Day 3009

The bomb squad was in the neighborhood last night removing a live grenade that was found in the road. Since this is Texas, it was unclear whether this was a malicious act or if someone just lost their grenade. I was surprised that the event didn't receive much coverage in the local news. I did read that a police robot moved the grenade to a nearby school playground where it was safely detonated. So that's what I heard last night. I just thought it was a car backfiring, but I heard the noise at exactly the same time that the bomb squad was removing the grenade. What a world we live in that something like this wouldn't even get much attention.

Janet had to go to work so early this morning that Dash was totally confused. He usually eats his breakfast with Janet but this morning he didn't even wake up until she was ready to leave. I didn't wake up either. I took Dash outside to pee and saw Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn stretched out in a line in the Southern sky. This was all the evidence that Dash and I needed to go back to bed. We slept for another three hours and then ate our breakfast at a normal time.

The weather was kind of chilly this morning, but it still seems like Spring. We watched the sun come up on our morning walk and I found a patch of Purple Phlox starting to bloom. The Purple Martins have returned and are engaged in a war with the local Sparrows for possession of the Martin houses in the park. I saw the Cedar Waxwings again perched in a Cedar Tree and off in the distance there were still a few White Pelicans floating serenely on the lake. I enjoy mornings like these, especially when there are no bicycles to be seen.

The refrigerator is still working like a charm. It's to early to claim victory, but I have a feeling that the recent repair just might work. The reason I'm optimistic is that the temperature is very stable now. Last week it kept fluctuating. If there is still no ice build up two weeks from now, I'll be able to cross the refrigerator off my to-do list for a while.

When I was taking some mail to the post office this afternoon, I stopped at a neighborhood Italian restaurant and picked up a calzone to take home for dinner. I haven't had a calzone in years. I don't know why I've been craving Italian food lately, but the calzone was very good. It was very inexpensive too. It's a shame that bread and pasta immediately convert to glucose in your stomach. I could live on bread if I didn't have to worry about becoming a diabetic. Oh, well. I can always eat more vegetables tomorrow.

Dash is still eating well and taking two walks a day. I hope this means that his heart condition is improving. The only way we can tell how he's doing is to use an echocardiogram to measure the size of the blood clots in his heart. We'll run another test in a month in a half, but so far Dash seems to be improving.

I hope I don't get heartburn from that delicious calzone. I could really use a good night's sleep tonight.

Big Boy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3007

We're making progress. It only took the new appliance repairman five minutes to find something that all three of the previous repairmen missed. It wasn't a bad component. It was just a loose wire. None of the previous repairmen had bothered to remove the evaporator fan. If they had taken this extra step they would have clearly seen the loose wire behind the fan housing that prevented the defrost heater from operating properly. After reconnecting the wire, today's repairmen tested all the components in the defrost circuit to make sure they worked and then told me that he suspected that none of the components I'd replaced were bad in the first place. We'll see if today's visit solves my problem. I think there's a good chance that it did.

I guess today was my lucky day. Not only did the refrigerator get repaired, Dash took an afternoon walk as well. I still have no idea why he'll refuse to leave the yard on some days and walk normally on others. I think it has something to do with smell, because Dash always smells the air intently before deciding whether to walk or not. The decision doesn't seem to have anything to do with whether he's tired or not. Sometimes he refuses to walk when he clearly has a lot of energy. I'll probably never know what goes on in Dash's mind. I was just glad that he decided to take two walks today,

I like talking with good repairmen. They seem similar to me in many ways. They all seem to enjoy the problem solving aspect of fixing things and can't stand to work in an office environment. Most of them like working on their own. The guy who came over today used to be an auto mechanic, but said he preferred repairing appliances because most garages weren't air conditioned. "It just gets too hot in the Summer," he told me. I've learned a lot by talking with repairmen. I doubt that I'd make a great repairmen myself, but I do enjoy knowing how things work.

I picked up the wrong meds for Dash again today. I've done this several times in a row this month. I really need to remember to check the pills before I leave the vets office, but my brain seems to be on autopilot. I always take the bag home and then I open it up. Old habits die hard I guess.

They say today's big market sell off was caused by Facebook. I don't know why people are so upset that Facebook is selling their secrets. I've known this for years. If I even think about buying something, there will be an ad for the same thing on my Facebook timeline within a matter of minutes. Every time you take one of those online quizzes, marketers know a little more about you. I think most people would be shocked at how much Google and Facebook already know about us. They didn't have to pry the information out of us either. We willingly just gave it away. I wouldn't be selling any Facebook stock. People aren't going to close their accounts because Facebook is selling their secrets. They're already addicted to social media.

I hope I have put my refrigerator woes behind me. I won't know for sure whether the repair was successful until the refrigerator goes through several normal defrost cycles. If the refrigerator is really fixed, I'm going to move on to the toilet. Fixing the toilet should be a piece of cake compared to this refrigerator.

Pringles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3006

I was listening to NPR as I was driving to the gym this morning. There was a program about Alzheimer's Disease and they were interviewing someone at a nursing home in Germany where they were having problems with patients becoming extremely agitated and trying to run away. They tried a lot of things without much success and then someone suggested that they build a bus stop right in front of the facility where no bus would ever come. Patients still tried to escape and almost inevitably went straight to the bus stop where they sat on the bench and waited for the bus that never came. Eventually they forgot what they were waiting for and a nurse would come and talk with them and lead them back inside. Doctors were surprised that the patients no longer seemed agitated. Instead of being restrained or locked inside the facility, they had been allowed to slowly and peacefully forget their inner voices. I don't know why this story resonated with me. It just seemed to make a lot of sense. Perhaps we all need a place to forget the things that trouble us.

Four years ago today Dash was in the middle of radiation treatments for his thyroid cancer. The treatments were arduous and we were just hoping that Dash was strong enough to complete the program. Three years ago today Dot was slowly learning to walk again after spinal surgery. Two years ago today Dot could walk pretty well, but her abdominal cancer had returned and she was taking chemo again, along with monthly ultrasound scans to measure the size of her tumors. A year later Dot was too weak to continue the chemo treatments and walking was limited to slowly going around the block. It's been a long journey. Now Dash is going to the same cancer center for monthly scans to measure the size of the blood clot in his heart. Sometimes it's hard to remember when the dogs were healthy. Actually, they were both healthy for a long, long time. I need to remember the good times. There were lots and lots of good times. I'd like to think if we remember the good times, maybe we can recreate them.

The gym was quiet today. The basketball players are gone and I have the court to myself again. Actually, just about everybody was gone this morning. I wonder why gym attendance fluctuates so much. Once I get a routine in place, I like to keep it. Apparently, other people are more spontaneous about their Sunday activities.

It rained a lot last night, but I didn't feel like going up on the roof. Now that Spring is on the way, the roof is covered in sticky yellow catkins that fall as the oak trees start to bud. These little flowers turn the standing water bright yellow and make the clean up process much more difficult. I need to clear the catkins away soon though. They form little dams that hold the water and turn the roof into a duck pond.

It's always something. I cleared a slow draining sink today. That was enough drudgery for one day. I need to make a new pair of protective boots for Dash. The pair he's been wearing has just about worn out. I'll put this on my list for next week. If the new refrigerator repairman can solve my ongoing problems tomorrow, it will be a good week no matter what else happens. I'm hoping for the best.

Nick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3005

I certainly didn't accomplish much today. I did my grocery shopping and filled the car up with gas, but that was about it. Janet was away at a Dalmatian Rescue event today. Dash usually follows Janet around like glue on weekends, but he didn't seem to notice she was gone. I suspect he just thought it was another work day. We ate breakfast and took our morning walk just like we did yesterday and then I started my Saturday errands. When I returned Dash was asleep.

I spent a long time trying to figure out where to store a huge box of toilet paper I got at Sam's Club. Buying in bulk does save money, but it sure is difficult to store the stuff when you're living in a small house. I guess I could have done some house cleaning, but I got distracted looking for a technical service manual for my refrigerator online. There are all types of sites that will sell you duplicate service manuals, but I wanted to find a free one. I eventually found what I was looking for and started reading the diagnostic section. It's probably not helpful that I want to figure out what is wrong before the service technician arrives on Monday, but that's just the type of guy I am.

I suspect that one of the two remaining original thermistors has gone bad. Hopefully that's all it is. If the mother board I replaced a few months ago is already defective, I've got a big problem. Truthfully, I have no idea why the refrigerator isn't working. It should be working perfectly. When I read through the technical service manual, it appeared that the previous technicians had done exactly what the manual recommended.

While I was searching for the cause of my refrigerator problem, I started looking up the side effects of some some of the meds I'm taking. That was a mistake. A hypochondriac should never start reading about side effects. It's easy to imagine that you have all of them. I'm trying to decide whether a brand name drug I'm taking is worth the extra money. The brand name and the generic are similar, but for some reason the side effects are different. After comparing both, I felt like someone was telling me to pick my poison. I miss the days when I didn't even have a doctor and took no meds at all. As you might expect, those days were a long, long time ago.

We were going to go out for pizza tonight, but Janet ended up getting a free pizza at the grocery store.   We thought about going out anyway and then it started to rain. Once I started to hear thunder, I knew we were staying home. We've learned that it isn't wise to leave Dash alone in a storm. The free Tom Thumb pizza wasn't bad, but it didn't come close to the pies at our neighborhood Italian restaurant. Who knows when we'll have the urge for pizza again. Usually, both of us eat amazingly healthy meals. Sometimes you just crave pizza though.

I hope I wake up tomorrow with more motivation than I had today. I could have easily stayed in bed all day. Luckily, I don't need motivation to go to the gym. I've never been motivated to go to the gym. I just go because that's what I do on Sunday.

Allie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3004

I met a refrigerator repairman while I was grocery shopping this morning. He was parked next to me and the message on his company truck sounded intriguing. I knocked on his window and asked him if he was familiar with my refrigerator. The guy was very knowledgable. I was actually surprised that he spent so much time talking to me in the Central Market parking lot. I asked for the guy's business card and told him I'd give him a call. When I looked up the company website when I got home, they had excellent reviews. For comparison, I looked up the repair shop I'm currently using and they had terrible reviews. I've never seen so many single stars. I wish I'd checked out the Yelp reviews before I'd scheduled three unsuccessful service visits. The new company I discovered today offers a full year warranty on parts and labor. The parts warranty actually ran out at the other place before they even fixed my problem. I knew Janet would be skeptical, but I decided to try one more time to fix my existing refrigerator.

I think there are a lot of good reasons to try to save this refrigerator. The GE model that I have has a better service history than the Maytag I'd be replacing it with. The Maytag is smaller and holds less food. It also doesn't have an ice dispenser in the door like the model I have now. I always read the testimonials and a lot of people said the Maytag model didn't keep food cold enough and that the ice maker had a tendency to leak. So here we are. I may be throwing money down a rabbit hole, but I'm going to give this new company a try. I really like the refrigerator I have now. I wish GE still made this model.

After spending so much time thinking about refrigerators this morning, I decided to go ahead and defrost the evaporator coil before the weekend. The refrigerator is still cooling fine, but I know this drill pretty well by now. I've probably got four days before performance begins to suffer. It made sense to go ahead and take care of this now. I removed the ice on the coil and put everything back together in less than an hour this time. I think the repairman I met this morning was surprised that I knew actual part numbers and was familiar with the inner workings of kitchen appliances. It's too bad I don't know a little bit more or I could fix this thing myself.

Breakfast wasn't bad this morning, but it wasn't great either. I just picked a restaurant that was on the way to the grocery store. Maybe my problem is that I'm just not as interested in food as I used to be. I eat smaller portions now and occasionally even the thought of food turns my stomach. If a great meal can't turn my day around, I wonder what can? Food used to be an easy, almost foolproof way to perk me up. It doesn't work anymore.

Luckily, food still works for Dash. His appetite has really improved. I hope this means that his heart condition is improving as well. I have a feeling that when he was refusing to eat, he was in worse shape than we or the vet thought. The only problem with Dash's new interest in food is that he wants a treat before he'll do anything. He learned too well that we really want him to eat and now he wants to eat all the time. It's hard to teach a dog to do things in moderation.

The weather is still nice. Our Oak trees are starting to bud and that means the messy catkins are starting to fall. The pollen in these tiny flowers stains the car, causes me to sneeze, and makes a huge mess on the roof. I guess even nice weather has a downside. If this weather continues, it won't be long before I'm mowing the grass again.

Ruthie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2979

Part of the greenhouse roof blew off this morning. Jeez. I didn't even think it was a windy day. Apparently, it didn't take much. One minute the roof was fine and the next minute it was on the ground. As if I didn't have enough to fix already. I knew it was going to be a rainy day, so I hurriedly tried to get the roof section back in place. I managed to cover the hole, but a proper repair will have to come later.

The damaged greenhouse wasn't an auspicious way to begin the day, but is was a sign of things to come. We did manage to get Dash walked before the rain began, but while we were fixing breakfast, I noticed that there was a coating of ice on the back wall of the freezer again. It was time to defrost the evaporator coil. I had been overly optimistic. I was hoping that the refrigerator would operate normally for a few more weeks because things have been going well this month. Apparently, the coil freezes faster when the humidity is high. When I disassembled the freezer, I found that the coil was frozen solid. This process only took half as long as it did when the humidity was lower.

All bets are off. When the refrigerator was working well in January, I thought I knew exactly the part I needed to get things running reliably again. Now that the coil is freezing rapidly, I don't have a clue. I'm ready to give up. Maybe I'll go out and buy the new refrigerator I don't really want tomorrow.

I can't get the toilet to stop running either. It doesn't seem that cleaning the parts helped at all. Plumbers tell me that I should give up and buy a Toto toilet. Of course, it was a plumber who told me to buy the ridiculously complicated toilet I have now. Am I asking for trouble to go from a French toilet to a Japanese toilet? I should have just kept the old toilet that came with the house. It used a ton of water, but it was virtually indestructible.

Dash's eating habits are driving me crazy. At the end of the day he's usually eaten enough to satisfy his nutritional needs, but he doesn't eat consistently anymore. He'll eat a little and then turn up his nose at the rest. I'll have to put the food back in the refrigerator and try something else. Often he'll like something in the afternoon that he hated in the morning. This reluctance to eat seems to have something to do with his sense of smell. He carefully smells his food and even his water bowl before he eats or drinks. He didn't used to do this. If it doesn't smell exactly right, he won't touch it. Dash spends a lot more time smelling thing on his walks now too. It is as if he has developed a hyper sensitive nose. I know dogs can smell things a lot better than we can, but this is getting ridiculous.

I hope the weather forecast is wrong. It's going to be a very long week if it doesn't quit raining. There is no point to even examining the roof now. I know it is covered with standing water. I've just got to hope that the elastomer coating holds up. I've learned the hard way that the coating is very fragile when it's wet. I can do more damage by tramping around on the wet roof than the rain can.

It's hard not to get discouraged. This is not what I imagined retirement would be like at all.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2977

Dash didn't want to go outside when we woke up this morning. He shouldn't have been so indecisive. Ten minutes later it was pouring rain. The rain didn't last long, but there was plenty of time for Dash to get soaking wet. We dried him off and ate our breakfast. The morning walk could wait until later.

According to the weather forecast, this is the beginning of an entire week of wet weather. I'd better hurry up and find something I want to watch on Netflix. Without any deadlines to keep me busy, I'm going to have a severe case of cabin fever.

Dash did get his walk when the rain stopped and then I got started on my Saturday errands. I picked up some Phenobarbital for Dash and got Carvedilol for myself. For some reason the pharmacist wouldn't renew the Carvedilol prescription until today, even though I ran out of pills on Thursday. Medicare is very inflexible. It didn't matter that I didn't have any pills. What mattered is that they thought I should still have some. Once again, veterinary medicine is so much more straightforward.

I still haven't bought a new refrigerator. The big President's Day sales are a joke. Not a single refrigerator I've looked at during the past three months has seen a price reduction. They're all exactly the same price as they were before. I'm really tempted to buy a supply of spare parts and just attempt to repair my current refrigerator myself if it breaks again.

When I went to the grocery store today I noticed that strawberries have gone down in price. I wonder why fresh fruit prices fluctuate so wildly? There always seems to be a steady supply of strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries, but the price is always different.  Fruit that grows on vines seems to be available year round, but fruit that grows on trees is very seasonal. I'll be glad when peaches are available again. My morning smoothies always taste better with peaches.

I should have cleaned the house this afternoon, but I didn't feel like it. I must not have felt like doing much, because very little was accomplished today. Some days are like this. At the end of the day you wonder if anything happened at all. At least Dash got a nice afternoon walk before the weather turned cold again.

I finally got the nerve to look at my brokerage account. I'm still down quite a bit, but last week's mini-rebound certainly helped. I've learned over the years that's it's best to ignore a sell off. When you panic, you always end up selling too late and then buying again too soon. I'm hoping that sanity will return to the market soon. The economy is still good.

The United States doesn't seem to be doing so well in the Olympics. I may be wrong, but didn't we used to win more medals?  The Japanese own figure skating now. I watched Yuzuru Hanyu win the gold while I was going to sleep last night and he was amazing. I guess it's been a long time since Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding.

It's time to go the the gym again tomorrow. I've really got to start going twice a week.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2976

I hate waiting for repair people. They never arrive when they say they will. You can wait and wait, but it never makes any difference. It's only when you give up and decide to take a shower or walk your dog that the service technician knocks on your door. I guess I shouldn't be critical. I'm always late myself. I can't even get to a simple meeting on time. The AT&T guy was three hours late today, but at least he showed up. My fiber optic installation is now finished.

I wish they'd told me ahead of time that the technician wouldn't need to come inside the house. This could have saved a lot of waiting. I still managed to get everything done. I got my grocery shopping finished early this morning before the technician was scheduled to arrive. Instead of going out for breakfast, I tried the breakfast buffet they had at the grocery store. I'd never tried this before because it didn't look very good. Surprisingly, the taste of the scrambled eggs, bacon, and biscuits and gravy I picked out tasted much better than they looked.

The refrigerator repair guy called me back today. After talking with him for a few minutes I realized that I now know just as much about repairing refrigerators as he does. The guy agreed that changing out all three thermistors might be a good idea. He also said that the temperature control for the fan might have gone bad. There were no guarantees though. Apparently the way appliance repair works is you just keep replacing parts until the problem stops. I don't know why I'm so surprised. This appears to be the way most car repairs work too.

I wish there weren't so many people walking their dogs during the middle of the day. Dash and I used to have the park to ourselves during the week, but now it's crowded all the time. The dogs on a leash are fine, but almost every day we run into someone who is letting their dogs run loose. I could tell that Dash really wanted a walk this afternoon, but as soon as he saw two dogs running off leash, he refused to go any further. It is so frustrating to have to abort a good walk. These people with their loose dogs have no idea how long it takes me to get Dash suited up in his protective gear and ready to go. I tried again just before sunset and this time there was no danger.

The news was all about Russia today. I don't know why the Russians went to all that trouble to get us fighting among ourselves. We do a pretty good job of that on our own. I think a lot of the outrage about this is bogus. The United States and Russia have been meddling in each other's affairs since the beginning of the cold war. It's not like we don't don't do the same thing to them. Personally, I think that if the FBI hadn't been so obsessed with Russian Twitter accounts, they might have had time to follow up on that Florida school shooters disturbing online profile.

Dash was a picky eater again today.  He'd enthusiastically start to eat something and then ten minutes later he would spit the same thing out. On any given day, I have no idea what is going to appeal to him.  I think Dash takes living in the moment to extremes. One minute he wants a walk. The next minute he refuses to leave the yard. Feeding him is so difficult now. I fed him half a can of dog food around 3 PM. He rapidly ate and then we took a walk. When we returned, I gave him the rest of the can and he wouldn't touch it. This inconsistency tests my patience almost as much as repair people.

It is supposed to rain all next week. I hope the forecast is wrong. You know how I feel about rain.

Joshua is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2966

I've been interested in space for a long time, but I never thought I'd see a sporty convertible floating above the earth with a mannequin in a space suit at the wheel. The long awaited Falcon Heavy launch was spectacular. I thought it was audacious of Elon Musk to send his own Tesla Roadster to Mars on the Falcon Heavy's maiden voyage. It was pretty cool to see the two booster rockets return to Cape Canaveral and land simultaneously as well. If this doesn't get people interested in space travel again, I don't know what will.

I defrosted the evaporator coil in the freezer today. There was definitely ice on the coil, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I probably could have gone another week before the refrigerator stopped working. It's a nuisance to take all the food out of the freezer, remove the shelves, and unscrew the back panel to gain access to the frozen coil, but melting the ice with a hair dryer seems to cure the problem every time. It seems odd now that frost free refrigerators are a relatively new development and my parents routinely defrosted their refrigerator this way.

After a thousand point drop yesterday, the stock market had a thousand point intraday swing today. The market was down over 500 points at the open and was up over 500 points at the close. It was a very volatile day for traders. At times like these I think it is best to lay low and do nothing. The economy is good and businesses are thriving, so I think the market will recover. If there wasn't so much high volume program trading by machines, the sell off probably wouldn't have happened in the first place. They say a lot of people who were shorting the volatility index because the market has been so stable lately got totally wiped out. I bet they won't do that again.

Dash seems to be feeling a little better. He still won't eat when he gets up, but his appetite seems to return about mid-morning. I don't know if this is permanent or not, but adjustments can be made. The only real problem is getting Dash to take his morning pills. If the morning and evening meds didn't have to be given twelve hours apart, it would be easy to just have Dash take the morning meds later in the day. Unfortunately, that would push the schedule for his the evening meds back until after our bedtime. Hopefully, this loss of appetite is temporary. It certainly makes life more difficult.

I hear thunder outside, but Dash still seems calm and normal. That's odd. Maybe he's growing deaf along with his many other problems. Dot was virtually deaf in the final months before she passed away and the deafness was a blessing. For the first time in her life, she wasn't scared of storms.

I have no plans for tomorrow. With no deadlines to meet, I'll fret about my jury summons. Then I'll fret about Dash's lack of appetite. Then I'll wonder why our cable bill went up again and how long my refrigerator repair will last. I don't think I'll fret about rain. The rain is supposed to be over by morning.

Landry is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2965

The stars were definitely not aligned today. Everything seemed wrong. Dash is still not eating well. I've just about run out of options. Usually if he's not hungry when he wakes up, his appetite will return after a morning walk. Not today. I kept trying different varieties of food and eventually got him to nibble at a few things. He just wasn't hungry though. The tremors have gotten worse as well. Several times today, I noticed that he was shivering a lot. I tried putting a blanket on him, but he didn't seem cold. I went to the vet and got some more Cerenia pills, but I'm not even sure if nausea is causing his problems. I wish Dash could talk and tell me what was going on. His vets don't seem to have any answers.

I received another jury summons this morning. Jury services has taken away my ability to postpone the summons any longer, so it looks like I will have to appear this time. I think I have some perfectly good reasons to be exempt, but none of them qualify. I don't want to catch the flu by sitting with hundreds of people in the jury pool room. I have a sick dog to take care of. A sick person would be a valid excuse, but they don't seem to care about dogs. I don't think they'd even like to hear that I have no faith in the judicial process.

The stock market not only continued Friday's sell off, it had a spectacular crash, dropping over 1,000 points in a few hours. Not good. I'll be the first to admit that the market has gotten ahead of itself, but this is no justification for the largest intra-day drop in history. The business channels had all sorts of explanations for today's crash, but it all comes down to fear and greed. Greedy people pushed the market too high and fearful people are dragging it too low. I hate these wild swings, even though I've seen them many times before. I have no pension or retirement plan. The market is all I have and on days like this, it's of very little use. Ironically, one of the reasons that the market dropped today was the fear that interest rates will rise. Give me a break. Interest rates are still incredibly low. I actually wish interest rates were high. I miss the days when a simple, safe bank CD could earn you 10%.

It looks like I'm going to have to take the freezer apart and defrost the evaporator coil again. The refrigerator is starting to get warm. I guess it's still worth waiting for the President's Day sales, but trying to keep the current refrigerator running for another month is getting real old. I could do the defrost procedure in my sleep by now, but it is still a giant pain in the ass. I've tried keeping the freezer on a warmer setting so the coil won't freeze quite as fast, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. Every week and a half, I'm faced with transferring all the food to a large cooler and taking the freezer section apart to expose the evaporator coil. Hopefully, by this time next month there will be a new refrigerator in our kitchen that will last until it's time for me to be shipped off to assisted living.

Today's events would have been bad enough on a sunny day, but cold temperatures and dismal, grey skies made things even worse. This weather is crazy. Yesterday I was wearing shorts and today it's back to long underwear and a down ski jacket. Oddly, Dash enjoys the cold weather. Even though he had an upset stomach and got me all stressed out with his shivering episodes, he still wanted me to take him on his daily walks. These two walks were probably the only things normal about today.

Zorro is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2958

The refrigerator broke again. This was very discouraging, considering the time, effort, and money I've already spent repairing this thing. The appliance repair folks weren't much help. Despite three separate services calls and hundreds of dollars worth of parts, they still made no promises. They told me the first part they installed wasn't under warranty anymore because they installed it more than 90 days ago. The second part is still covered, but they have no idea whether it is causing the current problem. The third part, which actually ended up getting the refrigerator running again for several months isn't covered at all because I purchased it myself. Basically, I'm screwed. They could keep coming back forever and never solve the problem.

I think it's time to abandon this refrigerator and buy a new one. The main reason I haven't already done this is that our current refrigerator is much nicer than what is currently available. Nobody makes the size we have anymore. You can get a basic, slightly smaller model, or a wide variety of larger models that won't fit in the kitchen alcove where the current refrigerator sits. To make matters worse, the small refrigerator is actually more expensive that the larger fancy models because it is considered a low volume "specialty" appliance.

I give up. I'm tired of taking the freezer apart so I can thaw out the frozen evaporator coil. It took over two hours to do this today. The refrigerator is working again, but since something is causing the automatic defrost cycle to malfunction, the coil will just freeze again in a week or two. I have no confidence in the appliance repair folks anymore. They've had three chances to fix this problem and they've failed every time. I can keep replacing parts and hope for the best, or I can buy a new refrigerator.

After spending the morning getting the refrigerator running again, I spent the afternoon driving around looking at new ones. I finally found two refrigerators that will fit in my aging mid-century modern kitchen, but neither was what I was hoping for. I think my entire house has passed it's '"use by" date. The plumbing is old and hard to replace. The utility room is too small for my front loader washer and dryer. The electrical system is not really designed for modern power hungry appliances. You've already heard about my ongoing roof problems. Nobody is interested in fixing old things either. I really don't want to buy a new refrigerator in the same month that my car insurance is due, but what are you going to do?

At least Dash was fairly normal today. He slept through the night and had a good appetite. He even left me alone while I was disassembling the freezer and removing all the ice from the evaporator coil. We took a nice long walk this morning, but I sure wish Dash was a little faster. Since I hadn't fixed the refrigerator yet, I kept imagining food spoiling during our entire journey. At some point during the day, I noticed that I had a stripe of dried poop on my pants leg. It probably happened yesterday when Dash had diarrhea. I immediately threw the pants in the laundry, wondering how long I'd been walking around that way.

I hope nothing goes wrong tomorrow. Days like today really wear me down. Eventually the refrigerator problem will get resolved and then something else will break. Something always breaks. I hope I can count on my car for a while longer. A new car is a lot more expensive than a new refrigerator.

Spirit is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2877

We're making progress. I'm pretty sure the refrigerator actually works now because I saw the defrost heater come on. You can tell that the defrost cycle has begun when the refrigerator is silent. The compressor and the fan shut off and the small heater at the bottom of the freezer section starts to emit an orange glow. The heater is actually hidden behind a metal plate, but you can see the glow through a small vent at the bottom of the freezer. After about two hours, the glow went away and the refrigerator turned itself on again. This has been happening behind the scenes for many years and I never even noticed. I've learned so much about refrigerators in the past two months.

My work on the roof was also encouraging. The patches I applied several days ago didn't wash away in yesterday's rain. The elastomer coating seems to have cured properly and appears to be waterproof. Since it's getting colder, I need to call the manufacturer and find out if this stuff can be applied in the Winter. I suspect that when it gets too cold outside, the stuff won't cure and might just remain liquid. I'm not even going to bother calling the roofer. I'm sure I'll get better results by just calling the manufacturer.

The rain has stopped, but it was still a nasty, damp day. By the time I'd walked Dash several times and removed all the standing water from the roof, I wished we had a fireplace so I could sit by the fire and warm up. It seemed like a cold night to go to the arboretum, but actually it turned out to be perfect.

We bundled up in warm coats and explored twelve elaborate victorian gazebos representing each of the twelve days of Christmas. The arboretum is wonderful at night. The trees are illuminated with tiny lights and the twelve glass gazebos filled with rotating animatronic clockwork glowed like beacons in the night. It was so cold outside that it actually felt like Christmas for a change. Janet says they have this exhibit every year, but I'd never heard of it before. The arboretum is actually part of the same huge park where I walk Dash every day. I guess there have been rare trees here forever, but the area changed dramatically when the city passed a big bond issue and turned the place into a Disneyland for nature lovers. They stage elaborate events throughout the year and charge a lot to see them. I liked the place better when it was wild and abandoned, but that's just me. I never thought people would pay money to see a bunch old old trees, but the city has done a good job turning the place into a weird outdoor museum.

Much to my surprise, I remembered to take the trash out to the curb when we returned this evening. It felt like I got a lot done today, even though I really didn't. I used to measure success by how much I accomplished. That seems kind of silly now. A successful day is just a day where nothing goes wrong.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2875

I feel vindicated. They sent out a different appliance repairman today and after doing some checks, he told me that I needed to replace the evaporator thermistor. "I happen to have a brand new one right here," I told him. This was the part I had ordered myself several weeks ago and that two previous repairmen had told me was unnecessary. The first guy told me that these parts never fail and the second guy told me that it wasn't even part of the defrost circuit.

The repairmen couldn't find an electrical schematic that was supposed to be attached to the refrigerator somewhere, so I found the technical manual online and downloaded the pertinent sections. We worked as a team. Why didn't the first two guys even bother to consult this readily available manual? It clearly said to test the evaporator and freezer thermistors before replacing the mother board. It even showed exactly how to test them. It's still unclear whether this new guy solved my problem, but I'll give him an A for effort. Of the four different repairmen who have been out to the house in the past month, he is the only one who even bothered to get a multimeter out of the truck and run some electrical tests.

When I went out to check the mail today, I noticed that there was a container of silicon roof coating sitting on the front porch. It would have been nice if the roofers had dropped off this material before I'd gone and bought a bucket of the expensive stuff myself, but I guess it's better late than never. I'll definitely use the stuff. I was hoping that I could show the roofers what was happening on the roof, but they clearly wanted to just leave the coating material and go. Truthfully, I think I'm doing a better job of repairing things than they did, but it's a horrible, messy job and I wish I didn't have to do it.

I guess I should have voted today, but the only thing on the ballot were a bunch of bond issues I didn't understand. I hate the way they word these bond issues. It really seems at times like they are trying to be purposefully confusing. Several times I've discovered later that I've voted exactly the opposite way that I meant to vote because of the way the initiatives were worded on the ballot. I probably would have voted to improve city and county roads. This was the one issue that wasn't confusing.

When I was taking Dash on his evening walk, a cyclist stopped to warn me that there was a large coyote just around the bend up ahead. I tried to get Dash to turn around and go home, but he stubbornly wanted to continue heading toward the coyote. This is why I don't like walking at night. I finally managed to redirect Dash to the shoreline where the coyotes seldom venture, but I kept thinking that something was following me all the way home. I've really got to figure out how to get Dash walking earlier while it is still daylight.

The roof repairs I made yesterday seem solid. That's a good thing. There is a 100% chance of rain tomorrow. I cleared my tools off the roof and used a leaf blower to remove as many leaves as possible. I hope the elastomer will have had time to cure properly before the rain arrives. We'll just have to wait and see. I'm sure there will be more problems to fix later, but I've done what I can for now.

Chase id today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2874

The exam I received from my new doctor seemed almost exactly like the physical exams I'd received from my old doctor for all these years. I briefly wondered if it was worth all the effort required to switch doctors. Then I remembered that I wasn't worried about my car being stolen while I was sitting in the waiting room. I didn't have to sit in the waiting room very long either. In addition to being clean and reassuring, this place was super efficient. It kind of felt like I was going to a German doctor, and for me that is a good thing.

The doctor seemed to think that I was in pretty good shape for a man of my age, but that's what they all say. I know better. Men let things creep up on them. I know too many men my age who've just dropped dead without much fanfare. We're all falling apart like rusty old machines, but I still think it's a good idea to know what your odds are.

The medical exam took most of the morning. That left most of the afternoon to work on the roof. Thankfully, the wet spots had all dried out and there was very little wind. It was a good day to apply the messy coating. I thought it would take a gallon of material to cover the areas I'd exposed yesterday, but it ended up taking two. I didn't spill any of the goop on myself this time and was able to make a nice looking repair. Since it takes the silicon material 24 hours to cure, I won't know if my repairs were successful until tomorrow afternoon, but everything seems fine so far.

I also called the refrigerator repairman and he's coming out again tomorrow. Lord knows what he's going to do this time. The last time the repairman was here, he told me that there was nothing left to replace. I always thought that the problem was caused by a loose wire or a burned out internal fuse. You can't tell repairmen and plumbers how to do their job though. I've tried this before and it just makes them mad. I'm very polite to repairmen now, but I'll keep calling them back from now to eternity if they haven't done the job right.

Getting Dash to walk in the afternoon is turning out to be just as much of a problem as I thought it would be. He doesn't understand time changes at all. I tried several times to get him to walk while the sun was still up, but he wasn't ready to go until it was almost dark. This is a good way to get some nice sunset photos, but it's not good for anything else. Dash is shaky on his feet now and I need to see where he is walking. I don't want to encounter stray dogs or coyotes in the dark either. We're going to have to work on this, because it was way too dark when we returned home this evening.

I continue to be amazed at how little I get done these days. I used to have time to go to business meetings all over town, play in a band, and still have enough time left over to read a book a week. All I did today was go to the doctor and paint some sticky goop on the roof. Basically these two things used up the entire day.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2872

My life is starting to resemble Ground Hog Day. I feel like I am doomed to repeat certain things over and over again until I finally get them right. Today I defrosted the evaporator coil on the refrigerator for the fourth or fifth time. The latest visit by that appliance repairman apparently accomplished nothing. The coil is frozen again. I can always tell that the evaporator coil is completely frozen when the temperature rises in the refrigerator compartment by ten degrees. So far, I replaced three expensive components, but I've always suspected that there's just a loose wire somewhere. At any rate, the appliance repair shop is going to get another irate call from me on Monday morning. I'm really getting tired of this. You'd think the repairmen would have a way to test their work before they leave. Nope. They always just say they think they've solved the problem and tell me to call them again if something goes wrong.

I let the refrigerator cool down again while I went to the grocery store and then I prepared to tackle the roof. Fall is not a good time to be applying a sticky liquid to the roof. The leaves will continue falling until the middle of January and I can' afford to wait until them. It was a nice warm day, but it was windy. By the time I finished my repairs today, dozens of falling oak and elm leaves had already become stuck in the wet elastomer. Too bad it takes twelve hours for this stuff to completely dry.

I quit trying to peel off more of the old coating material because I'm beginning to think that the thin film of water I'm finding between the silicon coating and the asphalt substrate covers the entire roof. From now on I'll limit my repairs to plugging holes. At least I applied the material with the right consistency today. It helped a lot using the stirring attachment I attached to a power drill. I tried really hard to be neat today, but when I was finished I noticed that I'd spilled the elastomer coating all over my leg. If I'd bothered read all the fine print on the bucket, I'm sure I'd learn that this stuff is hazardous to your health. At least it comes off with soap and water. When I return to the roof tomorrow to inspect my work, I'm sure I'll find a carpet of dead leaves glued to the cured silicon.

My repairs were ultimately futile today, but I did accomplish something. The refrigerator will work fine for at least two weeks, whether the repairman returns or not. Also, the next time if rains, I have greatly reduced the chances of a major roof leak. Maybe there will always be a thin film of water between the silicon and asphalt layers, but at least I've sealed the obvious holes.

I had to use the wet/dry vacuum to extract water from under the shower tiles again, but that's hardly worth mentioning anymore. I think I may have found how the water is getting under the tiles, but I can't stand going without a shower for the amount of time it would take to fix it. For the moment, it's easier just to suck the water out with a vacuum every four days.

Janet found some socks for Dash that should prevent the rubber boots from rubbing against his paws. Now it takes even longer to get him ready for a walk. First we fit his regular harness. Then the knee brace attaches to the harness. Next we put on the cotton socks and then finally we put on his boots. It is not surprising that sometimes he has lost interest in walking by the time we get him dressed. I guess it's all worth it though. The nails on his rear paws are starting to grow again and the raw areas have healed.

I should continue repairing the roof tomorrow, but I've had enough for a while. I'll probably just go to the gym and take a long nap.

Ginger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2871

There were several hundred people standing in front of the Apple Store this morning, all waiting for a chance to buy the new iPhone X. I used to stand in these kind of lines, but it's hard to get that excited about a phone anymore. I did go in the store and took a look at the new phone, but I didn't feel compelled to buy one. After a few minutes I continued on my way. There was only one reason I came to the mall this morning. I needed a haircut.

My stylist usually talks about her cats, but today she wanted to tell me all about Live PD. I've never seen this show, but couldn't help wondering whether reality TV shows like Live PD and Cops are real or staged. Who knows? It's kind of ironic that shows like these are considered real while the evening news is considered fake. It's hard for me to tell what's real these days. Often nothing seems real.

I look presentable now, but few people will notice. The only interaction I've had with other people lately has been with repairmen and doctors. Sadly, I think that I may be talking with one of these repairmen again soon. The refrigerator seems to be getting warmer again. Maybe this is just part of the automatic defrost cycle and everything is normal. I'll wait until Monday to call the appliance repair shop. I'm hoping that I don't have to disassemble the freezer again to defrost the evaporator coil.

The refrigerator wasn't my only disappointment today. I thought I was going to be able to repair the damaged areas on the roof, but there was still water seeping out from under the elastomer coating, so I ended up having to remove more of the old coating instead. Luckily, the weather is supposed to remain clear through the weekend. If I can ever get the damaged areas to dry out, the repairs should go quickly.

I'm trying to get Dash prepared for the end of Daylight Saving Time. When we go back to standard time, it will be dark when we normally take our evening walk. It's hard to get all his protective gear on by myself, but I was able to get him outside for a mid-afternoon walk by waiting to suit him up until I knew he needed to pee. Instead of stopping so he could pee in the yard, we headed straight for the back gate. This worked pretty well, and as soon as we got to the park, we had a nice normal walk. I hope I can get him used to this new schedule, because we're not going to be able to wait for Janet to come home from work after the time changes.

Dash is walking very slowly. He seems to enjoy stopping and smelling things every ten feet, but I worry that his heart might be giving him problems again. I never rush Dash these days. If he wants to take an hour to walk around the block, that's fine. I've certainly got no place to go. The only things on my schedule are a seemingly endless list of broken things to fix around the house.

It would be nice if the refrigerator cools down again on it's own tonight. It would be even nicer if I can complete all my roof repairs tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be nice, but I don't really trust    weather forecasts anymore. If water gets under the bare areas I've exposed, I'm really in trouble.

Wolfgang is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2862

Janet helped me get Dash's orthopedic and protective gear on before she left for work this morning. I let him wander around the house while I was fixing breakfast, hoping that he'd forget he had it on. This plan seemed to work. He quickly became far more interested in begging for treats from me than in obsessing about his knee brace. About halfway through breakfast, Dash headed toward the back door and I knew he was ready. I was ready too. I put my smoothie in the refrigerator, grabbed a leash, and off we went. Could it be that Dash just wants to walk a little later in the day? Who knows. We took a nice long walk and then I finished my breakfast.

Since this little excursion went well, I decided to take him to the vet to get his anal glands expressed. As usual, he was terrible in the car, but at least I didn't have to worry about poop. He'd already taken care of that on our walk. While we were at the vet, I had the nurse trim his remaining dew claw. Since he tore the first dewclaw riding in the car, I'll always be apprehensive that this type of accident will happen again.

By the time I got Dash home and finished washing the breakfast dishes, it was almost noon. I'd already spent almost half a day dealing with a lovable but very stubborn dog. I fired up the computer to see if there was anything important that I needed to deal with. Of course there wasn't. It was time to get ready for the refrigerator repairman.

I was planning to have the repairman install the new temperature sensor I bought, so I watched a YouTube video to locate where the old sensor was. Locating and installing the sensor seemed simple enough, but after watching the video, I learned that the repairman was right. This particular sensor had nothing to do with my problem.

When the repairman arrived, he had the correct part this time and it only took him about thirty minutes to install it. We didn't bother to defrost the evaporator coil this time, because I'd already done this less than two days ago. The repairman said he was confident that the refrigerator would work this time, since we'd replaced all the parts connected with controlling the defrost cycle. I hope he's right. Having to deal with food that could spoil and go bad is almost as irritating as having to go to the laundromat when your washer breaks. When the repairman left, he told me not to worry. The parts are guaranteed for a year and if the evaporator coil still keeps freezing, he'll keep coming out until the problem is resolved. I thanked the guy and told him I hoped I wouldn't see him again for a long time.

A stray cat has been pooping in our yard and Dash is obsessed with finding and eating the stuff. Now, I've got to shadow him every time he goes outside to pee, so he won't sneak off and eat cat poop. The elusive poop is very hard for me to find, but apparently very easy for Dash to smell. I don't know how I'm going to put an end to this nuisance. The smell will go away eventually, unless the cat keeps coming back. Feral cats should know better than to hang around this neighborhood. There aren't many mice anymore and some of the cats routinely get eaten by coyotes.

I contacted the roofer again and tried without much success to get him to commit to finishing the repairs. This is the only major issue left on my Fall to-do list. There are a couple of holes that need to be patched immediately. I'd much rather have the roofing crew repair the damage, but I'd settle with another five gallon drum of the elastomer material at this point.

If I wasn't so apprehensive about leaving Dash, I'd go see Bladerunner 2049 tomorrow. I'm not very busy. This would be a good time to go. The film has done so poorly at the box office that it probably won't be around much longer. There are even matinee showings now. It won't be long before it will be at the dollar theaters.

Patch is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day