Day 4810

Another cold, cloudy day. No rain though, so that's good. Lately I've been having trouble thinking of something to write about. Time passes quickly, but every day is almost exactly the same. I reluctantly get out of bed when Janet tells me that we'll be walking in twenty minutes. The one mile walk wakes me up. Dawn loves to smell things and always enjoys herself no matter what the weather is like. I usually overdress for this walk because I'd rather be too warm than too cold. When we get back home I change back into my indoor clothes and make the bed.

When I go out to the kitchen to fix my breakfast, Dawn is usually waiting for her shredded wheat. She knows she gets two shredded wheat squares every morning now. As soon as she's had her treat, she goes back to the bedroom to nap. I fix some coffee, take my morning meds and eat my breakfast while watching one of the business channels on TV. I find the business channels less annoying than watching the news. I use half and half with my cereal instead of regular milk and Janet usually leaves me a small bowl of cut up strawberries to put on top. Even though we have a perfectly good dishwasher, I always wash and dry my breakfast dishes by hand and put them away before going back to the office and turning on the computer for the day. Rituals are important.

I always have tons of spam in my inbox. Even more spam is caught by my hosting company before it ever gets to me. Why are there so many spammers? Are people really stupid enough to respond to these messages? People send you fake invoices and shipping notices, hoping that you will reply and say you never ordered anything. They are just trying to extract personal information from you. I've thought about canceling my land line phone because the calls are all spam now. Most even show up as "suspected spam" on the caller ID. Why does the phone company even put these calls through if they know they are spam? Sadly, I think I know the answer. The spammers are probably their best customers.

Modern life is just one small irritation after another. Nothing works smoothly anymore. It's almost impossible to talk with a real person if you need technical help with something. If you do reach a real person they're usually in a call center in Indonesia and you can't understand what they're saying. Grocery shelves are frequently out of whatever you went to the store to get. I couldn't find real whipping cream this week. City traffic is impossible now. Where did all these people come from? I'd like to live in a small town except I'd also like to have easy access to the best doctors and veterinarians. I've got no complaints about health care and veterinarians. Pretty much everything else sucks.

The construction crews are making good progress on the access road they are replacing in the park. These guys start their day early. They were already hard at work when we took Dawn on her sunrise walk this morning. Parts of the road are already finished but I'm hesitant to walk on it yet. I don't want to get tar on my Hoka shoes. The new route I'm taking now to avoid the construction is about a half mile shorter than my regular route. Even something as minor as this throws me off. I like consistency and continuity. 

Dawn seems to be getting tired of wearing the No Flap Ear Wrap. I can't say that I blame her. I usually take it off when she's in the house, but you never know when she's going to vigorously shake her head. So far the hematoma on her left ear hasn't gotten any smaller. Hopefully by this time next month we'll be able to see some improvement. 

Nora is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4809

I can't get used to this roller coaster weather. Yesterday I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Today I was wearing my down parka again. We've gone back and forth like this for weeks. It's weird to say the least. Even though it was chilly this morning, we had a nice early walk with Dawn. She doesn't seem to mind the cold nearly as much as I do. I can tell the days are gettig longer now. A few months ago we would have been walking in the dark at this time of day. Today is was quite light out and we watched the sun rise as we headed back to the house.

It looks like I failed at stopping the roof leaks. I thought I had dodged a bullet yesterday, but right after breakfast I noticed a small wet spot in the office carpet. The roof was leaking again. My patching efforts must have helped because there was only one small leak instead of multiple leaks all over the house. It was still disappointing to see a leak though. I was forced to climb up on the roof again and sweep away the remaining standing water from yesterday's rain. I wasn't surprised to find that the leak was directly under the biggest duck pond on the roof.  The roof was largely dry, but this one large puddle of standing water was evidently enough to cause a leak. My patches seemed to have held up fairly well during the rain, but I must have missed something. If there is a lot of standing water, it doesn't take much of a hole in the elastomer coating to cause a leak.

I've given up on going to the Crew-6 launch. My application must have gotten lost because I still haven't heard anything one way or the other. NASA is usually pretty good about notification even if your request is rejected. I don't know what happened this time. Truthfully this is a blessing in disguise. I wasn't planning on returning to Kennedy Space Center until April or May and couldn't really afford this trip anyway. I do like to go to most of the important launches, but it certainly doesn't hurt anything to miss this one.

I had to change my route through the park again today. There is some major construction taking place on one of the park's main service roads. I still can't figure out how the park seems to get better roads than the rest of the city. In our neighborhood we get those cheap spray on roads. This was a proper road. They had one of those huge machines that scraped away the old road and then they started from scratch applying completely new pavement. Personally I would prefer no roads through the park, but the place has become a recreation destination. Not everyone can get to this place by walking out their back door like I can.

The roofing company wants to come over and meet with me next week to go over their bid. I don't know what this is going to prove. It's certainly not going to soften the blow of whatever expensive price they put on the job. I've dealt with roofing bids before. They are always more expensive than you expect. I can think of lots of ways I'd rather spend the money, but we can't go on living like this. We need a new roof.

I haven't really accomplished much this week. There are still leaves to rake and it appears that I failed to stop the leaks yesterday. It doesn't look like I'm going to the Crew-6 launch either. I did get this weeks trash taken out to the curb this evening and the roof has finally stopped leaking. More importantly, there is no longer any rain in the forecast for next week. Hey, I'll take what I can get. Dawn is still being good about wearing the No Flap Ear Wrap. It will probably take a while, but I hope this will help eliminate the hematoma in her left ear.

Joey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4808

Our timing was perfect this morning. There was a light mist when we took Dawn on her early morning walk, but we decided to walk anyway. Literally in less than a minute after we returned home the skies opened up and there was a downpour. If we'd started our walk five minutes later we would have gotten soaked. The rain was over in an hour, but it was certainly enough to put yesterday's roof repairs to the test. So far there have been no leaks. I'm not going to declare victory yet though. Sometimes it takes a while for water to start leaking.

It was certainly warm today. Our air conditioner has been running for the second day in a row. This is definitely not your normal February, but I've got no complaints. Life is easier when it's warm outside. The weather was the only surprise today. Everything else was exactly like yesterday. I had my shredded wheat and fruit for breakfast, checked my messages for a non-existent credentialing notice from NASA, and took my long walk in the park.

I had to change my route a bit today because a construction crew was repaving a road I normally walk on. The park department seems very efficient about getting things done, while other city departments like water and public works seem exactly the opposite. I wonder how this works since the park department is part of the city? Even though the park is well managed, I liked it better when it was largely undiscovered. When we first moved here it was rare to see anyone in the park. Now it's become a recreation destination for the entire Metroplex.

Dawn's lab reports came back today and everything looks good. It's nice to have a healthy dog again. Dot and Dash had many good years, but they had lots of problems as well. Both dogs had cancer in their later years. Dot went through a complicated spinal surgery and Dash had a long recovery after being attacked by another dog. Petey and Greta had their share of problems as well. I really hope that Dawn stays healthy for a long time. It's sad watching a dog decline.

I don't know why I'm still fretting about the Crew-6 launch since I'm not even sure I want to go. I should have heard something by now. I always worry that I might have fallen out of favor and will lose access to the space center. It wasn't easy getting press credentials or even finding a magazine that would be interesting in publishing my stories. Attending launches makes me feel like I'm still working and have something to contribute. My problem is that it's hard to get noticed when you can only afford to make several trips to the space center each year. The local launch photographers are down there all the time and have gotten to know the credentialing people personally. It makes a difference.

I need to find something I'm interested in doing here in Dallas. It would be easier if I didn't have to think about airfare and hotels every time I wanted to do something. I'm not a joiner though. I can't think of a single organization or club that I'd like to be a part of. It's probably a good thing that I still like blogging. It gives me something to do everyday.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4675

NASA has finally set a new date for the next Artemis launch attempt, so it's time to make travel arrangements again. I sure wish the process was a little easier. Hotel and airfare prices can differ drastically depending on which day you choose. Sometimes leaving or returning one day earlier or later can double the price of your ticket. Hotels are the same way. As it turned out it was cheaper to stay an extra day in Florida to get a lower airfare.

Since the launch is scheduled for a few minutes after midnight I initially scheduled my departure for the wrong day and had to reschedule everything a few hours later. Jeez. You'd think I'd know how to tell time by now. The Airbnb I like wasn't available, but I was able to book a room at the hotel I usually stay at. The rental car website wasn't working properly today, but I'm pretty sure my car is booked as well. I'll probably have to skip the Falcon Heavy launch at the end of October. These trips have become way too expensive and I can only afford one trip to the space center this Fall

Our day started as usual with a pre-dawn walk with Dawn. We left earlier this morning since Janet has a doctor's appointment. I'm getting used to walking in the dark now, but this won't last long. On November 6 we go back to Standard Time and we'll be walking in daylight again. I keep hearing that congress wants to make Daylight Saving Time permanent next year. Why? I'd rather make Standard Time permanent.

I had a hard time deciding whether to walk in the park or go to the gym today. It was a little too warm for my taste, but I didn't feel like driving. Eventually I decided to take my long walk in the park. The water department was digging up one of the streets in our neighborhood, so I had to take an alternate route to reach the path I usually take. The streets are a mess now. Several years ago the city used a cheap "spray on road" technique to re-pave several streets in the neighborhood and now the tar is leaking to the surface. You have to be careful where you walk because the stuff sticks on your shoes. I made pretty good time today, but by the time I returned I wished I'd gone to the gym instead. Considering how cool it was on our sunrise walk, it got hot outside very quickly. I shouldn't complain though. At least the little green web worms are gone now.

My chore for the day was removing the water that accumulates under the shower tiles. I need to get the shower re-tiled, but it is easier to remove the water every few weeks with a wet-dry vac. I tried to re-seal the tile once, but apparently it didn't work. Several quarts of water can accumulate between the tiles and the shower pan. When it reaches a certain level it starts leaking out the same cracks that let it in. Water is not my friend. I think most of the problems around the house have something to do with water.

Dawn did well at training class this evening. Janet said she is going to graduate to the advanced class next week. I'm surprised at how much Dawn seems to enjoy these classes because she is typically scared of everything. I'm glad Dawn has found something she enjoys. Now I need to do the same.

Kuuipo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3915

Hank and Luckie have left the building. Janet helped transport them to their new home in Austin today. We've already received pictures showing Luckie sitting on the sofa. It doesn't take long for these dogs to adapt to a better life. Charlie is the only Dalmatian at the kennel right now. He probably won't be alone for long. I've heard that two more dogs will be entering the rescue program soon.

After bragging endlessly about the shopping app that lets me bypass the checkout line, the app has failed me two weeks in a row. After entering all my items and heading for the door, the app fails to connect with my bank and I have to erase all the entries and go back and check out all over again with a cashier. This app used to work perfectly until the company decided to "upgrade" it so that the same app could be used for several different stores. It hasn't worked since.

I shouldn't complain. My shopping day is still very simple. I just buy the same things over and over again. Today I filled my cart with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and peaches. I bought some coffee pods for the Keurig and a case of bottled water. That was it. That's not all we eat, but Janet got the other stuff yesterday.

The weather is still pretty nice. We didn't need jackets on our walk this morning, but it still felt like Fall. It was even reasonably nice this afternoon. Maybe Fall has actually arrived. Fall always seems to be the shortest season here in Texas. Some years it only seems to last a few weeks. Hopefully, this year will be different. After a long hot Summer, I could use an equally long Fall.

The bridge that they've been working on in our neighborhood for over a year is finally done. It looks exactly like the old bridge it replaced. Maybe the new bridge is a little wider, but it's hard for me to tell. It sure looks the same to me. I wonder what led to this bridge being replaced? Was the old bridge structurally unsound? Is the city anticipating a lot of growth in this area. Who knows. Road construction in Dallas is a mystery to me. The roads are always torn up. Will there ever be a time when the construction is finished?

Today was really uneventful. There were a lot of things I should have done. I didn't do any of them. The older I get, the harder it is for me to get motivated. You start asking yourself "does this even really matter" and the answer is often no. This is how things start to decay. I don't think I'll ever become like the Beales of Grey Gardens, but I'm starting to see how this all happens.

Dawn refused to come out of the bedroom until Janet returned late this afternoon. She wouldn't even leave the room when I went to the kitchen to fix her dinner. She seemed comfortable enough when I was sitting on the bed with her, but she just wouldn't get off the bed. As soon as Janet came in the front door, Dawn went straight to her bowl and ate her dinner. Weird. Maybe we do need to see a behaviorist.

Marcie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3890

I think watching the sunrise on our early morning walks is the favorite part of my day. You could still see quite a few stars when we left the house this morning. Orion was rising in the East and below it near the horizon was the constellation of Sirius. Historically, the phrase "Dog Days of Summer" refers to the time of year that Canis Major begins to appear again in the morning sky. The Greeks thought that when the dog star appeared, it signaled heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, mad dogs, and bad luck. Sounds about right.

It was another slow day today. It's usually a bad sign when the only thing I can think of to do is get the water off the roof. This is a terrible chore in the summer. It's very hot on the roof and you have to be careful what you touch. Before I could sweep the water away, I had to remove a few low hanging limbs from a nearby Pecan tree. One branch was drooping so low that it was touching the roof. There was still quite a bit of water on the roof from our recent thunderstorm, but luckily I'm still not seeing any signs of leaks. Hopefully, it won't rain again until the weather gets cooler. Clearing today's water away was tiring. Something is wrong with one of the pumps too. I'll have to deal with that later.

The highway department has been building a new bridge near us for a long time. The bridge was supposed to be finished in March. Now that we are halfway through August, the bridge is finally nearing completion. I think it will be finished before the end of the month. Oddly, nobody in the neighborhood was very surprised by the delays. Things always take longer than expected. I have a feeling that the same sort of thing is going to happen with the virus vaccine. Everyone is talking about having a vaccine ready before the end of the year. Somehow, next August seems a little more realistic.

I wrote a letter to my sister today and took it to the post office. I bought a new roll of stamps a few weeks ago and I bet this roll of first class stamps will last me the rest of my life. These periodic letters to my sister are the only reason I have to go to the post office anymore. Now that I've gone paperless and made the transition to paying all my bills online, there aren't many reasons to mail anything. I find the current controversy about the post office kind of strange. The post office has actually been removing those blue mail boxes and decommissioning sorting machines for years. There was a good reason. Nobody sends letters anymore. Even the greeting card stores are going out of business. The next time you go to the post office look at what people are doing. They are all mailing packages. eBay and Etsy sellers depend on those low cost flat rate boxes. Actually, I think the post office has improved their package handling capabilities in recent years.

I've been hearing rumors that the Dalmatian Rescue golf tournament is going to be canceled this year. I thought that golf was going to be one of the few survivors of the pandemic, but this doesn't really surprise me. Absolutely everything is being canceled this year. I don't have much hope of returning to Kennedy Space Center or McDonald Observatory in the foreseeable future. If I'm going to go anywhere, I'm going to have to come up with a plan on my own. Jeez. Where do you go when so many things are closed and people are becoming increasingly suspicious of strangers? It's a strange new world. Who would have thought that you'd wake up one morning and discover that everyday life and Black Mirror had merged.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3799

If I told you that it is hard to differentiate one day from another it wouldn't be news. I'm sure you've heard this before. You've probably heard it from me before. When we take our walk with Dawn in the morning I look for things that have changed. We watch the progress of a road construction crew we see along the way. It take longer than I thought to build a road. We're seeing sailboats on the lake again. Why weren't they there before? I wonder if the sailing club was shut down or considered nonessential? It wouldn't make sense to ban boats on a lake, but then nothing really makes sense these days. The White Pelicans are gone, but one stayed behind just like last year. I wonder if it is the same bird? I think about these things because there isn't much else on my mind.

It's definitely getting warmer. The temperature was in the low 90's for the second day in a row. By walking very early we are still able to keep Dawn from getting overheated, but those days are numbered. I've never been a fan of Texas summers. Hey, at least we had a nice long Spring. It's been a wet spring as well and everything is very green.

Janet continues to take Dawn on short trips in the car in hopes of getting her used to traveling. If Dawn wasn't fearful of car travel, we could take short day trips with her. Janet tries to do something pleasant on each of these trips so Dawn will eventually look forward to getting in the car. It's a work in progress. Today they went to get ice cream at a local custard stand. Dawn apparently loves frozen custard. Maybe we'll take her to Keller's next and get hamburgers. We use to do this with Spot and it was one of his favorite things.

I still check my e-mail each morning, hoping to hear good news about two yet to be published articles. In addition to the upcoming Sky and Telescope article, there is another article about my visit to the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans that I'm waiting on as well. Both of these articles have been approved for publication, but waiting on them to appear in print is testing my patience. I need some sort of positive affirmation that I'm making progress.

I need a haircut, an oil change for the car, and new walking shoes, but I have little desire to leave the house. I'm not that worried about catching the virus, but somehow the pandemic has made me even more reclusive than I was before. Now that I've become more familiar with online banking and shopping there is no compelling reason to get in the car and go anywhere.

I do have a doctor's appointment tomorrow that is unavoidable. Since it is a mid-morning appointment, I'll either have to skip breakfast or my morning walk with Dawn. It's hard to say which will be more important when I wake up tomorrow morning. I have a feeling that the walk will win. I haven't really been that hungry lately.

It will be interesting to see how things go at the dermatologist. They said to wear a mask to my appointment, but the patch on my skin that they are supposed to examine is actually covered by the mask. I'm sure the doctor will want me to remove it and I'll break the earloop like I always do. I'd better take a spare with me. It's all part of the new normal.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3784

I'm disappointed. My application for media accreditation to cover the Space X Demo-2 launch was denied. NASA was telling the truth when they said that media access to this launch would be severely limited. I know people who always seem able to get a press pass who got rejected as well. NASA did send me a nice letter explaining their guidelines for narrowing down their list of applicants, but it didn't help me much. Credentials were issued based on the number of people that NASA thought they could safely shelter in place at the press site in case of an emergency. Major media organizations that lease their own building at Kennedy Space Center got preference because they could shelter in place at their own buildings. I'm sure the small group of reporters who seems to have covered every launch since the 1970's received preferential treatment as well. It will be a very small group of people at this historic launch though. The press site building is small and isn't going to hold many people when they are spaced six feet apart. Oh, well. That's how it goes these days. I'll try again when the Mars 2020 lander launches later this Summer.

So many things completely baffle me about the new normal. Road construction crews had two months to fix the roads here in Dallas while nobody was driving. It would have been the perfect time to fill potholes and get caught up on things. Nope. Road construction ground to a halt last month. Now that our governor has declared the state reopened again, the construction crews are back, blocking traffic and making a mess of things as usual.

I couldn't get the deposit feature to work when I was setting up online banking yesterday, so I had to drive to the bank and wait in the drive-thru line again. Usually there is a little canister that you put your deposits in and then it gets pneumatically sucked thru a tube to the bank. The little canister was gone today. I guess the bank tellers didn't want to touch it. We were told to place our deposits directly in the tube. I wonder how many little pieces of paper got lost today?

We took our walk with Dawn before breakfast again this morning. The place was virtually empty. Either a lot of people have gone back to work, or old habits die hard. The parks are usually crowded during the weekend, but what's the difference between Sunday and Monday these days? Not much, as far as I can tell. At least it was nice to have the park to ourselves again. The pandemic may have taught people to wash their hands but it certainly hasn't stopped people from littering. There was a ton of trash in the park this morning, left behind by Sunday picnickers. Dawn snatched a half eaten hot dog off the ground and I had to get it out of her mouth before she swallowed it. It's not that I worry about hot dogs so much. It's just that there are too many people who intentionally leave poisoned food, or food with razor blades inside for animals to find. You can't trust anything these days.

I ordered the parts I need to upgrade my laptop this afternoon. Do I really need a super fast laptop if I can't go anywhere? Probably not. It's something to do though. At this point anything seems better than cleaning the office.

Crosby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3551

I got asked to reprint a business card I'd designed years and years ago. I couldn't even remember doing the card, but it seemed like something I might have done. I looked through my files and couldn't find anything. I did find hundreds of projects I'd completely forgotten about. I tried to remember printers I used to use and looked up my account on several that still had websites. Nothing again. One printer I've used dozens of times had purged all my files. My folder of old jobs was completely empty. This was a weird feeling. When you retire, it doesn't take long for you to be forgotten. Jeez. It hasn't been that long. Is it that weird to want to reprint a twelve year old business card? I could have recreated the card from scratch in less time than I took looking for the missing file tonight. I should have been able to find the file though. I keep good records. I always thought printers kept old jobs too. Live and learn. I guess I'll have to recreate the business card from scratch.

As I expected, our road was a mess when the highway department finally closed it to demolish the bridge. There were long lines of cars trying to exit to the poorly planned detour routes. It's going to be a pain to travel North now. I guess I'm going to have to just head South for a while. I was able to get gas, do my grocery shopping, pick up a prescription, and go to the post office by heading in a Southerly direction. Eventually I'll have to go North though.

Somebody already took the two lawn mowers I took out to the curb the other day. That didn't take long. If they were just trying to sell scrap metal, they're probably happy with their find. If they were planning to get the mowers working again and actually use them, there's going to be some frustration. You can't even get parts for one of these old mowers and the other one needs a lot of work. I'm glad the mowers got picked up though. The city might not have even taken them on bulky trash day because there was still a little gas in the tanks.

The White Pelican has been gone for a week. If he's gone for good, the bird sure picked a weird time to migrate. His buddies will be returning for the Winter soon. Maybe the bird knew this. I wonder if birds can be antisocial? Maybe this Pelican just wants to be left alone.

I definitely paid a price for the barbecue I ate last night. I woke up with heartburn several times during the night. Was the tasty meal worth it? Who knows. I know exactly what to eat to avoid acid reflux, but it gets boring. It's a shame that the things that bring the most pleasure usually cause the most trouble. I'll definitely be eating barbecue, chili, and pizza again, but I'll give it a rest for a while. When I eat healthy, I sleep better. A good night's sleep trumps just about anything these days.

It's back to the gym tomorrow. This week sure went quickly. I never did get my 20,000 steps yesterday. I fell asleep 37 steps short.

Nicholas is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3544

We moved six dogs today. The new Dalmatians have all finished their initial evaluation at the vet and have been spayed or neutered. They were ready to join the others at the boarding kennel. One lucky boy didn't have to wait long to find his forever home. Less than an hour after he arrived at the kennel, a family from Houston arrived to look at dogs and adopted him.

I think the other five will be adopted soon as well. They are all good looking, healthy dogs with great dispositions. Two have a skin infection that we are treating and one has heartworms, but all in all they are in decent shape. None of them appeared to have had a lot of contact with people before. They were very shy at first and didn't know how to play with toys. Curiosity prevailed over fear though. After about an hour, they were following us around and enjoyed being petted.

Janet and I transported the young male that got adopted today. I wish I'd gotten to know him better because he was a wonderful dog. He was very shy and a bit scared, but it didn't take long for him to fall asleep in my lap on the ride to the kennel. He got a good home today with a family who has had Dalmatians before. I wish him well.

Transporting the dogs took quite a while, so there were no long walks today. It's just as well. It was very hot. I thought our heat wave was coming to an end this weekend, but apparently not. It was 102 degrees outside this afternoon. I still need to mow the grass, but I think I'm going to wait until it gets a little cooler. Walking is one thing. Pushing a lawn mower is another thing entirely.

I had a lot of things on my grocery list today. I'm disappointed that the app on my phone that lets me bypass the checkout line isn't working well anymore. Every time I scan an item, I have to reboot the app and start over before I can scan the next item. Everything worked perfectly for a long time. Then the company decided to improve the app, adding coupons and promotions for things on sale. Nothing has worked since. Why do people keep trying to improve things that are working fine? Restaurants I like change their menus too often. Cars I like seem to go downhill after the first model year. I don't even like Apple computers as much as I used to. I blame it all on focus groups. If you listen to too many people you can ruin anything.

I wonder how we're going to get home next week. There a big sign a few blocks away saying that our road will be closed for three days while the highway department demolishes a bridge. I bet the people who cross the bridge every day are wondering how they're going to get home too. I wish there was less political news and more news about road construction. Roads are torn up all over town and I never know what is going on.

It's time to go to the gym again. Maybe it's finally time to start doing all my exercising indoors. Walking around the small indoor track is boring, but it probably beats being fried to a crisp under this hot sun. Fall can't come soon enough for me.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3477

Yay. When I was eating breakfast this morning, I heard some loud noises coming from the front of the house. When I went outside to investigate, I discovered that a handful of city workers with two large trucks were in the process of hauling away the huge pile of brush and logs that has covered our yard ever since the big wind storm roared through town on June 10. I was glad to see the woodpile disappear. I was beginning to think I'd be stuck with the unsightly brush for the rest of the summer. The grass that was underneath the brush pile is all dead. That's a shame because it took years to get the yard looking decent. Hopefully the grass will start to grow again after a few soaking rains. Otherwise I'll be faced with resodding the lawn later this summer. In the short term I've traded one kind of ugly for another kind of ugly, but at least we're making progress.

After breakfast I prepared some high resolution images I took at Kennedy Space Center to send to Spaceflight Magazine. The editor wants to use some of the pictures I took to illustrate my article. This surprised me almost as getting the article accepted. I know for a fact that there were better pictures taken of the launch because I met the photographers who took them. Nevertheless, I'm pleased that the magazine wants to use my pictures. Next time I'm at a launch I'm definitely going to take a better camera.

While I was working at the computer, I added the two new dogs to the Dalmatian Rescue website. Hank and Pongo ought to get a lot of attention. They are both very good looking dogs. Actually, I think my dog pictures are better than my rocket pictures. I guess I've had a lot of practice. I've been taking pictures of Dalmatians for a very long time.

I've started to see road construction signs in the neighborhood. No actual construction has begun but the signs have me worried. It's hard enough getting out of the driveway on a normal day. If our street is under construction, it will be even worse. I definitely don't want to get tar on my car. There's nothing wrong with the street, but that won't stop the city from tearing it up. I think half the streets in town are in a permanent state of repair.

It's hard to believe that a full year has passed since I began my downsizing campaign. Last July, my art was on its way to New York and my train collection had just arrived in Kentucky. A number of things have sold, but there's still a long way to go. I didn't realize at the time that this would end up being such a long, involved process. Maybe by this time next year I'll feel better about this whole endeavor. Right now, everything seems up in the air. Things do eventually sell. You've just got to be very patient.

I'm a patient person but things do seem to move very slowly. It take me an hour every morning to take my walk. Coincidently, it also takes me an hour to eat my breakfast. It took almost a month to get the brush removed from the front yard and it might be a year before I attend a space launch again. I'm in no hurry but sometimes I'd like things to move a little faster.

Bud is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2268

Dot got sick during the night and threw up. By morning, she'd thrown up three times, although it was mostly just bile and water. This happened about a month ago as well. The first time she threw up like this, I was convinced that she drank too much water while she was walking in the underwater treadmill. She hasn't been to water therapy this week though, so something else is going on. We didn't feed Dot any breakfast this morning, but by noon she seemed back to normal again. So far, she has held down her dinner and doesn't appear to be uncomfortable. We didn't give Dot her monthly heartworm pill today because I was afraid she'd throw it up. I'm sure waiting a few days until she's back to normal again won't hurt.

Somehow while I was lifting Dot up last night and changing her bedding I managed to throw my back out. I'm not sure what I did, but I've been in pain ever since. I've done this before and it's usually because I don't lift things properly using my knees. Jeez, my knees are in worse shape than my back. By the time I'd washed all the rugs and blankets that Dot had soiled and finished my morning smoothie, I was ready to go back to bed. My back still hurts, but hopefully if I can avoid lifting things and manage to get a good night's sleep, I'll feel better tomorrow.

When it looked like Dot was stable and wasn't going to throw up any more, I went to the bank and stopped on the way home to pick up another bottle of laundry detergent. The big bottles of Tide aren't lasting nearly as long as they used to with the washing machine in constant use. Today I washed four large blankets and two medium sized rugs. It never ends.

It was a long day. I shuffled around from room to room, trying not to aggravate whatever I'd done to my back. Strangely, the only time my back didn't hurt was when I took Dash on his evening walk. Sitting in a chair at the computer was the worst. My Aeron Chair is usually quite comfortable, but not today. Luckily, there wasn't that much to do. I had some minor website updates to make, but that was about it. There's a new article to write, but I don't need to start on that until tomorrow.

The road construction in the neighborhood is finished and everything is quiet again. All the construction equipment has disappeared and the road looks pretty much like it did before, except that there are no potholes anymore. I'm still surprised that it took over a month to fix this short stretch of road, but have to admit that the end result looks pretty nice.

Dot's physical therapy moves to a new day tomorrow. From now on out, we'll be doing our acupuncture and water therapy sessions on Wednesday afternoon instead of Thursday morning. I didn't suggest this change, but I welcome it. It should be easier to get Dot ready right after lunch rather than in the morning when she naturally likes to sleep. Hopefully, she'll sleep well tonight. We definitely don't need another night like last night.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2267

The last thing we need is an extra Monday. I know how leap year works mathematically, but still it seems weird to add an extra day to the year every four years. Personally, I wish all twelve months had 28 days. If each month was divided into four equal weeks, it might be easier for me to remember when to give Dot her pills. It might be easier to remember my own meds as well. It's all about remembering things these days.

I think a set a record for doing laundry today. Dot pooped while she was eating her dinner. Food was simultaneously going in one end and coming out the other. It didn't seem to bother Dot as all. Luckily, I was holding up her rear end with the Help 'Em Up Harness, so the mess wasn't that bad. About an hour after she ate, Dot went back to sleep on her blanket and threw up. I actually think she just burped after drinking too much water, but it was a mess just the same. Once again, it could have been much worse. She hadn't taken her expensive Palladia pills yet, so her chemotherapy wasn't wasted. I waited another hour before giving her the pills, and so far everything seems fine.

The road repairs in the neighborhood seem to reach some sort of crescendo today. There were lots of new people on the job and several pieces of heavy equipment I hadn't seen before. Maybe all the preparations are done and they are finally ready to pave the road. Whatever they were doing, it sure was noisy.  Dash and I avoided the road on our evening walk. If tar was involved in today's activities, Dash would inevitably get some on his paws. I've already had enough messes to clean up today. I certainly didn't want to have to remove road tar from a dog's paws.

There were more website updates to make today. Most companies have finally realized the futility of putting their employees on the company website, but animal rescue websites still change on a weekly basis. There are always new animals to add and others to remove as they become adopted. It is simply astounding how many homeless animals there are. I only work with a few rescue groups in a single city, but I must have created thousands of pages to bring attention to abandoned dogs and cats who were waiting for their forever homes.

I got an e-mail today telling me that a mutual acquaintance had died. We were about the same age. People my age seem to be dying with disturbing regularity now. I'm always glad when someone takes the time to let me know. I'm not a member of any tight knit group of friends, so a lot of people I've known over the years simply disappear. I hope someone will take the time to let people know when my time comes. Nobody wants to be forgotten.

I sure wish I could get more sleep. Everything from taking care of the dogs to writing this blog takes longer now. By the time I've finally caught up with everything, it's usually near midnight. This would be fine if I could sleep until 8 or 9 the next morning, but we always get up early. Last night I couldn't get the blog to syndicate properly and had forgotten to put the spare dog blankets in the dryer. There always needs to be a spare set ready to go in case there is an accident during the night. For some reason, I couldn't find the retainer I need to wear while I sleep either. There's always something. Did I turn the dishwasher on? Did I empty the dehumidifier? Did I remember to run a test print to keep the big printer from clogging? I'm sure I'll forget something tonight. I always do.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2221

I certainly didn't get much sleep last night. I got to bed late to begin with and then the dogs kept me up the rest of the night. Dash must have eaten something bad in the yard, because he went to bed with an upset stomach. Every two hours, he would wake me up scratching at the back door to go outside. Each time, he would race around the yard in a panic and then eventually poop. This happens every time he eats something the neighborhood cats drag in the yard. I try my best to keep him from eating crap, but he knows that when I'm outside helping Dot walk, he can do pretty much whatever he wants.

In between Dash's periodic bouts of diarrhea, Dot woke up and pooped in her bed. By the time I cleaned up Dot's bedding and got Dash squared away, I was wide awake. It hardly seemed worth the trouble to go back to bed again. I was really tired though and decided to settle for whatever sleep I could get. When the sun rose this morning, my fitness band said I'd slept a total of three hours.

Thursday morning's are always kind of hectic. It doesn't seem to matter when I get up in the morning. There never seems to be enough time to walk the dogs, eat breakfast, and take a shower, before its time to get Dot ready for her physical therapy appointment. I really try to be on time, but I'm often late. If I time all the stop lights right, I'll do OK. Today there was a red light at almost every intersection, plus major road construction along the way. Dot often gets herself stuck in an awkward position as well and I'll need to stop the car so I can re-position her.

Once we arrive, Dot usually does pretty well. Today she did great. She was strong and determined during her time on the treadmill and was relaxed enough to get full benefit from her acupuncture session. Sometimes I'm amazed at how well she does during therapy when she has trouble even standing up while she eats her dinner. Nerve damage is strange and unpredictable though. I really think she's doing the best she can.

I wrote another article today while listening to construction equipment tear up a nearby street. After looking at what the crew accomplished today, I think it's going to be a long time before the road is finished. If Dot was younger, the noisy machines would have kept her barking all day. Dot is going deaf though, so she didn't notice a thing. Dash didn't seem to be bothered either. I was the only one who seemed irritated by the noise. It's much easier to write when it's quiet.

It looks like I'll have to keep writing a while longer. I didn't win the lottery last night and I doubt that you did either. There was a winner though. I found it amusing that within five minutes after the location of the store that sold the ticket was announced, people were complaining on Twitter that Chino Hills was too wealthy a community to deserve a lottery winner. Really? Have we become so politically correct that even lotteries must follow some weird redistribution formula. It's just a game of chance and anyone can win. I heard today that the California winner was actually a nurse in an assisted living facility. Maybe the haters are happy now.

This week has gone quickly. I've already taken this weeks trash out to the curb and I'm ready to go out for breakfast tomorrow morning. I think the days are starting to get a little longer, but it's hard to tell. All I know is that each day seems pretty similar to the day that preceded it. The bad thing is that this monotony is often boring. The good thing is that things are pretty stable. The dogs are both hanging in there. They're happy! The bills get paid every month. I'm reasonably healthy myself. The stock market sucks, but basically life is good. I've still got to get that sliding glass door fixed though. It's driving me nuts.

Kasey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1744

When I was walking the dogs this morning I noticed a bulldozer ripping up the trail we normally use. Now there is just a lot of loose dirt that will immediately turn into a mud pit as soon as it rains. I think the city is planning to replace the trail with a much wider concrete bicycle highway to accommodate all the cyclists who like to ride in the park. I'm not looking forward to this. The trail has been a nice, peaceful place to walk the dogs for many years and as soon as the cyclists arrive, it will just be another place to avoid. Bicycles and dogs on a leash don't mix. The dogs and I have almost been run over by Type-A cyclists too many times to count. When you're on the same trail together, these guys, and they're almost always guys, don't want to slow down or move over for anybody.

I probably won't have to worry about the bicycles for quite a while. City projects move exceedingly slow. It will take at least a month for them to rip out the old trail. Then it will take another month to construct the wooden forms and place the steel rebar reinforcement before actually pouring the concrete. Sooner or later though, this bicycle highway will be finished and I'll have to find a quieter place to walk the dogs.

Life is gradually returning to normal. The dogs are healthy again and Dot's incontinence problems seem to be over. My workload has returned to a predictable mix of writing and website design. I'm busy, but not too busy. There seems to be plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast and long dog walks while still meeting deadlines. The familiar routines aren't all that exciting, but they're comfortable. As long as the dogs stay healthy, I'm OK with this.

Dot was stronger today and participated in many of the exercises at our training class this evening. Both dogs seemed to enjoy the cool, pleasant weather. Since the autumnal equinox was yesterday, the days will start to get noticeably shorter now. It's already dark by the time training class is over and pretty soon it will be dark before we even begin. The sky was clear and I recognized a few constellations overhead as Dash and I did our training exercises tonight. It made me wish I'd bought something when I went to the telescope store the other day.

Tomorrow is Dot's physical therapy day. She's still not quite as strong as she was before her illness, but she's getting close. Her progress reminds me that physical therapy actually works. I really need to get one of my doctors to refer me for physical therapy myself. It would sure be nice to have a functional shoulder again.

Scout 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 1284 - Summer Solstace

I was faced with a dilemma this morning. I could either get fresh tar all over my tires, or I could wait forever for the slow moving convoy of paving machines to make its way past my driveway. I was hungry, so I opted to get ahead of the machines and drive through the wet tar. Driving through 300 yards of tar to get to a clear patch of road proved to be a good decision, since I wound up having something new and delicious for breakfast.

A combination of boredom and hunger sent me back to the cool restaurant, where I found over-easy eggs, served on a bed of smoked brisket to my liking. As I ate, I watched people re-fueling their electric cars at a quick charge station across the street and wondered if hospital scrubs had become the new working man's overalls.

After breakfast, I did my grocery shopping for the weekend, which basically amounted to picking up a bunch of pre-cooked items from the Central Market deli counter. I like to eat, but I'm not terribly fond of cooking. By the time I got home, the paving machines had moved down the block and I was able to get in my driveway again.

I had quite a bit of writing to finish today, but it all worked out well, especially since it was far too hot for the dogs and I to spend much time outside anyway. Today was officially the first day of Summer, although here in Texas, it seems like Summer has been with us for quite some time. I often wonder why I live here, since I'm always complaining about the weather. It's a climate of extremes and always seems to be too hot, too cold, too wet, or too dry.

The dogs get a bath this weekend. Usually, we're pretty good about keeping them clean and presentable, but I don't think they've had a bath in several months. Between Janet's travels, my own travels, the roofers, and the wet weather, there just hasn't been a good time. I'm not very particular about dirty dogs, but even I'll admit that they've both become filthy.

Janet helped me get the tax exemption on the house straightened out. It turns out I had downloaded the wrong forms yesterday and was actually applying to defer my real estate taxes until after I died. Oops. Not exactly what I had in mind. Jeez! Why would anyone want to do this, unless they really wanted to make their heirs angry?

I'm hoping for an uneventful weekend, filled with lot of sleep, leisurely meals and trips to the dog park. I imagine that Dot and Dash are hoping for something similar.

Barley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day