Day 4942

I fixed the screen door this morning. Well, I kind of fixed it anyway. I bought a roll of new aluminum screen wire, but I discovered that it was a lot easier to just tighten and reattach the old screen. It won't last forever, but at least the screen isn't flapping loose anymore. This job used to seem a lot easier. The heavy duty staple gun I've always used to attach the screens to the door seemed a lot harder to squeeze this time. I had to use both hands. Have I really lost that much strength in my hands? Maybe so. I'm just not as strong as I used to be.

Today was almost identical to yesterday. It was pretty similar to Monday as well. We had a pleasant early morning walk with Dawn. She ambles around and smells everything. They say letting a dog smell things is relaxing for them. When we get near the lake there is always a nice breeze. I keep wishing it would stay this way so I could walk in the park, but as soon as the sun rises you immediately know that it is going to be a hot day.

I've been hearing thunder off and on all day, but there is still no rain. We could use some rain. It's been so hot lately that the grass and everything else is starting to look dry. Rain might cool things down a bit too. It's nice that I don't have to worry about leaks ever time it rains now. The roof still doesn't drain as well as it should, but hopefully the days of constant leaks are behind me. I've really gotten tired of climbing up on the roof every time it rains. 

I went to the gym again after fixing the screen door this morning. I keep thinking that the same people are there every day, doing exactly the same things. Of course that's what I'm doing as well. Maybe we are all creatures of habit, just going through the motions over and over again. A three mile walk and a little time on the basketball court seems like a decent workout to me, but Fitbit doesn't agree. It keeps reminding me that I'm not taking as many steps or burning as many calories as I used to. I guess a six mile walk was more serious exercise than I imagined. I'll get back to my long walks in the park eventually, but not right now. It's way too hot outside.

Now that I'm going to the gym earlier, I don't really know what to do with my afternoons. I haven't been feeling like doing much of anything lately. This afternoon I looked at the 2023 launch schedule and tried to decide which ones I really wanted to see. Realistically, I can only afford two more trips to Kennedy Space Center this year. Maybe three if I want to splurge. There are lots of opportunities, but many launches are almost identical to events I've already seen and written about. I have to be careful what I apply for because if I'm accepted, it's more or less a commitment to make the trip.

Mosquitos keep getting into the house. This is another annoying aspect of living in Texas. Mosquitos are everywhere. Hopefully these aren't the malaria mosquitos I keep reading about. The city used to come down the alley behind our house and spray once a month in the summer but they don't do that anymore. A garbage truck use to come down the alley twice a week too. Now I have to take the can out to the street for once a week pickup. Hmmm. All I've really done is trade my winter complaining for summer complaining.

Tomorrow is Dawn's grocery day. I'm glad she doesn't realize that Janet is leaving on vacation soon. She would be sad. Dawn and I will do fine while Janet is away, but she is definitely a one person dog. 

Cisco is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4064

We spent some extra time with Clyde at the kennel today. He's still very shy but he is making progress. Since he has already bonded with one of the kennel attendants, I think he's going to be OK. Charlie and Cooper have no problem with shyness. They both love to play and are very motivated by food. Cooper likes to chase a ball and Charlie prefers his octopus toy. Both dogs got a good workout today and were ready to go back to their kennel runs for a long nap by the time we left.

Even though Dawn prefers Janet, there are certain things she expects me to do. I always feed her dinner and I usually hold the leash when we take our walks. Today I was having trouble with my foot and wanted Janet to hold the leash while we went down a steep hill. Dawn wasn't having any part of this. She let us know that she wanted things the way they usually are. As soon as Janet returned the leash to me, Dawn immediately resumed walking normally. 

I don't know what is wrong with my foot. It feels almost as bad as it used to be before I started wearing the special supportive running shoes. I still walked another five miles after Janet and Dawn returned to the house, but the last mile was a struggle. I may have to put a temporary hold on these long walks while I give my foot a chance to rest for a while. Things could be a lot worse, but I hate to give up walking, even temporarily. This is the one thing that gives some structure to my day.

My editor at Sky & Telescope told me that he is looking for more of a nuts and bolts type of article than the one I proposed. Interesting. I was initially going to write a basic "how to" article about astrophotography back in the beginning. Then I started reading other articles about the subject and realized pretty quickly that this territory was pretty well covered. The article I was thinking about writing had already been written quite a few times. I thought my chances might improve if I wrote something original and different. Apparently not. I guess I could still write a "how to" article, but I don't think it would come out well. I would feel compelled to celebrate the weird and quirky ways I tend to do things rather than clearly and concisely articulating how everybody else could accomplish the same thing. Somehow it's always all about me. With the exception of the many advertising messages I was paid for, virtually everything I have ever written has been some sort of personal narrative.

Apparently bad weather is headed our way. It is supposed to get very, very cold later this week. We are definitely going to get some rain and there might even be snow. Yikes. All I can think of is that I hope the furnace  keeps working normally and the roof doesn't start leaking again. Household problems always seem to happen at the worst possible time. I don't know how Northerners can stand this type of weather. Every time I see someone celebrating snow, I wonder what is wrong with them. Snow and freezing weather are just a big nuisance.

Maybe I just like to complain. Later this Summer I'm sure I'll be complaining about how hot it is and how much I hate all the Texas bugs. If you ever find me writing about the pure joy of doing something, bookmark it. I'm sure this happens occasionally, but it is a very rare occurrence. In my world, complaining is perfectly OK as long as you keep slogging forward through the mud. In the words of Larry the Cable Guy, Git-R-Done.

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3513

I got my car safety inspected for another year. There is no window sticker anymore, but you still need to have the inspection done before you can buy the annual registration sticker at your local grocery store. Why do I need the registration sticker? Rules. There used to be a little sticker you put on your license plate as well. Those disappeared a long time ago. I'm old enough to remember having to go downtown to the department of motor vehicles for a new plate every year. You rarely get a new plate anymore. All these physical ways of identifying you are gradually going away. I used to have a Toll Tag in my front window but you don't need the tag anymore. Sensors just know when you are driving on a toll road. It probably won't be long before there aren't any stickers or tags on your car at all. The car will just broadcast everything about you to the state as soon as you turn on the ignition.

For now these annual safety inspections are still part of my routine. I could get everything done a lot quicker at a local garage, but I continue to drive up to the dealership and waste half the morning. The time goes quickly. I had a long conversation about cars with a sales guy I know. He shared some new information with me about the new Land Rover Defender that is being introduced this Fall and we traded stories about various exotic cars we'd seen about town. I looked at all the new cars on the show room floor and lamented the high prices for Range Rovers these days. Pretty soon my car was done. My day hadn't really changed at all. I still had a morning smoothie and I still had a morning walk. My trip to the dealership just made my morning walk even hotter because I got a late start.

I thought that an AT&T technician would come back today and hook up the cable that was buried in my yard yesterday. I guess I'll have to call about this tomorrow. I can't remember whether I need to be here or not when this happens. I've finally figured out why AT&T installs these temporary cables. If you had to wait and wait without any service at all until the technicians eventually showed up, customers would be pretty mad. They probably figured out quickly that throwing away a lot of fiber optic wire was easier than dealing with irate customers.

Even though I complain about sweating a lot, I still like walking outside better than walking at the gym. There is more visual stimulus outside. I certainly wouldn't see many Great Egrets at the gym. If I just wanted to avoid the heat, I could go to the gym every day. I'd have to drive to my gym though and I don't like driving. I do like talking about cars however. It's complicated. I don't really mind the heat, but my skin is taking a beating. I don't remember my skin looking this bad during previous summers. Do I need to use sunblock? It would be so much easier if I just stayed home and got fat watching Netflix.

I've been hearing cars running through water all evening. I thought it had started raining for a while. When I went outside to investigate I discovered that the neighbor's sprinkler system had broken. There were big fountains of water spewing out into the street. What a waste. I wish one of those nozzles was pointed over at my yard. I could use the water. I guess everyone has problems during the summer. I just hope my air conditioner keeps working.

Lou is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2554

It's hard to believe that yesterday I was wearing a down ski jacket, gloves, and a wool hat. Today, I'm wearing shorts. The temperature actually got up to seventy five degrees this afternoon. That's Texas weather for you. You never really know what to expect.

I never know what to expect anyway. With Dot, every day is full of surprises. Today, her urinary incontinence was worse and she was leaking everywhere. She hardly pooped at all though. Go figure. I've got to come up with a better way to clean her up after all the frequent accidents. When I help her up now, my hands usually end up smelling of pee. We've increased her Incurin dose, but it doesn't seem to be working. I'm afraid there may be nothing more we can do.

I went to the gym earlier than usual this morning, in hopes of having time to do other things when I returned home. It didn't work out that way, but at least I tried. The gym is never very crowded on Sunday. There was a man putting his young son through what appeared to be a fairly punishing workout and several old people who seemed to be moving in slow motion. Everyone seemed very determined today. I wonder if I appeared determined to them? Probably not. I don't think I appear determined to anyone.

Maybe Dot thinks I'm determined. I hope so. I do everything I can to keep her comfortable. Mostly this means making sure that she always has dry, clean bedding when she poops or pees in her sleep and helping her up and guiding her slowly around the back yard whenever she gets restless. On a good day, I think she still feels like a normal dog. This experience has made me realize that I wouldn't be very good at providing hospice care for a human. Dog accept what you give and seldom complain. People always complain.

I complain a lot myself, but by now you probably realize that I don't mean any harm. I'm just baffled at the choices people make. Don't they realize how much easier life would be if they all just did things my way? I get frustrated at people, but since I'm not really around other people all that much, my frustration seldom goes beyond talking back to the TV. Sometimes hitting the heavy bag at the gym helps too.

I'd better hop on the Amazon.com site tomorrow and get my Christmas shopping done. If I wait much longer, I'll have to pay extra for Fedex delivery again. At least my Christmas list is very short. It probably won't take me ten minutes to get my shopping done. I don't know why anyone goes to the mall anymore. Online shopping is so much easier. It would take me longer to find a parking place at Northpark than it does to take care of everything with a few clicks on the Amazon site. You don't have to wrap the packages either.

I hope Dot feels better tomorrow. She seems exhausted today. I think today's unexpectedly warm weather caught her by surprise.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2230

I feel silly complaining about the weather on a day where the entire East Coast is experiencing one of the worst blizzards in history. Texas has its problems, but we seldom get three inches of snow an hour. Jeez, a grand total of three inches of snow period is enough to shut the entire city of Dallas down. At an rate, if you're reading this in the middle of a snowstorm, please stay safe. I can't think of any good reasons to be out on the roads tonight.

Compared to what I was watching on TV this evening, our own weather seemed almost benign. It was cold, but nothing out of the ordinary for January. It even warmed up enough later in the day for me to go up on the roof and clear the water away. There wasn't as much water as I expected, so a lot of it must have blown off the roof during an unusually windy day we had earlier in the week.

Dot had another accident during the night, but I've become so efficient at cleaning things up that I didn't even wake Janet and Dash up while I was getting Dot fresh blankets and loading the washing machine. When I took the bagged up poop out to a special can by the back fence we're reserved for Dot's accidents, I noticed that the sky had turned cloudy. I'll have to wait until things clear off again to look for Mercury in the morning sky. If there's a clear morning tomorrow, I shouldn't have a problem finding the illusive planet. I discovered recently that there is an app on my iPad that uses GPS and a sophisticated star map to mimic the night sky. You just take your iPad outside with you and point it in the general direction of what you are looking at. All the stars and planets in front of you are correctly identified based on the local time and your location. I've tried using this a few times and it's really pretty cool.

What isn't cool is my Jawbone UP band. Another one bit the dust today, so I went to the website where you describe the symptoms you're having and hope the manufacturer will send you a replacement. I love these little fitness and activity trackers, but they aren't very reliable. The bright yellow UP 24 that broke today is the fourth one I've had so far. They all work perfectly until the day they don't. Sometimes they last a year. Sometimes they last 45 days. Occasionally, a reset procedure will bring the band back to life, but typically when the two small status lights quit working, your band is toast.

I looked in two different stores, but couldn't find a DVD copy of The Martian. The movie was released on DVD several weeks ago, so it should have been on the shelves. Actually, there were very few recent movies on the shelves at all. It was almost as if stores weren't even bothering to stock many titles anymore. I think this just illustrates how fundamentally Netflix has changed the landscape. People don't buy DVD's anymore, they just watch them on Netflix, Hulu, or Google Play. Maybe I should just rent The Martian on Netflix like everybody else does. It would certainly be less expensive. My bookshelves are littered with DVD's I've only watched once. The whole concept of owning something is becoming an anachronism and I'm one of the dinosaurs keeping it alive.

My pants are telling me that it's time to go to the gym again. The problem with Winter is that if you wear compression pants under your jeans and sweaters under your outer coat, everything feels too tight. I get cold easily and I even feel too bundled up inside the house. Going to the gym won't fix all this, but I always need a reason to go to the gym. Tight pants seems to be as good a reason as any.

Chloe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2115

I was glad the yellow warning light came on again when I was driving to the dealership this morning. At least the repair guys won't think my suspension problem is something I imagined. Who knows how long the repairs will take. It always seems to take much longer than I anticipate. This is probably why Land Rover has always been pretty generous with their loaner cars. If you've got a free loaner car, you're not going to complain as much about how long the repairs are taking.

Since I like to complain, I'll complain a bit about the Evoque anyway. The car is more expensive than the larger LR2 or the appealing new Discovery model. It has a small 4 cylinder engine and terrible visibility. The rear seats don't fold flat and the engine shuts off when you stop at a light. The stop and go engine is supposed to be a feature, but it is a giant annoyance to me. I never really believe the engine is going to start again when the light turns green. I hope they are able to fix my suspension quickly. I'm not looking forward to driving the Evoque for the entire month of October.

It was a nice warm day, so the dogs wanted to sun themselves in the backyard after lunch. Instead of lying in the grass, Dot now likes to lie in the Monkey Grass beds next to the greenhouse. This is killing the Liriope plants, but I don't have the heart to make Dot move. I did a little gardening while I was watching the dogs. It's always been difficult to grow the type of plants I want, but surprisingly easy to grow weeds. If I don't pull the weeds, they crowd out the good plants. As I was pulling weeds, I noticed that clumps of them made a pretty good makeshift broom. I used the clumps of weeds to brush away a dense mass of spiderwebs on the back windows. I thought this was pretty clever, since clearing away the spiderwebs with a regular broom typically ruins the broom. The webs stuck to the clumps of weeds like a charm and them I just threw them away.

I've been having trouble with my phone ever since I upgraded to IOS 9. A lot of the apps I use don't recognize the WiFi network anymore and use cellular data instead. I looked on the Internet and a lot of other people are having the same problem. Apple needs to fix this quickly. As soon as people start realizing that they've inadvertently maxed out their data plans by using cellular data when they thought they were using WiFi. My watch is having trouble getting the temperature from my phone as well. Makes me wonder about the wisdom of upgrading my laptop to the new El Capitan system. What could possible go wrong?

I still haven't figured out how to get Dot in the Evoque for tomorrow's physical therapy appointment. That will be my after breakfast project, unless a new writing job accidentally falls in my lap.

Thelma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1663

I complain so much about Dallas that one of my friends suggested I move to New Zealand. Not a bad idea. The place is beautiful. It's isolated. And the people are friendly. I wonder if they have Dalmatians there? Truthfully, I really don't know where I would like to go next. Janet doesn't have a favorite spot either. Maybe we ought to ask the dogs where they would like to go.

The only place I went today was the gym. The gym has turned out to be my go-to place when I'm bored. I have a feeling that some of the regulars go there for essentially the same reason. Whatever random day I happen to go, they're always there. I can't imagine being as faithful as these regulars, but it's not a bad place to hang out. It's nearby. The exercise has got to be doing me some good. You don't even have to think very much. There are definitely worse places to be.

There was a lot of complaining about fireworks displays on my Facebook wall this morning. It's funny. Young people love watching fireworks. Older people are more likely to tell you that they'll never go to a fireworks show again. It must be some kind of line in the sand when you stop saying "Wow" and start complaining about the ants, the mosquitoes, and the difficulties in finding a parking place. I agree with Dot when it comes to fireworks shows. They're loud and entirely unnecessary. I think I've already crossed that line in the sand.

There's a channel on TV that seems to play nothing but old Seinfeld shows. The episode where George Costanza became a hand model was on tonight and it still makes me laugh. It's weird that these shows are still funny decades later, while most new comedies don't even bring a smile to my face. The writing just isn't that good anymore. George Carlin was much better at political commentary than John Stewart. Johnny Carson is still the gold standard. Jimmy Fallon doesn't even come close. It occurs to me that I could save a bundle on my cable bill by cutting the cord and just buying boxed DVD sets of my old favorite shows instead.

There's a cool feature on Janet's sewing machine that lets you sew detailed lettering directly on fabric. You can pick fonts and sizes and everything. She wanted to sew the dogs names on bandanas today but neither of us could remember how to use the fancy and somewhat complicated feature. The "use it or lose it" nature of skills like this is starting to bother me. I am forgetting things at an alarming rate, simply because there is no need for the knowledge anymore. Lord help me if I ever need to do an old school analog edit using tape machines again. I've got a perfectly good video edit suite in my office that I used to use all the time. I haven't even turned the tape machines on in two years. Nobody needs tape in a file based world. I wonder if anyone needs me? Maybe I ought to start a museum. I'd be a great curator of old stuff. Ask me about Dinky Toys, Osborne Computers, Citroën automobiles, and Betacam recorders. If only these things were still relevant.

Isabella is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1596

I took my last Sovaldi pill this morning. There are still a few Ribavirin pills left, as a result of the time when they lowered my dosage to compensate for a low blood platelet count. I'll need to call my nurse at the liver center tomorrow and see what they want me to do with the remaining pills. Your guess is as good as mine on this one. Maybe the two pills are only meant to be used together, or just as plausibly, the Ribavirin may still be useful on its own. I'm just glad that I've just about put this segment of my life behind me.

Dash has some medication issues of his own. The cancer center gave him some Tramadol on Monday to alleviate pain associated with the radiation sore on his neck. He never seemed to be in pain though, and after only one day, the medication is making him wonky. One of the side effects of Tramadol is that it can make you very drowsy, or in rare cases even appear sedated. I'm not sure Dash was actually sedated, but he certainly seemed out of it for most of the day. I think I'll discontinue the medication. It would be one thing if he was really in pain, but I think this drug is making matters worse. When I told Dot's physical therapy vet what was happening with Dash, she said that she'd be more likely to prescribe an antibiotic to help prevent a secondary infection than to use a pain pill at this point. It's frustrating that vets, like my own human doctors, rarely agree on everything. All I know is that Dash acted perfectly normally before he started taking the pain medication. Now, he is acting loopy.

Dot wasn't as relaxed as she normally is at her acupuncture session. She appeared a bit stressed today. Maybe it was just that kind of day. Everyone I encountered today seemed a bit stressed. Sadly, I'd have to include myself in this category as well. We got slowed down by road construction on our way to the vet. One of my nagging website problems has reared its ugly head again. I'm even behind on my writing assignments. It's only Tuesday as well. At least there were no tornadoes here. The weather was beautiful again today. Lets hope these nice Spring days continue for a while.

I forgot to put a large black plastic bag full of garbage in the trash can yesterday evening and awoke this morning to discover that racoons had torn the bag apart and strewn garbage all over the back yard. I don't know why I left the bag at the back gate without actually placing it in the garbage can, but that's how your memory gets when you get older. I'll certainly remember to complete this chore now. Those racoons really made a mess of things. It took me forever to get everything cleaned up again so the dogs wouldn't go looking for stray chicken bones or other things they shouldn't be eating.

It's hard to believe that April is over already. Tomorrow is the last day of the month. Before long, I'll be complaining about the relentless Texas heat and wondering how to get rid of the wasp nests that appear every June. I seriously doubt that I could go a week without complaining if my life depended on it.

Parker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1220

Around 8 PM last night I thought I saw a flash of lightning on the Southeast horizon. I'm always a bit worried about lightning at dog training class since our class takes place on top of a hill. Everyone walking their dog is a potential lightning rod. I didn't hear any thunder, so I thought the storm was still far away. It wasn't until this morning that I realized what I saw was actually the flash from the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas. Something similar happened back in 2003, when I heard the sonic boom from the space shuttle Columbia exploding overhead. I had no idea what that was either until I put the pieces together while watching a news broadcast several hours later.

I'm a big complainer. Ordinarily I would be complaining about the water leaking through the roof as a result of last night's severe storms. The recent events in Boston and West put everything in perspective though. I've got nothing to complain about at all. Actually, I'm quite lucky. When I was walking the dogs today, I noticed that a huge oak tree that Dash loves to pee on had become uprooted during the storm and fallen directly across the path. We have stood under this tree many, many times. It's just lucky that we weren't nearby when it fell.

I almost passed out when I was up on the roof sweeping the water away this morning. It's generally not a good idea to pass out on your roof. I'm almost certain that the lightheaded, fainting sensation was caused by the carvedilol I take. These meds slow down the heart rate and can make you quite dizzy if you stand up quickly from a squatting or sitting position. When I'm up on the roof, I'm constantly squatting to look for a leaking seam, and then standing up quickly again. I guess I'll have to avoid going up on the roof right after I take these pills.

I went to the battery store to pick up a replacement battery for a power drill this afternoon. The original battery was made in Japan, but I noticed that this new one was made in China. I'm seeing more and more of these Chinese batteries, even though some manufacturers specifically warn against using them. The instruction manual for one of my digital cameras even says that using Chinese replacement batteries will void the warranty. What are you going to do though? Everything is made in China these days. The only batteries that are made in the United States that I've heard of recently are the lithium ion electric car batteries made by A123 Systems. Oh, I forgot. That company filed for bankruptcy recently, so their batteries will probably be made in China soon as well.

I'm glad it's Friday tomorrow. It's been a long week and I'll be glad when its over. I'd like to do a whole lot of nothing this weekend, but the Dalmatian Rescue group has another Casino Party. Hopefully, that's the only thing that's going on this weekend. We don't need any more rain either. I'm tired of the rain. Like I said, I'm not complaining, but Mattie looks exactly the way I feel.

Mattie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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