Day 1211

I paid a visit to my watchmaker today. A lot of my clients are irritating, but I always enjoy talking with the watchmaker. He's a charter member of that dying breed of people who can actually fix things and understand how mechanical things work. When I was growing up, the United States was full of these clever, industrious men, but there are very few left. I tried to explain social media to the watchmaker while he repaired a beautiful old Angela Cummings watch of Janet's. The watchmaker and I both love cars, so we talked about exotic machines we've owned and would like to own. The watchmaker has a vintage Porsche and I have an old Maserati. At least his car runs. Mine doesn't. The watchmaker regaled me with stories about inept customers who destroyed their expensive Rolex by trying to fix it themselves. I told him about ad campaigns that failed miserably when the client refused to listen. It was a very pleasant afternoon.

I made an appointment to take Dot to see a neurologist next week. She's going to need a CAT scan to make sure she doesn't have a brain tumor. Apparently, the symptoms that she's been having could be caused by epilepsy, a tumor in the brain, or by something else entirely. A CAT scan, or possibly a MRI of her brain, will help pinpoint the cause of her recent seizures. It's too bad dogs have trouble staying still on their own. A CAT scan or MRI is a relatively simple procedure for humans. I've had many of these scans myself. Part of the procedure involves holding your breath for up to 20 seconds at a time while the image is being created. Not surprisingly, dogs have trouble holding their breath, so they have to be sedated under general anesthesia during the scan. Dot is not going to like all this, but it needs to be done.

My poison ivy is starting to get better. The steroid treatments really do work. There's a downside however. It's not a good idea to take steroids for this sort of thing more than once a year. It  looks like I'm going to have to be extra careful not to catch another case of poison ivy later this summer. This is going to be tough, because I'm seeing the stuff everywhere now. I see fresh, green little poison ivy plants on either side of the trail during our daily walks. I've told Dash to help me out on this, but I don't think he was listening.

There are supposed to be thunderstorms tomorrow, but I hope they don't materialize. I'm not sure if I was able to pinpoint the source of the latest roof leak during last week's round of storms. Not really looking forward to plastic buckets strategically placed all around the living room floor again. Dot is scared of storms too and I'm worried that thunder and lightning might trigger another seizure. Maybe the weather will surprise me and turn out to be nice. I think I deserve that.

Livy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1098

I wasn't very happy with my doctor today. Instead of getting the upbeat and definitive answer I was hoping for, I got referred to the Baylor Liver Institute instead. This probably isn't a good sign. In my experience, doctors would rather refer you to another specialist than to make an ominous decision themselves. I shouldn't be hard on my doctor though, since he is very thorough and leaves no stone unturned. It's just that I've been trying to avoid a liver biopsy for years and it looks like my time might have run out. I don't mind non-invasive tests like sonograms, CAT scans, and MRI's. Sticking the equivalent of a large knitting needle all the way through your body is another matter entirely.

My doctor's appointment took so long that it was already dark by the time I got home to take the dogs on their evening walk. The lake looked quite beautiful under the moonlight. Moonlit walks would be a lot more enjoyable if I wasn't imagining a lunatic hiding behind every tree. Although the park is quite large and creates the illusion of being out in nature, it's really just another urban park full of crazy homeless people. The park is actually very safe, considering the city is serves, but there have been just enough murders over the years to warrant erring on the side of caution.

Back in the comfort of my own home, I pondered the many ambiguities of medicine while eating a semi-healthy dinner. Part of me would just like to abandon all the doctors and try to repair myself with good nutrition. There are a lot of books out there that claim this can be done. The friendly nutritionist who owns the health food store down the street from me is a believer. He's told me several times that everything from diabetes to liver and kidney problems can be reversed through diet and nutrition. It all sounds pretty good, but I'm still a bit skeptical. I remember the nutritionist's own wife died at a very young age from some strange debilitating ailment. If the nutritionist's plans couldn't keep his own wife alive, I wonder what he could do for me.

My backup hard drive is starting to fail. It's started disappearing from the desktop every couple of hours. I've verified and repaired the volume, but it doesn't seem to help. The backup drive is definitely on its last legs. I guess I'll go to Fry's and buy another backup drive tomorrow. Although losing all your files isn't even remotely in the same league as losing your liver, it is a hassle nonetheless. I've lost all my files twice already as a result of major hard drive crashes. Never again. I'm getting a new drive first thing in the morning.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 783

A photographer I knew from my ad agency days called this morning to ask if it was OK to refer me for a writing job. Sure. I can always use one more client who wants things done overnight for no money. When the prospective client called later in the day to fill me in on the upcoming project, I asked for some input and she sent me what appeared to be the text for a finished brochure. "This looks done," I said. "What do you need me to do?" She told me she wanted basically the same thing, except different. OK. I've been down this road before. I guess I'll take the job.

As I was getting dressed to go in for a doctor's appointment this afternoon, I got a call from the doctor's office wanting to confirm my appointment for tomorrow afternoon. Oops. I looked, and I even had the appointment marked on my calendar for tomorrow. I guess this just shows that I don't pay much attention to my calendar. It seems like this same thing happened to me less than a month ago.

Sometimes I wish I had more of a competitive spirit. During the past week, I've received two entry forms in the mail for contests where I could be a strong contender. One is a photo contest sponsored by the City of Dallas for pictures taken in the park behind my house. I have taken hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of pictures in this park, so it would seem like I could manage to come up with two good ones to enter in the contest. The second contest is sponsored by Panasonic for short videos shot with one of the cameras I own. At first glance, it would seem that this contest would be very hard to win, but I happen to know that very few people actually bought this particular camera, so maybe there won't be many entries. One of the categories in the video competition is Nature as well, so I could just spent an afternoon in the park on a nice day and probably come up with some great images that could be set to music. Will I enter either of these contests? Who knows. I almost always come up with some sort of excuse not to do these sorts of things.

Tomorrow I need to take Dash to the vet to get his antigen shot. I need to remember that I need to go to my own doctor as well. I wonder how much work I'll get done. The day seems full already.

Landry is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day