Day 3545

I see the same people at the gym every Sunday. Each of them has a completely different routine and just like me, their routine never changes. I occasionally wonder if I should copy someone else's routine. Maybe theirs would produce better results. I never change though. Nobody ever changes. I'm comfortable with my exercise routine. I know exactly how long it takes and how I'll feel afterwards. I guess this just proves that habits can be powerful.

My walks are always the same as well. Part of this is determined by where I live, but there are alternate paths available. Again, I like following the same path. It provides a frame of reference. I can easily tell if I'm going slower or faster. I know, almost to the minute, when I'll return home. Familiar things are relaxing, even when you're doing something strenuous.

Unfamiliar things drive me nuts. I had to update a website this afternoon, and the software I use had gone through a major update. Nothing was where it was supposed to be. It took me forever to add some slides to a simple slideshow, all because the familiar navigation controls I knew by heart were gone. This is one reason I hate software subscriptions. I don't care about the latest updates. Old versions where I am familiar with everything are so much easier to work with. I use extremely old versions of Microsoft Word and Photoshop all the time. I used to use an equally old copy of Dreamweaver too, until the need to produce mobile ready websites made this familiar friend obsolete. Now I use a suite of powerful online software tools that keeps changing every week. Maybe I could keep up with the changes if I used this software everyday. Once a month is clearly asking for trouble. I practically had to relearn the entire program this afternoon. Why do people keep changing things? This is probably my own personal version of "get off my lawn." I'm tired of change. It's a huge nuisance.

I've got a lot of people to contact next week. I need to find our why the pharmacist is saying a prescription is ready that I never ordered. I need to get the tree guy to remove the tree that fell in my back yard. I need to find out when the carpenter is going to start repairing the greenhouse. Is the roofer ever going to bring me a can of silicon material? What happened to the Sequential Circuits synthesizers I was trying to sell?  There are a lot of loose ends.

I never did get around to making final edits on my article for Sky and Telescope. Deciphering the changes in Webflow used up all my time. Actually, taking long walks in the hot sun used up all my time, but that's another story. I still think I'll be able to wrap things up and submit the article tomorrow. Then we'll wait.

I've almost finished my Sunday routine. Tomorrow I begin the Monday routine. I was always fascinated by Andy Warhol's desire to be a machine. There is a comfort in repetition. The odd thing is that even though I make no effort whatsoever to change things up, every day is different anyway.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3311

Every once in a while I look at posts from previous years. Apparently not much changes on January 17. It's usually cold and rainy. I've either just gotten or am about to get a haircut. Maybe the dogs were healthy at some point, but not in recent years. It was obvious from a quick glance at my past that Dot and Dash have been sick for a very long time. I wonder how long it's been since I was genuinely excited about something. I couldn't find anything. Read in sequential order, each day just seemed like I was living in an endless boot camp.

Hey, I'm always the one who says he loves consistency. I guess I shouldn't complain. Life has been consistent. Today was certainly a typical January day. It was cold and damp, but that didn't keep us from walking. Dash was even slower than usual because Janet had an appointment this morning and he had no one to follow. When we walk alone it often feels like we just walk in circles. Eventually, we made it home. Dash is forgetful now but he still remembers the way home.

Dash wasn't on a puppy pad when he pooped in the bed last night, so there was lots of laundry this morning. I wish he'd learn to sleep in the center of the bed. It would make life so much easier if he'd just stay on his protective bedding. Whatever we do, he always ends up right on the edge of his blanket. At least I've got cleanup down to a science. Janet and I have become quite efficient when an accident happens at night. Out with the soiled stuff. In with pre-positioned replacement bedding. And back to sleep we go. Oddly, it all seems normal now.

Actually, all the chaos in the world just seems normal now. It's hard to get alarmed when the same old shit keeps happening over and over again. Maybe I'll get used to stock market volatility someday. Political volatility is here to stay as well. If Trump eventually gets his wall, the next administration will just tear it down again. I see an endless series of eight year cycles where each incoming president is determined to erase the accomplishments of the previous one. Maybe China has the answer. Their plan seems to be totalitarian rule but still let people have nice stuff.

Lately I have been seeing a lot of ads for breakfast restaurants on my Facebook feed. This is odd. I talk a lot about breakfast on my blog, but I never post anything directly on Facebook. How do they know? All there is on my timeline is a daily link to my latest blog post. Does a Facebook robot follow each link and try to figure out your personality? I wouldn't doubt it. If they do figure something out, I wish they'd let me know. I  could use the information. Actually some of the restaurants that have been turning up in my feed look interesting. Maybe I'll go try one out tomorrow.

Hard to believe it's almost Friday again. The trash has been taken out to the curb. I'm getting a grocery list together for Saturday. Dash has already taken his evening meds. I should just look at last years post to see what I need to do tomorrow.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2915

Our power is out. I'm better prepared than I used to be, but power outages are always a hassle. It doesn't help that it's cold outside today. I can already feel the temperature dropping in the house. We're got lights this time. During our last power outage I discovered that the LED light panels I use for video production will run for a long time on Anton Bauer batteries. They're really bright too. I've got backup power for the laptop and phones, along with an alternate source of WiFi. If they restore the power tonight, everything is fine. We've had power outages last as long as four days though, so we're not out of the woods yet.

The main problem I've had so far is that I forgot my Google password and couldn't access my Blogger dashboard from the laptop. I didn't want to reset the password because then I would have to use the e-mail on the laptop to confirm the new password and thousands of messages stored on the server would come flooding into my mailbox as soon as I opened it. Luckily, I have a pretty hefty backup battery, so I fired up the big desktop computer for a while, just so I could retrieve my Google password. I probably expended twenty minutes of battery life by doing this, but now I'm online.

Before the power went out it was a fairly normal day. We walked Dash, ate breakfast, and did our Sunday chores. I had plenty of time to go to the gym and wonder about the meaning of life while I exercised. Whenever I go to the gym I become very aware of how repetitive everyday life is. It always takes me 62 minutes to complete my workout. If I took me 66 minutes, I would think something was wrong. Much of my day is this way. I brush my teeth the same way every evening. I go to bed at the same time. The same ingredients go into my smoothie every morning. Everything is as familiar as the steady pace I maintain on the treadmill while I'm at the gym.

Dash is the wild card. Something is always changing with Dash and this is probably why I worry so much. Does it mean anything if his poop gets soft or his appetite changes? Dash has so many things wrong with him that I'm sure that everything I observe means something. You'd have to be a highly trained vet to intrepret these subtle clues though. Most of the time I'm just guessing. Today Dash seemed fine. He ate all his breakfast. He had lots of energy on his walks. Actually, Dash is pretty consistent. There are just occasional moments of raw panic when something goes wrong.

I don't know why I thought we were through with power outages. Tonight was a reminder that just because things are going smoothly doesn't mean that problems won't return. Problems always return. When I got a new roof I thought I'd never have roof problems again. That honeymoon didn't last long. The sad fact is that sometime when I least expect it, the car won't start. Someday another water pipe will break. Someday, I'll be rushing Dash to the emergency room again. That's just the way life is.

I took some satisfaction in how well prepared I was tonight. We weren't sitting in the dark. The oven didn't work, but we had plenty of vegetables and Janet fixed a delicious salad for dinner. My backup power sources worked perfectly. After dinner, Janet watched Netflix movies while I wrote tonight's blog entry. If it wasn't for the fact that the entire neighborhood was completely dark, it was just a normal Sunday evening.

Hopefully, our power will be restored soon. I've got plenty of sweaters, but I do like a warm house. I wonder if I could make my smoothie using the backup batteries. Maybe not. That Vitamix is one powerful blender.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2486

A lot of life is simple repetition. We brush our teeth. We make our coffee in the morning. We load the dishwasher and make the bed. There are literally hundreds of things we do the same way everyday. When I do these familiar things, it triggers a memory of doing exactly the same thing, exactly the same way yesterday. Everything from the way I arrange my pillow at night to the way I fold my clothes when they come out of the dryer is done the same way. I have a specific place for every dirty dish in the dishwasher. I can tell when the temperature rises or falls two degrees in the house. I wear certain shoes for walking the dogs and other shoes for going to the post office. Some may find this behavior obsessive, but I find comfort in the familiar rhythm of repetition.

I have a feeling that dogs think the same way. Dot and Dash get very upset when their familiar routines are altered. They don't like their dinner to be ten minutes late and they don't like to be surprised by a thunderstorm. It must be hard on Dot to have old age and disability altering the familiar routines she has known for a lifetime. She doesn't like pooping at random times in the house and probably doesn't like seeing Dash gradually take over her position as the alpha dog. I understand these things and try to make her life as normal and regular as I can. As I gradually adapt to accommodate Dot's many disabilities, I realize that my own routines are changing as well. The repetitive elements in my life now include things like poop bags, Wee Wee Pads, and the ubiquitous Help 'Em Up Harness. I probably take this harness on and off ten times a day. Dot can't rest well while wearing it, but can't walk without it. I have finally gotten to the point where I can attach the harness quickly and efficiently in the dark without waking anyone else up.

Today was like any other day. Janet gets up early and I wake up about a half hour later when I hear the hair dryer in the bathroom. The dogs don't start to stir until they hear noises in the kitchen. I try to be fully awake and ready by the time Dot wakes up, because there is a very limited time to get her outside before she pees all over the place. I make sure the back door is open, put my shoes on, and then quickly guide her to the back yard as soon as she tries to get up. Amazingly this works about 80% of the time.

Janet eats first. Then the dogs eat. Dot and Dash get a short walk around the block and then I take Dash on a longer walk while Janet finishes getting ready for work. When the dogs have been taken care of, I make a pot of coffee, fix my fruit smoothie, and often watch an old Dr. Who episode on the BBC channel while I'm eating. Eventually, I turn the computer on and see if there is anything dreadful that I need to do that day.

Today, there were some minor website revisions that needed attention. I went to the bank and the post office while the dogs were taking their afternoon nap. That was about it. To keep the dogs peaceful, I split their dinner into two parts, feeding them the first half at 3:30 and the second half at 5:00. This may seem silly, but it prevents a lot of needless barking. If Janet gets home before sunset, we take Dot on another short walk around the block. In the evening, I write the blog. The day goes very quickly. I imagine I'll do something similar tomorrow.

Jersey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2385

Janet asked me whether I'd ever heard of GoPro cameras the other day and of course I answered "Oh sure, I've had one for years." When I said this, I realized that I hadn't actually used the camera in years either. Today, I found the thing gathering dust in a drawer and fired it up to see if it still worked. Since I tend to be an early adopter, this was one of the first GoPro's ever made. There was no WiFi, it had a cryptic menu, and I'd lost the software for it a long time ago. Getting this ancient thing going again was a natural weekend project.

You may wonder why I bought the GoPro in the first place, since I don't snowboard, water ski, or ride bicycles down mountains. I think my original intent was to mount the camera on one of the dogs and film them while they were running around at the dog park. The dog camera never happened. There were a few ugly dog fights at the park we usually went to and we quit taking our dogs to public dog parks. Then both dogs got cancer and our lives changed dramatically. GoPro cameras are still a cool concept though. If they had been invented thirty years ago, I would have used them a lot.

Do you ever think about all the repetitive things you do everyday? Every time I brush my teeth, make the bed, clean out the lint trap in the dryer, tie my shoes, check to make sure I have my keys before I leave the house, and turn off the computer each night, some kind of muscle memory kicks in and I realize that I have done these things exactly the same way thousands and thousands of times. Weekend chores are repetitive by nature and I sometimes think that I go through entire days repeating actions I have done for so long that I don't even think about them. I don't decide to brush my teeth or make the bed each day. It just happens.

Cleaning up Dot's poop is rapidly becoming one more of those automatic muscle memory things I do everyday without even thinking. I've gotten so much better at dealing with the mess since her incontinence started. Now, there are poop bags, enzyme cleaners, and disposable pads pre-positoned everywhere. I've learned to recognized the breathing changes and telltale motion in her tail that indicates an accident is about to happen. I don't have to do nearly as much laundry as I did in the beginning, because I've learned what to expect. It's kind of amazing how adaptable people can be when it is necessary. This is why I continue to faithfully do the shoulder strengthening exercises my physical therapist recommended several years ago. I understand how easy it would be to get lazy and just adapt to using one arm instead.

I don't want to get lazy. That's why I'm going to the gym tomorrow, even though I'd probably rather just read a book. I don't want to get sick either. I saw something on TV today that said the third leading case of death in the United States is medical mistakes. I'm sure this is true. Questionable medical procedures killed my Mom. I had a close call myself when I was given two medications that should have never been taken together. How was I to know. You trust that your doctor knows what they are prescribing. We live in a world where we don't trust our politicians, have lost faith in our drinking water, and worry that our doctor is going to replace the wrong knee. I'm not sure there is a solution for this, but it does explain why some people smoke a lot of weed.

Shiner is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2231

If you happen to follow my Instagram account, you've probably noticed that certain images appear again and again. On Sundays, there is often a picture of a basketball. On Thursdays, you frequently see Dot exercising in the underwater treadmill. On Fridays its almost always a picture of my breakfast. Although these pictures are similar, they are not the same. Each one records a specific event that will never happen again. To me, repetitious pictures like this are an affirmation. They are a way of saying that I'm still here. Life itself is fairly repetitious. The sun comes up every morning and sets every night. We brush our teeth, we shower, we fix our meals, over and over and over again. Some try to escape this monotony with wild adventures. I celebrate the tiny little nuances that make even the most repetitious event unique.

Today was like most Sundays. We slept in a little later and waited until after sunrise to walk the dogs. I can eat a bigger breakfast on weekends because I know I'm probably going to work it off. According to my fitness band, Sunday is the most active day of my week. Today when I vacuumed the house, I not only cleaned the rugs and carpets, I got down on my knees and cleaned baseboards, under tables, and even under the bed. I'll have to admit that Janet shamed my into this additional cleaning, but the house does look pretty nice now.

On my way to the gym this afternoon I stopped by the REI store again. I'm kind of fascinated by the stuff inside this store. I got a pair of mountaineering pants. I'll never go near a mountain with these clever pants, but they seemed perfect for walking dogs. The knees in my regular jeans wear out way too fast because I'm always kneeling down to get Dot's harness on and off or clean Dash's paws. Maybe these heavy duty, reinforced pants will last longer. Shoes wear out pretty fast too with two walks a day over rough terrain. I finally retired my old dog walking boots and started wearing a new pair this morning. The odd thing was that I'd had these new boots for over a year. A receipt in the box said I bought them on January 12, 2015. This is typical of me. I tend to wear old clothes as long as I possibly can, because they become more comfortable with age, but I always have a replacement waiting in reserve.

I wonder if I'm going to be able to see Mercury during the short window of opportunity I have between now and early February? I went outside around 6 AM this morning with a pair of binoculars when I knew the planet would be above the horizon, but once again it was obscured by clouds. For the past several days skies will be crystal clear around midnight, then around dawn clouds will roll in. Later in the day the clouds will burn off and it will become clear again. I'll try again tomorrow.

I need to remember to order printer ink tomorrow. The longer I wait, the harder it will be to unclog the printer. I'm not sure how busy I'll be tomorrow. If there aren't many websites to update, I might see if The Martian is available on Hulu. I currently watch old TV shows on Hulu, but haven't used it yet for pay per view movies. I've noticed that falling leaves are starting to accumulate on the front and back porch. It might be time to use the blower again. Janet couldn't find rubber snakes this weekend either, so she got a rubber lizard to protect her car. We'll see how that goes. The pooping birds are definitely still around. They made a mess of the lawn furniture yesterday. All this may sound insignificant and somewhat boring to you, but it's really not. I'm already looking forward to my banana and strawberry smoothie in the morning.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2126

I got up early without waking Janet and the dogs and quietly went outside with my Dad's old Carl Zeiss binoculars to look for Mercury. This was the perfect day to look for the illusive planet, because it was located right next to the thin crescent of the waning moon. The pre-dawn sky was clear and I was able to find the almost impossibly thin sliver of the moon about five degrees above the horizon. Sure enough, when I looked though the binoculars, there was Mercury, right where it was supposed to be. It was a nice way to start the day.

When I was at the gym later in the day, a loud announcement came over the PA system saying DISASTER - CODE WHITE IS NOW IN EFFECT. This message was repeated several times, but nobody paid any attention to it.  I think the message referred to a pediatric medical emergency, but it could just as easily have signaled the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. The odd thing to me was although the message was clearly a warning of some sort, nobody seemed to care. Eventually one old man asked if we should leave the building, but the people using the machines next to him just shrugged their shoulders and continued listening to whatever was being piped through their earbuds. Maybe this is why we end up being surprised so frequently. Nobody listens to warnings anymore.

Maybe I should replace my Watch of the Day feature with a Things That Broke Today feature. Yesterday two tape recorders bit the dust. Today it was a watch winder. I suspect that aging rubber parts contributed to today's mishap as well. Watch winders are simple mechanisms. They use a rotating drum to keep a self winding mechanical watch wound up and running while it is not on your wrist. This particular watch winder had been running continuously for over five years, but today a red fault light was illuminated and the motor wasn't turning. I wouldn't be surprised if a rubber drive belt was used to transfer the motion of the electric motor to the rotating drum that holds the watch. Rubber drive belts break easily. I wonder who repairs these things. One more thing to research tomorrow on Google.

I could make a long list of things that are on the verge of breaking. A large sliding glass door in our house is becoming very hard to open. I've already replaced the original nylon track rollers with solid steel rollers that were supposed to last forever. I guess in today's world, forever means seventeen years. The electric lawn mower makes a loud whining noise then I mow the grass now. Sounds like a bearing is starting to go out. The garbage disposal under the kitchen sink clogs a bit too easily and there is a section of the bedroom carpet that is looking really threadbare. Actually, probably everything in the house is on the verge of breaking.

Dash had a good day. He limped a little, but not nearly as bed as he did yesterday. He rested a lot today and we made sure that when he was active that he didn't race around at full speed and aggravate his injury. It's hard to tell a Dalmatian to take it easy, but that's what we're trying to do. Dot had a pretty good day too. There were no accidents in the house and she had lots of energy on her walks.

These weeks go by so quickly. When I was using the arm bicycle at the gym, and later when I was using the Dyson to clean rugs at the house, I kept thinking "Didn't I just do this a few minutes ago." Nope, that was last week. The days, and weeks, and months just blend together in a series of repetitive actions. Tomorrow there will be more of the same. I'll pop in the shower. I'll feed the dogs. I'll fix another peach and banana smoothie for breakfast. I doubt that I'll see Mercury again though.

Katy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1702

So, what did I accomplish today? I misspelled a client's name on her own website. I replaced dozens of cat pictures on an animal rescue website with pictures of the same cats when they were a little older. I'm no expert on cats, but the two sets of pictures looked identical to me. I haven't been able to come up with an effective way to keep Dash's tail from bleeding, so I spent the day cleaning blood stains off walls and doors. It was that kind of day.

Dot's progress with incontinence has been erratic at best. She has good days and bad days. Today wasn't so good. Basically, she peed every time she took a nap. Dogs nap a lot, so I did a lot of laundry. I'm glad she's learned to sleep on the waterproof mats I've strategically placed around the house, because things would be much worse without this thin layer of protection. I can't figure out why she pees in her sleep so frequently, because she still does her business completely normally outdoors as well. Maybe she's just drinking too much water.

I'm beginning to feel like Sisyphus, or one of those hamsters on a spinning wheel. Every day there are more urine soaked pads and towels to wash. I though I'd managed to get Dash's bleeding tail to heal completely and now I'm starting all over again. Whenever I get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, I take Dot outside so she can go too. The water bowls get taken up and put on the kitchen counter at 8 PM every evening and refilled again at 6 AM the next morning. The protective vinyl and waterproof pads go on top of the bed every evening and come off again the next morning. It all blends in with my morning oatmeal and the noise of the washing machine and old Dr. Who episodes on BBC that I've seen ten times already. I'd like to think I'm making progress, but sometimes I wonder.

I called to confirm Dash's cancer recheck for next week and the receptionist at the cancer center said "Isn't he up here with us today?" "I don't think so," I told her, "He's standing right her next to me." Apparently, there had been a mix up and Dash's appointment was for today and not for next Wednesday. I wonder why they never called to remind me? The appointment was made months ago, so there was no way of telling who wrote it down wrong on their calendar. We just rescheduled for next Wednesday. I suspect the cancer center was wrong because Dash hasn't run out of Palladia pills yet and Janet thought the appointment was next week as well. I get dates mixed up all the time, but she seldom does.

Tomorrow Dot goes back for another water therapy session. Physically, I think she's making great progress. I'm more worried about the incontinence now. Maybe she has a problem that's totally unrelated to the surgery. I'm probably driving my vet crazy with questions about Cushing's Disease and failing kidneys, but you can't find answers unless you ask questions.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1583

I ran into a group of photographers when I was walking the dogs today. They had tripods and long telephoto lenses and were attempting to photograph barn owls in a nearby tree. Surprisingly, I knew exactly which owls they were talking about. I told the photographers when I usually saw the owls and they told me that one of them recently had three babies. I hope the photographers got the pictures they wanted, because they had traveled a long way. That's the difference between me and the other people in the park. I live here. I'm not much of a naturalist, but I'm here every day, year after year. I see patterns. I can tell you when the White Pelicans leave for the Summer and when the baby ducks take to the water for the first time. I can predict when and where flowers will bloom and can tell you where the sun will touch the horizon on any given day. Some people become experts because they are passionate about a subject. My own expertise is usually acquired simply by showing up.

I know every inch of the park because I have a high tolerance for repetition. I have walked a succession of Dalmatians in the park for well over twenty years. This ability to to the same thing over and over again is why I am writing to you for the 1583rd  consecutive day. Endless repetition either drives you crazy or gives you the ability to see nuanced differences. Hopefully, I am not crazy. When I have by favorite breakfast eggs, I can tell if the chef has cooked them 15 seconds too long. When someone takes a book off the bookshelf, I instantly know which book has been removed. Inside every web page is a lot of HTML code that is very similar to all other web pages. The same can be said of print advertising. The only important thing is the headline. The text is just words place together in familiar patterns.

Maybe this is why Texas weather bothers me so much. It seems completely random. I can predict a lot of things fairly accurately, but I can't predict the weather at all. If it rained every Wednesday, I could compensate for it. I never know when it is going to rain, or snow, or when we're in the path of a tornado. The stock market is basically unpredictable as well. There are a ton of people who will tell you that they have the market figured out. Since none of these experts can predict the future, most of them have been fooled again and again.

Today was certainly predictable. Dash had another radiation treatment at the cancer center. I got my exercise by sweeping standing water off the roof. I made an omelet for breakfast using a recipe that became stuck in my head long before I ever moved to Texas. I used to wonder how dogs could get so excited about eating the same bowl of kibble over and over again for breakfast. I do the same thing though. Maybe we just like the ritual of eating. Whatever it is, I think dogs have discovered the secret of life. Eat. Sleep. Play. Repeat. That just about covers it for me.

Becker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1463

There were moments today when I felt like things were being accomplished. I think I might have resolved a health insurance billing error that has been nagging me for months. The owner of the house down the street with the aggressive dogs has finally agreed to fix her deteriorating fence, so the dogs can't escape and kill me. I think all my missing UPS packages are now accounted for. This would all have been very satisfying if I wasn't left wondering at the end of the day whether anything had really happened at all.

You see, I've dealt with all these issues before. I've even thought that I'd resolved them before. These problems and many others keep coming back like a bad penny. I've come to the conclusion that it's virtually impossible to genuinely fix anything these day. All you can do is kick the can down the road like the politicians do.

I did manage to get back to the gym this afternoon. Now I know why you need to go to the gym on a regular basis. I've skipped my regular workouts for over a week and a half due to the ice storm and a host of work related deadlines. Today felt like I was starting over. How could I deteriorate so fast? Unfortunately, going to the gym is like everything else in life. You've got to be consistent and keep plugging away before you can reap the benefits.

When I don't write something every day, my writing deteriorates. If I don't clean every day, it doesn't take long before the house looks like shit. If I don't walk the dogs every day, I'm faced with some very angry dogs. Basically, just about everything in my life needs to be done every day. The only way you get good at something is to do it over, and over, and over again. I remember very early in my career when someone told me that the definition of a professional was the ability to do good work on a bad day. I never forgot those words of wisdom. They've gotten me through a lot of bad days.

I'm crossing my fingers in hope that this week's nice weather will continue through the end of the week. It was almost Springlike this afternoon. The dogs enjoyed sunning themselves on the back porch. I ran my errands without the need of a Winter coat. I think the roof is finally dry again. Against all odds, I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1336

My gym is about as close as I'll ever get to experiencing Ground Hog Day. Every time I go, there is an old man reading the same book while he pedals a stationary bicycle very slowly. There is always a very thin girl who is speed walking endlessly around and around the oval track. And then there is someone who looks a lot like a competitive cyclist putting an elliptical machine through its paces as fast as he can while continually turning his head from side to side. There are other familiar faces as well, but these three are amazing. No matter when I arrive, they are always there, doing exactly the same thing.

I got a new photography job today, but other than that, it was a pretty typical Monday. Monday's are almost a textbook definition of boredom. Very little happens on a typical Monday, so in lieu of productive work, I invent little chores. I water the lawn. I do laundry. I don't usually try to catch up on things, because I've caught up already.

I should just go to a movie on days like this, but there hasn't been a new movie that has caught my interest for a long time. I'm becoming paranoid about leaving the dogs as well. Now that both dogs are prone to have seizures, I have this fear that the one day I take off for a long time will be the day that something terrible happens and I won't be there when they need me to take them to the emergency vet. I shouldn't think this way, but once your mind starts going in this direction, it's hard to snap out of it. I find myself checking the nanny cam on my phone quite a bit while I'm at the gym. Today Dash was so still that I thought for a minute that he might be dead. Luckily the nanny cam has a zoom lens. I zoomed in all the way and I could see him breathing. Then, it was back to the hand bicycle for another twenty minutes.

I think my social media efforts might have plateaued. Have people finally discovered that I seldom post anything new on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook anymore? There's still something new every single day on the blog of course, but you, my faithful readers, are a dying breed. Hardly anyone bothers to read blogs anymore. I don't know if I should care about the slow, but steady attrition of followers on Twitter. It's not like I'm going to start doing anything new at this point.

My research on seizures has netted me a lot more questions than answers. It seems that medical science has discovered, mostly through trial and error, a variety of ways to control seizures and minimize their severity, but nobody really knows what causes them in the first place.

As you can see, there are so few wildflowers left that I've started taking pictures of rocks.

Ellis is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1288

Sometimes life reminds me of one of those hamster wheels. No matter how fast you try to move, you somehow always end up in exactly the same place. Summer seems to accentuate this feeling. It's hot. It's monotonous. To conserve energy, you tend to reduce everything to a series of simple repetitive actions. Around and around you go, just like a hamster on an exercise wheel.

I seldom feel like doing anything new when the temperature is over 100 degrees. By the time I get up in the morning, it is already hot. By the time we have finished our morning walk, it is often unbearable. When we return, the dogs immediately lie down on the brick living room floor to cool off and I warm up the computer to begin another work day.

The house is kept cool because Janet and the dogs like it that way. I can never seem to find the right temperature. I'm always either too hot or too cold. I often wear a jacket around the house in the middle of summer because it's too much trouble to constantly be resetting the thermostat. Sometimes I think there is something wrong with my ability to regulate my own body temperature. Other times I think I'm just impossible to please.

Today was a website update day. There were a lot of things to change and the updates kept me busy most of the day. Website maintenance is a bit like a hamster wheel too. You change out a bunch of photos and text and then when you're all done, you find yourself with exactly the same website you started out with. The different words and pictures are important to clients, but I just see textures. It all looks the same to me.

I thought the road in front of our house was finished, but I was wrong. Today the paint striping trucks were here, painting white lines on the road. I found myself trapped in the driveway again for a while, because the last thing I wanted was white paint on my brand new tires. The paint seemed to dry very quickly. Who knows? Maybe it was even dry when it was applied. At any rate, I waited an hour and then took Dash to the vet for his regular antigen shot. Dash had a new nurse give his shot today. I wanted to ask for his regular nurse, but I forgot her name.

By the time the dogs and I took our evening walk, it was so hot outside that we didn't even attempt to go very far. As soon as Dot and Dash had done their business, we turned around and went home. It looks like more of the same scorching weather tomorrow, and according to the weather forecast, for the rest of the week. It's kind of ironic. If I had just waited just one month to put on the new roof, I wouldn't have had any rain problems at all.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 987

Has your life become a poor re-make of Groundhog Day? You remember that movie, don't you? Bill Murray is forced to relive the same day over and over again until he finally gets it right. I feel that way sometimes. I look for a flower, or something vaguely interesting to photograph for the blog on my morning walk with the dogs. I stay in the shower until the hot water runs out. I eat breakfast while watching an old episode of Dr. Who that I've seen five times already. Then I go to work. The work is almost always the same. It's usually slow and tedious. I add something to a website. I subtract something from a paragraph of text. I blend something together in Final Cut Pro. I crop something in Photoshop. I rarely talk to anyone. My marching orders typically come in the form of terse e-mails sent from smart phones. I don't even bother to answer these messages. The results will be on the web soon enough anyway. I just follow my instructions and move on to the next task.

I wonder if I will ever get it right. It would be nice to move beyond the boredom of endless repetition. The lesson of Groundhog Day was that even in the most boring of scenarios, there is plenty of room for improvement and personal growth. In theory, what I do should be fascinating. The problem is that I've done it all too many times already. This is the challenge of daily life. How do you take something that you have done 1000 times and make version number 1001 fresh and new? I don't have the answer, but I'm working on it. Let's just call it a work in progress.

Maybe I've become fixated on repetition because I've seen a lot of it on TV today. There's a political convention going on right now. It's exactly the same as every political convention I can remember. There's a hurricane headed straight for New Orleans. How many times has this happened? I don't know how the people of New Orleans have the tenacity to keep rebuilding on the same spot over and over again. Maybe they will never get it right. I would have moved to higher ground right after the first hurricane and never returned. That's just me though. I'm always looking for the practical solution. Could it be that being practical is right at the root of my boredom?

Hey, Wednesday is French Toast day though. I know it's just another part of the endless repetition, but I like French Toast. I look forward to it. Maybe the dogs and I will see something new on our walk.  Maybe I'll get an assignment I've never done before. Something brand new! One can always hope.

Mandy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 898

Some days I think a robot could do my job. Other days I think I am the robot. How may days can you do the same thing over and over again before going quietly insane? I wonder about these things.

Today certainly wasn't the day to break free. I took some checks to the bank. I took some bills to the post office. I took some dogs on a walk. There was water on the roof. Dishes in the sink. And a load of dirty clothes in the washing machine. It was just an ordinary day.

My work assignment for today was doing a little Father's Day marketing for one of my clients. They want Mom and the kids to buy something expensive for Dad. Not very likely. Dads never get anything good on Father's Day. Since my birthday always fell fairly close to Father's Day, my Mom never got Dad anything at all. She claimed that I was his Father's Day gift. I think this always made my Dad mad. He would much rather have received tickets to a good basketball game, or at least a nice fishing rod.

The Spring allergy season seems to be waning. It's great not to go through an entire package of Kleenex every time I walk the dogs. The only problem is that the allergy season is always followed by the muggy season. Each day, within an hour after the rain quits, it becomes a steam-bath outdoors. During the muggy season I have to put on a new shirt every time I walk the dogs, because the shirt I was wearing is soaked. There are tons of mosquitoes during the muggy season as well. I really shouldn't complain about the weather we're having though. The muggy season is always followed by the impossibly hot season. During July and August in Texas, it feels like you are living on the surface of Mercury. I don't look forward to this heat. I don't think Dot can handle the heat anymore either. Her tongue is hanging out right now after our walks, and Summer hasn't even arrived yet.

Friday has arrived though. Almost anyway. I've taken this week's trash out to the curb for tomorrow morning's pickup and I'm already wondering what I'm going to have for breakfast on my weekly restaurant excursion. TGIF.

Amy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 610

I think the most exciting thing I did all day was a load of laundry. Don't get me wrong. I was as busy as usual doing my website revisions and writing assignments. It just wasn't very exciting. It's ironic to me that once I get proficient enough at something for people to feel comfortable paying me, I've usually lost interest. My office cubicle friends don't have much sympathy for my situation though. They usually just mumble something like "welcome to the work world" and wander off. It would be nice if you could get paid for learning new things. I'd love a job where my job description was "test pilot of ideas" or something equally fanciful. Not very likely though. People are much more comfortable paying you when you're safe and predictable.

My Instagram picture today is Erykah-Badu's house. On hot days, this is usually where the dogs and I turn around on our walks and start heading home again. In cooler weather, we walk a bit further to a place called The Stone Tables. Today was pretty hot, so we turned around here.

Ten hours later, when it was time for obedience class, I don't think the temperature had cooled down a bit. None of the dogs seemed the least bit interested in the proceedings tonight. I wouldn't be surprised if Dash felt exactly the same way about obedience class as I often feel about website design. The recall exercises, the heeling and even the jumps have all become very predictable. I'm sure that Dash would get a lot more excited if we would take him up to this same field and just let him chase rabbits.

Tomorrow's going to be a busy day. I've got an animal rescue meeting where people are sure to tell me that I'm already late with their promotional materials. I've got to get some large prints ready to go to the frame shop that I promised last month. I'd better go do some shopping too. Janet's got a birthday coming up soon.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day