After finishing my morning smoothie, I wrote a letter to my sister. My plan was to take the letter to the post office on my way to the gym. There would be no long walk in the park today. It was too hot for that. When I went to the post office I noticed that there was no longer a 'mask required' sign on the door. The plexiglass barriers protecting the postal clerks were gone as well.
Why do I keep thinking this is all a little too soon? I'm not wearing a mask myself, but I do have my doubts. Will the Delta variant cause cases to spike again like they are in Europe? I have a runny nose this week. Is this allergies or did I catch a cold by being around other people again? How can you tell? Everyone used to get the sniffles and colds were commonplace in the pre-covid days. Almost nobody caught a cold last year. Almost nobody had the flu either. I doubt that this is a coincidence. Oh, well. I always was a hypochondriac. One of the consequences of the pandemic is that I'll probably never feel entirely comfortable around other people again.
I'm glad my gym is never very crowded. Most of the people I used to see have returned, but it was never a large group. Maybe younger people come to the gym early in the morning or after work. When I go in the middle of the day, it is always people my own age. Some seem even older than me. I guess this makes sense. What else are retired folks going to do on a hot day?
I don't have the patience to stay at the gym as long as I stay outdoors in the park. My long walks take two hours and I seldom stay at the gym much longer than an hour. This allows me to walk three miles. I walk two miles around the track and an additional mile on the treadmill, walking as fast as I can to get my heart rate up. I do some crunches on a new machine that is designed to strengthen your core and then work with free weights for a while. My right shoulder is so bad that I can't even lift the lightest weights all the way above my head with my right hand anymore. It is what it is. I'm still not going to have shoulder surgery.
We've got to do something about Dawn's feet. She keeps licking them at night and all four paws are becoming red and raw. We've started putting booties or socks on her feet to prevent her from licking, but it is not an easy job. When she sees us with a sock she runs away. So far, a medical wrap that attaches with velcro is the only thing that will stay on for any length of time. These wraps are very light and she can still walk around fairly normally. They have to come off when we take her outside to pee though, so this is a problem. We're hoping that the antibiotics that Dawn is taking for her urinary tract infection will help clear up some of the redness on her paws as well. If we can just keep her from licking her paws for a few weeks, maybe we can lick this problem.
I'm glad that Dawn has overcome her fear of the kitchen. As soon as I finish fixing her meals, she is right there at her bowl. We have been able to mix the new wet food with her old dry food so that the dry food won't go to waste. As long as the dry food is completely coated with the wet stew, Dawn loves it. I'm wondering if the urinary tract infection, the red and raw paws, and Dawn's aversion to her old food are all related. If Dawn was really uncomfortable, it might cause her to chew at her paws and might even throw her off her food. The Cephalexin Dawn is taking already seems to be working. Hopefully in two weeks she will be back to normal.
The sensor that monitors our electric system warned me of a brownout while I was at the gym this afternoon. Please don't let there be power outages this summer. I can't handle the heat. I'll even turn off the dehumidifiers and turn up the thermostat a bit. The air conditioner has got to stay though. This is Texas and it's a hot summer.
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