Day 3049

I went down to the bank today to see why they were deducting $30 a month from each of my accounts. Did I need to keep a larger balance? Was I making too many transactions? Nope. None of the above. Apparently, my plan was obsolete and I never responded to their offer to upgrade me to one of their modern, but decidedly inferior plans. The new fee was just punishment for trying to keep my old plan.

When I asked why I wasn't warned about this change, the bank told me that they'd sent me a letter last Fall. "Did this letter happen to come in an envelope that looks just like all the other junk mail you send me," I asked? "Probably," said the banker. Hmm. I probably shredded the letter without even reading it. At any rate, I was forced to sign up for one of their new plans. It's more or less the same as my old plan except that my account doesn't earn interest anymore and there are no paper statements. I'm sure the paper statements on my old accounts were what was really bugging the bank. Everyone hates paper. There's a note in almost every bill I pay these days begging me to go paperless.

The banker urged me to try online banking. "You'll like it," she said. I didn't want to seem like a grumpy old man, so I didn't try to explain why I'm turning into a Luddite and am growing increasingly suspicious of the online world. There's something reassuring about keeping all your information in ring binders, but I think that ship has sailed.

I received a short letter from my sister today that confirmed some of my suspicions. Her cancer is not responding well to treatment and she's become too tired to write. Cancer is such a cruel disease. The treatments we have today are still pretty crude. I think in the future we'll look at radiation and chemo the same way we now look at Medieval doctors applying leeches. Gene replacement therapy shows a lot of promise, but we're not there yet. I hope the researchers keep making progress. Current cancer therapy is basically just trying to poison you without actually killing you.

Dash and Janet are both cancer free. They are the lucky ones. Spot and Greta both died of cancer.  Dot's abdominal cancer reappeared in her liver toward the very end of her life. My Dad had prostate cancer, but that was the least of his problems. He also had Parkinson's Disease. I'm trying to exercise, watch my weight, and maintain a healthy diet, but you never know what is in the cards. Growing old is not pretty.

Dash had a good day. I think the Movoflex is helping him. The changes are subtle, but he does seem to be walking better and has more energy since he started taking the supplement. Dash's appetite was great today. I think he ate more than I did.

Bea is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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