Day 2372

Like most of you, I woke up to the news of the horrific mass shooting in Orlando. I think in the weeks and months ahead, a lot of people are going to be asking why someone who was already on a terror watch-list and had been interviewed several times by the FBI was allowed to have a job as a security guard and purchase weapons in the first place. Omar Mateen's coworkers warned us about this guy, but nobody listened. The same thing happened when the Russians warned us about Tamerlan Tsarnaev before the Boston bombings. This has got to stop and it probably will. Safety and security has always had a higher priority than abstract concepts of personal freedom. I think we are headed toward a world like the one depicted in that movie Minority Report. It won't really be that hard to arrest people before they commit a crime. We won't need Pre-Cogs like in the movie, because Google knows everything about you already. In a world with no secrets, you will give yourself away. If you don't think this is going to happen, just wait. The technology is here already. All it will take is a few more incidents like Orlando and people will be more than willing to use it.

When I was younger I never dreamed that the world would wind up like this. I was convinced that we'd all be driving flying cars by now and would have already established a thriving colony on Mars. It's sad that we haven't lived up to our potential. Personally, I'm not all that worried about climate change. Humans will be extinct in 30,000 years, mostly as a result of our own stupidity. The earth will survive like it has for four billion years and maybe the next species to evolve will do a better job of things.

Current events frequently leave me feeling that dogs make better companions than humans. It makes perfect sense to lead a quiet, somewhat solitary life devoted to keeping two aging Dalmatians healthy and happy. That's pretty much all I did today. I cleaned Dot up after several accidents in the house. We took both dogs on a slow, but pleasant walk. Later, I comforted them when the thunderstorms arrived. It's a simple existence, but it makes as much sense as anything in today's increasingly chaotic world.

I did make it to the gym before the afternoon storms started to frighten the dogs. Like always, today's workout reminded me that I need to go to the gym more often. Aging is such a losing battle. I still do a pretty strenuous workout, but it seems much harder than it did three years ago. I wish I enjoyed all this activity. I know it's necessary, but personally I'd rather just eat cake.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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