Day 4188

The roads and stores didn't seem as crowded today. I wonder where everybody went? Even the park was strangely empty. Maybe all the news stories are right. The lockdown is over and the country has gone on vacation. A vacation actually does sound like a good idea, but Janet and I can't decide where to go.

Today certainly was no vacation. After I finished grocery shopping and running errands, I mowed the grass and cleaned up the yard a bit. I've grown to hate mowing the grass. My electric mower isn't self propelled and it seems to get heavier every year. The yard does look a lot better though. Somehow my Fitbit interprets mowing the grass as cycling. This isn't even close. It is exercise though. I don't think I ever did anything this strenuous at the gym.

I didn't feel like getting up this morning and neither did Dawn. I thought we were going to bond for a while and then Dawn realized that Janet had gone running and she was alone in the house with me. She groaned, hopped off the bed and went out to her dog bed in the kitchen. As soon as I made the bed and went to fix myself some coffee, Dawn reclaimed the bed and went back to sleep. We go back and forth like this all day. When I'm in the bedroom, Dawn is in the kitchen. When I'm in the kitchen, Dawn is in the bedroom.

I heard thunder early this morning, but it never rained at our house. I was hoping that having rain in the vicinity would cool things down, but that didn't happen. It was hot and humid today. It wasn't a great day to do yard work, but it didn't make sense to put things off any longer. The grass would have been even harder to mow next week. I may cut down the remaining dead Photinia trees tomorrow. That's another chore I've put off long enough.

I seriously thought about going to the gym today, but I was already hot and sweaty after our short walk with Dawn, so I convinced myself that continuing on a longer walk couldn't possibly be any worse. I was wrong. I managed to complete my six miles, but I was very slow. I had an excuse though. I had already mowed the grass and was tired before we even started our walks. Hopefully all this pointless activity will keep me fit and healthy. I can't think of any other reason to punish myself like this.

I was briefly glad that I didn't go out to the observatory for the June photography night. I would have been driving back home today and that long drive can seem even worse than mowing the grass. It's weird when even the fun things in your life can fill you with a sense of dread. I love spending time in West Texas and down at Kennedy Space Center. It's getting there that's the problem. I kind of envy the people who live in these places. They just roll out of bed in the morning and they are already there.

I went out and got Chinese take-out for dinner tonight. About once a month this is what we're hungry for. Some of the staff at the restaurant were wearing masks and others weren't. This is probably how the pandemic will end. It will be slow and awkward and nobody will do everything at the same time. I feel stupid now when I go into a store wearing a mask and none of the staff have one on. Let's all get on the same page people. 

With any luck Dawn will get her special outing tomorrow. It's a simple thing, but it's nice to do something that all three of us enjoy.    

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4112

Today was busy. I helped Janet clear away more of the dead Asian Jasmine in the back yard. It's becoming more and more apparant that this stuff is not going to turn green again. My only hope is that the roots are still alive and that we might get some new growth next season. I ran the vacuum cleaner because I promised Janet I would start doing this every week again. I've always thought of dust as a protective coating, but apparently most people don't think this way. The hardest task today was giving the atrium a spring cleaning. It's is almost impossible to pry the broken sliding glass door open wide enough to get inside the atrium these days. If I'm lucky, I can just manage to squeeze through the narrow opening. I'm always afraid that I won't be able to get the door closed again, but with enough pushing and shoving, I"ve been successful so far. I've tried for several years to get the door fixed but parts are no longer available. Nobody makes a replacement for this oversize door either. I never realized how much trouble I was in when the last guy in town who worked on these things died.

The saga of old impossible to replace things continued when I discovered that the video component that I accidentally threw away is no longer manufactured. It's not available anywhere. I even looked on the eBay used market and couldn't find it. Come on guys! It hasn't been that long. It really is frustrating that everything becomes obsolete so quickly now. I've stopped upgrading the system on my computers so I can still run the last stand alone versions of Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite. I'm old school and don't want to pay for subscription software or save my files in the cloud. As a result, I can't use a lot of new software. The industry standard for processing astrophotography files won't run on any of my computers. 

We thought we'd do something different with Dawn today, so we drove her to a different park for her daily walk. This actually worked out pretty well. Dawn is a strange traveler. She is terrified of riding in the car, but is always excited when she arrives at her destination. We had a nice walk. Dawn had lots of energy and wasn't interested in eating grass at all. Janet walked Dawn, because I can never keep up with her when she is excited. I walked along behind and Dawn and Janet were kind enough to wait in the car for me when they were finished. To make the ride home less traumatic, we stopped for an ice cream cone along the way. Dawn loves ice cream.

I didn't take my own longer walk until later in the afternoon. The park was even more crowded today than it was yesterday. On a nice Spring day, it feels like I'm the only one who doesn't believe that Covid is over yet. Luckily, the park is huge and it is quite easy for me to keep to myself. I just don't understand why people like to gather in large groups. I can see getting together with a friend for coffee, but the whole concept of parties has always seemed strange to me. I never had to give up parties for Covid. I never liked them in the first place.

I keep getting messages that time is running out for me to use my 20% off coupon at REI. Today I got an e-mail saying that my discount expires tomorrow. In the past, messages like this would send me directly to the store. Not anymore. I don't need anything from REI. I think it is an encouraging sign that I'm slowly learning to resist the urge to buy. I did get a camera earlier this year and I got that start tracker recently, but I know I'll use these things. The star tracker is practically a requirement for attending the advanced astrophotography workshop later this Spring.

It's going to be a busy week. We'll go visit the rescue Dalmatians tomorrow and then go to the arboretum later in the week. One of these days I'm going to have to go up on the roof. The catkins have started falling from the Oak trees and they can make a huge mess on the roof when it rains if I don't remove them. The catkins are also responsible for the thin layer of sticky yellow dust that covers everyone's cars at this time of year. I like watching all the wildflowers bloom, but a lot of other things associated with Spring are a nuisance. What's the biggest nuisance of all? It's time to mow the grass again.

Doc is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3992

Did I need toilet paper today? Not really. Did I grab a package when I saw the small supply at my grocery store dissapearing in front of my eyes? Absolutely. This is how hoarding starts. Nobody wants to be that person who just found out what everybody else was doing yesterday. Everything else on my grocery list we actually needed. I definitely don't want to wind up with a huge pile of food and supplies blocking the front hallway again.

Today was another day when the rain arrived much later than expected. It was supposed to start raining this morning, so we made sure to take our walk with Dawn earlier than usual. I went to the grocery store earlier than usual and took my afternoon walk at noon for the same reason. Since it is just starting to rain now, I guess all this activity was unnecessary. I don't know why rain bothers me so much. It probably has a lot to do with all the problems I've had with the roof. The roof isn't leaking now though and rain still bothers me. Maybe I just don't like surprises.

I found everything on my grocery list and scored a huge package of toilet paper as a bonus, but I didn't accomplish much after I returned home. It took forever to break down the large box the dehumidifier came in so it would fit in our trash can. It took even longer to clean all the scum out of the collection bucket on the old dehumidifier. After I got the machine looking sparkling new again, it occurred to me that maybe I should have left the oily scum inside the bucket alone. Oil was leaking somewhere and it might have helped the HVAC guy diagnose the problem. 

I was thinking about taking a few pictures with the new camera today, but the thought of rain put a damper on things. There is no urgency anyway. I often leave new things untouched for weeks before I actually begin to use them. One day I will feel a genuine need for this thing and will learn everything I need to know in a matter of hours. Since I bought the camera mainly for launch photography, it might be a while before I need it.

Dawn follows Janet around like glue when she's home. Whenever Janet leaves, Dawn retreats to the bedroom and seldom gets off the bed until Janet returns. Sometimes Dawn will come out to the kitchen when I am fixing her dinner, but even that is not consistent. I keep hoping that Dawn will bond with me, but I think she decided that men weren't to be trusted long ago. She's friendly with me when Janet is around, but when we're alone together Dawn is definitely wary. We'll never know what happened in Dawn's past, but it definitely wasn't good. It's a shame that she doesn't trust me. She's missing out on an afternoon walk that she could have every day.

I wanted to see if the automatic shut-off worked on the new dehumidifier so I let the bucket fill with water all the way to the top. I was apprehensive as the bucket filled, thinking that the living room would soon be filled with water. Everything worked properly though, so I can now leave the machine running all night without worries. This bucket must hold a little more water than the old dehumidifier because it was quite heavy when I eventually emptied it. I see a spill waiting to happen.

If the weather forecast holds, it will be raining when we wake up tomorrow. This means no early morning walk with Dawn. It also means another day of fretting about whether my roof patches will hold up. Did I mention that I don't like rain?

Scooter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3410

The city is having one of their periodic expired medication disposal programs. I think they do this every year, but we always forget about it. This year we are determined to get rid of these old expired pills. I have some that date back to 1999. Most of the unused pills seem to be pain pills. Dentists seem to be the worse about overprescribing these things. When I've had a major dental procedure I might take one or two pain pills. I've never needed a thirty day supply. We filled a shoebox with unused medications. This probably doesn't count as housecleaning though. Pill bottles are small. We'll never notice that they're gone. Dash has a lot of unused medications too. His are still good though. We're going to find a rescue organization that might be able to use them.

I went out to breakfast earlier than usual this morning. There's no reason to wait until 10 AM anymore. I discovered that it's easy to get a table at the trendy restaurant if you go at 8 AM. The place was half empty. This seemed counterintuitive to me, but what do I know about the younger generation. Maybe they all like to eat breakfast late. I do like the Shrimp and Grits at this place. It's nice to know that it's possible to eat here without all the noise and confusion.

A three mile walk has become a regular part of my day. I can't say I really enjoy these solo walks, but I do think you need to stay active. I've certainly got plenty of time. It takes me just about an hour to walk three miles. This still leaves a lot of hours with nothing to do.

I cleared the remaining water off the roof this afternoon. There's more rain on the horizon, but keeping the water level low seems to be the key to avoiding roof leaks. One of the pumps was clogged again with debris from the Oak trees. When the catkins start falling in the Spring, they get sucked up by the pumps. I need to build some sort of cage to prevent this debris from reaching the pumps, but it seems like a lot of trouble. It's almost easier to just clean the pumps out after every rain.

Something bit me last night. The bite doesn't look like a mosquito or a chigger, so it was probably was a spider. I like Spring weather, but I definitely don't like the return of the insects. Since it was a mild Winter, we're seeing a lot of bugs. I'm finding a lot more ants, roaches, water bugs, and spiders than I saw last Winter. Oh, well. I guess we can spray again. I was always worried about insect sprays when the dogs were around.

It's already time to mow the grass again. That didn't take long. This might be the year I finally hire a lawn service. I'm really getting tired of pushing that mower. It's time to rake up all the Winter leaves too. I'm definitely getting someone else to do that. I need to find an activity that gives me pleasure. So far, sleeping seems to be the winner.

Brady is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3391

I stopped by REI on the way to the gym this morning. I had a coupon for 20% off anything in the store, plus my annual REI dividend. This was the day to get a bargain. I couldn't find anything that I wanted and walked away without buying a thing. This is happening more frequently now and I find it perplexing. I don't need anything. I don't need business equipment because there's no business. I don't need clothes because there's nobody to impress. Dash doesn't care what I wear. I don't need more cameras. I've got plenty of shoes. Anything I might buy will just add to the clutter that I'm trying to eliminate. Janet says she feels more or less that same way after she retired. Maybe this just happens as you grow older.

There is a huge storm in South Texas that's been heading our way all day. It must be really moving slowly because it's still not here yet. I've been prepared for rain since I got up this morning. I walked Dash early. Luckily he was in the mood to walk early. Sometimes he isn't. I cleaned the gunk out of the pumps on the roof and made sure they were working properly. I went to the gym about an hour earlier than I usually do. I'm glad that the storm never materialized, but I sure wish that weather was more predictable.

Grey, damp days are always a good time to do chores. I'm good at avoiding things, but eventually it all catches up with you. I reluctantly tried to unclog the large production printer this afternoon. I waited too long. I've lost interest in this thing, but realize that it's just a big pile of useless metal unless I can keep it running. Unfortunately, I ran out of ink before I could get the lines completely unclogged. Now I have to buy more expensive ink. Since I failed to get the printer running, I thought I'd try something easier. I replaced a broken latch on a cabinet door in the bathroom. I also replaced some rusted out screws in the glass shower door frame.

Although Dash took a good walk this morning, he's been very lethargic today. All he wants to do around the house is sleep. It's weird that he can still walk reasonably well in the park, but he can barely stand up at home. He seems to use up all his available energy on his walks and is exhausted when he returns. I'm glad that Janet is still pretty good at getting Dash to take his pills and eat his meals. I couldn't get him to eat anything today.

I've got a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning for a semi-annual physical. Since they want to do new blood work, I won't be able to have breakfast. Do I have my smoothie when I return, or just skip breakfast? Such big decisions these days. I have nothing to complain about this time. I've actually felt pretty healthy during the past six months. I'm always tired, but that's all because of Dash. Anyone would be tired if their dog got them up three times a night. I still have heartburn, but it's very controllable. All I have to do is stop eating Italian food. I hope it's not time for a colonoscopy or anything else unpleasant. I'd just as soon forget about medical things for a while.

Looks like we're going to get some rain tonight. Hopefully, Dash will go outside and pee before the rain starts. I'll turn the pumps on before I go to bed. That's all you can do on a rainy day

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3362

We had a little bit of everything today. There was a light rain when I woke up. About twenty minutes later a line of thunderstorms blew through. There was even some dime sized hail for a while. The severe weather disappeared as quickly as it arrived. By the time we finished breakfast there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The temperature warmed up quickly and it wasn't long before I needed to turn the air conditioner on. I think the high temperature today was almost 80 degrees. This was Texas weather at its finest.

After the storms moved to the East, I thought Dash would enjoy a walk. I was surprised at how tired he seemed. He slept well and seemed in good spirits this morning but he was very slow and stumbled more than usual while we were walking. The same thing happened this evening. Maybe we should have skipped the walks today. It's hard to tell with Dash. One minute he seems fine and a few minutes later he seems exhausted.

It only rained for forty five minutes, but that was enough to fill the roof with water again. I ran the pumps for a few hours and then went up on the roof later in the day to sweep the remaining water away. Removing the standing water quickly seems to be the key to keeping the leak from returning. I'm already seeing a few new tears in the elastomer material. I have a feeling that it's just about hopeless to keep this roof watertight for very long. Two roofing companies are currently working up bids to replace the roof. I'll probably get one more bid before I make a decision. However this ends, I don't think it will be a pleasant experience.

I used the self checkout when I was getting groceries this morning. I had some fresh fruit in a bag with no bar code. When I weighed the fruit at checkout, I thought I'd have to type in some kind of a code number. Nope. The scanner automatically recognized the fruit correctly even though there was no packaging or bar codes. How did it do that? Automation is really getting sophisticated. I wonder if anyone will have a job fifty years from now.

Since it was such a nice day, I washed the car this afternoon. This was probably a futile gesture since it is supposed to rain again on Monday. Removing the water from the roof was probably a futile gesture as well. So far, the one chore that has paid off was giving Dash a bath. After several walks and countless trips outside to pee, he still smells clean.

Maybe I'll start working on my taxes tomorrow. I should have had everything ready for the accountant by now. The more unpleasant the task, the longer I tend to put it off. Amazingly, everything still gets done. It may not get done on time or even done properly, but I'm no slacker. I've already got a long to-do list for tomorrow that probably won't get done either.

Val is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2990

It was so nice to see the sun today. The weather was beautiful. Dash was in a good mood. I even felt like getting up this morning. We need more days like these. After a nice long walk with Dash, I went out for breakfast. I was seated near a table where several employees were talking with their boss about personnel problems. Everyone was trying to make themselves look good and their co-workers look bad. Jeez. I don't think I could ever work in an office again. There is way too much drama for me.

I'm beginning to think I might not be able to work with anyone again. Every time someone dangles a job in front of me, I try to talk them out of it. I've been corresponding with the person who wants me to update their website. When I try to explain the pitfalls of sticking with a flawed concept, I get the dreaded "I appreciate your honesty" response. Usually this just means "why aren't you agreeing with me?" Strangely, the job hasn't gone away, so I may end up doing it after all. Who knows. Maybe they actually do appreciate my honesty.

I was going to repair my dog walking shoes this afternoon, but when I took a closer look at the shoes, it seemed like a waste of time. I should just buy a new pair of boots. I didn't feel like cleaning or going up on the roof, so I wrote a letter to my sister instead. I do this about once a month. I haven't actually spoken to my sister or anyone else in my family in years. Sporadic letters seems like a good way to keep in touch to me. Anything more would be overkill. I truly don't understand how people spend so much time on their phones. What do they talk about? I really have nothing to say.

The weather remained nice for our afternoon walk. If it stays warm, I'm going to have to start mowing the grass again soon. The first time I get out the lawn mower is a good test to see whether I've gotten stronger or weaker during the year. With each passing year, the mower seems a little heavier. Last year I though that 2017 might be my last year pushing the mower. We'll see how it goes this year.

I think allergy season might have started. It's a little early, but my eyes are already itching and I'm sneezing a lot. Janet is already suffering from seasonal allergies, so I guess it's just a matter of time. Every Spring I am miserable until the allergy season passes. I start thinking how nice it would be to live in Arizona, and then I remember all the rattlesnakes and scorpions. Can't we just have nice weather without all the pollen?

I dont have any plans for the weekend. This usually means that I'll do a little cleaning and then end up wondering why things don't look any better. After a house reaches a certain age, I don't think cleaning really helps much.

Tucker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2732

It seems pretty clear that there are no more rats in the atrium, so I decided to tackle the job I've been avoiding for years. Cleaning the atrium is difficult because it is basically an outside space that can only be accessed from the inside. Each time I use the pressure washer, I grow a little wiser. I don't point the nozzle at old paint anymore, because it will peel the paint away. I definitely don't point the nozzle at myself. I learned that the hard way. Today I wore a large hat with a brim to protect my head from falling spiders. I lined the inside of the sliding glass door with rags to soak up the water that I knew would leak into the living room. When we first bought the house, I used to do this job once a year, but when our first pressure washer broke I lost interest and convinced myself that the dust and dirt looked just fine. Originally, the atrium seemed like it would be a nice place to have dinner in the Spring or Fall, but we really weren't prepared for how brutal Texas weather can be. It didn't take us long to realize that eating inside with the air conditioner cranked up was much nicer.

As the pressure hose slowly peeled away layer after layer of dirt and grime, the atrium gradually began to look like it used to be. I tend to forget that this house is sometimes considered architecturally significant. All the other Glen Galloway houses have been featured in magazines. Ours has been destroyed by dogs. Architecture was still important to me when we bought the house. I used to be an architect at some point in the distant past and having a cool house seemed essential. Now, I realize that a house is just a place with a roof over your head that you share with dogs.

Although cleaning the atrium was a dirty job that took most of the afternoon, I'll have to admit that I did feel pretty good when I looked at the final results. The flagstone floors and exposed brick look like new. All I have to do now is put a coat of paint on the wood walls and I'll be done.

I had to move the emergency generator while I was cleaning the atrium and it seemed like a good time to fill it with gas and see if it still worked. The generator started easily and the engine seemed to run just fine but it wasn't producing any electricity. This didn't make sense. The generator was practically brand new. It should work perfectly. Since so many computer problems are solved by turning them off and back on again, I use this technique for everything now. I shut the generator down and then restarted it. Amazingly, that's all it took. I have no idea what the problem was, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with spiders.

Over half of the house still needs to be cleaned, but the pressure washer doesn't intimidate me anymore. Little by little, I'll get this job done. I'm going to wait a while to call the landscaper again because he likes to be paid in cash, but by the Fourth of July, the house and yard should be looking great.

I think I've done enough cleaning for one weekend. Tomorrow I'll either finish my website updates or go to the gym. I doubt if I'll do both. That seems too much like multi-tasking.

Bali is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2644

Weekends are when I realize that I've lost control of the house and yard. I start with a long list of little things I need to improve or repair and when I'm finished, nothing has changed. I was certainly busy today, but it's not clear how much I accomplished. Dot has been peeing on the porch a lot and the garden hose isn't long enough to clean it off properly. I looked in the greenhouse and found several sections of old hose and strung them together to create a single long one. The only problem was that all the rubber gaskets had gone bad and my new hose leaked like a sieve where each connection joined. I would have saved a lot of time if I'd just gone to Home Depot and bought a new longer hose.

Next, I got some bleach and tried to remove some ugly rust stains in the ceiling. The stains are gone, but so is a lot of the old dry paint. I had to get the vacuum out and spend a lot of time cleaning up all the paint chips that had fallen on the floor. Since I had the vacuum cleaner out, I thought I'd clean all the leaves and debris out of the air conditioner floor vents. Leaves blow in the house every time I leave the back door open to take Dot out to pee and they all seem to wind up in the floor vents. Cleaning these vents seemed like it would be an easy job, but the vent covers are sticky and most of them have to be pried off with a screwdriver. Eventually, I got all the vents in the living room and kitchen clean and decided I'd done enough for the day. I spent a lot of time working, but nothing really seems to be improved. It's still the same old house.

I can't figure out the produce section at the grocery store. I love strawberries, but the produce manager has a habit of mixing bad batches of strawberries in with the good ones. I guess he thinks people will be stupid enough to buy the strawberries on the verge of rotting, but I haven't seen anyone buying them yet. Everyone searches through the entire display case, looking for the freshest looking package. I've seen people spend ten minutes picking over these berries. I spend a lot of time too. I usually wind up with a good package of berries, but sometimes I get fooled. I think they pack rotten berries in the middle on purpose where nobody can see them.

While I was getting gas this afternoon, someone came up to me and asked if they could inspect my windshield for rock chips and repair it on the spot. I resisted the urge to scream "this is a scam, get out of this parking lot immediately." Instead I just politely said "no thank you" and the person moved on to another car. I hate random people approaching me. Maybe they're crazy or won't take no for an answer. There are far to many people asking for money these days. I can never figure out whether all the people asking for donations in front of the grocery store are legit. Sure, the girl scouts selling cookies are real, but what about all the others? I have a feeling that some of these people have no connection with a charity at all.

The weather has changed again. This morning it was warm and muggy, but by the time I took Dash on his afternoon walk it had become quite cold. It feels like a storm is on the way, but the weather app on my phone still says that it will be 72 and partly cloudy tomorrow. Have I mentioned that the weather app on my phone is basically worthless.

The time changes tonight. This means that when we wake up at 7 AM tomorrow, it will already be 8 AM and I'll spend the rest of the day trying to catch up on things. Why do we even have Daylight Saving Time? I don't know anybody who likes it. Maybe it served some purpose a hundred years ago, but I don't think artificially shifting the time around makes much sense now. Trump seems to like abolishing things. Maybe he could just abolish Daylight Savings Time. That would probably get some bipartisan support.

Tyson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2539

There's a small Cuban restaurant in the neighborhood I've always been meaning to try. Today, when I passed the place on my way to get groceries, I noticed a TV satellite truck out front and a news crew setting up for an interview. I'm sure they were going to ask the restaurant owner what he thought about Castro's death. It seemed weird that world events would have an impact on my small neighborhood, but that's the world we live in today. I made a mental note to watch the local news this evening, but I quickly forgot. I guess I'll never know why the satellite truck was parked in front of the restaurant, but I still need to stop by and try a Cuban sandwich sometime.

There was a broken hinge on the rear door that I needed to fix today. I thought this would be an easy task. All I needed to do was replace three rusted screws and reattach the hinge to the door. I hadn't counted on the fact that my body is falling apart. I had to reach above my head to extract the rusty screws. I can easily extend my left hand above my head, but my left wrist is very weak because of carpal tunnel. My right wrist is much stronger, but I have trouble extending that arm fully because of my dislocated shoulder. Just reaching up and securing the hinge with three new screws turned out to require much more effort than I thought it would. Getting old is a bitch.

I had better luck repairing a broken iPhone case a little later in the day. This task required that I remove six tiny hex screws with a watchmaker's tool and then use a drop of superglue to repair a crack in the bezel of the case. I successfully made the repair without losing any of the tiny screws or getting superglue on my fingers. I don't know what this proves, except that maybe I need to stick to jobs that require finesse rather than strength.

I found a spare external hard drive in the office this morning and instead of taking it to the storage warehouse like I usually do, I decided to use it to create a Time Machine drive for the laptop that I've been playing with this week. I don't know why I never backed up this laptop before. I've had the thing for years. I defragmented the laptop drive while I was at it and then unplugged everything and put the laptop back in a drawer. I probably won't boot the thing up again until I need it to write a blog post during a power outage.

Dot was in good spirits today, although I did have a bit of a mess to clean up during the night. I debated whether to wake Janet up and ask for help, but she and Dash were sleeping peacefully so I managed to clean Dot up by myself. I'm getting better at this, but I'm sure not getting enough sleep. All I want these days is an uninterrupted eight hours of sleep.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2455

It's weird. Last year on September 3rd, I took a picture of a dragonfly. I haven't been able to capture one since. These critters are hard to photograph, since they move so fast and seldom perch on anything for very long. Imagine my surprise when I got my second picture of a dragonfly on September 3rd again. This must be a good day for dragonflies. I was waiting for the sun to set down by the lake and a dragonfly landed right in front of me. It's pretty safe to say that I won't photograph another one until next year at this time. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised at this strange coincidence. I've been blogging long enough to realize that a lot of things happen the same way year after year.

If I go back and read a post from exactly one year earlier, I'll often find that I ate the same thing for breakfast, dealt with exactly the same dog problems, and worked on virtually identical projects.  Often when it rains, I'll discover that it rained on the same day one or two years earlier as well. Am I living some sort of real life version of Ground Hog Day? It's hard to tell sometimes.

Today was one of those day where it seemed like I was busy all day long, and yet at the end of the day I had trouble thinking of anything I actually did. Weekends are like this a lot. There are so many mindless little chores to do that a whole day can go by and you don't think you've accomplished much of anything. Hey, the toilets are clean again. There are clean sheets on the bed. We have a fresh supply of groceries. There were other chores as well, but you get the idea.

The reason I was down at the lake at sunset was that today provided a good opportunity to see a thin crescent moon and three planets grouped together low in the Western sky right after sunset. I did manage to find the moon, but there was far too much ground haze to see Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury. Finding a day with really clear skies all the way to the horizon is even rarer than photographing a dragonfly. I read somewhere recently that one third of the entire world can no longer see the milky way at night because of urban light pollution. I can believe it. I haven't been able to see the milky way or any of the fainter viable stars for decades. If you like astronomy, it's probably a good idea not to live in a large city.

Dot seemed tired today. Maybe it was just me who was tired. Dash kept waking me up last night when he started squirming around during a dog dream and ended up pushing me off the bed with his feet. I sleep a lot better when both dogs sleep well. I didn't do so well getting Dot outside to pee in the morning either. She ended up peeing on her blankets before I could get the harness on her. No harm done though. The blankets needed to be washed anyway and now everything is clean again.

I haven't looked at my stock portfolio in a long time, because it was just too discouraging. I looked today for some reason and was pleasantly surprised to discover that things are actually looking up again. The past three months have been great. We haven't completely erased last year's carnage, but some of the decisions made earlier this year turned out to be good ones. If this proves anything it is that I should quit fretting about everything on a day-to-day basis. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen anyway.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2421

Sunday is the one day of the week where I feel like I'm making an honest effort to stay healthy and fit. In the Winter I feel winded, but on a hot Summer day like today, I feel exhausted. I get up early and take Dot out to pee while everyone else is still asleep. As soon as she lifts her head and starts looking around, I know it's time. If we're lucky, she'll go back to bed and I can sleep for another 45 minutes or so. When Dash wakes up, we all get up for good because he immediately goes out to his bowl in the kitchen and starts barking. As soon as the dogs have been fed, we take Dot on a walk around the block. She follows Dash, so we walk slowly with Dash in the lead. This short walk is enough for Dot, but Dash needs more. I make the bed when we get home and then take Dash out again on a much longer walk. It's weird how quickly the temperature rises at this time of the morning. Often it is ten degrees warmer by the time we return.

I've started going to the gym right after Janet and I finish our breakfast. If I wait until the afternoon, I start thinking of excuses not to go. I wonder if I have any endorphins in my body at all. Exercising certainly doesn't seem to release them. My heart rate goes up. I sweat. My muscles get sore. I never get an "exercise high" though. It just seems like a lot of hard work. Today, in addition to my regular routine, I used the heavy bag for a while. Jeez, my shoulder has gotten much worse. I could hardly punch with my right hand at all. It's probably time to go to physical therapy again, but I don't know when I would find the time.

There may not be any euphoria in exercise, but it's certainly better than vacuuming. Vacuuming drives me crazy, mostly because the thin, rubber backed rugs we use to keep Dot from slipping in the house are continually getting sucked into the vacuum, causing me to have to turn the thing off and clear the jam. It takes forever to clean the house this way. I can't ignore the rugs, because they're the main reason the house is always so dirty. I wish I could just throw the rugs in the washing machine, but many of them are too big. Even the small ones are problematic, because the rubber backing comes off in the dryer, causing a huge mess.

Some days I mow the grass as well, but not today. I was too tired. At this time of year, it's hard to find things to photograph. The animals in the park seem to have gone into hiding and most of the wildflowers are gone. I took a picture of my boxing gloves at the gym, but then I realized that I'd already used this image several times before. I've photographed Bindweed flowers before as well, but not these particular blooms. Is it important to have a new image every day? I'm sure that few people care, but looking for this image does give my day a certain structure. Today, two Bindweed flowers will have to do.

It's hard to believe that it's August already. Where has this year gone? The dogs get their monthly heartworm pill tomorrow. Janet and Dot both have birthdays in August. It's time to get my car safety inspected again. With any luck the roof will get fixed in August as well. I wonder whether the roofers will show up next week as they promised?.

Selby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2406

This morning, we took Dot all the way around the block again. She did well. This short journey is still only a small fraction of our normal walk, but we're trying not to overdo things. Dot has an amazing ability to bounce back, but she doesn't know her own limits. The goal is to gradually build up her strength and prevent muscle atrophy while avoiding any further injuries. It's a balancing act.

I mowed the grass this morning to avoid having the worst looking house on the block. I think I should get extra points for doing the chore myself. A few folks up the street push their own mowers, but just about everyone else uses a landscaping service. Mowing isn't fun, but it is good exercise. My activity tracker says I burn more calories mowing than I do at the gym.

When I put the mower away, I noticed that the portable generator was covered with dust and spiderwebs. I bought the thing a couple of years ago and we haven't had a major power outage since. If this unused generator has brought me luck, then it was a good purchase. Since I hadn't started the thing in over six months, I drug the heavy machine out in the back yard and fired it up. I'd test it more often if it had an electric starter. The generator starts with a manual pull cord and I have a bad shoulder, so that's why it gathers dust. With a little effort, I got it running for a few minutes and then put it away. We'll probably see each other again in another six months.

Dealing with the generator made me realize how many other things there were that I hadn't looked at in a long time. I recharged batteries in a two-track field recorder that hasn't seen use since I used to shoot videos at major trade shows and then moved on to my back up still cameras. If I kept all the gadgets in my office charged and ready to go, it would be a full time job.

I need to decide whether to take Dot back to therapy next week. She's been doing surprisingly well for the past two weeks without it. I think walking in the underwater treadmill helps her, but she's become so difficult to transport that frequently the long ride in the car cancels out any benefits she might receive from therapy. Also I wonder if there might be a placebo effect to taking her to the vet every week. I know that I feel better when I have a chance to talk with someone knowledgeable about Dot's condition, but maybe the whole experience helps me more than it helps Dot. This would all be a lot easier if Dot could talk. I'll have to think about this. Dot is doing pretty well without the therapy though.

I'll probably go to the gym tomorrow. Like Dot's therapy, I wonder if going to the gym once a week does any good at all. Logic tells me than I probably need to work out a lot more often. Maybe there's a placebo effect going on here as well. If I think I'm doing some good, maybe my body actually believes me. It's complicated. I do know that water therapy once a week and a good workout once a week is all I have time for. I guess I can live with that.

Laura is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2391

Vet appointments are taking longer and longer. A procedure that used to take thirty to forty-five minutes took us three hours today. Part of the problem was that it was a holiday weekend and a lot of people needed to have their dogs examined before the cancer center closed for the Fourth of July. The other problem was that the technicians wanted to wait until Dot calmed down before taking her blood pressure. She never did calm down. I can't complain though. Every time I spend any time in the cancer center lobby, I meet other people who have traveled for hours, just so their dogs can see one of the center's oncologists. I met someone who drove all the way from Louisiana today for their appointment. I only had to spend fifteen minutes on the road. You meet the nicest people at a specialty veterinary clinic. These people make all sorts of personal sacrifices so their pets can get the care they need. I admire these people. We trade stories about dealing with cancer while we wait for our turn with the oncologist. It's kind of humbling. I realize quickly that the problems I'm having with Dot's incontinence and neurological issues are minor compared to what others are dealing with. We try to give each other encouragement, but cancer can be a tough adversary.

I don't know why I returned to my original breakfast restaurant this morning. I thought I was over that place. I guess I was hoping that it would rise like a Phoenix and return to its former glory. Nope. I think they are going to survive, but it's not the same place anymore. I've ordered each item on the menu so many times that I can tell they are cutting corners now. Instead of cubing fresh potatoes and making their own hash browns, they appear to be buying a prepared, frozen product from a food service provider. The sauces taste a bit different. I don't recognize any of the staff anymore. I think they've got a new chef too. Don't get me wrong. The food isn't bad, but it's not something you'd get addicted to like I did before. I'm not sure if I'll be back again.

I tried to get a head start on the weekend chores by mowing the grass today. When I was mowing the front lawn, I noticed some tire tracks in the yard. Probably some drunk driver jumped the curb again and plowed through the yard after the bars closed. This used to happen with alarming regularity, until the city finally installed some warning signs just before a gentle curve in the road about 300 yards away. People would fall asleep at the wheel and miss the turn, sending their car on a trajectory that sent them straight through our yard. The damage was minor this time, but there have been some serious accidents in the past. Once, a car hit our neighbor's house. Another time, a car drove straight into a tree.

If you have a dog that is frightened of fireworks, I sympathize. The Fourth of July isn't a holiday that a lot of dog owners look forward to. Dot used to be terrified of fireworks, but they aren't much of a problem anymore since she's almost deaf now. We haven't gone out and watched a fireworks show for a long time. The noise doesn't bother me, but the mosquitoes and chiggers do. Why anyone would want to sit outside getting bitten by mosquitoes while watching some minor explosions off in the distance is beyond me.

The year is half over. The dogs had their monthly heartworm pill this morning. I'll need to get my car safety inspected soon. I hope this month is uneventful with no financial surprises. Some cooler weather would be nice too. Dot is having a tough time with this heat.

Bentley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2385

Janet asked me whether I'd ever heard of GoPro cameras the other day and of course I answered "Oh sure, I've had one for years." When I said this, I realized that I hadn't actually used the camera in years either. Today, I found the thing gathering dust in a drawer and fired it up to see if it still worked. Since I tend to be an early adopter, this was one of the first GoPro's ever made. There was no WiFi, it had a cryptic menu, and I'd lost the software for it a long time ago. Getting this ancient thing going again was a natural weekend project.

You may wonder why I bought the GoPro in the first place, since I don't snowboard, water ski, or ride bicycles down mountains. I think my original intent was to mount the camera on one of the dogs and film them while they were running around at the dog park. The dog camera never happened. There were a few ugly dog fights at the park we usually went to and we quit taking our dogs to public dog parks. Then both dogs got cancer and our lives changed dramatically. GoPro cameras are still a cool concept though. If they had been invented thirty years ago, I would have used them a lot.

Do you ever think about all the repetitive things you do everyday? Every time I brush my teeth, make the bed, clean out the lint trap in the dryer, tie my shoes, check to make sure I have my keys before I leave the house, and turn off the computer each night, some kind of muscle memory kicks in and I realize that I have done these things exactly the same way thousands and thousands of times. Weekend chores are repetitive by nature and I sometimes think that I go through entire days repeating actions I have done for so long that I don't even think about them. I don't decide to brush my teeth or make the bed each day. It just happens.

Cleaning up Dot's poop is rapidly becoming one more of those automatic muscle memory things I do everyday without even thinking. I've gotten so much better at dealing with the mess since her incontinence started. Now, there are poop bags, enzyme cleaners, and disposable pads pre-positoned everywhere. I've learned to recognized the breathing changes and telltale motion in her tail that indicates an accident is about to happen. I don't have to do nearly as much laundry as I did in the beginning, because I've learned what to expect. It's kind of amazing how adaptable people can be when it is necessary. This is why I continue to faithfully do the shoulder strengthening exercises my physical therapist recommended several years ago. I understand how easy it would be to get lazy and just adapt to using one arm instead.

I don't want to get lazy. That's why I'm going to the gym tomorrow, even though I'd probably rather just read a book. I don't want to get sick either. I saw something on TV today that said the third leading case of death in the United States is medical mistakes. I'm sure this is true. Questionable medical procedures killed my Mom. I had a close call myself when I was given two medications that should have never been taken together. How was I to know. You trust that your doctor knows what they are prescribing. We live in a world where we don't trust our politicians, have lost faith in our drinking water, and worry that our doctor is going to replace the wrong knee. I'm not sure there is a solution for this, but it does explain why some people smoke a lot of weed.

Shiner is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2357

I'm convinced that calling tech support is a modern form of torture. I called AT&T today to ask then how to return the new router they sent me. I don't think I need it now, because everything has been working great for the past three days. "You can't send the new router back because we have already reconfigured your account to use it," the tech guy said. "When did you do this," I asked? "About three days ago," said the technician. "I think you solved my problem, I said. "I don't need the new router." "But aren't you already using it," the guy said. "No, I haven't even taken it out of the box yet," I replied. There was a moment of silence. The technician seemed confused and said he needed to run some tests. I knew what was going on. When they had reconfigured my service, they had inadvertently cleared my routing path, which is all I wanted them to do in the first place.

The tech guy still seemed confused that the old router was still running fine with the new settings that were designed for the replacement equipment. "I want you to reboot the router and I'll see if it still shows up in my system with the same serial number." What? Why would I want to do that? I would have thought that the serial number was permanently linked to the equipment. "Oh, no," said the technician, "we can change that." "But if the serial number changes, nothing on my network will recognize it anymore and I'll have to reconnect everything," I said. "There's a 50/50 chance of that," said the technician. Then he added, "You'll have to reboot the router sooner or later anyway, so why not just do it now." I hate these guys.

The conversation continued for quite a while and it was eventually determined that I could keep the old router if I wanted, since it was still working for some unexplained reason. I could also keep the new router as a spare, if I paid AT&T a $150 penalty fee. I think they should have been paying me $150 since I had to spend my entire morning dealing with this ridiculous problem.

I think I've found a dog walker to help with Dot while Janet is away on vacation. This is a relief, since I had no idea how I was going to get Dot out of the house. Walking Dot is a team effort now. She will only walk if she is following Dash, but one person can't walk Dot and Dash together anymore, since he wants to walk so much faster than she does. Typically, I walk Dash, stopping every twenty or thirty feet so Dot can catch up. Janet follows behind with Dot, holding up her rear legs with the Help 'Em Up Harness. It's a slow process, but it works. The walks are an essential part of Dot's therapy. Without them, she would probably be bedridden by now.

It didn't rain today, even though the humidity hovered near 100%. There was a mist in the air when we walked the dogs before breakfast, but by afternoon the mist had turned to steam. It's still incredibly muggy. I've emptied the bucket in the dehumidifier two times already today. Dot can't handle the heat anymore, so we have to cut her walks even shorter on hot, humid days like today. I'm not looking forward to dealing with this situation in July. It may have seemed hot today, but this was nothing. Texas Summers can be brutal.

I'm not sure if I accomplished anything today or not. The Internet is up and running, but I'm not sure why. The refrigerator and pantry are full again, but the house is still dirty and there is lots of water on the roof. I'm glad I found somebody to help with Dot next month. Maybe everything will be OK.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2350

The mosquitoes are terrible this year. I must have been bitten a dozen times while we were walking the dogs this morning. Mosquitoes always seems to carry something nasty. Last Summer everyone was worried about West Nile Virus. This year it's the Zika Virus. Of course, the dogs always have to worry about getting heartworms from a mosquito bite. That's why Dot and Dash continue to take a heartworm pill at the first of every month. I wish there was a place where mosquitoes weren't a problem, but I don't think this place exists. Even when I was growing up in Alaska, there was a terrible mosquito problem in the Summer. I don't know how you get rid of the insects without harsh chemicals. We've tried UV bug zapper lights that didn't work very well. One year we had a weird contraption in the back yard that generated a cloud of carbon dioxide gas that was supposed to cause the mosquitoes to move elsewhere. It didn't work at all. There is an organic spray that isn't toxic to the dogs that you can apply with a garden hose. We tried this last year and it worked well until the first big rain washed it all away. I'm not sure what remedy I'm going to try this year, but I'm sure I'll try something. I'm tired of getting bitten by the little beasts.

Today seemed more like a work day than a Saturday. I spent the morning completing a major website update involving adding 73 new pictures with captions. I probably could have waited until Monday to finish this update, but I knew that I'd enjoy Sunday a lot more without a deadline hanging over my head. It took a while to make all the changes, but the job is done. Now I can spend the rest of my weekend vacuuming, cleaning up dog poop, and other fun things.

Butter was on my grocery list today. I always get butter at Sam's Club because you save a lot of money buying in bulk. Unfortunately, I should have looked at the packaging a little more carefully before I made today's purchase. Instead of regular sticks of butter, I had gotten huge logs of butter that must have been meant for restaurants. Jeez, how was I to know. The packaging looked almost identical. I had to drive all the way back to the store and exchange the restaurant sized logs of butter for some regular sized sticks.

It took forever to balance my checkbook this afternoon. I used to do this routinely, but now I despise the task and only bother to straighten things out every two or three months. Inevitably, I discover that I've entered something erroneously in Quickbooks that causes a mysterious discrepancy, For a writer, I'm atrociously bad at typing. It typically takes me longer to proofread my articles than it does to write them. Finding math errors I've made takes even longer. If I had more money in the bank, I wouldn't even bother to balance my checkbook at all. Tracking down missing pennies is a waste of time.

I think I could write a book on the nuances of cleaning up dog poop. As Dot's incontinence has gotten worse, my cleanup technique has gotten better. Things that are hard to clean like carpets must always be protected. There are lots of small rugs now that can be thrown in the washing machine after being hosed off outdoors. There are lots of comfy acrylic dogs blankets that can be washed over and over again. Under the blankets are rubberized pads, in case she pees as well. When Dot goes to sleep, I lift up her butt a bit and slide a disposable puppy training pad underneath. If I'm lucky, I can slide the soiled pad out, roll it up and throw it away, without even waking her up when she poops in her sleep. I buy these disposable pads in 100 count boxes now. That's what life has become.

Casey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day