Day 4018

Dawn is still acting weird. We didn't even try to walk early this morning because it was so cold. Later in the day, Dawn seemed eager to go outside. We walked normally for a while. She smelled things and seemed active and engaged. Then after we had gone about a mile, she froze, just like she did the other day. Janet walked ahead to see if she would eventually follow her. Nope. She wouldn't turn around and go back home either. I had a hard time getting her out of the middle of the road where she was in the way of cars and bicycles. As soon as Dawn saw that Janet was turning around and coming back to us, Dawn turned around and headed home. She kept looking back to make sure that Janet was following us, but she seemed active and happy again. When Janet caught up with us, Dawn was wagging her tail and had a "mission accomplished" look on her face. I have no idea what is going on. Taking long walks used to be one of her favorite activities. I could be easily convinced myself that Dawn is having a seizure when she freezes like this, if it weren't for the fact that she instantly returns to normal as soon as Janet and I turn around and head home again. This evening she ate a small round hole in her favorite blanket. What's that all about? We were right next to her having dinner and we never saw or heard anything.

Dawn may have tired of walking, but I'm still moving. It's disappointing that Dawn doesn't want to accompany me anymore, but I still need to get my steps. I took a long walk by myself and thought about the complexities of understand a dog's behavior. It would be so much easier if they could talk and tell us how they were feeling. Dawn's vital sighs and her recent blood work look excellent. Physically, she seems to be in good health. We're guessing that she might have had a traumatic brain injury earlier in her life. This would at least explain the signs of atrophy we see on the top of her head. It might explain her erratic behavior too. It's all just a guess though. 

I did some accounting this afternoon and couldn't get things to balance again. This never used to happen. I went over my entries in Quickbooks three times and couldn't find any mistakes. Why was I $50 off then?  Somewhere there has to be an easy answer to all of this. Why does a healthy, active dog suddenly refuse to walk? Why can't I balance my books anymore? I have a feeling that if I were younger and more on top of my game, things would start to make sense.

I installed Stellarium on my computer this afternoon and played around with it for an hour or two. There is so much I will never see in the night sky. It's hard to even learn the basics, like where all the constellations are, when you can't see anything due to city light pollution. Even if I found a dark spot in the park with a clear view of the sky, the light pollution would still be there. It's a shame. When I'm out in the Davis Mountains, I can tell that my interest in astronomy is real. It's an uphill battle to maintain that interest though when you live in a city where it's almost impossible to see anything.

I need to read my e-mail more carefully. I was getting ready to take the trash out to the curb tonight and started wondering whether anything would be picked up on Christmas Day. Probably not. Maybe the city sent us a message. Sure enough, I found a message from the sanitation department that was sent last week. It said that trash would be picked up on Wednesday this week. Oops. That was yesterday.

It's hard to believe it's Christmas tomorrow. Where has this year gone? I hope that all of you enjoy the holidays. Christmas is still a hopeful time, even for someone like me. Hey, maybe 2021 will be better.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2885

I went to the storage warehouse and got some of the gear we'll need for the Santa Paws photo shoots. We've accumulated a lot of Christmas themed muslin backdrops over the years. Probably the best way to select a backdrop at this point is to smell them all and pick the one that doesn't smell of dog pee. The equipment is getting so old that I need a backup for everything. I take extra power packs for the strobes, extra camera bodies, and lots of extra camera batteries. What I really need is an extra me.

I wanted to walk Dash early this morning so I could go out for breakfast at a reasonable hour, but it wasn't meant to be. We all got up late and even though Dash was eager to walk, we didn't return home until almost 10 AM. I went out for breakfast anyway, although I should have just had an early lunch. I think I'm losing my touch at picking new restaurants. For the second week in a row I had a meal that was way too heavy on a plate that was way too large. Maybe I should just start ordering from the children's menu. Something has changed. I'm just not as hungry as I used to be.

As I suspected, I'm going to have to learn how to use a new Wordpress theme before I can start my latest website project. I don't even try to argue against Wordpress anymore. Everyone but me seems to love it. The Divi theme the client has selected is supposed to be powerful, versatile, and easy to use. Piffle. I still like HTML better. At any rate, my assignment over the weekend is to learn to be a Divi expert as quickly as possible.

Dash is acting weird again today. He'll go outside and then just stand frozen in place like he's lost or confused. He's done this before and I think it must have something to do with his vestibular disease. If you give him time, he usually returns to normal in an hour or two. Our morning walk was pretty normal, but our afternoon walk took forever because Dash would stop about every twenty feet and just stand there looking confused. It usually works best if I am patient and let him set his own pace. We eventually made it back home and now he's back to normal again. Go figure. I worry about this behavior but there is not much I can do at this point. The vets don't have an answer. The vestibular disease might be giving him a sensation of vertigo from time to time. Maybe his eyesight is going bad and he has trouble seeing in some situations. The truth is that Dash is just getting old. It's probably just a matter of time before I start standing around looking confused too.

The weather forecast convinced me that it was going to rain this week. Now the week is over and the rain never appeared. I could have finished my repairs on the roof if I just ignored the weather forecast. That's always risky though. When I ignore the forecast, it always rains.

I just saw a cockroach walking across the office floor. I went to get a fly swatter so I could kill it, and by the time I got back, the bug was gone. I'm sure it's still around here somewhere. We don't have a big problems with bugs anymore since we've gotten the humidity in the house under control. I still see them occasionally though. I hate these bugs, but I've resigned myself to the fact that if you live down South, you're never completely free of them. They're everywhere outside. It's inevitable that some will get inside.

I have no plans for the weekend at all. This usually means I'll end up cleaning on Saturday and going to the gym on Sunday.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2629

The restaurant was crowded this morning. There were all these noisy overlapping conversations that were somewhat distracting and made me realize that most of the clichés you hear about people are based in truth. Even though this was my morning out, I couldn't wait to get back to my dogs.

When I got home, I immediately realized that peace and quiet are pretty illusive wherever you are. When the dogs actually are quiet, I worry that one of them might have died. When they're full of life and moving around, I'm continually cleaning up poop and retrieving Dot from corners were she has fallen or gotten herself stuck. I've got to try to keep Dash from getting too excited as well, because when he gets agitated, the risk of another seizure increases. It's a delicate balance.

I had a surprising amount of work to complete today. I don't think I've had any writing jobs this month, but the website modifications continue to keep me busy. Nobody seems to want a brand new website anymore. I guess everyone already has one. Instead of creating new designs, I spend my time adding new product lines, updating employee rosters, and correcting typos. There are an amazing number of typos, since a lot of clients write their own copy these days. I don't change anything anymore. I just cut and paste. I used to try to edit the text I received but quickly discovered that the awkward syntax that was bothering me was exactly what the client wanted to say.

Dash is acting real strange lately. I've had increasing difficulty getting him to leave the backyard in the afternoon. At first I thought he was experiencing vertigo or dizziness, but now I'm not so sure. As an experiment I tried to lure him out the back gate with a dog treat, so we could take our afternoon walk. It took us over five minutes to get down the alley. I would move to the end of his leash and then hold the cookie where he could see it. When he started to walk toward the cookie, I would move forward and we would repeat the whole process all over again. As soon as we reached the end of the alley and walked down a small hill into the park, he forgot all about the cookie and started walking normally. We finished the rest of our walk without incident. I have no explanation for this odd behavior, but it sure makes taking a walk more difficult.

Part of the problem is that the dogs still don't understand why they can't walk together like they used to. It is simply impossible for one person to walk both dogs under current conditions. It takes both hands and a lot of coordination to keep Dot upright. I walk her like a marionette in a puppet show. Dash is still strong and likes to walk fast. Even if I could manage to hold on to both dogs, Dash would start tugging and probably knock Dot and I over before we'd gone thirty feet. It's kind of sad, because I know that they would still prefer to walk together.

I've been so concerned about Dash's vestibular disease that it took me a while to realize that I had an upset stomach and was feeling a little dizzy myself. Maybe it was something I ate. At any rate, the best part about today was when I managed to convince both dogs to take a nap with me and we all curled up together for a few hours. The rest seemed to help. I'm feeling better now.

Nora is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day