Day 3906

You want a recipe for a dismal day? Start with lots of rain. Add a huge sell off in the stock market. Throw in a little pandemic isolation and top it off with the latest cable news crisis. It's getting harder and harder to stay positive this year. I'm not a very positive person anyway, but this year is off the charts. Sometimes all it takes is a little rain to tip the balance.

We had to delay our walk again this morning because of the rain. We got up really early to beat the weather, but the forecast was wrong. It was already raining. The rain never lasted long, but it was hard to tell what was going to happen next. We ended up waiting until almost noon before leaving the house. Dawn didn't seem to mind. I think she would sleep all day if given the chance.

I got a letter from the grocery store today telling me to throw away the peaches I had bought from them almost a month ago. A little late guys. I've already had two peach pies and eaten a peach every day in my morning smoothie. If I was going to get salmonella poisoning I'd be dead by now. Who keeps peaches for over a month anyway? They don't last that long. There's still one store that sells peaches. I'm continuing to eat them. It makes me wonder if these peaches are actually safe, or whether the store just didn't bother to read all the recall notices. I do think a lot of these produce recalls are just done out of an abundance of caution. Nobody wants to get sued these days.

I went to the bank today to deposit a check. I wonder if the bank lobby is ever going to reopen? They've probably discovered that it's much easier to have everyone go through the drive up windows. Customers seems to have adjusted to this. Maybe there's no need to ever reopen the lobby. There's an app that lets you deposit checks by taking a picture of them with your phone. I'm too old school for this though. I don't use my phone for any type of transactions. It's just a tool to check the weather with and occasionally take photos. I used my phone to photograph some Bald Cypress fruit today. These don't look nearly as edible as the Mexican Plumbs a little further down the road.

Both Space X launches were successful today. There was a Starlink launch in Florida this morning and another Starship prototype hop in Boca Chica later in the day. The Starship still looks like a flying grain silo, but I bet a year from now it will look a lot more sophisticated. One disconcerting thing is happening down at Boca Chica. Space X is building a giant stainless steel wall around the facility. If I ever get down there, I might not be able to see anything. Since United Launch Alliance didn't have any launches today, they had time to answer my letter. Yay. I'm on the ULA media list now.

The trash has been taken to the curb. The rain has stopped. Dawn seems to be in a good mood. Maybe today wasn't that dismal after all. Really nothing happened today, but nothing happened yesterday either. We'll see if tomorrow is a repeat of today. There's more rain in the forecast starting around 4 AM. Will we get to walk or will we have to wait? There's certainly nothing else on the agenda.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3427

Some workmen digging in the alley behind our house cut our fiber optic cable today. This was inconvenient because all of the sudden our phones, television, and internet were gone. AT&T told us that they buried the cables these days so they would be maintenance free. Good luck with that. I called the customer service number and waited forever to talk with a real person. An automated mechanical voice kept telling me to stay on the line while they ran some tests. I would wait and then a while later the mechanical voice would say that they were experiencing technical difficulties and to call back later. If I could have talked with a real person I could have told them immediately that the tests would never work because the line wasn't connected to anything. The workmen had cut it in half. Eventually I was able to schedule a service call by calling a different number. I certainly wasn't expecting anyone to cut through my buried fiber line, but this is why I still keep the little T-Mobile WiFi hotspot that I used to use on business trips. It's slow, but it usually works.

It's been a month to the day since Dash passed away. Since we no longer have a Dalmatian of our own, Janet and I have been visiting the rescue kennel when we have time. We went up this afternoon to play with the dogs. I was hoping to see the quiet little girl who crawled in my lap the last time we visited, but she already has a foster to adopt. I didn't think this girl would stay at the kennel long. She was adorable. We played ball with the remaining dogs who were anything but quiet. They were full of energy and loved the attention. The kennel staff told us that we were welcome to visit and play with the dogs any time we wanted. They said that they were usually too busy to spend this much individual time with the dogs and that it was good for them to get the extra attention. Over time we will learn more about each dog's personality and it might help them find a good home.

On our way back to town we stopped at Costco so I could get my membership card. Evidently I can get a card because Janet is a member. Janet likes this enormous store but I usually stick to places closer to home. It doesn't hurt to have the card though. Who knows. There might be a bargain some day that I just can't pass up.

When we got back to the house there was an AT&T technician waiting for us on the front porch. "But our service appointment isn't until Wednesday," I told the guy. "I wouldn't know about that," the technician said. Then he added "If you can give me access to your back yard, I can fix your cable today." This was a baffling, but welcome surprise. It looks like I can watch Perry Mason tonight after all.

I'm still taking long walks every day. I wonder if I can keep this up during the Summer. It was warmer today and I could definitely feel the heat. I don't think these walks will be nearly as enjoyable when the temperature is over 100 degrees. I need to make the most of this limited window of opportunity. Spring is beautiful in Texas, but it doesn't last long.

I need to quit checking the stock market on days like today. The market was a disaster. I have no control over the market whatsoever. I need to stick to photographing butterflies and petting Dalmatians and hopefully everything will be fine.

Haley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3375

I dread Dash's periodic bouts with diarrhea. They don't happen often, but when they do, it makes a horrible mess. We'll probably never know why he had diarrhea last night. We had to change what he was eating this week because he has lost interest in the chicken and rice stew Janet has been making for him. Maybe the new food upset his stomach. Maybe he's under more stress since he's having difficulty standing. Maybe he ate something bad in the yard or got a stomach virus. We'll probably never know. We certainly never found out what caused the diarrhea in the past.

Needless to say, there was quite a mess to clean up. I've been doing laundry most of the day. We had to give Dash a bath as well. A wet rag simply didn't remove the stains. Giving Dash a bath is problematic since he can't stand up without assistance. He can't have his harness on either. One of us has to support him so he won't fall while the other one does the cleaning. Everybody gets wet. Dash is clean now. All the bed linen is clean. The smell is finally gone. It's been a long day though and everybody is tired.

I went back to the hotel for breakfast because it is quiet and peaceful. I wasn't even that hungry, but it was nice to take a break from the cleaning brigade. Janet stayed home to watch Dash while I was away and then I stayed home for the rest of the day. The diarrhea seems to be over, but Dash still seems weaker than usual.

I didn't think that Dash would want a walk this evening, but I thought we'd give it a try when he headed for the back gate at the appointed time. We probably should have stayed home. Dash seemed confused and would stop for long periods of time and just stare off into space. I tried to get him to turn around and go home, but he kept moving forward. He is very stubborn. Dash would walk for about twenty yards and then stop for a while. Then he would walk for another twenty yards. I thought I'd have to call Janet to come pick us up in the car for a while, but eventually we made it home.

I was disappointed to see the stock market drop over 450 points today. It was the worst day since January. Things have been going well lately and I always hate to see a big sell off. If you weren't watching the business channels, you would nave never noticed the steep decline. Everyone else was talking about the Mueller Report. Of course nobody actually knows what is in the report yet, but people are already second guessing the results. A lot of folks seem really disappointed that Trump wasn't immediately indicted as a Russian spy. I'll be glad when we move on to other things. I wonder how bad the floods really are in Nebraska. I wonder if the 737 is actually a safe plane. Hey, I flew in one last week. I wonder if Britain will stay in the European Union after all. I wonder about a lot of things, but I don't spend a lot of time thinking about the Russia Probe.

I hope that Dash feels better tomorrow. He had us worried today. I think we all need a good night's sleep. Dash already seems a little perkier than he did this morning. I don't think I've been perky all day.

Brooke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3297

It didn't seem like a good omen when the power went out last night. It's hard to clean up poop in the dark. The temperature in the house drops quickly when it's near freezing outside as well. We've had power outages in the Winter before and they aren't fun. Without the furnace running, the sound of water dripping from the ceiling seemed even louder. Luckily, the beeping of various uninterrupted power supplies and the thunder outside didn't wake Dash up. I shut everything off that would cause a surge when power was restored, found some extra blankets and went back to bed.

I'm not sure when power was restored, but I don't think the outage lasted long. When Dash woke up at 3 AM and pooped on the floor as he was heading for the back door, we had lights again. Dash had a bad shivering episode when he went back to bed. Maybe he was just cold this time. I was shivering a bit myself. It was still raining when we got up this morning. Dash was definitely not going to get a walk before his 9 AM vet appointment.

Riding with Dash in the car before he's had a walk was not a good omen either. When it was time to leave for the vet, he still hadn't pooped. He almost always goes right after he's had his morning meds. I knew what was going to happen next. It didn't take long. Dash pooped in the car about two miles away from home. Luckily, we were well prepared, so the mess wasn't that bad.

While we were at the cancer center we got the first good news of the day. Dash's blood clot still hasn't returned. The echocardiogram looked good and so did his lab work. The only thing the doctor was worried about was Dash's failing rear legs. He confirmed what we knew already. Dash's mobility has significantly deteriorated since his last exam. Sadly, there isn't much we can do at this point about Dash's neurological problems. He's way too old and frail for surgery. The vet suggested increasing his pain medication and we reluctantly agreed.

By the time we returned to the house, the rain was already decreasing. I decided to have my smoothie for lunch, since it was way too late for breakfast. When the rain finally stopped, I went up on the roof. I wish the pumps worked better because it's a lot of work to sweep all the standing water away. Like it or not, this was a very necessary task. If I wanted the leaks to stop, I needed to remove all the water first.

As the afternoon progressed, the sound of water dripping into buckets became less frequent. I don't hear any dripping now and I think it is finally safe to remove the buckets. It's supposed to be clear tomorrow, but it will take more than one day for the roof to dry out enough to begin repairs again. Both the owner of the roofing company and the job foreman assure me that I'm at the top of their list. We'll see. Probably it will start raining again on the day they decide to return.

I guess it was inevitable that the stock market would crash again today. It was just that kind of day. Maybe tomorrow will be better. So far, 2019 hasn't gotten off to a great start, but I'm still looking forward to breakfast tomorrow. If I pick the right restaurant it might be the high point of the week

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3296

Cold rain. Leaking roof. Incontinent dog. Put these ingredients together and you've got the basis for a sad country song. Basically, today was a mess. I started putting buckets on the floor as soon as I got up. The pumps weren't working, so I had to climb up on the roof in the rain to prime them. When I returned, Dash was stumbling down the hall, knocking over the buckets I'd placed a little earlier. There was no morning walk today, but there was definitely poop to clean up. There's always poop to clean up.

The rain didn't freeze today, but it still might. It is very cold. As the day progressed, the leaks in the ceiling continued to spread and I ran out of buckets. I had to go to Home Depot and pick up a few of those big plastic containers that people use to store sweaters and children's toys. I thought a big container would be better at catching water than three or four smaller buckets. It's a shame that I had to buy more containers. I already have a ton of these things in the storage warehouse, but they are all full of stuff. The containers worked, but they made it even harder for Dash to navigate the hallway.

I'm stuck with this mess until the rainy period is over. Lord knows when that will be. There is bad weather in the forecast as far as the eye can see. You can't repair the roof when it's wet and I'm not sure the roofers can find the leak anyway. They certainly failed the first time they tried.

I went out and picked up some meds for Dash after lunch because driving in the rain was preferable to listening to water drip into plastic buckets. I'm sure I'll be driving in the rain tomorrow too. Dash has an appointment for one of the periodic echocardiograms we use to monitor his heart. Hopefully, the blood clot hasn't returned. I'm also hoping that he won't poop in the car on the way to the cancer center. That's always a possibility since it is very doubtful that he'll get a walk before his appointment.

I finally got the pumps on the roof working but they don't remove enough water to stop the leak. The pumps are basically useless. I'm just about out of ideas for stopping the leak while it is still raining. I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm going to have to use my new car fund to replace the roof. Jeez. What's the fun in that? Even with a new roof, it's still going to be a very old house with a host of other problems. I'd rather have a new car.

The first pictures from New Horizons were received today and Ultima Thule looks like a big snowman. Weird to think that a big icy snowman has been lurking at the edge of the solar system for billions of years and we didn't even know it existed until last year. I bet there's lots of other stuff floating around in space that we don't know about either.

Clearly I'm no rocket scientist. The New Horizon's team at Johns Hopkins was able to fly their spacecraft directly to a tiny 19 mile long speck in the sky billions of miles away from Earth and I can't even find how water is getting into my house.

Maybe things will be better tomorrow. If Dash gets a clean bill of health at the vet, maybe he won't have to take Plavix anymore. Realistically, this isn't very likely. It's not very likely that the rain will stop or the stock market will rally either. The Apple earnings warning today even surprised me. Apple hasn't had a dire warning like this since 2002. For many investors this news will seem like a sign of the apocalypse. I have a feeling that 2019 is going to be a very bumpy ride.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3287

Since there is still rain in the forecast for Christmas, I thought I'd get the roof as ready as I could. I went to the hardware store and got a new hose for the pump to replace the current hose that had developed a kink. I thought the container the roofers left on the porch was some silicon material I could use to make emergency repairs. Unfortunately, it was just an empty container that they didn't bother to throw away. I thought there might be just enough elastomer material in the bottom of the bucket to fill the one remaining hole the roofers forgot. Jeez. I shouldn't be allowed near this stuff. I always make a mess. Even though I was very careful, I got some of the sticky silicon on my hands. I managed to fill the hole, but then later in the day I accidentally stepped in the still wet patch while I was changing the hose on the sump pump. I ruined a pair of cheap shoes and messed up my patch. Fortunately, there was just enough elastomer material left in the bucket to repair the hole again. I don't think I accomplished much, but at least I made an effort.

Dash had me worried today. For a while we wasn't putting weight on one of his rear legs. Did he tear an ACL? Has the neurological damage in his legs gotten worse? It was hard to tell. We got a treat he likes to see if he would follow us to get it. When we was distracted by the treat, he started walking normally again. We shortened his walk this evening and watched carefully to see if started limping. Dash did fine. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether we're pushing Dash too hard, or whether the exercise he's getting is beneficial. His condition is definitely getting worse, but he's going down hill slowly. We were dealing with a lot of the same problems last Christmas.

Last Christmas Dash was already having trembling spasms where he would start shivering violently for about ten minutes. The odd shivering spasms continue, but they haven't gotten much worse. His legs have gotten weaker, but he still does pretty well when he's moving forward. Dash has no reverse gear anymore. When he tries to back up, he falls over. The only thing that has dramatically changed during the past year is the incontinence. Dash is pooping all over the place these days. It's not all bad news though. We think the blood clot in his heart has actually gotten smaller or might have even disappeared this year. We have one more echocardiogram planned for January, just to make sure.

One benefit of my broken desk chair is that I have to sit up straight now. I have a tendency to lean back and slouch as I type, which is probably what broke the Aeron chair's tensioning spring in the first place. This new state of affairs may be great for my posture, but I'm definitely going to have to get this chair fixed. I'm a sloucher and my favorite chair just isn't comfortable anymore.

My financial condition doesn't feel very comfortable either. The stock market took another tumble today. It was a pretty dramatic sell off, considering that the market wasn't even open all day. I hope this downturn isn't as bad as 2007, but it's hard to tell at this point. There's certainly a lot of uncertainty in the world. I hope sanity returns in 2019, but I have my doubts. I spend so much time worrying about Dash and the roof that I might not even notice the apocalypse anyway.

Rain or shine, we're looking forward to a pleasant Christmas. Presents aren't a big deal anymore, but I'm still hoping that the roofers left me a gift. A roof that doesn't leak when it rains would be great. A dog that didn't poop in the bed on Christmas morning would be pretty nice too.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3282

I had a feeling that things weren't going to go well today when we walked Dash in a heavy fog this morning. The fog was so thick that my jacket quickly became damp. If the roads, the fields, and even my own clothing were wet, I was sure that the roof was wet too. I kept hoping that the roofers had a plan to deal with this situation. As it turned out, their plan was just not to show up. Late in the day I got a message saying that they'd try again tomorrow and hoped that the weather would cooperate. It's always easier when roof problems develop in the Summer. It gets so hot that moisture evaporates quickly. On cold, damp days like this, I think the roof might stay wet until Spring.

Getting the leak fixed before the next big rain is going to be a cliff hanger. I hope that we succeed, because there's going to be a huge mess in the house if we don't. There's not much I can do at this point. I don't even know where the leak is coming from. I'm not sure the roofers do either. I'm not looking for miracles. A temporary fix that will keep the house dry until I can deal with getting a new roof installed later in the Spring would be fine.

I'm trying to get organized. I got all my prescriptions renewed for another year at the pharmacy and then contacted my favorite appliance repairman to get the dryer fixed. A Facebook friend suggested that I could fix the dryer myself, but the utility room is very cramped and I've got bad knees. I'd rather have a younger person do the heavy lifting. I'm not even sure how we shoehorned the washer and dryer inside this small room. It seems impossible now. At any rate, if I can get the leaks in the ceiling and the awful screeching sound in the dryer to stop, that's enough for this year. There's plenty of time in 2019 to deal with some of the other problems.

We forgot to put the rubber sheet and special dog blankets on the bed last night before we went to bed. Getting Dash up again so we could start over was not an easy task. Luckily I found a new use for the sausage balls Janet made as Christmas treats. You can get a dog to do almost anything with a few sausage balls. It was a good thing that we went to the extra trouble to remake the bed. Dash pooped and peed in the bed last night. He doesn't pee a lot, but a little squirts out when he tries to get up. It's only going to get worse. So far, Dash shows no interest in sleeping on the floor. We're going to be dealing with this for a long time.

The stock market tanked again today and by the end of the day, all gains for 2018 had been erased. This sucks. A well respected analyst on one of the business channels this morning said that the market has become a casino. He's right. There is no rational reason for these wild swings we've been seeing lately. Jeez. Everybody knew the Fed was going to raise interest rates today. Why was it such a surprise? How can you plan for the future in a world like this? Truthfully, I don't think anyone has the answer.

I just learned that there is a 50% chance of rain tonight. Give me a break. There's probably a 90% chance that Dash will poop in the bed. That's life these days. I've got the buckets and the washing machine ready.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3270

Some days are a total loss. When I woke up this morning, I discovered that the roof was leaking again. This was a new wrinkle because typically the roof only leaks during severe storms. It had been raining during the night, but it was a gentle rain. I wasn't really expecting this. I also wasn't expecting Dash to make a huge mess when he woke up this morning. I saw him heading for the back door while I was attempting to deal with the leak and I quickly opened it to let him out. When I looked back I saw a trail of poop leading all the way back to the bed. In addition to pooping on the brick floors, Dash managed to soil two blankets, the bedspread, the step he uses to climb into the bed, the bedroom carpet, and his own tail. What a mess.

I had to prioritize the damage, cleaning Dash's tail and rear end first while he was outside, then finding several buckets to catch the dripping water, then cleaning the living room floor so I could let Dash back inside again. I gated off the bedroom so Dash wouldn't sit back down in the soiled bedding and then methodically proceeded to clean up the rest of the damage.

Needless to say, there was a lot of laundry this morning. I felt like I washed everything. The washing machine is still working great, but the dryer is having problems. A bearing in the drum assembly has gone bad and the dryer makes an awful screeching sound until is gets hot. I need to have the appliance repairmen come fix this but there always seems to be something else I need to deal with first.

I didn't even bother to go out for breakfast this morning. The weather was terrible and there was plenty to deal with at home anyway. I didn't finish getting all the bedding and blankets clean until two in the afternoon. I'm still dealing with the roof leak. This leak is in an awkward location where the ceiling joins a wall. Not only is the water dripping from the ceiling, it is also coming down the brick wall.

To make matters worse, the stock market continues to tumble. I hate periods of extreme volatility like this. My Dad had a nice defined pension when he retired. I've got to rely on the market. With interest rates so low, you don't even have the option of buying Treasuries or CD's. You've just got to find stable, profitable companies to invest in and hope that sanity returns at some point.

I have no idea what happened with Dash this morning. He has been doing great for most of this week. His diet and feeding times haven't changed. His poop was even getting firmer. Now we're back to square one. It's really discouraging. Dealing with Dot's incontinence was easier. Dash is stubborn, moves around a lot at night, and absolutely insists on sleeping in the bed with us.

I'm not expecting much to improve tomorrow. There is more rain in the forecast this weekend and lord knows what surprises Dash has in store for us. I just hope that nothing else breaks. So far so good with the furnace and the dehumidifier. One of the toilets runs a bit, but at least it's not a leak. When I was younger it never even occurred to me that the house, the dog, and my own body would all start to fall apart at the same time. It gets to be a bit much at times.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3043

Today was a bit discouraging. The stock market plummeted again. Why are people getting upset about rising interest rates? I've been wanting interest rates to go up for a long time. When interest rates are high, you can earn a decent rate of return on very safe investments and don't have to worry about insane fluctuations in the market. Back in the day, high interest rates were always my friend.

Flat roofs have never been my friend. This is the second home I've owned with a flat roof, and it's driving me crazy. I went up on the roof today to sweep away leaves and discovered standing water instead. When I cleared away the water, I discovered four more tears in the elastomer coating. Two of these tears were in areas I had fixed last Summer. I really need a brand new roof. The current roof never performed as promised and it's been hell trying to get the roofer to fix the problem. The special coating that seals everything was supposed to last for a minimum of ten years. We're not even close.

I couldn't figure out why my laptop was so slow after I upgraded the system to Sierra. Today I read that whenever you update an Apple operating system, performance become very sluggish until the Spotlight app has finished indexing the entire hard drive. This process can take hours. I wish Apple told you these things. I left the laptop running all day and sure enough by the end of the day it was running much faster. I never even use the Spotlight app. I certainly had no idea it could cause so much trouble.

I spoke too soon about my fitness band repair. It's already starting to fall apart again. I got out a loupe and looked closely at the repair and it looks like I didn't clean the surface well enough. I needed to remove all traces of my previous attempts to glue the band together before applying the Sil-Poxy adhesive. It looks like there was still a little bit of Shoe-Goo on the band. It's fun to fix things when the repairs work. Failures just become irritating after a while.

Dash wouldn't take an afternoon walk today. Even Janet couldn't convince him to walk when she got home from work. This was frustrating too, because I enjoy walking. I finally decided to just take an evening walk by myself. I don't know why Dash doesn't like walking in the afternoon anymore. It's getting harder and harder to get him out the door. I don't think he was tired today because he spent most of the afternoon napping. Maybe we're down to one walk a day now.

I read an article today that said retirement can be especially difficult for people who are used to being valued for their ideas. According to the article, when you become older and are no longer part of the work force, nobody really cares what you think. You're just another geezer collecting social security. Although I didn't agree with everything, a lot of the article rang true. The transition from being a problem solver to being irrelevant can be a tough one. I think the people who just want to travel and play golf have an easier time of things.

Jeez. I wish I hadn't spent so much time on the roof today. I just learned that it is supposed to rain tomorrow. So it goes.

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3010

Dash was in a weird mood today. We'd only walked about half a block this morning when he froze and wouldn't go any further. Although the street was completely empty, he seemed panicked for some reason and was trying to run back to the house. We tried again a couple of hours later and Dash refused to leave the yard. Inexplicably, around 11:30 AM, he decided he was ready to walk and headed toward the park as if nothing had happened. We took a nice long walk without incident and I never could figure out why he balked at the idea earlier.

When I tried to renew Dash's Plavix prescription this morning the pharmacist told me that the prescription had expired. It took forever to get the prescription renewed. The vet would tell me that they had called the prescription in and then the pharmacy would tell me that the hadn't received anything. I kept asking the vet to try again but the prescription wasn't going through. I think everyone was getting annoyed with me, but I really needed to get the Plavix today. Eventually, the vet and the pharmacist connected and I was able to go pick up Dash's meds. I had to pick up something for myself as well. The only problem with my prescription was that it was too expensive.

I haven't used my large format printer in several months, so I was apprehensive about turning it on this morning. I didn't have anything to print today, but knew that the longer I waited, the harder it was going to be to unclog the lines. As I expected, the printer was hopelessly clogged. I used up two of the eight ink cartridges running the cleaning program and was still not able to clear the lines. Reluctantly, I called my supplier and ordered some more ink. I might as well add the printer to all the other broken stuff that needs to be fixed.

There seems to be a perfect storm of bad news that is sending the market into a tailspin. I miss the days when people bought and sold stock based on whether a company was making money or not. Now market moves are almost entirely fueled by fear and greed. Why are people so upset about Facebook? Facebook's entire business model is based on selling our information. We are the product and advertisers are the customers. It's always been that way. It's pretty easy to opt out of just about everything on Facebook too. People are just too lazy to go to their settings page. I don't understand the panic about tariffs either. There is not going to be a trade war with China. Both countries depend on trade with each other. Tariffs are silly and ineffectual, but most modern presidents have imposed them at one time or another. I don't know why rising interest rates would cause a panic either. We actually need interest rates to go up a little. The Fed has kept interest rates artificially low for way too long. Why can't people act rationally about money? I guess that's too much to expect in a world ruled by emotions.

It was a slow day so I did an extensive search of nearby breakfast restaurants. I must have looked at two dozen menus and found nothing that appealed to me. Why is this so hard? I don't think I'm that picky. I've enjoyed a perfect breakfast numerous times. It just seems difficult to find this illusive meal again.

Truthfully, everything seems somewhat illusive these days. I don't know whether it's me or the world in general, but I'm beginning to feel like a stranger in a strange land. I think it would take a time machine to return me to a place that felt familiar.

Brooke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3007

We're making progress. It only took the new appliance repairman five minutes to find something that all three of the previous repairmen missed. It wasn't a bad component. It was just a loose wire. None of the previous repairmen had bothered to remove the evaporator fan. If they had taken this extra step they would have clearly seen the loose wire behind the fan housing that prevented the defrost heater from operating properly. After reconnecting the wire, today's repairmen tested all the components in the defrost circuit to make sure they worked and then told me that he suspected that none of the components I'd replaced were bad in the first place. We'll see if today's visit solves my problem. I think there's a good chance that it did.

I guess today was my lucky day. Not only did the refrigerator get repaired, Dash took an afternoon walk as well. I still have no idea why he'll refuse to leave the yard on some days and walk normally on others. I think it has something to do with smell, because Dash always smells the air intently before deciding whether to walk or not. The decision doesn't seem to have anything to do with whether he's tired or not. Sometimes he refuses to walk when he clearly has a lot of energy. I'll probably never know what goes on in Dash's mind. I was just glad that he decided to take two walks today,

I like talking with good repairmen. They seem similar to me in many ways. They all seem to enjoy the problem solving aspect of fixing things and can't stand to work in an office environment. Most of them like working on their own. The guy who came over today used to be an auto mechanic, but said he preferred repairing appliances because most garages weren't air conditioned. "It just gets too hot in the Summer," he told me. I've learned a lot by talking with repairmen. I doubt that I'd make a great repairmen myself, but I do enjoy knowing how things work.

I picked up the wrong meds for Dash again today. I've done this several times in a row this month. I really need to remember to check the pills before I leave the vets office, but my brain seems to be on autopilot. I always take the bag home and then I open it up. Old habits die hard I guess.

They say today's big market sell off was caused by Facebook. I don't know why people are so upset that Facebook is selling their secrets. I've known this for years. If I even think about buying something, there will be an ad for the same thing on my Facebook timeline within a matter of minutes. Every time you take one of those online quizzes, marketers know a little more about you. I think most people would be shocked at how much Google and Facebook already know about us. They didn't have to pry the information out of us either. We willingly just gave it away. I wouldn't be selling any Facebook stock. People aren't going to close their accounts because Facebook is selling their secrets. They're already addicted to social media.

I hope I have put my refrigerator woes behind me. I won't know for sure whether the repair was successful until the refrigerator goes through several normal defrost cycles. If the refrigerator is really fixed, I'm going to move on to the toilet. Fixing the toilet should be a piece of cake compared to this refrigerator.

Pringles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2977

Dash didn't want to go outside when we woke up this morning. He shouldn't have been so indecisive. Ten minutes later it was pouring rain. The rain didn't last long, but there was plenty of time for Dash to get soaking wet. We dried him off and ate our breakfast. The morning walk could wait until later.

According to the weather forecast, this is the beginning of an entire week of wet weather. I'd better hurry up and find something I want to watch on Netflix. Without any deadlines to keep me busy, I'm going to have a severe case of cabin fever.

Dash did get his walk when the rain stopped and then I got started on my Saturday errands. I picked up some Phenobarbital for Dash and got Carvedilol for myself. For some reason the pharmacist wouldn't renew the Carvedilol prescription until today, even though I ran out of pills on Thursday. Medicare is very inflexible. It didn't matter that I didn't have any pills. What mattered is that they thought I should still have some. Once again, veterinary medicine is so much more straightforward.

I still haven't bought a new refrigerator. The big President's Day sales are a joke. Not a single refrigerator I've looked at during the past three months has seen a price reduction. They're all exactly the same price as they were before. I'm really tempted to buy a supply of spare parts and just attempt to repair my current refrigerator myself if it breaks again.

When I went to the grocery store today I noticed that strawberries have gone down in price. I wonder why fresh fruit prices fluctuate so wildly? There always seems to be a steady supply of strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries, but the price is always different.  Fruit that grows on vines seems to be available year round, but fruit that grows on trees is very seasonal. I'll be glad when peaches are available again. My morning smoothies always taste better with peaches.

I should have cleaned the house this afternoon, but I didn't feel like it. I must not have felt like doing much, because very little was accomplished today. Some days are like this. At the end of the day you wonder if anything happened at all. At least Dash got a nice afternoon walk before the weather turned cold again.

I finally got the nerve to look at my brokerage account. I'm still down quite a bit, but last week's mini-rebound certainly helped. I've learned over the years that's it's best to ignore a sell off. When you panic, you always end up selling too late and then buying again too soon. I'm hoping that sanity will return to the market soon. The economy is still good.

The United States doesn't seem to be doing so well in the Olympics. I may be wrong, but didn't we used to win more medals?  The Japanese own figure skating now. I watched Yuzuru Hanyu win the gold while I was going to sleep last night and he was amazing. I guess it's been a long time since Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding.

It's time to go the the gym again tomorrow. I've really got to start going twice a week.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2962 - Ground Hog Day

I felt better this morning, but I still didn't go out for breakfast. A bowl of oatmeal seemed just fine. After breakfast, Dash and I had a nice long walk before I got started on an equally long day.

I called the vet who prescribed Carprofen for Dash and expressed my concerns. He said that there was another nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory that didn't have Carprofen's side effects, but that he wasn't very familiar with it. We decided to just discontinue the drug until next month's exam and then see what our options were. Since the Carprofen has very little to do with Dash's heart condition, this seemed like a good plan to me. Next, I talked to a different vet to ask some questions about Dash's eye infection. It's getting better, but we ran out of eye drops before the infection cleared up. She said to continue the drops until the infection goes away and renewed his prescription.

I felt a little more comfortable about Dash's health, so it was time to deal with the refrigerator again. I called the sales guy at Nebraska Furniture Mart to see if the model we are currently looking at is really out of stock until the middle of March. It was. Since this same model is also for sale at Home Depot, I drove over to our neighborhood store to check on its availability. I didn't get any answers because there was no one available in the appliance department to answer my questions. Somebody in the plumbing department told me to come back tomorrow.

Even though I was busy today, it's doesn't seem like I accomplished much. The vet convinced me yesterday that Dash was uncomfortable, probably as a result of arthritis. Since his solution to the problem was Rimadyl, I still don't know what to do. I really don't think Rimadyl is a safe drug. Janet seemed surprised that I haven't bought a refrigerator yet. I tried to explain that it wasn't that easy, but I don't think she liked my answer.

I'm really disappointed that the stock market dropped 666 points today, although I don't think this inauspicious number is a sign of the beast. I just think a lot of people are nervous and wanted to take some profits while the market was near an all time high. Jeez, I'm nervous myself, but I can't think of any rational reason to sell. The business climate is good around the world and most companies are optimistic about the year ahead. That being said, I still wish that the stock market wasn't ruled by fear and greed. Irrational fear is at the root of most market sell offs.

Apparently ground hogs are just as divided on the issues as humans. Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of Winter, but Staten Island Chuck predicted an early Spring. I wasn't aware that there were so many of these prognosticating rodents. Six predicted a longer winter, and four predicted an early spring. One of the prognosticating ground hogs isn't even alive. Washington, D.C. relies on Potomac Phil, who was taxidermied quite a while ago. Why am I not surprised that Washington, D.C.  would use a dead ground hog for this all important task?

I don't think our neighborhood squirrels could predict anything. Their only interests are tearing up the yard and pestering the dogs.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2959

Finding a refrigerator that will fit in our house is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I spent most of the day visiting stores and talking to people on the phone and still haven't found what I'm looking for. It's frustrating. I found one model that looks like it would be a perfect fit for our kitchen alcove, but nobody in the Dallas/Fort Worth area has one on their showroom floor. I'd hate to buy a refrigerator without seeing it in person first. One thing I've already learned is that there are a lot of surprises. The descriptions on the internet aren't always accurate, for starters. When you are trying to fit something in a space with only a half an inch of clearance on either side, measurements must be accurate.

Even how the door opens is important. Depending on where the hinges are placed, some doors will still open when placed next to a wall and others won't. Some models require two to three inches clearance behind the refrigerator and others can live with one inch. I think this is why I tried so hard to repair my existing refrigerator. It is really hard to find something that will fit in my kitchen.

If General Electric still made the model I currently have, I would just buy another one. This side by side model lasted a long time and came with with an icemaker in the door which isn't even available in smaller refrigerators anymore. I saw refrigerators today that had built in internet browsers, WiFi cameras, and little doors so you didn't have to open the big door to grab a can of pop. There was even one refrigerator that has a built in Keurig coffee maker. All this useless stuff and I couldn't find a single model with the icemaker I wanted. I couldn't find anything with as much space as my current refrigerator either.

I had a scare last night. I woke up about 3 AM and Dash felt very cold and was shivering. He was still asleep, but something didn't seem right. His breathing was too slow and I began to worry that one of the blood clots had broken apart and gone to his brain. I covered him up with a blanket and the tremors gradually subsided. About an hour later Dash woke up quickly and headed straight for the back door. I wasn't fast enough unlocking the door and he ended up pooping on the living room floor again. Dash isn't incontinent yet, but we are headed in that direction. At least his breathing seemed normal again though. I cleaned up the poop and we all went back to bed.

Dash wanted to walk today but he didn't seem to have much energy. Our walks were very, very slow. I'm glad we're going back for another echocardiogram and exam this Thursday. I hope his new medications are working and that we'll be able to go back to a single blood thinner soon. Dash bleeds way too easily now. It makes me real nervous. Last night he brushed against a low branch while I was taking him outside to pee and ended up getting a cut on his back. The scrape was very, very minor, but he bled anyway.

It was really disappointing to have a big stock market sell off today. It was inevitable, and quite normal that this would happen, but I'd be a lot happier if the market would just keep going up indefinitely. Even a 5% correction makes me fret these days. There doesn't seem to be any room for error anywhere. I've got to keep Dash calm and hope the blood clot doesn't shift. I've got to find a refrigerator that fits in our impossible alcove. I've got to find a way to make my investments last in an increasingly volatile world. Maybe I'm imagining things, but life seemed a lot easier thirty years ago.

Malcolm is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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