Day 3886

By my somewhat low standards, it was a busy day. The sky was pretty when we started our early morning walk, so we thought we'd try the "Dawn at dawn" picture we'd been thinking about. We found a location that provided a good view of the sunrise clouds and tried to get Dawn to pose. I had to lighten the foreground a bit and wished that Dawn would have closed her mouth, but all-in-all the concept worked. Maybe I can fine tune the idea a bit the next time we see a pretty runrise.

After breakfast I put the new registration sticker on my windshield. It seems easier to remove the old stickers now, but it is still difficult for me to position these things properly. When you get these stickers anywhere near the windshield, they stick to the glass and usually they are crooked. I had to carefully peel the sticker away several times before I could achieve anything resembling a ninety degree angle. I like to place the sticker as low as I can so it doesn't obstruct my vision, but it still has to be parallel to the bottom ow the glass. This is surprisingly difficult to achieve.

I've known for several weeks that it was time to defrost the little refrigerator again. Today seemed like a good day to get this messy chore over with. I moved everything to the big refrigerator, unplugged the little fridge, opened the door, and let the thawing begin. I usually fill the interior with a couple of towels to soak up the water and just wait until all the ice has melted. After I mop the interior with a dry towel, I'm usually good to go for another three or four months.

When I was looking for my keys this morning I accidentally knocked over a huge pile of old mail on top of a dresser. Maybe it was finally time to get rid of this mail. In many ways my whole life is like a big cardboard box filled with things I plan to deal with later. I postpone as much as I can, including reading and dealing with my mail. A lot of the envelopes already had little notes saying that the letter needed to be shredded or that it needed to go in the safe deposit box. These piles of mail can sit for years.

I went through the pile of letters one by one and saved a few and shredded the rest. I should have done this a long time ago. There are other piles scattered around the office, but at least I've made a start. I think I'm going to finally contact my bank and several utilities and agree to go paperless. There is no reason for me to hang on to all this paper. I think there is a free shredding event at a local church a few weeks from now. Maybe if I put my mind to it, I can finally clean out this office. If I succeed at this, there is a much bigger pile of outdated and useless documents waiting for me at the storage warehouse.

I finally resolved a billing issue with my web hosting company before I took my afternoon walk. I really need to rethink these afternoon walks. It got up to 103 degrees today. My long walks still provide a peaceful opportunity to daydream and think, but Fall can't come soon enough. I seriously considered going back to the gym today and walking around their air conditioned track.

Tomorrow will probably be busy as well. It's time for the dreaded grocery run again. I wonder how long it is going to be before I can go to a store without a wearing mask and following a bunch of one way arrows and distancing stickers on the floor? Sadly, this aspect of the new normal is probably going to be around for a long time.

Elliott is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3539 - Labor Day

It didn't really seems like a holiday today. It did seem like a Monday though. After a week of eating restaurant meals, I returned to my familiar fruit smoothie. As I sipped my drink, I watched the news about the approaching hurricane. It certainly wasn't approaching very fast. At this rate the storm will still be approaching next week.

After breakfast I attached the 2020 vehicle registration sticker I'd purchased weeks ago to my windshield. I never like to do this because I'm obsessive about getting things positioned correctly and if I put the sticker on crooked, I'm stuck with it all year. I carefully peeled off the old sticker with a razor blade, cleaned the sticky residue away with an alcohol soaked rag, and then attached the new sticker. Now I'm in compliance again. The sticker looks reasonably straight too.

Before I took my morning walk, I sent an e-mail to the roofer asking where the silicon coating he promised was. I don't really expect a reply, but I've got to make the effort. If I don't hear from him soon, I'll be forced to go buy a big drum of this stuff myself. I've done this once before and it was a huge hassle transferring the stuff to smaller buckets that I could lift to the roof. I'm really trying to avoid making a huge mess.

For the past several days I've been combining the morning and afternoon segments of my daily walks into one long walk. This way I don't have to take two showers and change clothes as often. I had hoped to walk early so I could write later in the day, but as usual I got a late start. I remember when I was in college I used to hike all day in the Rockies during the summer. I doubt that I could do that anymore. Five miles seems to be my limit.

Hank has gotten sick again. After seeming perfectly normal for about a month, his bloody stools have returned again. He's on fluids at the emergency vet now and is scheduled to have an ultrasound scan in the morning. Hank has already had extensive x-rays to look for foreign objects in his digestive tract and any obvious tumors or growths. So far we have found nothing abnormal. His blood work looks good too. We all thought a change in diet might solve Hanks problems, but clearly that hasn't worked. Hopefully we will learn something after the ultrasound scan. We've got to get this boy healthy again so he can find his forever home.

I started writing my Sky and Telescope article this afternoon. I didn't make a lot of progress. I am taking a completely different approach than I'd originally planned, so I made several false starts. This would have been a lot easier if the skies were clear last Tuesday. My challenge is to turn a rainy day at the observatory into something compelling. Luckily, this isn't a time sensitive article. I've got time for quite a few false starts.

I'm not sure how long Hank will need to stay at the emergency vet, but we may need to transport him back to the kennel tomorrow. We'll see. Other than that, tomorrow will be very similar to today. I'll take a long walk and probably go to the post office. It's a new month and there are bills to pay.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3513

I got my car safety inspected for another year. There is no window sticker anymore, but you still need to have the inspection done before you can buy the annual registration sticker at your local grocery store. Why do I need the registration sticker? Rules. There used to be a little sticker you put on your license plate as well. Those disappeared a long time ago. I'm old enough to remember having to go downtown to the department of motor vehicles for a new plate every year. You rarely get a new plate anymore. All these physical ways of identifying you are gradually going away. I used to have a Toll Tag in my front window but you don't need the tag anymore. Sensors just know when you are driving on a toll road. It probably won't be long before there aren't any stickers or tags on your car at all. The car will just broadcast everything about you to the state as soon as you turn on the ignition.

For now these annual safety inspections are still part of my routine. I could get everything done a lot quicker at a local garage, but I continue to drive up to the dealership and waste half the morning. The time goes quickly. I had a long conversation about cars with a sales guy I know. He shared some new information with me about the new Land Rover Defender that is being introduced this Fall and we traded stories about various exotic cars we'd seen about town. I looked at all the new cars on the show room floor and lamented the high prices for Range Rovers these days. Pretty soon my car was done. My day hadn't really changed at all. I still had a morning smoothie and I still had a morning walk. My trip to the dealership just made my morning walk even hotter because I got a late start.

I thought that an AT&T technician would come back today and hook up the cable that was buried in my yard yesterday. I guess I'll have to call about this tomorrow. I can't remember whether I need to be here or not when this happens. I've finally figured out why AT&T installs these temporary cables. If you had to wait and wait without any service at all until the technicians eventually showed up, customers would be pretty mad. They probably figured out quickly that throwing away a lot of fiber optic wire was easier than dealing with irate customers.

Even though I complain about sweating a lot, I still like walking outside better than walking at the gym. There is more visual stimulus outside. I certainly wouldn't see many Great Egrets at the gym. If I just wanted to avoid the heat, I could go to the gym every day. I'd have to drive to my gym though and I don't like driving. I do like talking about cars however. It's complicated. I don't really mind the heat, but my skin is taking a beating. I don't remember my skin looking this bad during previous summers. Do I need to use sunblock? It would be so much easier if I just stayed home and got fat watching Netflix.

I've been hearing cars running through water all evening. I thought it had started raining for a while. When I went outside to investigate I discovered that the neighbor's sprinkler system had broken. There were big fountains of water spewing out into the street. What a waste. I wish one of those nozzles was pointed over at my yard. I could use the water. I guess everyone has problems during the summer. I just hope my air conditioner keeps working.

Lou is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3147

You know you've finally come to terms with your dog's incontinence when he poops in the bed and you're just happy that the poop is firm. I thought I smelled something last night, but I was really tired and Dash farts a lot anyway. I didn't notice that he'd pooped in the bed until morning. This was a first and I hope it isn't a sign of things to come. At least the mess was on Dash's dog blanket and it was easy to clean up.

We've been through this before with Dot.There was a period of time between when she initially became incontinent and when she lost the ability to climb on the bed that we were doing a lot of laundry. I hope Dash's instinct to head for the back door continues for a while. It makes life a lot easier.

Sometimes I wonder why I bother to write on Monday. Nothing ever happens on Monday. The big event of the day was putting the new vehicle registration sticker on my windshield. If the state doesn't need a safety inspection sticker anymore, I wonder why they still need a registration sticker? Probably it's just a different bureaucracy that's involved. I can tell that the carpel tunnel in my wrist has gotten worse. It was surprisingly difficult to position the sticker in the bottom corner of the windshield. It probably would have been easier if I wasn't such a perfectionist. The sticker had to be absolutely parallel.

Dash had a nice walk this morning, but as soon as we returned home, he seemed exhausted. We walked really slow and he seemed to be enjoying himself, but maybe we are overdoing things. It's hard to tell. Dash went to sleep while I was fixing my smoothie and didn't return to the kitchen to eat his own breakfast until 10:30 AM. He does still eat his meals, but there is no real schedule anymore. I just leave the food in his bowl and he eats when he's hungry.

It looks like I won't be able to upgrade my computers anymore. Apple just announced that it's new Mojave operating system won't run on any of the computers currently I have. Apparently, they are all too old. Apple is actively trying to make the operating system in their computers work more like their phones. Pretty soon your desktop computer is just going to be a big, giant iPhone. I guess a lot of people like this idea. Not me. I have a feeling that I'd probably be happier using Linux now. Apple is working way too hard to please the millennials.

I wonder if anything interesting will happen tomorrow. I need to write my sister and I should probably call the guitar store to see if the guitar that disappeared from the website actually sold. If it sold it would give me an excuse to drive over to the store and pick up a check. There's always naps. I took a long nap with Dash today. It wouldn't be difficult to do the same thing tomorrow.

Margo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3145

Dash was in good spirits this morning. He was eager to leave the house and quickly decided that we needed to explore some new places. He wanted to walk near the shoreline today. This is always a good sign, since he has trouble navigating the more uneven terrain unless he is feeling strong. We had a good walk. The weather was cool. There was a nice breeze. And Dash was feeling confident.

I got my new vehicle registration sticker today. As soon as I renew my car insurance later this month, I should be good to go for another year. Texas doesn't require a safety inspection sticker anymore. You still need to get your car inspected, but there is no need for a windshield sticker. The state just won't renew your registration until their computers show that you have a current inspection.

My grocery list wasn't large today. I'm still a bit confused since I bought a number of things out of sequence while Janet was away. It's kind of sad that I basically buy the same things week after week, but it does make life easier. Usually people feed their dog the same thing day after day while they enjoy a more varied menu. I'm the exact opposite. We're always feeding Dash something different to ensure that he keeps eating, while I keep eating my familiar favorites.

The trouble with hot weather is that it's impossible to get an early start on everything. Dash is always our first priority, so we take him on a walk as soon as we wake up. I also like to go shopping early on Saturday to avoid the crowds. I didn't do so well this morning, since I needed to pay some bills and get my vehicle registration sticker. It would have been nice to mow the grass early this morning as well, but like I said you can't do everything at once. The grass will have to wait. By the time I finished my Saturday errands, it was way too hot to even think about mowing.

I tried, and failed, to discover where the carpenter ants are coming from. I haven't actually seen any ants, but I have seen the little sawdust piles they create. When we bought the house, I was pleased that it was largely brick. "We'll never have termites," I thought. I forgot that there is still a lot of wood in a brick house. The entire roof is made of wood. I think that's where the ants get in. Carpenter ants aren't as destructive as termites, but they can still do a lot of damage. Luckily, they only seems to be a problem for a few weeks each year.

I wonder if Facebook is having a secret war with Apple? Ever since Tim Cook made some derogatory comments about Facebook, the platform quit working on Safari. Coincidence? I think not. Facebook works fine for me when I use Firefox or Chrome, but it freezes, crashes, and uses way too much memory whenever I view it using Safari. This wasn't happening before Tim Cook began publicly mocking Facebook's business model. The Internet was a more enjoyable place when the only people who used it were a few nerds like me. I think the desire to monetize everything has ruined everything.

There is rain in the forecast for next week. Almost everyone in town is hoping for rain, but I still have mixed feelings. Is there still a roof leak? Only time will tell.

Pebbles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2793

It's unusual to have this much rain in August. Usually it is bone dry. The good news is that our yard still looks nice and green. The bad news is that I'm starting to worry about the roof leaking again and Dash is spending way too much time hiding under my desk. Dash slept through the overnight storms, but he definitely didn't like the thunder and lightning that greeted us around sunrise. I had to delay feeding him breakfast, because I was afraid that he might throw up if he ate when he was agitated.

Eventually the rain stopped and she took our morning walk. When I finished my morning smoothie, I got a surprising amount done for such a wet, gray day. I went to the bank, got my new vehicle registration sticker, and went searching for a silicon case for Janet's new iPad. Apple discontinued these cases, so they are in very short supply. I don't know why they quit making them, because they are a perfect match for the new keyboard cover. The Apple Store and all the phone stores have stopped selling these cases, but I found what I was looking for at a Target Superstore. It makes sense. People go to Target to save money. They don't go there to buy overpriced Apple products. There is usually a good supply of Apple stuff at Target because the Apple section of the store gets ignored.

The price of Texas registration stickers keeps going up, while the quality of the stickers themselves keeps going down. It looks like they just print these things out on demand using an ink jet printer now. I always have trouble getting these stickers positioned properly on my windshield. I like them very low, so they won't block my view, but I also like them straight, so they are parallel to the ground.  It's a good thing I have nothing better to do. It took me forever to attach my 2018 sticker to the windshield this afternoon.

It's so disappointing that my shower repairs didn't work. I did a good job of sealing the corners where the shower walls meet the floor. Water is still finding it's way under the tiles unfortunately and now it's harder for this water to get out. I think I've actually made the situation worse. I think my only alternative now is to rip out all the silicon caulk and use traditional tile grout instead. The problem with this is that we'll have to take a bath in the other bathroom for at least a week while the grout dries. I hate washing my hair in a bathtub. The shower is much better.

Dash has seemed pretty healthy this week. His appetite is good and he hasn't thrown up at all. We're not doing anything different, but are making an effort to keep him calm. I think sometimes he gets himself so worked up that he gives himself an upset stomach. The key to keeping Dash calm is just doing whatever he wants. I"m really just a dog butler these days. Actually, I've always kind of been a dog butler.

I hope I don't have as much trouble publishing today's blog entry as I did yesterday. Feedburner wasn't working and I had a lot of problems getting the feed to syndicate to Facebook and Twitter.  We'll see how it goes. I'm not sure I'll be going out to breakfast tomorrow morning. If the rain continues, I"ll just stay home and do my best to keep Dash calm.

Toby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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