Day 4482

I'm making progress. I finally got the new Hoka shoes. The store that had the style I wanted was a little out of the way, but I made the trip part of this morning's grocery run and all was well. I asked the sales guy why this shoe never went on sale. "Because it's popular," he said. "We don't need to put this one on sale." Honest answer, I guess. I'm sure this is probably how all sales work.

The weather was just about perfect today. The sky was clear. The temperature was in the low 70's. And there wasn't much wind. I would have enjoyed walking further today if it weren't for my persistent foot problems. I did what I could though. A little over 18,000 steps today.

I think my seasonal allergies are finally going away. I don't have as much congestion at night and I can make it through the day without going through a roll of blue Scott shop towels. I hope this isn't some cruel April Fool's joke. I'm really getting tired of watering eyes and a constantly dripping nose.

It's amazing how quickly everything turned green. There are small leaves on most of the trees now and I'm starting to see some wildflowers. The pecan trees are still pretty bare, but they are always a little later than the other trees. With such nice weather, it's kind of a mystery why the wildflowers are so sparse this year. Maybe I'm just not looking in the right places.

I woke up last night remembering that I never sleep well when I travel. How quickly we forget. I need to start remembering some of the more positive aspects of traveling. There really are a lot of positive aspects, but all I can think about now is how tired I get and how glad I usually am to be back home.

I think I would enjoy rocket launches more if I actually lived in Titusville. It's a nice sleepy little town, filled with retired NASA workers. I don't think this part of Florida gets nearly as many hurricanes as the Panhandle or the Tampa area. There are still alligators though. Dallas is nice, but it's getting way too crowded. People move here because there are still lots of jobs. I moved here because of job opportunities myself, but this isn't nearly as important when you are retired. Sleepy little towns have a certain appeal when you aren't constantly looking for clients.

I could tell that Dawn was getting hot on her afternoon walk. I don't think she's going to enjoy walking as much this Summer. I don't think I'll enjoy walking this Summer either. It doesn't seem like I'm able to regulate my temperature as well as I used to. I'm always either too cold or too hot. It's very rare that the temperature seems just right. Today was one of those rare days.

I need to start packing soon. I like to travel light, so I am always forgetting things. I always remember to take my daily meds with me, but there are lots of other things in the medicine cabinet that I forget. You've got to remember to take things like Q-tips, Neosporin, Visine, bug spray, toothpaste, and much more. I usually take too many coats and not enough toiletries. Sometimes I forget to take enough socks as well.

We had Chinese take-out for dinner again. I don't know why Chinese take-out is so appealing, but it's usually our go-to meal when we don't feel like cooking. Ice cream cones sound appealing for tomorrow. It looks like it's going to be a good day for Dawn's Sunday outing. I just hope it won't be too hot.

Miracle is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4150

What a beautiful day. This would have been a good day to do yard work, but by the time I changed the sheets on the bed and did several loads of laundry I was too tired. Somehow putting a fitted sheet on a low platform bed is a lot harder than it used to be. I had my normal smoothie for breakfast, checked my messages, and got ready to walk Dawn. We walked Dawn early today because Janet was going to be away during the afternoon. Dawn was fine with the change in schedule. She liked the nice Spring weather too.

I knew there was going to be a Starship launch today, so I checked the computer from time to time to see how things were progressing in Boca Chica. The launch didn't take place until late in the day, but it was worth the wait. The fifth time was the charm for the Starship. It didn't blow up this time and made a perfect landing. It's impressive how quickly things are moving down at Boca Chica. I still think Elon might make it to the moon before NASA. I've really got to get down to Boca Chica and see one of these launches for myself.

There was plenty of time for a long walk while I was waiting for the Starship launch to take place. I made pretty good time today even though I was unusually tired. I think I didn't get enough sleep last night. The wildflowers are looking good this season. Somehow they weren't affected by our big freeze this winter. The Rhododendrons and Azaleas in Dallas didn't do so well. Most of these popular plants died. Usually in the Spring, I spend a day or two photographing all the wildflowers before the Summer heat dries them out. I've got plenty of flower pictures now, but I ought to schedule another photo day anyway just for old time's sake. 

I shouldn't have bookmarked the page of that telescope I'm interested in. I found myself going back to the page today and trying to justify purchasing the little telescope. It's really just a telephoto lens that has been optimized for astrophotography, but it's pretty cool. It even has a cool name: Redcat 51. I'll probably wish I'd ordered it when I return from the observatory and discover that the telescope is out of stock again. If this thing was available three weeks ago I probably would have ordered it instead of the telephoto lens I got recently. Oh, well. Maybe next time. I'm sure this won't be my last trip out to the observatory.

I still can't decide whether to apply from some June launch opportunities at Kennedy Space Center. I feel like I'm jinxed now and it hardly seems worth the effort, but if you don't apply you're never going to get accepted. I wish I knew why my applications were being rejected now. I've gotten a press pass before and I can't figure out what has changed. Maybe it's just one more thing to fret about. I'm not good at going with the flow. I'd like to have the rest of my year mapped out in great detail and then I'd just follow the schedule. 

I do have something on my schedule for tomorrow. I get a haircut. A haircut isn't a big deal but it fits in with my one activity a day philosophy. A haircut and a long walk. That ought to take care of the day.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4107

Another beautiful Spring day. In theory, I should get a lot accomplished on days like this, but I seldom do. Things are moving along slowly though. My 2020 taxes have been submitted, so I don't have to deal with that for another year. The Kickstarter project I backed has funded, so it looks like the product will go into production. If all goes well, I should get my hands on one of the first available versions sometime this Fall. One of the tree trimmers I called finally returned my call, so it looks like I'll be getting a bid on removing the Oak tree in the back yard. Janet wants to remove the tree more than I do, but I would hate to have it fall on the neighbor's cars and have everybody tell me "I told you so." The tree will probably be gone before the Kickstarter project ships.

Dawn did well on her walk today. There was no hesitation or freezing at all. I still have no idea what influences her behavior. She did get excited by another dog and tugged on the leash hard enough to make my hip hurt when I walked. I have so many aching joints now that I have to walk slow and steady. Sometimes I feel like that slow walking Duane Toddleberry character created by Tim Conway on the old Carol Burnett show. It's hard to believe now that I was ever nimble and agile.

I haven't heard anything from the Air Force yet about getting my credentials reinstated for 2021. We were supposed to hear something by the middle of March, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised that things are running late. Everything seems to be running late this year. It's just as well that I won't be tempted by launches in Florida for a while. My trip out to McDonald Observatory later this Spring is all I can afford anyway.

I need to get a new plastic mat to put under my office chair. I've worn a hole in my existing mat and the wheels of my chair get stuck in it all the time. It's irritating. I used to see these mats everywhere, but now I can't find them. I probably haven't looked very hard. That will be my task for tomorrow. I also need an accordion folder for my 2021 receipts. I usually get one of these every January, but it's March already. I'm slipping. Looks like a trip to Office Depot might be in order.

It must have rained a lot last night because the water level in the lake looked a lot higher today. If there's more water in the lake, there's probably more water on the roof as well. I really should get up there and sweep the standing water away, but it is supposed to rain again tomorrow night, so maybe I'll wait. The way my hip feels right now, I probably couldn't make it up on the roof anyway. It sucks getting old. All these things that used to be easy aren't all that easy anymore.

Something weird is happening with our mail. Instead of getting a single batch of mail once a day, we are getting several deliveries during the day. Today we got three deliveries, each with a few letters and flyers. Is the mail actually getting delivered more often, or is our mail just getting misplaced in neighbor's boxes. Maybe neighbors are just returning misplaced mail. I really don't trust mail deliveries anymore. We used to have the same mailman for decades. Now there seems to be a new delivery person every week. 

I've slept well for two nights in a row. What changed? Probably nothing. My nights are probably just as random as my days. I hope this trend continues though. It really makes a difference.

Ariel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1918

I had to turn the air conditioner on today. It's hard to believe that we were dealing with sleet and ice when Dot had her operation and just a few weeks later it's over 80 degrees. We might still have a few chilly days, but I'm fairly convinced that Winter is finally over. I'm starting to see some early blooming wildflowers and the Mallards have begun their Spring nesting ritual. It won't be long before there are baby ducks everywhere.

We're starting to establish a schedule that everyone can live with. Dash gets a long walk while Janet is eating breakfast. When she leaves for work, I eat my own breakfast while feeding the dogs a few treats to keep them quiet. Since they both seem content to stay on their dog beds while I'm in the kitchen, I'm usually able to wash the dishes and throw a load of laundry in the washer before it's time to take the dogs outside to pee again. If I eat slowly and do kitchen chores, I can usually extend breakfast until Dot and Dash are ready to go back to sleep. Dot goes in her safe area and Dash goes wherever he wants. I'm real quiet and hope the dogs will sleep for a long time because this is when I get the most done.

If I'm lucky, the dogs will sleep until 1:30 or 2 PM and then they inevitably want to eat something again. I give them both a rice cake, so they won't get fat. Both dogs would eat non-stop if I let them. Since they've slept most of the morning, they often appear bored after their lunch. They don't feel like sleeping any more. I take them outside. I walk Dot from room to room. I do some of the physical therapy exercises the neurologist showed me. Sometime a watch a little TV in the kitchen, if Dot and Dash are being quiet on their dog beds.The afternoons aren't nearly as productive as the mornings.

When the dogs finally settled down and went to sleep around 3 PM, I went up on the roof and gave my patches areas a second coat of elastomer. It's supposed to start raining again tomorrow and I don't want to worry about leaks. The one gallon can of elastomer material doesn't cover as much area as I thought it would. No wonder the roof was so expensive. The roofers used boatloads of this stuff.

Since I'm essentially housebound, I thought I'd start fixing some of the non-running watches in my collection. I've gotten three fixed so far. This is a fairly pointless activity, but it makes the day go faster. This would be a good time to have lots of writing work, but things are a bit slow right now. With my luck, I won't get busy again until Dot gets better and I don't need to stay here all day. Oh, well. It's hard enough for Janet and I to coordinate our schedules. I'm not even going to attempt to coordinate things with my clients as well.

The sunrise was pretty again this morning. That's all she wrote though for this week. I think it's going to rain for the rest of the week.

Allie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1915

I feel like I'm running on empty. Today was kind of a trial run for taking care of Dot on my own and there was a steep learning curve. Janet and Dash were gone for most of the day at a Dalmatian Rescue event, so this was a good opportunity to see what life is going to be like next week. The first thing I noticed is that it's hard to think ahead to make sure that important objects like reading glasses, bath towels, shoes, and dog treats will be where they need to be ahead of time. Since I can never leave Dot unsupervised, I can't just run back to the bedroom to get something I forgot.

If Dot is tired, you can guide her to a room where you plan to be working and she will go to sleep next to you. If she's not tired, all bets are off. I was continually finding myself in the kitchen when I really needed to be in the bedroom or office. I never seemed to have my reading glasses, my phone, paper towels, or shoes when I needed them. I tried to put Dot in her special safe area so I could get some work done, but she immediately started barking and trying to get up on her own. Ordinarily, I would just ignore the barking, but with the meds she's taking, barking a lot makes her poop. Every time Dot started barking for attention, I would dutifully find my shoes and take her outside to see if she needed to go. Eventually Dot got tired and went to sleep, but by that time, I was tired as well. I didn't get a lot done today.

I'm not sure how much I could have gotten done anyway. My main goal this weekend was getting the problem areas on the roof patched before the next big rain. Unfortunately, it hasn't gotten dry enough to apply the patching material yet. Today's light mist didn't prevent me from walking Dash or getting groceries, but it certainly wasn't the best weather for patching the roof. Maybe tomorrow. Sunday might be the best chance I have until I can figure out a good way to keep Dot in one place.

I've started seeing small patches of Grape Hyacinth coming into bloom all over the park. This small purple plant is usually a harbinger of Spring. In another month, entire meadows will be filled with these flowers. Then there will be Wild Irises and Bluebells, and as the temperatures rise, Firewheels, Milkweed, and Verbena. I enjoy seeing the wildflowers return. I've watched this perennial cycle for so many years now that I can almost predict to the day when certain flowers will bloom. When the wildflowers arrive, the White Pelicans and Cormorants go. I'm not sure where these birds spend the summer, but they certainly don't like the Texas heat. The Mallards stay all year, or at least until the Coyotes eat them.

I ought to go to the gym tomorrow. It seems like a long time since I've been. I'm not worried about not getting enough exercise though. Holding up Dot's rear legs with the Help 'Em Up Harness is giving me all the exercise I need. Dot is sleeping peacefully now. So are Dash and Janet. Now, if only I could get some sleep.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1907

It was nice to get out for a while this morning. The snow is gone and the weather is warming up. It seemed like a perfect day to get a haircut, enjoy a delicious breakfast and do a little shopping. None of these things took that long, but they were important. With a full belly, some new jeans for Spring, and a decent haircut, I felt ready for anything.

Dot woke up feeling great this morning. I think that her acupuncture session yesterday evening really helped her. She's walking faster now and doesn't crisscross her legs as much. Today, for the first time, I noticed that she's learned to redistribute her weight when she starts to slip to one side. I'm still providing support for her rear legs using the Help 'Em Up Harness, but I can tell that each passing day, she is doing more of the work herself. The challenge is to encourage her to walk without leaving her unsupervised or letting her walk on her own. Dot is an obedient dog and if I constantly told her to lie down or stay in her crate, I think she'd become discouraged and wouldn't even try after a while. I let her sleep as long as she wants, but when she's active, we do a lot of physical therapy.

I forgot to take the trash out to the curb last night and by the time I woke up this morning, the truck has already come and gone. There's just too much to remember these days. I forgot my morning meds as well. You guys need to remind me about this stuff. I don't know what to do about the trash. Since the can is almost full already, we'll never make it until next Thursday. It sure was nicer when the city picked up trash twice a week. Older neighbors say that a long time ago the trucks came three times a week. Probably the next step will be for the city to eliminate trash service altogether.

Dot was indignant today when I put her in her crate so I could take a shower and get a little house cleaning done. She hadn't been in the crate more than thirty minutes when I started to hear loud persistent parking. Dot was mad. She's perfectly willing to take a long nap, if she gets to pick the place. So far, I haven't been able to convince her to take her naps in my office. I'm glad that Dot is more active, but I'm still trying to figure out how to stay active myself. Being a good dog nurse is almost a full time job.

If the weather stays nice this weekend, I'll wash the car, get the water off the roof, and clean up the back yard a bit. I need to start looking for a soft dog crate that I can put in the back of my car. The sooner I can start transporting Dot in the car, the sooner we can begin her water therapy again. There's going to be so much to do this Spring, but on a sunny, warm day like today, anything seems possible. Let's hope there are a lot of sunny days in the weeks ahead.

Anne is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1906

Dash got a rare chance to experience snow this morning. It was starting to sleet when we went to bed last night, but somehow it turned into five inches of snow by the time we woke up. This was a thick, wet snow that would have been perfect for making a snowman if I was so inclined. Dash was intrigued by the snow for a while, but quickly decided that it was too cold. Although all my Facebook friends seem to have uploaded a movie of their dogs racing around playing in the snow, Dash had other plans. He was more interested in going back to a warm, dry house for breakfast.

I was going to cancel my haircut appointment because the driveway and roads were icy, but the salon beat me to it. They called while I was eating breakfast and said that nobody showed up for work this morning. We rescheduled the haircut for tomorrow morning. This was a very strange snowfall. At 7 AM, the roads were treacherous. By 7 PM the snow was completely gone. By the time I gave Dash his evening walk, there was no more winter wonderland. There was just a lot of mud.

Work has been unusually slow this week. Maybe it's the weather. If my clients are like me, they're not really thinking about new projects right now. They're wondering if their car will start in the morning. They're wondering what to do with the kids if there's another snow day. They're wondering why the grocery store shelves are picked bare. Most of all, they're wondering when Spring is going to arrive. Spring is a little late this year.

I think Dot knows that she is queen of the house now. She has a comfortable dog bed in every room, with non-slip carpet runners connecting everything together. When she needs to get up, people come running to help her. Her vet even makes house calls now. Early this evening, Dot got another acupuncture treatment here at the house. Dot is funny. She always barks at her vet when she arrives, but as soon as the acupuncture session begins, she is quiet and relaxed. When the session is over, the barking starts all over again.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be warmer. Janet has time to watch Dot while I go to my breakfast restaurant and get a haircut. When we trade places in the afternoon, I'll work on my taxes while the dogs are sleeping. Whatever happens, Friday is bound to be better than this week of sleet and snow. Enough of this cold weather. I'm ready for Spring. Dot will be able to resume her water therapy in the Spring. I'll have wildflowers to photograph instead of sullen grey skies. With any luck, my friend and I will have some new business to work on. Spring will be good.

Rory is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1902

Dot looks like a football. Her back has been shaved and right in the middle is a huge eight inch incision that is held together with fifteen surgical staples. Despite her appearance, Dot is doing great. When we visited her at the hospital this afternoon, she appeared happy and alert. She was eager to eat the treats we brought and seemed equally eager to walk on her own. One of Dot's nurses brought her to the exam room for our visit supporting her with a sling under her belly, but you could tell Dot was already doing some of the work herself. I'm amazed that Dot can already stand on her own for a considerable amount of time. She couldn't do this before the surgery. After seeing her today, I am convinced that with the proper physical therapy, Dot will learn to walk again.

Since Dot is making such good progress, she will probably be discharged from the hospital either tomorrow or Tuesday. Once she's home, the hard part begins. Very few Dalmatians know how to take it easy. I will have to monitor her very carefully, so she never tries to do something stupid, like counter surfing, or hopping up on the bed. You know how weight lifters frequently use a spotter when doing bench presses to prevent injury. I will be Dot's spotter for quite a while, using the harness to keep her from slipping until the damaged nerves can  repair themselves and her leg muscles grow stronger.

A friend let us borrow some rubber backed rugs that we can strategically place around the house to keep Dot from slipping on the bricks. I think we've come up with a good way to keep her safely confined to a small, well padded space when I'm taking a shower or taking something to the post office. Since I have little desire to leave the house anyway, the extensive rehab period should work out pretty well. Janet will be going back to work soon, because she hates retirement, but I can walk Dash a little earlier in the morning while she is still at home getting ready for work. I'm sure there will be a lot of surprises and there will be times when I'll wonder what I've gotten myself into, but right now I'm uncharacteristically optimistic. We can do this.

I wish the weather would get better. It continues to rain with the temperature hovering right around freezing. It warmed up enough today to melt all the ice off the roads, but tonight it will refreeze again and there will be another thin layer of ice in the morning. I think the cold spell is just about over though. I certainly hope so anyway.

It's hard to believe it's March already. It's time to get my tax return started. It's time to start thinking about re-landscaping the back yard. One more month and we won't have to worry about ice storms for another year. I always look forward to Spring. The next few months won't be easy, but I hope when the wildflowers start to bloom in April and May, I'll be able to walk through them again with Dot at my side.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1613

I picked up Janet at the airport today. DFW seems to be permanently under construction these days. Every time I go to the airport there seems to be a new temporary access road to get to the terminals. Since American Airlines just got out of bankruptcy recently, I wonder where they're getting the money to finance this huge expansion. Maybe it's not a problem though. They're probably making enough from what they charge for your bags these days that they could finance several new terminal buildings.

The dogs were certainly glad that the family is back together. They don't like surprises. I wonder how they'll feel when they discover they don't have as much space on the bed tonight. It's amazing how much room two Dalmatians can take up when they put their mind to it. They didn't want to let any empty space go to waste and quickly figured out how to occupy almost the entire bed while Janet was gone. On many days, I had trouble finding even a small space for myself.

I finally got my car in for its overdue service appointment this afternoon. It costs a bit more to work on this car than the old Defender, but hopefully it won't break as often. Maybe I'll get lucky and it won't break at all for a while. There was nothing wrong when I took the car in today. It was just one of those preventive maintenance service visits where they change the oil and all the fluids and charge you a lot of money for basically nothing. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure though. I always change my oil every 3000 miles, whether it needs it or not.

There still wasn't much work today, even though I did have a few website updates to complete before the weekend. It's just as well it was a light day. A trip to the airport, two dog walks, a service visit at the car dealership, some light grocery shopping, and a trip to the post office for stamps seemed to take up the entire day.

Our Spring weather continues to be exceptionally nice and I don't think it is supposed to rain all weekend. How did we get so lucky? It's still snowing in some parts of the country and California's wildfire season seems to have started early this year. Sure, we have the occasional tornado and it's beastly hot in July, but right now Texas seems like a great place to live.

Liberty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1606

This is the time of year when thousands of tiny sweet ants join forces for an all-out assault on the house. All it takes is a tiny crack for them to get in and once they're in, they're everywhere. I started noticing these ants yesterday, and today there seemed to be twice as many. Sweet ants are hard to get rid of unless you can find where they're coming from. My guess is that they're getting through small cracks in the window sills, because that was where they were swarming today. I went outside with a bottle of ant and roach spray and tried to seal off any potential entrance. We'll see how that works. Usually, nothing works. Luckily, these little critters are just passing through. They come every year about this time, and by the time I've come up with a workable plan to get rid of them, they're gone.

I got an e-mail today saying that the yearly rent for my storage warehouse is due again. I can't even remember how long I've had this storage space. Suffice to say, it's been a very long time. It has occurred to me occasionally that what I've paid in rent over the years is probably quite a bit more than the actual value of the contents. The longer I keep this stuff, the more I tend to forget why I stored it away in the first place. At some point, I'll come to my senses and either start selling things, or just toss it all in the nearest dumpster. It's doubtful that I'll reach a tipping point this year. I'm sure I'll just renew the warehouse for another year, take a quick look inside, and continue to wonder what is in some of the unmarked boxes.

My mechanic called today and told me that he had a buyer for the non-running car he never found time to repair. Since he and I are about the same age, I don't think he'll ever find time to repair the car. If I had unlimited resources and a younger mechanic, it would be fun to fully restore the old car and drive it around occasionally. That's not going to happen though. I reluctantly agreed that, even though the offer I received was not great, it was probably time to sell. It took me a long time to remember where the title to the car was. I transferred the title when I moved to Texas in 1977. Eventually, I found the document, but it wasn't where I thought it was.

I though I was going to have an easy day, but somehow it didn't turn out that way. The ants took a long time to kill. The title took a long time to find. And unfortunately, I tried to balance my checkbook. Since I do all my accounting using Quickbooks Pro, I start to think that these are the real numbers, forgetting that I occasionally type things in wrong. Every six months or so, I try to reconcile the Quickbooks entries with my bank statement and usually fail. After three tries today, I was still off by $2.88.  I finally just made a journal entry for $2.88, under the heading of Miscellaneous Stuff.

I still haven't gotten the water from Thursday's torrential rains off the roof. Since it was hot today and will be even hotter tomorrow, I'm hoping that it will just evaporate.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1566

Today was a catch up day. I went up on the roof and swept away the remains of last week's thunderstorm. I charged camera batteries and updated software. I did some cleaning. I even made it back to the gym. Since it was such a nice day outside, the gym was practically empty. Between walking the dogs, cleaning standing water off the roof, and my first full workout in several weeks, I was pretty tired.

I can't say I actually enjoyed any of this activity, but it all needed to be done.  Although I do spend a lot of time staring aimlessly into a computer screen, I'm not a lazy person. I continue to push myself, and am determined to never become an overweight Walmart shopper or a professional victim. I remain convinced that we all determine our own destiny. Each and every one of us.

I'm starting to worry about Dot again. I've noticed that her stools have been darker than normal this week. It's not the dreaded tarry black that indicates internal bleeding, but still it's not normal. I'll get a lab test done to make sure nothing's wrong. Dot is so absolutely consistent about everything, that anything abnormal stands out like a sore thumb. Now that Dash is sick, I depend on Dot more than ever as a source of stability. Luckily she is.

It's hard to believe that April is just around the corner. So far, 2014 has zipped by amazingly fast. We seemed to have survived the Winter. The trees in the back yard are turning green again. Most of the shrubs and ground cover survived. The roof shows no signs of leaking and I'm beginning to think that the roofers did a better job than I initially thought they did. If Dash and I can just put our health problems behind us, it might turn out to be a very good year.

Right now, I'll just settle for another good week. Dash resumes his radiation treatments tomorrow.  While he's away, the HVAC guys will be getting the AC ready for Summer. I need to see if I can get Dot's vet appointment rescheduled for Tuesday. And then on Thursday, I've got a doctor's appointment of my own. I'm sure that in between all this, there will be articles to write and websites to revise. It will definitely be a busy week, but it will be April. April is always one of my favorite times of year in Texas.

Sparky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1565

I cooked a family breakfast while Janet walked the dogs this morning. I suspect that this renewed interest in food is temporary, but I might as well take advantage of it while it lasts. I do make a good omelet. I opted not to take advantage of today's beautiful weather and do more yard work. Even though the lawn mower beckoned me to give it a first trial run for 2014, I left the infernal machine alone. I can't postpone the inevitable much longer though. Everything is green and growing like crazy now. I think Spring is here for good.

Janet got some sheets for the bed that were made out of bamboo when she was on vacation. They are supposed to be softer than cotton, yet more durable. I heard similar claims of durability about bamboo flooring when I was considering having bamboo hardwood floors installed several years ago. I never realized you could do so much with bamboo. You can eat the stuff too. At any rate, I put the new bamboo sheets on today. We'll see how well they hold up to the Dalmatian durability test.

I had a ton of small errands to run today. I'm starting to see that price must be more important than quality to people. It doesn't really matter what type of store you're in, there are slightly inferior products in the shelves in an effort to keep prices from going up. This brand substitution is most obvious in grocery stores, but you see it everywhere. Prices are more or less the same, but there are different brands on the shelves. Or maybe the brands are the same, but there is less in the box. There is always an effort to make you think you're getting a bargain, when you really aren't. Personally, I'd rather see prices go up than quality go down, but that's just me.

Since my new diet has forced me to read what is on the label, I've noticed that once you're out of the produce aisles in a grocery store, there's virtually nothing healthy on the shelves. The amount of salt and sugar in most packaged food is simply astounding. About the only thing this country exports to the rest of the world these days are pop culture and bad food. It's ironic. As Starbucks, McDonald's, and Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises spring up in every corner of the globe, our gift to the world has been diabetes, heart disease, and poorly behaved children.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not a vegan, I don't do yoga, and I still love a good cheeseburger. It just seems like if we put even a tiny amount of effort into eating healthier, the grocery store aisles wouldn't be filled with fat people reaching for big bags of stuff that will make them even fatter. I've learned my lesson about moderation. I'm never going to eat at The Cheesecake Factory again.

I don't know what I'm going to do about walking the dogs this summer. It's already too hot for Dot. About halfway through an already shortened evening walk, Dot decided she'd had enough. She refused to walk any further while Dash was ready to walk another mile. I had a devil of a time getting the two dogs home again. Maybe I'll just walk Dot in the mornings now, when it's a bit cooler. She still does pretty well in the morning.

It looks like I'll finally have time to go back to the gym tomorrow. I bet it will be like starting over. I haven't been in quite a while now.

Elliott is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1545

Did you know that Amtrak has a writers residency program? They'll send selected writers on a free long distance train trip, and all the writer has to do in return is write about the experience. Hey, I'm in. I love train travel and writing about a train trip would be a piece of cake. Probably 10,000 other writers thought the same thing when they heard about this, but I filled out the application anyway. I think Amtrak is only going to pick 24 writers for the travel grants, but what do I have to lose? Like most government websites, the Amtrak site was a bit buggy. When I hit submit, my application just disappeared. I have no idea if it actually went through, since there was no acknowledgement of any kind. We'll see.

I'm back to doing my full workout at the gym. This doesn't mean my shoulder has healed completely. It's tolerable though. I figured that if I didn't get back on schedule soon, I'd lose everything I'd gained. I can already tell that I've got some work to do. My hour and a half at the gym seems a lot harder now than it did when I was going three days a week. Better something than nothing has always been my motto. As time permits, I'll try to work my way back to three visits a week.

The weather was beautiful today. I kept thinking "this time Spring is here for sure" for most of the day. I've been fooled before, however. Once or twice, we've had snow this late in the year. Hopefully, we won't get another freeze now. Trees are budding everywhere and I'm starting to see wildflowers in the park. It's definitely time to rake the leaves in the backyard, or better yet, get someone else to do it for me. I think I'll opt for the second option this year.

I thought for sure that  I would have heard the results from Dash's pathology report by now. I'll find out what is going on next week. It wouldn't be the first time a doctor had simply forgotten to tell me something important. I'll have to admit that I've been a bit reluctant to bug the vet about the results. Dash seems so much better after the surgery that I'd like to think he's out of the woods now. It would be a huge disappointment to discover that the surgeon hadn't gotten all the cancer and Dash still needs radiation or chemotherapy.

I can't say that I'm a real fan of Daylight Saving Time. Why do we need this time change at all? The time is just what is is. Pretending that it's an hour earlier doesn't really change anything. Before the time change, the sun was coming up when I woke up in the morning and I still had a chance to photograph some cool looking sunsets on my evening walks with Dot and Dash. Now, it's dark again in the morning and way too light in the evening.

In case you think nothing pleases me, I was pleased with dinner tonight. Janet cooked steaks and they were delicious. Dot and Dash seemed a bit miffed that they didn't get a big steak too, but we've learned the hard way that people food isn't good for them. I think they'll survive.

Val is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1544

I've been thinking that my Mom died sometime in March, but I couldn't remember when. I've got no long-term memory whatsoever. My mind is a sieve. I can't remember exactly when my Dad died either, and he died a lot more recently than my Mom. This is why I write things down. You may think writing 1544 consecutive blog posts is quite a feat, but I've been recording my daily thoughts a lot longer than this. I really started doing a daily blog post before the Internet was even invented. When something is nagging me, I go to a box of dusty old leather covered journals and find out what happened. Those dusty daily journals, which go back as far as the early 1980's are my memory. When I looked through the cardboard box full of journals recently, I discovered that my Mom had died 24 years ago today, on March 8, 1990.

My Mom meant a lot to me. She ended up having more of an influence on my life than she would have ever imagined. If I hadn't taken the time to write something down shortly after she died, it would all be lost in a fog by now. Maybe it's a good thing that I can't remember things. I don't wallow in the past. What does it matter if you can't even remember it?  I certainly couldn't have had a successful career in advertising if I actually remembered all the crap I've done over the years. I do have a loose sense of history, but basically, every day is a new day. If it wasn't for Facebook, I would never remember your birthday.

My mind is sharp, but it is kind of like one of those flight recorders they have on airplanes. You know what I mean. The black box continuously records the most recent thirty minutes of activity and then just records over it, erasing what was there earlier. From my perspective, doing Sudoku puzzles to keep your mind sharp is silly. I literally reinvent the wheel every single day. I think one of the reasons I've become so good at doing ads and websites is that even though I essentially solve exactly the same problem over and over again, I don't remember many of my earlier efforts. When I look at my portfolio of ads from my ad agency days, it often seems like someone else wrote them. I'll think, "Jeez, I wish I could have written something like that," and then realize that I actually did.

My first Dalmatian meant the world to me, so I wrote a book about him before he died. Ironically, today is also Spot's birthday. He would have been 27 years old today. I think that I started this blog basically to preserve the memories of Dot and Dash. They mean just as much to me, but in a different way. These 1544 days are important whether I remember them or not, so I hope that Google doesn't decide to nuke Blogger at some point in the future. I can always sort through old journals and tell you what I had for dinner in 1977, but it would be very hard to recreate the blog if it just disappeared.

I write for myself. When I re-read old stories and journal entries, some make me laugh and others make me cry. I've had quite a life. I"m not sure how important today will seem in the future, but it is part of a long tapestry. It turned cold again today. It wasn't bad when Janet and I took the dogs on their morning walk, but it got colder throughout the day. Now it feels like Winter again. I did see my first Yellow Primrose of the season this morning. This is always a sign that Spring is on the way. Within a month, the park behind our house will be a symphony of wildflowers. The time changes tonight as well. Daylight saving time is usually another sign that Spring is on the way. I used to spend hours resetting all the watches in my collection when the time changed. Now, I don't even care. Most of the watches don't work anymore anyway.

Bacardi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1215

Today was near perfect. What's not to like about 68 degrees, a light breeze, clear skies, and low humidity. I wasn't the only one who was pleased with the perfect weather either. The park was filled with picnickers, sunbathers, joggers, and horseback riders. I had other things to do. I mowed the grass.

With two new 12 volt batteries installed, the mower ran just fine. Unfortunately, the person pushing the mower needed some new batteries himself. I remember when I first bought the house, I could mow all the grass in the front and back yards with an old fashioned push reel mower. Not anymore! Each Spring I notice that the current electric mower seems a little heavier and harder to operate. Today, mowing the front yard left me winded and tired. I simply can't let my upper body strength deteriorate any more. Walking the dogs is great for my legs, but I've ignored my arms. It might be time to join a gym.

They're repairing the road in front of our house and it's driving Dot nuts. A big, very loud machine, somewhat like an agricultural combine, goes back and forth scraping away the old asphalt and spitting it into waiting trucks. Eventually, some other machines will come and re-pave the road with asphalt again. This process happens about every five years and until the road crews are finished, it will be exceedingly dusty. Dot hates the noise of the machines, and even though she can't see them, she barks continuously.  The odd thing is that there was nothing wrong with the road before the city decided to re-pave it. One more example of governmant money at work.

It's nice to be able to watch Dr. Who whenever I want now. I've mastered the DVR and record all the new episodes now. Instead of racing through dinner to watch the show on the good TV in the bedroom, I just watch it later when I've got nothing better to do. I do have something better to do tomorrow. It looks like it's going to be a fabulous day at the dog park. Dot and Dash are already making plans.

Valli is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1208

We went to another casino party tonight. Janet and I usually play roulette at these charity fundraisers, mostly because we are the designated roulette dealers whenever Dalmatian Rescue has similar events. Sometimes we can pick up tips from other dealers that we can use ourselves. Not tonight. The pair at the roulette table this evening were the most inept roulette dealers we've come across yet. They didn't know the odds on the board. They would routinely pay numbers that didn't win and forget to pay number that did win. They seldom paid winners the right amount either. These dealers didn't even appear to know how the game was played. Nobody got mad though. We were just playing with monopoly money and the entire evening was for a good cause. Janet and I are much better roulette dealers than these bumblers though.

The weather finally cleared up today. With an abundance of clear skies and warm temperatures, the dogs finally got the enjoy the newly landscaped back yard. It would have been a good day to do a little more gardening, but I'm still not sure where all the poison ivy plants are hiding. The meds are starting to work, but I still think it's going to be at least another week before the itching subsides.

I had to get all my Saturday chores finished a little early today, since we needed to leave the house for the fundraiser by 6 PM. We ate dinner at the event, so that saved a little time. The rest of the day was spent grocery shopping, doing laundry, vacuuming, making fresh juice out of a big bag of oranges, and looking for the source of the latest leak up on the roof. I couldn't find where the water was coming in, but I did get clean sheets on the bed and gave the dogs a nice long walk before we left for the evening.

I hope I remembered how to use the DVR correctly. I set up the machine to record the new Dr. Who episode this evening, but I haven't had time yet to see if my efforts were a success. So far, the new season of Dr. Who looks like it's going to be a good one. I'm kind of pleased that I've finally mastered the television. I no longer have to watch shows when they are aired. Now, I can watch them any time I want.

Tomorrow is definitely going to be a dog park day. I can tell Dash has cabin fever from being cooped up too long. He needs a chance to run off-leash. With all the rainy weather we've been having this Spring, we've missed our Sunday visit to the dog park for several weeks in a row.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1207

I got an enormous amount done today. Once again, I had to spend the day waiting for the FedEx man, and he was very, very late. I have one supplier who insists on marking all shipments direct signature required, while at the same time denying me the opportunity to re-direct the package to a nearby FedEx office for a more convenient delivery. I find this very annoying, but there is a hidden benefit. While I am waiting endlessly for an envelope that needs my signature, I tend to get lots, and lots accomplished around the office.

Today I re-configured an entire website and launched the new version. Ordinarily, this would have taken me three or four days, but what else did I have to do today? I was trapped.

Today's little exercise provides a good illustration of why I've never been fond of SEO types. My client had hired an SEO wizard to boost his Google rank and get his phone to ring more often. The SEO wizard didn't like the site I had designed. He said it had way too many pictures and not enough searchable text that could be indexed. There was plenty of text on the site, but unfortunately, it was all embedded inside pretty JPEG images. To fix the problem and get the SEO guy off my back, I needed to learn something new. To keep the layout intact, I belatedly learned how to create layers in Dreamweaver. I placed Google-friendly text in these new layers and then positioned the layers directly over the pictures I wanted to keep. Amazingly everything worked. After a day of coding confusing CSS scripts, I had a site that looked remarkably similar to the old site, while containing all the new information that the SEO guy said was missing. We'll see if this makes a difference. Probably not.

The temperature was back in the 70's by mid-afternoon. It's still not dry enough for me to determine where the water is getting in on the roof, but it was certainly warm enough for the dogs to enjoy a little sunbathing time in the back yard. I'm a little leery of doing any more gardening in the back yard, unfortunately. I'll probably never know if I got my Poison Ivy from inadvertently pulling up Poison Ivy plants hidden in the ground cover, or from Dash curling up with me at night after a day of running through a field of the stuff. Hopefully, the steroid shots will work their magic soon.

I used a Klout gift card to go out to dinner with Janet this evening. I like these Klout perks, although I have no idea why I keep getting them. So far, I've gotten dog blankets, gift cards, magazine subscriptions, and books. Maybe if I write a nice review about the restaurant, they'll send me more stuff. I wouldn't even have to lie. The food was actually very good.

Angel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day