Day 4438

Today was mostly just fighting the weather. It was cold when we woke up and kept getting colder as the day progressed. I thought we'd get some sun today but it stayed overcast all day. At least there was no more rain. I still wonder how Northerners deal with Winter so well. Every time I go outside I bundle up in multiple layers. When I come back inside all the layers come off again. I do this over and over again all day long. Where is this mythical place where it is 72 degrees all year long?

I had my first TeleVisit with a doctor today. Everything worked fine but this made me wonder why this type of thing is any better than a simple phone call. Basically a TeleVisit is just a phone call except that you can see the other person. Zoom calls are the same way. A Zoom call is just an old fashioned conference call except that you can see the other people. Is it actually important to see the other people? To me it's distracting. I've been on work related conference calls for decades and never had any desire to see who I was talking too. On a video call you always start thinking about how goofy you look and spend more time inspecting the other peoples surroundings than thinking about the subject at hand. Call me old fashioned, but I still think reading is the best way to consume information and talking to someone is a lot simpler than texting them. 

I find that I don't even like YouTube videos. If I'm searching for something on the Internet and I'm given a choice of a video or a print article, I'll always choose to read the article first. I'm a fast reader and I can immediately go to the information I need. A video puts you on the other person's schedule. There are way too many long winded instructional videos out there. It's kind of weird that I have this attitude since I spent a big chunk of my career making instructional videos.

I don't know why I bothered to take my long walk today. It was bitterly cold. The temperature wasn't that bad but the wind chill made it feel fifteen to twenty degrees colder. I always felt better when the wind was at my back. Unfortunately since I walk in a huge circle, the wind was directly in my face a lot of the time. I still completed my entire route, but I'm not sure what it proved. This was one of those days where I'm not sure what it proved to even get out of bed.

When I was walking this morning I saw one of the eagles circling around the tree where the pair's nest used to be. It was kind of sad. I wonder if the birds realized what happened and why. They basically picked the wrong tree and made their nest on a dead limb. There is speculation that these are young eagles and are inexperienced nest builders. Maybe this is how they learn.

After I spent a lot of time yesterday taking leaves and trash out to the curb, the trucks didn't even come today to pick it up. I wonder why I take these e-mail messages I get from the city seriously. Half the time they are wrong. Now when I took out the week's regular trash this evening I didn't have a place to put the can. My regular spot was occupied by many big black bags filled with leaves. 

I'm not looking forward to our early walk tomorrow morning. It's going to be very cold. The main reason we walk early is so that Dawn will poop. She doesn't like to go in the yard. I guess an early walk is a good way to wake up, but a cup of coffee in a warm house would probably work just as well. Lets face it. I'm just not a morning person.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4437

I had to scramble to get all the bagged leaves out to the curb for bulky trash day. For weeks I'd been thinking that big trash day was next week, but it turns out it is tomorrow. How is it already the third week in February? It seems like February just started. I guess I could have looked at a calendar. Depending on memory doesn't work so well these days. 

After I moved all the bags of leaves out to the street, I thought I'd start cleaning up the sticks and twigs left behind in the yard by the power company tree trimmers. These guys should have done a much better job of cleaning up. There were twigs and small branches everywhere. I picked up as much as I could before it started to rain and added the growing brush pile to the leaf bags piled on the curb. All this activity was harder than I thought it would be. Old bones aren't meant for bending over and picking up hundreds of twigs and branches. My back hurts now.

Maybe I was just tired because I took my long walk before attempting to clean up the yard. It wasn't as windy as yesterday, but there was still a strong breeze. There was a light mist as well. It didn't really feel like it was raining, but by the time I returned home my jacket was wet. Dawn has done better than I have on walks lately. The weather was fine on her sunrise walk this morning. If I remember, it was pretty good yesterday morning as well. Yesterday the temperature dropped as the day progressed. Today it got wetter as the day progressed. My feet weren't my friends today. Lots of foot pain, but by the time I finished hauling trash out to the curb, I still managed to get 20,000 steps.

We got more rain than I expected this afternoon. I really hope we don't have another roof leak. I have the pumps working and there appears to already be a lot of water on the roof. Hopefully, the pumps will remove enough so a leak doesn't develop. I probably should have waited to start making repairs, but the stains on the ceiling were driving me crazy. Winter just isn't a good time to deal with roof problems. As soon as you start making a little progress, it starts raining again. Needless to say, it's frustrating.

Basically, everything is frustrating these days. I don't get angry, but I'm in a continual state of mild irritation. Do I really need dozens of robocalls and spam messages every single day? Why am I paying AT&T to irritate me using my own phone? Why do all publications have paywalls on the Internet now? I'm never going to subscribe to your online whatever. I know if I wait a few days I'll be able to find the same information for free somewhere else. A pox on your paywalls. Why is every ad on television for some kind of prescription medicine with announcer copy describing side effects that will probably kill you. Can't we just go back to ads about tv-dinners and refrigerators. Social media is insanely irritating. I'm convinced that you can trace back most of today's problems to social media. Society doesn't function well when every problem is instantly broadcast to the entire world. Someone lights a match and all the sudden it's a forest fire. We don't need to know what everyone else is doing in real time. It's not good. We would all be better off if we all just minded our own business.

I need to remember that I have a teleconference with my gastro-intestinal specialist tomorrow. I've never done one of these virtual visits before, but it sure beats driving down to Baylor hospital. When I was given the option of an office visit or a virtual call, it didn't take me long to decide. One of the biggest changes that Covid has made is that you basically don't have to leave your house anymore. There is a virtual option for just about everything.

Dawn didn't get to go to training class tonight. It's raining outside now. I keep hearing about severe weather warnings, but it's hard to tell what's headed our way. It's pretty calm right now. There are some severe storms out in West Texas this evening that are headed to the Northeast. Hopefully they will pass to the North of us by the time they arrive here tomorrow morning.

Joshua is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4436

It was really windy today. I almost got blown off the trail at several points during my long walk. On my way home there was the usual crowd watching the eagles, but I didn't see the nest. I didn't think anything of this. The nest is hard to see from my vantage point on the trail and I figured I was just looking in the wrong place. I've seen these birds so many times that I no longer walk over to the spot where you can see the eagles clearly. Later I learned that the nest had blown down in the wind and the eggs inside had broken. It was a sad ending to the eagle saga that has captivated the city for months. I wonder if the birds will stay? Somehow I doubt that they will build a new nest and start all over again.

My friend's house up the street is just an empty lot now. Everything is gone. The excavator even ripped up the swimming pool. It's weird how quickly this happened. It can take several years to build a house these days. It took less than two days to completely erase one. This made me kind of sad as well. I'm sure something grand will appear on this lot in due time, but there was absolutely nothing wrong with the house that was torn down. The empty lot is one more sign that we live in a disposable society.

The power company tree crews have left the neighborhood. I didn't see any trucks today. It will take a while to clean up all the little twigs in the yard and our Asian Jasmine ground cover is pretty badly trampled. I wish the crew had left our Live Oak trees alone and cut down our damaged Red Oak tree instead. That wasn't on their agenda though. I was hoping that I'd have a better view of the southern horizon with the trees gone, but I didn't even get that. Now I just have a better view of the neighbor's trees on the other side of the alley. 

I wrote a letter to my sister this morning and took it to the post office. On the way home I picked up some new meds for Dawn at the vet. I'm not even sure what these pills are for, but Janet knows. I wasn't very productive today but I did change the sheets. Was putting a fitted sheet on the bed always this hard? Aching joints have made a lot of simple tasks seem difficult now. I shouldn't complain so much, but I still think that growing older sucks.

I still haven't taken the star tracker outside at night and tested it. It's so easy for me to make excuses. The light pollution in Dallas is terrible. There are a ton of bright lights in our neighborhood as well, including some in our own yard. The moon is getting pretty bright as well, but it isn't nearly as bright as our security light. It makes you wonder why I even got interested in astronomy. Maybe I'll return to McDonald Observatory this Spring. It's nice and dark out there. Then again, maybe I won't go after all. I have no interest in making that long drive anymore.

Dawn does seem to be becoming friendlier with me. That's a good sign in a world with very few good signs. Today she saw me returning from my long walk through the living room window and came running out to greet me with her tail wagging. We might end up becoming buddies yet.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4435 - Valentines Day

We worked on training Jo Jo today while we were up at the kennel. He's a big friendly boy and must weigh at least 80 pounds. The first thing he needs to learn is not to jump up on people when he greets you. He likes toys, but not like the other dogs. Every toy we introduced him to he took outside and tried to bury it. We had lots of fun getting to know him today and he made us laugh a lot. 

I'm surprised that Oliver is still at the kennel. He's such a nice dog. He's basically just a big goofy puppy. Charlie has become an old friend. We've known him a long time now. Charlie is one of the smartest dogs we've ever had in the rescue program. He's also one of the most unpredictable which explains why he's been at the kennel a while.

The power company tree trimming crew arrived at our house today. The two Live Oaks near the alley basically have no leaves anymore. The trees are still healthy and small branches with leaves will start to appear next Spring. We've seen this before. This is the third time these two trees have been trimmed to keep the branches away from the power lines. They both look really ugly now. I was hoping that the crew would just cut the trees down this time. No luck though. I don't think the crew even carried large chain saws with them. The tree crews probably won the contract from the electric company on a fixed budget and they had no interest in wasting time with individual trees. They had a schedule to keep. They were very efficient in removing smaller limbs and then grinding them up in a wood chipper. Our two trees were a big job though. The five person crew was in our yard most of the day.

I didn't get around to taking my long walk until later in the afternoon. I didn't make it very far this time. I don't think I planned very well. I wore a t-shirt and it didn't take long for me to discover that this wasn't enough. I was cold. My feet hurt a lot today as well. The worst thing was that my allergies have returned with a vengeance and I forgot to bring Kleenex with me. How could today be so different than yesterday? The sky was clear both days, but the wind must have been blowing from a different direction. I'm so tired of seasonal allergies, but they'll probably be with me forever. As bad as they are, I still prefer blowing my nose a lot to taking antihistamines.

I thought that Dawn would be upset by all the noise in the backyard today, but it didn't seem to bother her. She spent the day sleeping on the bed as usual and the only time she barked was when someone from the work crew got too close to the house. I don't know how she knew. The blinds were closed and you could never hear footsteps over all the other noise. We waited until all the equipment was gone before taking her on a short walk. The yard was a danger zone for a while.

It was my turn to drive to the kennel today and it reminded me how much I hate driving in this city. Traffic is terrible and everyone is in a hurry. People are always running traffic lights and making illegal u-turns. I don't understand all the u-turns. It seems like half the city is lost. Right now I can't imagine driving all the way out to West Texas again. A forty-five minute drive around town makes me tired.

We didn't get cupcakes for Valentines Day this year. Neither of us wanted to stand in a long line at Sprinkles. We did have some champagne in the fridge and a few leftover brownies so we had a little party anyway. Dawn kind of got cheated though. Usually we always went to Sprinkles because the dogs loved their dog cupcakes. 

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4434 - Superbowl Sunday

Not a lot to complain about today. My team didn't win the Superbowl, but other than that it was a great day. Something in the air has changed and my allergies are gone. At least they're gone temporarily. The weather was nice today. By early afternoon the temperature was 65 degrees. My feet didn't bother me a lot either. I took three walks and managed to get 22,000 steps.

Before our Sunday outing with Dawn, Janet wanted to try giving Dawn gabapentin to see if it would help with her anxiety in the car. Our vet told us to give her the pills two hours before any anxiety provoking event and that they would wear off about four hours later. We can use the gabapentin as needed without having her take it all the time. 

I've always been a sceptic about any type of mood altering drug, but I'll have to admit that the pills did seem to work. The gabapentin took the edge off of Dawn's anxiety without doing anything dramatic. Dawn was still alert, had fun smelling things, and enjoyed her walk. There was still a little anxiety in the car, but the difference was dramatic. She seemed more relaxed about her walk as well. The one segment of the walk that made her nervous previously seemed normal now. All in all, this seems to be a safe and practical way to reduce stress in the car. 

The lady at the drive thru window finally noticed Dawn in the back seat and gave her a free pup cone this morning. Dawn thought this was a great idea. Usually we order two cones, eat some ourselves, and then give Dawn the rest. Today Dawn still got to share our cones and then had another cone all for herself. The gabapentin certainly didn't affect her taste for ice cream. I don't think she had much to complain about today either.

After I finished my long walk, I attempted to bleach away the brown stains in the living room ceiling. I must have learned something from my past attempts because I didn't make a mess this time. The ceiling looks much better now, but unfortunately the source of the leak is still up there somewhere. If we have another hard rain, I'm sure the stains will reappear. If I were younger I might make a further effort to find this leak. I've tried though and it seems hopeless. I really need to just give up this fight and have a new roof installed. I'm sure there would still be standing water on any new roof, but with a good enough warranty it probably wouldn't even matter. My goal now is just to avoid going up there and risk breaking my neck.

I was disappointed that Cincinnati didn't win today's game. I never followed either team very closely, but Cincinnati seems like a better city than Los Angeles. I can't find much to like about LA anymore. I can't find much to like about the current crop of Superbowl television commercials either. Most of them didn't even make sense. Today's advertising creatives don't seem to have a sense of humor. Their attitude appears to be lets spend a lot of money, create a lot of action, and make a lot of noise. The halftime show certainly made a lot of noice.  Call me old fashioned but I would have preferred hearing the Eagles sing Hotel California to this. The soundtrack to today's chaotic life has no melody.

I imagine that the power company crew will be back to trim our trees tomorrow. We still don't know whether they will cut the trees down or just make a mangled mess of things again. I suppose we will go visit the kennel dogs, but it depends on what's going on in the yard. I don't really feel comfortable leaving Dawn alone if the yard is filled with the sounds of trucks and chain saws.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4433

This weather is driving me nuts. Yesterday was nice. Today was bitterly cold again. There was even snow in the forecast for a little while today, but nothing materialized. I never know what to wear anymore. A t-shirt and shorts might be appropriate one day and the very next day you find yourself looking for a down jacket and extra sweaters. I just wish the weather was more consistant. I don't like surprises.

I found everything I needed at the grocery store this morning, but the shelves still looked a little empty. Usually the day before the Super Bowl the stores are packed, but everything looked normal today. It's hard to get excited about this years game. I guess I'm for the Bengals since it's been so long since they've had a chance at this, but neither team has captured my attention this season. I'll watch the game even though I don't think there are any Dalmatians in the new Budweiser commercial this year and I don't have a clue who is preforming at the halftime show. It's hard to top Prince singing Purple Rain during a downpour in Miami and I still think Michael Jackson set the gold standard for these events. Maybe I'm prejudiced but I liked the game where the Cowboys beat the Steelers back in 1996. Those were the days. Sure seems like a long time ago now.

Today was not a great day for walking. My feet hurt and it was cold and windy as well. I didn't let that stop me. I trudged along and completed my route even though it took a while. I'm not going to get 20,000 steps today, but I did keep moving. Even though it was a nasty day, there was still a small crowd looking for the eagles. I wonder how long this is going to last? I was more interested in the two Muscovy Ducks I see every day. I took a close look and these are definitely different ducks than the one who wound up in our yard recently. I wonder what happened to that other duck. In all these years I never knew there were three Muscovy Ducks in the neighborhood. Maybe there are quite a few and I just don't see them.

I'm trying to get Dawn used to doing things with me while Janet is out of the house. I want her to be comfortable and relaxed when Janet goes on a trip later this Spring. It also would be nice if she would come when I called. So far it's not going well. Dawn isn't scared of me. I'm just of little interest to her. She gets so excited whenever Janet comes home. I'm sort of like the hired help. I'm useful for walks and fixing dinner, but not worth getting out of bed to greet me when I come home.

I'm perpetually cold now. The thermostat says the house is warm and the furnace is working fine, but I'm always looking for an extra sweater. Was it always this way? It seems like I used to be warmer around the house but memories aren't always accurate. Sometimes when I'm falling asleep random events from my past flash through my mind. Did these things even happen? Often my recurring dreams seem real and reality seems like a fuzzy dream. I still wonder how I wound up having a successful career in advertising. This wasn't where I was headed at all.

I hope it is warmer tomorrow. We still plan on taking Dawn for her Sunday outing, but we might wait until later in the day. Dawn is not a big fan of cold weather. Right now, hot chocolate seems more appropriate than ice cream, but of course dogs can't have chocolate. Ice cream probably isn't that great either, but it's only once a week and Dawn loves it.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4432

The power company crews arrived in our alley today. I asked if they would just cut down the two trees at the back of our yard that are growing through the power lines but they made no promises. It will be much easier for them to just cut off the branches touching the wires like they've done in the past and leave the bare trunks again. The trees eventually grow back but they are so ugly now after multiple haircuts like this that they are not worth saving anymore. 

Ironically, the last time the power line crews were here they asked us if they could remove the trees. I was determined to save them then. Now that we are ready to let them go, tree trimming budgets have been cut and the crews are only doing minimal trimming. We'll have to see what happens. I thought they'd get to our trees today, but they spent most of the day in our neighbor's yard. I'm sure they'll be back though. Our trees are tangled up in the power lines worse than anyone else's.

When I was starting out on my long walk this afternoon I noticed that a friend's house had been scraped. A big excavator was being unloaded as I was walking down the street and by the time I returned the house was gone. My friend sold the house a while back and I guess that the new owners just wanted the lot with a nice view of the lake. This was a very nice house and many years had gone into fixing it up. It still seems strange to me to buy a house and just tear it down, but it's pretty common these days. RIP old house.

I wish my seasonal allergies would go away. My eyes are watering constantly and I spend the day sneezing and blowing my nose. Sadly, things will get worse as Spring approaches and everything starts to grow again. I used to suffer from allergies only a few months a year. Now it seems like there are only a few months without them.

Dawn still doesn't seem to like walking in the morning. She was eager to get her harness on today and raced out the back door, but as soon as she got to the park she froze again. We got her moving using some treats we have in  our pockets, but she froze in place several times before we completed our loop and made it home again. Oddly, we walked exactly the same route this afternoon and Dawn was fine. No problems whatsoever. None of this makes any sense to me. Maybe it would if I was a dog.

I didn't accomplish much today. I was going to wash my car but didn't get around to it. I was going to write a letter to my sister, but didn't do that either. I did take several naps and thought about what I was going to do tomorrow. I probably won't do those things either. The older I get, the less important it seems to stay busy. I still get stuff done. It just takes a little longer.

I wonder what I'll find at the grocery store tomorrow? At first I just noticed that things were getting more expensive. Now I'm starting to notice that entire shelves are empty. We never should have shut the country down for two years. The economy isn't like a light switch. You can't just turn it off and back on again. I'm glad I'm retired. This doesn't seem like a great time to be looking for new clients. Everyone seems cautious and confused. Maybe we'll snap out of this malaise, but I certainly don't have any answers.

Lady Gogh is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4431

Dawn got a clean bill of health at her exam this morning. She's lost a little weight and all her lab reports looked good. Our appointment was very early this morning, but it left the rest of the day free. Basically Dawn is a very healthy dog with a lot of anxiety. She definitely didn't like going to the vet this morning. I think she knew right away that we weren't going for ice cream.

Against my better judgement, I went up on the roof after we got home from the vet and cleared away the remaining standing water and what was left of the Fall leaves. I was pleased to see that more water had evaporated than I anticipated, but not so pleased to discover a few new tears in the elastomer that will have to be patched. It was a little harder getting down from the roof than it used to be, but the job needed to be done. Now I can work on removing the stains from the living room ceiling again. I wish I could find someone to go up on the roof for me, but it's a weird job and if someone doesn't know what they're doing they could easily ruin the fragile roof.

Janet was determined to get Dawn to walk this morning. Eventually we made it around our short one mile loop. Dawn was fine after we got off the street that leads to the park. She just doesn't like that street early in the morning. I'm not looking forward to walking Dawn when Janet is on vacation. Maybe we'll just stay in the yard for a while. If Dawn freezes in place it often takes both of us to get her home again. At least she's a healthy dog. A little weird maybe, but that's a lot better than being sick.

I'm pretty healthy too, but I feel like a cripple when I take my long walks these days. I don't think there is much I can do about the foot pain. The cartilage that used to provide a cushion is mostly gone now and I don't want to resort to steroid shots. I don't want to do the fusion surgery either. It seems like having all the little bones in your feet fused together would make walking really awkward. Sometimes I think going back to the gym would be better, but using my other joints is no picnic either. Walking is still better than doing something that puts a lot of strain on my shoulders or knees.

I still got 20,000 steps today, but I'm walking really slow now. I guess that's OK. It gives me plenty of time to think about other things I might be doing. So far, I haven't come up with anything. Most things end up being like my experience with the star tracker. I like to learn new things, but as soon as I get reasonably good at something I lose interest. As soon as I get one really good picture using the tracker it will probably go back in the box. 

The duck hasn't returned to our yard, so I guess it was just passing through. I probably should have encouraged it to stay because it looks like it was eating grubs. We've always had problems with grubs in the backyard. They live underground and eat the roots of our grass. I think grubs are one reason it has always been difficult to get grass to grow in the yard. Ducks and dogs aren't always a good mix though. Most of our dogs would have tried to kill the duck. Dawn would have probably been scared of it.

This week has really gone quickly. I was going to wash the car today but that would have violated my one task a day rule. Surviving another trip up on the roof was plenty for one day. I'm sure Dawn would say that surviving a trip to the vet was plenty for her as well.

Landry is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4430

We got Dawn to walk this morning by doing our regular route backwards. She didn't want to go down the street first. When we turned around and went toward the field behind our house first, everything was fine. Maybe we should just let Dawn choose where to walk every morning. It would probably make life a lot easier.

I suspect that Dawn was more enthusiastic this morning because it was much warmer than yesterday and we got off to a late start. Dawn doesn't like the cold and I think she'd like to sleep in a little longer. I wouldn't mind sleeping longer myself, but Dawn refuses to walk with me alone, so we walk when Janet has the time. She's the busy one in the family.

After breakfast I went and got a haircut. My hair is a lot thinner these days, but it still grows fast. I always know it's time for a haircut when my eyebrows start getting bushy. I rarely see people and there isn't a pressing need to look presentable, but I still enjoy getting a haircut. It's relaxing in an odd sort of way. I catch up on things with my stylist, who Janet and I have both known for years, and when I walk out the door, life feels a little more organized. A good haircut doesn't make me look any younger. I feel a little younger though.

I think I walked way too long this afternoon. At least that's what my feet are telling me. It was such a nice day that it was easy to keep putting one foot in front of the other. By the time my feet started to hurt, I was already a long way from home. It is hard to believe we were in the middle of an ice storm a week ago. Today the temperature was over seventy degrees. It definitely felt like Spring today even though all the trees were bare.

I've been wondering what happened to the two Muscovy Ducks I usually see on my walk. I haven't seen them for quite a while. Imagine my surprise when I returned home and found a Muscovy Duck in our backyard. I thought this was the female of the pair I see in the park, but Janet thinks it is a different duck because it doesn't have quite as many white feathers. She's probably right because she's much more observant than I am. I wonder where this duck came from? In all the years we've lived here, we've never had a Muscovy Duck in our yard. There have been plenty of possums, a few raccoons, and the occasional armadillo, but we've never had ducks. This duck had no fear of us and didn't want to leave. Oddly, Dawn wasn't even interested in the duck. Some of our other Dalmatians would have been obsessed with a duck in the yard. The duck stayed around for hours but eventually I shooed it away. I knew that if the duck became a permanent resident, it wouldn't take long for Dawn to develop a taste for duck poop. 

I continue to see crowds watching the eagles while I walk. Predictably, there are divided opinions about what to do about these birds. I hear people in the park talking about how exciting it is to see them up close while others whisper that everyone should just leave the eagles alone. The two eagles haven't made it easy for people to leave them alone. They built their nest right alongside one of the busiest streets in town. Everyone knows where these birds are now. I predict that the crowds are going to be around for a while. 

When Dawn and Janet came back from training class tonight I asked how Dawn did. Janet didn't say anything, but pulled out a best in class trophy from behind her back. I couldn't believe it. Dawn has really come a long way. None of our other dogs have ever won the trophy on trophy night. Dash won a few ribbons before he got bored with training class, but he never came close to winning the trophy. I'm not sure that Dot ever won anything. At any rate, even though Dawn is consumed with fears and phobias, she is a very smart dog. We are proud of her.

Jazz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4429

We got off to a slow start today. Dawn froze on her morning walk and refused to move. This hasn't happened in ages. It's been so long since Dawn froze on a walk that we thought this behavior was ancient history. Usually Dawn will start following Janet if she starts walking away, but not today. We tried everything we could think of to get her interested in walking but all she wanted to do was go back to the house. Later in the afternoon we tried the same walk all over again and had no problems whatsoever. Go figure. 

When Dawn first began to freeze in place we didn't know whether she was having a small seizure or was just being extremely stubborn. We still don't know. She's always fine as soon as we return home. At least we were close to the house this time. Once on a walk I had to leave Janet with Dawn and walk over a mile home to get the car so we could retrieve Dawn and get her back to the house again. We've asked several vets what this all means but it seems like a mystery to them too.

I did even less today than I did yesterday. I paid some bills and made an appointment to get a haircut. Other than my perpetual long walk, that was about it. I got a letter from NASA this morning asking me to fill out a survey so they could assess my needs at the Artemis 1 launch before they made a final credentialing decision. I don't know if this means I'm about to get a press pass or not. The letter did say that completing the survey did not guarantee getting credentialed. I'll just have to wait and see. It does appear that NASA is expecting a lot of people for this historic launch. My best hope for getting accepted is if Covid fades away before the launch takes place. I never had a problem getting a press pass before all the Covid restrictions began.

I wish I hadn't gotten apprehensive about going up on the roof. I know there's still water up there and it doesn't evaporate very fast in the winter. It's discouraging to see brown stains begin to reappear on the living roof ceiling. I worked really hard to get rid of those stains less than a month ago. The roof does better if I go up and remove all the standing water right after a big rain, but I think my recent apprehension is warranted. My sense of balance just isn't as good as it used to be. Bad feet and a weak knee don't help either.

At least I can still walk. I had another 20,000 step day and I wasn't really trying. I wish I could find a source for the Hoka hiking boots. I know if I just go ahead and buy another pair of Hoka running shoes like I've got now, the boots will suddenly reappear and be available everywhere. These shoes really do help my feet but they don't last very long. High end running shoes never last very long. I'm used to keeping a pair of leather boots for decades. I've had boots that I've resoled five or six times. You can't do that with flimsy running shoes. You are real lucky if they last a year.

I added Jo Jo to the rescue website today and marked several dogs as adopted. This is the only website I work on anymore. There used to be dozens of websites that I actively maintained and website maintenance kept me busy every single day. The days of old fashioned static sites are over and my programming skills are deteriorating. I had a good run while it lasted though. It's weird to see a profession slipping away. I'll be able to keep writing forever, but I just don't have the desire to keep up with all the changes in website design. Today's dynamic sites are much more complicated than they used to be. Actually, everything in life seems more complicated than it used to be.

Tomorrow I get a haircut and Dawn gets her annual exam at the vet on Thursday. I'm trying to stick with doing one thing a day. It keeps life simpler.

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4428

Peanut has been adopted. When we saw this six month old puppy last week, we knew it wouldn't take long for him to find his forever home. There were still three Dalmatians at the kennel however. Today we met the newest member of the rescue program. Jo Jo is a three year old male Dalmatian mix who is still getting used to his new surroundings. We took some pictures for the website, but didn't spend a lot of time playing with this handsome boy. He needs some time to relax and get settled. Charlie and Oliver were certainly relaxed. They look forward to seeing us now and always enjoy the toys and treats we bring.

Visiting the kennel is really our only activity on Monday. Dawn got her sunrise walk, but I didn't take mine until later in the afternoon. I wanted to wait until it got warmer. It's hard to decide when to walk in the Winter. I have more energy in the morning, but don't have to wear as many coats in the afternoon. Either way, I usually have problems with my feet. I probably should start going back to the gym and try a different type of exercise. These long walks don't seem to be helping things.

I wonder when the trash is going to get picked up. The ice storm threw the sanitation department off schedule and last week's trash is still sitting out on the street. I don't think any trash got picked up last week because the dumpster at the kennel was full and so was the one at our vet. It's kind of amazing how much trash we all generate. In our neighborhood most of it is Amazon boxes. No wonder a lot of shopping malls are going out of business. Everyone is buying their stuff on Amazon.

I've been watching the power company tree crews slowly get closer and closer to our house. I wonder how cooperative they are going to be this time? We are going to ask them to take down the two trees near the alley. After many years of power line trimming, they have totally butchered these trees. Since they are right next to the power lines, there isn't much left when the trimming crews are finished with them. I wish now that we'd removed the trees seven years ago when the power company offered to cut them down. Now, they seem to be doing minimal trimming, so they might just make them really ugly again. We'll see. They'll probably be here later this week.

I didn't pay any attention to the eagles today. I didn't pay any attention to the star tracker either. I did a load of wash and ate a lot of snacks. That was about it. Other than meeting the new Dalmatian it was really an uneventful day. I wonder what I'm going to do with myself this year. I'm not nearly as obsessed with going to Kennedy Space Center or McDonald Observatory as I was in previous years. Covid restrictions have taken a lot of the fun out of traveling. I don't have the energy I used to either. I guess that's why I keep walking. It would be so easy to slip into doing nothing.

I still need to make an appointment to get my hair cut. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. I can't believe I wore my hair long for so many years. It just seems like a nuisance now. A lot of things seem like a nuisance as you grow older. I'm glad I started this blog a long time ago. Today my attitude would be more like "why bother." Writing something every day is definitely a nuisance.

Stortz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4427

Lots of walking today. The sun was out. The temperature was much warmer. It was just a nice day. Dawn enjoyed her sunrise walk. We had our usual Sunday breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast. We waited a while for the ice cream store to open and then we took Dawn on her Sunday outing. I thought the fields we typically walk in might still be muddy, but everything has pretty much dried up. The only evidence that there ever was an ice storm is lots of sand on the city streets and a few small pockets of snow in deeply shaded areas.

Dawn is completely predictable. She's excited to go in the car, scared of the ride itself, and really enjoys 80% of our walk in the park. There's one small section of the park she doesn't like. Unfortunately we have to cross this area to return to the car. I guess we could just turn around at this point, but then she wouldn't get much of a walk at all. Once we're past the dubious area and make a right turn to head up a small hill, Dawn is fine again. The area that Dawn doesn't like looks exactly the same as the rest of the park to Janet and I. Dawn obviously knows something we don't.

The ice cream store still has lots of help wanted signs. They're even offering a signing bonus now. It seems like this would be a nice place to work for a high school kid. It's not hard to serve ice cream and the place is a lot safer than your typical restaurant, since all the customers are drive through and never get out of their cars. What do I know though. Maybe there's some reason that it's a horrible job. The ice cream is good however and it certainly calms Dawn down. 

The park was crowded today. When I passed the eagle's nest on my long walk I noticed that there were two police cars protecting the eagles. I guess each eagle got their own police escort. Why can't regular people get this type of protection? You can get fined up to $100,000 if you mess with an eagle. People mess with each other all the time with no penalties at all. Shoplifters aren't even prosecuted anymore if you steal less than $750. It's a weird world we live in where birds get more respect than your average citizen. 

It's good to be an eagle. I'm not sure how smart these birds are though. They couldn't have picked a worse spot to build their nest. It's right next to a very busy road and large crowds are starting to form on the other side of the road as word spreads about their location. These birds could have had more privacy if they had decided to build their nest at the city zoo. People are going to have to be real careful driving down this road after the eggs hatch. If a baby eagle falls out of the nest and you happen to hit it with your car, you are in a world of trouble.

I'm glad the roof leaks have stopped. If I was younger and more nimble, I would have been up on the roof today, removing the remaining water. I've spent a considerable amount of time up on our roof, but I hesitate to do this anymore. If I do anything on the floor in the house these days, I have to have a plan for how to get up again. Every morning when I wake up, there are so many minor aches and pains that my first thought is always "I'm toast," followed by "How am I going to make it out to the kitchen?" I seriously wonder if I'm going to be able to travel to the observatory at all this year. There's a lot of rough ground out there and no hospital for hundreds of miles.

It looks like a busy week ahead. We'll probably visit the rescue Dalmatians tomorrow. I need to get a haircut soon. And Dawn has her annual exam at the vet later in the week. Three events in one week is a lot for me. Sometimes three events in a month is a lot. How did I ever get so much done when I was younger? It's a mystery.

Landry is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4426

Life is back to normal. It was much warmer today and the snow and ice has virtually disappeared. Dawn was happy to get a morning walk again. It was still chilly early this morning but the temperature was above freezing for most of the day. 

The roads are no longer empty. When I did my grocery shopping this morning the traffic was as bad as it ever was. The only thing strange today was that the grocery store shelves were surprisingly empty. I guess there was a lot of panic buying before the storm and nobody has had time to restock yet. I did manage to find what I needed though. All in all, this winter storm wasn't nearly as bad as everyone expected. We've seen a lot worse. Hopefully this is as bad as it gets this year. I have my doubts though. We've seen a lot of nasty weather later in February.

The leak in the office finally stopped. The leak stopped for a while last night when everything refroze, but started dripping again this morning. Luckily, this was the only leak this time. I can see a little staining in the living room ceiling where I carefully bleached everything clean just last week. This means that some moisture is getting in, but not enough to actually cause a leak. I'm glad I didn't attempt to repair the sheetrock yet. Now I'm going to have to bleach the ceiling all over again. I knew this was going to happen. Leaks always occur when the roof freezes over. I actually think the roof leaks started many years ago when a thick canopy of ice covered the roof for weeks during an extended cold spell. At least the pumps are working again. I pumped quite a bit of water off the roof today. I'm not climbing up there though. With my foot pain, a bad knee, and a poor sense of balance, it wouldn't be a wise thing to do. I'm really hoping to replace the roof this Spring. Still got to find a good contractor though.

Janet has returned to the gym, so I walked by myself today. Most of the roads and trails were dry and I was able to wear my Hoka shoes again. I'm sure this helped, but my feet still hurt. I'm still walking the same distance, but my pace has really slowed down. It's really pathetic how slow I'm walking lately. Just about anybody can pass me now. At least I'm still moving. That's the important thing.

The two eagles that have taken up residence in the park have become quite the local attraction. People call them Nick and Nora now. There was quite a crowd watching the nest today. There are always a lot more people in the park on weekends. I didn't bother to join the group this time. I've already seen the two eagles many times and once I managed to get a few good pictures my interest has started to wane. I'll probably get a few more pictures in the days ahead. There's no hurry though. The pair is expected to remain in the area until Summer.

I didn't bother to monkey around with the star tracker today. The next step will be to take it outside at night and actually try to track and photograph something. It's still too cold for that though. I don't expect any dramatic results because there is so much light pollution in Dallas. Orion is bright enough to see from our back yard though. That's a good place to start. 

I think it's going to be even warmer tomorrow, so it looks like Dawn will get her Sunday outing. Even though Dawn is a lazy dog who loves to lounge on the bed, I could tell that she missed her walks the past several days. It will be good to resume our regular routine again. The regular routine definitely includes ice cream. We all love ice cream.

Zorro is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4425

Another very cold day. There was no new snow or ice, but very little melted. As I expected, we have a small roof leak caused by heat from the house melting the ice on the roof from the bottom up. There is still a layer of ice on the roof, but it has started to melt underneath. It's way too slippery to climb up on the roof and fix things, so I'll just have to live with this for a while. At least it's a very small leak so far.

Dawn hates the snow, so she went without a walk again today. I should have done the same, but I run out of things to do in the house fairly quickly. I need a long walk to kill time. Janet can't go back to the gym until the roads clear up, so we took another walk together in the park today. I tried some different boots but they were worse than yesterday's boots. I really need to find some of the more comfortable Hoka boots, but they seem to be out of stock nationwide. I'm sure they'll be back in stock this summer when I won't need them anymore. I think we saw one of the eagles in the nest this afternoon, but we couldn't get closer because melting snow has turned the best vantage point into a swamp. It was a nice day for a walk though. The sun was out and there wasn't much of a wind. I just wish it were a little warmer.

I think I've finally figured out how to use the star tracker. Since I was house bound for most of the day, I spent a lot of time trying to master the surprisingly complex gadget. You can't really track stars indoors during the day, but you can see if the camera and tracker are pointed in the right direction using planetarium software on my computer. At any rate, I think I'm making progress. I was able to go back and forth between several targets without the software crashing. I also learned how to use the tracker to create panoramas and time lapse sequences. I still haven't taken the device outside and photographed anything, but that day will come. All in good time.

It's too bad I don't enjoy watching Netflix movies. Snow days are perfect for binge watching something. I'm not sure what I enjoy anymore. Astronomy is a strange hobby to have if you don't feel comfortable going outside at night. Dallas feels too dangerous for astronomy. I love my time out at McDonald Observatory, but it is way too far away for casual observing. The worse my foot gets, the more I dread making a long car trip as well. I'm even starting to feel out of the loop down at Kennedy Space Center. There's a lot going on right now and if you only make one or two trips a year, it's hard to be considered a serious part of the space reporting community. Some of my Florida friends are on site almost every week. Hopefully, I'll still get to cover the Artemis 1 launch later this year, but you never know. I'd better take advantage of any opportunity I get. I'm starting to think my traveling days are numbered.

It looks like I will be traveling to the grocery store tomorrow. The larger roads are almost completely free of ice by now and tomorrow should be even warmer than today. I'm sure prices will continue to get higher.  Almost everything is higher these days. I got a bill from my web hosting company yesterday and the annual rate almost doubled. Do I even need a website anymore? Probably not. You think more about the cost of things when you are retired. When I was working I never gave a second thought to the cost of anything. In retrospect, those days were pretty good.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4424

We got ice and a little snow, but our heavily hyped winter storm wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated. We never lost power, so the house stayed nice and warm. This was important because it was very cold today. I hope our good luck continues because it is supposed to be even colder tomorrow. It's probably good that last night's freezing rain turned to sleet fairly quickly because the trees never got coated with a lot of ice. I didn't see any downed trees in our neighborhood.

Janet and I had planned to just stay in the house all day. That was certainly Dawn's plan as well because it was hard to even get her to go out in the backyard and pee. Some dogs love snow. She isn't one of them. After several hours of doing absolutely nothing Janet and I got bored and decided to go on a walk. It probably wasn't the wisest thing to go walking on ice when the temperature was 20 degrees but we both had cabin fever. I knew I couldn't wear my Hoka shoes on a day like this so I dug out my Dad's old Pivetta hiking boots. These boots are almost 60 years old and they are still better than anything you can buy today. A pair of`Pivetta boots was the gold standard for serious hikers for many years. It's too bad this fine Italian company is no longer in business. Lord knows what a pair of hand made boots like this would cost in today's market. You just can't get things like this anymore.

The sleet and snow made the ground crunchy instead of slippery. Even going downhill felt fairly safe. We stayed away from roads wherever possible and stuck to dirt trails. For the most part there wasn't a wind. That helped a lot. When the wind did pick up near the lake, it was brutal. We didn't set any records today, but we did walk almost four miles. Even though we were both very cold when we returned to the house, the walk was much better than sitting around the house staring out the window. I think we have both become addicted to movement.

I don't know why it is going to be so cold tomorrow. The storm has already moved well beyond us. I'll be glad when it is above freezing again. There's a lot of ice on the roof right now and I hope the pumps still work when the ice starts melting. If memory serves, these type of conditions frequently cause roof leaks. Heat from the house melts the ice from the bottom while the layer on the top is still frozen. the water can't escape and it typically finds a way inside. The pumps froze up fairly quickly last night, so they won't be much help until things get a lot warmer.

We both started our cars this afternoon and kept them running until the engines reached operating temperature. This is a habit we got into during last winter's extended freezing spell. There's nothing worse than the sound of an engine that won't turn over on a really cold morning. I won't drive on ice unless it's absolutely necessary, but I do want a reliable car in the winter. I learned how to drive on ice when I was going to high school in Fairbanks, Alaska. On an empty road I'm generally OK. It's the other cars you have to worry about. Very few Dallas drivers have any idea how to drive on ice and snow.

I feel bad for my friends out at McDonald Observatory. It's five degrees and snowing out there. I think they are essentially trapped until conditions improve. Everyone is well prepared though. They stock up on food ahead of time and if things get really bad they can all move temporarily into the Astronomers Lodge which has a large emergency generator. It's only when gasoline for the generator starts to run low that things start to get dicy. I miss my time out at the observatory. Not in the winter though. Being trapped on a mountain in a snowstorm is not for me.

Dawn is such a lazy dog. She had a good time just lounging on the bed today. She had no interest in going outside whatsoever. Janet finally got her to go outside and poop, but she had to put Dawn on a lash to get her out the back door. Needless to say, Dawn did not join us on our walk today. 

Tomorrow will probably be more of the same. I hope a lot of the sleet and ice blows away or evaporates. I don't think it is going to melt. The temperature tomorrow morning will be nineteen degrees.

Casey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4423 - Groundhog Day

Things aren't looking good. Milltown New Jersey had to cancel their annual Groundhog Day festivities when their popular groundhog, Milltown Mel, died a few days before he was able to prognosticate the length of this year's Winter. Granted, this wasn't Punxsutawney Phil, but Milltown Mel was still a very popular rodent. I'm not sure if this unfortunate event had any effect on today's weather in Dallas, but it isn't looking good down here either. It's currently 32 degrees and raining hard. The temperature has been steadily dropping all day long and the rain is expected to turn into sleet and ice before midnight.

Janet got groceries today and brought home extra blankets from the storage warehouse. I started the gasoline generator to make sure it worked properly and made sure the smaller solar generator is fully charged. I started my car to make sure the battery was good, but didn't leave the driveway. I don't plan on going anywhere until this winter storm is over. Northerners probably think this is overkill, but ice storms have a way of knocking Dallas out cold. We just aren't prepared for stuff like this. Everyone who has lived here a while has memories of a bad ice storm and nobody wants another one.

We got an early start this morning in anticipation of what was coming. Dawn's sunrise walk was actually the warmest it was going to be all day. I took my long walk right after breakfast and I could feel the cold front arriving. I dressed warmly though and I was fine. I pretty much had the park to myself today. Everyone else was probably out emptying the shelves at every grocery store in town. The empty park turned out to be good for me though. I ended up seeing both eagles today. I saw the female in her nest and the male was sitting atop a nearby tree looking for food. I even had my camera with me. My pictures are definitely getting better. I was pretty pleased with today's results.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. I've got the pumps on the roof running to try and get as much water off the roof as possible before everything freezes. Janet and I both did our laundry so we wouldn't have a big pile of dirty clothes if the power goes out. I need to remind myself that this is only a two day event. The freeing rain should stop by tomorrow morning and Friday should just be very cold. By Saturday afternoon, Dallas should be back to normal again. I don't think everyone is nearly as worried about the weather as they are about the power company's inept response to freezing temperatures. We're pretty good at keeping cool in the Summer. Not so good at keeping warm in the Winter.

Dawn definitely won't be getting a sunrise walk tomorrow morning. I won't be taking my long walk either. I may be foolish but I'm not an idiot. An old guy who has balance issues has no business walking on ice. It's kind of a shame that my long streak of 20,000 step days will be broken. Despite the foot pain, I was really making progress.

I guess I've done everything I can get prepared for something that still may turn out to be a non-event. Better safe than sorry though. Just about the only thing I hate worse than cold weather is ice. Ice is something you should put in your drinks. It definitely shouldn't be toppling trees, bringing down power lines, and coating the roads. Forget everything I ever said about hot Texas summers. Texas winters are even worse.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4422

We walked Dawn this morning and then I took Janet to the eye surgery center. The place was huge. It was also crowded. I never dreamed there were so many people in town with eye problems. The surgery center was very efficient. I got text messages every hour updating Janet's progress. The cataract surgery went well and Janet said that I had nothing to worry about when it was my turn.

All our phones seem to be dying. I took another phone to the neighborhood fix-it place today and they put in a new battery in less than thirty minutes. This is so much easier than going to the Apple Store. On the way back home I drove by the eagle's nest and noticed that the area was being fenced off. There didn't appear to be any eagles in the nest, but I can almost guarantee that there will be wrecks along this stretch of road, now that the nest location is common knowledge.

On the other side of the road there now appears to be a growing contingent of eagle watchers.  Some bring lawn chairs and sit there for hours whether the eagles are there or not. This nest must be new. It appears that the whole city discovered it the same day I did.

I don't think I've done a good job preparing for the storm. We haven 't gone to the store and bought extra food, stocked up on batteries, or done any other panic buying. Actually buying extra food doesn't make sense. If the power goes out for any length of time, the food in your refrigerator is just going to go bad anyway. I was going to test my generator to make sure I can still get it started, but I can do that tomorrow. The generator is a little harder to start with a bad shoulder, but I'm pretty sure it still works fine. It's too bad that the power company guys didn't trim our trees near the alley before the storm. They're in the neighborhood now, but they haven't made it to our house yet.

When I took my long walk today, I brought a camera with me. The eagles weren't in their nest unfortunately, but I did see one of them a mile or so down the road. The birds hunt over a fairly wide area, so you never know when they are going to turn up next. Usually when you see one, it is sitting on a branch near the top of a tall tree. One of these days I'll get a good picture, but it probably won't be when I'm taking my long walk. It's too much trouble to carry a DLSR with a telephoto lens while I'm walking and the little pocket camera I had with me today just doesn't take great bird pictures. It does pretty well with squirrels though.

It's weird how dependent we are on electricity. We have a gas furnace, but it doesn't work without electricity. The fan and a lot of switches and sensors all require electricity. It's too bad we don't have a fireplace. A fire in the fireplace makes a long power outage a little less ominous. We do have hot water though. The water heater doesn't seem to require any electricity at all. Maybe this storm won't be that bad. I'm not a very positive person, so I always expect the worst.

Janet has a follow up appointment with her eye doctor tomorrow, but I don't think Dawn will be going to training class tomorrow night. The rain isn't supposed to start until the afternoon. Who knows when it will start turning to ice. I plan on hunkering down and not going anywhere until this is all over. Hopefully, we won't lose power this year.

Myles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day