Day 2807

Dallas is out of gas. No, there isn't a fuel shortage. Everyone just panicked and decided to fill their tank at the same time. The gas lines were unreal today. I haven't seen anything like this since the 1970's. I still had plenty of gas in my tank, but eventually succumbed to the panic myself. I figured that if so many people were waiting in long lines for gas, they all must know something I don't. The first line I joined ran out of gas right as I approached the pump. I had waited thirty minutes for nothing. I tried one more time and this time all the station had left when I approached the pump was diesel. I gave up at this point and came home. I don't drive very much and could probably make my remaining gas last three weeks if I had to. If gas still isn't readily available in three weeks, I'll just have to assume that the zombie apocalypse has started. They say that if everyone had continued filling their tanks the way they normally do, there would have been no lines at all today. This was all just a Facebook induced panic. One of our local TV stations kind of stirred the pot last night as well.

Since it wasn't a very auspicious day to be driving around town running errands, I decided to get started on my roof repairs. I didn't get off to a good start. The can of sealer the roofers gave me was way too heavy for me to lift up on the roof. I couldn't even pull the container up with a rope. I made a big mess in the driveway transferring the sticky liquid from the five gallon drum to smaller one gallon paint cans. When I cleaned and prepared the damaged areas, I discovered that the problem was worse than I thought. Water had entered through the bad spots and seeped under the good spots. Large sections of the coating that I thought were OK, just peeled away when I pulled on it. I sealed about a 25 square foot area, but this is just the beginning. I don't think I have enough of the elastomer on hand to complete the repairs. I'm not even sure that the sealer I applied today will work. I called the roofer and asked him to come out again. I think this repair is way beyond my pay grade.

I need to take Janet to Baylor for some more tests tomorrow and was planning on running a few errands on the way home. I don't think I'll be getting in any more gas lines though. If tomorrow is anything like today, you could run out of gas just looking for gas. I'll wait until the tanker trucks return. When gas is available again I bet there won't be any lines at all. Everyone in town already has a full tank.

I dread going up on the roof tomorrow. There is so much more that needs to be done and until my first set of patches have fully dried, I won't know whether they are firmly adhered to the substrate. I've got enough of the elastomer material to make quite a few patches, but I'm afraid that this is just a temporary solution. What I really need is a new roof.

Dash has been very moody this week. He doesn't want to eat at the regular time. He turns up his nose at his regular food. Lately, he's been stealing my place on the bed at night. I wish he understood that life is so much easier when he's a good dog. The problems are minor and usually they get resolved. I'd just like a day without any problems though. That would be nice.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2804

Whenever there's a disaster, my first thoughts are about the animals. There's already been an amazing effort to rescue dogs, cats, and horses trapped by rising waters around Houston. Probably much more will be needed in the days ahead. Among the thousands of animals in danger today were three Dalmatians trapped in a kennel that was being flooded by water that was being released from a nearby dam. I'm not sure, but I think these dogs are safe now. I hope so. It was amazing to see the rapid efforts of many people, some of whom I know, to coordinate an immediate rescue by boat. I'm not a huge fan of social media, but this is where it shines. Not more than an hour after I began seeing stories about the dogs plight on Facebook, boats were on the way. There were probably hundreds of stories like this today, but this was the only one that involved Dalmatians. When a Dalmatian is in danger it catches my attention.

It's already been a week since Janet's reconstruction surgery. Her doctor was pleased with her progress today and even removed some of the stitches. The nurse said that we were doing a good job with the bandages. That was a relief. If all continues to go smoothly, Janet will return to work again in another week.

I wish things were going just as smoothly with Dash. He threw up again after eating a normal breakfast and having a nice walk. Like many of his previous episodes, there was no warning. He just walked calmly to the back door around 1 PM and threw up. Dash shows no signs of distress before or after these incidents. He's been fine for the rest of the day. His vet has suggested that we put him on a mild anti-nausea medication for a month and see if we notice any changes. The theory is that he might be mildly nauseous all the time as a result of his vestibular disease. I hate to add another pill to his already lengthy list of meds, but this might be worth a try. Obviously something is wrong, but it has been very hard to pin down the cause.

We had more intermittent rain from the outer bands of Harvey. It's nice that I don't have to water the lawn every day, but the rain is going to complicate the roof repairs I was planning on making this month. It's going to take an extended dry spell before I am even able to prepare the surface for the elastomer coating the roofers gave me. There's certainly not any dry weather in the immediate future. I should have checked the weather radar before I walked Dash this evening. We got caught in a sudden shower and both got soaked.

It wasn't a very productive day. I got the wet/dry vacuum out and removed another quart of water from under the shower tiles. I don't know how this water is getting in there. I've sealed all the cracks completely with silicon caulk. Things like this are why people eventually give up and remodel their bathrooms. I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to locate the source of this leak.

It doesn't matter if it is a shower stall or an iPhone case. Old things just crack and break. I tried to repair my Lunatik iPhone case for the third time this afternoon. I bought this case because it was supposed to be indestructible, but it is so old now that it is developing stress cracks. I took the case apart and applied superglue to the tiny cracks using watch repair tools. It would have been easier to just buy a new case but they don't make these things anymore.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing tomorrow. One way or another, I'm sure it will involve water.

Mandy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2803

Everyone in Dallas knows someone in Houston. I've been mesmerized by the news coverage today. The flooding seems biblical. It just doesn't seem possible that we are talking about feet of rain instead of inches of rain. I saw a picture of the Houston airport today. It was a lake. Freeways are under so much water that even the overhear directional signs are buried. I've been to Houston many times and I can't even comprehend this scale of devastation.

Dallas is 400 miles away and even we are getting rain from this storm. The rain here is gentle and in many cases needed, but the fact that the outer bands of rain reach this far shows you just how big this weather system is. I've heard that they're opening a huge center for hurricane evacuees here in Dallas tomorrow. Similar centers will probably be opening all over the state. The problem is that I don't think many people can evacuate yet. The roads in and out of the area are flooded.

I didn't do much today. Dash got his walks in between rain showers. It was so messy outside that I didn't feel like going to the gym. When I took a shower this morning, I noticed a small leak. I still haven't been able to completely seal the shower floor. I used to be much better at this sort of thing. I'm losing my touch.

Today would have been a good day to take a camera down to the shoreline and photograph water birds, but I'd let my camera batteries run down and by the time I got them charged again the light was fading. It's probably just as well that I stayed inside. If I took my camera down to the lake, I almost certainly would have gotten caught in one of today's many intermittent rain showers.

It would have been Dot's birthday today. We don't know if she was actually born on this day, since she was a rescue, but we adopted her on September 27, 2004. I remember the day she came home with us well, but it seems like such a long time ago now. We have had many dogs and some of the memories are starting to muddle together in my head. Dot's memories haven't faded yet. I still can't believe she's not here with me. I wonder if that amazing dog ever knew how important she was in my life.

It's probably going to be a while before I can use the can of elastomer coating material the roofers left on my porch. It looks like we'll be getting intermittent rain every day until Harvey completely dissipates. It's hard to believe that they're forecasting even more rain for the Houston area. How much more rain can that city take?

Janet has decided that she feels well enough to start driving again. She ran a short errand as a test this afternoon and will drive herself to the doctor tomorrow. I'm glad her recovery seems to be going so smoothly. I hope the surgeon approves of the way we've been changing bandages. I have a feeling that we're using twice as much gauze and tape as a proper nurse would, but we're doing the best we can. It hasn't been a great summer. I think 'doing the best we can" might sum things up for quite a few people this year.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2800

I wish weather forecasts were more accurate. Earlier in the week, I made an appointment to take Dash back to the vet for another fasting blood test on Friday because it looked like it was going to be the only sunny day this week. My plan was to walk Dash very early to make sure that he would poop before he got in the car. I definitely don't want a repeat of Tuesday's disastrous trip to the vet. Now that Friday is approaching, it looks like it is going to rain early tomorrow morning. That might spoil my plans for a walk. Jeez. It was dry as a bone on Wednesday and Thursday when it was supposed to rain. The little weather app on my phone is never right. I don't know why I even look at it. Hopefully, this new forecast is wrong too.

It turned out that it was more difficult that we anticipated to change Janet's bandages. We didn't have all the supplies we needed, so I had to make a trip to the specialty pharmacy before we even started. You'd think that nothing could be easier than changing a bandage, but these have several layers and each layer must be applied exactly right. You don't want to do anything that would disturb the delicate sutures and you definitely don't want to do anything that might cause an infection. I think we did a good job, but it is nerve wracking. I think we would both rather just drive to the doctor's office every day and have them do it. That wasn't an option unfortunately.

I think I discovered how water is getting under the shower tiles, but I'm not sure how to fix the problem. I taped the area where the shower door frame attaches to the tile floor with painters tape so water couldn't seep into a small space that was designed to let water dripping down the glass doors drain back into the shower. There is no way to access this drainage cavity because it is covered by the door frame itself. I think some of the tiles have cracked under this frame due to foundation settling and that's how water is getting between the tiles and the shower pan. None of this is fix it yourself stuff. The only way to see if I'm right would be to remove the entire shower door assembly from the wall and look underneath. Since you can't unscrew the frame from the wall, or remove the heavy glass doors, I think this is beyond my pay grade. I guess I could just leave the blue painter's tape where it is. It is ugly and is probably not meant to be where I placed it, but it has dramatically diminished the leak.

Dash was a very finicky eater this morning. He wouldn't eat his regular food and wasn't interested in Dot's either. The only other food we had on hand was a holistic blend that we discontinued about six months ago because it made his poop soft. Wouldn't you know. Dash loved this brand of kibble today. This doesn't bode well for tomorrow morning. I really don't want him to poop in my car again.

I'm glad I don't live in Houston. It looks like a hurricane is headed their way this weekend. We have the occasional tornado here in Dallas, but the chances of actually getting hit by a funnel cloud are very low. Hurricanes are much harder to avoid. Here's hoping that the hurricane changes course. Let's also hope that Dash has an uneventful trip to the vet tomorrow morning, and that Janet and I will soon become pros at changing bandages.

Hero is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2797

It was an eventful day. We got up at 4:30 this morning to go to the hospital. Janet's surgery wasn't scheduled until 7:30, but there's always a lot of paperwork when you check in. I'm always amazed at how empty the roads are at this time of day. If only it were this way all the time. I stayed until the anesthesiologist came and took Janet to the OR and then I went home and fed Dash his breakfast and took him on a walk.

By the time I finished my own breakfast and did the dishes I got a call saying that Janet was in recovery. She didn't have to stay in the hospital overnight this time, so I drove back down to the hospital to take her home. By the time I arrived, the eclipse had already started. As I entered the building, I passed a doctor looking at the eclipse through a sheet of x-ray film. Some nearby nurses asked him if the x-ray film was safe. "I don't know," said the doctor. The nurses took turns looking through the film anyway, probably thinking that if this makeshift filter was good enough for a doctor, it was good enough for them. Since these people didn't appear to go blind, I asked if I could take a look too. I'll have to say that x-ray film makes a darn good solar filter.

By the time that Janet and I arrived back home again, the eclipse was near it's maximum. The sky was noticeably darker and the light filtering through the trees in front of our house made lots of little crescent shaped images on the sidewalk. Janet wanted to go to sleep, so as soon as she was settled in, I went down the street to watch the remainder of the eclipse through a neighbor's telescope. You could see sunspots through the telescope and by using them as a reference point, it was easy to see how fast the moon was crossing in front of the sun. The edge of the moon wasn't completely round either. You could clearly see the outline of mountains and valleys silhouetted against the sun. The guy with the telescope had a good supply of eclipse glasses, so everybody got a good view. It seemed like half the neighborhood showed up for this impromptu event. I hadn't seen some of these people for quite a while and some of them didn't even know that Dot had passed away. It was nice to see a group of people where everyone was happy and nobody was protesting anything.

I think Janet's surgery went really well. She will be home for two weeks, but that is much better than the six weeks it took to recover after the first surgery. This time there are no tubes that need to be drained every four hours. There are still bandages that need to be changed and procedures that need to be followed to avoid infections, but everyone is anticipating that her recovery will go smoothly.

I need to take Dash to the vet early tomorrow morning for his Phenobarbital level test. I was going to do this on Wednesday, but there are thunderstorms in the forecast. I think it will be easier tomorrow. I need to take Janet back to see her surgeon on Wednesday as well. If the weather is bad, we'll just take Dash with us. I hate to leave Dash alone during a storm. I've learned from experience that he can get into some serious trouble if he panics.

It would have been nice to see the sun's corona today, but I definitely did get to experience the eclipse. I'm glad that Janet's long and difficult journey is coming to a close. Hopefully, in a month or two this summer of surgery will just be a memory.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2796

Janet goes back for more surgery tomorrow, so today was another huge cleaning day. I'm not sure whether the kind of cleaning we do disinfects the house at all, but it does make Janet feel better. This surgery is supposed to be the final step in the reconstruction process. Recovery is supposed to be faster this time, but Janet will still have to take another leave of absence from work. I'm sure she hopes this is the last surgery she'll ever have to have.

I was going to go to the gym today, but while I was running a few errands on the way, I couldn't remember whether I'd turned the dryer off before I left the house. I skipped the gym and drove back home to check. Actually, the dryer was off, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Janet and I both worry about dryer fires, so the dryer is never on when we leave the house. I don't leave the washer running either, because once it overflowed into the utility room and made a huge mess. I don't know why I feel safe leaving the dehumidifier running constantly. There's probably something that could go wrong with that thing too.

When I returned home, I realized that I had so many things to do that I never should have planned on going to the gym in the first place. I vacuumed the house, washed the sheets and made the bed, and mowed the grass in the front and the back. I'm not sure how much longer I can continue mowing the grass myself. Every time I take the mower out it seems a little harder to push it up our sloping front yard. I was very tired today. When you get older it's really hard to tell whether you've got some strange disease that is sapping all your energy, or if you're actually doing quite well and just getting older. There's no real benchmark for this sort of thing. Some of my aging friends still run marathons. Others have trouble getting off the couch.

One of our neighbors is having an eclipse watching party in their front yard tomorrow. I'm not sure how long I'll need to be at the hospital in the morning, but if I have time I'll go take a look at the sun through the neighbor's telescope around noon. This guy is a real astronomy buff and has all the right solar filters. We'll only see about 75% totality here in Dallas, but the view still ought to be interesting.  I'm a little envious of all the people I know who are actually making the trip to the totality zone. There have been quite a few status updates on Facebook from people leaving for their eclipse destinations over the weekend. A lot of them ought to get a good view. The weather actually seems to be improving across much of the country.

We're going to have to get up really early tomorrow morning. Janet needs to be admitted to the hospital at 5:30 AM. I'll come home to feed and walk Dash and then wait for the call that everything went OK. I don't know how you can be casual about surgery. Even minor surgery seems drastic to me. The dogs have had every type of surgery imaginable and my sister had to endure an eight hour spinal fusion surgery. I've been pretty lucky. I had knee surgery back in college and then went almost forty years before I needed a lithotripsy procedure a few years ago to remove some bladder stones. Janet has a great team of doctors, but they don't make surgery any less frightening. I hope this is the last surgery she's going to need for a long, long time. I also hope she's not going to be driving me to the hospital any time soon.

Blackjack is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2748

I can't get used to how long the days are. The sun is already high in the sky by the time I wake up and doesn't set until well after dinner. The sunrise and sunset walks I used to take with the dogs don't work out as well in the Summer. I still try to walk Dash as early as I can, but usually it's already too hot. I guess I'm ready for Fall even though Summer has barely begun.

I had a lot of errands to run today. Some were for me and others for Janet. I was surprised that the roads didn't seem that crowded for a holiday. I guess a lot of people have left town. It probably didn't take a long time to figure out that if you took Friday off and added the two day Fourth of July holiday the next week, you could have a nice five day holiday without taking any sick days.

We're definitely not going anywhere. Dash doesn't like to ride in the car and Janet is not very mobile until her doctors say it's OK to remove the drainage tubes. Luckily, the air conditioner is working good and there is plenty to watch on Netflix. I don't think I'd like to go to a lake or the beach on the Fourth of July anyway. It's way too crowed for me.

I"m still getting used to using Sierra on my computer. Like most upgrades I've made in recent years, the computer seems to run slower than it did before. New operating systems and old computers are not always a good match. I would have preferred to leave everything the way it was when I bought the computer in 2011, but that's not even an option anymore. Planned obsolescence is what keeps the tech industry so profitable.

I had to revisit the website I was in a panic about updating yesterday. It was so hard to update things without having access to Dreamweaver that I inevitably forgot some things. I went back and repaired my work today and was grateful that the new version of Dreamweaver I installed still worked. The only thing weird is that it doesn't save my login passwords anymore, forcing me to reenter them each time I upload something. I have a hard enough time remembering my own passwords. Remembering all my client's login information is almost impossible.

I guess sometime this week I'll go down to the county clerk's office and try to get my passport renewed. If I've got to stand in a line for a while, it's probably best that I do it while Janet is at home to look after Dash. I hate to leave Dash alone for a long time, since he has a history of seizures.

I've just about given up on going to see the eclipse. If I fly, there will be no rent cars available at my destination, and if I drive, the only way to avoid horrendous traffic jams would be to arrive two or three days ahead of time. I just don't have the time or money to spend a week on the road just to see a two minute event. The good news is that there will be another total eclipse that can be seen in Dallas in 2024. I certainly hope to live that long, but will I still be living in Dallas? We'll have to wait and see.

As usual, I don't have any plans for tomorrow. I need to try to contact the landscaper and find out why he hasn't put in our new grass yet. I'm getting tired of cleaning mud off Dash's paws every time he goes out to pee.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2746

It takes longer and longer to do less and less. I distinctly remember getting more accomplished during the day, but I'm not exactly sure how I did it. Maybe traffic wasn't as bad. Maybe I didn't spent so much time rinsing the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Maybe there was a time when the dog's paws weren't always muddy. Whatever the reason, life used to seem simpler, even though what I actually did was more complicated.

It rained most of the night. The storms were loud enough that I had trouble sleeping. The sound of thunder would wake me up and then the sound of Dash snoring next to me made it hard to get back to sleep. I was glad that Dash slept through the thunderstorm, but I wish he was a little quieter. It was still raining this morning, so the day was basically planned around the weather radar. Eventually, Dash got walked and I made French Toast with a loaf of leftover bread I found in the refrigerator. The day got off to a slow start, but at least I didn't have to mow the grass. It was way too wet for that.

I helped Janet run errands again this afternoon. This actually works out pretty well. Janet gets to get out of the house for a while and I don't need to remember exactly what to pick up at the store. I've offered to do the shopping for her, but this seems to work out better. Janet is definitely a more efficient and organized shopper than I am. I'm glad my responsibility is limited to going to the hardware store and buying all the bulk items at Sam's Club. I don't think I have the patience to go from store to store looking for bargains. There's a whole world of coupons that appear on your iPhone and little rewards program identifiers that fit on your key ring that I'm not even aware of.

When the errands were complete, I resumed upgrading my computer. With the latest operating system installed, I now need to find out which of the many applications I use can be upgraded as well. I started with the front of the alphabet which brought me straight to Avid. Avid products are always difficult to upgrade because of the complicated licensing arrangement they use. I finally managed to get the newest version of Pro Tools working, although it took forever for the software to recognize that I actually did have a perpetual license. Maybe tomorrow I'll upgrade Media Composer. At this rate, it's going to take me a long time to get to the Microsoft products.

I think the weather is supposed to get better tomorrow. If it's a nice day, I'll go to the gym and see if there's anything cool on sale at the REI store. I'm not even going to bother going up on the roof until the rainy season is over. There is no point to sweeping all the water off if it's just going to rain again tomorrow. I know there's a lot of standing water up there, but nothing is leaking. Let's just hope we get some dry days soon.

It's dragonfly season again. I'm surrounded by dragonflies when I walk Dash in the park. These critters are hard to photograph because they are small and never stay still. I managed to catch one sitting on a blade of grass this afternoon. It only rested there for about a second and then it was gone. I didn't have time to focus perfectly, but at least I got the shot. I usually only get one good dragonfly shot a year. This one isn't it. Maybe I'll have better luck next time.

Bentley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2745

Today was busy. I started things out by going someplace new for breakfast. The food was good, but a bit weird. I thought when I ordered biscuits and gravy. scrambled eggs, bacon, and hash browns, they would all come separately on a big plate. Nope. Everything was served mashed together in a bowl and covered with melted cheese. I guess this was some sort of ultimate Texas gutbuster of a meal. To my credit, I finished everything, but I don't think I'll be back for a while. This was too strange for me.

I took Janet to see one of her doctors this afternoon and she got good news. The pathology report came back and apparently the surgeon had good margins on the malignant mass that was removed and it appears there will be no need for additional chemo or radiation treatments. The oncologist will have the final say on this, but everything is looking good at this point.

Since Janet is getting cabin fever sitting at home, I took her shopping after she finished her doctors appointment. The tubes actually hide pretty well under loose clothing. Unlike me, Janet actually likes to shop for groceries. We went to several stores where she picked out a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. As a reward for being her chauffeur for the day, she bought me some barbecued ribs at one of the city's better barbecue joints on the way home.

Dash wasn't happy at being left alone for so long, but he perked up quickly when I started fixing his dinner as soon as we returned. It was good that he got a short walk this morning, because it was way too hot for him this afternoon. I tried to take him down to the park around sunset, but he wasn't interested. Dash knows best. I never try to force a dog to walk in the summer. They probably have a much better instinct for what can cause heatstroke than I do.

Today was the day I upgraded all my computers to the Sierra operating system. The slow upgrade process went on for most of the day while I was away. It's a good thing I wasn't around to see the progress bar on the screen say "thirty minutes remaining" for at least three hours. The download and install were successful and only five applications turned out to be incompatible. That's actually pretty good for an Apple system upgrade. I installed the new accounting software I got yesterday, deleted the incompatible applications, and I'm back in business. Supposedly I can talk to Siri on my computer now and share files with my phone and iPad. Knowing me, I'll probably never use any of these new features. I was happy enough with the computer I was using fifteen years ago.

Although it has seemed like Saturday all week, tomorrow really is Saturday. There will be more errands to run and several chores that can't be ignored much longer. It's time to mow the grass again and I really need to see how much standing water still remains on the roof. When it's hot, the water evaporates fairly quickly, so hopefully I won't need to do a lot of sweeping.

I know some of you would like to see my gutbuster breakfast, but I think I'll show you a tiny bunny instead. There are lots of rabbits in the park this summer. Maybe this means the coyotes have moved on to greener pastures.

Tucker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2743

I've completely lost track of what day it is. I woke up this morning thinking it was Saturday, but it's really just Wednesday. Most of the things that imposed a structure on my life are gone. When I was taking care of Dot toward the end of her life there was always something that needed to be done. Practically every minute needed to be accounted for. When work was busy, a host of deadlines imposed their own structure. Even Janet driving off to work every morning made the week seem orderly. Now it doesn't really matter what day it is. Maybe this is what retirement is like.

I'm not sure what comes next for me, but I can tell that Janet doesn't want to sit around the house all day. She can't wait until her doctors give her the OK to drive again. After today's visit to see the surgeon, we're one step closer to that goal. The doctors seem pleased at her progress and one of the drainage tubes was removed. When the drainage in the other tube decreases to 30 milliliters per day, it can be removed as well. The good news is that there is no sign of infection anywhere.

I can't decide whether Dash needs the canine flu immunization. Our vet would probably say yes, but I've read of several instances where dogs who got the shots ended up having seizures afterwards. Since Dash has problems with both epilepsy and idiopathic vestibular disease, I don't want to do anything that would give him another seizure. Dogs who participate in dog shows or go to dog parks frequently have the highest risk of influenza, but there is no guarantee that your dog is completely free from danger  even if you just stay at home. It's a tough choice, since the canine flu is pretty serious. I never get flu shots myself. The one time I did, I actually caught the flu. My solution for avoiding the flu is just to stay away from children.

Canine flu shots aren't the only think I'm having trouble making a decision about. Should I go see the August eclipse or not? When I first started reading about the upcoming eclipse, it was presented as a must see, once in a lifetime event. Lately, the tone of the articles I've been reading is changing. Eclipse day is projected to be a traffic nightmare of epic proportions with millions of people converging on the totality zone without much of a plan. Now, people are being told to bring extra food and even extra gasoline. Expect to be stranded on the highway if you aren't in place several days ahead of time, they say. This doesn't sound like fun at all. Totality is only two minutes long. I'm not sure being stranded on a crowded freeway for hours is worth those two minutes. There's a 40% chance it's going to be cloudy anyway. All this being said, I'd still love to see a total eclipse.

There's still time to decide. I'll ask Dash's vet about the immunization shots and I'll keep checking airfares to the eclipse zone. In the mean time, there are more mundane things that need to be done. I still need to get my passport renewed and the back yard desperately needs new St. Augustine grass. One of my writing clients said they'd have some more assignments soon, but I'm not counting on much work these days. That ship has sailed.

It's weird to have so much time on my hands. When I have lots of time, I have no money and when I have lots of money, I have no time. That's life, I guess. At least Janet is getting better. That's the important thing right now.

Patch is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2742

Another rainy day. The yard is still muddy and I have to clean Dash's paws with a wet rag before he comes inside. The first thing Dash does when he comes inside is jump on the bed. If the rainy season continues much longer, Janet may wish she hadn't picked out a white comforter and pillows for the bed. When you've got large dogs, mud brown usually turns out to be the best color for everything.

I really need to start pestering the landscaper to come out and take care of the yard. He was supposed to come a month ago. Usually we put in new grass in March but there's been way too much going on this Spring. The yard really hasn't been a priority. A friend who uses the same guy told us the landscaper isn't very interested in us since we only call him once a year. Hey, once a year is plenty. He ought to be glad to have our business since he gets to put in the same grass over and over again. I don't know why the grass won't grow. The lawn gets enough water and the soil is good. Maybe there just isn't enough direct sunlight. At any rate, it doesn't really matter how long the grass lasts. Right now the back yard is basically a big mud pit.

I wrote another letter to my sister this afternoon. Letter writing is always a good thing to do on a rainy day. I wish my sister would just read the blog, since I end up repeating most of the things I've already written here. Pen and paper is how she communicates and I doubt that anything is going to change. We're both set in our ways. My Dad was the same way. He was a brilliant scientist, but he never owned a computer. He had no interest in computers at all.

Maybe I'm the odd duck in the family. I don't know what I'd do without my computers. Without computers, I'd never have been able to operate a successful business out of my house for all these years. When I first started the company, I was constantly driving from one client to the next. It seemed like I was always in meetings. What a revelation to discover that I didn't really need to see these people at all. The Internet changed everything for me. To this day there are still clients who I have never met in person. I get my assignments via e-mail and I send the completed projects back via e-mail. It works for me.

I'm surprised that Dash has turned out to be a really good therapy dog. Janet and I were a little nervous when she first came home from the hospital, since Dash has a tendency to be wild. He's been very gentle and attentive though. He follows Janet around the house wherever she goes and just sits by her side. So far, there have been no problems at all. I suspect that Dash has wanted both of us home for a long time. For most of his life, Janet has left for work early and come home pretty late. Now Dash has both of us.

Tomorrow I take Janet to visit two different doctors. We're hoping that they are both pleased with her progress. Surgery is always so invasive and recovery is so messy that it is hard to know what to expect. I remember when I first saw my Dad after open heart surgery I was horrified. The cardiologist reassured me that everything was normal but it sure didn't look normal. Dad recovered and so will Janet. There just aren't any shortcuts. I've learned that when a surgeon explains a procedure to you, they usually aren't telling you the entire story. Maybe it's for the best. If I knew everything, I would never have the nerve to have surgery.

It's hard to believe the year is almost half over. This is one year I don't feel like repeating. When Janet recovers, I hope we all stay healthy for a long, long time.

Rascal is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2741

I'm trying to get organized. I made an appointment to take my car in for service. I went up to my doctor and tried to schedule my annual physical. I paid the remaining June bills sitting on my desk and I did some laundry. I don't think it mattered that I postponed some of these things. The first appointment I could get at the Land Rover dealer was three weeks from now and there was an equally lengthy wait at my doctor's office. At least I've taken care of these things now. They're on my calendar and I don't have to think about them anymore.

It didn't seem like Monday. Janet has always been a workaholic and is typically out of the house before I'm even fully awake. We get started much later now. Janet needs to rest and Dash and I have never had any strong desire to get out of bed. We didn't finish our morning routine until almost noon today. I do most of the chores these days, but it's not like I have anything better to do. I'm probably a pretty good person to have around as a nurse. I've got all the time in the world.

I'm still debating whether to go and see the eclipse this August. Janet should be a lot better by then. I'd like to go to Wyoming where crowds are expected to be small. It's much less expensive to go someplace like Kansas City though, where crowds will probably be huge. I started to look at airfares and quickly realized that major airlines are already raising fares to popular destination cities on the days immediately before and after the eclipse. It's probably all computerized. When demand for flights goes up, fares probably immediately go up as well. I don't even want to think about driving. From what I'm reading, the traffic on eclipse day will be like twenty Woodstocks happening at once.

We really like the home nurse. It's comforting to have someone who knows what they're doing reassure us that everything is going OK. The hospital went to great lengths to instill a fear of infections and now just about everything seems like it could be the beginning of an infection. Most of the changes that occur each day are just the body's normal response to surgery. Even though nothing has gone wrong, it's still important to be careful.

I learned how to make banana bread tonight. Sometimes there are left over bananas at the end of the week from my morning smoothies and they get used for banana bread. The whole process seemed pretty straightforward and the bread came out great, but I don't think I'm going to become a baker anytime soon. As soon as Janet recovers, the kitchen is all hers. I have a real aversion to cooking. One of the reason I am thin is that if food is difficult to fix, I just don't eat. Lots of people I know love to cook. I'd probably rather eat something I dislike than cook something I love.

Janet got one of those adult coloring books as a get-well gift. She seems to enjoy it. I don't think I could ever do one of those things. I'd lose interest within five minutes. I don't need an adult coloring book anyway. This blog is my adult coloring book. I'm just filling in the days.

Derrick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day