Day 2535

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chelsey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2534

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

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

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

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

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

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2533

There was frost on the ground when I woke up this morning. The leaves aren't very colorful this year, but they are definitely falling. I hope a big wind comes to blow them all off the roof, so I won't have to do it myself. The dogs love the cold weather, but I have mixed feelings. Pretty soon, the furnace will be running full time and the gas bill will go up dramatically. The office is in the coldest part of the house, so I often have to put a little ceramic heater under my desk during the day. As least we don't have to worry about snow very often. Some parts of the country are already under a blanket of snow.

I spent so much time doing little things around the house that I never got around to vacuuming. I cut up cardboard boxes so they would fit in the trash. I polished shoes. I changed the sheets on the bed and washed a bunch of dog blankets. I figured out what I did wrong with my Waterpik repair yesterday, but it hardly seemed worth the trouble to start over again. I have a new one now.

I stopped by the REI store and got a pair of pants on my way to the gym. Since I don't have business meetings anymore and rarely go out in public, these rugged outdoor clothes are just about the only things I wear. I still can't figure out where to put these new utilitarian duds. I haven't thrown away any of my old clothes and my closet is full. Neatness just isn't very high on the agenda anymore. Ever since Dot got sick, the house has been a disaster. I just put my new pants on top of the large format printer when I got home and that's probably where they'll stay.

The gym was nearly empty today. I thought it would be full, since it was so cold outside today, but apparently most people had more important things to do. I miss my favorite basketball. I still don't know why there are only three basketballs now, but since I seem to be the only person who uses the court, I guess three is plenty. I had a good workout, but I felt too tired to do the vacuuming when I got home. There was no point disrupting things anyway. The dogs were sleeping peacefully on some of the rugs I needed to clean and Janet was already fixing dinner. I'll finish cleaning the house tomorrow.

Dot had a good day. She had more energy than usual and I actually saw her wag her tail a bit during our evening walk.  I haven't seen Dot wag her tail in ages, since the muscles in her rear end don't work properly anymore. I wish I knew what caused some days to be better for Dot than others. If I knew, maybe I could help her have more good days. I don't think there is any rhyme or reason to Dot's health anymore. We've all been running on empty for a long, long time.

It's going to be a short week next week. I hope there are no dog emergencies on Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to having a nice dinner away from home for a change.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2532

My Waterpik broke last night. I was curious about whether it was possible to fix this thing and quickly found a YouTube video explaining the entire process. These guys who make YouTube videos about how to repair even the most obscure appliances and machinery are the unsung heroes of the modern age. It doesn't matter if it is a broken electric shaver or a crashed computer, there's always someone out there willing to tell you how to fix it. I've been able to fix lots of things I might have thrown in the trash as a result of these videos. Most of these self-help tutorials are not professionally made. They are quirky labors of love. Occasionally, the instructions are misguided and will get you electrocuted, but generally the information is helpful. I appreciate the people who take the time to make these videos. I mean, who would take the time to tell you how to take apart a Waterpik, of all things?

Since the Waterpik was held together with glue instead of screws, you basically had to break the thing and then carefully Superglue it back together after you made the repairs. I should have known that I was in for trouble when I learned that Superglue was involved, but I went ahead with the repair anyway. An hour later, everything looked pretty good, except that it was harder to insert the attachments now. Hmm. What did I do wrong? It the attachments couldn't be secured properly, all I had was a high pressure hose that would spray water all over the bathroom. I didn't have a lot of faith in my repair, so went out and bought a new Waterpik anyway.

Dot made a horrible mess last night. When she woke up and tried to change position around 3 AM, she strained too much trying to move and ended up pooping on herself. This poop was runny and she smeared it all over herself as she twisted around in her dog bed. By the time I woke up to help her, it was too late. It was also too cold outside to take her out and hose her off. After considerable effort Janet and I got her cleaned up so we could all go back to bed. While I was outside hosing off the soiled bedding so I could throw it in the wishing machine, I realized that I had forgotten to remove the lawn mower battery for the winter and bring it inside. The unexpected cold front totally caught me by surprise. If last night is what we are going to be dealing with in the months ahead, I'm not looking forward to Winter at all.

A couple of days ago I stopped taking the proton pump inhibitor I've been taking for years to treat an acid reflux problem. My doctor told me that Protonix could interfere with the way the body absorbed calcium and lead to bone loss and even increase the risk of stroke. I guess it made sense to quit taking the stuff, but last night my heartburn returned. Prescription medications are a bitch. You've always got to decide if the side effects are worse than the cure. I tinkered with my diet for years before deciding to take the Protonix. The drug worked like a charm, but now it appears that it is a false friend and I've got to come up with another solution. I had the same problem with Benicar a couple of years ago. Sure wish the pharmaceutical companies could come up with pills that didn't have dangerous side effects. That would be nice.

I'm thinking about upgrading all my computers to Sierra. Since this is a major move, I need to do a lot of research first. Today I tried to find out if my aging hardware would even run the new system. Next, I've got to find out how many of my applications will be broken by the upgrade. Finally, I've got to figure out how to do the upgrade when some of my hard drives are nearly full. I'm not sure if this effort is worth the trouble, but it would be nice to be current again. Each year, the software on my desktop computer gets further and further out of date. The software works fine, but the world has changed. Who knows. Maybe if I wasn't such a dinosaur, I'd start getting good assignments again.

I hope the dogs sleep well tonight. I tried to find the rest of the dead bird in the yard this afternoon, but came up with nothing. Dash has a much better nose than I do, so if it's out there, he's going to find it and get sick again. I hope that Dot doesn't have another accident like the one she had last night. She hates to soil herself, and I'm not wild about the cleanup operation either. Just sleep until morning dogs. That's all I ask.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2531

Why does it always rain on Friday? I had to cancel my breakfast outing again because of inclement weather. It wasn't raining hard, but I saw some lightning off in the distance while we were walking the dogs around the block this morning and I didn't want to risk a storm phobia incident. Actually, my breakfast at home was pretty good. I cooked up some bacon to go with my toaster waffles and the dogs didn't even bark very much. Dash only seems to bark when there is a banana involved.

Dot seemed exhausted this morning. She was very slow on her morning walk and immediately went to sleep as soon as we got home. I was a little worried because she didn't even want to come out to the kitchen while I was cooking the bacon. I've learned to just let her rest when she's tired. She slept through lunch and didn't try to get up again until after 2 PM. Luckily, she seemed to bounce back a bit during the afternoon, and was back to her wobbly wandering ways by dinner time.

Dash had an upset stomach again last night. This morning I think I found out why. I discovered the remains of a partially eaten bird in the back yard. I don't know how much of this bird was eaten by Dash, but he has been known to eat things the neighborhood cats drag in the yard before. Between the two dogs, it's amazing we get any sleep at all.

I finished my second article this morning while the dogs were sleeping. Sometimes I think they sleep more soundly during the day than they do at night. When I went to the grocery store later in the morning to pick up something for dinner, neither dog even moved. They were both in exactly the same place when I returned.

The replacement battery for my phone arrived today, so I went to the battery store to get it installed after lunch. The battery store charges less than half of what the Apple store charges to replace an iPhone battery. I'm a good customer of this place. They've replaced batteries in electric shavers, lawn mowers, power tools, uninterruptible power sources, laptops, watches, and phones for me.  It's amazing how many things in our house seem to require a battery.

A cold front must have blown through town last night. I had to wear a warmer coat when we walked the dogs this morning and it never got warm enough for shorts at all. Usually, Dot responds well to cooler weather, but not today. I haven't seen her this tired for quite a while. Hopefully, she'd rebound again when she gets some rest. It's a long, slow journey. She still has her good days and her bad days, but I can see where this is headed. Every extra day we get to spend with her is a blessing.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2530

It is hard to get anything done when Dot is feeling needy. Every time I sat down at the computer today, Dot would start barking and whining. I would go lift her up and we'd walk around for a while. She appeared frustrated, and didn't seem to know what she wanted to do. Sometimes we'd go outside. Other times we'd just walk up and down the hall. Since Dot tires easily, she'd usually wind up back at her dog bed in about five minutes. As soon as I would return to the computer to try and get some work done, we'd go through the whole process all over again. Senility and lack of mobility is not a good combination. Throw in incontinence and you've really got your hands full.

Despite all the interruptions, I somehow managed to get one of my two articles written and shipped off to the client. Hopefully, when I write the second article tomorrow, Dot will be sleeping. I've been practicing walking Dot in the evenings without Janet and Dash because I'll be on my own when Janet goes home for the holidays. Without another dog to follow, Dot often seems confused. It took us almost a half an hour to walk to the end of the street and back this evening. She really does the best she can. It's me who needs more patience.

I hope the new battery I ordered for my phone arrives soon. My current battery is on it's last legs.  It's reached the stage where it is plugged into the charger more often than it is in my pocket. I don't know why Apple can't put a better battery in its products. They're so determined to make the thinnest phones on the market that there just isn't room inside for a decent battery. You'd think that if Tesla can offer a ten year warranty on the battery they put in their cars, Apple could come up with a battery that would last at least three years. I know they do this on purpose. They just want me to give up and buy a new phone.

I've been wondering why AT&T put fiber optic cable all over the neighborhood last Summer. I got the answer today in the mail. There was a brochure that said I was eligible for a new super high speed internet service. Download an entire movie in just a few seconds the brochure said. Of course there was a price for this added speed. Plans start at $80 a month, I read. Nope. I think I'll keep my current service. Jeez, you could rent a lot of Netflix movies for $80 a month. I guess I was naive when I thought AT&T would give me some added speed for free when they buried the fiber optic cable in the alley behind our house.

This week went quickly. The trash has been taken out to the curb, the November bills have been paid, and I'm already wondering what I'll have for breakfast tomorrow.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2529

I spent the day asking questions about the various medications the dogs and I take. Dash had an appointment to check his Levothyroxine levels. He's had to take this drug ever since he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and periodically they need to check and see whether the dose needs to be adjusted. While I was at the vet, I asked about the Incurin Dot was taking for urinary incontinence. Do we need to increase the dose on this one, since it doesn't appear to be working anymore? I was surprised to learn that this drug has been on backorder for months and wasn't even currently available. There were alternate drugs we could try, but each had their own drawbacks. Maybe it might be better to just learn to deal with Dot's leaky bladder.

Later in the day I visited my own doctor to get my prescriptions renewed for another year. The doctor wanted me to stop taking Protonix because it had been linked to a higher incidence of stroke in a recent study. It would have been nice if I knew this ten years ago when I started taking the drug. This is the frustrating thing about prescription medicine. Doctors are always learning new things and this year's favorite treatment can always end up being on next year's dangerous substance list. The doctor also said my blood pressure might be too low. Jeez, I've spent years getting my blood pressure under control under the assumption that lower blood pressure is always better. Now doctors are learning that abnormally low blood pressure is often associated with brain atrophy. Yikes. I'd never even heard of brain atrophy before, but there must be an epidemic of it in this country. How else would you explain all the bad decisions we make.

Every time I see my doctor, he tells me that my Cortisol levels are too high and I need to do something to reduce the amount of stress in my life. I try to explain that there really isn't any significant stress in my life, with the possible exception of cleaning up dog poop day in and day out for years at a time. When I explained the daily routine required to care for an incontinent, crippled dog, it appeared to give the doctor stress. He said that when this happened with his dog, he had to put it down. "Well, that's the difference between you and me," I said. Dot is a happy dog. She just can't care for herself anymore.

I think I've gotten all the prescriptions straightened out for another year. Janet only takes a single statin pill every day, but Dot, Dash, and I have dozens of medications to keep track of. At least Dot and Dash don't have to take the chemotherapy pills anymore. There used to be a gas station on every corner. Now there's a CVS Pharmacy or a Walgreens on every corner. How did we live without all these pills? I certainly believe in the benefits of keeping your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels under control, but it sure would be tempting to quit taking all these meds.

I've got a new article to write tomorrow. It looks like there will be some website work as well. I anticipate a quiet day of writing, punctuated every few hours with the smell of fresh poop. I don't think I was cut out to be a caregiver, but I'm actually doing reasonably well for a person with very little empathy. Dot seems happy anyway. I'll work on keeping the stress under control.

Alvin is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2528

I had one of my periodic meetings with my financial advisor today. We had a nice conversation about how the world has gone to hell in a handbasket. As usual, I wasn't terribly happy about my portfolio's performance. Why had my own stocks gone down during a large post-election rally? Evidently, defense, energy, and pharmaceutical stocks went up, but nothing else did. What killed me was the surge in US Treasury yields which decimated bond prices and stocks that paid big dividends. If you guessed the outcome of the election correctly, you could have made some money last week. Few people did. I suspect that most investors were like me. They hedged their bets so they wouldn't get ruined if either candidate won.

I used to enjoy investing in the stock market. I thought I was pretty good at it, but really I was just the beneficiary of a stable, relatively sane economy. All that has changed now. I see little difference between investing and gambling these days. Actually, if you followed the NFL closely, it would probably be safer to bet on football than to invest in the stock market. The are just too many variables in a global economy. If somebody sneezes in China, you can catch a cold in Texas. At any rate, my advisor and I tried to make some choices for the year ahead. We will probably be wrong.

I did some research today to see if I could upgrade my office computers without having to replace all my software. What I learned wasn't very promising. It would be nice to have Sierra running on everything so I could share information between the computers and my phone and tablet. The main problem is that the minute I upgrade, some of my most important software instantly becomes obsolete. You can't even buy Adobe Creative Suite anymore. It's is all subscription based. Even something as basic as Microsoft Word would need a subscription to Office 365. Avid Media Composer has gone to a subscription based model too. Basically, you just rent software now. Call me a dinosaur, but I may just keep running Mountain Lion forever.

So, what's worse than a dog with fecal and urinary incontinence? Maybe it's when your other dog has diarrhea at the same time. Today was a three ring circus trying to keep the house and yard clean. I don't think Dash is sick. He just has a bad habit of eating disgusting things that the neighborhood cats drag in the yard. If history is any guide, he should be back to normal in a day or two. Dash has a vet appointment tomorrow anyway for his thyroid test, so I'll see what his vet thinks.

Janet had to work late today, so I thought I'd try to walk Dot by myself. Dot really seems to need another dog to follow, so I wasn't expecting this to go well without Dash in the lead. It took us a long time, but eventually we made it around the block on our own. I wish I could still walk both dogs together like I used to, but that is impossible. Just keeping Dot on her feet is a full time job.

Tomorrow will be busy with a vet appointment for Dash and a doctor's appointment for me. It definitely isn't life in the fast lane anymore, but I do stay busy. Hard to believe that it's the middle of November already. Thanksgiving will be here before you know it.

Honey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2527

I finally reached my limit on political news and went back to watching Dr. Who re-runs while I eat breakfast. Today they showed one of my favorites: The Girl in the Fireplace. This improbable story about how a bunch of mechanical androids from the 51 century want to use Madame De Pompadour's brain to repair a stranded spaceship is surprisingly warm and poignant. The only episode I like better is Vincent and the Doctor about how The Doctor and Amy Pond travel to France to meet Vincent van Gogh. I wonder why I like these shows so much? Most people I know watch shows like Modern Family and The Walking Dead. I stick with Dr. Who and programs from my childhood like Perry Mason and The Twilight Zone.

 I decided that it was time to get a new battery for my phone, since I'm constantly re-charging it now. I was surprised when the battery store told me that they'd have to special order the battery for me since my phone was so old. An iPhone 5 is old? It still seems new to me. Apparently there isn't enough demand to stock these batteries anymore. I went ahead and ordered the replacement battery even though I'm not sure it will help me much. I really think it was the upgrade to IOS 10 that destroyed my battery life.

I mailed out my November invoices this afternoon and on the way home I stopped by the vegan take out place to pick up something for dinner. I try something new every week and am gradually increasing my vegetarian vocabulary. I continue to be surprised at how delicious some of the meals are. I still eat meat, but I'm making an effort to cut back. It's certainly not going to be a vegetarian Thanksgiving. We eat lots of meat on Thanksgiving. I think a meat-free Thanksgiving would be like Christmas without a Christmas tree.

I had several website updates to complete today. The work was fairly easy, although it took a while. Increasingly, nobody is interested in my ideas anymore. They just want me to replace pictures and text. I seldom turn down assignments, because I need the money, but I often wonder whether I'll ever work on an interesting assignment again. If the past month or so is any guide, it's not very likely.

It's amazing how little I get accomplished on days like this. I'm constantly busy but most of the activity is mindless. Every time I sit down to enjoy breakfast or dinner, one of the dogs needs attention. I've had to stop and clean up poop during dinner more times than I can remember. Tonight there was a huge mess and by the time I got everything cleaned up, dinner was cold. Something similar happens whenever I sit down at the computer to write. The dogs do sleep a lot, but it's hard to get our schedules coordinated.

The moon actually looked bigger tonight than it did yesterday. I wonder if I got the day right for viewing the supermoon? I've been wrong on these things before.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2526

Well, the moon didn't look that super tonight. I guess it was a little bigger and brighter than usual, but it was hard for me to tell the difference. I think tonight's rare supermoon was supposed to look about 14% larger than usual. If the moon was twice as big, I'm sure that I'd notice the difference, but 14% doesn't even compute for me. Would I notice if Cheetos were 14% larger, or if there was 14% more coffee in a Starbucks cup? Probably not. The moon was pretty though. I always enjoy seeing the moon.

I'm sure you know what I did today already. Sunday's are always the same. I went to the gym, vacuumed the house, and walked the dogs. On sunny days like this, the gym is practically empty. I think there were only seven people working out. I did my usual routine and finished in 63 minutes, just like last week. The house is cleaner now and there are fresh sheets on the bed. The days seem so short now. I never notice the extra hour of daylight in the morning, but I definitely notice how quickly it gets dark in the evening. I'm always walking Dash at sunset now.

I need to resist the urge to get drawn into political arguments on Facebook. I've inadvertently joined these discussions a couple of times and instantly regretted the decision. You're not going to change anyone's mind at this point. As a writer, it's tempting to want to have the last word, but you've got to resist the temptation. The world is not going to end and the country's many problems are not going to be resolved overnight. As usual, the answer will lie somewhere in between.

I actually learned something about the election today. I was curious why both sides were claiming to have won the popular vote. This seems like a no-brainer to me. Either you did or you didn't. As it turns out, absentee ballots aren't even counted in most states unless the election is close. For example, if there are 50,000 absentee ballots, but a candidate won a state by 60,000 votes, the prevailing wisdom is that it is not worth the trouble to even tabulate the extra ballots since they wouldn't make a difference in the outcome. This allows both sides to claim victory in a close popular vote by making their own projections about the uncounted ballots. I never knew that absentee ballots weren't typically counted. I learn something new every day.

I never knew the moon's orbit wandered all over the place either. Why did I always think it is was a nice circular path around the earth? I guess if I looked up at the sky more often, I would have figured out the answer years ago. Sometimes a full moon is directly overhead. Other times it is low in the southern sky. I wondered about this occasionally, but never gave it much thought.

So far, it looks like it's going to be a slow week. Dash needs a thyroid test before he can get his thyroid medication renewed. I need a visit with my own doctor before I can get all my prescriptions renewed for another year. No wonder the pharmaceutical industry is so huge. Our lives today revolve around the pills we take.

The chores are done. The dogs are resting peacefully. I've got a supply of fresh strawberries and bananas for tomorrow's breakfast smoothie. I'm ready for another week.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2525

I stopped by a popular animal rescue event today. There was a big crowd and the weather was perfect. I used to work with this group a lot. Someone else does the marketing and promotions now. He does a good job. I saw a lot of new faces and a few familiar ones. It was nice to see that the group has prospered over the years. As I said hello to old friends, I kind of missed being involved. It was my choice though. There are other priorities now.

Maybe it wasn't a good idea to withdraw from almost everything. There's also the possibility that taking care of an old, sick dog has been the best thing that ever happened to me. Seeing Dot survive and even thrive long past her expected expiration date has certainly been its own reward. I'm working on becoming more patient and understanding. Everything seems to happen in slow motion now. The dogs control the flow of the day and how long I feel comfortable being away. The visit to the rescue event, grocery shopping, and filling the car with gas took a little over two hours. That was about right.

It was really cold this morning when I walked Dash. I've stopped wearing shorts on these morning walks and I'm going to have to start wearing a warmer jacket soon. I'm looking forward to cooler weather. I've got waterproof boots, several warm jackets, and some leggings for really cold days. The dogs love cold weather, so it should be easier to get them to walk. It costs less to run the furnace than the air conditioner too, so maybe our electric bill will go down a bit. I'm not going to get too enthusiastic though. Cold weather is fine. Snow, not so much. I'm not looking forward to snow at all.

I wonder if Obamacare is really going to get repealed? It would be easy enough to roll things back to the way it was before, but then a lot of people would lose their coverage and there would be a big outcry. Health insurance has always been confusing and a lot of the current narrative is just untrue. There have always been ways to get insured if you have a pre-existing condition. High risk pools were set up in most states for exactly this purpose. When I started my company, I was able to find good, reasonably priced health insurance. Then, five years later, my insurer pulled out of the Texas market because they thought they weren't making enough money. I had to start all over again and look for new insurance. I was older and it was much harder the second time around. To make matters worse, my doctor had discovered that I had Hepatitis C, which was considered a very expensive pre-existing condition at the time. This made it much harder to find new insurance. I was advised to join the Texas high risk pool, but I really wanted something better. I finally ended up leasing myself from an employee leasing company and then was able to get on the employee leasing company's group plan. As a leased employee, I paid myself minimum wage and was able to get pretty good insurance in return. The whole thing was an accounting nightmare, but it worked. The weird thing is that I thought I was paying a small fortune for this opportunity to join a group plan, but it was actually much less than most people are paying for Obamacare today. Good insurance has always been available, even to self employed people like me with pre-existing conditions. You just had to pay for it. It was only when the government decided to insure everybody, whether they could pay or not, that things began to get weird. Somebody had to pay, and in many cases, it turned out to be you.

I hope this nice weather continues tomorrow. The roof is dry, I don't have to empty the dehumidifier bucket very often, and the air conditioner isn't running constantly. In my world, it doesn't get much better than this.

Jada is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2524 - Veteran's Day

I convinced the guys at the hipster restaurant to make me something that wasn't on the menu this morning. This was a small but significant success. If you can't find your world, you've just got to create it. I doubt that I could ever convince the owners to start using real china and silverware, but they probably wouldn't mind if I started bringing my own plate. I like this place. The food is simple, but delicious. The customers aren't irritating. And the coffee is strong. I'm definitely not a hipster myself, but I feel comfortable here.

It's nice to get away now and then. The isolation of my daily life and the dogs changing needs are slowly driving me crazy. Dalmatians are active, energetic dogs. Dot and Dash used to be much calmer when I was able to walk them five or six miles a day. Dot can barely make it around the block now, and Dash is so timid that he doesn't like to walk at all without Dot at his side. Now, Dash stands next to the refrigerator and barks incessantly at the treats we keep hidden on the top. Dot drinks water when she's stressed, but her muscles don't work well anymore, so she takes tiny, tiny little sips. I can stand holding her up at her water bowl for ten of fifteen minutes at a time. I hate to pull her away because I don't want her to get dehydrated. I sure wish she could drink faster though. Everything I do these days is an exercise in patience.

When I went to refill Dash's thyroid medication, they told me that he needs another blood test before the prescription can be renewed. I thought we just did this, but when I looked at my records it turned out that the last test was to check on the effectiveness of his phenobarbital. Now we've got to do the same thing for his Levothyroxine. Fasting Dash for these tests is a major hassle, because this is a dog that lives to eat. Ironically, I'm having exactly the same problems with my own medications. I recently had to make an appointment for more tests before my own doctor would renew my prescriptions. Most of these pills I've been taking for decades and the dosage has never changed. I don't know why my doctor couldn't just write me a prescription that would last forever.

I have never seen so many opinionated people on my Facebook feed. People who normally just post pictures of cute cats are determined to convince their friends that Trump is either going to be great, or that he represents the end of the world as we know it. I see an almost equal number of opinions from either side of the fence. Nobody is really going to change anybody's mind. Most people are just preaching to the choir because of the way Facebook filters your feed. You just see what Facebook thinks you want to see. I don't think this is a good thing. The personalization made possible by technology just creates little echo chambers where friends can reinforce their preconceptions. I don't see much of a desire to actually understand the other side. 

My trash got picked up again today. This makes four weeks in a row. Maybe the government is listening to me after all. Hey, the sky was blue this morning. I had a good breakfast and Dot's condition seems stable for the moment. On this Veteran's Day, I don't think the world is going to end at all.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2523

I'm a writer. I find it fascinating how storytelling has become a ubiquitous part of our current political dialog. Was it always this way? I'm not sure. It does seem like the press and the politicians are spending a lot of time constructing a narrative these days. A narrative is just a story. It is not necessarily true. We have all these competing versions of the truth out there, each carefully packaged for our consumption. It's almost as if nobody trusts us to come to a conclusion ourselves. There are narratives designed to appeal to the young. There are narratives that reinforce preexisting beliefs. Some narratives provoke fear. Others create hope. Very few of these stories deal with the complexities that lie just beneath the surface. People just pick their favorite story and run with it. Personally, I'd rather sift through the evidence and decide for myself.

So, where is the evidence that explains Tuesday's election? The elephant in the room is the fact that most people didn't even vote. Over 46% of eligible voters didn't even bother this year. I listened to a reporter this morning interview some of the young people who were protesting the election last night. They were unhappy with the results, but many of them didn't vote. Unbelievable! Few, if any, could could come up with a coherent reason why they were so angry. At best, they just repeated someone else's narrative. Maybe you're worried about Trump. I'm a lot more worried about what happens when these millennials take over. There is one ray of hope. One of the exit polls discovered that a significant minority of the college age population did not end up voting with their peers. These were generally science and engineering majors who were making the only protest they could against the mindless political correctness they were experiencing on campus. I'm convinced that these students who did not drink the Kool Aid are going to be the ones who get all the good jobs when they graduate. Somebody is going to be needed to program all the robots.

Maybe if all the angry people actually did move to Canada like they are promising, my business would improve. If Facebook is any guide, most people in advertising and marketing wanted Hillary to win. I'd be happy to take their clients if they leave. I'd be even happier if people would just quit complaining. I'm old enough to remember what people said when Ronald Reagan was first elected. It was remarkably similar to what many are saying about Trump now. Of course these days Reagan is revered as one of the best presidents of the modern era. Funny how time changes things.

As fascinating as this election has been, I have a feeling that it's just another "not my circus, not my monkeys" situation for me. I'm old. The stakes aren't nearly as high for me as they would be for someone in their thirties or early forties. I would just caution people on both sides of the political fence to be careful what you wish for. Unintended consequences are a bitch.

I deal with unintended consequences every day. After a lifetime of making decisions, you just can't avoid them. I discovered today that one of the unintended consequences of getting my new iPad is that I'm going to have to subscribe to Office 365. Another unwanted expense. One of the unintended consequences of giving Dot Tramadol is that she has become more demanding as she feels a little better. I'm walking her around the house on the hour now. I think she's pooping more too. Life is full of surprises. I guess that's what keeps it interesting.

Puppies are today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2522

I felt good this morning. The rain has lifted and Dash and I walked under a partly cloudy sky, watching the dawn turn into a beautiful sunrise. It was also heartening to see that democracy still works.

I was beginning to wonder. To my democratic friends who think the world has ended, how could you not see this coming? You simply can't go around saying let them eat cake forever. I'm convinced that the election turned out the way it did because millions of good people got tired of being ridiculed and shamed for simply wanting to continue living according to the values their parents and grandparents taught them. Our parents were good people. They weren't burdened with the tyranny of political correctness. They had more important things to do than worry about gender neutral pronouns and safe spaces. They won World War II, went to the moon, and built an an amazing, vibrant country with the belief that we were a great melting pot where everyone could prosper by working hard and adopting a shared set of values. When a political party starts to ridicule those values, this is what happens. When you look at a political map, you see a vast sea of red surrounded by a few slivers of blue on either coast. It is arrogant and wrong for the elites to characterize this vast sea of red as an irrelevant bunch of ignorant racists, sexists, and homophobes. These people are America and they have spoken.

I'd like to see us adopt a shared set of values again. Diversity without the desire to assimilate just creates tribalism. That's where we are now. We are just a bunch of tribes with no particular loyalties to any of the other tribes. Remember that poem by William Butler Yeats where he says "when the centre cannot hold; anarchy is loosed upon the world?" That's where we're headed. So many things are falling apart because we have lost the center that kept us together for so many years.

Perhaps I had time to ruminate about politics because today was so slow. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm ever going to get any more writing assignments. I didn't even have any website updates today. I picked up some prescriptions at the pharmacy and spent the rest of the day walking Dot up and down the hallway. She is not sleeping as much as she did a few months ago. Now, I get summoned by her barking every hour or so. We walk around for a little while and then she gets tired and wants to lie down again. It's too bad we can no longer take the long, active walks we did when the dogs were younger. Dalmatians are very active dogs and I think they get frustrated when they spend too much time in the house. I get frustrated too.

I saw another meteor this evening. I guess that's one good thing about the time change. I don't like walking in the dark, but I do like looking at the stars. In less than a week I'm going to get a chance to see the largest supermoon since 1948. I've seen these close approaches of the moon before and it really doesn't look much bigger. Maybe this time will be different. I hope it doesn't rain on the 14th. I'd really like to see this.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2521 - Election Day

I'm glad I voted early. We took our morning walk early today to avoid the rain and when we passed a polling place in the neighborhood, there was already a line. The polls weren't even open yet, so I imagine that this was a very busy day. It did rain later in the day, so I wouldn't have wanted to be standing in that line.

I went up on the roof to fix the sump pump after breakfast and was appalled at the amount of water that has accumulated overnight. There was at least four inches of standing water directly over my desk. There was nothing wrong with the pump. The extension cord has just become unplugged somehow. Even though there was more rain on the way, I went ahead and cleared away the standing water anyway. The Fall rainy season is the worst as far as roof maintenance is concerned. Since the weather is cooler, the water never evaporates and since it is Fall, there are tons of wet dead leaves in the water. The leaves create little duck ponds that make it difficult for the water to drain over the edge of the roof. Basically, it's a big mess.

Against my better judgement, I finished gluing my running shoes back together. I had only glued one shoe yesterday when I realized that I had more Superglue on me than on the shoe. This time I was much more careful. With this job successfully completed, I glued some new shoe taps on my hiking boots. I'm weird about shoes. I have a number of new shoes in my closet just waiting for someone to break them in, but I continue to wear my oldest most worn out footwear until it has been absolutely destroyed. Old, beat up shoes are just more comfortable.

I wonder what the TV news anchors and pundits are going to talk about after this election is over? For the past year I haven't been able to watch TV for more than fifteen seconds without hearing the words Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Cable news has been obsessed with this election for a long, long time. It doesn't matter whether you listen to a red station like Fox or a blue station like MSNBC, the coverage has been relentless. It's hard not to get sucked into the horse race. I'm not a very political person. My favorite candidates didn't even get nominated. Nevertheless, I'm listening to the election return coverage right now. It's early, but so far the race is remarkably close. This could end up like game seven of the World Series.

I think the Tramadol is helping Dot. Her legs aren't any stronger and the muscle atrophy she is experiencing is severe, but she is definitely more active now. In many ways, this new activity doesn't amount to much. She barks. I help her up and we wander around for a while and then she goes back to sleep. She does seem happier though. That's the important thing.

I'd sure like to see the sun tomorrow. These gray, rainy days always seem longer than usual. The dogs have never liked rainy days. It's almost impossible to get Dash to go outside to do his business. It doesn't matter with Dot, because she just poops in the house anyway. I'm always nervous about humidity buildup in the house and water on the roof. It helps if there's lots of work to keep me busy, but there is little to keep me from fretting about the rain today. You guys can continue fretting about the election if you like. All I'd like to see is some blue sky tomorrow.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2520

I can describe today in three words. All day rain. I got wet when I tried to walk Dash. I got wet every time I took Dot outside to pee. I got wet when I went to the bank. The pump isn't working on the roof, but it was too wet and slippery to go up and investigate. The dehumidifier was working overtime to remove the humidity from the air. Basically, today was a mess. According to the weather report, it's going to be this way all week. For some reason we always get a lot of rain between Halloween and Thanksgiving. I'm going to need a lot of patience to deal with this.

Maybe the rain destroyed my concentration. I had a couple of little projects around the house that went horribly wrong. I was going to superglue some old running shoes back together and ended up spilling some of the superglue on my leg. I ran to the bathroom to look for some nail polish remover, but discovered that the bottle was empty. Damn. It is very difficult to remove superglue from skin. I should have just thrown these shoes away. They're old and I have a new pair anyway. I don't know why I always feel compelled to fix things. At any rate, the superglue is probably going to remain on my leg until it eventually wears away.

I had a couple of minor website updates to complete today, but the work wasn't substantial enough to leave me feeling that I still had a career. I've got to come to grips with the fact that my real job these days is providing hospice care for a really old dog. Dot is a very special friend and I'd do anything for her. I wish being a caretaker made me happy though. Mostly it is very sad to watch a friend decline this way.

There is little evidence that I cleaned the house yesterday. Muddy paws and wet boots have already taken their toll on things. The yard is rapidly filling with falling Oak and Elm leaves and these quickly end up in the house as well. There is little reason to clean things up until the rain stops. Every time I open the back door, the floors instantly seem to get dirty again. Today the real challenge was just staying dry. I had a stack of bath towels by the back door to dry the dogs off with and kept the dryer running for my pants and the dog's harnesses.

I wonder if everything will return to normal after election day tomorrow? Whatever happens, half the country will be terribly unhappy. I hear both candidates saying that they want to unite the country again. Lots of luck with that. I voted, but I don't feel optimistic that my vote will make a difference. My vote will just cancel your vote. We have become so divided that I don't see how we move forward.

Maybe it won't rain all day tomorrow. Even a dismal election will look a little brighter if I can see the sun.

Chase is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2519

Dogs don't really understand Daylight Saving Time. The time changed last night, but Dot and Dash were still following their old schedule. It was so overcast this morning that we didn't notice that it was getting light any earlier. Since neither of the dogs like to get up until they see daylight, we were all able to get a little extra sleep. Last night was unusually peaceful. Dash was calm and slept soundly throughout the night, and Dot didn't poop in her sleep. It was nice to have some peace and quiet for a change.

I was actually able to get to the gym before noon today. I think the time change helped with that. I was surprised that there were only three basketballs left. What happened to the other five? My favorite basketball that I had used since I joined the gym was gone. I obsess over inconsequential things like this. If anything at all changes, it throws me off my stride. I spent the rest of my workout wondering where the basketballs were and why everything always has to change.

Maybe I was a dog in a former life. The dogs aren't fond of changes either. They certainly aren't fond of time changes. This afternoon, they were ready for their dinner before I even finished vacuuming. I made them wait as long as I could, but they eventually got their way. We ate a little early today.
I'm glad the roofers came when they did. It rained again today and according to the long range forecast, it is going to continue raining for most of next week.

Cleaning the house on a rainy day is a thankless task. Dash started tracking in a new batch of leaves and dirt before I even finished cleaning the rugs. I changed the sheets, washed all the towels, and vacuumed the house, but nothing stays clean for very long. Dot had the usual array of accidents, but at least she was well positioned under a disposable pad when she pooped today. Cleanup was easy this time, which somehow made the grey, rainy day a little more bearable.

I wonder why the FBI director even bothered to re-open the case against Hillary if he was just going  to close it again? It hardly seems worth the trouble. He must have had a good idea what was in the e-mails before he wrote that initial letter to congress. Why would he do something so controversial if he didn't have any evidence? I bet there will be plenty of new conspiracy theories tomorrow morning. Maybe this is all legit, but something sure seems fishy to me. I still think the fix was in a long time ago.

The furnace came on this morning. Lots of trees are starting to turn in the park. Now that the time has changed, it's going to seem a lot more like Winter. I hope we have a mild Winter. I've got plenty of warm Winter coats, but I don't want to deal with snow and ice. It's hard enough keeping Dot moving on a nice day.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day