Day 3838

The Saharan Dust Cloud has arrived in Dallas. The sky has looked gray and hazy all day. No spectacular sunsets here. The dust was so thick that I kept thinking I could smell it. This dismal science fiction sky seemed the perfect companion for a world ravaged by disease and riots. The Saharan Dust plume is a yearly event, but they say that this year's cloud is the thickest ever recorded. There have been air quality alerts all over Texas today. Hey, it's 2020. What else would you expect.

I wonder when grocery stores will get back to normal. The stores aren't crowded anymore but there seem to be too many of some items and not enough of others. There is an enormous amount of bottled water and toilet paper in some stores now, but I haven't been able to find blueberries for two weeks. Still can't find Clorox Wipes. Sooner or later there will be a huge end aisle display of those too. It will probably be right next to the towering piles of toilet paper.

Texas is a virus hot-spot now, but businesses seem very reluctant to close again. There seems to be a strong desire to ignore the latest news even though area hospitals are quietly reaching capacity. Dallas had the states very first pop-up emergency hospital back in April, but it was never used. The hospital was dismantled and there appears to be no plan to bring it back. It's all very weird. Everyone was very good about preparing for the virus when it was still in the Northeast. Now that it's actually here, people have grown tired of the whole mess.

There are lots more walkers in the park than there used to be. Maybe I'm not the only one who thinks staying healthy is your only real defense. They say bicycle sales have skyrocketed. It sure seems that way. I wish we didn't share the same trails with these cyclists. You have to be careful when you are walking your dog. Cyclists won't slow down for anything.

We got take-out for dinner this evening and I used one of those curbside pick up arrangements for the first time to get our food. Everything was very efficient. You called your order in and when you arrived, they brought it out to your car in a big bag and swiped your credit card with a mobile terminal. I didn't have to wait long at all. The restaurant seemed to be doing a very good business. There was a steady stream of people bringing bags out to cars. I have a feeling that this particular restaurant is doing just fine. Some businesses will learn to adapt to this new environment and others will disappear.

I'm not sure how adaptable I am at this point. I'm envious of my friends out in the Davis Mountains. They seem insulated from all the urban problems we are facing now. I hope the virus and civil unrest never reaches these remote rural areas. When this is all over, we need some reminder of what life was like before.

Rascal is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2869

I thought I'd fix breakfast early this morning, so I could finish eating before Dash wanted to walk. All this accomplished was that Dash decided to walk earlier than usual. Apparently, it is not the time of day that motivates our boy. It is how much he can disrupt my schedule. Truthfully, it doesn't really matter when I eat breakfast or run my errands. I'm just happy that Dash is walking again. We were out for over an hour this morning. Dash was slow, but he was walking normally and seemed comfortable. I'm always worried that something will happen with Dash's heart when we're far from home, but the only alternative is to do nothing. Doing nothing would frustrate Dash and a frustrated Dalmatian is not good for anyone's health.

A firetruck went by with sirens blazing while we were walking today. Joining the siren was a cacophony of howling coming from a thicket of trees about a quarter of a mile away. I knew this sound well. We have a den of coyotes in the neighborhood again. From the sound of the howling, the pups are still very young. This Winter, they'll be old enough to hunt though. I wish I could warn the bunnies and the ducks. I made a mental note not to let Dash get too close to the coyote's den. I don't really trust urban coyotes. They have lost their fear of people.

The weather was nice today, but there was still water on the roof from yesterday's rain. As I expected, the patches I applied yesterday were ruined. I swept the water away and hopefully the roof will dry in time for me to make my repairs before it rains again. I had trouble mixing the viscous liquid yesterday, so I went to a hardware store and bought a paint stirring tool that I can attach to a power drill. I don't think I mixed the coating completely when I opened the bucket because it didn't have the same consistency as the first batch I used. The silicon compound is much thicker than paint, so it is hard to mix. I also got a ladle so I could transfer the coating from the large heavy bucket to a smaller can without making a huge mess. Hopefully, if I'm better prepared, I'll have a greater chance of success the next time I try this.

I had some website revisions to make today. The jobs are so few and far between now that it almost seems like I've gotten the assignments by mistake. Today's revisions took a couple of hours, but it certainly wasn't enough to fill the day. Recently, I was listening to NPR in the car and an author was being interviewed about a book they'd written about aging. Part of the conversation was about finding fulfillment by continuing to work. Website design was mentioned as one of the jobs that old people are well suited for. I had to laugh. The only way old website designers are going to find work is if their clients are even older.

The refrigerator is working great now. Too bad it is almost empty. I didn't feel like grocery shopping, so I picked up some Thai take-out again. I thought I had enough reward points for a free meal, but the    lady at the check out counter said that you have to use the points within thirty days or they expire. This happens to me all the time. I'm always throwing away Bed Bath and Beyond coupons and forgetting that I have accumulated reward points somewhere. Everyone has some sort of loyalty program these days. I'm a very loyal person, but these programs don't seem to benefit me.

I need to remember to get the lab work for my annual physical done tomorrow morning. I won't be able to have breakfast before I leave the house. Hopefully, this temporary change of schedule won't throw Dash off his game. I wonder if he'll still walk if there isn't a meal he can interrupt?

Jeda is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2496

I'm confused. When I took Dot to the cancer center today, I was prepared for bad news. To me, Dot seems to be growing weaker. She stumbled a lot this week and seems to be having a harder time walking without assistance. What do I know though? The oncologist, the ultrasound technician, and two nurses all thought Dot looked stronger and more alert than the last time they saw her. Her lab work and scan seemed to confirm their opinion. Dot's tumors are stable and haven't grown at all since her last scan. Her blood work is actually better than it was a month ago. This is all good news, but I still wonder why she seems so weak around the house.

I'm really mad at the city. For the fourth week in a row, the trash truck has failed to empty my trash. Not only was my bagged trash not removed from the can, the robotic arm on the truck actually damaged my brand new trash can. Now, there's a big dent in the can and the lid won't close. I piled the trash in the back of my car and went looking for a dumpster again. I'm tired of this. I called city services when I got home and after a long wait on hold, explained my problem to someone. Nothing got resolved today, but I did get assigned a case number and was told that someone from the sanitation department would be calling me next week.

I didn't get to go out for breakfast this morning, since a thunderstorm was headed our way. I could see lightning on the horizon and hear distant thunder, but we managed to get the dogs walked before the rain actually arrived. The short walk around the block with both dogs went just fine, but Dash almost got me struck by lightning when he refused to curtail his longer walk as the rain continued to get closer. Dash can be pretty stubborn sometimes. By the time we returned home, the sky was looking dark and ominous. I found another package of frozen waffles in the freezer and listened to the rain pounding on the roof while I kept telling Dot that everything was going to be OK.

I've been worried that the new Tramadol pills were going to make Dot constipated, but she put those fears to rest by pooping in the car on the way home from the cancer center. Poor car. Today, it's been pooped in and full of garbage within the same day. It's harder to clean Dot up after she's had an accident in the car. Since she's in a confined space, she can't move away from the mess. Sometimes, it takes me a while before I can safely pull off to the side of the road and attend to her as well. Such is life. It's hard to imagine a trip in the car without one of these accidents these days.

I picked up some Chinese take out for dinner and was dismayed to see that the restaurant had taken all the small sizes off the menu. I used to have a choice of small or large on everything. Not anymore. Absolutely nothing stays the same anymore. Oh, well. At least the restaurant is still in business. I hope we have a quiet, uneventful weekend. I need some time to rest and recharge my batteries before I resume my battle with the city over trash pickup. I'm beginning to think that the robotic arm on the truck has some kind of sensor that rejects my can when it discovers it is full of dog poop.

Abby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2473

The trouble with credit cards is that a month or so after you buy something, you actually have to pay for it. I feel poor today, because in addition to the usual charges for gasoline, groceries, prescription medicine, and miscellaneous junk I thought I needed at Home Depot, there was the humongous yearly rent for my storage warehouse on the latest credit card bill. So why didn't I write a check for the rent when it was due? Well, it was just easier to postpone the pain until next month. It can be confusing paying for things that you've already forgotten about buying using money that you've already forgotten about earning. I delay paying my bills as long as I can and my clients delay paying me as long as they can. The net result is that there is no cause and effect anymore. It just feels like I'm broke all the time.

I watched a crew pouring concrete in the park while I was walking Dash this morning. I've been watching this sidewalk being constructed for three months now. The crew would grade a path with a bulldozer and then put wooden forms and re-bar in place so the concrete could be poured. They did this three separate times this Summer until they were apparently satisfied with their work this morning. I asked one of the guys whey they kept tearing up their work and starting over? They said their previous efforts weren't up to code because the grade was too steep. This was a bike path, mind you. The city could have saved a ton of money if they just let the cyclists pedal a little harder. The city probably had some rule that said that no bike path could have more than a ten percent grade. If someone created a path with a twelve percent grade, they had to start over. It all seems silly to me.

I finished writing my latest article and once again had difficulty sending it to my client. It appears that their IT department wasn't able to Whitelist me after all. I keep getting identified as a spammer, even though I've never sent spam in my life. These difficulties make me wish I had my old private ISP back. I never used to have these problems until I moved to a large ISP with thousands of servers. My little local ISP stayed under the radar until the owner retired and shut down the company, forcing me to go somewhere else. Once again, the old days were better.

My bananas were still green this morning, so I went to the store and got some ripe ones. I never realized that bananas were so cheap, since Janet usually picks them up. I got a pound of bananas for fifty cents. On the way home I stopped to pick up some Chinese take-out for dinner and they said they were out of the Thai noodle dish I had ordered online. I'm easy. I just asked what they had that was real spicy and substituted something else. Anything to avoid cooking is fine by me.

Dot seemed to enjoy not having to go to physical therapy. Her limp is a little better, but she is still pretty shaky. For the second day in a row, she made a mess and pooped all over her special harness. We have a spare harness now for these occasions. I felt like taking her outside and cleaning her with the garden hose, but she hates this, so I cleaned her up with warm wet towels instead. Dot is as sweet as she can be, but she wears me out.

Tomorrow is the first day of Fall. It certainly doesn't feel like Fall yet. It has been unseasonably hot all week. I can tell the seasons are changing though, because the days are getting shorter. I saw Orion in the pre-dawn sky as we walked Dot and Dash around the block this morning. Pretty soon it will be even darker. I won't miss the hot weather as Winter approaches, but I will miss the sunlight. I do better with lots of sunlight.

Rowe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2299

I had breakfast at a place I haven't visited for several years and it was even worse than it was before. Maybe I've become too picky. All I want is a restaurant with fabulous food, nice ambience, and reasonable prices that is less than five miles from my house. Is that too much to ask? To be fair, this morning's meal wasn't that bad, but little things count. Real maple syrup is much better than Mrs. Butterworth's and a carafe of fresh half and half is better than a plate of those little plastic Coffee-mate cups. Instead of guys with hipster beards wearing wool watch caps, today's restaurant was filled with overweight substitute teachers playing Candy Crush Saga on their phones while they waited for their order. I don't think I've found my new home yet.

I started my second article when I returned from my breakfast excursion. It's nice having something to write everyday. Writing adds some much needed structure to my day. One assignment a day is plenty. Two or three deadlines at the same time is stressful and no writing jobs at all makes me feel like my business is failing. These jobs don't pay very well, but if I could manage to do one a day consistently, I'd do fine. It's hard to believe that I used to complete three or four new jobs each day and still had time to take care of the dogs. Now, I'm lucky to write five or six articles a month.

I've been real lucky with Dot this week. Somehow, she's back on schedule again and has only pooped in the house once or twice all week. It makes life so much easier when she does her business out in the yard just before bedtime and then sleeps soundly until we take her out in the yard again the next morning. The neurological issues that are causing her incontinence aren't going away though, so I've learned to be appreciataive whenever we get lucky.

Somehow my dissatisfaction with breakfast on Friday has resulted in a dissatisfaction with dinner as well. For the past month or so I haven't been very excited about grocery shopping and just picked up take out dinners instead. I used to love shopping for something special on Friday, and now I can't even bring myself to go to the grocery store. Actually, the take out meals have been pretty good. We've had Thai food for the first time in ages, and tonight we had some delicious barbecue from my favorite barbecue place. I'd bring home take out all the time if it weren't for the fact that it is generally much too salty and is quite a bit more expensive than cooking for yourself. I'd gain ten pounds in less than a month if I ate restaurant food all the time.

Tomorrow will be the big test to see whether the lawn mower works. The battery is charged and ready to go. It was too cold to mow the grass today, but I've got no excuses this weekend. The way it looks now, I'll be doing yard work tomorrow and going to the gym on Sunday. That ought to burn up enough calories so I can bring home a few more take out meals.

Haley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2172 - Thanksgiving

Today did not go as planned. Dot threw up during the night. She pooped in her bed too, but it was the vomiting that was alarming. She threw up a lot of liquid and it was completely unexpected. She didn't appear sick when we went to bed and she isn't the type of dog that eats garbage or gets into things. I was surprised. I did my best to clean up the mess and we went back to bed. Just before breakfast, she threw up again. Dot didn't have a fever and her gums were nice and pink, so we let her rest instead of making a trip to the emergency vet. Within an hour, she was acting completely normal.

We took our morning walk and fed her a small amount of food when we got home. Again, everything seemed normal. Then, about an hour later, when we were finishing our own breakfast, she threw up again. Dogs can vomit for hundreds of different reasons and most of them are fairly benign. Dash is known to eat crap in the yard when we're not looking and this is usually the reason he throws up. There were a lot of harmless reasons why Dot could be throwing up too, but I was worried that this may be a sign that her cancer has returned.

We canceled our Thanksgiving brunch reservations and stayed home with Dot instead. Since she still appeared hungry, I went to the only open vet I could find and got a few cans of bland Hills I/D wet food to feed her. When I described Dot's symptoms to the nurse on duty, she said she thought it was safe to just keep an eye on Dot and take her to our regular vet tomorrow. She didn't have a fever, her gums were pink, she wasn't dehydrated, she still had an appetite, and she didn't appear to be under any undue stress. These were all good signs. It's always a bit alarming when your pet has an emergency on a holiday. You are pretty much on your own. We could have taken Dot to an emergency clinic, but this didn't appear to be an emergency. I did feel better after talking to the emergency nurse though.

Since we had been planning to go out for dinner, there was almost nothing in the refrigerator. We were both hungry and started looking for a restaurant in the neighborhood so we could go pick up some take-out. Not surprisingly, almost nothing was open. We finally found a little sports bar that has pretty good burgers, so I picked up our Thanksgiving dinner there. Apparently the only people who eat out on Thanksgiving evening are lonely men. There were five men in the restaurant when I arrived and they were all sitting alone, watching the Cowboys lose on a big screen TV behind the bar.

We fed Dot a small amount of the Hills I/D food and so far she has held it down for about three hours. This is a good sign. I think I set a new record for doing laundry today. So many parts of the house are protected now, but Dot managed to target an unprotected area every single time she threw up. There is still an eighteen inch wet circle on the carpet right near my desk in the office. Dot could have picked a better place to vomit. After scrubbing the carpet and applying liberal amounts of the Nature's Miracle enzyme, I can still smell vomit. There are days when I feel I have lost the battle with the house. It has really taken quite a beating recently.

I didn't expect to have a take-out burger and a small pear salad for Thanksgiving dinner, but we did the right thing. It turned out to be a nice family meal and we have a lot to be thankful for. Dot is calm now and seems to be holding down her food. I'll try to make an appointment at her regular vet tomorrow and see if we can find out what is going on. Although it rained a lot today, there were no thunderstorms to further stress the dogs. The washing machine is still working and I'm running the air conditioner to keep the humidity down. If Dot can make it through the night without any further incidents, I think we're going to be OK.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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