Day 2850

It was a fairly benign Friday the 13. Nothing really bad happened. I didn't tempt fate though. I didn't climb up on the roof today or attempt to remove wasp nests. All I wanted was a quiet, peaceful day where nothing went wrong.

It's often hard to tell if something is wrong with Dash, or if he's just being stubborn. Today he refused to take a morning walk, even though the weather was nice and he ate all his breakfast. I don't try to force him to walk because so many thing are wrong with him now. Maybe he was feeling weak due to his heart condition. Maybe his leg hurt. It's hard to tell with Dash. He's often reluctant to leave the house, but once he arrives in the park, he has a great time smelling every bush along his path. I wish I knew whether he was in a mood to walk before I spend ten minutes getting him suited up in his protective gear. I initially thought he might be reluctant to walk because he didn't want to wear the knee brace. He walks just fine wearing the brace though. When he's in a good mood, he's not even aware he's wearing it.

I try to give Dash a pass for his occasional moodiness, because I can feel the same way myself. Some mornings I'm really eager to go out for breakfast on Fridays, and other mornings nothing interests me at all. Today I mostly went out because there was nothing in the refrigerator that didn't require a lot of preparation. If we still had peaches and strawberries, I probably would have just stayed home and made a smoothie.

When I returned from breakfast and grocery shopping for tonight's dinner, I got started on repairing Dash protective boots. I cut several pieces out of the rubber tire patch material and then glued them in place using the Shoe Goo that I purchased the other day. I debated whether to use rubber cement or the Shoe Goo and decided that the Shoe Goo would last longer. If this doesn't work, I'll use the rubber cement next time. The flexible cement has to cure for 24 hours, so we'll try the boots out tomorrow. If the repair seems to be holding up after a few walks, I'll repair the other boots Dash has already ruined.

I actually had a website problem to solve today. Sadly, the problem isn't actually solved yet, but at least I got the process started. I remember a time when you could call technical support and resolve fairly complex problems on the spot. Most of those knowledgable people have disappeared. Now, it's rare to talk with anyone who can actually code or solve IT problems. The friendly guy I talked with today just took down my information and said he'd pass it on to his supervisor. He didn't have a clue how to fix problems with forms and databases.

Dash walked just fine this evening. I think he just wants the whole family to walk with him. I don't know what we're going to do when Daylight Savings Time begins and it gets dark an hour earlier. It's already sunset when Janet returns from work. Life was so much easier for Dash when Dot was alive. She was always the alpha dog who showed Dash how to behave. Now, he just seems lost.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2509

It took a lot longer than I thought to get the new iPad ready to use. There ought to be a red big button at the start of the configuration process that says skip all this stuff. I'll do it later. Since no such button exists, I spent a long time answering dumb questions, trying to remember various passwords, and learning how to make a readable fingerprint scan. I should have selected the option to configure a new iPad rather than restore an old one, because I ended up transferring a lot of old apps that I don't even use anymore. Eventually, I got the all clear to use the freshly configured tablet, but I wasn't done yet. I had to take the iPad down to the AT&T store and add it to my wireless plan.

AT&T marketing materials always make everything they offer seem easy and affordable, but I learned a long time ago that this isn't always the case. There's always a surprise that makes your plan much more expensive than you thought it would be. I have no idea why they felt justified in charging me an exorbitant activation fee when I was just adding the tablet to an existing plan. There was no need to try to pressure me into buying more data either. "But you'll need more data now that you're using two devices," said the pushy sales representative. "No I won't," I said. "I'm only using one at a time." We went back and forth for a while and ultimately she failed to sell me anything extra.

The roofers are coming out tomorrow. Well, they promised to come out tomorrow anyway. We'll see what happens. Since the roofers typically get started early, I won't be able to go out for breakfast in the morning. I definitely want to be here while they are working. This time I want to make sure that all the bad areas get repaired, instead of just some of them. I've already eaten this week's supply of fresh fruit, so I won't be able to make my regular smoothie tomorrow. Hopefully, there's still a package of toaster waffles in the freezer. If that doesn't work out, there's always oatmeal.

I've gotten really superstitious about taking out the trash. Since the trash ultimately did get picked up last week, I tried to place my rolling cart in exactly the same spot this evening. Maybe I need to mark the spot with chalk or something. I had a hard time remembering where I put my can last week. If you're looking for a lucky spot, a foot or two in the wrong direction could make all the difference.

Maybe I'll write the blog on the iPad tomorrow. Since I rarely do serous video editing anymore, I could probably use this high octane tablet for most things I do. I like the idea of a slim, powerful tablet replacing my computers, but I'm also a creature of habit. I've spent so many years sitting in front of this giant monitor that it might be too late to change.

My SiriusXM free trial ends in a few days. I need to decide whether to subscribe or not. I like listening to NPR in the car, but I really don't drive much anymore. I don't really need satellite radio, but then I don't really need Hulu or Netflix either. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between wants and needs. I do need a leak free roof and reliable trash pick up. If I can get those two things taken care of tomorrow, I'll be a happy camper.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1562

Don't ever let me apply for a job on a haz-mat crew. I hate dealing with hazardous substances. Every time I have to don the purple rubber gloves and go through the elaborate clean up procedures to give Dash his chemotherapy pills, I expect something dire to happen. Logically, I think the warnings are ridiculous overkill, but I follow them anyway. I'm superstitious. Why are these pills so dangerous? I understand why you wouldn't want to break the pills apart or crush them to sprinkle on food, but they have a wax coating like most pills. Wouldn't this coating make the pills safe to touch? I don't get it. And if the pills come with such extensive warnings, why wouldn't the doctors just want to give them to the dogs while they were at the clinic?

Like I said, I'm superstitious though, so I take the extra time to do every single silly safety procedure. Since the primary adverse side effect of the chemo pills is anemia and the primary adverse side effect of my own Hepatitis C pills is also anemia, I definitely don't want a case of double anemia. Luckily, my own reluctance to administer the pills is the only side effect we are seeing so far. Dash is handling his treatment much better than I ever expected. He actually seems to look forward to going to the cancer center. He shows no adverse effects from being anesthetized every two days for the radiation treatments. He still has lots of energy. And as we near the end of week two, the dreaded chemo pills don't appear to be bothering him either.

It was a very busy day, although at the end of the day, it didn't seem like I'd accomplished much. There were still lingering website problems to resolve stemming from some incorrect DNS settings that took several sites down overnight. There were some tax issues to resolve with my accountant. There were dogs to transport. Photos to retouch in Photoshop. And since it rained today, a car to wash. I don't know why I waste so much time keeping my car clean. It's kind of a thankless job, since the dogs continually get the inside muddy and the rain gets the outside even muddier. The car is still one small thing I have complete control over though. I can impose order on it, so I do. I wish I could impose the same rigid order on the rest of my life, but I can't. When it's John vs. the world, the world usually wins.

When I was trying to resolve my client's website problems this morning, I realized that even in a world where everyone is using the same Wordpress template, it's still good to have coding skills. After getting nowhere talking to tech support for half an hour, I finally realized that the only way to get the outcome I wanted was to re-write some code myself and bypass the new restrictions the hosting company had placed on the site. I don't know how long the patch will work, but it works now.

Tomorrow, Dot gets to be the center of attention again. I've had to skip her acupuncture and water therapy sessions for several weeks, due to Dash's cancer treatments, but I was finally able to get her rescheduled on a day where Dash rests. Since her physical therapy is obviously helping her, I'd really hate to abandon it at this point. Hopefully it won't rain again tomorrow. I'd hate to wash my car two days in a row.
 

Bubba is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day