Day 3198

Another day dominated by weather. We had to postpone our morning walk because of rain. I hate to do this because Dash becomes confused when his routine changes. I really didn't have a choice though. I put the bucket back in the living room because some of the showers were pretty intense. So far, I don't see any signs of a water leak. That could change at any time. I still don't know what triggers this leak. Nobody else does either because the roofers still haven't returned my calls.

I started to see some blue sky right after lunch, so I thought it might be a good time to take Dash on a walk. Since the weather seemed to be improving, it never occurred to me that there was another storm right over the horizon. When we were almost a mile away from the house, the sky quickly became very dark and it began to pour. Dash and I both got soaked. There was little point in turning around since we were already at the halfway point of our walk. Dash continued his slow, steady pace all the way home. He didn't even seem to be aware it was raining.

I was very aware that we were getting wet. It was raining so hard that I thought my Apple Watch might be ruined. I don't think the early model that I wear is very waterproof. Eventually we made it home and I spent the next twenty minutes drying Dash off. I think there's more rain in the forecast. Needless to say, I'm really getting tired of this.

I watched part of a live Phillips auction on my computer this morning. I wanted to get an idea of what to expect. The auction process was mesmerizing. Everything happens so fast. If you blink you miss something. It was impossible to guess what people were interested in. Some items sold for a lot more than I expected and others received no bids at all. A lot of money changed hands very, very quickly.

We found a tick on Dash this morning. This shouldn't be happening because he's taking Bravectco. We were a little nervous about removing the tick, but it had to be done. As expected, Dash started to bleed, although it wasn't as bad as I expected. I sure wish he didn't have to take blood thinners. Even the smallest problem can end up being dangerous.

The roofers never replied to my enquiries yesterday, but the vintage guitar folks did. I guess all this proves is that guitar players are nicer than roofers. The guitars still haven't sold, but the store seems optimistic. I'll sure be glad when all these sales have been completed. All this uncertainty makes me nervous.

We seem to be getting an enormous number of telemarketing calls. It's irritating. I don't know whether my number has been hacked or if this is just what happen prior to an election. I'm sure that a lot of these robocalls are political. I guess I could pick up the phone and find out what is going on, but that's the last thing I want to do. If you answer a telemarketer's call, you'll immediately wind up on ten more lists.

Suki is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2240

I felt something bite me on the neck while I was sitting at the computer this morning. When I looked in the mirror, I discovered it was a tick. Damn. This is the second time this year I've found a tick crawling on me. Ironically, the dogs are completely free of ticks. Now that we've finally found an effective flea and tick preventative for the dogs, I think the ticks have started looking for greener pastures. Apparently, I look pretty appetizing.

The adapter I ordered arrived today, but unfortunately it didn't fit very well. It was supposed to snap into place on top of a battery plate to allow a different type of battery to be used. The connection was just too snug for a reassuring snap. I could press the thing halfway into place, but that was it. I called the manufacturer and the service representative told me to press harder and that if the adapter broke, he'd send me a new one. This wasn't very reassuring. I suspect that if I look very closely, I will find the words Made in China stamped on the poorly fabricated piece of junk.

This must have been my day to talk with customer service representatives because when I finished talking to the guy from the lighting company, I got a call from the company that makes my fitness band. "Are you still having problems," she asked. Of course I was still having problems, so we spent the next twenty minutes talking about possible solutions. I'd already tried most of the things she'd suggested, so the conversation basically went nowhere. After we'd talked for a while, she told me that my fitness tracker was out of warranty and she couldn't replace it anyway.

Dot was panting more than usual today. We almost didn't give her a walk this morning, but she quit panting and seemed perfectly normal once we were outside. Later in the day, she started panting again, just walking around the house. I was going to take her temperature, but I couldn't find the dog thermometer. Eventually, I found two digital thermometers, but I wasn't sure which one was for people and which was for the dogs. I got this wrong once before and all the sudden we had two dog thermometers. You kind of hate to put a thermometer in your mouth after it's been in a dog's butt. 

I was confused about an upcoming photo shoot, so I called the client to get some clarification. She didn't really know what was going on either and told me to just show up on the specified day and go with the flow. OK. I can do that. That's basically what I do every day. It would be nice to know what I was supposed to do, but in all honesty it won't make a big difference. Sometimes work is actually easier when you don't know what you're doing.

Dot pooped in her bed twice today. She didn't even wake up when she had the accidents, which is definitely a new development. In the past, Dot was always aware of what was going on and made an effort to get up and move away from the mess. If this happens in her sleep now, it probably means that something is getting worse. There are all sorts of subtle signs that Dot is slowly going downhill, but since she still has her good days, it's easy to convince yourself that everything is fine. Every week, I make a list of new developments for the vet, but there not much more I can do to slow down the aging process. We just do our best to keep her comfortable and happy.

Maybe I'll have something exciting to tell you tomorrow. Nah. Just kidding. Nothing ever happens on Wednesday.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day