Day 2315

What a wet day. It started raining last night while we were asleep and it hasn't stopped yet. I'm sure the plants enjoy days like this, but they don't do much for me. Wet weather and restless dogs are a recipe for cabin fever. I should have gone to the gym, but my aversion to driving in the rain prevailed and I stayed home. There were occasional power spikes and brief outages, but nothing serious. It was a good thing we had power, because I spent the day vacuuming and cleaning the house. The dogs still wanted their walks, so I kept looking at the weather radar until I found a dry interval between downpours to take them out and pee. My timing was pretty good, but we were slow returning home on our morning walk and got wet. If we were just two minutes faster, everyone would have stayed dry.  I did a little better walking Dash in the evening. We were able to walk about twenty minutes between storm cells.

Dyson has won all sorts of design awards for their vacuum cleaners, but I bet they will never win an award for easy maintenance. The thing is impossible to clean. It takes almost as long to clean the vacuum cleaner as it does to clean the house. Couldn't James Dyson have just used bags to hold the dust like a normal person would. My old Hoover was easy to clean. You just put in a new bag when it got full of dust and you were good to go. You have to literally take Dyson's clear plastic contraption apart to clean out the residual dust. The machine was unusually dirty today, because I haven't vacuumed the house in two weeks. I shouldn't complain. It's not like I had anything better to do. Little rugs went in the washing machine. Big rugs got vacuumed. Floors got scrubbed. For a brief moment in time, the house was clean.

Since it was raining anyway, I tried to figure out why the weather app on my phone only works when WiFi is turned off. Logically the radar images should update faster when I'm using WiFi, but the opposite seems to be the case. The app works fine using 4G cellular data, but is impossibly slow using WiFi. Other apps seem normal using WiFi. I've called technical support and they say nothing is wrong.  Janet's phone picks up the radar better and mine too. It's all very complicated. This wouldn't be a big deal if I wasn't hooked on weather radar. Most people look at their Facebook feed. I look at weather radar.

I almost forgot Dot's Palladia pills today. It's really hard to remember to give these things every three days, since the days never repeat. Every Wednesday would have been so much easier. The only way I remember at all is to write the dates down on every calendar I own and hope that I remember to look at a calendar from time to time. Don't worry. Dot got her pills. Just a few hours late.

There is thunder and lightning outside and the dogs seem to have noticed. Dot is barking and Dash is hiding under my desk. They say we're not going to see the sun again until next Friday. I'll probably be stark raving mad by then.

Bella is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2314

We went to a concert tonight. One of Janet's friends is a singer in the group and we go and see them perform from time to time. This evening's event was a fundraiser and there was a barbecue dinner, a silent auction, and casino night gambling. Janet was probably hoping that I wouldn't look at the baby monitor on my phone, but I couldn't help myself. I worry about Dot. The first time I looked, she was sleeping. The second time I looked, she was barking and appeared to be struggling to get up. I could hear Dash barking too in the background. We left the event early and came home.

I was almost certain that there was either a thunderstorm in the area or that Dot had pooped in her bed, but everything was calm when we returned.  I have no idea what got the dogs so upset. It's probably just as well that we came home a little early. It takes me longer to write the blog that it used to. If we stayed for the gambling, I would never have gotten tonight's entry completed before midnight.

The weather forecast looks ominous. There is supposed to be wind, rain, and severe thunderstorms for the next ten days. This is one reason I was worried about the dogs this evening. Dot and Dash are both very storm phobic and tend to panic when there is thunder and lightning in the vicinity. The rain is supposed to start later tonight, so I thought it might have arrived a little early. Probably it is me who has the real storm phobia in the family. Bad storms freak me out. Trees have fallen on our roof twice since we bought the house, and if a tornado ever blew through, we are sitting ducks. There is so much glass in the house that there are no safe rooms anywhere. Even the interior walls are pretty close to floor-to-ceiling glass windows. With a flat roof and no basement, this house wasn't designed to weather much of anything.

For the past few weeks I've been noticing that the price of gas is going up again. Why? When I filled the car up today it seemed that prices had risen even further. The price of oil has been basically falling for the past two years. It seems like the price of gas should stay low for a long time. I've gotten used to seeing prices gradually go down. It will be a low blow to watch them go up again. I guess it doesn't really matter. I don't drive much anyway.

The new grass in the back yard is starting to grow. This is always a good sign. Every year when we refurbish the yard I think that this might finally be the year that the grass takes root and thrives. It never seems to happen though. Grubs eat the roots below the ground and squirrels eat the grass above the ground. In the Summer there is always a thick canopy of Oak leaves overhead that blocks most of the direct sunlight. The grass always has an uphill battle, but I keep thinking that one of these years it might make it.

I'm not sure whether I'll be going to the gym tomorrow or sitting at home watching an approaching storm on the weather radar and hoping the power doesn't go out. You never know about Texas weather. I hope the rain doesn't start until after we've walked the dogs in the morning. Life is much more peaceful once we've gotten the morning walk out of the way.

Becker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2313

Nothing went as planned today. I tried something new for breakfast and I didn't like it. This is why doing new things is problematic for me. When I go to a new restaurant, I'll methodically try everything on the menu to find my favorite items. After that, I'll order the same thing over and over again forever. The process can take months. Why did my old restaurant have to change? I got this time consuming process out of the way years ago, and now I have to start over again.

After breakfast, I stopped by the cancer center to pick up Dot's missing pills. I tried to convince them that I had already paid for the pills, but their record keeping was better than mine and they showed me that the reason I ran out early was that I had rescheduled Dot's Ultrasound exam for a week later than originally planned. I tend to forget how expensive the Palladia pills are until I buy just a few at a time. The unit cost is unreal. Every time Dot takes her chemotherapy pills, it costs $50.  She has a treatment every three days. It's hard for me to have any sympathy for pharmaceutical companies. They tend to charge by how life threatening the disease is. When I was taking Sovaldi while I was being treated for Hepatitis C, the cost was an astounding $1000 a pill. The difference was that I had health insurance and Dot doesn't. Dogs basically pay retail for their meds. Is any of this fair? Of course not. Very few things are fair anymore. This is why voters are so mad this year.

Since the cancer center is near the sporting goods store that is going out of business, I stopped on the way home to look for more bargains. I came home with a nice pair of waterproof boots for walking the dogs and light fleece jacket to wear around the house when Janet keeps the house too cold in the summer. I probably didn't need either of these things, but it seemed to balance thing out to pay too little for something after I had just paid too much for something else.

I got started on my big website overhaul this afternoon. Many of the changes the client requested didn't make a lot of sense, but this is what I do. If I only took jobs that made sense, I would make no money at all. Since the annual subscription for the design tool I used to create this site will run out while I am working on this project, I will need to renew for another year. The cost of the subscription is more than what I will make on the job. Oh, well. It's just the cost of doing business. When I started designing websites, I didn't need a lot of help. I could write simple HTML using a word processor.  Things are different now and today's new responsive websites have become quite complicated. I need all the help I can get.

I didn't have much luck with Dot today. I tried my best to get her to poop in the yard while I was home, but she always decided to go while I was away. The latest accident occurred while I was giving Dash his evening walk. I kind of knew it was going to happen, but I couldn't get Dash to turn around and come home in time. It was a nice day and he wanted a long walk. Long walks are fine, but Dash didn't have to clean up the poop when we got home. I'm still doing laundry. I'm hoping for a calm, uneventful weekend, but the weather report says to expect thunderstorms. We'll see. At least the garbage truck picked up my trash this morning.

Krissy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2312

When I was working on a website update this morning, I noticed that one of the design tools I use to create mobile friendly sites was about to expire. The software you need these days is increasingly available only on a subscription basis. I guess I'll need to renew my expensive subscription for another year, even though I don't make that much money designing websites anymore. It's frustrating. I still need my cameras, editing equipment, and sophisticated software, even though my workload has decreased precipitously. It won't be long before it costs me more to maintain my business than I actually make from the business.

Today was a chemotherapy day for Dot. When I was giving her the Palladia pills, I noticed that there weren't enough left to make it until her next exam date. I have a feeling that the cancer center miscounted the pills last month and gave me too few. Of course, they didn't actually give me the pills. I think they cost about $20 each. The question now is did I already pay for the missing pills or not? I called the oncologist and asked what to do next. It looks like I'll have to go to the cancer center and pick up the missing pills tomorrow. I bet I'll have to pay for them too.

I moved my trash can to a different position on the street this week in hopes that the trash crew will notice it tomorrrow morning. My theory is that the truck was turning the corner when they skipped my trash last week. Maybe they didn't see it. It's possible. Of course, maybe they know that I have OCD and just ignored my can to drive me crazy. Hopefully, I'll have better luck this week.

I was going to go back to the sporting goods store that is going out of business to see if I could find some more bargains, but work got in the way. Today's website update was kind of complicated and took a lot of time. This job requires new photography too, so I'll have to schedule a time to go take pictures of new employees next week. Most of my clients have abandoned their employee pages, but a few still seem to like to show the world how quickly their staff turns over. I never recommend employee pages anymore. It looks embarrassing when people keep changing every few weeks.

I think I'll go back to the hipster restaurant tomorrow. The place isn't as fancy as the restaurant I tried last Friday. The silverware is non-existent and there are only three tables, but the food is fabulous. The first time I ate here, I thought all the customers seemed a bit odd. Now, I realize that's why I like the place. I fit in.

When I was paying bills this afternoon, I realized that I simply have to get some more business. The money I used to spend buying cameras and microphones is now used to pay vet bills. I hate feeling broke. In theory, it shouldn't be that hard to get new business. The website I was working on this morning was quite complicated and I knew exactly what to do. There ought to be plenty of other people who could use these skills. I'm sure these people still exist, but I'm not going to meet them in my current reclusive state of mind. I tend to avoid people at all costs. Hmm. I think I've answered my own question. It's a no brainer. If you avoid talking to people and never answer your phone, you're not going to grow your business.

Flash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2311

It's amazing how much time can be wasted trying to get electronic devices to play nice with each other. Everything is connected these days, but the connections don't always work. Sometimes Bluetooth is the problem. Other times it is the WiFi network. Occasionally the electricity goes out and everything goes down. Today I couldn't access one of my clients websites. I was about to call the hosting company when I decided to try an alternate WiFi connection and discovered that everything was fine. Why was T-Mobile working and AT&T U-Verse wasn't? It was weird that most websites appeared to be functioning normally, but a few appeared to be blocked on U-Verse. I unplugged the router, re-booted everything and five minutes later, I was up and running again. I never did figure out what the problem was.

Later in the day, my weather radar app quit working and I had problems syncing my new activity tracker. Life was much simpler when the most complicated machines I had were an IBM Selectric typewriter and a Leica rangefinder camera. Mechanical things used to break too, but the failures were much more predictable. Now, the problem could be anywhere. Is there something wrong in the cloud where your data is being stored? Is there something wrong with your security settings? Is the pet cam causing interference with the WiFi router? Usually I can fix things myself while I am waiting on hold for thirty minutes to talk with someone from tech support. Life in the digital age is still frustrating though. I make my living online, but I was happier before the Internet existed.

For the third week in a row Dot pooped in the car on the way to her physical therapy appointment. I walked her around in the yard forever before we left, trying to avoid another accident, but to no avail. She wasn't ready to go. Two things seem to make Dot poop; excitement and stress. A ride in the car can cause both. It wouldn't do much good to give her a sedative before we left the house, because it's not a good idea to be sleepy when you are walking in the underwater treadmill. I really don't know what to do. Chemotherapy, acupuncture and exercise help, but you can't fix old age.

I usually know the names of the flowers I photograph, but I'm drawing a blank on the clusters of tiny white blooms that pop up in the grass seemingly overnight when it rains. It's been a rainy week, so these things are everywhere. I'll figure out what they are eventually. By June they'll all be gone. Until then, I hope it stays cool. Dot is enjoying her morning walks again now that the weather has cooled down a bit. She walks very slowly now, stopping every few feet to smell things along the way. It takes Janet and I forever to make our one mile circuit through the park each morning, but I think Dot still enjoys being outside.

One problem with moving Dot's therapy appointment to Wednesday is that I don't know what to do on Thursdays now. When I wake up on Thursday lately, I initially think it is Friday. It's disappointing to realize that I've got to wait another day to go out to breakfast.  I supposed I could go out to eat two days a week, but there are still bananas and strawberries in the kitchen to use up before they go bad. I'm so structured that a single banana can keep me from doing something spontaneous.

Valli is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2310

Yay. I fixed yesterday's website problem using a single line of code. I was pretty pleased with myself, even though I had a little help from an Apache Server user group. By modifying some code I saw on the forum, I was able to solve a problem that had my web hosting tech support folks stumped. The problem was so minor that most people would never have noticed, but it still felt gratifying to be able to put two and two together and come up with a solution. Don't count me out yet folks.

I replaced my defective activity tracker with a more advanced model that I found for half price at a sporting goods store that was going out of business. I had gone to the store to look for a cheap fleece jacket, but came away with the activity tracker instead. The best thing about this new model is that you don't have to manually put it into sleep mode every night. The thing just knows when you are sleeping automatically. I doubt that the new tracker will last any longer than any of the others that have fallen apart on my wrist, but I got it at half price. It's hard to resist half price.

I took my jacket back to the tailor today and was pleased to discover that she could fix the lining for a very reasonable price. I'm always impressed with people who can fix things. This tailor does beautiful work and has extended the life of many of my favorite things. The jacket is old and worn, but I still like it. Old leather coats have a lot of character. I'd keep fixing everything if I could, but people who take pride in fixing things are getting harder to find. Like it or not, we live in a throw away society.

Fixing a difficult website problem myself and getting a new lining for an old jacket made me feel good. I even anticipated that Dot needed to poop last night and we managed to get her up and outside at 3 AM just in the nick of time. There were no accidents in the house today. People sometimes think I'm a gloomy person, but it really doesn't take that much to cheer me up. A few things going right will usually do the trick.

I need to ask Dot's vet if I could change her physical therapy appointment back to mornings instead of afternoons. Dot is less likely to poop in the car in the morning and traffic is not nearly as bad. The clinic seems a lot busier in the afternoons too. What was meant to be convenient is actually taking me more time than before. I have a feeling that the vet likes this new time better though, so I may be stuck with it. You have to be careful what you wish for. It is not always what you expect.

I've noticed that since I've moved my e-mail account to the new server, I'm not getting any more spam. The spam must be going somewhere. I don't think anyone's invented a perfect spam filter yet. I need to figure out where the spam is going, because it's probably just sitting in a folder somewhere on the server eating up my hosting space. On the old server there were always important messages mixed in with the spam. I had to check my junk mail folder every day. So, there's my to-do list for tomorrow. Take Dot to the vet and find out where all my missing junk mail is accumulating. Who knows. Maybe hidden away in all the spam is a letter from someone who would like to hire me.

Nellie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2309

I spent the morning trying to learning how to create rewrite rules within my website's .htaccess file. On the old web server I had somebody who could do this for me, but apparently now I have to do it myself. Why is this important? Well, part of my website isn't working correctly and the hosting company says it isn't their responsibility to fix it. This is usually how I learn to write code. Sheer necessity is always a good incentive to learn new things. That being said, using PHP, Perl, Javascript, or in this case, writing instructions for the Apache web server, has never come naturally to me. By lunchtime, I had a headache and still didn't really understand what I was doing.

This afternoon, I tackled a much easier task. I prepared my April invoices. Sending out monthly invoices used to take me the better part of a day, but now I can do everything in less than an hour. When you don't have many clients, you don't have many invoices. I took the invoices to the post office, hoping that Dot wouldn't poop in her bed while I was gone.  On the way home I stopped at a little tailor shop in the neighborhood to ask whether they could put a new lining in an old leather jacket I like. I should have picked a better day. The tailor wasn't open on Mondays.

I'm still having to water the lawn every day, so the new St. Augustine grass will establish roots. The soggy lawn wouldn't be a problem if the dogs would stay on the grass. Inevitably, they head straight for the ground cover though and end up getting their paws muddy. Since I have to follow Dot around, holding up her rear legs, I get my shoes muddy as well. In and out we go over and over again. It's amazing how simple things like this can eat up your day.

The little LED lights on my activity tracker have quit working. I like these little Jawbone UP bands, but they sure don't last very long. The band still works and will sync with my phone, but I can't tell if it is in normal or sleep mode. I no longer get any warning when the battery is low either. The two little indicator lights don't work at all. I wonder if it is even worth the trouble to get another of these fitness bands. I've had three already and they all seem to last about a year.

My holy grail is something that will last forever. I haven't found it yet. I did find a place in Florida that still sells parts for my troublesome French toilet. Unfortunately, they don't sell fully assembled fill mechanisms. They just sell the component parts, which must be assembled. Since all these little threaded parts can leak water if they aren't assembled properly, this seems like a recipe for disaster. Maybe I could just buy the parts and have a plumber assemble them for me. I'll have to find a new plumber though. My current plumber hates these toilets and refuses to work on them.

I'd like to do something interesting tomorrow. I could learn a new song on the guitar. I could get out the sewing machine and try to fix the lining on my jacket myself. I could submit some more photos to my stock agency. None of these things seem all that interesting though. They just seem like chores. I
really don't know where the magic is anymore.

Tyson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2308

I discovered today that one of my best friends from college was just diagnosed with lung cancer. The guy didn't even smoke. Life can be very unfair sometimes. I've reached the age where people post good news about their grandchildren and bad news about themselves. Sadly, almost everybody I know is falling apart. That's why I go to the gym on Sunday and feel vaguely guilty that I don't go everyday. Even in the best of circumstances, it is an uphill battle to stay healthy. Some things we have control over, but a lot of things we don't. If there was anybody I thought could have avoided cancer, it would have been my clean living college friend. It just wasn't in the cards.

My accountant called this afternoon to tell me that he'd finished my taxes. In the course of our conversation, he asked me if I was happy with my broker. I asked why and he said that the management fees on my account seemed pretty high when you looked at the rather dismal performance of my portfolio. He said I'd probably do better if I just put everything in a boring index fund that mirrored the S&P and forget about it. I've thought the same thing for quite a while, but have never been sure what to do next. I've asked friends if they liked their broker or financial advisor and most of them were just as disgusted as I am. Nobody seems to want to recommend anybody. Very few small investors are doing well these days. Increasingly, I think the whole system is rigged to benefit the rich and powerful. In the not too distant past, you used to be able to go to your bank and get a 5 year Certificate of Deposit that provided a nice monthly return with no risk at all. US Treasury Bonds also provided a very nice return with little to no risk. Now, anything with any promise of a decent return comes with quite a bit of risk. Investing has become synonymous with gambling. In this kind of environment I can see why Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have become popular. I don't think either of these men can reverse the tide of globalism and corporate greed that created this mess, but at least they have identified the problem.

I tried to fix the odd French made toilet in one of the bathrooms today with little success. They stopped selling these things quite some time ago when plumbers refused to repair them. Parts are impossible to find and plumbers just tell me to buy a new toilet. Instead of a simple fill valve and float that you could buy at Home Depot, this toilet uses a proprietary French fill mechanism that looks like it was designed by Rube Goldberg. I've been using super glue and epoxy to patch the thing back together for years, but it's leaking again. One more frustration in a very frustrating month.

I had another website to update this afternoon, so I barely had time to go to the gym. I did have a good workout, but vacuuming the house and cleaning the rugs will have to wait. While I was at the gym I noticed that I was the only one holding on to the handrails while I was using the treadmill. I must have a terrible sense of balance. Everyone else seemed to be walking just fine without using the rails. It's been a busy day and I'm glad it's over. It's weird to have most of your work on the weekend. I bet there will be nothing for me to do tomorrow. Monday's are like that. Don't get me wrong. There's always something to do if you count doing laundry and cleaning up poop. I just wish there was something exciting to do.

Apollo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2307

My bank sent me one of those new credit cards with a chip in it. At first I didn't think the card was real, since it was completely flat and looked like it was made out of cardboard. There were no embossed, raised numbers like there always are on conventional cards. I guess the bank thought all those old fashioned carbon copy credit card readers are gone. Maybe they just wish the old 'knuckle buster" machines would go away. I still know of a few small merchants and local restaurants that use them. At any rate, it's the end of an era. I don't know what plumbers and electricians are going to do. My plumber still places the card under his invoice and rubs over the paper with a pencil to trace an image of the raised card number. As many of you already know, I'm not a huge fan of progress. Transactions seem to take twice as long with these new chip cards. To me, they're a nuisance.

I started the day by completing the website update assignment I received yesterday evening. That was a bit of a nuisance too. I suppose I could have waited until Monday to start this, but what if the client really needed it? I may be old and business may be slow, but being responsive is still in my DNA. I've always turned jobs around in a timely manner and have never missed a deadline since I started the company in 1990. The update took a while, but at least it's out of the way. Now, I can spend my time on important things like cleaning up dog poop.

I was bragging about Dot yesterday, but my luck ran out today. She had another accident while I was taking a shower and it took me quite a while to get her cleaned up again. We buy Nature's Miracle enzyme cleaner by the gallon now and our washing machine is going constantly. I was initially really disappointed with the complicated front loader after having to replace the wax motor on the door lock twice, but lately it has been working like a charm. I don't think washers and dryers in laundromats get as much use as ours do since Dot has become incontinent.

Janet got a new iPhone today, and now I want one too. The 6S is much faster than my old 5 model and the retina screen is visibly sharper than anything I've seen on a phone before. It's hard to justify purchases you don't need though. I definitely don't need a new phone. Mine works just fine. I really don't need much of anything, but I'm itching to buy something. It's kind of ironic. When I'm really busy, I never think about buying things. When work slows down and I'm poor, that's when I want to buy things. It shouldn't work that way.

The rain returned this afternoon. Even though Dash and I got wet on our evening walk, I'm not going to complain about the rain. Today's rain actually did me a favor, since I needed to water the front lawn. Now, I'm OK for a while. I can never remember what the watering days are in our neighborhood. Water restrictions were put in place a few years ago when there was a drought, and even though we had a tons of rain last year and the lakes are full, the water restrictions are still in place. I learned a long time ago that once a government regulation is in place, you've pretty much got to learn to live with it forever.

I guess I'll go to the gym tomorrow. I get bored walking on the treadmill, but I do like shooting baskets on the basketball court and I enjoy seeing lots of steps on my activity tracker. Sometimes Sunday's are 20,000 step days.

Livy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2306

The garbage truck didn't pick up my trash this morning. My can was lined up on the street, just like all the other cans, but the truck drove right by and ignored it. I saw this in the distance as we were returning from our walk with Dot and Dash, but there was nothing I could do. As we got closer, I saw the recycle truck approach and asked the guys if they could take my trash. They said it wasn't in a blue recycle can, so they couldn't help me. "But it's all nicely bagged," I said, holding up one of the black trash bags as they drove away. You can't argue with garbageman. Damn. Now there isn't going to be enough room for next week's trash. Janet told me that I have a serious case of OCD if I was fretting about the trash can, but that's how I roll.

I don't think I'd make a good food critic. My breakfast was delicious at the new restaurant this morning, but all I could think about were the people sitting next to me. I felt out of place. Everyone was nicely dressed and there were way too many children. Even well behaved children are too noisy for me. One of the features of this place was a series of large roll-up doors that could be opened to let the outside in. They decided the weather was nice enough to open all the doors about halfway through my meal and immediately I felt too cold. It didn't seem to bother anybody else and many customers chose to sit outside on the patio. I'm sure I'll go back again, but the restaurant felt a bit too upscale for me. I felt more comfortable in the little hole in the wall place I ate last Friday with all the hipster beards.

It was cloudy all day, so I didn't get a chance to see Mercury right next to the moon after sunset. I did watch the live feed of the Space X Dragon launch though and was amazed to see the first stage booster rocket successfully land on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean after lofting its cargo into orbit. The barge wasn't much bigger than the rocket. I was very impressed. If I were younger, I'd love to work for Space X. These guys are amazing. I'm certainly no rocket scientist, but I'm sure they have a graphics department. If anyone can get us to Mars, it is probably Elon Musk.

Work was slow all day and then I got an assignment right at the end of the day when I was getting ready to shut down the computer. This happens frequently now. My work isn't a priority anymore. People forget about me until the end of the day, when they want to go home. I could probably wait until Monday to start this assignment, but my work ethic and compulsive nature will probably force me to do the job tomorrow morning.

Dot is completely unpredictable. After yesterday's series of disasters, I wasn't expecting much today. When I went out to mow the grass, I was sure there would be a smelly mess when I returned. Ditto for when I went to pick up take-out burgers for dinner. So far, it's been clear sailing all the way. Knock on wood, but maybe I'll even get a good night sleep tonight.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2305

I wonder if everybody has a section  of their yard that is completely useless. Ours is a narrow corridor connecting the front and back yard on the Eastern side of the house. The neighbors have erected a tall wood fence on the property line that totally blocks the view and turns the area into a dark, useless area where leaves accumulate in the winter and spider webs cover the windows in the Summer. The area is fenced off so the dogs can't escape and I rarely go there. Occasionally I have to clean the windows though and today seemed like a good day. It took several hours to clear away the spider webs with a broom, but at least this loathsome task is out of the way for another six months. The little side yard is still useless, but the windows don't look quite as disgusting now.

After lunch, I took my pitiful birthday card to the post office and picked up some Pad Thai for dinner on the way home. I've completely lost interest in cooking lately. Hopefully, this is temporary, since cooking used to be a good way to occupy my time on slow days like today. Now, my time is occupied by taking care of Dot.

I know I'm losing readers by talking about poop all the time, but it often seems like cleaning up Dot's accidents is all I do. She made a huge mess in her bed last night and I had to get up at 2 AM and clean her up. She pooped again while she was eating breakfast in the kitchen and a third time while I went to the post office. I give her plenty of opportunities to go outside, but often she just wanders around smelling things while I follow behind, holding up her rear legs. It's frustrating. After wandering around aimlessly in the yard for twenty minutes, she'll come back inside, go to her bed, and poop in her sleep an hour later. I can't imagine being a nurse in an assisted living facility, because they probably have to deal with the same issues with old people day after day. There's nothing glamorous about incontinence whatsoever.

There were a few website updates on the schedule today, but nothing that kept me occupied for very long. I've really got to rethink my employment prospects. Most of my best clients have retired or died. What happens now? I guess I'm semi-retired myself, but I hate to admit it. I was really happier when I was busy every day and felt like I was on the cutting edge. I'll have to admit that growing old gracefully is a lot more difficult than I imagined.

Tomorrow is kind of a space geek day. In lieu of actually being there, I'll watch the live streaming video of the Space X Dragon launch on my computer. Maybe this time they'll be successful at landing the booster on their drone ship at sea. Weather permitting, tomorrow evening should be a good opportunity to see the planet Mercury right after sunset. Since the planet is located right next to a new crescent moon, it should be easy to find. Of course, there's a brand new restaurant to look forward to tomorrow as well. It ought to be a good day.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2304

My rubber snakes are gone. When the landscapers were using their leaf blowers to clear away all the leaves in the yard, they must have blown the snakes off the car, bagged them up with the leaves, and thrown them away. The two colorful rubber snakes were the only things I've found so far that were the least bit effective at keeping annoying Bluejays and Cardinals from pooping on my car. It should be an easy matter to go buy some replacement snakes, but rubber snakes are surprisingly hard to find. I found mine at the Dollar Store in a bin filled with cheap children's toys. When I went back to get some more today, they were all gone. Now the bin is filled with little action figures and rubber dinosaurs.

I haven't been having much luck getting Dot to her physical therapy appointment lately. She pooped in the car again on the way downtown. I kind of knew it was going to happen when I had to get off the freeway and take a detour because of an accident. It doesn't take much to get Dot upset. Once she realized we were no longer on our regular route, it was all over. Once we arrived, Dot did pretty well. We've had to slow down the treadmill a bit, but she's still hanging in there. When Dot was getting her acupuncture therapy, the vet kept asking me if I smelled incense. Nope. My sense of smell isn't very good. The only thing I was able to smell this afternoon was poop. It turned out that another customer had brought incense with them. Why? Your guess is as good as mine.

I'm going to have three choices for breakfast this Friday. The Dream Cafe has finally opened a restaurant in the neighborhood. I've been waiting for this place to open for over a year. We drive by the location every week on our way to physical therapy and I noticed today that the construction crews were gone and people were eating on the patio. I hope the place is as good as the original downtown location. Maybe I'll go this Friday and try their fried chicken and waffles. If you haven't had chicken and waffles, you haven't had a proper Southern breakfast.

I missed another opportunity to view a Space X launch at Kennedy Space Center. I'm not even going to apply for NASA credentials anymore. The Dragon Cargo Spacecraft launch is tomorrow. I'll watch it on my computer. Leaving town just isn't going to happen while I'm taking care of Dot. Hopefully, NASA will continue their social media outreach program for bloggers like me. I went to one of these launches as NASA's guest a little over a year ago, and I'd definitely like to do it again some day.

Until then, I'll keep doing laundry and cleaning up poop. I learned a long time ago that life isn't always exciting. There are ups and downs punctuated by long periods where nothing happens at all. I'd like to think that taking care of Dot is as important as anything else I've done, but it does test my patience at times. I haven't seen any rocket launches lately, but I've learned to appreciate little things like a good night's sleep and looking forward to chicken and waffles.

Paxton is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2303

Why is it so hard to find a birthday card? I had to get a card today, so I stopped at the Hallmark store on the way home from the post office. As always, none of the thousands of cards in the store seemed remotely appropriate. The humorous cards didn't seem funny. The emotional cards expressed the wrong emotion. I found one card that had the kind of picture I was looking for, but the message said Happy Birthday from your Grandmother. These cards all must be designed for a reason, so maybe I'm just not their target audience. After spending way too much time looking at cards I hated, I did what I always do. I got a blank card with a picture of a dog on the front.

I followed the landscapers instructions and watered the new grass for several hours this morning. Maybe this is why the grass always dies. If I water enough to get a root system established, the yard is a soggy mess and I'm constantly having to clean the dogs paws every time they go outside. If I don't water enough, the grass never has a chance. If I'm lucky, the Spring rainy season isn't quite over yet, and I won't have to worry about watering schedules at all. That's what happened last year. We had weeks and weeks of rain right after the grass was installed and although I hated the rain just as much as I usually do, the grass looked great.

I just noticed a new feature on my Apple Watch.  When you are using the maps app, you can quickly find nearby restaurants, coffee shops, grocery stores and gas stations with a tap of your finger and then get turn-by-turn directions to the place from wherever you happen to be. This would be real handy if I ever left the neighborhood. As it is, I already know where all these places are. I'm not sure how useful turn-by-turn directions are on a tiny one inch square map, but you never know.  If I can't figure out where to go for breakfast this Friday, I'll ask the watch.

I'm getting tired of all these presidential primaries. There was another one tonight. Can't we just go ahead and have the election now and get this over with? I can't get very excited about anyone. I saw a yard sign the other day that said "Everybody Sucks 2016." Maybe I'll get one of those signs. It pretty well sums up my sentiment.

I noticed that Dot only has three more Palladia pills left when I gave her the chemotherapy meds this evening. So far, she's handling the pills pretty well. There are days when it even seems like she's getting stronger. It's probably just an illusion though. I wouldn't be surprised if Dot's staying the same and I'm getting weaker. After she takes the remaining Palladia pills, we'll do another ultrasound scan and see whether the tumor is getting smaller. As long as it isn't getting much bigger, we're OK.

I got an e-mail from B&H today notifying me that a camera I've had my eye on for some time is on sale. Hmm. I definitely don't need another camera. I can't even afford another camera. Why am I even thinking about this? I'm always seeing these memes on Facebook saying that memories and experiences are far more important than stuff. I don't believe them. Maybe dogs are more important than cameras, but for the most part, stuff still does it for me.

Angel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2302

The landscapers were here all day. Dot barked a lot, but it really wasn't as bad as I expected. We go through this ritual every year. The landscapers don't add anything new. They just replace the stuff that died during the Winter. This year we lost quite a few Liriope plants and of course all of our St. Augustine grass. I've become resigned to the fact that the grass is going to die, no matter what we do to take care of it. One year I thought seriously about putting in artificial turf, but I've see a few installations and they all look cheesy. Artificial turf also starts to smell after dogs pee on it for several years.

So here we are again. I feel like I'm paying way too much to have a small yard look nice for eight months out of the year. What's the alternative though? Years ago, I filled up my car with heavy squares of St. Augustine turf every Spring and installed the grass myself. It's just not worth the trouble anymore. I really didn't save that much money anyway. The landscaper gets a much better wholesale price on grass and plants than I could and this savings pays for a big chunk of his labor. I guess it's worth it.

Since I had to stay home all day, I actually got quite a bit of work done. I finished two new articles today and shipped them off to the client. There was even time left over to complete some minor website updates. The dogs were surprisingly good today. I was expecting total chaos, but Dash largely ignored the landscapers and Dot couldn't even hear them. It's sad that Dot is growing deaf, but it can be a blessing on days like this. She would bark whenever she saw the guys working out the living room window, but when I turned her around so she was facing the kitchen, she would immediately forget what she was barking about and start thinking about food again.

Since I upgraded the operating on my phone yesterday, I thought I'd upgrade the operating system on my watch today. The procedure took over an hour and the only difference I've noticed so far is that my maps app doesn't work anymore. This is par for the course with Apple upgrades. They add a bunch of features I'll never ever use, while quietly wrecking essential things I use everyday. You should never upgrade a computer operating system just because you're bored. It never ends well.

Now that there's new grass in the yard, I'll have to remember to water it everyday. For the next month or so the yard will be damp and soggy and the dogs will have muddy paws every time they go out to pee. Maybe that artificial grass wasn't such a bad idea after all. Even though it will involve some extra work on my part, I think today was a success. The yard looks great now. The lush green grass, trimmed hedges, and healthy ground cover probably won't last long, but at least we made an effort.

I took my evening meds this morning again. Now I need to remember to take my morning meds this evening before I go to bed. One of these days I'm going to end up taking the dogs pills by mistake and then I'll really be in trouble.

Dottie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2301

It was a busy day. I updated the operating system on my phone, vacuumed the house, washed the car, polished some shoes, and went to the gym. The dogs seemed content to sleep in late this morning, but I was already up. I woke up around 4 AM to clean up a mess that Dot had made in her bed and couldn't get back to sleep. I don't even think Dot realizes that she poops in her sleep. The incontinence has become so routine that I managed to clean everything up and start a load of laundry without waking anyone. Even Dot didn't wake up.

It still amazes me that I can fill up an entire Dyson canister with dirt and dog hair and the rugs and carpets don't look any better. The canister full of dirt is the only evidence I have that I've actually cleaned the house. Cleaning the car is more satisfying because at least it looks a little better when I'm finished.

On the way to the gym, I stopped at a kitchen store to look for a bread knife to replace the one I lost last month. I don't know how you can completely lose a bread knife that always stays in the kitchen, but I did. I noticed that a nearby Sports Authority store was closing, so I went inside to look for bargains. The store was filled with garish signs saying that everything must go and advertising close-out prices that were up to 50% off.  I'll have to go back again because the store was way too crowded for my taste, but I did manage to find some slip on sandals that I can use to take the dogs out in the middle of the night.

I must have been the youngest person at the gym this afternoon, and I'm not very young. I guess old people are the only ones who would choose to stay inside and walk on a treadmill on a beautiful Spring day like this. The handful of octogenarians in the gym was fine by me. I like doing things when the rest of the world is doing something else. I had a good workout and I didn't miss the sunshine either. I'd already taken Dash on a nice long walk in the park.

It's a good thing that I got a lot of errands done today, because I'll have to be home all day tomorrow while the landscapers are here. I've got to keep an eye on Dot, because sometimes she gets upset when she sees people in the backyard. Since Dot can't hear very well anymore, there's a good chance that she'll sleep through the whole thing, but I don't want to take any chances. Dot still thinks she's a guard dog, but she can barely move and could easily hurt herself if she's trying to run around and bark at strangers like she used to.

I'm starting to see some really pretty Irises behind our house. I see them every Spring. Our next door neighbor planted the flowers over twenty years ago. He died of leukemia almost fifteen years ago, but the exotic looking Irises still remain. When I see these blooms, they remind me of a time when neighbors were actually friends.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2300

Just as I predicted, the lawnmower died about ten seconds after I hauled it out to the front lawn. Despite seeing a reassuring green light on the battery charger, it was clear that the battery needed to be replaced. It wouldn't hold a charge at all. I removed the problematic battery, put the mower back in the green house, and headed for the battery store. The repair guy even remembered recelling this battery before. He said he could refurbish the battery pack while I was grocery shopping and that was good enough for me. A few hours later, the battery was back in the charger, getting ready for a second attempt to mow the grass.

Why aren't batteries more reliable?  Every time I tell Janet that I'm interested in getting a Tesla, she tells me I'm nuts, reminding me that I spend half my life complaining about batteries. Laptops, phones, cameras, watches, recorders, and even lawn mowers immediately turn into worthless piles of junk when the batteries start to fail.  It wasn't so bad when you could just pop in a new battery and get back to work, but increasingly batteries aren't removable. Replacing my laptop battery required a trip to the Apple store. Ditto for my phone. Odd batteries, like the one found in my lawn mower, require a special technician who can take the case apart and recell the battery. It's all a giant nuisance. Somebody told me that the Tesla is powered by 8,000 small lithium-ion batteries that are all wired together. When those things start to fail after four or five years, an old fashioned gas guzzler isn't going to seem so bad.

I was planning to write another article today, but dealing with the faulty lawn mower battery consumed most of the afternoon. At least the story has a happy ending. The mower works now and the front yard looks much better. The first time I mow the lawn each Spring, it always seems much harder than it did the year before. It shouldn't be this way. I'm active. I walk the dogs everyday. I work out. And after all this, the lawn mower keeps getting heavier every year. I blame it all on muscle atrophy caused by taking statin drugs. My doctor still wants me to take statins though, claiming that a heart attack is much worse than a little muscle atrophy.

The weather was just about perfect today. The temperature was in the low seventies. The humidity was low. There didn't even seem to be much pollen in the air. Naturally, the dogs enjoyed their walks and Dot even felt like wandering around in the back yard smelling things. I had to wander around with her, holding up her rear legs with the harness, but that's OK. Dealing with Dot takes a lot of patience, but it's worth it when you can see that she's still able to enjoy herself.

I'm not sure what I'll do tomorrow. After mowing the grass, I feel like I've already had my weekly workout. I'll probably go to the gym anyway though. When your other alternatives are vacuuming and cleaning the office, the gym starts to look pretty good.

Miracle is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2299

I had breakfast at a place I haven't visited for several years and it was even worse than it was before. Maybe I've become too picky. All I want is a restaurant with fabulous food, nice ambience, and reasonable prices that is less than five miles from my house. Is that too much to ask? To be fair, this morning's meal wasn't that bad, but little things count. Real maple syrup is much better than Mrs. Butterworth's and a carafe of fresh half and half is better than a plate of those little plastic Coffee-mate cups. Instead of guys with hipster beards wearing wool watch caps, today's restaurant was filled with overweight substitute teachers playing Candy Crush Saga on their phones while they waited for their order. I don't think I've found my new home yet.

I started my second article when I returned from my breakfast excursion. It's nice having something to write everyday. Writing adds some much needed structure to my day. One assignment a day is plenty. Two or three deadlines at the same time is stressful and no writing jobs at all makes me feel like my business is failing. These jobs don't pay very well, but if I could manage to do one a day consistently, I'd do fine. It's hard to believe that I used to complete three or four new jobs each day and still had time to take care of the dogs. Now, I'm lucky to write five or six articles a month.

I've been real lucky with Dot this week. Somehow, she's back on schedule again and has only pooped in the house once or twice all week. It makes life so much easier when she does her business out in the yard just before bedtime and then sleeps soundly until we take her out in the yard again the next morning. The neurological issues that are causing her incontinence aren't going away though, so I've learned to be appreciataive whenever we get lucky.

Somehow my dissatisfaction with breakfast on Friday has resulted in a dissatisfaction with dinner as well. For the past month or so I haven't been very excited about grocery shopping and just picked up take out dinners instead. I used to love shopping for something special on Friday, and now I can't even bring myself to go to the grocery store. Actually, the take out meals have been pretty good. We've had Thai food for the first time in ages, and tonight we had some delicious barbecue from my favorite barbecue place. I'd bring home take out all the time if it weren't for the fact that it is generally much too salty and is quite a bit more expensive than cooking for yourself. I'd gain ten pounds in less than a month if I ate restaurant food all the time.

Tomorrow will be the big test to see whether the lawn mower works. The battery is charged and ready to go. It was too cold to mow the grass today, but I've got no excuses this weekend. The way it looks now, I'll be doing yard work tomorrow and going to the gym on Sunday. That ought to burn up enough calories so I can bring home a few more take out meals.

Haley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day