Day 4227

Dawn walked two miles this morning. I was amazed. She was tired when we returned home, but this was her longest walk in many months. Something has changed. Dawn seems happier and more assertive now. I don't know if we'll ever discover what caused her to freeze in place and become reluctant to leave the house. It's nice to see her become more confident though. We were probably walking her too far in the beginning. She's an older dog and tires easily. It seems to work pretty well if we just let Dawn choose what to do. She seems to know her limits.

Today was totally uneventful. It was too hot to take a walk in the park, so I puttered around the house for a while and then went to the gym. I need to think of something to do that doesn't involve planning a trip to Florida or West Texas. I probably need to start working again, but the thought of finding clients seems daunting. Things change quickly and I've lost most of my old contacts. I don't think I could work for anyone else either. I've gone way too long without having a boss or a supervisor. Oh, well. So much for working. Probably all I need are a few good books.

I find it strange that there is so much animosity toward Jeff Bezos. There seemed to be a lot of criticism of his rocket on the morning shows today. The same people who find pleasure in hating Bezos always seem to have Amazon boxes on their front porch. I think it's great that Bezos, Branson, and Musk want to go to space. People forget that during the early days of aviation only rich people could afford to fly. The same has been true for most new innovations. Even color televisions were out of reach for many when I was a kid. Hey, somebody has to be first. Say what you will about Zuckerberg, but you are probably on Facebook right now. People like Bezos and Zuckerberg are rich because you want what they have to offer. It seems so hypocritical to badmouth successful tech titans while you are constantly glued to your cell phone, ordering stuff you don't really need online. At any rate, I hope Bezos succeeds with his dream of moving heavy industry off the planet and Musk is able to establish a colony on Mars. We need a lot more people with outlandish big dreams and a lot fewer substance abusers living in tents on city streets.

I can't figure out how my gym stays in business. There are usually only about twelve people on the floor and it's always the same people. I can't believe that the gym is usually crowded and I just happen to pick the times when it is empty. I'm certainly not complaining. I like the fact that most of the machines are always open and there's never a wait for anything. I did my usual routine today and then came home. I actually think I get more exercise walking in the park, but the gym is a nice change of pace. It certainly beats going outside on a hot, humid day.

Maybe I'm imagining things, but I think Dawn's paws are starting to get better. They don't look as red anymore. We try to keep the socks on her while she's sleeping or around the house. She can get the socks off if she really tries, but there aren't as many opportunities to lick or bite at herself anymore. I think the antibiotics she was taking for her urinary tract infection helped too. I hope we can clear this up. I doesn't really matter if the licking is a behavioral or a medical issue. We need to discover the cause and get her back to normal.

I have a stomach ache tonight. This is weird because I ate exactly the same thing for dinner as I did on Monday. I guess life is full of unexplained mysteries. Luckily, like a stomach ache, most of the mysteries don't matter and you forget about them the next day.

Katie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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