Day 4968

Today was a little weird, although it started normally enough. Like always, we took our sunrise walk with Dawn during the coolest part of the day. Unfortunately, it was already 85 degrees when we got up. It was still cool enough for a pleasant walk though. When we got home I made the bed and ate my breakfast. I was about ready to go to the gym when I heard a strange noise in the living room. When I went to investigate I saw Dawn perched on the edge of one of the chairs in the living room and her dog bed in the kitchen had been torn up. I don't like her sitting on that chair because it is near a glass coffee table and I'm always afraid she might cut herself if she tries to jump off the chair. This has happened before, but not very frequently.

I led her back to the bedroom on a leash and gated her in the back of the house where it was safer. Unfortunately this didn't solve the problem. A few minutes later I found her cowering under the sink in Janet's bathroom. I led her back to the bed again and this time she calmed down. I don't know whether noises from the machines tearing down the nearby house scared her or whether she might have had a mild seizure. It's hard to tell with Dawn. She's scared of all sorts or things, but she has also had a seizure once before.

I didn't want to leave her alone, so I stayed at the house until Janet returned home. I actually got quite a bit done. I did a load of laundry, paid some bills, took care of my August bookkeeping, and wrote a letter to my sister. Dawn was calm and mostly sleeping during this time. Whatever was bothering her only lasted about ten minutes.

I think she was bothered by the demolition noises. They are bothering me too. It has taken two days to tear down this house. Probably because it was very well made in the first place. It still seems odd to me that this is the house that is coming down. I always thought it was one of the nicest houses on the street. There are shabbier houses nearby, but they are all currently occupied by renters. I really miss the days when the people who built these homes in the 1950's actually lived in them.

When Janet returned home I went to the gym. I really wish that my gym hadn't changed management. There are lots of personal trainers now and they must all be on commission. I try not to look at them while I work out because they will inevitably try to engage you in conversation and make their pitch for why they think you need an individualized program. Forget it guys. I just come here to get my Fitbit steps when it's too hot to walk in the park and maybe shoot a few baskets. I've recently added a few upper body exercises to my routine, but I definitely don't need a trainer. As soon as it cools down a bit I'll return to walking in the park.

Since I got a late start today, I arrived home a lot later as well. It wasn't long before Dawn started barking at me for her dinner. She's really bold when Janet is around and seems to like to boss me around. Things change quickly when Janet is away though. I wish I knew what was going on in Dawn's mind. She's a very strange dog. I'm quite fond of her, even though I'm apparently not her favorite person.

It got up to 106 degrees today. Sadly it is going to get even hotter later in the week. I need to remember that this too will pass. Sooner or later I'm going to be complaining about the cold again. The electric bill arrived today and it was even worse than I expected. At least the house is staying cool though.

Snoopy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4553

Our heat wave continues. It's hard to get very interested in doing anything when it's so hot outside. It never realy cooled down last night and was still warm when we took Dawn on her sunrise walk. This was still the best part of the day. As the sun got higher in the sky the temperature just kept rising.

We always have a big breakfast on weekends and as soon as we finished I started on my long walk. I soaked my hat in water before I left the house and hoped for the best. It's a shame that my gym isn't open on Sunday anymore. This always used to be my favorite day to go to the gym. Oh, well. The walk wasn't bad for the first two miles, but by by the time I reached the halfway point and started heading home again, it was getting pretty hot. I got my steps though. Somehow it still seems important to make an effort.

I was informed when I bought the dishwasher that I had a 48 hour window after delivery to inspect it for damage. After that, I'm stuck with the thing whether it works or not. I called customer service this morning to try to get an extension. I explained that I didn't want to take the dishwasher out of the box until someone knowledgable arrived to install it. I wouldn't even know what to look for if there was some kind of internal or mechanical damage. I guess my explanation made sense, because the service guy gave me an extension until Tuesday afternoon after talking to his supervisor. It seems like you have to talk to your supervisor before you can do anything these days. Hopefully I can get a plumber to install the dishwasher tomorrow. I really want to put this chapter in my life behind me.

Dawn did get her Sunday outing today, but it was a bit different. It was way too hot to take our regular walk in the park on the hill, so we just let her walk around in the grass and sniff things for a few minutes before heading for the ice cream store. This seemed fine to Dawn. She peed, smelled a few bushes, and headed back to the car. I thought the ice cream store would be crowded today since it was so hot, but there was only one car ahead of us. Not many people were out and about at all. The roads were pretty quiet. I guess most people just stayed inside today. I can't say that I blame them. The only time we saw many people today was when we took Dawn on her sunrise walk. I guess we aren't the only folks who realized this is the is the only decent time to go outdoors during a heat wave.

Whenever I try to take a nap on the bed when Janet isn't home, Dawn gets up and leaves the room. She sits just outside the bedroom door and watches to see if I'm still there. If I don't leave in a timely fashion she eventually starts to cry. Not surprisingly, this makes me feel bad. Today I just took my nap on the sofa in the living room. Dawn stayed in the bedroom and seemed happy enough. I wish I knew what caused this behavior. I'm a normal member of the family when Janet is in the house. When Janet is gone, I'm someone to be feared. The behavior changes instantly as soon as Janet enters the front door. It's going to be interesting when Janet goes on vacation. Dawn eventually calmed down the last time Janet went on vacation, but it took several days.

I thought about taking the Havahart trap outside today since the rat is probably still around somewhere. I almost instantly realized that this was a terrible idea, since all the trap would catch is squirrels. There seem to be hundreds of squirrels in our yard since we have large trees. I think I have distant memories of trapping squirrels before when I was trying to catch mice. Squirrels are always eating and they seem to love whatever I bait the trap with.

I'm not sure if I'll be visiting the Dalmatian kennel tomorrow. It all depends. I have a feeling that I'll be sitting around waiting for the plumber most of the day. This is assuming that I can even get a plumber to come out tomorrow. We'll see. I'm trying to remain optimistic at this point.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day