Day 2224

Dot is feeling much better today. I think the she pulled or strained a muscle in her shoulder trying to get up, because lots of rest yesterday and a massage appears to have done her some good. Keeping the front legs strong when the rear legs start to go out in an older dog is always a problem. Dogs try to compensate for the weak legs by shifting weight to the front. Since they can't push themselves up from a sitting position using their rear legs, they try to pull themselves forward and up using their front legs. This puts a lot of strain on the shoulder muscles. Sometimes Dot's determination to move around on her own gets the better of her. She's not completely back to normal yet, but a day of rest really helped.

I installed the digital TV antenna I got the other day. It works, but it definitely wasn't what I expected. I thought the antenna would pull in ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and a few Spanish language stations. Nope. It received twenty-three of the weirdest stations I'd ever seen. None of these stations were on cable at all. How did these stations come to exist and who was watching them? There were three Vietnamese channels,  including one that seemed to originate from a nail salon. There was a station that played nothing but old episodes of Hill Street Blues. The over-the-air NBC affiliate was something called NBC Kids and played nothing but Saturday morning cartoons. QVC has a channel. There was a Catholic Spanish language televangelist and several channels that appeared to be nothing but ads. I was baffled. I guess this might be marginally useful when the cable was out, but not really. Another problem was that you had to set up your TV to receive either the antenna or cable. You couldn't watch both at the same time. Each time you switched back and forth, you had to run the set-up program to find available channels, which can often take up to fifteen minutes. I doubt that I'll return the antenna, but I doubt if I'll use it either.

I didn't make it to the gym today, but I did stay busy. I vacuumed all the dog rugs and carpets, which takes forever since it involves moving furniture, food bowls, dog beds, and the new dehumidifier. I guess I need to vacuum every week.  Two weeks was almost too much for the Dyson. The canister was packed with dirt and dog hair. I'll give the Dyson high marks for cleaning floors, but it's not very easy to clean when you're done. Old fashioned vacuum cleaner bags were so much easier than dealing with this weird transparent canister.

After I cleaned the house, I sawed up the big tree limb that fell earlier in the week into manageable sections and took the pieces out to the curb for big trash pickup. Tree limbs are quite heavy. If a loose limb were to ever fall on me or the dogs, we would be toast. When I look up, everything seems fine, but I still ought to get the tree trimmers to come out and remove anything that might be problematic.

With the tree and the rugs taken care of, I had a choice of a shower or a trip to the gym. I chose the shower. I can go to the gym later. I'd definitely had enough physical activity for one day. While I was waiting for Janet to come home so we could take the dogs on a short evening walk, I watched the Jason 3 launch on NASA TV.  This was another Space X launch were they were going to try to soft land the booster on a barge in the ocean. Once again, the barge landing failed. I initially wondered why they didn't just land the booster on dry land, since this worked so well the last time they tried. It turned out that they weren't able to get the complicated California environmental impact statement paperwork completed before the launch, so they used the barge again instead. Why would you even need an environmental impact statement to land a rocket back at Vandenberg Air Force Base? The whole base is full of old rockets and launch pads.

I'm really glad that Dot is feeling better. I know she's fragile and do my best to protect her from harm, but there is so much that is out of our control. All we can really do is give her the best care possible and continue to take things one day at a time.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2223

Dot had a bit of a setback today. She was perfectly normal on her morning walk, but later in the day we noticed that something was wrong with her left front leg. She was having a lot of trouble standing and walking. Keep in mind that her left rear leg is already very weak. Having both left legs lame made it very difficult for her to keep her balance. I figured out a way to rig her harness so I could support her both in the front and in the back, but I still don't know what is wrong. It could be anything. Her neurological problems could be spreading. She could have injured the front leg somehow. It's even possible that she was having a mild vestibular stroke. What I'm hoping is that she just slept on the leg wrong and it felt numb when she woke up. This happens to me occasionally. If you fall asleep on top of your arm, it often feels numb or prickly for a while when you first wake up. Dot is resting now. Hopefully her condition improves after she's had some rest.

It was a cold, grey day. It still might snow this evening, but I kind of doubt it. I think the worst of the weather is North of us. French Toast and sausages always seems like a good idea on a nasty day, but our delicious breakfast did little to improve the weather. I updated a website while waiting for the weather to improve a bit, but eventually I gave up and went grocery shopping in the rain. While I was out today I picked up one of those digital TV antennas that let you watch over the air broadcast stations without a cable subscription. I haven't installed the antenna yet, but it would be weird if it worked. When I was growing up, we had a TV antenna that let us watch a total of thirteen channels. That's exactly what the digital antenna promises. It's kind of a back to the future kind of thing. If the antenna works, I'd be real temped to drop the U-Verse TV. It's expensive and goes out all the time. Local over the air stations and Netflix is probably all you need anyway.

I was going to cut the tree limb that fell yesterday into manageable pieces that I could take to the curb for big trash day, but it was too cold. I'll take care of this task on a warmer day. I had my hands full taking care of Dot anyway. Why do bad things with the dogs always happen on weekends and holidays? I'm not sure a vet could tell me all that much anyway. This kind of lameness has happened before. It just seems to take longer to recover each time it happens.

I was thinking of going to bed early tonight, but it's already late. Hopefully, we'll all sleep soundly tonight. I need some catch-up sleep. I need a lot of things. I need to go to the gym tomorrow. I need to clean the house too. It's been two weeks since I vacuumed all Dot's rugs and they're getting filthy. At least it's a three day weekend. At my current speed it will probably take two days to get my Sunday chores done. What happens tomorrow will depend largely on how Dot feels in the morning. I hope she's walking again.

Shelby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2222

I don't believe in numerology, but I'd like to think that days like 2222 have some sort of special significance. I guess all days are special in one way or another. The last time we had a day like this was way back toward the end of 2012. On Day 1111, Dot and Dash were still healthy enough to run and play at the dog park. It was a cold, clear Winter day much like today. I took some stuff to the storage warehouse that day and went looking for a new floor lamp at Home Depot. Nothing has changed and everything has changed. I wonder what Day 3333 will be like?

It would be funny if I was still going to my favorite breakfast restaurant on Day 3333. I'm bound to get tired of this place eventually. For now, it's still a delicious change of pace and a nice way to end the week. I actually got to the restaurant a little later this morning because there were no accidents during the night and both dogs slept well. When the dogs sleep, Janet and I get to sleep a little longer too.

There was no real reason to get started early today anyway. There wasn't that much to do. Since I'm more or less caught up on work again, I spent the day doing little things around the house. I finally discovered why the sliding glass door is sticking. It's not a broken roller as I initially thought. On closer examination, I noticed that the entire wall has shifted a bit and the ceiling and floor aren't quite parallel anymore. This wouldn't be a problem if I didn't have a floor to ceiling sliding glass door. Now, when I open the door it is traveling very slightly downhill. After about two feet, the bottom of the aluminum door touches the metal track that keeps it in place and friction brings the heavy door to a stop. I'm not sure what to do about this. I suspect it would be a lot easier to replace a roller in the door than to re-position the entire wall.

I took a small check to the bank today and paid most of the Christmas credit card bills. If there aren't any unexpected vet bills or household emergencies next month, I might actually have a little money left over. I don't know why I even try to keep things in balance anymore though. The stock market had an absolutely horrible day. So far, this might be the worst January for the market on record. Very few people have escaped this market downturn because just about everything has gone down significantly. Could I have invested more wisely? I doubt it. A lot of things are just out of our control these days. I mean, who would have thought that the price of oil would come down to twenty dollars a barrel again? Wasn't it over a hundred dollars a barrel just a short while ago?

A large limb from one of the Oak Trees fell in the yard this morning. Luckily, the limb didn't hit the house, the dogs, or myself. These trees are getting old and falling limbs are becoming a common occurrence. It's probably time to get the trees trimmed again. I used to have a tree trimmer come out every year, but I've let things slide a bit. Tree trimming, like everything else, has gotten expensive. Hey, if I don't look up, I don't notice how bad things have become. I need to put taking care of the trees on my to-do list. One more big ice storm and I'm sure some other limbs are going to fall. I don't want one of them falling on my head.

Our crazy weather continues.  It warmed up and was quite nice today, but I hear there is a possibility of snow tomorrow.

Betty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2221

I certainly didn't get much sleep last night. I got to bed late to begin with and then the dogs kept me up the rest of the night. Dash must have eaten something bad in the yard, because he went to bed with an upset stomach. Every two hours, he would wake me up scratching at the back door to go outside. Each time, he would race around the yard in a panic and then eventually poop. This happens every time he eats something the neighborhood cats drag in the yard. I try my best to keep him from eating crap, but he knows that when I'm outside helping Dot walk, he can do pretty much whatever he wants.

In between Dash's periodic bouts of diarrhea, Dot woke up and pooped in her bed. By the time I cleaned up Dot's bedding and got Dash squared away, I was wide awake. It hardly seemed worth the trouble to go back to bed again. I was really tired though and decided to settle for whatever sleep I could get. When the sun rose this morning, my fitness band said I'd slept a total of three hours.

Thursday morning's are always kind of hectic. It doesn't seem to matter when I get up in the morning. There never seems to be enough time to walk the dogs, eat breakfast, and take a shower, before its time to get Dot ready for her physical therapy appointment. I really try to be on time, but I'm often late. If I time all the stop lights right, I'll do OK. Today there was a red light at almost every intersection, plus major road construction along the way. Dot often gets herself stuck in an awkward position as well and I'll need to stop the car so I can re-position her.

Once we arrive, Dot usually does pretty well. Today she did great. She was strong and determined during her time on the treadmill and was relaxed enough to get full benefit from her acupuncture session. Sometimes I'm amazed at how well she does during therapy when she has trouble even standing up while she eats her dinner. Nerve damage is strange and unpredictable though. I really think she's doing the best she can.

I wrote another article today while listening to construction equipment tear up a nearby street. After looking at what the crew accomplished today, I think it's going to be a long time before the road is finished. If Dot was younger, the noisy machines would have kept her barking all day. Dot is going deaf though, so she didn't notice a thing. Dash didn't seem to be bothered either. I was the only one who seemed irritated by the noise. It's much easier to write when it's quiet.

It looks like I'll have to keep writing a while longer. I didn't win the lottery last night and I doubt that you did either. There was a winner though. I found it amusing that within five minutes after the location of the store that sold the ticket was announced, people were complaining on Twitter that Chino Hills was too wealthy a community to deserve a lottery winner. Really? Have we become so politically correct that even lotteries must follow some weird redistribution formula. It's just a game of chance and anyone can win. I heard today that the California winner was actually a nurse in an assisted living facility. Maybe the haters are happy now.

This week has gone quickly. I've already taken this weeks trash out to the curb and I'm ready to go out for breakfast tomorrow morning. I think the days are starting to get a little longer, but it's hard to tell. All I know is that each day seems pretty similar to the day that preceded it. The bad thing is that this monotony is often boring. The good thing is that things are pretty stable. The dogs are both hanging in there. They're happy! The bills get paid every month. I'm reasonably healthy myself. The stock market sucks, but basically life is good. I've still got to get that sliding glass door fixed though. It's driving me nuts.

Kasey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2220

I've wondered for years why the city has never bothered to fix our street. The street has been ignored for so long that it has gradually just become a collection of potholes. I really wasn't expecting that it would ever be repaired, but much to my surprise a parade of heavy equipment arrived in the neighborhood late this afternoon. It looks like the shabby street is finally going to be repaved. There must be a master plan for street maintenance in Dallas, but I've never been able to figure out what it was. Some streets seem to be continuously under repair. Others get fixed every five years or so. And then there's our street. I haven't seen a road crew here for twenty five years. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to repave the street. It could be weeks, or it could be months.

Other than watching the road crews unload the huge machines that scrape the old asphalt off the road before it is repaved, there wasn't a lot that happened today. I actually forgot what day it was from time to time, because the day seemed exactly like yesterday. It was clear and cold for the second or third day in a row. Dot got us up right on schedule by pooping in her bed again. I managed to spot Venus, Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter in the pre-dawn sky on our morning walk. When we returned home, I fixed my breakfast smoothie and made some coffee. The breakfast ritual takes quite a while, but I wish it took longer. Day like this can drag on forever.

I started writing another article after breakfast. I probably could have completed two articles today, but why bother. I still need something to do tomorrow. I write to a word count and need at least three hundred words for my editors. When the subject is interesting it is not hard to come up with 600 to 900 words. Today I only managed 360. Not surprisingly, it is often harder to write the shorter articles than the longer ones. Coincidentally, it is also harder to write blog posts on days where nothing happens.

I saw a psychologist on one of the morning TV shows talking about how buying a lottery ticket actually makes most people happier for a short period of time. Almost universally, when you buy a ticket you start thinking about what you would do if you win. Nobody really expects to win, but supposedly thinking about something positive for a day is good for you. So, you really haven't wasted your money on a piece of paper, you've actually bought a little positive attitude instead. No matter what your circumstances, for a very short while your glass is half full. Works for me. Daydreaming is also supposed to be good for you, so I should be in great shape. I daydream all the time.

It is ironic that I have made money by selling all my worst stocks at the end of 2015. If I had held on to these losers, they would have all gone down even further when the market started crashing in January. We had another bad day today with a drop of 364 points. The market has already dropped over 7% this year and the month isn't even over yet. Not good! Bolder people than me are aggressively shorting stocks now. I think the market is too volatile to do something risky like this, but I understand why some people take the risk. It sucks to keep losing money. No wonder people are buying over 100,000 Powerball tickets a minute today. When you can't count on jobs or the economy, you start counting on luck. Hey, maybe I'll win tonight. Or, maybe you'll win. Good luck.

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2219

Today was full of little surprises. I got a bill for something connected with last November's water leak repairs. I thought this whole episode was completely finished, but apparently some companies are even slower about getting their invoices out than I am. Hopefully, this is the last bill. I want to put this disaster behind me so I can be ready for the next one.

I discovered that I actually won something on the Powerball ticket I purchased last week. I only won $4 for matching a single number, but that was enough of an incentive to go to the nearest 7-11 and get a few more tickets for tomorrow's billion dollar drawing. I redeemed my $4 prize, added another $6 I had in my pocket and got five more tickets. You could actually make a pretty good documentary by going to a random 7-11 and interviewing people getting lottery tickets. There's always a line of people buying them when there's a big jackpot. I've noticed that even though the odds are impossible, everyone thinks they are going to win. You realize quickly that playing the lottery is a very regressive tax. It is always poor people who buy the most tickets.

My other surprise today was that I unexpectedly have some work to do. With a new website update and three new articles to write, I might have enough work to keep me busy for the rest of the week, especially if I'm not in a hurry. I wish the website jobs had bigger budgets and the writing jobs were more frequent, but I'm not complaining. I'd much rather spend my day writing than cleaning up dog poop.

I ordered a small adapter that lets me lets me use my movie lights using a different type of battery. I really don't need a V-mount to Gold-mount converter, but it didn't cost much, so I thought I could afford the indulgence. I don't have to worry about becoming addicted to drugs, or alcohol, or chocolate. I do need to worry about buying things I don't need. I love getting packages in the mail. My Dad had this same affliction as he got older. Maybe we both have the hoarder gene. At any rate, when I get bored, I go online and buy something. I seldom spend much money and rarely need what I buy. It's just something to do.

I didn't bother to listen to this evening's State of the Union address. I just didn't feel like hearing more platitudes about how great things are when the reality is quite different. I've never seen the country more divided in my lifetime. We can't seem to unite behind anything these days. My parent's generation united as one to win World War II. A later generation inspired by John Kennedy went to the moon. Now, we just argue with each other. This isn't really about Democrats or Republicans. It's about a great country that has dissolved into a bunch of ineffectual tribes. Self indulgent people are more loyal to their tribe now than to the country as a whole. This can't possibly end well.

I'm not a joiner and don't have a tribe. Maybe that's why I see things a little differently. If I win the lottery, I'm not going to tell you about it. I'll quietly continue walking my dogs and minding my own business. I'll probably always remain a somewhat detached observer, but it would be nice to observe a little more harmony in the world.

Suzie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2218

Are there song lyrics that seem to stick in your head forever? The words "Ground Control to Major Tom. Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong." have been rattling around in my head for decades. Now, David Bowie is dead. I was surprised to hear the news, but I shouldn't have been. A steady stream of my contemporaries are now departing this earth. It used to be when they played the annual "People We Lost" tribute during the Oscars, it was usually people much older than me that were remembered. Now the dearly departed are my age. It's sobering to realize how little time we have on this planet. I'll miss David Bowie. He was a tremendously talented person. After all these years, The Man Who Fell To Earth is still one of my favorite movies. Space Oddity has always been among my favorite songs. If you haven't already watched the video of Lazarus, Bowie's final song, I would encourage you to do so. It's hard to believe that this song was released just two days before his death. Now there's another song that will be rattling around in my head for decades. Well, maybe at least one decade. I'm optimistic.

Not much happened today. I talked to my financial adviser about the stock market meltdown. I'm glad I sold a bunch of stuff before the end of last year, because it would have just gone down further if I'd held on to it. This definitely isn't the time to be buying stocks. So, how do you make money when the sky is falling? I guess you'd have to win the lottery.

Dot has gone several days without any accidents, but my luck came to an end today. She pooped in the house twice. The second time was while she was eating her dinner. Food was going in one end and coming out the other at the same time. Luckily the area around the dogs food bowls is well protected now, so the cleanup was relatively easy. This has all just become part of daily life. I continually walk around with poop bags in all my pockets now, because you never know when or where she's going to go next.

I'm trying to get the watch winder company to replace my remaining defective watch winders. They're not as responsive as they were the first time. I think when they discovered how many watch winders I had, they got cold feet about sending me a replacement for each of them. I'm going to be persistent though. If they replaced one winder because of a defective Chinese motor, they should replace them all. We'll see what happens. Watch winders are simple little machines. They should really last as long as the watch they're keeping wound.

On slow days like this I amuse myself by looking through the B&H catalog and fantasizing about photo equipment I think I need. I really don't need anything, but it's fun to imagine how new gear would change everything. Today I discovered the Metabones Speed Booster. This clever adapter lets you pair full frame lenses with a micro 4/3 camera and gain a full stop of speed while reducing the crop factor. If this all sounds like Mumbo-Jumbo to you, you'll have to trust me that it's a big deal. If I got one of these gadgets, I could use some of my old Nikon-F lenses on my current digital cameras and they'd be faster than they were originally.

Janet was watching the Alabama vs Clemson game this evening on TV, so I started watching too. Pretty exciting game. Why can't the Dallas Cowboys play this way?

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2217

It was 27 degrees when we woke up this morning. It's hard to get used to how quickly the weather changes around here. Less than a week ago it was an almost balmy 70 degrees. In between, we've had rain, wind, fog, bright sunny skies, and just about every type of weather imaginable. Today was one of the sunny days, so the cold didn't seem quite as bad. Almost nothing deters us from our daily walks. This morning, we bundled up the dogs in their Winter sweaters and off we went. Dot seems to enjoy the cold weather. She certainly took her time smelling things this morning. By the time Janet and I got home, we were freezing. Dot and Dash seemed fine though.

I made it back to the gym today. If I could ever manage to go at least three times a week, I think I might start making some real progress. As it stands, I'm just treading water. I realize that I really need to go to the gym. I just don't enjoy it. When I was younger, I was able to convince myself that yard work and other chores around the house were a good substitute for a formal workout. I doubt that this was ever true. Mowing the grass may make you tired but it really doesn't involve the muscle groups I need to work on. At any rate, I had a good workout today. Maybe I'm good for another week.

I know I complain a lot about customer service, but I've actually had a good customer service experience recently. I lucked out and got assigned a very thorough tech support representative at Google who is trying to resolve the intermittent outages I've been experiencing with my Blogger account. Since my blog only disappears sporadically for brief periods of time, it's not an easy problem to resolve. It's kind of like describing an odd noise to your car mechanic when it isn't always there. When you describe an intermittent problem, some people just think you are imaging things. To Google's credit, they have taken me seriously. I appreciate that. Maybe we'll eventually get to the bottom of this.

Nobody won the Powerball lottery last night, so the next jackpot will be over a billion dollars. I did have the Powerball multiplier number. Of course, that was the only matching number I had. Nothing else matched at all, so I won nothing. I guess I'll buy another ticket on Wednesday. What have I got to lose? The tickets are only $2. You can hardly buy a cup of coffee for $2 these days.

I haven't made any New Year's resolutions, but there are a ton of things I need to do this year. One of the large Red Oak trees in the back yard needs some major pruning. There are several dead limbs than could come down during any major wind storm. I need to get the sliding glass door fixed. I can barely open it now. One of these days, it's going to get stuck in the open position and I'll really be screwed. There are leaky faucets in one of the bathrooms that I've been meaning to replace for years. Maybe 2016 is the year it will actually get done. The rubber ring in the front loader washing machine door needs to be replaced and the ice maker in the refrigerator isn't working properly either. I'm certain that some of these problems will be resolved this year, but there will be new problems as well. With an old house inhabited by old people and old dogs, there are always going to be problems.

Murphy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2216

I bought some Powerball tickets today. I'll never win, but how can you pass up a chance at 800 million dollars. It's rare that I ever buy lottery tickets, but when I do, I'm always amazed that there are so many other people doing the same thing. Often the people ahead of me in line buy lots of tickets. Don't they realize that the chances of winning are so remote that the odds are about the same whether you buy one ticket of a hundred? You have a much higher chance of being struck by lightening than winning the lottery. Probably everybody has had a fantasy about winning the lottery. I'll confess that I've contemplated winning, especially when the jackpot is so high. I'd immediately buy a house without a flat roof. I can't even tell you how tired I am to have standing water on the roof every time it rains. Maybe Janet and I would hire our own personal veterinarian. I doubt that I would change very much. I'm happy enough with the way things are. It would be nice not to have to worry about money anymore though. I always worry about money.

The weather turned really cold this afternoon. Later tonight, we're supposed to get our first hard freeze of the season. Since I'm not looking forward to the prospect of ice on the roof, I reluctantly put on my warmest clothes and went up to remove all the water while it was still liquid. This isn't pleasant work in nice weather, but it miserable up there when the temperature is near freezing and there's a thirty mile an hour wind. I have a feeling that my days of doing this are numbered. The roof has two levels. There is a lower carport level and then about three feet higher is the main roof. I access the main roof from the lower carport roof and then climb or take a giant step up to the main roof. Now that I'm having problems with my hip, I'm not as agile as I once was. Getting my leg up and over the three foot gap between the two flat surfaces isn't as easy as it used to be. I'm careful and methodical when I'm up on the roof, but this is beginning to seem like a job for a younger man.

I'm having problems with Blogger again. I wonder if Google even cares about this platform anymore. I sure have been having difficulties uploading and posting lately. Blogger will work for a little while and then it will disappear. Sometimes the text will appear, but all the pictures disappear. This has been happening for weeks. I notice in the forums that other people are having the same problem, but usually Google tech support keeps saying that nothing is wrong. It's frustrating to have no control over something you've put so much effort into. Maybe I should have started a Wordpress blog, but it's way too late for that now.

When I was at the grocery store today, I noticed a woman who was randomly opening bags of popcorn and chips on the shelves and offering samples to other customers. The woman was clearly nuts, but apparently management hadn't noticed her yet. Some people took the chips she offered, but most shied away from her. When she offered ma a sample, I politely declined.  I really felt like saying, "Why are you even here? Shouldn't you be in Walmart?" Probably it will be a loon like this who will win the lottery tonight.

I keep hoping that the furnace keeps working. So far, so good this winter. How do you Northerners cope with this weather? It hasn't even snowed yet, and I'm already sick of Winter.

Mack is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2215

I ran into a photographer buddy at breakfast this morning. We hadn't seen each other in quite a while, so it was enjoyable to spend some time catching up on things. We talked about how radically our business had changed. We wondered why time seems to speed up as you grow older. We couldn't remember the names of people we both used to work with. "You know the guy," my friend said. "He used to take a lot of ballet pictures." "Sure, I know who you're talking about," I replied. But what was his name? Who knows. Basically, we were just a couple of old men talking.

This morning started out even foggier than yesterday. Ground fog is interesting. When we left the house on our morning walk, I could see the stars. It was clear enough for me to spot a faint Saturn right below Venus in the Eastern sky. As we walked down toward the lake, we were quickly enveloped in fog. It was like we were inside a dense cloud. Looking back toward the house, you could see the top of the cloud, with blue sky above. It was strange and very pretty. There were still patches of fog when I finished breakfast, so I got my camera and went back to the lake again. Just like yesterday, I was too late to catch the sailboats peaking through the fog, but I did see some nice White Pelicans.

I've been wondering about an elderly neighbor who's house has seemed vacant for the past month. I finally ran across someone who might know what was going on and discovered that the husband, who had already fallen and broken his hip twice, started to fall again. His wife tried to catch him and ended up falling on top of him. They were both injured and are currently in a rehab center learning to walk again. Their son is trying to convince them that it is time to move to assisted living. Evidently, they don't want to leave the neighborhood, but their house has become hazardous for them. The EMT ambulance has already been to their house six times. This sounds so much like what happened to my Dad. Getting old isn't pretty.

Since I spent so much time talking with my photographer friend at breakfast, I didn't have time to go to the grocery store. I went home to make sure the dogs were alright and completed all the website updates that were due today. It didn't take long for me to get my January invoices out. There were so few of them this month that I wondered why I even bothered. When I finished all my work for the day, I decided to go to my favorite barbecue place and bring home a surprise dinner for Janet. We both love ribs and brisket, but don't have it that often anymore. I came home with two pounds of pork ribs, a pint of potato salad, some fried okra, a generous helping of barbecue beans, and several big dill pickles. Almost as an afterthought, I added a couple bottles of Corona Extra beer to my order. Barbecue this good really deserved to be accompanied with beer. Janet was pleased when she got home from work and we had a tasty and somewhat nostalgic dinner.

I noticed this morning that the top of Dash's head is covered with little bumps. What now? He used to have skin allergies, but his coat has looked great for the past two years. Maybe he is allergic to the shampoo we used to give him a bath last week. Maybe an insect bit him. We haven't changed his diet, so I don't think the irritation is caused by food. If he doesn't improve over the weekend, I'll take him to the vet next week. It's always something with these dogs.

I'm hoping that the weather stays warm this weekend and that the dogs let us sleep in a little later tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

Jordan is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2214

I couldn't figure out why it was so dark when we got up this morning. As soon as I went outside, I knew the answer. The world was enveloped in a heavy fog. I love foggy mornings, but the dogs were a bit confused when they couldn't see ten feet ahead of them. The fog lifted quickly, but it was pretty while it lasted. As soon as we finished walking Dot and Dash, I took a camera down to the lake and tried to capture some pictures of the sailboats. If I had arrived twenty minutes earlier, I would have gotten some great photos, but the fog was already dissipating. Story of my life. It's hard to combine nature photography with walking dogs. I took a few pictures anyway and headed back up the hill to fix my breakfast.

Dot was very slow this morning on her walk, so it surprised me that she did so well at her physical therapy session. She was able to stay on the underwater treadmill for the full eighteen minutes and we were able to include a couple of intervals where she was walking at a higher speed. There's no way to predict how Dot is going to react anymore. Every day is a new day. Some days she is strong and full of energy and other days she hardly leaves her bed. I've come to realize that she can poop at any time with very little warning. She still seems happy though and that's all that counts.

My missing UPS package arrived today. According to the UPS website, it was never missing at all. They just added an extra day to the delivery schedule and said it was still on time. I guess that's one way to handle things. There never was any explanation about how a package could arrive both yesterday and today, but at least it wasn't broken. If I were busier and didn't have OCD, I'd never notice that the FedEx and UPS websites aren't always accurate. I probably wouldn't even track my packages at all. I'm convinced that people who spend too much time tracking things don't have enough on their plate. I track everything, but when I'm busy I can go for days without checking my UP fitness band or Apple Watch. When I'm not busy, I check these things all the time.

I don't know what's happening with my joints. I've had problems with my shoulder for ages and occasionally my knee goes out as well. Lately, I've started having problems with my right hip. I'm kneeling and standing all the time. I kneel down to get Dot's harness on and then stand up to walk her. I kneel down to make our low platform bed in the morning. I sit on the floor with Dot during her acupuncture sessions. It's disconcerting when you find yourself in a low crouching position and can't get up. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Getting old sucks. The last thing I need at this point is to be up on the roof and have my hip joint lock up on me. With all my aches and pains, I've still reluctant to have surgery though. There's a place for surgery, but I think it should be a last resort.

It's been impossible to get Dot to poop at night this week. Her internal schedule has changed. We'll take her outside and walk her around forever before we go to bed, but apparent she isn't ready to go yet. She seems to prefer doing her business at 3 AM now. In her bed. I've never slept soundly, but lately I'm sleeping even less than usual. I saw on TV yesterday that researchers now think that lack of sleep might cause Alzheimer's. I'm doomed. On the other hand, they say that writing every day is good for cognition. Sleep less, write more. That's my motto. Maybe everything will balance out in the end.

Vegas is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2213

I took down the Christmas tree this morning, packed everything away, and took the decorations back to the storage warehouse. It seemed like the appropriate thing to do on a dismal, grey day. I don't know what the deal is with the weather lately. One day it will be nice. The next day is will be miserable, And the next day it will be nice again. You never know how to dress when you wake up in the morning. It's making me crazy.

I went to the bank and paid some bills after breakfast. That was about it. I had planned to go to the UPS Service Center and pick up a package, but UPS lost it again. I don't know why these things still irritate me, since they happen so often, but I wish UPS would get its act together. The UPS website and the UPS trucks seem to live in alternate universes. This certainly isn't the first time the website said I had a package that was going to arrive today and it just wasn't on the truck. I thought I could solve the problem by going down to the main service center and picking up the packages myself, but that hasn't been working so well either. Once, a UPS employee told me that the tracking information on the website was electronically generated and just told you where the package was supposed to be at any given point in time. Where the package actually was, could be completely different. That explains a lot.

I noticed that there was a big estate sale across the street from us when I went to the post office today. I knew that there were elderly people living in the house, but I didn't even know they had died. I don't understand the fascination with estate sales. They often attract huge crowds. This must have been a big one, because a line of people stretched all the way around the house waiting to get in. There were large hand lettered signs telling the bargain hunters not to park in the yard. There was another sign that said "no children allowed." That seemed strange. Although the sale seemed to be attracting people from all over Dallas, I didn't bother to cross the road and take a look. I find estate sales depressing. I hope I'm organized enough to downsize and dispose of things before I die when my time comes. Probably, I'll never get around to it though and my storage warehouse will end up being fought over on Storage Wars.

There were feathers all over the back yard this morning. It looked like one of the neighborhood feral cats had killed a bird during the night. I couldn't find the bird, but if it's still around, Dash will find it. My first thought was that maybe the cats had killed the bird that keeps pooping on my car, but the feathers were the wrong color. My second thought was that I really need to find the dead bird before Dash does. The last time Dash ate something dead in the yard, he had diarrhea for two days. Maybe the cats took the bird with them or ate the whole thing. That's always a possibility.

I sure wish that Dot had pooped earlier. Now it's pouring rain and I'll never be able to get the dogs outside again until it quits. There may be clear skies again tomorrow. Maybe my package will turn up. Anything could happen. I think there's a good chance that tomorrow might be better than today.

Alle is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2212

Dot's cancer is growing again. Her oncologist said that she wasn't that alarmed by the growth, but it was still disheartening. We had gone for over six months with no growth in the tumor whatsoever, so it was easy to start believing that the cancer was in remission. We talked about the merits of resuming chemotherapy and both of us agreed that in Dot's case, chemo probably did more harm than good.When Dot initially started taking Palladia to slow down the growth of the tumor, she quickly became weaker and within a week she could hardly walk. She was just too old and weak to tolerate the powerful drug. When we discontinued the chemotherapy, her mobility began to improve again. It's a tough choice when you have to choose between quality of life and length of life. Dot was miserable when she couldn't move around. Her mobility is still limited, but she can move around the house on her own and has a sense of independence. The cancer will win in the end, but for now she is a happy dog. I hope we did the right thing.

I wish I'd remembered to bring the lawn mower battery inside for the Winter before the temperatures dipped below freezing. I forgot, and now I've ruined another expensive 24 volt battery. I brought the battery inside this afternoon anyway, but I'm pretty sure I'll have to have it re-celled again in the Spring. I've learned the hard way that freezing weather and batteries isn't a good combination. This is the third lawnmower battery I've ruined. I wonder how car batteries survive as well as they do? They're out in the cold all the time. Any other type of battery is usually toast if you leave it too long in freezing weather.

Since it looks like it's going to be cold for a while, I'm doing my best to get ready for Winter. I've set the outside faucets so they drip a little to prevent the pipes from freezing. The dehumidifier has done wonders to lower the humidity in the house. Last Winter, I routinely had to mop the inside of the window glass with a towel in the morning to get rid of the condensation. Now, there is no condensation at all. We've learned how to attach Dot's Help 'Em Up Harness over a sweater, so she'll stay warm on our early morning walks. I've got a new pair of Winter gloves now, because my old gloves were falling apart. I can't say that I enjoy Winter, but I'm not going to let it get the best of me.

The year has just begun and there's already a stack of bills to pay on my desk. There's got to be more to life than paying bills and cleaning up poop. Maybe not. Sometimes I think I need to find a greater purpose to my life. Other times I think I've already found it. I do a good job of taking care of the dogs. I make enough sitting here writing so that I can pay the stack of bills on my desk without leaving the dogs. I haven't had a boss to tell me what to do in over 25 years. That's all got to be worth something. I'm not sure how writing this blog every evening fits into the grand scheme of things, but maybe this ongoing saga is valuable to someone.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2211

It was an enjoyable day. For the first time in a long time we didn't use our holiday time to clean the house or do chores. Instead, we went to a nice restaurant for lunch and spent the afternoon visiting a museum. We weren't gone a long time, because you can't really leave Dot a long time, but it was nice to get out of the house for a while.

Dallas has quite a few interesting museums. I've visited the Sixth Floor Museum in Dealey Plaza several times. It's a great place to take visiting relatives. If you have any interest in history at all, you will find this museum fascinating. The same can be said for the new Presidential Library on the SMU campus. That's where we went today. You can see the controversial Florida ballot made famous by "hanging chads" and the confusing placement of candidates. After looking at this strange ballot, it seems pretty plausible to me that Al Gore really did win the election. There is an interactive theater where the audience can listen to opposing viewpoints on a variety of issues like removing Saddam Hussein from power or providing aid to Katrina victims and then decide what you would have done yourself. Everyone in the theater has a touch screen where they can select what issues they want to explore and what questions whey want answered. All the responses are tied together using a computer and the entire theater decides what to do in real time. Very interesting. As a visual person, the coolest thing was the huge multimedia display in the ceiling of the main lobby. The photography was amazing and very beautiful. If you haven't seen this, you ought to.

I remember going to the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field for a Christmas party once. Another memorable Christmas party during my ad agency days was held at The Dallas Museum of Art when the Pompeii Exhibit first came through Dallas. Apparently renting big museums for Christmas parties is a thing in Dallas. I'd still like to see the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. It may take a while though. My desire to do things is very low.

I don't think I was the only one who had a good day today. Dot seemed very perky. It was probably because of the weather. If light deprivation causes depression in people, it probably does in dogs as well. Today was bright and sunny. The combination of cool, brisk temperatures and bright sunlight is something almost all Dalmatians enjoy. Dot actually started to run when she saw a squirrel on one of our walks. Well, she wasn't really running, because Janet was holding up her rear legs with the harness, but you could tell that the desire was still there. Even on bad days, there is something about Dot's attitude that says "don't count me out yet." I just hope I can maintain Dot's steely resolve when my own body starts to fall apart.

Tomorrow, it's back to early pre-dawn walks and banana smoothies for breakfast. Dot has an appointment to visit her oncologist for another of her periodic cancer re-checks. It's time to take the Christmas tree down and put the decorations away for another year as well. It's going to be a busy week.

Hunter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2210

It was nice to see the sun again. It seemed like I got a lot more done today. Truthfully, I didn't accomplish much of anything, but clear skies and sunlight streaming through the windows can magnify the smallest accomplishments. When we walked the dogs this morning, everybody cast a shadow. This was much better than yesterday. Dot seemed to have a lot of energy today and there were no accidents in the house. During the holidays, we've all been sleeping longer. I'd like to think that this is why Dot is back on schedule, but it's probably just blind luck.

I made it back to the gym this afternoon and had a surprisingly good workout. It always amazes me that whenever I happen to arrive at the gym, some of the same people are always there. Some of them appear to live at the gym. This seems a bit excessive to me. I know I should go several times a week, but every day seems a bit much. I could never do that, even if I did have the time.

I probably get more exercise than a lot of these gym rats anyway. The two dogs walks we took today and the hour I spent wrestling with the Dyson vacuum cleaner probably burned off more calories than my afternoon excursion to the gym. Sunday's are always busy. It's the last chance we have to get things straightened up before another week of chaos arrives. Since it was such a nice day, Dash even got a bath. You never realize how dirty your dogs are until you give them a bath. Dash looks several shades whiter and his coat is soft and smooth again. I'm sure that Dash would just as soon have stayed dirty, but maybe he won't itch so much now. Hopefully, spending time in the underwater treadmill each week keeps Dot clean. It's too hard to bathe her at one of those self-wash dog places now, since she has trouble standing on her own.

I thought this evening might be a good time to find Mercury just after Sunset, but there must have been too much haze on the horizon. All I saw was a nice sunset. Maybe I missed my opportunity. January 1st was supposed to be the best day to look for this illusive planet, but it was cloudy that day. As I stood on a small hill scanning the horizon with my binoculars, I did notice that the park completely changes its personality after dark. I heard drums and chanting off to the South of me and down by the water I saw some people setting off fireworks. I've started seeing coyotes in the evening again too. Several days ago, Dash and I had to curtail our evening walk when we came face-to-face with a coyote around dusk. Coyotes will usually leave you alone, but I didn't want to take any chances.

Janet is taking a vacation day tomorrow, so we'll all get another chance to sleep in a bit longer. Left to my own devices, I would never get up until the sun was streaming in the bedroom window. Getting up early has been good for me though. We walk before dawn because it is the only time when Janet and I are both available, but it is also one of the prettiest times of the day. Most of our walks are around 45 minutes and that is almost exactly the amount of time it takes the sky to go from starlight to sunlight in the morning. Sunrise can be quite beautiful. Hopefully, tomorrow will be another day exactly like today.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2209

It's a lot harder to get up in the morning when the temperature is cold and the sky is dark and overcast. When I first heard about seasonal affective disorder and the theory that light deprivation can cause depression, it made perfect sense. Gloomy days and lack of sunlight really do influence your mood. The only benefit to days like these is that the dogs often feel the same way and don't want to get up either. Dot and Dash had no interest in getting up this morning, so Janet and I were about to get an extra hour of sleep. I had mixed feelings about letting Dot sleep in. Her incontinence makes her a ticking time bomb. The longer we wait to go outside after she wakes up, the more likely it is that she'll poop in the house. I decided to take a chance this morning and it worked. Everybody just wanted to sleep.

The woman who colors Janet's hair is on the news as a missing person. She went to work on Tuesday and never showed up. Her car was later found abandoned in an apartment complex near a wooded area. Hopefully, she will be found unharmed, but it doesn't look good. It's alarming how often things like this happen in Dallas. It's a lot more dangerous place than it was when I moved here over 30 years ago. Of course, you could probably say the same thing for any large American city, but that doesn't make it any less unsettling. What happened to a world where people didn't even bother to lock their doors at night? I would easily trade the Internet, smartphones, and the powerful computer on my desk for a world where people felt safe. I grew up in an age where our neighbors had a fallout shelter in their back yard and we all practiced "duck and cover" exercises in school in case there was a nuclear attack. It still seemed like a safer place though. I guess it's all a matter of perspective.

There were a lot of things on my grocery list today. It's amazing how quickly you can spent $100 in a grocery store without even filling up your cart. You always hear on the news about how we've got inflation under control, but I don't believe a word of it. With the possible exception of gasoline, prices for ordinary things have gone up enormously. When wages remain stagnant and prices continue to go up, it just doesn't seem like it is going to end well.

I've been feeling like I'm on the verge of coming down with a cold all week. It's probably just hypochondria, but this is the time of year when I tend to get sick. There's really not much you can do when people are wheezing and sneezing all around you. I'll either get a cold or I won't. I wonder if the dogs get minor colds? Whenever I take them to the vet, there is usually something serious going on, but they must get minor ailments too. It's hard to tell with a dog. Sometimes when Dot throws up in the morning, there's nothing wrong at all.

I need to make time to go to the gym tomorrow. My pants are starting to feel tight from all the holiday meals. If I went to the gym three times a week, I'd be in great shape. I don't think it's going to happen though. Even in my quasi-retirement, I just can't find the time. Doing simple things properly can take an enormous amount of time. There's no point in cutting corners though. Why would I even consider cutting corners at my age? There appears to be a Doc Martin marathon on PBS tonight. Everyone talks about their Walking Dead marathons, but Doc Martin is more my style.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2208 - New Year's Day

I woke up around 5 AM to the sound of Dot trying to throw up. Why does this always happen on a holiday? I remember we had a similar problem on Thanksgiving. We took her outside and she immediately tried to eat leaves. This would have only made things worse , so we brought Dot inside again and let her lick an ice cube until she calmed down a bit. I don't know when we discovered that licking an ice cube often causes the urge to throw up to subside, but it sometimes works. Maybe she just had a dry throat. The next time I took her outside, she pooped instead of trying to eat leaves again. We got lucky. We all went back to bed for another hour or so and then fixed the dogs breakfast and had our first walk of 2016.

It was still really cold outside. If it wasn't so important for Dot to keep moving her rear legs, I think we'd just skip the walks on days like this. When we returned, Janet went to the store to get some orange juice to make Mimosas with the leftover New Years champagne while I cooked French Toast for breakfast. It was a nice way to start the year, expecially since Dot wasn't as sick as it first appeared.

After breakfast I installed the new version of Media Composer I downloaded yesterday. The first thing I saw when I opened the application was a large error message telling me that my computer didn't have enough memory to run the software. WTF? My computer has lots of memory. I work with huge files in Photoshop all the time and had no problem running the previous version of Media Composer. Apparently all the trouble I went through yesterday to update this software was for nothing. It wasn't going to work. I sure wish I'd known this before I bought the new version.

I enjoy a challenge though, so I was determined to make this work. After a little research on Google, I realized that Avid really wanted me to be running their software on one of those sleek new black Macintosh towers that look like some sort of a space age wastebasket. My own computer was way too old and slow. Hey, not so fast. A little more research revealed that my aging Mac might still be able to run the new software if I maxed out the memory. It was worth a try. So, where do you find computer memory on New Years Day? Oddly, Fry's was still open today.

I got in the car and drove to Fry's. I bought two 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM memory modules and then went on Google again to figure out how to open up my computer. Against all odds, I had the right kind of tiny screwdriver to open the case, installed the memory modules properly, and everything worked. The next time I tried to open Media Composer, it worked. This new version sure looks a lot like the old version, but there must be something to make it worth all the trouble I went through to install it.

New Years used to be a day where everybody watched the Rose Bowl Parade in the morning and then spent the rest of the day watching four different bowl games on TV. First there was the Sugar Bowl. Then came the Cotton Bowl. The big one was the Rose Bowl in California, followed by the Orange Bowl in the evening in Florida. Now, most of these bowl games are named after a corporate sponsor and aren't even played on New Years Day. The Cotton Bowl Classic isn't played in the Cotton Bowl anymore. There is still a game with this name, but it is played in the Dallas Cowboys stadium on New Years Eve. I have no idea who won.

Today didn't even seem like a holiday, but it wasn't a bad way to start the year. Dot gave us a scare this morning, but she's OK now. My computer gave me another scare, but I still managed to show it show it who's boss. We made it through the first day of 2016. Now, there's only 364 days to go.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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