Day 1974

Today was a little stressful. I woke up to the sound of Dot trying to throw up. She was acting frantic like she did on the day she ate the carpet. This was alarming, because the house is now filled with assorted rugs and carpets. I immediately put on some pants and took Dot outside. When this happens, Dot tries to eat any available grass or leaves and that only makes the situation worse. I did the only thing that works. I sat quietly on the brick patio with her until she calmed down. Sometimes this can take up to thirty minutes. She doesn't wake up like this very often, but it still happens. Once Dot was calm and breathing normally again, I fed the dogs breakfast and Dot was normal for the rest of the day. I've asked various vets many times why this happens, but have never received a real answer. Maybe she has an upset stomach from time to time, but her diet is so consistent that this is hard to imagine. Dot doesn't get into the trash either. That is Dash's specialty.

I was tired of drinking a liquid breakfast this morning so I ate some sausage patties and a slice of quiche instead. The dogs seemed upset that I didn't share a banana with them so I peeled one and gave half to the dogs and ate the other half myself. It was a satisfying meal, but a large percentage of it got stuck in my teeth. After spending an inordinate amount of time rinsing my mouth out with hot salt water, which always spoils the taste of a good meal, I vowed to go back to my banana and egg milkshakes tomorrow.

I think my big success today was getting both dogs walked before the rain started. There were no severe storms and it didn't rain all day, but the weather was certainly enough to keep everyone inside most of the day. The dogs usually sleep on rainy days like this, but I feel compelled to be productive. To stay busy, I finished my entire backlog of writing assignments and made a good start on getting my May invoices out. I should have saved some of this work for tomorrow, but I keep hoping for a day when the dogs will let me sleep in late. Today was not that day.

Dot isn't walking as far in the morning, now that she can't walk with Dash for a while. The only way we can walk the dogs together is when Janet walks one and I walk the other. When they were both younger and healthier, it was easy for me to walk Dot and Dash together. Now, I have a hard time when Dot wants to turn around and go home while Dash wants to keep on going. With two people, Dash will eventually turn around and follow Dot. With one person holding the leash, they both just tug in opposite directions. While I was walking Dash this evening, a lady pushing a child in a stroller noticed Dash's protective sock and mentioned that she'd seen one just like it in the park last week. She thought it was a baby's sock, but didn't pick it up. I wish she had. I've been looking for that missing sock for weeks.

I don't know what tomorrow will bring my way, but I do hope the skies are dry, the dogs are calm, and my teeth don't hurt.

Dixie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1368

I wish that UPS could get their Customer Centers on the same page as their website. For the third time this year, I drove over to Mesquite to pick something up at the UPS Will Call desk when the website told me it was ready, only to discover that the package hadn't even arrived yet. The woman at the Will Call desk told me that the website was never right and that I should wait at least four hours after the website said the package was ready before driving over to pick it up. Oh, well. So much for the wonders of modern technology.

Breakfast was quite tasty this morning. My resolve to maintain my strict diet is slipping a bit. I've noticed that meat and cheese are creeping back into my omelets. It's not that the veggie omelets were all that bad. A little sausage just make a meal more satisfying. I know I should be resolute, but I tend to rationalize things. I tell myself that I've earned this sausage, since I'm working out now at the gym. This is probably a poor excuse for my backsliding behavior, since I'm not working out that much.

Even though it was Friday the 13th, nothing bad happened today. I eventually got my package, even though I had to make two trips to the UPS Customer Center. I got caught up on the week's website and writing assignments. I even had time to drive up to the Land Rover dealer later in the afternoon and do a little window shopping for new cars.

There is no rational reason why I'm so loyal to Land Rovers. These cars are in the shop more often than they're on the road. I probably like them for the same reasons I like Olympus cameras and Dalmatians. Some things just feel right. If I do get a new car, I don't think I'll have a problem finding something I like. The difficulty will be finding a decent Land Rover that I can actually afford. At least I will get a good trade-in on the Defender. These cars are still so desirable that somebody came up to me in the Land Rover parking lot today and tried to buy my Defender while I was walking in to talk to a sales guy.

In my younger years, I would have just kept the Defender and gone ahead and bought an additional new car. I've learned the hard way however, that having a bunch of cars is a giant nuisance. At one point, I owned three cars. I could never find a place to park them all at night and the insurance payments were ridiculous. I've finally gotten over my Gemini penchant for having multiple copies of everything. One car is plenty. Astute readers will probably remember that I still actually have two cars, if you count the non-running Citroën Maserati, but I haven't seen the SM in nine years. It ceased being a viable second car years ago and now is just a pleasant memory.

It's finally starting to get a little cooler. The dogs are starting to enjoy their morning walks again. It's still going to be a while before jacket weather arrives, but I think the worst of our Texas summer is about over.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day