Day 3383

Go home Texas weather, you're drunk. I had just about convinced myself that Spring was here and then I wake up this morning to hear the furnace running again. Winter has returned. It was cold and windy when I walked Dash, which was fine with him. He was still slow and forgetful, but the cold seemed to invigorate him and he was determined to explore new paths. We followed a coyote trail this morning which is never a good idea. It wasn't raining, but the ground was damp. By the time we returned, Dash was dirty and his protective boots were wet. So were mine.

Dash didn't want to take his pills this morning. He kept rejecting all the usual treats we use as pill pockets. He didn't like ham. He didn't like cheese. He didn't like turkey. Eventually, he took the pills in some leftover Jimmy Dean sausage. I could always pill Dot by placing pills directly down her throat when it became necessary. This doesn't work with Dash. He tries to bite you and if you do manage to get the pill down, he gags and tries to throw it up. As always, all's well that ends well. Once Dash decided to take his meds, the rest of the day went smoothly.

I had to get a bunch of things at Sam's Club today. They completely rearranged the store this week. Every single aisle had been moved and nobody could find anything. All the customers kept asking employees where things were, buy nobody seemed to know. It was as if somebody had come in during the middle of the night and reinvented the store. Even the brands on the shelves had changed. To make matters worse, the app I use to bypass the checkout line had been discontinued and I was forced to download the replacement app in the store. Of course I couldn't remember my passwords and I had to start over from scratch. The old app was simple and just recorded your transactions. The new app was complicated, played ads while I was shopping, and tried to get me to buy things I didn't want. Jeez. Who thought this was a good idea? I was so disgusted by this display of corporate hubris that I completely forgot to go to Kroger and finish my shopping on the way home. I'll have to go back and get peaches tomorrow.

I'd forgotten over the years that Blogger and Google+ have always shared a lot of functionality since the are both owned by Google. I've been getting warnings for several weeks that I need to remove any shared profiles and widgets from the blog before April 2 or they would just disappear. I clicked the "return to Blogger profile" button this morning without realizing that I never had a Blogger profile in the first place. Suddenly my blog description was blank and there was no way to return to the Google+ profile to see what I had written. I had to write a new profile from scratch. I briefly wondered why I was even doing this. Very few people read the blog anymore. Blogging has become passé. I think the cool people have moved on to podcasts now. The popularity of blogging peaked quite a few years ago.

When I was walking Dash this afternoon, one of his rubber boots and a sock came off. This is the equivalent of having a flat tire in your car. I needed to replace the boot so Dash's paw wouldn't bleed, but Dash wasn't being very cooperative. I couldn't hold him up and replace the boot and sock at the same time, so I had to get him to lie down in the grass. The grass was wet and Dash wasn't pleased. I eventually got the boot back on, but when I got home I noticed that it was inside out. I'm glad this doesn't happen very often.

I hope it is warmer tomorrow. Flowers are blooming. Trees are turning green. It is supposed to be Spring.

Sparky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3155

I checked on things today. It was basically a status update day. I signed off on an estimate to repair one of the broken synthesizers. I found out that a long awaited watch repair was finished. I hesitated to call the electrician again because the light in the back yard has mysteriously started working this week. During my meeting this afternoon with my financial advisor, I got a ton of information that went in one ear and out the other. It gives me a headache to make financial decisions. Whatever you do, you can't predict the future.

One thing I learned today was that I've got to start withdrawing money from my IRA soon. It's the law. Apparently I'd forgotten over the years that money coming out of an IRA or SEP account is taxed as ordinary income. Bummer. Why had I been thinking that future withdrawals would be taxed as capital gains or losses just like any other investment? At any rate, this kind of sucks.

Dash is really rough on his special boots. The new boots I bought recently are already in need of repairs. These protective boots would probably last forever on a young healthy dog, but Dash's legs are weak and he drags his rear feet. This is why he wears the boots in the first place. Every time he drags his rear legs the top side of the boot rubs against the ground or pavement. It doesn't take long for the fabric to rip and the rubber to tear. I've been repairing these things using Shoe Goo and thin rubber inner tube patches. I've got three different brands of dog boots in rotation now, but they still wear out pretty quickly. I didn't think I'd need to repair the new boots so soon, but that's what I did this afternoon. I guess I'll go buy another pair just like them later this week. This brand fits very well. They're pretty expensive to be a disposable item, but Dash couldn't keep walking without them.

I thought the rain was going to stop today, but it kept on raining. The showers are becoming more sporadic, so maybe the rain will end for good by tomorrow. I still don't see any signs of a roof leak. That's good news. I haven't actually been up on the roof though. It may be a disaster when I finally get around to taking a look. I wish I could rig a series of automatic pumps to remove all the water for me, but it just doesn't work. I've tried pumps before and they always end up getting clogged with debris that falls from the trees. Once the pumps become clogged, they burn up fairly quickly. Jeez. I never dreamed I'd be seventy years old and still climbing up on my roof every week, but here I am.

I may go pick up the watch from my watchmaker tomorrow. Watches are small, so there's always room for them. I don't know what I'm going to do when the synthesizer repair is finished. I can't take it back to the storage warehouse, because that's how it became damaged in the first place. There's really no room for the thing in the house either. I'm hoping I can convince the vintage guitar store to take it. Unfortunately, it's not as desirable as my other synthesizers. At any rate, I hope the repair technician is really slow. Maybe I'll think of something by the time he gets finished.

Dash ate well today and seemed happy enough. He stumbled badly on his walks though. It's almost time to fit him for a Help 'Em Up Harness like Dot used to wear.

Elliott is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3060

I felt old and tired today. Why? I mowed the grass and went up on the roof to inspect for damage again. I'm either going to need to buy a self propelled mower or hire a lawn care service. Pushing this mower up and down hills is becoming harder and harder. I noticed something strange today. Even though I did quite a bit of walking mowing the grass, my fitness tracker didn't record any steps. I guess you have to be moving your arms for the step counter to work. When you're pushing a lawn mower your arms are extended straight out in front of you, holding on to the handle. I feel cheated. There should have been a lot more steps today.

Dash's boot fell off again this morning. He got alarmed at a dog up ahead and tried to turn around quickly. Unfortunately, his rear legs didn't leave the ground when he made this move and the boot twisted off. Once again, I couldn't get the boot back on again my myself and we had to finish the walk without it. Even though we didn't walk far, there was a raw spot on his paw when we returned. I've got to figure a way to get the boots on securely before we leave the house. I don't think there's another boot we could try. We're already using the most durable, best fitting boots out there.

I discovered more damaged areas on the roof this morning. Luckily, we haven't had any rain in a while and the roof was dry. I tried to contact the roofer again and this time I hit pay dirt. The roofer promised that his crew would be out at my house on Monday. I hope they can repair things correctly this time. I'm really getting tired of having to go up on the roof every week. I rarely use a ladder to get up on the roof. There is a decorative pattern of protruding bricks on one of the walls and I use these bricks to access the roof. Climbing up on the roof is almost like going to one of those indoor rock climbing centers. Like the heavy lawn mower, this is one more thing I'm getting way too old to mess with.

There was blood on the bedspread this morning. It didn't take long to discover that it was coming from Dash's mouth. He's had an infection on his lip that we've been treating with medicated pads our vet gave us. The medication doesn't appear to be working. When I looked at Dash's mouth this morning, the sore spot on his lip had gotten worse. We think this is a viral or bacterial infection that Dash picked up from spending so much time smelling things in the park. Mostly he smells where other dogs have peed. This is probably a good way to pick up an infection. Dash has more than enough wrong with him already, but I bet we're going to be adding an oral antibiotic to his list of daily meds.

I went back to the place where I had some tasty Eggs Benedict a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, the place has a new chef who decided to take liberties with the hollandaise sauce. Today's creation had something that could only be described as Mexican hollandaise. It was pink and very spicy. I didn't like it at all. Jeez. Why would you even think about messing with Eggs Benedict?

I watched Space X launch the new Block 5 version of the Falcon 9 this afternoon. At the end of these launch broadcasts, the on-camera presenter usually says something like "If you enjoyed this broadcast, come join us." Then there is always a web address for Space X career opportunities. If I were younger, I would definitely follow up on this. This is one of the few companies around that is actually doing something I believe in.

Dodger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2934

I tried to get caught up on things today, but had a hard time staying focused. For the first time in weeks I made some real progress on my new website project. I came up with a very practical, but somewhat ugly solution. I can't decide whether to present it to the client or delete it and start over. I'll look at the files again on Monday and decide.

It was cold this morning, but the temperature warmed up considerably later in the day. All in all, it was a very nice day. In my little world that meant it was time to go up on the roof. I don't know what I expected, but I certainly didn't expect ice. The small amount of ice I'd seen in the yard and on our walks had long since disappeared. It figures that the last place I'd still find ice was on the roof.

The roof wasn't the only place I discovered ice today. The little emergency refrigerator we got when our kitchen refrigerator was broken doesn't defrost automatically. I assumed it would defrost automatically like any modern refrigerator, but I guess not. As always, you get what you pay for. When I went to get some cream for my coffee this morning, I noticed that ice was building up in the tiny freezer compartment. It was time to defrost. I didn't think we'd keep using this refrigerator after the big refrigerator got repaired, but it turned out to be the perfect place for dairy products. It's kind of handy to have two refrigerators you can keep at different temperatures. At any rate, I put the milk, eggs, and butter in the main refrigerator, unplugged the little one, and let the ice melt.

The vet didn't want to trim Dash's nails yesterday because Dash was being a being a little shit about the procedure. He said that things were so fragile with his heart that he didn't want to do anything that would make Dash agitated. I wanted to explain that Dash is always agitated, but we left with untrimmed nails. The vet suggested that I walk Dash without the rubber boots for a while and let the nails wear down naturally. I tried this today and it was a little alarming. Dash's rear legs have grown weak and his feet drag when he walks now. With every step he took, I would hear his rear nails clicking and dragging on the pavement. At this rate, it won't take long at all to grind down the nails. I think I'll go back to the rubber boots tomorrow. It's clear that his feet need to be protected.

I got some breakfast tacos this morning at a little place that was more of a sports bar than a restaurant.  The sound on the big screen TV's was turned down, but the closed captioning was still on. When you read what some of these morning show hosts are saying, it seems even more ridiculous than hearing the words. We are doomed. I'm beginning to think that just about everybody is an idiot. I will say that TV without sound is not that bad. Maybe I'll turn on the closed captioning on my own TV. Although the ambience was terrible, the cheap tacos were pretty good. Maybe I'll go back to this place.

It's nice to see the DOW over 25,000. Let's keep this rally going for a few more years so I can actually retire. When I bought my first stock in the early 1980's the DOW was still under 1,000. This is why equities are still the best long term investment you can make. The periodic market crashes are painful, but inevitably the market starts going up again. I can't figure out why young people don't like stocks. It's certainly doesn't take much money to get started. Young people think stocks are too risky, but they love Bitcoin. Go figure.

Thanks to everyone for showing so much concern for Dash. It means a lot. We don't know how much time he has left, but we're doing our best to minimize the risks he faces and make his remaining time as enjoyable as possible.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2926

Dash threw up again today. Just like yesterday there were no warning signs. He slept well. His appetite was good this morning. We had a nice walk and then Dash went to sleep, just like he always does. When he woke up around midday he was hungry. I fed him a light lunch and about five minutes later he began drooling heavily. I knew what was coming. After a few frantic minutes, he threw up everything he'd eaten for lunch and then some. These episodes are always the same. Once he empties his stomach, he settles down quickly. I made him a bed in the hallway with some soft blankets and within five minutes he was asleep again.

Since this has happened two days in a row, we'll give him the Cerenia again. Usually these anti-nausea pills seem to stop the vomiting episodes for a while, but maybe they would have stopped anyway. I don't know what triggers the nausea and I don't know why it stops. We have a major re-check scheduled at the cancer center next week, so I'll ask all my questions again. I don't really expect a definitive answer though. Vestibular disease still seems to be the most plausible diagnosis. If something else is causing all Dash's problems, it's going to be a lot harder to find.

Since the weather is still cold and dreary, I thought I'd watch the movie I downloaded yesterday. Much to my chagrin, I discovered that it is no longer possible to watch a movie in its entirety without disruption. I had to pause the film five times to deal with minor dog emergencies. When Dash is acting weird, I always take him seriously these days. Most of the time he just wants attention or needs to go outside and pee. You never know though. Every day is a potential trip to the emergency room.

Even with multiple interruptions, Bladerunner 2049 was an impressive movie. I guess the reason it wasn't a box office hit was that it is very long and a bit slow. It is definitely a cinematographers movie. Roger Deakins made this dystopian, crumbling world look absolutely beautiful. It's been a while since I've seen the the first Bladerunner, but this sequel did seem to show a lot of respect for the original. If I can find a day when I won't be interrupted, I think I'd enjoy seeing both films again.

While Dash was sleeping this morning, I went out and bought another pair of rubber, wet weather boots. The tire patches I've used to extend the life of the boots I'm using to walk Dash now aren't going to last forever. Maybe it's just the Gemini in me. I always like to have a spare ready to go for everything I use regularly.

I think I'll just stay home and fix French Toast tomorrow. It's been so cold this week that after I finish taking Dash on his morning walk, I don't feel like doing anything else. There is little point to going out to eat if I'm not enjoying the food anyway. Maybe something will rekindle my interest in these Friday morning breakfast excursions, but for now I think my own cooking is better.

The trash has been taken out to the curb. Dash has had his evening meds, including an extra Cerania pill. The only thing left is to watch an old Perry Mason re-run and go to sleep. I know that as soon as I get comfortable and drift off to sleep, Dash will wake up and want to go outside again. That's just how we roll these days.

Dot & Petey are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day