Day 2109

I finished the book I've been reading. I watched the Pope's address to Congress. I deleted a section on a client's website that was no longer necessary. I paid a few bills and took them to the post office. It was a very uneventful day. I should use days like this to embark on ambitious personal projects, but I haven't been very ambitious lately. Most of my energy is spent taking care of Dot. Anything that is left over is usually frittered away. I wonder what to put in my morning smoothie when peaches go out of season. I wonder why some of my watches run fast and others run slow. I do the stretching exercises for my shoulder without a lot of enthusiasm. I'm torn between wanting more excitement in my life and being terrified of it. When all else fails, I take a nap with the dogs.

Yesterday I updated the operating system on both my phone and the Apple Watch. Battery life seems better on the watch now, but worse on the phone. This happens every time I update an Apple operating system. Location services is what kills your battery on the iPhone. Apple is very sneaky about trying to get information from the millions of phones it sells. If you're not careful, your phone is constantly sending information back to Apple about all manner of things. I learned today that the phone sends your GPS location back to Apple when the motion sensors detect that you are in a moving car. Apple uses this information for a crowd-sourced database of traffic conditions that can be used with their map application. I don't really care about the privacy issues. I turned this function off primarily because it is a battery hog. As soon as I manage to find all these hidden battery drains, Apple will update the system again and I'll have to start all over.

I find it interesting that both the Democrats and the Republicans are already trying to spin the Pope's speech to congress to support their own agendas. The speech seemed pretty clear and direct to me. I don't know why the politicians and pundits are spending so much time explaining what the Pope was trying to say. They should have just listened to what he actually did say. As I said earlier, I'm not a terribly religious person, but the Pope's speech today made most of what I've heard from the current crop of presidential candidates seem pathetic. How did we ever become so divided?

This weekend the Dalmatian Rescue group has its annual charity golf tournament. I have taken pictures at this event for many, many years. Every year it seems a little more tiring. I don't understand the fascination people have with golf. It takes a long time to play eighteen holes. It is often hot and muggy. Last year, I inadvertently knelt down on a fire ant mound to get a shot of someone on the putting green and was instantly bitten by hundreds of ants. It took almost a week for the swelling to go away. I'm not going to kneel anywhere this year. We can't leave Dot for very long, so Janet and I will trade off this year. She'll check people in before the tournament starts and then come home. I'll go take pictures of the golfers and then come home. Then Janet will go back to the awards dinner. When this event is over, I don't think I have any more events until it's time for Santa photos again.

I'm still debating whether to try the new restaurant tomorrow. It's tempting, but I hate dealing with those school zones. I'd better not postpone this too long or the place might go out of business.

Scout is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day