Day 2495

I carefully filled the new garbage can today and took it out to the curb. I did my best to make sure that each black trash bag wasn't too heavy or too full. If the truck still fails to empty my trash tomorrow morning, I'm going to conclude that someone is fucking with me. I know there are probably better things to do than fret about my trash, but it beats fretting about whether Dot's poop is too hard or too soft, or wondering why the bananas for my smoothie aren't ripening faster.

I've got a lot of questions for Dot's oncologist tomorrow when we go to the cancer center for another ultrasound scan and recheck. Dot seems to be getting weaker, but the problems don't appear to be related to her cancer. There are just too many things going on at once. The liver cancer is still there and probably contributes to how tired she is at times, but the real problems are with her legs. The neurological damage in her rear legs has caused her to compensate and transfer more weight to her front legs. Now her front legs go out occasionally and I have to be real careful and try to provide some support for all four legs when I take her outside. Today, she slipped and cut her nose when she fell on a stick on the ground. The cut was minor, but it reminded me of just how fragile she's become.

Janet had to work late tonight, so I had to walk Dot on my own. Even simple things like trying to lock the back door while holding Dot upright seemed problematic. I need two leashes to walk her now: one for the front legs and another for the back legs. There are so many strings that it probably appears like Dot is a marionette as we slowly walk down the street. Without Dash to guide her, Dot's pace was even slower than usual. We inched along making our way down the alley behind our house. Eventually she pooped when a neighbor dog got her barking. Sometimes barking does the trick when nothing else works.

The Jewish holidays have sidelined one of my clients for a while, but I don't know what has happened to the others. It was completely silent today. No e-mails. No phone calls. Nothing. This never used to happen. I guess I better get used to it. It's a collaborative world these days and my lone wolf style of working has gone out of fashion. I used to think it might be fun to go back and work for a large agency again sometime. No one would hire me now. Even if age weren't an issue, I don't seem to play well with others.

I really hope I don't have to load the car up with garbage tomorrow and look for a dumpster again. It kind of spoils my Friday breakfast ritual. Life has become very stressful and I need a couple of hours each week to eat something tasty while I pretend I'm taking a break at roadside cafe in rural Wyoming. Wyoming sounds real nice right now.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2494

We started Dot on the Tramadol pills today. She didn't initially seem any stronger, but she was awake and active for longer periods of time. Does this mean that she is feeling better and has more energy, or does it mean that the pills are making her agitated and irritable? I really don't know. In practical terms it meant that Dot sat up in her bed and barked for me to come help her move a lot more often. We went outside quite a bit today, only to turn around and come right back inside again. It will take a few more days to see whether these pills are helping or not. I'd be happy if the Tramadol was making her feel better, but I'd hate to add one more level of frustration to her life. The whole point of the pills is to try and make her rear legs a little stronger. If all they do is make her bark more, I think we'll discontinue them.

Since work was slow today, I thought I'd try to tie up a few loose ends. I inquired about the estate of one of my relatives that has been in probate for well over a year. The attorneys didn't seem to know any more than I did. They promised that they'd check on the status for me, but I got the distinct impression that they'd totally forgotten about the estate. I actually have no idea how long it normally takes for an estate to wind its way through the probate process, but a year and a half seems like a long time.

I called the roofers again today and practically begged them to come out and finish their repair before the next big rain. They keep telling me that they'll be out as soon as they can and that actual leaks have to take priority over potential leaks. Fine. I'm going to have an actual leak pretty soon if I can't get these defective areas on the roof patched properly.

I've quit watching the news while I eat breakfast and have started watching old Star Trek and Dr. Who episodes instead. The upcoming election is really starting to get on my nerves. Why do we have to choose between a totally incompetent candidate and a totally corrupt candidate? It doesn't even matter who wins. The next four years are going to be pretty messy because half of the country hates the other half. We have become the Humpty Dumpty nation. The acrimony and division have become so great that I don't think all the kings horses and all the kings men could ever bring us all back together again. I don't see many yard signs this year. It's like a poker game where everyone is holding their cards close to the vest. People don't want to get in a fight with their neighbors or their family, but in the privacy of the voting booth they will express their frustration. It's almost like a bloodless civil war.

I can't decide whether to move this week's trash to the new can the city provided or just wait until next week to inaugurate things. It's a bit messy to move trash from one can to another, but it's not nearly as messy as cleaning up poop. At any rate, this will probably be my big decision of the day tomorrow. The little bird I photographed today doesn't look very happy. Maybe these two birds have been arguing about the election.

Kuuipo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2493

The city delivered a new garbage can to our house today. What a surprise. I wasn't expecting them to be so responsive. The new can looks suspiciously like the old can, but we'll give it a try this Friday. If this can doesn't get emptied properly, I may have to paint a sign on the side, telling the trash truck driver to "give it a shake,"

It was discouraging to go up on the roof today and see that the special coating the roofers applied continues to deteriorate. I don't know if the problem is with the elastometric coating itself or with the way it was applied. Something is definitely wrong. I'm kind of at the mercy of the roofers, since I don't have the knowledge or ability to fix this problem myself. I need to call the roofers again, because all it's going to take is a few more good rains and my potential leak is going to turn into an actual leak.

I picked up Dot's pain pills at the vet this afternoon. The receptionist said they were still locked in the safe. I didn't know that Tramadol was a controlled substance like phenobarbital. I guess it makes sense, since it is a synthetic opiate. Dot's vet thinks that a low dose of Tramadol might help with the weakness in her back legs. I'm a little nervous, but this is a very low dose, so we'll give it a try.

I made our Thanksgiving dinner reservations. This elaborate holiday brunch has gotten very popular and the price seems to go up every year. I guess it's worth it though, since neither of us feels like cooking. Hopefully, we'll have better luck than we did last year when an unexpected dog emergency forced us to cancel our reservations at the last minute.

When I took yesterday's letters back to the post office, I mailed out my October invoices as well. My monthly billings are so small now, compared with what they used to be, that it seems pathetic to even send them. The monthly bills are relentless though, and every little bit helps. It's been a long time since I bought an expensive camera lens or piece of electronic gear on a whim. I really have to plan my frivolous purchases now and it it often takes months to save up the money. Oh, well. It was good while it lasted. I have to remember that I started my company in 1990 and twenty five years is a long time in my line of work. A lot of my contemporaries bit the dust long before I did.

I got a surprise text from a high school friend who was in town for the day and wondered if I wanted to meet him downtown. It might have been fun to catch up on things, but going downtown for a long lunch is out of the question these days. I'm glad I didn't go. Dot had kind of a bad day today. She does best when she takes her walks and then rests for most of the day. Sometimes she gets frustrated and tries to stay active and ends up tiring herself out. That's what happened today. I could tell she was getting exhausted and starting to stumble as I walked her around the house, but she just didn't want to sleep. It happens sometimes.

I have no plans for tomorrow, but I'm sure it will feel like a busy day anyway. I"m convinced that those hamsters who spend their day spinning a hamster wheel inside their cage feels like they've been busy too.

Katy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2492

I didn't even realize that it was Columbus Day until I took some letters to the post office and discovered it was closed. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who didn't know that this was a holiday, because the slot where you could drop off mail appeared to be full. The door to the drop off was jammed, but there were still people trying to cram their letters through the broken door. "I don't like this," said an old woman standing next to me, and she turned around with her handful of letters still in her hand and left. This seemed the best course of action to me, so I turned around with my letters and left as well. I can always go back to the post office tomorrow.

I'll need to go back to the vet tomorrow as well. When I stopped to pick up Dot's prescriptions, they weren't ready yet. My outing wasn't a complete failure though, because I stopped at the vegan take-out store and bought an entire week's worth of meals. I got some Chana Masala, Black Bean Soup, Quinoa Stuffed Poblano Peppers, and Chili. Before I tried this place, I wouldn't have believed these things could taste so good without meat, but I'm becoming a convert. I've always liked the idea of eating more vegetables, but constantly buying them in small quantities and cooking for one has seemed more trouble than it's worth. This clever store takes care of this problem.

My attempt to seal the shower stall with silicon didn't really work. Evidently the shower wasn't completely dry, because the silicon didn't stick to the tiles very well. The last time I tried to attempt this type of repair was back when we had our big water leak under the concrete slab and the water to the house was shut off for a week. I shower got nice and dry then and my repairs lasted over a year. Now it's going to be more difficult. I really need to have a tile guy re-do the entire bathroom, but that's expensive and a bit intrusive. I don't want a bunch of workmen in the house while the Dot is sick. I need to find some type of sealant that can be applied when the tiles are wet.

There were some minor website revisions that needed attention this morning, but other than that, it was a typical slow Monday. It's amazing that work seems so slow and yet my day still seems busy. Helping Dot achieve some semblance of a normal life takes an enormous amount of time. I follow her around like a shadow, holding up her rear legs when she feels like moving. Sometimes when we're out in the back yard, I think she forgets where she is. We wander around aimlessly for long periods of time until she eventually discovers the back door and goes inside again. I encourage this kind of activity, because it keeps her on her feet and active. It takes a lot of patience though. I've never been known for patience, but I'm learning.

As expected, both sides claimed that they won the debate last night. Maybe I should have watched. I still think that Gary Johnson and Jill Stein should have been allowed to participate. If more people knew who they were, they would get a lot more votes. I think this is what the established political parties are afraid of. They want to avoid another Ross Perot situation at all costs. I used to do a lot of work for EDS and always thought Ross was a good man. He would have made a better president than the choices we're faced with today.

Neo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2491

Once again Sunday turned into a marathon. I woke up earlier than I should have, trying to anticipate when I'd need to make a mad dash to the back door with Dot. I was successful at getting her outside to pee, but was less successful at convincing her to go back to bed for a while. She and Dash didn't want to sleep in. They wanted their breakfast. There's no point to arguing with a dog, so we all got up.

After breakfast and a walk with Dash, I went back to the grocery store to pick up all the things I forgot yesterday. There was another website update to make when I returned home. This update was a bit more extensive than the one I completed yesterday, so I got to postpone the onerous job of vacuuming the house for a couple of hours. Vacuuming is harder on my wrists and shoulder than going to the gym. I've grown to hate vacuuming, but it can't be avoided. The house simply gets too dirty.

It's almost impossible to avoid today's presidential debate, but I'm going to try. I just don't want to hear any more from either candidate. The reporters can't seem to get enough of this stuff though. The salacious nature of tonight's debate has whipped them all into a frenzy. They are acting like a pack of wolves ready to go for the kill tonight. We'll see what happens. I won't be watching. I'll finish writing the blog, see if I can finish re-grouting the leaking parts of the shower stall, and go to bed. When I turn on the television tomorrow morning, I'll sure someone will immediately tell me who won.

I wish I could get Dash to remember what I worked so hard to teach him during all those years of taking him to obedience classes on Wednesday evenings. He used to heal like a champ, but I'm having real trouble getting him to follow my lead these days. There is one alley he likes to go down on our way home that I call the alley of death. There are three very aggressive dogs that would tear Dash to pieces if they ever managed to jump over their fence. Of these dogs is getting closer and closer to getting over the top, but Dash seems to be oblivious to the danger. I tried to get Dash to take an alternate safe route home today, but he stubbornly dug his heals in and refused to take my suggestion. He even barked at the aggressive dogs as we walked down the alley. You're living dangerously Dash.

Have you noticed that the stores are already filled with Christmas merchandise? It isn't even Halloween yet. Janet reminded me to make our Thanksgiving dinner reservations this week. I waited too long last year. If I'm too late with over a month to go before Thanksgiving gets her, I give up. This year is just barreling along like a freight train. I wish everything would slow down a bit.

Dot actually did pretty well this week. I think the cooler weather is her friend. She stumbled a few times during the week, but today she was eager to go on a walk. I hope this cool weather continues. Dot is always my priority. I've also got to get my October invoices out next week. Maybe I'll bill out enough to pay my electric bill. Next week might be a good time to try some more vegetarian dinners at the vegan take out place. I'll try my best to keep Dash from going down the alley of death. I'll get some silly requests from clients and I'll wonder why I'm still in business at all. The dogs will bark at me while I try to enjoy my banana and strawberry smoothie. It's probably going to be a pretty normal week

Maverick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2490

Forget what I said about wishing I could remember my dreams. I actually remembered a dream pretty clearly when I woke up this morning and it was pathetic. Somehow when I went outside to check the mail, I discovered a man building an elaborate rock garden in my front yard. I asked the man what he was doing and he told me that the yard needed something extra and that he would send me a bill. I argued with him for a while and then went back inside to discover that I wasn't in my own home anymore, but was at a housewarming party at the home of Dot's veterinarian. Dot wasn't at the party, but I did remember seeing a large Persian rug under the dining room table with a woven Dalmatian pattern. I asked if I could have the rug and then I woke up. This was nothing like the dreams I used to have many years ago where I had the ability to fly.

I always make a grocery list when I go to the store, but when I got home today, I noticed that I failed to buy several items that were clearly marked on my list. It wasn't like these items were out of stock.  I just completely forgot about them, even though I looked at the list at the store. This isn't like me. I'm usually very methodical. Is this how Alzheimer's begins? If I got Alzheimer's, probably nobody would know the difference. I don't remember much anyway.

Dot seemed was a bit stronger today. I don't know causes her dramatic change in energy levels from one day to the next, but I'm always glad when she has a good day. Maybe it's as simple as a change in temperature. Fall is definitely here and Dot loves the cooler weather. I had to wear a jacket for the first time on our morning walk. I think the temperature was in the low fifties when I woke up. I bought several Winter jackets at dirt cheap prices when the sporting goods store was going out of business earlier this Summer. I wasn't sure if I'd actually wear these coats then, but it turned out to be a good purchase. The feather light insulated jacket was perfect for mornings like this.

Couldn't we just have a do-over on this presidential election? Both candidates keep getting worse and worse. Even the two independent candidates are embarrassingly bad. I bet if there was a way to vote on just canceling the election and starting over, the measure would pass overwhelmingly. I don't buy the argument that you've got to vote for one of these candidates because the other one is worse. I think we need to admit that we have failed miserably as a country and just start over.

I got my first payment from Shutterstock today. Hey, it only took me a year. I guess this isn't so bad, considering that I only uploaded about ten photos to the stock library. I wish I could get motivated to upload hundreds, or even thousands of pictures. If I had more pictures available, this might end up being a decent form of passive income. Unfortunately, I lost interest in Shutterstock about two weeks after I joined. I got tired of having to extensively tag each photo with a long list of keywords before it was even approved. It was also pretty irritating when many of my favorite images got rejected for poor focus or excessive grain. I love shallow depth of field where only a small part of the image is in sharp focus and grainy images never bothered me at all. What do I know though? It is nice getting a check, so maybe I'll upload some more pictures.

Today wasn't a bad day at all. The weather was perfect. Even though Dot pooped in the house, she managed to avoid making a mess. For my part, I managed to get caught up on all my web assignments. Janet even fixed some delicious trout for dinner. I will have to go back to the grocery store tomorrow to pick up the items that mysteriously vanished from my memory today, but this is no big deal. A few more days like this would be just fine.

Madison is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2489

I wasn't expecting rain this morning, but that's what we got. Dash refused to go outside and pee. Dot, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to the rain and drug me outside in the rain as she slowly wandered around the yard looking for the perfect place to pee. By the time I changed my wet clothes and dried Dot off, it became obvious that the dogs weren't going to get a morning walk. I wasn't going to get to go out to breakfast either, because I kept hearing thunder off in the distance. Dot and Dash are fine in a gentle rain, but thunder and lightning throw them into a panic. I found a package of frozen toaster waffles in the freezer and resigned myself to spending the rest of the day with my two storm phobic dogs.

When I went out to retrieve my trash can after breakfast, I discovered that the truck didn't pick up my trash for the third week in a row. I'm trying to figure out why this keeps happening and the only thing I can think of is that there's a new driver on our route. I remember I used to see the robotic arm stop at the top of it's arc and shake the cans before lowering them to the ground again. This was to make sure that everything gets dumped into the truck. The mechanical arm swings the cans in an arc very quickly to position them upside down on top of the truck. As the arm is moving, I have a feeling that centrifugal force keeps the trash bags pressed against the bottom of the can. If the arm doesn't stop long enough at the top of its arc and allow gravity to empty the cans, then that might explain why my trash bags are still inside the can even after the truck has picked up my can. This driver is in a hurry and isn't stopping to shake the cans.

Since I'll never be able to explain my perfectly reasonably theory to the driver, I went on the City of Dallas website and requested as new garbage can. Maybe a new can will help. My neighbors all have newer trash cans than me and they don't seem to be having the same problems I'm having. I have my doubts that the city will even respond to my request. I've requested services on the city website before and never got a response. Who knows. Maybe the online forms don't even work.

Dash can be incredibly stubborn. He kept refusing to go outside and pee until the rain eventually stopped. He didn't get his walk in the park until almost noon, but that was apparently what he wanted. Poor Dot didn't get a walk at all. After the dogs had been taken care of, I loaded the trash bags in the car and went looking for a dumpster. I'm getting sick of this. After decades of reliable trash service, I don't understand why this is happening now.

I didn't sleep well last night. I remember having very lucid dreams that had people I know in them. I remember my dreams about fifteen or twenty seconds after I wake up and then they're gone. It's too bad that the dreams are so fleeting, because I'm sure they're more interesting than my day-to-day life. My fitness tracker tells me that I get lots of REM sleep but very little deep sleep. If REM sleep and dreaming help to consolidate memories, maybe I don't have to worry about Alzheimer's after all.

I wonder if that hurricane on the East Coast had everything to do with all the rain we got today. Probably not. I'm glad we don't have to worry about hurricanes here in Dallas. Tornadoes are bad enough.

Hershey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2488

I had to move a client's website from one hosting company to another today. In theory, this should be an easy process, but it never is. There is always some weird configuration issue when I'm trying to access a new server with my FTP application. I spent hours on the phone with technical support trying to figure out how to upload the site. We finally figured out that the login information the client had provided me with was incorrect. This happens a lot. I finally got everything working correctly, uploaded all the files to the web server, and was getting ready to point the DNS to the new name servers when I got an e-mail from the client. He told me that he had just gotten a better deal from his old hosting company and he didn't want to move after all. What a wasted day.

Sometimes I think that my Internet clients are just trying to drive me crazy, but in reality, they are nice people who just aren't very technically savvy. That's all I've got left. My sophisticated clients left long ago, moving their complex and growing sites to big interactive agencies that provided all kinds of fancy services I wasn't able to offer. This consolidation within the industry has just about destroyed small shops like mine. When I hear politicians say they are going to bring back jobs, I wonder how they are going to do it. Big companies continue to swallow up smaller companies that don't have the same economy of scale. Customers aren't very loyal and continue to take their business to whoever can offer the most for the least. If service jobs like mine are disappearing, manufacturing jobs are never coming back. People are so eager to get a huge flat screen TV for $200 that they don't care how many jobs are destroyed in the process.

Maybe it's just as well that my business isn't what it used to be. Taking care of an incontinent, senile old dog who can't walk anymore is an enormous effort. I could never leave the house for half the day to go to meetings like I used to. Business travel is out of the question. As much as I hate to admit it, my little writing jobs and the few remaining website clients I have left are just about all I can handle.

Dot got a lot of rest today, but still had trouble standing and walking. She was very shaky on her morning walk around the block and stumbled several times. The accidents are getting more frequent too. When I ask the vets how to slow down this inevitable decline, they sometimes suggest pain pills, but seldom offer any real solutions. You just can't stop the aging process. I still wonder if the water therapy might help, but I hate to keep dragging her around town and making her miserable.

I wonder if my trash will get picked up tomorrow. I switched to a different garbage can and tried not to pack the big black trash bags so tightly. I have no idea if this will work, but I'm getting tired of taking my trash to a dumpster. Complaining to the city is worthless. They just ignore you. As far as they're concerned, the new robotic garbage trucks are great. It's a brave new world out there. I can't depend on the garbage man. My mail carrier doesn't bother to deliver the mail at least one day a week. Nobody seems to give a shit anymore.

Cassie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2487

Today was busier than I expected. As usual, it took forever to take care of my morning chores and get the dogs situated, but when I eventually got around to turning on the computer, there was lots of work waiting for me. I saw that I now had the information I needed for a long overdue website update, as well as a request for a new article. When I started working on the website, I saw a notice that there was a software update that would allow my responsive, mobile ready websites to load up to ten times faster. The good news was that all my clients would love for their websites to load faster. The bad news was that I now had to learn something new. Oh, well. Progress marches on, I guess. When I finished my update, the site actually did load faster. It certainly wasn't ten times faster, but maybe the modest speed increase was worth forcing my tired brain to remember even more complex code that I can barely understand.

Most of the articles I write are for products that I would never use myself. It can be challenging to make overpriced junk seem like something everyone needs to have, but I do the best I can. I've done this for years and years and I'm pretty good at it. Maybe this is why I'm somewhat amused when politicians call each other liars. Of course they're liars. Our whole society is based on lying. How long would you last at work if you told your boss or supervisor what you really thought? Do you actually believe everything you hear on the news these days? I didn't think so. So, maybe I embellished things a little when I wrote my article. No real harm was done. Hey, maybe somebody really loves this product. I can say nice things about almost anything. I'll leave the disparaging comments to those folks who write restaurant reviews on Yelp.

Dot is really getting weaker. I don't know what to do. She desperately needs daily exercise to keep her leg muscles from atrophying further, but she's not strong enough now to walk as far as she used to. It's a vicious circle. A lack of exercise makes her weaker, which forces us to decrease her exercise even further. In theory, the underwater treadmill can still help Dot, but she needs to be relaxed for the therapy to do any good. Riding in the car causes a lot of stress for Dot, so it negates most of the benefits of the therapy. We hesitate to extend her short walk around the block, since it's clear that this is about all she can handle. Maybe this is as good as it gets.

Dash has his own problems too, but they are completely overshadowed by Dot's deteriorating condition. It's hard to remain upbeat when your dogs are fading away in front of your eyes and your business is fading away at an equally alarming rate.  Everything, including my own health, appears to be headed downhill. I imagine that the blog was more fun to read when it was more about beginnings than about endings. That's not the way life is, unfortunately. We all reach the end of the line eventually. For now, the challenge is finding beauty in a life of diminished expectations. I complain a lot, but I actually am extremely grateful for each additional day we are given. Dot is still here. Dash is still here. Janet and I are still here. Tonight we'll get some sleep and tomorrow we'll start over again.

Lightning is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2486

A lot of life is simple repetition. We brush our teeth. We make our coffee in the morning. We load the dishwasher and make the bed. There are literally hundreds of things we do the same way everyday. When I do these familiar things, it triggers a memory of doing exactly the same thing, exactly the same way yesterday. Everything from the way I arrange my pillow at night to the way I fold my clothes when they come out of the dryer is done the same way. I have a specific place for every dirty dish in the dishwasher. I can tell when the temperature rises or falls two degrees in the house. I wear certain shoes for walking the dogs and other shoes for going to the post office. Some may find this behavior obsessive, but I find comfort in the familiar rhythm of repetition.

I have a feeling that dogs think the same way. Dot and Dash get very upset when their familiar routines are altered. They don't like their dinner to be ten minutes late and they don't like to be surprised by a thunderstorm. It must be hard on Dot to have old age and disability altering the familiar routines she has known for a lifetime. She doesn't like pooping at random times in the house and probably doesn't like seeing Dash gradually take over her position as the alpha dog. I understand these things and try to make her life as normal and regular as I can. As I gradually adapt to accommodate Dot's many disabilities, I realize that my own routines are changing as well. The repetitive elements in my life now include things like poop bags, Wee Wee Pads, and the ubiquitous Help 'Em Up Harness. I probably take this harness on and off ten times a day. Dot can't rest well while wearing it, but can't walk without it. I have finally gotten to the point where I can attach the harness quickly and efficiently in the dark without waking anyone else up.

Today was like any other day. Janet gets up early and I wake up about a half hour later when I hear the hair dryer in the bathroom. The dogs don't start to stir until they hear noises in the kitchen. I try to be fully awake and ready by the time Dot wakes up, because there is a very limited time to get her outside before she pees all over the place. I make sure the back door is open, put my shoes on, and then quickly guide her to the back yard as soon as she tries to get up. Amazingly this works about 80% of the time.

Janet eats first. Then the dogs eat. Dot and Dash get a short walk around the block and then I take Dash on a longer walk while Janet finishes getting ready for work. When the dogs have been taken care of, I make a pot of coffee, fix my fruit smoothie, and often watch an old Dr. Who episode on the BBC channel while I'm eating. Eventually, I turn the computer on and see if there is anything dreadful that I need to do that day.

Today, there were some minor website revisions that needed attention. I went to the bank and the post office while the dogs were taking their afternoon nap. That was about it. To keep the dogs peaceful, I split their dinner into two parts, feeding them the first half at 3:30 and the second half at 5:00. This may seem silly, but it prevents a lot of needless barking. If Janet gets home before sunset, we take Dot on another short walk around the block. In the evening, I write the blog. The day goes very quickly. I imagine I'll do something similar tomorrow.

Jersey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2485

I wrote another letter to my Luddite sister today. I do this about once a month. Anything more often would seem excessive. I've grown to like these old fashioned hand written letters. They make me realize that there is really no need for instant answers. Speed and quality are two different things entirely. Wandering through a library looking at dust jackets on potentially interesting books seems more satisfying than reading reviews on Amazon. Waiting for a letter seems much more satisfying than being forced to instantly reply to an e-mail. I don't like how the Internet has sped everything up and destroyed our power of concentration in the process. Maybe I'm a Luddite as well. If the Internet ceased to exist, it wouldn't bother me one bit.

I discontinued Dot's physical therapy today. Maybe this is temporary and maybe it's permanent. I just don't know. What I do know is that the trip downtown take more out of her now than she gets back from the therapy. Lately, every visit has resulted in a perceived loss instead of a gain. I think it's time for a rest.

Dot had a lot of accidents today, so I did a lot of laundry. At one point I even had to take Dot outside and clean her off with a garden hose after a particularly nasty mess. I keep thinking that I should be able to anticipate and even master these incontinence issues, but nothing has been very predictable. I try to make sure she sleeps on a disposable pad and even put one under her while she's eating her meals. She never gives much warning when she needs to go unfortunately and I often get caught by surprise.

I picked up a new LED bulb for a kitchen fixture today because the existing bulb has been flickering for weeks. I thought that LED bulbs were supposed to be completely trouble free, but apparently not. I've had quite a few fail on me and have subsequently learned not to buy the cheap Chinese brands. I got a Philips bulb this time, but failed to notice the color temperature of the bulb on the packaging. I like the daylight balanced bulbs better, but the warmer tungsten balanced bulbs seems to be getting more popular. Oh, well. It's not worth taking the bulb back. I guess I can live with one yellow bulb mixed in with a bunch of white ones.

I wonder why Apple made so many changes with IOS 10? A lot of the changes seem purely cosmetic. There's a different kind of clicking sound when you turn the phone off. You no longer swipe from left to right to unlock the phone, but are asked to press the home button instead. Why?  I hate to see things change like this after I've gotten used to using the old system. I could understand if the changes made things better, but I think the designers just got bored and wanted to do something different.

I get bored frequently, but seldom see a need to arbitrarily change things. People used to kid me for continuing to use a very old version of Photoshop. I knew this version backwards and forwards though and could make it do things that friends with the latest updates still hadn't mastered. I see little point in racing into the future until we have learned from the past and mastered the present. I think this is what my sister is trying to tell me. She writes a good longhand letter.

Hobbs is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2484

Sunday is usually the busiest day of the week. It's the last chance to catch up on chores I should have done earlier in the week before it's time to start all over again. I debated on whether to clean the house or go to the gym first. If I go to the gym first, I'm usually too tired to clean. If I clean first, I'm too tired for a workout. The dirty house practically demanded to be made a priority. As I was vacuuming, I wondered if there was anything left that I actually enjoyed anymore. I stay busy. I keep my commitments. I try not to let life get me down. We're taught that life should be an adventure, but often it just feels like a long hike up a very steep hill.

I woke up three times last night thinking that Dot had pooped in her bed. Each time it was a false alarm. I was so tired that when she had her inevitable accident around 6 AM, I was fast asleep. I woke to the sound of her coughing after she tried to eat the mess. This was a frustrating way to start the day. Dot barks all the time. Why couldn't she just learn to bark after she poops at night. I'd have everything cleaned up in a jiffy, if she'd just bark and give me a head's up.

I've been noticing that I'm not as hungry as I used to be. I just can't eat as much anymore. Sunday breakfast is frequently bacon and eggs with a couple of biscuits on the side. Janet used to fix an entire package of bacon and cook three or four eggs to share between us. Today, I only felt like having a couple of pieces of bacon and was full after eating one egg. Breakfast was delicious, but I just wasn't hungry. This isn't like me. I'm even eating less when I go out on Friday morning.

Even though I was tired, I went to the gym anyway. There were people using the basketball court when I got there, so I had to change up the order of my workout, in hopes that they would eventually go away. Most of my workout is about as much fun as mowing the grass, but I do enjoy shooting baskets. The weird thing is whatever I do at the gym, it almost always takes exactly 63 minutes to complete the workout. I purposely never look at my watch until I'm finished and I'm amazed that even though I sometimes use different machines and never spend the same amount of time shooting free throws, my total elapsed time is always exactly the same. It's like I have some kind of internal clock telling me that after 63 minutes, I need to get out of that place.

Last year, the city paved one of the trails I use to walk the dogs and turned it into a bike path. Using this path has become hazardous on weekends because it is filled with cyclists who have little regard for dogs. Dash likes to zig-zag from one side of the path to the other, depending on which side smells better. I have to be real careful that we don't get run over. It's impossible to daydream on our walks anymore. The place has become a race track. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against bicycles.  It's just the aggressive Type-A people who ride them I hate.

I wonder if not buying a pumpkin for your front porch counts as an effort to simplify your life. For years I put pumpkins on the porch in October but they just rotted. They didn't even make the porch look better. I think we'll skip the pumpkins this year.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2483

When you've lived in a house for thirty years, you start to realize that a lot of things are much older than you think they are. My electric lawn mower in ancient. I've re-celled the battery five times already. When I went to the battery store this time, they told me that my battery was ruined because the charger failed to quit charging after the light turned green. How was I to know? They rebuilt my battery under the warranty anyway, which is why I like these guys. Unfortunately, now I've got to look for a new battery charger. Since the mower was discontinued over ten years ago, I doubt this will be an easy task.

Getting the battery on the mower rebuilt was just one in a long list of Saturday errands. I went to the bank to deposit a check that will keep me solvent for a little while. I picked up some new meds for Dot and Dash at the vet. I did my grocery shopping, and this time the convenient Scan & Go app worked. When I got home, I upgraded my phone to IOS 10 and wasn't entirely happy with the result. Apple doesn't really give you much choice in these matters. If you don't upgrade right away, they keep bugging you forever.

Janet had to go to a Dalmatian Rescue event today and the dogs aren't happy. Neither of them like any changes in their routine whatsoever. They evidently think Janet should be here right now, because every five minutes they keep going to the front door and barking. Dash is fine with this type of vigil, but Dot can't stand up on her own for more than ten seconds and she hasn't pooped yet either. Needless to say, writing the blog tonight has been a sentence-to-sentence endeavor. Hopefully, the dogs will calm down soon. Otherwise, it's going to be a very long night.

I thought I'd come up with a solution by taking Dot's dog bed, complete with all the protective pads, and placing it under my desk. This seemed to work for about five minutes until Dash decided that this new bed looked interesting and decided to claim it for himself. Since both dogs were touching each other, the bed didn't seems to be good enough for either of them. Now, I'm looking for a Plan-B.

The park was full of hikers, and cyclists, and recreational sailors today. When joggers passed Dash and I on our morning walk, they would comment on how nice the day was. I had to agree. To me, Fall is the best time of the year in Texas. With any luck, we've got another month of this perfect weather before things turn nasty again.

Maybe sanity will return tomorrow. Now, that I've got a battery that works, I need to mow the lawn. When I mow in October, I often think I'm done for the year, but often the grass just keeps growing. I really need to go to the gym too. I didn't go last week, but I've already forgotten why. It's too bad that stress can't be counted as exercise. If it could, I'd be in great shape.

Tori is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2482

I had a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich for breakfast. That's as close to a walk on the wild side as you're going to get from me. I was ready for something different today. By the time I arrived at the restaurant, I was already late. The garbage truck failed to pick up my trash again and I had to load the trash bags into the car and look for a dumpster. When that task was finished, I returned to the house and did my best to get Dot to poop. I knew that she would go in the house as soon as I left for the restaurant, and I didn't want any more bad news this morning. I walked her around and let her smell things for a long, long time and eventually she did go. Maybe I had the sandwich because it felt closer to lunch by the time I finally got underway. A BLT actually makes a great breakfast. I love bacon for breakfast. I like toast. I often eat tomatoes for breakfast as well. I think I'll try this again.

I don't know why I'm having so much trouble with my garbage. The robotic arm on the truck picks up my can and lifts it above the hopper, but nothing comes out.  The driver just assumes that he's done his job and drives away. Maybe I need a new can. My can does look a bit different than a lot of the neighbors cans. I guess I'll have to call the city and complain. Then I'll have to wait months and months before they deliver a new can to my house. It's frustrating. The recycling truck, which comes by later in the day, refuses to take my trash, since it is in the wrong color can. The recycling truck will only pick up trash from the blue cans. Gray cans are apparently off limits.

The new batteries I put in the lawn mower apparently aren't any good. I tried to mow the grass this afternoon and the mower died. I think the batteries are still under warranty, but now I have to drag them down to the battery store and get them replaced again. These aren't flashlight batteries either. They are big, heavy 24 volt batteries that are definitely supposed to last longer than three months. If it weren't for the fact that I used to have even more problems with gasoline powered mowers, I'd just give up on this electric mower.

Even though almost nothing went smoothly, it was a beautiful day. I wish Fall lasted a little longer. This is the only time of year when I can leave the windows open. Actually, I can't leave the windows open very long, or wasps will fly in the house, but it's the thought that counts. Dot enjoyed being out in the sunlight. She'll go outside and wander around aimlessly for a while, come back inside, go to her water bowl, and then repeat the process all over again. We'll go back and forth like this until she gets tired and then she'll eventually go to her bed and sleep. I wonder if dogs can get Alzheimer's? Dot's mind definitely isn't what it used to be. I have a lot of respect for anyone dealing with a loved one who has Alzheimer's Disease or dementia. It takes a lot of patience to understand someone who is not entirely there. Dot still has her lucid moments, but she's starting to remind me of my Dad as he got older.

It's been a long day. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, so I'm hoping that everyone else in the family is as tired as I am this evening. One of these days I'd like to wake up refreshed and ready to go.

Thelma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2481

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to accomplish more than one or two things a day. Today I got a haircut. That was about it. The rest of the day was spent walking the dogs, holding up Dot's rear legs, and cleaning up poop. Typically, when I get a haircut I wander around the mall for a while and see what's new. Not today. I skipped the Tesla store because I'll never be able to afford a Tesla. I skipped the Apple store because I've seen everything in that store a million times already. I skipped all the watch boutiques because I'm losing interest in watches. I avoided all the clothing stores because I've got enough brand new clothes to last a lifetime. I'll probably lose interest in getting a haircut soon.

The hair stylist and I mostly talked about what picky eaters our pets have become. She told me about feeding cats and I told her about feeding dogs. I did get a good haircut, but I doubt that it matters as much as it used to. I don't see anybody anymore. I'm starting to see why some older men shave their heads and others just give up and start wearing a Willie Nelson style ponytail. I still have a little pride though. The Dalmatians always look tidy and I like to look at least as good as they do.

You can tell that Halloween is just around the corner. There are pumpkins and gourds everywhere. I used to love pumpkin soup, served inside a small pumpkin. I have no idea how to make this anymore, but I have vague memories of something thick, creamy, and very satisfying. I wish I could find a restaurant that just served things that I used to be fond of. I have little interest in cooking anymore, but it would be nice to be able to revisit the comfort food of my past. Actually, it would be nice to be able to revisit anything comforting.

The weather was absolutely beautiful today. The air was clear and free of pollen, there was a nice breeze, and the temperature never got above 72 degrees. I think the dogs enjoyed the nice weather as much as I did, because I must have taken them outside a half a dozen times this afternoon. Dash likes rolling around on what remains of the grass and Dot mostly just smells things. I wish Dot could walk around on her own, because I'm sure she'd have more fun if I wasn't constantly following her around, holding up her rear legs. We do the best we can though. I'm convinced that these little excursions are much more satisfying than just sitting in her dog bed all day.

I'm spending way too much time wondering what to eat on Friday mornings. Life was much easier when I went to the same place and ordered the same breakfast for three years in a row. I really liked the absolute consistency of this meal. Now that I've diversified, I have some meals that are good and others that are awful. I guess this is adventurous and fun to some, but I prefer consistency. So far, I haven't been able to replicate the satisfaction I got from eating something wonderful over and over again. If I don't find a new favorite restaurant soon, I may have to start cooking again.

The trash has been taken out to the curb and the dogs are not so patiently waiting for their evening meds. I didn't accomplish much today, but I did get a haircut. It might be hard to top that tomorrow.

Sweet Pea is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2480

It's never wise to disrupt a dog's schedule when food is involved. This is why I dread those days when one of the dogs has to fast before going to the vet for lab work. Dash needed a 12 hour fast with no food whatsoever in preparation for this morning's visit, so he couldn't have his breakfast at the regular time. The only way we could make this work is for none of us to have breakfast. We took Dot and Dash on our short walk around the block as soon as we got up and then I just kept walking with Dash as we started returning to the house. Luckily, Dash was in the mood for a longer walk. While we were gone, Dot and Janet had time to eat. As soon as we returned, I got the car ready and off we went to the vet.

I'm surprised that things worked as well as they did. Maybe I fooled Dash this time. I hope the test for phenobarbital levels worked, because I'm not looking forward to doing this again anytime soon. Once, the 12 hour fast wasn't long enough and we had to fast Dash for 24 hours. That wasn't fun. At any rate, Dash and I ate our breakfast when we got back from the vet, even though lunch would have been more appropriate.

The vet visit and the preparations surrounding it took up most of the morning and I filled the afternoon with mindless chores. I washed the car because it was a nice day and there wasn't anything important to do anyway. Washing the car is one of the few chores that doesn't really feel like a chore. Going up on the roof is definitely a chore. I did that too. This is the worst time of the year to remove water from the roof because the leaves are starting to fall and they pile up and turn the roof into a duck pond. It takes me twice as long to remove the standing water when there are lots of wet leaves. Keeping the roof free of water and leaks is a thankless job. It's discouraging that there is no end to this. It's going to keep raining for the foreseeable future and the flat roof is going to continue to retain water.

There were no accidents in the house today. Occasionally, we get lucky. It's hard to tell when Dot will go next. Sometimes she surprises us and poops on her walks like a normal dog. Other times, the urge comes while she is eating her dinner, or even while she's asleep. Since she can't squat properly anymore, I have to hold her in place using her harness. Incontinence is not pretty. I really hope I never become incontinent myself.

I'm still enjoying the vegetarian dinners I buy to eat during the week. The little company that makes these meals does a really good job. The food is fresh, imaginatively prepared, and very tasty. These guys have a weekly plan where you get reduced prices if you puy a weeks worth of meals at a time. I may try this next week. I'm not missing meat nearly as much as I thought I would. I'm not dogmatic though. I'll still enjoy bacon and eggs on weekends.

There was a pretty sunrise this morning. A pretty sunrise is always better than a surprise thunderstorm.

Spanky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2479

I listened to Elon Musk give a presentation on how he planned to colonize Mars this afternoon. The guy actually plans to do this. Part of the presentation was an animation showing how the journey to the red planet would take place. "This isn't just an artist conception," Elon said. "These are the actual rockets we are getting ready to build." The animation was evidently developed from CAD drawings created by the Space X engineering department. Each space ship was designed to carry 100 people and Elon envisioned that a fleet of 1000 of them would be required to establish a permanent, self sustaining settlement on Mars. I love epic plans. The guys who built the pyramids probably thought like this. I'm convinced that when you are constrained by practicality, you really limit yourself. During the question and answer session after the presentation, someone asked how the Mars colonists would be selected. "First of all, they would need to be very comfortable with the idea of dying." "This is going to be very dangerous," Elon said. I have no idea how you would pay for a grand venture like this, but I hope Elon succeeds.

I had no grand plans today, but there were certain things that needed to be done. Dash has been having episodes that look a bit like mini-seizures, so I wanted to get his phenobarbital levels checked. I remember this test being kind of tricky, so I went to the vet to see what I needed to do before I brought him in. I scheduled the test for tomorrow morning and Dash will need to fast for at least 12 hours before they draw his blood. That's going to be fun. Dash gets real irritable when he can't eat whenever he wants. Hopefully, I can take him on a long walk while Dot eats her breakfast and then go straight to the vet.

The powdered graphite I got yesterday worked like a charm and now the sticking locks around the house are smooth as silk. I haven't gotten up my nerve to fix the leaking shower stall yet. Usually when I try this, I end up wanting to take a shower before the silicon caulk is completely dry and the seal doesn't stick. I still don't know why somebody doesn't make a product that dries in an hour and can be applied to damp surfaces.

Dot had quite a few accidents today. I've learned to minimize the mess by always placing disposable puppy training pads under her while she is sleeping. All I need to do is carefully slide the pad out after she poops and replace it with a fresh pad. When I was cleaning things up today, I noticed another kind of mess. Dot had thrown up again. This is the second time this month. I think she may have acid reflux since she spends so much time lying down on her bed. Maybe I'm wrong though. I'll ask the vet tomorrow when I take Dash in for his test.

I saw a Red Shouldered Hawk when I was walking Dash this morning. There are lots of hawks and owls in the neighborhood, but they seldom stay still long enough to photograph. I got lucky today. Tomorrow, it's back to looking for the occasional wildflower that hasn't dried up yet. Tomorrow will be busy. I hope that Dash's test goes smoothly and we don't have to increase the amount of phenobarbital he takes. Life is complicated enough as it is.

Sophie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day