Day 2384

I was surprisingly upbeat today. While the pundits on the morning TV shows were talking doom and gloom as a result of yesterday's Brexit vote, I just felt like a little sanity had returned to the world. Dot seemed to agree. For the first time in weeks, she slept through the night and pooped outside in the morning like a normal dog. It was a nice Summer day with a light breeze and we all had a nice morning walk.

After Janet went to work, I returned to the slightly upscale restaurant that I'd initially made fun of. Maybe this place is my new favorite now. It's clean and quiet and there's a lot of variety on the menu. After only three visits, the guy that serves me already remembers my name and preferences. I think my guilt about abandoning my original favorite restaurant is starting to fade.

I kept thinking that the panic in the financial markets might be a buying opportunity, so I called my broker to see if he agreed. Instead of shorting stocks, which seemed too risky for me, I sold some Put Options on positions I was thinking about buying anyway. If prices rise, I keep the option fee and no harm is done. If prices fall to the strike price, I own the stock at a discount. Maybe this strategy is still a little risky if Armageddon is looming on the horizon, but I don't think the world is going to end because Britain left the European Union. I may be wrong, but today's panic just seemed like a buying opportunity.

Work is still slow, so I washed the car and mowed the grass in the back yard. I contacted the roofer to see if he'd forgotten me and he said that he'd be over to patch my roof soon. It's about time. The audio repair shop called and said that the second tape deck I'd taken in for repairs was ready. That repair has been taking a long time too. I forgot to call the shop back, but I didn't really feel like picking up the unwieldy machine today anyway. I'll deal with that on Monday.

This month has flown by. It's going to be July before you know it. Living with a sick dog has changed things so much that I've almost forgotten what I used to do in the Summer. I wonder how I used to get everything done when my company was still active and busy. Now, taking care of Dot eats up so much time that when I add one or two minor tasks, the day is gone. I still feel as busy as I ever was. It's just a very different kind of busy.

I'm looking forward to a calm and uneventful weekend. The uneventful part won't be much of a problem. The calm part will probably depend on the dogs.

Rio is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2383

I wrote a letter to my Luddite sister today. There's something oddly satisfying about writing a letter on paper, putting a stamp on the envelope, and taking it to the post office. I used to regularly correspond with dozens of people by mail, but this recalcitrant sister is the only one left. I miss the days when writing a good letter was still a skill that mattered. There is something tactile about putting a message on paper that just isn't there with e-mail. Sometimes I wrote letters in longhand and other times I used my faithful IBM Selectric typewriter. The fact that you often waited weeks for a reply added to the allure. The immediacy of e-mail, digital photography, and Google searches leaves me cold. I put more thought into things when I edited audio tape with a razor blade, developed film in a darkroom, and wrote letters without the help of spellcheck. Sadly, those days are gone forever.

I really think that the slower pace of an analog world was better for everyone. Now, we measure progress by how big and fast we can make something. The inevitable result of this type of thinking is globalization. In a global economy, successful companies get bigger and bigger, gobbling up all their smaller competitors. A few people become enormously rich, and very gradually there are fewer and fewer choices for the rest of us. Instead of hundreds of small airlines and auto manufacturers, there are just a handful of giant global companies, pumping out standardized products and services for the entire world. I would love to see a reversal of this trend. Even though the odds are against it, I would like to see the UK leave the European Union. I would like to see the Euro disappear and see the return of the Deutsche Mark and the French Franc. I wouldn't even mind seeing the United States split into several smaller countries. Small is good. Small problems are self limiting and can't spread to consume the entire world. The world was more interesting when small self-sufficient countries developed their own unique style and culture. Sure there were still lots of wars and conflicts when city states like Venice and Florence flourished at the end of the Middle Ages, but these states were too small to do much permanent damage to the earth. The whole idea of the Internet is based on the idea of thousands of independent nodes that make it impossible to take down the entire system. We like the redundancy that the Internet provides, but can't seem to grasp that the rest of the world should operate the same way. Globalization and instant gratification have made it too easy to destroy everything. I think these things whenever I write a letter. I might have similar thoughts if I were driving around in a Packard or a Studebaker, but I can't do that anymore.

I had my reasons to be disdainful of e-mail today. One of my clients kept saying that they never received anything from me even after I sent them what they requested three different times. The message wasn't even that important, but it ended up wasting a huge amount of time. I was pretty sure that the problem was on their end, but I ended up having to extensively test my own e-mail account just to make sure that I wasn't the source of the problem. Electronic problems are tricky this way. I should have just sent them a letter, but I know they never would have had the patience to wait for it. Patience has become just as much of a lost art as writing letters.

I've been watching the Brexit referendum returns on TV as I write this and it looks like I may get my wish. It's still too early to call, but there are a lot more votes to leave the EU than most people anticipated. The downside to all this is that my stocks will probably take a big tumble tomorrow morning. Oh, well. If it wasn't this, it would probably be something else. If the trend continues, people who shorted stocks will make money, but like me, most traders will wake up very surprised. I still think dissolving the EU and a return to sovereignty is a good thing in the long run, but I never would have predicted that it could actually happen.

Boo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2382

It doesn't really take that much to turn a bad day into a good day. Basically, I was faced with the same old grind, but Dot had more energy today and I was able to solve a perplexing website problem for one of my clients. I was really pleased with how well Dot did during her water therapy session. We were able to increase the speed a bit and she didn't stumble at all. The vet paid extra attention to her shoulders during her acupuncture therapy and tried to relieve some of the stress that was causing her muscles to cramp. Her rear legs are so weak now that she basically shifts most of her weight to her front two legs which causes a lot of stress. The combination of water therapy and acupuncture seemed to work, and Dot felt better for the rest of the day.

Much of my website work is so mechanical now that I often feel like a code monkey. Occasionally though, I have to really think things through and today was one of those days. I've never really liked interactive forms, especially when they don't work. I had to do a lot of troubleshooting today to figure out why something that should be working actually wasn't. It would have been easy to blame the hosting company or gremlins for the problem, but I was determined to find the answer myself. After a couple of hours of experimentation, I figured out what was going on and explained everything to the client. I think they understood, but there's always a chance that they weren't listening.

I've got to find something better to watch on TV while I eat breakfast. I used to watch Dr. Who re-runs on the BBC channel but they quit running them. Now there's nothing but endless political and financial news, which are both equally depressing. I'm totally tired of the non-stop political news. Do we really have to listen to this for six more months? I wish that Bernie and Trump would have a secret meeting and both agree to run as independents. Bernie could call Trump a narcissistic fascist and Trump could call Bernie an dangerous socialist and almost instantly the traditional political establishment would be irrelevant. In a four person race, either Bernie or Trump would win. Hillary and whatever tired old retread that the Republicans trotted out wouldn't have a chance. All this would be fine by me. I think just about anyone would be better than more of the same. It's time to re-shuffle the deck and start over. Of course there's always a chance that I'm just another nihilistic anarchist. I'm really hoping that the UK leaves the European Union tomorrow too.

It's amazing how quickly the soil dries out after a few days of Texas heat. Our yard was a mud pit just a few weeks ago and now it is almost bone dry. I'm going to have to start watering again or everything will die. Our water bill triples during the Summer months. I hate to think how much people with really big yards and fancy sprinkler systems pay for water each month. We have a very small yard and our water bill goes through the roof in July and August.

There was only a small Internet outage today and I didn't even bother to call technical support. Sometimes calling AT&T actually makes things worse. That's the way modern life is today. You have to decide whether random sporadic problems are worse than the problems you go out and create for yourself.

Kirby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2381

I knew it wouldn't last. My Internet service has become erratic again. It was so nice to have a reliable, fast network for about a month, but now things are just as bad as they ever were. Speed will slow to a crawl. The WiFi will go out entirely for no apparent reason. I'll call technical support and after I've waited on hold for ten minutes, everything mysteriously returns to normal as soon as I start speaking to a service representative. It's frustrating.

Flaky WiFi service wasn't the only frustrating thing today. One of my client's employees has decided she wants to design websites and asked me for the access codes to the sites I manage for her boss. This means one of two things. Either the client is going to take their website management in-house, or I'm going to be asked to re-create everything from scratch in a few months after the new designer has managed to screw the website up. There's a third possibility too. They might actually ask me to help them take their business away from me. This has actually happened before. Rudeness apparently knows no boundaries where third party contractors are concerned.

I paid the rest of the June bills today. There's still some money left, but I had to move some funds from the production account to the operating account to avoid becoming overdrawn. It's kind of sobering to realize that there just isn't a lot left over at the end of the month anymore. What do you do when everybody and their uncle thinks they're a photographer, filmmaker, or web designer? It's almost impossible to take a bad picture with today's automated digital cameras and apparently drag and drop website creation is the new hot thing with all my clients. I need to learn something really hard that nobody else wants to do. Right now it seems like everybody with a smart phone and a few graphics apps thinks they can do my job.

I walk so much that my latest pair of hiking boots is already starting to show some wear. I like these shoes, so I took them to a shoe repair shop in the neighborhood and had shoe taps put on the heals. I used to do this years ago when I wore cowboy boots a lot, but it never occurred to me to put heel taps on a Vibram sole work boot. These things will probably fall off in a week, or scratch up the floors in our house, but it's worth a try. Something about the way I walk just destroys the heels of my shoes. Maybe this will help.

I'm going to have to get Dot ready for her physical therapy appointment a little earlier tomorrow. The vet had to bump us into an earlier slot because of a conflict. Hopefully, this new schedule won't throw a wrench in the works. I'm beginning to wonder how long it is wise to continue the water therapy. Dot doesn't have as much energy now and the trip downtown takes a toll on her. I wish I could ask her what she wanted to do.

Barley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2380 - Summer Solstice

It certainly seemed like the longest day of the year. Time usually passes quickly when there is lots to do. It drags on forever on days like this. Today was a typical Monday on steroids. It seemed like all I did today was clean up after the dogs. Today started and ended with the smell of poop. It was so hot that it was difficult to get Dot to go outside. Dash, on the other hand, went outside a lot. He ate something bad yesterday and had diarrhea. Between the two dogs it seemed like I spent the entire day on cleanup duty.

Technically, today is the first day of Summer. I guess our rainy season is over. It was oppressively hot and the air was filled with the constant drone of cicadas mixed with the sound of lawn mowers and leaf blowers. It felt muggy, even thought the sky was clear. I'm not really surprised that Dot made no effort to go outside. I didn't feel like going outside either. It's kind of discouraging that it's going to be this way until late October.

Cleaning up dog poop isn't very stimulating, so in an effort to alleviate my boredom I drove over to a client's office to answer a question that could have easily have been answered in e-mail. Sending an e-mail doesn't do much good if nobody reads it, so I've discovered that it's much easier to visit certain clients in person. It only took a few minutes to get the problem resolved. It would have taken me a lot longer to type up my answer and hit send.

The wildflower season is slowly drawing to a close. The early Spring flowers are already looking dry and withered and I'm seeing fewer and fewer new ones each week. There are still a few surprises though. I couldn't identify the odd little purple bloom I saw today. It kind of looks like Bee Balm, but it is much too small and there was only the single blossom, buried under blades of grass. I'll eventually figure out what this small oddity is. It gives me something to do on days like this.

I'm beginning to wonder if my activity tracker just randomly makes up sleep data. There is no discernible pattern to my sleep. Some days there is no deep sleep at all. Other days there is no REM or dream sleep. It's a mystery. You'd think that I'd get the most deep sleep when I was really tired, but this is not the case. Every night is different, even though I almost always go to bed at exactly the same time. I definitely don't have insomnia. Although Dot wakes me up during the night, I seem to go back to sleep almost instantly. I don't know where I'm going to get the extra two hours of sleep I need though. If you go to bed at midnight and get up at six, there is no way you are going to get eight hours of sleep.

Tomorrow is Tuesday. Tonight I keep hearing the lyrics to Once in a Lifetime playing endless in my head. Same as it ever was. Same as it ever was...

Alamo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2379 - My Birthday

Every once in a while, my birthday coincides with Father's Day. I remember my Mom used to tell my Dad that I was his Father's Day present. I'm convinced that sometimes he would have preferred a new fishing rod or even a case of beer to a somewhat rebellious son who never listened to his old man. Hey, what can I say. We don't always get to choose. I eventuality became a responsible and quasi-respectable adult, but I still think Dad would have preferred someone who wanted to follow in his footsteps.

I'm 68 this year. There are days when I feel 86. One reason that I'm often tired is that I haven't slowed down all that much. I haven't retired and still try my best to please the few clients I have left. My body has seen better days, but I still walk three to five miles a day. Today should have been a day of rest, but instead I found myself up on the roof clearing away standing water, working out at the gym, and vacuuming the house with the Dyson. It might have been my birthday, but it was also Sunday. This is just what I do on a Sunday.

The gym was virtually empty today. I guess the other members were doing Father's Day things. Janet asked if I wanted to go out for dinner, but I really didn't. We stayed home and she fixed a delicious meal. We had pork chops, corn on the cob, new potatoes, and of course a birthday cupcake for dessert. I vaguely remember more elaborate parties, but I don't miss them. Today was exactly as it should be.

I'm not always a fan of Facebook, but I do like their birthday reminder thing. It's nice to hear from people in my past who I thought had forgotten about me. I don't get out much anymore, but the birthday greetings create an illusion that I'm still connected to a much wider world. Most of my Facebook friends are former co-workers, people who own Dalmatians, watch collectors, and fellow bloggers. Thanks to all of you who took the time to say hello today.

Dot perked up a bit when she discovered that she and Dash were going to get some birthday celebration treats, but for the most part she seemed unusually tired today. She was slow and stumbled a bit on her morning walk, so we curtailed the evening walk entirely and let her rest. I really hate to see her decline. I can tell that she still has the desire to do things, but her body often lets her down. Maybe after some extra rest today, she'll be able to enjoy her walk tomorrow.

Tomorrow we start another year. I hope Dot makes it to my next birthday. I'd like to see my business pick up a bit, but I'm not going to spend much time marketing myself. I'm thinking about becoming a vegetarian, but I doubt that I have the will power. I just like bacon too much. There will be some exciting days and a lot of boredom. Whatever happens, I hope you guys will join me for the journey.

Inky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2378

According to the news, we're having a heat wave. It kind of seems like a normal June to me, but I'll be the first to admit that it's pretty darn hot. I mowed the grass early this morning in attempt to avoid the worst of the heat, but I wasn't very successful. If I was looking for comfortable temperatures, I would have had to mow in the middle of the night. I don't know how long I can continue to mow my own grass. Pushing the lawnmower gets more exhausting with each passing year. Most of my neighbors have a yard service by now, but I stubbornly continue to do things the old fashioned way. When the temperatures start to approach 100 degrees, I begin to question my own sanity.

The dogs don't like the Summer heat any more than I do. Sometimes there's a breeze on our early morning walk. Today the air was still and it made the heat seem even more oppressive. We should have gotten an earlier start this morning, but it was Saturday and everyone was sleeping peacefully. I hated to wake Janet and the dogs up. There was telltale evidence that Dot had pooped during the night when I woke up this morning, but I don't remember getting up during the night. It turned out that Janet woke up and cleaned things up. Sometimes I wake up and sometimes she does. All this proves I guess is that we both sleep erratically.

Mowing the grass wore me out, so I wisely decided to curtail any further yard work. Since it was nice and cool inside, I thought I'd finish a few writing assignments. I completed a press release that had an impending deadline and sent it off to the client. I tried to get some clarification on a website issue I'm working on and eventually remembered that the client wasn't in the office on Saturday. Hopefully, I'll be able to remember my question until Monday.

When I went to the store, I was disappointed to see that they no longer carried the hot and spicy Cheetos I like. This is probably for the best, since there were so many artificial ingredients in the things that they were sure to give me cancer. I struck out buying healthier items too. The peaches were soft and looked like they'd go bad in a day or two. I didn't buy them. It floors me that stores continue to sell bad produce, but maybe everyone isn't as picky as me. I saw other people buying the peaches. Strawberries are the worst. They must train the produce guys to hide bad strawberries inside the clear plastic containers. The strawberries always look great on the top and bottom of the packaging, but there are always some bad ones hidden away in the middle where you can't see them. I can't really blame the stores for doing things this way. If they sold strawberries loose, customers would rummage around and pick only the very best ones, leaving all the rest behind.

I think the mosquito treatment is working. I still got bitten when I was cleaning my boots on the porch after our morning walk but the bites were definitely less frequent. The next test will be to see whether the treatment still works after I resume watering the grass. I'm surprised that the city hasn't started spraying yet. Usually they are spraying for mosquitoes at night by now. Maybe people are protesting the spraying program again. The city can't win on issues like this. Whatever they do, somebody is going to complain.

It's hard to believe that another year has come and gone. There won't be any big celebrations tomorrow, but I'm glad the journey has lasted as long as it has. With luck, there will be many more birthdays to celebrate, but I'm beginning to wonder whether my goal of posting for 5000 consecutive days was a bit too ambitious. I'm not even halfway there yet.

Rugby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2377

I treated the yard for mosquitoes today. It's too early to tell whether the spray treatment works, but the entire yard now smells like a giant Citronella Candle. I tried to pick a time to spray the yard when I knew the dogs would be asleep, but as soon as I finished, they both woke up and needed to go out and pee. The bottle says this stuff is completely safe around pets, but it would have been nice if they'd given the yard a chance to dry before we tested that theory. I wiped their paws off with a rag and they both went back inside and resumed their nap .

Breakfast was enjoyable this morning. I'm trying new things, and so far the experiment seems to be going well. It may not seem earth shattering to try something different for breakfast, but for me it is. For over three years I went to the same place and ordered the same thing every Friday morning. Those days appear to be over now, whether I like it or not. I didn't really ask for this variety, but maybe it's for the best. At any rate, my Eggs Benedict were quite tasty this morning.

I'm still wondering whether I'm going to run out of money this month. I paid the Visa bill and my annual homeowners insurance today, but the Mastercard bill with the humongous car repair charge hasn't arrived yet. It's going to be a close call. I guess I don't really need to pay my credit card bills in full every month, but partial payments seem like a slippery slope. I've always paid my bills on time. If something ever happened where I couldn't, I think it would be a very ominous sign.

I seem to get most of my work assignments on Fridays now. I'm not complaining, but it would be nice if I were able to spread the work out during the week. As it stands, I often end up working weekends even though the office is dead quiet during the rest of the week. I have a couple of new assignments this weekend. Some of the assignments could probably wait until Monday, but I have a feeling that I'll be working this weekend anyway. My compulsion to turn work assignments around as soon as I receive them is almost as strong as my compulsion to pay bills on time.

I've got a birthday coming up this weekend. I've always been a typical Gemini with a need to have two of everything. Lately, the things that come in pairs seem to be bad knees and sore elbows. It's a bitch celebrating a body that is falling apart. Hey, I'm still here though. Every time I look at Dot, I realize it's all about attitude. If she can keep hanging in there, so can I.

Bali is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2376

Maybe I've set the bar too low, but I felt like I accomplished something today. There a new battery in an old iPhone that had just been sitting in a junk drawer for several years. The Interstate Battery technician reminded me that there was no SIM card in the phone, but I told him that I didn't care. I'm just going to use the phone as a WiFi pet cam. It was strangely satisfying that I revived this old phone for less than half of what it would have cost if I took it to those guys at the Genius Bar in the Apple Store. Jeez, it's just a battery. It never should have cost $75 in the first place.

I also have an extended warranty on my main production camera that will probably outlast me. I got the warranty certificate this morning and now I just need to figure out where to put it, so I won't have to spend three days looking for it when the camera eventually breaks. I don't know why I need a paper certificate anyway. Panasonic should already have all my information in a database somewhere.

The only other thing on the agenda was getting a haircut. When my eyebrows start to look like Andy Rooney, I know it's time for a haircut. I wasn't rushed today, so I stopped by the Apple Store on the way to my appointment and took a look at the new larger iPad Pro. I may get one of these things, since it is much lighter and more convenient than my current laptop. With the handy keyboard case attached, this clever tablet could easily replace my laptop. Now, all I need is a month without excessive bills, so I can pay for it.

While I was walking back to the parking garage after my haircut, I stopped in the Tesla Store to take a look at the new Model X. I'd never seen one of these things before and it was pretty impressive. With its gull wing doors, space age electronics, and oversize wheels, the Model X seemed like something the Jetsons would drive. I doubt that I'll be driving one anytime soon. I might be able to afford an iPad Pro, but I'll never be able to afford a Tesla Model X.

When I was walking Dash this afternoon, I noticed quite a few Scissor-Tail Swallows flying around. These birds are kind of amazing and can seemingly hover like a helicopter. I wanted to get a picture of one of them in flight, but Dash was getting hot and was in a hurry to get home. I managed to get one shot of a Swallow resting on a nearby branch, but that was about it. It's an uphill battle to do nature photography when you're walking a Dalmatian.

The trash has already been taken out to the curb. Today's wash is in the dryer, and I'm trying to decide what to have for breakfast tomorrow. Eggs Benedict sounds good.

Hershey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2375

Another long day. Since Dot's vet has gotten busier, it often takes me over three hours to take her back and forth to her therapy session. Waiting isn't always bad though. It gives Dot a chance to calm down and relax before she starts exercising in the underwater treadmill. I wasn't expecting much today since it was so hot outside, but Dot did surprisingly well. Her condition seems to have stabilized. She isn't getting any stronger, but she isn't getting any weaker either. She did very well during her water therapy sessions today, and as an added bonus, she didn't poop in the car.

I think I was able to resolve the problems I was having with extending my camera warranty. For once, customer support was actually courteous and helpful. Thanks Panasonic. Since I didn't have the documentation they were requesting, they allowed me to photograph the serial numbers on the camera and use that instead. I wasn't expecting this to end well, but it appears that it actually did.

I discovered today that the Interstate Battery store near me will replace my iPhone battery for less than half the price that the Apple Store currently charges. You don't have to make a complicated online appointment with somebody at the Genius Bar either. You just walk in with your phone, and they'll change your battery on the spot. Supposedly, the whole process only takes fifteen minutes. I'll try taking a phone up to the store tomorrow and see if this is as good as it seems.

I finally saw someone that looked like a supervisor talking with the crew laying fiber optic cable in the neighborhood and asked him what is going on. Evidently, the long awaited 'fiber to the home' is finally becoming a reality. It appears that sometime this Summer our Internet service and U-verse TV are going to be getting a lot faster. I wonder if they are going to charge extra for this? AT&T never seems to give anything away for free.

It didn't rain today, so maybe by tomorrow it will finally be dry enough for me to apply the mosquito retardant in the backyard. I hope so. I've got so many mosquito bites that I'm itching constantly now. I'm not even sure that this spray-on treatment will work, but it worked last year, so it's worth a try. The mosquitoes have even gotten into the house. There's one buzzing around the office right now. I keep fantacising about a place with no insects, no snakes, and of course, no alligators. Does such a place even exits?

I'm not sure what the plan is for tomorrow. I don't anticipate being busy, so I made an appointment to get a haircut. This probably means that one of my clients will surprise me with a rush deadline. Whatever happens, I'm sure the day will start with a banana and strawberry smoothie and end with a pile of dog poop to clean up.

Shadow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2374

Is it even possible to find a simple answer to a simple question anymore? I wanted to find out whether a nearby Apple Store could put a new battery in an iPhone while I waited. I found the number of the retail store, hoping to avoid Apple's automated phone system. It didn't work. After a brief message thanking me for calling the store, I was right back in the automated system. I hate these systems. Press 1 if you want to do this. Press 2 if you want to do that. You can spend hours navigating these systems and wind up no closer to the answer of your question than when you started. I eventually ended up talking to a real person in California who had no idea whether the local store could put in a battery for me. There is a whole generation of people who have never experienced the simplicity of asking a question and getting a quick answer. They don't even know what they're missing.

I got a letter from Panasonic the other day saying that they'd extend the warranty on one of my cameras for free if I'd fill out a bunch of forms, send them a purchase receipt, and cut the UPC code off the box the camera came in and send that as well. It sounded complicated, but what the hell. Like I said, I'm not very busy. They were quite explicit that if I didn't sent the box label from the product carton, which they said included the UPC code, model number and serial number, my warranty would not be extended. There was only one problem. The box the camera came in didn't have a label like this. I looked and looked, but it wasn't there. Of course there was no way to contact these people by phone either. That would be too easy.

I'm starting to dread days when nothing happens. The monotony starts to wear you down after a while. When the dogs are finished eating and taking their walks, they sleep so soundly that I occasionally wonder if they're still alive. I don't watch TV during the day anymore, because it is so universally terrible. The only phone calls are from telemarketers and the only thing I get in the mail are bills. The isolation is like a thick blanket and the silence can be deafening. There are occasional moments of panic where I worry that something might be wrong with Dot. There are occasional deadlines where I've got to concentrate on work for a few hours. Mostly there is just nothing though. I don't feel like engaging with anyone and I don't feel like starting any ambitious projects. I think the jury is still out on whether I will become an expert on doing nothing or whether it will drive me crazy.

Dot pooped in the house so much today that I'm dreading taking her in the car to physical therapy tomorrow. I don't think she even realizes what she's doing anymore. This afternoon she woke up from a nap and came out to the kitchen to say hello, leaving a long trail of poop all the way down the hallway. I can't be upset with her though. Actually, I was pleased that she managed to stand up and start walking on her own.

I looked at the blog stats the other day and wasn't really surprised to see that there aren't as many readers anymore. Maybe people are getting tired of hearing about dog poop. Sorry. That's life. It's just what's happening right now. Cleaning up after Dot means that my loyal friend of so many years is still with me. I'd much rather have the mess than the empty void she'd leave behind.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2373

Automatic payments are a mixed blessing. They save on postage and you don't have to worry about forgetting to pay a bill. On the other hand, if you don't check your balance frequently, you can end up with a lot less money in your account than you thought you had. I was under the impression that my health insurance bills would go up in June. Nope. They actually went up in January. I should have noticed this earlier, but I didn't. My bad. It took me hours this afternoon to straighten out my bank balance.

I also sent out my June invoices today. There is still more money going out than coming in each month, which is probably why I don't check my balance as much anymore. It's too depressing. Eventually, I corrected my statement, got everything in balance again, and took the small stack of invoices to the post office. Things may change, but I suspect that this slow downward spiral will continue.

The wet weather is certainly continuing. There were sporadic thunderstorms throughout the day which meant I couldn't count on the dogs sleeping peacefully while I worked. Since Dot is almost deaf, she only gets upset when she sees the lightning. I try to make sure she doesn't take her naps near a window, but it doesn't always work. She knows something is wrong when Dash gets upset and Dash still hears everything. It was a long day.

When it rains, my boots get muddy and it takes me a while to clean them off on the porch before I go inside. I also have to clean the dogs paws before I let them inside. For the past week or so, I've gotten eaten alive by mosquitoes while I'm doing this. They say the Zika mosquitoes are already in Texas, but I hope they haven't arrived in my back yard yet. There is no avoiding getting bitten. The ironic thing is that I can't apply the mosquito retardant spray until the yard is dry, but when the yard is dry there isn't a mosquito problem. Catch-22.

I had some work to do today, but it's getting to where the website updates I make don't seem much different than doing a load of laundry. It's all just tedious and mechanical. Maybe if it was sunny outside, I'd feel differently. I'd like to be excited about something again, but right now I'll settle for a good night's sleep. I really wonder how long this rain is going to last. I thought last year's wet Spring set some kind of record, but this year is even worse.

We'll see if the sun comes out tomorrow. I have a feeling that the day will go a lot smoother if it does.

Marcie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2372

Like most of you, I woke up to the news of the horrific mass shooting in Orlando. I think in the weeks and months ahead, a lot of people are going to be asking why someone who was already on a terror watch-list and had been interviewed several times by the FBI was allowed to have a job as a security guard and purchase weapons in the first place. Omar Mateen's coworkers warned us about this guy, but nobody listened. The same thing happened when the Russians warned us about Tamerlan Tsarnaev before the Boston bombings. This has got to stop and it probably will. Safety and security has always had a higher priority than abstract concepts of personal freedom. I think we are headed toward a world like the one depicted in that movie Minority Report. It won't really be that hard to arrest people before they commit a crime. We won't need Pre-Cogs like in the movie, because Google knows everything about you already. In a world with no secrets, you will give yourself away. If you don't think this is going to happen, just wait. The technology is here already. All it will take is a few more incidents like Orlando and people will be more than willing to use it.

When I was younger I never dreamed that the world would wind up like this. I was convinced that we'd all be driving flying cars by now and would have already established a thriving colony on Mars. It's sad that we haven't lived up to our potential. Personally, I'm not all that worried about climate change. Humans will be extinct in 30,000 years, mostly as a result of our own stupidity. The earth will survive like it has for four billion years and maybe the next species to evolve will do a better job of things.

Current events frequently leave me feeling that dogs make better companions than humans. It makes perfect sense to lead a quiet, somewhat solitary life devoted to keeping two aging Dalmatians healthy and happy. That's pretty much all I did today. I cleaned Dot up after several accidents in the house. We took both dogs on a slow, but pleasant walk. Later, I comforted them when the thunderstorms arrived. It's a simple existence, but it makes as much sense as anything in today's increasingly chaotic world.

I did make it to the gym before the afternoon storms started to frighten the dogs. Like always, today's workout reminded me that I need to go to the gym more often. Aging is such a losing battle. I still do a pretty strenuous workout, but it seems much harder than it did three years ago. I wish I enjoyed all this activity. I know it's necessary, but personally I'd rather just eat cake.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2371

After spending a week following a schedule with almost military precision, it seemed weird to have a day with almost nothing to do. I got up late, because there weren't multiple alarm clocks telling me to get up at 6 AM. After giving the dogs a morning walk, Janet and I went out to breakfast, which is something we rarely have time for. After a leisurely breakfast, there was still nothing to do, so I remembered an e-mail I'd gotten about a big sale at the REI store and went to check it out.

The sale was too weird for me. They were selling returned merchandise that looked visibly used to me. All this stuff was displayed in a roped off area outside the store and they were handing out tickets to get in. There were tons of people standing in a long line, waiting to have an opportunity to buy used shoes and scratched up kayaks. I wasn't about to get a ticket and wait in line for two hours to buy a pair of used shoes, so I left. About an hour after I left, it started to rain really hard. I wouldn't have wanted to be one of those people who had waited in line for hours.

The dogs were edgy and nervous all afternoon because there were thunderstorms in the area. The storms were small and localized, but they were enough to trigger some serious storm phobia. I stayed home to make sure that Dot's barking didn't turn into a panic attack. Eventually the rain moved Eastward and normalcy returned. When it quit raining, we all took a nap. It seemed like the appropriate things to do on a day like this.

I was going to treat the yard for mosquitoes this morning, but I'm glad I waited. It would have been a wasted effort, because the rain would have washed all the repellent away. The yard needs to stay dry for about twelve hours after I apply the mosquito repellent using a garden hose attachment. I guess I could have done this last week, but I thought the yard seemed too dry last week and decided to water it. The mosquito repellent is organic and won't hurt the dogs, but it's hard to find the right time to apply the stuff. Eventually I'm going to have to spray the yard though, because I'm getting sick of getting bitten.

I got an e-mail telling me that the domain transfer process was complete and my domains had been successfully moved to a new registrar. Why this process took four days, I'll never know. I set the domains up to auto renew when they expire, so hopefully I won't have to think about them again for a long time.

I always see new flowers right after a rain. This evening I saw something that looks kind of like a Thistle and kind of like a Blazing Star. I'm not sure what they are, but I see a small patch of these purple flowers every year in exactly the same spot about the second week in June. I wish everything were this predictable.

Willa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2370

I went to the airport and picked up Janet after breakfast this morning. I'm really glad her plane arrived at DFW airport, because at exactly the same time that I was waiting for her at the American Airlines baggage claim, there was a shooting right outside the baggage claim at Love Field. If we had been at that airport instead, we would have been stuck there the rest of the day. They shut down the entire airport because they thought that people might have got on on planes without going through security during the confusion that occurred right after the shooting. Everyone had to get off their plane and go through security all over again. Access to and from the airport was shut down and people on the airport access roads at that time were stuck in their cars for hours. It was a huge mess.

The dogs said goodby to the dog walker this morning after a final early morning walk. It was nice to know that if I need help again, there is someone out there I can trust. There were certain aspects to caring for Dot on my own that were more difficult than I anticipated, but continuing to give the dogs their regular morning and evening walks wasn't one of them. The dog walker always arrived right on time, was very patient with Dot, and most importantly, both dogs liked her. Having something new and different to anticipate each morning seemed good for them. Hopefully, they will continue to walk with the same enthusiasm when we resume our regular schedule tomorrow morning.

It didn't really seem like a work day, since I spent half my day going to and from the airport. I finished several small website updates after lunch, but there was nothing major on the agenda. Since Janet was home with the dogs and work was slow, I decided to get a head start on my Saturday errands. You'd think that mid-afternoon on a workday would be a good time to do grocery shopping, but what do I know. The store was relatively empty, but there were only two check out aisles open and I ended up waiting in line longer than I usually do on a busy weekend. I couldn't use the automated check out aisles today because I bought some beer. They still check your ID every time you buy alcohol even if it's obvious that you're an old man who hasn't hasn't made an underage purchase in over fifty years. There is no common sense to rules and regulations anymore. Eighty year old grandmothers are forced to take their shoes of at the airport and old men are still carded when they buy beer. In the mean time, there are still shootings at airports and nothing is really any safer.

Even though I had just returned from the store, neither of us felt like cooking, so I went out again and picked up some take-out for dinner. On the way, I encountered a huge four car pile up just a few miles from my house. There were fire trucks, ambulances, and a big traffic jam. It probably would have been easier to cook something for dinner. If I learned anything today it was that when people come to me, like the dog walker and the FedEx man, it is generally a good experience. On the other hand, when I venture out into the world, not so much. If anyone ever perfects online grocery shopping with free home delivery, I may never leave the house again.

Escher is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2369

Today felt a bit strange. I actually had some work to do for a change. I stayed busy most of the day updating websites and writing a new article. For the first time this week there were no accidents in the house. I successfully got Dot up and outside before she peed on the floor. It was also fortunate that the phone company was laying fiber optic cable in the alley behind our house. When I took Dot outside, she would start barking excitedly at the workmen and it would cause her to poop. I don't get lucky every day, but today everything fell into place.

I've been wondering why my morning fruit smoothies tasted a little funny this week. Today I discovered why. The milk I'd been using had gone bad. I do better when Janet screens my food. Sometimes I never notice that something has spoiled or gone past it's expiration date until it's too late. My sense of smell leaves something to be desired. This can be a good thing when I'll sleeping next to Dash, but I've eaten more than my share of spoiled food because I couldn't smell that it had gone bad.

I'm curious why the phone company is laying fiber optic cable all over the neighborhood. I've talked to a few people, but nobody seems to know anything. Most of my neighbors are just mad that the cable installation crews have torn up their front yards. You'd think that if service was going to improve, AT&T would have sent out a flyer telling people what was coming their way. I talk to AT&T tech support frequently because my U-verse service is so bad, but they know nothing. Even the guys actually  laying the cable know nothing. "You'll have to talk to my boss," they tell me. 

I've been getting up earlier than usual to feed the dogs and give them their morning meds before the dog walker arrives. I was hoping that this might turn me into a morning person, but I don't think it's going to happen. I'm certain I'll revert to my old ways the minute Janet returns. The dogs schedule actually hasn't changed much. Janet always gets up early and the dogs follow her out to the kitchen, expecting to be fed. I sleep in a little longer until it's time for our morning walk. I justify this extra shut-eye because I'm usually the one up in the middle of the night cleaning up dog poop. Truthfully, nobody gets enough sleep at our house.

While I was walking Dash this afternoon, I watched a squirrel carry a huge Horse Apple up a tree and proceed to eat the whole thing. This fruit from the bodark tree is considered inedible and is often used to repel cockroaches and other insects. Inexplicably, squirrels love the taste of these things, which explains why once a Horse Aple falls to the ground, it doesn't seem to stay there very long.

I had to turn on the sprinklers today. It's amazing that after several weeks of continuous rain, all it took was a few days of hot, sunny weather to dry things out. I'm not looking forward to July. This month's water bill was surprisingly low, but I'm not going to want to even open next month's bill. I think Summer has finally arrived.

Liberty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2368

I almost got Dot outside this morning, but she peed on the very last rug before we went out the back door. I'm still having trouble coordinating things in the mornings. There is a very small window of opportunity to take Dot outside before she pees all over the place. If Dash gets outside while I'm tending to Dot, he will eat leaves or grass which make his throw up later. If Dash starts barking in the kitchen because he wants his breakfast, it often makes Dot poop. Both dogs have pills they take in the morning and they need to be ready to go by the time the dog walker gets here. I also need to re-arrange the dogs beds in their daytime configuration and make my own bed before Dash decides to spend the day sleeping under the covers.When our morning walk is finished and the dogs are tired, I sit down and eat my own breakfast.

Dot stumbled around a bit and seemed tired when we got up this morning, but did surprisingly well in the underwater treadmill later in the day. I keep looking for a predictable pattern, but everything seems random. Some times Dot will poop every few hours, and other times she can make it through an entire day without any incidents. I never know what to expect. There are good days and bad days and you have to be prepared for either. All in all, today was a good day. The acupuncture session relaxed her, she didn't poop in the car, and everyone was pleased with her performance on the treadmill. Of course you can't have everything. Both dogs are driving me crazy right now with their incessant barking. I don't know what they want, but they don't seem to want me to write this blog.

I'm surprised at how well the dogs are getting along with the dog walker. I had expected these walks would be a giant hassle, but everything is working out pretty well. It's only been four days and Dot and Dash have already grown to expect her every morning. They often start waiting at the front door around 7 AM. The fact that this minor variation in their daily routine seems enjoyable to them probably says a lot about how boring their daily lives have become. They used to have a lot more variety in their lives when we went to training class every Wednesday and frequently took them to the dog park on weekends. When they were younger, they were often ambassadors at Dalmatian Rescue events. You can't do as much when one of your dogs has trouble walking, but I do need to think of some new ways to add a little variety to their lives. It would probably be a good idea to add some variety to my own life as well.

There's not going to be a lot of variety tomorrow. By the time I finish taking care of the basics, I'm exhausted. I never dreamed you could spend so much time cleaning rugs and doing laundry. When you add fecal and urinary incontinence to a severe physical disability and cancer, you've got the recipe for a high maintenance dog. I don't know how you'd deal with a dog like this if you worked in an office all day. Luckily, I have a lot of flexibility.

I'm going to try to go to bed early tonight. You'd think this would be easy, since the dogs finally quit barking and are sleeping now. The only snag in my plan is that I have to wake them up and give them their evening meds and take them both outside to pee before I can go to bed. This means I'll be getting ready for bed and they'll be wide awake again. Eventually, we all manage to fall asleep and then it's morning again.

Lacey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day