Day 2150

I've decided that I need complete quiet and isolation to stay sane. Yes, today was pretty crazy. I was trying to code a fairly complex website today and I kept getting interrupted by phone calls from the plumber, knocks on the door from my insurance agent, more phone calls from claims adjusters and even a mold remediation company. Dot freeks out whenever there are visitors and typically poops on the floor. I have to watch Dash like a hawk, so he won't escape thorough an inadvertently open door or gate when there are visitors. It is very stressful. Dot was kind of wobbly today and at one point I was worried that she might be having vestibular problems again. I was so glad when the calls and visits associated with the plumbing leak finally ended.

I have to really concentrate when I code these complicated new responsive websites I'm building now. I was working on a problem that normally would have taken me about an hour. I kept getting interrupted at a critical point in the process and as a result, I made a series of mistakes seven times in a row before I eventually uploaded something that worked. My little update took me most of the day. If I get interrupted when I'm coding websites or even writing an ad, I lose my train of thought. I'll try to pick up where I left off after I've dealt with the distraction, but often it is a lost cause. That's what happened today. I kept having to start my project over and over again, because the distractions created a roadblock in my one track brain.

The dogs are so used to my quiet and private life that anything abnormal makes them both very nervous. They are much happier when we follow our regular schedule and I give them my undivided attention. I can't really blame today on the dogs though. I need large blocks of completely uninterrupted time to get anything done. I don't multi-task well. Truthfully, I don't multi-task at all. Writing and coding are quiet thoughtful activities that require a lot of time. Since the dogs like to sleep a lot, it works out well. I write articles and code websites while the dogs are sleeping and we go on walks together and have tasty snacks while they are awake.

Dot has not had a good week. I'm worried about her. Hopefully, her vet can give me some good advice about this latest step in the journey when we go for our therapy session tomorrow. I'm not sure what we can do at this point. We're both really trying, but Dot keeps getting older. The last thing she needs is a crew of noisy people digging a tunnel under our house to reach the broken pipe, but fixing the pipe is inevitable. The leak simply must be stopped as soon as possible.

Dot is completely off schedule now, so she will probably poop in her bed sometime during the night. I wouldn't be surprised if running the washing machine continually isn't what caused the pipe leak in the first place. Some things can't be helped. We'll just continue doing the best we can. If I see Santa between now and Christmas, I'm just going to ask for my life to return to normal.

Ginger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1955

I had lots of small problems to resolve today. Individually, they were trivial, but together they wore me out. I was jumping back and forth between Microsoft Word, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and Dreamweaver all day. As many of you know, I don't multitask well. I would always rather have one complex project than a bunch of little easy projects that share the same deadline. Although some of today's projects seemed meaningless, they were all important to my clients, so I jumped back and forth until it was time to take Dot for her weekly physical therapy session.

I've got to come up with a better way to transport Dot to the vet. Traffic was bad today and twice I had to put on my brakes hard enough to cause Dot to slide forward in her hammock and get stuck in the foot-well between the rear seats and the back of the front seats. The hammock keeps her from actually falling into this hole, but she can still get stuck if her weight pulls her forward and the hammock dips into the foot-well. She got stuck at a busy intersection today and I had trouble crossing three lanes of traffic so I could pull over and move her out of the foot-well and back to her seat. Dot was squealing and whining the whole time I was stuck in traffic. It was stressful for both of us. I'm thinking of abandoning the hammock and just putting the rear seats down again and having a large flat surface in the back of the car. She's getting strong enough now that I think she's just about ready to start riding in the car again the way she used to.

I've got to find time to go to a Babies R Us store and get some of those baby tube socks with rubberized feet that Dash can wear on his walks. The torn paw pad is still tender and he walks a lot better when I put a sock on the injured foot. The problem is that the short dog socks we got at a pet store don't work very well. Every time Dash scratches the earth with his rear feet, the sock falls off. Longer socks would definitely stay on better. One more thing to add to my "to do" list.

This has been a long week. I'm beginning to understand responsive website design. Dot is beginning to regain her independence. It's still tiring though. All the new knowledge in my head is starting to give me a headache and even though Dot is able to walk around the house without her harness, I've still got to watch her like a hawk. Dash is still limping too. There's more rainwater to remove from the roof, but I'm not even going to bother with that until this weekend. What's the point? It might rain again tomorrow anyway. Our excessive amounts of rain this Spring has caused me a lot of trouble, but the wet, muddy weather definitely has a silver lining. The new landscaping in the back yard looks great and I haven't had to use the sprinklers very much.

I'm looking forward to going out for breakfast tomorrow. It's nice to have a little quiet time with no barking dogs, irritating telemarketing calls, or dishes to wash. It's amazing how that little hour and a half of tasty tranquility can make the entire day seem better.

Wyatt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day