Day 4012

Dawn seems to be feeling better. We had a nice walk this morning and Dawn showed no signs of discomfort. We thought it would encourage her to walk if we let her choose the way. Luckily it was dry outside because Dawn quickly left the trail and went down by the shoreline. There's lots to smell down there. The uneven ground was a little harder on my foot, but Dawn had fun.

I followed my orthopedic surgeon's suggestions and got the running shoes he recommended. They definitely felt different in the store, but it remains to be seen whether they will cure my foot pain. I mostly buy shoes in self-serve discount stores, so it's been a while since I've had anyone fit me for a shoe. It appears that shoe shopping has gone high-tech. I stood on a special machine that displayed pressure points in your step as different colors. Even when I was standing relaxed with my weight equally distributed on both feet, it looked like I was placing more weight on my left foot. Interesting. Apparently I was compensating for something. Maybe it was the old knee injury in my right knee. I'm not expecting miracles, but I hope these new shoes help. I do like to walk. It's about the only form of exercise that I actually enjoy.

I'm glad I made an effort to look at Jupiter and Saturn the other day. It was overcast today and it occurs to me that I may not get a chance to see the planets again before the conjunction. The weather might be beautiful on Monday, but you never know here in Texas. If it is clear on Monday evening I'm going to attempt to photograph the planets through the biggest telephoto lens I've got. It's not a telescope, but it will have to do. I don't have the right adaptors to attach my camera to the one telescope I do own. I doubt that the photos will be spectacular, but taking pictures helps me remember things. I definitely won't have the opportunity to observe something like this again.

It's weird that after seeing two highly regarded medical specialists this week that their recommendations were just to change the shoes I was wearing and starting taking more Pepcid AC.  Somehow I was expecting much more complicated remedies. I sure would be nice if I could eliminate the foot pain, coughing, and heartburn with such a simple solution. One added benefit of taking Pepcid is that a recent research study showed that Covid patients taking Pepcid were 45% less likely to die in the hospital. I don't think the new shoes will have any effect on the virus.

I paid my property taxes today. Somehow, I was under the impression that property taxes were capped for senior citizens and wouldn't go up any more after you turned sixty-five. That was clearly wrong. They went up quite a bit this year. I'm sure this is a sign of things to come. Municipalities are losing a lot of sales tax revenue because of virus restriction and online shopping. They're going to get the money wherever they can find it. Oh, well. At least I won't have to worry about this bill for another year.

Where did this week go? It's already time to make a grocery list again. If it's not raining tomorrow morning I'll wear my new shoes on our walk with Dawn. I'll add a Pepcid to my list of evening meds as well. 

Alvin is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day