Day 1828

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

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

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

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

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1827 - Blogiversary

I'm finally getting over my cold. For the first time in over a week, I woke up feeling reasonably normal. It was nice to get through the day without consuming an entire bag of cough drops or box of Kleenex. Usually, when I catch a cold, it only lasts for a few days. This was a nasty one. I've still got a bit of chest congestion and cough occasionally, but it looks like the worst is over.

I continue to be amazed at how few things it takes to completely fill up my day.  Either I'm getting a lot slower, or simple things are becoming more difficult. I had only one fairly routine website assignment today, and I still struggled to get everything finished. Household chores and paying bills seemed to eat up most of my time today. I'm thinking of switching a number of monthly bills to EFT payments, because writing checks and addressing envelopes is so time consuming. Was it always this way? Carpal Tunnel or not, it is becoming increasingly painful to write anything manually anymore. I find typing much easier. Cooking meals seems to take longer than it used to and walking the dogs takes forever. I really enjoy walking the dogs though, no matter how long it takes. Dot takes baby steps now, but I can tell this is still the high point in her day. Dash doesn't seem to mind going slower either. I think he's learned that he has more opportunities to snag something nasty to eat along the trail, now that I concentrate more on keeping Dot from falling.

After I finished today's website assignment and paid a big stack of December bills, I took a little gift card from my favorite clothing store and went shopping. These holiday gift cards the store mails out to regular customers every year are a brilliant marketing ploy. Somehow, I always think I'm going to save $50 and end up spending $200 instead. It never fails. I keep forgetting that this store isn't Kohls.

I also finally got around to taking care of my meager Christmas list on the Amazon website. I was pleased to see that regular shipping will still get there by Christmas. I wasn't quite as pleased when I noticed that several items in my shopping cart had a small notice that said "usually ships in two to four weeks." Hmm. "That's not going to work," I thought and abandoned the checkout procedure to start over again with gifts that shipped immediately.

Here's how forgetful I'm getting. Yesterday was my Blogiversary and I completely forgot about it. Oh, well. I guess we'll celebrate today. In case you haven't noticed, I've been blogging six years now without missing a single day. I wonder if anybody's been reading for six years? Writing this ongoing journal is a weird little accomplishment, but an accomplishment nonetheless. I don't think I've done anything this consistently before in my entire life. Tomorrow I start physical therapy for my shoulder injury. We'll see how consistent I can be with that.

Hannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1826

I got impressions made of my upper teeth at the dentist today. I'd never had this done before and it was certainly an interesting experience. First they fill all the little gaps between your teeth with a special putty, so the liquid silicon impression material they use to make an exact mould of your teeth doesn't get stuck in your mouth when the material cures and hardens. Since I still have a cold, I was afraid I would start coughing during the procedure and screw everything up. Staying still while the first base impression cured was fairly easy. When the dentist started to make the second fine detail impression using a different type of material, he told me that I would need to breathe through my nose for four minutes while the impression material cured. "This ought to be interesting," I thought. I'm still very congested and breathing through your nose isn't something you often do with a bad cold. I tried to breathe very slowly through my clogged nasal passages and hoped the four minutes would be over quickly.

Dot gave me a scare today. When I got out of the shower this morning, she was standing near the bathroom door and refusing to put any weight on her left rear leg. The limp was pronounced and fairly alarming. I gently manipulated the leg to see if she might have had a cruciate tear. Older Dalmatians often tear their anterior cruciate ligament and I'm always afraid that this might happen with Dot. Her rear legs are so weak anyway that a tear could happen any time. I've seen many cruciate tears and Dot didn't seem to exhibit any of the obvious symptoms. I have a feeling that her leg fell asleep. She also could have slipped off her dog bed while she was having a dog dream and had difficulty getting up again. At any rate, she wasn't in any pain and could support her weight on the lame leg when I tested her. I rested with her for a while and then we walked slowly around the house when she was ready to get up again. Within thirty minutes, she was completely back to normal with no limp at all. I'll probably never know what actually happened.

I worked on getting all the Santa Paws equipment we used this weekend put back in its proper place today. Some of the stuff goes under the bed, some goes in the storage warehouse, and some I use all the time. Since we won't be doing this again for quite some time, there's no sense to clutter up the entry hallway any longer than necessary.  The house looks much better now that this stuff is hidden away again.

My Jawbone UP band broke today. Janet and I have each broken three of these things. I still think the little UP band is the most inconspicuous and unobtrusive fitness tracker out there. You quickly forget that you're even wearing it. I love the technology, but the quality is terrible. I've never had one of these things that's even lasted a single year. Sometimes Jawbone will sent you a replacement band for free. Other times they won't. It just depends on what kind of mood they're in. I doubt that they'll send me another replacement this time. I'm probably on a Jawbone blacklist by now. I'm hooked on these little activity trackers, but I don't think I'll get another one. Maybe I'll just wait until the Apple watch comes out next Spring.

I still need to do my Christmas shopping. We need to put up a tree too. For some reason, it's hard to get in the mood this year.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1825

We're done! I don't know how we made it through this year's busy event schedule with a sick Santa and an even sicker photographer, but somehow we persevered. Today, along with our many customers, we photographed some of our own rescue dogs. Brown Sugar, shown here, is one of the reasons I continue to do these photos. She was so sick when she entered our program that the volunteer who helped transport her to Dallas was afraid she was going to die in the car before she could get her to our vet for an evaluation. Brown Sugar had a very serious case of heartworm disease that had already damaged her heart. Working with our vets, it took us almost a full year of treatment before we were able to get her healthy enough to adopt. It looks like Brown Sugar might have a good Christmas though, because I think she has finally found a home.

It was the photos we took at last year's Santa Paws events that helped pay for Brown Sugar's lengthy rehabilitation. Each and every year we have success stories like this and some of them, like today's Dog of the Day, return from time to time to let us know they are still doing OK. I'm way too tired and have too many aches and pains to do this sort of thing much longer, but helping these Dalmatians is one of the few worthwhile things I've ever done. I'm sure I'll be back next year. I love seeing these guys succeed against very long odds and find their forever homes. Santa and I tell the group that for each additional year we age, we need to make these events one hour shorter. Everybody just laughs, but we're serious. Five hours per event is a killer, especially when scheduled back to back. Maybe we'll feel differently next year when we're well again, but right now we're lobbying for four hour events.

I'm surprised that so many people came out today since it was cold and rainy all day. I feel bad about leaving Dot and Dash for so long on rainy days like this, but luckily Dot doesn't get as upset as she used to. Dot has always had a terrible phobia of storms, but now that she's getting older, she sleeps so soundly that she doesn't even hear them. I checked in on the dogs several times today using the nanny cam, and even though I could hear rain pounding on the roof, Dot was still sound asleep. Dash looked a little worried, but he always takes his cues from Dot. If it's OK with Dot, it's usually OK with Dash.

It's back to the dentist tomorrow. I need to get impressions made for a retainer that will keep my upper teeth in place during the long process of getting implants to replace the teeth I have damaged. I was really hoping to have a little more money next year now that the dogs cancer treatments are finally winding to a close. No such luck. It looks like as soon as the cancer bills end, the dental bills will begin.

Can you believe it's the middle of the month already? Thank goodness for Amazon. I haven't even started my Christmas shopping yet. Amazon always gives me a few extra days to procrastinate and I don't have to wrap the packages either. I don't think I'll ever wrap a package again.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1824

Today was pure misery. My cold was worse than ever. I don't have a fever anymore, but I seem to be having all the other symptoms concurrently. My nose was running, my throat was sore, I had a headache, and my sinuses were congested. I kept sucking cough drops all day long so I wouldn't break into coughing spasms and frighten our customers. After a while the sweet cough drops started making my bad tooth hurt. Yikes! Then my shoulder started to hurt from holding the heavy camera for such a long period of time. Santa wasn't in much better shape than I was. He claimed that he was all over the cold he gave me last week, but I didn't believe him. If he didn't have a cold anymore, why was he still coughing? Even our imaging wizard, who crops and prints the photos on the spot, was coughing and wheezing. He claimed that he just partied too hard last night, but I think he caught Santa's cold too. We were a mess today.

The photos looked just as professional as they always do, but I think everyone was dying to get home and take a long nap. I was so loopy that I took several photo sequences without a memory card in the camera. I had to go back and do the photos all over again. Santa had his beard on crooked several times and we had several computer crashes that might have just been operator error. We were all tired. At least tomorrow is our last event for the year. One more of these to go and we're all finished. I hope nobody books us for Valentine's Day. I don't think I will have recovered by then.

I've noticed that we're doing a lot more family portraits this year. It's probably a sign of a bad economy when people decide to go to a pet photographer for their family Christmas pictures. Several families didn't even bring a dog with them. I'm curious about these families and wonder why they ended up choosing me. I don't ask questions though. That would be rude. I just try to take a family portrait that would make their grandmother proud.

When I was complaining that I kept waking up at night with a terrible sore throat, by doctor gave me this nasal spray and told me to takes it every evening just before I went to bed. I still don't know what the stuff is, but it actually works. Every night I've been taking it, I've slept soundly and didn't have much of a sore throat when I woke up. I though about using the stuff today while I was shooting photos, but I wisely decided to read the warning label first. "Causes Somnolence" the label said. "Do not drive or use machinery while using this product." Well that explains why I slept so well. Reading further, I noticed that the clinical trials for this product weren't even finished yet. Jeez. I don't think my doctor has ever met a pill he didn't like. I'm not going to be taking this stuff much longer.

Tomorrow's location is traditionally where most of the Dalmatian owners go for their Christmas pictures. I'll probably see some old friends tomorrow, but I'm still glad that it's our last event for the year.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1823

I was very impressed with my physical therapist today. She was thorough, informative, and was able to map out a comprehensive two month treatment program that should lead me toward greater mobility. It turns out that there is a lot more wrong with me than I thought. My shoulder problems were obvious, but there were also still problems with my neck and left hand. The therapist said that I didn't exhibit any of the classic symptoms associated with carpal tunnel syndrome and suspected that I have damaged or injured some of the small bones in my hand instead. She said that my right shoulder wasn't dislocated, but that the shoulder muscles on that side of my body were extremely tight and were preventing the shoulder joint from operating properly. The remedy is lots of supervised stretching exercises.

Some of you may remember the horrible problems I had with my neck during a trip to Las Vegas a few years ago. The physical therapy I had after that painful incident worked amazingly well, but it wasn't pleasant. They gradually stretched my spine, so that the soft tissue that had become encapsulated or pinched between the vertebrae were freed and my neck could move again. At one point they put me on a machine that seemed very similar to a medieval rack and literally stretched my entire neck. Yikes! I hated those sessions, but they worked. I've never really had a problem with my neck again. I think I've got a lot of uncomfortable stretching in my immediate future.

My cold seems to get worse every day. I guess it isn't really getting worse. It just continues moving to the next phase. My initial fever seems to have ended. My sore throat isn't as bad either. Unfortunately, these symptoms have been replaced by a terrible runny nose and a persistent headache. When I get a bad cold, it almost always lasts at least a full week. I've still got several days to go before the worst is over. I was really hoping that I'd start feeling better before this weekend's back-to-back Santa Paws photo shoots, but that's not going to happen. I need to remember to throw a big roll of paper towels and a large sack of cough drops in my lighting bag tonight. At this rate, I could probably be part of the photos, as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

I haven't felt like cooking all week, so I picked up a barbequed pulled pork sandwich at Central Market's new little in-store restaurant on the way home from my physical therapy appointment. The sandwich and accompanying fresh sweet potato fries looked delicious, but I don't think I appreciated my dinner as much as I should have. A bad cold destroys your sense of taste. I could have been eating cardboard. What I should have done was skipped dinner entirely and just gone to bed early.

I saw on the Internet today that NASA is going to provide full press credentials to a select group of bloggers, so they can write about an upcoming satellite launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base. I think I'm going to apply for this press pass. If NASA accepts your application, you will get to interview space scientists, take a special tour of the Vandenberg launch facilities, and watch the launch itself from an up close VIP location. I've always been a huge fan of the space program and all NASA wants is a chance to expand their social media presence in new and different ways.  Hey, I'd be more than happy to write about a satellite launch on the blog. This isn't a contest or a prize. It is just chance to get official NASA press credentials. The only downside is you have to pay for the trip to California for the launch yourself. This is a media event, so I guess that Some Assembly Required would have to pick up the tab. It would certainly be exciting to be accepted though. I hope I do better on this than I did on the Amtrack Writers in Residence grant. That didn't go too well. Too bad I didn't get accepted for that one. Then I could have taken the train to California.

Savannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1822

I finally went to the doctor today. I apparently don't have a high enough fever to have the flu, so the nurse told me I just had a nasty cold. I always feel slightly embarrassed when I go to the doctor with cold symptoms. Many of the nurses I deal with have young children and they are around sick people all day. It's not surprising that many of them seem to have perpetual colds themselves. When I come to them complaining about feeling lousy, I'm sure they just think I'm being a big baby. I still think people should stay out of circulation when they have a cold however. It would sure help keep me from getting one.

I asked the nurse if I could spread my cold to others when I do Santa photos this weekend.  Apparently not. I am already out of the infectious phase, although the feeling miserable phase could last for over a week. They said a steroid shot would make me feel better, but the cold itself would last just as long. I didn't take them up on their offer. There's no reason to take steroids unless it is absolutely necessary. I feel the same way about the dogs. Steroids are a powerful anti-inflammatory, but they are still basically bad news. I stay away from them.

Since I have my initial consultation with my new physical therapist tomorrow morning, I decided to go out for breakfast today. For the rest of the day, it seemed like Friday. I almost forgot about Dot's Thursday therapy session, but Dot seemed to remember. At the appointed time, she was standing by the door. Both dogs seem to have remarkably good biological clocks. They always seem to know when it's time to do something that involves them. They are especially accurate around dinner time. If I'm even five minutes late with their dinner, I never hear the end of it.

Dot did really well on the treadmill today. Hopefully, I will do equally well with my own therapy tomorrow. I've had physical therapy for my bad shoulder before. The therapy definitely helped, but it was quite uncomfortable. Basically, the whole idea is to slowly stretch the shoulder muscles until you eventually have a full range of motion again. It takes a long time, but I still prefer this option to rotator cuff surgery.

I had to re-write an instruction manual for one of my client's products today. They thought the manual was poorly written. I thought the product itself was poorly designed. I did the best I could to clarify things, but I don't think anybody is going to find this product easy to use. That's the way it goes in my business. You really don't get to pick your battles. Sometimes I wished that I did something genuinely useful like my veterinarian friends. Veterinarians have a lot of stress in their lives though. They deal with life and death issues almost every single day. My life is almost exactly the opposite. I just do silly, useless shit, but at least it isn't stressful. Wondering when this cold is going to end is about as stressful as it gets around here.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1821

I'm beginning to realize that you're never really finished with cancer. The best treatments today can slow down the disease or hold it in check, but it can always reappear at any time. Dash did great at his evaluation and we received our last two month supply of his Palladia chemo pills. In the beginning, I thought that when we reached the end of this year of chemotherapy, we would be done forever. Not according to the oncologist. He explained to me today that when active treatment is completed, it is more important than ever to keep monitoring and evaluating the patient to make sure that the cancer hasn't returned. I suspect that Dash, and probably Dot as well, will be going to the cancer center every three months for the rest of their lives. This is really no different than it is with people, but I was still hoping that at some point we would officially "beat" the disease.

I felt better this morning, so I didn't bother going to the doctor and getting a Tamiflu prescription. This was probably a mistake. By early afternoon I felt miserable again. I tried gargling with salt water, hot tea, cough drops, and another nap with the dogs, but nothing seemed to work. I still have trouble accepting the fact that colds are just part of life. I never get colds when I'm sitting at the computer with the dogs under my desk. I always get colds whenever I do something with other people in the Winter. I feel like saying "Please don't invite me to join you for anything if you're sick." That would be rude though. I'm sure nobody wants to get the flu. They get it just like I did.

I had some website revisions to make today, but it was a pretty slow day. I used the extra time to get my December invoices in the mail and go to the bank. The check I deposited today certainly didn't last long. A few hours later I spent almost the same amount of money paying for Dash's chemotherapy pills. At least when the Palladia pills are finished, these periodic visits to the cancer center won't be so expensive.

I hope Dash's vet is feeling better when we go for our physical therapy session tomorrow. She was sick last week and I could have caught the flu from her. I really think I caught it from Santa though. Santa was really sick last weekend. We couldn't have canceled the photoshoot though. We book these things months in advance and the show must go on. No matter how I feel this weekend, I will be taking pictures again.

Maybe I'll go out for breakfast tomorrow instead of Friday. I have my first evaluation with my new physical therapist on Friday morning and I hate to rush breakfast just to meet a doctor who is sure to make my shoulder hurt.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1820

The city was enveloped in a thick blanket of fog when I woke up this morning. I love foggy mornings. They're great for taking ghostly pictures of trees and sailboats. I will typically go back to the park with a camera after I walk the dogs on foggy days like this. Not today though. I felt terrible. I don't just think I've come down with a cold. I feel like I have the flu. My joints ache. I have a dry cough. And I feel very tired. Jeez. I was just fine until I was around a lot of people at last weekend's photo sessions.

Instead of photographing the fog, I went up to the Land Rover dealer and got my car. I wanted to get this over with, because I didn't know if I'd feel even worse later in the day. As expected, the service was expensive and I'll never really know if it was even necessary. Better safe than sorry though. One thing I've learned by driving Land Rovers since the early 1990's is that it is never wise to skimp on maintenance.

I didn't really feel like fixing breakfast, so I stopped on the way home and picked up a bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast burrito and a sausage kolache. Usually this would have been a delicious way to start the day but this morning I felt nauseous after eating only a few bites. I put my uneaten breakfast in the fridge to eat tomorrow morning and went back to the bedroom to take a nap with the dogs.

When I woke up around 10 AM, I felt quite a bit better.  At least I wasn't nauseous anymore. Once I got the computer turned on, it was a fairly typical Tuesday. There were websites to update, bills to pay, and correspondence that needed to be answered. There haven't been many writing assignments this month, but that's just as well. I've got a pretty full plate this month anyway.

Dash goes back to the cancer center tomorrow for another periodic re-check. He's been doing so well lately that I would be very surprised if the oncologist noticed anything abnormal. I know that Dash will need to continue taking his Palladia chemo pills for another two months, but hopefully we are nearing the end of his treatment. If I were to ask Santa for anything this year, it would be an uneventful 2015 with no medical surprises.

Janet thinks I should go to the doctor tomorrow morning and get some Tamiflu. I'm inclined to let nature take its course. I have so many mandatory meds already that I hate to add even more to the mix. We'll see how I feel in the morning. If I feel even worse than I did today, I think I'll be willing to take just about anything.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1819

Some days are more discouraging than others. I woke up with a sore throat this morning. I knew I was going to catch a cold yesterday, when several of the volunteers for our photo shoot turned up with bad colds. If I'm around someone who has a cold, I almost always catch it. Ironically, I almost never get sick, because I'm not around other people very much. Children are the worst. If I'm even in the same room with a child, I catch a cold. I wish this weren't the case, but it is. I've lost my immunity to people.

When I took my car in for service this morning they informed me that this was going to be a "major" service. Major almost always means expensive. They replace all the fluids, clean the fuel injectors, install new brake pads, rotate the tires, adjust the suspension, and all sorts of other preventative stuff. When all is said and done, you get back a car that looks and feels exactly like the one you drove up in. I'm never able to tell any difference whatsoever after a major service. I always do everything they say however, because I don't want to be calling a tow truck with a sick dog in the back of the car.

Even though it looks like my service visit will be expensive, I'm sure the cost will seem trivial compared to the cost of my upcoming dental work. The specialty dentist I went to today examined me and said he didn't feel comfortable extracting my wisdom teeth because of the unusually long roots. Now, I have to go see another, even more advanced oral surgeon who is an MD as well as a dental surgeon. Dentists always assign teeth a number. Both of the dentists I've seen so far tell me that when tooth number 32 is extracted, they suspect that number 31 will need to be pulled as well. Since the molar next to the wisdom tooth has a cavity below the gum line, they are not sure that a root canal could save the tooth. They aren't even sure if the tooth is still alive. The general consensus so far is that after I have the wisdom tooth removed, I will then have to replace the adjacent molar with a dental implant.

Getting an implant done properly is a long and very expensive process. The damaged tooth is removed and sterile bone power is placed in the jaw where it fuses into new bone in four to six months. When this new bone is solid and stable, a titanium post is implanted in the jaw. The bone slowly grows around this post, attaching it firmly to the jawbone. This process takes another four to six months. When the post has fused with your jaw, a crown is attached and you're done. The whole procedure takes up to a year to complete and involves three different dentists. I'm not looking forward to this at all.

So, there you have it. The stock market had another terrible day and I'm beginning to think some of my assumptions about China and the energy markets were wrong. Dental insurance is more or less worthless if you need anything serious done. After investigating my options I don't think I'll even bother with it. I'm still busy, but my remaining clients keep cutting their budgets. At a time where it would be nice to have more money, I am faced with having less. I shouldn't whine though. I need to remember that even though this was a bad day, it has basically been a pretty good year. Both dogs survived cancer this year and I no longer have Hepatitis C. Sometime in the future I'll look back and be glad I fixed my teeth.

Willow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1818

Today's Santa Paws photo shoot was in Lewisville, so I had to get up a little earlier than usual to make the 40 mile drive to our location. The crowds were a little lighter than yesterday, but I still ended up with almost 800 images on my memory cards. There were no mishaps today at all. The dogs were friendly and all the equipment worked. I even managed to get the MicroSync transmitter that broke yesterday working again.

It's surprising how many people come to these events year after year. One photo session made me sad today. A dog I have known almost since he was a pup is finally approaching the end of his life. His family wanted some special portraits to remember him by, since they didn't think he would make it another year. I have taken the final portraits of many Dalmatians over the years and I always wish they could live a little longer. Dogs live just long enough to work their way into your heart and then they are gone. Maybe Jasper can make it one more year though. I certainly hope so.

We had Pizza for lunch today. These photo events are the only time I ever eat lunch. If I ate lunch every day, I'm sure I'd be twenty pounds heavier. I don't see how people do it. Even if it weren't for all the extra calories, three meals a day just takes up too much time. I like a leisurely breakfast, but that's about it for me. I certainly don't spend much time on dinner. That being said, the pizza was delicious. I figure I deserve to indulge on days like this. The work is tiring and I'm surprisingly hungry. Maybe if I worked hard every day, I could eat like a horse. I suspect that if I did manual labor for a living, I'd be dead by now though. My bones and joints are just barely holding together as it is.

Dot was surprisingly energetic on our evening walk. I guess this shouldn't seem that surprising since she and Dash just slept all day while we were gone. Janet thinks I worry too much, but I still hate to leave the dogs for long periods of time. When I photograph all these old dogs, it really hits home just how short their lives are. I read an article recently saying that since dogs have been domesticated for centuries, they age in a very similar way that we do. They tend to get Alzheimer's, dementia, and cancer at almost the same rate as humans. The point of the article was that since old dogs live longer when they eat the best possible food, take lots of naps, and continue to stay active with long walks, we could do ourselves a big favor by living our own lives the same way. I ought to do pretty well, since just about all I do is shop for healthy food, take lots of naps, and take long daily walks with Dot and Dash.

Tomorrow I take my car to the dealer for a service check and go see the oral surgeon who is going to remove my wisdom teeth for an initial consultation. My car and my teeth have both been remarkably reliable. I really have had no problems at all with this new car, which is certainly a change of pace from my old Defender. The Defender was always in the shop, but I loved it anyway. Whenever I do see a dentist, they always tell me I have great teeth. They also tell me that if I saw a dentist a little more frequently, I might not have any problems at all. The decay in my wisdom tooth is totally my fault. Dentists told me ten years ago that I should have the tooth removed because it was coming in at an angle and was prone to cavities. They were right!

I know I take better care of the dogs, my cars, and my cameras than I take care of myself, but I really thought my teeth could make it another twenty years on their own.  I guess, like everything else in life, they're going to need a little help.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1817

One down, three to go. The general consensus was that our first Santa Paws photo event of the year was the best we've ever had. It was certainly the busiest we've ever had. I was exhausted. Usually there are no-shows where you can grab a sandwich or go to the bathroom, but not today. No only did everyone who made an appointment show up with their dogs, there were walk-ins as well. Santa and I were very busy.

When I was putting together the set before we got started this morning, I started to plug one of the strobe lights into the Norman power pack and suddenly realized that I had left both power packs at home. How could I have forgotten something so basic? Without the power packs for the strobes, you've got nothing. At any rate, we had to go all the way back to the house to get the power packs. Everything worked out fine because our first customer was late and so was the volunteer bringing Santa's Sleigh.

I'm probably getting too old for this. I lost count of the number of dogs we photographed today, but I do know there are almost 1000 images on the memory cards. By the time we wrapped things up, I could barely move. My back hurt. My knees hurt. And I had trouble focusing my eyes. The equipment held up pretty well. One of the radio strobe triggers broke, but luckily I had a backup with me. If I have time tonight, I need to figure out whether it is the transmitter or the receiver causing the problem. I hope I can fix this, because these little gizmos are fairly expensive.

Dot has certainly come a long way. A few months ago, we wouldn't have even considered leaving her at home for this length of time. She did fine though. She was sleeping peacefully when we returned from today's photoshoot and wasn't even anxious to go out and pee. We have been gradually reducing the amount of Incurin she takes and now she's down to only one half tablet once every four days. If her incontinence remains under control, we may be able to stop the medication entirely in a month or two.

Tomorrow we repeat everything we did today at a different location. I need to make myself a checklist to make sure I don't forget something important again. I hope whoever is doing the scheduling blocks out a little time for lunch tomorrow. Today's pace was a little overwhelming.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1816

Breakfast and a haircut. That pretty well sums up today's activities. You wouldn't think I could use up an entire day with so little on my plate, but I'm getting pretty good at it. Add in two exceedingly slow dogs walks and a trip to the grocery store and the day was gone.

Walking the dogs seems to take twice as long as it used to, because Dot has slowed down considerably. Sometimes I have to take baby steps so she can keep up with Dash and I. Dash would like to go faster, but he's pretty understanding. Both dogs enjoy ambling along, stopping to smell each and every bush, so that's what we do. I can tell that our morning walk is the most enjoyable part of Dot's day, so I do my best to make it as easy as possible to continue this decade long tradition as long as she's able.

You wouldn't think getting a haircut would take that long, but it does during Christmas season. Just finding a parking place at the mall is a nightmare. If today's crowds are any indication, retailers should have a pretty good December. The stores were packed and it's still pretty early. I don't even start thinking about Christmas this early. It was probably a good idea that I got a haircut now. Next week, the stores will be even busier and I won't have any extra time anyway.

Tomorrow we begin the first of our December Santa Paws Christmas pet picture events. These events benefit the Dalmatian Rescue group that Janet and I work with and have helped quite a few dogs find homes over the years. I'm charging batteries and gathering up equipment now, so I'll be ready to pack the car first thing in the morning. I used to do a lot of location photography for my business, but these annual events are the only thing left where I'll still pack up a bunch of heavy equipment and set up a full studio on location. If this wasn't for a really good cause, I wouldn't even attempt something this tiring. Pet photos are a lot more difficult than taking portraits of people, since dogs typically don't stay still for very long. I'm constantly moving around trying to capture the moment and by the end of the day my knees are killing me.

I listened to an interview with Ian McLagan on NPR while I was driving home from the mall this afternoon. Ian played keyboards for The Faces on some of their biggest hits like Maggie May and You Wear It Well. Later he played keyboard with the Rolling Stones for quite a few years. Ian died of a stroke a few days ago, which was probably why PBS was replaying the decade old interview. It seems like rock icons about my age are dropping like flies these days. It's the end of an era and is kind of sobering as well. We really don't have as much time on this earth as we think we do.

I'm going to go to bed early tonight. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, and then we've got to turn around and do the same thing all over again on Sunday. Monday should be easier. I'll just be sitting in a dentist's chair on Monday.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1815

I wonder how much more forgetful I'm going to become? When I was driving Dot to her physical therapy session today, I noticed my skin turning a beet red color as I felt an intense burning sensation. It only took me a few seconds to realize that I'd inadvertently taken my evening Niacin pill with my breakfast meds. You're always supposed to take Niacin just before you go to bed, because one of the common side effects of this drug is an intense flushing sensation caused by the dilatation of small capillaries under the skin. When the blood rushes to these small capillaries, you feel like you're on fire. It's best if you're asleep when this happens. Luckily, Niacin flushing only lasts a couple of hours, so I was almost back to normal by the time Dot and I returned home.

Dot did really well in the underwater treadmill today. Everyone agrees that it is important for her to continue the treadmill therapy, but some days are better than others. Dot tires easily now and if we walk too far in the morning, or if she overexerts herself, we have to take it easy during her therapy session. Today was a good day and I hope there are many more to come.

This time of year quickly becomes so busy that I often wonder how I'm ever going to get everything finished. I looked at my calendar today and noticed that I have something major planned for every single day from now through the 23rd of December. Most of the things I have to do aren't even related to Christmas, but they will keep me very busy nevertheless. Dash has another cancer re-check coming up. I have several dental appointments, plus an initial evaluation by my new physical therapist. The weekends are filled with Santa Paws pet photo events and I have an appointment to get a haircut as well. I'm really starting to slow down. The thought of something major on my to-do list every single day seems almost overwhelming. When I was younger, I would have tried to schedule all these things on the same day.

I might have mixed up my meds this morning, but I did remember to take out the trash this evening. The dogs got both their walks, even though there was a light mist in the air for most of the day. Dot and Dash don't seem to mind overcast, damp days like today. It's the thunder and lightning they really hate. I didn't get around to investigating dental insurance like I had planned, but I'd better not postpone this too long. It would be just my luck to have the insurance go into effect after all the dental work was completed and not get any benefit from the policy.

I'm glad it's Friday tomorrow. This has been a long week. I definitely need to go to the grocery store, since the refrigerator is almost empty. I'm going to get a haircut in the afternoon, but the most important thing is going out for breakfast in the morning. I've been eating cold Swedish Muesli cereal all week and it's definitely time for something delicious.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1814

Well, the news wasn't good at the dentist. I have extensive decay in one of my lower wisdom teeth and the tooth will have to be removed by an oral surgeon. This particular wisdom tooth has always been a problem because it came in at an angle and is pressing against my other teeth. The cavity on the wisdom tooth has spread to the adjacent molar and the dentist won't be able to tell whether this tooth can be saved until the wisdom tooth is removed. Evidently the location of the decay in the molar might make it very difficult to repair. I need to see an Endodontist as well, to see if telltale signs of a root canal problem in another tooth that showed up on today's x-rays needs further attention. So, that's three different teeth and three different dentists. I'm not looking forward to this.

On the plus side of things, the dentist I went to today was fantastic. Janet, who has had every dental problem imaginable, recommended him and as far as I'm concerned, he lived up to his "super-dentist" reputation. This guy, who mostly does complex Prosthodontic dentistry, was extremely knowledgeable and had an array of high-tech equipment that I didn't even know existed. Have you ever had a panoramic dental x-ray? You stick your entire head into a large machine which takes a 360 degree digital picture of your mouth. Digital x-rays are kind of amazing, since you see them on screen as they are being taken. You can blow them up quite large and see all the tiny little blood vessels that keep the teeth alive. I've never seen my teeth in such detail.

On my way home from the dentist, a message appeared on the instrument panel of my car that said "Service Required." I'd never seen this message before, so I stopped by the Land Rover dealer to see what it meant. It turned out that there was nothing wrong. The message was just a reminder that it was time for my next scheduled service. Evidently these messages are pre-programmed into the car's computer and appear when the car decides it's time to hand over some more money to the dealer. I went ahead and scheduled a service appointment while I was at the dealer. I've had Land Rovers for long enough to have learned that you ignore maintenance on these cars at your own peril. I'd much rather have a little sign on the dash remind me now, than have to call a tow truck later. At any rate, with three dental visits and a car repair, it looks like it's going to be an expensive month.

It was much warmer today, but it was also much cloudier. It looked like it was going to rain all day, which probably means the rain will just be delayed until it's time to take Dot for her physical therapy session tomorrow. Maybe it will just rain while we sleep tonight. That would make life a little easier.

I'll investigate dental insurance tomorrow, but I'm not expecting much. If you need anything complex done, dental insurance only pays a small fraction of the total cost. Every little bit helps though, so I'll see what I can find out. I got approved for physical therapy on my shoulder today as well. That will be one more doctor I need to add to my contact list. Oh, to be 25 again. I'm sure Dot thinks the same thing whenever she sees a squirrel. We're both doing the best we can to age gracefully, but as far as we're concerned, getting old sucks.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1813

If anything happened today, I certainly wasn't aware of it. It's been so chilly lately that I think my brain has gone into hibernation. I haven't even bothered to cook breakfast for the past few days and have been eating a bowl of Swedish Muesli that Janet picked up at the Ikea store instead. Even though the stuff has the consistency of sawdust and is basically uncooked oatmeal, it is surprisingly good when mixed with fruit. I suspect that I'll revert to my old habits as soon as the bag runs out. I'm definitely not driving all the way up to the Ikea store for a bag of cold cereal.

Whenever the weather turns cold, the air in our neighborhood is thick with the smell of wood smoke. So many people are burning a fire in their largely unused fireplaces that it is often hard to breathe. I've never understood the fascination with fireplaces. They're drafty, dirty, and unless the chimney is properly screened, they provide an open invitation for critters to come into your house. I can smell all types of wood burning when we take our morning walks. Since this is a city, people buy "designer logs" at the supermarket. Pinyon Pine is popular. So is Mesquite. All these exotic smells just make the dogs sneeze. I find it ironic that the people who like to burn a fire are typically the same ones who hate coal fired power plants and automobile exhausts. They certainly don't mind turning logs into charcoal and soot though. Fireplaces are just a more romantic kind of air pollution.

I had to fill out a bunch of new patient paperwork in preparation for my dental appointment tomorrow. I don't understand why there isn't a central repository for this information where doctors, dentists, surgeons, and other medical folk could just download your medical history whenever they needed it. I've seen a lot of doctors and I'm convinced that I've filled out this same information at least a hundred times. Sometime you have to fill out the information multiple times for the same doctor, because they want to update your file every year, or more commonly because they lost the paperwork you filled out the last time you saw them. I've gotten so tired of filling in the list of medications I take, that I've pre-printed a list of all my meds and just staple it to the patient information form. Some parts of today's form were embarrassing. Especially the part that asked "When was the last time you saw the dentist?" I left the entire Dental Insurance page of the form blank because I don't have any dental insurance. Maybe I'll get some later. It's always easy to get dental insurance because it doesn't really cover that much.

Work was slow today. Or maybe work was normal and the entire day was slow. Cold Winter days can be disorienting. I'm hoping that my brain returns to normal tomorrow. I'm also hoping that my teeth turn out to be normal as well. New x-rays and a cleaning is OK. A root canal, not so much.

Greta is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1812

I felt like I spent most of the day just trying to stay warm. The temperature was in the 20's this morning with 20 mile per hour winds. This made for a ferocious wind chill factor. We always walk, no matter what the weather, so I put on several layers of warm clothes, bundled the dogs in their warmest dog coats, and off we went. We didn't stay outside as long as we usually do, but it certainly felt like a long walk. It goes without saying that we were all glad to return to a pleasantly warm house.

After breakfast, I went to the storage warehouse and got the props and equipment we'll need for this weekend's Santa Paws photo shoot. The various light stands, poles, backdrops, and equipment seems to get heavier each year I do this. One of these days, I'm going to just start taking these pictures with my phone. I think I'm good for at least one more year however, so I'll continue to keep hauling the heavy equipment and lights from location to location.

I got a call from the physical therapist my doctor recommended asking me a few questions about my shoulder. It's looks like I'm approved for physical therapy, but I'll have to wait a few more days to find out for sure. If everything works out as expected, I'll be able to have supervised physical therapy at the same gym I go to every week. This will be convenient and I might even learn whether my current workout is doing more harm than good. I don't really expect my shoulder pain to magically go away, but it would be nice to see a little improvement. All I really want to do is avoid rotator cuff surgery.

Dash is getting low on his supply of chemotherapy pills again, so I made an appointment at the cancer center for his next follow-up exam. I'm almost certain that the oncologist will want to renew Dash's Palladia prescription for an additional two months, but we're finally getting near the end of this ordeal. After two more months, Dash will have had a full year of chemo treatment and that is the maximum amount of time the cancer center recommends. The hair on Dash's neck never grew back after his radiation treatments earlier this year, but other than that, he is completely back to normal. It will be good to put this all behind us.

I updated some websites today and will probably update a few more tomorrow. I kept busy to stay warm. My success with the Ikea furniture yesterday emboldened me to try and fix a broken drawer on my Dad's old workbench. I couldn't find the small screws and wooden dowels I really needed, but luckily there's always Superglue. I wish I'd remembered to bring home the ceramic heater when I was getting my photo equipment earlier today. If it's this cold again tomorrow, the little heater will keep my warm feet while I work.

Jada is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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