Day 1734

Dot ended an impressive five day accident-free streak by throwing up shortly after she woke up this morning and then frantically trying to eat leaves and grass in the yard. I don't think the vomiting had anything to do with her cancer, but it was still a bit unsettling. When a healthy dog vomits, you immediately suspect that the upset stomach was caused by eating something dead and disgusting in the yard. When a dog that has had cancer vomits, you always suspect the worst. I think Dot is fine though. We gave her a Pepsid AC and she went back to sleep for another hour and was completely normal for the rest of the day.

I don't usually work on Sunday, but since I always like to start the week with a clean slate, I finished my remaining writing assignments and made a few website revisions before going to the gym for a long overdue workout.

I had the usual aches and pains associated with my infrequent visits to the gym, but at least I'm still going. A lot of the runners and cyclists the dogs and I see in the park everyday seem to genuinely enjoy their exertion and activity. To me it's just a necessary evil. While I don't enjoy exercise, I would like to avoid diabetes, heart attacks, and further deterioration of my aging body. I'll have to admit that I do enjoy the fact that I can still wear the same size 32 jeans I wore in college.

I picked up some food for the week on my way home, but I may have to rethink my plan of stocking the refrigerator every Sunday afternoon. For some reason, Central Market always seems twice as crowded on Sunday, but that's not the real problem. I am discovering that fresh food won't stay fresh all week. I had to throw out some of the groceries I got last Sunday toward the end of the week, because they had spoiled already. No wonder people eat so much crap. Eating healthy is time consuming. It's so much easier to just grab a frozen pizza from the freezer and warm it up.

Dot is going to have a busy week. She has her long delayed annual exam on Tuesday and then returns for another physical therapy session and acupuncture on Thursday. We postponed the exam while she recovered from surgery because she is due for another three year rabies booster shot. I think she also needs the DAPPV combo shot this year, as well as her annual Leptospirosis vaccination. Dash will be glad that he can just stay home and take a nap.

It's hard to believe that September is already almost half over. Wasn't it August just a few days ago?

Nicholas is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1733

This morning's photoshoot was interesting. There were fifteen children of various ages and each of them was holding a puppy or kitten. What could possibly go wrong? The children were cold. The puppies were restless. The big challenge was to get everyone looking in the same direction before it started to rain. Actually, everything went pretty well. Children are much more flexible than adults, and since everyone wanted to hold a puppy, they were willing to stand out in the cold for much longer than I expected. When I looked through the images this afternoon, it was fascinating to look at the different expressions on each of the children's faces. The young ones were so open and honest. You could almost tell, just by their faces, what each of them was going to be when they grew up.

The temperature was in the mid-fifties when we woke up this morning. The seasons change quickly here in Texas. One day you are worried about your car overheating in the Summer heat and the next day the leaves are all turning red and gold and you are looking for your winter coat. If this weekend's cold front lingers, we will soon be turning on the furnace again. I'm always nervous the first day I try to use the furnace. I'm fairly confident that the furnace will roar into life again, since it is still fairly new. I have many memories of cold mornings and dead furnaces though. Hopefully, this new furnace will be more reliable than the old one.

I did some catch-up work on the websites that were down earlier this week. Now that they are all back online, some of them are already out of date and need to be updated. Keeping these sites updated is a never ending process. That's OK though. Most never ending processes are good for business. If you were actually able to finish something, you'd never see some of your clients again.

So what did we learn from tonight's new episode of Dr. Who. Apparently the Doctor is afraid of the dark and Clara herself is the monster under the bed that frightens most children. Since Steven Moffat wrote this episode, it got mostly glowing reviews. I'll admit that Steven is the undisputed master of convoluted plots, but they often leave me a bit confused. My favorite episode is still the one where the Doctor and Rose go to visit Vincent van Gogh. That's the kind of story I like.

We're debating whether to scale back our efforts to waterproof the bed each night. Dot has had quite a few accident-free days this week and it would sure be easier on everyone if we could go back to sleeping like normal. Dogs are notoriously unpredictable though. Just when you least expect it, they'll throw up their dinner, or poop on the living room floor. I think we'll compromise and put a few waterproof pads on the bed tonight, but quit trying to turn the bed into a multilayer impregnable fortress. If it gets really cold tonight, I may wish that all the layers were still there. Four layers of waterproof pee pads on top of the covers make the bed pretty warm.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1732

Such a busy day. I got my blood tested at the liver center. I finished the first of two new writing assignments. I brought five dead websites back online. I comforted the dogs during a thunderstorm. I got groceries for the weekend. And I still found time to have a nice breakfast at my favorite restaurant. The most problematic task was moving the websites to their new hosting company. First, I had to get a new password from Network Solutions before I could begin pointing the domains to the new server. I can never remember all my passwords. It seems pointless to write them all down on a yellow Post-it note and stick it on my computer screen, but it's just about come to that. After I received a new password and moved the DNS for each site, I tried to figure out the new server's control panel and reconfigured a few things in Dreamweaver so each site would upload correctly. I think everything works now, but it took a while.

For the first time since last Spring, it is actually colder outside than it is inside the house. A cold front must have accompanied this morning's rainfall, since it is much colder than it was yesterday. The temperature was in the mid-90's on Thursday. Today it got as low as 65 degrees. The dogs both seemed to enjoy the cooler weather and wanted to take longer walks. They didn't want to walk any faster, just longer. Needless to say, our walks took a long time today. I didn't mind. A nice walk is always more enjoyable than staring at my computer screen. I was actually delighted that Dot is strong enough now to take these longer walks. Our girl has come a long way.

I'm charging camera batteries now for tomorrow morning's photo shoot. I wonder what will happen if it rains? Hopefully, the weather will be nice, because we don't really have a contingency plan. If I wake up tomorrow morning to the sound of rain pounding on the roof, I guess our Plan-B will be to just reschedule the entire photo shoot for a sunny day. I hope that nobody suggests moving the shoot indoors, because I don't have enough strobes to light the large group I'm supposed to photograph. My client is a very positive person, so I assume that she'll make everything turn out OK. I haven't even mentioned the possibility of rain, since everyone thinks I'm too negative already.

I wonder why I keep thinking about the new iPhone 6? I certainly don't need a new phone. I barely use the one I've got. Nevertheless, there's a good chance that I'll end up getting one of these sleek looking tech toys with its fingerprint recognition system and pretty rounded corners. I'm hopeless. I wonder if there's a twelve step program for people who are addicted to pretty things?

Dot and Dash are both getting so much better that it's time to turn our attention to dental care again. It's amazing how quickly a dog's teeth get dirty. It's only been a few months since Dot had her teeth cleaned at the vet and they are already beginning to show signs of plaque buildup. Our vet showed us a new enzyme product that requires no brushing. You just add a few drops to their water bowl each day. We'll see how that goes.

Marcie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1731 - 9/11

Every year at this time, NBC re-broadcasts the September 11, 2001 Today Show in its entirety. Every year I continue to watch this broadcast while I'm eating breakfast and I'm just as horrified as I was on the day I saw the events unfold on live TV. Thirteen years and several wars later, terrorism is still just as much of a problem as it was then. It's sad. As long as we continue thinking that the terrorists are just a few bad apples in a generally good basket the problem will never go away. The real problem is that a big chunk of the world is still living in the Middle Ages. Do we have the resolve to address the problem the way a Winston Churchill or a Harry Truman would have? I doubt it.

I managed to get one of yesterday's missing websites reinstated on a new server and back online toward the end of the day. Now I need to do the same thing with five more domains and we'll be back where we started. I'd like to think we'll be back where we started anyway. The reality is that there are probably dozens of little inconsistencies that I'll need to resolve in the days ahead. I know I'm going to have to re-write some online forms. Just about every hosting company seems to handle these things differently.

Dot had another good day at her physical therapy session. She can consistently do a twenty minute workout now and each week we increase the speed of the treadmill slightly during her interval training. I know that Dot would rather just take a long nap, but this is very good for her. Her muscle tone is improving and I honestly don't think any of our dogs were this strong at Dot's age. Her vet is pleased at how quickly the Incurin is starting to work as well. Dot has gone three days without an accident now. After two weeks we can start gradually reducing the amount of Incurin she receives until all she requires is a very low maintenance dose.

I go down to Baylor for another blood test tomorrow morning. I'm hoping that this new lab work will give me the ammunition I need to discontinue my Statin drugs. I don't like the side effects of statins, but if my liver panel comes back normal, I'm sure all my doctors will want to continue them. Statins and Niacin are much more effective at controlling Lipids and bad cholesterol than anything else on the market.

I got two new writing assignments today. I haven't done a lot of writing this summer, so it will be nice to have a change of pace from all the website work. I've got a big photo shoot scheduled for Saturday as well. I'm glad the dogs are getting better now. A month ago I wouldn't have had the time to do these things.

Shadow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1730

I think we have some of the best fed squirrels in the world living in our yard. When I went up on the roof to see if there was still any standing water, I discovered a thick carpet of broken pecan shells covering the entire roof. The big old pecan tree in the side yard had a good crop of nuts this year and the squirrels are making the most of it. It's a shame that the squirrels are eating every last nut on the tree, since these tasty pecans would make dozens of great pies.

It doesn't look like we are going to get any pie this year. The squirrels have already won this battle by eating all the nuts before they have even matured. In addition to being gluttonous little piggies, the squirrels have also created a huge mess. The broken pecan shells act as a natural dye which turns any standing water on the roof a dark brown. This burnt sienna colored water in turn stains the white surface of the epoxy coated roof. I no longer have a white roof.

When I took the dogs out in the yard after lunch I smelled something dead in the corner of the yard. I looked and looked, but I couldn't find anything. I hate dead things in the yard because Dash eats them and then he gets diarrhea. The feral cats in the neighborhood are always dragging their catch of the day into the yard. Over the years I've found dozens of dead bird and mice. I'm sure the dogs have found even more. The only thing I did find today was a deep hole that looked like it had been dug by a possum or an armadillo. The hole was about eight inches wide and tunneled into the earth for over two feet. When I filled the hole in with earth, the bad smell subsided a bit. Maybe there was something dead inside the hole. If so, it's dead and buried now. I didn't want to investigate.

One of the websites I update frequently has disappeared. The server just isn't there anymore. Maybe it is down for repairs or has been taken offline for other reasons. Either way, it is a big mess because nobody received any warning that this was about to happen. People never notice a site when it's up. As soon as it goes down however, everybody notices. I have a feeling that I will be moving the site to another hosting company soon.

The dogs seemed distracted at class tonight. Dash wouldn't sit and Dot seemed to get lost during one of the exercises. It's a shame that the days are getting so much shorter already. The sun was already setting when we arrived this evening and it was completely dark by the time we were finished. There are lights in the field that we use for training, but I still prefer daylight much better.

Tomorrow looks busy. Dot has her physical therapy day. There's a meeting I'm supposed to attend. Today's website problems will probably get worse before they get better. It's only one day though and then it's Friday again.

Cleo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1729

Today was pleasant. Janet took the day off from work, so we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn like we usually do. When we took the dogs on their morning walk, there was a hint of Fall in the air. Mornings are quite pleasant now and even the evenings are starting to get a bit cooler. Dot and Dash enjoy the cooler weather as much as I do. I think the brisk morning air brings out the best in all of us. Even breakfast was more enjoyable this morning. I had a tasty cheese quiche and spicy sausage patties instead of my usual Tuesday bowl of oatmeal.

I reconnected with a former client today and it looks like we are going to work together again. I'm always surprised when someone who has fired me wants to get back together, but this isn't the first time this has happened. I have a feeling that as bad as I may seem at the time, clients quickly discover that there's always someone out there who is even worse. I may be grumpy, but at least I'm reliable.

Since Janet was around today to keep an eye on the dogs, I went back to the gym. Although it is still counter-intuitive to me, the more often I workout, the easier everything becomes. Today didn't seem nearly as painful as Sunday, even though I did exactly the same exercises. If two visits to the gym every week is good, three visits would probably be even better. I haven't found that much free time, unfortunately. On busy days I think I never will.

I'm still enough of an Apple fanboy to eagerly anticipate each new product announcement from the company. I certainly don't need a new phone, since Apple just gave me a brand new iPhone 5, but I'll have to admit that today's introduction of the iPhone 6 made it look pretty intriguing. The first thing that caught my attention was that the new phone has a much better camera. I may not talk to people much on the phone, but I use the camera a lot. This new camera is supposed to focus more accurately and have improved image stabilization. I would greatly appreciate both of these features, since selective focus is almost impossible using the current camera and image stabilization is kind of a joke.

Apple also introduced the smart watch they've been talking about for years. I don't know what to think about this watch. It's way too expensive for starters. I wonder how many people are going to be interested in a watch that costs even more than the iPhone itself. The watch does have a lot of cool features, but most of them are already available on your phone. The best thing about the watch is that it is well made and looks quite stylish. I think it is pretty anyway. From what I've been reading, a lot of people in the watch world don't agree and think the thing is ugly. I'll probably end up getting one anyway. I've never been able to resist new technology.

Dot had another good day today. Maybe the Incurin pills she's taking are starting to work. I wonder how many good days it will take before I feel comfortable letting her sleep on the bed without a ton of waterproof protective pads to guard against accidents. I know we're not ready yet, so I will soon go and prepare the bed for another unpredictable night. Since today felt like a Sunday, I wonder if tomorrow will feel like another Monday. I certainly wouldn't want two Monday's in a single week.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1728

I received a letter from my sister today telling me that her dog had died. Apparently, it had an undetected tumor very similar to Dot's abdominal cancer and the tumor ruptured. Very sad. I wonder why so many dogs end up having cancer at some point in their life. I've heard that up to 50% of all dogs eventually have some sort of cancer. I wonder why? Is it the food we feed our dogs these days? Is it the environment? Or are dogs just naturally predisposed to develop cancer? We were lucky to have caught Dot and Dash's cancer in time, but Janet and I have lost pets to cancer too. Spot died of cancer and so did Greta. Spot lived an additional three years after having surgery to remove the tumor, but it had already metastasized, so the cancer eventually returned. Greta never recovered from the surgery and died in the hospital.

Today was definitely a Monday. The day got off to a slow start and never picked up speed. I paid some bills, made some appointments for later in the week, and answered my mail, but that was about it. I was disappointed to discover that one of Dot's protective sleeping pads was wet when we woke up this morning, but then she made it through the rest of the day without another accident. Go figure. Things are definitely better than they were three weeks ago, but the road to recovery is certainly a rocky one. I'm still not sure if Dot's new medication is having any effect yet.

I must have exerted myself a little more than I thought I did at the gym yesterday. My arm has felt sore all day. Lately, I've been feeling like I'm falling apart. I need to go to the dentist. I need to have physical therapy for my dislocated shoulder. And I'd really like to stop taking the Statins my general practitioner has me taking to lower my cholesterol. I was fine with Zetia and Welchol, but the combination of Statins and time-release Niacin is driving me nuts. Taking large amounts of Niacin causes the small blood vessels to dilate and creates a flushing sensation that makes you feel like you're on fire. You are supposed to be asleep when this happens, but since the dogs wake me up a lot, I often have to deal with flushing. I wish the doctor would switch me back to my old meds, but every time I tell him how much I hate Statins, he tries to scare me with heart attack stories. This usually works. I know too many people my age who have already had a heart attack.

I wonder if it's normal to think about food so much. I'm not gaining weight and I don't eat all that much, but lately I spend more time thinking about what I'm going to eat next than about what I'm going to do next. For much of my life I've always had a big editing, photography, or music project that consumed my thoughts and time. I just don't find myself as interested in these things as I used to be. I sure do think about what's for dinner and what's for breakfast though. My dreams have changed too. I know they've changed, but unfortunately I forget them about ten seconds after I wake up. One day, maybe I'll remember these dreams and all will be revealed.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1727

When I go to the gym, I warm up for twenty minutes using the hand bicycle. Most people start by jogging around the track or using one of the treadmills for a while, but the hand bike works for me. I spend so much time walking the dogs that my legs are fine. It's my upper body that need work. All I do with my arms and upper body is type. The first five minutes on the hand bike are murder. My joints ache and my arms are sore. Then my body starts to warm up and I get into a rhythm. By the end of the twenty minutes, I'm daydreaming as usual and I've almost forgotten that I'm using the machine.

That's the way it is with most things in life. I hate getting out of bed in the morning. When I wake up, all I want to do is roll over and go back to sleep again. I do get up though. I get up at the same time even on days when I have had little sleep. By the time I've made the bed and prepared my morning coffee, life seems bearable again. After walking the dogs and eating a leisurely breakfast, I've almost always forgotten how much I disliked getting out of bed just a few hours earlier.

The dogs probably felt this way today. Dot and Dash both got a bath this morning and Dash suffered the additional indignity of going to the vet to have his anal glands expressed. As much as the dogs protest these occasional trips to the local dog washing emporium, they always feel better afterwards. They stop itching and scratching for a while and concentrate on more important things like begging for treats. A bath is kind of like a thunderstorm for Dot and Dash. As soon as it's over, they totally forget it was something to worry about.

Before going to the gym today, I watched the new Dr. Who episode that I taped last night. This show, which involved taking Clara to meet Robin Hood, was much more entertaining than last week's awkward trip inside a Dalak's head. I think the scriptwriters are getting used to writing for Peter Capaldi. One of the benefits of watching your favorite shows using a DVR is that you can skip all the commercials. Maybe I'll start watching more shows this way. Either commercials are much worse than they used to be, or I've just lost my tolerance for them. They break up the narrative and are generally irritating. I can't believe that I spent a big chunk of my life writing these things.

My new phone is kind of mysterious. Even though it looks identical to the phone it replaced, there is something different about it. The phone runs IOS 7.1.2, just like the old phone. The same apps are installed. So why does it act so differently? I bet that Apple has updated the firmware of its later model phones. It doesn't really matter anyway. The iPhone 6 will make its debut in a few weeks anyway.

Dot had another good day today. No accidents at all! Maybe the pills are starting to work.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1726

We started the day with a gentle breeze and ended with a thunderstorm. In between were all the usual errands and chores you'd normally expect on a Saturday. Even though I'm not a big fan of rainy days, I was glad to see the storm arrive. The yard was starting to look really dry. The dogs and I got lucky on our evening walk and managed to return to the house about five minutes before the deluge started. As soon as the thunder and lightning began, Dot and Dash retreated to their safe haven under my desk. I was sure that all the commotion would make Dot pee, but it didn't. She actually had a very good day with no accidents at all.

We started Dot on the Incurin medication this morning, but it was pure coincidence that her incontinence wasn't much of a problem today. The vet said that it would take up to two week before we would start to see results from the medication. It wouldn't be realistic to see results on the very first day. Dot was just having one of her good days. It could all change tomorrow.

I went to the neighborhood health food store to pick up some more Stevia for my morning coffee. While I was there, I asked when they were going to have another cholesterol screening. As you probably know, I'm addicted to having my blood tested and would never turn down a low cost cholesterol screening. The store owner told me that they weren't doing the screenings anymore because the Phlebotomist who drew your blood during these tests died of a heart attack last month. This was a young, seemingly healthy guy who was well aware of the risk factors for heart disease. I was shocked. No wonder my general practitioner is so concerned about heart attacks. My Dad had a heart attack. Several of my friends in the advertising world have already had heart attacks. Lately, it seems like every few months I learn of another acquaintance who has just had a heart attack. We are all worried about terrorists these days, but we will probably just die of a heart attack.

I got the Epson 4880 working again this afternoon. I don't know why I spend so much time and money keeping this large format printer functional. I'll probably never have a gallery show again. I won't be doing store window posters for local retail clients either. I feel the same way about my video editing equipment. I hate to give up on these things, even though they are rapidly becoming analog artifacts from a distant past. It's kind of sad to me that all you need is a phone these days. I was much happier when it was essential to have 500 pounds of cranky, difficult to use equipment. The printer and the tape decks will eventually wind up in the storage warehouse with the 4x5 Sinar view camera, a relic from the day when I would spend 30 minutes composing a single image in the camera and then another two hours processing the large sheets of film in the darkroom.

It's time to hit the gym again. It feels like my shoulder has recovered enough from last week's torture to go through my workout again. I feel the same way about my dislocated shoulder as I do about Dot's incontinence. I'm not sure if these things will ever really get better. You can't let a little pee or pain stop you though. I think Dot understands better than I do that you've just got to make the best of things and keep moving forward.

April is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1725

I seem to be spending more and more time doing less and less. The dogs have slowed down, and so have I. Our morning walks take twice as long now. Dot isn't a sprinter anymore. We walk slowly and enjoy the surroundings. Now that the dogs aren't tugging at their leashes and racing ahead, they seem to enjoy smelling things more. They smell their way from bush to bush and eventually we find our way home again.

I work faster when there are tight deadlines to meet. Without deadlines, just about any job expands to fill the available time. It is ironic that I actually feel busier when there is less work to do, but that's just the way it is. I know I wouldn't have spent so much time on today's web project if I had something more important to do.

I lose things and spill things more often than I used to. I must spend several hours a week looking for my reading glasses. I take them on and off so frequently that I never know where they're going to wind up. Ditto for the remote control on the television. Dot may pee on things, but I spill things. I seem to have a perpetual cup of coffee in my hand and when the cup is full, it tends to spill. Sometimes I spill water in the kitchen when I'm doing dishes and then I'll look down later and think that Dot peed on the floor. Nope, it was just clumsy me.

Janet and I decided it was time to start giving Dot the Incurin pills. Her incontinence has actually gotten worse this week. It's been long enough since her surgery that we should have seen some sustained improvement by now. Several people I know have given their dog these estrogen replacement pills and all of them were happy with the results. My vet says that she has treated over a dozen dogs for incontinence using Incurin and said there were significant improvements in every single case. I had considered using phenylpropanolamine instead, but several people told me that dogs build up a resistance to the drug over time and that you have to keep increasing the dosage. You do the opposite with Incurin, gradually decreasing the dosage after an initial two week loading dose. It would be better if Dot could resolve this problem herself, but it doesn't look like this is going to happen. We have actually waited quite a bit longer than the six weeks the specialists at the cancer center recommended and I think it's finally time to do something. We should know within two weeks if this is going to work.

Just about every time I picked up my new phone today, it kept asking me for passwords. I had to reset most of them, because I just couldn't remember the old password. Some passwords were easy to re-set and others were so difficult they required a call to tech support. I have over 80 apps on my phone and probably use less than ten of them. It will probably be easier to delete the applications I no longer use than it is to reauthorize all of them. At any rate, the important apps are all working now. I'll probably never get around to the rest of them.

Breakfast was good this morning. It's probably only a matter of time before I start going out for breakfast every morning.

Alie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1724

The good news is I've got a brand new iPhone. The bad news is that the restore program at the Apple store didn't restore any of the passwords on my apps and I can't remember most of them. Oh, well. I had too many apps on my phone anyway. I was surprised that the Apple store gave me a new phone without even bothering to open up the damaged one to see what was wrong. They acknowledged that the mistake was theirs, but showed little interest in fixing the phone. I'm sure it is easier and more cost effective for them to just replace things rather than attempt to repair them. Repairing things is a lost art.

Dot had a great physical therapy session today. Her rear legs continue to get stronger at the same time her bladder continues to grow weaker. I have been hoping that as Dot grew stronger, her incontinence would diminish. This doesn't appear to be the case. She still has good days and bad days, but it is a bit discouraging to realize that she has now had four bad days in a row. Dot peed on just about everything today. Dot's vet thinks it's time to consider medication and I reluctantly agree. If the incontinence continues for too long, we run the risk of serious skin and urinary tract infections.

Dot's primary vet specializes in geriatric care. She was telling me today how hard it is to deal with clients who are in denial. They just can't deal with the fact that their dog is dying and keep convincing themselves that their dog is getting better despite obvious clinical signs to the contrary. I hope I'm not that way, but I think we all are to a certain degree. It's hard to confront death face-to-face. Doctors tend to become cold and clinical, while everybody else tends to turn their head away and avoid the issue entirely. I'm a total realist, but I still don't like dealing with the fact that Dot is very old and I'm not getting any younger myself. I look at Dot's ailments and think that in a few years I'll be dealing with the same problems myself. It's not pretty. Dot is extremely tenacious though and never gives up. I hope I have the same resolve when my time comes.

Tomorrrow, I'll see if I can get the apps on my new phone working again. UPS delivered a big package with a full set of ink cartridges for my printer today as well. That means that after I get my favorite phone apps reinstalled and working again, I'll need to get the large format printer working. Once again, it has sat idle for too long and the lines are clogged. The possum came back last night, so the yard needs a bit of attention as well. To do all this, along with washing endless loads of Dot's soiled dog blankets will require a good breakfast. I'm sure glad it's Friday tomorrow. A good breakfast makes everything better.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1723

Today didn't go well. I took my phone to the Apple store to get the battery replaced. The person I talked to at the Genius Bar was nice enough and told me that they'd have my phone fixed in a hour. That seemed fair enough, so I used the hour to drive up to my watchmaker and pick up my watch. Neither of us could remember how to set the old Tissot T-Touch, so I took the watch and told the watchmaker that I'd look up the instructions on Google. Unfortunately, I left some of the packaging for the watch up at the watchmaker's studio, so I'll have to make a second trip up there to retrieve it, assuming that it hasn't been thrown away already.

When I returned to the Apple store, they powered up my phone and showed me that it still worked. I was good to go. Unfortunately, I should have tried the Home Button on the bottom of the phone before I left the store. When I got home, I discovered that this all important button doesn't work anymore. Without the Home Button, the phone is fairly worthless. I looked up "non-functional iPhone Home Button" on Google and discovered that this button is frequently rendered inoperable when technicians try to pry out the battery. Located near the battery are several very small chips and jumpers that control the operation of the home button and power switch. If these components are broken or sheared off while changing the battery, you will need an entirely new logic board. Now I've got to go back to the Apple store and convince them to give me a new phone. Given the miniscule size of the components that are probably broken, it is doubtful that something like this can be fixed. I should have just kept the old battery. The phone was working fine, but lure of a free new battery was just too strong.

Dot's incontinence seems worse on odd numbered days. There is no rhyme or reason to this, but she seems to alternate between good and bad days. This makes no sense to me. Dot eats and drinks the same things every day. She should be getting progressively better in some sort of measurable way, but so far, the progress she's making seems pretty random. At some point we're going to have to decide whether to put Dot on medication. She doesn't even realize she is peeing in her sleep, but we certainly do.

I dread going back to the Apple store tomorrow. I had to wait a long time today, and it will probably be the same tomorrow. Why didn't they notice this problem before they handed the phone back to me? It's always something, isn't it. On my way out of the shopping mall I stopped at the new Tesla store that just opened. You can't buy a car there, but you can look at one. It was the first time I'd actually seen a Tesla in person. What a cool car. There's one small problem though. The thing runs on 8000 small Lithium Ion batteries. Just imagine when those things start going bad. A Tesla with faulty batteries will make my iPhone problems seem like nothing.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1722

It sure seemed like Monday today. That's what happens when you have a long weekend. Whatever day you return to work seems like Monday. It wasn't a terribly busy day but it had that unfinished quality about it that Monday's often do. I made an appointment at the Apple store to get the battery on my phone replaced. I have serious doubts that I'll actually get a battery installed tomorrow, but you've got to start somewhere. I also ordered a complete set of ink cartridges for the Epson 4880. I've never had all eight cartridges run out of ink at the same time before, but I guess there's a first time for everything. I don't know why I even bother with this printer anymore, since the ink is quite expensive. Maybe deep down I still have a desire to make large Giclée prints like I did six or seven years ago.

I don't think I'll ever sleep normally again. Even if we do end up giving Dot pills to help control her incontinence, we won't ever be able to completely trust her again. Accidents happen. Since I don't have the heart to make Dot sleep in a crate away from the rest of the family, I am resigned to spending extra time every evening preparing the bed with a vinyl drop cloth under several layers of protective pads. The dogs actually like the protective pads that Janet sewed for them, so we had to make one for Dash too. They have a soft terry cloth surface and a protective waterproof back, making them great little dog beds. Every evening they go on the bed and every morning they come off again. There is a spare pad in case there is an accident during the night. I think we've thought of everything. It's just very time consuming.

I need to get a second opinion about my shoulder. I've been putting off doing this forever, since I'm afraid I'll be told that I need surgery. I really don't want surgery on my shoulder, but I don't want an arm I can't lift above my head either. Also, I'm sure that just about any doctor would tell me that the first thing I need to do is stop walking the dogs with a dislocated shoulder. That's just not an option. I don't like hospitals either. Increasingly, hospitals are where you go to get sick, instead of to get better. Just about everyone I know who has had to go to the hospital recently has ended up getting some sort of infection from all the antibiotic resistant germs that infest hospitals these days. My health plan basically consists of avoiding sick people and it seems to work pretty well. My shoulder still hurts though, so I'm faced with a dilemma.

I wonder if the watchmaker has finished with my watch yet? It's not that I need it or anything. Picking it up would just give me something to do on a dead day. Tomorrow I've got my appointment with the Genius Bar folks at the Apple store. Thursday is Dot's physical therapy day. Maybe I'll call the watchmaker on Friday and see what's going on. It's nice to have at least one thing to do every day.

In case I give the impression that I'm sitting around idle, I'm not. There are still plenty of website revisions and updates each and every day. These are getting too boring to write about though, so you won't hear much about these in the future. The fact that I prefer to tell you about dog pee than what I'm currently doing at work tells you all you need to know about my business. Maybe it is time to retire.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1721 - Labor Day

Since it was Labor Day, I thought I'd undertake a laborious task. I got out the the toxic bottle of cleaning fluid, moved the teak lawn furniture to a dog-free zone on the side of the house, and set about making the wood look new again. The job wasn't as bad as I anticipated when I initially read the warning label on the bottle. Nothing caught on fire and the wood didn't boil or bubble as I applied the cleaner with thick rubber gloves. I was surprised that the stuff actually worked, since it had been sitting on a shelf for over ten years. After much scrubbing with an abrasive cloth, I rinsed the chairs off and was delighted to discover that they did look like new. After spending the past year giving Dash his chemotherapy drugs, I've gotten pretty good at handling hazardous materials. Cleaning the teak chairs was a piece of cake.

I discovered today that my iPhone is eligible for Apple's battery replacement program. Evidently, my phone was part of a small batch that received defective batteries when they were manufactured. The battery has never held a charge well, but I always though that I had just installed too many battery draining apps on my phone. I thought I'd investigate how hard it was to actually obtain my free new battery and got nowhere. The Apple stores are completely automated now and it is impossible to talk to a real person on the phone. I hit a dead end with the automated system. I couldn't even find out if the stores were open on Labor Day. I thought about just driving over to Northpark to see for myself, but then I remembered all the Labor Day sales at the mall and decided to wait until a quieter day. If experience is any guide, I will have to make an appointment to see someone at the Genius Bar online and then when I go to my appointment I will be told that I have to make another appointment to actually get the battery replaced. When I go to this second appointment, I will be told that the store ran out of batteries at 10:30 AM and that they will call me as soon they arrive. Then I won't hear from anyone for another month. That's the way it works at the Apple store now.

When we were having dinner last night, Janet asked me if I considered myself retired now. This seemed like a strange question, since I still fire up the computer every day and go to work. Sealander & Company is still open for business. I guess it was a fair question though. Much of the work I do these days pays very little and is largely meaningless. I've been losing the high-end jobs to younger, hipper companies for at least five years now. Maybe I just can't see the forest for the trees.

Since I didn't feel like fighting the holiday crowds at the shopping malls, there was very little to do after I finished cleaning the lawn furniture. After walking the dogs this morning, Janet set up a production line and began sewing dog bandannas for the upcoming Dalmatian Rescue golf tournament. She does a different design each year and this year's seems the best ever. I wasn't so productive and eventually wound up watching old Top Gear episodes on the BBC channel.

In keeping with today's toxic theme, I found another patch of Jimson Weed to photograph. It's amazing to me that these pretty flowers are poison. They look just like Easter Lilies to me.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1720

We went out to dinner tonight. This wouldn't have been a big deal if it weren't for the fact that it's been almost a year since Janet and I have gone to a restaurant together. This year has been so filled with work related stress and dog emergencies that going out to eat has been the last thing on our minds. On most evenings, all we really wanted was a good night's sleep. Since we have a three day weekend and both dogs are much better now, it was a good night to get out for a while. We went to P.F. Chang's using a gift card that had been sitting around the house for ages and had a very enjoyable evening. Since everything was just fine when we returned, it's probably time we got out more.

Actually, everything was just fine for the entire day. There was a hint of Fall in the air when we took the dogs on their morning walk. Although it warmed up later in the day, this morning was just about perfect. Dot has a good night and didn't pee in her sleep. When this happens, Janet and I get a better night's sleep as well. Since I slept well, I was surprised to wake up with a painful foot. At first I though I needed new walking shoes, or at least a new set of orthotics. Then I notice a big bruise on the arch of my left foot. It looked like I had dropped something heavy on my foot. How could I have dropped something on my foot yesterday and not even remember it? I have no memory of dropping a heavy object on my foot yesterday, but the foot tells a different tale. Maybe I dropped a tool on my foot while I was fixing the screen door. Maybe the picture frame I broke hit my foot before it hit the floor and shattered. You'd think I would remember something like this, but my mind is a blank.

The pain in my foot gradually subsided as the day progressed, so I went ahead and went to the gym as I had planned. I still need to go workout more than once a week, but all things considered, I'm doing pretty well. Probably walking the dogs several miles each day and doing chores around the house that most people reserve for their yard guy helps keep me in shape more than these weekly gym visits. I still need to start going to the gym at least twice a week though.

Janet sewed another waterproof pad for Dot to sleep on this afternoon. We have three of these over-sized absorbent pads now and there are better than anything available commercially. The front is a soft, absorbent terry cloth fabric and the back is a waterproof oilcloth like you would use for a tablecloth. We have already washed these things at least a dozen times and they work great. This wouldn't be the first time we've invented a product when none was available that met our needs. We'll never get rich from these endeavors though. When you design something for an audience of one, that's usually as far as it goes.

Tomorrow is the first of September. The dogs get their monthly heartworm pills and we get a rare Monday without the usual getting ready for work rituals. By the end of the month the worst of the Summer heat will be over for another year. The days will get shorter and I will start photographing sunsets again instead of wildflowers. I like these repeating rituals. This year certainly hasn't been what I expected, but it still feels familiar.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1719

I only had one thing to do today. I was going to fix the screen door. I've done this dozens of times before, because screen doors don't last very long with Dalmatians. In the past, dogs have jumped right through the screen when they saw a rabbit in the back yard. Typically, the damage isn't this severe but the metal mesh always gets damaged eventually by scratching paws, wagging tails, and simply bumping into the screen over and over again. It was time for a new screen today.

I thought this would be an easy job, but I was wrong. Unbeknownst to me, they stopped making screen wire in the correct size since the last time I fixed the door. I couldn't even find anything close, so I had to buy a much larger screen and cut it down to size. I keep forgetting that my Mid-Century Modern house is really sixty years old. Doors have gotten larger, along with just about everything else. When I got the screen sized properly, I realized that I needed staples for my staple gun. Much to my chagrin, I discovered that nobody makes staples that fit my old but very nice Swingline stapler. All the staples are made to fit Arrow staple guns now. My sturdy, American made staple gun had become a relic. Home Depot had an entire aisle full of staples and nails, but nothing for me. I finally found a single box of Swingline staples that looked like it was from the 1950's in my storage warehouse, but this is going to be a problem in the future. Fixing the door was never this much of a problem before. It made me feel old. I had a hard time even getting the screen door off its hinges because of the carpel tunnel in my left wrist and my dislocated right shoulder.

I did eventually manage to get the door fixed, but in the process I broke a pretty brass watering can that I've used for years to water house plants. I knocked the can over when I was positioning the door on a nearby table to attach the screen and all the braised brass joints just fell apart. One little tap and the spout and legs just fell off. Later, when I was picking up dog blankets to wash, I knocked a picture frame off the wall and broke it too. It was that kind of day.

Dot had a better day than I did. There were no accidents at all. It's strange that today was normal, because last night she peed all over one of her waterproof mats while she was sleeping. Maybe it was just because we slept in a bit later this morning. She probably would have made it through the night if we had all gotten up at 6 AM like we do on a work day.

I watched the latest Dr. Who episode while I was getting the bed ready for another unpredictable night. I don't know if Dot's bladder will leak tonight, but I do know that Dr. Who needs some better writing if this season is to be a success. Peter Capaldi could still be a great doctor, but he needs better scripts. In my humble opinion, tonight's show was a poorly conceived mess. I felt like I was watching a parody of Fantastic Voyage. I'll still watch next week though.

Janet has a weird weighted hula hoop that she sometimes uses to exercise with in the back yard. I tried to use the hoop while I was messing around with the screen door this afternoon and I couldn't keep the thing spinning. How embarrassing. I would have thought using a hula hoop was one of those basic things like riding a bicycle that you never forget. Who knows. Maybe I can't ride a bicycle anymore either.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1718

I thought I'd do something useful today, so I decided to clean the teak outdoor furniture in the back yard. I had a bottle of special cleaning liquid and made the mistake of reading the fine print on the back of the bottle. Before using this product, I was supposed to put on rubber gloves, wear protective eyewear, and dispose of any clothing that inadvertently became exposed to the product. The warning message also told me to cover the ground under the bench I was about to clean, so the product wouldn't seep into the soil when I rinsed the furniture off with a garden hose. WTF? If this stuff is this dangerous, why was it sitting on a shelf in a hardware store begging to be purchased by idiots like me. Needless to say, I didn't open the bottle. I only read the label to make sure the cleaner would be safe around dogs. I never dreamed it would be hazardous to my own health. The last line on the warning label included the number for the poison control hotline, just in case something went wrong.

With my plans to clean the patio furniture thwarted, I decided to go ahead and finish my August writers group essay a few days early. The prompt for this month was "windows," but it could just as easily been kangaroos. I'm not particular about what I write about. As my regular blog readers have already learned, I often write about nothing.

The weather was strange today. We woke up to the sound of rain pounding on the roof. By the time I had gotten dressed and made the bed, the rain has stopped. I took the dogs on a nice walk and then went out for breakfast. Almost as soon as I returned home again, the rain started again. It went back and forth like this for most of the day. One minute it would be bright and sunny, and the next minute there would be ominous dark clouds on the horizon. Everything worked out well. The dogs got both of their walks. I was able to run all my errands. And the plants in the yard still got some much needed water.

Dot had a good day. There were no accidents at all. We woke up in a dry bed and the day proceeded normally from there. I still can't figure out why Dot would be completely normal one day, and pee all over everything the next. Dot does appear to be getting better, but her progress certainly isn't linear. There are still good days and bad days, but the good days seem better than they were two weeks ago and the bad days aren't as bad. I wish I could take Dot along with me the next time I see my urologist. Maybe he might be able to explain what is going on.

I'm looking forward to having a three-day holiday. We don't have anything planned for Labor Day, but that's OK. Doing nothing is always fine with me.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day