Day 4316

It was a pleasant, very normal Monday. I walked and visited the Dalmatians. That was about it. It became clear this morning that the reason I felt better yesterday was largely due to the Tylenol. I didn't take any today and the foot pain quickly returned. The arthritis that doctors started showing me years ago on x-rays has finally reached the point where it is impossible to ignore. All my joints ache and right now it is my feet that want all the attention. It was a nice day and I took my long walk, but I didn't set any records. I still don't like pain medications. I'm reluctant to take strong meds like Tramadol at all and even over the counter stuff like Tylenol bothers me. If your body is trying to tell you something, you should listen. Maybe I should slow down for a little while. I always prefer lifestyle changes to meds, but sometimes this doesn't work. When you reach a certain age, your body just starts to wear out.

We met the new girl at the kennel today. Pepper is a livewire. She's three years old and full of energy. Playing vigorously for 45 minutes didn't wear her out at all. She knows how to sit, but it isn't her favorite thing. It made me dizzy trying to follow her around with the camera. Eventually, we had to put a leash on her to get her to sit still for her website photo. I have a feeling that Pepper is going to get adopted very soon. She is small, very pretty, and super friendly. She doesn't listen very well, but that's what training is for. When we left the kennel today, we took Pepper with us and dropped her off at the vet to be spayed. All the rescue dogs have to be spayed or neutered before they can be adopted. For such a wild, playful girl, Pepper rode extremely well in the car. She just sat quietly and looked out the window. I suspect that we'll see Pepper next week, but she isn't going to be around long. There's often a waiting list for dogs like this.

Each dog has their favorite toy. Pepper and Charlie like the green octopus, while Oliver prefers the red Kong ball. He'll bring you the ball and drop it at your feet so you'll throw it again. Cooper would never do this. He always wanted you to play tug with him. Charlie likes to thrash the toys around and kill them. If a squeaker is gone from a toy, Charlie probably had something to do with it. We're convinced that playing with these dog helps to socialize them. If Pepper is still around in the coming weeks, we're going to try to teach her some simple commands.

Apple has certainly changed from the Steve Jobs days. Each time I update my watch and phone, they become more intrusive. The watch talks to me now. It frequently asks if I'd like to record a walk. If I'm sitting at the computer for a long time, it will encourage me to do breathing exercises or meditate. I finally figured out how to disable the fall detection feature. I toss and turn in my sleep and one night it automatically dialed 911, thinking that I had fallen and wasn't responding. This is all a little much for me. I don't need a watch to be my friend. It's just a tool. I think Steve Jobs would have agreed with me, but clearly the young people that are running the company now have other ideas.

Do I take two Tylenol tonight or just roll the dice and see what happens? Wearing better shoes makes sense to me. Taking pain meds without figuring out what the underlying problem is doesn't make sense. Maybe I'll just wait and ask the next doctor I see. It looks like there are plenty of those on the calendar.

Little Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day