Day 1913

Dot got her stitches out today. The neurologist was very pleased with her progress but said that Dot was a little too active for this stage of her recovery. Evidently, during her exam she got up and started walking around the exam room on her own. We were told again that it is very important to keep Dot quiet for the next month while her body recovers from the surgery. We are never to let her wander around the house on her own. She should be confined whenever we have to leave the house, and if she gets too excited or agitated, we are to give her a sedative.

The doctor agreed that it wasn't a good idea to crate her if Dot doesn't have room to do change positions easily. She could hurt her spine if she got stuck in a twisted  position. Dot is supposed to rest in the crate, not struggle. So far, the gated hallway seems like the best solution. Dot is very peaceful here as long as I am in the house. If I leave, she becomes frantic and starts barking though. This is why the doctor thinks we might need to sedate Dot occasionally when we have to leave, so there are no separation anxiety panic attacks. This is going to be a very long couple of months.

Since Janet had to be gone for much of the day and I didn't have any deadlines to meet, I thought I'd try to get a couple of vintage watches running again. I think I've lost my touch. I didn't break anything, but I didn't have a lot of success either. Watches, like most mechanical things, need to be used. I've let my collection gather dust for far too long and many watches have stopped running. I could never afford to get them all professionally serviced, so this is is another ashes-to-ashes, dust-to-dust situation. Three old watches are ticking again however, so the afternoon wasn't a total loss.

I called the appliance repair company and convinced them to come out tomorrow and fix the dryer. I had to do this when the washing machine broke too. The repairmen will make no promises whatsoever. They just say they'll return with the part as soon as they can. If you don't call the main office and demand a speedy, expedited repair, you could end up waiting for weeks. I hate this "squeaky wheel" principle, but sometimes it's the only option you have.

Based on what I've observed this week, I'm dreading when Janet returns to work on Monday. There are hundreds of ways that Dot could hurt herself in our house, and she's not going to be content to sit in a small pen all day. She still has to go outside to pee a lot because of the prednisolone she's taking, and after about two hours of bed rest, she gets agitated and wants to move around. If Dash starts barking, she immediately starts barking too. Dalmatians aren't calm dogs by nature. I don't think bed rest is in their vocabulary.

I'm looking forward to getting out of the house for breakfast tomorrow morning. Janet will look after Dot while I'm away and then we'll trade places. This works pretty well. We'll see how it works when I'm on my own.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1912

I threw a load of laundry in the dryer this morning and got an error message. The dryer is broken. It runs for about five seconds and then shuts off. Too bad this malfunction didn't occur a month ago when I had the appliance repairman out to the house to fix the washing machine. I could have gotten both of these unreliable appliances fixed at the same time. Life was simpler when our machines were mechanical. Mechanical things usually give you a warning before they fail. You would typically hear odd squeaks and rattles that weren't there before. These early warning signs have saved me many times. Now when something goes wrong, you just get a cryptic error message on a circuit board. Usually these messages mean that the circuit board itself has gone bad.

I managed to get a repairmen out this afternoon, but the dryer is still not working. These repairs are a two step process now. The repairman comes out to assess the situation. Then he almost always has to order a part and returns to fix the machine a week or so later. Since I am obsessed with doing laundry, this is a real inconvenience. I hate going to the laundromat, but what choice do I have? I took the wet clothes out of the dryer, gathered up a pile of quarters, and went to the laundromat to dry them off while Janet watched Dot.

While I was waiting for the clothes to dry, I drove to a nearby Home Depot and got a gallon of elastomer to patch the roof with. I could have called the roofers, but lord know when they would have gotten around to fixing things. I'm really tired of things breaking, but seem powerless to stop these mishaps. At least the car didn't break down while I was running errands this afternoon. Janet thought it would be easier to just buy a new dryer, but I remembered how much trouble it was to get the one we have into the utility room in the first place. You have to carefully measure each appliance to make sure it will fit in the small allotted space and then when the machine arrives, you have to completely take the door off the utility room, because it is such a tight fit. Apparently the washer and dryer we bought aren't very reliable, but at least they fit in the room.

The hospital called today to remind us of Dot's appointment to have her sutures removed tomorrow. I had carefully written the date down in my iCal calendar when Dot was initially released from the hospital, but somehow I got the time wrong. Why do I do this so often? I'm glad we got a reminder, because we would have been late otherwise. Hopefully Dot will feel a little better once her stitches are out.

Janet wanted to test our safe space for Dot by leaving the house for a short time and watching her on the baby monitor. She was resting peacefully when we left, but as soon as she heard the car start, she sat up in her pen and began barking frantically. We only drove around the block, but I didn't have the heart to go further. Dot is stubborn. She would have continued barking until she wore herself out. So much for any plans to leave the house. I will have to think of a Plan-B, because once that Janet returns to work, it will be impossible for me to stay in the house continually.

Jeez, I must have fallen asleep with a finger on the return key while I was writing this, because I just had to remove what seemed like a mile of line break tags from the blog's HTML. Oh, well. I'm awake now and Dot gets her stitches out in the morning. There's something to be said for that. I hope the dryer gets fixed soon. You definitely don't want to listen to me talking about dirty laundry for the next week.

Tyson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day