Day 4837

I attempted to check a few small things off my list today with even smaller results. I called a music store to check on some gear I still have on consignment and discovered that nobody I knew still worked there. The guy who answered the phone said he wasn't familiar with my stuff but that he would look for it and to call him tomorrow. It's probably my fault for not having called the place since before Covid, but I wasn't expecting the gear to be lost. Hopefully they can find this stuff. The synthesizer and mixing board are old and probably obsolete, but they were still working fine when I consigned them three or four years ago. They'll make a great addition to the storage warehouse if they can be found.

I've been wanting to repair my large format printer, so I called the company I used to use and discovered that their printer technician had retired and they no longer service printers. I called a second company that was recommended and they lost their printer technician too. Evidently fewer people repair their printers these days. They just buy new ones because it is often cheaper than the repair. I finally found someone who still works on my type of printer. He seemed knowledgable, but he had bad news. Many parts are no longer available for the printer and the ink has gotten really expensive. A set of eight cartridges costs over $800 these days.Yikes.  Janet says it is stupid to buy a large format printer if all I want to do is print three or four photos. I'm sure she's right, but I always liked that printer. Making huge prints is awesome.

Today was even warmer than yesterday. I can't imagine that we will get any more freezing weather at this point. We will get more rain though and that means I'm going to have to start mowing the grass soon. I'm one of the few people in the neighborhood who still mows his own grass. Just about everyone else uses a lawn service. I've grown to hate these services because they are always around with their loud leaf blowers. The neighborhood just isn't very quiet anymore. One of these days I'll probably have to start using a lawn service myself. It's getting harder and harder to push the mower up the hill in the front yard.

Dawn is almost back to normal. We took her on a longer walk this morning and she did fine. She's getting better at going up and down her step to the bed as well. Her front legs are still a little shaky, but she's definitely getting better. We thought she was well enough to get a bath today, so we took her to our local self bathe place. I still have to ride in the back seat with her to keep her from sliding off the seat, but probably by next week she'll be ready to return to her training class. At least she's clean with trimmed nails again.

Even though I wore shorts, I still got hot on my long walk. It felt like summer this afternoon. I think I saw one of the bald eagles again. It was flying overhead and I didn't get a good look, but I suspect that it was an eagle because there were a number of photographers with long telephoto lenses in the area. There must be some sort of network among birders for eagle sightings because every time I see the eagles I also see photographers. I made terrible time on my walk today, but I'll give myself a pass. I was very tired.

Janet and I are both thinking of getting new phones, but the whole process is frustrating. All the major phone companies seem to get horrible reviews. Nobody seems to like their service provider. I don't want an iPhone 14, but the 12's and 13's seem to be in short supply. I still like a SIM card that can be removed from the phone. My current phone plan has been discontinued and I'm kind of grandfathered in at a ridiculously high rate. I guess there are better plans, but when I read the fine print, there's always something I don't like. Why do I even need a phone? I hardly ever call anyone. I just use the thing to take pictures and check on the weather.

Ariel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4836

What a weird Spring we've had. It's been hot, it's been cold, it's been all over the place. Today the temperature got up to 81 degrees. If that wasn't enough, the humidity was almost 100% this morning. It was so damp that all the bricks on the back porch were soaking wet. That didn't stop us though. We got up, dressed in summer clothes and took Dawn on her morning walk. Dawn is still taking shorter walks, but she seems to be doing fine.

This was another one of those days where the furnace was on when we first woke up and then the air conditioner kicked in later in the day. Eventually the heavy dew everywhere evaporated, but it was a very muggy day. A quick look at the yard confirmed that my annual Spring chores need to start soon. It's almost time to start mowing the grass again. I need to cut back the dead growth in the Asian Jasmine at the back of the yard as well. It will be time to battle the ants and wasps soon. I'll need to go and get some insecticide for ants and something stronger to kill the wasps. The wasps build their nests everywhere and they are very aggressive. I've been stung many times. I don't want Dawn to get stung by these things.

If I was a sensible person I'd start getting rid of things in the office and storage warehouse. Instead, I keeping wanting to repair things I seldom use. I'd like to repair the big production printer so I could make a few large prints of my best astrophotography. Never mind that I have no place to display the pictures. There's a big Sony TV in the storage warehouse I'd like to get fixed as well. I need to retrieve some of the equipment I still have on consignment at a local music store. If it hasn't sold in two years, it will probably never sell. Where will I put this stuff? The storage warehouse of course.

That's all for another day. Today I just followed my familiar routine. I ate breakfast, checked my messages which were mostly just spam, and then got ready to take my long walk. It was so warm today that I just wore shorts and a t-shirt. Wasn't it just a few days ago that I was decked out in all my winter gear? I can't keep up with this constantly changing weather at all.

I left Dawn alone in the house while I took my walk. As I expected, she didn't move an inch. She was asleep on the bed when I left and still asleep when I returned. She wasn't at all interested in getting up until Janet returned from the gym. Dawn gets excited when Janet comes home but hardly even looks up when I enter the house. She's fine though. As soon as Janet returned, Dawn's tail was wagging and she was ready for lunch.

I vacuumed the carpets this afternoon. The carpets in the bedroom and office need to be replaced, but that will come later after the new roof is installed and the damaged sheetrock in the ceiling has been replaced. For now I just continue to vacuum the old worn out carpet and am still amazed at how much dirt is collected. The carpets don't look any better when I'm finished, but the Dyson canister is filled with dirt and dog hair.

Tomorrow is going to be another unseasonably hot day and Friday it's going to start raining again.  Probably as soon as this weird Spring is over I'll be complaining about the hot Texas summers again. This is supposed to be our nice season, but I think we got cheated this year. 

Brooke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4835

What happened? Today was supposed to be nice and I was going to go up on the roof and look for leaks. It wasn't warm and nice at all. It was very chilly outside and there was an all day drizzle. It never rained very hard, but it never stopped either. I waited and waited to take my long walk and I finally gave up, put a raincoat on and walked in the rain.

Dawn had a minor setback this morning. When we took her out to pee in the yard, she saw the neighbor's dog in the back alley and started barking and running toward the fence. She always barks at anything in the alley, but this was an unfortunate time. She was running too fast and must have strained a muscle in her weak leg. She didn't fall, but she was limping a bit. 

We helped her back on the bed and she didn't want to get off again for quite a while. We had to feed her breakfast in bed again. Eventually today's Rimadyl pill kicked in and she started walking normally again. We don't want Dawn to be in pain, but we definitely would like her to take things easy for a while. We're making progress, but it's going to take a while for her to heal. We would have been fine this morning if Dawn hadn't seen the neighbors walking down the alley with their dog. You win some. You lose some. Dawn is a very protective dog. I can't seem to explain to her that it's not our alley.

I was the only one walking in the park today. I saw one man walking his dog but that was it. There were no bicycles and no joggers today. I did see a group of park employees laying new sod in a bare area. I guess they don't get the day off when it rains. My raincoat kept me surprisingly dry and I was able to complete my entire route. My shoes and socks got wet though. Why didn't I think to wear my waterproof Hoka boots? Days like today were exactly why I bought those boots. 

I got a form letter from my accountant today saying that since my tax materials arrived later than their self imposed in-house deadline, they might not have time to finish my return by April 15. They could need to file an extension on my behalf. First in, first out the letter said. What? I delivered the materials the same time I always do every year. It's never been a problem before. I don't want to file an extended return. I'll have to give the guy a call. My return is always pretty simple. I can't believe it would take them that much time to prepare it this year.

I'm so sick of all this rain. It just seems to go on and on. We're going to miss bulky trash pick up this month because the remaining leaves in the back yard are too wet to rake. The roof still isn't leaking, but I have very little faith in my repairs. It never gets dry enough for me to find and seal the remaining leak. Dawn doesn't like the rain either. It's really hard to get her to poop when the ground is wet. If we do managed to get her down to the park, the ground is slippery and that increases the danger of falling. The rain isn't over either. Tomorrow is supposed to be dry, but there will be new storms arriving on Thursday and Friday.

Hopefully there will be no surprises tomorrow. Is a predictable life, a healthy dog, and a dry house too much to ask?

Big Boy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4834 - Vernal Equinox

I've had enough of this cold weather. It certainly doesn't feel like the first day of Spring. I guess it could be worse. At least it doesn't look like we're going to get any snow this year. You can complain about Texas weather all you want, but it's still a lot better than other parts of the country. I just try to go with the flow. I look out the window when I wake up and then dress accordingly.

Dawn did well on her sunrise walk this morning although she seemed tired and a little stiff after we returned. We've reduced her daily dose of Rimadyl and will watch her for a few days before trying to reduce it further. It's hard to tell how much activity Dawn needs. Too little activity and she gets restless. Too much activity and she gets tired and we risk falling again. I still think she is doing better than I am. She definitely had more energy than I did on our morning walk.

I didn't accomplish much today. It was too cold for outdoor activity and nothing needed immediate attention indoors. I also didn't sleep well last night and could have easily gone back to bed after breakfast if Dawn was more agreeable about sharing the bedroom. I am glad that I didn't make plans to go out to McDonald Observatory for their annual Spring Break star parties. There's been an unusual amount of snow in West Texas this year. From what I see on the Internet I'm better off here in Dallas, even if I am a bit bored.

It was cold and windy on my long walk today, but I dressed warmly and completed my route. I really need to find something more interesting to do with my time. These walks are good exercise and keep me from sitting around the house doing nothing, but they have become boring. When I'm out walking I'm usually daydreaming about being somewhere else. I'd definitely like to attend more launches in Florida but my budget has put a cap on what I can do. If I get credentialed for either the Axiom AX-2 or the ViaSat-3 missions I'll probably go though. It's really time for another trip.

It's too bad that nobody wants to hire old geezers to design websites anymore. I actually enjoyed working. When I look at the current websites of former clients they certainly don't look any better than the ones I designed. Several of them look a lot worse and don't function well. I doubt this even matters. The people I used to work with have all retired and several have died. Their replacements are much younger and prefer to work with someone their own age. I can't say that I blame them. I prefer to work with people my own age as well.

It's supposed to be a lot warmer tomorrow, so maybe I'll go up on the roof and look for leaks. It's definitely not my favorite activity but it needs to be done. I wonder how long I can keep using my current phone and computer? Almost every day I find something else that is no longer supported. I live in an old house, drive an old car, and am surrounded by old equipment. Goes with the territory I guess. Some would say that I'm obsolete myself.

Baxter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4833

I'm happy to report that today was an absolutely normal Sunday. Dawn got her Sunday outing again and she was more than pleased to resume her routine. She was still a little unsteady in the car, but I sat in the back seat with her to keep her from falling. We took a shorter walk than normal, but she had plenty of time to smell things and eat grass. I wish she wouldn't try to eat grass. Unfortunately every dog we've ever had has liked to nibble at fresh Spring grass.

Of course we went for ice cream after our walk. The ice cream store raised their prices again. Jeez. We might have to start going to Dairy Queen if this continues. The ice cream was still good though. Hey, little extravagances are worth it if your dog likes them.

The day started normally enough. We took Dawn on a short sunrise walk and she did very well. After seeing how well she did, we decided that she was ready for her Sunday outings again. The only thing we've got to be careful about now is her tendency to jump on and off the bed. She knows she is supposed to use the step at the base of the bed now, but if you aren't watching her, she will still try to jump. None of this is all that strange. Not only is Dawn a dog, she's a very stubborn Dalmatian.

I fixed French Toast for breakfast this morning. It's the one thing that Janet says I make better than she does. As usual I made and ate too much. There's no sense in having left over French Toast so I ate twice as much as I should. It's a good thing that Sundays are filled with lots of walks.

There was nothing new at the mall this week. A noticed very few changes as I made my five laps around the perimeter. There were a few more Spring styles in the windows, but that was about it. The place was crowded with walkers and very noisy this week. Maybe I just didn't get there early enough. This seems to be the favorite place for families to take small children on a weekend. Many of the kids were in strollers, but some of the older ones pushed their own little strollers which carried their dolls. 

Going to and from the mall is the only time I listen to the radio. I never listen to music and only listen to NPR is there is a show about science or the economy. If they are talking about some social or political issue I turn the radio off. Today I listened to one show about the shortage of cadavers for anatomy students in today's medical schools. On the way home I listened to another show about the economics of running an airline. Steven Dubner's Freakonomics Radio is always an interesting show.

Since the living room looks a lot better after I bleached the leak stains in the ceiling, I thought I'd try the same thing in the office. This was a harder task since there is a carpet on the floor and the room is filled with junk that could be discolored by bleach. I found an old plastic shower curtain that we had to use when one of our dogs became incontinent while still insisting on sleeping on the bed. This actually worked pretty well to protect the carpet. The room looks better now although you can still see some stains and there are cracks in the sheetrock. Oh, well. This will do for now. Eventually we will replace the damaged sheetrock throughout the house, but that's a ways down the road.

This weekend really went quickly. There is a lot I need to do next week if I can get myself motivated. Bulky trash day is coming soon and I still need to finish raking leaves. I also need to see if I can find where the water is still getting in on the roof before it rains again on Thursday. It's questionable if any of this will happen, but we'll see. 

Pringles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4832

Another cold morning. We had to wear our winter coats when we took Dawn on her morning walk. The walks are shorter now, but Dawn still loves them. Her entire day is better when she gets a chance to smell things in the park. So far her recovery is going well. We've already eliminated two of her meds and will start reducing the remaining Rimadyl tablets tonight. She's pretty steady on her feet now, but we still have to help her on and off the bed.

We had our traditional big weekend breakfast and then I did my weekly grocery shopping. This week it was time to fill my car with gas. I do this about every two weeks. As little as I drive, you'd think I could go a lot longer between fill ups, but my car gets terrible gas mileage. Truthfully I don't need a 5 liter supercharged V8 to go to the post office.

Grocery stores are still a mess. I guess that's the new normal. Selections aren't nearly as good as they used to be and prices have gone through the roof. To keep prices lower stores are increasingly stocking the shelves with their own house brands. These brands are less expensive but you get what you pay for. For the most part these house brands are noticeably inferior. I do my low end shopping at Sam's Club and my high end shopping at Central Market. These two stores are world's apart although both have their own house brands. Central Market's house HEB brands are much better than Sam's Member's Mark brands, but Sam's is still the place to buy bottled water, detergent, coffee pods, garbage bags, and other items that don't go on the dinner table. 

Janet had to be away from the house this afternoon, so we thought we'd see how Dawn would do on her own. We were pretty sure that Dawn would stay on the bed while we were gone, but dogs are never entirely predictable. I left the house to go on my long walk before Janet left, but the house was empty when I returned. Sure enough, Dawn was still lying on the bed. She made no attempt to get up and greet me, but that wasn't unusual. She never does. When she saw that I wasn't Janet, she just sighed, put her head down and went back to sleep.

I was a little worried when she wouldn't eat her dinner tonight. I even tried bring her bowl back to the bedroom and she still had no interest. It turned out nothing was wrong at all. As soon as Janet came home Dawn gobbled everything down and then went outside to pee. The little diva was just upset that her weekend schedule had been disrupted. Dawn is constantly at Janet's side when she is home and she just doesn't like being alone with me. I think she's getting better.  When she was really sick she seemed to tolerate me being nearby a lot better. I'm sure this was just an illusion. She probably just had trouble moving away.

We're not sure Dawn is ready to ride in the car again, but if all goes well we might try to take her on a shorter Sunday outing tomorrow. She'll still need help getting in and out of the car, but she does love her walks. We'll see how it goes. I'll go mall walking in the morning and when I return to the house that's usually a sign to Dawn that she's going on her outing soon. Last week she was real disappointed when we didn't go anywhere. Hopefully we can keep Dawn a happy dog tomorrow.

Nick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4831

It was clear and cold this morning. This always seems to happen in March. It gets warm so everything starts to grow and then we get a late freeze and have to start over again. It was well above freezing this morning, but it looks like we might get that late freeze later this week. At least there is no more rain for a while. So far there have been no leaks in the house after yesterday's storm. Maybe I got lucky. I haven't gone up on the roof to investigate yet. I'll probably regret that decision later.

Dawn woke us up during the middle of the night and needed to go outside and pee. The drugs she's been taking are making her drink more water. She seems to be feeling better now that we've resumed the Rimadyl. The vet said she could continue taking it for another week and then we should slowly start weaning her off the drug. We don't have a long term solution yet. Maybe there isn't one.

I had to pick up some prescriptions today and the pharmacy doesn't seem to like GoodRx anymore. They used to always check and see if the GoodRx price was lower than my Part-D health plan. Now they say that this is too much trouble. I have to show them the GoodRx coupon for the drug on my phone and wait fifteen minutes wandering around the store while they refigure the price. "Can't we just do this the way we used to," I asked the pharmacist? Nope. They can't or won't use GoodRx as my default payment method. So it goes. Nothing is easy anymore.

I walked later in the day today, hoping that it would warm up. It didn't. I dressed warmly and had a nice walk, but my feet hurt again. I should probably throw away my old Hoka shoes and start wearing the new pair, but I keep thinking that I can get a few more months out of them. Truthfully, the shoes probably don't make much difference. I've got osteoarthritis and I don't want to start taking pain pills for minor aches and pains. 

I wasted a lot of time today watching Dawn to make sure she didn't try to jump off the bed. She's happy sleeping on the bed and I hate to gate her in a hallway. I didn't really have any plans anyway. My day usually consists of eating and walking lately. All I really did today was go to the pharmacy. I'm sure the long walks are beneficial, but I need to add a few more things to my daily routine. The trips to Kennedy Space Center are few and far between and I'm not sure that I will ever return to McDonald Observatory. Age is catching up with me and I hate that long drive.

Janet did her grocery shopping today and I'll do mine tomorrow. We both think that there's been a sea change since the pandemic. Stores always seem to be out of things these days and it's a hassle to find what you need. I think all businesses are understaffed too. There aren't as many employees in the stores now and the ones who are working seem grumpy. At any rate, grocery shopping takes more time now, costs more, and is definitely less satisfying.

I'm having Internet problems again. I can't even access my own domains. I hate to call my hosting company because that's usually just an exercise in frustration. I think I'll just post this and go to bed. So many things are just random these days. Probably everything will be working fine in the morning.

Allie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4830

Yesterday was such a nice day and today was exactly the opposite. It turns out that it was the drugs that were keeping Dawn happy. After 24 hours without pain meds she woke up stiff and painful again. There were no falls, but there was one stumble where she almost fell. We've had to go back to having her wear a harness with a handle all the time so we can help her on and off the bed and make sure she doesn't fall when going out to pee. After giving her another Rimadyl she is much calmer this evening. We'll have to check with the vet and see how long it is safe to continue this medication.

Today was a dismal rainy day, but I did manage to get a few things done. I finished gathering and preparing my 2022 tax information to take to the accountant. During a break in the rain I took a fat folder with my tax materials and another with Janet's information to the accountant and then dropped off the old printer at an animal rescue donation site. When I returned home it looked like there was still enough time to take my long walk before the next round of storms arrived.

I completed my entire route today but I was pretty slow. My feet weren't having a good day. We didn't give Dawn a morning walk today and probably won't tomorrow either. Since she seems to feel good when taking pain medication it's hard to know what to do. We don't want to aggravate the situation, but it isn't good to be completely inactive either. Dawn is much happier when she can follow her regular routine. She and I are pretty similar in that regard.

The dreaded severe storms we've been hearing about for several days finally arrived late this afternoon. Usually bad storms go either to the north or south of us, but today they appeared to be headed directly in our direction. It all looked pretty serious for a while. We started getting warnings on our phones and then the tornado sirens started going off in the neighborhood. The local weather said the entire area was under a tornado warning and sure enough when I looked at the weather radar our house was inside the tornado warned zone. This hasn't happened for a long time. We gathered up Dawn, her dog bed, several blankets and our phones and headed for our safe spot. Truthfully, we don't have a safe spot in our house since it is an open plan design with no interior rooms. There is a ton of single pane glass that would break easily in a bad storm. We ended up huddling next to the refrigerator in a little alcove in the kitchen that was as far from windows as we could find. This still wasn't a great location because we were near the utility room with a gas furnace and water heater.

Dawn was good in her inaugural safety drill. She was nervous for a few minutes and then settled down and was pretty relaxed. I think she felt comfortable that both of us were right there next to her. Dawn didn't want us on the dog bed with her though, so she ended up having more room than Janet and I. The storm blew over pretty quick and everything is quiet again. A cold front has arrived though and it is almost thirty degrees colder than it was a few hours ago. When I took the trash out to the curb about an hour ago it felt like a completely different day than it did this morning.

There are no roof leaks yet, but I expect we'll start to see some soon. The pumps are running now and it's clear that there's a lot of water on the roof. I wish I knew where to place the buckets before I go to bed tonight, but the leaks never seem to appear in the same place. I actually hope the dripping noises wake me up tonight or there might be a big mess in the morning. The good news is that there is no more rain in the forecast for a while. The bad news is that Dawn isn't out of the woods yet. Whatever's wrong is still bothering her.

Ruthie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4829

It was a busy day. Dawn is getting her sunrise walks again and appears to be back to normal. Now that we're on Daylight Savings Time we're actually seeing the sunrise again. Dawn continues to seem steadier on her feet than I am. I think she's made a remarkable recovery. She finished her pain medication today, so hopefully she'll feel just as good tomorrow.

My e-mail is working again. Yay. The guy I talked to last night accomplished nothing, but I got lucky this morning and ended up talking with a different tech support person who actually knew what he was doing. This guy was a software engineer and not some call center flunky. He diagnosed my problem and had everything working again in less than five minutes. Sadly, I'll probably never talk to this guy again. One of the worst things about modern tech support is that you never end up talking to the same person twice. You are just randomly assigned to the next available agent. Some of these people know what they're doing, but the majority don't. I can't believe how many hours I spent talking to the first two tech support representatives yesterday and neither of them accomplished anything.

I made surprisingly good time on my long walk today. I managed to get over 21,000 steps and doubled my normal Apple watch move goal. It's a mystery how I had so much energy since I woke up tired. I'll have to admit that it was a nice day for walking. It felt brisk outside but it wasn't too cold. I just wore a light jacket and felt fine. I noticed that another of the resident geese was missing today. Where are these geese going? There were ten about three months ago and now there are only four. Is someone capturing these geese and taking them home to eat? Are they dying of natural causes? Or are visitors killing them by feeding them unhealthy food? The are signs all over the park explicitly telling people not to feed the ducks and geese bread. Nobody listens. Almost every day I see people feeding the ducks bread. Sometimes they are feeding them right next to a sign telling them not to. Bread is one of the worst things you can feed waterfowl. If you insist on feeding ducks and geese, feed them cracked corn or frozen peas. Ducks will eagerly eat the bread but it is very bad for them.

It's tax season again and Janet and I both have to print out a lot of forms. Janet uses an iPad for almost everything and our existing printers are all to old to print from phones and iPads. I went out this afternoon and bought her a modern printer that supports Apple Airprint. Printers are amazingly cheap these days. This printer was very nice and cost less than what I typically pay for printer ink. The printer was a lot harder to configure than I thought, but it's working now and has made both our lives easier. Janet can print anything she wants directly from her iPad and phone. I continue to print the old fashioned way, with an Ethernet cable attached to my printer.

I got a lot done today, but the one thing I didn't have time for was searching for the remaining leaking spots on the roof. That's a shame because it's supposed to start raining again tomorrow morning. I really can't catch a break with this roof. There's been so much rain this Spring that it's rare for the roof to get dry enough for me to apply the remaining Armor Flex coating. I'm almost certain that the roof will start leaking again, but I hope the area in the living room that I cleaned up the other day stays dry. Cleaning that area was a lot of work.

The friend who has my train collection sold a few more trains today. At this rate I may be able to liquidate the collection in another ten years. This buyer lives in India. Go figure. I'm surprised at how many buyers are outside the country. Some of my guitars went to a band in the UK. Several trains have gone to Europeans. The auction house never disclosed who bought my art, but I suspect that most of them were European too.

I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow. Dawn is really enjoying her walks now and I'm enjoying having a dry ceiling again. Oh, well. Eventually the rainy season will be over and we'll have a new roof. Until then, I've got the buckets ready.

Carmine is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4828

Dawn is continuing to do well. We took her on two short walks today and there were no problems. Tomorrow she finishes her pain meds, and we're hoping that she continues to be comfortable. It's been several days since Dawn has stumbled or fallen. Her neck is still a little swollen, but that looks better too. With any luck, life can return to normal soon. It's going to be a while before I'm comfortable leaving her alone on the bed, but we can always gate her in the hallway with a dog bed if we both have to be out of the house at the same time.

I took my long walk early today because I had a doctor's appointment in the afternoon. I had to cut a mile off the walk to meet my appointment on time, but I still got my steps. It was chilly and overcast today but there was no rain. I'm getting bored making this five mile trek day-after-day, but it's still a lot easier than driving to the gym. It's surprising how quickly everything has turned green. It's starting to look like Spring has arrived.

My trip to the dermatologist was uneventful. Every six months the doctor freezes the keratosis spots on my face and scalp with liquid nitrogen and they always grow back. The keratosis is so minor that I tend to forget it is there. The doctor says it is important to monitor these areas though because they can turn into basal cell carcinoma. I've been going to this doctor for five years now and nothing has happened, so I hope things stay this way.

Janet's heart doctor wanted her to get a Kardia Mobile Heart Monitor to track her heart rate while exercising. She's supposed to send the results to her doctor periodically, but so far neither of us can figure out how to export the EKG files from the Kardia Mobile and attach them to an e-mail message. Usually I'm very good with devices like this, but I'm stumped so far. It probably doesn't help that something is wrong with my own e-mail account, so it's been hard to test the thing. I can usually receive e-mail just fine but I'm having trouble sending anything. I spent over an hour this morning talking with someone in a call center but got nowhere. Tech support seems to be getting worse and worse. I keep getting a message saying that my mail server has an invalid certificate, but the hosting company says everything's fine. Things were so much easier when you could actually talk to a software engineers yourself. Dealing with offshore call centers is an exercise in frustration.

It's weird having a non-functional e-mail account. I'm not working anymore, but I still have this need to stay connected. What if I miss a message about my press credentials at Kennedy Space Center? What if I need to change something quickly on a rescue website? How can I check on things I've ordered online? This is frustrating. Things seem to be getting worse so it looks like I'm going to have to deal with the call center people again. Oddly, this blog still seems to work fine.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4827

Dawn got a walk this morning and she did quite well. She seemed much happier today and being able to resume some of her regular activies was probably the reason. It's hard to tell if she is actually getting better since she is still taking pain medication and her neck still feels puffy. She's started to shake her head again which is both good and bad. It's good that her neck isn't as painful anymore, but we're going to have to start wearing the No Flap Ear Wrap again. The hematoma in her ear is starting to improve and we don't want that to get bad again.

I didn't do anything exciting today, but I did stay busy. I did several chores that I've been trying to avoid like cleaning toilets and trying to remove the stains on the ceiling. Spraying bleach on the ceiling works pretty well to remove a lot of the brown stains, but it's a messy job. You have to remove everything in the area, so you don't bleach furniture or other objects by mistake. I've learned to wear a hat, glasses and white clothing while I'm doing this so I don't ruin my clothes as well. The living room looks better now but I'm not even going to bother with the stains in the office ceiling. That part of the house is still leaking.

When Janet came home from the gym I took my long walk. We make sure that one of us is always home now to keep an eye on Dawn. We're making progress and the last thing we want is for Dawn to hurt her leg again with a bad fall. It turns out to be easier to let her continue to sleeping on our bed rather than gate her in a hallway where she can't fall. Dawn is a very stubborn dog and she just won't relax if she can't do things her way. Breakfast her way now means breakfast in bed. I don't know why she won't eat her breakfast in the kitchen anymore but it's not a big deal. I bring her bowl back to the bed and she eats there lying down. Oddly, she eats her other meals just fine in the kitchen.

Our weather has been like a roller coaster lately. One day it's hot and the next day it's cold. Today it was pretty chilly. It's hard to decide what to wear because it's always colder next to the lake. At least it was sunny today. I dressed warmly and completed my route, even though my feet hurt at the end. I'm not a big fan of Daylight Savings Time. It stays dark too long in the morning now and light too long in the evening.  I guess the late sunsets don't really matter because I'm not taking a telescope out in the evening anyway. The only connection I have with astronomy these days is testing the star tracker inside the house.

I had a nice walk this morning but it bothers me that I'm getting tired more easily. Walking six miles seems like a struggle at times. I'm going to keep walking though. I'm convinced that this activity is keeping me healthy and walking in the park is a lot easier than driving to the gym. I'm already doing better than my parents. Dad had Parkinson's Disease at my age and Mom was already dead.

I hate hearing that there's going to be a run on the banks after Silicon Valley Bank failed. Jeez. The money I have in the bank is my safe money, since I've never considered investing in the stock market to be all that safe. If the banks aren't safe anymore what do you do? Personally I think the news media love to scare people because it's good for ratings. They are making a big deal out of the bank failure because they know it will scare people. They've also been making a big deal out of airline safety lately because people are traveling more. Be that way if you want. I'll just quit listening to the news.

I need to remember that I've got a doctor's appointment tomorrow. Doctors and dentists hate it when you fail to show up. I have to go to the dermatologist now because I have a few spots of actinic keratosis on my face. Since this is sometimes a pre-cancerous condition they want to check me every six months. No problems so far. The doctor freezes the keratosis spots with liquid nitrogen and I'm on my way. Did I mention that I hate growing old.

Wyatt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4826

It seemed strange that it was still dark when I woke up this morning. I looked at my watch and it was after 7 AM. Were we about to get another thunderstorm? Nope. I forgot that the time changed last night. Now we are living under Daylight Savings Time again. Some people actually prefer Daylight Savings Time, but I'd rather have sunlight early in the morning and dark skies at night. I see no benefit in having the sun still up at 9 PM. Oh, well. We're stuck with this until next Fall.

Dawn was a handful today. She's feeling better and if I let her out of my sight for one minute she'll try to jump off the bed. I could tell Dawn was mad because whenever I come home from mall walking she knows that it's time for her Sunday outing. Dawn has a good sense of time and Sunday is her day. She became very restless when we didn't go anywhere this afternoon. There was no ice cream either. I took her out in the back yard numerous times but that wasn't good enough. Maybe next week, girl. We're going to try a short walk in the park tomorrow.

Mall walking does nothing to restore my faith in humanity. The mall walkers seem strange compared to the people I see walking in the park. The store displays seem even stranger. Fashion these days seems to be a celebration of ugliness. The winter coats are gone from the windows now and have been replaced by colorful Spring styles. Some stores seem to cater to older people getting ready to go on a cruise ship, while others seem to be trying to attract the impossibly thin. The high end European boutiques all have unrealistically thin mannequins in their windows, while a few stores actually feature fat mannequins. Lifelike mannequins have apparently gone out of style. They all look like stylized android robots now. It's a strange world out there and it appears to be getting stranger every week.

Since Dawn was restless today and I couldn't trust her, I tried to update the Polaris star tracker in the bedroom with her. That didn't work. I couldn't concentrate on what I was doing and Dawn managed to jump off the bed while I was actually sitting on it. I spent so much time taking Dawn outside that the star tracker shut itself off and I had trouble restarting it. Maybe I just don't multitask well, but I won't be trying this again. 

Since we still aren't taking Dawn on a sunrise walk, I didn't get my steps at the mall and needed to take a walk in the park later in the afternoon to meet my goal. It was an exceptionally nice day today and that meant the park was even more crowded than usual. I need to remember to avoid the park on weekends. I think I prefer cool overcast days when there is a light mist. On days like these I have the park to myself.

Maybe I do wobble when I walk. When I was at the mall this morning I tried several times to walk in a straight line. There are many places where you can follow a straight line scored on the concrete floor. I could follow this line when I concentrated, but whenever I started to daydream or look in store windows I started to drift away. I'd look up and I was two or three feet away from the line. I'm never conscious of doing this, but maybe it looks weird to others. Truthfully, I think Dawn is steadier on her feet than I am these days.

I'll be glad when Dawn has finished with her meds. I shouldn't be critical since I take meds for blood pressure, cholesterol and a variety of other ailments myself. I think Dawn's meds have changed her personality though. It bothers me that there is no way to ask her how she really feels. I guess the vet is probably right. Without a lot of bed rest and inactivity Dawn might never get better. We'll see how tomorrow goes. As always, I hope there are no surprises.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4825

It was just a normal Saturday with a few major changes. It's weird not taking our sunrise walk anymore. It's seems like we've been doing this forever. Hopefully Dawn will be able to resume this activity when she has finished her two week course of meds. Dawn spends most of her time sleeping on the bed now. We still guide her up and down her steps at the foot of the bed, but I think she would do this on her own now. 

Dawn seems to be a quick learner. I can watch her on the pet cam from anywhere in the house, but she is not inclined to move. The only time she would try to jump off the bed is when Janet is returning to the house. Now Janet calls me on the phone when she is several blocks away so I can be in the room with Dawn when she arrives. This seems to work pretty well. There have been no falls since we all started being a lot more careful.

I waited until Janet returned from the gym before going shopping this morning. Traffic was even worse than usual because there was a St. Patrick's Day parade on Greenville Avenue. I've never understood why people love a parade, but this one always seems to attract a huge crowd. At any rate, I changed my route a bit and avoided the crowds while still getting my shopping done. It was a busy morning since I also needed to fill the car up with gas, go to the bank, and stop at the pharmacy while I was out and about this morning. I only had to visit two grocery stores today, so my Saturday morning errands didn't take me any longer than usual.

When I returned, we took Dawn down to the park to poop. Her schedule has changed now that she is on all these meds. She used to do her business first thing every morning. Now she waits until mid afternoon. She doesn't have much of an appetite early in the day either. To get her to eat I've been bringing her breakfast back to the bedroom. The spoiled dog gets breakfast in bed now. Overall her appetite is still good. She is eager to eat her dinner and bedtime snack.

When Janet left the house again I updated the Dalmatian Rescue website and paid some online bills. I don't think my own schedule has changed much since I'm around the house a lot anyway. I just need to make sure I can always see what Dawn is doing. When I'm working on the computer I can usually see her through the office door sitting on the bed. When I'm in other rooms I can watch her on the pet cam. I'm probably being overprotective but we really don't want her to jump off the bed and fall again. Life would be easier if we could gate her in a hallway with her dog bed. She won't relax in the dog bed though and insists on returning to the big king-sized bed in the bedroom. Whatever works is fine by me. Dawn is definitely getting the bed rest the vet recommends sleeping on our bed.

I'm beginning to think I might be unsteadier on my feet than Dawn is. When I was walking down a road in the park today a guy leaned out his car window and asked if I needed help. It was kind of embarrassing. "Nope, I'm fine," I replied. I suspect that I don't naturally walk in a straight line. Janet says I wobble a bit when we are walking Dawn. It all seems natural enough to me, but maybe it looks strange to others. Hey, at least I'm still moving. A lot of people my age aren't. Something must be working because few people believe that I'm seventy five. They all say I look much younger. They roofing guys couldn't believe I was still climbing up on the roof when I told them my age.

We're not going to be able to take Dawn on her Sunday outing or even go get ice cream for a while. Dawn is way too shaky to ride in a car right now. Even on her best days she's not very good in the car. I'll still go mall walking tomorrow and then go home and babysit Dawn while Janet goes to the gym and runs her errands. I do think Dawn is improving. It's just going to be a long, slow process.

Tyson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4824

Dawn is getting tired of wearing her harness all the time, but it's for her own good. We need a handle to grab if she starts to go down. No falls today, but she's still pretty fragile. Dawn is learning to walk up the step to the bed, but you've got to watch her like a hawk. Her instinct is still to jump on and off the bed like she used to. We have a nice dog bed on the floor, but she is reluctant to use it. Dawn is a very stubborn dog.

I hate to see Dawn so sedated, but if it's bed rest she needs the plan seems to be working. I watched her this morning while Janet was grocery shopping and she mostly just slept. There is no anxiety now and she seems relaxed. The real test will come when her meds run out. Strangely, the hematoma on her ear seems to be getting better because she can't shake her head anymore. I think the swelling in her neck is better today, but it's hard to tell.

Yesterday's hard rain just seems like a bad dream now. Today was beautiful and the ground was dry again. Did the sudden storm even happen? The sky was clear this morning and our roof leaks stopped fairly quickly. I guess I'll take what I can get. Historically it always rains a lot during this time of year. Increasingly, it does seem like we are having an early Spring. It's hard to imagine more snow and ice when the air conditioner is running in March.

I wrote a letter to my sister today and took it to the post office. Traffic on our street has gotten impossible, It took me ten minutes to get out of the driveway. It doesn't matter what time of day you are out and about. It always seems like rush hour these days. The traffic and crime in the city make me wish I lived in a small town. That's not going to happen though. We like our neighborhood by the lake, the house is paid for, and moving anywhere is way too much trouble. Moving is for younger people. I moved around a lot during my 20's and 30's. It didn't seem like a big deal back then, but I can't imagine doing that sort of thing now.

I wonder how long I'm going to be able to continue walking six miles a day? It seems harder now. My last mile was terrible today. I walked a lot faster when I was trying to avoid the rain yesterday. I'll continue walking because it's good exercise and so much easier than driving to the gym. I do wish that it wasn't such an effort to remain physically fit. Growing old isn't all that fun.

I think I'm going to need a new phone, a new computer, or maybe both. Increasingly, things I use a lot aren't supported anymore. I can't update the system on my phone, computers, or even my watch because they are all too old. Safari is worthless on my computer now so I've had to switch to Firefox. I can't even upgrade my watch anymore because the watch says I need a newer phone. On and on it goes. Apple basically does a terrible job of supporting old hardware. Like most companies they just want you to buy new stuff.

Tomorrow is my grocery day. I wonder how expensive everything is going to be this week? Inflation seems fairly relentless when you like to travel and are living on a fixed income.

Ely is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4823

I got a lot done today. I signed a contract with the roofers to replace our roof. I went and got a haircut. I kept an eye on Dawn while Janet was away. And I still had time to take my long walk. I should have started the walk about twenty minutes earlier because it started raining again on my way home and I got soaked. No harm done, although the thunder and lightning made me a little nervous. I definitely don't want to be struck by lightning just because I was determined to get my steps.

Dawn seemed pretty steady today and there were no falls. She seems to be retaining a lot of fluid and her neck is still swollen though. It's kind of hard to tell what's going on because the medications she is taking make her sleepy and lethargic. This is on purpose because our vet wants her to stay quiet and as inactive as possible to let the inflammation subside and give everything a chance to heal.

Oddly, Dawn seems friendlier toward me now. I don't know if she is just too tired to leave when I sit down on the bed with her, or if she's finally starting to realize that I'm trying to help her. I'd like to think the latter, but who knows. She's a dog and will continue to follow her canine instincts.

The roofers want to start on the new roof in April. Let's hope the weather is better by then. The roof leaks started again within an hour after today's rain started. The leaks aren't bad, but it never got dry enough to start hunting for where the water continues to get in the house. It's probably just as well that I didn't attempt further repairs. I don't need to be disappointed again. The roofers are confident that they can eliminate the low spots that are causing all the standing water. I take everything they say with a grain of salt though. Roofers are always confident before they start a job.

I applied for press credentials to attend another Falcon Heavy launch in April. I'm almost sure this will end up conflicting with the roof replacement schedule, but we can work that out later. After the exceptionally rainy Spring we've had this year, I'm definitely going to need a trip to Florida to put this all behind me. It doesn't look like I'll be going to the observatory this Spring. I never got a volunteer request from them this year and their busy Spring Break season starts next week. I'm kind of glad that I don't have to make that decision. I'm still not sure I'm up for a long drive to West Texas.

Hopefully Dawn will continue to get stronger. She actually had a pretty good day today. My day wasn't bad either, although I wasn't wild about getting soaked when I was taking my walk. We'll see what happens tomorrow. I don't want any surprises.

Val is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4822

It's been a long day. Dawn's condition hasn't improved much, but we're getting a lot better at managing things. There were no falls or stumbles today because one of us was always holding her harness to make sure a fall was impossible, even if her front leg knuckled under. It takes a while to learn how to let a dog walk naturally while standing very close and holding onto the harness. The harness has a handle which I attach a short length of rope to so I can stand erect while walking instead of being stooped over to reach the handle. Since Dawn seldom walks a straight line you have to be careful not to accidently step on her. I always watch her tail for signs that she is getting ready to pee or poop. You have to loosen your grip on the harness so she can squat naturally.

Dawn is a very stubborn dog, so she still insists on going down to the park behind our house to poop, even though it would be so much easier if she would just go in the yard. It's actually less stressful to take her to the park since she just wanders around the yard forever without doing anything. In the park she does her business quickly and heads for the house again. She's even more stubborn about sleeping on the bed. We have a step at the foot of the bed that we made for Dot and if we help guide her up the step, she's fine. One of us always stays with her even though it is doubtful she would try to go anywhere. Dawn loves that bed. 

We're still not sure exactly what's wrong, but we have a pretty good idea. Several months ago she started shaking her head frequently for some unknown reason. It definitely wasn't an ear infection because her ears are clear and clean. The head shaking led to the hematoma on her left ear and the No Flap Ear Wrap. We're thinking that the violent head shaking eventually also led to a slipped disc in her neck. Paralysis or partial paralysis of a front leg is often associated with injury to the nerve roots in the neck or shoulder. All of this could easily have been caused by a bulging disc in her neck that pinched a nerve root leading to her leg. The x-rays that were taken several days ago seem to confirm this although we would need an MRI to make sure. We're not going to do that because she is a terrible patient and it would involve a long car ride to get her to the MRI machine. A long car ride with Dawn in her current condition would be a nightmare. If we can just keep her from falling we're pretty sure her condition will improve.

Our schedules have changed a bit since once of us always needs to be in the house to keep an eye on Dawn. She could injure herself badly if she fell while we were gone. So far it is all working well. Janet got to run her errands and go to the gym and I got to take my long walk. I can tell that Dawn isn't feeling well because she lets me sit next to her on the bed now. As stubborn as she is, I think she understands that we've here to help her.

It must have rained last night although it wasn't raining when we woke up this morning. Dawn woke me up during the night when she was barking strangely in her sleep. It sounded like she was possessed by a demon. Since I was also having a strange dream when she woke me up, it was all very disorientating. I think I heard thunder but it might have been the dream. At any rate, when we woke up there was a small leak in the kitchen that stopped about an hour later. There must have been a lot of rain because the pumps on the roof removed a lot of water.

Tomorrow the roofers come over and I guess I'll need to formally approved their bid. I've got a few questions, but I'm willing to go ahead and do this. Hopefully we can schedule something that doesn't involve rain during the process. The last thing I want is a big blue tarp over an exposed roof during a rain storm. I'm also getting a haircut tomorrow. It will be a busy day, but I think we've got everything scheduled. 

Bacardi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4821

I went to the storage warehouse today and brought home Petey's orthopedic dog bed and Dash's Help 'Em Up Harness. I could start a store with all the dog paraphernalia we've accumulated over the years. It comes in handy though. We're hoping that Dawn makes a full recovery but have no idea how long that's going to take. The x-ray results came back today and Dawn does have a bulging disc in her neck. This would explain some, but certainly not all of her symptoms. We've dealt with lots of illness and injuries before but this one is new. We still can't identify a cause. 

Dawn's problems just seemed to appear out of nowhere. What do a swollen neck and stumbling have in common? Hopefully the Help 'Em Up Harness will help keep Dawn from falling when we take her outside to do her business. She will stumble or collapse with no warning at all. A few minutes later she will seem normal again. The pain medication is helping keep Dawn calm, but we really need to figure out what is going on. We'll talk to the vet again tomorrow, but if there were any easy answers we'd probably already know them.

I missed my chance to search for leaks on the roof because it is supposed to start raining again later tonight. It wasn't a great day to attempt repairs anyway because I need the roof to be dry to apply the remaining Armor Flex. It was a grey day with a light mist in the air for most of the day. It was easy to convince myself that it wasn't worth the trouble to do anything.

I don't mind walking in a light mist so I took my long walk anyway. I didn't get as many steps today because there was no sunrise walk with Dawn, but I kept moving. The mist was so light that I didn't get very wet and it certainly kept things cooler. All in all, it was a good day for a walk. The weather has gotten so warm lately that it's hard to believe there will be another hard freeze. Stranger things have happened though. We've had some pretty heavy snowfalls in March. Let's hope that doesn't happen. I have enough problems without dealing with snow.

I backed another Kickstarter project this morning. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson after backing the Benro Polaris star tracker, but apparently not. Backing the Polaris project was several years filled with delays and frustration, but eventually I did receive the product and it has more or less lived up to expectations. Kickstarter backers usually get a much better price than what the new product will eventually retail for. There's always a risk though. The product may end up being a failure or never ship at all. At any rate, I may get a self leveling tripod someday.

I'm still not sure what I'm going to do in April. I haven't received any requests for help from the observatory, so maybe they don't need volunteers anymore. I hesitate to apply for credentials at Kennedy Space Center because we don't know what is going on with Dawn yet. If she's having trouble moving around, it's going to take both of us to help her. I'm not even sure I even want to go anywhere now. You've got to be in the mood.

Connor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day