Day 2497

I should move to rural America. I dread going out on weekends now. There are simply too many people in the city. The roads are crowded with careless drivers. I see so many accidents when I'm running errands that I often wonder when my own luck will run out. There are way too many loose dogs in the park on weekends. Loose dogs make me nervous. I've worked with dogs for most of my adult life and have been bitten five times. Any dog will bite you if the circumstances are right. I don't know what people are thinking when they let their dog run loose in a public park. Their dog could get run over by a car. It could get in a fight with another loose dog. Even a friendly, playful dog could injure a child or elderly person. Dash was almost killed by an aggressive, loose dog many years ago and I've never forgotten it.

The city makes me long for empty country roads and neighbors that are at least twelve miles apart. I miss taking long walks with my dogs where I don't encounter a single other person. I have a telescope that I never use because there is too much light pollution in the city to see anything except the moon. City people aren't as nice as country people either. That's not just my opinion, it's my experience.

I mowed the grass this afternoon. Every time I mow the grass in October, I think I can put the mower away until next year. It would be reasonable to think that I've mowed my last for the year, but Texas is full of surprises. Sometimes it gets real warm in November and the grass starts growing again. I can recall even mowing grass in December on rare occasions. Hey, maybe I'll get lucky this time. I clipped things a little shorter today, just in case.

A belt loop came off a pair of supposedly indestructible pants I bought at the REI store. Admittedly, this is a minor annoyance in the grand scheme of things, but I've still got half a mind to go back to the store and demand a refund. The only reason I buy things at the REI store is that they look indestructible. I doubt that the store would give me a refund anyway. These pants aren't exactly brand new.

I'm sure you guys get those notices from Facebook urging you to re-share your old memories. I got one today reminding me of a video a friend took last year at this time showing Dot working out in the underwater treadmill. I was surprised at how much has changed in a year. Dot was much stronger then. Her gradual deterioration has been so slow that sometimes I don't even notice that she is getting worse. It's hard to even remember the days when she could run like the wind.

Dot definitely won't be going to the Dalmatian Rescue Golf Tournament tomorrow. Those days are long gone. Everyone used to bring their dogs to the tournament and it was fun to see all these Dalmatians in one place. I'll be staying home with Dot and Dash tomorrow while Janet goes to the tournament to help with the silent auction. I hope everyone enjoys themselves, even though I've never understood the attraction of golf. It still seems like a very strange sport to me.

I have no plans for tomorrow at all. I'm sure that Dot and Dash do however, which means that I'll have my hands full.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2431

She's back! Dot resumed her physical therapy today and her entire team was amazed at how well she did. Dot's vet told me that she didn't expect much from this visit, since she'd been away so long, but she exceeded everyone's expectations. I think the extended rest we've been giving her has really helped. Dot was relaxed this afternoon, didn't poop in the car, and we were even able to get a good blood pressure reading. I think the key to success is being very aware of Dot's limitations and in managing my own expectations. Dot isn't always aware of her own limitations. She's such a loyal companion that she'll just keep walking, even if she's exhausted. It's my job to interpret the subtle signs she's continually sending to let us know how she's doing. I watch her breathing, her gum color, her balance, and how she holds her head. I look to see whether her rear paws knuckle under when she's trying to walk. If her body is telling me that she is starting to get tired, I make sure she rests.

I was very encouraged to see Dot doing so well today. She hasn't given up yet. The vet also had some ideas about what might be causing the stiffness in Dash's rear legs. She wants me to bring him in for a neurological exam. I won't have time to do this immediately, but we'll get him worked into the never ending cycle of vet exams.

I finished one of my writing assignments today. I still have several more articles to write, but I'm making good progress. I don't have any plans to leave the house tomorrow, so maybe I can finish the remaining articles before the weekend. It's good to be busy. I spend so much of my time dealing with basically unsolvable dog problems, that's it's refreshing to have normal problems with deadlines and simple resolutions. When you finish a writing assignment, it's over. Medical problems never really go away.

It's so hard to remember all the little things. I'll be sitting here writing and then I'll think, "Damn, I forgot to put the clothes in the dryer," or "Are the sprinklers still on outside." It's always something. Batteries are never charged when I need them most. I need to remember to turn the ice-maker in the refrigerator off for a day every two days because the automatic shut off is broken. The dehumidifier always seems to need to be emptied. And then there's the water on the roof. At least the roof is dry for now. Lately, I'm even having trouble finding time to take a shower. If I take a shower early, Dot poops when I'm in the shower. If I take a shower late, she poops when I'm in the shower. She seems to know when I'm not looking at her, so she can quickly eat the evidence.

Such is life. There are lots of little irritations and lots of little triumphs. Today was basically one of the good days. It was nice to see Dot doing her workout again.

J-Lo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2361

Everyone was glad to see Dot back on the treadmill today. We resumed her water therapy and acupuncture sessions and I was pleased at how well she did. Her vet did an evaluation and thinks it's OK to continue her therapy. The only snag in Dot's therapy plan is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to transport her in the car. Even when I drive slowly and make no sudden moves, the ride is uncomfortable and stressful for her. She almost always poops in the car now. Today she made a huge mess and even though I had planned for this eventually, it was difficult to get the car cleaned up for the return trip home. Dot's vet still thinks that water therapy is very beneficial, but says I'll have to decide whether the stress of riding in the car, erases a lot of the benefits she gets from therapy. It's a tough call. Dot hates riding in the car now. Once we arrive, she's fine. I think she really enjoys the acupuncture. It relaxes her.

Dot had a very busy day. Before our physical therapy session, we met the dog walker who will be helping us while Janet is on vacation. This encounter went better than I expected. Dot initially barked a lot and appeared nervous, but she calmed down within a matter of minutes. I think this is going to work out OK. Dash didn't have any problems at all. He just wanted the dog walker's undivided attention.

My Internet connection hasn't worked this well in months and my new router is still sitting unopened in the box. I wonder what AT&T did? They claim they just set up my account for the new equipment they sent me,  but I'm not even using the new equipment yet. Somehow they managed to clear up all my connection problems without even realizing it. I wish I knew what they did, so I can ask them to do the same thing the next time U-Verse goes down. I don't even think they know. I don't know how long this is going to last, but I don't want to mess with anything now. Almost accidently, I finally have the system I was promised several years ago.

When is this rain going to stop? I just looked at the forecast and it looks like we'll be having daily thunderstorms all the way through the weekend. The only silver lining to this nasty weather is that the temperature has cooled enough for Dot to feel comfortable on her morning walks again. It's been a little problematic to find a thirty minute dry spell to actually take a walk, but so far we've been relatively lucky. There's only been one day where the rain never stopped at all.

Hopefully, I'll get lucky when I take the trash out tomorrow evening. I'm not surprised that the city never did answer my request to come back and get the trash they failed to pick up. There's a fancy website where you can request all types of city services, but the city never responds. I'll take my two week's worth of accumulated trash out to the curb tomorrow, but I wouldn't be surprised it it gets ignored again.

Despite the lousy weather, the poop filled car, and the lack of work, I consider today a success. It is encouraging that Dot is making progress again. She did well today. Dealing with the dogs next week doesn't seem quite as daunting either, now that I have some help. Who knows what will happen tomorrow. It might be a little presumptuous, but I'm hoping for two good days in a row.

Charlie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2207

It's been an odd year. Who would have thought that Dr. Huxtable would turn out to be a rapist, that Bruce Jenner would be named Woman of the Year, and that Donald Trump would be the most popular candidate for President of the United States. It makes you wonder what is going to happen next year. I wouldn't even hazard a guess these days. The world has simply become too strange.

I went out for breakfast this morning, just like I did last Thursday, because tomorrow is a holiday. The restaurant was empty, but the breakfast was good. When I got home I took a quick shower and got Dot ready for her weekly physical therapy session. We were late again, but so was everybody else. Last week Dot's vet told me she was coming down with the flu. It turned out she had pneumonia instead and had been extremely sick for most of the week. She said she thought she caught the bacterial pneumonia from treating a cat. I didn't even think that was possible.

Dot did very well in the underwater treadmill today. I was surprised, since she seemed slow on her morning walk. Maybe she was just slow because she had to wear her winter coat under her Help 'Em Up Harness. It was extremely cold this morning. For the past two days it has been clear outside when we start our walk, but completely cloudy by the time we return. Could sunrise and the heat of the sun cause clouds to form? I don't know enough about weather to know the answer, but it seems plausible. If it clears up in the next day or two, I'll be able to see Mercury in the evening sky right after sunset. Later in the week, Saturn will be right next to Venus in the morning sky. I enjoy watching the seasonal progression of the stars and planets. I don't particularly enjoy the seasons themselves. The weather is always too hot or too cold.

I decided to go ahead and upgrade my Avid Media Composer application like I did earlier with Pro Tools. I'd be very surprised if I got any big video production jobs next year, but if I do I'll be ready. Avid has the most convoluted upgrade process imaginable. It takes me forever to upgrade and activate their products. Today the process became even more difficult when my bank rejected the online software purchase because they said it didn't match my "buying pattern." I didn't even know I had a buying pattern. When I explained that software like this isn't something you buy everyday, they released the hold on my credit card and I began the download process all over again. I never did get around to installing the software because by the time I completed the complicated purchase, it was time for the dogs dinner. Since Dot hadn't pooped yet, I knew I was playing with fire if I altered their feeding schedule. Hopefully, I'll get around to installing Media Composer sometime this weekend. Lord knows when I'll ever get around to using it.

New Years Even is pretty quiet at our house. Years ago when I played bass guitar in a band, there would always be a big New Years Eve gig. We made some of our best money playing New Years Eve parties, but I don't remember the events as being very fun. By the time I packed up all the equipment and got home around 2 AM I was dead tired. Watching crowds of drunks from the stage while you're still sober didn't really make me want to join the festivities either. A quiet celebration with the dogs is much better. A quiet evening at home certainly seems better than watching a fireworks display while a gigantic 63 story high rise hotel goes up in flames nearby. This happened in Dubai today. People were literally standing in the streets cheering the fireworks while a skyscraper that looked like a scene from Towering Inferno burns. Unreal. Like I said, it's been an odd year.

Lou is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2171

I don't know why it's so hard to get Dot out of the house in the morning. I've been trying to get her ready for physical therapy earlier and earlier, but we still arrive at the vet late. Afternoons used to work a lot better, but we don't have that option now. It's like herding cats to get Dash in the bedroom where he needs to be, while simultaneously positioning Dot near the front door. I have to bribe the dogs with treats and that doesn't always work. When I lure Dash into the bedroom with a treat, Dot usually follows. Then when I try to get Dot back out by the front door, Dash thinks he can get another treat if he gets to the front door faster. I end up with Dash at the front door and Dot in the bedroom, which is exactly the opposite of what I need. Frequently, Dot heads for the back door instead, so I take her outside just in case she needs to pee. She'll usually just aimlessly wander around for a while and by the time I back the car out of the driveway, we're already late. It's frustrating to say the least.

When we finally do arrive at the vet, Dot usually does pretty well. Today she did excellent in the underwater treadmill. She was able to complete her full eighteen minute routine while doing several short intervals where we cranked the treadmill up to a higher speed. Maybe barking at the office cat got Dot energized today. I asked the vet why Dot wasn't building muscle mass in her rear legs with all the exercise she's been getting. Evidently, the older you get, the harder it is to build muscle tissue. Tell me about it! The same thing is happening to me. After all the time I've spent at the gym and walking the dogs, my arms and legs are still getting thinner.

Therapy days always get Dot off schedule. We had another accident today while I was taking Dash on his evening walk. I have a feeling that running the washing machine continually is one reason why I'm having trouble keeping the humidity low. I was just about ready to place an order for a dehumidifier today. Janet liked the machine and I'd read several good reviews. Then I accidentally stumbled on a fairly articulate bad review. Evidently this machine uses much more electricity than the manufacturer states. Running it continually can get expensive. At least it doesn't seem to break. One guy said he'd run his continually for five years without a problem. I have yet to find a dehumidifier that everybody likes. Maybe that's just not going to happen.

I saw an ad for a Panasonic camera today that lets you focus after you take the picture. That's what I need. When I take a camera along when I'm walking the dogs I almost always leave the lens on autofocus because I have my hands full already. Inevitably, when I'm focusing on some animal in the woods, the camera will think that what I was really looking at was a nondescript tree branch about a foot behind the critter I was trying to capture. A shallow depth of field looks great if you're focused on the right thing. Most photographers will tell you that good bokeh is highly desirable, unless the only thing in focus is an ugly stick or clump of grass. This new camera calculates the closest and most distant objects in the frame and then quickly takes a series of up to twenty pictures at every distance in between. You can select the focus point after you take the shot. I'll have to look into this.

Hopefully, Thanksgiving will be quiet and relaxing. It would be nice to sleep in late for a change and it would be even nicer to be able to go out for dinner without worrying about whether the dogs will freak out during a thunderstorm.  Could we just put a hold on the rain until Friday?

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2158

Sometimes, you've got to be the squeaky wheel. When Dot pooped in her bed again last night and we still couldn't use the washing machine because of our ongoing plumbing problems, I'd had about as much as I could take. I called the president of the plumbing company and told him as politely as I could that waiting until Tuesday for a plumber simply wasn't acceptable. "Your ads say you guys are on call 24/7," I said. "So, what's with making us wait a week and a half to get this fixed?" When I started going on and on about living in a house full of dog poop without running water, the guy told me he would see what he could do. An hour later the plumbing company said they could have a plumber out early Friday morning. Friday was much better than next Tuesday, so I was happy that my little tirade had achieved its purpose. Another hour passed, and the plumbing company called again and said they'd have someone out this afternoon.

When the plumber arrived he asked me to turn on all the water in the kitchen and utility room to help him find the drain leak under the house. Simply turning on the faucet wasn't producing the desired results, so I filled the kitchen sink with water and then let it go down the drain all at once. Not a good idea! The sink wasn't draining. At that point, the dishwasher, which was also on, began to empty and the water had no place to go. A line broke under the sink and the kitchen was flooded with water. Luckily, there were two plumbers several feet away watching this new disaster unfold.

Eventually the leaking cast iron pipe under the house was replaced, the leak under the sink was repaired, and the entire drain line was snaked out. I ran a load of poopy dog blankets to test the system and nothing leaked.  I think we're back in business! The two plumbers were at the house the entire afternoon. Mercifully, Dot slept for the first three hours. When she eventually woke up, she made up for lost time and barked for the rest of the day. Despite all the barking, she didn't poop in the house again. I think this was because she had already pooped in the vet's lobby, right before she got in the underwater treadmill.

There is still a huge hole under the house and one of the loud dehumidifiers is still running in the living room, but I think we're making progress. The tunneling crew will come back tomorrow to backfill the tunnel, unless another leak appears while I'm taking a shower tonight. I think the old house is trying to tell me something. If houses had "use by" dates like milk, this house would have expired and gone sour by now. Don't let me ever buy a house with a flat roof and a slab foundation again.

Since fixing things was the theme for the day, I tried to fix some ad copy that my client wasn't too happy with yesterday. I also tried to fix the layout in my new mobile friendly website so the iPhone view didn't look so wonky. I tried to explain to the client that making the mobile friendly site look perfect on every available device just wasn't that easy. I told them that the site was a work in progress and it would gradually become more refined with each passing day. I think the plumber tried to explain to me that my house was a work in progress too. There was no way he could fix all my plumbing problems in a single day. Fair enough. There was no way I could pay for everything I need right now anyway. The important thing was that the two major leaks had been repaired. The toilets are working again and I can do the laundry. That's enough for one day.

Hopefully, there will be no surprises when the tunneling crew returns tomorrow. I've had enough surprises for an entire year.

Jade is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2137

It's weird to see rain again. It's been dry for almost two months here in Dallas and I'd almost forgotten all the little rituals we go through whenever it rains. It's always been difficult to get the dogs to go outside and pee when it rains. Now, it's even hard to find a comfortable place for them in the house. Dot's primary dog bed has a clear view of the windows, so she can easily see any approaching storm. Since she can't hear very well anymore, I could just turn her around so she was facing a wall if it weren't for the fact that Dash is scared of storms too and likes to huddle up with Dot. I had a hard time today finding a place where both dogs felt comfortable and I still haven't been able to get Dot to go outside and poop.

One hidden benefit of Dot's new morning therapy schedule is that I was able to get her to the vet and back again before the rain even started. Dot actually did quite well in the underwater treadmill today. She was able to walk in the tank for a full seventeen minutes and even had two short intervals where we raised the treadmill speed a bit. Dot's resilience and tenacity are really pretty amazing. When we got home, it looked like the approaching storm was imminent, so I immediately went up on the roof and swept away a huge accumulation of pecan shells and acorns. The squirrels had already eaten most of the pecans, but there were an enormous amount of acorns on the roof. Now that the roof is clean, it will be a lot easier to remove the water when the rain stops. I probably did the squirrels a favor too. All the acorns are on the ground now and it will be much easier for them to dig unsightly holes in my St. Augustine grass when they bury their nuts for the Winter.

I sent in my application to NASA to attend the Orbital ATK CRS-4 launch. I have no idea if or when I'll hear back from them. The last time I applied to cover a launch, I thought they had totally forgotten about me until I received a surprise e-mail out of the blue telling me that my application had been accepted. We'll see what happens this time. I hope my Klout score and blog readership numbers don't influence their decision. Both these numbers are trending down. It's kind of ironic. I think my blog posts have improved over the years, but I actually had more readers in the early days when my posts were crap. It's all being in the right place at the right time. Any way you slice it, blogs just aren't as popular as they used to be.

It's raining hard now. There's no way we're going to get the dogs outside during this downpour. If Dot poops in the house in nice weather, she's certainly not going to make the effort to go outside during a storm. Hopefully, most of these storms will pass through the area tonight and we'll be able to take our regular walk tomorrow morning. If Dot and Dash don't get their walk, tomorrow is going to be miserable.

The world continues to change around me while I stay the same. One of Dot's favorite nurses has unexpectedly moved on to a new opportunity at another hospital. We didn't even get a chance to say goodbye. I certainly can't fault young people for taking advantage of every opportunity that comes their way. I worked at 17 different ad agencies before I finally realized that the only way to avoid having problems with my boss was to be the boss. So far it has worked out pretty well. Nobody can fire me now and my little company will celebrate its 26th Anniversary at the end of the year. That should impress NASA, but it probably won't.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2130

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday, I thought I might have to take Dot to the emergency vet. Today, she was trying to top her personal best on the treadmill. Dot was strong enough today that we even did a few interval sprints. When we speed up the treadmill, she is still going very, very slow, but it's a big deal whenever we see progress. If you're curious what water therapy is like, there's a video of today's therapy session on my Facebook profile page.

The vet checked Dot's heart and abdomen and couldn't find any obvious reason for yesterday's frantic panting and grass eating incident. I got a check list of things to look for if this happens again. Dot's frantic panting is mild compared to the vestibular seizures she's had several times in the past, but it is still alarming. The vet said that if her temperature is normal, her gums are pink, and her abdomen isn't tight or painful, I ought to be OK. I still worry though, because this frantic panting was our first indication that she had abdominal cancer last year.

Work is picking up again. I completed two small website projects and got a new writing job toward the end of the day. I don't think things will ever be as busy as they were three or four years ago, but it is encouraging that people haven't completely forgotten about me. Sometimes I get asked why I don't write a novel or start some ambitions personal project. The truth is that I just don't have the energy. I still need some work coming through the door to pay bills and keep my brain from turning to jelly, but I don't want a lot of work. Caring for the dogs takes an enormous amount of time. I still think one project a day is just about right. No meetings either! Not only is there no time for meetings these days, I no longer have any inclination to go to them.

I was just getting used to Fall when Summer returned. For the past week it has been unusually hot. It's been in the high 90's almost every day this week. This is pretty warm for mid-October. Luckily, it is still pretty cool outside when we take our pre-dawn walks with the dogs. This means that we occasionally wake up with the furnace heating the house and then eat dinner with the air conditioner running. At least the rainy season hasn't started yet. Sometime around Halloween we usually start getting lots of rain.

One of my doctors told me that it is time for new blood work. Why? I'm getting tired of this continuous monitoring. There was a certain urgency when I had Hepatitis C, but now that I'm reasonably healthy again, I'm rapidly losing interest. I'll get the blood tests done next week sometime. I just don't feel like fasting tomorrow. If there were a few more health apps on my Apple Watch I might not need to go to the doctor at all. I'm just waiting for the day when someone comes out with a watch that contains a miniature blood testing module that will prick your wrist several times a day and analyze a minute amount of blood. If they designed the thing right, you probably wouldn't even feel it. Real time blood analysis, just like the real time heart rate monitors they have now would be pretty cool.

I'm ready for Friday. I've taken this week's trash out to the curb. The dogs have been fed and walked. All the accidents in the house have been cleaned up. It's time to recharge my phone, watch an episode of Perry Mason, and go to bed.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2108

It seems to take longer and longer to get Dot to her physical therapy sessions. Today, when I started to get her ready, she didn't have her harness on. It took quite a while to get her suited up, since she wanted to sleep instead. When I got her ready to go, she wanted to go out in the back yard instead of to the car. Once I had her outside, she stood around aimlessly for about five minutes and did nothing. She didn't even pee. When I finally got her in the car, we were already late. Traffic appears to be worse on Wednesdays too. I'm, glad we'll go back to Thursday sessions next week.

For the second week in a row, Dot seemed tired. We slowed the treadmill to one mile an hour and her walk was steady, but she used to be able to do much better. The treadmill speed goes all the way up to five miles an hour. That's pretty fast even for a regular human treadmill. I asked what the faster speeds were for and apparently dogs who compete in agility events use the treadmill's faster speeds for conditioning and endurance training. I imagine that there is a lot of water splashing around at five miles an hour. Dot enjoys the acupuncture portion of her therapy more than the treadmill. I think it relaxes her. Even though Dot is slowing down, we're still hanging in there. The therapy and the morning walks really do help.

I upgraded my Apple Watch to the new 2.0 operating system today. The upgrade took forever. Since you can't really plug the watch into anything, software upgrades have to be done using the Bluetooth connection to your phone. I guess the software download goes from the Apple server to your phone, and then from your phone to the watch. I initially got a bunch of error messages saying that I didn't have enough storage space available for the download. I abandoned the download, took Dot to the vet, and when I got home again thought I'd try downloading the software again. Apparently, it never stopped downloading the first time I tried, because the progress bar said that there were only 48 minutes left before the download was complete. That was a lot better than the eleven hours to completion message I got before taking Dot to physical therapy. The error messages were all gone too. Apparently the computers knew what they were doing, even if I didn't. I ate dinner, walked Dash, and when I got back, the new 2.0 operating system had been installed. The whole procedure seemed to take about six hours.

A former client called me this evening and asked if I could help him edit his Dad's first novel. This really wasn't my area of expertise, but I enjoyed catching up on things. When we used to work together, we both had a Dalmatian. I asked him if he still had Dalmatians and we spent the next twenty minutes talking about a succession of great dogs who lived long and happy lives, only to die of cancer at the end. Between the two of us, we had shared our lives with over a dozen Dalmatians.

I'm not Catholic or even very religious, but I've got to admit that I like Pope Francis. If only our own politicians could be this humble and direct. When politicians call themselves "public servants," it's a joke. The pope really does appear to be a public servant. He doesn't rely on opinion polls or focus groups, he just asks himself, "what would Jesus have done." I'm not sure that this philosophy would work for politicians though. It probably doesn't make the Vatican very happy either. If the president kept asking "What would George Washington have done" before making a decision, a lot of outcomes would be very different. I don't agree with everything the Pope says, but you could learn a lot from his simplicity and directness.

I'll need to remember not to go to physical therapy again tomorrow. We did that today. I'm so set in my routines that I could easily imagine putting Dot in the car and repeating things tomorrow. That's why I need the Apple Watch. I can't remember anything.

Sage is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2067

It's hard to know what Dot's limits are. She seems more enthusiastic about life now that she's not taking the Palladia pills, but she's not really very much stronger. Will continuing her exercise walks make her stronger, or will this activity just wear her out? I don't know. Walking Dot is like driving a car held together with duct tape.

Dot stumbled around when she first got up this morning and pooped in the house again, but seemed eager to walk a few minutes later. She seemed strong and confident even on the tough hills, but crashed as soon as we got home. I was hoping that she'd continue sleeping while I fixed breakfast, but the smell of sausages cooking woke her up and she got up and went to the kitchen where she could be certain that I would hear her barking. The entire day was like this. I'd be thinking that I'd worked her too hard and then she would roar back to life for an hour or two. Considering how active she was today, Dot did very well in the underwater treadmill. She's sleeping now though. Probably enough is enough.

It didn't take that long to get caught up on my assignments, since there were only two of them. Today was just about right. I did a little writing, did a little website work and still had time to fix myself French Toast and sausages. I even managed to get Dot to the vet on time, since the traffic was surprisingly light this afternoon. If it weren't still unbearably hot, I would have little to complain about today.

I find it fascinating that a 73 year old socialist and a 69 year old egotist have captured the nation's political attention. Who would have thought? Everyone is always talking about being sick of the Washington establishment, but maybe this time they mean it. If I was a politician, I'd be a little worried about Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. I'm not all that fond or either political party, but I definitely don't think we need another Clinton or Bush in the White House. It's time for something different. Don't expect me to get excited about the upcoming election though. I'm still a little nervous about democracy in general. Walmart and the Kardashians are great examples of democracy at work. You can never underestimate the will of the people. Basically, whoever wins, we deserve exactly what we get. If we really thought about who we were electing, we would do things a lot differently.

The roofers have promised to come out and patch my roof tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. I really don't have much faith in anybody these days. With no rain in sight, I guess there's no hurry in getting the elastomer coating repaired, but it will rain eventually. Probably the day after it rains will be when the roofers actually arrive. I've already taken the week's trash out to the curb. Maybe I'll go get my car safety inspected tomorrow. I've got to do it sometime this month anyway. I'll definitely go out and have a tasty breakfast tomorrow morning whether I make it to the dealership or not. My go-to Amigas plate is less expensive than a safety inspection and a lot more enjoyable.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2053

When we went for our physical therapy session today, we learned that Dot's vet is going to be on Good Morning America tomorrow. The show is flying her and a cat named Skinny to New York this evening for a segment on how she helped this formerly 41 pound feline trim down to a svelte looking 19 pounds. Dot often barks at Skinny the cat when she's working out in the underwater treadmill. She doesn't appear to like a cat watching her exercise. Considering that Dot's limp is getting worse, she did amazingly well today. She was steady on her feet and was able to walk for seventeen minutes without wobbling back and forth like she did last week. We experimented today and did her acupuncture treatment before the treadmill workout. Maybe this relaxed her. I'm still not sure why, but Dot looked really good today.

I finished my writing assignment today, although it took longer than I expected. Sometimes simple product descriptions take longer to write than imaginative, creative pieces. Writing is unpredictable. There are times when even this blog is difficult to write. It shouldn't really matter what I write about, since I get paid by the word, but I still enjoy crafting a clever headline a lot more than cranking out catalog copy.

I wish I enjoyed working as much as Dash enjoys walking. He gets a long walk on Thursdays now, since Dot needs to rest before her physical therapy session. We walk twice as fast and three times as far during these Thursday walks. The fact that Dash still enjoys a long walk makes me really appreciate how good he is about walking very slow with Dot during the rest of the week. Dash is an essential component in our efforts to keep Dot moving. Without him, she has little interest in going anywhere. It's amazing how completely these two dogs have bonded. They trust each other, respect each other, and truly need each other at this point.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing tomorrow. There are a few website updates than need to be taken care of, but I don't anticipate anything major. After our pre-dawn walk with the dogs, I'll go out for breakfast and then pick up some groceries for the weekend. That's what I always do on Fridays. If it's a slow day, as I anticipate, I may go check out a few Summer clearance sales. Since I wear the same things Summer and Winter, I sometimes pick up great, very wearable bargains at these end of season events. There's a rare blue moon tomorrow night. The moon won't actually be blue and will look exactly like any other full moon. I still don't know why they call the second full moon in a single month a blue moon if it isn't blue. Of course, I don't know why sad people are called blue either. Language can be strange.

Penny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2039

I had way too much on my plate today. The dogs were unusually restless and a lot of my time was consumed just taking them in and out of the house over and over again. Dash just wants to eat June Bugs when I let him out and Dot has to get suited up in her special harness before she can even make it out the back door. I must have taken her harness on and off ten times today. She can't rest comfortably when the harness is on, so I always take it off while she is sleeping. Every time she wants to go outside, I have to put it back on again. Since she is shaky to begin with, getting the harness on and off is not as easy as it might seem.

The article I had scheduled to write today took a lot longer than I expected. I worked on it off and on all day and didn't finish the thing until just before dinner time. One of the reasons the article took so long was that I kept getting interrupted by website emergencies. There were lots of little things that needed to be fixed today. There was also a website so unremarkable that both the client and I had completely forgotten about it for two years. The client finally remembered the website today and asked me why he couldn't find it on the Internet. Hmm. It turned out that he couldn't find the site because it wasn't on the Internet at all. We had forgotten to move it to the new server over two years ago. When you forget about a website for two years, chances are that you don't really need it.

Dot did great during her physical therapy session.  Physical therapy Thursdays are another reason why I was so busy today. I was a little worried about Dot's weak rear leg, but she had one of her best days in several months. She went seventeen minutes on the underwater treadmill, which she hasn't been able to do for a long time. The fact that she seems reasonably strong during therapy and on her morning walks, while still having increasing difficulties around the house is a mystery to me. I wish I knew what was causing the sporadic lameness and leg tremors. Maybe I'll find some answers tomorrow when I take her back to the cancer center for another periodic re-check.

The refrigerator is getting pretty bare, so I ended up making breakfast again for dinner. There are always more breakfast items around the house, since I am more or less fixated on breakfast. Biscuits and gravy with a little breakfast ham actually makes a pretty good dinner. We bought too many bananas this week, so Janet is making banana bread with the rotten ones. I love the smell of fresh baked banana bread. It almost makes me forget what a hectic day it's been.

Tomorrow will probably be more of the same. I've got another long article to complete and Dot has another vet appointment at the cancer center. Maybe the dogs will be calmer tomorrow. That would be nice. At least it's Friday. I'm looking forward to a nice, relaxing breakfast with no barking dogs at my feet. Maybe when I get home from the restaurant, there will be new pictures from Pluto to see on the Internet. I complain a lot, but actually I'm pretty easy to please.

Laura is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1941

I wish I'd stop having dreams about being lost or losing things. For decades, I've wandered around in my dreams trying to find my car in a parking garage, trying to find my room in a large hotel, trying to find a connecting flight at an airport. The list goes on and on. Last night I picked out two pair of pants in a clothing store and then lost them before I could get to the register. You'd think it would be easy to find these pants, but I never did. These dreams aren't scary. They're just irritating. I hesitate to analyze any of my dreams. They probably mean something, but not anything I'm eager to know.

We got up earlier than usual today. I'm not sure if Janet had to go to work early or if I was just trying to avoid the rain. It was windy and warm this morning and I could see the moon through thin clouds. There was no pretty sunrise and I just had cold cereal for breakfast when I got home. It was that kind of day.

Don't get me wrong. Parts of the day were very good. Dot did great at her physical therapy session and her vet continues to be impressed with her progress. She walked almost ten minutes in the underwater treadmill and this was in addition to a pretty impressive morning walk. She made it all the way to the entrance to the park this morning. It's not really that far to the park entrance, but this was still a personal best for Dot. She even walked up a gentle hill today to help strengthen her leg muscles. For the most part, Dot is able to walk on her own. We only have to help her if she is trying to climb over a curb or encounters an obstacle.

I've noticed that Dot rests more comfortably in the house, now that she's getting to go outside again. I let her sleep outside her pen now, as long as I'm nearby to keep an eye on her. I'm still housebound, but life is starting to seem a little more normal now. I was thinking that Dot was almost ready to start staying alone for short periods of time and then she managed to get her leg tangled up in her harness today. I quickly unsnapped the harness and freed her stuck leg, but the incident made me nervous about leaving her alone. Maybe it would be better to put her in a small safe area and take the harness off completely if I have to leave the house.

I only got one of my writing assignments finished today, but there is still plenty of time to complete the other. It's hard to get a lot done when Dot has physical therapy. She's only in the treadmill about ten minutes, but it take time to get her situated in the hammock where she rides in the car. It takes time to dry her off after her water therapy, and it takes lots of time to navigate the Dallas traffic. It's a good thing I'm seldom in a hurry, or this whole process could be very frustrating. I actually like going to the vet and don't particularly care how long it takes. These Thursday afternoons are a nice change of pace. I hope Dot enjoys the outing as well.

This week went quickly. I've already taken this week's trash out to the curb for tomorrow morning's garbage pickup and am looking forward to another meal at my breakfast restaurant. I'll have to get up early again so I can walk Dash and get to the restaurant when it opens at 7 AM. I don't even mind getting up early anymore. It's certainly better than weird dreams about being lost.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1927

Dot did great at her first physical therapy session. She was able to walk for almost nine minutes in the underwater treadmill before she got tired, and the vet thought that was excellent. Her acupuncture treatment relaxed her and she seemed happy to be back to her old routine. It's too bad she couldn't have had acupuncture before we went to the vet. The trip downtown in the car was the the only difficult part of the entire afternoon. Although I thought I had prepared a nice, secure place for her, Dot still managed to get stuck in an awkward position twice during our journey and I had to stop the car and get out so I could reposition her. If she would just lie down and rest, she would be fine, but she always wants to look out the windows. Inevitably, if she's looking out the window on the left, something catches her eye on the right and she tries to move to get a better view. Since the space I prepared for her is small, an attempt to move to the opposite side of the car sometimes results in getting stuck. When Dot gets stuck she starts to whine and I think she might be hurt. I stop the car, reposition her, tell her to lie down, and off we go again. It was a long journey. I'll need to think of a better solution before we return for therapy next week.

As you can see, we've been getting started on our morning walks very early. It's dark when we begin, but the sun is usually starting to come up by the time we return. After a good walk, Dash is much calmer for the rest of the day, so the further we go the better as far as I'm concerned. Both dogs were pretty good today. I was able to get up on the roof while they were sleeping and remove the standing water for the second time this week. The roofers didn't come today, but the roof will be ready when they do get around to fixing things.

Maybe some of my clients are still reading the blog, because I've suddenly got plenty of work for tomorrow. There are four new articles to write and an equal number of websites that need updates. I won't be able to get all this work done in one day, but it's nice to have plenty to do again. Work does help the day go faster. The other thing that helps the day go faster is a really long breakfast, so I've started making omelets again. I made a nice ham and cheddar cheese omelet this morning and the dogs were quiet during my entire meal because they knew they were going to get to lick the plate afterwards.

I'm pleased that the vet thinks Dot is making good progress. She didn't provide me with any shortcuts though. Getting Dot walking again is going to be a long, slow process. I was somewhat relieved to learn that Xanax isn't really a good solution for leaving Dot alone. The drug relieves anxiety, but it is not a sedative. Dot could still fall taking Xanax just as easily as she could without it. I did learn some exercises I can do with Dot to help strengthen the muscles she uses to sit with, but it looks like I'm going to be housebound for a while longer.

I'm going to walk Dash even earlier tomorrow morning, so I'll still have time to go out for breakfast before Janet needs to leave for work. This worked well last week, and if Dash will cooperate, there no reason why it shouldn't work again. It's going to be a busy day, but I still hope the roofers will be able to make it out tomorrow. The damaged area appears to be growing and I definitely don't want another roof leak. I've got enough problems.

Bubba is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1926

I hope the vet has some suggestions for me when we go to our physical therapy session tomorrow. Dot can stand up on her own now. She can even walk somewhat awkwardly on her own if she's on carpet. She can't sit down on her own though. Her leg muscles aren't strong enough and she just crumples. Unless she is sleeping, I still need to be nearby, so I can grab the harness if she starts to fall. There have been no accidents, but I'm afraid that if she twisted her leg when she was trying to sit, she could hurt something. I'm kind of trapped, because I don't feel comfortable leaving her alone, even when she is contained in the small pen.

I've been told to just give Dot a doggie Xanax if I have to leave the house, but I'm not comfortable with that either. I really don't like mood altering drugs of any kind and I know that Xanax can have some bad side effects in people. I guess I'm trapped in the house until Dot gets a lot stronger.

If I were busier, the housebound hours would go a lot quicker. I've spent an enormous amount of time over the years just sitting here at the computer anyway. This shouldn't be a big deal. Unfortunately, work has slowed down for some inexplicable reason and there's not much to do. There's nothing worth watching on TV. I can't relax enough to read a book. And most of the household chores are loathsome tasks like fixing a leaky shower pan or getting rid of wasp nests. This is when I need a nice long writing job.

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that the roofers get here before the rain does. They said they'd come out tomorrow, but I hear it might rain tonight. I don't know why they couldn't have come earlier? The weather has been nice all week. This could change pretty quickly though. I hear that tornadoes have already touched down in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas this evening. I hope this bad weather stays North of us tonight.

We were out of milk and cereal this morning, so I fixed myself an omelet using leftover pesto, mac and cheese, black beans, and eggs. It was surprisingly good and got rid of some leftovers that were on the verge of going bad. I'd cook more often if I didn't have to clean up the kitchen afterwards. When it takes longer to clean up than to fix the meal in the first place, it's hardly worth the effort.

Tomorrow should be an adventure. It will be my first attempt to transport Dot in the car by myself. The hammock I've installed in the back seat looks very secure, so I think things will go smoothly. I hope the water therapy will go smoothly as well. Since Dot's legs are weak, they will fill the tank with more water than usual to provide extra buoyancy. I don't know how Dot is going to react if she starts to float though. I hope this works, because Dot really needs to be using her legs more.

I'm disappointed that the BBC fired Jeremy Clarkson. I'm sure he had a good reason to get in a fight with that producer. I've known quite a few producers who were jerks. Jeez, Top Gear was of the few TV shows that I actually enjoyed watching. It won't be the same without Jeremy. After hearing that the German plane crashed in the Alps because one of the pilots got locked out of the cockpit, I'm going to be nervous every time I see a pilot walking down the aisle to go to the bathroom. You would think they'd give the pilots keys to these cockpit security doors. Not to worry though. I only fly about once every three years.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1841

I wish I'd discovered compression pants earlier. These things are great for cold weather. I don't know why it took me so long to discover that compression pants were a better alternative to old fashioned cotton long johns, but I'm wearing mine all the time now while I walk the dogs. Unlike the cyclists and joggers I see, I continue to wear these leggings under a pair of jeans. The Batman and Robin look isn't really my style.

Dot continues to seem invigorated by the cold. For the past several days she's been leading the walk like she used to in the old days. I don't know whether to attribute her new found energy to the Rimadyl she started taking last week, or to the cold weather which she clearly enjoys. Either way, it's good to see her start enjoying these walks again.

It looks like I'm going to continue to stay busy through the end of the year.  I had more writing assignments today and am starting to plan for an upcoming video shoot early in January. I have mixed feelings about January. The month could be great or terrible. The glass looks half empty when I contemplate the dental surgery I'm about to have. On the other hand, the glass is definitely half full when I remember I'll be traveling to Vandenberg Air Force Base to attend the launch of the SMAP satellite. I even have mixed feelings about the upcoming video shoot. I've been complaining for months that I didn't have enough video clients. Now that this seems to be changing, I'm remembering how much work video production is. To tell you the truth, writing is a lot easier.

I finished my writing jobs just in time to get Dot to her physical therapy appointment. She was really impressive today. We went back to doing interval training, since she was strong enough to speed up the treadmill a bit. The combination of the underwater treadmill, acupuncture, and cold laser therapy really seems to be showing some positive results. I asked my vet if the laser might help my shoulder too, and she said it probably would. It's funny that my physical therapist never mentioned cold laser therapy. As always, my dogs continue to receive far more advanced treatment than I do.

I'm not having much luck getting Jawbone to replace my broken UP band. Maybe they've finally gotten sick of me. I've already had three defective UP bands replaced, but I still think these things should last at least a year. At the price these fitness trackers cost, they're not really a disposable item.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. I wish you all a Happy New Year and hope you continue to follow my somewhat subdued adventures in the year ahead.

Penny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1840

I never realized that there were so many devilishly inventive ways to make my arm hurt. Every time I go for physical therapy, I get introduced to several new stretching exercises designed to increase the range of motion in my right shoulder. I'm definitely making progress, but it's going to take a long time at this rate. I wonder what I did to make this shoulder so unstable? There was never any definitive injury that caused the shoulder instability. It just gradually got worse and worse. I still think the dogs caused most of the problems. They both like to walk on my right side and whenever they try to chase after rabbits or lunge at a pile of fresh horse poop, my right arm always had to absorb the shock. Since I'm left handed, this abuse to my right arm never really bothered me. "At least the important left arm is safe," I thought. I wish I'd been a little more protective of both arms over the years, but it's a little late now.

Usually this last week of the year is completely dead, but I've been getting a surprising number of new assignments. I was kept busy today with an assortment of writing and website jobs. There are a couple of stretching exercises I can do while I'm sitting at my desk. While this is convenient, it is also irritating. Much of what I do isn't much fun anyway. Working with a very sore shoulder just makes the task at hand worse. I would like to be able to lift both hands over my head again, so I guess I'll continue.

I noticed an oddly shaped piece of white plastic in the greenhouse yesterday and was just about to throw it away when I realized that it might be a good way to foil the pooping bird. The plastic sheet was about the length of my car's front door window and had a convenient angle along one side, allowing it to rest just below the window while providing a very unstable platform for the bird. I positioned the plastic sheet against the window after I got back from physical therapy and it seemed to work. The bird didn't want to land on the unstable plastic and there was no more bird poop for the rest of the day. It would be weird if this Rube Goldberg device worked while my very realistic rubber snake did absolutely nothing.

Usually at this time of year, I'm buying equipment for the studio so I can expense it on my taxes. I doubt that I'll buy anything at all this year. There seems little point in buying more video equipment when it seems doubtful that I'll ever get another large scale production job. Everyone has a GoPro now and thinks they're Stanley Kubrick. It's kind of ironic that I'll probably end my career exactly the same way I started it: as a writer. Writing never seems to become obsolete. All you need is a pencil and a few ideas. In a world where nobody reads and writing is becoming a lost art, I can still fill a page. It makes me wonder why I got sidetracked by video production and web design in the first place.

Dot has her last session with the underwater treadmill for the year tomorrow. It's been quite a year! Dot's determination and resilience has been an inspiration. I hope we both can continue to get healthier in the year ahead.

Allie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day