Day 2656

Housecleaning during an all day rain is almost the definition of futility. Even though I know the effort is pointless, it's amazing how often I spend dreary, damp days cleaning. What else is there to do? I never leave the house on rainy days anymore because a single loud thunderclap can cause the dogs to freak out. I seldom watch TV either, because it irritates me to even turn the TV on. Given the choice between political bitching and moaning, inane reality shows, and sports, I'd just as soon listen to the rain pounding on the roof.

The day didn't get off to a good start, but that's par for the course for rainy mornings. Apparently I didn't take Dot outside late enough last night, because when I woke her up this morning, she immediately peed in her bed. Dash wouldn't even go outside, even though I knew he needed to pee too. He kept scratching at the back door and when I opened it, he would turn around and head for the kitchen. Dash still doesn't understand that I can't turn the rain on and off like a water faucet. Eventually he had to go so bad that he went outside and got wet.

After taking both dogs out in the rain several times and drying them off afterwards, I decided to do something less stressful and got out a needle and thread to sew the fitted sheet on the bed back together. I should just throw the threadbare bamboo sheets away, but I'm not ready to give up on them yet. The repair would have been easy to make with a sewing machine, but I never learned how to use the fancy new Viking machine Janet got a few years ago. Oh, well. Hand sewing a tear in an old sheet is a good way to kill time on a rainy day.

Vacuuming is a terrible way to kill time on a rainy day. The house was already dirty again before I even finished cleaning all the rugs. The combination of mud, wet leaves, and yellow catkins dropping from the oak trees makes keeping the house clean virtually impossible. I can't really clean Dot's paws before she comes in the house because my hand are full holding her up. Dash is just too fast for me. He usually slips in the back door before I can manage to wipe his paws with a wet rag. My own shoes cause a problem as well. Often, when I'm dealing with Dot, it's hard to kick them off at the door before entering the house. Keeping Dot from falling always has a higher priority than keeping mud off the floor.

I wonder where my appetite went. For decades I used to eat a huge breakfast on Sunday morning. Big breakfasts were a tradition. So was going out to brunch. Now I can barely finish one egg and a single piece of toast. I don't eat as much for dinner either. It's hard to explain what has happened, but I'm just not as hungry anymore.

The skies finally cleared late in the afternoon, so the dogs did manage to get at least one decent walk. It's interesting to watch the progression of wildflowers in the park. For some reason, the blue flowers seem to bloom first. Next come the yellow flowers. And finally the red ones arrive. We're in a yellow phase now and the fields are filled with Englemann Daisies. I photograph the flowers. Dash just pees on them.

I never did make it to the gym today, but I did get plenty of exercise. I should sleep well tonight as long as Dot does the same. The day is winding down. I hear the ACM Awards playing on a TV in the other end of the house. I doubt that I'll get up and watch even though I find these country shows much more enjoyable than the Grammy's these days. Country has become the new rock. Some of the tunes I'm hearing almost sound like the Eagles. Times have certainly changed.

Miracle is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2206

Dash went to the vet today for some routine maintenance. He needed his anal glands expressed and was due for a Bordetella shot. Dot has become such a high maintenance dog that it's easy to forget that Dash still has his own needs. Luckily, he is pretty healthy right now. His cancer is still in remission and his blood pressure is finally under control. One we got the dose of Phenobarbital right, Dash hasn't had a seizure in years. When we first got the dogs, Dash was the one with multiple problems, while Dot was always a picture of health. Now it's exactly the opposite.

After I upgraded Pro Tools last week, I started thinking that maybe I ought to upgrade Media Composer as well. I don't use either of these applications very often anymore, but since they remain the gold standard for professional audio and video editing, I still like to stay in the loop. Avid Media Composer, like Pro Tools, has it's own special end-of-the-year upgrade offer. Upgrading isn't easy though. Before you download the software, you need to determine if your computer hardware will still run the newer program. You don't want to discover that you need a new operating system to use the upgrade either. Then you need to make sure your license will still be good after the upgrade. The last thing I want to do is accidentally switch my perpetual license to an annual subscription model. I think I'm OK, but I still need to make a call to customer service to make sure. Do I even need software that could be used to edit a feature film? Probably not. I'm not sure I need anything at this point in my life.

Since today was even slower than yesterday, I thought it would be a good day to repair a large rug in the living room that had gotten torn last month. Dot's rugs help give her traction and keep her from falling, but they will never get our house in Architectural Digest. Most of the rugs are pretty ugly. The torn rug was the ugliest of all, so I got a large upholstery needle from the sewing basket and hand stitched the tear back together. My stitch-work wasn't very precise or beautiful, but it did the job. The ugly rug looks much better now.

After using the dehumidifier for several weeks, the house feels much drier. The air even smells different. I wish I had bought the little machine twenty years ago. It would have made a big difference. When I started using the dehumidifier, the average humidity level in our house was over 55%. Today, the humidity inside was only 35%. This is almost Arizona desert humidity levels. I like it. The only downside to low humidity is that occasionally I wake up with nosebleeds.

I was pleased that I remembered the sanitation department was still on holiday schedule. I took the trash out last night and sure enough, a big garbage truck came lumbering down the street when we were returning from our morning walk. Now I need to remember that we go back to our regular Friday morning trash pickup next week.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve, but I'll be lucky if I'm still awake at midnight. If I am awake, I'll have a glass of champagne and a slice of pumpkin pie or maybe a piece of cheese while I watch the celebration in Times Square on TV. I have no resolutions. Just the hope that Dot will stay with us one more year.

Penny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1663

I complain so much about Dallas that one of my friends suggested I move to New Zealand. Not a bad idea. The place is beautiful. It's isolated. And the people are friendly. I wonder if they have Dalmatians there? Truthfully, I really don't know where I would like to go next. Janet doesn't have a favorite spot either. Maybe we ought to ask the dogs where they would like to go.

The only place I went today was the gym. The gym has turned out to be my go-to place when I'm bored. I have a feeling that some of the regulars go there for essentially the same reason. Whatever random day I happen to go, they're always there. I can't imagine being as faithful as these regulars, but it's not a bad place to hang out. It's nearby. The exercise has got to be doing me some good. You don't even have to think very much. There are definitely worse places to be.

There was a lot of complaining about fireworks displays on my Facebook wall this morning. It's funny. Young people love watching fireworks. Older people are more likely to tell you that they'll never go to a fireworks show again. It must be some kind of line in the sand when you stop saying "Wow" and start complaining about the ants, the mosquitoes, and the difficulties in finding a parking place. I agree with Dot when it comes to fireworks shows. They're loud and entirely unnecessary. I think I've already crossed that line in the sand.

There's a channel on TV that seems to play nothing but old Seinfeld shows. The episode where George Costanza became a hand model was on tonight and it still makes me laugh. It's weird that these shows are still funny decades later, while most new comedies don't even bring a smile to my face. The writing just isn't that good anymore. George Carlin was much better at political commentary than John Stewart. Johnny Carson is still the gold standard. Jimmy Fallon doesn't even come close. It occurs to me that I could save a bundle on my cable bill by cutting the cord and just buying boxed DVD sets of my old favorite shows instead.

There's a cool feature on Janet's sewing machine that lets you sew detailed lettering directly on fabric. You can pick fonts and sizes and everything. She wanted to sew the dogs names on bandanas today but neither of us could remember how to use the fancy and somewhat complicated feature. The "use it or lose it" nature of skills like this is starting to bother me. I am forgetting things at an alarming rate, simply because there is no need for the knowledge anymore. Lord help me if I ever need to do an old school analog edit using tape machines again. I've got a perfectly good video edit suite in my office that I used to use all the time. I haven't even turned the tape machines on in two years. Nobody needs tape in a file based world. I wonder if anyone needs me? Maybe I ought to start a museum. I'd be a great curator of old stuff. Ask me about Dinky Toys, Osborne Computers, Citroën automobiles, and Betacam recorders. If only these things were still relevant.

Isabella is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 781

I did all my normal weekend shopping today and was amazed at the crowds in the supermarket. People were filling their buggies with huge amounts of meat, liquor, and unhealthy snack foods. I've come to realize that the Superbowl is just as much about eating as it is about football. The grocery industry must love this day. To a grocer, this day is probably better than Christmas. Janet and I aren't having a Superbowl party tomorrow, but we definitely did our part for gluttony by getting burgers, ribs, and Shiner Beer for the big event.

All I came home with was food on today's shopping excursion, but when Janet came home a few hours later, she had food, along with a brand new sewing machine. This wasn't any ordinary machine either. It was a Husqvarna Viking. OK, I'll admit that I'm a little more interested in sewing than most guys. Hey, I like Project Runway too. There was a time when I could sew really well. I've sewn my own goose down sleeping bag and sewed myself a backpack full of complicated zippered pouches and compartments as well. I think I even sewed myself a pair of leather pants back in my college days. I haven't touched a sewing machine in years, but I immediately recognized this new machine as a world class contender. You can even program the thing to sew lettering. If Janet will let me use it, I'll have to sew my company logo on all my black t-shirts.

Dalmatian Rescue has done so well at finding homes for the dogs this year that there are only two dogs left in the program right now. We went up and walked Maverick and Molly today and remembered the days when there were 25 dogs to walk. It's much better now that Dalmatians aren't a popular breed anymore. When the 101 Dalmatian Disney movies were popular, we were overrun with abandoned dogs. Now, I think it is the small breed rescue groups that have the most problems. Pugs, Chihuahuas, Bichon Frises: these are the dogs that are being abandoned these days.

We went out for dinner tonight at Cafe Lago. We were planning to take the dogs along with us, but by dinner time the weather had gotten far too cold to sit out on the pet friendly patio. It's supposed to be near freezing by tomorrow morning. Probably leaving the dogs at home was a good idea. Dinner was far more relaxed this way. I even had a glass of wine tonight. I very rarely drink anymore for health reasons, but every once in a while, it's nice to remember the way it used to be.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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