Day 2602

I only go to the mall when I need a haircut. I'm always amazed at how many weird specialty stores there are and wonder how many of them manage to stay in business. Some stores only sell soap. Others just sell shaving supplies. I've never seen any customers in Versace or Valentino, yet these high end retailers remain at the mall year after year. Every expensive Swiss watch brand seems to have its own store. I guess people don't go to jewelry stores anymore. I've never understood the appeal of Nespresso or Peloton either. There are so many very expensive things that the kids who hang out at the mall couldn't even begin to afford. The Tesla store doesn't even sell anything; you can just look. All of this out of reach extravagance must mean something, but I can't put my finger on it. I must be out of sync with the rest of the world, because every time I go to this very popular place, I can't wait to get back in my car and go home again.

I make the trip every month or two because I always get a great haircut. I've been going to the same stylist for over ten years. She cuts Janet's hair too and we all share a love of animals. Today we talked about how we both love bacon, but feel guilty every time we see a cute picture of a pig on Facebook. The struggle is real if you've been eating meat all your life. I'll ask how her cats are doing and she'll ask about Dot and Dash. I could probably just go to a regular barber in the neighborhood and nobody would know the difference, but I like this little ritual.

Dot woke up while I was cleaning up her poop last night, so I decided to take her outside to pee. Maybe I should always do this on weekends, because when we got back inside and went to sleep again, there were no leaks in the bed the next morning. We all slept soundly until well after sunrise. Believe me, in our house this is a real luxury. Dot just can't make it all the way through the night anymore without leaking or peeing in her sleep. I still hate to wake her when she's sleeping soundly though.

I went up on the roof for the first time in over a month this afternoon. There was very little standing water, since it's been relatively dry lately, but there were a ton of leaves. I swept all the leaves over the edge of the roof, where they joined an even larger pile of leaves on the ground. I used to rake leaves every weekend in the Winter, but it is kind of pointless when you live next to a huge park full of trees. The landscaping guys come once a year now in the Spring and haul all the leaves away. With all the leave removed from the roof, I was pleased to see that all the patches the roofers had applied last Fall were holding up pretty well. I have enough to worry about, so it's nice that the roof isn't as much of a priority now.

I guess I'll go to the gym tomorrow. This is another little ritual I've grown to like. You'd think I'd be lusting after one of those expensive Peloton stationary bicycles I saw at the mall so I could exercise at home with the dogs. Exercise machines at home don't appeal to me at all. Go figure. An anti-social person who likes going to the gym. Maybe I just like to shoot the basketball.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1832

This is weird. I was raking leaves in the front yard this morning and I see a letter blowing across the yard in the wind. I pick up the letter and it is addressed to me. What are the odds of that happening? Probably the mailman dropped the letter, or maybe I even dropped it myself when I picked up the mail yesterday. There was no mail delivery today though, so why was the letter still here? If it got lost yesterday, it should have blown ten miles down the road by now.

You certainly couldn't accuse me of being idle today. The dogs got their morning and afternoon walks. I removed all the standing water from the roof. I even made it to the gym. I should have dealt with the roof a lot earlier. It was a mess. Not only was there three inches of standing water, there were all the leaves from two large oak trees, an elm tree, and the neighbor's pecan tree. I was surprised that there wasn't a flock of ducks to greet me, because the wind and the leaves had combined to create little duck ponds all over the roof where the water would probably stagnate forever. Several readers have wondered why I don't just use pumps to automatically remove the water from the flat roof. Been there, done that. It doesn't work. The abundant leaves and tree dirt quickly clog even the most robust pump and it doesn't take long for the motor to burn out. The roof isn't really level either, so if you use a pump, you have to continually keep moving it around to get all the puddles. Believe it or not, it is actually easier to take a big push broom and just push all the water and debris off the edge of the roof. It's good exercise too, although I suspect that this activity isn't helping my shoulder much.

I wish the weather would clear up. The dampness and cold is aggravating Dot's arthritis. Her rear legs seemed a bit shaky today and we didn't end up going very far on our evening walk. I don't want to push her too hard, but it's not good to let her just sleep on a soft dog bed all day either. Both my vet and my own human doctors have emphasized the importance of staying active. I think the dogs and I both have the same attitude towards exercise. It's hard to get started, but once we get the old joints moving, we feel better. It's hard to get Dot and Dash out the door on a cold day, but they're both wagging their tails and enjoying all the smells once we're underway.

I was hoping that my physical therapist could just direct me to the machines I could use to build up my shoulder while I was  doing my regular workout. It turns out it doesn't work that way. The stretching exercise I need to do to free my tight shoulder capsule are completely different that the things you normally do at a gym to build strength and endurance. It looks like I'm going to have to do both.

I've still got a small amount of Christmas shopping to finish and I'm trying to figure out how to get everything done without fighting the mobs at the shopping malls. The only thing I've come up so far is to arrive at the mall right at 9 AM when it first opens. It might still be crowded, but at least I'll be able to find a parking place. If I wait until later in the day, I think it will be hopeless. The malls used to be almost empty on Christmas Eve, but I think there has been a sharp increase in procrastinators like me. I tried Christmas Eve shopping last year and it was just as crowded as any other day. I won't be doing that again.

Willow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1711

I had a nice breakfast this morning at my favorite restaurant and picked up some groceries for the weekend on the way home. I wasn't gone long, but by the time I got home, Dot had already peed on the floor. I try to convince myself that we're making progress, but I'm probably just being hopeful. Some days it actually seems like Dot's incontinence is getting worse. We'll give it two more weeks, but if things don't start improving by then, we'll probably have to resort to some sort of medication. Should we try Proin or Incurin? I just don't know at this point.

Since I wasn't all that busy, I decided to get a haircut this afternoon. Usually when I go to the mall, I feel compelled to visit the Apple Store or maybe buy a new pair of jeans. Today, no store called out to me. I ignored them all. I even walked right by the Apple Store without being tempted by something in the window. This is almost unheard of for me. The combination of huge vet bills, diminishing client needs, and general lethargy have put an end to my acquisitive tendencies. I don't need new gear for work anymore and I don't seem to desire new gear for pleasure. Maybe this is a good thing, but it feels strange. Cars, technology, gadgets, and tools have defined me for so long that it's weird not to crave these things anymore.

I can't figure out why Dot seems so strong and active in the morning and so weak and tired in the afternoon. She is eager to do all the things she used to do, but seems to use up her day's allotment of energy on her morning walk. Maybe it's just old age, but maybe it's something else. I wish there was a clear explanation for all the changes that have happened since her surgery. She seems happier and much more comfortable since the tumor was removed, but she also seems older and tires very easily. Dot is not going to get any younger, but I still hope she is able to make a full recovery. After we've come this far, it would be a shame if she wasn't able to enjoy all the benefits of being cancer-free. She deserves to be able to run again and sleep all night without waking up in a puddle of pee.

I have an appointment at the Land Rover dealer tomorrow morning to get my car safety inspected for another year. It's hard to believe that it has already been a year since I traded the Defender for something newer. The new car isn't really new anymore, especially after a "happy tail" episode with Dash on the way home from the vet where he shook his tail really vigorously and sprayed a fine mist of tiny blood droplets all over the headliner.

It's almost time to waterproof the bed for the night again. I'm a little disappointed that Dot isn't back to normal yet, but she's doing the best she can. It's up to us to do the best we can as well.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1395

With life returning to normal, I decided to use some of my free time to get a haircut. I should have gotten a haircut over a month ago, since I was starting to look like Albert Einstein on a bad hair day. It just wasn't worth the effort on most days though. The only time I go to the mall lately is when I'm getting a haircut at Toni & Guy or shopping for a birthday present for Janet. Although I noticed a number of new stores and tons of new Fall merchandise, I still didn't feel compelled to buy anything. The haircut was all I needed today. 

There were some interesting sculptures in the mall made using canned vegetables as the primary building block. This was probably some sort of fundraiser, but I didn't look to see who the cans benefited. I'd never noticed before that Trader Joe's canned corn is quite colorful.

I turned in another article today and got my October invoices in the mail as well. Things were slow this month. Looking at the bills I sent out today, it doesn't look like there's going to be a lot of money coming in next month. At least the stock market had a good day. Any day the DOW decides to go up 300 points is just fine as far as I'm concerned. Evidently, investors were heartened by news that Congress was finally getting around to doing something. I think everyone must have been listening to a different newscast than I was. Sure, some folks got together in the White House and talked for a while, but unless I'm missing something here, they didn't actually agree on anything. Nothing has really changed.

The dogs were both in good spirits today. When they're having a good day, it's easy to forget that they are both prone to seizures. So far, nobody has been able to pinpoint the cause of the seizures or tell me when they are going to happen next. All I know is that when the dogs do have seizures, they are pretty severe. My own condition is equally mysterious. I really feel pretty good these days, but my blood work tells a different tale. I really don't like all the uncertainty, but what are you going to do?

I know what I'm going to do tomorrow. I'm already looking forward to a delicious breakfast. I might even have a side of bacon with my omelet. I know I've got one more article to write tomorrow morning, but if that turns out to be it for the day, I'm going to try to get to the gym as well. One day a week really isn't doing me that much good.

Neo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1320

I got a new push broom today. It was a day of very small accomplishments. I didn't have to pay for the broom though. I took my broken push broom to the store and they exchanged it for a new one after saying that they'd never seen a broom break like that after only a month of service. The rest of my Saturday shopping was equally uneventful. I got some more supplements at the health food store. While I was at the store, my nutritionist told me that he had some new ideas for me. I thought he was going to tell me about some interesting lifestyle or diet ideas, but he just recommended an additional pill. I was disappointed. I didn't buy the extra pills.

This morning we made juice with an apple, an orange, a mango, and a peach. The fresh juice was quite tasty. Oh, I put fresh sheets on the bed too. Did I tell you that not much happened today.

Since the day was so slow, I thought I'd get a head start on my monthly writers group assignment. I usually wait until the last possible minute to finish these things. Hey, I could have waited until tomorrow to finish the article. I've been writing so many articles and advertising assignments this year that I'm starting to get burned out on writing. I'm wishing I had more photography jobs now. I only want the type of jobs that don't require me to lug a ton of equipment around with me though. I'm tired of that too.

I almost went to the Apple store to look for a better WiFi camera. It's taking me too long to set up the laptop to monitor Dash every time I leave the house. Probably a dedicated camera would be much better. On my way to the mall, I remembered my iron-clad rule of never visiting a shopping mall on a weekend unless it is absolutely necessary.  I turned around and came home. The camera definitely wasn't absolutely necessary. I"ll go back sometime at 10 AM when nobody's there.

The weather was really mild today. It's been cooler than normal all week and I hope this trend continues. Dot has much more energy on cooler days and so do I. With any luck, the weather will still be nice for our weekly visit to the dog park tomorrow. It may seem strange that a visit to a dog park is the high point of the weekend, but it's actually quite enjoyable. Dogs are so open and direct about having fun that you feel good just watching them. It certainly beats buying a broom at any rate.

Deuce is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1102 - Winter Solstice

You can tell Christmas is just around the corner. When I went out for breakfast this morning, the restaurant was filled with people wearing reindeer sweaters and colorful vests with Christmas ornaments embroidered on them. At any other time of year, these outfits would seem ridiculous, but they all seemed pretty normal today.

After breakfast, I needed to do a little shopping and immediately discovered that everybody in Dallas was driving around doing the same thing. The traffic was horrible. When I got to the mall, things got worse. Half the parking spaces had been turned into valet parking lots. The valet parking was virtually empty, but the rest of the parking lot was a zoo. Whoever had the bright idea of  turning most of the mall into a giant valet parking lot should get a big lump of coal in their stocking. It's hard enough finding a parking place on a normal day. With a bunch of holiday entrepreneurs trying to charge you $10 for what was normally free, it was impossible.

Remember when I told you that I lost one of my web maintenance clients several weeks ago. Well, I had my exit interview today. It turns out that one of the reasons I lost the account was that the new guys offered something called "reputation management."  Evidently, if someone writes something bad about my client on Yelp, these guys can make it go away. Whatever happened to reality? Everyone wants to manage reality these days, by putting their own spin on things. It's getting harder and harder to know what's actually real. Somebody says something and then somebody else with an opposing point of view immediately sets up a counter-initiative to discredit what was said. It's all very confusing.

The dogs don't like it when I play my guitar. I can do a lot of other things and they'll stay sleeping on the bed, completely ignoring me. When I get out the guitar though, they immediately start to bother me until I put the thing away again. I don't know if it's my poor playing that bothers them or the fact that I'm having fun without them. I think Dalmatians invented "It's all about me."They want everything to involve them.

Today was the shortest day of the year. I'll look forward to the days gradually lengthening and growing warmer again. I hate to have to rush, just to get the dogs walked before the sun goes down. I know it's a long time until Spring, but I'm ready for it already.

Ariel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 843

I couldn't believe how crowded the mall was when I went to Northpark to get a haircut this afternoon. I wasn't aware that Good Friday was a shopping holiday, but apparently it is. I had trouble even finding a parking place. Maybe kids are out of school. At any rate, the place looked like the day before Christmas. When I went to get groceries on the way home, it was the same story. Central Market was packed. I had to drive around the parking lot several times before someone pulled out and gave me a space. I guess it makes sense for grocery stores to be full, since a lot of people cook a big Easter dinner, but I was really surprised by all the traffic and activity today. Who knows? Maybe it's like this all the time. I really don't get out all that much anymore. I did eat breakfast at my favorite neighborhood restaurant though. That's become a Friday tradition.

Today was a hodgepodge of activities. I paid some bills, wrote some articles, and tried to glue together a lovely little porcelain Dalmatian that didn't survive house cleaning last week. It's surprising how often watch repair tools come in handy. I carefully pieced together the little figurine using watchmakers tweezers and superglue. From a distance of more than six inches the thing looks as good as new.

I was planning on putting new grass in the backyard this weekend, but I think getting the rent property painted and ready to show has to come first. The place has been sitting empty for over three weeks now, mostly because I just haven't had time to deal with it. None of the real estate agents I initially contacted have bothered to follow up with me. I guess I was expecting better, but I shouldn't have been surprised. The place is small and doesn't have the latest amenities. Agents would fight to get a million dollar listing, but I don't think they really care about smaller places like mine.

We got three new Dalmatians in the rescue program this week. Maybe Janet and I will go up and photograph them tomorrow. That certainly beats painting the rent house or moving stuff from one storage warehouse to another.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 733

Dot and Dash had fun at the dog park today, but for me it was mostly a day of catching up on neglected chores. I fixed the steering problems on my Defender 90. I swept a huge pile of leaves off the front patio into the street, where hopefully they will blow away. I vacuumed all the carpets, which were rapidly becoming covered by these same leaves every time the dogs came inside. I even found time to upload over 1 GB of video files to a client in Germany.

Luckily, I didn't have to go anywhere near a shopping mall today. All the malls that we passed on our way to the dog park were so crowded that cars were circling the parking lots like vultures, looking for that illusive parking spot. I bet it took people at least 30 minutes just to find a parking space today. I wonder why more of these people haven't discovered the joys of online shopping like I have. The crowds in Dallas are unbelievable at this time of year. I'm even driving around with a nail in one of my tires, because I dread waiting in a long line for service at the tire store. It's not that people are buying tires for Christmas, there are just more people everywhere!

Marty, my regular HVAC service guy isn't coming out to the house tomorrow. They say it's because he's too busy, but I think it's because of the dogs. Dot and Dash keep up a non-stop cacophony of barking when service people enter the house. I know Marty didn't like the dogs barking at him all the time. Probably the new guy they send out won't either. It is pretty loud. I've just gotten used to it over the years.

I sure am getting forgetful. I noticed today that I forgot to send in my third quarter estimated taxes in September. Completely slipped my mind. I don't think I'll get much a penalty for the lapse though. I have a feeling that I didn't actually make any money in the third quarter.

Alvin is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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