Day 3347

I didn't go out for breakfast this morning. It took me way too long to get organized. Dash was out of sorts when he woke up and wouldn't take his morning meds. We tried hiding the food in ham, turkey, canned dog food and even cake. Nothing worked. I thought that maybe he'd be hungry after a walk, so we suited him up and off we went. It wasn't raining yet, but it was so foggy that my jacket was wet when we returned. Dash seemed to like the weather, but he still wasn't hungry when we got back to the house.

The pills Dash takes are essential, so I knew I wasn't going anywhere. One way or another, he needed to take his meds. I fixed myself an omelet while Dash took a nap. I added some ham, sausage, and smoked Gouda cheese to the eggs and the result was delicious. The smell enticed Dash to the kitchen and this time he was ready to take his pills. I rolled each pill in a small slice of the same ham I'd used for my omelet. Mission accomplished.

Dash didn't poop in the house this morning and it made me nervous. I heard his stomach rumbling while we were walking in the park and I kept expecting the volcano to blow. Dash always poops a lot in the morning. Today was different. He peed in the bed instead. By the time I finished cleaning up, doing the laundry, and washing the breakfast dishes, it was noon. I didn't mind. It was raining outside anyway and there was no place I wanted to go. My omelet tasted better than a restaurant omelet anyway.

After breakfast, I watched a webinar from one of the large auction houses about how to sell your collection. I learned a lot, but it was a little late. I've already sold or consigned most of my collection. The whole presentation seemed to be directed at people who have inherited art and don't know what to do with it. Maybe that's where most of the art at auction comes from. I can see how this happens, but hopefully I can unwind my collections and clean up my mess before I die. If you've ever had to deal with settling an estate, you quickly realize that it's not a pleasant task. Your heirs will enjoy getting a check someday. They probably won't enjoy sorting through a huge pile of your junk.

Dash seemed exceptionally tired today. He spent most of the day sleeping. When this happens, I worry that his walks are wearing him out. I always let Dash set the pace and we walk very slowly, but maybe even this mild exercise has become too much for him. He really enjoyed his walk this morning, but when we returned home, he seemed exhausted. There are no easy answers about aging. I wish Dash could talk so he could tell me whether I was walking for him, or if he was walking for me. I'm just guessing that Dash loves these daily walks. He seems to enjoy walking, but what if all his joints hurt and he's just walking to please me?

I was happy to see the Dow close above 26,000 today. I'd have been even happier if I'd seen the sun.  It was such a dismal day that all I could find to photograph was an ugly weed with water drops on it. Who knows. Maybe the weekend will be nice. As long as I'm wishing, maybe Dash will be stronger tomorrow as well. Maybe I'll even get some sleep.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3150

Dash is so slow now that the weather forecast can change during our walks. That's what happened this morning. When we left the house the weather radar looked OK and I wasn't expecting rain until this afternoon. Things can change quickly in Texas though. The dark skies on the Western horizon began growing closer and closer. I started hearing thunder. It wasn't long before I began feeling raindrops. The surprise storm didn't seem to faze Dash. He kept inching along at a snail's pace, stopping to smell every bush along the way. Dash used to be frightened by thunder, but he doesn't hear well anymore. He didn't even appear to notice that we were starting to get wet. Amazingly, we made it home before the storm arrived. Usually we aren't so lucky.

Dash seemed unusually tired today. He slept for most of the day and wasn't interested in eating at all. He didn't finish his breakfast until 4 PM and we're still working on dinner. Dash's good days and bad days are totally unpredictable. As recently as yesterday I was feeling that he was getting stronger. Whenever Dash is lethargic like this, I start to worry. There's not much I can do, but this type of fatigue is usually a sign that his heart condition is getting worse.

I'm still trying to downsize, but it appears that the low hanging fruit is gone. When I began this quest, I purposely looked for items that would appeal to other collectors. Now that the good stuff stuff has all been consigned, I'm having a lot more difficulty unloading the second-tier collections. I apparently has a discerning eye for art back in the 1970's. I had good taste in model trains too. Not so much with the watches I began collecting a few decades later. My taste in vintage watches turned out to be terrible. The only things I was interested in were early tuning fork watches, LED watches, and calculator watches. Very few people work on these things anymore. I had a guy in California who used to fix my Accutrons, but he died. A lot of early electronic watches used mercury batteries and never worked reliably using modern replacement batteries. Parts for LED watches are almost impossible to come by. All these problems could be overcome if people actually desired these geeky timepieces. They don't. Everybody wants an old Rolex instead.

We ended up getting a lot of rain today. There is no point in removing the water from the roof though. It's supposed to continue raining for the next several days. Let's hope that the roofers did a good job. I really don't want to deal with a leak again. I'll go up and inspect things when rain is out of the forecast, but there's no point in doing anything now. I'm going to just keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.

I hope the forecast is wrong. Dash does much better when he gets his morning walk. I can't go out for breakfast if it's raining either. Dash is just too unpredictable. We'll see what happens. The forecast wasn't very accurate today. It probably won't be tomorrow either.

Nautica is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day