Day 2439

I keep getting e-mail messages from companies trying to convince me to automate my house. Why? If I got one of those fancy WiFi door locks, it would only work a few months a year. The soil shifts a lot in Dallas and for much of the year doors and windows don't line up exactly, making them difficult to open. The front door is particularly difficult to open in August. It will be fine again in December. Elbow grease works fine for sticky doors. I'd be pretty irritated if I bought a WiFi door lock and had to wait until December for the deadbolt to line up perfectly with the door frame. I suppose I could turn the lights on and off with my phone, but I think the conveniently placed light switches on the wall are much easier to use than my balky WiFi network. I already have a WiFi thermostat that I can talk to. We seldom have conversations though. It's much easier to adjust the temperature manually on my way to the kitchen. My point is that all of these new automated home systems rely on your phone to function properly. I'm sorry to tell you this AT&T, but my phone is the least reliable piece of equipment in the house.

I paid a bunch of bills today and I feel poor again.  If I just had three or four new clients, I wouldn't have to deal with these monthly ups and downs. I think about this every month, but I'm not sure where the business is going to come from. Most of the marketing directors and brand managers I've worked with over the years have either retired or died. It's certainly not hopeless, but I think there's a better chance of me living on Mars than striking up a working relationship with the current batch of millennials who have taken my place in the ad industry. What I need to find are some really old people who think they need a website even though they actually don't.

The rainy weather continues. I haven't gotten sick of the rain yet, but that day is coming. If it's a rule that Dot only poops when I'm in the shower, it's a corollary to that rule that it starts to rain whenever I have to run an errand. For the past three days, it has started to rain as soon as I backed the car out of the driveway. It could be worse though. I'm dry in the car. What I really hate is when it starts to rain when I'm about a mile away from home walking Dash.

I'm having e-mail problems again. Messages are sent, but they are not received. I've almost concluded that it isn't worth the trouble to resolve these problems. They are usually temporary and they seldom have a plausible explanation. Even tech support sometimes says, "Just try it again in a few minutes." The first ten years I was online, I seldom had any problems. I miss those days. Dial-up modems and renting VHS movies at Blockbuster were just fine by me. I miss my old analog OKI 900 phone too. Those were the days.

Dot didn't have any accidents in the house today. Of course the day isn't over yet. I remembered to take the trash out to the curb too. Even though it was wet and rainy, it wasn't a bad day at all.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2438

There are many things I'd rather do than go to a vet appointment on a rainy day. For starters, the traffic is terrible when it rains in Dallas. Dash's storm phobia is getting worse and he hates to be left alone in the house. Dot doesn't like riding in the car in any kind of weather. It's not a good combination. I apologized for being late to my appointment, but apparently my absence wasn't even noticed. I'm not the only one who has problems with their dogs in bad weather, so everybody else was late to their appointments too. There was a backlog of dogs in the lobby and we ended up having to wait about an hour to start our therapy session. Actually, the wait was good, because it gave Dot a chance to calm down. By the time the vet was ready to see us, Dot was getting sleepy.

We had a good session today. The acupuncture relaxes Dot and hopefully relieves some discomfort. The water therapy is supposed to strengthen her rear legs and prevent further muscle atrophy. Dot was strong enough to exercise for the full fifteen minutes today and the rain was almost over by the time we made our way home. We spent most of the afternoon to get these fifteen minutes under our belt, but I suppose it was worth it.

I was going to pay bills and do some bookkeeping this afternoon, but I never got around to it. I never got around to going to the vegan take out place either. I ended up just having a can of soup for dinner. Maybe I'll get caught up tomorrow, but I kind of doubt it. It's supposed to rain tomorrow as well. It's actually supposed to rain for the rest of the week. I should be used to how time consuming the dogs can be on rainy days, but I still underestimate the difficulties.

Dot has added a new wrinkle to our daily routine. About the time everybody else is getting ready to go to sleep, Dot gets a second wind and becomes very restless. This would be a good time to give her a walk, if it weren't for the fact that it is 11 PM and pitch dark outside. I don't know what has caused this change, since she used to be ready to go to bed for the night as soon as she's had her evening meds. Now, I'll take her out in the back yard three or four times and hold up her legs as she wanders aimlessly around. I'll get her situated in her dog bed and then two minutes later, she's barking and wants to get up again. It's taking longer and longer to get her settled in for the night.

I wish tomorrow was Friday. I wouldn't mind getting rid of Thursday entirely. Six days in a week would be plenty for me. Unfortunately, I don't get to choose these things. I'll try to do something useful tomorrow, even though I find the day completely redundant. For now I'll just concentrate on getting Dot to go to sleep.

Toby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2437

I had to make some changes to one of the first mobile sites I designed last year and somewhat to my chagrin, I realized that I'd forgotten how to build these things. This happens a lot these days. It doesn't matter whether you're playing guitar or writing a novel, you have to keep your hand in the game if you want to keep your chops up. I'm not as good of a video editor as I used to be, because I don't spend much time editing anymore. I used to be more technically proficient as a photographer too. You really need to do something every single day if you expect to get good at it. It's a shame that I'm already forgetting how to create mobile websites, because I worked so hard to learn this skill. There wasn't as much demand as I'd hoped though. I'm getting a little rusty.

It took me an hour or so to figure out what I was doing and make the necessary changes. If somebody asks me to do the same thing tomorrow, I'm good. Getting rusty is just a fact of life as you get older. It's hard to stay on the cutting edge, since styles and technologies change so quickly. I don't think my writing has deteriorated as much as some of my other skills, but that's only because I still write everyday. It would probably take me a little longer to write an annual report for an oil and gas producer though. I haven't done one of those in over five years.

If practice makes perfect, I'm probably a world class poop collector. Cleaning up dog poop is definitely something I do everyday. As Dot's incontinence has gotten worse, I've discovered all sorts of little tricks to speed up the cleanup process and minimize any damage. When Dot poops in her sleep, I'm often able to get her cleaned up without even waking her up. These are not skills you'd put on a resume though. These are not even skills you'd brag about in public. People just don't want to hear about dog poop.

It remained cool and overcast today. I almost felt like I needed a light jacket on our morning walk. I'm not going to be lulled into thinking that Fall has arrived early though. I know better. September is often even hotter than August and I'm sure we've still got quite a few triple digit days ahead of us. For the moment, I'm just enjoying my good fortune. Cooler weather definitely makes a difference with Dot. She has more energy and a lot more interest in getting outdoors and moving around a bit.

We've got another physical therapy session tomorrow. I hope Dot does as well as she did last week. I'd love to see her get strong enough so that she could walk around the house without my assistance. I think it frustrates her that I'm always following her around, holding up her rear end with the harness. We'll see how it goes.

If I can find the time tomorrow, I'm going to pick up something for dinner at the new Vegan take out place in the neighborhood. The continually rotating menu seems interesting, and I'd love to see if I can wean myself away from meat. I think I could be a vegetarian if the food was spicy enough. Maybe there will be a nice curry I can take home and reheat in the microwave. If not, I'm sure there's still a few hot dogs in the refrigerator.

Pogo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2436

It felt like Fall today. Overcast skies and a slow, steady rain kept temperatures in the low 70's. I'm not typically a fan of dampness and drizzle, but the change of pace from our typical August heat was kind of nice. Dot seemed to enjoy the cooler temperatures, but Dash was having nothing to do with the rain. I couldn't even get him to go outside this morning.

A writing assignment gave me the perfect excuse to stay around the house all day. I'd write for a while and then take the dogs to the back door so they could see if the rain had stopped. Dot still seems to have more energy than she did last week. She kept me busy during the day, barking when she needed help to get up and check on things. I continue to see this restless behavior as a good thing. At least it's better than lying listless in her bed all day.

I had to wash some rubber backed rugs that Dot made a mess on yesterday. I need to make a mental note to never buy rubber backed rugs again. The rubber flakes off in the dryer and makes a huge mess, even when you dry the rugs on the lowest heat setting. I guess I could have taken the rugs outside and let them air dry, but it was a damp, rainy day and it would have taken forever. I needed them back on the floor again. Eventually, the little flecks of stray rubber backing will find their way to the dryer filter, but they'll probably attach themselves to the next load of towels first.

It took longer than it should have to finish my article, mostly because Dot and Dash were being needy and demanding. Dash was frustrated because he didn't want to walk in the rain and Dot was frustrated because she couldn't do much of anything. Eventually, the rain subsided to a light mist and I was able to take Dash for a long walk while Dot slept. There have been more peaceful days, but it really wasn't all that bad. Cooler temperatures and a self-imposed deadline to meet were all I needed to keep my glass half full today.

I think my good mood had more to do with getting a decent night's sleep than anything else. Dot had one of those rare nights when she slept through the night without pooping. It makes a big difference. We all woke somewhat refreshed, hoping that Dot would stay on schedule for another eight hours.

I completely missed the Perseid meteor shower this year. The pictures I kept seeing on Google looked spectacular, but it wasn't meant to be in Dallas. Our skies were overcast on Thursday and Friday, and even during clear weather, there is so much light pollution in the city that seeing something as faint as a meteor trail is almost impossible. Maybe someday I'll live in a place with clear, dark skies. I don't think I've seen the Milky Way in decades.

Who knows what I'll see tomorrow. The flowers are gradually being replaced by seed pods as Fall approaches. Pretty soon the first leaves will start to turn. Sometimes it is simply amazing how quickly a year goes by.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2435

I don't recall sleeping much at all last night, but my fitness band tells me that I got almost six hours of sleep. Perhaps I was just dreaming about being awake. I certainly didn't feel rested this morning. There is no rest for the weary on Sunday. It is a self-defined chore day. At least it was cooler outside today. The dogs got their walks. The sheets got changed. The house got a much needed vacuuming. There was a lot of activity, but it didn't feel like anything had been accomplished. That's just the way it is on Sunday.

Dot seems a lot more restless now. I don't know if this means she is getting stronger, or if something is making her uncomfortable.  It's really hard to tell what is going on. She doesn't really like it when I follow her around, but she falls and can't get up if I'm not holding the rear end of her harness. I'd probably be restless too if I spent most of my day lying on a dog bed. For the time being, I'm going to assume that her current restlessness is a good sign. At least she seems to have a little more energy. She got a good report from her physical therapy vet last Wednesday and we'll be seeing her oncologist again toward the end of the month. Hopefully, there's a logical explanation for this change in behavior.

There were people using my favorite machines when I went to the gym today, so I had to change the order of my workout. I did all the things I usually do, but in a different order. Somehow, this made me more tired. My fitness band said I burned more calories too. This doesn't make sense to me, but what do I know. Maybe I ought to do my workout backwards all the time.

My computer seems to be slowing down. I've tried optimizing my hard drive. I've turned off some unnecessary start up items. I've looked up strange files names I see on my network monitor in Google, but I can't figure out what is going on. The computer is certainly working well enough to do everything I need to do, but I can detect a difference. Something new is happening and I don't like it. This is why Dot's restlessness bothers me too. I always equate something new with something bad. Maybe something new with Dot is actually a good thing, but change frightens me. I wish everything could stay the same. Of course with Dot, I would back up time a bit so she would be healthy in my monotonous world. With the computer, I would take things all the way back to System 9. I've never been fond of Macintosh since System 10 changed everything.

It didn't rain today at all, which kind of surprised me. It did seem a lot cooler though. Only in Texas would you describe 89 degrees as cool, but it felt nice outside for a change. There's still rain in the forecast for tomorrow, so we'll see what happens. I don't want a lot of rain; just enough so that I don't have to use the sprinklers to keep the grass green. My water bill is high enough already.

I need to schedule Dash for a neurological exam and Dot for her annual physical. I'm not sure whether either of these exams is even necessary or will make a difference, but I'm conditioned to think that it's bad to ignore these things. The dogs will always get everything they need. I prefer to ignore my own health.

Elliott is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2434

I used my new Scan and Go app when I went to the grocery store today. It worked like a charm. I was really pleased at what a time saver this was going to be until I finished my transactions and was leaving the store. Evidently, part of the process is having someone scan the receipt on your phone to verify the transaction. The lady who normally counts the number of items in your buggy seemed unfamiliar with the hand held device and couldn't get it to work. She called her supervisor for help. The supervisor said the machine was broken and called the manager. "Wasn't this supposed to make things faster," I asked the manager. "It's really fast when it works," he told me. Eventually, the manager found a backup machine and pointed it at my phone. As soon as I heard a beep, I was good to go. I could have checked out faster today the old fashioned way, but I still like this new technology. I bet it won't be long before they replace the person at the front door with a machine that just senses the phone in your pocket. People always seem to be the weak link in the chain.

I got my 2017 vehicle registration sticker today, so my car is legal again for another year. The hardest part of this whole process is removing the old sticker from your windshield so you can attach the new one. You can't just peel these stickers off. Parts of the sticker always remain attached to the windshield and you have to carefully scrape them off with a single edge razor blade. After I cleaned all the sticky residue off with window cleaner, I attached the new sticker, wondering why we don't still put the vehicle registration sticker on our license plate like we used to.

Dot's digestive system seems to have calmed down a bit. Compared to yesterday's disastrous series of accidents, today was a piece of cake. She pooped in her bed right after she woke up this morning, but that was my fault. We don't usually set the alarm clock on weekends, but Dot has her own alarm system. She expects us to be up by six AM and to be fed and ready to walk before seven. If I'd gotten up at six and immediately taken her outside, we wouldn't have had a problem.

We got a little rain today and I think we're supposed to get some more tomorrow. Since the roof has been patched and the patches appear to have cured well, I welcome the rain. The yard is really dry and our old fashioned sprinklers don't really do a good job of keeping things green. Since I don't think we'll be getting a fancy underground sprinkler system anytime soon, rain will have to do.

I'm having all sorts of minor computer problems. My phone keeps sending me messages saying that there is no SIM card attached. I can make the error message go away if I reboot my phone, but I shouldn't be getting it in the first place. There's a weird little process called mDNSResponder that is sucking up all my memory in my main computer. I can't just delete this process because it is used to connect me to the Internet. The battery has gone bad in my iPad, but they tell me that it is not replaceable in my older Series 1 model. I don't know about you, but I think Apple hardware and software was a lot more reliable when Steve Jobs was alive.

The weeks go by so fast these days. I'll try to make to most of my trip to the gym tomorrow.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2433

Nothing went smoothly today. The dogs were tired from their morning walk and sleeping peacefully when I left the house to get my car safety inspected. I had an appointment, but the Land Rover dealer was busy and the inspection took longer than I thought. By the time I returned home, Dot was awake again and had pooped in her bed. This was a messy accident. I had to clean Dot, three blankets, two rugs, and my shoes. I really wasn't gone that long. It's a shame that I can't even leave the house for two hours without risking this sort of calamity. It's not Dot's fault. She's just very old and her incontinence is a way of life.

Apparently, I've been messing with the router too much in my quest to get the pet cam working. I wanted to experiment with some other settings today, but discovered that the router had frozen and wouldn't let me login to the control panel anymore. I called tech support and they told me that I would have to restore the router to it's factory settings in order to gain access again. Damn. This means that I will have to reconnect everything in the house to the WiFi network all over again. It took forever the first time I did this, so I was hoping that I'd never have to repeat the process. While I was on the phone with the technician, Dot decided to poop in her bed and I was forced to blurt out "Hold on a minute, my dog is pooping and I've got to clean it up before she eats it." Tech support offered no advice on this matter. I thanked the tech support person for speaking English well enough for me to understand and decided to postpone resetting the router for another day when I would hopefully have more patience.

The only productive thing I did today was get my August invoices in the mail. I didn't have time to go to the grocery store, so I decided to pick up some take out on my way back from the post office. Unfortunately, this was when it started to rain. The rain completely surprised me, since it has been bone dry all month. The unexpected thunderstorm frightened the dogs and when I returned to the house with dinner, I wasn't all that surprised to discover that Dot had pooped a third time.

By the time I cleaned Dot up and fed the dogs their dinner, I was ready to consider the day a total loss. I tried to give Dash his evening walk, but he was still nervous about the weather and didn't want to go outside. Eventually the rain stopped, the laundry got done, the dogs got walked, and life returned to some semblance of normality. Today was tiring though. It takes a lot of patience to live this way.

I need to remember to renew my vehicle registration this weekend. The vehicle registration goes hand-in-hand with the safety inspection and you need both to stay legal. I have no plans for the weekend. I just hope that tomorrow isn't a repeat of today.

Ellis is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2432

Today was quiet. I spent most of the day finishing my remaining writing assignments. In theory, I could make a good living this way, but the assignments aren't consistent enough. I miss the days when reading was considered mandatory. Back in the day, I used to write lots of annual reports for large corporations. These jobs always paid well and weren't much harder than the lower paying online work I do today. Everything is visual these days. I was curious when I heard about Instagram Stories recently. Finally, an Instagram feature designed for people like me. Not really. I was very disappointed when I discovered that these "stories" were just meant to be collections of short videos. In a world where people increasingly communicate using emojis, I'm lucky to have any writing jobs at all.

Since Dot keeps me housebound most of the time, I watch way more TV than I should. I never actually watch entire shows, but the TV in the kitchen is always on and I'll glance at it as I'm doing my daily chores. Donald Trump is increasingly portrayed as an unbalanced Dr. Strangelove. Hillary Clinton is portrayed as an evil mafia boss who is above the law. Since there is a basis for both of these portrayals, why are we being asked to vote for either of these people? The main message of both campaigns is that the other guy is even worse than they are. It's pathetic. You'd think the third party candidates would get a little more traction in this toxic environment, but nobody even bothers to interview Gary Johnson. The media treats him like someone who was born with six toes. He's just a curiosity. I'm pretty burned out on political news, but it's still more interesting than cooking shows or The View. Why do the networks even bother with daytime programming? I think the only people watching are me and a bunch of people sitting in doctor's waiting rooms.

I'm still trying to figure out how to reconfigure my network router so I can use my pet cam again. I guess I could just go buy a different pet cam, but I am determined to get the existing one working. I've given up on AT&T and have started talking with the people who make the software that the camera uses. So far, they're just asking me a lot of questions, but the questions are very specific, so I think we might be getting somewhere.

Janet and I found a lost dog while we were walking Dot and Dash this evening. The little dog was friendly, but was hard to catch since we couldn't move very fast with Dot. Luckily, a neighbor driving down the street saw us and stopped to help. We found a phone number on the dog's collar and he said he would try to reunite the dog with its owner. Hopefully, they are back together now.

Tomorrow I have an appointment for my annual safety inspection. I've tried to schedule this excursion so that Dot will be asleep while I'm gone, but I have little control over what Dot actually does. Just because she's usually asleep at 10 AM, doesn't mean that she's going to be sleeping tomorrow. Whenever I go out these days, I tend to come home to find a dog who has pooped all over the place.

At least it's Friday tomorrow. This has been a long, very hot week. The trash has been taken out to the curb and I'm almost ready for bed. I'm hoping that the safety inspection doesn't take very long, so I still have time to go out for breakfast. I'd definitely like to end the week with a good breakfast.

Hannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2431

She's back! Dot resumed her physical therapy today and her entire team was amazed at how well she did. Dot's vet told me that she didn't expect much from this visit, since she'd been away so long, but she exceeded everyone's expectations. I think the extended rest we've been giving her has really helped. Dot was relaxed this afternoon, didn't poop in the car, and we were even able to get a good blood pressure reading. I think the key to success is being very aware of Dot's limitations and in managing my own expectations. Dot isn't always aware of her own limitations. She's such a loyal companion that she'll just keep walking, even if she's exhausted. It's my job to interpret the subtle signs she's continually sending to let us know how she's doing. I watch her breathing, her gum color, her balance, and how she holds her head. I look to see whether her rear paws knuckle under when she's trying to walk. If her body is telling me that she is starting to get tired, I make sure she rests.

I was very encouraged to see Dot doing so well today. She hasn't given up yet. The vet also had some ideas about what might be causing the stiffness in Dash's rear legs. She wants me to bring him in for a neurological exam. I won't have time to do this immediately, but we'll get him worked into the never ending cycle of vet exams.

I finished one of my writing assignments today. I still have several more articles to write, but I'm making good progress. I don't have any plans to leave the house tomorrow, so maybe I can finish the remaining articles before the weekend. It's good to be busy. I spend so much of my time dealing with basically unsolvable dog problems, that's it's refreshing to have normal problems with deadlines and simple resolutions. When you finish a writing assignment, it's over. Medical problems never really go away.

It's so hard to remember all the little things. I'll be sitting here writing and then I'll think, "Damn, I forgot to put the clothes in the dryer," or "Are the sprinklers still on outside." It's always something. Batteries are never charged when I need them most. I need to remember to turn the ice-maker in the refrigerator off for a day every two days because the automatic shut off is broken. The dehumidifier always seems to need to be emptied. And then there's the water on the roof. At least the roof is dry for now. Lately, I'm even having trouble finding time to take a shower. If I take a shower early, Dot poops when I'm in the shower. If I take a shower late, she poops when I'm in the shower. She seems to know when I'm not looking at her, so she can quickly eat the evidence.

Such is life. There are lots of little irritations and lots of little triumphs. Today was basically one of the good days. It was nice to see Dot doing her workout again.

J-Lo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2430

I took Dash back to his regular vet today. Dash is not a good patient. By the time he gets to the vet, he is barking, his adrenaline is pumping, and he is so wound up that it is often difficult to diagnose anything. The vet agreed that he was walking a bit oddly, but when she took x-rays, there seemed to be no basis for his stiff, almost robotic gait. She told me that there were no obvious signs of arthritis or hip dysplasia. There were no signs of soft tissue injuries either. Dash was quite limber and was able to extend his legs through a full range of motion. As always, the dog continues to remain a mystery. Since dogs are often very good at hiding pain, the vet suggested that I give him Rimadyl for 14 days and watch to see if he changes the way he walks. If the stiffness disappears, something is causing him pain. It's worth a try. Of course, the Rimadyl won't tell us where the pain is coming from. Since the x-rays don't tell us much, he might need to have a MRI. There's always a chance that there is nothing wrong at all and this is just the way Dash normally walks.

Tomorrow, it's Dot's turn. I'm taking her back to her physical therapy vet to see if she's strong enough to resume using the treadmill. I have my doubts, since she appears to be growing weaker. There's always the chance that she's becoming weaker because we stopped the therapy. I'd hate to think I stopped the therapy just because of all the poop in the car. At any rate, we are going to evaluate her tomorrow and then we'll decide what to do next. Even if she's not strong enough for the underwater treadmill, she could still probably benefit from acupuncture.

I received some new writing assignments today. These ought to keep me busy for the rest of the week. It's time to send out August invoices, but I think I'll wait until I finish these new jobs. Maybe I'm just robbing from September to make August look a little better, but every dollar counts. I wish I could think of something lucrative to do that would boost my billings. It's getting harder and harder to compete with large high volume solutions.

Today, when I was waiting in the lobby with Dash to see the vet, I noticed a cool looking application that was running on a large flat screen TV which displayed the clinic's Instagram and Facebook posts in real time. This looked interesting and I started wondering if I could create something like this for my clients. I did some research when I got back home and discovered that the clinic had just bought a prepackaged solution from a large national digital signage company. They didn't have to hire a programmer at all. All they did was pay a monthly fee, plug a special box into the back of their TV, and they were done. It wouldn't matter if I learned how to do this. I could never compete with the signage company's prices.

Our yard squirrels seem to hate the August heat as much as I do. They don't even move around anymore. They'll find a place in the shade and just sit there, waiting patiently for sunset. I can walk right up to them and they don't even bother to move. I feel the same way and I have the luxury of air conditioning. I think we're all ready for Winter.

Nautica is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2429

Dash got stung by a bee this evening. At least I think he got stung by a bee. We were taking our evening walk and all of a sudden he started limping on his right front leg. We were about three blocks from home, and he refused to put any weight on the leg the rest of the way home. He growled at me when I tried to examine the leg too. It was time for a trip to the emergency vet. Since I didn't have an appointment, Dash and I had to wait a long time in the lobby. During the hour or so we were waiting, Dash started to calm down and by the time the vet got around to seeing us, he seemed well on his way back to normal.

Basically we still don't know what is going on. It definitely could have been a bee sting, but there was no obvious redness or swelling. The vet said there were lots of things that could cause this sort of sudden lameness. It could be a soft tissue injury. It could be arthritis. Although unlikely, it could even be an early sign of bone cancer. I decided to wait to do anything further. We'll give him a Benadryl tonight and see how he feels in the morning. If he needs x-rays, we can do them during his next re-check at the cancer center. Dash probably does have arthritis. His rear legs are starting to get stiff and I wouldn't be surprised if he develops hip dysplasia as he grows older. It's always something with these dogs.

The last thing I expected today was a trip to the emergency vet, but I really shouldn't have been surprised. Nothing else went right today either. I wasted a huge amount of time trying to get AT&T tech support to show me how to enable port forwarding on my router. I knew how to do this on the old router that broke, but this new one doesn't seem to allow port forwarding. There ought to be a special place in hell for companies who outsource all their customer support. It takes forever to resolve the simplest of problems when you're talking with someone who doesn't speak English well. About one time out of ten, I manage to get a technician who actually knows something about technology. The rest of the time I end up talking with people who are just reading from a script. I don't think the guy I talked with today even knew what a router was. My conversation was definitely a wasted effort.

I had some website updates this morning, but they didn't keep me busy all day. I actually spent more time cleaning up after Dot, than I did modifying the websites. It was good to have something to do though. Days filled with writing and coding chores are definitely more satisfying than days where there is nothing to do but clean up poop.

I was going to get my safety inspection done today, but Land Rover said that I needed to make an appointment. Evidently they only do safety inspections in Friday's now. I made an appointment for Friday and then went up on the roof to check on last week's repairs. Our current dry spell has allowed the patches to cure nicely. From the looks of things now, I think the roof is going to be OK this Winter.

I hope that Dash is back to normal tomorrow morning. If he is still limping, I'll see if I can get him over to his regular vet for some x-rays. It's been a long day and I'm ready for bed. All I need to do now is see if I can take Dot's harness off without waking her up. I don't want to wake Dash up either. Everyone seems so calm now.

Lilly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2428

I knew it was going to happen eventually. I was checking on the dogs while I was at the gym, and I saw Dot pooping in her bed right on the camera. She was still lying down on her bed, but lifted her head and looked around, as is she was trying to decide whether to go back to sleep or eat the evidence. I was twenty minutes away, but when she put her head back down, I thought I might have time to go home and clean things up before she woke up again. I cut my workout short and hurried home, but I was too late. By the time I arrived, she was wide awake and had eaten everything. I hate when this happens, because it throws off her digestion for the next day or so. What can you do though? Dot is completely unpredictable and I can't spend my entire life watching her sleep and waiting for her to poop.

Since I didn't feel like vacuuming, I went back to the gym and finished my workout as soon as Janet returned home. I spent a long time shooting baskets at the free throw line, wondering why almost nothing in life is completely predictable. You'd think I could sink every basket by now, but I still miss as often as I connect. The ball is the same. The distance to the hoop is the same. And the act of shooting the ball has been repeated so many times that you'd think that hitting the basket would be burned into my muscle memory by now. It's all kind of random though. Sometimes I'll hit three in a row and then spend the next five minutes watching the ball bounce off the rim. If something this simple isn't predictible, I wonder if anything is.

Two short workouts are actually more tiring than one long one. Maybe I should just quit looking at the pet cam while I'm at the gym. If something bad ever happened, I'm too far away to be of much help anyway. I guess I always just want to see the dogs sleeping peacefully. Seeing them sleep gives me some peace of mind and I don't feel so guilty about leaving them.

The atomic clocks are all back in sync again. I still don't know what was going on yesterday, but the problem seemed to resolve itself overnight. I suspect that one of the clocks failed to receive the radio signal from Fort Collins for a few days. I'll probably never know the answer to this mystery, but I will quit thinking about it fairly quickly. I'm sure that something new will go wrong tomorrow that will momentarily capture my attention.

When Janet and I was taking the dogs on their evening walk around the block, a loose dog appeared out of nowhere and came racing straight for Dash. I fell trying to protect Dash and cut my knees. Luckily, the dog's owners were nearby and they quickly retrieved their dog before any damage could be done. The owners apologized while we explained that Dash was terrified by this sort of situation because he'd been attacked by another dog when he was young. We didn't have to explain about Dot. It was obvious that she was very, very old and couldn't defend herself whatsoever. This particular dog was more friendly than aggressive, but I still don't understand why people let their dog off leash. It's just irresponsible to let your dog run loose in a city like Dallas. We were walking down one of the roads that lead into the park. The loose dog could easily have been run over by a car. If you're sitting out in your front yard drinking wine and watching the sunset, please keep your dog on a leash. Things can escalate quickly with dogs and it's almost impossible to keep from getting bitten if a dog really wants to bite you.

I was going to get my new vehicle registration sticker this afternoon, but I forgot that you have to have the safety inspection done first. For years these two events were independent of each other, but now they have to be done in the right order. Why is it that every time the government tries to make something simpler, they just end up making it more complicated? Making an appointment for a safety inspection is already on my to-do list.

Lou is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2427

Sometimes I get distracted by the smallest things. Today when I turned on the computer, I noticed that there was a fifteen second difference between the time on the computer and the time on my watch. Since both the computer and the watch receive a signal from the same NIST atomic clock in Fort Collins, Colorado, either the computer or the watch was wrong. The two displays should have been identical. It puzzled me that I didn't know which one was right. I rebooted the computer and replaced the battery in the watch, but the fifteen second difference remained. It was odd that this bothered me, since I could care less what time it actually was. This was an anomaly and it shouldn't have been happening. I get curious about things like this.

Last week at this time I was curious about a new app that lets me use my phone to purchase groceries and bypass the checkout line. I downloaded the app and was going to try it this week, but I completely forgot about it and ended up using the regular checkout line, just like I always do. I wonder how many weeks it's going to take before I remember that I have this handy tool in my pocket. We'll try again next week. Eventually, this thing will become second nature. I'm a creature of habit though. There's always a chance that I'll never use my phone to purchase groceries. I downloaded an app that lets me deposit checks to my bank using my phone two years ago and I still haven't used it.

It was so hot today that neither of the dogs wanted to walk very far. They did their business in a perfunctory way and returned to the house where it was air conditioned. When I was out with Dash, I saw a Great Blue Heron. Even the bird seemed hot. I made sure to water the lawn before the 10 AM water restriction deadline and started wishing for Winter to return. August is probably as bad as it gets. It's still hot in September, but the days are noticeably shorter. Hopefully, the air conditioner will keep working until October, when the weather gets nice again.

I started thinking about what I wanted my new website to look like and came to the inescapable conclusion that I didn't even need a website. Maybe I should just sell my domain to that company in Germany that makes the Sealander amphibious travel trailer. It figures that someone would use my name for a trailer that is also a boat. Who would want something like this? It's pretty expensive, not very big, and the literature says "for calm waters only." I bet more than a few of these things have sank. The unlikely vehicle must be getting more popular though, because I get e-mail messages almost every week asking for information about how to buy one.

It's time to go to the gym again. I should just quit taking Statins instead of going to the gym. One of the worst side effects from taking Statin drugs is that they cause muscle atrophy in some people. Even though I am active and get a lot of exercise, I have real trouble building muscle tissue. I know it's the Simvastatin. I keep asking my doctor if I can quit taking the pills, but he is obsessed with heart attacks and keeps reminding me that my Dad had a quadruple bypass at about my age. I guess I'll have to keep taking the Statins and just exercise a little harder tomorrow.

Margo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2426

My Friday morning breakfasts are kind of a reality check. I don't spend much time around people anymore, so it's kind of interesting to see what's on their mind. I sit in my corner and mind my own business at the restaurant, but people are loud. I hear everything they say. If you listen to TV a lot, you'd probably think that everyone spends their day talking about politics. I never hear people talking about politics. They talk about real estate a lot. I think everyone in Dallas is either buying a house, selling a house, or remodeling a house. People in this city are obsessed with real estate. The conversations float around me like bird songs. People are planning weddings. The are thinking about upcoming vacations. The are looking for assisted living facilities for their parents. Some are interviewing for a new job. I've learned that most people cannot say five words in a row without using the word "like."

If restaurant conversations are any guide, I think that most people are basically good hearted and that few of them spend much time dwelling on the events of the day. I never hear people talking about terrorism or immigration. I did hear two young guys talking about quantitative easing once, but I don't think they were moguls. After a few minutes their conversation shifted to whether it was better to shop at Kroger or Albertsons. I tend to think that the things I hear at the restaurant are real and the things I see on Facebook aren't. I could be wrong though.

I paid a few bills today and did a little bookkeeping. The bills never end. I always pay my bills on time, but I hate being practical and frugal. It doesn't come naturally. I wonder if I would have done things differently if I'd known thirty years ago that my skill set would eventually become worthless and that the stock market would become volatile and unreliable. I genuinely thought that I wouldn't have a care in the world by now, but life is full of surprises. At least I'm still reasonably healthy. Maybe taking another path wold have been more financially lucrative, but I can't really complain. Until very recently, the company did very well. I just didn't anticipate getting old.

I took my hiking boots to the shoe repair shop today. For some reason I really wear down the heals of my shoes quickly. Why don't they make shoe soles out of the same type of rubber they use to make car tires? The tires on my car will last a minimum of 40,000 miles, but the soles of my shoes are lucky to last six months. When I was younger I had a pair of Italian Vibram soled boots that easily lasted ten years. I don't think they use the same type of rubber anymore. Those boots were indestructible.

My fitness tracker says I was asleep from noon to 2 PM yesterday. Excuse me? I have no memory of this. I thought I was mowing the grass. The troubling thing is that I'm really not sure. Maybe I was taking a nap and completely forgot about it.

Morgan is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2425

I've been thinking about redesigning my website. Back in the mid 1990's, the site was considered innovative and ahead of its time. Now, it's more like a dilapidated house in a bad neighborhood. I added a mobile friendly landing page last year, but then I lost interest. Why bother? It's hard to justify reinventing this site. Replacing everything will be a lot of work and I'm not even sure that websites matter anymore. It's probably just a matter of pride. There are a lot of really cool websites out there, and mine is no longer one of them.

If I had a website that looked like I was living in the 21 Century, would my business start to grow again? I doubt it. Even though I'm a website designer, I never got much business from being online. Most of my business came from referrals and relationships I'd developed during my ad agency years. Sadly, most of those people are gone now. Some of them have retired to golf course homes and mountain retreats. Some of them must have entered the witness protection program, because they don't even seem to exist anymore. More than a few of my clients have died. I still probably need a new website though.

My big accomplishment today was mowing the grass.  It was actually a bigger accomplishment than you might think, because it was over 100 degrees outside. I don't know how I ever used to mow this lawn with an old fashioned push mower. I must have been a lot stronger thirty years ago. These days, mowing the grass takes all the energy I've got. I've finally learned not to take a shower until I've finished all my outdoor chores. I was drenched in sweat by the time I finished the yard today. Right now, hot dry weather is good. I think the new elastometric coating on the roof is going to cure nicely.

There are several new houses going up in the neighborhood. The McMansions being built by developers and custom builders seem to go up in a matter of weeks. The houses designed by architects often seem to take years to complete. I wonder why there's such a difference?  There's a construction site that Dash and I pass on our morning walk now. The framing crew took two days to erect the entire house. The next day the siding went up. The day after that the roofers came and put the shingles on. Then all the windows were installed. In less than a week, this huge house looked finished from the outside. A few blocks away, there's another house that's been under construction for two years. The first builder is a marvel of efficiency. His framing crew even wear uniforms. The second builder is a disorganized mess, but his house will be prettier when it is eventually finished. There is a life lesson in all this, but I'm not quite sure what it is.

When I took the trash out to the curb this evening, I noticed that the can was only half full. It wasn't full last week either. I wonder why we're generating less trash than we used to? Less trash is probably a good thing, but why is this happening? I don't think anything has changed. I'm not eating as much for dinner either. Life is full of mysteries.

Pebbles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2424

I watered the lawn this morning and two hours later it was bone dry again. I guess I should be glad that we're having a dry spell, since it will ensure that the roof repairs will cure properly. The yard is definitely taking a beating though. We don't have an automatic sprinkler system, so my watering efforts depend on remembering to turn the sprinklers on early enough to avoid the water restriction rules. It's probably all a wasted effort anyway, since I'm starting to see Armadillos again. Every August the Armadillos return to tear up the neighborhood lawns. I think they're looking for grubs, but maybe they're vegetarians. At any rate, I've seen several large Armadillos roaming around the neighborhood on our morning walks. They haven't found our yard yet, but they will.

I got the bills for my car insurance and storage warehouse rental fee today. Both had gone up. In theory, what I pay for car insurance should go down, since my car keeps getting older. That's not the way it works though. The bill always goes up. The storage warehouse is the same way. I pay more for my storage space now than I did for my first apartment. Health insurance rates go up every year. My gas and electric bills are twice what they were when I first moved to the neighborhood. I can't think of a single recurring bill that has gone down over time. No wonder people are mad. When you combine rising costs with stagnating income, it's not a good situation.

I've seen this new store in the neighborhood that advertises "plant based meals to go," Curiosity finally got the better of me and I went inside today to see what was going on. The place features a variety of pre-prepared vegan meals that you just heat and serve when you get home. Maybe this is the missing link in my healthy lifestyle plan. I don't like to cook, but I'd definitely like to eat healthier. There were lots of interesting curries and Thai dishes to choose from, as well as salads, soups, and sandwiches. I think I'll give this place a try. I'm not a huge fan of steamed vegetables, but a spicy vegetarian curry can be delicious. The meals aren't too expensive either.

Facebook has started including "memories" posts in my timeline with entries from this day in a previous year. They always ask if I would like to share the memory, but I never do. What I did one year ago is so similar to what I'm doing today that it would be confusing. I prefer a linear timeline with one entry per day, always moving forward. I do read these old posts though. It's hard to believe that Dot has been incontinent and pooping in the house for over a year. It's been well over two years since she initially had her cancer surgery. What a long journey it's been. I've probably cleaned up my own weight in dog poop during the past year.

I have no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow. I've more or less stopped planning ahead. Maybe there will be websites to update. Maybe I'll discover a new flower to photograph. I'll watch TV news during breakfast and wonder how the world became so crazy. I'll try to make sure Dot poops outside, but I'll probably fail. Tomorrow will be a lot like today, which apparently was very similar to what happened one year ago today.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2423

The roofers came today. I don't know why they made me wait so long, considering how little time it actually took to make the repairs. In fairness, I do think they did a pretty good job. We'll have to wait until it rains to see if the repairs were successful. The high-tech coating they used is amazing when it works. If it doesn't dry completely, or the surface isn't cleaned properly before the coating is applied, it just washes away with the first rain. Maybe we'll get lucky this time. According to the weather report, it is supposed to be hot and dry for the rest of the week. The roofers tell me that the product needs 24 hours to cure. In my experience, it would be a lot safer to let it cure for 24 days.

The weather is so hot now that I'm faced with the choice of a huge water bill or a dry and parched lawn. If our yard got more sunlight, I'd plant one of those Xeriscape gardens. Many of our neighbors have landscaped using native plants that don't require much water. Some of these gardens look very nice, but they all seem to require a lot of sunlight. There really isn't a good solution for our yard, since the root systems for the large Oak trees steal the water away from all the other plants. No matter how much you water, the trees seem to get most of it. I didn't water today, but I'll probably have to soak things down tomorrow if I want the grass to stay green.

The only water I used today was for washing the car. I don't know why a clean car is important to me, since it mostly just sits in the driveway. Since Dot doesn't have physical therapy this week, there is no reason for me to leave the house at all until I run out of food. Mostly when I go places these days, it's just to avoid cabin fever. I still go to the post office, although I could easily just leave outgoing mail in my box for the postman like a normal person. I don't really need to go to the bank either, because there's an app on my phone that lets me scan and deposit checks electronically. It's kind of silly that I spent so much time worrying about the pet cam yesterday. Most of the time, the dogs are less than ten feet away.

Instead of leaving the house and spending money I didn't have, I sat down and wrote another letter to my Luddite sister. It's weird to think that fifteen years ago, this was the way I communicated with everybody. There's something quaint about picking up a pen and writing a letter. It reminds me of a time when life was simple. I could pick up the phone and call this sister anytime, but I never do. I kind of like the slow ritual of sending letters back and forth.

Dot almost caught a squirrel today. The hotter it gets, the slower our yard squirrels move. This afternoon there was one lounging on the back porch who didn't appear to want to get out of the way at all. Dot got real excited as she slowly approached the slow moving squirrel. "I got this one," her eyes seemed to be telling me. The squirrel hopped up a nearby tree in the end, but Dot still seemed energized. It was nice to see her acting like a dog again.

Scout is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day