Day 3331

We had a bit of a setback today. Dash woke up with no energy at all. He stumbled around, took his morning pills, and went back to sleep without touching his breakfast. He's done this before, but we had such a good day yesterday that we thought we'd turned over a new leaf. After sleeping a few hours, we tried to interest him in a walk, but he wasn't going anywhere. It was clear that today was going to be a day of rest.

Dash has good days and bad days, so it's best to let him determine the schedule. He got plenty of rest today, occasionally getting up to pee. I had to keep an eye on him because wanting to get up and being able to get up are two different things these days. Luckily, Dash is learning to accept help. He still likes to sleep on the bed, but I need to help him navigate his steps now. He falls too easily.

Eventually Dash realized he was hungry and finished his breakfast. I was encouraged that when he noticed Janet had gone, he was able to walk around the house on his own looking for her. He became stronger and more confident toward the end of the day and we were able to take him on a very short walk just before sunset. Even though we only walked to the end of our street and back, Dash seemed happy to get outside and smell things.

I have a feeling that shorter walks and longer naps are going to become the new normal. This is not a problem that can be fixed. Dash is very old and is dealing with an enlarged heart, neurological problems, and vestibular disease. I'm amazed that he still does as well as he's been doing.

Since Dash has become less mobile, I'm not getting enough exercise myself. When Janet returned to watch Dash, I grabbed a camera and took a photo walk around the shoreline. It was a dismal, gray day but there were still plenty of birds. I saw several Great Egrets, some Double-crested Cormorants, a few Coots, and a gull catching a fish.

There may be no real solution to my allergy problems. Second-generation antihistamines like Allegra are much better than first-generation antihistamines like Chlor-Trimeton and Benadryl. They aren't perfect though. When I was taking photos this afternoon I noticed that my eyes seemed unusually sensitive to light and I felt slightly dizzy. My nose wasn't running though. I wish I wasn't sensitive to antihistamines, but it's always been a problem.

There is rain in the forecast again. Damn. I wonder if I'm ever going to be able to quit fretting about rain? The roof hasn't leaked since the guys came out and made their repairs, but I still keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. I don't trust this roof anymore. Rain also makes it difficult to get Dash outdoors. He has trouble enough on dry ground. Wet weather just makes things even more slippery. Unfortunately, the rainy season is far from over. I'm tired of this. I used to think that Seasonal Affective Disorder was a myth, but I sure seem to have most of the common symptoms.

Hey, maybe I'll see the sun tomorrow. Maybe Dash will get up on his own and we'll be able to take a longer walk. Anything is possible. I've just got to take things one day at a time.

Landry is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2955

I bet I could determine my mood fairly exactly if I just took a light meter outside in the morning and measured the ambient light. The higher the number of foot-candles, the better my mood. Today was so dark and grey that I doubt the meter would have registered much. I was a little surprised that we didn't get rained on when we took our morning walk. Typically, when the sky is this dark, Dash and I get wet.

I thought going out for breakfast might improve my mood, but I picked the wrong restaurant. I ordered a couple of breakfast tacos and as soon as my order arrived, I realized that I should have stayed home and fixed a bowl of oatmeal. I had a table facing a busy street, so I watched people going to work while I ate. There were more pickups on the road than cars and most of the cars were SUV's. There were very few pretty cars. I would have preferred to see more British cars, but Japanese cars were winning the popularity contest. Three out of four cars passing my window were Japanese. My tacos weren't all that great, but I'm easily amused. My impromptu restaurant window survey was probably a better use of my time than sitting at home scrolling through my Facebook page.

When I returned from breakfast I washed the car. I didn't let the fact that it is going to rain tonight stop me. Hey, I have no plans to go anywhere tomorrow anyway. It seems like I'm always thinking about water. When I took a shower, I realized it was time to get out the wet-dry vacuum and remove the water that had accumulated under the tile shower floor. I wonder where this water would go if I never removed it? Every three or four days I'm able to extract over a quart of water using the vacuum. I wish I had a machine that could see through the tiles. There has to be a leak somewhere, but I still have no idea where this water is coming from.

On slow days I spend a lot of time updating computers and programming electronic devices. I seldom watch movies, but I clearly want to be ready if I ever get the urge. I frequently fiddle with Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, and Netflix trying to build the perfect user profile. The Roku stick works well, but Apple TV is always a problem. For something that was four times more expensive than Roku, Apple TV is very unreliable. I still haven't been able to watch something from start to finish without losing the WiFi signal. Apple TV crashed on me three times today. Eventually I just gave up because it was time for Dash's dinner anyway.

The mail carrier left someone else's mail in our box again today. This happens frequently. It makes me wonder how much of my own mail is getting lost the same way. I'll probably never know. I always write "wrong address" on the envelope and stick the letter back in the box. The misplaced mail is gone the next day but I have no idea if it ever gets to its destination.

The garbage truck with the robotic arm knocked over my trash can this morning. This probably isn't as bad as misplaced mail, but clearly people aren't paying attention. I had to repeat my breakfast order three times because the guy at the counter kept think I'd ordered something different. That one was probably my fault. People say I mumble.

Jazz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2329

We slept in late this morning. By the time we took the dogs on their morning walk, the sun was already high in a bright blue sky. It was a beautiful day. I'm sure I suffer from seasonal affective disorder to some degree, because a bright sunny day improves my mood immeasurably. Bacon helps too, so after a hearty breakfast, I was ready to get something done.

I looked at the long range weather and saw enough clear days ahead to make it worthwhile to clear the roof of water again. I push the large flat broom with my left hand now because my right shoulder continues to get worse. It's weird that a lot of exercises at the gym don't bother my shoulder at all, but getting the water off the roof is a killer. After the roof was dry,  washed the car.  I often wash the car on nice days because it just makes me feel good.

I still had some energy left after finishing my Sunday chores, so I went to the gym. Lately, I've been stopping at the defunct Sports Authority store I pass along the way to add to my stash of bargains. Winter things are marked down the most, so I picked up a pair of gloves and a wool hat today. Getting all these Winter things is actually optimistic. On some subconscious level, my brain is telling me that I'm going to be around for another year.

I wish I could say the same for Dot. She continues to get weaker. The weather was nice this morning and there was a cool breeze, but Dot seemed tired and occasionally I would see her rear legs start to crisscross as we walked. This is never a good sign. When we returned home, she spent the rest of the day sleeping, but she didn't rebound much even after a long rest. I walked Dash alone this evening while Janet took Dot on a very short walk down the back alley. That was all she felt like doing today.

The house didn't get vacuumed this week, but that's OK. Work has gotten so slow that this will give me something to do tomorrow. I could always clean the office, but a clean office just means that nothing is happening. I'd much rather have lots of projects underway in a messy, cluttered office that sitting around wondering what to do in a tidy clean one. Maybe things will pick up next week. One of my clients is on vacation and I'm hoping he'll have some work for me when he returns.

It's hard to believe it's May already. Dash has a birthday in a few weeks and then in June it's my birthday again. This year has positively flown by. I'm sure lots has happened, but all I really remember is endlessly cleaning up dog poop and removing standing water from the roof. There's a fresh supply of strawberries, blueberries and bananas to make my morning smoothies. All the April bills have been paid. Dot and Dash are sleeping peacefully now. I think we're ready for whatever a new month brings our way.

Betsy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2209

It's a lot harder to get up in the morning when the temperature is cold and the sky is dark and overcast. When I first heard about seasonal affective disorder and the theory that light deprivation can cause depression, it made perfect sense. Gloomy days and lack of sunlight really do influence your mood. The only benefit to days like these is that the dogs often feel the same way and don't want to get up either. Dot and Dash had no interest in getting up this morning, so Janet and I were about to get an extra hour of sleep. I had mixed feelings about letting Dot sleep in. Her incontinence makes her a ticking time bomb. The longer we wait to go outside after she wakes up, the more likely it is that she'll poop in the house. I decided to take a chance this morning and it worked. Everybody just wanted to sleep.

The woman who colors Janet's hair is on the news as a missing person. She went to work on Tuesday and never showed up. Her car was later found abandoned in an apartment complex near a wooded area. Hopefully, she will be found unharmed, but it doesn't look good. It's alarming how often things like this happen in Dallas. It's a lot more dangerous place than it was when I moved here over 30 years ago. Of course, you could probably say the same thing for any large American city, but that doesn't make it any less unsettling. What happened to a world where people didn't even bother to lock their doors at night? I would easily trade the Internet, smartphones, and the powerful computer on my desk for a world where people felt safe. I grew up in an age where our neighbors had a fallout shelter in their back yard and we all practiced "duck and cover" exercises in school in case there was a nuclear attack. It still seemed like a safer place though. I guess it's all a matter of perspective.

There were a lot of things on my grocery list today. It's amazing how quickly you can spent $100 in a grocery store without even filling up your cart. You always hear on the news about how we've got inflation under control, but I don't believe a word of it. With the possible exception of gasoline, prices for ordinary things have gone up enormously. When wages remain stagnant and prices continue to go up, it just doesn't seem like it is going to end well.

I've been feeling like I'm on the verge of coming down with a cold all week. It's probably just hypochondria, but this is the time of year when I tend to get sick. There's really not much you can do when people are wheezing and sneezing all around you. I'll either get a cold or I won't. I wonder if the dogs get minor colds? Whenever I take them to the vet, there is usually something serious going on, but they must get minor ailments too. It's hard to tell with a dog. Sometimes when Dot throws up in the morning, there's nothing wrong at all.

I need to make time to go to the gym tomorrow. My pants are starting to feel tight from all the holiday meals. If I went to the gym three times a week, I'd be in great shape. I don't think it's going to happen though. Even in my quasi-retirement, I just can't find the time. Doing simple things properly can take an enormous amount of time. There's no point in cutting corners though. Why would I even consider cutting corners at my age? There appears to be a Doc Martin marathon on PBS tonight. Everyone talks about their Walking Dead marathons, but Doc Martin is more my style.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day