Day 2637

Weekends are supposed to be relaxing. Mine are typically hectic. I seldom see anyone during the week. On weekends I get to deal with traffic jams, rude people, and crowded stores. I wish there was a reliable, cost-effective way to get groceries delivered, but even if there was, I wouldn't trust anyone to pick strawberries for me. Stores are diabolical about hiding bad strawberries inside a package of seemingly good ones. It takes me forever to sort through each package, looking for the illusive package without any hidden rotten berries.

Even buying packaged goods can be a challenge. I was suspicious last week when my favorite brand of coffee pods had a different looking box. Maybe just the packaging changed, I thought. Nope. The coffee tasted different. I think they decided to put fewer beans in each pod, because the coffee is definitely weaker than it used to be. Every time I buy detergent, the bottle gets a little smaller, while the price stays the same. It's a jungle out there. Don't even get me started about the traffic. I need to figure out a way to do all my errands while other people are at work, because I'm tired of dealing with the traffic. Amazon drones that deliver everything to your front door couldn't come soon enough for me.

I ended up having to wash a lot of rugs again this morning. Somehow getting up one hour later on Saturday morning makes all the difference for Dot. Usually we can make it safely outside if I get her up at 6 AM. Waiting until 7 or 8 AM is almost always a disaster. You'd think I'd learn, but I'm always so tired that it take quite a commotion to wake me up in the morning. The only reason things work during the week is that Janet gets up at the crack of dawn to get ready for work. Left to our own devices, Dot, Dash and I would sleep till noon.

I'm probably going to wreck the washing machine continuously washing these heavy rugs. I don't think there's much of an alternative though. I've tried cleaning them outside with a hose and they never really got clean. Unless I decide to sleep next to the back door with Dot, I think I'm just going to have to live with this situation. I see those ads for Depends on TV all the time, but I hope I never become incontinent myself. It's a horrible mess.

I only used five gallons of gas last week. That's not very much, is it? Sometimes I worry that I'm becoming too isolated. Then I turn on the television and realize that there's a good reason I have no desire to get out much. Society appears to be crumbling. I don't think a lot of people even realize how nice life was back when I was a kid. I'd like to go back to those times, but unfortunately it isn't going to happen. Like it or not, it's onward toward the apocalypse.

Orion is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2636

This morning's breakfast was a gut buster. I actually did go someplace new and ordered something called Early Bird Enchiladas. The meal was served in one of those flimsy tinfoil pie pans like you get when you buy a grocery store pie. The Enchiladas were filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, spicy pork, jalapenos, and cheese; all covered with Rotel Queso Dip. Jeez, I don't think I've had Rotel Dip since college. I didn't take a picture of the meal because it looked atrocious, but it tasted amazing. I'd go back again next week if it weren't for the fact that I'm probably going to have heartburn for a month.

There was a different crowd at this place. No hipsters with ironic beards here. When I arrived, the place was filled with men wearing well worn ball caps and work boots. They were already finishing their meals when I ordered and the place was practically empty when I left. Unlike the hipsters at last week's restaurant, these guys had work to do.

I had work to do as well. When I got home and made sure the dogs were OK, I began writing my next article. I had a vague feeling that I'd already written this piece, but it's hard to tell. I've written hundreds of articles for this client. The article took longer than I thought, because every time I started making progress, Dot needed to go outside to pee.

I wish there was something I could do that would help Dot regain her strength. I've tried almost everything and nothing seems to work. Nerve damage is insidious. It's slow, but completely relentless. On a day-to-day basis Dot seems pretty stable. You only notice the deterioration over a long period of time. Dot is definitely slower and less coordinated than she was at Christmas. She's a lot worse than she was a year ago. Dot's neurologist and every vet we've talked to says there isn't a lot we can do. Nerves regrow extremely slowly even when you are completely healthy. I try to keep Dot moving so she won't become paralyzed and do my best to manage any pain she might be experiencing. I'm sure that Dot wishes she could run and jump like she used to, but amazingly she's still a happy girl. If Dot can remain happy with all her infirmities, I ought to be able to do the same. It's not easy. I think Dot lives in the moment a lot better than I do.

I didn't get around to submitting my article today. I'm sure it's still full of typos and awkward syntax. I'll take another look tomorrow morning. Today just got away from me. The dogs kept me so busy today that I'm actually amazed that I made any progress at all.

I'd like to sleep in tomorrow morning, but I'd also like to get Dot outside before she pees all over the place. These are the choices you have to make with an incontinent dog. Maybe the skies will clear off this weekend. I'm looking forward to doing a little stargazing with my new binoculars.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2635

I picked up a better pair of binoculars today. I'd like to spend some more time stargazing, but I hate the idea of dragging a telescope down to the park at night. Binoculars seemed like a good compromise. Our yard is worthless for observing anything. There are streetlights and lots of car headlights that spoil the view in the front yard and a bright security light in the backyard. The large oak trees almost totally block the sky anyway. Tonight wasn't ideal for viewing since there were a lot of high clouds, but the Moon and Venus looked spectacular.

Today was a busy day. I took Dash to the vet in the morning to get his anal glands expressed and drove over to the UPS customer service center to get the binoculars as soon as I got him home again. Dash seems to need to get his anal glands expressed every two weeks. They get full and make him uncomfortable and then he wakes us up during the night licking his butt. Oddly, Dot never needs to get her anal glands expressed, even though they both eat the same food. Since Dash was much calmer than normal during his exam, I had the nurse take his blood pressure again. This time it was normal. I need to remember to send these results to the cancer center, so they won't waste a lot of time trying to get a blood pressure reading when he's stressed out.

I'm getting better at planning my trips away from the house. Since I ran all my errands in the morning, Dot was still sleeping when I returned. Dot is usually restless in the afternoon, so I try to let her sleep as long as she can. Since her morning nap is a little longer than she can typically hold her bladder, it's always a little dicey when I wake her up for lunch. Sometimes we make it outside to pee and other times we don't.

Considering the amount of time I spent running errands, I still managed to get quite a few website updates completed. There is a new article I need to write tomorrow as well, so maybe things are looking up. I wish my work was more interesting, but at least it's a change of pace from holding up Dot's rear legs all afternoon. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever get a challenging project again, but I'm not  complaining. Even mindless work allows me to pretend that I'm not really retired.

When I took the trash out to the curb this evening, it seemed like I've been following the same routines forever. Every day I find myself doing things that I've been doing for decades. I take a picture for the blog. I walk the dogs. I try to do something that is billable. Pick a year. It's all basically the same. Maybe I'll look for a brand new restaurant tomorrow. There's bound to be some place nearby that I've never tried at all. The food might not be good, but I'm not sure it even matters. I need to do something different. I have a feeling that even a small symbolic gesture would be beneficial at this point.

Tucker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2634

I rescheduled my dental appointment so I could go early in the morning. I need to remember to schedule everything for early in the morning. There are a few hours between 9 AM and noon that it's still safe to assume that Dot will be sleeping. Any other time of day and all bets are off. I used my discretionary time today to go to the bank. That was about it. The rest of the day I just stayed around the house.

I've learned that the dogs are quieter when I stay in the office, but when work is slow that's hard to do. If I make the mistake of going to the kitchen, Dash is instantly right there with me. He can be sound asleep and some kind of infallible internal radar always tells him when I'm headed for the kitchen. When Dash starts barking for food, it usually wakes up Dot, who starts barking too. Dot can't follow me anywhere, but when I lift her up, she follows Dash and I follow her, holding up her rear legs.

I'm glad that Dot has learned to depend on me, but it sure keeps me busy. Half the time I don't think she knows what she wants to do, but maybe walking around aimlessly is good exercise. I wish Dot's vets could come up with a solution that would reduce the signs of senility I've been seeing. We've tried several supplements that are supposed to improve cognitive function in dogs, but they seem to do nothing. Several people have told me that SAM-e can be beneficial for dogs with cognitive issues. I took SAM-e for a while myself after friends told me how wonderful it was. I couldn't tell that it did anything though, and quit using it after a few months. Maybe it works better for dogs.

When I took Dot out to pee before I went to bed last night it was warm and very muggy outside. This morning the clouds and humidity were gone and it was 30 degrees colder. I really can't keep up with the weather this year. Every day is a surprise. As soon as I'm reasonably sure that there won't be another freeze, I need to call the landscaper. It would be nice to have grass in the back yard again. I've just about destroyed all the ground cover by trampling on it as I walk Dot around in the yard. The same thing happened when our first Dalmatian got old and had trouble walking. It took two or three years for the Asian Jasmine to grow back again.

I went out with binoculars this evening to look for Uranus. It's located right below Mars now and should be easy to find. Unfortunately the 6th magnitude planet is very dim. I've always had trouble finding it with the light pollution we have in Dallas. At any rate, I think I saw something below Mars tonight, but I'm not sure it was Uranus.

I wonder how long this stock market rally is going to last. Today's 300 point gain was pretty impressive. I've made some nice gains during this rally, but they could evaporate overnight if the tax cuts everyone is excited about don't materialize. It's always hard to tell when to enter and exit the market. I think the rally will last a while, so I'm not going to sell yet. I could be wrong. I've definitely been wrong before.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2633

I tried to get organized today. I contacted the roofer and urged him to come out as soon as possible. There is a stain in the kitchen ceiling that looks like a slow leak might already be developing. Next, I called the tree guy and urged him to come out as soon as possible too. Every time I look skyward, I see another dead limb that looks like it could fall at any time. I need to call the landscaper and ask him to come out and plant new grass in the back yard. We do this every year. The yard can probably wait until late March though. It's hard to feel a sense of urgency about the yard when I know that the grass is just going to die again anyway.

I'm having trouble telling whether Dot is getting better or worse. She's been more active lately, but I don't know what it means. Sometimes I'm convinced that she has more energy and is getting better. Other times, I feel like the activity is just agitation caused by pain. I don't want her to feel painful and I don't want to sedate her with too many drugs. It would be so much easier if Dot could talk.

I've got a dental appointment next week that I think I'm going to have to reschedule. For years I've scheduled all my appointments for early in the afternoon to allow plenty of time for breakfast and avoid rush hour traffic. I can't do that anymore. Dot still likes to sleep after her morning walk but she needs a lot of attention in the afternoon. She usually wakes up around 1 PM and then wants me to walk her around for the rest of the afternoon. If I'm not nearby to help her up, she becomes very frustrated. Sometimes when she struggles to get up by herself she overexerts herself and starts panting rapidly. I hate to leave her alone at times like these, because she could easily injure herself. It's looks like I'm going to have to schedule my appointments for right after breakfast now. It's funny. I thought that Dot was a high maintenance dog last year, but I really had no idea what was coming.

We never got any rain today at all. I don't know what I was so worried about last night. I continue to see Spring flowers blooming way before they are due. At this rate I'm going to have to start mowing the grass soon. Is this global warming at work, or just quirky Texas weather? I do remember a lot more snow and ice when I first moved here. I actually like the warmer weather with one major exception. The bugs are going to be terrible this Summer.

A quick glance at my Facebook feed reveals that the president's address to congress this evening changed nothing. Conservative pundits are calling this one of the best presidential speeches in recent history. MSNBC and CNN are still ridiculing Trump and calling him a racist. Most of my Facebook friends have moved on and are posting cat pictures again, but the haters are still full of vitriol. I don't think anything is going to change.

Maybe I'll get some sleep tonight. So far, both dogs are quiet and content. I don't have any plans for tomorrow, but this usually means that a last minute website update request will catch me by surprise.

Connor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2632

I tried the bank again on my way to pick up some prescription this morning. This time there were only two people sitting in the lobby, so I added my name to the sign up sheet and sat down to wait it out. I can't imagine how long people had to wait when the lobby was full, because it still took me over half an hour to see a banker. The guy wasn't immediately sure why I had received the letter about my safe deposit box, but said he'd investigate. It turned out that my signature card listed me as the owner of the box and the bank's account records listed my company as the owner. I didn't care who was the owner as long as I didn't have to wait a long time.

The banker said it would be easier if the company was listed as the owner, but that I had to show some proof that the company was mine. Keep in mind that I've had this box for a long, long time. "Don't you already have something in your records," I asked. Nope. They had nothing. "There's probably something inside the box," I said. I found an old DBA certificate and asked if that would work. Problem solved, but I still don't know why it was a problem in the first place. I was surprised to see that I had registered the name Sealander & Company in 1980. Wow. That was a long time ago. I must have been doing some free-lance work while I was still working for an ad agency, because I didn't officially start the company until 1990.

As I prepared to leave, the banker thanked me for being patient and not getting angry. "I imagine that people don't like to wait a long time," I said. There were six customer service offices at this bank, and the banker who helped me was using the only one occupied. No wonder there were always long lines of angry people in the lobby. This is so typical of business today. I'm sure all the offices were occupied at some point. There are 44 checkout aisles at the big Fry's Electronics superstore where I used to shop a lot. Now, when I visit this store, only three or four of these checkout stations are staffed. The rest are empty. When I make a deposit at my local bank branch, there is usually only one teller working. Nobody wants to hire anyone anymore. They just keep experimenting to see if their customers will tolerate even less service than they are currently receiving. It didn't used to be this way. I think companies would still make a tidy profit if they were fully staffed. They just might not make quite as much. Personally, I think the world would be a better place if companies were happy with a modest profit and more people had jobs. We really need to make the world less efficient. Maximizing efficiency is ruining everything.

The dogs did well today. Dash has regained his appetite and continues to hold down food even though he has finished taking the Cerenia pills. He hasn't experienced any more seizures either. I think we've found the right balance in the pain medication Dot is taking. She appears comfortable now, without seeming lethargic or sedated. There were no bad accidents in the house today. The dogs still required a lot of attention, but all in all, it wasn't a bad day.

The tree guy promised that he'd have my trees trimmed by the end of February. I doubt that I'll see him out here tomorrow, so I'll have to give him another call. I need to call the roofer again too. Now, is the perfect time to patch the roof. It's clean and dry. If he waits another month, the oak trees will start to bud and the roof will be covered with catkins. Technically, catkins are flowers, but to me they're just a nuisance. They clog the gutters, cause allergies, and coat the roof of my car with a sticky yellow powder. Once the catkins start falling on the roof, it's going to be a lot more difficult to make those patches.

It's supposed to rain tomorrow morning. I hope the forecast is wrong. The day goes much more smoothly when the dogs get their morning walk on schedule. There's not much I can do about the rain. There's not much I can do about anything actually.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2631

When I got up at 5 AM this morning I thought about waking Dot up and taking her outside to pee. Everybody was sleeping so peacefully that I decided not to disrupt things and went back to bed myself. It was a mistake. Three hours later Dot woke up in a puddle of pee. Dot's bladder can no longer cope with a weekend schedule. I got her up and took her outside while she leaked all the way to the back door. I think we set a new record for number of rugs washed in a single day.

I didn't sleep well last night at all. Just before I went to bed around midnight, I discovered that the furnace wasn't working. I knew it was going to be a cold night, so I was determined to fix the thing before I went to sleep. Easier said than done. Several years ago my HVAC guy taught me how to fix several common furnace problems myself. I think he took pity on me since I was calling them so often. The repair didn't get off to a great start. I couldn't find the special tool I use to get the cover off the furnace. I couldn't find any fine grit sandpaper either.

The flame sensor on our furnace gets dirty a lot. This is always the first thing I look for. When the sensor is dirty it can't detect the pilot light flame and shuts the gas off. It's basically a safety device. There is an enormous amount of dust in the utility room, since we are constantly doing laundry. A normal flame sensor will stay clean for years at a time. Ours goes bad every six months. The fix is easy enough. You carefully remove the flame sensor and clean it with an emery board or a piece of fine grit sandpaper. Too bad the sensor is located in such an awkward place or this repair would be a piece of cake. Eventually, I got the balky cover off the furnace and removed the flame sensor. I didn't have any sandpaper last night, but figured that one of those abrasive kitchen sponges would do. I cut a small piece off the sponge and carefully scraped the dirty coating off the sensor. An hour later, I turned the furnace back on and fired it up. It worked.

I must be a glutton for punishment, because this morning I decided to remove all the accumulated soap scum from the shower stall. For some reason soap scum becomes hard as a rock on the glass shower doors. It's almost impossible to remove. Janet bought some sort of motorized scrub brush that she saw on TV recently and I thought I'd give it a try. Even though the commercial said that this thing could clean dirty tiles in seconds, it wasn't up to the task. I had to use the same abrasive sponge I used to clean the flame sensor and a lot of elbow grease. The shower stall still isn't sparkling clean, but it looks a lot better.

By the time I finished my housecleaning chores I was too tired to go to the gym. I went anyway because it was Sunday. I always go to the gym on Sunday. The hour I spent cleaning the soap scum off the shower doors was much more strenuous than the hour I spent at the gym, but I'm sure my workout did me some good anyway. I've become a believer in going to the gym on Sunday. Hey, it's not like I have anything important to do on Sunday anyway and it's always relaxing to shoot the basketball.

I hope we don't have another hard freeze before Winter is officially over. Everything is growing so nicely now that it would be a shame if freezing weather caused all the wildflowers to die. The redbud and dogwood trees are in full bloom and I've already seen several wildflowers that don't usually appear until late March. So far, this is the earliest Spring I can remember. 

I didn't even watch the Oscars tonight. Janet usually likes to watch these awards shows, but she didn't watch either. I used to love the world of movies and movie making. Janet and I would go see a new film almost every weekend. I don't know if movies have changed or if we have changed. I do know I'll never see La La Land. No interest whatsoever. I still enjoy science and science fiction, so I'd probably enjoy Arrival and Hidden Figures. I'll never see these films in a theater. Someday when things are exceptionally slow, I'll probably rent them on iTunes and watch them on my computer. The big screen has lost its magic.

Bingo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2630

We're definitely having an early Spring. It's not surprising, since temperatures have already topped 80 degrees several times this month. It's weird to see trees turning green and wildflowers starting to bloom in February, but that's what's happening. It's a shame that Texas weather is so unpredictable. Probably just as soon as everything is in full bloom, there will be a big ice storm and all the flowers will freeze. It has happened before. Actually, this happens just about every Winter. Texas plants must be pretty resilient.

I wonder how many coyotes we have in the neighborhood. Just about every morning I'll run into someone walking their dog who asks me if I've seen the coyotes. We've all seen the coyotes by now. One neighbor told me that his dog ran out the front door last week and went to play with the coyotes. "I thought Daisy was a goner," he told me. I was expecting to hear a sad story, but fifteen minutes later, his dog came home unharmed. There are also bobcats in the neighborhood. I'd be more worried about the bobcats than the coyotes.

Dash continues to improve. He seems just about back to normal now, which if you knew Dash, isn't very normal at all. Now comes the hard part. We've got to convince him to start eating dry dog food again. He loves the canned food we've been feeding him while he recovers and he's pretty stubborn to begin with. It's going to be hell convincing him to eat kibble again. Dash has a tendency to get crystals in his urine, so we put a lot of research into finding a diet that was healthy and would prevent crystals and kidney stones. The diet works, so one way or another, we've got to get him eating it again.

I stopped by the bank again on the way to the grocery store to try and resolve my safe deposit box issue. This time there were even more people waiting in the lobby than there were yesterday. Why do all these people need to talk with a banker? I didn't have the patience to join the queue, so once again I'll have to come back later. Maybe all the people in the lobby got the same letter I did. It's always a possibility. If I was smart I would wait a month or two before returning to this bank. Eventually, all these other people will get their problems solved.

The app that allows me to bypass the checkout line at the grocery store was working again this week. All my purchases from last week were still there though. I had to manually erase each of them before I could start putting groceries in my cart. I love bypassing the checkout line, but this experience is a reminder that technology is only a time-saver when it works.

Dot's new pain pills seem to be keeping her more comfortable. Unfortunately, they aren't making her any stronger. What this means is that she wants to be more active, but still stumbles around and falls over without my assistance. I spent most of the afternoon holding up her rear legs while she walked around the house and smelled things in the back yard. I always try to encourage her to move around when she feels like it. It takes a lot of time, but I probably need the exercise too.

I had some website updates to complete this morning. There isn't a lot of difference between weekdays and weekends anymore. We sleep a little later in the morning on weekends, but that's about it. This client was very nice and just told me to make the updates when I had some extra time. Even though there was no rush, I still felt compelled to do the job right away. I guess I'll always be this way.

I"m going to try and go to the gym early tomorrow. Maybe this way I can complete my workout while Dot is still asleep. I keep trying to construct a predictable world, but it just isn't going to happen.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2629

The restaurant was crowded this morning. There were all these noisy overlapping conversations that were somewhat distracting and made me realize that most of the clichés you hear about people are based in truth. Even though this was my morning out, I couldn't wait to get back to my dogs.

When I got home, I immediately realized that peace and quiet are pretty illusive wherever you are. When the dogs actually are quiet, I worry that one of them might have died. When they're full of life and moving around, I'm continually cleaning up poop and retrieving Dot from corners were she has fallen or gotten herself stuck. I've got to try to keep Dash from getting too excited as well, because when he gets agitated, the risk of another seizure increases. It's a delicate balance.

I had a surprising amount of work to complete today. I don't think I've had any writing jobs this month, but the website modifications continue to keep me busy. Nobody seems to want a brand new website anymore. I guess everyone already has one. Instead of creating new designs, I spend my time adding new product lines, updating employee rosters, and correcting typos. There are an amazing number of typos, since a lot of clients write their own copy these days. I don't change anything anymore. I just cut and paste. I used to try to edit the text I received but quickly discovered that the awkward syntax that was bothering me was exactly what the client wanted to say.

Dash is acting real strange lately. I've had increasing difficulty getting him to leave the backyard in the afternoon. At first I thought he was experiencing vertigo or dizziness, but now I'm not so sure. As an experiment I tried to lure him out the back gate with a dog treat, so we could take our afternoon walk. It took us over five minutes to get down the alley. I would move to the end of his leash and then hold the cookie where he could see it. When he started to walk toward the cookie, I would move forward and we would repeat the whole process all over again. As soon as we reached the end of the alley and walked down a small hill into the park, he forgot all about the cookie and started walking normally. We finished the rest of our walk without incident. I have no explanation for this odd behavior, but it sure makes taking a walk more difficult.

Part of the problem is that the dogs still don't understand why they can't walk together like they used to. It is simply impossible for one person to walk both dogs under current conditions. It takes both hands and a lot of coordination to keep Dot upright. I walk her like a marionette in a puppet show. Dash is still strong and likes to walk fast. Even if I could manage to hold on to both dogs, Dash would start tugging and probably knock Dot and I over before we'd gone thirty feet. It's kind of sad, because I know that they would still prefer to walk together.

I've been so concerned about Dash's vestibular disease that it took me a while to realize that I had an upset stomach and was feeling a little dizzy myself. Maybe it was something I ate. At any rate, the best part about today was when I managed to convince both dogs to take a nap with me and we all curled up together for a few hours. The rest seemed to help. I'm feeling better now.

Nora is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2628

Today was an improvement. Both dogs slept all the way through the night without any disasters or medical emergencies. Dash held down his food today, even though he seemed a little tired and disoriented. Getting him eating again is the most important thing now. We'll worry about the residual effects of his vestibular disease when we get him stabilized. Dot seemed more comfortable today as well. I've been trying to fine tune her pain meds so that her discomfort is controlled without turning her into a vegetable. So far, giving her the regular dose of Gabapentin at bedtime and cutting the dose in half at breakfast and lunch seems to be working. The pills won't make her stronger, but they do seem to make her less agitated and allow her to sleep peacefully. These are all little things, but I think we made some progress today.

To celebrate today's progress, I thought I'd reward myself with a nice bowl of Pho. There is a new Vietnamese restaurant in the neighborhood and I've been meaning to try their noodle soup ever since they opened. There is something about Pho that is very satisfying. It's a simple dish made with broth, rice noodles called bánh phở, a few herbs, and meat. Basically, it's just soup, but it is so flavorful if it is made correctly. I wasn't disappointed today. I picked up my take-out order on the way home from the post office and enjoyed an early dinner as soon as I got home. The portion sizes on all the take-out meals I order always seem huge. After I ate what seemed like a gigantic, steaming bowl of Pho, there was still enough left over to make another meal tomorrow.

Yesterday, I got a letter from my bank saying that I needed to stop by my branch and confirm some contact information on my safe deposit box. This seemed strange, since I've never changed or modified any information since I opened the account. At any rate, I stopped by the bank on the way to the post office, thinking I could take care of this problem in a matter of minutes. A banker told me that I would have to wait in line behind a lobby full of old people. I'm an old person too, but I wasn't like these people. These were the kind of people who drive ancient Lincoln town cars and wear socks with their sandals. I have no idea what these people were waiting for, but just by looking at them, I knew that their questions were going to take a long time to answer. I asked the banker if there was a time when there weren't any people in the lobby and he just rolled his eyes at me. I think I'll try this again later.

I got a request today to remove a page from a website that I'm almost certain that I removed five years ago. I checked, and sure enough the page was still on the server. Oops. Occasionally, when a hosting company does maintenance on their servers, they will restore a site from a back-up copy. I suspect that this is what happened. They must have restored something that I erased a long time ago. I bet there are a lot of other ghost pages out there. I mostly work with a local copy of the sites I manage and rarely look to see what is actually on the server. I'm kind of superstitious about erasing things on the server. I used to use the server as a convenient archive for all versions of the sites I design, but I can't do that anymore. Google can still find the unlinked pages I've discarded and clients get mad when people click on links to this outdated information. It was easy enough to remove the offending unlinked page, but I still miss the days when the Internet was simple and fun.

It's going to be hard to convince Dash to eat dry food again. He's really liking the canned Hills Prescription ID I'm feeding him to settle his stomach. Dot must like this food too, because when Dash is finished eating, she will come over and lick his bowl. I guess we'll take this one day at a time. Dash still seems to have vertigo and appears dizzy at times. Until he is stable, he can eat anything he wants.

Joey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2627

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. I've mentioned that Dash was becoming a finicky eater. Well, last night he threw up his dinner and this morning he refused to eat at all. We walked the dogs to see if this would settle Dash's stomach and then tried to feed him again. He still wasn't interested. We got him to eat a small amount of canned dog food so he could take his morning meds and then an hour later, he threw this up as well. This was not good. I called his oncologist as well as his regular vet and arranged to take him in so they could give him an injection of Cerenia to stop the vomiting. After waiting an hour, I had to give him a second phenobarbital pill, because he threw up the first one we gave him this morning. The other pills can wait, but the phenobarbital is essential.

Dash's vet thought that he was still experiencing symptoms from vestibular disease and when the oncologist contacted me later in the morning, he agreed. They both said that it could take from two weeks to three months to fully recover from a bout of old dog vestibular disease. So, here we are. I've got two sick dogs with very different needs. Both need a lot of attention and it's hard to deal with one without something happening to the other.

Dash seemed out of it for most of the day, but when I eventually fed him some bland food the vet gave me for a sensitive stomach, he held it down. Since Dash is still feeling some vertigo or motion sickness as a result of his vestibular seizures, we may have to put him back on an anti-nausea drug. Hopefully the Cerenia will stabilize him, since it is pretty mild and has few side effects.

I took Dash on a short walk later in the afternoon. Although he walked slowly and seemed a bit tentative, he showed no signs of another vestibular event. This was good. I walked very slowly and let him relax. When we returned to the house, I immediately noticed that Dot had knocked over her protective fence and was sitting in a pile of poop. Like I said, I've got two sick dogs with very different needs.

I hope we can get Dash stabilized quickly. While I was cleaning up vomit on the carpet last night, Dot decided to poop in her bed. It was hard to decide which mess needed my attention first. Needless to say, it was a hectic day. A continual barrage of poop, pee, and vomit can generate a lot of laundry and even more worry.

To cap off the day, I heard a giant thud on the roof as I was preparing dinner this evening. I went out to investigate and discovered that one of the dead limbs I've been waiting for the tree trimmers to remove had fallen. The wood was rotten and the tree limb broke apart when it fell, so there was no damage to the roof. I'm really glad the limb fell on the roof instead of in the back yard. It was large enough that it would have injured me or the dogs if we were underneath when it fell. Now, there is an added urgency to get the trees trimmed quickly, but getting anyone's attention lately has been difficult.

Stress eats away at you slowly. I wonder if I'll even recognize when I'm completely burned out. Maybe I'm there already. The past two years have definitely been a challenge. I know I complain too much and that there are many people with far more serious problems than I have. Nevertheless, it would sure be nice to have two healthy dogs and a little peace and tranquility.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2626

Either my Spring allergies arrived early this year, or I've got a cold that just won't go away. I've had a runny nose and itching eyes for at least three weeks now. I have to remember to stuff my pockets with paper towels when I walk the dogs or leave the house, because my nose continually drips. I'm starting to look like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I've never been able to blow my nose silently and often end up waking the dogs, which is the last thing I want to do. It's frustrating. I suspect that I'm having allergy problems, because a cold would never last this long.

The cancer center finally returned my call about Dot's Gabapentin pills. It would be a lot easier if you could just talk to the doctor directly, instead of receiving relayed information from a nurse. I know that doctors and veterinarians hate to take phone calls though, because if they did they would spend their entire day talking with people looking for free medical advice. It took a while to explain Dot's situation. The pills were working great at night when Dot was sleeping, but seemed to impair her limited ability to walk during the day. All I wanted to know was whether it was OK to just administer the nighttime dose and forget the pills she was supposed to take during the day. The nurse kept suggesting that I discontinue Dot's Tramadol pills instead. "But she's been taking Tramadol for almost three months now and these pills aren't causing a problem," I kept saying. I thought this would be an easy conversation, since Google listed the three most common side effects of Gabapentin as drowsiness, weakness, and feeling tired. Finally, I think we got on the same page. "It's a pain pill," the nurse said. "If Dot's uncomfortable, give her a little more. If the pills make her weak, give her a little less." I guess I'll just continue doing what I've been doing.

I got a long awaited check from a client today, but it still wasn't enough to offset Dash's rather large vet bill. Looks like I'll have to transfer some money from savings. I don't know why it bothers me to do this, since it's just moving money from one pile to another, but I always feel defeated when I have to dip into savings. I guess I'd better get used to the idea. It won't be all that long before retirement becomes a reality and I'm faced with the prospect of living on social security.

I went to make an appointment for a bone density scan at my doctor's office and discovered that you don't need an appointment for this sort of thing. This just gives me an excuse to postpone the test a little longer. I've started taking calcium supplements to increase my bone density, but I don't know if I've been taking them long enough. I hate to take a test if I know I'm going to get a bad result. This desire to fudge test results has even got me experimenting with my new WiFi scale. I've learned that you weigh the least when you first wake up, but that your heart rate might be better later in the day. I can't seem to find the right time of day when all the things this high tech scale measures are optimal. Food is a lot heavier than I thought though. I guess the best way to diet would be to just quit eating.

Lizzy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2625 - President's Day

Holidays that move around from year to year confuse me. I'm old enough to remember when Washington's birthday was celebrated on February 22, which happened to be the day he was actually born. Now, in an effort to give people more three day weekends, this birthday is celebrated on the third Monday in February. We don't call it Washington's birthday anymore though, because Lincoln's birthday and Washington's have been rolled into a single postal holiday, simply called President's Day. If it weren't for the fact that we didn't get any mail today, I would never have realized that today was a holiday at all.

I definitely realized that we were having a thunderstorm last night. The thunder and lightning woke up Dot and Dash but I think it was the wind that woke me up. I checked the weather radar and quickly realized that it was going to be a long night. Dot calmed down when I closed a door that gave her a view of the storm. After I covered Dash with a blanket, he seemed to relax as well. I think the dogs weathered the storm better than I did. I was nervous until the wind subsided because I was afraid that one of our trees would come crashing down. I stayed on the floor with Dot until she went back to sleep, which was probably a mistake, since I woke up with a sore shoulder. By morning, the storm was largely over, but I was very tired.

The storm wasn't the only strange thing that happened last night. When I woke up this morning I noticed what looked like a pile of dirt on the bathroom floor. Where did this come from? On closer inspection, the dirt turned out to be a small ant hill, populated with hundreds of tiny sweet ants crawling around. Apparently the ants invaded the house through a small crack in the tile floor. I found some bug spray, killed the ants , and cleaned up the mess. Hopefully, they won't come back. I have a feeling that last night's torrential rains flooded the ants home and forced them inside. Either that, or the ants were already in the house and just waiting for the right time to cause havoc.

There isn't much to do on a rainy day, so after making a few minor website updates, I was faced with vacuuming the house. Why not? I knew I couldn't avoid this unpleasant task forever, so I got to work. The canister filled with dirt quickly and the house still looked dirty. Cleaning things would be much more satisfying if they actually looked clean when you were finished. I was temped to leave the vacuum cleaner running in the bathroom in hopes of sucking up all the remaining ants, but I knew the ants would outsmart me anyway. They're probably already plotting their next move.

Janet brought home burgers tonight. They were delicious, but I'm always surprised that what would have seemed a normal sized meal ten years ago, now leaves me stuffed. I need to start ordering children's meals. I don't know if it's natural for your appetite to decrease as you age, but mine certainly has. I should have cut the burger in half and had the other half for tomorrow's dinner.

I'm sure Dash wishes we were feeding him cheeseburgers. He was still finicky with his food today. I have no idea what is going on. Janet bought a different brand today to see if he liked that. He ate the new food just fine, but we now have four different brands of food for Dash. It's getting confusing. Dot will still eat anything, even if it takes her all day to chew her meal. The food goes in one end and comes out the other. That's how I spend my day.

I think the weather is supposed to clear up tomorrow. If it does, I may actually get something done.

Odie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2624

I usually check the dogs on the baby monitor before I start my workout at the gym. Typically they're just sleeping, but today I heard Dot yelping like she was in pain and saw Dash looking around with a worried look. I turned around and went back home again, wishing it wasn't a fifteen minute drive. The house was quiet when I arrived home, but Dot was resting in an awkward position on her dog bed. She must have tried to get up while I was gone and twisted one of her rear legs. On a good day, Dot can still get up on her own. On a bad day she can't. It used to be pretty safe to leave the house for a few hours when the dogs were taking their morning nap. They both sleep soundly and would typically still be snoring on their beds when I returned. That's all changed in the past month or so. Dot is a lot more restless now and doesn't sleep as soundly. Since the oncologist thought that the restless might be caused by discomfort, I was hoping that the Gabapentin might help. If the drug makes her as limp as a wet washrag though, it only makes matters worse.

When I got the dogs up, everything seemed fine. Dot was able to walk and both dogs were eager for me to feed them their lunch. I think Dot's yelping was more of a panic attack than an injury. She has grown very dependent on me and doesn't like to wake up and find me gone. I took the dogs outside to pee, fed them their lunch, and then cleaned up after Dot when she decided to poop while she was eating. After lunch we walked around for a while until Dot got tired and then they were both ready to take a nap again. After making sure that Dot was relaxed and resting in a comfortable position, I got in the car and went back to the gym. This time the trip was a success. It's always a balancing act to care for Dot while still finding a little time for myself. I'm almost always nearby when Dot needs me, but I do need to occasionally get out of the house.

The rain that was supposed to arrive today got delayed. Now, we're supposed to get some severe weather starting at about 1 AM this morning. I wish the tree guys had already come out to trim our trees. One of the main reasons I wanted to remove the dead limbs is that I'm always afraid that they're going to fall in a strong wind. Maybe the storm won't be a bad as the weatherman on TV is predicting. Sometimes I think they make things sound alarming to get more viewers. Of course, Texas weather actually is alarming, so I never ignore what the weatherman says.

I don't know what to do about Dash. He has gotten finicky about his food again. This is nothing new. It has been going on for years. We'll find a healthy diet that Dash likes and after enthusiastically eating it for months and months, he'll abruptly stop and refuse to touch the stuff. We look for a new diet and the whole process starts all over again. I've asked every vet I know what causes this behavior but have never really received a satisfactory answer. Sometimes Dash will refuse to eat something in the morning and then enthusiastically scarf the same food down in the afternoon. Nothing is simple at our house.

I didn't even bother with vacuuming this weekend. Every time I thought about getting out the vacuum cleaner, the dogs were sleeping peacefully and I didn't want to disrupt things. Sleeping peacefully is the Holy Grail around here. When the dogs are asleep, maybe I've got time to take a nap myself, or even get something productive done. Actually, Dot is asleep right now, so maybe this is my opportunity.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2623

I'm not so sure about the Gabapentin. Dot slept soundly last night after her first dose, but within an hour after receiving her second dose this morning, her entire body seemed to go limp and she could hardly stand up. Later in the day when the drug started to wear off she started to return to normal. There is no room for error with Dot. If the side effect of a drug is to make a dog sleepy, it will probably knock Dot out cold. The doctor did say that the Gabapentin might make Dot a bit lethargic. She didn't say it would turn her into a wet washrag. I don't want Dot to be in an pain, but she does need to be able to walk. Maybe we'll just give Dot the Gabapentin before bedtime. I'll call the oncologist on Monday, but I suspect that she'll just say that Dot needs time to get used to the drug. That's what doctors always say.

The app that lets me bypass the checkout line at the grocery store crashed while I was shopping today. So much for technology. I had to check out the old fashioned way and I'm still wondering whether the purchases I made before the app crashed are floating around in the cloud somewhere. Before the app crashed I noticed that there had recently been a software update. Why do people keep "improving" things that already work perfectly. This happens again and again with software and apps on my phone. I'll have an app that I really like and then an automatic software upgrade will ruin it.

I think we're having an early Spring. It's only the middle of February and the temperature is getting close to 80 degrees. Judging from the number of people in the park today, this unusually warm Winter is pretty popular. I'm not sure the dogs agree. They both like the cold weather and days like this make them uncomfortable. I had to run the air conditioner today to keep Dot from panting. The sweet spot for Dot is very small. The weather has to be just right. She can't overexert herself, but she still needs to keep moving to prevent further muscle atrophy. Too many drugs knock her out and too few leave her painful. It's a delicate balance.

My new WiFi scale that measures everything indicates that my stress levels are continuing to rise. I don't know what to do. I feel responsible for the dogs and almost every day there is a new surprise. My diet is deteriorating too. That doesn't help. When everything is going well it's easy to eat Quinoa and Kale. When I'm under stress I gravitate toward comfort foods like ice cream and waffles.

I definitely need to go to the gym tomorrow, but the weather forecast says there are going to be thunderstorms. If it rains, I seldom go anywhere. I don't like to drive in the rain and I worry that my two storm phobic dogs are going to freak out. I suspect that my sweet spot is even smaller than Dot's. I can function well in almost any circumstance, but everything needs to be perfect before I'm happy.

Dash wouldn't eat his breakfast this morning, but then took a long, energetic walk. This evening he enthusiastically ate the same food he refused this morning, but refused to leave the back yard when it was time for his evening walk. I don't know what is going on. I keep thinking that the doctors might have missed something important when he was sick, but than again this odd behavior might just be Dash's normal personality.

Maybe the weather forecast is wrong. I'm hoping that it doesn't rain. The roof is clean and dry and the dogs are happy. Rain will spoil everything.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2622

I'd hate to be in the restaurant business. Customers are fickle. Reviews are seldom fair. And employee turnover is unbelievable. I ate breakfast this morning at a place I haven't visited for several months and there wasn't a single familiar face. The entire staff was new. The food had actually improved, so maybe the staff changes were a good thing. Like I say, I don't understand the restaurant business at all.

Most of the day was spent taking Dot to her appointment at the cancer center. Janet was able to take some time off work today to help me transport Dot. Having two people in the car seemed to help. Janet sat in the back with Dot and was able to calm her down when she became agitated and tried to move around. Dot arrived for her exam a lot calmer than she usually does, but her blood pressure was still a little high.

We got some more bad news today. Her cancer is progressing and there are now four tumors growing in her liver. There were only three the last time we checked. The oncologist told us that Dot's liver and kidneys are still functioning normally and that even though the cancer was growing, it was growing slowly. She is starting to feel some discomfort though, so we added Gabapentin to her growing list of meds. The oncologist also wants to go back to testing Dot once a month, since the cancer could always start growing faster at any time.

While we were at the hospital we saw a family who had to make the decision to put their dog down. It was sad to watch them say their goodbyes. The dog actually looked in better shape than Dot, but I'm sure there was more to the story than we were seeing. They always tell you that your dog will let you know when it's time to go, but sometimes they don't. It's a big responsibility when you have to make that decision for them. I dread the day when we are faced with making this decision. Hopefully, Dot will make her wishes very clear. Right now it is obvious that Dot still loves life and wants to keep on going. As the cancer continues to grow, things will inevitably become more confusing.

When we got home today Janet asked me if I knew that Dot's oncologist was deaf. "What makes you think she is deaf," I asked. "Well, she was reading your lips," Janet told me. Have I ever mentioned that I'm not very observant. I could tell you exactly what shade of brown Dot's poop was today and I would notice instantly if you moved any of the books on my bookshelf, but I'm not very good at reading faces. Chances are if I met you on the street, I wouldn't even recognize you. I can never tell when people are happy or sad either. I guess it's a good thing that I'm seldom aware when people are mad at me.

We've got a long weekend coming up. I hope this means that everybody will get a little more sleep. The oncologist wants me to watch Dot closely this weekend to make sure that the Gabapentin doesn't make Dot lethargic and lose energy. "But how can I tell," I asked? "She doesn't have any energy right now." I think all Dot's doctors are amazed that she's still alive.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2621

I need sleep. Dot gets frustrated now when she can't get up and circle around to find a new sleep position at night. All dogs do this, and Dot keeps trying even though it is difficult for her to move. Usually, I wake up before she has twisted herself into an awkward position. I help her do the little twirling motion that Dash does effortlessly five times a night and then we all go back to sleep. Lately, I've discovered that if Dot becomes agitated at night it is wise to take her outside to pee. If it's clear outside, I try to identify constellations in the night sky as she slowly walks around the yard, looking for the right spot. By the time I've gotten her settled into her bed again, I'm usually wide awake. Probably people with small babies find their sleep disrupted like this all the time, but it's a new experience for me.

Dash is acting weird again. We discontinued his anti-nausea medication a few days ago, so maybe he's feeling dizzy again. He didn't want to walk this morning and this afternoon he refused to leave the back yard. Sometimes it's hard to tell if Dash is sick or just being stubborn. I tried a second time to give Dash an evening walk after I'd had my own dinner and this time he was eager to go. He wasn't unsteady and nothing seemed abnormal at all. Go figure. I still think that the hesitation to move or walk might have something to do with his seizures, but I'm not a vet. Now I've got one more question to ask the doctors when I take Dot to the cancer center for her ultrasound scan tomorrow.

I wasn't really busy today and I thought seriously about taking a long nap to catch up on sleep, but Dot had other ideas. She's restless now during the day and frequently wants me to take her outside. Since she's incontinent, I don't want to ignore her, since it just causes her to pee or poop in the house. In and out we go, over and over again. When Dot is outside, she just wanders around aimlessly, smelling all the leaves on the ground. It takes a lot of patience to be her rear legs.

I wonder if life will ever return to normal again. Probably not. I feel lucky that I am still healthy enough to help the dogs during their senior years. Many of my friends have already had serious medical problems and would have difficulty lifting a Dalmatian. When I was a kid, my parents were healthy, but they both started falling apart when they were about my age. I wonder how many more good years I've got? Helping Dot walk is actually great exercise. Too bad the stress I'm experiencing probably negates most of the benefits of this strenuous physical activity.

I'm thinking of going somewhere new for breakfast tomorrow. I've been eating the same thing for several months now and even though it's delicious, I'm getting bored. I'm not even sure what I'm hungry for anymore. Maybe the food doesn't even matter. The whole idea of going out was just to have something to look forward to. A pleasant ritual that I can repeat on a weekly basis is much more important than the food.

I hope that Dot's cancer re-check goes well tomorrow. There have been some significant changes since her last exam and none of them are encouraging.

Joshua is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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