Day 2550

These days are getting longer and longer. The dogs are typically pretty good in the morning. After breakfast and a long walk, they're usually content to sleep the rest of the morning. This brief quiet time is when I get most of my work done. Things begin to fall apart after lunch. Dot will usually sleep until 1 PM and occasionally as late as 2 PM. After that, she is determined to stay up for the rest of the day. This would be great if she could walk, but she can't. She has perfected a pitiful look and bark that summons me from my desk every time she needs something. All afternoon we walk from her bed to the water bowl in the kitchen and then out the back door. Sometimes she pees when we go outside, but usually she just pees in her bed. Every time she sits or lays down I have to make sure there's a puppy training pad strategically positioned under her.

Dash gets bored now because I don't have time anymore to take him on brisk five mile walks like I used to. When dogs get bored, all they want to do is eat. I've had to split their dinner into two smaller courses spaced an hour and a half apart so we can make it through the afternoon in one piece. It may seem silly, but it works. Usually, Dot and Dash will go back to sleep for a short while after the first half of their dinner. This is when I run errands and go to the post office. After they finish their two part dinner, they both get an evening walk. Dot only walks to the end of the street, but her short walk takes just as long as it takes to walk Dash several miles. Lord, that girl is slow.

Janet usually helps with the evening walks, but she's really busy during the holiday season and often gets home late. Now is as good a time as any to learn how to make this work by myself. When Janet leaves to visit her family for Christmas, there won't be any choice. Walking Dot alone has been slow going so far. She likes to follow Dash, but there is no way I can walk the two dogs together while holding up Dot's rear end with the harness. We're learning though. We did a little  better today than we did yesterday.

I finally figured out why my fitness tracker app was still tracking steps even after I lost it and the battery ran out. It turns out that the UP band app on my phone also receives information from my Apple watch. It wasn't ghost data after all. It was just information from my watch. Cloud computing has made everything so interconnected and complex that I have no idea what is going on anymore. My appointment calendar seems to be everywhere now. Text messages appear on my watch and I can answer my phone in the car by pressing a button on the steering wheel. Who knew that the watch was sending information all over the place too.

I tried to download some new Avid software before my upgrade subscription runs out in a few days. I forgot my password to the download site and had to request a new one. After I finally got the lengthy download started, our Internet went out. I had to start the download all over again after I rebooted the U-Verse router and re-established the connection. Was the latest version of Pro Tools worth all this trouble? Maybe. I didn't use Pro Tools at all this year, but next year I might start getting audio jobs again. You never know.

I'd love for tomorrow to be peaceful and productive, but I'm probably just going to be spending most of my time cleaning up poop. We have our tree up now, but I'm definitely not feeling the Christmas spirit yet.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2549

Sometimes I wonder why you guys continue reading. Very little happens these days. I'm OK with that because I'm afraid the next big news will be bad news. I still have the occasional writing and website assignments, but mostly life revolves around keeping Dot comfortable. She continues to slowly deteriorate and there is very little I can do at this point to change the outcome of this story. Although Dot is weak, she still seems happy. Often, I think she is happier than I am. I could learn a lot from her determination and resilience. I don't have many strong desires anymore, but I'm determined to help Dot continue her journey as long as she's willing. Who knows. Maybe she'll make it to her 17th birthday.

Today was mostly spent avoiding the rain and trying to stay warm. In the Summer I always think it would be nice to move to Wyoming, but when cold weather arrives I have second thoughts about northern Winters. Maybe I've already found the best place to live. Texas has a low cost of living compared to many states. It only snows a few times a year. There are bugs and snakes here, but it's not nearly as bad as Florida. I really think the perfect place to live only exists in my imagination.

One of my Dalmatian Rescue friends gave me her old UP band when I lost mine last weekend. She said it was broken, but thought I might be able to fix it. It didn't want to sync with my phone at all and there were some weird error lights flashing. I'd seen these error lights before on an earlier UP band I'd owned and thought I'd try a hard reset. The reset made the error lights go away but it still wouldn't sync with my phone. Since this looked like an early model band, I thought I'd try the very old Jawbone app on my first generation iPad. This worked like a charm. The fitness band synced with the old app and started counting steps again. It was actually kind of enjoyable to work my way through this process. I like fixing things.

Since it is nearing the end of the year, renewal notices are starting to arrive for the subscription software I've been forced to use. The main two I need to decide whether to renew are Pro Tools and Avid Media Composer. I renewed my license last year, but never used either application all year. Will I use Pro Tools next year? It's hard to decide these things. The software licenses are kind of pricey, but much less expensive than letting them lapse and having to buy the software all over again. I've been keeping current on business software because I refuse to acknowledge that my business is dying. It is basically finished though. Kaput. It's hard to imagine finding new clients at this point. Someday, I'll have to come to grips with this.

I paid some bills today and made a few quick calculations to make sure I still have enough left over to pay my property tax later this month. Christmas is coming and Dot has another big exam at the cancer center next week. Those bills won't come until January though, so I guess I'm OK. It would be nice to have a month with no big bills at all, but that's not going to happen.

Hopefully, the weather will improve a bit tomorrow. It was hard getting either dog to walk today. Rain or shine, tomorrow will probably be very similar to today.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2548

Most of the photo equipment has been put away. I'm glad I went to the storage warehouse early in the morning, because the skies got darker and darker as the day progressed. I managed to unload the equipment, pick up some more Tramadol for Dot at the vet, and fill the car with gas before it began to rain in earnest. I had the usual rainy day problems with the dogs when I returned home, but we're all gradually getting used to the bad weather.

While I was packing up the photo equipment, I thought I'd clean out a closet, because I was convinced that I might have dropped the fitness tracker there on Saturday morning while I was getting dressed. I uncovered a lot of dust and some very nice clothes I'd completely forgotten about, but there was no UP band to be seen. I think the illusive tracker is gone for good.

When I was at the storage warehouse, I noticed that the place had a new manager again. Being the manager of a storage warehouse must not be a very good job, because there seems to be a huge turnover. This new manager didn't seem to give a shit, because the place was filthy. The last manager was friendly and kept the place spotless. I was hoping he'd stay a while. No such luck.

I was glad I didn't have to unload heavy equipment in the rain, but maybe I should have done my website revisions first this morning. When I finally got settled in at the computer and started to work, both dogs decided that they needed attention instead. The revisions I was making today were complicated and every time I got interrupted by Dot, I would forget what I was doing and had to start over. I eventually got the client's site working again, but I started to feel like Sisyphus pushing the rock up the hill before the job was finished. What should have taken me one hour, took me close to four instead.

Janet and I went to a Christmas party at the Presidential Library this evening. The food was amazingly good, but there were some odd touches to the evening. Even though there was a full dinner being served, there were no dinner knives anywhere. Everyone was cutting their meat with a fork. Maybe this no knife thing is some sort of secret service rule when there is a president in the vicinity. It did seem weird to watch a lot of old people trying to cut their prime rib with a fork. "We're not this old, are we," Janet whispered to me at one point. Yep, I'm afraid we are. I watched one poor gentleman at our table put whipped cream on a cinnamon stick and try to eat it for dessert before his wife told him that the cinnamon stick was meant to stir your hot chocolate with. I was too smart to eat a cinnamon stick for dessert. I had some brightly colored cookies instead, because I knew they would photograph well. It was too dark and rainy to photograph anything else today.

Rainy days increase the likelihood of an accident in the house. Since it was exceptionally rainy today, I had pee and poop to clean up. Dot's last accident happened just before we were getting ready to leave for dinner. I tried to clean up the poop without getting any on my suit. Somehow, everything worked out fine. Incontinence definitely forces you to keep things in perspective.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2547

Today was pretty hectic. One of the larger dogs we photographed tore the muslin backdrop. One of the smaller dogs pooped on Santa's red suit. In between, we had a lot of dogs that didn't really understand the whole concept of pet pictures. I'm sure that most of them would have rather gone to a dog park today. Eventually, we managed to get good pictures of almost everybody though. You just have to be patient.

There were no cats today, but there were a lot of Dalmatians. Quite a few were alumni from our rescue program. It was almost like a Dalmatian Rescue reunion. We saw young dogs that we had rescued a few weeks ago and old dogs that we had rescued over a decade ago. It was nice to see that all of these dogs had fabulous homes with people who really loved them. I guess I'll do this again next year. It sure is tiring though. I didn't even bother to put away my equipment when I got home tonight.

I still can't find my UP fitness band. The odd thing is that it appears to still be counting steps, even though no one is wearing it. My first thought was that one of the dogs might have eaten the band, but Janet said this was ridiculous. It is pretty unlikely, since neither dog has any interest in eating things like this. My second thought was that somebody stole the band, but that is unlikely too, since the band connects to my phone using short range Bluetooth. If somebody else was wearing the band, it wouldn't pair with my phone anymore. My third thought was that the UP band never actually measured real steps in the first place. My phone can measure steps too. What if the UP app used the measuring sensors in my phone and the tracker itself was just a little rubber bracelet with flashing LED lights? I'd never know the difference. The battery on the tracker is dead now, so it stopped sending  information sometime this afternoon. I may never find an answer to this mystery.

It's going to take quite a while to put all the photo equipment away tomorrow. I had some minor electrical problems over the weekend and I really ought to test everything carefully to make sure it will work the next time we have a Dalmatian Rescue photo event. I have a feeling that we won't be doing another photo shoot anytime soon. All the volunteers agreed that we're getting older and these events aren't getting any easier. It's hard to believe that we used to have photo events for Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, and sometimes even Halloween. We'll probably do Christmas pictures again next year, but it won't be a marathon like it used to be. Two events a year is plenty.

Janet and I are going to a Christmas party tomorrow. The event is kind of formal, so Janet told me to be sure to air out a suit before we go. Like that would make a difference. It wouldn't make any difference if I air out, press, or take a suit to the dry cleaners. I'm still going to look like an old guy wearing a suit I bought twenty years ago. I suspect that it doesn't really matter. Most of the people at this party will be even older than I am. One good thing about old people parties is that they don't last very long. I feel pretty safe leaving Dot for a while. We should be back home in less than two hours.

It's been a long day, but everybody survived and maybe a few people will have a better Christmas card this year as a result of our Santa Paws photo shoots. Tomorrow, it's back to drinking banana, strawberry smoothies for breakfast and cleaning up dog poop.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2546

I was surprised that our first photo shoot went as well as it did today. When I got up to load the car, it was cold and raining. I took a shower last night, because I knew there wouldn't be time this morning. By the time I got to our location, there was barely time to set up before our first customers arrived. Nevertheless, everything went well. For the most part the pets we photographed were well behaved and their owners were friendly. We photographed almost as many cats today as dogs today. When we started doing Christmas pictures for Dalmatian Rescue, it was almost unheard of to bring a cat to one of these events. Now, cats wearing costumes are everywhere. We even had a rat today. The owner said it was a gerbil, but it sure looked like a rat to me. Several families with small children used the occasion to take a family portrait and most agreed that crashing a pet picture event was a lot easier than waiting in line so their kids could see a shopping mall Santa.

I lost my fitness tracker today. Who know when the thing fell off my wrist, but I couldn't find it anywhere. I was pretty sure that I lost the UP band while I was loading the car this morning, but after carefully retracing my steps, I couldn't find anything. When I got home from the photo shoot, I noticed that the tracker still appeared to be paired to my phone. The app showed that it was still counting steps too and even measuring a heart beat. It was almost as if the thing was still on my wrist, but had become invisible. The whole thing is baffling. I wasted a huge amount of time this evening looking for the wayward fitness band, but I still can't find it. The app shows that the battery has just about run out. Where is this thing? When the battery goes dead, it will disappear on the app and become even harder to find. I did find my reading glasses while I was looking for the missing band, so I guess there is still hope.

Tomorrow's photo shoot location if much further away than today's, so I will need to get up even earlier. I wish I could just leave all the equipment in the car to save time, but I don't have that much faith in my fellow man. I don't ever leave anything unattended in the car anymore. Today was busy, but I think even more people have signed up for Santa photos tomorrow. I need to stay focused and quit worrying about the fitness band. It will either turn up or it won't. At this point there isn't much I can do about it.

All in all, things went pretty well today. One of the flash triggers broke, but the other one worked just fine. Everyone loved the new backdrop we got this year. No dogs have peed on it yet either. So far, so good. Dot and Dash did well today, although I don't think Janet enjoyed staying home all day to keep an eye on them. She enjoys these special pet picture events more than I do. It's too bad we couldn't have just switched roles today.

I think my obsession with the missing fitness band reveals a disturbing character flaw. A weird mystery will capture my attention far easier than the ongoing needs of daily life. Maybe that's why I spend more time trying to figure out when Dot is going to poop next than I do trying to solicit new business. I keep trying to predict things that just can't be predicted. And when is the FedEx guy going to deliver that package anyway? That at least should be completely predictable. In the end, I want everything in life to run like clockwork and it just doesn't work that way. Even my watches don't run like clockwork.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2545

Everything seemed so busy today. The restaurant was crowded when I went out for breakfast this morning. There was a long line at the pharmacy when I went to pick up a prescription. Even the AT&T store was crowded when I went to exchange a broken TV remote control. I asked the pharmacist why she thought there was such a long line today and she said today was the day when all the Christmas parties started and people were running their errands early so they could go to a party tonight. Could be. I wouldn't know. I haven't been to a Christmas party in years.

Here's how life has changed. I've exchanged TV remote controls before. These things seem to break frequently. It used to be that the store had a big box of remotes back in the stock room. They'd give you a new remote out of the box and throw the bad one away. Now, a guy fills out a lengthy requisition form on an iPad and they ship you the new remote from somewhere in California. When the new remote arrives, you are supposed to return the defective remote in the same box and ship it back to California. Wouldn't it be easier to just keep a box on remote controls in the back of the store?

While I was filling out my application for a new remote control, the sales guy casually mentioned that my U-verse service was going to be discontinued next year. Did I want to sign up for the new replacement service? Jeez. It's taken me years to get U-verse to run reliably. Now that everything is finally pretty dependable, they're discontinuing it. "I'm sure you'll like our new fiber optic service even better," the sales guy told me. That wouldn't be hard, since I never liked U-verse at all. I would have discontinued U-verse several years ago if it weren't for the fact that Time Warner is even worse.  Who knows. Maybe the new fiber optic service is great. I bet I'm going to have problems getting my office network working again though. It's almost inevitable that some of my old equipment won't want to play nice with AT&T's new equipment.

I've been trying to get ready for tomorrow's photo shoot. The first problem is always finding everything. Equipment I don't use very often has a tendency to disappear. It's important to have enough fully charged batteries to make it through the day as well. It's fairly easy to remember the camera batteries. It's the little things like the batteries for the flash triggers that I tend to forget. I always buy a new backdrop before these Christmas photo shoots, mostly so repeat customers won't have the same pictures year after year. When Janet and I unfolded the new muslin tonight, it didn't look like it was the right size.  We measured everything and it was the exactly same size as last year's backdrop. Maybe my eyes are just playing tricks on me.

I was working on a new article today when I realized that the subject seems very familiar. I looked through my files and it appears that I wrote exactly the same article last Spring. Did the client forget that we'd already covered this subject, or am I the one who's missing something? I sent the client an e-mail saying that we'd probably done this already, but I haven't heard anything back yet. Hope I didn't talk myself out of a job. This article would have been very easy to write.

I'll be real glad when these holiday photo shoots are over with. Each year, the equipment seems heavier and my aches and pains get worse. I thought last year might be my last, but here I am again. Janet is staying home this year, so I wont have to worry about Dot. All I have to worry about is whether I make it through the day.

Greta is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2544

I never know what to expect when I open my e-mail in the morning. Today there were more new assignments than I'd had all week. It was going to be a busy day. After taking Dash on a long walk and finishing breakfast, I got started on a lengthy website revision. It seemed like I'd just changed this site recently, but I guess it was time to change it again. It's not my role to question these things.

The dogs were good this morning, so I was able to work quickly and efficiently. Before noon, I was ready to get started on a new writing assignment. Neither of today's assignments were very exciting, but I was glad to have them. It's still important to have something to do besides cleaning up dog poop.

The replacement parts I ordered for the Waterpik and the LunaTik iPhone case I ordered on Black Friday both came in the mail today. I love getting things in the mail. If I had more money, I'd order even more stuff I don't really need. I think the main reason I started collecting watches many years ago was that I liked getting little packages in the mail. I was never a very orthodox collector. I seldom bought expensive or traditionally "collectible" watches. I preferred obscure brands with odd looking dials. People always worry about being scammed when buying watches online. I never worried at all, because who is ever going to go to the trouble to counterfeit a cheap watch. Whenever a package comes in the mail these days, it reminds me of my collecting days. Eventually, I realized that most of the fun was over as soon as I opened the package. I don't collect anymore, but I make no apologies for the money I've wasted on useless stuff. When you work alone for years at a time, you've got to use your imagination to keep your day interesting.

If you saw my closet, you'd probably think I collected coats. In my mind, I'm just being practical. Each coat represents a ten degree difference in temperature. Today I picked one of my warmer coats for our morning walk. This was the first time this year that the temperature was in the 30's when I woke up. Nothing froze, but it got pretty close. I dread the day when the temperature actually does drop below freezing. The garden hose on the back porch has become an essential component in my continuing efforts to keep Dot clean. It is much easier to take Dot outside and clean the poop off her butt with a hose and then dry her off with a bath towel than it is to try and accomplish the same thing inside using wet rags.

I've been wondering what to do with the extra garbage can the city sent me last month. One of my neighbors solved the problem for me. They stole it. Why they would want a broken garbage can is beyond me, but at least it isn't sitting behind my house in the alley anymore. I've actually been having pretty good luck getting my trash emptied recently. Maybe there's a new driver on our route. I haven't had any problems in well over a month, but I'm still superstitious. When I took the trash out this evening, I made sure to place it in my lucky spot. If a car is ever parks in this spot on Thursday night, I don't know what I'm going to do.

Dot is sleeping now, but she still hasn't pooped since early this morning. It makes me nervous. This is an accident just waiting to happen.

Jada is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2543

I was a little better organized today. I tried to get as much done as I could while the dogs were asleep. Once they woke up, I knew it was going to be a lost cause. It was a nice day, so I got up on the roof and removed all the standing water. This is the worst time of year for keeping the roof dry. The large Oak, Elm, and Pecan trees in the yard are all shedding leaves. Wet leaves are heavy and a lot more trouble to move than dry leaves. The roof was covered with water and wet, soggy leaves, but unfortunately there are still a lot of leaves left on the trees. I have a feeling that I'm going to have to do this again.

Since the dogs were still sleeping when I returned to the house, so I moved on to my next task. I needed to replace a lot of pictures on a website, but since the client had already resized them for me, the job went quickly. I was done before noon. I checked on the dogs again and Dot was still sleeping soundly, so I took a shower. Dot often poops in her bed while I take a shower, and today was no exception. Luckily, she was still asleep and laying on a disposable pad, so I was able to clean things up easily. This is when my luck ran out.

Dash woke up while I was cleaning Dot up and immediately ran to the kitchen and started barking for his lunch. I lifted Dot up so she could join him, but I forgot to immediately take her outside to pee. Both dogs have a rice cake for lunch. It's not really a meal like breakfast or dinner, but it keeps them from getting bored. While Dot was eating her rice cake, she started to pee on a rug. Damn. I should have remembered the correct sequence of things. Everything is so complicated now. I have to cut the rice cake into tiny pieces because Dot has trouble chewing now and almost choked on a larger bite of rice cake recently.

After the dogs finish their lunch, I take them outside and then they typically used to go back to sleep again. Not anymore. Dot is restless in the afternoons now. She paces around and wants me to take her outside every ten minutes. If I ignore her, she barks. I can't ignore her for very long. Even if she manages to get out of her bed on her own, she quickly falls or manages to get stuck in a corner.

When I could tell Dot was getting tired, I penned her in an area where she couldn't hurt herself and went to the vegan take out place to pick up something for dinner. I was looking forward to the meal they had featured on their website, but it was all gone when I got there, so I had to choose something else. I've discovered that I don't like all vegetarian meals. Some are definitely better than others. I picked out something new that looked interesting and returned home, hoping that Dot hadn't pooped again.

Dot's bed was clean when I returned home, but the day wasn't over yet. She ended up pooping and falling in the mess while I was getting Dash ready for his evening walk. I was hoping for a relaxing walk after I got Dot cleaned up and started washing another load of dog blankets, but Dash wasn't being cooperative. We were almost home when he froze and refused to move forward. Nothing I could do would convince him to walk up the final hill that completed out journey. Finally, I gave up and we backtracked and returned home the way we came. This behavior seemed insane, but I'll give Dash the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he could smell coyotes. There are coyotes in the neighborhood again. One more thing to worry about.

By the time Janet returned from work, both dogs were exhausted and were sleeping peacefully. This is what usually happens. Janet never believes the trials and tribulations I deal with during the day.

Belle is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2542

I need to rearrange how I spend my day. I can't change getting up too early. We have to get the dogs fed and walked before Janet goes to work. I can't change going to bed too late either. I'm usually the only one still awake to take Dot out to pee at the end of the day. In between, there's still a little flexibility. I need to try and get anything important done between 9 AM and 2 PM. So far, it's a pretty safe bet that this is when both dogs will be asleep. After they eat their rice cake for lunch, all bets are off. I don't know where Dot got her new burst of energy, but she's active almost all afternoon now.

I wish she was steady enough on her feet so that I could just let her wander around on her own. Unfortunately, she's not steady at all. She falls down a lot, gets stuck behind furniture, and poops when you least expect it. Afternoons are a three ring circus, but it's good to see Dot active again.

My project for today was seeing which applications still worked on the laptop after the big system upgrade a couple of days ago. I haven't tested everything, but so far I've only had to delete four applications. That's actually pretty good. There isn't room on my desk to set up a second computer, so I had to work on the kitchen table. The dogs didn't like this. If I'm in the kitchen, they think it's time to be fed. If I ignore them for too long, they both start barking. Needless to say, I didn't get as much accomplished as I'd hoped. Maybe I've done enough. Microsoft Word works. Final Cut Pro works. And I think Pro Tools works. The web browser and e-mail work too. That's all I ever used to use when I was on the road anyway,

I meant to get the water off the roof today, but I didn't get around to it this morning when the dogs were sleeping. This afternoon, Dot would never settle down long enough for me to get anything done. I didn't want to be up on the roof if she fell or pooped somewhere. It probably wouldn't have even mattered if I was up on the roof. Dot wandered into the office just before dinner time and promptly pooped all over the carpet. I'd taken her outside at least ten times today, including once five minutes before she messed up the carpet. Why she couldn't poop while she was outside remains a mystery to me. Basically, I'm so tired of cleaning up poop I could scream.

The humidity was actually lower outside than in the house today. This is a rarity. The weather was nice, so I opened the windows and let the house air out. 25% relative humidity is a lot nicer than 85% relative humidity. I hope the dry weather continues. It would be nice to spend the Winter without worrying about mold.

I started charging batteries for this weekend's photo shoot. Tomorrow I'll unpack the strobes and make sure that they still work. I've got all this equipment, but mostly I just take pictures with my phone these days. I thought oday's sunrise was worth putting on my camera roll. Dash didn't even notice the beautiful sunrise. As always, he had his nose to the ground, trying to sniff out nasty things to eat.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2541

The dogs wore me out today. Usually they sleep enough during the day so I can get my work done. Not today. Dash had an upset stomach and needed to go outside frequently. Dot was just restless. Every hour or so she would start barking for me to lift her out of her bed. We'd walk around aimlessly for a while and then she'd go back to bed again. We did this over and over again for most of the day. Dot is forgetful now. She'll go to her water bowl and then she'll go outside, and as soon as we come in, she'll go to her water bowl again. When she's restless, she'll repeat these simple activities over and over again. I can't just leave her to her own devices, because she'll quickly fall over or get herself stuck in a corner somewhere. She can also poop at any time without warning, so I'm always following behind her, holding up her rear end with the harness. I guess it's a good thing when Dot feels active, but sometimes I wonder if her restlessness is caused by pain or discomfort.

I'm used to a routine. When the routine changes I get worried. What does it mean when Dot gets restless and agitated? There have been times in the past when restlessness was the first sign of a serious illness. Usually, it just means that she's bored and wants more activity. She didn't have a fever today and seemed calm when she was sleeping, so I'm assuming that she just had more energy than usual. I could be wrong, but I can't take her to the vet every single day.

I've got to figure a better way to manage my own stress. It's hard caring for a dog that could die at any moment. There are so many things that could go wrong. Although Dot's dementia is getting worse, she still seems happy. She loves her slow walks and she eats her meals with gusto. I don't think she's even aware that she's pooping all over the place. I do my best to make her feel normal and that's really all I can do.

Now that Black Friday is over, I was inundated with a second wave of Cyber Monday e-mail this morning. I think every store I've ever shopped at in my life offered me some sort of discount or special coupon this week. Some of the deals are amazing. I bought a few little things because why not? My days of reckless consumerism are over though. I just don't have the money anymore.

I lost my reading glasses again. I think I could have a pair in every room and I'd still manage to lose them all within a month. The house is small, but when I lose these glasses, they're gone for good. I searched for almost an hour this morning and turned up nothing. Where did they go? Usually, I can never find these glasses until I buy a new pair and then they'll miraculously turn up again, often in plain sight. Some days I'm not sure whether Dot has dementia or I do.

I got a couple of website assignments toward the end of the day, so I should be busy tomorrow. Hopefully, the dogs will be calmer so I can get some work done. At the very least, it would be nice if they could just chill out while I eat my own breakfast. I don't bother them while they're eating, so why do they continually bother me when I'm eating? I never should have introduced them to bananas.

Scooter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2540

Every couple of months, I open a stack of mail that I have no interest in. This stack is pretty large, because the only mail that I actually do open are bills, checks from clients, and the occasional letter from my sister. I never read bank statements anymore. If I'm interested, I can always go online to check my balance. Letters from Medicare and my supplemental health insurance company are mostly just irritating. Why does the government generate so much useless paperwork? They could probably cut the cost of healthcare significantly if they just eliminated all these letters. Letters from SiriusXM go directly in the trash. If you ever accepted a free trial from SiriusXM, you'll get so many letters afterwards asking you to subscribe that they could have given you a free subscription with the money they spend on postage. Why do banks keep asking me to sign up for a credit card when I already have their credit card too? Most of the mail I receive is worthless. Of course, I could say the same thing for most of the e-mail I receive. Some of the mail I opened today went in a folder, in case I might need it for taxes. The rest went in the shredder or the trash. Hopefully, I won't need to do this again for another couple of months.

It was so dark and overcast today that I spent the entire day thinking it was about to rain. The air smelled like rain. There was lots of wind, kind of like a front was moving through the area, but there was no rain. I think it is still supposed to rain after midnight tonight, but hopefully there will be no thunder and lightning. With storm phobic dogs, thunder and lightning virtually guarantees that you won't be getting much sleep.

Since dark, gloomy days destroy my motivation, just about the only thing I accomplished other than sorting through a pile of unwanted mail was go to the gym. At least the gym is brightly lit. I keep thinking that I should be getting stronger or have more stamina after all the time I've spent at the gym, but I feel the same as I always have. My wrists hurt. My shoulders hurt. And I'm always ready to go home as soon as my workout is finished. I try to be optimistic though. I'm not gaining much but maybe the whole point is to keep from deteriorating even further.

I've got to find a solution for my acid reflux problem. I thought I was cured, but really it was just the pills that made me feel better. As soon as I discontinued the Protonix, the heartburn returned. I don't want brittle, weak bones, but I don't want the heartburn either. In theory, you can cure this problem with a change in diet. You've got to give up coffee, spicy foods, tomatoes, pizza, potato chips, and just about everything else I enjoy. Like that's going to happen. I don't think I could survive without coffee and spicy foods. I'm going to go get a bone density test next week. If my bone density is still good, maybe I can start taking the Protonix again. Maybe it's not good for you in the long run, but the stuff really works.

I got an e-mail from a high-end watch winder company telling me that everything on their website was half price for one day. That's quite a savings. The rational part of my brain kept telling me that I don't even wear my watches anymore. I don't need another watch winder. The irrational part of my brain kept saying, but it's half price! Half price! I'm happy to report that the rational part of my brain prevailed.

I can't believe that the same people who spent the past year calling Trump a fascist and a tyrant are now praising Castro as a great leader. Do these people have any idea of the horrible things Castro actually did? All I've got to say is it's a strange world we live in now.

Spots is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2539

There's a small Cuban restaurant in the neighborhood I've always been meaning to try. Today, when I passed the place on my way to get groceries, I noticed a TV satellite truck out front and a news crew setting up for an interview. I'm sure they were going to ask the restaurant owner what he thought about Castro's death. It seemed weird that world events would have an impact on my small neighborhood, but that's the world we live in today. I made a mental note to watch the local news this evening, but I quickly forgot. I guess I'll never know why the satellite truck was parked in front of the restaurant, but I still need to stop by and try a Cuban sandwich sometime.

There was a broken hinge on the rear door that I needed to fix today. I thought this would be an easy task. All I needed to do was replace three rusted screws and reattach the hinge to the door. I hadn't counted on the fact that my body is falling apart. I had to reach above my head to extract the rusty screws. I can easily extend my left hand above my head, but my left wrist is very weak because of carpal tunnel. My right wrist is much stronger, but I have trouble extending that arm fully because of my dislocated shoulder. Just reaching up and securing the hinge with three new screws turned out to require much more effort than I thought it would. Getting old is a bitch.

I had better luck repairing a broken iPhone case a little later in the day. This task required that I remove six tiny hex screws with a watchmaker's tool and then use a drop of superglue to repair a crack in the bezel of the case. I successfully made the repair without losing any of the tiny screws or getting superglue on my fingers. I don't know what this proves, except that maybe I need to stick to jobs that require finesse rather than strength.

I found a spare external hard drive in the office this morning and instead of taking it to the storage warehouse like I usually do, I decided to use it to create a Time Machine drive for the laptop that I've been playing with this week. I don't know why I never backed up this laptop before. I've had the thing for years. I defragmented the laptop drive while I was at it and then unplugged everything and put the laptop back in a drawer. I probably won't boot the thing up again until I need it to write a blog post during a power outage.

Dot was in good spirits today, although I did have a bit of a mess to clean up during the night. I debated whether to wake Janet up and ask for help, but she and Dash were sleeping peacefully so I managed to clean Dot up by myself. I'm getting better at this, but I'm sure not getting enough sleep. All I want these days is an uninterrupted eight hours of sleep.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2538

It didn't seem like Friday today. It was almost midnight last night before I remembered to take the trash out to the curb. This morning Janet had to remind me that I usually go out to breakfast on Fridays. Basically, my brain was mush after eating that big Thanksgiving meal. I wasn't hungry, but I did end up going out for breakfast. It's relaxing just to get away for a while.

On the way home, the low tire light came on in my car, so I took it up to the Land Rover dealer to see if I'd picked up another nail. It turned out that my right rear tire was a little low for no reason at all. They pumped it up with nitrogen and I was on my way. While I was at the dealership, I noticed that they sell Jaguars now. I guess it makes sense since both cars are manufactured in the same factory. Jaguars and Land Rovers share the same engines and use a lot of the same parts.

My inbox was filled with Black Friday announcements today. There must have been hundreds of them. When did huge sales on the day after Thanksgiving get to be a thing? It probably happened when people decided to put up Christmas trees on the day after Thanksgiving. There were lots of tempting bargains, but I only bought a new iPhone case at a ridiculously low price.

I went to the storage warehouse this afternoon to retrieve the photography gear I'll need for the Santa Paws pet picture events that start next week. I don't go to the storage warehouse much anymore, so I had trouble even remembering my passcode. Once I got inside, I had even more trouble finding all the items I'll need next week. My storage space used to be neat and tidy. Everything was inventoried and easy to find. Now, the place is a disaster. After a decade of filling the place with obsolete and unused gear, I don't even know what's here anymore. I used to think this was just temporary storage until I could retrieve everything and take it to a huge studio loft space where I could put the gear to good use again. Now I know the truth. The storage warehouse will probably never be emptied out and will eventually wind up being fought over by bargain hunters on that Storage Wars show on cable TV.

I'm dreading next month's photo events. I wish I looked forward to things instead of trying to avoid them, but that's just the way it is. I know I'll do a good job. It's just so tiring. I'm thinking of looking for a wrist brace. It's murder holding a heavy camera all day with carpal tunnel syndrome.The knees aren't doing too well these days either. I'll need to set up the Norman strobe lights and test them next week. I don't want any surprise failures. It's amazing that this all stuff works, since my equipment is as old and cranky as I am.

I'm beginning to think that I should have waited until after the holidays to discontinue my heartburn medication. I feel like I ate ten pizzas after yesterday's Thanksgiving dinner. I forget why I tend to have acid reflux problems in the first place, but right now, bone density problems seems like the lesser of two evils.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2537 - Thanksgiving

"Be careful who you hate, it could be someone you love." I don't have any idea who originally said this, but I've always liked the thought. It certainly seems appropriate for the first Thanksgiving after a particularly rancorous election. Janet and I went out for Thanksgiving brunch at one of our favorite hotels today. There were people dining with us from all walks of life. I saw large families with children, senior citizens eating alone, young couples, mothers and daughters, groups of friends who didn't appear to be related, and then there was Janet and I. It's a safe bet that everyone in the dining room didn't vote for the same candidate on November 8, but they all seemed like very nice people.

I wonder how many of these people spent the past year posting dire warnings or hateful memes about the other side on their Facebook pages? To me, it's time to move on. I have friends on both sides of the political fence that don't seem to understand that not much is really going to change. Things didn't change much after eight years of George Bush and things didn't change much after eight years of Barack Obama. All presidents mean well, but when they push too hard, the pendulum swings back the other way the next time there is an election. Bush pushed too hard when he got the country tangled up in meaningless wars in the middle east and got Obama elected. Obama pushed too hard when he tried to disguise a massive income redistribution program as health insurance and got Trump elected. All politicians need to remember that the pendulum swings both ways. Voters are generally more pragmatic than politicians. They don't really care about ideology. A good job and a safe place to live will keep most people happy.

There was a gay couple taking their Moms out to dinner at the table to the left of us. A large Hispanic family was seated at a big round table directly in front of us. Two senior citizens were seated to our right. Somehow, I think all of these people are going to do just fine in the years ahead.

Dinner was fabulous. I don't think Janet and I will ever cook a big holiday dinner again. It's fun and a lot less stressful to enjoy a well prepared meal at a nice restaurant. Families who dine out probably also discover that there is a lot less fighting at the dinner table when you are eating in public. I was basically full after the salad course, but I went ahead and had a second course that included Eggs Benedict and a third course with Prime Rib. There was dessert too. It was a week's worth of calories in a single meal, but what the hell. We only do this once a year.

We weren't gone all that long, but as expected, Dot pooped in her bed and ate all the evidence by the time we got home. I purposely didn't check the pet cam on my phone while we were at the restaurant, because I knew it would spoil our dinner. There is nothing we could have done anyway. Even if we were only five minutes away, there would have still have been plenty of time for Dot to eat her poop. After we changed clothes, we took Dot outside and cleaned her up. The bedding went in the washing machine and all was good.

Tomorrow is Black Friday. I guess that's a holiday too. I love gadgets and gear, so it will be hard for me to ignore all the online Black Friday sales. I really don't need anything, so I should restrain myself. A better idea would be to take an extra long walk tomorrow morning and work off some of today's monster meal.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2536

I wanted to catch up on things today and I partially succeeded. I cleaned up the brushy area in the back yard where I fell several nights ago. I can't really see where I'm going when I have to take Dot outside in the middle of the night, so eliminating potential hazards is probably a good idea. I ordered some spare parts to fix the first Waterpik properly, even though I have a second one now. If this doesn't illustrate that fixing things is a compulsion with me, nothing will. Hey, the parts were cheap, the repair looks easy, and doesn't everybody need two Waterpiks?

I never got around to vacuuming the house over the weekend, so today seemed as good a time as any to get this chore out of the way. The dogs didn't seem to agree. Usually Dot and Dash ignore me while I'm doing chores on weekends, but today either Dash was in the way or Dot needed attention. Every ten minutes or so Dot started barking in her bed and struggling to get up. I would stop what I was doing, take her outside, and then resume vacuuming when she decided she didn't need to go outside after all. Five minutes after I finally got everything tidy and clean, Dot pooped on one of the living room rugs. I wasn't the best person in my younger years, so I just figure that this is karma.

I'm kind of irritated that my heartburn has returned after I quit taking the Protonix pills. Most of the medications I take don't make me feel any different at all. The pills I take to lower cholesterol and reduce blood sugar levels don't make me feel any different. I don't even notice a difference when my blood pressure is controlled. Now, the one pill that actually made me feel better turns out to be unsafe. For ten years I had no problems with acid reflux at all. Protonix worked. I am skeptical of a lot of things my doctor tells me, so I did a little research and it turns out he was right. Protonix seems to lower bone density and can increase the risk of a fracture in the hip, wrist, or spine in people over fifty. Damn. Now it's back to eliminating all the things that cause heartburn from my diet. Unfortunately, most things that are really tasty do cause heartburn. Pizza is the worst.

When I walk Dash in the morning, I've noticed that a lot of people in the neighborhood have already put their Christmas tree up. When did putting your Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving get to be a thing? I must not have much Christmas spirit. Putting the tree up Christmas Eve would be fine by me. The season has arrived though. Christmas tree lots are popping up all over town. Stores are busier than usual. And Janet has started watching those Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel again.

It looks like we are going to have nice weather for Thanksgiving tomorrow. Last year, there were thunderstorms in the area and Dot was vomiting, so we had to cancel our dinner reservation at the last minute while I looked for an emergency vet. Hopefully, there will be no dog emergencies this year.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2535

When I first moved to Dallas, I used to like to go down to Dealey Plaza on November 22. Selling conspiracy theories has always been a cottage industry here, and in the early years there were still plenty of people alive who had witnessed the event themselves. Every year on this day they would gather in the Plaza, selling self published books and pamphlets detailing what really happened. It was a fascinating spectacle, but I don't think the crowds are as big anymore. People forget. I didn't even hear anything about John Kennedy on the news this year. The media's attention has turned to the 45th president. The 35th president is just a distant memory.

The weather seemed to change every ten minutes today. I witnessed a beautiful sunrise as I walked Dash this morning. A little later, the skies turned darker and it was raining by the time I finished breakfast. It was windy for a while and then it was calm. Throughout the day, patches of blue sky would alternate with dark storm clouds. It was all fine by me. I had nowhere to go and stayed home all day.

My project for the day was upgrading my laptop to Sierra. I don't use the laptop much anymore, so I figured that there wasn't much to lose. The laptop used to be my constant companion on business trips, but I haven't traveled anywhere on business in over three years. I'd be surprised if I ever take a business trip again. Installing the new operating system took forever, since software upgrades generally take place over WiFi these days. The process seemed so much faster when you just slapped a DVD in the optical drive and hit the install button. Eventually, the new software was installed, and surprisingly it appeared to work perfectly. A lot of the old applications didn't launch anymore, but I expected that. Gradually replacing these broken applications with modern alternatives will give me something to do this Winter. When I get everything working properly, I'll go ahead and update the desktop computer too. It's weird. As much as I hate change,  usually end up making necessary changes anyway. Like it or not, staying current in a digital world is necessary.

I didn't have much luck with Dot today. While I was working at my desk updating a website, I noticed that Dot had just pooped in her bed. I quickly extricated myself from the Aeron Chair and hurried over to clean up the mess. Before I could make it to Dot's bed, she quickly turned around and ate the poop. Why do dogs do this? It's disgusting. I went ahead and cleaned her up, but wiping her butt made her pee for some reason, so now I had a rug to clean as well as Dot's bedding. Sadly, this was just a normal day. Dot's incontinence is not going away. I suspect that things will even get worse in the days ahead.

I need to start to get ready to take Santa Paws pictures for Dalmatian Rescue. Our first event is only a few weeks away. I can't even remember how many years I've been shooting pet pictures with Santa, but it's been a long time. We have a reduced schedule this year, partially because I just don't have the stamina to do as many of these events as I used to. The rest of the pet picture team is getting older too. I wonder how many years we can continue doing this. It's a good fund raiser for the rescue group, but it is very tiring.

I'll do some experimenting with the laptop tomorrow to see whether today's upgrade was worth all the trouble. I imagine that I'll have plenty of time to experiment. It is rare to get any new assignments on the day before Thanksgiving. We changed Dot's food today, but it's too early to tell whether it will make a difference. Hopefully, the new diet won't make Dot's poop taste better. I've got enough problems as it is.

Chelsey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2534

I've been tired all day. Dot had a major accident last night and when I took her outside to clean her up, I tripped and ended up cutting my leg as I tried to keep Dot upright as I fell. These emergency cleanup operations don't always go well. It's dark, so I can't see the full extent of the damage and I'm usually half asleep. By the time I got Dot clean, changed all her bedding, and bandaged my cut, I was exhausted. As I lay in bed trying to get back to sleep, I felt my heart pounding like I'd finished a strenuous workout. This isn't good.

It's really cold in the mornings now. I wear a Winter coat and compression tights under my pants on our early walks. By noon, everything has changed. When I took some bills to the post office early this afternoon, it was warm enough to wear shorts again. The temperature changes so radically during the day that I sometimes change three times a day and switch back and forth between the furnace and the air conditioner. Life would be easier if I didn't want to always feel like it was 72 degrees.

While I was running errands this afternoon, I went back to the REI store to look at some camping mattresses I noticed over the weekend. I thought one of these things would make a great dog bed for Dot. The mattresses were large and comfortable, but were only about an inch and a half thick. They seemed perfect. I wish I'd noticed earlier that these mattresses were inflatable. Inflatable things don't last very long with dogs. My trip was a wasted effort, but it really didn't matter. The whole day was a wasted effort.

I updated some websites this morning and got caught up on my bookkeeping, but by the end of the day all I could remember was getting up in the middle of the night with Dot and trying to stay awake at the computer. I just couldn't stay focused  today. Wisely, I decided to wait until another day to upgrade my computer's operating system. I'm going to need my wits about me when I embark on that foolish project.

I'm going to have to do some research and see if there is something else I can feed Dot.  She's having loose stools now, which makes my cleanup efforts ten times harder. I noticed the other day that the bird that shits on my car is back for another Winter. Normally, this evil bird drives me crazy, but I hardly even noticed it this year. I've got bigger problems to deal with now.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day