Day 3895

There was no need to go to the gym today. After walking and mowing the grass I felt like I had all the exercise I needed. Around this time of year I start thinking that I might not need to mow any more. I even thought that today. Late August is ridiculously early though for these type of thoughts. The leaves are still on the trees and the Fall rainy season hasn't even started yet. Our grass is often still green in December.

We got a late start this morning on our walk and the park was already filling up with people. We probably should have started earlier, but it was clear that we needed the extra sleep. Without an alarm to wake us, we slept two hours longer than usual. Dawn certainly wasn't interested in getting up. The only thing that gets her out of bed is the sound of her breakfast being fixed. It was a little warmer than we would have liked, but we all did pretty well. I think we'll go back to pre-dawn walks tomorrow.

I wasted a lot of time today watching a static fire test of the SN-6 Starship prototype. It took three tries and most of the day before the rocket motors actually fired. The guys who put this coverage together on their YouTube channel have a lot of patience. There were several false starts today. The rocket would be filled with fuel and then emptied again when something didn't go right. Basically nothing happens for hours at a time and then eventually the rocket fires for about five seconds. Watching these events is definitely an acquired taste. I didn't watch today's tests continuously, but I kept a window open on my browser and checked in on progress throughout the day. I think next week this rocket will fly on a short hop, just like its predecessor did a few weeks ago. If I go down to Boca Chica, I think I'll wait until the program is a little further along. Before the end of the year, Space X is supposed to be making much longer hops with a more polished looking rocket that has fins, a nose cone and two extra Raptor engines. The more I watch this Boca Chica channel on YouTube, the more interested I become in seeing a Starship launch. I'm going to try to make some contacts and see what happens.

When I walk in the park on weekend afternoons, I always see tons of people sitting in hammocks. I don't understand the fascination with hammocks. On a nice day, they're everywhere. Young people string them between two trees and then spend the rest of the afternoon taking selfies and looking at their cell phones. I don't get it. If this is what passes for enjoying nature these days, we're all doomed.

Can you believe it's going to be September soon? What a wasted year. Maybe next year will be better.  The cynical side of me says the virus will disappear from the news right after the November elections. Realistically, I think it's going to be with us for a very long time. New cases keep cropping up in countries that supposedly have already eradicated it. What's going to happen when everyone gets the flu this Fall and thinks they've got the virus instead? The hypochondriac's are going to be panicking. I'm going to continue to keep my distance. Seems to have worked so far.

Janet and I eat a traditional breakfast together on the weekends. Tomorrow it's back to my fruit smoothies though. Where am I going to find uncontaminated peaches. I've got plenty of strawberries, blueberries and bananas, but good smoothie has got to include a peach.

Mickey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3295 - New Year's Day

I got a surprising amount of sleep last night, especially considering that I'd stayed up past midnight to greet the new year. Two glasses of champagne didn't seem to bother me either. There was no reason to get up early today. It was cold outside and we had no plans. We all slept in until well past 8 AM. At some point during the night I got up to let Dash outside, but I barely remember it. These nightly disruptions are routine now. Pooping in the bed a few hours later wasn't a big deal either. Dash has gotten pretty good about staying on his puppy training pad. I just slide out the soiled pad, roll it up and replace it with a fresh puppy pad. Dash never even wakes up.

Before I went to bed last night I watched the New Horizons flyby of Ultma Thule on NASA TV. There wasn't much to see. The probe was more than four billion miles away and it would take another six hours for the signal that the mission had succeeded to reach Earth. The fact that we will soon get a look at something located way beyond Pluto is amazing to me. We are so good at science like this and yet for some reason we still can't get along with each other.

I imagine that quite a few people will make a New Year's Resolution to be more agreeable this year, but few will succeed. There are just so many reasons to be irritated at our fellow man. If Dash was a human he would be in an assisted living home by now. He's a dog though, so I'm willing to do anything I can to make his last day's comfortable.

Dash loves his walks so we all got bundled up and braved the cold this morning. It was a gloomy, grey day but at least it wasn't raining. Dash is so intent on smelling things these days that he forgets about his rear legs. I'm constantly having to steady him by holding the handle on his harness to keep him from falling over. While we were walking I kept thinking it was Sunday and was thinking about having pancakes for breakfast. I was actually kind of surprised when I remembered it was only Tuesday. The entire holiday season has been like this. It's hard to tell what day it is.

I didn't do much today. The days when we would watch the Rose Bowl parade followed by an entire day of football seem so long ago. Even the names of the bowl games have changed. They are all named after corporations now and some of them aren't even on New Year's Day. To avoid doing household chores, I caught up on some overdue correspondence. I wrote the roofer, begging him to hurry up with repairs. I wrote the friend who is selling my train collection. He wants to lower prices, since sales have been slow. I'm still hoping that someone like me will wander into his store and buy everything. I sent Christmas greetings to a few people even though Christmas is over. Why not?

I didn't finish breakfast until well after noon and by the time I took a shower Dash was already waiting for his evening walk. Where did the day go? Jeez. Where did the year go?  2018 seemed to slip by awfully fast. Dash ended the year a little bit healthier than he started it. Like Dot, he is very determined to make the most of the time he has. Auctioning my art this year was an interesting experience. It actually got me interest in art again. Unfortunately, I don't have any left.

Like many people, I hope that 2019 will be better than 2018. You've got your reasons and I've got mine. Whatever you're hoping for, I wish you luck. All I know is that anything could happen during our next trip around the sun.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3228

There wasn't a cloud in the sky this morning. Dash did get me up during the night, but I managed to get back to sleep. When I woke up this morning I felt surprisingly rested. Dash was eager to walk. He was slow, but I wasn't in a hurry. It was a beautiful Fall day.

After walking Dash, I decided to go back to the hotel for breakfast. I kind of wanted the pleasant mood to continue. The place is quiet and the food is excellent. It's too bad they don't have a larger breakfast menu, but it probably doesn't matter. Most of their guests are just passing through. Dining among travelers makes me feel like I'm on a trip myself. The house is such a mess that living in a hotel doesn't sound half bad. I could learn to live with restaurant meals and having someone to make your bed every day.

On my way home I picked up something for dinner. I couldn't find anything interesting at Central Market, so I went across the street to Tom Thumb and got some more of those flash frozen meals from Cadence Kitchen. These things are delicious. I tried Shrimp and Grits this time. It's only a matter of time before I try everything.

My pleasant day came to an abrupt end when I went to the storage warehouse. When you pay by the year they have always given me an extra month free. The manager informed me that they discontinued this program. Then she mentioned that they would be raising my rent next year as well. It's looks like I'll be moving to a different facility.  I can get a much better deal a few miles away, but it is so much trouble to move everything. Guess what I'll be doing in November.

I need to decide what to throw away, what to donate to charity, and what to keep. Today I continued throwing away empty boxes. This was easy. When I found a box with nothing inside, I tossed it in the car. If I'd never saved these boxes in the first place I could have rented a smaller unit. The only boxes I'm glad I saved were the boxes for the model trains. Almost all collectibles are more valuable if you have the original box. Boxes for old and obsolete electronic gear don't improve the value of anything. Nobody wants a fifteen year old computer whether it's in the box or not.

I'll probably have to go up on the roof this weekend. Now that it's cooler, the water doesn't evaporate. It will stay up there all Winter if I don't remove it. At least we're looking at some nice weather ahead. Maybe clearing away all the standing water will be worth the effort.

I hope Dash realizes that we can sleep in late tomorrow. If I have to get up during the middle of the night, the least he can do is let me sleep in late on Saturday morning.

Pearl is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3216

The roof has quit leaking. The little circus in the park is trying to move their tent to higher ground. It's time to regroup and start over. I guess that's what weekends are for.

There was still some rain today, but the showers were light and didn't do any damage. Dash did a little bit of damage by pooping in the bed again, but it was our fault for sleeping in. These accidents tend to happen on weekends more often. I should have gotten up at 5 AM and taken him outside like I do on weekdays. I was asleep though. Without an alarm in the morning, I am always asleep.

I cleaned up the mess, put Dash's blankets in the laundry, and took him on a walk. Almost immediately, a small loose dog in a neighbor's yard scared him and we returned to the house. I got Janet to help me convince him that everything was OK, and off we went again. We took a different route and encountered no dogs this time.

After breakfast, I went to the gym, stopping to check out an REI sale on the way. I like high quality outdoor gear, but I need nothing. After wandering around the store for ten minutes, I bought two pair of socks. I don't even need socks.

The gym seems to have done a better job of solving their roof leak problem than I have. Even though there was a tremendous amount of rain yesterday, there was no sign of a leak when I arrived this morning. I wonder if I'll ever manage to go to the gym more than once a week? Even though other people seem to have no problem going daily, I just can't seem to find the time. Maybe I'm doing just fine. Very few people spend more time outdoors walking their dog. Even though Dash is very slow now, it's still good exercise for both of us.

I finally received a letter from NASA saying that they had postponed their event in Houston. That's good. Maybe when the event is rescheduled, I'll still make the cut. Of all the ways I can waste my time during retirement, becoming a space groupie and traveling to launches and events still seems like a good idea to me. I'm still hoping to get selected for once of these events.

I might like to visit old railroads too. I watched a show about scenic railroads on PBS this afternoon and it reminded me that I still like trains. I've traveled across the country several times on a train and the trips still bring back pleasant memories. I can't recall a single pleasant memory associated with flying.

There is still lots of rain in the forecast for next week. Enough already. I can't even remove the buckets from the living room floor until this rainy spell is over. There's another big auction in New York next week. I hope my art will do well. Maybe watching the auction online will help alleviate the cabin fever I get on rainy days. One way or another, we'll get through the week. I just want to see blue sky again.

Abby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3077 - Memorial Day

Both of my parents served in the Navy during World War II. Most of their neighbors, their congregation, and their co-workers were veterans as well. I think this was the last generation where military service was actually a common bond that tied people together. Only two of my high school friends joined the military. One became a Marine and the other became an Air Force fighter pilot. Most of the others had some sort of student deferment. It was pretty easy to get a deferment if you were actually going to school. We all hoped the Vietnam War would be over by the time we graduated.

I have tremendous respect for anyone who has served in the military. At the same time, I think our country has gotten involved in far too many senseless wars. The Vietnam War proved nothing. Twenty Five years of war in the Middle East have proved nothing. I've never understood why we are so quick to get involved in other people's business. Some of these people have been fighting for thousands of years. Our involvement is not going to stop them. In some cases, I think we are just fanning the flames.

It didn't really seem like a holiday today. I kept thinking it was Sunday. We should have gotten up earlier, because it was already hot by the time we walked Dash. Sleeping in is a tradition on holidays though. We always sleep in when we get a chance.

I saw a roach crawl under the bed just before we went to sleep last night. I got a flashlight and looked under the bed, but the bug had disappeared. I kept thinking that it was going to crawl over me as I slept. This morning, I pulled all the photo equipment and unused dog beds out from under the bed and cleaned all the dust away with the vacuum. The bedroom is cleaner than it's been in a long time, but I still can't find the bug. The critters are fast. It's probably in the kitchen by now.

Since I had the vacuum out, I cleaned the rest of the house as well. Then I did a load of laundry and took a nap with Dash. That's about as exciting as it got today. It was way too hot to mow the grass or go up on the roof. The only good thing about the Summer heat is that the standing water on the roof evaporates quickly.

Janet and I think the Movoflex we're giving Dash is working. The change has been gradual, but he seems to have more energy now and isn't stumbling as much when he walks. I'm not expecting miracles, but I hope he can keep walking on his own for a while longer. We've already purchased a Help 'Em Up Harness for Dash like Dot used to wear, but I'm not looking forward to the day when we have to start using it. Dash enjoys his independence.

Summer is here to stay. We're supposed to get our first triple digit temperatures later this week. I hope the air conditioner keeps working. I change the filters right on schedule, but I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2858

It doesn't look like I'll have to take the refrigerator apart this weekend after all. The temperature is holding steady. I have no idea why the temperature is getting cooler again, but I'll take it. I think we're probably good until the repairmen shows up Monday afternoon.

Dash let us sleep in until about seven-thirty this morning. He ate a good breakfast and then took a surprisingly long walk. This improvement is as much of a mystery as the refrigerator, but I'm happy to see our guy in good spirits again. I know he isn't entirely happy about the protective gear he has to wear. It's helping though. He doesn't lift one of his rear legs very well when he walks and he had ground down several of his nails all the way to the quick. Two of them were even starting to bleed. The protective boots keep his paws safe and the nails are starting to grow back again. I hope the knee brace is equally effective. Dash walks a little stiffly wearing the brace, but I think this is what is supposed to happen. By restricting his range of motion a bit, his knee will have a chance to heal.

I guess fresh peaches are finally out of season. I've been enjoying them in my morning smoothie, but they're getting harder to find at the grocery store. Peaches are more expensive now and are starting to taste mushy. I guess peaches are harder to grow in a greenhouse. Strawberries and blueberries are available all year long. I know there is a season for those berries as well, but it doesn't seem to matter.  You can almost always find good strawberries.

I upgraded the newer iPad to IOS 11. I kind of hope that I don't like the new operating system. If I do, I will be forced to get a new phone. My old phone can't be upgraded anymore and is stuck forever at IOS 10.3.3. My old original iPad is stuck way back at IOS 5.1.1. Apple used to be much better at making sure that their software worked with older products. Like most manufacturers, they've discovered that planned obsolescence is much more profitable. Computers are one of the few tools that become obsolete even when they are still working perfectly. I still have some hand tools that my Dad got from his father. A good hammer will last for a hundred years. A good computer probably won't last for five.

When I was recording some purchases in Quickbooks this afternoon, I noticed an entry from 12/10/17. That hasn't even happened yet. It took me quite a while to figure out where this entry actually belonged. We've all gotten so used to spellcheck that we become complacent and don't think we make mistakes anymore. I'm amazed at how many mistakes I make. I'm a typo factory these days. I wonder how many other undiscovered errors are hidden away in Quickbooks, Word, and Excel? I've even gotten the day count wrong on the blog and I don't have a clue where the error is.

A storm is headed our way. We really need the rain, but I'm always apprehensive about bad weather. I've been watching the storm approach on the weather radar and hope that nothing bad happens. I think the cold front and accompanying rain are supposed to arrive around 2 AM. Maybe we'll just sleep through it. That would certainly be better than having Dash freak out when he hears thunder. I don't want any more large branches falling on the roof either. Let's not even think about a power outage.

The good thing about the rain is that it's supposed to be clear and much cooler by morning. That would be nice. A clear Fall morning is exactly what I need.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2649

It's that time of year. There are tornado warnings in the area and the weather radar shows a storm is headed our way. I think the really bad weather will pass to the north of us, but you never know here in Texas. One way or another, we're due for thunderstorms this evening and that's never good with two storm phobic dogs.

I was actually surprised to hear all the storm warnings on the evening news because, for the most part, it was a nice Spring day. The park was full of people today, including several weird ones. While I was walking Dash this morning we encountered a couple walking their miniature donkeys. They had the donkeys on leashes, just like dogs. Later in the day when I was returning from the gym, I noticed a group of men in another section of the park dressed in suits of armor, apparently reenacting medieval battles. At least there were no loose dogs today, although I was followed by a drone for a while.

The people in my gym keep getting older and older. I'm beginning to feel out of place. When I was on the treadmill this afternoon there was a group of old men next to me complaining about their doctors. One of them didn't want to have a biopsy done and thought he could resolve his problems through the power of prayer. Good grief. Just get the biopsy done. I didn't join the conversation though. It was none of my business. I wish a few younger people would join this gym, although I do tend to have the basketball court to myself.

Dot woke up in the middle of the night and I decided to take her outside. It was a good move, because she went right back to sleep after she peed and I was able to sleep in until almost 8:30 this morning. I wouldn't mind taking Dot outside every night, but it doesn't work very well unless she wakes up on her own. If she's sleeping, you want to let her sleep.

I forgot to go to the grocery store and look for blueberries this morning. I also forgot to go to REI on the way to the gym and use a coupon I got in the mail. Basically all I did today was take a nap and go to the gym. I did do the laundry, but when I washed the sheets, the bottom fitted sheet tore in the washer. Damn. I love bamboo sheets, but I wish they weren't so expensive. Bamboo sheets are more comfortable than cotton, but they don't last any longer. I guess it's time to look for some more.

It's hard to believe it's almost April. Pretty soon I'm going to to have to renew my driver's license and my passport. I hope I can just mail in my driver's license renewal. Spending time at the DMV is even worse than jury duty. I think when they take my passport picture this time, I'll finally look exactly like my Dad. I sure wish I still looked like I did in my first passport picture. Time definitely isn't kind.

I guess I'll have to make my morning smoothie with blackberries this week. Oh, well. Blackberries are pretty tasty too.

Bubba is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2636

This morning's breakfast was a gut buster. I actually did go someplace new and ordered something called Early Bird Enchiladas. The meal was served in one of those flimsy tinfoil pie pans like you get when you buy a grocery store pie. The Enchiladas were filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, spicy pork, jalapenos, and cheese; all covered with Rotel Queso Dip. Jeez, I don't think I've had Rotel Dip since college. I didn't take a picture of the meal because it looked atrocious, but it tasted amazing. I'd go back again next week if it weren't for the fact that I'm probably going to have heartburn for a month.

There was a different crowd at this place. No hipsters with ironic beards here. When I arrived, the place was filled with men wearing well worn ball caps and work boots. They were already finishing their meals when I ordered and the place was practically empty when I left. Unlike the hipsters at last week's restaurant, these guys had work to do.

I had work to do as well. When I got home and made sure the dogs were OK, I began writing my next article. I had a vague feeling that I'd already written this piece, but it's hard to tell. I've written hundreds of articles for this client. The article took longer than I thought, because every time I started making progress, Dot needed to go outside to pee.

I wish there was something I could do that would help Dot regain her strength. I've tried almost everything and nothing seems to work. Nerve damage is insidious. It's slow, but completely relentless. On a day-to-day basis Dot seems pretty stable. You only notice the deterioration over a long period of time. Dot is definitely slower and less coordinated than she was at Christmas. She's a lot worse than she was a year ago. Dot's neurologist and every vet we've talked to says there isn't a lot we can do. Nerves regrow extremely slowly even when you are completely healthy. I try to keep Dot moving so she won't become paralyzed and do my best to manage any pain she might be experiencing. I'm sure that Dot wishes she could run and jump like she used to, but amazingly she's still a happy girl. If Dot can remain happy with all her infirmities, I ought to be able to do the same. It's not easy. I think Dot lives in the moment a lot better than I do.

I didn't get around to submitting my article today. I'm sure it's still full of typos and awkward syntax. I'll take another look tomorrow morning. Today just got away from me. The dogs kept me so busy today that I'm actually amazed that I made any progress at all.

I'd like to sleep in tomorrow morning, but I'd also like to get Dot outside before she pees all over the place. These are the choices you have to make with an incontinent dog. Maybe the skies will clear off this weekend. I'm looking forward to doing a little stargazing with my new binoculars.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2589

I love fog. We've had foggy mornings for the past several days and I like the way it allows me to look at the ordinary things I see every day from a completely different perspective. Fog has a way of separating the foreground from the background, forcing you to look at one thing at a time. The effect is very similar to the out of focus bokeh you get when when you take a photograph with a very shallow depth of field. Almost everything looks prettier when it is the only object in sharp focus. I try to look at life this way, always concentrating on one thing at a time. One a clear day, my eye is always multitasking, trying to interpret too many things at once. A foggy day seems much more natural to me.

On my way to the gym this afternoon, I stopped at the REI store and got a cool winter coat with a Christmas gift card that Janet had given me. I've certainly changed the way I dress over the past five years. There was a time when I had a menswear client and chose to get paid in clothes. I dressed fabulously for a while, but it was all kind of pointless. Who was I trying to impress anyway?  Nobody needs big dry cleaning bills and I prefer clothes that look good covered with dog hair anyway. I just wonder why it took me so long to discover camping clothes.

I'm beginning to realize that I don't get any more sleep on weekends. Sure, we get up later on weekends, but we tend to go to bed later too. The net result is about the same. Maybe I'm destined to get 5 to 6 hours sleep, no matter what happens. One thing I've learned by wearing a fitness tracker is that I go to sleep very quickly. Apparent insomnia is not a problem with me. Even when I wake up several times a night to take care of Dot, I'm back asleep again five minutes later. When I eventually got up for breakfast this morning, I'd almost forgotten that I'd already taken Dot outside to pee at 4:30 AM and then re-made her bed for her before we both went back to sleep.

It's raining cats and dogs right now. I took Dash outside to pee right after dinner and he was just getting ready to go when a giant thunderclap scared him and he went racing for the back door. He must not have had to go very bad, because he's sleeping under my desk right now. I'm glad we don't live in Fort Worth, because they're under a tornado watch right now. I think we're in the clear though. The storm is headed in a northerly direction. If it were headed east, I'd be under the desk with Dash.

I've often wondered why I'm not building any muscle mass as the gym. Now I know the answer. I read an article recently that said almost everybody will eventually lose up to 30% of their muscle fiber as they age. The muscle atrophy begins when you reach 50 and becomes much more dramatic when you reach 60. This muscle tissue won't come back, no matter what you do, so if you want to remain strong you have to work extra hard to build up the muscle fiber you still have left. Normal cardio exercises like cycling or walking on a treadmill won't build muscle mass at all. You need to start lifting free weights and push yourself to your limits. This explains why I'm not making much progress. It's too bad that I hate lifting weights. Oh well, at least my heart is in pretty good shape.

Tomorrow is a holiday. I'm sure this makes a difference to Janet and everyone else to goes off to work every morning. It's going to just seem like a Monday to me though.

Betty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2553

Everything was crowded today. Traffic was slow. Parking lots were full. And stores were extremely busy. Apparently, a lot of people haven't discovered online shopping yet. I wasn't even Christmas shopping. All I had to do was get gas, stop by the storage warehouse, go to the post office, and do my grocery shopping. From now through Christmas, these simple errands are going to take a lot longer.

I picked up Janet's puffy coat while I was at the storage warehouse and brought it home. There were some winter coats of mine there as well, but they were too heavy and bulky. I wonder why I ever wore those coats. The lightweight down jackets I wear now are so much better. I've finally learned to dress in layers on cold days. Instead of one humongous, heavy winter coat, I wear several much lighter ones. I wonder why it took me thirty years to learn this?

We got to sleep in a little later today. It was only an extra hour, but it seemed to make a difference. It always helps when Dot doesn't poop during the night. Today, she waited until I was getting her up for breakfast to do her business, which was actually very convenient. Everything landed right on a nearby puppy training pad, which I quickly rolled up, bagged, and threw away. Small saves like this are all it takes to make me think I'm going to have a good day.

A lot of yesterday's unfinished business got taken care of this morning. I wrote a letter to my sister and finished all the website updates that I had started yesterday. I had no trouble uploading the new files to the server today, so apparently the  problem that practically took down the entire hosting company has been resolved. This must have been a really major service outage. I checked around midnight, just before I went to bed last night and all the sites were still down. Somebody stayed up late and fixed things though. Everything is fine now.

I don't know how you Northerner's do it. The temperature hasn't even dropped below freezing yet and I'm already in full Winter mode. I've got a little ceramic heater under my desk to keep my feet warm. I wear sweaters around the house. I'm always checking the furnace to make sure it is running smoothly. The dogs seem to enjoy the cold weather, so I have to make sure there's a warm coat near the back door when I take Dot out to pee. Winter has barely begun and I'm already looking forward to Spring.

I wonder if I can avoid vacuuming tomorrow? I'd rather go to the gym. Actually, I'd really rather download Arrival and watch it while the dogs are sleeping. The movie isn't available on iTunes yet, so I'll probably just stay on schedule and do my Sunday chores. Heaven forbid that I would ever drive to a theater and watch the movie on a big screen. I'll just wait.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2469

I find all this talk about the candidate's health amusing. These guys are my age. They may be healthy compared to other people approaching seventy, but they aren't thirty-five anymore. It's amazing how quickly the body starts to deteriorate when you approach seventy. My Dad was like John Wayne in his younger years, but between seventy and eighty, his decline was swift and debilitating. I'm starting to experience the ravages of time myself. I just don't understand why we nominated two people who are so old and so disliked. Didn't we learn anything from Ronald Regan? Many doctors and even his own son now say that he suffered from Alzheimers Disease while he was still in the White House. You'd think in a country of over 300 million people, we could find at least one decent, healthy person in their early 40's to run for president.

I certainly didn't see many healthy people this morning. When I took Dash on his morning walk, we  somehow found ourselves in the middle of one of those charity running events. We must have been at the tail end of the race, because there weren't many people actually running. There were a few Moms pushing strollers, but mostly we shared the trail with some very overweight folks who definitely shouldn't have been wearing yoga pants. I guess some of the bystanders thought Dash and I were in the race, because when we passed, I could hear them saying "Keep it up. You can do it." It was kind of embarrassing, since some of the fat people were beating us. They weren't stopping to pee on every tree though.

I had quite a bit of website work to do today. I guess working on weekends is considered normal now. I got everything finished, but it didn't leave me with a lot of time to do anything else. At least I got to sleep in late this morning. When there's no alarm clock, both dogs seem content to sleep until at least 7:30 AM. The only problem with sleeping longer it that I end up cutting things pretty close with getting Dot outside to pee in the morning. If she's still sleeping when I wake up, I get everything prepared for the race to the door. First I unlock and open the back door, put my shoes on, and then I wait. As soon as Dot starts to stir, I lift her up and guide her by her harness straight out the open door so that she'll hopefully pee outside. There is no margin for error. If I forget to unlock the door, she will pee in the living room while I'm fiddling with the lock. If I forget my shoes, I just have to go outside barefoot. Today, I was successful. Some days, I'm not.

I've grown to love the iPhone app that lets me do my grocery shopping without standing in the check out line. This app not only saves me time, it also save me a lot of needless aggravation. Now, I wish there were other apps that let me avoid people in my daily life. I wish there was an app that would tell me exactly when to leave the house in order to avoid traffic jams and irritating drivers. I wish there was an app that would tell me when the strawberries were fresh. I hate buying a package of strawberries and discovering a rotten, moldy strawberry hidden in with the others when I get home. An app that allowed me to buy clothes that fit without having to try them on first would be nice as well.

Dot is walking better today. The extra rest she's been getting seems to be helping. The only downside to extra rest is that it virtually guarantees that Dot will poop in her bed. When I anticipate that this is going to happen, I put a pad under her and take off her harness so it won't get soiled. Sometimes this works like a charm. Other times, Dot decides that she wants to get up again and go outside as soon as I get her harness off. Such is life.

I sorted through several months worth of unread bank and brokerage statements, medicare notifications, and reminders about upcoming events this afternoon. Why do people keep sending me these things? I have no interest in reading them anymore.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2286

I'm a light sleeper. When I wake up, I try to remain as quiet as I can. If I remain still, I know I can usually stay in bed an extra thirty minutes to an hour. I've learned that as soon as Dash senses activity in the house, he will get up and start barking for his breakfast. The barking wakes Dot up and she gets excited, which often causes her to poop in her bed. After that happens, sleeping in is a lost cause.

I woke up tired this morning and remained tired for most of the day. I'm not sure how to get the sleep I need. It's taking me longer and longer to write the blog in the evening, so I get to bed late. Janet gets up very early on weekdays. That means we all get up early so the dogs can have their walk before she goes to work. On days like today, where we actually can sleep in, Dash usually has other ideas. I'm sure that mothers with young children face very similar problems. They're younger than me though. Grumpy old men need their sleep.

We've started having frozen toaster waffles on Saturdays because they're so easy to fix. On weekdays I have my thirty second banana and strawberry smoothie and often pick up Chinese take-out for dinner. There's a trend here that I don't really like. Simplification of meals usually comes to an inevitable conclusion when you're drinking Ensure everyday and have one of those "I've fallen and I can't get up" moments. That's what happened to my Dad. I need to avoid oversimplification. Complexity keeps your mind and body going. I probably should start making fancy omelets for breakfast like I used to.

Today was beautiful. The sky was clear and the humidity was low. There was a chill in the air when we walked the dogs this morning, but that was good because Dot does much better in cold weather. Everything in the yard is starting to grow again, which means that I really need to get the landscapers out next week to give me a bid on repairing the lawn and ground cover. I am reminded of this because Facebook has started posting those "memory" pages on my wall every morning. This morning I saw a blog post from two years ago that clearly indicated that I'm behind this year. I should already have the St. Augustine turf installed by now.

There was so much I needed to do today and so little desire to do any of it. I could have gotten started on my taxes. I could have pruned the Photinia Bushes in the back yard. I could have washed the car or vacuumed the house. All I did was change the sheets on the bed, wash Dot's dog blankets, and go to the grocery store. Maybe I took a nap too. If I was smart, I'd be asleep right now. That's still at least an hour away though. I've got to reconfigure Dot's bed so she's next to me. I've got to run a test print in the large Epson printer. I've got to clean my teeth with a variety of sonic toothbrushes and empty the dehumidifier. Then I turn the lights out and hope that everybody stays asleep for the rest of the night.

Pringles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2252 - Valentine's Day

We got to sleep in until almost 8 AM this morning, which is almost unheard of. Both dogs slept soundly. There were no accidents during the night. And best of all, after our morning walk, we had bacon for breakfast. Who could ask for more. I didn't make it to the gym today because I had to catch up on a lot of Saturday errands that got postponed by yesterday's photoshoot. It was no great loss though. I didn't really feel like going to the gym anyway.

When I was out running errands this afternoon I noticed that I had another nail in one of my tires. Damn. It's almost impossible to avoid getting nails and screws in your tires in Dallas. Janet has had three nails in her tires during the past year and I've had two. I don't know where these nails come from, but they're everywhere. The situation has gotten so bad that I've even thought of investing in a set of run-flat tires. I can't imagine changing a tire on the side of the road in this city. The traffic is so bad that you'd probably get killed. The tire is still holding air, but getting it fixed is the first thing on my to-do list for tomorrow.

I'm apparently not the only one who has made Sprinkles Cupcakes a Valentine's Day tradition. Every time I go to the store on this day there is a huge line out front waiting to place their order. The wait wasn't so bad today, because it looked like it was going to rain any minute and even though the cupcakes are delicious, they are not worth getting wet for. I didn't even have to pay for the cupcakes today because Janet discovered a gift certificate she won in a charity silent auction quite some time ago. I thought the certificate had probably expired, but the store honored it and even told me that I could redeem the gift certificate a little bit at a time since I really only wanted four cupcakes today, plus another two small ones for the dogs.

I received an e-mail from a veterinarian this afternoon asking if I was still interested in designing a website for him. I had initially contacted this guy over two years ago and then just assumed he wasn't interested because I never heard back from him. This just goes to show that some things take time. I'm always delighted when these sleeper cell jobs come back to life. I've made tons of contacts over the years, but I just don't have the energy or inclination to make cold calls anymore. There are certainly a lot more people out there that I haven't heard from in a long time. If even half of them still remembered me, I could be busy for a long, long time.

Dot is ageless. I took this Valentine's Day portrait of her quite a few years ago, but she still looks absolutely the same today. Dash looks pretty young too, but that's probably because he actually is a lot younger than Dot. We're all getting older though. Now Janet is the only one in hte family who isn't taking blood pressure medication.

Tomorrow is President's Day. Is this a holiday for all the presidents, or just the ones like Washington and Lincoln who used to have their own holidays? It's a weird holiday. The post office is closed, but FedEx and UPS are still making deliveries. Some banks are closed, but others remain open. Mattress stores seem to love this day, because they always seem to have huge President's Day sales. For me, it's just another day, I hope I can get my tire fixed.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2222

I don't believe in numerology, but I'd like to think that days like 2222 have some sort of special significance. I guess all days are special in one way or another. The last time we had a day like this was way back toward the end of 2012. On Day 1111, Dot and Dash were still healthy enough to run and play at the dog park. It was a cold, clear Winter day much like today. I took some stuff to the storage warehouse that day and went looking for a new floor lamp at Home Depot. Nothing has changed and everything has changed. I wonder what Day 3333 will be like?

It would be funny if I was still going to my favorite breakfast restaurant on Day 3333. I'm bound to get tired of this place eventually. For now, it's still a delicious change of pace and a nice way to end the week. I actually got to the restaurant a little later this morning because there were no accidents during the night and both dogs slept well. When the dogs sleep, Janet and I get to sleep a little longer too.

There was no real reason to get started early today anyway. There wasn't that much to do. Since I'm more or less caught up on work again, I spent the day doing little things around the house. I finally discovered why the sliding glass door is sticking. It's not a broken roller as I initially thought. On closer examination, I noticed that the entire wall has shifted a bit and the ceiling and floor aren't quite parallel anymore. This wouldn't be a problem if I didn't have a floor to ceiling sliding glass door. Now, when I open the door it is traveling very slightly downhill. After about two feet, the bottom of the aluminum door touches the metal track that keeps it in place and friction brings the heavy door to a stop. I'm not sure what to do about this. I suspect it would be a lot easier to replace a roller in the door than to re-position the entire wall.

I took a small check to the bank today and paid most of the Christmas credit card bills. If there aren't any unexpected vet bills or household emergencies next month, I might actually have a little money left over. I don't know why I even try to keep things in balance anymore though. The stock market had an absolutely horrible day. So far, this might be the worst January for the market on record. Very few people have escaped this market downturn because just about everything has gone down significantly. Could I have invested more wisely? I doubt it. A lot of things are just out of our control these days. I mean, who would have thought that the price of oil would come down to twenty dollars a barrel again? Wasn't it over a hundred dollars a barrel just a short while ago?

A large limb from one of the Oak Trees fell in the yard this morning. Luckily, the limb didn't hit the house, the dogs, or myself. These trees are getting old and falling limbs are becoming a common occurrence. It's probably time to get the trees trimmed again. I used to have a tree trimmer come out every year, but I've let things slide a bit. Tree trimming, like everything else, has gotten expensive. Hey, if I don't look up, I don't notice how bad things have become. I need to put taking care of the trees on my to-do list. One more big ice storm and I'm sure some other limbs are going to fall. I don't want one of them falling on my head.

Our crazy weather continues.  It warmed up and was quite nice today, but I hear there is a possibility of snow tomorrow.

Betty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2210

It was nice to see the sun again. It seemed like I got a lot more done today. Truthfully, I didn't accomplish much of anything, but clear skies and sunlight streaming through the windows can magnify the smallest accomplishments. When we walked the dogs this morning, everybody cast a shadow. This was much better than yesterday. Dot seemed to have a lot of energy today and there were no accidents in the house. During the holidays, we've all been sleeping longer. I'd like to think that this is why Dot is back on schedule, but it's probably just blind luck.

I made it back to the gym this afternoon and had a surprisingly good workout. It always amazes me that whenever I happen to arrive at the gym, some of the same people are always there. Some of them appear to live at the gym. This seems a bit excessive to me. I know I should go several times a week, but every day seems a bit much. I could never do that, even if I did have the time.

I probably get more exercise than a lot of these gym rats anyway. The two dogs walks we took today and the hour I spent wrestling with the Dyson vacuum cleaner probably burned off more calories than my afternoon excursion to the gym. Sunday's are always busy. It's the last chance we have to get things straightened up before another week of chaos arrives. Since it was such a nice day, Dash even got a bath. You never realize how dirty your dogs are until you give them a bath. Dash looks several shades whiter and his coat is soft and smooth again. I'm sure that Dash would just as soon have stayed dirty, but maybe he won't itch so much now. Hopefully, spending time in the underwater treadmill each week keeps Dot clean. It's too hard to bathe her at one of those self-wash dog places now, since she has trouble standing on her own.

I thought this evening might be a good time to find Mercury just after Sunset, but there must have been too much haze on the horizon. All I saw was a nice sunset. Maybe I missed my opportunity. January 1st was supposed to be the best day to look for this illusive planet, but it was cloudy that day. As I stood on a small hill scanning the horizon with my binoculars, I did notice that the park completely changes its personality after dark. I heard drums and chanting off to the South of me and down by the water I saw some people setting off fireworks. I've started seeing coyotes in the evening again too. Several days ago, Dash and I had to curtail our evening walk when we came face-to-face with a coyote around dusk. Coyotes will usually leave you alone, but I didn't want to take any chances.

Janet is taking a vacation day tomorrow, so we'll all get another chance to sleep in a bit longer. Left to my own devices, I would never get up until the sun was streaming in the bedroom window. Getting up early has been good for me though. We walk before dawn because it is the only time when Janet and I are both available, but it is also one of the prettiest times of the day. Most of our walks are around 45 minutes and that is almost exactly the amount of time it takes the sky to go from starlight to sunlight in the morning. Sunrise can be quite beautiful. Hopefully, tomorrow will be another day exactly like today.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2173

It's official. 2015 is now the rainiest year in Dallas history. When I look out my window, it's easy to see why. Some parts of town have had over six inches of rain during the last 24 hours. It rained more than usual this Spring. It rained more than usual this Summer. And it is definitely raining more than usual now. The traffic was horrible today. I saw five accidents on my way to the grocery store this afternoon. Last night was a lot worse, when three people died after they were swept away by high water. I try to stay inside on days like this.

The weather may be getting worse, but Dot's condition is definitely getting better. She didn't throw up at all today and is still holding down her food. We are continuing to feed her the Hills I/D and are gradually increasing the amount she is allowed to eat. Getting back to her regular diet couldn't come quick enough for Dot. She is very focused on food. I still don't know what caused all the vomiting. With dogs it could be almost anything.

The cold, damp weather gave me an extra incentive to make a decision about a dehumidifier. After talking to a patient, very nice customer service representative at an air quality specialty company for about twenty minutes, I finally decided on the best model for our house and ordered it online. It was hard to find a dehumidifier that had everything I needed. Some units were too big and noisy. Others didn't have an internal water reservoir, so they constantly had to be hooked up to a drain hose. Many of the smaller, high capacity units were designed to be installed in a crawl space under the floor. These don't work very well if you don't have a crawlspace. The dehumidifier I initially wanted turned out to be too small for our house. I wondered who would buy this rather expensive, built like a tank unit if it wouldn't dehumidify our rather small house. The customer service representative told me that police departments loved the compact machines and used them to dehumidify their gun safes. In the end, I never could find a commercial dehumidifier that would work well in our house and ended up buying a much less expensive consumer model instead. Hopefully it will last at least a couple of years.

I kept thinking it was Saturday all day. I didn't go out for breakfast this morning because Janet was off work today. We slept in a little later as well. My initial reaction was to get Dot up as early as possible, since there had been no accidents by the time I woke up. She was sleeping so peacefully though, that I decided to let her sleep as long as possible. We all got an extra hour of shut-eye until Dash eventually started barking for his breakfast. We got lucky and found a forty-five minute break in the rain right after we ate, so the dogs got their morning walk as well.

Since the rain is supposed to continue all the way through Monday, I don't know what I'll do this weekend. I certainly have no intention to participate in the pre-holiday shopping frenzy. Why would you go to a store and stand in long lines to buy something you could get for the same price online anyway? There were tons of Black Friday deals in my inbox this morning. One looked way too good to pass up. There was a picture of a new model Mac Pro laptop with a price of $15. I immediately put this deal in my shopping cart and went to get Janet so I could show her this amazing price. By the time I returned, the price had gone up quite a bit. The Black Friday price was really $1500. The store sure fixed that typo in a hurry. I bet they had a flood of orders the minute the deal went online. I wonder if they'll have to honor the deal for the few people who were fast enough to check out before the error was corrected. I bet somebody's in trouble. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough to get a $15 Mac. I'm rarely fast enough for anything anymore.

Spots is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2147

Dogs don't understand Daylight Saving Time. Frankly, I don't either. The whole concept of "gaining an hour" or "losing and hour" is bizarre. We all follow the same circadian rhythm and arbitrarily turning back the clock so it will be light when you drive to work in the morning doesn't really prove anything. I'm sure that's what Dot and Dash were thinking when they got us up at 6 AM on a Sunday morning. According to their clock, we were already an hour late for breakfast. We wanted to sleep in a little longer, but it doesn't pay to ignore Dot these days. When we didn't respond immediately to the dogs desire to get the day started, Dot got up on her own and promptly pooped in the hallway.

I had plans to go to the gym in the morning, but got sidetracked by setting all the clocks in the house back an hour. You don't realize until the time changes that almost every device in your home has a clock in it. There's a clock in the thermostat. There's a clock in the coffee maker. There's a clock in the television. There's even a clock in the old land line phone. In addition to these clocks are wall clocks in the bathroom, office, and kitchen, plus two clock radios. You are either forced to change all of these clocks, or ignore them all. Just changing one or two clocks creates confusion.You never know which one is right. I even set one clock back to Daylight Saving Time by mistake this morning. It is ironic that in a house filled with watches and clocks, I am perpetually late everywhere I go.

Since we have a lot of single pane glass in our house, cold weather can cause water to condense on the inside of our windows. This condensation can make the entire house feel damp. There is nothing new about this damp weather condensation, but today it made me feel like it was caused by our invisible water leak instead of the weather. I still see no evidence whatsoever of a leak, but the water keeps running in the pipes. I hope the plumbing company sends out a really good plumber. I hate these kind of mysteries.

I went to the gym this afternoon even though I knew it was raining and I would feel compelled to clean the car when I got home. I had cabin fever and needed to get out of the house. I did clean the car when I got home, but it was no big deal. Sunday is just a giant cleaning day anyway. After I cleaned the car, I vacuumed all the rugs and carpets with the Dyson. I continue to be amazed by the enormous amount of dirt and dog hair that I sweep up every week. I used to wonder why Dyson made the dirt canister out of clear plastic so you could see all the gross gunk you had removed from your carpets. Now, I think that they want you to see all this dirt so you will be impressed by how strong their vacuum cleaner is. Probably all vacuum cleaners suck up the same amount of dirt, but most just hide it away in a bag that your forget about until it is full.

So far, November is looking busy. I have an appointment to take Dot back to the cancer center for one of her periodic exams. She'll get another Ultrasound scan tomorrow to measure whether the tumor in her liver has grown. Dash is fine for the moment. He is eating normally and all four legs are working fine. I haven't seem him limp for almost a week. I think there is already enough work on the books to keep me busy for most of the week. I have three new articles to write, along with a website that needs to be updated and converted to a mobile friendly format. All these projects will be finished in good time, while I spend my time fretting about where to find fresh peaches. My morning smoothies were much better with peaches in them.

Jeda is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day