Day 3179

I enjoyed breakfast this morning. There was real china, heavy flatware, and waiters in white coats. The place was quiet and relaxing. Although the menu was limited, my egg sandwich was delicious. Eating in a nice hotel wasn't a bad idea. I'll probably go back.

I was surprised to see how high the lake levels were this morning because we didn't get any rain yesterday. It must have rained heavily to the north of us. Whenever there are heavy rains, huge amounts of trash and litter flow into the lake from the creeks that feed it. The water definitely looked ugly this morning. When the water recedes, this litter will be left on the shoreline. Eventually, people from the Parks and Recreation Department will pick it up. It's a shame that nobody in Dallas seems to be able to throw their trash in a can, but I'm sure other cities are even worse.

I'm glad there was time to take Dash on a nice walk this morning because it was our turn to get rained on today. As the day progressed, the sky got darker and darker. It's raining right now and that means there will be no evening walk. People always say we need the rain, but I don't know why. It hasn't been a particularly dry year. I don't like rain, but I'm slowly learning to respect it. Whenever I see all the forest fires out West and the hurricanes and floods to the East, I realize that Dallas is in kind of a sweet spot. We've managed to avoid weather extremes for quite a while.

I feel sorry for Elon Musk. He's getting crucified for making a casual comment about taking his company private and then smoking pot on TV. Musk is the Thomas Edison of our generation. I think people ought to cut him some slack. Steve Jobs got treated the same way for quite a while. It's weird. If you're a businessman or a politician, you're expected to follow conventional rules. If you're a musician, anything goes.

We've discontinued the probiotic Dash was taking and his poop is slowly becoming firmer. This is counterintuitive but what do I know. The disappointing thing about veterinary and human medicine is that everything is so compartmentalized. Nobody seems all that good at evaluating the big picture. It seems obvious that health is a combination of lifestyle, diet, heredity, and medications. Doctors always focus on the pills though. Somehow, I feel that Dash would be doing better if he were eating exactly the right thing. I'd probably being doing better if I were eating exactly the right thing as well. I don't have any answers, but I do think that nutrition should be just as important as pharmacology in medical school.

I saw the auction catalog for one of the Fall auctions today. It was weird to see my picture right up there with some pretty well known art. I'm no art historian, but I recognized some of the other images up for auction immediately. I'm hoping that this might be is my Antiques Roadshow moment. I don't want to get my hopes up though. Auctions are weird and unpredictable. Nobody might bid at all. I have art in two different auctions and both are in October. Lets hope they do well.

Janet wants to take pictures of some new rescue dogs this weekend. If the weather improves, that's what we'll do. I still am unwilling to leave Dash alone in a storm, but I'm actually looking forward to taking photos again. Life is so slow, that I look forward to doing almost anything.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3178

I've noticed that some of the Spring flowers have started to come back in the Fall. This doesn't happen every year, but I've seen it before. I wonder about things like this. Apparently, even annuals and perennials aren't entirely predictable. You usually don't see Antelope Horn Milkweed in the Fall, but there it was this morning.

The wildflowers may not be predictable, but the congressional hearings certainly are. I think you could substitute footage of Neil Gorsuch for Brett Kavanaugh on TV and nobody would know the difference. The questions are the same and the two guys even look kind of the same. Why do we even do these things? Everybody decided how they were going to vote a long time ago. Just vote guys. The endless bickering isn't going to change anything.

Dash was confused this morning. Janet left the house before dawn to take a new class at her gym. When Dash woke up, he panicked when he discovered that his friend was no longer next to him on the bed. It took me forever to convince him that everything was OK. He kept looking for her in every room in the house. I tell Janet now to be sure to say goodby to Dash when she leaves. He's become very needy and doesn't like surprises.

I wish Dash knew that I don't like surprises either. Especially at night. Dash is never very predictable about when he needs to go out at night. Luckily, I almost always wake up when he jumps off the bed. I immediately get up and race to open the back door. For the past several nights he's made it through the open door and pooped on the porch. I'm always grateful when Dash makes it outside. The mess is much easier to clean up when you can use the garden hose.

I got this letter today saying that some company had been bought by another company. "This change will have no impact on your current policy or the quality of service you receive," said the letter. What the hell were they talking about? I didn't recognize the name of either company. Was this a scam, a mistake, or something I had forgotten about? It could be anything. It looks like one more useless thing I'll have to track down. This is what modern life has become. Everything is a potential scam and even if it's legitimate, you know it's going to be a nuisance.

There were storms all around us this evening, but we managed to give Dash his evening walk without getting wet. The trash has already been taken to the curb as well. Basically, I'm done for the week. I'm thinking of going to a hotel for breakfast tomorrow. I haven't done that for a while. Sometime eating at a hotel gives me the illusion of traveling without having to go anywhere. We'll see how I feel in the morning. If it's raining when I wake up, I won't be going anywhere.

April is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3177

It was hard to avoid congressional hearings today. As I flipped between channels while I was eating breakfast, I came to the conclusion that the Internet was going to get regulated and Judge Kavanaugh was going to get confirmed. It's a shame that the Internet became monetized. Money ruined it. I wish we could go back to the early 1990's when going online was about as popular as amateur radio. Who needs Facebook and Twitter? When I first discovered the Internet, it was a sparsely populated wilderness. There were no hackers and no fake news. The only people I ever ran into were a few like minded geeks. I would gladly ditch my fiber optic connection and go back to a 2800 baud dial up modem if we could return to those days.

Going back to the past has become a recurring theme with me. After a while I tired of the congressional hearings and flipped over to an oldies channel so I could watch ancient TV Westerns. Did you know that Gene Roddenberry and Sam Peckinpah started their careers writing for shows like Have Gun, Will Travel and The Rifleman? Some of these old shows are surprisingly good. They are all simple morality plays, but so was The Twilight Zone. Maybe that's what I miss in today's world. There is no morality at all.

I cashed the check from the Federal Trade Commission today. Usually I deposit even very small checks, but I just took the cash on this one. I was still a bit suspicious about the whole thing. I didn't see any sense in giving another government agency my bank account number. Rationally, I realized that this kind of thinking was pure silliness. If the government knows that I bought three light bulbs over five years ago, they probably know everything. Let's face it. Privacy doesn't exist anymore.

Dash didn't need to go outside last night, but that doesn't mean that I got a good night's sleep. Dash had some pretty serious dog dreams and kept trying to push me off the bed. I'm glad he can still run in his dreams. He certainly can't run in real life. All the thrashing around woke me up three times. I've just about given up on ever getting a good night's sleep. I don't think I'm seriously sleep deprived though because I've started napping during the day.

When I wasn't napping, I made some changes to an animal rescue website. This was the first time I'd done any website work in almost a month. I didn't make any money, but it was nice to know that I hadn't forgotten everything. I still maintain a few sites, but I doubt that I'll ever develop a new one again. Who wants to hire a seventy year old Luddite? Jeez. I've even lost interest in keeping my own website up to date.

Hey, I'm still interested in astronomy and photography. Maybe it's just reading a quick article on Google, but I still try to learn something new almost every day. I'd like to try and combine these avocations if we ever live someplace with dark skies. Until then, I'll continue drinking fruit smoothies and cleaning up dog poop.

Allie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3176

I got this check from the Federal Trade Commission today, along with a note saying that it was my share of a class action settlement involving light bulbs. What? I wasn't aware of being involved in any sort of class action suit. My first thought was that this was a scam. Have you ever received a check in the mail that has a small disclaimer saying that by cashing said check you agree to a lifetime of magazine subscriptions, a debit card from a foreign bank, or a ridiculously expensive term life policy? I am very suspicious of checks that mysteriously arrive in the mail. There are so many scammers out there. I did some research online and it appears the check is legit. The government recently mailed out fourteen million dollars worth of these checks to people like me. But how did they know I bought the light bulbs? I didn't tell them. I feel sorry for the light bulb company. The suit claims that the company made false statements about the light bulbs brightness and reliability. Jeez. I've had these LED bulbs in my bathroom for over five years and they work great. They haven't burned out and they're pretty bright. This pretty well sums up my feelings about class action suits. For the most part, they're just a way to make lawyers rich. They probably put that company out of business. That being said, I'll go ahead and cash the check. It might pay for gas next week. No, it wasn't a large check. I just don't drive very much.

I've got to figure out how to cure Dash's digestive problems. The loose stools and diarrhea are driving me crazy. I had to clean up another big mess last night and then had a hard time getting back to sleep. The first thing you're supposed to do if your dog has loose stools is take a sample to your vet to test for parasites. Done that. There were no parasites. We're read that a diet of chicken and rice can help cure the problem. That's what he's been eating for over a month and it hasn't helped. Dash is also taking a probiotic the vet prescribed and that isn't doing much either. It's frustrating. We've read that diarrhea is a known side effect of heart disease. If that's the case, there probably isn't much we can do. Diarrhea and incontinence is a really bad combination. At least when Dot became incontinent, her poop remained firm.

I got a letter from the phone company saying that my account had been compromised. So what else is new? This is almost a routine occurrence these days. By now, probably everyone in the world has had an account compromised in one way or another. The letter apologized for the inconvenience, but said that no sensitive information was revealed. Easy for them to say. They apparently did get my phone number though. Maybe that explains the increase in robocalls I've been getting lately. My landline is almost 100% telemarketers and robocalls now. I feel like the phone company should be paying me.

I walked Dash and paid a few bills today. That was about it. Someone got killed last night riding one of those rental scooters I've started seeing all over town. It was only a matter of time. I've seen people riding these things on busy city streets. Nobody wears helmets and the flimsy scooters go pretty fast. Why did the city approve these ridiculous things? I really need to move to a small town. City life is becoming increasingly strange.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3175 - Labor Day

There wasn't a lot of labor taking place at our house today. It rained all day. Sometimes the best thing to do on a day like this is nothing at all. Dash did get his walks, thanks to the weather radar app on my phone. I don't know how I used to survive without weather radar. Even on wet, dreary days like this, there are usually opportunities to walk your dog. It's all a matter of timing.

Janet went to the gym, but I didn't feel like doing much of anything. I ended up watching a Strange Inheritance marathon for quite a while. It's fascinating how ordinary people often end up with extraordinary things. One of today's episodes was about a family who had a Rembrandt hanging on their dining room wall for decades and nobody knew what it was. When the parents died, the kids took a lot of their stuff to an auction house that specialized in estate auctions. Even the auctioneer didn't realize that he had an old master painting. Several weeks before the auction they put everything on their website where the painting attracted the attention of three European art dealers. The bidding started at $500 and quickly went to six figures. When the bidding was over, the lost Rembrandt sold for over a million dollars. It turned out to be genuine too. There were other episodes about a family who inherited a zoo and then there was the guy who inherited a huge collection of army tanks. There is nothing strange or valuable in my family tree. I'm pretty sure of that.

Dash got wet on one of today's walks, so we decided it was the perfect opportunity to give him a bath. Bathing a dog who can barely stand up is not an easy task. I think I got more water on me today than Dash did. Dash definitely needed a bath. He pees on his feet a lot these days. After we washed and dried him off, he definitely looked and smelled cleaner. Next on the list is to get his nails trimmed again. That's going to be a lot harder than a bath.

Today's heavy rains mean that the grass is going to start growing again. I was kind of hoping that I was done for the year. I should have known better. The weather is unpredictable here. It's not uncommon to still be mowing grass in December. I'm going to have to go up on the roof again too. I don't think I'll do this tomorrow. According to the forecast, it's supposed to keep raining.

If tomorrow is as wet as today, I'm going to have to come up with a plan. I'm not sure if I can tolerate doing absolutely nothing for two days in a row. It's a good thing that I have a high tolerance for lethargy, because I think this might be a very slow week.

We'll see what happens. I could wake up to sunshine tomorrow. I just hope that whenever I do wake up that I've been sleeping for a long time. Let's try for six hours. Waking up every two hours to take Dash outside is wearing me out.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3174

I went to a Labor Day sale at REI on my way to the gym. I don't need anything, but I've spent so many years as a consumer that I still find these sales hard to resist. I ended up buying another Goal Zero emergency back up power supply that that can be charged with solar cells if necessary. Hey, it was half price. I already have a larger model of this type of product and have only used it once. You never know though. These things might come in handy. I guess deep down I'm a prepper at heart. I always expect the worst and want to be prepared. I also just like gadgets.

Janet's been looking for a new gym and I've been telling her that I like mine, but there weren't any classes. How did I know this? Well, I stopped seeing a schedule of classes on the bulletin board. Today, the lady ahead of me while I was checking in asked about classes and the receptionist reached in a drawer and pulled out a brochure. I guess the place still has classes after all. I guess it wouldn't kill me to ask questions now and then. Janet has already found a gym with the classes she wants, but I think mine had them too. Oops. This should have been a teaching moment, but I didn't talk to anybody today either. I never talk to anyone at the gym. They should have put that brochure on the bulletin board.

A firetruck went by with sirens wailing while we were walking Dash this morning and we started hearing coyote pups howling nearby. It seems a little early for the local coyotes to be having pups, but maybe not. There seems to be a new litter every year. We don't see coyotes much in the Summer, but they're out there. As the days grow shorter I'll have to be on the lookout for them when we're walking around sunrise.

The only thing we were on the lookout for today were loose dogs. I usually recognize the dogs we see in the park, but on holiday weekends there are a lot more dog walkers. There's almost always someone who can't control a large aggressive dog. Sure enough, we saw one of these people today. They're easy to recognize. The dog is usually on one of those long flexi-leashes and often races toward other dogs as the owner tries in vain to reel the dog in. I hate those flexi-leashes. We kept our distance and there weren't any problems.

I saw a baby snake on the porch while I was taking Dash out to pee last night. Where was the mother snake? Since snakes lay eggs, maybe the mother had long gone. I hate to take chances though. I'm always nervous about snakes and dogs.  Dash wouldn't stand a chance with a snake. This little snake looked harmless, but I snagged it on a stick and flung it out of the yard anyway. I don't like snakes.

I watched a show about eating healthy on PBS this afternoon while Dash was taking a nap. I've heard this information before and I'm sure it's true. Bread and pasta are the enemy. Refined flour converts to glucose almost immediately in your body and causes blood sugar spikes. Fruit and vegetable are good. Lean meat in moderation is good. But bread is bad. So what did I have for breakfast this morning? Two big country biscuits with bacon and egg inside. To make matters worse, I had pasta for supper. Oh. well. There's always tomorrow.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3173

Every time I see one of these celebrity funerals on TV, my first thought is "Damn, I'll be lucky if ten people show up for my funeral." It's odd who we choose to remember. I've known some amazing people who were promptly forgotten as soon as they were in the ground. That being said, I'll give Aretha the win for this weekend's funeral fest. It's hard to compete with a hundred pink Cadillacs and a complete outfit change every time the casket was moved. Oh, and I almost forgot the minister who groped Ariana Grande during the service and said her name reminded him of something on the Taco Bell menu.

I think there ought to be services for dogs. I'm talking about real formal services with prayers and eulogies. Why not? I know a lot of people who were more upset when their dog died than a family member. I'm probably one of these people. I have mixed feelings about family. I've never had mixed feelings about dogs. Dogs should live a lot longer. They're around just long enough to become our best friends and then they're gone.

I'm glad Dash is still around. When he gets me up several time during the night like he did last night, I think he's going to outlive me. Dot and Dash both seem to be the Energizer Bunnies of their breed. Dash has had so many close calls and he's still waiting at the back door for his walk every morning. He's amazing. Sure, he gets tired easily, seems confused, doesn't have much of an appetite, and stumbles a lot, but so do I. Dash is definitely following in Dot's footsteps. These two have been an inspiration. I'll often look at Dash at night and think "If this little guy can overcome his problems, the least I could do is overcome mine. Without dogs, I probably never would have learned to live in the moment.

The model trains are continuing to sell. On the first of every month I get a report and four or five more pieces are gone. It could take years to sell the collection at this rate, but one by one each model is finding a new home. These models seemed so special when I got them years ago and now the proceeds are just being used to pay utility bills. I guess this makes sense. It would be really silly to sell one collection and just use the money to start collecting something else.

Today was uneventful. I bought fresh fruit at the grocery store, filled the car with gas, mowed the lawn in the back yard, and cleaned up dog poop. Dash outdid himself last night, but at least the mess was outside.

Can you believe it's September already? Dash took his heartworm pill this morning. I'm going to be optimistic and get him another six month supply. Dash is full of surprises. He may still be with us this time next year. I can tell the days are already starting to get shorter. I'm not looking forward to Winter, but I'm definitely looking forward to Fall.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3172

I actually did go to a new restaurant this morning. Never been there before. This was a Mexican restaurant that catered to a Hispanic audience. All the menu items were listed in Spanish. Not a problem. Even a gringo like me knew what Huevos con Chorizo were. The food was pretty tasty but I'll probably go back to eating waffles next week. Like I've mentioned many times, I'm set in my ways.

I did so many chores today that it wasn't long before I started thinking it was Saturday again. I'm surprised at how easy it is to get the days confused now that Janet isn't working on a regular basis. It used to be that if the alarm went off at 5:30 AM, I knew it was a work day. If the alarm didn't go off and we slept in late, it was the weekend. I could always tell which day of the week it was by how many bananas were left in the fruit bowl. It's all different now. I'm going to have to become more aware of what's going on around me.

Mowing the grass was more of a chore than I'd thought it would be. I let the grass grow too high in the front yard and the mower wasn't really up to the job. I think I'm going to have to get a new 24 volt battery for the mower. By the time I finished mowing the small yard, the battery was dead. Too bad the battery wouldn't hold out for a few more months. I'd rather wait until next Spring to buy a new battery for the mower, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. The grass is going to continue to grow for quite a while. Batteries are such a nuisance. I like the idea of driving a Tesla, but I can't imagine depending on a car that ran on batteries. What could possibly go wrong?

I made the mistake of washing some of Dash's dog blankets with a batch of black t-shirts. Now I've got dog hair all over my clean clothes. I guess it doesn't matter. I always have dog hair on my dirty clothes. Why should the clean clothes be any different?

Dalmatians shed so much that you have to make an effort to control the dog hair. I vacuumed today and the entire Dyson canister was filled with dog hair. It's like this every week. Despite all the shedding, Dash always has a thick, healthy coat. It makes you wonder where all this hair actually comes from.

The friend who is selling my trains wants to lower the prices on some of the items. I told him that he's the expert and to price things accordingly. Even if I don't get what I initially expected from this collection, it's still a lot better than having a bunch of strangers fight over my stuff on a future edition of Storage Wars. I wish it was easier to unwind a lifetime of collecting. Everything will eventually find a good home with another collector, but it's going to take a while.

Dash used to walk well ahead of me on our walks. Now, I have to be right by his side so I can grab the handle on his Ruffwear harness and keep him from falling when he stumbles. Dash stumbles a lot these days, but it hasn't deterred him from walking. Our slow trips through the park are the favorite part of his day. I think one of the reasons he spends so much time smelling things is that his eyesight isn't good anymore. He is developing cataracts, but surgery is out of the question. Since Dash is no longer a candidate for anesthesia there are a lot of things we can't do anymore. I'd love to get his teeth cleaned again. Unfortunately the dental procedure requires anesthesia. Both of his vets say it is too risky.

I'm going to think it's Sunday tomorrow since I did a lot of my Saturday chores today. Oh, well. At least something got done. I'm not sure if I'm becoming forgetful or if time just doesn't matter anymore. It could be a little bit of both.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3171

I sent in my application to join the InSight team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the spacecraft's November landing on Mars. A little while later, I received a conformation from NASA thanking me for my interest while telling me that I was application number 61005. Wow. The last time I did this in 2014, there were only several hundred applicants. Now there appear to be over sixty thousand. Times have definitely changed. I probably don't have a chance in hell of being selected. Only 30 people will be given social media credentials.

Hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained. At least I made an effort to venture out of my comfort zone and expand my horizons beyond picking up dog poop. We'll see what happens. If Dash's condition remains stable, everything should be fine. I had to decline an invitation to view an Orbital ATK Cygnus launch at Kennedy Space Center when Dot became very sick, but I'm going to remain positive for the moment. What have I got to lose? It would be pretty cool if I made the final cut.

Dash got me up several times last night, but he ate well today and seems to be in good spirits. So far, there has been no pooping in the house. Lets hope this continues. I wish Dash had more energy, but he's actually doing amazingly well, considering the severity of his heart condition. I wish there was a cure for Dash's heart problems and vestibular disease. There isn't. We do the best we can managing the symptoms, but it is stressful knowing that your faithful companion could die at any time.

One day at a time has become my motto. When you take things one day at a time, long-term goals become irrelevant. There are just good days and bad days. Today was a reasonably good day. Dash didn't fall down. He didn't poop in the house. And he seemed happy.

Dash's mood must have been contageous, because I felt pretty good as well. I got off my butt and applied for the NASA media credentials. I even had an appetite and went out and got some delicious barbecued ribs for dinner. This was probably my first mistake of the day. Damn. I've already got heartburn. I wish I had the discipline to eat like Janet does. Her post-cancer diet is about as healthy as you can get. I don't do so well. My health regimen is basically occasionally eating her leftovers.

This month has flown by. I can't believe it is almost Labor Day. Pretty soon I'll have to start watching out for School Zones again. I don't drive much, but wherever I go, there always seem to be lots of schools. It really slows things down when you get stuck in one of those lines of people waiting to pick up their kids. Traffic in the city seems to double when school is in session.

I set the bar pretty low, but I think I was adventurous today. I wonder if I can be as adventurous tomorrow and try eating breakfast at a brand new restaurant. We'll see.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3170

They've discovered two bats with rabies in our neighborhood. That's a little disconcerting. We haven't had a rabies scare in ages. I don't think I have much to worry about. I rarely see bats in the yard and Dash is current on his rabies shots. He's totally lost interest in going after dead things in the park as well. We never used to have disease scares. Now people worry about getting Leptospirosis from contaminated water in the park. Almost every year there are new reports of someone being diagnosed with West Nile Virus in the area. Now, we've got rabies too. Good grief. We've even had to deal with the Ebola Virus here in Dallas a couple of years ago. I must have led a charmed life as a child. We never worried about anything.

My Dad was a zoologist who studied bats. He used to band them, set them loose in our yard, and see how long it took them to fly back to their caves. We were quite familiar with bats growing up. I don't think the subject of rabies ever came up. I don't think our neighbors were as interested in bats as Dad was. One Summer he released a few that refused to fly home. For the rest of the Summer the bats were a common sight at neighborhood barbecues.

Dash got me up last night, but we made it outside in time. At least I thought we made it outside in time. When he finished his business and we came back inside, I discovered that Janet was changing the bed. Yep. Dash had left another present for us. People ask why I don't use diapers on Dash. They rarely work on large dogs. I don't think they work at all on dogs with mobility issues. Diapers are messy too. It's a lot easier to clean the brick floors.

There are lots of chores I've been postponing. The floors are getting dirty and the grass needs to be mowed. I haven't unclogged the large production printer in a long time. If I was really ambitious, I could try to fix the shower tiles myself. The sheetrock on the living room ceiling needs a lot of attention too. There is an endless list of things that need to be fixed. None of these things appeal to me now. I wonder if this self imposed lethargy will ever change. By the time I finish dealing with all of Dash's many issues, I rarely feel like doing anything else.

I need to do something. Maybe I should apply for that opportunity to go behind the scenes at JPL and watch the InSight Mars landing. Janet will be home with Dash and I could always cancel the trip if his condition got worse. I'm trying to talk myself into doing this, but it's not that easy. I've become very comfortable with being a recluse.

I hope Dash sleeps well tonight. We're off to a good start because he pooped out in the yard this evening. When Dash is able to sleep, I sleep. That's important if I expect to get anything done tomorrow.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3169

I've stopped going to the library, but I certainly haven't stopped reading. I think one reason my head is filled with useless information is that on slow days like this, I can spend hours reading odd little articles I find on Google. When I click on the Google Discover tab, I'm always amazed that there seems to be an endless supply of things I've never heard about before. I'll read almost anything about astronomy and space. I like reading articles about how the human race is doomed and headed toward extinction. Most articles about Elon Musk catch my attention. I always read articles about the best diet to feed your dog. Sometimes I'll read articles about the pills I'm taking or the stocks my broker recommends. I like articles about exotic cars and vintage guitars. I'm not interested in politics at all, so I skip over a lot of stuff. Apparently, a lot of people are only interested in politics.

Today I read articles about what might have existed in the universe before the big bang, learned about a new mass extinction theory that says the dinosaurs all died in a single day, read about a Ferrari prototype that uses a "virtual" windshield made out of air, and did some research on several stocks my broker wants me to buy.

My broker and I don't agree on much. I like to contemplate large scale trends like young people preferring pets to children and ordering meal kits from Hello Fresh rather than going to the grocery store. I'm bored by technical analysis and usually could care less when a stock dips below its two hundred day moving average. My broker thinks Gilead Sciences is a good buy right now. What? I hate that company. They're the ones who charged me $1000 a pill for Sovaldi. OK. It is a revolutionary drug that cured my Hepatitis C, but $1000 a pill still seems a bit steep. I wish I'd just kept the first three stocks I'd ever bought: Apple, Boeing, and Southwest Airlines. If I'd kept adding to those positions over the years, I'd have done a lot better than decades of hit and miss trading.

Forget about stocks. What I should be researching is what's causing Dash's loose stools. According to everything we've read, what we're feeding Dash now should be very easy to digest and contribute to firm stools. It's just not happening. It's hard to get a definitive answer from the vets either. The older your dog gets, the more "old age" seems to be the cause of everything. I doubt that I'm going to find a cure for Dash's incontinence, but it does get tiring having a world centered around poop.

I've stopped carrying a camera on our walks because I really need to concentrate on keeping Dash upright. It's kind of a shame. This morning I missed a spectacular shot of a Great Egret. Yesterday evening the setting sun reflecting off the downtown skyscrapers was equally spectacular. I still carry my phone in my pocket, but I would have needed a telephoto lens to capture these images. It probably doesn't even matter. Everything I see in the park, I've already photographed dozens of times before. Just to prove my point, I took another picture of Jimson Weed flowers with my phone this morning.

Dash had a good day, but he still hasn't pooped yet. I'm nervous. I still can't decide whether to apply to join the Jet Propulsion Lab team for the InSight landing either. I guess I'm nervous about that too.

Mandy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3168

Things got off to a slow start today. When we woke up there was poop everywhere. Dash woke me up around 2 AM when he needed to go out and pee. Jeez. Why didn't he wake me up again when he needed to do this? This morning, Dash was sleeping beside me on the bed. Nothing seemed wrong at all. This brown trail leading to the back door was particularly hard to clean up. When the liquid mess dried it seemed to turn to concrete. To make matters worse, some of the poop had gone down one of the furnace floor vents. Yuck. We didn't notice until we cleaned up everything on the bricks and still smelled poop.

Sadly, this is just the new normal. Dash can't help himself. I can tell he tries because he is always heading toward the back door when the explosion happens. Senility and incontinence are a bad combination. By the time Dash remembers he needs to poop, it is almost always too late.

The city finally mowed the meadow behind our house today. If they'd been one day earlier, we might have avoided yesterday's unfortunate encounter with the bees. Dash and I took a different route on our morning walk, but we'll return to our regular route tomorrow. There's no point in being superstitious. The bees are everywhere. Dash has actually been stung at several other locations in the park, so it's just luck when we manage to avoid the bees. I just hope we never encounter a snake.

By the time I'd finished cleaning the house, I almost didn't feel like having breakfast. The smell of poop does that to me. I persevered though, because without a decent breakfast I knew I'd just snack on crackers all day. I wish I still got excited about food. As other activities have gradually faded, a really good meal had always been one of my few remaining pleasures.

After breakfast, I picked up some more Phenobarbital for Dash at the vet. There aren't many reasons to leave the house anymore. Even though I did nothing of consequence, the day still seemed busy. In addition to cleaning the floors and furnace vents, I also had to wash the comforter on the bed. Unfortunately, Dash doesn't do a very good job of wiping his butt.

I called the auction house this afternoon to make sure they got the information they requested this weekend. Their e-mail said "please confirm by Monday, August 27" and I didn't want to do anything wrong. The two auctions in October are starting to make me nervous. Everyone seems excited and optimistic, but what if nobody bids?

I have about a week to decide whether I want to apply for the NASA trip. I looked up airfares and hotel rates in Pasadena today. Why are flights to Burbank so much more expensive than flights to LAX? The Burbank airport is much closer to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. At first glance, it looks like a three day trip will be fairly expensive. One good thing is that unlike launches, the date for a spacecraft landing is fixed. The InSight lander will reach Mars on November 26. At least I could save some money on a plan-ahead airfare. I'm getting ahead of myself though. There's no guarantee that NASA would even accept my application and even less of a guarantee that Dash will be healthy enough for me to leave for a few days.

At least the market was good today. If I'm going to have a future as a space launch groupie, this bull run is going to have to continue for a while.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3167

It's always something. Dash got stung by a bee today. We were taking our morning walk when all of the sudden he yelped and immediately began limping. I suspected an insect bite, but it could have also been a sprain. When old dogs rear legs begin to go, it puts a lot of extra strain on their front legs. Either way, this was not good. Let me tell you, it was not easy getting a dog back home with only one good leg.

I was hoping that when we finally got Dash home, he would relax so I could examine him better. Unfortunately, this is not Dash's style. He tends to panic when things go wrong. He was agitated and we noticed that the leg was starting to swell so we loaded him in the car and headed for the emergency clinic. On the way, Dash finally started to calm down. By the time we arrived, he was semi-normal again.

The admittance nurse said that Dash wasn't having an allergic reaction and didn't appear to have sprained anything. He wasn't limping anymore either. Faced with a choice of waiting in the lobby for several hours until we could see a vet and then getting a $75 bill for a few Benadryl tablets, we decided to just turn around and go home. Dash has been stung by bees before. He completely freaks out for about thirty minutes and by the time a vet is able to look at him, he is all better.

I gave Dash some Benadryl when he returned home and he quickly went to sleep. By the time he woke up, he was back to his old self. Notice that I didn't say "back to normal." Dash will never be back to normal. We all ate our breakfast late enough to be called brunch and then resumed our regular Sunday routine. I kind of suspected a bee sting the moment it happened, but it's better to be safe than sorry. If Dash had seriously injured his front leg, it would all be over.

I think I'm going to have to stop using the arm bicycle at the gym. My wrist started hurting again and this appeared to be the cause. It makes sense. Twenty minutes on the arm bicycle can put a lot of strain on your wrists. Too bad. I like this machine. It's a great upper body workout and seems to be better than the treadmill for elevating your heart rate.

Elevating your heart rate during exercise can be good for cardiovascular fitness. At other times, it's not so good. I noticed on my Fitbit that my heart rate went way up right after Dash got stung by the bee. This was stress. I wasn't sure how I was going to get him home again. I wasn't sure what had happened either. Luckily, everything ended well today, but it definitely wasn't a relaxing day.

I'm sure the bees have moved by now, but I'm a superstitious person and I won't want to take the same route on our walk tomorrow. This might be problematic, because Dash is set in his ways and always wants to take the same route. I wish the city would hurry up and mow the field behind our house. The grass in the park is getting high again and it's hard to tell what Dash and I are walking through.

I guess I'll have to wear the brace on my wrist again tonight. I should have known better than to use the arm bike. It's pretty clear that Dash and I are both set in our ways. We'll try not to injure ourselves tomorrow.

Cammy s today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3166

It drives me crazy that Dash's condition varies wildly from day to day, even though everything in his life is extremely consistent. We've finally found a diet that he tolerates well. The meds he takes every day haven't changed in ages. He has some gentle walks every morning and evening and sleeps a lot in between. Earlier this week his stools had become firmer and looked almost normal. Last night everything became runny again. This is weird because through good times and bad, he is eating boiled chicken breast in the morning and a home made mix of chicken, rice, and vegetables in the evening. A few days ago he seemed sure footed and wanted to walk by the shoreline. Today he stumbled all over the place. I don't know what to do. A slow, steady decline would make sense. All these wild fluctuations just don't seem right.

Good days or bad, life goes on. I ran all my usual Saturday errands while Dash was taking his morning nap. I can never figure out pricing for the things I buy over and over again. Fresh fruit, which I love, seems very inexpensive. Blue shop towels and furnace filters, on the other hand, seem ridiculously expensive. Gasoline is a total mystery. It seems to change in price every single day.

Water has become my nemesis. The dehumidifier started leaking again this morning. Damn. I really thought I'd managed to fix this a few days ago. I had to suck water out from under the shower tiles again with the wet/dry vacuum as well. This happens about every three days now. It's irritating to do this so often, but I don't want to spend the money to rip out all the bathroom tile and start over. Been there, done that. It was quite a bit more expensive than I expected.

Dash seems depressed this evening. He's always been a mama's dog. Janet went to a friend's wedding and he feels abandoned. I wish he wasn't such a little shit about things like this, but it's hard to reason with an old dog. He wants someone to sit on the bed and watch Netflix with him. Dash wouldn't walk this evening and I've been having trouble getting him to eat his dinner and take his evening meds. So far, the only thing he's done right on schedule is poop in the house. Oh, well. The night is young. We'll get this done eventually.

Things continue to roll toward a conclusion at the auction houses. I got asked today to approve the descriptive text for some of my art in the auction catalog for the first auction. One of the pictures in the catalog hung on my bedroom wall for decades. Now, I could never afford to bid on it. Lets just hope that everything sells.

I got an invitation to apply to join the Insight scientific team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory this November for a behind the scenes look at the spacecraft's upcoming landing on Mars. I'm frozen when these opportunities come my way. I don't want to leave Dash. I remember that the last time I did this type of thing, I had a car accident in California. It's expensive to take these type of trips and I'm not even sure I'd get accepted. Hey, my blog isn't as popular as it was when I was invited to view my last space launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base. I'm just making excuses. I'd still like to do this. One of these days I'll get up my nerve to apply to become a NASA social media reporter again.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3165

There was something for everybody at the restaurant this morning. As I was being seated, four policemen in tactical gear were paying their bill and leaving. Shortly after that, two open carry guys with side arms strapped to their waist took a seat. There was a large extended family with everyone from the grandmother to small babies gathered around a table. There were two Hispanic guys in starched white shirts with cufflinks who looked like they had gotten halfway dressed for a wedding before deciding they were hungry. There were young couples and retirees, along with several people who were conducting a business meeting. It was a diverse group and I appeared to be the only person eating alone. If you wanted to sample the mood of America, this would have been the place. I'm not sure if this was the place to sample a really great breakfast, but everyone seemed happy.

Maybe it was just a happy day. Dash certainly woke up in a good mood. He slept all night and managed to make it outside the next morning to poop. We took a nice walk before it became too hot and although he wasn't very hungry, Dash did manage to eat his breakfast later in the day. You can't ask for more than that from a tired old dog.

My wrist didn't hurt this morning, so I decided to go up on the roof. Much to my surprise, it was dry. Although we've had quite a bit of rain recently, it has been hot and dry this week. Apparently it takes about five days for the standing water to evaporate in the Summer. I need to remember this, because I'm not going to be able to continue climbing up on this roof forever. Unfortunately, the water will never evaporate in the Winter.

Janet didn't work today, so I started thinking it was Saturday again. I'm going to be really confused when she stops working completely. Who knows when that will happen though. Although she has officially retired, her company continues to bring her in on a consulting basis when they've got a tough problem. I tell Janet that it must be nice to be wanted. Whenever I used to leave a job, they usually never wanted to see me again.

The real estate market is heating up in our neighborhood. It happens from time to time. There seems to be lots of houses on the market right now. Whenever this happens, people get real interested in what their own house is worth. I used to feel this way until our house started falling apart. Now, I think it will just get torn down if we ever leave. But will we ever leave? Somehow, I doubt it.

Hero is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3164

A small stray dog ran past us while we were walking this morning. The dog looked scared but appeared healthy. I was simultaneously happy that the dog wasn't going to cause trouble for Dash and sad that I was unable to help. It wouldn't approach us and quickly disappeared down by the shoreline. Did someone dump this dog? Did it escape from someone's yard? It didn't look familiar, but that doesn't prove anything. There are a lot of new people in the neighborhood.

Finding strays in the park is all too common. It appears to be a dumping ground for people from all parts of town. Occasionally I've been able to catch these dogs and take them to a rescue organization.  Once, a long time ago, I was even able to find the dog's owner. Now, I've got my hands full with my own dog. Walking a dog like Dash is a full time job. I just wish that the owners of these strays I keep seeing would take their job as pet owners a little more seriously.

Dash seemed to rebound a bit today. He slept well last night and was eager to walk this morning. He wanted to go down to the shoreline which is always a good sign. Often he doesn't have the energy to take this more adventurous route. We stumbled slowly along the shore for over 45 minutes and even though he was tired when we returned home, he ate his breakfast.

It's weird how every day is different. Dash still seemed exhausted at times and had his forgetful moments, but I could tell that he was having a good day. I didn't even care that he pooped on the floor again. It's nice to see that there are still moments when there is a sparkle in Dash's eye and it's clear that he still enjoys being a dog.

I have good days and bad days too. Like Dash, my good days are rarely dramatic. To me, a good day is just when nothing bad happens. I guess today was a good day because very little happened at all. I paid my Mastercard bill and picked up a frozen pizza on the way home from the post office. I should never eat pizza because it always gives me heartburn. That doesn't stop me unfortunately. A frozen pizza is often the perfect solution when you've eaten all the leftovers and you don't feel like cooking. The pizza was tasty, but I'll pay for this tonight.

I haven't done a major website in so long that I think I'm starting to forget how to code. The same thing happened when I stopped playing the piano. Oh, well. I think we spend the first half of our lives learning things and the second half slowly forgetting them. I've learned a lot over the years, so I've still got a lot to forget. Something to look forward to, I guess.

Mickey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3163

Some days are all about Dash. He didn't want to eat today. I had to really use my ingenuity to get him to take his morning pills. When worse came to worse, I could always put a pill directly down Dot's throat. This trick doesn't work with Dash. He'd bite me if I tried. Our walk was exceptionally slow this morning. Dash didn't appear tired. He just seemed disoriented at times. We took our time and made it home OK. By the time I finally got him interested in breakfast, it was noon.

This disinterest in food  is making it difficult to cure Dash's loose stools. The real goal is to get him to eat anything at all. Eating something that will make his poop firm again is just a bonus. Something is wrong, but I don't know what. There is no sign of blood in his stools anymore. His gums are nice and pink. His blood work looks good too. Dash is taking so many medications now, that the vets hesitate to add more. We're kind of on our own here.

When I woke up this morning I was almost certain that I was going to need to make an emergency doctor's appointment. My wrist hurt pretty bad and looked swollen. I strapped on my brace and soon became preoccupied with Dash. Several hours later when I was finishing my own breakfast, I realized that the wrist wasn't as painful anymore. I took off the brace and noticed that the swelling had subsided a bit as well. As the day progressed, the wrist continued to return to normal. It was surprising that this had happened so quickly. I was expecting to live with the sprained wrist for at least a week. To make a long story short, I'm glad I didn't call the doctor.

Truthfully, I didn't do much of anything today. I didn't order a new dehumidifier because the water leak seems to have disappeared. Maybe cleaning the unit out was all it needed. I didn't go up on the roof for obvious reasons. I didn't call anyone about my collections either. As I said before, the day was mostly about Dash.

He likes to sleep under tables and in awkward places these days. It seems like I'm always trying to extract him from these cubbyholes when he gets stuck. I've read that dogs seem to feel safer in small enclosed spaces when they feel sick. This certainly seems to be true with Dash. There are still places in the house where his lack of mobility wouldn't hinder him. Dash isn't interested in wide open space though. He seems to prefer a cave.

We'll see what happens tomorrow. I'm finally starting to get tired of my morning smoothie, but I don't know what else to eat. In five years of going out to breakfast on Friday mornings, I've tried just about everything. Nothing seems that appealing. In an odd way I can understand what Dash is going through. We both still need food to survive, but seem to have lost the joy of eating.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day