Monday, October 8, 2018

Day 3210 - Columbus Day

I must have checked the mail five times before I realized it was Columbus Day. This is an invisible holiday. I almost always forget this day unless I happen to go to the bank or post office and discover that they're closed. I think this holiday will eventually suffer the same fate as the statues of Columbus that are being toppled around the country. The man has definitely fallen out of favor. He already has to contend with a competing holiday that is celebrated by people who wish Columbus had never discovered anything.

Columbus Day isn't the only thing that's going away. Google+ is going away too. Why am I surprised. Popularity has waned in recent years and Google has decided it just isn't worth the trouble to maintain the site anymore. That's a shame. Google+ has always been my favorite social media site. It was a great place to discover new ideas and share photos with like-minded photographers. Instead of people I went to high school with, there were people who actually shared my interests. I had some good conversations. Google+ was the only social media site where I actually built a following. I guess it makes sense that the platform wasn't able to survive. Sooner or later, just about everything I really like goes belly up. The list of favored restaurants, products, magazines, cars, bands, websites, and furniture that have vanished from my life is quite long. Somehow, Walmart is still here though.

It finally happened. Dash pooped on the Persian rug in the living room. He almost always poops on the bricks, but he must have gotten lost on his way to the back door. Needless to say, cleanup was more difficult than usual. I wish that yesterday was a day when Dash's poop was firm, but I have no control over these things. You can't get mad at Dash though. He really does the best he can. I just hope that I don't become incontinent in my final years. There is nothing pleasant about incontinence.

I wonder if I've fallen out of favor with NASA. I used to get a lot better response when I applied to participate in their launches and special events. Now, it's crickets. The application I submitted last month was rejected and I still haven't received a response to my latest application. I'm sure the criteria for social media coverage has changed. When I filled out the latest application form, they weren't even interested in what I was doing on Google+. They were interested in Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Reddit and a host of other things I never bother with.

The weather was weird today. There were severe weather and flash flood alerts on my TV and phone all day, but it didn't rain much at all in our part of town. I was even able to take Dash on morning and evening walks without getting wet. It's supposed to rain again tomorrow and then again later in the week. I definitely don't think we need to worry about a drought anymore.

Sometimes I feel like writing about more substantial things than the weather and dogs. I despise arguments though. Our entire society has become way too argumentative. I blame this on the rise of tribalism and a lack of shared values. Some of you probably don't agree. That's why I like dogs so much. Dogs can't talk.

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