Day 3217

This was one of those day when you couldn't help but wonder what was going to go wrong next. The relentless rain has caused the roof to start leaking again. Dash was restless because he wasn't able to take his walks. We had lots of pooping in the house today. During breakfast, the Internet, phones, and TV all went out. Later in the day I discovered that lightning had struck a major AT&T facility and started a fire. Most of Dallas and Fort Worth is still without service. If that wasn't enough, the temperature was in the low forties all day. This was the coldest and wettest October 15th on record.

There isn't much you can do when it's raining cats and dogs and your Internet and TV are out. I was finally able to connect the TV to an antenna so I could receive a few over-the-air stations and I can still connect to the Internet over 4G using my phone. U-verse and WiFi are gone though. Who knows when service will be restored.

I felt sorry for Dash today. Every time he went outside to pee, he got soaked. I kept a towel by the door so I could dry him off when he came back inside. I'm glad he still pees outside. When we were dealing with Dot's incontinence, it seemed like the pee often made a bigger mess than the poop. I could tell that Dash really missed his walks today. Even though he has to wear a knee brace for a partial cruciate tear and rubber boots to keep his paws from bleeding, the walks are still special. This is probably his one opportunity during the day to sniff things and feel like a normal dog again.

Every time I hook the TV up to an external antenna, I wonder who watches these over-the-air stations. It's definitely a weird selection. We can receive ABC and CBS, but NBC is too far away, since the transmitter is located in Fort Worth. The signal from PBS is too weak to receive and I don't know where the rest of the channels originate from. There seem to be a lot of Asian channels, including one Vietnamese channel. QVC has an over the air channel and so do several televangelists. No wonder people still pay for cable. Watching over the air television is like visiting the Twilight Zone.

I'd like to think that things will improve tomorrow, but I'm not counting on it. According to the weather forecast there won't be a break in the rain for at least 48 hours. They say it might stop raining for a little while on Wednesday, but then it will resume again for the rest of the week. I just hope we don't lose power. I was bored today, but at least it was nice and warm inside. I don't even want to think about spending the week without power. It's very cold outside.

When the mail came today, it was so soggy that I couldn't even open the letters. I set everything on baking trays so it could dry. Five hours later, most of the mail was still soggy. I haven't even been able to call AT&T about our U-verse service because their customer service lines are down as well. Hopefully, something will improve tomorrow. Dash keeps looking at me like he expects me to stop the rain. I keep trying to explain to him that I don't have any superpowers.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3198

Another day dominated by weather. We had to postpone our morning walk because of rain. I hate to do this because Dash becomes confused when his routine changes. I really didn't have a choice though. I put the bucket back in the living room because some of the showers were pretty intense. So far, I don't see any signs of a water leak. That could change at any time. I still don't know what triggers this leak. Nobody else does either because the roofers still haven't returned my calls.

I started to see some blue sky right after lunch, so I thought it might be a good time to take Dash on a walk. Since the weather seemed to be improving, it never occurred to me that there was another storm right over the horizon. When we were almost a mile away from the house, the sky quickly became very dark and it began to pour. Dash and I both got soaked. There was little point in turning around since we were already at the halfway point of our walk. Dash continued his slow, steady pace all the way home. He didn't even seem to be aware it was raining.

I was very aware that we were getting wet. It was raining so hard that I thought my Apple Watch might be ruined. I don't think the early model that I wear is very waterproof. Eventually we made it home and I spent the next twenty minutes drying Dash off. I think there's more rain in the forecast. Needless to say, I'm really getting tired of this.

I watched part of a live Phillips auction on my computer this morning. I wanted to get an idea of what to expect. The auction process was mesmerizing. Everything happens so fast. If you blink you miss something. It was impossible to guess what people were interested in. Some items sold for a lot more than I expected and others received no bids at all. A lot of money changed hands very, very quickly.

We found a tick on Dash this morning. This shouldn't be happening because he's taking Bravectco. We were a little nervous about removing the tick, but it had to be done. As expected, Dash started to bleed, although it wasn't as bad as I expected. I sure wish he didn't have to take blood thinners. Even the smallest problem can end up being dangerous.

The roofers never replied to my enquiries yesterday, but the vintage guitar folks did. I guess all this proves is that guitar players are nicer than roofers. The guitars still haven't sold, but the store seems optimistic. I'll sure be glad when all these sales have been completed. All this uncertainty makes me nervous.

We seem to be getting an enormous number of telemarketing calls. It's irritating. I don't know whether my number has been hacked or if this is just what happen prior to an election. I'm sure that a lot of these robocalls are political. I guess I could pick up the phone and find out what is going on, but that's the last thing I want to do. If you answer a telemarketer's call, you'll immediately wind up on ten more lists.

Suki is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3175 - Labor Day

There wasn't a lot of labor taking place at our house today. It rained all day. Sometimes the best thing to do on a day like this is nothing at all. Dash did get his walks, thanks to the weather radar app on my phone. I don't know how I used to survive without weather radar. Even on wet, dreary days like this, there are usually opportunities to walk your dog. It's all a matter of timing.

Janet went to the gym, but I didn't feel like doing much of anything. I ended up watching a Strange Inheritance marathon for quite a while. It's fascinating how ordinary people often end up with extraordinary things. One of today's episodes was about a family who had a Rembrandt hanging on their dining room wall for decades and nobody knew what it was. When the parents died, the kids took a lot of their stuff to an auction house that specialized in estate auctions. Even the auctioneer didn't realize that he had an old master painting. Several weeks before the auction they put everything on their website where the painting attracted the attention of three European art dealers. The bidding started at $500 and quickly went to six figures. When the bidding was over, the lost Rembrandt sold for over a million dollars. It turned out to be genuine too. There were other episodes about a family who inherited a zoo and then there was the guy who inherited a huge collection of army tanks. There is nothing strange or valuable in my family tree. I'm pretty sure of that.

Dash got wet on one of today's walks, so we decided it was the perfect opportunity to give him a bath. Bathing a dog who can barely stand up is not an easy task. I think I got more water on me today than Dash did. Dash definitely needed a bath. He pees on his feet a lot these days. After we washed and dried him off, he definitely looked and smelled cleaner. Next on the list is to get his nails trimmed again. That's going to be a lot harder than a bath.

Today's heavy rains mean that the grass is going to start growing again. I was kind of hoping that I was done for the year. I should have known better. The weather is unpredictable here. It's not uncommon to still be mowing grass in December. I'm going to have to go up on the roof again too. I don't think I'll do this tomorrow. According to the forecast, it's supposed to keep raining.

If tomorrow is as wet as today, I'm going to have to come up with a plan. I'm not sure if I can tolerate doing absolutely nothing for two days in a row. It's a good thing that I have a high tolerance for lethargy, because I think this might be a very slow week.

We'll see what happens. I could wake up to sunshine tomorrow. I just hope that whenever I do wake up that I've been sleeping for a long time. Let's try for six hours. Waking up every two hours to take Dash outside is wearing me out.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3015

All day rain. That's all you need to say about days like today. I didn't even attempt to walk Dash this morning. The rain hadn't started yet when I woke up, but as slow as Dash moves these days, I knew we would be drenched by the time we returned. It didn't take long for the storm to arrive. Dash was predictable. He needed to pee, but wouldn't even stick his head out the back door. I kept trying to tell him that this was going to go on for a long time. Unfortunately, he still thinks I can stop the rain.

It didn't take long for cabin fever to set in. Dash was restless and so was I. There's not much to do in a small house on a rainy day. Dash kept going to his food bowl and I kept turning the TV on and off again. I don't know why I kept expecting to find something interesting. There's never anything interesting on daytime TV.

I kept checking the weather radar, looking for a gap in the cloud cover, but the rain was pretty steady. Around 3 PM the rain stopped for a while and I decided to take Dash for an afternoon walk. We walked for about fifteen minutes and then the rain started again. I don't know why I thought we'd be able to make it home. Dash is really slow. We got wet, but at least there wasn't any thunder and lightning.

I dried Dash off, changed my clothes, and watched the stock market lose most of yesterday's gains. I can't recall any really bad news today. Everyone is just jittery. I should stop fretting about the market. I certainly can't change anything.

I'm surprised at the number of people who say they are going to leave Facebook. Why are these people surprised that Facebook is selling their information? Jeez. What else has Facebook got to sell?  Wait until they discover that Alexa and Siri are listening to everything they say. I doubt that many of these outraged people will actually leave Facebook. That would be like me telling someone I was going to give up ice cream or bacon. Social media is here to stay and privacy left the building a long time ago.

I wonder how long it's going to take the roofers to get to me now. Every day of rain probably delays them another three weeks. It's amazing how long this has gone on. Occasionally, I'll look at old blog posts and realize that I've been dealing with this roof problem for over five years. I've still got buckets handy, but luckily there are no active leaks at the moment. The roof is constructed in layers. I worry when the top layer breaks, but water has to penetrate three more layers before it can get inside. We've got another day of heavy rain tomorrow and then hopefully I can start to clean things up.

I'm tired of fixing things. I need to find a good book or a TV series to binge watch on Netflix. I used to be a voracious reader, but it's difficult for me to pick up a book anymore. I wonder why? Maybe I should write a book. There are several dystopian novels floating around in my head, but it just doesn't seem important to put the ideas on paper. I only think about these matters on rainy days. When the sun is shining, I just fix broken things.

According to the weather forecast, tomorrow is going to be just like today. That's a pleasant thought. If it's going to be wet, at least the stock market should have the decency to go up. I need some good news.

Chloe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2977

Dash didn't want to go outside when we woke up this morning. He shouldn't have been so indecisive. Ten minutes later it was pouring rain. The rain didn't last long, but there was plenty of time for Dash to get soaking wet. We dried him off and ate our breakfast. The morning walk could wait until later.

According to the weather forecast, this is the beginning of an entire week of wet weather. I'd better hurry up and find something I want to watch on Netflix. Without any deadlines to keep me busy, I'm going to have a severe case of cabin fever.

Dash did get his walk when the rain stopped and then I got started on my Saturday errands. I picked up some Phenobarbital for Dash and got Carvedilol for myself. For some reason the pharmacist wouldn't renew the Carvedilol prescription until today, even though I ran out of pills on Thursday. Medicare is very inflexible. It didn't matter that I didn't have any pills. What mattered is that they thought I should still have some. Once again, veterinary medicine is so much more straightforward.

I still haven't bought a new refrigerator. The big President's Day sales are a joke. Not a single refrigerator I've looked at during the past three months has seen a price reduction. They're all exactly the same price as they were before. I'm really tempted to buy a supply of spare parts and just attempt to repair my current refrigerator myself if it breaks again.

When I went to the grocery store today I noticed that strawberries have gone down in price. I wonder why fresh fruit prices fluctuate so wildly? There always seems to be a steady supply of strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries, but the price is always different.  Fruit that grows on vines seems to be available year round, but fruit that grows on trees is very seasonal. I'll be glad when peaches are available again. My morning smoothies always taste better with peaches.

I should have cleaned the house this afternoon, but I didn't feel like it. I must not have felt like doing much, because very little was accomplished today. Some days are like this. At the end of the day you wonder if anything happened at all. At least Dash got a nice afternoon walk before the weather turned cold again.

I finally got the nerve to look at my brokerage account. I'm still down quite a bit, but last week's mini-rebound certainly helped. I've learned over the years that's it's best to ignore a sell off. When you panic, you always end up selling too late and then buying again too soon. I'm hoping that sanity will return to the market soon. The economy is still good.

The United States doesn't seem to be doing so well in the Olympics. I may be wrong, but didn't we used to win more medals?  The Japanese own figure skating now. I watched Yuzuru Hanyu win the gold while I was going to sleep last night and he was amazing. I guess it's been a long time since Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding.

It's time to go the the gym again tomorrow. I've really got to start going twice a week.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2920

I spent the day trying to stay warm. Last night's forecast was right. It did end up raining for most of the day. It was a cold rain too. The temperature was in the high 30's, but the wind chill made it feel below freezing. I stayed home and fixed pancakes and sausages this morning. I kept hearing rolling thunder off in the distance. Thunder often triggers Dash's panic attacks and it was pointless to leave the house for a breakfast that I probably wouldn't like anyway. Actually my pancakes were quite good. I should stay home on Friday mornings more often.

Around noon it looked like there was going to be a break in the rain, so I took Dash for a walk. For a dogs that is terrified of rain, he certainly doesn't seem to mind walking in wet grass. We should have had plenty of time before the next storm cell arrived, but Dash was even slower than usual. He wasn't having trouble walking. He just likes to smell things. We ran out of time on the last half mile of our walk and got soaked. I kept telling Dash to hurry up, but he seems to have no idea that rain is approaching until he actually gets wet.

It was bad enough getting caught in the rain once, but the same thing happened again on our evening walk. This time I was almost certain that the rain was over, but another rain cell popped up out of nowhere as we were approaching the house and we got soaked again. Note to self: a down jacket is great in cold weather. Not so good in wet weather.

After I dried Dash off a second time and changed my clothes again, I didn't feel like leaving the house anymore. I needed to go to the grocery store, but luckily Janet said she'd pick something up for dinner on her way home from work. I don't feel like I accomplished much today. Even with weather radar on my phone, I managed to get caught in the rain twice.

Janet and I decided not to exchange gifts this Christmas. There is nothing we need and it seems silly to keep getting things that don't end up being used. Our house is way too full of clutter as it is. We'll get something fun for Dash. He loves food gifts. We probably should have done this a long time ago. Adults can spend a lot of money but it's almost impossible to recreate the sensation of being a kid at Christmas. Christmas is for kids and dogs. I guess it's not surprising that my favorite Christmas memories are childhood memories. I know Christmas is an important religious holiday, but I haven't been inside a church since my Dad's funeral. To me, it mostly seems like a time when people are slightly nicer to each other.

I'm having problems with my new website project. It's not the layout that has me stumped. I can think of plenty of cool designs. I just can't think of a solution that would genuinely improve my client's business. Unless you're in the business of selling things online, a website isn't really a game changer. Sure, you've got to have one, but it will never matter as much as what your customers say to their friends about you. Word of mouth is still the best advertising. I'm going to give this a lot of thought. My client certainly deserves a website that makes a difference. If I had the answer, I'd probably build one for myself too.

I can't wait until it gets warmer again. I know people who love snow and bundling up in sweaters. I'm not one of them

Two sisters are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2917

What a dismal day. It started raining last night and it still hasn't stopped. Since today's rain was accompanied by thunder and lightning, Dash immediately went into panic mode. Whenever he hears thunder, he looks for a place to hide. Sometimes he tries to hide under a table. Other times he tries to crawl into a closet. Since Dash's legs are weak and he falls easily, I have to block all the potentially hazardous places. Our dogs have always seemed to think that Janet and I cause the rain and get mad when we don't make it stop. Dash is reluctant to go pee in the rain. He'll go to the back door over and over again, but won't go outside until he can't hold it any longer. I lost count of how many times I opened the back door today.

I had errands to run, but I postponed them until tomorrow. I didn't want Dash to freak out and hurt himself while I was gone. Even if Dash loved the dismal weather, I doubt if I would have left the house. I'll do just about anything to avoid driving in heavy rain. I kept checking the weather radar, hoping for the rain to stop, but it never did.

Actually there was a short break in the rain around 4 PM this afternoon and I thought I could take Dash for a walk. I forgot how slow Dash has become though, and the rain started again before we were able to make it home. We got soaked. Getting wet irritated me but it didn't seem to bother Dash. Since there was no thunder to frighten him, he just kept poking along, smelling every bush he passed. Oh, well. Dash needed a bath anyway. When we got home, I dried Dash off with a bath towel, threw his harness and my clothes in the dryer and cranked up the heat. Pretty soon we were both warm and dry.

I think we got over three inches of rain today. When we were walking this afternoon, I noticed that the lake was very high. Many low areas were flooded and several piers and boat docks were under water. I wasn't really aware how common wet weather was in December until Facebook started putting all these "memories" on my timeline. When I re-read these old blog posts, it seems like I was always complaining about rain in December.

I halfheartedly tried to find something to watch on Netflix this afternoon, but I couldn't find anything interesting. I read an article about new trends in website design and realized that that wasn't very interesting either. Ultimately, I dealt with my cabin fever the same was Dash does. I took a nap.

My mind wanders on days like these. I've started wondering why there is this huge panic about net neutrality. People talk about net neutrality like it's been around forever, but these rules have only been in place for two years. I've been on the Internet since the early 1990's and during most of that time there were no net neutrality rules. I can't recall that any big changes occurred two years ago. If anything, I probably had more choices back in the Internet dark ages than I do now. What has changed it is that people have become addicted to their life online. If you scare them by saying it might go away, they panic. To me, this panic is just as irrational as Dash's fear of thunder. Sure prices will go up. Prices always go up. My auto insurance, my storage warehouse rent, and my cable bill are all more expensive than they used to be. That's life. I have a feeling that five years from now, the Internet will still be here. It will be faster than ever and there will be a lot more choices than there are now. Just don't expect it to be free. Things you've become addicted to are never free.

I hope it dries out tomorrow. You guys may worry about net neutrality and tax cuts. I just worry about roof leaks and storm phobic dogs.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2914

The weather turned nasty today. As the day progressed, it continued to get colder and around mid-afternoon it started to rain. Since it rarely snows in Dallas, this is how I remember Winter. There is something about a cold winter rain that is particularly miserable. It's hard to warm up on days like this. Since Janet doesn't like me to crank up the heat, I'm walking around the house wearing a wool skullcap and duck down camping booties. I need to find the little ceramic heater I keep under my desk in the winter. The little electric heater works like gangbusters but I've become reluctant to use it as I grow older. I'm much more forgetful now and I'd hate to start a house fire by forgetting to unplug the thing when I go to bed at night. Dash is also a problem. He likes to sleep under my desk during the day and I don't want him to inadvertently burn himself. For the moment, the wool hat is doing a fine job of keeping me warm.

What's the one thing you should never do on a rainy day? Maybe you should avoid washing the car. Well, that's exactly what I did this morning. In my defense, it wasn't raining earlier in the day, but I kind of knew the rain was coming. What can I say. I like a clean car. I'm definitely less likely to go anywhere tomorrow. The car will probably just sit under the carport until everything is dry again.

We had a nice walk this morning, but Dash and I got caught in the rain on our afternoon walk. We should have made it home before the rain began, but I keep forgetting how slow Dash has become. Dash used to speed up when it started to rain. Now, he just keeps poking along, smelling every wet bush along the way. Rain must intensify smells, because Dash spends a lot more time smelling things on rainy days. When we got home, I dried Dash off and threw our wet gear in the dryer. I still haven't warmed up yet.

One of the many things I dislike about winter is that it's much harder to find the dog poop in the yard. The poop blends in with all the leaves on the ground and just disappears. When Dash goes out at night, I have to mark the spot with a colorful piece of plastic. Otherwise, I'll never be able to find it in the morning. There's always one surefire way to find poop in the yard. Just wander around the yard for a few minutes and it will inevitably wind up on your shoes. Yes, I got dog poop on my shoes today. It kind of fit the mood of the day.

I used to watch movies on cold winter days, but the only thing I'm even vaguely interested in seeing is Bladerunner 2049 and it won't be available for streaming until sometime next year. Remember how excited I used to be about Dr. Who? I'm not even interested anymore. I didn't watch the last season at all and I doubt that I'll watch the new season either. I don't know if the show has changed or I have changed, but the writing seems terrible now. The show doesn't seem whimsical or inspired. It just seems stupid. Of course, the shows I do watch seem stupid too, but I just use them to go to sleep. Nothing puts me to sleep quicker than an old episode of Perry Mason or The Twilight Zone that I've seen ten times already.

If the weather clears up, I'll go to the gym tomorrow. If the weather gets worse, I'll take a nap with Dash. Sounds like a plan to me.

Hannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2876

I can describe today in two words. Cabin fever. It started raining sometime last night and continued raining throughout the day. It was way too wet and cold to even consider taking a walk. Dash eventually went out in the rain and did his business, but you could tell he wasn't enjoying things. He would wait until he couldn't hold it any longer and then race out in the yard and quickly pee. I kept a towel by the back door to dry him off, but it really didn't help much. It was just a miserable, very wet day.

Without a deadline to keep me busy at the computer, or a walk to keep Dash occupied, we were left with two choices. We could eat or we could sleep. Dash and I tried both. I wasn't sleepy and even Dash got tired of snacking after a while. I thought this might be a good day to watch Blade Runner 2049 on iTunes, but I discovered that it probably wasn't going to be available for streaming until January 2018.

Cold weather, dark overcast skies, and rain aren't a good combination for me. It's good if I have a writing job on days like this, because without a forced deadline, I quickly lose interest in everything. Dash just gets frustrated. He hates to go outside in the rain, but he hates staying inside and doing nothing too. He would go to the back door again and again thinking that maybe something had changed. In an effort to keep things interesting for him, I split his meals into numerous small segments spaced several hours apart. These bite sized portions were kind of a doggie version of Dim Sum, but it seemed to do the trick. The day goes faster when you're eating.

I hope my roof repairs had time to cure properly, because everything is definitely under water now. When I see water spilling over the eaves on all four sides of the house, I know there is a lot of standing water on the roof. I'm sure the roofer knew it was going to rain today when he dropped off the container of elastomer coating yesterday. Technically, he got me the product before it rained, just like I had asked. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to use it. If I hadn't gone out and bought my own container of silicon last week I would have been in a world of hurt today.

I wonder what happened to the pleasure I used to get by curling up with a good book. I work in an office surrounded by floor to ceiling bookshelves, but I didn't feel like reading anything today. I didn't feel like watching TV either. Janet likes to binge watch to relax, but whenever I look at what Netflix or Hulu has to offer, I can't find anything. Luckily, I'm very good at sleeping.

I resisted the urge to upgrade the computers to High Sierra today. I may never upgrade to High Sierra. There are so many fundamental changes to this new operating system that everything I use would probably quit working. Even the way Apple stores files on the hard drive has changed with this new system. Apple's desire to get their phones and computers running the same operating system is ruining things for me. I have no interest in a computer that works like my phone. I had everything I wanted several decades ago and now it is all slowly slipping away.

Hopefully, the weather will improve tomorrow. We have tickets to see The Twelve Days of Christmas at the Arboretum. This spectacular outdoor exhibit will probably look a lot prettier in dry weather.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2671

What a miserable day. There were thunderstorms and heavy rain all day long. Dash refused to go outside and pee, becoming more and more frustrated as the day progressed. Dot had no problem going out in the rain. I don't even think she knew it was raining most of the time. We went out over and over again, getting soaking wet each time. Even though she had ample time to pee outside, Dot still chose to pee inside. It was one of those days. I sure wish I'd remembered to bring the rugs that were drying on the clothesline back inside last night, because now they are all wet again. Neither dog would relax today. They didn't like the rain and they seemed irritated at me for not making it stop.

I hope the new roof patches had time to cure properly. In theory, everything should be fine since they had at least three days to dry before today's rain, but things do not always go as planned. Once it rained less than twenty four hours after the roofers arrived and the coating they applied just dissolved and washed away. Roofers are always trying to convince me how great these new high tech coatings are on a flat roof, but I still think the original tar and gravel roof I had when I bought the house was better.

Something was strange with my breakfast smoothie this morning. I used exactly the same ingredients as I always do, but the beverage tasted very different. Did I get a bad banana? Is the Vitamix broken and not blending properly? I don't have a clue. Some people might not have even noticed the change in flavor, but inconsistency is a red flag to me. I may not notice many things in life, but I am very aware of inconsistencies. You'd think I'd be used to random changes by now, but I'm not. If I find something I like, I want it to stay the same forever.

I had a ton of errands to run today, but I didn't do any of them. Rainy days are basically a three ring circus around here. I always have to leave the back door open when I take Dot outside. Both of my hands are occupied holding Dot up, and if I stop to close the door, she'll fall over. Inevitably, Dash will wander outside just far enough to get his paws muddy and then go back inside again before I have a chance to clean him up. The entire day was like this. Dash wouldn't actually go out in the yard and pee. He would just stand in a puddle at the edge of the porch.

Since both dogs are scared of thunder and lightning, I ended up spending hours sitting with them in a corner trying to keep them calm. I wonder if they make me nervous or I make them nervous. I could care less about the thunder, but I fret about the power going out or a tree falling on the roof. Whenever there's a thunderstorm I always realize that I have failed to charge all my devices. The phones and tablets are charged now, but it probably doesn't matter. I think the weather is supposed to be nice for the rest of the week.

Maybe some sense of normalcy will return tomorrow. I hope so. I've had enough of this rain. There are websites I need to update. I've got to pick up some meds for Dash. There's a stack of bills that need to be paid. I need to get a bone density scan. I'm sure there are other things I've forgotten. I forget a lot these days. We'll start with the important stuff. If I can get Dot to pee without making a huge mess, I'm ready for anything.

Bella is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2664

Another long rainy day. It was basically a typical Monday except it was wet. Luckily, we were able to get the dogs walked this morning before the rain started, but after that all bets were off. I can just feel my energy draining away when it rains. Everything takes longer and nothing goes smoothly. I'm not even sure that Dot even knows that its raining anymore. When I take her outside to pee, she still wanders around aimlessly, just like she does on a sunny day. I keep towels by the door on days like this because we get wet a lot. Dot eventually does pee on a rainy day, but Dash still refuses to go outside. He'll scratch at the back door and then stick his head out while he waits for me to stop the rain. I've tried to explain to him that I have no control over the weather but I don't think he gets the concept yet.

Both dogs were very needy today. Every time I tried to take a shower, go to the bathroom, or eat my dinner, one of them would start barking and demanding attention. When Dot finally did go to sleep, I let her sleep too long and she peed in her bed when she eventually woke up. I really need to remember to take her outside every two hours rain or shine. It's hard to clean Dot's paws on days like this because she can't stand up on her own. Often I just give up and let her track mud in the house. I can always clean the rugs later.

Since it was absolutely dismal outside, it was a good day for a project. I decided to hook up Apple TV to the network. Amazingly, there was still an available HDMI port on the TV and and an Ethernet port on the router. I was surprised at how easy it was to configure everything. Basically, my phone did all the work. I was prepared to learn new passwords and grow frustrated when the firewall blocked the new device, but everything worked like a charm. Apple has its faults, but they definitely know how to make installation easy.

The plan is to see what's available on Apple TV and then eventually cut the cord on cable. Cable bills are outrageous. We left Time Warner because they kept raising our rates year after year. Now AT&T is doing the same thing. You'd think that the cable companies would become more competitive now that more and more people are unbundling their services. What people really want is the ability to just buy the channels they actually watch. Who needs hundreds of channels you'll never look at?

I'm skeptical that this experiment will work, but it's worth a try. From what I saw today, it looks like there's a huge variety of things to watch on Apple TV. I guess the real question is whether buying shows on iTunes is any less expensive than paying for a cable bundle.

Wouldn't you know that the roofer would call me on a rainy day. He said that he'd gotten my messages and that I was on his list. That's never very reassuring on a rainy day. The roofer said he had to finish dealing with active leaks before he started on preventative maintenance. I told him to hurry up, or I was going to be one of those active leaks soon.

I'm still waiting for Dot to poop. It's been a while, so she'll probably get the urge while I'm brushing my teeth or getting ready for bed. I've cleaned up enough messes today, but I'm expecting one more. The weather report says the rain is going to stop tomorrow. Of course, it's supposed to start again on Wednesday. Hey, it's April in Texas. I'll take what I can get.

Apollo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2656

Housecleaning during an all day rain is almost the definition of futility. Even though I know the effort is pointless, it's amazing how often I spend dreary, damp days cleaning. What else is there to do? I never leave the house on rainy days anymore because a single loud thunderclap can cause the dogs to freak out. I seldom watch TV either, because it irritates me to even turn the TV on. Given the choice between political bitching and moaning, inane reality shows, and sports, I'd just as soon listen to the rain pounding on the roof.

The day didn't get off to a good start, but that's par for the course for rainy mornings. Apparently I didn't take Dot outside late enough last night, because when I woke her up this morning, she immediately peed in her bed. Dash wouldn't even go outside, even though I knew he needed to pee too. He kept scratching at the back door and when I opened it, he would turn around and head for the kitchen. Dash still doesn't understand that I can't turn the rain on and off like a water faucet. Eventually he had to go so bad that he went outside and got wet.

After taking both dogs out in the rain several times and drying them off afterwards, I decided to do something less stressful and got out a needle and thread to sew the fitted sheet on the bed back together. I should just throw the threadbare bamboo sheets away, but I'm not ready to give up on them yet. The repair would have been easy to make with a sewing machine, but I never learned how to use the fancy new Viking machine Janet got a few years ago. Oh, well. Hand sewing a tear in an old sheet is a good way to kill time on a rainy day.

Vacuuming is a terrible way to kill time on a rainy day. The house was already dirty again before I even finished cleaning all the rugs. The combination of mud, wet leaves, and yellow catkins dropping from the oak trees makes keeping the house clean virtually impossible. I can't really clean Dot's paws before she comes in the house because my hand are full holding her up. Dash is just too fast for me. He usually slips in the back door before I can manage to wipe his paws with a wet rag. My own shoes cause a problem as well. Often, when I'm dealing with Dot, it's hard to kick them off at the door before entering the house. Keeping Dot from falling always has a higher priority than keeping mud off the floor.

I wonder where my appetite went. For decades I used to eat a huge breakfast on Sunday morning. Big breakfasts were a tradition. So was going out to brunch. Now I can barely finish one egg and a single piece of toast. I don't eat as much for dinner either. It's hard to explain what has happened, but I'm just not as hungry anymore.

The skies finally cleared late in the afternoon, so the dogs did manage to get at least one decent walk. It's interesting to watch the progression of wildflowers in the park. For some reason, the blue flowers seem to bloom first. Next come the yellow flowers. And finally the red ones arrive. We're in a yellow phase now and the fields are filled with Englemann Daisies. I photograph the flowers. Dash just pees on them.

I never did make it to the gym today, but I did get plenty of exercise. I should sleep well tonight as long as Dot does the same. The day is winding down. I hear the ACM Awards playing on a TV in the other end of the house. I doubt that I'll get up and watch even though I find these country shows much more enjoyable than the Grammy's these days. Country has become the new rock. Some of the tunes I'm hearing almost sound like the Eagles. Times have certainly changed.

Miracle is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2619 - Valentine's Day

We woke up this morning to the sound of rain on the roof. It was raining quite hard, so walking the dogs was out of the question. Apparently, Dot and Dash thought going out in the yard was out of the question too. Dot peed on the porch and Dash wouldn't go outside at all. I don't blame them. It was wet and very cold.

I was hoping that the rain would quit before I made my annual trip to Sprinkles to get Valentine's cupcakes, but it never did. Actually, the rain turned out to be a good thing this year, because there wasn't a line. There is almost always a long line at this place. I can't even remember how long Valentine's Day cupcakes have been a tradition at our house, but it's been a long time. On the way home I stopped at Central Market and got an orchid in a pot. I joined a long line of tired looking men holding flowers and chocolates. The men were from all walks of life, but they all had that slightly confused look in their eye that told me they weren't sure if they got the right thing. Of course we did the right thing. We didn't forget.

Sick dogs and an all day rain aren't a good combination. Dot seemed totally unaware of the rain and took just as long looking for the right place to pee as she does on a warm sunny day. I just about froze taking her outside today. Dash did his business quickly, but always managed to find the muddiest part of the yard before he came inside again. I was constantly cleaning dogs, floors, and rugs today. This weather certainly isn't doing me any favors. My cold seems to be getting worse.

Work continues to be slow, but I did manage to get my February invoices in the mail today. It occurred to me this weekend that I'd be a lot busier if I actually started looking for work. Like that's ever going to happen. I hate cold calling. Most of my friends and contemporaries have retired. And millennials irritate me. I don't think websites really matter anymore either. When everybody has one, they just become a contemporary version of a Yellow Pages ad. People are spending all their time on Facebook anyway. I mostly visit websites to find an address or a phone number these days. The design of the website doesn't matter nearly as much as how easy it is to navigate. Like it or not, what I do has become a commodity.

The stock market hit another all time high today. I hope this rally continues, but I suspect that it won't. It's always hard to know when to sell. You want to ride a rally as long as you can, but you don't want to be the last one to leave a sinking ship. My opinion changes from day to day. Tax cuts and deregulation will definitely be good for business, but chaos isn't good for anyone. Maybe I should sell a few things just in case.

I sure hope it warms up tomorrow. The combination of dark gray skies, wet dogs, and a bitterly cold wind do nothing to improve my mood. The cupcakes sure were delicious though, and I think Janet liked the flower.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2520

I can describe today in three words. All day rain. I got wet when I tried to walk Dash. I got wet every time I took Dot outside to pee. I got wet when I went to the bank. The pump isn't working on the roof, but it was too wet and slippery to go up and investigate. The dehumidifier was working overtime to remove the humidity from the air. Basically, today was a mess. According to the weather report, it's going to be this way all week. For some reason we always get a lot of rain between Halloween and Thanksgiving. I'm going to need a lot of patience to deal with this.

Maybe the rain destroyed my concentration. I had a couple of little projects around the house that went horribly wrong. I was going to superglue some old running shoes back together and ended up spilling some of the superglue on my leg. I ran to the bathroom to look for some nail polish remover, but discovered that the bottle was empty. Damn. It is very difficult to remove superglue from skin. I should have just thrown these shoes away. They're old and I have a new pair anyway. I don't know why I always feel compelled to fix things. At any rate, the superglue is probably going to remain on my leg until it eventually wears away.

I had a couple of minor website updates to complete today, but the work wasn't substantial enough to leave me feeling that I still had a career. I've got to come to grips with the fact that my real job these days is providing hospice care for a really old dog. Dot is a very special friend and I'd do anything for her. I wish being a caretaker made me happy though. Mostly it is very sad to watch a friend decline this way.

There is little evidence that I cleaned the house yesterday. Muddy paws and wet boots have already taken their toll on things. The yard is rapidly filling with falling Oak and Elm leaves and these quickly end up in the house as well. There is little reason to clean things up until the rain stops. Every time I open the back door, the floors instantly seem to get dirty again. Today the real challenge was just staying dry. I had a stack of bath towels by the back door to dry the dogs off with and kept the dryer running for my pants and the dog's harnesses.

I wonder if everything will return to normal after election day tomorrow? Whatever happens, half the country will be terribly unhappy. I hear both candidates saying that they want to unite the country again. Lots of luck with that. I voted, but I don't feel optimistic that my vote will make a difference. My vote will just cancel your vote. We have become so divided that I don't see how we move forward.

Maybe it won't rain all day tomorrow. Even a dismal election will look a little brighter if I can see the sun.

Chase is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2478

Dot woke me up last night making that familiar sound that dogs make before they throw up. I got her to drink some water, which calmed her down and then she went back to sleep. Oddly, it was me who ended up throwing up a few hours later. I still don't know what was wrong. I usually have a cast iron stomach, but I must have eaten something that didn't agree with me. After spending fifteen minutes in the bathroom, I finally felt good enough to go back to sleep. An hour later, Dot woke me again when she pooped in her bed. Needless to say, I was tired this morning.

It was raining pretty hard when we woke up. I thought that Dot would just pee on the porch to avoid getting wet, but she dragged me out to the middle of the yard where we both got soaked. This was as close to a morning walk as we got. I knew the rain would quit eventually, but I resigned myself to a morning of dealing with restless, housebound dogs.

I noticed that the air felt different while I was eating breakfast and then I realized that the furnace was on. I guess Fall is really here. It hasn't been cold enough to need the furnace since late last Spring. Hey, at least the furnace works this year. There have been many years when I wanted a little extra warmth on these cool Fall days and couldn't get the furnace to light. Unfortunately, not all the machines loved me this morning. The furnace burners may have worked like a charm, but the security light in the back yard has gone out again. Do I call the electrician, or just wait for the lamp to dry out? The light sensor seems to work much better in dry weather.

One of my clients called today asking me to recommend a hosting company. Like most of us, he wanted a place that was inexpensive, completely reliable, and staffed by a knowledgeable, friendly technical support team. It would have been easier to tell this guy where he could ride a Unicorn. If you're looking for a trouble free Internet experience, I'm not going to be much help. I'm still looking for this mythical place myself. If you're online, your e-mail will quit working occasionally. You might get hacked. If you have a problem, it will be answered inconclusively by someone on the other side of the world who you have trouble understanding. That's just the way it is.

I tried listening to the presidential debate tonight, but all I heard was blah, blah, blah. I would wander into the room with the TV on, but couldn't listen for more than thirty seconds at a time. I don't believe either one of these guys. It's sad that our political system has come to this, but again, that's just the way it is. Most of the things that Bush promised during his presidential debates never came true. Most of the things Obama promised during his presidential debates never came true. What makes you think any of the promises you heard tonight will ever come true?

I hope the rain stops tomorrow. I need some time to clean things up. Rain was a problem even when the dogs were young and healthy, Now it seems even worse. We'll do the best we can. I guess a little mud won't kill us. If you want to look on the bright side, the roof isn't leaking and I did manage to find some of that powdered graphite I've been looking for.

Suki is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1828

It was another wet, cold day. As soon as the dogs finished their breakfast, they hopped right back in bed again. They didn't want anything to do with this day. Since they wouldn't budge, I just crawled back in bed myself. Eventually we pulled ourselves together and took our morning walk. I always have trouble getting the dogs outside on damp days, but once we're on our way they show no desire to return home again. I think the smells must be more intense in damp weather, because they both love to smell things.

I think my shoulder must be worse than I thought. Today was my first physical therapy session and some of the initial stretching exercises brought tears to my eyes. You'd think it would be easy to lie on a table and bring my hands behind my head, but it just wasn't happening. I could see my therapist wince every time she heard popping sounds coming from my shoulder as she manipulated the joint. We did a series of simple exercises to loosen the muscles around the joint and after about fifteen minutes I was able to rotate my arm about 15 degrees further behind my head. This is going to be a long, slow process. For the past several years, I've been compensating for the loose shoulder by tensing the muscles on the right side of my back in an attempt to keep the joint in place while I walk the dogs.  Now these muscles are very tight and are restricting a full range of motion. I think things are worse than they used to be, because I remember I could do some of the stretching exercises we tried today as recently as three years ago when I had physical therapy before. At any rate, I promised to do my exercises the best I could and I will see the therapist again next week. I still don't want to consider surgery at this point.

I wanted to check on a package on the UPS website today and discovered I couldn't log in because I'd forgotten my password again. I hate sites that keeping asking you for a ridiculous combination of upper case letters, lower case letters, numbers, and special symbols before they'll approve your password. I can never remember these complex passwords. What's even worse is that many sites don't allow you to re-use a password that you have used before. It doesn't take long to completely run out of easy to remember password ideas. I'll be glad when you can just use a fingerprint or retinal scan to identify yourself. Apple is getting there with its new fingerprint recognition technology, but so far you can only use your fingerprint to unlock the phone. You should be able to use it for everything.

I wish I could teach Dash to read the weather radar. I thought I'd found a nice little window between rain showers to take the dogs out to do their business this afternoon. Dot, as always, peed and pooped quickly and efficiently. Dash was oblivious to the approaching rain and dawdled around until the rain caught up with us. He eventually pooped, but we were all drenched by then. By the time I finally got the dogs back in the house, cleaned their paws, and dried them off with a bath towel, the only sensible thing to do was take another nap. We ended up right where we started, in a big dog-pile on the bed.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1803

It's hard to believe that it has already been 51 years since John Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. I was already in high school at the time, so this makes me feel really old. I didn't realize it then, but 1963 was an eventful year. The Beatles made their debut in 1963. Martin Luther King delivered his "I have a dream" speech. And the very first episode of Dr. Who was aired by the BBC.

I used to go down to Dealey Plaza on November 22, just to watch everyone with a conspiracy theory have their moment in the sun. Dealey Plaza used to be a zoo on November 22, but it's pretty quiet these days. Most of the eyewitnesses are very old now and some of the more vocal ones have died. I guess if we haven't discovered what really happened by now, we never will.

I don't know what caused me to look up on a shelf this afternoon, see a dusty Diskwarrior software box and decide to see it it still worked. It didn't. I used to defragment my hard drives frequently and run Diskwarrior to rebuild the directories. It was all part of owning a Mac. Nobody seems to do that stuff anymore. If your computer is running slow, you just buy a new computer. I really thought I could get Diskwarrior to work. I downloaded the latest update, burned a new start up CD and looked up the installation instructions on Google. I should have been suspicious when I noticed that the last update occurred in 2011. Apparently Diskwarrior just doesn't matter anymore. Probably 95% of the software titles sitting on shelves in my office don't matter anymore. Times have changed.

The last thing I'd ever do on the day after Thanksgiving is go to a Black Friday sale, but I'll have to admit that I was tempted when I saw a flyer in today's mail saying that the Black Friday price for a Dyson vacuum cleaner was $199. These things are usually well over $500. I'm not going to go to Walmart and fight a mob of crazy people for a vacuum cleaner though. No thank you. We'll just use our old Hoover for a few more years.

The dogs and I got wet on our evening walk. The skies had been grey and cloudy all day, but unfortunately the overcast day turned into a very rainy day while we were out in the park. I kept thinking if we walked a little further that Dash would finally poop. He never did. All I got for my efforts were two very wet dogs. Now Dash will probably wake up me in the middle of the night frantically wanting to go outside. This always happens when he doesn't poop on his walk.

I hope I come up with something more useful to do tomorrow than wasting hours trying to get obsolete software to work and spending even more time cleaning up wet, dirty dogs. I had a much smaller slice of cake for desert tonight in an effort to curtail my sugar intake. Hmm. Rain and no cake. That's the kind of day it was.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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