Day 3003

I wish refrigerators were as easy to repair as computers. Every time I've taken a computer in for repair, I've gotten it back the same day. So far, all the repairs have been reasonably priced and more importantly, they've been successful. Today, I took my desktop computer in to replace a faulty CD/DVD drive and less than three hours later I got a call saying that I could come pick it up. The whole experience was pretty painless.

Plumbers and HVAC repairmen can be expensive, but so far I've had good results. My beef is with appliance repairmen. Washers, dryers, ovens, and refrigerators shouldn't be so hard to fix. I've had terrible luck with appliances. If Google reviews are any indication, lots of other people have had the same experience. I don't think major appliances are made as well anymore. There are fewer brands to choose from and almost everyone sources their component parts from China. Until I started looking for refrigerators, I didn't realize that Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, and Amana are all the same thing. No wonder some of the Whirlpool and Maytag models I was considering looked identical. It's relatively easy to track down the source of a computer problem, since just about every process is logged. By comparison, refrigerator repair seems more like a black art.

When I was out running errands this afternoon, I answered a telemarketing call by mistake. I hate when that happens. I thought the number might be the computer repair shop, but it turned out to be a salesperson from Who's Who in America. Why does this company still exist? When I was a kid, some people thought it was a big deal to be included in Who's Who. Now, if you feel inclined to brag about your resume, you do it on LinkedIn. I made the mistake of buying a Who's Who book decades ago when they first included me. They've been pestering me to buy another book ever since. SiriusXM is the same way. If you ever make the mistake of turning on SiriusXM in your car, they will never forget you. I told the lady from Who's Who that I was too busy to talk even though I was just picking up a prescription at the pharmacy. I'm sure they'll call back.

Dash had a lot of energy today, so I thought he'd enjoy his afternoon walk. We got off to a good start, but after only 50 yards, his knee brace fell off. We stopped so I could reattach the brace and that gave Dash time to reconsider his decision to leave the yard. When I was ready to go again, Dash wouldn't budge. He turned around and started tugging to go home. He still had lots of energy, so when Janet came home Dash started barking and pestering her. She ended up walking him and he walked normally. Dash is a smart dog. I think he was just trying to make me look bad.

I still can't believe that United Airlines put a dog in an overhead bin and killed it. Who would even think of putting a dog in an overhead bin. Two days later the same airline sent a dog to Japan by mistake when it's real destination was Kansas City. These are the same people who dragged that old man off the plane too. I'm not the type of person who boycotts things, but I don't think I'll be flying United Airlines again. Personally, I would never take a dog on a plane. I've heard too many horror stories.

It's almost Friday again. I wonder if I'll ever find a breakfast I like? Maybe I should try a hotel. I usually like hotel food when I'm traveling.

Carmine is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2988

It's been such a gloomy week that it's hard to believe Spring is on the way. The signs are everywhere though. The Redbud and Dogwood trees are starting to bloom. I've started to see a few Grape Hyacinths. It won't be long before there are a multitude of wildflowers to photograph.

For now, all we have is more rain. Maybe that's why so many things are starting to bud and bloom. Plants probably love this weather. The winter hasn't been too cold, but it has been exceedingly wet. There seems to be a pattern to the rain. It usually rains during the night. Then the rain stops or slows to a mist during the early morning hours. Around 10 AM the rain often starts again and continues off and on for the rest of the day. At least this schedule allows me to give Dash a morning walk. If the rain continues through the afternoon, Dash and I both have cabin fever.

Even though I knew the car was going to get dirty, I drove to the tailor shop in the rain to pick up the jacket that was getting a new zipper. The well worn jacket is nice to wear around the house on a cold day. Hey, if I'm willing to drive somewhere in the rain, you know I'm pretty bored.

While I was listening to the rain and wondering what was happening on the roof, I put together my proposal for the website I've been asked to maintain. I tried to be honest about the many pitfalls this project faces, without being overly negative. I still can't decide whether I even want this job. It would be nice to have a monthly retainer for a while, but I'm not sure I can fix this site. It's a mess. I think it would be easier to start over and create a new one.

Janet wasn't very enthusiastic about the tall, skinny refrigerators I showed her. It's back to square one. I still have trouble believing that there is only one refrigerator in the entire world that will fit in our small alcove and still hold enough food to keep someone who cooks happy. I rarely cook, so anything that fits in the space and looks cool is fine with me. I know there is going to be an unpleasant surprise if I order something that I haven't seen in person, but that appears to be only choice we've got. The Maytag that is still the top contender is on back order until the end of March too. I have a feeling that I'm going to have to defrost a few more times.

I've been having problems sending e-mail because my mail client keeps saying that the server certificate in not valid. I hate all these new security issues. Mail servers didn't used to need a certificate. At any rate I called Bluehost and was lucky enough to get a nice tech support person this time. They said the problem was because I was using an Apple computer. Isn't that always the problem? I learned how to reconfigure my mail settings so the problem shouldn't happen again and now everything should be OK again.

I hope the rain clears out tonight. We've got an early appointment to take Dash to the cancer center for his monthly echocardiogram in the morning. I wish Dash would let the nurse clip his nails while we were there. I don't know what we are going to do about his nails. They are getting pretty long.

Connor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2986

I had to defrost the refrigerator again today. Didn't I just do this? I can't even remember whether it was a week ago or two weeks ago. Either way, this process is a pain in the neck. I have to take all the food in the freezer and put it in an ice chest. Then I have to remove all the shelves and the ice maker bucket to gain access to the back panel. Six screws are removed and then the metal back panel easily slides out to revel the frozen evaporator coil.  I turn the refrigerator off and then thaw the coil with a hair dryer. I put some thick bath towels on the bottom of the freezer to sop up all the water. The whole process takes about an hour.

I was so frustrated when I finished that I drove to Home Depot determined to end this madness and buy a refrigerator today. The appliance salesperson was helping another customer, so I started looking at refrigerators again. I noticed that all french door refrigerators have a weird folding flap that seals the two doors when they are closed. This flap makes it virtually impossible to open the left door first. Couldn't somebody have come up with a better design? I found the refrigerator that has replaced the one I currently have. It was exactly the same except it was one inch wider and won't fit in my kitchen. Why did you have to do this General Electric? That extra inch didn't make the refrigerator any more useful. All it did was make me mad. Eventually, I got tired of waiting for the salesperson to sell the other customer something, so I went home with nothing again.

Dash was a picky eater again today. I had to open several cans of food before I could find something he liked. He wouldn't take his afternoon walk either, even though it was one of the nicest days we've had this month. I wish I knew what was going on in his head. Janet thinks some of the problems started when the vet increased his Phenobarbital dose. I think he may be be experiencing some mild nausea from the vestibular disease all the time. It's really hard to tell, because even when Dash was young and healthy, he was always a moody and stubborn dog.

Another round of thunderstorms begins tomorrow morning. I'm getting so sick of this weather I could scream. I have no idea how long the wet weather will last, but we've certainly had enough rain for the month of February. At least I heard from the roofers today. They promised that they'll be back when things dry out. Hopefully the roof will last that long.

We take Dash in for another echocardiogram later this week. I wonder if these expensive scans are even useful at this point? They were supposed to track the effectiveness of the blood thinner medications he's taking, but the blood clots haven't moved or changed in size for several months. I don't know if the Plavix is even working. I guess we'll continue these monthly checkups. They may not help Dash get any better, but at least they provide a heads-up that lets us know what's happening.

I'm going to try to get to bed earlier tonight. I'm not getting enough sleep. I think I'd do a lot better if I just didn't bother to get up in the morning.

Bingo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2980

The rain was horrendous today. At least it was just rain. A nearby town south of us got hit by a tornado and several towns north of us are being warned about freezing rain overnight. There was widespread flooding across town, but luckily the roads were clear and above water during my short excursion to the post office and pharmacy. I really didn't want to leave the house at all, but Dash was getting low on Plavix and I had bills to pay.

Since the rain didn't start until around 9 AM, I was able to give Dash his morning walk. Who knows when we will be able to walk again. The rain is still pounding down on the roof and according to the weather forecast, the wet weather will continue for the rest of the week. Needless to say, this is not my favorite time of year. During our rainy season, we typically get a year's worth of rain in just a few months and then when Summer rolls around, it is bone dry. It would be nice if our allotment of water was divided more evenly, but that's not the way it works in Texas.

As you might expect, Dash wasn't very happy today. He hates rain almost as much as I do. This wasn't your garden variety rainy day either. There were intermittent high winds and plenty of thunder and lightning. On days like this, Dash's safe place is under my desk in the office. I wish I had a safe place. I spent the day wondering whether a gust of wind would knock over one of our Oak trees, or if the roof would spring a leak again. Everything is fine so far, but that doesn't keep me from fretting.

After paying this month's bills, I couldn't bring myself to buy a refrigerator. I felt broke. I can't postpone this decision much longer unfortunately. Something is obviously wrong with the temperature controls. After I defrost the coil, the refrigerator section is too cold. It doesn't matter if I turn the thermostat to the warmest setting; the temperature is still too cold. Then, as the evaporator coil gradually becomes covered with ice, the refrigerator slowly becomes warmer. Eventually it quits working. This process takes several weeks, but it shouldn't be happening at all. As soon as the rain stops, I'll buy a new refrigerator. I don't feel like buying anything on a rainy day.

On the way to the post office, I stopped at the tailor shop to get a new zipper put in an old fleece jacket. "Are you sure you want to do this," the tailor asked, indicating that the repair might cost more than the jacket was worth. I like the worn old jacket, so I told her to go ahead. "This jacket is at least fifteen years old," she told me, "because they don't make this fabric anymore." As if to prove this to me, the tailor went to the back of the store and returned with an equally worn fleece jacket. "I have one just like yours," she said.

I spent a lot of time watching the weather radar today. I kept thinking there would be a break in the rain, so I could take Dash on an afternoon walk, but the rain was relentless. Every time it looked like the skies might be clearing, a new storm cell would develop, keeping the rain falling. The ten day forecast doesn't look promising. I wonder how they can predict these things ten days in advance anyway. Today looked pretty random to me.

Odie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2970

Wow. Fiber optic Internet is really, really fast. Back when I got my first DSL line, people talked about fiber to the home the same way they talked about flying cars. It was kind of the holy grail of connectivity, but nobody really thought it would happen. I guess the future is here.

The first thing the installer did when he arrived was step in dog poop. I was embarrassed, but the guy liked dogs, so all was well. I try my best to keep the yard clean,  but in the Winter it is virtually impossible. If you don't clean up the poop immediately, it just disappears in the leaves.

It always takes longer to upgrade a network than I expect. There are holes to be drilled, mysterious boxes to be installed, and things that need to be configured. I was glad that I got to keep my old router, so I won't have to reconnect everything to the WiFi network again with a different password. It took a while, but the network works just like it did before. It's just faster.

It's amazing that the actual fiber optic cable is so small. How can so much information travel through such a tiny wire? I was also pleasantly surprised to discover that upload speeds are just as fast as download speeds. This was never true with U-Verse or DSL. I could have really used this feature back when I was spending my days uploading websites and sending huge video files to clients.

The fiber optic network is a success, but I wasn't quite as lucky with my refrigerator search. There are apparently no special President's Day deals on the model I've been considering. I saw hundreds of great deals in the store, but the salesperson said specialty appliances, like the odd size refrigerator I need seldom go on sale. "They know you need this one," she said. "They don't have to sweeten the pot with a deal." I know this is true, but it is still depressing. I get very few special deals.

The weather has been almost as erratic as the stock market this year. It's driving me crazy. One day it's seventy degrees and the next day it's twenty degrees. I bet the AT&T technician wished he'd installed the fiber optic cables yesterday. It was forty degrees warmer. It kept getting colder and colder as the day progressed. Another arctic cold front has arrived and I can't wait for it to move out of the area. I think the temperature could be in the teens by morning.

The cold doesn't seem to bother Dash. We took two very icy walks today and he was having a lot more fun than I was. I worry that the cold might make his shivering episodes worse, but they don't seem to be related to the temperature. The shivering and tremors Dash has been experiencing lately appear to be neurological in nature. I hope the tremors don't get worse because there is nothing I can do to stop them.

We had Chili for dinner tonight, which appears to be the prefect cold weather meal. I'm wearing my down booties around the house all the time now. Strangely, my foot doesn't hurt as much when I wear these things. They must improve my circulation. Now, all I need are some down gloves for my hands.  I still don't understand how Northerners deal with ice and snow. All it takes to shut me down is for the temperature to dip below freezing.

Landry is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2963

Dash wouldn't eat this morning. It took forever to get a minimal amount of food in him so it was safe to give his morning pills. Since it is critical that Dash always takes his phenobarbital on a regular basis to control seizures, a loss of appetite can be pretty dicy. Dash wasn't even interested in banana bread this morning, so we knew this was bad. We decided to give him a Cerenia pill, even though he wasn't showing obvious signs of nausea. Cerenia was really the only tool we had. Three hours later, he started eating again.

Nobody has ever explained how Dash's various symptoms are interrelated. Maybe they aren't. There are so many things that can go wrong with this dog and some of them are life threatening. To me, it is very stressful. My best guess is that the periodic eating disorders are related to his vestibular disease. Depending on how bad the vestibular event is, it can appear to be a stroke, a seizure, vertigo, or an upset stomach. Dash's worst vestibular seizure put him in intensive care for four days. Today's mild event just gave him an upset stomach. By mid-afternoon, he was back to his old self again.

While I was running my Saturday errands, I did some more appliance shopping. I learned that it would be a good idea if I just put a hold on things until President's Day. Evidently you can get some of the best appliance prices of the year during President's Day sales events. I guess it is a tradition to lower prices on refrigerators on President's Day. I'm happy to wait. I wasn't looking forward to buying a refrigerator today anyway.

Now that I'm more or less living on a fixed income, sales have become more important to me. I'll be going to the annual Super Bowl Sale at my favorite clothing store tomorrow. This is the only time when I can actually afford these clothes. I realize that when someone offers you 75% off on anything, they're just trying to get rid of old merchandise, but what do I care. When you're almost 70 years old, nothing ever goes out of style.

Dash has become very needy as he's growing older. Janet is at an animal rescue event tonight and Dash has been throwing a tantrum since she isn't around to sit in bed with him. This is what they do in the evening. Janet watches Netflix movies while Dash takes a nap. He's more than welcome to come in the office and nap while I write, but apparently that isn't good enough. He want's me to sit in the bed with him now.

When I was taking Dash out to pee this evening, I saw a guy lurking around in the dark. He seemed startled when he saw Dash and I and told me he was looking for his Airbnb rental. Given the state of the world today, the guy could have been completely legit. He also could have been a burglar. I told the man that nobody I knew in the neighborhood had turned their home into an Airbnb and he got in his car and left. I felt like telling him that it wasn't wise to go lurking around in the dark in a residential Texas neighborhood. It's a good way to get shot.

I still don't understand the popularity of Airbnb, Uber, and all those ugly Limebikes that are littered around town. If I take a Yellow Cab, or stay at a Holiday Inn, I know exactly what I'm getting. I suspect that I don't possess the level of trust required to participate in the sharing economy. It all seems like buying a pig in a poke to me.

Casey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2962 - Ground Hog Day

I felt better this morning, but I still didn't go out for breakfast. A bowl of oatmeal seemed just fine. After breakfast, Dash and I had a nice long walk before I got started on an equally long day.

I called the vet who prescribed Carprofen for Dash and expressed my concerns. He said that there was another nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory that didn't have Carprofen's side effects, but that he wasn't very familiar with it. We decided to just discontinue the drug until next month's exam and then see what our options were. Since the Carprofen has very little to do with Dash's heart condition, this seemed like a good plan to me. Next, I talked to a different vet to ask some questions about Dash's eye infection. It's getting better, but we ran out of eye drops before the infection cleared up. She said to continue the drops until the infection goes away and renewed his prescription.

I felt a little more comfortable about Dash's health, so it was time to deal with the refrigerator again. I called the sales guy at Nebraska Furniture Mart to see if the model we are currently looking at is really out of stock until the middle of March. It was. Since this same model is also for sale at Home Depot, I drove over to our neighborhood store to check on its availability. I didn't get any answers because there was no one available in the appliance department to answer my questions. Somebody in the plumbing department told me to come back tomorrow.

Even though I was busy today, it's doesn't seem like I accomplished much. The vet convinced me yesterday that Dash was uncomfortable, probably as a result of arthritis. Since his solution to the problem was Rimadyl, I still don't know what to do. I really don't think Rimadyl is a safe drug. Janet seemed surprised that I haven't bought a refrigerator yet. I tried to explain that it wasn't that easy, but I don't think she liked my answer.

I'm really disappointed that the stock market dropped 666 points today, although I don't think this inauspicious number is a sign of the beast. I just think a lot of people are nervous and wanted to take some profits while the market was near an all time high. Jeez, I'm nervous myself, but I can't think of any rational reason to sell. The business climate is good around the world and most companies are optimistic about the year ahead. That being said, I still wish that the stock market wasn't ruled by fear and greed. Irrational fear is at the root of most market sell offs.

Apparently ground hogs are just as divided on the issues as humans. Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of Winter, but Staten Island Chuck predicted an early Spring. I wasn't aware that there were so many of these prognosticating rodents. Six predicted a longer winter, and four predicted an early spring. One of the prognosticating ground hogs isn't even alive. Washington, D.C. relies on Potomac Phil, who was taxidermied quite a while ago. Why am I not surprised that Washington, D.C.  would use a dead ground hog for this all important task?

I don't think our neighborhood squirrels could predict anything. Their only interests are tearing up the yard and pestering the dogs.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2961

Dash's blood clot isn't any bigger this month. It isn't any smaller either. His doctor thinks this is good news, but it would be a lot better news if the clot was starting to shrink or dissolve. The vet wants Dash to discontinue one of the blood thinners and start taking a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug called Carprofen instead. The plan sounded reasonable during the exam, but when I did some research on the drug later I discovered that it is exactly the same chemically as Rimadyl. Years ago, one of our dogs died of kidney failure after taking Rimadyl for a long time. I swore that I'd never use the drug again.

Why is life so complicated? Now I've got to call the vet back and express my concerns. He'll probably say that most dogs tolerate the drug well, just like vets have always told me when they prescribe Rimadyl. Known side effects of Carprofen include increased risk of heart attack, staggering, stumbling, or partial paralysis, loss of coordination, and increased aggressiveness. Why would you ever want to give something like this to a dog like Dash?

I made some calls about the refrigerator Janet likes and discovered that it is on back order at Home Depot until February 28, and isn't available at Nebraska Furniture Mart until March 15. I doubt that our current refrigerator is going to last until then. Again, why is life so complicated? I should have been able to find an acceptable refrigerator and had it installed by now.

Dash seems to be frightened of the alley behind our house now. I can tell he wants to walk when we leave the house, but as soon as we get to the alley, he freezes and won't go any further. This is unfortunate, because the only way to get to the park is to walk down the alley for about fifty feet. Dash has been walking down this alley for his entire life, so I don't know what is going on. After several tries, I finally got him to take a morning walk, but I never could convince him to go on our evening walk.

I think I've come down with some sort of stomach flu. I woke up with a stomach ache this morning and have had one all day. It is very rare for me to have stomach flu, but whenever I do I think I've been poisoned. I picked up a burger for dinner yesterday. Maybe the meat was bad, or maybe the cook dropped it on the floor. Who knows? I am so suspicious of other people that I should probably fix all my food myself. At any rate, I'll probably be getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom for a while, just like Dash.

There's not much point in going out for breakfast tomorrow if I've got a stomach ache. Maybe I'll just fix myself a bowl of oatmeal. We'll see if Dash will walk in the morning. If he won't, I'm just going to crawl back in bed with him and take a long nap.

Myles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2960

I drove halfway to Oklahoma to look at a refrigerator and came back with nothing. If you've never been to a Nebraska Furniture Mart, you ought to go sometime. The store was amazing. They had the odd size refrigerator I was looking for, in addition to hundreds and hundreds of other models. I've never seen so many appliances in a single place in my life.

I almost bought the refrigerator I had traveled so far to see until the salesman opened one of the freezer drawers and said "there's just one more thing" as he pulled out an odd looking filter attached to a long hose. It almost seemed like an episode of Columbo. Unlike most refrigerators, this one had an external water filter that needed to be placed somewhere else in the house. It was apparently too complicated for the regular delivery crew to install, so I would need an additional extra cost professional installation team. "This thing looks European," I said. "How is it going to hook up to my plumbing?" The salesman assured me that they had successfully installed many of these refrigerators, but I wasn't very confident. I tried to have a plumber install a German kitchen faucet once and it was a nightmare. I have also had similar problems with a French toilet.

Since just about every refrigerator in the world was out on the showroom floor, I asked to see what else was available. There were a few choices that would fit in the space I have, but all of them had a full width door. I needed a side by side refrigerator or a french door model, so the door won't stick out so far when it is opened. Like I've said, my space is very limited. I had the sales guy print out specifications for everything I'd looked at and I took them home for Janet to look at. She went on the Internet and picked out something entirely different. It's a good thing I didn't buy anything today.

I got a good look at the lunar eclipse this morning. The eclipse was just starting when I had to take Dash outside to poop during the night. A few hours later, I had to take him outside again to pee and the moon was a thin crescent. I was hoping to get a nice photo of the red "blood moon" at totality, but it was too near sunrise and the moon was already obscured by haze near the horizon. I took a photo anyway, but you can barely see the moon at all.

The weather was really nice today, but Dash wouldn't take an afternoon walk at all. I wish I knew what that dog was thinking. At least he got a fairly decent morning walk. Tomorrow we go back to the cancer center for our monthly echocardiogram. I really hope his condition has improved or at least has stabilized. Dash is taking some powerful blood thinners now and I'm always worried that he'll get cut and I won't be able to stop the bleeding.

I guess I'll go and look at the refrigerator Janet likes on Friday. There probably isn't time tomorrow since it is a vet appointment day. I just want to put this refrigerator mess behind me. I've come to terms with the fact that I'm not going to be able to find exactly what I want. If I can find something that keeps food cold and won't block the door to the utility room, I'm fine. Part of me still wants to fix the old refrigerator, but we won't even go there. I've already lost that battle.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2959

Finding a refrigerator that will fit in our house is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I spent most of the day visiting stores and talking to people on the phone and still haven't found what I'm looking for. It's frustrating. I found one model that looks like it would be a perfect fit for our kitchen alcove, but nobody in the Dallas/Fort Worth area has one on their showroom floor. I'd hate to buy a refrigerator without seeing it in person first. One thing I've already learned is that there are a lot of surprises. The descriptions on the internet aren't always accurate, for starters. When you are trying to fit something in a space with only a half an inch of clearance on either side, measurements must be accurate.

Even how the door opens is important. Depending on where the hinges are placed, some doors will still open when placed next to a wall and others won't. Some models require two to three inches clearance behind the refrigerator and others can live with one inch. I think this is why I tried so hard to repair my existing refrigerator. It is really hard to find something that will fit in my kitchen.

If General Electric still made the model I currently have, I would just buy another one. This side by side model lasted a long time and came with with an icemaker in the door which isn't even available in smaller refrigerators anymore. I saw refrigerators today that had built in internet browsers, WiFi cameras, and little doors so you didn't have to open the big door to grab a can of pop. There was even one refrigerator that has a built in Keurig coffee maker. All this useless stuff and I couldn't find a single model with the icemaker I wanted. I couldn't find anything with as much space as my current refrigerator either.

I had a scare last night. I woke up about 3 AM and Dash felt very cold and was shivering. He was still asleep, but something didn't seem right. His breathing was too slow and I began to worry that one of the blood clots had broken apart and gone to his brain. I covered him up with a blanket and the tremors gradually subsided. About an hour later Dash woke up quickly and headed straight for the back door. I wasn't fast enough unlocking the door and he ended up pooping on the living room floor again. Dash isn't incontinent yet, but we are headed in that direction. At least his breathing seemed normal again though. I cleaned up the poop and we all went back to bed.

Dash wanted to walk today but he didn't seem to have much energy. Our walks were very, very slow. I'm glad we're going back for another echocardiogram and exam this Thursday. I hope his new medications are working and that we'll be able to go back to a single blood thinner soon. Dash bleeds way too easily now. It makes me real nervous. Last night he brushed against a low branch while I was taking him outside to pee and ended up getting a cut on his back. The scrape was very, very minor, but he bled anyway.

It was really disappointing to have a big stock market sell off today. It was inevitable, and quite normal that this would happen, but I'd be a lot happier if the market would just keep going up indefinitely. Even a 5% correction makes me fret these days. There doesn't seem to be any room for error anywhere. I've got to keep Dash calm and hope the blood clot doesn't shift. I've got to find a refrigerator that fits in our impossible alcove. I've got to find a way to make my investments last in an increasingly volatile world. Maybe I'm imagining things, but life seemed a lot easier thirty years ago.

Malcolm 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

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Day 2811 - Labor Day

I learned a lot about refrigerators today. I suspect that one of the reasons they don't last as long as they used to is that they've become way too complicated. We saw refrigerators with built-in web browsers. There was one that had a WiFi camera inside the refrigerator that you could access using your phone. If you were at the supermarket and couldn't remember if you needed milk, you could just check the fridge with your phone. Several manufacturers offered convertible models where you could temporarily turn the freezer into a second small refrigerator with the flick of a switch. Jeez. A refrigerator is just a machine to keep things cold. Why did they all have to turn into computers that keep things cold?

We eventually found a few refrigerators that were small enough to fit inside our kitchen alcove. None of them were as nice as the fridge we already have. Like most things in life the basic models have become even more rudimentary and the high-end models have become bloated with an insane array of features. There is no middle ground anymore. All the major stores basically offered the same choices at roughly the same price. Nobody was willing to deliver and install anything in less than fourteen days. We had hoped to find something we liked and get it installed tomorrow. That wasn't going to happen. We needed a plan B.

I was surprised to discover that you could buy one of those little dorm room refrigerators for less than the cost of a good ice chest. In fact, a large Yeti ice chest ended up costing twice as much as a small dorm room refrigerator. Since the freezer still works in our existing refrigerator, we bought one of these little refrigerators so our food wouldn't go bad and I'll call an appliance repairman in the morning. There's a good chance I could get our existing refrigerator fixed in less time than it would take to get a new one delivered. The big problem with appliance repairmen is that they are so slow. They come out and diagnose your problem and then they have to order parts. Usually at least one important part is on back order, so you are lucky if you see them again in two weeks. What ever happened to keeping a stock of parts on the truck?

Hey, at least the gas crisis appears to be over. There were several stations in our own neighborhood that had gas today. I still can't find the leak in the shower, but I am making progress on the roof. I might have finished today if we hadn't spent so much time looking at refrigerators. I didn't do much patching today, but I did haul some materials up to the roof, including a leaf blower which I used to clear away a mountain of dead elm leaves that seemed to have fallen overnight. I actually got lucky. Apparently the leaves fell after the elastomer coating dried, so they were easy to clear away. I really need to get this job finished before the oak tress start shedding their leaves. That would really be a mess.

Janet is going back to work tomorrow. I thought she had another week at home, but apparently not. It doesn't seem like two weeks have already passed since her latest surgery. Of course it doesn't seem like summer is already over either.  Where has the time gone?

I hope nothing else breaks and everybody stays healthy. I'd really like to end this year on a positive note.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day