Day 3375

I dread Dash's periodic bouts with diarrhea. They don't happen often, but when they do, it makes a horrible mess. We'll probably never know why he had diarrhea last night. We had to change what he was eating this week because he has lost interest in the chicken and rice stew Janet has been making for him. Maybe the new food upset his stomach. Maybe he's under more stress since he's having difficulty standing. Maybe he ate something bad in the yard or got a stomach virus. We'll probably never know. We certainly never found out what caused the diarrhea in the past.

Needless to say, there was quite a mess to clean up. I've been doing laundry most of the day. We had to give Dash a bath as well. A wet rag simply didn't remove the stains. Giving Dash a bath is problematic since he can't stand up without assistance. He can't have his harness on either. One of us has to support him so he won't fall while the other one does the cleaning. Everybody gets wet. Dash is clean now. All the bed linen is clean. The smell is finally gone. It's been a long day though and everybody is tired.

I went back to the hotel for breakfast because it is quiet and peaceful. I wasn't even that hungry, but it was nice to take a break from the cleaning brigade. Janet stayed home to watch Dash while I was away and then I stayed home for the rest of the day. The diarrhea seems to be over, but Dash still seems weaker than usual.

I didn't think that Dash would want a walk this evening, but I thought we'd give it a try when he headed for the back gate at the appointed time. We probably should have stayed home. Dash seemed confused and would stop for long periods of time and just stare off into space. I tried to get him to turn around and go home, but he kept moving forward. He is very stubborn. Dash would walk for about twenty yards and then stop for a while. Then he would walk for another twenty yards. I thought I'd have to call Janet to come pick us up in the car for a while, but eventually we made it home.

I was disappointed to see the stock market drop over 450 points today. It was the worst day since January. Things have been going well lately and I always hate to see a big sell off. If you weren't watching the business channels, you would nave never noticed the steep decline. Everyone else was talking about the Mueller Report. Of course nobody actually knows what is in the report yet, but people are already second guessing the results. A lot of folks seem really disappointed that Trump wasn't immediately indicted as a Russian spy. I'll be glad when we move on to other things. I wonder how bad the floods really are in Nebraska. I wonder if the 737 is actually a safe plane. Hey, I flew in one last week. I wonder if Britain will stay in the European Union after all. I wonder about a lot of things, but I don't spend a lot of time thinking about the Russia Probe.

I hope that Dash feels better tomorrow. He had us worried today. I think we all need a good night's sleep. Dash already seems a little perkier than he did this morning. I don't think I've been perky all day.

Brooke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3211

What's up with Google? Remember when their motto was "Don't Be Evil?" Good times. Now it appears that they just don't know how to be good. Google had one of the most massive security breaches in history and they don't even bother to tell their users. Maybe they thought nobody would notice. They agree to build a totally separate censored search engine for China. Maybe no one would notice that either. There are all kinds of rumors that Google search results are biased. Who knows. They probably are. Google certainly isn't talking. I used to get most of my news and information from Google Reader until Google abruptly discontinued the clever feed aggregator. I was fascinated by Google Glass. I was even thinking about buying a pair until the innovative augmented reality spectacles quietly disappeared. Now, Google+ is going to be discontinued as well. I loved Google+. It was the only social media site where I actually took the time to interact with anyone. Come on Google. Would it have killed you to keep this platform going? What is Google going to abandon next? I hope it isn't Blogger. I've spent so much time using Blogger that I can't even imagine starting over someplace else.

Remember when I thought the little circus in the park would wind up in the water if we had another heavy rain? When we were walking Dash this evening I noticed that the circus tent was in the lake. I feel sorry for the circus performers. There won't be a show tonight, unless it involves ducks. Yep. We had another day of record rainfall. So far my own roof isn't leaking again, but I think we missed the worst of today's storms. At least we aren't in the path of a hurricane. One of my relatives lives on the Florida coast. Things don't look good for them.

I called the roofers again today, but I got a message saying "Mailbox Full" and my call was not accepted. This has happened before. If my roof is leaking, chances are that thousands of other roofs all over town are leaking as well. I imagine the roofers are pretty busy today. October is traditionally the rainy season here in Dallas. It sure would be nice if we got our rain in the Spring when the grass was starting to grow, rather than in the Fall when it is beginning to go dormant.

I finally contacted the last auction house on my list. They agreed to evaluate all the remaining items I'd still like to consign. I never realized that decluttering would be such a huge task. Inch by inch, I'm getting there though. I wish I was faster. My storage warehouse comes up for renewal at the end of the month and it looks like I'm going to have to rent the unit for another year. I was hoping that I'd be able to thin things out enough so that I could get a smaller storage space, but that's not happening. Maybe next year.

Dash wanted to eat grass and leaves again tonight. He hasn't done this for several months and I was hopeful that we had finally found a diet that agreed with him. Now, we're on vomit watch again. He hasn't thrown up yet, but he could at any time. It's frustrating that none of this is apparently under our control. Dash just has good days and bad days.

I hope we both have a good day tomorrow. The unrelenting rain is giving me cabin fever again.

Maverick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3156

It was hard to get out of bed this morning. Dash got me up twice last night. After I cleaned up the inevitable poop, I was wide awake. I eventually got back to sleep, but I sure woke up tired. I'm feeling perpetually tired these days. We've been dealing with sick dogs almost continuously since 2014 when Dash was first diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Ever since then, it's been one crisis after another.

After our slow morning walk, I fixed my regular smoothie and made some coffee. Eventually, I woke up and began feeling normal again. This was a surprisingly busy day, considering that nothing happens anymore. I drove up to the watch repairman's office and picked up my watch. He's only got three more left to repair. Maybe I'll see these other watches again before I die. The watch repairman is a friendly and very talented guy, but he sure is slow.

On the way home, I bought another pair of Ruffwear protective boots for Dash. I've got enough of these boots in rotation now that we should be good till Christmas. OK, maybe Halloween. Dash is really hard on shoes.

I think August is the worst month of the year for bills. I took a few more to the post office today. My car insurance is due. My annual August service visit at Lander Rover is always pretty pricy. Summer electric bills are through the roof. And there's always something going on with Dash. This wasn't a big deal when I was doing a lot of website work. Now, keeping this ship afloat is beginning to seem expensive. No wonder selling things is starting to seem so attractive.

I got some more estimates from another auction house this afternoon. I wonder if these estimates mean anything at all. I'm still pretty much of a neophyte in the auction world. After the first auctions take place in October, I should have a much better idea whether this little venture was a good idea. I hope the auctions are successful. They suit my temperament. I could never sell anything on Craigslist or eBay. I just don't want to have any direct contact with the buyers.

Dash must have had an upset stomach this morning. Janet was unable to get him to take his pills this morning. I didn't have much success when we returned from our walk either. I was starting to get worried because he needs to take his Phenobarbital at very specific times. Luckily, the crisis was averted and around 9:30 AM I was able to hide each of his morning meds in a little cube of rare steak. After he took all his meds, I didn't even care about breakfast. Dash went back to sleep, but eventually returned to the kitchen around 11:30 AM and finished his boiled chicken breast. I think this dog eats better than I do these days.

It was surprising to see blue skies again this morning. I think the rain is over. I didn't check the roof today because I was busy running errands. Maybe the longer I wait, the more water will evaporate. I'll probably go up and sweep the standing water away tomorrow. I really don't want to tempt fate. I don't care what the roofers have done. If you leave water long enough, it will find a way inside.

I hope today's weather continues. It felt like Fall when I woke up this morning. Dash can be a very high maintenance dog, but life is definitely a little easier when the weather is nice.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3100

Every time I think we've turned the corner with Dash, something happens to remind me that he's still a sick dog. He must have had another vestibular episode last night. When I took him outside to pee around 1 AM, he was drooling a lot and wanted to eat grass. I thought he was going to throw up, but he didn't. We went back to sleep, but he had no appetite the next morning. It was really hard to get him to take his morning meds. He wasn't interested in anything. Eventually we were able to wrap the pills in small pieces of a leftover quesadilla. He still seemed eager to walk, but when we got home he wanted to throw up again. It was way too soon to throw up because his phenobarbital hadn't gotten into his system yet. I wouldn't let him eat grass in the yard, gave him a Pepsid AC, and went back in the bedroom with him until he eventually fell asleep on the bed. This was a little risky, since I didn't want to clean vomit off the bedspread. The plan worked though. When Dash woke up three hours later, he seemed fine.

When we went out to dinner yesterday I put on a shirt that Janet said was fifteen years out of style. It probably was. I have trouble throwing stuff away, so I told her she could go through my closet and get rid of anything she'd be embarrassed to see me wear in public. Janet loves to get rid of clutter, so I wasn't surprised that she took me up on my offer. This afternoon, there were three large trash bags filled with an odd selection of old polo shirts that looked like they belonged to a guy thirty pounds heavier than me. Jeez. Did I ever wear those shirts? I guess I must have. There were also a ton of old t-shirts I must have picked up at trade shows. Janet seemed delighted to pare down my collection of ugly sweaters. I must have been fond of loud, colorful sweaters at some point. I could never throw away this stuff myself, but I won't miss anything. Truthfully, I'm glad the stuff is gone.

When I went to the bank this morning, I stood in line behind a man who'd brought a shopping cart into the lobby with him. He looked like a homeless guy, but he must have had a business of some sort. I watched as the teller handed him bag after bag of coins. When he had filled the grocery cart with coins, he left the bank and started pushing the cart down the sidewalk. I have no idea where he was going. It's a strange world we live in. You never would have seen this at a bank twenty years ago.

I made an appointment to get a haircut tomorrow, but I forgot to check the weather forecast first. It looks like there are supposed to be thunderstorms. I hope the forecast changes overnight. Weather forecasts change every few hours here in Texas, so it might be clear tomorrow. If there are storms, I'll have to cancel my appointment. Dash's storm phobia has gotten worse and I can't risk leaving him alone in a storm anymore.

Dash ate his dinner tonight, so hopefully he is feeling better. We still don't know what triggers these vestibular episodes. They seem to occur when you least expect them and they are always alarming. The vet says he will experience these periodic sensations of vertigo and nausea for the rest of his life. Luckily, they don't seem to happen too often. Lets hope he has a normal day tomorrow.

Alamo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2963

Dash wouldn't eat this morning. It took forever to get a minimal amount of food in him so it was safe to give his morning pills. Since it is critical that Dash always takes his phenobarbital on a regular basis to control seizures, a loss of appetite can be pretty dicy. Dash wasn't even interested in banana bread this morning, so we knew this was bad. We decided to give him a Cerenia pill, even though he wasn't showing obvious signs of nausea. Cerenia was really the only tool we had. Three hours later, he started eating again.

Nobody has ever explained how Dash's various symptoms are interrelated. Maybe they aren't. There are so many things that can go wrong with this dog and some of them are life threatening. To me, it is very stressful. My best guess is that the periodic eating disorders are related to his vestibular disease. Depending on how bad the vestibular event is, it can appear to be a stroke, a seizure, vertigo, or an upset stomach. Dash's worst vestibular seizure put him in intensive care for four days. Today's mild event just gave him an upset stomach. By mid-afternoon, he was back to his old self again.

While I was running my Saturday errands, I did some more appliance shopping. I learned that it would be a good idea if I just put a hold on things until President's Day. Evidently you can get some of the best appliance prices of the year during President's Day sales events. I guess it is a tradition to lower prices on refrigerators on President's Day. I'm happy to wait. I wasn't looking forward to buying a refrigerator today anyway.

Now that I'm more or less living on a fixed income, sales have become more important to me. I'll be going to the annual Super Bowl Sale at my favorite clothing store tomorrow. This is the only time when I can actually afford these clothes. I realize that when someone offers you 75% off on anything, they're just trying to get rid of old merchandise, but what do I care. When you're almost 70 years old, nothing ever goes out of style.

Dash has become very needy as he's growing older. Janet is at an animal rescue event tonight and Dash has been throwing a tantrum since she isn't around to sit in bed with him. This is what they do in the evening. Janet watches Netflix movies while Dash takes a nap. He's more than welcome to come in the office and nap while I write, but apparently that isn't good enough. He want's me to sit in the bed with him now.

When I was taking Dash out to pee this evening, I saw a guy lurking around in the dark. He seemed startled when he saw Dash and I and told me he was looking for his Airbnb rental. Given the state of the world today, the guy could have been completely legit. He also could have been a burglar. I told the man that nobody I knew in the neighborhood had turned their home into an Airbnb and he got in his car and left. I felt like telling him that it wasn't wise to go lurking around in the dark in a residential Texas neighborhood. It's a good way to get shot.

I still don't understand the popularity of Airbnb, Uber, and all those ugly Limebikes that are littered around town. If I take a Yellow Cab, or stay at a Holiday Inn, I know exactly what I'm getting. I suspect that I don't possess the level of trust required to participate in the sharing economy. It all seems like buying a pig in a poke to me.

Casey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2930 - New Year's Day

Dash seemed a bit out of sorts this morning. I felt the same way. Maybe I just can't handle alcohol anymore. Against all odds we managed to stay awake until midnight and opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate the New Year. You wouldn't think a couple of glasses of bubbly would bother me, but who knows. I sure felt strange this morning. I shouldn't be too quick to blame the champagne. For all I know, it might have been the chili we had for dinner last night.

It was way too cold to walk this morning and Dash and I didn't feel like eating. This didn't seem the best way to start the year, but it sure beat last year. If I remember correctly, we began 2017 with Dot throwing up at sunrise and throwing us into a panic since all the vets were closed for the holiday.

Eventually, Dash ate his breakfast and my stomach began to settle down. I kept waiting for it to warm up, but it never did. The temperature remained in the teens for most of the day. Janet went to the gym and I went back to bed for a while. When I got organized enough to take a shower, I noticed that the shower pan was leaking again and got the wet/dry vacuum to suck the water out that had gotten under the tiles. It wasn't much of an effort, but it was all I could muster.

My mid-afternoon it had warmed up enough for Dash to take a walk. It was still cold, but at least the temperature was in the twenties instead of the teens. I bundled Dash up, put on two warm coats and off we went. Dash wasn't bothered by the cold at all. It was just me that had gotten soft.

Several people on my Facebook feed said their New Year's resolution was to stay alive for another year. Sounds like a plan to me. I seldom make New Year's resolutions. A New Year's resolution would be a radical step for someone who doesn't even make grocery lists. I don't need to lose weight. I eat fairly healthy already. I guess I could become a kinder, more caring person, but why bother. Just staying alive for another year is probably as good as it gets.

There isn't much to photograph on cold days like this, but I did see a Downy Woodpecker. The little bird was very industrious, looking for food among the branches. Animals spend all their time eating in the Winter. Raptor sit on top of trees looking for mice. Squirrels dig up the nuts they hid earlier in the year. Egrets and herons look for fish. I just need to make sure the coyotes aren't looking for Dash.

I guess the new year starts in earnest tomorrow. I need to finish my website project. I'm way behind on this design which isn't like me at all. It's hard to get motivated when you know the end result doesn't really matter. Janet, who has always been a workaholic, is thinking about retiring again. She says her heart isn't in it anymore. I know how she feels. As the workforce continues to get younger and younger, it no longer feels familiar. The big question for us is what to do next.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2756

I finished writing both my new articles today and spent the rest of the time lying on the bed with my feet elevated. It was nice to have some work to do again, but I don't think it is a good idea to sit at the computer all day. I can literally feel the fluid pooling around my ankles when I sit for long periods of time. Another bad thing about sitting at the computer is that I spend too much time Googling information about swollen legs and ankles. I'm finding lots of similarities between my condition and people who have had minor motorcycle accidents. Basically, if you are a hypochondriac, you should never Google your own ailments.

Elevating my legs really seems to help control the swelling in my legs, but unfortunately the benefits seem temporary. It kind of feels like I've got a quart of water floating around inside me. When I lie on the bed with my legs elevated, the liquid flows back into my body. When I stand up and start walking, gravity causes it to flow down around my ankles again. It's frustrating, but there's not much I can do at this point. It's going to take a long time to completely reabsorb the blood and fluids resulting from a trauma injury like this.

Maybe I need to start watching Netflix like Janet. She needs to rest for long periods of time too, but luckily she enjoys watching movies. Often I find her asleep with a movie still running on the iPad on her lap. I'm growing bored staring at the ceiling, so maybe I'll give Netflix a try tomorrow. Lying on your back with your feet in the air probably isn't the best position to watch a movie, but I'll have to improvise.

Dash threw up again this afternoon. I was hoping that he wouldn't have any problems until Janet and I were both well again. Maybe that was too much to ask for. Dash has thrown up periodically for years. Usually he seems normal again within a few hours. When I take him to the vet they can never find anything wrong and usually just suggest changing his diet. Dash will eat bugs and dead things when he can find them, and eating something bad is often the cause of his stomach problems. Janet and I have been so preoccupied that we probably haven't been watching him closely enough when we take him outside to pee. At any rate, we gave him a Pepsid tonight and hoped for the best.

Dash's upset stomach reminded me to make an appointment for him at the cancer center. His oncologist likes to do a recheck every six months and we are a little behind schedule. Dash has been in remission for so long now that his doctors aren't really worried about the cancer returning. They are more worried about an enlarged heart as he grows older.

When I look at my calendar, it's nothing but doctor's appointments for Janet, myself, and Dash. Hopefully, this is just a temporary thing. Janet is starting to feel a lot better. I'm on the mend too, but dog bites are painful injuries that tend to heal slowly. I'll just need to stay patient. It would be nice if Dash would stay healthy too. We don't need a three ring circus at this point.

Tomorrow, I take my car in for a long postponed service appointment. It will be nice to get that expensive necessity out of the way. Pretty soon, we should have grass in the back yard again too. One step at a time, we're slowly getting back to normal. Just for the record, I didn't see this Great Egret today. I didn't even leave the house. I did see the bird pretty recently though and didn't feel like showing you a picture of my feet in the air.

Sophia is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2688

I'm having trouble with schedules. Dot has a schedule. Janet has a schedule. And Dash has a schedule. All these schedules are different. We get up early on Janet's schedule, so she can help with the dogs before she goes to work. Dot doesn't want to get up this early and won't eat much until almost 11 AM. Dash wants things the way they used to be where both dogs ate and walked together. We have to give Dot's pain pills before she is really ready, because she needs to take them every eight hours. If we started the pills later, she'd be taking the last set at three in the morning. Dash hates how long it takes me to feed Dot and usually starts his high pitched barking before we are finished. Even though Dot can't hear well now, she flinches every time Dash barks. I think Dot is starting to become nocturnal. Because she gets up late, she often isn't ready to go to bed with the rest of us. I don't have a schedule at all. I just try to keep things moving from one end of the day to the other.

Last night we had a reminder that Dot is still a very sick dog. She was sleeping peacefully, but woke up about 3 AM and started crying. I took her outside and she peed, but she still seemed uncomfortable and wouldn't go back to sleep. I got a pillow and sat with her on the floor. I could hear her stomach rumbling and suspect she had a belly ache. Since Dot gets hungry later now, she often feels like eating just before we all go to bed. This probably isn't a good idea. I'm just guessing about the indigestion. Dot could have been uncomfortable last night for dozens of other reasons. I slept on the floor with her, thinking that she'd probably throw up on me, but she held her food down despite all the stomach rumbling and eventually went back to sleep. This morning Dot seemed fine. I was exhausted though.

I had a lot of trouble giving Dot her pills today. Maybe Dot is becoming wary again, or maybe it was just me. There's an art to pilling a dog properly and I don't think I was quick or coordinated enough today. Eventually I got her to take all her pills and eat a modest amount of food, but the effort seemed to take forever. It doesn't help that Dash is becoming a picky eater as well. I have to mix in a little bit of Dot's food to get him to eat. It's all way too complicated. Dash has always had a sensitive stomach and it has taken us years to find a diet that he liked and was healthy for him. Now all that's out the window. I feed the dogs what they'll eat and just hope for some peace and tranquility.

I think my body is falling apart. I've lost five pounds in the past month and a half while still eating normally. This doesn't seem right. This morning, my right hand was swollen when I woke up and I could barely move my fingers. I'm pretty sure that holding Dot up caused this, but there is nothing I can do about it. I'm still deathly afraid of pain pills and refuse to take them. This leaves me with some pretty sore shoulders, knees, and wrists. I've seen what addiction to pain medication can do and I'm not going down that road. If I ever find myself in Dot's situation, I'll probably reconsider, but compared to Dot, I'm still pretty healthy.

When I was going out to pick up some Thai food for dinner tonight, the "Service Required" message came on in my car. Damn. Whenever I see that message on the dash, I know it's going to be expensive. I still do all required maintenance though. I'm pretty sure I treat my car better than I treat myself. Ordinarily, I'd take the car in tomorrow, but I think I'll wait a few weeks so the charges will appear on next month's credit card bill. There's enough on this month's bill already.

I'm not sure what I'll do for breakfast tomorrow. Going out on Friday morning just doesn't work anymore. Maybe if we all get up early, I can run out and pick up something in a to-go box while Janet is getting ready for work. I did take the trash out to the curb tonight, but I've still got to give Dot her nighttime pills.

Crosby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2629

The restaurant was crowded this morning. There were all these noisy overlapping conversations that were somewhat distracting and made me realize that most of the clichés you hear about people are based in truth. Even though this was my morning out, I couldn't wait to get back to my dogs.

When I got home, I immediately realized that peace and quiet are pretty illusive wherever you are. When the dogs actually are quiet, I worry that one of them might have died. When they're full of life and moving around, I'm continually cleaning up poop and retrieving Dot from corners were she has fallen or gotten herself stuck. I've got to try to keep Dash from getting too excited as well, because when he gets agitated, the risk of another seizure increases. It's a delicate balance.

I had a surprising amount of work to complete today. I don't think I've had any writing jobs this month, but the website modifications continue to keep me busy. Nobody seems to want a brand new website anymore. I guess everyone already has one. Instead of creating new designs, I spend my time adding new product lines, updating employee rosters, and correcting typos. There are an amazing number of typos, since a lot of clients write their own copy these days. I don't change anything anymore. I just cut and paste. I used to try to edit the text I received but quickly discovered that the awkward syntax that was bothering me was exactly what the client wanted to say.

Dash is acting real strange lately. I've had increasing difficulty getting him to leave the backyard in the afternoon. At first I thought he was experiencing vertigo or dizziness, but now I'm not so sure. As an experiment I tried to lure him out the back gate with a dog treat, so we could take our afternoon walk. It took us over five minutes to get down the alley. I would move to the end of his leash and then hold the cookie where he could see it. When he started to walk toward the cookie, I would move forward and we would repeat the whole process all over again. As soon as we reached the end of the alley and walked down a small hill into the park, he forgot all about the cookie and started walking normally. We finished the rest of our walk without incident. I have no explanation for this odd behavior, but it sure makes taking a walk more difficult.

Part of the problem is that the dogs still don't understand why they can't walk together like they used to. It is simply impossible for one person to walk both dogs under current conditions. It takes both hands and a lot of coordination to keep Dot upright. I walk her like a marionette in a puppet show. Dash is still strong and likes to walk fast. Even if I could manage to hold on to both dogs, Dash would start tugging and probably knock Dot and I over before we'd gone thirty feet. It's kind of sad, because I know that they would still prefer to walk together.

I've been so concerned about Dash's vestibular disease that it took me a while to realize that I had an upset stomach and was feeling a little dizzy myself. Maybe it was something I ate. At any rate, the best part about today was when I managed to convince both dogs to take a nap with me and we all curled up together for a few hours. The rest seemed to help. I'm feeling better now.

Nora is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2531

Why does it always rain on Friday? I had to cancel my breakfast outing again because of inclement weather. It wasn't raining hard, but I saw some lightning off in the distance while we were walking the dogs around the block this morning and I didn't want to risk a storm phobia incident. Actually, my breakfast at home was pretty good. I cooked up some bacon to go with my toaster waffles and the dogs didn't even bark very much. Dash only seems to bark when there is a banana involved.

Dot seemed exhausted this morning. She was very slow on her morning walk and immediately went to sleep as soon as we got home. I was a little worried because she didn't even want to come out to the kitchen while I was cooking the bacon. I've learned to just let her rest when she's tired. She slept through lunch and didn't try to get up again until after 2 PM. Luckily, she seemed to bounce back a bit during the afternoon, and was back to her wobbly wandering ways by dinner time.

Dash had an upset stomach again last night. This morning I think I found out why. I discovered the remains of a partially eaten bird in the back yard. I don't know how much of this bird was eaten by Dash, but he has been known to eat things the neighborhood cats drag in the yard before. Between the two dogs, it's amazing we get any sleep at all.

I finished my second article this morning while the dogs were sleeping. Sometimes I think they sleep more soundly during the day than they do at night. When I went to the grocery store later in the morning to pick up something for dinner, neither dog even moved. They were both in exactly the same place when I returned.

The replacement battery for my phone arrived today, so I went to the battery store to get it installed after lunch. The battery store charges less than half of what the Apple store charges to replace an iPhone battery. I'm a good customer of this place. They've replaced batteries in electric shavers, lawn mowers, power tools, uninterruptible power sources, laptops, watches, and phones for me.  It's amazing how many things in our house seem to require a battery.

A cold front must have blown through town last night. I had to wear a warmer coat when we walked the dogs this morning and it never got warm enough for shorts at all. Usually, Dot responds well to cooler weather, but not today. I haven't seen her this tired for quite a while. Hopefully, she'd rebound again when she gets some rest. It's a long, slow journey. She still has her good days and her bad days, but I can see where this is headed. Every extra day we get to spend with her is a blessing.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2172 - Thanksgiving

Today did not go as planned. Dot threw up during the night. She pooped in her bed too, but it was the vomiting that was alarming. She threw up a lot of liquid and it was completely unexpected. She didn't appear sick when we went to bed and she isn't the type of dog that eats garbage or gets into things. I was surprised. I did my best to clean up the mess and we went back to bed. Just before breakfast, she threw up again. Dot didn't have a fever and her gums were nice and pink, so we let her rest instead of making a trip to the emergency vet. Within an hour, she was acting completely normal.

We took our morning walk and fed her a small amount of food when we got home. Again, everything seemed normal. Then, about an hour later, when we were finishing our own breakfast, she threw up again. Dogs can vomit for hundreds of different reasons and most of them are fairly benign. Dash is known to eat crap in the yard when we're not looking and this is usually the reason he throws up. There were a lot of harmless reasons why Dot could be throwing up too, but I was worried that this may be a sign that her cancer has returned.

We canceled our Thanksgiving brunch reservations and stayed home with Dot instead. Since she still appeared hungry, I went to the only open vet I could find and got a few cans of bland Hills I/D wet food to feed her. When I described Dot's symptoms to the nurse on duty, she said she thought it was safe to just keep an eye on Dot and take her to our regular vet tomorrow. She didn't have a fever, her gums were pink, she wasn't dehydrated, she still had an appetite, and she didn't appear to be under any undue stress. These were all good signs. It's always a bit alarming when your pet has an emergency on a holiday. You are pretty much on your own. We could have taken Dot to an emergency clinic, but this didn't appear to be an emergency. I did feel better after talking to the emergency nurse though.

Since we had been planning to go out for dinner, there was almost nothing in the refrigerator. We were both hungry and started looking for a restaurant in the neighborhood so we could go pick up some take-out. Not surprisingly, almost nothing was open. We finally found a little sports bar that has pretty good burgers, so I picked up our Thanksgiving dinner there. Apparently the only people who eat out on Thanksgiving evening are lonely men. There were five men in the restaurant when I arrived and they were all sitting alone, watching the Cowboys lose on a big screen TV behind the bar.

We fed Dot a small amount of the Hills I/D food and so far she has held it down for about three hours. This is a good sign. I think I set a new record for doing laundry today. So many parts of the house are protected now, but Dot managed to target an unprotected area every single time she threw up. There is still an eighteen inch wet circle on the carpet right near my desk in the office. Dot could have picked a better place to vomit. After scrubbing the carpet and applying liberal amounts of the Nature's Miracle enzyme, I can still smell vomit. There are days when I feel I have lost the battle with the house. It has really taken quite a beating recently.

I didn't expect to have a take-out burger and a small pear salad for Thanksgiving dinner, but we did the right thing. It turned out to be a nice family meal and we have a lot to be thankful for. Dot is calm now and seems to be holding down her food. I'll try to make an appointment at her regular vet tomorrow and see if we can find out what is going on. Although it rained a lot today, there were no thunderstorms to further stress the dogs. The washing machine is still working and I'm running the air conditioner to keep the humidity down. If Dot can make it through the night without any further incidents, I think we're going to be OK.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2088

I know some of you think that when work is slow I do absolutely nothing. Au contraire. I'm usually quite busy tilting windmills. Lately, I've been doing a lot of research on Google, trying to see if it is possible to adapt some of my old equipment so I could still use it in today's digital world. It would be nice if I could speed up my old computers so they could run today's complex software. It would be even nicer if I could use some of my old analog camera lenses on the latest digital bodies.

So far my efforts have been fruitless. I have some really nice Canon ENG broadcast lenses that I'd love to use on my current digital video cameras. So far, it seems impossible. These lenses were made to work with the 2/3 sensors found in Beta SP cameras. The image these lenses produce isn't large enough to cover the much larger 4/3 sensor found in my cinema camera. When I gave up on the Canon broadcast lenses, I thought my Bronica lenses might work. These medium format film lenses would certainly completely cover the 4/3 sensor, but nobody makes an adapter to attach the lens to the video camera. There are plenty of adapters for old Nikon and Canon lenses, but Bronica went out of business a long time ago and nobody cares about it anymore. There isn't a large enough market for anybody to make a profit manufacturing Bronica adapters. I even have some old Sinar view camera lenses that would cover any size sensor, but apparently nobody has even thought about adapting view camera lenses to modern video cameras. I found absolutely nothing on Google about using these lenses with video cameras.

It's frustrating to have fully functioning professional equipment that was good enough to shoot network TV commercials in the 1980's, but is now shunned even by beginning wedding photographers. I haven't adapted well. I love the old Macintosh towers I used to use in the early 1990's. My old Nikon F-2 still seems like the most useful and versatile camera I've ever owned. I even like reel-to-reel tape. Maybe this is why I enjoy watching old Perry Mason and Alfred Hitchcock shows on late night TV.

Dot had a good day. Now, she seems strong enough again to enjoy her early morning exercise walk and still have enough energy to do her afternoon physical therapy session. Today, she did a full seventeen minutes in the underwater treadmill. She's gained weight though. I don't know what that's all about. Nothing has changed since last week. I asked Dot's vet about Dash's strange new eating habits and she seemed baffled. She said she'd never heard of a dog who refused to eat from his bowl, yet ate everything normally when the food was transferred to a dinner plate. He doesn't seem sick. He just seems weird. We'll give him a Pepsid AC tonight before he goes to bed, just to see if he might have heartburn or a reflux problem.

I started a new book today. This one's been sitting on a shelf in the office for months. It is a memoir written by a co-worker of mine when I was starting out in the ad business in Seattle. I've been reluctant to read the book, since this guy ended up being hugely successful, building an award winning multi-million dollar ad agency while I was sitting in a small room writing with two dogs under my desk. I shouldn't be envious though. The first few chapters of this book were hilariously funny and remarkably accurate about what it's like to work in the ad biz.

It's hard to believe that this week is almost over. I've already taken this week's trash to the curb and gotten Dot's bed prepared for the night. I've still got to brush my teeth and run my daily test print on the large format printer. Then it's time for Perry Mason and sweet dreams about tomorrow's breakfast.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1998

Poor Dot. Her Ultrasound scan this morning showed a small growth on her liver and an unexplained shadow on her spleen that were not there in a previous scan taken about eight months ago. Her oncologist told me that there was no reason to get alarmed yet. The vast majority of small growths like this turn out to be benign cysts. We were at a cancer center though and cancer doctors want to know if an unexplained growth might be cancer. The oncologist wanted me to bring Dot back next week so they could aspirate some cells from the questionable areas and send them to a cytology lab for analysis. Since she will need to be sedated for this procedure, I went ahead and had a full blood chemistry panel done today. At least that part of her annual exam later this Summer is already done.

Dot's oncologist is a realist. She said that no matter what the results turned out to be, she couldn't see herself recommending surgery. Dot has had just about all the surgery she can handle at her age. I agree with her that it's good to know what's going on though. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the new growth in her liver was just a cyst. I've had several small benign cysts in my kidneys for years. Cysts and growing older just kind of go together. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed with today's test results. Dot is my miracle dog. After all she's been through this year, I was really hoping that her lab reports today would be perfect.

I noticed this morning that my breakfast restaurant has raised its prices. The cost of my favorite meal has gone up a dollar. Truthfully, I was surprised this had not happened sooner. This is still one of the most reasonably priced quality restaurants in town. I don't begrudge their modest price increases a bit. I just wish I had a way to raise the price of my own services. The cost of just about everything continues to go up, and yet people continue to want to pay less and less for website design.

At least there is plenty of work. I had an initial meeting with a new website client this afternoon and we all got along well. I got the job and will begin building their new site later this month. I also decided that my mobile friendly skills were ready for prime time and almost immediately got a job to convert an older static site to a mobile friendly design. I'm going to be busy this month.

I was certainly busy today. In addition to my trip to the cancer center with Dot and the new business meeting later in the day, I still had time to write a new article and send it off to its destination. By the end of the day, I was tired. We didn't get a lot of sleep last night, mostly because Dash had an upset stomach and kept getting me up to take him outside. I've never seen a dog who is so indecisive about pooping. I knew he had to go, but it took three trips to the back door at thirty minute intervals before he finally did his business. It doesn't help that the sodium vapor security light in the back yard is starting to go out and every time it blinks on and off Dash thinks it is lightning and races back inside again. Eventually, we all got back to sleep but it was almost morning by then.

For all his peculiar habits, Dash is a very smart dog. Sometimes I think he knows English. Usually, on our afternoon walks he like to take a right turn when we get to the alley and go directly into the park. Today when he tried to turn right, I told him that we needed to go left today. "If we turn right, you might get bit by the neighbor dog again." He gave me a worried look and immediately turned left.

Scooby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1974

Today was a little stressful. I woke up to the sound of Dot trying to throw up. She was acting frantic like she did on the day she ate the carpet. This was alarming, because the house is now filled with assorted rugs and carpets. I immediately put on some pants and took Dot outside. When this happens, Dot tries to eat any available grass or leaves and that only makes the situation worse. I did the only thing that works. I sat quietly on the brick patio with her until she calmed down. Sometimes this can take up to thirty minutes. She doesn't wake up like this very often, but it still happens. Once Dot was calm and breathing normally again, I fed the dogs breakfast and Dot was normal for the rest of the day. I've asked various vets many times why this happens, but have never received a real answer. Maybe she has an upset stomach from time to time, but her diet is so consistent that this is hard to imagine. Dot doesn't get into the trash either. That is Dash's specialty.

I was tired of drinking a liquid breakfast this morning so I ate some sausage patties and a slice of quiche instead. The dogs seemed upset that I didn't share a banana with them so I peeled one and gave half to the dogs and ate the other half myself. It was a satisfying meal, but a large percentage of it got stuck in my teeth. After spending an inordinate amount of time rinsing my mouth out with hot salt water, which always spoils the taste of a good meal, I vowed to go back to my banana and egg milkshakes tomorrow.

I think my big success today was getting both dogs walked before the rain started. There were no severe storms and it didn't rain all day, but the weather was certainly enough to keep everyone inside most of the day. The dogs usually sleep on rainy days like this, but I feel compelled to be productive. To stay busy, I finished my entire backlog of writing assignments and made a good start on getting my May invoices out. I should have saved some of this work for tomorrow, but I keep hoping for a day when the dogs will let me sleep in late. Today was not that day.

Dot isn't walking as far in the morning, now that she can't walk with Dash for a while. The only way we can walk the dogs together is when Janet walks one and I walk the other. When they were both younger and healthier, it was easy for me to walk Dot and Dash together. Now, I have a hard time when Dot wants to turn around and go home while Dash wants to keep on going. With two people, Dash will eventually turn around and follow Dot. With one person holding the leash, they both just tug in opposite directions. While I was walking Dash this evening, a lady pushing a child in a stroller noticed Dash's protective sock and mentioned that she'd seen one just like it in the park last week. She thought it was a baby's sock, but didn't pick it up. I wish she had. I've been looking for that missing sock for weeks.

I don't know what tomorrow will bring my way, but I do hope the skies are dry, the dogs are calm, and my teeth don't hurt.

Dixie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1960

I think the antibiotics are working. Dash did a lot better at keeping all four paws on the ground today. He still limped a little when he tried to walk too fast, but his condition was visibly better than yesterday. It wasn't all smooth sailing though. Dash woke me up twice during the middle of the night to go outside. He raced around the yard on three legs like he was possessed. Dash acted like he had an upset stomach and needed to poop. After several tries, he eventually did. It could have been the Clavamox. On the other hand, it could have been something bad he ate in the park. The important thing was that Dash eventually did his business and we finally got some sleep.

I made some website revisions today and after I uploaded the new content, the client sent me an e-mail saying that nothing had changed. This happens all the time. Am I the only one who regularly clears my browser cache? I patiently explained that he was looking at an old version of the site and that if he re-loaded the page, cleared his browser cache in the preference menu, or just restarted the browser he would probably see the new changes. Since I never heard back from him, I guess one of those remedies worked.

I had some writing jobs today, but I got side-tracked experimenting with my mobile friendly test site. Today I learned how to create drop down menus that automatically re-size for different devices. Life was so much easier when everyone was looking at the same 17" CRT display and used their phones for making phone calls. I'm slowly getting comfortable working in this new responsive design environment, but I'm also getting bored with it. It's a race against time to see if I can learn enough to be useful before I get sick of the whole thing. It's getting harder to find a reason to stay on the cutting edge of anything anymore.

Tomorrow is the big day. I can't eat anything after 10 PM tonight and Janet has to drive me to the dentist tomorrow. I'm supposed to take an antibiotic and a pain killer one hour before surgery. There is a nice steak in the refrigerator, but Janet froze it, saying that I'll probably be eating soup for the rest of the week. The procedure is only supposed to take an hour or so, but somehow I think I'll be dealing with the aftermath for a lot longer. I just hope when I wake up from surgery that only one tooth is missing. I still have a fear than more than one will be removed if the oral surgeon decides that some other teeth can't be saved either. I know that the tooth right next to the impacted wisdom tooth has been damaged, but I'm hoping that all it will need is a filling. If the second tooth has to be removed, I will need an implant. Dental implants are a long, expensive process. Let's keep it simple. Just remove tooth number 32 and be done with it.

Tomorrow will be interesting. I've got lots of writing and website work that needs to get finished. The dogs still need their walks. Tomorrow's blog post needs to be written and published as well. I hope the anesthesia wears off in a hurry. I don't have time to be loopy all day.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1750

Good grief. Flu season is here. The State Fair of Texas just started. And a guy with the Ebola virus was admitted to Presbyterian Hospital after wandering around town for a week. What could possibly go wrong? I guess it was inevitable that Ebola would make it's way to America, but did it have to come to Dallas first? This is a little too close to home. Presbyterian Hospital is only four or five miles from my house. The gym that I go to is actually owned by the Presbyterian healthcare network.

I listened to the press conference held this afternoon by the CDC. The only thing I could think of was that every single post-apocalyptic end-of-the-world movie I've ever seen starts with some government bureaucrat standing in front of a microphone telling people that there's "nothing to worry about." Every time I hear that this disease can't be transmitted through the air, I think of all the other things that couldn't possibly happen, like Fukushima and Chernobyl.

I'm sure for the next week of so, everyone who gets a fever in Dallas will think they've come down with Ebola. It doesn't help that officials are very close-lipped about the whole situation. They won't reveal the airline the guy flew here on. They won't reveal who his family is, or where he was seen in town before he arrived at the hospital feeling sick. Why do they let people from West Africa continue to fly here? This is an uncontrolled pandemic that has already claimed over 3,000 lives in a short amount of time. It is insane to keep pretending that "there is nothing to worry about."

I awoke this morning to the sound of a dog trying to throw up in the bed next to my head. I've heard this sound before, so I immediately picked Dot up and quickly took her outside where she proceeded to throw up on the back porch. It's probably nothing, but when a dog is recovering from cancer you always worry that the cancer may have returned. Both dogs have sensitive stomachs and are prone to eat crap in the park. It's not a good combination. I've been keeping an eye on Dot today and she seems completely normal. All dogs throw up from time to time and hopefully this was just a fluke.

I completed my troublesome website project today and wrote two new articles. I consider this a good day. It would have been an even better day if the stock market hadn't taken a tumble. It's depressing to toil away at the computer to earn a few hundred dollars when you're simultaneously losing thousands in the market.

The yard is rapidly becoming covered with dry, yellowed elm leaves that the dogs and I inevitably track inside. The elm tree loses its leaves first, and then the oaks and pecan trees quickly follow. Fall has definitely arrived.

Thelma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1742

I paid a final visit to the telescope store before it shuts its doors for good at the end of the month. I didn't plan to buy anything and very little of the remaining merchandise even tempted me. I guess this was more of a symbolic visit to pay homage to all the esoteric small businesses like this that are rapidly disappearing from the landscape. Maybe I was hoping to rekindle my interest in astronomy as well. It's amazing in a way that a store that only sells astronomical telescopes managed to stay in business in Dallas for as long as it did. There isn't a big market for telescopes to begin with and with all the haze and light pollution in a big city, you're lucky to see the moon on most nights.

Visiting the store was kind of sad. One of the owners appeared to be discussing financial problems on the phone and the remaining merchandise was mostly of Chinese origin. Maybe that's where good, semi-affordable telescopes come from these days, but I would still prefer a genuine made-in-America Questar. I couldn't afford a Questar when I was younger and I still can't afford one today. They still make these astronomical Ferraris though. Right here in New Hope, Pennsylvania.

Dash had an upset stomach last night and woke me up three three times to go outside. The first two times he just sniffed around the yard and did nothing. As soon as I got back in bed, he would be scratching at the back door to go out again. The third time he finally pooped and we all went back to sleep. I'm sure Dash ate a June bug or cicada again. I don't think this dog will ever learn that these things aren't good for him.

Today was busy, but I'm almost positive than in a day or two I'll completely forget what I was working on. Much of my work just isn't that memorable these days. There is a routine that almost never varies. I get up, make the bed, walk the dogs, eat breakfast, wash the dishes, and then reluctantly turn on the computer to see what I need to do for the day. I finished my web site revisions and writing assignments a little earlier than I expected this afternoon, which is why I went to the telescope store.

Tomorrow, both dogs go to the vet. Dash needs to get his blood retested to check his thyroid levels. Hopefully, with no food after 10 PM tonight, this fasting blood test will provide the vet with a usable sample. Last week's sample wasn't usable because there were Lipids in his blood. Maybe I should quit giving the dogs a little dollop of whipping cream as a treat when I make my coffee in the morning. Dot needs to get her DHPP vaccination as well, which will protect her from parvo, distemper, canine hepatitis and parainfluenza. These back and forth visits to the vet will take a lot of time, so hopefully my workload will be lighter tomorrow.

A good night's sleep would be nice tonight. I'm not counting on it though. I'm beginning to think that there's a better chance of getting a Questar telescope than a good night's sleep.

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day