Day 4436

It was really windy today. I almost got blown off the trail at several points during my long walk. On my way home there was the usual crowd watching the eagles, but I didn't see the nest. I didn't think anything of this. The nest is hard to see from my vantage point on the trail and I figured I was just looking in the wrong place. I've seen these birds so many times that I no longer walk over to the spot where you can see the eagles clearly. Later I learned that the nest had blown down in the wind and the eggs inside had broken. It was a sad ending to the eagle saga that has captivated the city for months. I wonder if the birds will stay? Somehow I doubt that they will build a new nest and start all over again.

My friend's house up the street is just an empty lot now. Everything is gone. The excavator even ripped up the swimming pool. It's weird how quickly this happened. It can take several years to build a house these days. It took less than two days to completely erase one. This made me kind of sad as well. I'm sure something grand will appear on this lot in due time, but there was absolutely nothing wrong with the house that was torn down. The empty lot is one more sign that we live in a disposable society.

The power company tree crews have left the neighborhood. I didn't see any trucks today. It will take a while to clean up all the little twigs in the yard and our Asian Jasmine ground cover is pretty badly trampled. I wish the crew had left our Live Oak trees alone and cut down our damaged Red Oak tree instead. That wasn't on their agenda though. I was hoping that I'd have a better view of the southern horizon with the trees gone, but I didn't even get that. Now I just have a better view of the neighbor's trees on the other side of the alley. 

I wrote a letter to my sister this morning and took it to the post office. On the way home I picked up some new meds for Dawn at the vet. I'm not even sure what these pills are for, but Janet knows. I wasn't very productive today but I did change the sheets. Was putting a fitted sheet on the bed always this hard? Aching joints have made a lot of simple tasks seem difficult now. I shouldn't complain so much, but I still think that growing older sucks.

I still haven't taken the star tracker outside at night and tested it. It's so easy for me to make excuses. The light pollution in Dallas is terrible. There are a ton of bright lights in our neighborhood as well, including some in our own yard. The moon is getting pretty bright as well, but it isn't nearly as bright as our security light. It makes you wonder why I even got interested in astronomy. Maybe I'll return to McDonald Observatory this Spring. It's nice and dark out there. Then again, maybe I won't go after all. I have no interest in making that long drive anymore.

Dawn does seem to be becoming friendlier with me. That's a good sign in a world with very few good signs. Today she saw me returning from my long walk through the living room window and came running out to greet me with her tail wagging. We might end up becoming buddies yet.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4434 - Superbowl Sunday

Not a lot to complain about today. My team didn't win the Superbowl, but other than that it was a great day. Something in the air has changed and my allergies are gone. At least they're gone temporarily. The weather was nice today. By early afternoon the temperature was 65 degrees. My feet didn't bother me a lot either. I took three walks and managed to get 22,000 steps.

Before our Sunday outing with Dawn, Janet wanted to try giving Dawn gabapentin to see if it would help with her anxiety in the car. Our vet told us to give her the pills two hours before any anxiety provoking event and that they would wear off about four hours later. We can use the gabapentin as needed without having her take it all the time. 

I've always been a sceptic about any type of mood altering drug, but I'll have to admit that the pills did seem to work. The gabapentin took the edge off of Dawn's anxiety without doing anything dramatic. Dawn was still alert, had fun smelling things, and enjoyed her walk. There was still a little anxiety in the car, but the difference was dramatic. She seemed more relaxed about her walk as well. The one segment of the walk that made her nervous previously seemed normal now. All in all, this seems to be a safe and practical way to reduce stress in the car. 

The lady at the drive thru window finally noticed Dawn in the back seat and gave her a free pup cone this morning. Dawn thought this was a great idea. Usually we order two cones, eat some ourselves, and then give Dawn the rest. Today Dawn still got to share our cones and then had another cone all for herself. The gabapentin certainly didn't affect her taste for ice cream. I don't think she had much to complain about today either.

After I finished my long walk, I attempted to bleach away the brown stains in the living room ceiling. I must have learned something from my past attempts because I didn't make a mess this time. The ceiling looks much better now, but unfortunately the source of the leak is still up there somewhere. If we have another hard rain, I'm sure the stains will reappear. If I were younger I might make a further effort to find this leak. I've tried though and it seems hopeless. I really need to just give up this fight and have a new roof installed. I'm sure there would still be standing water on any new roof, but with a good enough warranty it probably wouldn't even matter. My goal now is just to avoid going up there and risk breaking my neck.

I was disappointed that Cincinnati didn't win today's game. I never followed either team very closely, but Cincinnati seems like a better city than Los Angeles. I can't find much to like about LA anymore. I can't find much to like about the current crop of Superbowl television commercials either. Most of them didn't even make sense. Today's advertising creatives don't seem to have a sense of humor. Their attitude appears to be lets spend a lot of money, create a lot of action, and make a lot of noise. The halftime show certainly made a lot of noice.  Call me old fashioned but I would have preferred hearing the Eagles sing Hotel California to this. The soundtrack to today's chaotic life has no melody.

I imagine that the power company crew will be back to trim our trees tomorrow. We still don't know whether they will cut the trees down or just make a mangled mess of things again. I suppose we will go visit the kennel dogs, but it depends on what's going on in the yard. I don't really feel comfortable leaving Dawn alone if the yard is filled with the sounds of trucks and chain saws.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4428

Peanut has been adopted. When we saw this six month old puppy last week, we knew it wouldn't take long for him to find his forever home. There were still three Dalmatians at the kennel however. Today we met the newest member of the rescue program. Jo Jo is a three year old male Dalmatian mix who is still getting used to his new surroundings. We took some pictures for the website, but didn't spend a lot of time playing with this handsome boy. He needs some time to relax and get settled. Charlie and Oliver were certainly relaxed. They look forward to seeing us now and always enjoy the toys and treats we bring.

Visiting the kennel is really our only activity on Monday. Dawn got her sunrise walk, but I didn't take mine until later in the afternoon. I wanted to wait until it got warmer. It's hard to decide when to walk in the Winter. I have more energy in the morning, but don't have to wear as many coats in the afternoon. Either way, I usually have problems with my feet. I probably should start going back to the gym and try a different type of exercise. These long walks don't seem to be helping things.

I wonder when the trash is going to get picked up. The ice storm threw the sanitation department off schedule and last week's trash is still sitting out on the street. I don't think any trash got picked up last week because the dumpster at the kennel was full and so was the one at our vet. It's kind of amazing how much trash we all generate. In our neighborhood most of it is Amazon boxes. No wonder a lot of shopping malls are going out of business. Everyone is buying their stuff on Amazon.

I've been watching the power company tree crews slowly get closer and closer to our house. I wonder how cooperative they are going to be this time? We are going to ask them to take down the two trees near the alley. After many years of power line trimming, they have totally butchered these trees. Since they are right next to the power lines, there isn't much left when the trimming crews are finished with them. I wish now that we'd removed the trees seven years ago when the power company offered to cut them down. Now, they seem to be doing minimal trimming, so they might just make them really ugly again. We'll see. They'll probably be here later this week.

I didn't pay any attention to the eagles today. I didn't pay any attention to the star tracker either. I did a load of wash and ate a lot of snacks. That was about it. Other than meeting the new Dalmatian it was really an uneventful day. I wonder what I'm going to do with myself this year. I'm not nearly as obsessed with going to Kennedy Space Center or McDonald Observatory as I was in previous years. Covid restrictions have taken a lot of the fun out of traveling. I don't have the energy I used to either. I guess that's why I keep walking. It would be so easy to slip into doing nothing.

I still need to make an appointment to get my hair cut. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. I can't believe I wore my hair long for so many years. It just seems like a nuisance now. A lot of things seem like a nuisance as you grow older. I'm glad I started this blog a long time ago. Today my attitude would be more like "why bother." Writing something every day is definitely a nuisance.

Stortz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4105

I think I accidentally threw away an important part of my video kit while I was attempting to clean up the office a few weeks ago. I threw away some empty boxes but neglected to check and see if they were really empty. I was pretty sure the boxes were all empty because I knew what used to be in them and they all felt really light. Now, I remember that I kept this component in one of the boxes. The component was really light too. All this makes me mad because there is nobody to blame but myself. It just goes to show that you should never throw anything away. It's always possible that the missing component is in the storage warehouse, but that doesn't help much. I have no idea what is in the storage warehouse anymore.

I vacuumed the house today and I couldn't figure out why the vacuum wasn't picking up much dust. It turns out that Janet had already vacuumed the house a few days ago and I didn't even notice. Oh, well. The house is even cleaner now. It won't stay that way long though. If you have a Dalmatian there is always an enormous amount of dog hair. I don't know how these dogs manage to keep such a nice looking coat because they are constantly shedding.

The weather continues to be almost perfect. Dawn is enjoying spending more time outdoors. She took two short walks today, but we still can't get her to take a longer one. I continue to take my long daily walk although my feet are screaming at me to quit. I don't know if it would prove anything to go to the gym instead of taking these daily walks. If I did more upper body exercises, it would be my shoulders and wrists screaming at me to quit. I walked a lot slower today, but I did manage to complete five miles.

I watched a few more instructional videos about my new camera this afternoon. I'm finding that I learn a lot more watching YouTube videos that reading the instruction manual. Instruction manuals for Japanese cameras have always left a lot to be desired. One of these days I'm going to have to actually take some pictures with this camera. I've basically just been using my phone for photography all winter. I'm planning on taking the new camera to the astrophotography workshop, so I'd better become proficient in using all the fancy new features. I thought I knew everything there was to know about cameras, but that was before they all turned into computers. I think this new camera is a lot smarter than I am.

I promised Janet I'd get some bids for taking down the damaged Oak tree in the back yard. I should have done this months ago, but I hate to lose these old trees. This tree does need to come down, because it probably won't survive another really bad storm. It's such a hassle though. The tree is near power lines and has branches that extend over the neighbor's yard. Oh, well. It needs to be done. Dealing with an old house is discouraging. It always seems like a losing battle. I remember how nice things looked forty years ago. I probably looked better forty years ago myself.

I'm not sure if Spring Break is over yet, but we'll probably go visit the rescue Dalmatians again tomorrow. I think we've skipped two weeks now and Charlie probably misses us.  

Big Boy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3953

The weather was warmer today. You can almost tell what temperature it is by how fast Dawn walks in the morning. She seems very sensitive to temperature and walked a little slower this morning. I'm equally sensitive to changes in the pollen count. My allergies have returned with a vengeance. I'm blowing my nose constantly again. It's hard to know what to wear on our morning walks. Sometimes the temperature remains constant. Other times it is ten degrees warmer by the time we return. The only thing constant about Dallas weather is that it is constantly changing. Needless to say, I liked the cool, dry, and allergy free air in the Davis Mountains a lot better.

Today was uneventful. I unpacked my bags, put my stuff away, and set then up a few more accounts for online payments. I guess I'm done with writing checks and paying for things in person. I've even set up an online account for the storage warehouse. I used to pay for my storage space a year at a time. I'm paying month to month now in hopes of getting rid of enough stuff to move to a smaller, cheaper unit later this year. Janet loves to throw stuff away, so she said she'll help.

I got a bid for taking down the big Oak tree in the back year. The bid seemed horrendously high, so I guess I'm get another bid. I wish this tree was healthier, because one of my favorite things about the yard when I bought the house years ago was all the big mature trees. Sadly, these tree are nearing the end of their life. I see trees just like our own trees fall in the park for no reason at all there doesn't even need to be a storm. Every time I see one of these huge trees fall, I wonder if one of our trees is going to be next. I'd hate to have a tree fall into the house, or even worse into the lawyer's house next door.

I have all these cool pictures from my trip, but I decided years ago that I would always include a single square picture taken on the same day as my latest blog post. All I could find today was some pathetic leaves trying their best to show some Fall color. Most of the leaves just turn brown here, but occasionally we get a little color. I guess I could always add more pictures, but I won't do it for the same reason that I always drink a large fruit smoothie every morning. Consistency is everything to me. It drives some people nuts, but I find comfort in doing the same things over and over again. Maybe I'm really a dog. All our dogs have been nervous of changes in their schedule and wanted a very consistent life.

I'm glad I already voted. It looks like the lines are getting longer now. The trouble with social media is that there are no secret places anymore. If there is a polling place without much of a line, everyone takes selfies and brags about how quickly they voted. The next day the place with no line has a huge line. I think life would be so much better if social media didn't exist. We don't really need to know what everyone else is doing.

I wonder when NASA is going to reschedule the Space X Crew 1 launch? I was feeling pretty good about making the trip to Florida when Covid cases seemed to be declining. Now, cases are spiking again almost everywhere. I wonder if we're ever going to get a handle on this thing? I'm pretty good about wearing a mask and keeping my distance, but there's that pesky airline flight to Orlando. I learned recently that a Dallas woman actually died of Covid while she was on a plane returning from Arizona. That's a little unnerving.

Emily is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3941

Now that I am retired, I often wonder how I used to get so much done during my working career. I've really slowed down. All I basically did today was carry on an e-mail correspondence with three different people and it just about wore me out. Things are definitely starting to happen. I am getting messages about the astrophotography workshop from McDonald Observatory, messages about the upcoming Crew 1 launch from Kennedy Space Center, and messages from my editor about the Sky and Telescope article. For a while today, I actually started feeling like a working journalist.

I definitely didn't feel like a working roofer today. I postponed making repairs with the silicon coating again. I've done this a lot lately. I had used up so much time eating breakfast, walking Dawn, and answering e-mail messages that there wasn't much time left for dirty, messy work. It was hot this afternoon too. Basically I just didn't feel like climbing up on the roof. There's still plenty of time. The weather looks good for the next week.

Dawn continues to do well. We are back to our old walking schedule now with no adverse effects. Dawn still spends a lot of her day just lying on the bed, but I don't think there's anything wrong. She's basically just a lazy dog. She and I should be soul mates. I wouldn't mind spending a lot of my time just lying on the bed as well.

I did some research on star trackers this afternoon. I'm debating getting a tracker for my trip to the observatory. They dramatically improve pictures of the Milky Way and there are actually quite a few to choose from. These little gadgets are fairly expensive though. It's hard to justify getting something like this when I know it will rarely get used. There is way too much light pollution in Dallas to take pictures of the stars at all.

We passed another downed tree during our walk in the park this morning. Every time I see something like this, I think one of the Oak trees in our back yard is going to be next. Coincidentally, I passed some tree trimmers in the neighborhood on my afternoon walk. I thought about asking them to stop by my house after they finished and give me a bid for taking down the tree that got damaged last Summer. The workers were all up in the neighbor's tree however and I didn't want to bother them, so I just kept walking. Another missed opportunity.

It doesn't seem like a week has passed since I hauled last week's trash out to the curb. For that matter, it doesn't seem like a year since I had my last eye exam. Time goes by so quickly now. I guess that's a big reason why I don't want to pass up opportunities to do things I enjoy. There just isn't that much time left. Almost every week I read about someone I went to high school with who has passed away. Jeez. Van Halen died the other day. I didn't even know he was sick. I need to make a resolution not to waste a single day. Maybe I'll do that later after I waste a few more days doing nothing. Like I said, Dawn and I should be soul mates.

Madison is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3588

Needless to say, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. I thought I was in the clear when the tornado passed to the north of our house. Then, as I was getting ready for bed there was another severe weather alert on my phone. A second storm system was headed or way. This new storm carried little danger of tornadoes. The worry this time was heavy rain and seventy mile per hour straight line winds. The threat of straight line winds made me nervous. This is what knocked down our trees and destroyed the greenhouse back in June.

The new storm only lasted about thirty minutes, but there was definitely a lot of wind and rain. When the squall line passed, it was a lot colder. The cold front I'd been hearing about had arrived. I made sure that all the trees in the yard were still standing and went to bed. There was no point in going outside and turning on the roof pumps. The wind had probably blown them over anyway.

This morning I turned on the pumps, made my morning smoothie, and listened to the local news. Wow. Last night's tornado was pretty bad. Some familiar parts of town had been wiped out. A large Home Depot near the Land Rover dealer had been demolished. A strip mall where Janet and I used to shop suffered the same fate. The best garden center in Dallas was totally destroyed. Here I was worrying about a roof leak and a few miles away people's homes were gone. It just seemed unreal that so much damage could be created in just a few minutes.

After breakfast, I went up on the roof and cleared away the standing water. The quicker I can remove the water, the less chance there will be of a leak. I don't know when I'm going to be able to apply the silicon coating. Our next cold front arrives Thursday and it will be preceded by a line of storms as well. Several people have suggested putting a giant tarp over the roof. A tarp can provide a temporary solution on a pitched roof, but they are generally just a nuisance on a flat roof.  I can guarantee that the standing water would find a way under the tarp.

The weather was so pretty today that it was hard to believe all the damage Dallas received last night. What a difference a day makes. I took my long walk when I finished removing the water from the roof and thought about how lucky I'd been. The house was fine, the trees were still standing, and I didn't even have a roof leak. Lord knows when I'll finally be able to apply the silicon coating, but you've just got to take things one day at a time during the rainy season.

I was unusually tired when I returned home. I guess I'd forgotten about how much effort it takes to clear the roof. This was a good time for a nap. I fell asleep almost immediately and didn't wake up until mid afternoon. I felt refreshed when I woke up and returned to my regular schedule. I paid a few bills, took them to the post office, and then finished trimming the trees in the back yard. I wanted to have this chore completed by the time Janet returns from her trip. I think bulky trash pickup is tomorrow as well.

It was a long day and I'm pretty tired. 22,000 steps on a weekday isn't bad though. I'm beginning to think that the little circus in the park brings bad luck. When the circus was here last year we had severe flooding. This year we have a tornado. Sure, October is the rainy season anyway but I'm blaming this on the circus.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3585

I was determined to get something done today. I've eaten all the leftovers, so I went to the grocery store right after breakfast. Actually, I went to two grocery stores. You can never find everything you need at a single location these days. After taking some bills to the post office, I took my daily walk. It was a good thing that I ran my errands first today, because the weather was just about perfect around noon. I didn't need a jacket and I didn't sweat. You can't get any better than that.

I've been seeing a lot of Monarch butterflies lately. They're headed back to Mexico for the Winter. Next Spring I'll see the Monarchs again as they migrate north. It's amazing that these tiny creatures can travel such incredible distances. When I see these butterflies fluttering around in the park it's hard to imagine them traveling to Fort Worth. How do they make it all the way to Mexico?

I promised Janet that I'd trim the overgrown Photinia Bushes in the back yard. You couldn't even call these Photinias shrubs anymore. They've grown into large trees. Next week is bulky trash pickup in our neighborhood, so I knew that I couldn't postpone this task much longer. If I don't get the Photinias trimmed this weekend, I'll have to wait another month. I wish I could have gotten the tree guy to do this for me while he was taking down the Elm tree, but he wasn't interested. I can't say that I'm very interested either. The reciprocating saw is very heavy and I have trouble lifting it with my bad shoulder.

It took hours to cut the bushes back to fence level. Instead of fifteen to eighteen feet high, the Photinias are now a more manageable six feet high. It will be several years before they fill in and start to look like a hedge again, but at least the job is done. Large branches are quite heavy. Trimming the trees was only part of the problem. I also had to drag everything I'd cut out to the curb. By the time I finished I was very tired. Hey, I did get 24,000 steps today though.

I finally got a letter from Sky and Telescope. Basically, the letter just thanked me for being patient and said the magazine would be back in touch with me soon. Even though this short, somewhat ambiguous letter didn't say much, it was encouraging. I'd been thinking they might have forgotten about me. Maybe they will help me with future plans after all. One can hope anyway.

The new Dalmatians have arrived at the kennel. I'm going to go meet them tomorrow and photograph each of them for the website. I think there are six new dogs, but I'm not sure. I guess I'll find out when I get there. I need to do the photography soon because I think one of the dogs is being adopted this weekend.

It's been a long day. The utility bills have been paid. The refrigerator is full again. The Photinias have all been trimmed and the debris has been hauled to the curb. I even fixed myself a tasty dinner. I need to get a good night's sleep, because I think tomorrow will be just as busy.

Little Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3561

Jeez. It costs more to remove a tree than it does to take a nice little vacation to the Davis Mountains. This was the third time I've had to have the tree guys out this year. I bet they'll be back again. Janet wanted them to remove another tree as well, but the Elm tree was all they had time for today. I hate spending money to make the yard look even worse than it did before, but what are you going to do? Mother nature always wins these battles. These trees get blown down in windstorms or they fall from rot or old age. Mature trees the same age are falling in the park all the time. There's not much I can do to stop this.

At least the Elm tree is gone and I can check one more thing off my to-do list. The tree was located very close to the house, so we can't use a stump grinder to remove the stump. There is too much danger that the stump removal process would break the glass in the bedroom windows. The tree was close to our sewer line as well. One more reason not to get a stump grinder involved. People in the country often burn a tree stump out. Nope. That's not going to work. Sounds like a good way to burn down the house. I guess I'm going to have to get used to living with the unsightly stump.

Treasure's surgery went well. She had three growths removed, but none was cancerous. One growth was a benign fatty lipoma, another was a mammary tumor, and the third growth was scar tissue from an earlier surgery. Treasure should be on the road to recovery soon. What she needs now is a home.

There are a lot of Dalmatians that need a home right now. The rescue group has been asked to take in as many as twenty new dogs recently. This is way more than usual. We've already picked up six of these dogs, but it's a real challenge to find the funds to do something on this scale. Vet bills, food, and boarding expenses really add up quickly. Hopefully the group will find a way to bring all these dogs into the rescue program.

When I was taking my walk this morning, I could hear the tree guys chain saws from a long way away. Chain saws are really noisy. I wonder why people choose this line of work. There is a lot of skill involved to bring down a large tree without destroying everything in the vicinity. There is also a lot of danger. I've known several people who have experienced serious chain saw injuries. For that reason alone, I won't go anywhere near a chain saw. I'm glad there are people who will do this work. If you've got a tree on your roof, you've got a serious problem.

I just upgraded my phone to IOS 13 a few days ago and there is already another update. I guess it doesn't take long for bugs to be discovered. I downloaded the new update as well. I have no idea why it is needed, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

I skipped episode six of the Ken Burns documentary tonight. I'm sure I'll watch it later though. They rebroadcast these things over and over. I still can't decide whether to go see Ad Astra in a theater. Now that I've started taking long walks, there isn't a lot of time for a matinee movie. I eat breakfast, I walk, I do a few unavoidable chores, and I write the blog. Lately, I call that a pretty full day.

Scout is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3547

The big tree that fell in our yard is gone. The falling tree also knocked over a large Photinia that we had let grow into a small tree. That tree is gone as well. The yard is starting to look bare now that we have lost our Elm tree and a large portion of one of our Oak trees. I'm afraid more trees will go when the tree guy returns later this month to remove what is left of the Elm tree and evaluate the rest of the trees. These are all very old trees that are near the end of their natural life. I guess I'd rather lose them than have one fall on my house.

I was glad the tree guy was able to come out today but apparently my neighbor wasn't. Less than fifteen minutes after the chain saws started, he was complaining about the truck blocking the alley. Jeez. It's all going to be over in an hour. Couldn't you just chill out and wait to park your car for a few minutes? Neighbors are one more reason the emptiness of the Davis Mountains seems so appealing.

I'm glad I called to confirm my appointment before I left for the doctor this afternoon. The lady who answered the phone told me I didn't have an appointment. "What do you mean," I asked. "Just two days ago you told me that my appointment was for 1:20 this afternoon." "I'm sorry," she told me. "That was last year's appointment we were looking at. We never made an appointment for you this year." Once I confirmed that I actually needed an appointment, we rescheduled everything for next week.

I finally finished my article about McDonald Observatory and sent it off to Sky and Telescope. I think it was a pretty good article, but I'm not sure if people are going to be interested in reading about a rainy day at an observatory. The finished article was certainly a bit different than what I had proposed to the editors. Oh, well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I gave it my best shot. I hope the editors find the article interesting and decide to publish it. At any rate, I plan to return to the observatory. Maybe someday I can actually write about seeing distant galaxies through these telescopes.

We found out that Hank has Inflammatory Bowel Disease. I'm glad that he doesn't have cancer, but this disease has no real cure and can be difficult to treat. Not all dogs respond the same way to the disease either. Treatment often involves experimenting with special diets, antibiotics that can reduce inflammation like metronidazole, and probiotic supplements until the right combination is found. Hopefully Hank will respond quickly to treatment. He is too young to be having these problems.

Even though it was a very busy day, I still managed to take my five mile walk. With a long walk under my belt, I always feel like I have accomplished something even when the rest of the day is a disaster. I'm certainly not planning on tomorrow being a disaster, but you never know. There have been a lot of surprises lately.

Cleo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3521

The new dehumidifier arrived today. It seems to be working fine although the humidity is about the same as it was before. We'll see how much water is in the bucket tonight. The defrost function isn't coming on, so that's a good sign. I'd feel stupid if the new dehumidifier was exactly the same as the old one. Instead of immediately throwing the old machine away, I'm going to make more of an effort to disassemble and fix it. What have I got to lose? If I fail, it will just go out to the curb in pieces. Hey, if I succeed we've got two dehumidifiers. In my world, two is always better than one.

It must have rained a lot harder than I thought a few days ago. When I went up on the roof to check on things there was a lot more water than I expected. It took almost an hour to clear the standing water away. I was hot and sweaty before I even began my morning walk. I sent the roofer another e-mail explaining how some of the damaged areas appeared to be getting worse. It seems like I was doing exactly the same thing last year at the time. Probably the year before as well.

As I was finishing breakfast this morning the tree guy arrived and wanted to look at what remained of the Elm tree again. He gave me a bid on removing the tree and hauling it away. I can get on his schedule in early September so it won't be that long before I can check this item off my to-do list. The stump will be too close to the house to use a stump grinder, but that is the least of my worries now.

If you look closely at the yellow coreopsis flower I photographed today you can see one of the milkweed assassin bugs that bit me. They're quite common and feed mostly on other insects. I'm adding these critters to a long list of things I avoid. The bite appears to be getting better, but it is still quite noticeable. I wonder now why one of these thing has never bit me before? They're everywhere in Dallas.

I'm encountering fewer people on my walks these days. People are finally getting the message that it is hot outside. The joggers are gone, but the cyclists remain. Many of these people I see everyday. They are probably just as locked into their routines as I am. There is one group of men who ride recumbent bicycles together every morning. They are all older and most have little white goatees. They all wear long pants and long sleeve shirts too. Must be hot. I wonder why younger people never ride recumbent bicycles? I've never seen anyone under fifty on one of these things.

I saw a ton of Egrets and Blue Herons today but I haven't seen an owl in months. The lone White Pelican is still there though. The bird never ventures far from the small bay where it calls home. Counting and trying to identify birds helps me pass the time. I can't wait for cooler weather to arrive. I enjoy walking, but I hate this heat.

The trash has been taken to the curb and I'm already thinking about where to eat breakfast tomorrow. These weeks go surprisingly fast considering that nothing really happens.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3456

This is our third day without power. There is still no estimate for power restoration in our neighborhood, but we're starting to see power company trucks, so that's a good sign. I talked to a crew from Alabama this morning who were looking for downed lines behind our house. I've seen repair crews from Mississippi, Alabama, and Oklahoma so far. This is a major effort. Lots of people in the Northern part of town already have power again, but our neighborhood is almost always the last to get electricity. We have the most trees and consequentially the most downed lines. The repair crews need to be really careful with all these downed lines. I heard that they missed one yesterday and started a house fire when they tried to turn the power back on.

One of the guys from Alabama told me that they may get our power restored later tonight. I hope so. We've almost run out of clean towels and I may need to go to the laundromat tomorrow. My little generator definitely won't run the washing machine. Actually, I've been very pleased with the little generator. Technically it's called an inverter and delivers much cleaner electricity than a traditional generator. When I bought it I just wanted something to run the computers. I'm discovering that it will power quite a few other things as well. The small refrigerator runs fine using the generator. Janet was able to use her hair dryer as well. I was even able to fire up the Keurig machine this morning and make myself some coffee. The generator will run all day on two gallons of gas. That's pretty good if you ask me.

I discovered that my solar powered generator doesn't do so well on cloudy days. There wasn't enough sunlight today to use the solar panels to recharge the batteries. Gasoline came to the rescue though. I used my gas powered generator to recharge the solar generator. A lot of people drive Teslas in Dallas. I wonder how those people feel now. They are dead in the water for the time being. Their car batteries have run down and most of the charging stations in Dallas are dead. I haven't seen a single Tesla on the road for the past three days.

The best thing that happened today was that my tree guy came over and removed all the dangerous dangling limbs from the elm tree that got damaged. I was one of the lucky ones who got tree service in two days. A lot of people are still waiting. We discovered that a more of our tree had fallen in our neighbor's yard than we initially thought. Luckily neither of us had much damage to our houses. I did lose the greenhouse though. The tree crew will have to come back later to remove what's left of the elm tree. They are only doing emergency service right now and had two more jobs today after they finished with my tree. For now, everyone in the city is just dragging their downed tree limbs to the curb. I have no idea how long it's going to take the city to clean this mess up. There are huge piles of ruined trees everywhere. It's a shame to see so many mature trees destroyed in the neighborhood. These old growth trees were one of the things that made this part of town special.

Apparently yard work is better exercise than going to the gym. I haven't taken a long walk since the storm roared through town, and I'm still burning more calories and taking more steps than I was before. When you spend most of the day hauling logs and big tree limbs out to the street, you end up doing a lot of walking. By the end of the day, I'm tired. I thought this would help me sleep, but so far it isn't working. It feels stuffy in the house without the air conditioner running. It's also too quiet. I'm used to the sound of the dehumidifier running constantly and usually we keep the fan running on the HVAC system so there is some air circulating in the house.

I'm still sitting in the dark, but I saw a large power company truck one street over from ours just before sunset. That's a good sign. Hopefully, when you hear from me tomorrow, we'll have electricity again.

Willa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3081

One year ago today, Dot passed away. It's been a long year. Shortly after Dot died, Janet was diagnosed with breast cancer. Then Dash almost died after experiencing a severe vestibular seizure. Later in the year I discovered that my sister also had cancer and Dash had a large blood clot inside his heart that could break apart and travel to his brain at any moment. We're all still here. Janet is doing great and so is Dash. I hope there is a lot less drama in the year ahead. It would be nice to have a year with no life threatening emergencies whatsoever.

The tree trimmers came early this morning. I hadn't even eaten breakfast or walked Dash when I heard the sound of their chain saws. It's sad that the Oak trees are slowing dying. They are very old and we lose a few limbs every year. I hope we can keep the trees as long as we are in the house. The yard would look pretty bare without them. I'm glad the crew was able to remove a large dead limb that was hanging over the house without dropping it on the roof. That would have been a disaster. Luckily, everything went well. I think the trees are safe and secure again for another season. The neighbors didn't even get mad at us today. They don't like it when work crews have to block their driveway.

I'm discovering that it is much more complicated to sell fine art than it is to sell model trains. I was on the phone with several galleries in New York today and there is some initial interest. It appears that I have a fairly discerning eye as a collector. The next step seems to be establishing provenance for the artwork I'm thinking of selling. This might not be easy, since I obtained some of these pieces many, many years ago. If you're the collecting type, be sure to save everything. Model trains without the original boxes were only worth half as much as those where I'd saved the original box and receipts. Artwork without a clear provenance is basically worthless. I save almost everything, but receipts and records from the 1970's might be very hard to find.

I cooked dinner for Janet tonight. It was only spaghetti, but she seemed to like it. I'm always surprised that I'm a pretty decent cook when I put my mind to it. Janet is a superb cook, but neither of us like to spend much time in the kitchen these days. We end up buying "Dinner for Two" at Central Market over and over again. I can see why meal kits like Hello Fresh and Blue Apron are so popular. Nobody really had time to cook anymore.

I still really miss Dot. When Dot and Dash were both young and healthy, life just seemed to make more sense. Dash finally seems to be getting used to being the only dog but I don't think he likes it. Dot was the Alpha dog and Dash looked to her for everything. Even though Dash has become more confident, you can tell that he'd much rather have his sister at his side. I'd much rather have both dogs together again too. They were perfect companions.

You can't bring back the past, but there's always the future. Here's to the future.

Charlie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3080

We had a good day. Dash seemed to have a lot of energy this morning. We had a nice morning walk. He ate all his meals and took his pills without incident. He had enough energy left over to pester me as I tried to watch the new episode of The Expanse after breakfast. I'm glad the DVR has a pause button, because every five minutes Dash wanted to go outside. I was glad to see Dash in good spirits. Maybe someday he'll start wagging his tail again.

This week's episode of The Expanse captured my interest again. I still think there's way too much going on with three different sub-plots on three different ships, but I'll definitely keep watching. This is probably the best science fiction series since Farscape. Firefly was really good too, but the show got canceled way too soon. I think The Expanse could easily run for four or five seasons. Here's hoping anyway.

Janet took Dash on his evening walk because I had to go to an evening meeting. Meetings of any sort seem weird to me now. It rare for anything to be accomplished in your average meeting, but they are still an essential part of keeping a group together. It's the intangible things that are important in meetings. If the group feels good about working together, the details can usually be worked out later. Hopefully, I'm still in good graces with this group. I don't get out much, but I still care a lot about helping dogs.

Now that I'm in the process of selling one collection, I've started to think about getting rid of other things as well. I discovered the Artsy website today. I don't know why I never noticed this sooner. It's a great idea, connecting buyers, sellers, and other interested parties with great galleries and auction houses around the world. Instead of buying or selling art directly, you are dealing with very reputable galleries. The website is just a facilitator, bringing people together. I need to learn more about this concept. It might be exactly what I've been looking for.

The tree trimmers are supposed to come over tomorrow. I wonder how long this is going to take? There's really only one big branch that might be dangerous to leave as is, but I'm sure the tree guys will find more dead wood when they arrive. The last time they came to the house they took down twice as much as I had anticipated. I hope this all goes smoothly. I'd hate for one of these limbs to fall on the roof while they are cutting it down.

I probably should stay home and have my regular smoothie tomorrow. I have no idea when the tree guys are going to arrive, so it wouldn't be a good idea to go out for breakfast. Of course if I do stay home, they won't arrive until after lunch. That's just the way it goes.

Amy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3078

There was blood in Dash's water bowl this morning. Where did this come from? His gums looked good and his mouth wasn't bleeding. The clump of blood in the bottom of the bowl looked more like something he had coughed up. This certainly wasn't normal. I've watched Dash all day and he seems absolutely fine, but now I've got one more question for the vet at his next exam.

I feel like things are slowly coming together around the house. The landscaper finally contacted me and made a commitment to clean up the yard and put in new grass next week. The tree guy is coming over this weekend to remove the dead limbs from the Oak trees. Now, all I've got to do is get the roofers to come back again and finish what they started several weeks ago.

It looks like I've got a new website project. This will keep me busy during the month of June. I have mixed feelings about work now. It's good to be busy and I like to feel needed, but work is still work. Truthfully, I'm getting used to doing nothing. The older I get, the harder it is to maintain the work ethic I've had for most of my adult life. I've got nothing to prove anymore and napping with the dog seems to make as much sense as anything else I might try.

I got a call from my doctor reminding me of my appointment tomorrow. I've got to fast so they can do new blood work. Ordinarily, I would have made an early appointment and stopped for breakfast on the way home. This won't work with Dash's new schedule. He doesn't like to walk before Janet goes to work anymore so we no longer walk at sunrise. We'll walk at our regular time and I'll just skip breakfast tomorrow. This is probably the only way I can lose weight anyway. I should try intermittent fasting sometime, but it's hard to skip a meal. Eating is my primary form of entertainment these days.

It's going to be a bad summer for bugs. This always happens after a warm Winter. I knocked down some wasp nests in the back yard this afternoon. As soon as the landscapers finish putting in the grass, I'm going to treat the yard for mosquitoes. I don't know know what I'm going to do about the chiggers. This has been the worst season for chiggers that I can remember.

I hope they don't find anything wrong with me tomorrow. I feel OK, but I've grown to expect surprises. Just when I think I'm home free, someone says I need another colonoscopy or adds a new prescription to my growing list of meds. I feel like I'm in better shape than my Mom or Dad was at my age, but that isn't saying much. Until I hear otherwise, I'll just keep eating healthy food and walking everyday.

I'm not looking forward to lab work tomorrow. Last time, the phlebotomist had trouble finding a vein.  Maybe she's gotten better in the past six months. It's not a big one deal one way or the other. At least there'll be a new episode of The Expanse to watch tomorrow evening.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3075

I just received a notice that NetworkedBlogs is shutting down. Sad. One by one, all the familiar faces I have long associated with blogging are disappearing. Entrecard is gone. Adgitize is gone. I'm not sure if BlogCatalog still works. I haven't seen anything new there in years. I'm going to miss NetworkedBlogs. This is the tool I've always used to syndicate the blog to Facebook and Twitter. Maybe there are other blog syndication services out there, but there probably aren't many. Blogging just isn't popular anymore.

I'm glad I got to be a part of blogging's short lived golden years. It certainly didn't last very long. When was the last time you spent hours blog hopping? Yup. I can't remember that far back either. If you're reading today, you're probably just looking at a link on Facebook. At some point you begin to wonder if there is any point writing if nobody's reading anymore. It is becoming an increasingly quixotic quest.

It would be hard to quit writing. It's a lot like walking Dash. Our walks are painfully slow now, but they have become part of the fabric of life. Whenever we fail to walk I am filled with a sense of foreboding. The day is supposed to start with a walk and end with a blog post. That's just the way it is.

We had a nice walk this morning. I was somewhat surprised to see a single mutant flower in a field full of Mexican Hats. These upright prairie coneflowers are sombrero-shaped with drooping petals and a tall central cone. How did this explosion of petals even happen? This flower looked like it came straight from Chernobyl.

I had planned on having the trees trimmed this morning, but the tree guy called and said he'd had a couple of emergencies and he needed to postpone our appointment. It's just as well that we called this off. It rained last night and the trees were still wet. I imagine that this would have made the branches heavier and more difficult to cut. At least the trees didn't fall on my roof last night. Evidently, the storm was far worse in Far North Dallas.

Now that it's warm enough to keep the air conditioner running, doing the wash has become more difficult. Both the washer and the condensation from the air conditioner drain into the same floor drain  in the utility room. The drain needs to be plugged when the washer is running and open when the air conditioner is running. It gets complicated when both things are happening at the same time. I forgot to open the drain today and the utility room got flooded. If it's not one thing, it's another.

I wish my lone trip to the gym every Sunday was enough to build muscle mass and shed a little weight. I have a feeling that it's just a symbolic gesture. It's going to take a lot more than an hour at the gym to change anything. I'll still go tomorrow. Hey, there's nothing wrong with symbolic gestures.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3038

The tree trimmer came over today to give me an estimate. The dead limb I was worried about hangs directly over the house and it seems like it would be difficult to gently lower it down with a rope. No problem, the guy told me. I'll take his word for it. This is something I would never attempt by myself. I need to schedule this work before the roofers come over, but that shouldn't be a problem. I'll be lucky if I can get the roofers over here by June.

I was reading the instructions for the special glue I bought to repair my fitness band and I noticed something in the fine print that said "Do not let this product come in contact with skin." WTF? How can I repair a wrist band if the repair can't come in contact with my skin? I need to contact the manufacturer about this. Silicon is used in all sorts of medical products. Silicon masks are also common in film and the theater. Why would anyone make a repair product that couldn't be used in these situations? Maybe the glue just can't come near skin until it has fully cured. I'll be real disappointed if I can't use this glue. Basically, if I can't glue the fitness tracker back together, it goes in the trash.

Dash seems to be slowly inching back to a more regular schedule. He got me up at midnight and again just before sunrise. While this may seem inconvenient, it is much better than getting up at 3 AM. I was hoping that Dash would sleep through the night like he did yesterday, but no such luck. At least he is eating normally again.

It was a nice day to be outside, so I tried to repair some of the roof panels on the greenhouse. It's been really windy this Spring and these panels keep coming loose. I definitely should have worn a long sleeve shirt. The translucent panels are made of fiberglass and my arms were itching for the rest of the day. Fiberglass is terrible stuff. It looks solid but there are always sharp little fibers that come off when you touch it. It's ironic that I was worried about the silicon glue today when I really should have been worried about the fiberglass.

I'm dreading going over to the storage warehouse and taking an inventory of my collection before my friend from Kentucky arrives in town to pick it up. This is going to take a long time and I'm sure I'll have misgivings about liquidating a bunch of stuff it took me so many years to accumulate. If I could go back in time, the first thing I'd do is tell my younger self not to bother with collecting things. The older you get, the less collections matter. In the long run, it is a lot better to have the cash than a bunch of dusty stuff in a storage warehouse.

This week has gone quickly. It is already time to take the trash to the curb again. On Thursday evenings I often read Yelp reviews about restaurants I'm thinking about visiting the next morning. Usually I just end up confused. There will almost always be great reviews right next to terrible reviews. It must be hard to run a restaurant. It's probably just about impossible to please everybody.

Marley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day