Day 3449

I noticed that the sole was coming off one of my most comfortable boots this morning. This eventually happens to all boots where the sole is just cemented on instead of stitched. I got the tube of Shoe Goo that I'd been using to repair Dash's protective boots and attempted to reattach the sole but I doubt if the repair will last very long. I wish all work boots had a proper stitched Goodyear Welt, but I guess it's more expensive to make shoes this way. Everything is just glued together these days.

When I talk about repairing things with Shoe Goo, you know it's been an uneventful day. Everything I did today I've done many times before. My morning walk has become so familiar that I'm able to preview the entire route in my mind down to the last detail. I know where the pelican lives, where to look for raptors, egrets, and ducks, and when most of the flowers will bloom. Often I will test my memory to see if I've remembered details I've seen previously. Was there a turtle on that log yesterday? Is that a scissor-tailed flycatcher? I know when I pass a a certain tree, I'm halfway home. Observing little details helps to pass the time. I rarely have deep thoughts when I walk.

When I was going to the bank this morning, I noticed that someone had put one of those big political signs in my front yard. I hate those giant political signs but my neighbors seem to love them. I have a feeling that whoever delivered the sign meant to place it in my neighbor's yard but just got it on the wrong side of the lot line. When I got home I tried to remove the sign, but the poles were too deep in the ground. Oh, well. This election is over soon. It's no big deal. I voted for this guy anyway.

I wonder what it's going to take to start fixing things around the house. I'm just not motivated anymore. Taking long walks is a very effective way to kill time. After fixing my meals, taking several walks, and running an errand or two, the day is gone. I really wonder how I was ever able to accomplish so much when I was younger? When Dot and Dash were young, I took them on long walks almost every day. I also drove all over town going to meetings, took business trips, and spent a lot of time writing and building websites. It's a different world now. It doesn't really feel like I've slowed down, but I guess I have.

I need to mow the grass pretty soon. At least I've got an excuse now. I definitely can't mow with that awful sign in my front yard. There is no excuse for not making a service appointment for my car today. If I don't do this soon, I might not be able to get an appointment before I need to go to Florida. I bet there's still water on the roof too. I haven't even checked this week. We'll see if I can be more productive tomorrow. The odds aren't good

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2933

It's not a good sign when your vet keeps saying "I'm so sorry" as he explains your dog's test results. The blood clot inside Dash's heart has grown larger. This means the treatment he has been receiving is not working. We added a second medication today to help dissolve the clot, but I'm not optimistic. We've known from the beginning that blood thinners are only effective in helping the body reabsorb blood clots about 50% of the time. Dash's blood just seems to clot unusually easily.

It's kind of scary knowing that your best friend is a ticking time bomb. As long as the large clot stays together, Dash will be fine. If the clot breaks apart and travels to other parts of his body, he could die in a matter of minutes. Dash could have two weeks or two years. We just don't know. The sad thing is there is absolutely nothing we can do. Surgery isn't an option and we're already giving him the only medications that even has a chance of working. We have been told to avoid stressful situations and not to let Dash run off leash. The running isn't a problem, but everything is a stressful situation for Dash. He has never been a calm dog.

When we returned from the cancer center, Janet and I resumed our regular lives. What else can you do? I finished my breakfast and did some chores around the house. Later, I paid some more January bills and wrote a letter to my sister. On my way back from the post office, I though I'd take my old down booties to the neighborhood tailor and see if she could repair the worn waterproof cloth on the bottom. Although the booties were made of nylon and oilcloth and appeared to be easy to sew, the tailor said she didn't work on shoes and told me to see the shoe repairman next door. The shoe repairman told me that the booties weren't really a shoe and to take them back to the tailor. Nobody wanted to fix these things. Oh, well. I tried. I have a new pair anyway. I'm just a Gemini who likes to have a spare for everything.

Maybe I should have made a few New Year's resolutions. I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do in the year ahead. My life has been centered around caring for sick dogs for so long now that it's hard for me to conceive of anything else. I really enjoyed going to Vandenberg Air Force Base several years ago and watching a satellite launch. Maybe someday I'll become a space groupie again. Following launches gets expensive though. I'd need a new source of money. Money is always the problem. Once you start to relax, the money starts to disappear fairly quickly.

For now I'm going to enjoy my remaining time with Dash. He can be stubborn and ornery at times, but he has an amazing personality and always makes me laugh. Dash has been my friend and companion for a long time now. He and Dot made it possible for me to work alone in a little office for all these years. They were really the heart and soul of my company and of this blog. It's very hard to be lonely when there is a Dalmatian nearby.

I'm glad that Dash didn't really understand what happened at the vet today. He's still a happy dog who takes things one day at a time. I'm going to try to do the same.

Hunter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2849

Dash's exam was ambiguous at best. The blood clots in his heart are still there and haven't changed in size. The doctor said that the whistling sound his heart murmur made was softer this time, but was unsure if this was significant. Everyone was pleased that Dash's appetite was returning and that he had more energy, but this change didn't seem to be directly related to the blood clots. Dash is supposed to continue taking the Plavix and we scheduled another echocardiogram in a month from now. The vet did say that blood will still clot while taking Plavix, so we shouldn't worry if Dash cuts his paw again. This won't keep me from worrying, but it was somewhat reassuring.

As usual, Dash's exam took longer than we expected, so Janet and I both got a late start. After a very late breakfast, I strung several garden hoses together and was finally able to water the new grass in the front yard. The rest of the day was consumed with mostly unsuccessful attempts to repair Dash's protective booties. I hand stitched the boots back together and then discovered that the Shoe Goo I bought yesterday wasn't really appropriate for repairing the holes in the rubber fabric. What I really needed was a cap made of stronger rubber that would fit over the tips of these boots.

I took the little boots to my shoe repairmen and asked if he could make something to reinforce the toe. He seemed confused at first and then I drew him a picture of what I needed. He brought out some thin rubber used to resole women's high heeled shoes and it seemed like this material might work. Then he quoted me a price for the repair that was higher than what the booties cost new. At this rate, it would be easier to just keep buying new booties and throw them away when they became worn.

As we were exploring repair options, the repairman started asking me about Dash. Then he started talking about his own dog. He was very frustrated with his dog because it always pooped in the house. I resisted the urge to say "that's nothing" and regale him with my own stories of canine incontinence. I didn't want to argue with the guy, but he clearly didn't have the patience required to deal with sick dogs.

After I struck out at the shoe repair shop, I went to Home Depot where I struck out again. All they had was a rubber hall runner that was way too thick and stiff to be useful. It finally occurred to me to go to an auto parts store, where I bought a big package of rubber inner tube patches. Lord knows whether these will work, but we'll find out tomorrow.

The shower started leaking again today. I wonder where the water goes on the days it doesn't leak? It's probably going somewhere. Probably next year sometime I'll discover a patch of rotted sheetrock in a completely different part of the house. Water is sneaky. It can flow just about anywhere.

It was still dark outside when I got up this morning to get the car ready for Dash's trip to the vet. Orion and all the familiar Winter constellations were visible in the pre-dawn sky. Seeing these familiar faces again was somehow reassuring. I just wish that everything was as regular and predictable as the slow and stately movement of the stars.

Katy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2828

I'm going to have to start writing earlier so I can watch the new Ken Burns documentary in the evening. Maybe The Vietnam War is more memorable for me than some of Burns other films because everyone my age grew up right in the middle of that moment in history. This film makes you realize that there is nothing new under the sun. All the turmoil that is going on in today's society was going on in the mid-60's too. Listening to the Lyndon Johnson tapes is amazing. Nobody really knew what they were doing. I guess it is not surprising that no president made tapes in the Oval Office after Richard Nixon. Ineptness sounds so much worse when you hear it on tape.

I'm going to have to go back and watch this entire series on Netflix sometime later. It is an eye opener. Jeez. If I ever get hooked on history and stop watching science fiction, it will be all the confirmation you need that I've become an old man. Children love Dr. Who. Old men read history. My Dad was a voracious reader and always had a tall stack of history books on his bedside table as he grew older. I'm sure you can learn a lot from history, but I'd like to think you can learn from fantasy too. I guess I can be a fan of Ken Burns and still be looking forward to Season Three of The Expanse.

I can't say that Dash loves his new soft cone, but he tolerates it. I think it is much more comfortable for him while he is sleeping. The one good thing about the old plastic cone was that it was transparent. This new one restricts his vision a bit more. He has a little trouble eating out of his bowl with it on, so I make sure to remove it whenever he is eating. The one thing I can't do is forget about him for any length of time while the cone is off. It doesn't take him long to rediscover the dewclaw injury.

The shoe repairman did a great job on my boots. They look as good as new. The only problem is that I know I'll be reluctant to wear them for a little while because they look too nice. I have plenty of clothes, but I tend to wear the same things over and over again. The things I actually wear are incredibly beat up. Maybe the worn clothing is more comfortable, or maybe I don't want to ruin the nice looking stuff. I don't know. I'll probably start wearing the boots again regardless of how I feel. They are the only comfortable off-pavement shoes I have. I'm sure it won't take long to return them to their beat up status.

I've figured out that it takes three days for water to start leaking out of the crack in the shower tiles. A little water must seep under the tiles every time I take a shower and on the third day, enough has accumulated to reach the level of the crack. I sucked the water away again with the wet/dry vacuum but am still unsure how to repair things. Is this a job for a plumber or a tile guy? I think the leak is in the drain itself, but I'm not sure. If I hire a tile guy, it will turn out that I needed a plumber. If I get a plumber, it will turn out that it was just bad grout in the tiles. That's just the way it goes.

I can't decide what I want for breakfast tomorrow. I make a lot of substitutions now. Some of the things I'm hungry for aren't on any menu. Maybe if I'm nice, someone will cook them for me anyway.

Rowe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2827

It says something that it's easier to put Dash in the car and take him to the vet than it is to try to remove a bandage ourselves. As bad as Dash is in the car, he's even worse when we try to mess with his feet. Dash was actually good at the vet tonight. He was probably grateful that we didn't try to take the bandage off ourselves. Now we have to be careful that Dash doesn't reopen the wound. This is easier said than done, because he loves to roll around on his back on the floor and scratch himself. It's real easy to rub his paw on the carpet and open a cut while he is doing this. There is really no way to stop him from rolling like this. It's become a habit.

I got a check today for my last outstanding invoice. Nobody owes me anything anymore. That's kind of a sobering thought. I've had a healthy accounts receivable balance for as long as I can remember. I'm sure I'll still get work from time to time, but the signs are all pointing in the wrong direction. My business is winding down. Whether I like it or not, I've had my turn and it's time for a new generation to take the reins.

I went to pick up my dog walking boots today and the shoe repairman said they weren't ready yet. "But the little ticket you gave me said to pick them up Wednesday," I said. The shoe repairman smiled and assured me that they will be ready tomorrow. Oh, well. I like the shoe repairman, but being late is endemic these days. Everybody is late.

I paid my September bills today. Being free of bills never lasts long. My storage warehouse rent is due at the end of the month. I always pay by the year because I get a free month if I pay in advance. The storage warehouse rent goes up every year. I guess they know it's going to be way too difficult to move to a different storage facility for most people. I grit my teeth and pay. I don't know what to do with this stuff. The storage warehouse costs more per month than my apartment did when I was working in Seattle. It was a nice apartment too. Everything costs too much now. I have a friend who has a horse and the stable costs more than my old apartment too.

Janet is watching The Vietnam War in another room. I hear bits and pieces of the show as I wander around the house. Someday Ken Burns will probably make a documentary about the Iraq War and it will be equally sad. All these wars we've had since World War II have been pointless. A lot of brave people died for nothing. North Vietnam won the war and now all my shoes seem to be made there. The country has become a big trading partner with the United States. It's even become a tourist destination.

I'll go pick up my boots after breakfast tomorrow. I eat breakfast so slowly that  it will give the shoe repairman plenty of time to finish his work. Dash has a new soft cone on its way via Amazon Prime. He probably won't like this cone any better, but at least he won't be knocking things over quite as often. Tomorrow doesn't look like a very exciting day, but as long as nothing bad happens, I'm good. My expectations are very low these days.

Rosie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2823

My Fall allergies have returned with a vengeance. It's a shame, because the weather has been beautiful lately. They say that most Fall allergies are caused by ragweed pollen. Since we had a lot of rain this Spring and Summer, the ragweed in North Texas is even worse than usual. I hate taking antihistamines, but I may have no choice this year. My eyes have been itching and my nose has been running constantly for several days now. These allergies are making me miserable.

Using a dehumidifier is supposed to help with allergies. I've got that covered. Running the air conditioner at night is supposed to help too. These things aren't helping much. It probably doesn't help that Dash sleeps right next to me and his fur is probably covered with pollen. There is so much pollen in the park now that our shoes are sticky when we return from our morning walk. I wipe Dash's legs off with a wet rag, but I'm not sure how much good this does. I always forget about Fall allergies when the weather starts to get nice. Them several weeks later I remember that there aren't really any good seasons in Texas.

When we were walking this morning, we discovered that we were on the same path with thousands of runners. We learned later that this was the annual Tour des Fleurs half marathon. Even though the path was crowded with runners, Dash still wanted to criss-cross from side to side like he always does. I didn't think the runners would appreciate this, so we eventually convinced Dash to walk down by the shoreline instead. This is probably why my allergies are so bad today. It was a windy morning and there were ragweed plants everywhere. The one benefit of taking this alternate route is that I saw some Buttonbush flowers. Of all the weird and wonderful flowers I see in the park, these are probably the weirdest.

When I was running errands today, I took my dog walking boots to the shoe repairmen to get some new heel taps put on. The shoe repairman didn't want to take a credit card for such a small repair, so I told him to keep the boots and dye them brown again. This made him happier, but when I got home I realized that I won't have any comfortable dog walking shoes for a while. I should have thought about this. The sturdy boots will look nicer now, but what will I wear tomorrow morning?

Dash has gotten in a bad habit of wanting something to eat every hour from 8 PM until it is time for him to go to bed. We started giving him his evening meds earlier in case he throws up in the middle of the night. The unintended consequence of doing this is that Dash still expects something to eat when he used to take his pills. When Janet was recovering from surgery we were going to bed earlier too, so we would give him a rice cake at 9 PM. Now that life is more or less back to normal, Dash expects something to eat at 8, 9, and 10 PM. If he doesn't get what he wants, he starts barking very loud. Training an old, stubborn dog to behave again is not easy, but we're working on it.

I finally vacuumed the house today. We've only got one dog now, but there's still a mountain of dog hair. House cleaning was my exercise today. Tomorrow, I'll need to go to the gym.

Phantom is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2577

I thought today would never end. We certainly didn't get off to a good start. When I took Dot out to the back yard this morning, she left a trail of pee all the way from her bed to the door. It took me most of the day to get all the rugs washed and back on the floor again. I made her vet appointment for 11 AM, thinking that would leave me plenty of time to get ready. We made it, but just barely. I'm still having trouble coming to grips with how slow and tedious life has become.

Dot used to love riding in the car. As recently as six months ago, she would tolerate our trips to the vet. Now, the car seems to terrify her. Even a very short trip is a nightmare. She won't lie down anymore and keeps struggling to get up. This is not good in a moving car. Hopefully, we won't need to make another journey like this for several months. Other than peeing and pooping in the exam room, she did pretty well today. Her blood pressure and heart rate were good and a couple of things I was worried about turned out to be nothing. The vet clipped her nails, which had gotten way too long, and after an hour or so, we were on our way home again.

The weather has gotten really cold. There has been a stiff wind all day, which makes things seem even colder.  It definitely feels like winter and I'm really glad the furnace is working well. I heard on the news that we may even get some snow later in the week. I'm not looking forward to snow at all. Dot has enough trouble standing up on dry ground. Walking her in the snow might prove impossible.

In anticipation of an approaching storm, I took my hiking boots to the shoe repair shop to get some more heel taps. I have the shoe repair guy put these on every few months and they keep falling off. I reapply them with glue when I can, but eventually they just get lost. Even though the shoe taps are a temporary fix, I think they make my boots last twice as long. I seem to put all my weight on the edge of my heel and can wear out a shoe sole in no time. I wish I could buy a shoe with steel heels. Leather and rubber just don't seem to last long with me.

The refrigerator looked pretty empty this morning, so I picked up some Thai food on the way home from the shoe repair shop. Janet and I both buy groceries, but I don't do a very good job of planning ahead. Sometimes there are enough leftovers to last all week, and other times there are none at all. I guess I really don't think about food unless I'm hungry.

I never did find Neptune last night. The sky clouded over again and I don't think my binoculars were powerful enough anyway. Actually, I felt a bit foolish when I realized that the moon was already below the horizon when it passed in front of Neptune. I guess I need to read about these events a little more carefully on Google.

Hopefully, tomorrow will go a bit more smoothly. I feel like I never caught up today. It's weird that a simple event like a vet appointment is enough to throw the entire day off schedule. Dot is finally sleeping peacefully, and I hope to join her soon. It's been a very long day. I never realized that doing nothing could be so tiring.

Chase is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2476

Weekends always start off with an accident these days. We don't sleep in that much longer, but it's enough to throw Dot off her schedule. Once again, when she woke up, she wasn't able to make it outside in time and left a trail of pee on the rugs leading to the back door. It's not a big deal, but it does make sleeping in kind of pointless.

The Scan and Go app didn't work at the grocery store today.  Everything worked fine on my end, but the little hand held device the store uses to confirm your purchase as you leave the store was broken again. The store manager was called and he wrote down my information on a piece of paper and said he'd confirm my purchase by hand. This is the third time this has happened. When you're an early adopter of anything, you run into these little glitches frequently. I'm not sure this new system is ready for prime time. It's supposed to be a time saver, but if the manager has to write all your information down by hand, it doesn't save any time at all.

I took my dog walking boots to the shoe repair shop for the third time to get new taps put on the heels. I thought that shoe taps were a great idea that would extend the life of the shoes, but they only seem to last about a month. The shoe repairmen always screws the taps on the shoe using three little screws, and as soon as the head of the screw wears off, the taps fall off and get lost. I keep asking if he could just Superglue the taps on instead, but the man speaks limited English and I'm not sure he understands. Maybe there's a good reason why glue wouldn't work. I just got the three little screws again today.

The Dalmatian Rescue Golf Tournament was supposed to be tomorrow, but it got postponed because we're scheduled to be getting some severe weather very soon. I thought the storms were going to start tonight, but so far it's still dry. There was a lot of thunder and lightning about an hour ago, but it appears that were were right on the edge of the storm and the bad weather moved to the North of us. The thunder and lightning was loud enough to scare the dogs. Dot started barking and Dash went looking for a safe corner to hide in. I hurried to get the rugs that were drying in the back yard back on the porch where they wouldn't get wet, and started charging backup batteries in case the power went out. By the time I had everything ready, the storm had already moved out of the area.

I decided to remove Google Drive, Dropbox, and Evernote from my computer today. I used to need these things to keep corporate clients happy, but they are just a nuisance now. Google Drive is the worst, because it seems to talk back and forth to Google about a hundred times a day. They probably gave it away for free just so they could suck information out of your machine. It feels good to be free of the cloud. My computer boots up faster too. I'm sure Apple is still sucking information out of my computer, but I can't figure out how to get rid of Apple's intrusions. They're built into the system.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing tomorrow. If the weather is as bad as the forecast says, I won't be going anywhere. Here's hoping that the power stays on and that Dot and Dash stay calm.

Scout is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2426

My Friday morning breakfasts are kind of a reality check. I don't spend much time around people anymore, so it's kind of interesting to see what's on their mind. I sit in my corner and mind my own business at the restaurant, but people are loud. I hear everything they say. If you listen to TV a lot, you'd probably think that everyone spends their day talking about politics. I never hear people talking about politics. They talk about real estate a lot. I think everyone in Dallas is either buying a house, selling a house, or remodeling a house. People in this city are obsessed with real estate. The conversations float around me like bird songs. People are planning weddings. The are thinking about upcoming vacations. The are looking for assisted living facilities for their parents. Some are interviewing for a new job. I've learned that most people cannot say five words in a row without using the word "like."

If restaurant conversations are any guide, I think that most people are basically good hearted and that few of them spend much time dwelling on the events of the day. I never hear people talking about terrorism or immigration. I did hear two young guys talking about quantitative easing once, but I don't think they were moguls. After a few minutes their conversation shifted to whether it was better to shop at Kroger or Albertsons. I tend to think that the things I hear at the restaurant are real and the things I see on Facebook aren't. I could be wrong though.

I paid a few bills today and did a little bookkeeping. The bills never end. I always pay my bills on time, but I hate being practical and frugal. It doesn't come naturally. I wonder if I would have done things differently if I'd known thirty years ago that my skill set would eventually become worthless and that the stock market would become volatile and unreliable. I genuinely thought that I wouldn't have a care in the world by now, but life is full of surprises. At least I'm still reasonably healthy. Maybe taking another path wold have been more financially lucrative, but I can't really complain. Until very recently, the company did very well. I just didn't anticipate getting old.

I took my hiking boots to the shoe repair shop today. For some reason I really wear down the heals of my shoes quickly. Why don't they make shoe soles out of the same type of rubber they use to make car tires? The tires on my car will last a minimum of 40,000 miles, but the soles of my shoes are lucky to last six months. When I was younger I had a pair of Italian Vibram soled boots that easily lasted ten years. I don't think they use the same type of rubber anymore. Those boots were indestructible.

My fitness tracker says I was asleep from noon to 2 PM yesterday. Excuse me? I have no memory of this. I thought I was mowing the grass. The troubling thing is that I'm really not sure. Maybe I was taking a nap and completely forgot about it.

Morgan is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2381

I knew it wouldn't last. My Internet service has become erratic again. It was so nice to have a reliable, fast network for about a month, but now things are just as bad as they ever were. Speed will slow to a crawl. The WiFi will go out entirely for no apparent reason. I'll call technical support and after I've waited on hold for ten minutes, everything mysteriously returns to normal as soon as I start speaking to a service representative. It's frustrating.

Flaky WiFi service wasn't the only frustrating thing today. One of my client's employees has decided she wants to design websites and asked me for the access codes to the sites I manage for her boss. This means one of two things. Either the client is going to take their website management in-house, or I'm going to be asked to re-create everything from scratch in a few months after the new designer has managed to screw the website up. There's a third possibility too. They might actually ask me to help them take their business away from me. This has actually happened before. Rudeness apparently knows no boundaries where third party contractors are concerned.

I paid the rest of the June bills today. There's still some money left, but I had to move some funds from the production account to the operating account to avoid becoming overdrawn. It's kind of sobering to realize that there just isn't a lot left over at the end of the month anymore. What do you do when everybody and their uncle thinks they're a photographer, filmmaker, or web designer? It's almost impossible to take a bad picture with today's automated digital cameras and apparently drag and drop website creation is the new hot thing with all my clients. I need to learn something really hard that nobody else wants to do. Right now it seems like everybody with a smart phone and a few graphics apps thinks they can do my job.

I walk so much that my latest pair of hiking boots is already starting to show some wear. I like these shoes, so I took them to a shoe repair shop in the neighborhood and had shoe taps put on the heals. I used to do this years ago when I wore cowboy boots a lot, but it never occurred to me to put heel taps on a Vibram sole work boot. These things will probably fall off in a week, or scratch up the floors in our house, but it's worth a try. Something about the way I walk just destroys the heels of my shoes. Maybe this will help.

I'm going to have to get Dot ready for her physical therapy appointment a little earlier tomorrow. The vet had to bump us into an earlier slot because of a conflict. Hopefully, this new schedule won't throw a wrench in the works. I'm beginning to wonder how long it is wise to continue the water therapy. Dot doesn't have as much energy now and the trip downtown takes a toll on her. I wish I could ask her what she wanted to do.

Barley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day