Day 4337

It only took one day to adjust to the time change. It seems more natural to wait until it gets light to get out of bed. It get dark earlier, but now that I've adjusted the timers on the lights in the house, I hardly notice the difference. Dawn wasn't demanding dinner at 4 PM today either. I guess we're all good to go for what will hopefully be a mild Winter.

Monday is always a very quiet day at the park. I encountered very few people on my walk today. It looks like the park department is getting ready to do some road construction. They were marking sections of the main road through the park for replacement. This is how they seems to do road repairs these days. Instead of repaving the entire road, they just cut out potholes and bad chunks and replace them instead. Most of the roads in the city look like patchwork quilts of concrete and asphalt. 

The ducks, geese, and pelicans were all in their regular places this morning, but I haven't seen the eagles in several weeks. They are still residing in the park because people report sightings just about every day. Maybe I'm just not taking my walks at the right time. I'll never be one of those people who hang out for hours with a camera or binoculars hoping to catch a glimpse. The eagles are certainly impressive, but they are not even as large as some of the pelicans. 

Since it was Monday, we spent the afternoon visiting the Dalmatians at the kennel. I thought Pepper might have been adopted by now, but she was still there, along with Charlie and Oliver. Sock, a Dalmatian Rescue alumni, was being boarded there this week as well, although he has a new name now. Somehow I always remember the dogs by the names they entered the rescue program with. Most owners rename the dogs after they adopt them. We've renamed some of our dogs, but not all of them. Dash was originally named Boomer and I think Petey had another name as well. We left Dawn's name alone, because she was older and already seemed to know her name. The change from life as a breeding dog to life as a spoiled pet was enough for Dawn. She didn't need a new name to remember as well.

On the way home from the kennel, Janet needed to stop at a Walmart to get some things. I try to avoid Walmart at all costs, but am always surprised when I step inside one of these stores. They are huge and seem to be so poorly organized that you have to aimlessly wander through every aisle in the store to find what you need. This is probably by design. Janet seemed to be able to navigate the store pretty well though. The only thing I tried to find was Reed's Extra Ginger Brew. This is the only soft drink I like and it is becoming impossible to find. The beer I like, Four Corners Local Buzz, also seems to be disappearing from the shelves. Grocery stores have become so computerized now that they only restock the popular items. If you like something that everybody else likes, you'll find entire aisles of the stuff. Otherwise, you are generally out of luck.

I need to remember the NASA teleconference tomorrow. I got the dial in number and passcode to join the conference today. I've participated in a couple of NASA press conferences before, but the other ones were in person. I guess this will be kind of like a Zoom meeting. I seldom end up asking questions at these type of things. If I even think of a decent question, some other reporter usually ends up asking it first.

I really need to go up on the roof and remove the remaining water. I know it's still up there, even though nothing is leaking now. I know that when the water in the back yard birdbath has evaporated, that the water on the roof is probably gone as well. I keep watching the bird bath and it's still full of water. Hopefully, I can find something more exciting than sweeping the water off the roof tomorrow. At least I'm going to try.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4336

I've been waiting for this day. It's daylight when we walk Dawn in the morning again. I've never really understood the time change anyway. Noon should always be when the sun is at it's highest point in the sky and we should just adjust our schedules accordingly as the days get longer and shorter. I don't think that Dawn would agree with this philosophy though. She seemed very indignant that I didn't fix her dinner at 4 PM today. Personally, I don't mind it it's dark when we eat dinner. I've usually finished all my outdoor activities by early afternoon.

It would have been another 20,000 step day if I had remembered to wear my Fitbit this morning. I always do a lot of walking on Sunday. Dawn enjoyed her sunrise walk and still had plenty of energy when we took her on her Sunday outing around noon. In between, I took my regular long walk in the park and added another five miles to my total. While I was out, I encountered some sort of marathon race. There were lots of people running, but none of them were going very fast. I must have encountered the stragglers at the end of the race. The winners had probably already finished before I entered the park. I suppose that running is excellent exercise, but all I saw today were a bunch of future knee replacements.

Since it was such a nice day today, I decided to mow the grass. At this time of year I always hope that this is the last time I have to mow and that I can put the mower away for another year. It seldom works out that way. If we get a lot of rain and there isn't a freeze, the grass just keeps growing. I'm going to remain hopeful though. Maybe I won't have to mow again until next Spring.

There seems to be virtually no Fall color this year. The trees seem to be going directly from green to brown. In previous years there would be a lot of reds and yellows in the park by now. Every once in a while we have a spectacular Fall. This year is kind of blah. I wonder why? It seems like the warm days and cool, crisp nights we've been having lately would be perfect for vibrant Fall colors.

The proton pump inhibitor I've started taking seems to be working. Last night's chili didn't give me heartburn. I haven't had acid reflux for several days now. I still have misgivings about taking a PPI though. Stomach acids are actually essential for digesting food and preventing bacteria from developing. You just don't want the acid escaping into your esophagus. We'll see how long my doctor wants me to continue this medication. If the answer is forever, we may have problems.

My watch winders are all starting to die. I guess they are getting pretty old. I keep thinking that a watch winder should last forever. It's just a simple motor that rotates the watch for a while combined with a circuit that turns the motor off for about 17 hours to let the watch unwind. I've never had a watch winder that lasted ten years. Some haven't even lasted five. I guess this shouldn't even matter since I seldom wear a mechanical watch anymore. The Apple Watch has replaced all the watches I used to wear. Watch collecting just seems like a strange hobby now. How did I ever get interested in the first place? 

At least I'm still interested in dogs and rockets. I'm interested in astronomy when I'm out in West Texas. Here in Dallas the light pollution is so bad that it's hardly worth the effort to look up at the sky. Most of my interests wind up in the storage warehouse eventually. Am I fickle, or is this just the way it works? The storage warehouse has become a museum of things I am no longer interested in.

Chase is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4328

Every time I go shopping, the world seems a little more dysfunctional. The stores are far from empty, but I'm having a harder time finding what I need. I used to find everything in one store. Now I have to go to three. Gas has been more expensive in the past, but it's definitely creeping up there again. The increasing prices and decreasing inventory isn't dramatic, so you don't really question it. You just wonder why your grocery bill keeps getting a little higher every week.

The doctor still hasn't filled my colonoscopy prep prescription. This might be a problem. I tried to call the doctor's office but they were closed for the weekend. When I called the pharmacy, nobody answered. The pharmacist I've known for years isn't there anymore. He either retired or quit. The kids that are running the place now seem very disorganized. Of course the front desk at the doctor's office seems a little disorganized too. I'll see if I can sort out the problem tomorrow when I go to the hospital for a pre-admission Covid test. I guess multiple Covid tests have just become a regular part of modern life. I keep expecting life to eventually return to normal, but maybe all this is normal now.

I'll be glad when the time changes in early November. It is completely dark when we get up in the morning now. We wait until the sky lightens a little before we leave on Dawn's sunrise walk, but we still need to take a flashlight. The flashlight isn't really to help us see. It is mostly so cars and cyclists can see us. We used to have a little red light that we clipped to Dawn's collar, but it got lost. Pretty much anything you clip to a dog's collar will eventually get lost. One vigorous shake and it's gone.

It's still nice and cool for my long walk, but I'm getting tired of walking. Maybe I need to go back to the gym for a while. The park seemed congested today and my feet are starting to hurt again. I think I prefer walking on cold, gloomy days when I'm the only one in the park. Right after a rain is usually a good time. The air smells fresh and there are a lot fewer bicycles when the roads and trails are wet. Since it was a nice day, everyone was out and about. I shouldn't complain about foot traffic in the park though. It isn't nearly as bad as traffic on the roads. Traffic was horrible when I was grocery shopping today. It doesn't matter when I leave the house. It always feels like rush hour.

After my last astrophotography workshop I joined several astrophotography groups on the Internet. I still read these things every day but it it is becoming clear that I don't have the same temperament as most of the other amateur astronomers. They will spend weeks planning and executing a single shot. To get good results, you often have to take hundreds of images and then combine them all together using special software. It's a slow tedious process and very often things go wrong and you have to start over. My roots were in fashion photography, which actually made me well suited to taking pictures of dogs. I'm pretty good at capturing a moment, but I find technical photography boring. I like to see the results right away. I still love to look at the night sky though and am eager to return to the observatory again. Maybe next Spring.

Until then, I'll continue my regular routine here in Dallas. It looks like it will be a good day for Dawn's Sunday outing tomorrow. I scheduled my Covid test early tomorrow so I will be back in time for a walk and some ice cream.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4098

I thought I'd slept in longer than usual this morning and then I realized that the time had changed. Why do we do this every year. I don't care if we go with standard time or daylight saving time. Let's just pick one and stick with it. Dogs don't understand time changes at all. They keep wanting to be fed at their usual time.

Our phones and computers update automatically, but there are still a lot of clocks in the house to change. I was changing the time on a wall clock in the office this morning when I accidentally dropped and broke it. What a shame. This clock has been faithfully reminding me that I'm always late for many, many years.

The nasty weather that all the news media kept warning us about never materialized. I don't think it even rained last night. I'm beginning to think that the media just likes to alarm people. Maybe it's good for ratings. Everything seems to be a crisis these days, even if it doesn't feel like a crisis in real life. At any rate, I was glad that there were no tornados nearby when I woke up this morning. Tornado warnings still get my attention.

When Janet and I were out walking today I got a message on my watch saying that we'd had a power outage at the house. Hmm. Who sent me this message and why? I finally figured out that the message was generated by the new little gizmo that monitors our electric lines. We tried looking at the petcam in the bedroom to see if the power was really out. The petcam still worked and everything seemed fine. When we returned home, the power was on and there were no signs that there had been an outage. Did the power  really fail or did the little line monitor fail? I guess I'll never really know.

My assorted aches and pains seem to be getting worse. A few days ago I tripped on a rock while I was walking and stumbled around trying to regain my balance. I never actually fell, but now my hip hurts when I walk. I'm getting clumsy as I grow older. I never would have tripped on that rock when I was younger and I wouldn't have dropped the office clock either. It might be time to end my trips up on the roof. Tripping on a rock is one thing. Falling off the roof would be a lot more serious.

I find myself spending a lot of time on Facebook astrophotography groups lately. Who would have thought that there were so many people interested in this strange and difficult to master hobby. Some of these people's photographs are amazingly good. They look like they were taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. I don't think I will ever get this good. I just don't have the patience. I like astronomy but I also like to go to bed early. This doesn't bode well for any future endeavors. I have a feeling that a couple of trips out to McDonald Observatory every year will be enough for me. The rest of the time I'll just watch old Perry Mason episodes on TV at night.

Dawn froze in place briefly on her short walk today. We got her going again, but this was troubling. She's been doing so well lately. I'd really hate to see her become fearful of walking. She likes to sit out in the sun in the yard, so you'd think that she would like walking as well. She always seems eager to walk when we get out her leash and harness. Occasionally, something makes her fearful though and we still don't know what it is.

I'm torn between wanting something interesting to happen next week and wanting things to remain calm and uneventful. I'll probably get uneventful and that's OK with me.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3985

Good grief. People have started hoarding toilet paper and water again. Last week there were mountains of toilet paper at the grocery store and this week the shelves were completely empty. The water was almost gone as well. Customers were leaving the store with buggies filled with bottled water. Has anything changed? Nope. Stores and restaurants are still full. Roads are still crowded with cars. Apparently mass panic has returned however. People in Dallas may ignore the virus, but they will not be left without toilet paper.

Before starting on my weekly grocery run, we had a nice walk with Dawn and a leisurely breakfast. Neither of us work anymore, but we still sleep in on Saturday like we did during our working years. It was nice to get an extra hour of sleep. There was a light mist when we left the house and I thought it might rain for a while. My jacket felt a little damp when we returned home, but it was just the humidity. I don't think the rain will arrive until tomorrow.

I just noticed that when I get gas now, I get charged an extra dollar on my credit card. When did this start? The mysterious charge isn't added to the gas transaction, it is totally separate. Janet says she gets charged the extra dollar when she gets gas at a grocery store too. I wonder if this has anything to do with using an app to pay for gas? I'll probably never figure out what is going on, but I suspect the charge is here to stay. Somebody in government has decided that they need more money.

I watched the launch of the Sentinel-6 satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base on NASA TV this morning. I remember going to Vandenberg several years ago for the SMAP launch. It seems so long ago now, but that launch was what got me interested in following launches and becoming a space journalist. Like Sentinel-6, SMAP was also a meteorological satellite designed to learn more about the climate. Vandenberg Air Force is located right near the Pacific Ocean and I recognized a lot of the scenery near the base as I watched this morning's broadcast. Good times, even though I had an accident in my rent car on that trip.

I got Chinese take-out for dinner tonight and when I went to pick up my order I was surprised to see that it was completely dark. It is usually still light outside when I pick up take-out from this restaurant. I couldn't figure out what was going on until I realized that this was the first time we'd had Chinese since the time changed. I can't say that I like the shorter days that come with Winter. It should still be daylight at 6 PM.

Florida mosquitoes seem a lot nastier than Texas mosquitoes. It's been almost a week and my bites still itch like crazy. I've been to night launches in Florida before and never gotten bitten this bad. Maybe it was the weather. I was wearing a t-shirt on Sunday night and was always wearing a jacket on previous trips. That's one nice thing about staying out at night in the Davis Mountains. No bugs.

I wish my gym would reopen on weekends. Sunday is still the best day for me to go to the gym. I shouldn't be choosy though. If Covid cases continue to spike, gyms might close down completely again. It is almost inevitable that millions of Thanksgiving dinners are going to cause another surge. No problems here. It's just going to be the two of us, plus one dog eagerly looking for table scraps.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3601

Daylight Savings Time is over for another year. I used to dread this day when the dogs were alive. It usually meant that their evening walk took place in darkness. It doesn't really matter anymore. I get up when it's light outside and go to bed after I finish writing the blog. I'm so slow eating breakfast that my morning walk ends up being around midday anyway. I don't know many people who like the time change. I certainly don't. Just pick a time and stick with it. When you get used to a schedule, an arbitrary change just seems silly.

The weather was nice again today. These 20,000 step Sundays are always more enjoyable when I'm not fighting the elements. As usual, I went to the gym right after breakfast. I had a god workout this week. Whatever was dragging me down last week seemed to have disappeared. Since the weather was warm, I decided to attempt some more roof repairs when I returned home. I measured where the leak was using a tape measure and then found the same spot up on the roof. The coating was perfect in this area. I looked for weak spots nearby and eventually found a few. It didn't seem possible that the minuscule tears could cause the leak, but what do I know. When there is a lot of standing water on the roof the water pressure could force a lot of water through these small holes when the silicon coating wasn't firmly attached to the substrate. Maybe this was what was happening. I ripped up the silicon coating around one of these small holes and sure enough there was water underneath.

I applied about a gallon of the silicon material to any place that seemed questionable. Truthfully, I have no idea what I'm doing. The roof shouldn't be leaking, but it is. I have a feeling that all my efforts might be pointless. The silicon dries in a nice waterproof sheet. The thickness of the coating is critical though. If the coating is too thin or too thick, it can tear easily. Sometimes even sweeping the standing water off the roof causes the silicon to tear. Since silicon doesn't really stick to what you apply it to, even a small tear can cause a lot of water to get under the coating. Using common asphalt sealers to patch the small holes won't work either because nothing sticks to silicon. The only thing that can patch silicon is more silicon, but you have to do your work perfectly. It's hopeless.

I didn't even have to wear a jacket when I took my walk this afternoon. The weather was just about perfect. There were lots of joggers and cyclists, along with quite a few picnickers. I could smell barbecue everywhere. Even the little circus was putting on a show this afternoon. I think we all know that this weather won't last long. You've got to take advantage of it when you can.

I need to try to reschedule my dental appointment tomorrow. I don't know how I managed to make a dental appointment on the same day we visit the Dalmatians. I'm sure I just wrote down the date the dentist gave me without really thinking. Usually one day is the same as the next to me. I'm lucky if I even know what day it is.

Wolfgang is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3237

It's easy to tell when I've been a little too ambitious. Every joint in my body aches. Today I thought I'd combine a workout at the gym with a workout at the storage warehouse. One of these activities would have been enough.

I certainly don't get much exercise on my morning walks with Dash these days. He's become incredibly slow. He still seems to enjoy his walks and I let him take all the time he needs. He stops about every ten feet to smell things. If the smell is particularly interesting, he sometimes forgets about his rear legs and falls over. I'm beginning to think his vision is failing and he's smelling his way along the path. Today he bumped into a clearly visible fence. He might have just had his head down smelling things, or maybe the glare of the rising sun obscured his vision. It's not like Dash to collide with a fence. I hope he's not going blind.

I did really well on the basketball count today. There is no rhyme or reason to this. I did use a different ball today because I couldn't find my favorite one. Maybe the new ball explains things. I bet I would have done terribly if I'd gone to the gym after the storage warehouse. Moving wore me out today.

My goal this afternoon was to disassemble some of the metal industrial shelving, move it to the new warehouse and then put it back together again. In theory, this should have been easy, but it wasn't. The shelves were heavy and once I took them apart, they were very difficult to assemble again. A couple of the metal parts had become bent and the holes for the bolts didn't line up anymore. Apparently these shelves weren't meant to be assembled more than once. I didn't have the right tools with me either. Instead of a hammer and a heavy pair of pliers, I settled for a rock I found in the parking lot. Eventually, I got the first shelf reassembled at the new warehouse. It's not very pretty, but it will work. I hope I never have to move these things a third time.

There are still five more of these large industrial shelves. I don't know if I have the energy to take them all apart. I think it's time to get another estimate from a mover. With a large truck and a couple of muscular guys you could move all of these shelves intact, without disassembling anything. When I finish this more it may be time to curtail strenuous activity like this. I'm too old for this shit. It's time to stop moving heavy boxes, climbing on the roof, and pushing a heavy lawn mower up a hill.

It was a strenuous day, but a shower, a nice dinner, and a slow evening walk with Dash helped me unwind. I'm happy with the morning part of today's time change, put not the evening part. It gets dark way too early. I walked Dash before dinner tonight while there was still daylight. This will be our new routine until Spring. There are still quite a few clocks to reset. Some of them probably aren't worth the trouble. In four months the time will be correct again.

Ginger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3232

I think I made a mistake. I tried moving some really heavy things today and strained my back. I also scratched the paint on my car when I was loading something I shouldn't have been lifting. I'm not sure I can complete this move myself. I called a moving company that had good Yelp reviews but just got a phone message that referred me to their website. I filled out the form, but when I received their automated response, it was clear that the company didn't understand that this was just a storage warehouse that was being moved. The estimate seemed way too high. There is no furniture and no packing involved. I'll see if I can talk with someone in person tomorrow.

After making two trips to the new warehouse, I made a third trip to a charity shop with some stuff that wasn't worth saving. When I realized that my back was starting to hurt, I decided to call it a day. The old warehouse is still pretty full and nothing I'm saving is all that special. This is not going to be pleasant. At least I didn't have to pay for an entire month at the old warehouse. They let me rent for fifteen days in November. That should give me enough time to complete the move. Of course rain could easily screw thing up. It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow, so I doubt that I'll be able to do very much. I should probably rest anyway. There's no sense in making my back any worse than it already is.

Dash didn't need to go outside last night so I got more sleep than usual. He did get me up at 5 AM to go poop, but it was almost daylight anyway. Making it until 5 AM is a win for me. There are so many nights when I hardly get any sleep at all. At least Dash is eating well. He hasn't thrown up in quite a while and seems to enjoy the food we cook for him. He eats better than we do now, but at least he's eating.

I think I'm going to have to buy Dash another pair of protective boots. All three pairs that we currently have in rotation need repairs. Dash is really hard on his shoes. He doesn't lift his rear legs as he walks and ends up dragging his feet. The boots keep him from injuring himself, but they wear out quickly. Maybe I'll go buy him another pair of boots tomorrow. This would certainly be easier than lifting more heavy boxes.

It's hard to believe that it's almost November. Where has this year gone? In a few days we'll have to deal with another time chance. I think we should just forget about Daylight Saving Time. It's such a nuisance to arbitrarily switch the clocks back and forth. Dogs never understand the time chance and wonder why their feeding schedule has changed. Usually we give Dash his evening walk after he's had his dinner. Now, I'll need to walk him before dinner to avoid walking in total darkness. This should be fun. Dash hates making changes even more than I do.

I'll be glad when the election is over. I'm sick of Beto and Ted Cruz making robocalls to my house  and sending text messages every single day. Do these guys really think this helps. It's irritating. Whoever thought robocalls were a good way to influence people has got to be a moron. Probably the only thing that Democrats and Republicans agree on is that they both hate telemarketers.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3001

I still haven't adjusted to Daylight Savings Time. Why are the stars out when it's time to get up in the morning? Isn't it Spring yet? I'm having a hard time getting out of bed in the dark. I know the days are getting longer, but everything was fine before the time change. By the time I wake up to sunshine again, it will probably be too hot.

Dash has adjusted to the time change better than I have. He gets up in the dark with Janet because he knows who feeds him. By the time I'm up, he's ready for his morning walk. At least the weather is nice. We're walking at sunrise again. All the trees are starting to bud and I see a few new wildflowers every morning. I enjoy our walks in the Spring. There's always something to see.

Dash might not get a walk tomorrow morning. It's time to get his nails trimmed again. I was lucky that Dash's vet could work us in. She was completely booked, but told us to come over before her first appointment. She's the only one left who is able to trim Dash's nails, so I think she knew how desperate we were. I hope Dash is well behaved tomorrow. When he was healthy, Dash used to actually enjoy going to the vet. He's always been a social dog and enjoyed the attention. Now, it's a different story. Even something as minor as a nail trim sends him into a panic.

Today was slow. We got off to an early start, but by the time I finished my morning smoothie and cleaned up the dog poop in the yard, it was time for lunch. I don't actually eat lunch, but Dash does. Somewhere along the line we started feeding him a rice cake at lunchtime and now he insists on it. The rice cake doesn't add many calories and it's something he can look forward to in an often boring day. When Dash was having trouble eating, we started spreading something tasty on top of the rice cake to make it more appealing. Sometimes I add a little peanut butter. Other times I add some canned dog food. Now this rice cake sandwich is part of our daily ritual.

I took a small check to the bank and paid a few bills this afternoon. Checks from clients are infrequent now, but they are still appreciated. There are so many things on my to-do list, but it is hard to focus on them. Everything is necessary, but nothing is appealing. I have a feeling that I'll fix the CD burner on my computer before the toilet, the roof, or the refrigerator. The computer still seems like a friend. The other things, no so much.

It's taking me forever to completely shake off this cold. I still have some nasal congestion and an upset stomach. Luckily the night sweats seem to be gone. Maybe the upset stomach has nothing to do with the cold. The last batch of food I got at Central Market's deli counter was way too spicy. I got the same things I always do, but there must have been a new chef. I wish people would leave recipes alone. As soon as I get used to something, it changes.

Day 3001 was a bit anticlimactic. I shouldn't have been surprised, but very little happened. It's a bit early to start thinking about Day 4000 too. That's almost three years away.

Wyatt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2996

Occasionally I think about going back to work again. I could probably get a job. Janet tells me there is a strong demand for older, seasoned workers. I'm not surprised. I know several business owners who are totally frustrated with the demands and expectations of their millennial staff. The question isn't whether I could get a job. It's whether I could keep one. "You know. you're completely unemployable," a headhunter friend once told me. I asked why and he said that I hadn't had a boss for thirty years. "I can't see you following orders," he said. "You have no respect for authority." The guy might be right. It's been a long, long time since I've been a cog in the wheel of a large corporation. Nevertheless, there are days when I miss eating donuts and sharing stories with co-workers in the break room and getting feedback after I've finished a project. Dash doesn't say much after I've finished writing something.

Dash might say something this weekend. We've got another confusing time change to look forward to. I wish we could just decide whether we liked Daylight Savings Time or Standard Time and pick one or the other. I don't really care if we gain and hour or lose an hour. Just pick something and stick with it. The trouble with time changes is that dogs don't understand them. Once you've got your dog used to eating at a regular time, they aren't very happy about changing their schedule. I can usually be flexible about dinner. It's breakfast that is the problem. Since Dash needs to take his pills and eat before Janet goes to work, we always need to change his schedule when the time changes. Maybe it will be easier this year, but I'm not looking forward to this.

I'm starting to see signs of Spring. I spotted my first tulips today. I'm sure there are daffodils blooming in the park as well. It won't be long before the irises start blooming and then there will be an explosion of wildflowers. I've seen these flowers for so many years now that I know exactly where they will appear. Even though this show is a repeat performance, it never fails to amaze me. Why do the wildflowers return year after year with no care at all and all the things I've planted in my back yard just die?

I sure hope the roofers come over before the Oak trees start shedding catkins. I never realized until recently that catkins were actually flowers. Whatever they are, they are certainly a mess. The sticky yellow dust that covers your car in the Spring is the result of catkins. I think they contribute to my allergies as well. Since we have several large oak trees in our yard, the roof gets covered with catkins when the trees start to bud. When it rains, the catkins turn the water a deep saffron yellow that stains the elastomer coating. There are so many of these flowers that they create miniature beaver dams that trap the water and make it harder to remove. The roof is difficult to deal with at any time of year, but Spring is the worst.

At least it's Friday tomorrow. I don't know whether I'm going to go out for breakfast or not. I just can't find a place that I feel like patronizing two weeks in a row. Maybe I'll just stay home and have a bowl of oatmeal.

Bacardi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2874

The exam I received from my new doctor seemed almost exactly like the physical exams I'd received from my old doctor for all these years. I briefly wondered if it was worth all the effort required to switch doctors. Then I remembered that I wasn't worried about my car being stolen while I was sitting in the waiting room. I didn't have to sit in the waiting room very long either. In addition to being clean and reassuring, this place was super efficient. It kind of felt like I was going to a German doctor, and for me that is a good thing.

The doctor seemed to think that I was in pretty good shape for a man of my age, but that's what they all say. I know better. Men let things creep up on them. I know too many men my age who've just dropped dead without much fanfare. We're all falling apart like rusty old machines, but I still think it's a good idea to know what your odds are.

The medical exam took most of the morning. That left most of the afternoon to work on the roof. Thankfully, the wet spots had all dried out and there was very little wind. It was a good day to apply the messy coating. I thought it would take a gallon of material to cover the areas I'd exposed yesterday, but it ended up taking two. I didn't spill any of the goop on myself this time and was able to make a nice looking repair. Since it takes the silicon material 24 hours to cure, I won't know if my repairs were successful until tomorrow afternoon, but everything seems fine so far.

I also called the refrigerator repairman and he's coming out again tomorrow. Lord knows what he's going to do this time. The last time the repairman was here, he told me that there was nothing left to replace. I always thought that the problem was caused by a loose wire or a burned out internal fuse. You can't tell repairmen and plumbers how to do their job though. I've tried this before and it just makes them mad. I'm very polite to repairmen now, but I'll keep calling them back from now to eternity if they haven't done the job right.

Getting Dash to walk in the afternoon is turning out to be just as much of a problem as I thought it would be. He doesn't understand time changes at all. I tried several times to get him to walk while the sun was still up, but he wasn't ready to go until it was almost dark. This is a good way to get some nice sunset photos, but it's not good for anything else. Dash is shaky on his feet now and I need to see where he is walking. I don't want to encounter stray dogs or coyotes in the dark either. We're going to have to work on this, because it was way too dark when we returned home this evening.

I continue to be amazed at how little I get done these days. I used to have time to go to business meetings all over town, play in a band, and still have enough time left over to read a book a week. All I did today was go to the doctor and paint some sticky goop on the roof. Basically these two things used up the entire day.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2873

Our dogs have never understood Daylight Saving Time and I'll have to admit that I don't understand it either. There must have been a reason for these arbitrary time changes. I always though it had something to do with farming or children walking to school. Whatever the reason, it probably doesn't apply anymore. We're back to standard time now. All that means to me is that I'm going to have to convince Dash to take his evening walk earlier or walk him in the dark. I used to walk our first Dalmatian in the dark, but the city seemed safer then. There weren't any urban coyotes either.

I'm not as obsessive as I used to be. There was a time when I felt compelled to reset every clock and watch in the house when the time changed. When I was collecting watches, this could take me hours. There was little point to this bi-annual ritual because many of the watches didn't keep good time anyway. I re-set a few wall clocks today, but that was about it. Only one watch got any attention at all. It was a radio controlled watch that didn't re-set itself automatically. This puzzled me, since this watch receives a signal every night from the atomic clock in Boulder, Colorado. I couldn't even remember how to set this watch manually, so I had to find a manual online. Eventually, I determined that the radio signal is weak in the office. Who knows. Maybe the high-tech stuff I'm putting on the roof blocks radio waves.

The gym was really empty today, so maybe there were other people who were confused about the time change. Dash seemed to remember when he was fed in the morning, even though Janet and I were still asleep. I wonder how long it will take him to adjust to the time change? Since I ended up going to the gym very early today, I still had time to do all my Sunday chores when I got home. This wasn't really the plan, but that's how it worked out.

It was warm and clear today, so it seemed like a good idea to continue patching the roof. I prepared a small area that I thought would be easy to fix. Unfortunately, when I removed the torn coating, I discovered more moisture hidden underneath. The damaged area was only six inches in diameter, but by the time I had ripped up enough elastomer to find dry asphalt at the edges, I has exposed a six foot circle that will have to be re-coated. I didn't end up applying any coating today. After the wet area dries, I'll try again.

Dash seemed very agitated tonight. I don't know what was bothering him. He'd had his walk. He'd eaten his dinner. We'd taken him outside to pee several times and fed him some treats. This wasn't enough apparently. He barked at Janet and I for almost half an hour before he finally settled down and went to sleep. I hate when he gets agitated like this because he's got a bad heart and a weak rear leg. Telling him to calm down because he's going to hurt himself doesn't seem to have much of an effect.

I was going to make a list of all my prescriptions so my new doctor could renew them tomorrow at my exam. It's a lengthy list and I'm tired now, so maybe I'll just throw the pills in a sack and take them with me. I do need to remember to call the appliance repair shop first thing in the morning. One way or another, these guys need to fix my refrigerator.

Coach is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2512

Sometimes on Sundays I stare at the screen for thirty minutes before I write a single word. I'm just too tired. I went to the gym right after breakfast this morning, because I knew that if I waited until I finished the household chores, I probably wouldn't go at all. Right after breakfast wasn't that early though. It was actually closer to lunch. By the time we cleaned up Dot's latest accident in the house and gave the dogs their morning walk, it was already pretty late.

There are no pretty faces at my gym. I can't believe that everyone is so old. They are a steely eyed, very determined bunch though. A lot of the men look like they were CEO's before they retired. One old guy always exercises in a button down dress shirt and street shoes. It's like he's still at the office. I probably look just as old to these geezers. Especially if I arrive after I've vacuumed the house.

It's really hard to keep the house clean when Dot keeps peeing and pooping all over the place. I try though. Every Sunday the Dyson picks up an unbelievable amount of dirt and dog hair. Maybe the house smells a little better, but it certainly doesn't look much better. I sure wish this vacuum cleaner was easier to clean. I mean how many people need to use a leaf blower to clean their vacuum cleaner? The leaf blower actually does a pretty good job, but it would have made a lot more sense for Dyson to use a bag to catch the dust like everybody else does.

I received input for several new website updates this afternoon, but I'm going to wait until tomorrow to look at it. Enough is enough. Working on weekends must be becoming more commonplace. Everyone is doing it now. Even Janet is bringing home work on weekends. I can probably get everything done tomorrow, but I definitely don't want to deal with it tonight.

I wonder if Anthony Weiner used a Macintosh? Huma Abedin claims that she has no idea how 650,000 of her e-mails wound up on Weiner's computer. She probably does know, but giving her the benefit of the doubt, if she ever opened an account on her husband's computer, all the e-mails she was sending on other computers could have quietly been updating on this one as well. Cloud-based computing can be sneaky that way. I know that when I send or receive an e-mail on my computer, it winds up on my phone, iPad, and laptop as well. 650,000 e-mails sounds like the mother lode of everything the FBI has been looking for. This is probably even more information than Wikileaks has. With this much information, there is probably something pretty damning. I know she won't do it, but Hillary should withdraw from the race immediately for the good of the country. If she wins and gets indited after the election, all hell is going to break loose. She could always pardon herself, but I don't think that is going to go over very well. I don't think there is much of a precedent for running the country from prison either. Just let Tim Kane run. He'll do most of the things the democrats want anyway. Hillary is toxic at this point.

I'm a great believer in Karma. Bill Clinton only got a slap on the wrist for his own misdeeds. He not only was a friend of Anthony Weiner, he introduced him to Huma Abedin and actually married the couple. A few dick pics later and everything comes crumbling down. Hey buddy, what goes around comes around. I have no sympathy for these fools.

I can't wait for the time to change next week. I'm getting real tired of walking the dogs in the dark before breakfast. Of course, when the time actually does change,  I'll be complaining about walking in the dark in the evenings. That's just the way I roll.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2508

I discovered some old birthday and Christmas gift cards in a drawer that I'd almost forgotten about and decided that this would be as good a time as any to get that iPad I've been wanting. There was also a gift card from the electric company in the drawer. I guess it was some sort of customer appreciation gift. When I called the number on the card to activate it, I was told that the card had already expired and was worth nothing. Jeez, the card wasn't that old. Thanks for nothing electric company.

There are all kinds of ways I could rationalize this purchase. The iPad will make a great teleprompter when I do corporate videos. It will let me sit down next to Dot in the evening while I write the blog. I could go on and on. The truth is that there aren't any good reasons why I need a new iPad. I just wanted to do something frivolous for a change. It's been a long time since I did something fun and frivolous.

I don't think Dot is ever going to poop outside again. For the past week she has almost exclusively done her business while she's asleep. If I prepare things right, this new schedule makes for a relatively easy cleanup, but it also has me worried. Is the Tramadol causing this change of behavior or is this just another aspect of the aging process. Dot's vets don't have a definitive answer. The older she gets, the more we are in uncharted territory.

I've started seeing screws and nails in our street again. This seems to happen whenever someone is remodeling their house and it drives me nuts. Can't contractors clean up after themselves? I've ended up getting so many nails in my tires over the years that it isn't even funny. It's not just me either. Just about everybody I know in Dallas routinely gets nails in their tires.

I'll be glad when the time changes next week. Not only will it be easier to see debris in the street, it will also be easier to walk the dogs. It's pretty dark when we take our morning walk now. On clear days the skies lighten quickly, but on overcast days it seems to stay dark for the duration of our walk. Dash is scared of the dark and just about anything spooks him on these pre-dawn mornings. Personally, I enjoy watching the stars gradually fade out as dawn approaches. Dash has other ideas though. It's going to be easier to walk him after the time changes.

This week would be an ideal time for the roofers to come out and make their repairs. The skies are clear. The roof is dry. What's not to like? Have I heard from the roofers lately? Of course not. I'll call them again tomorrow. Like everything in my life, the roof requires patience.

Pearl is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2280

We got off to a late start this morning. I woke up at 7 AM, which meant it was really 8 AM because of Daylight Savings Time. Dot couldn't wait that long. She needed to go outside immediately and before I could get her harness attached, she peed on the living room rug. It wasn't her fault. It was her old, slow companion. I hate it when she has an accident just because I wasn't alert enough to see the signs. She does try to tell me, but it doesn't always work in the morning when I am sleep deprived and haven't had my coffee yet. At any rate, it wasn't a big deal. I sprayed the rug with Nature's Miracle, took it outside and hosed it down and left it to dry in the sun. The rug will live to serve another day.

Dash got a bath today while I went to the gym. I don't think either of us really enjoyed the experience. Janet always asks if I had a good workout and I don't even know what that means. She really enjoys going to the gym, but to me it's just a way to moderately reduce the chance of having a heart attack. It's kind of like taking statins and blood pressure medication, except that I sweat more. It would be nice if I enjoyed these workouts, but that would be out of character for me. It's rare that I enjoy anything these days.

I definitely didn't enjoy going up on the roof for the third time this week, but maybe the third time is the charm. According to the weather forecast, we are supposed to have clear skies and warm weather for the next four or five days. I probably should get the landscapers out to refurbish the back yard before the rainy season is completely finished. Last year, we planted the St. Augustine grass in March and the Spring rains really helped it get established before the Summer dry spell and underground grubs killed it again. It wouldn't hurt to call a tree trimmer as well. Now, that the Oak and Elm trees are starting to bud, I'm starting to see more than a few dead limbs.

The park was really crowded today. It's always this way on warm, early Spring days. Dash can smell food from quite a distance, so he's always trying to crash someone's picnic. It's a shame that there are so many loose dogs in the park on weekends. When Dash sees a loose dog, he immediately turns around and wants to go home again. Our afternoon walk got cut short this way today. It's been many years since Dash was attacked, but he has never forgotten. A single loose dog can ruin his day.

I bet we'll be walking the dogs in the dark again tomorrow. I looked outside around 6 AM this morning and it was still quite dark outside. I should of gotten up then and taken Dot out to pee, but I didn't. No worries about repeating this mistake on a weekday. The clocks have been re-set and we'll all be up at the crack of dawn whether I like it or not.

Wyatt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2279

Daylight Savings Time begins tonight. Why do we even need Daylight Savings Time? It's always been a nuisance to me. Proponents say this annual time shift saves energy and reduces crime. Opponents say that it increases heart attacks and is economically disruptive. There is little hard evidence that it does much of anything, but I will have to re-set quite a few clocks tomorrow morning. So much for sleeping in on Sunday morning too. Whenever we wake up tomorrow, we will already be late.

There was a light mist when we walked the dogs this morning, but as the day progressed, the sky gradually got brighter. By the end of the day, I actually started to see patches of blue sky. I was glad to see things start to dry out, since I had lots of errands to run today. It was just a normal Saturday, but days like these are so much easier when you aren't wet. I filled the car with gas, got supplies at Home Depot, and picked up groceries for the week. Janet and I both typically go grocery shopping on Saturday. I get the things you can buy in bulk, and she gets the fresh and perishable things. We never shop together. That would be a disaster.

I wish I could figure out when Dot was going to poop. I keep trying to make her incontinence a rational, predictable process and it just isn't. I try to be alert and get her outside in time, but often she surprises me and there is a mess to clean up. I don't even think she realizes she has to go anymore. Her bowels work perfectly, but the nerves that communicate the process back and forth to her brain have short circuited. Dot still has cancer, but all her visible problems are neurological. It's sad to see her decline, but heartening to see how well she has adapted to her limited mobility. She is handling the whole situation so much better than I would under similar circumstances.

I spent a huge amount of time learning how to code and build responsive, mobile friendly websites and I'm already starting to forget what I've learned. Once again, I'm facing the "use it or lose it" dilemma. There just aren't enough new projects coming in to keep my skills honed. I've designed cool new websites for clients whenever I've had the opportunity, and updated all of the existing websites I manage. I updated a lot of sites for free just to show off my new skills. I thought everybody would be delighted with all the new capabilities they were getting, but a lot of people didn't even notice anything was different. Many of my clients forget they even have a website until a customer complains about it. Such is life.

I noticed on the news the other day that Barack Obama was speaking at SXSW this year. How did SXSW ever become such a big deal? Jeez, I spoke at SXSW in the mid 1990's. There were probably only 40 people who attended my talk, but I actually was a presenter. How times have changed. I miss being on the cutting edge. You can't look backwards though. I keep looking forwards into a very uncertain future.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2147

Dogs don't understand Daylight Saving Time. Frankly, I don't either. The whole concept of "gaining an hour" or "losing and hour" is bizarre. We all follow the same circadian rhythm and arbitrarily turning back the clock so it will be light when you drive to work in the morning doesn't really prove anything. I'm sure that's what Dot and Dash were thinking when they got us up at 6 AM on a Sunday morning. According to their clock, we were already an hour late for breakfast. We wanted to sleep in a little longer, but it doesn't pay to ignore Dot these days. When we didn't respond immediately to the dogs desire to get the day started, Dot got up on her own and promptly pooped in the hallway.

I had plans to go to the gym in the morning, but got sidetracked by setting all the clocks in the house back an hour. You don't realize until the time changes that almost every device in your home has a clock in it. There's a clock in the thermostat. There's a clock in the coffee maker. There's a clock in the television. There's even a clock in the old land line phone. In addition to these clocks are wall clocks in the bathroom, office, and kitchen, plus two clock radios. You are either forced to change all of these clocks, or ignore them all. Just changing one or two clocks creates confusion.You never know which one is right. I even set one clock back to Daylight Saving Time by mistake this morning. It is ironic that in a house filled with watches and clocks, I am perpetually late everywhere I go.

Since we have a lot of single pane glass in our house, cold weather can cause water to condense on the inside of our windows. This condensation can make the entire house feel damp. There is nothing new about this damp weather condensation, but today it made me feel like it was caused by our invisible water leak instead of the weather. I still see no evidence whatsoever of a leak, but the water keeps running in the pipes. I hope the plumbing company sends out a really good plumber. I hate these kind of mysteries.

I went to the gym this afternoon even though I knew it was raining and I would feel compelled to clean the car when I got home. I had cabin fever and needed to get out of the house. I did clean the car when I got home, but it was no big deal. Sunday is just a giant cleaning day anyway. After I cleaned the car, I vacuumed all the rugs and carpets with the Dyson. I continue to be amazed by the enormous amount of dirt and dog hair that I sweep up every week. I used to wonder why Dyson made the dirt canister out of clear plastic so you could see all the gross gunk you had removed from your carpets. Now, I think that they want you to see all this dirt so you will be impressed by how strong their vacuum cleaner is. Probably all vacuum cleaners suck up the same amount of dirt, but most just hide it away in a bag that your forget about until it is full.

So far, November is looking busy. I have an appointment to take Dot back to the cancer center for one of her periodic exams. She'll get another Ultrasound scan tomorrow to measure whether the tumor in her liver has grown. Dash is fine for the moment. He is eating normally and all four legs are working fine. I haven't seem him limp for almost a week. I think there is already enough work on the books to keep me busy for most of the week. I have three new articles to write, along with a website that needs to be updated and converted to a mobile friendly format. All these projects will be finished in good time, while I spend my time fretting about where to find fresh peaches. My morning smoothies were much better with peaches in them.

Jeda is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day