Day 2078

There's nothing like starting your day washing your hair and discovering that there is a giant cockroach in the shower with you. That ugly little incident kind of set the tone for the day. Later, while I was eating breakfast, I watched the stock market drop over 1000 points within a few minutes of the opening bell. The market did recover a bit, but still ended the day with a loss of 588 points. This is not very auspicious, especially after last week's huge losses. Just as I thought life was returning to normal, Dot wandered into my office while I was working on a writing assignment, quietly dropping a long trail of poop behind her. I thought Dot was fast asleep, but apparently not.

It's easy to clean up dog poop. It's not so simple to clean up the mess that China has made of my investment portfolio. I haven't gone into panic mode yet, but I am frustrated. When China sneezes, we all catch a cold. How did we let ourselves  become so dependent on a Country that isn't even our friend? China buys our debt and we buy their cheaply made products. We have become completely co-dependent. Life was so much better when every American town had a factory and we made all our own stuff. Don't people realize that these factories were what provided the well paying jobs that everyone is clamoring for these days? Not everyone is destined to become a rocket scientist and factory jobs were what created the middle class in America. I've never been a fan of globalization. All it has done is create immensely rich multi-national corporations. I'd gladly return to a world where products were made by my neighbors in my own home town. Sure, everything would cost a little more, but is cheap Chinese made stuff at Walmart really worth all we've lost?

I'm pretty certain that nothing I say about China, or anything else for that matter, will make much of a difference. I don't exert much influence over my clients anymore. I seldom change Janet's mind either. Even Dot and Dash don't listen to me. I do have opinions, but I'm tired of tilting at windmills. It's much easier to just drink my morning coffee, take care of the dog's needs, and mind my own business.

I helped a Luddite friend add a bank account to her Paypal account this morning. This wasn't nearly as easy as it should have been. Every time I did something on my computer, Paypal would call my friend to confirm that it was really her. Of course it wasn't my friend doing the typing, it was me. She'd get a phone call asking for a confirmation number that was actually appearing miles away on my screen. I think we eventually got the account set up, but it would have been a lot easier if she'd just learn how to use her computer. I have a sister who is the same way. She won't use a computer at all and I have to send her letters through the mail. I may occasionally want to travel back in time to the 1950's, but I'm a realist. I do know how to use a computer.

Janet got home late from work, but we decided to walk Dot around the block anyway. It was starting to get dark, but we were hoping that Dot would poop again and we might be able to get a good night's sleep. Dot found something to bark at along the way and that short moment of excitement actually did cause her to poop. I couldn't have asked for more. A day that started with killing a wet cockroach actually ended pretty well.

Hero is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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