Day 2593

My new scale that measures everything arrived today. I'm always intrigued by the latest technology; especially stuff I've never heard of before. This WiFi scale not only tracks your weight, it also analyzes your body composition, measures your body mass index, determines your resting heart rate and pulse wave velocity; plus it gives you a daily weather report. At first I couldn't figure out how this little flat box could calculate your bone and muscle mass, the percentage of water in your body, and half a dozen other things just by standing on it for a few seconds. I did a little research and discovered bioelectrical impedance technology. Basically, sensors in the scale measure the electrical impedance, or opposition to the flow of an electric current passing through through body tissues in your feet. The results are used to provide an estimate of body composition. Is impedance analysis accurate? Who knows. It sure is cool though. I bet my doctor will hate it when I start showing him results on my phone that contradict all his fancy machines. I'm convinced that this is the future of medicine. It's already getting harder to see a doctor in some parts of the country. As medical costs continue to spiral out of control and options for care diminish, a lot of people will just start doing the simple things themselves. I can easily imagine a future where my phone will give me a warning if my vital signs get out of whack and then make me an appointment to see a robot doctor.

It took me longer than I thought to pair the scale with my WiFi network. It always takes me a long time to configure network devices. WiFi gizmos that only include a superficial two page "quick start" manual are the worst. There's always something weird that prevents stuff from playing nice with my router. I eventually got everything working properly and was amazed to see that all my vital signs were automatically imported into the Apple Health app on my phone. The cloud knows everything apparently. I'm not sure that I want Amazon Alexa listening to all my conversations, but it's actually quite convenient that Facebook knows everybody's birthday. I guess it's OK that my new scale knows my body composition. I don't use Siri much on my phone, but that's just because I don't talk very much. If I did have one of those Amazon Alexa personal assistants, all it would hear is me swearing occasionally when I accidentally stepped in dog poop.

The weather was really nice today. I wonder how long this will last? Every Winter, people in Texas go around telling each other how weird the weather is, but the truth is that rapid changes have always been normal. What would really be weird is if it remained cold all winter like it does up North. Today was perfect for walking dogs. I didn't need a heavy coat, but it was still cool enough so that Dot didn't get overheated.

I had to pick up some more phenobarbital for Dash this afternoon, as well as order more printer ink. It seems like I refilled both these things only a few weeks ago. It's too bad I can't pick up printer ink at the pharmacy. My prescriptions and my printer ink seem to run out at about the same time.

I'm glad it's Friday tomorrow. I can't decide whether I want an egg sandwich or pancakes for breakfast. I should probably weigh myself before I leave the house though. I always eat a big breakfast. If it stays clear this weekend, I'm going to look for Mercury again. It should be easy to find in the pre-dawn sky for the next several weeks. I'm not really worried about the inauguration. I've got astronomy, a plethora of personal tracking devices, and a tasty breakfast to amuse me.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day