Day 4945

Dawn is still nervous because Janet is away, but we're doing OK. She's eating her meals and has had her evening meds. I think taking a walk is a lost cause, but we'll give it a try tomorrow morning. I hate seeing Dawn sad like this, but I think she knows Janet will return. We've been through this routine before.

The day started normally enough. We took a nice sunrise walk and then had our big weekend breakfast. The temperature was a little cooler this morning, but it's still obvious that this is July in Texas. I've been hoping that it would cool down enough for me to start walking in the park again, but this wasn't going to be the day.

After Janet left for the airport this morning, I made sure Dawn was OK and then went mall walking like I normally do every Sunday. The mall was a little more crowded this morning because it was closer to opening time when I arrived. No new stores this week and very few changes in the store windows. I made my five loops around the mall perimeter and then came home again. There was a long line waiting to get in the new Tecovas store. It was either their Grand Opening or they were giving away something. I didn't join the line. I haven't worn cowboy boots in years.

When I returned home I filled out an application for credentials to attend the Echostar Jupiter 3 launch. This is another Falcon Heavy launch. I've seen quite a few of these already, but they are always interesting and it is often easier to get credentials directly through Space X than it is with NASA. We'll see what happens. The upcoming launches I really want to see don't take place until later in the year or early 2024. Until then, I might as well do something to pass the time.

I hope Dawn calms down soon. When she's nervous it makes me nervous as well. I always worry that she might get stung by a bee or need to go to the vet for some reason. She's never ridden in my car without Janet nearby. She rarely rides in my car at all, since we usually take Janet's car when Dawn is with us. At any rate, getting her in the car would not be fun. It probably won't be a problem. I suspect that Dawn will just sit on the bed for most of the week.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing next week. I have a feeling that it's going to be a slow week. I've got my list of things I need to do with Dawn every day, but almost everything else has been taken care of. I got my new drivers license and have TSA Pre now. My passport doesn't expire for several more years. There are no doctor or dental appointments for quite a while either. It's a shame I'm no longer in demand as a writer or web designer. Having a deadline to meet every day sure made the days go faster.

It's pretty quiet around the house now. I'll go to bed earlier and get up a bit later, but the days will be more or less the same. There will be shredded wheat and fruit for breakfast and a trip to the gym. If I'm lucky, maybe Dawn will take a short walk tomorrow.

Greta is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4465

Dawn was reluctant to eat her breakfast this morning. She eventually got off the bed and ate but it took a while. I'm not sure how a dog acts when they are depressed, but Dawn certainly fits the bill. Luckily her appetite returned later in the day. I wish I could explain to Dawn that Janet is coming back. She seems a bit lost right now. We're getting everything done that Dawn needs to do, but she's not showing a lot of enthusiasm. It's probably not good for a dog to be so fixated on a single person, but I don't know what to do about it. Dawn decided early on that she was Janet's dog.

Tomorrow is the roll out for Artemis-1. I applied to attend this event but I never heard anything from NASA. I didn't even get a rejection letter this time. This is disappointing. I was getting press credentials fairly regularly for a while but something seems to have changed. I think my previous editor at the magazine had better connections with NASA but I'm just guessing here. It does feel like I've slipped off the radar though.

I'm going to have to get out the star tracker again because I did something wrong when I was uploading the information the company requested. I hope I don't lose interest in this thing before I get some good pictures. It could happen though. I don't think I'm cut out to be a Beta Tester. I'm not that detail oriented and for the most part I just expect machines to work. I'm sure that the bugs will be worked out in this thing over time, but I'm not certain that I want to be part of the process.

The weather was beautiful today but it was a bad day for foot pain. I'm really going to have to get some new shoes soon. I keep waiting for the boots I want to come back in stock, but I don't think that's going to happen. I don't know why it's been so difficult for me to buy something else. Walking is about all I do these days. I really need good shoes.

It's pretty quiet around the house now. I rarely watch television and Janet has the TV on most of the time. I wonder if Dawn would like to have a little noise? I think the quiet is peaceful, but I'm not a dog. There are so many things that I'd like to ask this dog. It would be nice to know why she doesn't like me. Maybe I look or smell like one of the guys who mistreated her at the puppy mill. I still hope we will bond at some point. This week would have been a good time to start.

I think I might have a mild case of the flu. My bones ache, I have a persistent cough, and I'm more tired than usual. I don't really feel sick although I do have a low grade fever. Janet's cough went away very quickly so hopefully mine will as well. I should probably take it easy tomorrow although I was going to do that anyway. My days are never very stressful or strenuous.

I hope Dawn perks up tomorrow. I hate to see her looking so dejected. We're just concentrating on the basics now. I make sure she eats, takes her pills, and has plenty of fresh water. She has plenty of opportunities to go outside and pee and at least once a day we go down to the park behind our house. I would be happy to take a walk with her, but as soon as she does her business, she wants to go immediately back to the house. It's actually a good sign that she will leave the yard with me at all. She stays on the bed with me now as well. We're making slow steady progress. Very slow at some points.

Ruthie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3499

It's weird to go this long without talking to anyone. I don't spend a huge amount of time talking with Janet but I rarely talk to anyone else. Usually there isn't a need. After I finish the blog each evening there is nothing more to say. I guess I must have talked to the dogs in the past when Janet was traveling. The house is strangely silent now.

It is particularly quiet right now because U-Verse is down again. Usually this is our most expensive utility bill but the service is not particularly reliable. I'd switch to another provider, but Spectrum is even worse. The worst thing about U-Verse is that when you do have a problem you have to talk with an offshore customer service representative who can barely speak English. It's very frustrating to talk with someone on the other side of the world when you know there's probably just a problem with the line a few blocks away. I try to avoid calling these people because the problem sometimes fixes itself in a couple of hours. I always have an alternate way to get on the Internet. AT&T disappoints me frequently but my trusty little T-Mobile WiFi hotspot hasn't failed me yet.

The water level in the lake has been slowly dropping all month. It's been very dry. Today I noticed that one of the shallow bays had completely dried up. Like the age spot on my arm, this also seemed to happen overnight. I haven't seen the water level this low in many years. I guess we need some rain.  The odd thing was that it wasn't particularly hot today. On the news they even said we were having a cold wave. It's strange to think of 80 degree temperatures as a cold wave, but this is Texas.

I was happy to see the cooler temperatures. I knew they wouldn't last long so I made a point to mow the grass this afternoon. There is still a big dead spot where the huge pile of brush used to be but maybe it will fill in if we ever get some rain. This is the perfect time to make repairs to the roof, but I haven't received any of the silicon coating the roofer promised yet. Probably there will be a can of the stuff on my doorstep on the day it rains.

It's hard to find anything to photograph in the middle of July. The meadows in the park are becoming brown and dry. Most of the wildflowers are gone now except for the Firewheel plants and a few Morning Glories. I did find a Buttonbush that had seen better days. The spherical flowers would have been much more impressive if I'd found them a month ago.

I hate how clumsy I've become. I cut my finger with a kitchen knife while I was slicing a watermelon this afternoon. I rarely even eat watermelon but I had to go slicing one today. I guess I learned my lesson. This wasn't a bad cut but it feels like a paper cut right on the tip of my index finger. Irritating. I'm feeling this thing every time I type.

Every year I get this small gift card from the electric company. It's some kind of rebate for being a good customer. I wish they would just lower my bill a little instead. I almost always buy stuff online now, so I never know what to do with this card. To make matters worse, the card always expires a few months after the electric company sends it out. It's about to expire now so I need to go out and buy something I don't need before it becomes useless like it did last year. Maybe I'll do this tomorrow. Hey, I already mowed the grass. I need something to do.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3400

I like round numbers. 3400 seems reasonably close to 3500 and 3500 makes 4000 seem possible. I still don't know if I can reach my goal of writing something every evening for 5000 consecutive days, but I haven't given up yet. The thing that keeps me going is that I really don't know what is going to happen in the future. Anything could happen. Maybe the future will be worth reading about. I certainly hope something interesting occurs in the days ahead. Right now there isn't much of a story line. The blog has always been the story of two special dogs. Now that Dot and Dash are gone, so has a lot of my reasons for blogging.

We'll see what happens. Right now, I'm just trying to clean up the house. I took another load to the storage warehouse today. With Dash's support system gone, the house is stating to look bigger. I kind of miss the dog beds and kiddie gates, but there's far too much clutter around here already. It's time to restore some order to the place.

Janet brought an old computer home and wanted me to remove the hard drive so she could donate it. Nobody really wants old computers, but we've found a place that will take them. This was one of those Apple computers that looks like half of a bowling ball with a screen on a swinging chrome arm protruding from the top. I thought it would be easy to remove the hard drive, but apparently Apple didn't think this was a good idea. I had to disassemble the entire machine to access the cleverly hidden drive. It's a good thing I had a complete set of Torx screwdrivers. You couldn't even open the case with regular screwdrivers. Eventually, I finished the task, but I'm still wondering if it was worth the effort.

I got a voice message from the crematorium saying that they were unable to meet our request for a Saturday cremation. WTF? Dash's cremation is scheduled for Thursday morning. When I called to find out what was going on, the receptionist apologized immediately and told me she has been trying to reach someone else named John and had called me by mistake. "I'm so sorry," she said. "We'll see you tomorrow morning." "Tomorrow is Wednesday," I told her. "Our appointment is for Thursday morning." "Oh, I'm so sorry," she told me again. "I don't know why I even said that. Your appointment is definitely scheduled for Thursday." Somewhat reassured, I hung up the phone and continued my housecleaning.

I'm continuing my efforts to keep walking. Walking without a dog is just exercise, but at least Mr. Fitbit is happy. Somehow I've convinced myself that I need to take at least ten thousand steps a day. Ten thousand steps is easy with a dog. It's a little harder when you're just wandering around the house.

This is going to take a while. Dogs of ours have gone to the Rainbow Bridge before, but there was always another dog waiting to greet us when we returned to pick up the pieces. This is the first time there have been no dogs in the house for a very long time. It's awfully quiet around here.

Becker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2815

Sometimes little things make all the difference. Nothing really happened today, but there were some little things that made it feel like a good day. The weather was beautiful. This is the one time of year when the weather is actually nice in Dallas. After a brisk morning walk with Dash, I had an enjoyable and surprisingly quiet breakfast at a place that is often crowded and noisy.

When I got home, I was amazed that I'd gotten a reply to the plea for help I'd sent the roofer a few days ago. Hopefully, he can figure out how to fix some of the mistakes his crew made earlier. My repairs actually look pretty good. When I went up on the roof today to clear away my equipment, it seemed like all my patches were solid. I'm sure there's still some water trapped under the elastomer, but the roof looks better than it did a few weeks ago.

Dash is still moody, but he's eating better now. We're back to eating two regular meals a day now, instead of dividing his food into a bunch of little meals. He hasn't thrown up in several weeks, so that's good too. Now if I could just get him to take normal walks again. For some reason he doesn't want to leave the house. Once we're down in the park, he's fine, but getting him to leave the house is often next to impossible.

You'd think Dash would be eager to leave the house. The place is pretty quiet these days. Dot is gone. Janet is back at work again. My office is no longer a beehive of activity. As a result, we both spend too much time thinking about food. I spend forever fiddling around with breakfast and since Dash never learned to eat slowly and savor his food, he's constantly begging for treats. I usually save some of the banana I put in my morning smoothie for him, but he eats the banana so quickly that I wonder if he even tastes it.

I did get a few things done today, but there was nothing that couldn't have waited until tomorrow. Actually tomorrow will be fairly busy. We need to take Dash downtown to get his picture taken. I'm not sure why, but I think it has something to do with the upcoming Dalmatian Rescue Golf Tournament. I could have taken Dash's picture myself since I'm a photographer, but that wasn't apparently the plan. I just hope that Dash is good in the car. I definitely don't want to be cleaning up poop again.

I'm mesmerized by reports of the slowly approaching hurricane. I hope everybody stays safe. I have a sister who lives in Florida and I never could figure out why she moved there. In addition to alligators, snakes, and huge cockroaches, they have to deal with hurricanes over and over again. I still think Wyoming is a better place to live.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2608

I got a call shortly after breakfast updating me on Dash's condition. The doctor was cautiously optimistic. Dash didn't have any additional seizures last night and is now able to stand up on his own. He still shows signs of vertigo or dizziness and takes very tentative, cautious steps. There is also still some involuntarily eye movement. He isn't out of the woods yet, and he'll be staying in the hospital at least one additional day. I went to visit later in the day and I have to agree with the doctor's assessment. Dash is still very shaky. They let me take him outside to pee and he was still turning his head from side to side occasionally and seemed uncertain about walking. I was glad he was wearing his service dog harness, because I needed to hold onto the handle on top to steady him. Even though I was disappointed that he couldn't come home today, Dash was still much better than when we admitted him to the hospital yesterday. I have a feeling that he'll be staying at the hospital over the weekend. He receives excellent care at the cancer center and it isn't worth the risk of a relapse on Superbowl Weekend, when it would be hard to get him readmitted to an emergency facility.

The house is very quiet without Dash. Dot depends on Dash for stimulus and sleeps even longer when he's not around. Our routine seemed different today. Dot still needs to go outside every three hours to avoid peeing in the house, but it was harder to wake her up and get her upright and walking. It is obvious that Dash is an integral part of Dot's therapy. He's the one who reminds her that she's still a dog. They eat their meals together. They smell things in the yard together. Occasional they even sleep together on the floor, although Dash still prefers to sleep in our bed. I think Dot might have given up months ago, without Dash around to keep her stimulated.

I really hope that Dash can make a full recovery. He's too young to spend the rest of his life with a debilitating disease. It would also be incredibly difficult to have two dogs who couldn't stand up and walk on their own. The thought of having to get Dash fitted for a Help 'Em Up Harness and support his rear legs while I was doing the same thing for Dot boggles my mind. I have a hard enough time getting through the day with one disabled dog. I'm going to be optimistic though. Dash has a fantastic doctor and he is definitely making progress.

I went to breakfast much later than usual this morning and was surprised to see that the restaurant was packed. Apparently the place is a hangout for slackers. I usually arrive around 7 AM and thought the half dozen customers I saw were the only ones who shared my love for the place. At 9:30 AM it's an entirely different story. I had trouble even finding a seat today.

I guess I was kind of a slacker myself today. I didn't do anything very productive. My iPhone case had a crack in it after I dropped the phone last month, so I attempted to fix it. I was able to successfully repair the case with Superglue without gluing my fingers together. Yay. Successful Superglue repairs are a rarity in this house.  I almost always manage to spill some of the nasty stuff on my skin.

The REI store gave me a gift card the last time I bought something there. The catch was that I had to use it before February 4. I stopped by the store on the way to visit Dash and got a clever little camping lantern that doubles as a USB charger for your phone or tablet. I don't know why I am so attracted to camping gear, since I have never been fond of camping. Maybe I just want to be well prepared for the apocalypse.

Casey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1939

My life is a lot like watching paint dry these days. Dot is definitely getting stronger, but progress is very slow. I've still got some new projects on the back burner, but it could take weeks or even months before any of them come to fruition. I'm still doing my physical therapy exercises, but any progress in regaining the use of my shoulder is still measured in inches. I've learned to take it all in stride. I don't even expect anything to happen fast anymore.

People who are in a hurry probably find me infuriating. I can spend hours eating breakfast. I never drive over the speed limit anymore. I finish everything on my to-do list, but it can take months for me to get around to the less desirable tasks. I still brag that I've never missed a deadline, but this is probably only because my clients are getting slower too. Even writing this blog is taking longer than it used to. I guess this makes sense. It's not easy to say the same thing over and over again without becoming redundant.

Today was particularly slow. I did have one website problem to solve, but that was about it. Since the dogs were unusually quiet today, I wanted to find a way to fill the day without waking them up unnecessarily. I ended up watching Interstellar at a very low volume all over again. It's a long movie, so it used up a lot of time. I don't mind reading a book or watching a movie twice. If it was good the first time, it is usually good the second time as well. When I watch a movie twice, I'm always surprised at how many things I missed at the first viewing.

I thought I was going to get lucky and make it through the afternoon without any frantic barking episodes, but a yard crew came to the neighbors house and started making a huge racket with their lawn mowers and leaf blowers. Not surprisingly, this sent both dogs into a barking frenzy. Dot and Dash have always barked at strange noises, but I guess I just ignored them because I wasn't actually participating. Now that I'm holding up Dot's rear legs, I sometimes feel like I need to start barking too. I took the dogs outside, fed them a rice cake, and eventually got them settled down again after the lawn crew finished their noisy work. I thought I was home free, but then the UPS delivery guy knocked on the front door and the barking started all over again.

Dot is probably more frustrated than I am. All she wants is her freedom back. I'm sure she's not wild about having me following her around holding her harness everywhere she goes, but it can't be helped. If Dot wants to wander around freely again, she going to have to become a bit more surefooted. She thinks she's hot stuff now, but I still catch her and keep her from falling at least ten times a day.

To continue today's slow motion theme, I got a call from my insurance company saying that the car accident in California had finally been resolved. Jeez, the accident happened in January and it's April now. I never thought the whole process would take this long. Everything takes a long time now. I'm working on a video for a client that probably won't be finished until June. Lord knows when I'll finally get my teeth fixed. After all Dot's expenses, dental surgery seems pretty pricy right now. By the time I can afford to have the dental work done, I'll have to overcome my fear of the dentist all over again.

Everything in good time, I guess. Somehow my taxes will get finished and filed on April 15. The dead limb on the big oak tree in the back yard will be pruned by Summer. I'll probably be wearing an Apple watch before Christmas. Somewhere in the grand mix of things, Dot will be walking on her own in the park again.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1878

Today was one of those days where I wish I was sitting in front of a roaring fire, sipping a cup of hot chocolate as I read a good book. It was miserable outside. The temperature hovered around thirty degrees as a light mist made everything seem even colder. Technically, the rain should have frozen, but luckily it didn't. Icy roads and Texas drivers aren't a good mix. I don't even attempt to go out when the roads ice over anymore. It is just too treacherous.

Writing jobs have started to trickle in again. I was beginning to think that everyone had forgotten about me, but maybe they were just reading the blog and knew I was in California. I think most people know better than to ask me to do two things at once anymore. I don't multitask well at all.

It was Dot's physical therapy day today. She seemed a little tired in the underwater treadmill and appeared to be tense during her acupuncture session. Maybe it was my fault. I was talking to the vet while she was receiving acupuncture and Dot is not really fond of me talking. Most of the time I spend with the dogs, I don't say much of anything. Why should I? It's just me and them. After years and years of spending our days like this, I think Dot sometimes gets alarmed when I talk. We have lots of non verbal communication, but talking just isn't normal. When neighbors stop me to chat on our walks, Dot often starts barking at them. I don't know what she's trying to say, but I suspect it's something like "Go away, he's mine and we've got walking to do."

The date for my dental surgery is drawing closer and closer. I'm dreading this surgery and still don't know how many teeth I'm going to be left with when it's over. I do have a bad cavity on the wisdom tooth that is going to be removed, but I don't understand why a dentist can't just put a filling in and leave the tooth alone. Three different, very reputable dentists have all told me that this is impossible, but it doesn't make sense to me. This tooth came in crooked and is partially impacted, but the root is still good. Why can't they just fill the cavity in this tooth like any other tooth?

It appears that I am not out of the woods yet with my video project. The sound is excellent. The images are well lit and very pretty. I followed the clients instructions exactly. Nevertheless, now that there is a finished product, the client sees new things she'd like to add and wants me to come back and re-shoot a large portion of the video later this month. No change in the budget unfortunately. Jeez, I'm not making much on this in the first place, so this doesn't appeal to me at all. So much for a long series of videos that will keep me busy for the rest of the year.  I'll finish this one, but I don't think I'll be doing any more. It's just too discouraging when people think that shooting a video is easy because they can do the same thing using their phone.

At least tomorrow is Friday. I will go enjoy a delicious breakfast at my favorite restaurant and as I sip my morning coffee, I suspect I will contemplate retirement a little more seriously than I have before.

Zorro is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day