Day 2537 - Thanksgiving

"Be careful who you hate, it could be someone you love." I don't have any idea who originally said this, but I've always liked the thought. It certainly seems appropriate for the first Thanksgiving after a particularly rancorous election. Janet and I went out for Thanksgiving brunch at one of our favorite hotels today. There were people dining with us from all walks of life. I saw large families with children, senior citizens eating alone, young couples, mothers and daughters, groups of friends who didn't appear to be related, and then there was Janet and I. It's a safe bet that everyone in the dining room didn't vote for the same candidate on November 8, but they all seemed like very nice people.

I wonder how many of these people spent the past year posting dire warnings or hateful memes about the other side on their Facebook pages? To me, it's time to move on. I have friends on both sides of the political fence that don't seem to understand that not much is really going to change. Things didn't change much after eight years of George Bush and things didn't change much after eight years of Barack Obama. All presidents mean well, but when they push too hard, the pendulum swings back the other way the next time there is an election. Bush pushed too hard when he got the country tangled up in meaningless wars in the middle east and got Obama elected. Obama pushed too hard when he tried to disguise a massive income redistribution program as health insurance and got Trump elected. All politicians need to remember that the pendulum swings both ways. Voters are generally more pragmatic than politicians. They don't really care about ideology. A good job and a safe place to live will keep most people happy.

There was a gay couple taking their Moms out to dinner at the table to the left of us. A large Hispanic family was seated at a big round table directly in front of us. Two senior citizens were seated to our right. Somehow, I think all of these people are going to do just fine in the years ahead.

Dinner was fabulous. I don't think Janet and I will ever cook a big holiday dinner again. It's fun and a lot less stressful to enjoy a well prepared meal at a nice restaurant. Families who dine out probably also discover that there is a lot less fighting at the dinner table when you are eating in public. I was basically full after the salad course, but I went ahead and had a second course that included Eggs Benedict and a third course with Prime Rib. There was dessert too. It was a week's worth of calories in a single meal, but what the hell. We only do this once a year.

We weren't gone all that long, but as expected, Dot pooped in her bed and ate all the evidence by the time we got home. I purposely didn't check the pet cam on my phone while we were at the restaurant, because I knew it would spoil our dinner. There is nothing we could have done anyway. Even if we were only five minutes away, there would have still have been plenty of time for Dot to eat her poop. After we changed clothes, we took Dot outside and cleaned her up. The bedding went in the washing machine and all was good.

Tomorrow is Black Friday. I guess that's a holiday too. I love gadgets and gear, so it will be hard for me to ignore all the online Black Friday sales. I really don't need anything, so I should restrain myself. A better idea would be to take an extra long walk tomorrow morning and work off some of today's monster meal.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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