Day 2022

Dot broke a three day streak and pooped in the house again today. I guess this is the new normal. She seems happy and doesn't appear to be in any pain or discomfort, but it's sad to see her slowly deteriorate. Aging is relentless. You can't stop it and slowing it down is mostly just an illusion. We are all slowing down. Dot is the most obvious senior citizen in the family, but she has a lot of company. Dash is no longer a young dog. I'm a big bundle of geriatric aches and pains. Even Janet is getting older. I guess the trick is to slide into decrepitude with as much dignity as you can.

Today was pretty unfocused. There were no looming deadlines, but I still felt busy. I had to go to the vet and pick up more phenobarbital for Dash. Someone is always running out of pills these days. I went to the store to pick up some things I forgot when I went grocery shopping on Saturday. I washed the car even though it wasn't very dirty. There are still several websites I need to convert to a mobile friendly format, but I couldn't bring myself to start any of them. Like I said, it was a pretty unfocused day.

The stock market really took a tumble today. I've never been a huge fan of globalization and still find it distressing that events in Greece can affect lives in Dallas. I shouldn't have to care if Greece defaults on their debt, but everything is interconnected now. I'm convinced that this mutual dependance is not always a good thing. When I was a kid I remember that we used to go on school field trips to factories a lot. Every town large and small had a factory. We made everything and thrived by selling things to each other. We didn't need to import things from China. Now all the factories are gone and we make nothing. And people wonder why there aren't any jobs. America has always been blessed with an abundance of resources. We had everything we needed to have a nice self-sustaining economy, but we got greedy. Companies wanted bigger profits and customers wanted to buy things cheaper. Factories and jobs moved offshore and here we are, nervously wondering what's going to happen if Greece leaves the Eurozone. It didn't have to be this way.

We got lucky in June, but July is going to be hot, just like it always is in Texas. Dot and Dash don't even want to go out in the afternoon anymore. Dash usually takes a nice evening walk, but I had a hard time even getting him to go around the block today. He's no dummy. It's just too hot. Dogs don't sweat like we do. As temperatures increase you've got to worry about heatstroke and at some point, even the pavement gets too hot for a dog to walk on. Early mornings are still OK, but I don't think we'll be walking very far in the afternoon until things cool down again. If history is any guide, that won't be until October.

I shouldn't be tired, but I am. The dogs still need their evening meds and a final trip outside to pee. I need to run a test print through the large printer to keep it from clogging and then I'm done. I'll brush my teeth and watch another old episode of Perry Mason on TV to help me fall asleep. Maybe I'll have something interesting to write about on Tuesday, but I wouldn't count on it.

Sparky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day