Day 4972

Just a normal Saturday, doing my Saturday things. We're taking our sunrise walks earlier now to avoid the heat but it doesn't really help. It's already uncomfortably warm even before the sun comes up. At least there was a breeze this morning. A breeze always helps.

We had our big weekend breakfast this morning and then I got started on my grocery shopping. I had to get gas today and it was even more expensive than it was last week. It seems weird that the price has shot up so suddenly. Gas prices were a lot lower earlier this summer.

I'm still trying to find a replacement for my favorite beer. I try something new every week. Maybe I'll get lucky with this week's selection. I did get lucky in the seafood department at Central Market. Maryland Crabcakes were on sale. Yum. Janet and I both love these. I discovered that the hydroponically grown strawberries I got last week were exactly twice as expensive as Sam's Club strawberries. Oh, well. It's back to the regular strawberries.

After I put the groceries away I went to the gym. I like the gym on weekends because it is virtually empty. It's easy to find a spot in the parking garage and there are no trainers on the floor. I still go through my regular routine on weekends, but it seems more peaceful. I was slower on the indoor track today,  but oddly I was much better on the basketball court. I completed my ten free throws in record time today.

Dawn loves to sit out in the sun even on hot days like we've been having lately. I let her out when I returned from the gym and kept an eye on her so she wouldn't get overheated. Five or ten minutes outside is plenty of time in this weather. When I start to get hot, I know she's getting hot as well and we come back inside. Our air conditioner is still working well. Knock on wood. I really hope it doesn't break down this summer.

I read an article yesterday that said that short naps were good for the brain and could actually cause it to grow. Just what I wanted to hear. I usually take a short nap in the afternoon and today was no exception. Dawn doesn't run away as frequently now when I take a nap in the bedroom. I think that's a good sign. I'm not typically an optimistic person, but I do think that she'll eventually learn to trust me.

These weeks go so quickly now. It doesn't seem like a week since I've been mall walking, but it's almost time to go again. Mall walking is a nice change of pace from going to the gym. Both places are indoors and the air conditioning works well. We'll take Dawn for ice cream cones tomorrow, but it's way too hot for a mid-day walk during our Sunday outing. I think Dawn is fine with just getting ice cream.

I wish I could hibernate like a bear until Fall arrived. I keep looking at the weather forecast and all I see is an endless string of triple digit days.

Morgan is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4967

A neighbor's house went under the wrecking ball today. This was a nice house with an Austin Stone exterior, three bedrooms, a pool, and an updated kitchen. The original owners both passed away several years ago, but I remember them well. They had a big Christmas party every year and invited the entire street. They liked dogs and were always friendly with our first Dalmatian. 

It's a shame that the original residents on our street are all gone now. People buy their properties for exorbitant prices and then just tear down the house. There are a lot of vacant lots in the neighborhood now, all waiting for new mansions to be built. Truthfully, I liked the neighborhood a lot better when houses like the one torn down today were something to be proud of. People built these homes in the 1950's and lived there until they died. Janet and I knew all these people, but don't know any of the newcomers who replaced them. It's the end of an era I guess.

It hasn't gotten any cooler. We had another triple digit day with no rain in sight. It's even hot at night now, although our sunrise walks with Dawn are still tolerable. Were our summers always like this? Maybe. I think it feels worse now because everyone reinforces the bad weather by constantly reminding me about it on social media. I guess it could be worse. We don't have floods or wildfires.

After returning from our sunrise walk, I ate my breakfast and went to the gym. Every day feels more or less the same but I have no complaints. I'm healthy. I'm paying my bills on time and at least for the moment, everything in the house is working. It's easy to forget what day it is. When I'm at the gym it feels like I've never left. The same people are working out at the same machines. I feel like I know some of these people just from overhearing their conversations as I pass them walking around the indoor track. Things are starting to feel a lot like Groundhog Day.

After having my regular ham and cheese sandwich for lunch, I took a nap with Dawn on the bed. She didn't leave the bed this time which was kind of amazing. Maybe she's finally warming up to me. Probably it was just too hot to get bothered about anything. I think Dawn is as tired of our hot weather as I am. She doesn't even want to sit out in the yard now. I can't blame her. I don't want to sit out in the yard either. If I mow the grass again, it's going to have to be very early in the morning.

It's hard to believe it will be August tomorrow. Time to get the car safety inspected again. I'm glad there are no car problems this year. I'm glad the air conditioner is working well too. I'm just going through the motions this summer and definitely don't want any problems. Actually I wish I could just sleep through August and wake up again when it was cooler. I don't think it's going to be any cooler tomorrow. We'll go through this same routine again.

Shelby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4517

The stores were really crowded today. Maybe it was because Mother's Day is tomorrow. Maybe it was because stores are always crowded these days. Who knows? I keep saying that I should do my grocery shopping during the week when people are at work. I never do though. I'm a creature of habit. I've always done this on Saturday morning and I probably always will.

Taking an early walk with Dawn is another thing we will probably always do as long as Dawn is healthy. I like these early morning walks. The city is still relatively quiet, although we still hear police and fire sirens occasionally. We see joggers, but the park generally doesn't get crowded until later in the day. Dawn enjoys the walks too unless it is wet. Today was dry and everyone had a good time.

Once I finished my shopping I didn't do much for the rest of the day. There are chores around the house that need attention but they can wait. The star tracker can wait too. I just don't have the energy to figure out why it stopped working yesterday. Maybe the Chinese manufacturer will have a suggestion for me. Until then the frustrating machine can just sit in its box.

My foot pain returned today. When I took my long walk later this afternoon it was a struggle to complete four miles. The weather wasn't great either. I had hoped that it would stay cool since it was overcast all day, but by mid-afternoon it was hot and muggy. It's starting to feel a lot like summer. The city was having an educational event in the park about native plants and prairies. Maybe I should have stopped and learned a little more about the plants I see everyday. I kept walking though. Too many people.

I should contact the guy who said he would mow my grass. With all the rain we've had lately, it's getting pretty thick. I'll probably just mow it myself though. It's hard for me to make changes. By the time I made arrangements with someone else, I could have the grass mowed. I do need to quit doing this pretty soon, because it's become too tiring. I'm sure I can keep mowing the lawn a few more times though. I'm such a procrastinator that I even procrastinate about making my own life easier.

I took a couple of short naps today and every time I got on the bed, Dawn got up and went to her dog bed in the kitchen. When I got up and left the room, Dawn immediately went back to the bedroom again. That dog is just rude sometime. I keep telling Dawn that she needs to get used to me because Janet will be going on another vacation this summer. I wonder if we will ever be buddies?

It's almost time for Dawn's Sunday outing again. We won't be celebrating Mother's Day because both our moms passed away a long time ago and neither of us have ever had children. We've had a lot of dogs though. We can always celebrate dogs.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3708

I woke up in plenty of time, but failed to see the moon pass in front of Mars this morning. The sky was overcast and it was starting to rain. I kind of expected this but I had to give it a try. I turned on the roof pumps and went back to bed.

It rained pretty hard for several hours, but so far there have been no additional leaks. It's far too early to say whether my recent repairs were successful. If a leak is small, it can take several days for the water to find its way inside. I discovered that Dawn doesn't like rain any more than I do. It's hard to get her to go outside and pee in the morning when the yard is wet. This morning, some water fell on her from the trees when the wind blew and it sent her racing for the back door.

After breakfast Dawn and I took a long nap while Janet was at the gym. It seemed like the right thing to do. The house was warm and there was no point in getting wet. I've learned that when a dog feels like napping, it's often best to join them. There's always time to be productive later.

I actually was fairly productive today. I finished my article about the Solar Orbiter launch. It wasn't the best article I've ever written, but it was far from the worst. Maybe I can still find a publication that is interested in publishing it. I've sent query letters to a few magazines, but interest in these types of things fades quickly. We'll see. It's too bad that SpaceFlight Magazine only wanted pictures this time. They're still my best hope for stories about rockets.

Dawn loves a walk. When the rain eventually stopped, we got out her harness and leash. As soon as she saw these things, she immediately started smiling and wagging her tail. She was ready. Dawn is wearing Dot's old harness and it fits her perfectly. It's nice to know that a simple thing like a walk in the park can give a dog such pleasure. I have a feeling that Dawn never got taken on many walks before. Those days are over.

I've got to keep moving, so I put on an extra coat and headed out again after we returned home with Dawn. We didn't want to walk her too far, since her injuries are still healing. There's nothing wrong with me, so an extended walk still sounded better than staring at the ceiling and waiting for the roof to leak. I needed my steps as well. I do wish that we could just fast forward to Spring. I'm really tired of all this rain.

It looks like the weather is going to be even worse tomorrow. I hope the forecast is wrong because cabin fever is real. Even though I spend most of my time around the house anyway, I always feel trapped on a rainy day. Blue sky improves my mood enormously. At least I've got a dog to curl up with on a rainy day. Dawn has her priorities straight. According to Dawn, on a rainy day you just don't get out of bed.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3342

Apparently, there are younger people who belong to my gym after all. When I arrived this morning, there were about fifty people I'd never seen before participating in some kind of fitness event. It looked like some sort of an indoor triathlon. I couldn't shoot baskets because the court was filled with stationary bicycles. They were actually real bicycles with their rear wheels raised off the ground. It looked like participants started in the gym's pool, then went to the bicycles, and then finished on the running track. I don't know how you could determine a winner because the bicycles definitely weren't going anywhere. Maybe it wasn't a race. There was a guy wearing a wireless microphone delivering some sort of motivational message as the crowd peddled away on the bicycles. Maybe this was a class. It all seemed pretty strange to me. I'll have to check and see if this is going to be a regular thing now. If it is, I might need to change the day I exercise.

Somehow, Dash slipped off his puppy training pad last night and I woke up to a larger than expected mess. I thought I had this incontinence down to a science, but life is full of surprises. So much for sleeping in this morning. I hosed off the soiled bedding, started a load of wash and got ready for our morning walk. Dash and I have been walking on our own this week, but this morning he wouldn't leave the house without Janet leading the way. We waited for her to get dressed and get the walk started. Then, just like that, everything was back to normal again. I often wonder what Dash is thinking. He seems to have a plan, but he rarely shares it with me. Every day is full of surprises.

It must have rained last night, since the ground was wet and muddy. Dash doesn't seem to mind the damp weather, but it's hard on his protective boots. You'd think that since the outer layer is rubber, the inner layers would stay dry. Nope. The special fitted bandage and cotton sock he wears under the rubber outer boot are always soaking wet on damp days. The lightweight outer boots we are using now tear easily too. The system we have devised is far from perfect, but at least his paws aren't getting bloody anymore. Maybe this is as good as it's going to get. Heavier, more durable boots make it difficult for Dash to walk and anything lighter would provide no protection at all.

I should have done some cleaning this afternoon, but I was too tired. After I got home from the gym, I took a shower and then I took a nap. When Dash is restless, a nap is always the best way to calm him down. Dash gets tired easily, but he doesn't like to be alone. Janet often watches Netflix movies with him, while I prefer to just curl up and do nothing. My theory is that lots of naps will eventually add up to a good night's sleep.

It's hard to believe that it's the middle of February already. I wish it were the middle of April. The days are getting longer now, but it's still wet and cold. There's still a lot of Winter ahead of us. The good news is that I've seen no signs of a roof leak after several heavy rains. There are no signs that my allergies are going away either. I'm still taking the antihistamines. The only place I can breathe freely is in the car. I've always wondered why the cabin air filter was so expensive to replace. Now I know. This filter is really good. When I drive somewhere, I'm in a hermetically sealed little capsule.

I wonder why Monday still feels like a work day? I haven't done any real work in months, but I still dread Monday mornings.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3341

What happened to our nice weather? One day it's 70. The next day it's 30. I wonder if the entire Winter is going to be this way? Since I like consistency, these extreme fluctuations are driving me nuts. It was cold and nasty outside this morning, but Dash still wanted his walk. I would rather have slept in a little longer, but off we went. Dash continues to do better than expected. I don't know where he got his second wind, but it's nice to see him with a little enthusiasm again.

After breakfast, I filled the car with gas and did my weekend grocery shopping. The list was small this week and that was fine with me. This seemed like a day for staying home and keeping warm. Dash seemed to agree. We took a long nap together this afternoon. It certainly beat cleaning the house.

As a consumer of healthcare, I've been following the debate about how to reform the system. I have a feeling that this is going to be the next battleground that divides us even further. I was listening to a proponent of Medicare for all explain that one of the most effective ways to pay for universal healthcare would be to stop approving all these elaborate procedures for really old people. "They're all going to die soon anyway," the guy said. You can imagine how well this idea went over. It's certainly true that most of your medical expenditures are going to occur during your last ten years of life, but if you need a new knee on your eightieth birthday, are you really going to say "never mind, I'll just keep using this cane?" I wonder how this will end? When the women are all fighting the men and the young are all fighting the old, today's political skirmishes will seem like child's play.

I'd be the first to admit that the earth's population is already too large to sustain life indefinitely. I'd still like to live as long as I can though. That is the dilemma. We desperately need to slow down population growth but we all want to live. Humanity has become the ultimate Kudzu vine. Since we are at the top of the food chain, there is absolutely nothing to stop us from consuming everything in our path. There really needs to be some fire breathing dragons or evil alien invaders to keep us in our place.

I don't see how you can be a student of history and still believe that you can change human nature. We have a pretty dismal track record. This is why I'm such a fan of exploring space. We're pretty clever. Maybe we can learn to tame wormholes and conquer the speed of light before we destroy our planet and become extinct. If we thought our destiny was to expand into the universe and destroy an infinite number of other planets one by one, it would provide a tremendous source of hope.

I saw us plant a flag on the moon, but I'd have to stay pretty healthy to see the same thing happen on Mars. Population explosion or not, I'll take advantage of every medical miracle that comes my way. I'd love to see Elon Musk succeed. It would be the first step in what could become a very long journey.

Joshua is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3304

I've been cold all day. Sadly, this is just the beginning of Winter. There will be many more cold days to come. My office is the coldest room in the house. It is a long way from the furnace and by the time the warm air arrives through the floor vents it has already cooled quite a bit. I plugged in my trusty little ceramic heater today. This small four inch square cube does a pretty good job of keep in the office at the same temperature as the rest of the house. Ceramic heaters are much safer than other types of small space heaters, but I've still got to be careful not to let Dash get too close to it. He's curious about anything new and I don't want him to burn his nose.

Since it is still supposed to rain tomorrow I thought I'd try to bleach the stains in the ceiling where water has been leaking in. This won't prevent future leaks, but it will make them easier to see. I've thought about putting bleach in a spray bottle and just spraying the ceiling, but I'm afraid that the mist will get on furniture or pictures hanging on the walls. Instead I soak a rag with bleach and stand on a ladder while I scrub the damaged areas. This works, but it is terrible on my hands. Bleach is nasty stuff. The ceiling looks better now. If I start seeing rust colored stains again, I'll know that the roof repair didn't work. The stains appear first and then the water starts dripping about an hour later.

Tomorrow should provide a good test of the repair work. It's is supposed to rain all day again. Hopefully, Dash will be able to take his morning walk before the rain begins. He is much calmer after he's had a walk. We'll see what happens. If the rain is bad I won't want to leave the house. I've got to be ready to place buckets under any leaks that might appear. I'll feel much better if the house survives the rain tomorrow. On the other hand, if the roof starts leaking again I'll be very discouraged.

I left Dash's harness on for most of the day. He is still falling a lot and it is much more effective to lift him up using the handle on the Ruffwear harness than it is to get my hands under his belly while he is struggling on the floor. Dash would be fine if he stayed on the rugs, but he always seems to find a place where the floor is still slippery. Dot did a little better at adapting to her disability. Dash is so stubborn that he still thinks he can move around like a pup. I don't know when he is going to realize that he would be much more comfortable sleeping on the floor. That doesn't appear to be an option. He is determined to keep sleeping on the bed.

I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, so I tried to catch up today by taking a lot of short naps. There wasn't much else to do anyway. You know your day is uneventful when the high point is applying bleach to the ceiling. I guess this was actually the low point as well, but the ceiling does look better. I was going to get a haircut this afternoon, but there were no appointments available until next week. It's just as well I didn't go today anyway. I still haven't shaken that cold.

I was going to wear the new boots I bought on Dash's evening walk, but I couldn't bring myself to put them on. They looked so nice and new in the box. I wore my old worn out boots instead. I'm hopeless. I specifically bought these boots for wearing in the mud. It's hard for me to start using new things. I want everything to stay new looking forever.

I've taken the trash out to the curb, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to go out for breakfast tomorrow. It all depends on the weather.

Murphy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3292

I spend my Winters wishing it was Summer and my Summers wishing it was Winter. I was definitely wishing for warmer weather today. Everything takes longer when it's cold. I'm slow anyway, but dressing in layers on a cold day takes me forever. Making the bed takes longer when it is piled with blankets. You've got to let the car warm up before you leave the driveway. You can't even depend on the weather forecast. Yesterday I was looking at a week of clear skies. Now the forecast says it is going to rain tomorrow.

I had lots of errands to run today. There were prescription to pick up and groceries to buy. The car needed gas. I had to retrieve a few things from the storage warehouse. I needed strawberries for my smoothies, clorox wipes to help clean up dog poop, halogen bulbs for the sconce lamps in the living room, and salicylic acid for my oily skin. Each of these things came from a different store. No wonder so many people shop on Amazon.

I can't seem to catch up on sleep anymore. When I returned from my errands, all I wanted to do was sleep. Since Dash spends most of his day sleeping anyway, it's always easy to take a nap with him. If I lie down on the bed, he'll be curled up next to me within a matter of minutes. I just need to stay alert until he navigates the dog step at the foot of the bed. Occasionally, he falls and I have to catch him.

I used to start projects on weekends, but not anymore. I just take care of the bare necessities now. Instead of making Giclée prints for gallery shows, I unclog drains. You really can't ignore a clogged drain for very long. I thought I still had some 'instant plumber' stuff that uses compressed gas to clear gunk out of pipes in seconds, but I guess I'd left the can standing in the utility room too long. All the gas had escaped. I had to clear the drain the old fashioned way using a plunger. What a mess. You'd think by now that someone would have invented a coating that prevents gunk from accumulating on the inside of pipes, but apparently not. I have to clear slow drains much more often than I'd like.

I repaired another pair of Dash's Ultra Paws boots and did a few loads of wash. I was going to watch some of the afternoon cooking shows on PBS, but I fell asleep instead. Dash did get two walks today. He was slow and stumbled a lot, but he definitely enjoyed himself. His sense of smell is one thing that hasn't deteriorated. Dash wants to smell everything these days. I'm glad he still has something to look forward to.

I ought to look forward to going to the gym tomorrow, but the weekly workout is just one in a long list of weekend chores. I'm lazy at heart and fit out of necessity. I may be 70 but there are still drains to clean, standing water on the roof, and poop on the floor. I need to keep moving.

Petey & Greta are today's Dalmatian's of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3221

I'm glad the daily rain doesn't usually start until around 9 AM. Even though the rain has been relentless this week, I've almost always been able to give Dash a morning walk. The evening walks are problematic, but at least he gets a chance to get outside. We didn't get an early start this morning, so we did get a little wet, but I'm not complaining. The daily downpour didn't begin until an hour after we returned home.

I'm getting used to the rain. I don't let it interfere with my activities anymore. Since there was no thunder today and Dash was sleeping calmly, I went out to breakfast anyway. Lately, I've been searching for the perfect Eggs Benedict without much success. Is this dish really that hard to make? A good Eggs Benedict is just an English Muffin topped with ham, a perfectly poached egg, and hollandaise sauce. All too often people seem to want to add Sriracha to the hollandaise and pile different meat and vegetables on top. It's not a sandwich guys. Today I tried a Lobster Benedict. Shredded lobster meat, asparagus, and some sort of spicy tomato bisque over a bagel was certainly creative. It just didn't taste very good. My holy grail breakfast is perfectly prepared French Toast, Eggs Benedict, or Migas. These simple dishes are surprisingly difficult to find.

Dash was still sleeping when I returned from breakfast. I wasn't surprised that he was tired. Once again he kept me up half the night cleaning up poop. At least this time the mess stayed on a protective mat on top of the bed so cleanup was much easier. I'm glad we have the special sanitize setting on our washing machine. It's been getting a lot of use lately. Since he didn't poop again on his morning walk like he usually does, I spent the rest of the day waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was still puzzled late this afternoon by the absence of poop until I accidentally stepped in the stuff on the living room floor.

I got a letter from NASA today inviting me to apply for a chance to watch a Cygnus resupply mission to the International Space Station from Wallops Island, Virginia. Why are these launch sites so difficult to fly to from Dallas? I had to make several connecting flights to get to Vandenberg Air Force Base. It's looks like I'd need to do the same to travel to Wallops Island. I don't think I'll apply. The trip looks expensive. Wallops Island launches often get postponed by weather. Dash is getting pretty hard for one person to manage too. Cleaning up the poop at night is often a two person job.

It would be nice to have something fun to do. I never realized how much of my life was devoted to work until I was fully retired. Dash certainly keeps me busy, but taking care of a sick dog can be very stressful. I need something relaxing. Going out to breakfast on Friday morning used to be relaxing, but when you can't even find a decent Eggs Benedict this become irritating as well.

The best part of today was a long nap with Dash. Early this afternoon, I realized I was very tired. I lay down next to Dash on the bed around 2 PM and didn't wake up again until after 4. I'm not really expecting a good night's sleep tonight, but it would be a nice bonus if I got one.

Diva is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3220

I cleaned up poop in the middle of the night again. Luckily, Dash made it off the bed, but he couldn't make it to the back door. Several people have suggested that I try diapers. Unfortunately, diapers seldom work on a dog with severe mobility problems. Dash can barely stand up as it is. We've tried doggie diapers and while wearing them, he can't seem to move his rear legs at all. Puppy training pads don't work either. Dash has always moved around at night. If you place a pad under him when you go to bed, he will be somewhere else when you wake up. Puppy pads worked great for Dot. I've still got several cartons of them at the storage warehouse. I've just got to realize that Dash is a different dog. It's not his fault. Old age catches up with all of us eventually.

It was damp and overcast today, but there was very little rain. I'll take what I can get. When I was walking Dash this morning, I noticed that the little circus in the park was getting ready for a show. You've got to admire these guys. They couldn't have picked a worse time to come to Dallas, but they refuse to give up. I almost feel like going to a show to help them out, but I've never liked circuses all that much. Hopefully, the weather will stay dry this evening. They've worked really hard to rebuild.

I found out on Facebook that another friend is in the hospital. This happens way too often. My generation is falling apart. I guess younger people still find out about weddings and engagements on social media. Older people find out about their friend's knee replacements, back problems, and cancer. The page for my high school class has kind of turned into an online obituary. All this decline and decay makes me nervous, but I still feel healthy. I hope I've got a few good years left.

I have no idea how long Dash has left. He's hung in there a lot longer than I expected. I think the pain pills are helping. He still stumbles and falls, but he seems more confident now. For a dog who can barely move, he sure loves his walks. Dash is facing old age with a lot of dignity. He accepts his many frailties and does the best he can. He and Dot have been an inspiration. When I wake up with a stiff neck or a sore back I keep thinking "if these dogs can do it, so can I."

Neither of us set the world on fire today. My to-do list has shrunk to breakfast, dinner, and walking Dash. I did a little house cleaning this afternoon, but I also took a long nap with Dash. Hey, I deserved a nap. I felt like I was up half the night cleaning up after Dash.

I think it's supposed to rain again tomorrow. I wonder how long this can go on? I think we have doubled our annual rainfall in less than two months. We'll see how it goes. I've taken the trash out to the curb and am ready for bed. If it's nasty tomorrow morning, I'll just stay home and make pancakes. I can always go out for breakfast when things dry off.

Little Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3187

We enjoyed meeting the new rescue dogs this morning. Dot and Dash have been dealing with serious medical problems since 2014, so it's easy to forget how much fun a young, healthy Dalmatian can be. The dogs we photographed today were all super friendly, very active, and loved to play. I don't think it will be long before each of these pups finds their forever home.

Janet and I have gotten to know hundreds of these dogs over the years. They all had their own unique personality. It's surprising how many of these dogs I still remember. It's hard to remember the names though. Especially since there were a lot named Domino, Lucky, Spot, Patches, and Oreo. The older we get, the harder it is to remember all these names. We both forgot the name of one of our favorites today. After ten minutes of guessing in the car, we finally remembered the name was Spirit. How could we have forgotten Spirit?

When we walked Dash this morning, we found ourselves right in the middle of a big charity race. There were thousands of runners, but Dash still wanted to criss-cross the road from one side to the other like he always does. The runners definitely didn't want to slow down for an old dog, so we tried to find a new route. I wonder how well Dash can see? He seemed oblivious to the runners. Luckily, we managed to stay out of the way. I always wonder why so many people like to jog? Over time, running is terrible on the knees.The high impact exercise isn't great for the feet either. I guess this is one reason why knee replacements have become one of the most popular surgeries for people my age.

Dash got me up in the middle of the night again. Actually, he got me up three times. I don't think there is anything wrong. Dash has just changed his schedule. He doesn't care if he wakes me up. If I'm not fast enough, he'll just poop on the floor. He's hungrier now late at night than he is in the morning. I guess it's no surprise that he needs to do his business at 3 AM. I don't even remember what uninterrupted sleep feels line anymore. I need to ask my doctor whether catnaps count. I rarely sleep more than three or four hours at a time, but I nap a lot. All in all I probably sleep more than you do.

I'm really tempted to get the latest version of the Apple Watch. I still wear the original version every day, but this new watch adds the capability to take your own electrocardiogram and will automatically dial 911 if you fall and can't get up. The watch also has it's own internal GPS and cellular phone. Pretty amazing to a gadget geek like me. Probably in the future, all I'll need are the watch and a phone. I'm finding fewer and fewer reasons to turn on the computer every day.

It's back to the gym tomorrow. Janet already goes to her new gym at least four times a week. I see no reason to compete. Once a week is plenty. Hey, I still walk Dash twice a day. We're slow, but we're consistent. If I were walking one of those young Dalmatians we photographed today, I bet I would be in better shape than those runners we saw this morning. I can tell you from experience that keeping up with a young Dalmatian is the best exercise you can get.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3147

You know you've finally come to terms with your dog's incontinence when he poops in the bed and you're just happy that the poop is firm. I thought I smelled something last night, but I was really tired and Dash farts a lot anyway. I didn't notice that he'd pooped in the bed until morning. This was a first and I hope it isn't a sign of things to come. At least the mess was on Dash's dog blanket and it was easy to clean up.

We've been through this before with Dot.There was a period of time between when she initially became incontinent and when she lost the ability to climb on the bed that we were doing a lot of laundry. I hope Dash's instinct to head for the back door continues for a while. It makes life a lot easier.

Sometimes I wonder why I bother to write on Monday. Nothing ever happens on Monday. The big event of the day was putting the new vehicle registration sticker on my windshield. If the state doesn't need a safety inspection sticker anymore, I wonder why they still need a registration sticker? Probably it's just a different bureaucracy that's involved. I can tell that the carpel tunnel in my wrist has gotten worse. It was surprisingly difficult to position the sticker in the bottom corner of the windshield. It probably would have been easier if I wasn't such a perfectionist. The sticker had to be absolutely parallel.

Dash had a nice walk this morning, but as soon as we returned home, he seemed exhausted. We walked really slow and he seemed to be enjoying himself, but maybe we are overdoing things. It's hard to tell. Dash went to sleep while I was fixing my smoothie and didn't return to the kitchen to eat his own breakfast until 10:30 AM. He does still eat his meals, but there is no real schedule anymore. I just leave the food in his bowl and he eats when he's hungry.

It looks like I won't be able to upgrade my computers anymore. Apple just announced that it's new Mojave operating system won't run on any of the computers currently I have. Apparently, they are all too old. Apple is actively trying to make the operating system in their computers work more like their phones. Pretty soon your desktop computer is just going to be a big, giant iPhone. I guess a lot of people like this idea. Not me. I have a feeling that I'd probably be happier using Linux now. Apple is working way too hard to please the millennials.

I wonder if anything interesting will happen tomorrow. I need to write my sister and I should probably call the guitar store to see if the guitar that disappeared from the website actually sold. If it sold it would give me an excuse to drive over to the store and pick up a check. There's always naps. I took a long nap with Dash today. It wouldn't be difficult to do the same thing tomorrow.

Margo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3117

I couldn't figure out why I was having trouble getting gas this morning. The pump would accept my credit card and tell me that it was ready to start pumping, but no gas would come out. I tried three different pumps and I couldn't get any gas out of any of them. The strange thing was that other people were filling their cars normally. I seemed to be the only one who was having a problem. I went over and talked to the manager, who didn't know anything but said he'd talk to another employee. The second employee said "Oh, we're out of Premium today." Jeez. Would it have been that hard to put a sign on the pump? It would seem like the pump itself would show some kind of indication that it was empty. Nope. The pump preferred to run up a zero dollar credit card transaction. Needless to say, I got gas somewhere else.

The lake is starting to look a little low. This is usually one of the first signs that we are having a drought. The city has also started to mow all the areas they have designated as "native prairie" in the park. I'm pretty sure this is to reduce the danger of brush fires. Actually, the area looks a lot nicer now. The native prairie grasses have been overrun by Johnson Grass in recent years. The fields and meadows that used to be pretty, now just look like acres and acres of weeds.

Even though things are becoming ominously dry, I still have mixed feelings about rain. The roof isn't fixed yet. The roofers keep saying they are coming over "soon," but soon might mean Christmas to them. I'm tempted to go buy some of the elastomer material and patch the damaged areas myself. The last time I tried this, it didn't work out so well. Some of my patches are already starting to delaminate. Something needs to be done, but I still think this mess is the roofers responsibility.

Now that I've fixed the crack in the wall, I'm tempted to fix the ceiling. There's been damaged sheetrock in the living room for years, but I hate to go to the trouble of fixing it if the roof is still going to leak. I've got all the materials now and I could probably fix the area in an afternoon, but this would almost guarantee that there would be a giant rainstorm and the roof would start leaking again. It's easier to just ignore things for a while longer and hope the roofers eventually do what they've promised.

Dash pooped on the bed last night. I don't think he even woke up. I was thinking that we were getting a handle on his digestive problems, but maybe not. There doesn't appear to be blood in his stools anymore, but I sure wish that the poop would stay outdoors. Incontinence is just a fact of life with old dogs. I don't think I'm going to stop cleaning up poop any time soon.

It's hard to get motivated when the temperature is so hot. All I really wanted to do today was take a nap. Dash makes this easy, since he sleeps most of the time anyway. I used to think that I wasn't getting nearly enough sleep. If I start counting naps though, I'm probably doing just fine.

It's supposed to rain tomorrow. Will this be enough to prevent me from going to the gym? It won't take much. I'm not feeling very energetic this week.

Delaney is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2777

Did today even happen? I'll have to admit that I've succumbed to binge watching. At least I started out with good intentions. We took a nice sunrise walk with Dash. He seemed to have lots of energy this morning and the weather was surprisingly cool. As a result, we walked a lot longer than we expected. When we got home, I made my usual breakfast smoothie packed with peaches, strawberries, blueberries, and bananas. It takes me forever to drink this concoction, since I make over a quart of the stuff every morning. I'm never in a hurry to finish breakfast. As I alternate between several cups of dark roast coffee and the endless smoothie, I watch the morning news.

Usually, after this relaxing interlude, I spend the rest of the day writing or designing websites. It's been kind of hard to follow this schedule since there's no work lately. I paid a few bills and sent out a late notice on an invoice the hasn't been paid yet, but that was about it. That's where the binge watching comes in. Without a deadline to meet, there is nothing to prevent me from watching episode after episode of my favorite shows. I downloaded Season Two of The Expanse yesterday. I was only going to watch one or two episodes today, but ended up watching five. Without the irritating commercials, each episode is only about forty three minutes. After forty three minutes, you've usually got time for forty three more.

The show is kind of a cross between Battlestar Galactica and Firefly. Each episode ends with the crew of the Rocinante in some kind of dire circumstances, so you naturally want to see what happens next. The last time I did something like this, iTunes and Netflix didn't even exist. I watched all four seasons of Farscape back to back. There was no downloading back then. I would buy a boxed set of each season at Fry's and then watch the DVD's on my computer. I wonder how I had the time. I was quite busy then and had a lot of work to do when I became obsessed with Farscape.

Janet is going back to work tomorrow. She'll have to take some time off again at the end of the month to complete her reconstruction surgery, but this is a big milestone. She seems excited to get out of the house again. Dash is going to be heartbroken. He's been at Janet's side ever since she started her recovery. It's obvious that this is what Dash has been wanting for a long time. It's OK that I'm home, but he really likes it when Janet is home. Dash seems to be adjusting well to Dot's absence. Hopefully, he'll adjust to this too.

I think Dash has the easy job. I'm still trying to figure out what to do next. Most of my clients are gone. I've lost interest in collecting things. I could spend the next five years methodically downsizing, but I'm not interested in that either. It's really a bit of a quandary. The whole concept of retirement seems foreign to me, and yet I have no interest in looking for new business either. Perhaps I've stayed alone in a small room for too long.

Not to worry though. The stock market is doing great. I've still got some more shows to binge watch tomorrow. And most importantly, the weather is getting cooler. It's supposed to rain in the morning, but with any luck I'll be able to walk Dash before it starts. If Dash gets lonely, I'll just take a long nap with him. That's something we're both good at.

Snoopy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2699

Our complex routine is starting to feel normal now. We always get up early on weekdays. The dogs get their morning walks before anyone gets fed to reduce the risk of someone throwing up their breakfast. If Dash doesn't try to eat grass on his walk, he's usually OK for the day. When we get home again, Dash gets fed while I make the bed and get things ready to feed Dot. I wait until Janet has left for work and Dash has settled down for his morning nap before I try to feed Dot. It's much easier to get Dot to take her pills when everything is calm and quiet. Janet usually eats breakfast while I'm still asleep. I don't eat my own breakfast until everything else is done.

Dot is never hungry in the morning, but it is getting easier to give her the pills she needs. Three times a day, I wrap the pills in a small piece of her favorite cheese. Between each pill she gets piece of turkey, a small slice of cheese, or a bite of tasty canned dog food. She's grown to enjoy this ritual and doesn't fight me anymore when I open her mouth to pop a pill inside. Maybe the array of tasty treats I've prepared seems like tapas or dim sum to her. I hope so. I'm trying to make staying alive as enjoyable as possible.

Dot and Dash were both active this morning. I had a hard time fixing my smoothie. Dot must be feeling better because she's started barking again. She barks when she needs attention now. Sometimes she needs to go outside and pee. Other times she wants me to put a little food in her bowl. She'll bark if she's frustrated too. It keeps me busy. I finished my breakfast around 11 AM this morning. Considering that I'd actually gotten up at 6 AM, I should have just called my smoothie lunch.

I'm either going to get really good at caring for aging dogs or go stark raving mad. It could go either way. I'm still amazed at how much time it takes to feed a dog who has difficulty eating. It takes at least thirty minutes each time I give Dot her pills and there are numerous small meals throughout the day. Sometimes Dot will eat a few bites, want me to take her outside, and then come in and eat a few more bites. We'll repeat this sequence again and again. Patience and persistence are paying off though. Dot seems noticeably stronger now that she's eating again. She's not eating enough to gain any weight, but we're working on that.

Since there always a few hours during the day when both dogs are sleeping soundly, I thought this might be a good time to catch up on my own sleep as well. Why not? I only had one small website update to make today and I finished that job in less time than it took me to give Dot her morning pills. The way things stand right now, I've got plenty of time to sleep during the day. I took a nap with Dot and Dash this afternoon and I do feel more rested. I'm pretty sure I'll be doing this again.

I hope Dot is sleeping well when I take Dash for his annual exam tomorrow. There really isn't a good time to leave the house anymore, but I try to time things the best I can. Dash has problems too, so I've got lots of questions for the vet. I'd love to get this house running smoothly again. Keeping Dot well nourished and Dash as healthy as we can would be a good start.

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day