Day 2506

I picked up the watch I took in for repairs last week and exactly fifteen minutes after I returned home, the broken link they allegedly fixed fell apart again. I should have known that this would be an exercise in frustration. I'm pretty good at fixing things like this and when I realized that a repair was impossible, I should have known that it would be impossible for others as well. I wish the repair guy had just told me the obvious. The weird flexible rubber joints that held the metal band together were forty years old and the rubber was crumbling. Glue just wasn't going to work. Later in the day, Janet asked me why I didn't just remove the defective link and make the band smaller. Duh. I never thought of that and apparently neither did the watch repairman.

I've been tired all day. I had a major cleanup in the middle of the night when Dot had a dog dream right after she pooped in her bed and ended up kicking the poop across the room. What a mess. By the time I got things cleaned up, I was wide awake and felt like putting on a pot of coffee and starting the day at 3 AM. I knew better though. Every hour of sleep counts. I went back to bed marveling at the fact that Dot never woke up through the entire episode. She was still sleeping peacefully.

Today would have been a perfect day for the roofers to come over, but not surprisingly, they are ignoring me again. As soon as it rains, I'm sure they'll call and tell me how they were planning to come out if only it wasn't so wet. I have a feeling that the roofers and the garbage man are having a beer together somewhere, laughing at how easy it is to pull my chain.

I had so many little errands to do today that it was easy to forget how slow work has been this month. For some reason I thought I could clean out all the gunk that had accumulated in the washing machine's soap drawer. I wasted most of the morning taking the thing apart and was disgusted at all the mold and slime I found. Don't ever buy a front loader washing machine. They're almost as bad as a flat roof on your house. The afternoon was spent picking up prescriptions for Dot, selecting some additional meals at the vegan take out store, going to the bank, and looking for the illusive spot in the back yard where Dash pooped last night. It's almost impossible to clean up the poop in the dark, and equally impossible to remember where it is the next morning.

Dot seemed weak and lethargic today. This surprised me, since she was doing great this weekend. Every day is a new day with Dot. Some days, she'll be able to get up on her own and wander around the house. Other days she can barely move. I'm used to a world with distinct causes and corresponding effects. Aging isn't like this at all. The weird blend of physical and mental deterioration can totally surprise you at times. Hopefully, Dot will bounce back a bit tomorrow. She certainly got plenty of rest today.

Ellis is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2505

My Dad was an accomplished scientist. He wrote books and was well regarded by his peers. None of this prevented him from being sucked into financially disastrous telemarketing scams or becoming a hopeless hoarder as he grew older. Many of my friends are dealing with aging parents who have similar problems. Falling victim to financial scams and living in impossibly cluttered homes seem to be common themes. When I do my Sunday chores, I often hope that I don't go down the same rabbit hole. The warning signs are already there. How did the house ever get this messy? I spent the first half of my life living with a Zen like clarity, and now look at me. There is so much clutter in my office now that even the dogs have trouble navigating this no-man's land.

I try to straighten and clean on Sunday, but it hardly seems worth the effort. Fall is just beginning and already the backyard is filled with leaves. Spiders are industriously rebuilding elaborate webs in the windows I cleaned just a week or two ago, and dog hair is everywhere. The house was much easier to clean before it became filled with throw rugs to keep Dot from slipping on the brick floors. By the time I clean all these rugs and wash dozens of dirty dog blankets, I've usually had enough. I make the bed every day, but I'm lucky if I clean the office once a year. I used to move excess clutter from the office to the storage warehouse regularly, but now both spaces are full. Winter coats don't fit in the closet anymore. Bookshelves are overflowing with dusty books and obsolete software boxes. Broken watches litter my desk. I'm having a hard time even keeping up with reading my mail. All of this is discouraging, because when I'm being objective about things, I realize that I'm only three or four years away from becoming my Dad.

I made an honest effort today. I didn't just vacuum the floors. I even used the attachments to remove the dust from windowsills and floorboards. It's discouraging to clean up Dot's space and spread fresh blankets on the floor, only to have her poop on them ten minutes later. That's life with an incontinent dog though. You just have to be patient and keep cleaning things over and over again.

If I did this everyday, I'd be in great shape. I typically take between 16,000 and 20,000 steps on Sunday. Dash usually takes a much longer walk on Sunday.  I almost always go to the gym as well. Throw in mowing the grass and pushing the heavy Dyson Animal around the house and you've got a very busy day. Would my time have been better spent lying in bed and watching a movie on Netflix? Who knows?

The shower stall seemed dry today, so I thought I'd try to reseal the corners with silicon again. The repairs didn't work the first time I tried this, but there's always hope. This means I won't be able to take a shower until the silicon dries. I'm too tired to care. Despite all the physical activity, it was a good day. The weather was fabulous. Dot seemed a little stronger than usual. Dash got a bath and smells good for a change. Janet fixed some delicious Chicken Parmesan for dinner, and it looks like the bananas for tomorrow's breakfast are ripening nicely.

Early voting starts tomorrow in Texas. I'm still trying to decide when the lines will be the smallest.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2504

Dash followed a path this morning we hadn't been down in years and all of the sudden it was like old times. It was a nice day and we ended up walking three miles. We used to do this every day, but it's been a long time. I noticed that leaves are already starting to turn in some sections of the park. Late Fall flowers are blooming. It was good to get reacquainted with this part of the neighborhood. On the way home, I noticed some new houses under construction and even talked with a few neighbors.

I asked one guy about a home that has remained vacant ever since it was completed several years ago. "Are you guys ever going to move in," I asked the owner. "I haven't been able to convince my wife to move yet," he told me. It seems like they would have worked this out before they built the elaborate house, but what do I know. When I asked whether he was going to sell the place now, he indicated that it was turning out to be a pretty great man cave for him. It must be nice to have the resources to build a million dollar house and then not even bother to live in it. The guy drove away in a perfectly restored 1966 Corvette and Dash and I continued our walk.

I love the cooler weather. Maybe that was why Dash was eager to take a longer walk this morning. Of course, he might have just wanted to get away from the chaos he woke up to. Dot had pooped in her sleep and then rolled over in it when she woke up. She was a smelly mess and I still had to figure out how to get her outside before she peed all over the place. After I took her out to pee, hosed her down, cleaned up the soiled blankets, and washed my hands several times, it was time for breakfast. I've decided that weekdays are easier than weekends. The discipline of getting up very early just works out better for everyone.

My convenient Scan and Go app crashed while I was grocery shopping this afternoon. I thought I'd have to start over, but discovered that the app saves your scanned items to the cloud and all the purchases I'd made before the crash were still there after I re-booted my phone. I decided to use 4G instead of the store's WiFi to complete my transactions and everything worked just fine. Even with this weird glitch, I still managed to get out of the store much faster than I would have if I'd gone through the check-out line.

Janet went to a friend's gallery opening after dinner. While I was cleaning up the kitchen, Dot came out to greet me, covered with poop. She'd done it again. I stopped what I was doing and took her outside and hosed her off a second time. Then I did a forensic search of the house and cleaned up the mess. Dot's not even aware of what she's doing. I can't get mad at her, but I do swear a lot now. This is very tiring.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow. There are a ton of chores that need my attention, but I'd like to do something interesting for a change. Unfortunately, the only thing that interests me at the moment is sleeping.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2503

Today had its ups and downs. I was delighted to see a few Orionid meteors as I was walking Dash before dawn this morning. The light pollution is so bad in Dallas that it is rare to see things like this. I got up so early this morning that I was able to eat a relaxing breakfast before the Friday morning crowds arrived. The hipster restaurant is slowly becoming my new go-to destination. The atmosphere is low-key and relaxing and the food is delicious.

I checked my trash can with some trepidation when I returned from breakfast and was somewhat disappointed to see that the black trash bags were still inside. On further inspection I realized that the truck hadn't even been by yet. None of the trash on the entire street had been picked up. The truck usually arrives about 7 AM, but when it still hadn't appeared by 4 PM, I began to get suspicious. Maybe the driver got mad that somebody complained and decided to ignore the street this week. I was determined to get my trash picked up this time, so I called the city again. Around 6 PM, the truck finally appeared and this time my trash did get picked up.

When I went to the vet to pick up more phenobarbital for Dash, I noticed that they gave me the wrong medication. I went back and had them refill the prescription, which delayed me just enough to put me right in the middle of rush hour traffic for a trip to REI to pick up the pants that the store had agreed to replace for me. Getting off schedule can be dangerous. I wasn't terribly surprised to see that Dot had pooped in her bed while I was gone.

Before running these Friday errands, I finished my new article and shipped it off to the client. I wonder how I used to write three or four of these articles every day. I could never do that now. It's amazing how time consuming these dogs have become. Every time I get started on something, Dot needs attention. Dash has his own quirks as well. Together they are quite a handful.

After completing two minor website updates, I decided to call it a day. I was going to take a short nap with the dogs, but as soon as I lay down on the bed, Dash woke up and both dogs started barking for their dinner. I've started dividing their evening meal into two parts on days like this. Usually, they'll go back to sleep for and hour or so after the early dinner, and then we'll have the late dinner. This ritual may seem a little weird, but it gives the dogs something to do and restores a little sanity to the house. Life was a lot easier when I could just let Dot and Dash outside and let them burn off their energy chasing each other around in circles in the back yard.

As I swept yesterday's rain off the roof, I wondered how long it it will take to reconnect with the roofers again. They didn't show up at all this week. I've got to get beyond worrying about the roof and the garbage, but these things are pretty basic. I definitely need a dry roof over my head, and regular garbage pickup would be nice too. At least I had a nice breakfast this morning and all Dot's accidents landed squarely on the Wee Wee pads like they were supposed to. It's the little things that keep me sane.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2502

What was Cardinal Dolan thinking when he invited Donald and Hillary to speak at the Al Smith dinner tonight? Somebody forgot to tell these two that last night's debate was over. I usually love the self-deprecating humor at these events, but this was the most acrimonious and least funny roast I have ever seen. George Bush, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Ronald Regan have all been hilarious at these type of events. Trump and Hillary were pathetic. They both told a few jokes and then launched into their stump speech. This was a take no prisoners evening. No wonder so many people are disgusted with this election.

I put my trash can on the opposite side of the street this evening. This isn't much of a plan, but it was the best I could come up with. Who knows. Maybe a different truck picks up the trash on the right hand side of the street. I went back to using my original rolling cart, because the robotic arm on the truck pretty well demolished my new can last week. We'll see tomorrow morning whether my talk with the sanitation department had any effect whatsoever. If my trash isn't emptied properly in the morning, I'm going to be well beyond frustrated.

Actually, I'm already frustrated because  today's rain ruined my chances of getting the roof repaired this week. The last time I called the roofers, they promised me that they'd be out again toward the end of the week. Now, they have the perfect excuse to keep ignoring me for a while longer. The coating material can't be applied unless the roof is completely dry, and the rainy season is approaching. It's going to become harder and harder to find a time when the roof is dry and the roofers are available.

The dogs were unusually needy today and it was hard to get anything done. If Dot wasn't demanding attention, Dash was. Dash always gets nervous on rainy days and it was hard to get him to go outside until the skies finally cleared. I knew he had to pee when I got up this morning, but it took four or five attempts to get him out the door. Dot didn't even bother. She just pooped in the house. It seemed like every time I tried to fix breakfast of dinner, there was another mess to clean up. There's nothing like the smell of dog poop when you're trying to enjoy your dinner.

I got another writing assignment this afternoon, but there was no need to finish it today. This will give me something to do tomorrow. If the weather cooperates, I'll look forward to going out for breakfast again. It's been a long week and I need to get out of the house for a while.

Emily is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2501

Another loose dog came after Dash today. I managed to stop the dog before any damage was done, but the incident made me mad. It's amazing how often this happens. It's almost always a young person who isn't paying attention that causes the problem. They're doing yoga in the park, or listening to music with earbuds in their ears while their dog is roaming around nearby looking for something more interesting to do. Luckily this large Lab was dragging his leash behind him and I managed to grab the leash before the dog could get to Dash. Dash was terrified though. He's been attacked before and hasn't forgotten. Loose dogs are a pet peeve of mine. Take your dog to a dogpark if you want to let them off leash. Don't let them loose in an area where there are signs all over the place saying "All dogs must be leashed."

The last presidential debate is taking place right now. I have a live stream of the debate running in a window on my browser. I'll listen for about thirty seconds at a time and then I feel compelled to turn the sound off for a while. I just can't stand listening to these guys. I still don't understand how two of the most unlikable candidates in modern history could have been nominated and think the country deserves a do-over. If either of these folks gets elected, the gridlock we're experiencing in Washington DC just gets worse. Would it really be that hard to find someone the country actually likes? I can't think of a name at the moment, but there's got to be someone.

I never cared much about politics when I was younger. I can recall telling someone when I was in my twenties that I wouldn't mind having a king as long as I was part of the aristocracy. This was flippant, of course, but I just didn't think that voting even mattered. I think I finally registered to vote because my mother kept bugging me mercilessly about becoming a responsible citizen. I became a voter, but always was a bit skeptical about the whole process of arriving at a consensus. I've seen homeowner's associations and condo boards do nothing but bicker for years at a time. I played a very minor role in city government at one point and saw nothing but bickering. I think things might be a little better if lawyers weren't allowed to become politicians, but maybe that wouldn't help either.

If there was a political party that advocated giving the earth back to the dolphins and the whales, I think I'd be for them. Humans have become an invasive species, just like kudzu vines. We can't agree about anything. We eat all the fish out of the oceans. We cut down the rain forests for firewood. If we continue at this rate, we'll be extinct in 30,000 years. I hear a lot of politicians talk about climate change, but none of them even mention controlling the world's population as a solution. There are too many of us already and globalization is only making matters worse.

I don't think I'm going to change things. Somebody is going to get elected. Hopefully, I will continue to get my social security check and be able to live out the rest of my life without the rancor I am witnessing becoming even worse. I don't think the apocalypse is just around the corner, but I do think today's millennials are going to have a tough time turning this ship around. I wish them luck.

Diva is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2500 - Halfway There

When I started this blog, I wondered whether it was humanly possible to post something for 5000 consecutive days. I'm halfway there. I still wonder if I can complete this quixotic journey. It's not been easy to get this far. There have been numerous power outages to overcome. Computers have crashed. Sometimes I've been impossibly busy and other times there's been nothing to talk about. Internet service has been spotty at times, as has my own health. I can remember posting from airports on numerous occasions and one time I posted the same day I came out of surgery. So far, I have not missed a single day.

Doing something on this grand a scale changes your life. I'm not sure it changes things for the better however. I can recall business trips where everyone else had gone out to dinner while I was sitting alone in my hotel room trying to compose the day's journal entry. Any activity after dinner still reminds me of the Cinderella story where the coach turns back into a pumpkin at midnight. I've always got a deadline to meet. I'm not sure if any readers have stayed with me throughout this improbably journey. There were thousands of readers when blogging was popular, but that number has probably dwindled to a few dozen. Blogging isn't very popular now. One of these days I'll probably just be writing for myself.

It's an interesting exercise to track how how your opinions and priorities change over time. On any given day, it seems like each post is exactly like the one that preceded it. The changes that occur over time are subtle, but they are real. Occasionally, I'll read something I wrote five years ago, and I am surprised that quite a bit has changed already. It would be nice if this was always a story about growth and affirmation. I've certainly learned things along the way, but I've also lost things. That's the way life is.

If you're a new reader, you might think I'm in a downward spiral. Beloved pets are dying. A business is becoming irrelevant. A common theme is how tired I am. I hope you don't find this discouraging. Life always has its peaks and valleys and occasionally the valleys can last for years at a time. I learned a lot when I was a globe trotting advertising writer. I'm learning even more while I sit at home caring for a sick dog.

Today didn't provide many insights, but it did add to the ongoing narrative. I cleaned toilets today and removed hundreds of spiderwebs from the exterior windows and sides of the house. Removing the spiderwebs is an odious task that needs to be done several times a year. I take a broom and sweep the webs away, usually ruining the broom in the process. These webs are thick and sticky and are filled with dead insects and live spiders. I almost always end up with spiders in my hair when I am destroying the webs. I guess the spiders are better than snakes. I have friends who live in the country that have continual problems with snakes. We just have spiders and angry squirrels.

If you're interested, I'll be here tomorrow. I think that writing keeps the mind agile and I'm definitely curious to see where this journey leads. 5000 days is a long chunk of time. I worry at times that the Blogger platform may disappear before my journey is done. Google has a history of abandoning things. I may not make it either. At the end of 5000 days, I'm going to be pretty old. Maybe this blog will eventually become a curious resource for scholars. Maybe it is just a wasted effort. Only time will tell.

Little Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2499

A lady from the sanitation department called me this morning. She listened politely as I explained the problems I've been having with trash collection. I thought we were getting somewhere when she told me that the city had hired a lot of new drivers recently and seemed to agree with my theory that the driver didn't know how to operate the fancy robotic garbage truck. When I finished my story and asked what was going to happen next, I instantly became disappointed. "I'll talk to my supervisor about this," she told me. This is going to end like every other encounter I've had with a large bureaucracy. Maybe this supervisor will talk to his supervisor, or maybe it won't even get that far. I doubt that anything will happen. The drivers are probably protected by their union and can't be fired anyway. The driver might not even be at fault. There's always the chance that the city added fifty extra streets to his regular route and he is just doing the best he can to keep up with the added workload.

A little later, a representative from SiriusXM  called and asked if I was enjoying my free trial and wondered why I hadn't activated my subscription yet. Normally, I don't even answer these type of telemarketing calls, but this guy surprised me by calling my cell phone. I explained that I only listened to one channel in the car and their package prices seemed pretty expensive if all I was going to use satellite radio for was to avoid having to listen to all the annoying pledge drives on the local over the air public radio station. I took this opportunity to complain about the tinny, compressed quality of all the voice offerings on SiriusXM. The guy thanked me for my input and agreed that I probably wasn't the target audience they were looking for. I don't know why companies like these don't adopt an à la carte pricing structure. If I could just pay for the stations I actually listen to, I'd gladly subscribe to SiriusXM. I feel the same way about my AT&T U-Verse account. Why should I have to pay for hundreds of channels when I only watch ten at the most?

I went to the vegan take-out store to buy enough meals to augment the leftovers in the refrigerator for the rest of the week. I love this store and hope they manage to stay in business. There is no way I could cook all these interesting meals myself. Cooking for one is hardly worth the trouble. It's hard to buy small quantities of vegetables and if you buy larger quantities, the stuff goes bad before you get around to eating it. I talked to the lady who started the store today and she told me that she got the idea when friends of hers kept saying that they'd love to become vegetarian, but that it was so much easier to just get a burger. This store is easier than going to McDonalds. I'm hooked.

On my way home I dropped off one of my favorite watches at my local watch repair place to get the band fixed. It doesn't matter if your wear the watches or not. Eventually, they all just fall apart by themselves. I doubt that I'll wear this watch anymore, but it was an old friend that deserved some respect. I have no idea how the watch broke. It's been sitting in a drawer for years.

Dot seemed so tired today. I don't think the Tramadol pills are having much of an effect. I had hoped that they might help her walk a little easier, but that isn't happening. We'll continue the pills for a few days longer in case there is some sort of delayed reaction, but I think this is just an experiment that failed. I wish it were easier to transport Dot. I think the water therapy still might help, but I hate to put Dot through the ordeal of getting her to the vet and back on a regular basis if all it does is cause her stress.

Maybe something interesting will happen tomorrow. I'm not counting on it though.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2498

Today felt more like a work day. We got up early because Janet needed to go to the Dalmatian Rescue Golf Tournament. I spent most of the day tending to the dogs, but did manage to squeeze in a few weekend errands. I picked up some meds for Dash at the vet and then took my defective pants back to the REI store. Amazingly, they offered to exchange them for a new pair. I wasn't expecting this and was actually planning to drop the pants off at a tailor shop on the way home. I've noticed a pattern in recent years. As product quality has gotten worse, customer service has gotten better. I think a lot of companies have decided that it is less costly to just replace things when they break than to build them right in the first place. I've gotten four free UP fitness trackers from Jawbone. I love these things, but they aren't made very well. I'm lucky if mine lasts six months. Customer service is usually very nice about replacing the broken trackers though, so I'm a happy camper. Maybe REI uses the same strategy. Advertise clothing as tough and reliable, and if it doesn't live up to expectations, just smile and replace it.

The reason that I stayed home today was that it is inevitable that Dot will poop in her bed during the day. If I'm not nearby to quickly clean up the mess, she gets frantic and usually ends up making the situation much worse. When I'm away, I have to leave her penned in a small, well padded enclosure, so she won't hurt herself. This works well if she's asleep, or if I'm around to lets her out frequently. It doesn't work well at all if I'm gone for four or five hours. As expected, Dot did poop in her bed today, so it was good that I was nearby.

After one of these accidents, I knew she was tired and would probably sleep for several hours, so I went to the gym. This is usually how I plan my excursions away from the house. If she's had an accident, Dot typically won't have another one for at least three or four hours. She's sleeps soundly, so if she has an accident in her sleep, I can just quietly slide the soiled disposable pad out from under her without even waking her up. If I keep doing this much longer, I'll soon be able to write a book on dealing with incontinent dogs.

I've discovered that it's hard to write the blog when only one of us is home in the evening. As Dot has become less mobile, she's become increasingly needy. She's not the least bit sleepy in the evenings, and constantly wants somebody nearby. If I ignore her, she starts barking frantically. To prevent this, I'll write a sentence or two and and then go sit with her for a while or walk her around the house. As soon as I get her settled down, Dash will run to the front door, thinking he hears a car in the driveway and the cycle of barking will start all over again.

The roofers said they'd stop by next week. They probably really meant that they'd stop by next month. A representative from the sanitation department is supposed to contact me to help resolve my trash problem as well. We'll see. My guess is that none of this will actually happen.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2497

I should move to rural America. I dread going out on weekends now. There are simply too many people in the city. The roads are crowded with careless drivers. I see so many accidents when I'm running errands that I often wonder when my own luck will run out. There are way too many loose dogs in the park on weekends. Loose dogs make me nervous. I've worked with dogs for most of my adult life and have been bitten five times. Any dog will bite you if the circumstances are right. I don't know what people are thinking when they let their dog run loose in a public park. Their dog could get run over by a car. It could get in a fight with another loose dog. Even a friendly, playful dog could injure a child or elderly person. Dash was almost killed by an aggressive, loose dog many years ago and I've never forgotten it.

The city makes me long for empty country roads and neighbors that are at least twelve miles apart. I miss taking long walks with my dogs where I don't encounter a single other person. I have a telescope that I never use because there is too much light pollution in the city to see anything except the moon. City people aren't as nice as country people either. That's not just my opinion, it's my experience.

I mowed the grass this afternoon. Every time I mow the grass in October, I think I can put the mower away until next year. It would be reasonable to think that I've mowed my last for the year, but Texas is full of surprises. Sometimes it gets real warm in November and the grass starts growing again. I can recall even mowing grass in December on rare occasions. Hey, maybe I'll get lucky this time. I clipped things a little shorter today, just in case.

A belt loop came off a pair of supposedly indestructible pants I bought at the REI store. Admittedly, this is a minor annoyance in the grand scheme of things, but I've still got half a mind to go back to the store and demand a refund. The only reason I buy things at the REI store is that they look indestructible. I doubt that the store would give me a refund anyway. These pants aren't exactly brand new.

I'm sure you guys get those notices from Facebook urging you to re-share your old memories. I got one today reminding me of a video a friend took last year at this time showing Dot working out in the underwater treadmill. I was surprised at how much has changed in a year. Dot was much stronger then. Her gradual deterioration has been so slow that sometimes I don't even notice that she is getting worse. It's hard to even remember the days when she could run like the wind.

Dot definitely won't be going to the Dalmatian Rescue Golf Tournament tomorrow. Those days are long gone. Everyone used to bring their dogs to the tournament and it was fun to see all these Dalmatians in one place. I'll be staying home with Dot and Dash tomorrow while Janet goes to the tournament to help with the silent auction. I hope everyone enjoys themselves, even though I've never understood the attraction of golf. It still seems like a very strange sport to me.

I have no plans for tomorrow at all. I'm sure that Dot and Dash do however, which means that I'll have my hands full.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2496

I'm confused. When I took Dot to the cancer center today, I was prepared for bad news. To me, Dot seems to be growing weaker. She stumbled a lot this week and seems to be having a harder time walking without assistance. What do I know though? The oncologist, the ultrasound technician, and two nurses all thought Dot looked stronger and more alert than the last time they saw her. Her lab work and scan seemed to confirm their opinion. Dot's tumors are stable and haven't grown at all since her last scan. Her blood work is actually better than it was a month ago. This is all good news, but I still wonder why she seems so weak around the house.

I'm really mad at the city. For the fourth week in a row, the trash truck has failed to empty my trash. Not only was my bagged trash not removed from the can, the robotic arm on the truck actually damaged my brand new trash can. Now, there's a big dent in the can and the lid won't close. I piled the trash in the back of my car and went looking for a dumpster again. I'm tired of this. I called city services when I got home and after a long wait on hold, explained my problem to someone. Nothing got resolved today, but I did get assigned a case number and was told that someone from the sanitation department would be calling me next week.

I didn't get to go out for breakfast this morning, since a thunderstorm was headed our way. I could see lightning on the horizon and hear distant thunder, but we managed to get the dogs walked before the rain actually arrived. The short walk around the block with both dogs went just fine, but Dash almost got me struck by lightning when he refused to curtail his longer walk as the rain continued to get closer. Dash can be pretty stubborn sometimes. By the time we returned home, the sky was looking dark and ominous. I found another package of frozen waffles in the freezer and listened to the rain pounding on the roof while I kept telling Dot that everything was going to be OK.

I've been worried that the new Tramadol pills were going to make Dot constipated, but she put those fears to rest by pooping in the car on the way home from the cancer center. Poor car. Today, it's been pooped in and full of garbage within the same day. It's harder to clean Dot up after she's had an accident in the car. Since she's in a confined space, she can't move away from the mess. Sometimes, it takes me a while before I can safely pull off to the side of the road and attend to her as well. Such is life. It's hard to imagine a trip in the car without one of these accidents these days.

I picked up some Chinese take out for dinner and was dismayed to see that the restaurant had taken all the small sizes off the menu. I used to have a choice of small or large on everything. Not anymore. Absolutely nothing stays the same anymore. Oh, well. At least the restaurant is still in business. I hope we have a quiet, uneventful weekend. I need some time to rest and recharge my batteries before I resume my battle with the city over trash pickup. I'm beginning to think that the robotic arm on the truck has some kind of sensor that rejects my can when it discovers it is full of dog poop.

Abby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2495

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

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

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

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

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

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2494

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

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

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

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

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

Kuuipo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2493

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Katy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2492

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

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

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

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

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

Neo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2491

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

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

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

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

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

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

Maverick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2490

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

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

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

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

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

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

Madison is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day