think there's a better chance of Dot jumping over a tall fence than of a headhunter calling with a cool job offer again. Dot is aging with so much grace and dignity. I can already tell that it's going to be more difficult for me. I need to ask Dot what her secret is.

Dodger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day