Day 2209

It's a lot harder to get up in the morning when the temperature is cold and the sky is dark and overcast. When I first heard about seasonal affective disorder and the theory that light deprivation can cause depression, it made perfect sense. Gloomy days and lack of sunlight really do influence your mood. The only benefit to days like these is that the dogs often feel the same way and don't want to get up either. Dot and Dash had no interest in getting up this morning, so Janet and I were about to get an extra hour of sleep. I had mixed feelings about letting Dot sleep in. Her incontinence makes her a ticking time bomb. The longer we wait to go outside after she wakes up, the more likely it is that she'll poop in the house. I decided to take a chance this morning and it worked. Everybody just wanted to sleep.

The woman who colors Janet's hair is on the news as a missing person. She went to work on Tuesday and never showed up. Her car was later found abandoned in an apartment complex near a wooded area. Hopefully, she will be found unharmed, but it doesn't look good. It's alarming how often things like this happen in Dallas. It's a lot more dangerous place than it was when I moved here over 30 years ago. Of course, you could probably say the same thing for any large American city, but that doesn't make it any less unsettling. What happened to a world where people didn't even bother to lock their doors at night? I would easily trade the Internet, smartphones, and the powerful computer on my desk for a world where people felt safe. I grew up in an age where our neighbors had a fallout shelter in their back yard and we all practiced "duck and cover" exercises in school in case there was a nuclear attack. It still seemed like a safer place though. I guess it's all a matter of perspective.

There were a lot of things on my grocery list today. It's amazing how quickly you can spent $100 in a grocery store without even filling up your cart. You always hear on the news about how we've got inflation under control, but I don't believe a word of it. With the possible exception of gasoline, prices for ordinary things have gone up enormously. When wages remain stagnant and prices continue to go up, it just doesn't seem like it is going to end well.

I've been feeling like I'm on the verge of coming down with a cold all week. It's probably just hypochondria, but this is the time of year when I tend to get sick. There's really not much you can do when people are wheezing and sneezing all around you. I'll either get a cold or I won't. I wonder if the dogs get minor colds? Whenever I take them to the vet, there is usually something serious going on, but they must get minor ailments too. It's hard to tell with a dog. Sometimes when Dot throws up in the morning, there's nothing wrong at all.

I need to make time to go to the gym tomorrow. My pants are starting to feel tight from all the holiday meals. If I went to the gym three times a week, I'd be in great shape. I don't think it's going to happen though. Even in my quasi-retirement, I just can't find the time. Doing simple things properly can take an enormous amount of time. There's no point in cutting corners though. Why would I even consider cutting corners at my age? There appears to be a Doc Martin marathon on PBS tonight. Everyone talks about their Walking Dead marathons, but Doc Martin is more my style.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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