Day 3074

I'm gaining weight. It probably didn't help that I had Beignets with breakfast this morning. I still try to eat healthy, but it's getting harder. I'm not really a Kale and Quinoa kind of guy. My diet hasn't changed all that much, but my daily activities have. When the dogs were young and healthy, we used to walk at least six miles every day. Dalmatians are active dogs and we kept a pretty brisk pace. Now there's only one dog and he is incredibly slow. Dash and I are lucky if we travel two miles these days.

In theory, there's nothing preventing me from still walking six miles a day. I could easily go on a walk while Dash was sleeping during the day. I have no desire to do this, unfortunately. Walking the dogs was a duty that I enjoyed. It was clear that the dogs needed me. When there was a problem to be solved in my professional career, I always felt the same way. I enjoyed a career as a photographer and filmmaker. Somehow doing these same things as a hobby has little appeal. When someone asks me "What do you like to do for fun?" I seldom have an answer. What is fun anyway?

Are you getting a ton of irritating e-mail from companies and websites saying that they've changed their privacy policies? It's all because of the GDPR. The European Union's new General Data Protection Regulation has changed everything. Personally, I don't think the Europeans realize that privacy is just an illusion. It doesn't exist anymore. Artificial Intelligence needs massive amounts of data to function and your robot overlords are going to get that data one way or another. China, not Europe, holds the keys to the future. They are already using sophisticated facial recognition technology to identify billions of people. In the future, payments will be made with retinal scans, not money. Stores will know what you are going to buy before you even enter the door. I don't necessarily like this, but it's coming. Just to be safe, I've removed all remaining online forms from my websites. I don't want to be ever accused of collecting any information on anybody.

Dash and I were surprised by an unexpected thunderstorm this afternoon. The sun was shining this morning when we took our morning walk. I was expecting clear skies all the way through the Memorial Day holiday. It wasn't meant to be. Around lunch time the sky became ominously dark and I began to hear thunder. We didn't lose power, but the lights did flicker for a while. This was more than enough to throw Dash into a panic. It took a while for me to calm him down, but eventually he settled down under a blanket with me and we rode out the storm. If I had anything else to do, this would have been frustrating, but life is pretty slow now. Comforting a dog under a blanket seemed as good a way to spend the day as anything. We both went to sleep after a while and when we woke up, the rain was gone.

There is a huge sale going on at REI, but there is absolutely nothing I need. I have a feeling that this is going to become a recurring theme. When collecting things and accumulating gear I don't really need fails to give me pleasure, it's probably time to reassess everything.

Ziggy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day