Thursday, January 25, 2018

Day 2954

I hate to admit it, but I get most of my news from Facebook. Even though I consider myself articulate and well read, it's just too easy to scroll down my news feed while I am drinking my morning coffee and see what's going on. There's a guy who always re-posts interesting stories from the local newspaper so I don't have to read it myself. Several friends I met at Vandenburg Air Force Base let me know whenever there is an upcoming rocket launch I can watch online. A woman I went to high school with always posts obituaries of classmates who have died. There are puppy pictures to amuse me and plenty of expensive watches to drool over that I could never afford. I don't even mind the political posts and the ads. They are a public service to a lazy person like me. I may not agree with your politics, but your opinion can tell me who to vote against in the next election. The ads are great because somehow Facebook already knows what I like. I click on everything I see about guitars, Land Rovers, and video equipment.

It kind of bothers me that Facebook is planning to change this familiar news feed. They are planning to show less news and ads and more family and friends. This doesn't really work for me. There is only one family member I still communicate with and she isn't even on the Internet. I'm not even sure I have any friends. Like I said, I'm here for the news and the ads.

When I see something on TV these days, I've usually already heard about it on Facebook. I wonder if reporters even go looking for stories anymore. It would seem that they spend most of their time looking for material on YouTube. If you ever see a story on TV about a panda or a dog that can do arithmetic, I can almost guarantee that it was on Facebook first.

Even though it was boring inside today, it was a beautiful day outside. Dash and I had a nice long walk this morning. It is encouraging that he still seems to have a lot of energy and continues to love his walks. I wish he was more interested in walking down by the shoreline, because there are more interesting animals to photograph. Dash gets to choose though. We walk wherever he feels like going.   Sometimes we just walk in circles. There were no exotic birds or pretty sunsets today, but luckily there are always a few pesky squirrels.

I keep hearing that fewer and fewer people are writing checks and using the mail. I will probably be one of the last to keep these quaint traditions alive. I like going to the post office. I paid the water bill today and wrote another letter to my Luddite sister this afternoon. Most people just put their outgoing mail in their mailbox, but I don't trust our mail carrier. I always take my mail to the post office myself.

What am I going to do tomorrow morning? I've tried everything on the menu at half a dozen neighborhood restaurants and still can't find something I like. Jeez. Why did my favorite place have to go out of business? I ate the same thing for almost three years and loved it. I guess I could drive a little further to find my Friday morning meal, but that kind of defeats the whole purpose. I like to stay close to home.

Bones is today's Dalmatian of the Day
Watch of the Day