Day 4108

I got a chair mat this morning. When I got home I discovered it was too small. Jeez. I thought these things were all the same size. I guess I'll live with the smaller size though. It's too much trouble to take the thing back. I also got the 12 month accordion folder I needed for receipts. How could a cardboard folder be worth $22? They say we don't have inflation, but I don't believe it. Everything seems a lot more expensive than it used to be.

My train dealer friend told me that he finally sold another of my trains. This was the first sale in about six months. Business hasn't been good during the pandemic. I was happy to see the sale, but I'm not expecting much in the future. The best items in my collection are already gone. I hope business picks up for my friend. I've decided that this is a good time to be retired. I would have had a hard time keeping my own business going during the past year. 

We're under another severe weather alert. This is the time of year when we get a lot of bad weather. I'm watching a storm head our way on the weather radar and hoping that the power doesn't go out. Isn't there somewhere that doesn't have any bad weather at all? We have tornados to worry about. Other parts of the country have hurricanes, wildfires, dust storms, or too much snow. I'd really prefer not to worry about bad weather at all.

The Purple Martins have returned to the park. I'm kind of glad that we don't live near these birds. They are considered very desirable, but they are also very loud and you could hardly call the sound they make a song. It's more like a loud, angry squawk. I'd rather have the Pelicans live nearby. I've never heard them make any sound at all. Pelicans poop a lot though, so maybe this wouldn't be a good idea after all. I guess our resident possums aren't so bad after all.

I was hoping for three consecutive nights of restful sleep, but it wasn't meant to be. I woke up at 4:30 AM and couldn't get back to sleep. Maybe I'm taking too many naps. When I was working, I seldom had problems sleeping. When you are really tired, sleep is almost inevitable. I wish it were easier to keep a dream journal. When I first wake up I'm always aware that I've been dreaming. The dreams fade quickly though. Many of my dreams involve being lost in mundane situations. I'm looking for my car in a parking garage. I'm trying to find my room in a hotel. Sometimes I'm in an ad agency but I can't find my office. There are other dreams where I'm living in a house I have never seen before. If I could remember these things clearly, I might know what they mean. Occasionally, I have had a dream that felt so real that I've wondered if it was something that I actually experienced. Vivid dreams and a poor memory make a strange combination.

I'm mesmerized by the weather radar. It looks like the storm where tornados were spotted is going to the south of us. It will be close, but I think the storm will miss us. Dealing with weather makes you realize that much of life is governed by luck. It helps to be careful, but you've got to be lucky as well. Every time you go to get groceries you could get hit by a drunk driver. Your house might be a tornado target. I'm convinced that a lot of the people who got Covid just had bad luck.

So far, I feel like I've been lucky in life. I hope my luck continues and I never become paralyzed by fear. I'm on the home stretch now, but there is still lots to be done. Right now, I'm optimistic. Reaching Day 5000 seems like a piece of cake.

Chelsey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3658

We introduced ourselves to the new Dalmatians today. They are a good looking, friendly group of dogs with ages ranging from nine months to six years. Two of the newcomers are already in the process of being adopted. I'm glad that most of the new dogs are finding homes quickly. They all deserve a chance for a normal life. We spent quite a while playing with the dogs this afternoon, but it was time well spent. Ginny went to her forever home over the Christmas holidays. Hopefully, when we return next week, a few more will have found homes as well.

Before going to the kennel, I went up on the roof. It must have gotten really cold last night because there was ice on the roof this morning. Removing standing water in the Winter is depressing because it never evaporates. If I ignore the water after a rain, it just sits there forever. Eventually, it will find a way inside. So far, all the patches I've made are holding up well, but I keep finding new areas that need attention. My five gallon bucket of silicon is almost empty now. Hopefully, my recent repairs will take me through the rest of the Winter. The silicon material seems to do better when you apply it in the Summer.

I got off to a slow start this morning. I felt tired, but Fitbit said that I got a good night's sleep. Sometimes I wonder what Fitbit and the Apple Watch actually measure. The readings don't always correspond to the way I actually feel. I dream a lot. I have a feeling that my dreams are more stressful than my day-to-day life. I'm always lost in my dreams. I seldom feel this way when I'm awake.

We got home from the kennel fairly late and I ended up taking my walk in the dark again. It was such a clear day that I thought I might be able to do a little stargazing while I was in the park. No such luck. It certainly got dark enough, but the light pollution in Dallas is so bad that it's hard to see much of anything. An hour after sunset, all I could see was Venus, the Moon and two stars.

I wonder whether Janet and I will be able to stay awake until midnight tomorrow. For the past several years it's been difficult. Midnight is well past our bedtime these days. I can't imagine going out for New Year's Eve anymore. It seems like an eternity ago when my old band used to routinely play New Year's Eve parties. I usually wouldn't get home until 2 or 3 AM. How did I do this? Staying up late is the one misgiving I have about getting more involved with astronomy again. Unfortunately you can't see stars in the daytime.

Tomorrow I'll add the new dogs to the Dalmatian Rescue website. Maybe I'll use this picture of Larry.  He looks pretty handsome here.

Penny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3293

Dash kept kicking me last night and waking me up. He must have been dreaming. Occasionally, he woke me up in the middle of my own dreams and I started remembering snippets of other dreams. There were so many. It kind of startled me that my brain had stored away all my dreams. Are dream memories just like any other memory? If so, I probably have more memories of things that never happened than of things that actually occurred.

I am often lost in my dreams. I'll spend forever looking for my room in a huge hotel. Sometimes I'm looking for my car in a large parking garage. There are several memories where I go from deck to deck on a huge ship looking for a friend. I always wake up before I find what I'm looking for.

I've occupied more dream houses than real ones. I know every inch of these imaginary homes. Some are quite simple and contain only one room. Others are incredibly elaborate. Most of these dreams are pleasant. I am getting ready for bed or trying to find a toothbrush. Just ordinary domestic stuff. There are several dreams where I'm trying to stop a roof leak though. Once, the roof actually collapsed.

There are many journey dreams where I am traveling through a large city or along a long road. Sometimes the city has tall buildings like New York or Chicago. Other times there are lots of casinos, like Las Vegas. There is one city that is located by the ocean and I'm always trying to locate a path to the beach. Sometimes I'm changing trains or busses. I'll often look for a specific number on a bus, but I never know where I'm going.

Some dreams are so detailed that I used to spend years wondering whether they were real. In one, I used to spend Summers with an older couple at the end of a long dirt road. I went back to this place for several Summers and would help with the gardening. Did this couple befriend me or employ me? I used to write the couple letters in my dreams buy I can't remember what they said. My dreams really got confusing when they involved showing my portfolio to potential employers. Did some of this actually happen? The flying dreams couldn't have been real, but what about the dreams where I was setting up equipment with my band?

I wonder why all these dream memories came flooding back last night. It was an ordinary night where I kept waking up and checking to see if Dash had pooped on the bed yet. Dash actually slept well last night and didn't need to go outside until it was almost morning. I can't say the same for myself.

It was really cold today and there is rain in the forecast again. This is disappointing, but what can you do? It's Winter. At least it wasn't raining when I went to the gym. I need to remember to strategically position a few buckets on the floor before I go to bed tonight. If it rains hard enough, the roof leak is sure to return.

Although my dreams are weird, they share one thing in common with everyday life. There never seems to be any resolution. During the day, I'm dealing with endless water problems and during the night I'm endlessly looking for something I never seem to find.

Penny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3090

When I woke up this morning, I distinctly remember taking Dash outside in the middle of the night. Something was odd though. Were there really three cats, two rabbits and a raccoon in the yard? I remember seeing these critters when I waved my flashlight around. That's when I knew this was a dream. I never take a flashlight outside with Dash at night. It's weird that I would have such a realistic dream about something I do anyway. My dreams used to be much more exciting than this. When I was young I used to dream that I could fly. Now I dream about taking my dog out to poop.

That wasn't the only thing strange that happened last night. At some point I woke up to hear my watch beeping. I looked at the screen and there was a countdown saying that in ten seconds the watch was automatically going to dial an emergency number. I managed to abort the countdown in less than ten seconds and the next day went online to learn more about this strange function. Apparently, the Apple Watch has an emergency mode that will automatically dial 911 and leave a message with your GPS location if you press and hold one of the side buttons. I must have inadvertently pressed this button in my sleep. I certainly don't want to end up calling 911 in my sleep, so the first thing I did this morning was learn how to disable this function.

Although it was a strange night, it was a pretty normal day. We had a nice walk this morning before the temperature started to rise. Dash did well today. He loves cool morning with a nice breeze. Since we got an early start today, I managed to get to the gym early as well. I should do this more often. I seem to have more energy early in the morning. I've started going on the basketball court as soon as I arrive. This way I have a chance to shoot free throws for a while before those guys arrive for their regular Sunday pick-up game.

There was plenty of time to do Sunday chores when I returned home, but I didn't accomplish much. I sucked out the water that had seeped under the tiles in the shower with the wet/dry vacuum and then I made some repairs on another pair of Dash's protective boots. I've found that I can double the life of these boots by gluing on strips of tire repair rubber when the boot material starts to wear thin. I've repaired three pairs of boots so far and I'm getting better at it. Shoe Goo holds the patches on better than rubber cement, but it is very messy to work with. Shoe Goo is not my friend.

On my way to the gym I listened to an episode of Freakonomics where scientists are starting to reevaluate what separates humans from animals. Apparently very little distinguishes us from other animals. Over 98% of our DNA is identical to monkeys. Monkeys have been taught to use money and tend to follow some of the same basic economic rules that we do. According to this show, even fish share some of the qualities that we've long thought were reserved exclusively for humans. I've always felt this way. This doesn't mean that animals are perfect. Nature can be very cruel. Dolphins are known to murder their own kind. Many animals are carnivores. Nevertheless, animals are sentient creatures and we should start treating them that way. Many species have developed complex language and communicate with each other. They think and have feelings. This is all very clear. So, why do I still like bacon?

Escher is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2973

My fitness tracker tells me when I dream at night. It appears that I don't get much deep sleep, but I dream quite a bit. I wish I could click on this dream timeline and recall the dreams. I occasionally remember dreams, but most evaporate a few seconds after I wake up. The few dreams I do remember all involve being lost. I walk endlessly down hotel corridors looking for my room. I can't find my car in parking garages. I get separated from Janet on cruise ships and can never find her again. Sometimes I am walking Dash and he runs away. I wonder why this is such a common theme?

Maybe I am lost. I certainly flounder around a lot during my waking hours. Today I felt like I was sleepwalking. Each day seems like the previous one. I walk Dash. I make my morning smoothie. I clean up the dog poop in the yard. I turn on the computer and pretend like I'm working for a while. Dash gets lunch. I take a shower. If there are bills to pay, I take them to the post office. Dash gets an early dinner at 3:30 and then we take an afternoon walk. He gets the remainder of his dinner at 4:30 after we return and then I see if there are any leftovers in the refrigerator for my own dinner. The only time I watch TV is while I'm eating. Today I sent out my February invoices. This didn't take long. There are fewer and fewer invoices each month.

My day has become so repetitive that the thought of doing something new makes me apprehensive. I've been taking care of sick dogs for so long that I associate something new with something bad. As long as Dash stays the same, we're fine. New behavior is usually alarming. I feel the same way about the house. If things stay the same, we're fine. Something new usually involves a water leak or a broken appliance. If I were starting the blog today, the title would probably be "What new kind of hell is this." I dread the thought of anything new.

I do try to take a new photo every day. Maybe I'm hoping that if the narrative becomes too repetitive, the photo will keep things interesting. Today, I encountered a very inquisitive squirrel. I don't know if he was looking at me or Dash, but we were definitely invading his territory. I'm looking forward to Spring and a return of the wildflowers in the park. There are very few things to photograph on cold, grey days like this.

I'm going to need to go to the store tomorrow. I've run out of coffee and the refrigerator is looking bare. I usually get Sprinkles Cupcakes for Valentine's Day, but neither of us eats dessert anymore. It hardly seems worth the trouble of standing in line for overpriced cupcakes if we aren't going to eat them.

I've noticed that my WiFi only crashes if I'm looking at Facebook. That's weird. I can be doing anything else on the computer and the connection is solid as a rock. I wonder what this means? I think all the autoplay movies in my timeline are causing things to go wonky, but it could just be that I'm spending too much time on Facebook.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2490

Forget what I said about wishing I could remember my dreams. I actually remembered a dream pretty clearly when I woke up this morning and it was pathetic. Somehow when I went outside to check the mail, I discovered a man building an elaborate rock garden in my front yard. I asked the man what he was doing and he told me that the yard needed something extra and that he would send me a bill. I argued with him for a while and then went back inside to discover that I wasn't in my own home anymore, but was at a housewarming party at the home of Dot's veterinarian. Dot wasn't at the party, but I did remember seeing a large Persian rug under the dining room table with a woven Dalmatian pattern. I asked if I could have the rug and then I woke up. This was nothing like the dreams I used to have many years ago where I had the ability to fly.

I always make a grocery list when I go to the store, but when I got home today, I noticed that I failed to buy several items that were clearly marked on my list. It wasn't like these items were out of stock.  I just completely forgot about them, even though I looked at the list at the store. This isn't like me. I'm usually very methodical. Is this how Alzheimer's begins? If I got Alzheimer's, probably nobody would know the difference. I don't remember much anyway.

Dot seemed was a bit stronger today. I don't know causes her dramatic change in energy levels from one day to the next, but I'm always glad when she has a good day. Maybe it's as simple as a change in temperature. Fall is definitely here and Dot loves the cooler weather. I had to wear a jacket for the first time on our morning walk. I think the temperature was in the low fifties when I woke up. I bought several Winter jackets at dirt cheap prices when the sporting goods store was going out of business earlier this Summer. I wasn't sure if I'd actually wear these coats then, but it turned out to be a good purchase. The feather light insulated jacket was perfect for mornings like this.

Couldn't we just have a do-over on this presidential election? Both candidates keep getting worse and worse. Even the two independent candidates are embarrassingly bad. I bet if there was a way to vote on just canceling the election and starting over, the measure would pass overwhelmingly. I don't buy the argument that you've got to vote for one of these candidates because the other one is worse. I think we need to admit that we have failed miserably as a country and just start over.

I got my first payment from Shutterstock today. Hey, it only took me a year. I guess this isn't so bad, considering that I only uploaded about ten photos to the stock library. I wish I could get motivated to upload hundreds, or even thousands of pictures. If I had more pictures available, this might end up being a decent form of passive income. Unfortunately, I lost interest in Shutterstock about two weeks after I joined. I got tired of having to extensively tag each photo with a long list of keywords before it was even approved. It was also pretty irritating when many of my favorite images got rejected for poor focus or excessive grain. I love shallow depth of field where only a small part of the image is in sharp focus and grainy images never bothered me at all. What do I know though? It is nice getting a check, so maybe I'll upload some more pictures.

Today wasn't a bad day at all. The weather was perfect. Even though Dot pooped in the house, she managed to avoid making a mess. For my part, I managed to get caught up on all my web assignments. Janet even fixed some delicious trout for dinner. I will have to go back to the grocery store tomorrow to pick up the items that mysteriously vanished from my memory today, but this is no big deal. A few more days like this would be just fine.

Madison is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2033

I got the go ahead to begin another new website project. It is a small project, but aren't they all these days. I'm just happy to have the work. I'm not motivated enough to look for challenges outside of work, so I depend on new projects to keep my brain in gear. This project will keep me thinking for a little while, and then I'll have to find another one.

Without projects and deadlines, I tend to obsess about little things around the house. I wonder why the ice-maker is filling up with ice too fast. Is it broken, or are we just not putting ice in our drinks anymore? Where do all the little ants in the bathroom come from?  I spray and plug up all the cracks that might let them in from the outside, but they are always there. Lately, I've been spending way too much time wondering when Dot is going to poop next. She doesn't give you much warning anymore and if you don't read the tea leaves exactly right, there's a mess to clean up in the house. I think I'm getting better at reading the subtle signs. I've gotten her outside just in time for three days in a row.

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and noticed that I could only see out of one eye. The sensation only lasted a moment or two, but it was very odd and a bit alarming. It was almost as if one eye had see a very bright light, causing the pupil to contract. By morning, I was wondering if I had dreamed the whole thing, because my vision was completely normal. Assuming the momentary blindness was real and not a dream, I'm wondering if it was caused by the Apple Watch. The display turns on and off when you look at it and it is fairly bright. This feature works great when you are awake and standing up, but I've noticed that the display seems to flash on and off randomly when you are tossing and turning in bed at night. Often my hands wind up near my face when I'm asleep and maybe the watch was directly in front of my eye while the display was on in my sleep. Just a thought. I'm beginning to think this was just a dream though. If it happens again, I'll need to see an eye doctor.

I mowed the grass this afternoon. I usually do this on Saturday, but I thought I'd get the chore out of the way early and save Saturday for other things. I have no idea what I'm actually saving the time for, because I certainly don't have any plans for the weekend. The time will get used up though. It always does. Maybe I ought to go out and buy a flat of Monkey Grass at a garden store. The Liriope in one section of the back yard is starting to die. You'd think that with all the rain we've had this year that all the plants would be doing wonderfully, but that's not the case. Janet and I apparently do not have a green thumb. It is a constant struggle to keep the yard looking nice.

Dot's limp is a little better today. I still haven't heard anything from the oncologist at the cancer center, but since Dot has an appointment next week for a re-check, maybe I'll just ask all my questions again in person. I wonder if the receptionist didn't relay my message to the doctor. They are usually very good about returning my calls. Hopefully, Dot's condition will continue to improve. We need to keep her strong, but it's getting harder and harder.

Keller is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1745

I finally saw our elusive possum. I got up last night about 2 AM to get a glass of water and there he was, methodically perusing the yard right outside the living room window. He wasn't digging anything up, but he sure was looking for something. This must have been a young possum, because he was much smaller than I anticipated. It's a good thing the dogs were both asleep, because possums move really slow. I asked our vet today if these animals posed a rabies risk like bats and racoons, but she said no. They are marsupials and are not carriers of rabies. This is good to know, but I still wouldn't want the dogs to tangle with one.

I've been having strange and complicated dreams lately. Unfortunately, I can't remember any of them. When the dogs wake me up during the night, I'll often think "this is a weird dream," and then the dream just vanishes about ten seconds later. I can't remember anything at all. I wonder if I'll recall these dreams later in life. I can't remember any recent dreams, but some of my childhood dreams are quite vivid. A few are so real that I occasionally wonder if they actually happened. It's hard to tell. All these dreams are floating around somewhere in my mind, but they are only accessible after a long period of time has passed. During those fleeting moments when the dream is fading away, I often notice that Dot and Dash are dreaming too. I wonder if we're all dreaming about the same thing?

Dot had another good physical therapy session today. We're back to our regular routine of a twenty minute workout in the underwater treadmill, followed by acupuncture. The vet was happy that Dot was responding well to the Incurin treatment and I was happy that there were no embarrassing fleas on Dot this time. I'm really glad that things are getting back to normal.

Today was busier than I expected. In addition to Dot's vet appointment, there were articles to write and several last minute website revisions. The fact that I got everything done with only a half a day of actual computer time means that I'm becoming more productive again. I think it helps that I don't have to get Dot up and outside to pee every few hours now. In fact, Dot gets indignant if I try to take her out too often. She gives me this look that says "Hey, I can hold it now. Leave me alone."

There's a mosquito buzzing around my office that I can't seem to find. I know I'm going to wake up with a mosquito bite in the morning, but it's not worth the trouble to get out the stepladder and a flyswatter to get rid of the irritating bug. It's a sign that it was a pretty good day if the mosquitoes don't bother me. Hey, if Thursday was OK, Friday should be great. You guys already know how much I love Fridays.

Zorro is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day