Sunday, June 10, 2018

Day 3090

When I woke up this morning, I distinctly remember taking Dash outside in the middle of the night. Something was odd though. Were there really three cats, two rabbits and a raccoon in the yard? I remember seeing these critters when I waved my flashlight around. That's when I knew this was a dream. I never take a flashlight outside with Dash at night. It's weird that I would have such a realistic dream about something I do anyway. My dreams used to be much more exciting than this. When I was young I used to dream that I could fly. Now I dream about taking my dog out to poop.

That wasn't the only thing strange that happened last night. At some point I woke up to hear my watch beeping. I looked at the screen and there was a countdown saying that in ten seconds the watch was automatically going to dial an emergency number. I managed to abort the countdown in less than ten seconds and the next day went online to learn more about this strange function. Apparently, the Apple Watch has an emergency mode that will automatically dial 911 and leave a message with your GPS location if you press and hold one of the side buttons. I must have inadvertently pressed this button in my sleep. I certainly don't want to end up calling 911 in my sleep, so the first thing I did this morning was learn how to disable this function.

Although it was a strange night, it was a pretty normal day. We had a nice walk this morning before the temperature started to rise. Dash did well today. He loves cool morning with a nice breeze. Since we got an early start today, I managed to get to the gym early as well. I should do this more often. I seem to have more energy early in the morning. I've started going on the basketball court as soon as I arrive. This way I have a chance to shoot free throws for a while before those guys arrive for their regular Sunday pick-up game.

There was plenty of time to do Sunday chores when I returned home, but I didn't accomplish much. I sucked out the water that had seeped under the tiles in the shower with the wet/dry vacuum and then I made some repairs on another pair of Dash's protective boots. I've found that I can double the life of these boots by gluing on strips of tire repair rubber when the boot material starts to wear thin. I've repaired three pairs of boots so far and I'm getting better at it. Shoe Goo holds the patches on better than rubber cement, but it is very messy to work with. Shoe Goo is not my friend.

On my way to the gym I listened to an episode of Freakonomics where scientists are starting to reevaluate what separates humans from animals. Apparently very little distinguishes us from other animals. Over 98% of our DNA is identical to monkeys. Monkeys have been taught to use money and tend to follow some of the same basic economic rules that we do. According to this show, even fish share some of the qualities that we've long thought were reserved exclusively for humans. I've always felt this way. This doesn't mean that animals are perfect. Nature can be very cruel. Dolphins are known to murder their own kind. Many animals are carnivores. Nevertheless, animals are sentient creatures and we should start treating them that way. Many species have developed complex language and communicate with each other. They think and have feelings. This is all very clear. So, why do I still like bacon?

Escher is today's Dalmatian of the Day
Watch of the Day