Day 4335

I was surprised at how much prices had gone up when I went grocery shopping this morning. Janet had warned me that things would be more expensive, but this was fairly spectacular. A two pound tub of strawberries was over $10. Granted, these were the more expensive organic strawberries, but I've bought these things for $2.50 before. Gas has been creeping up in price as well. I've noticed that lines are starting to form at places where gas is the cheapest. I wonder where this will end? It's certainly not very encouraging.

As least my car starts easily now. Hopefully with a new battery and a recently completed scheduled maintenance, I will be good to go for another year. I don't drive much anymore so it doesn't seem fair to have car problems. I need to save my money and my energy for the house problems that are going to need attention soon.

We had no problems with loose dogs this morning, but Dawn wasn't interested in a long walk. It was a nice day and we tried to get her to try a new route, but she let us know that she preferred her short one mille loop.  We saw another Dalmatian on our walk this morning. It's rare to see a Dalmatian in the neighborhood these days. The owner lived on the other side of the lake, so she was either taking a very long walk or had driven her dog over here for a change of scenery. 

I probably need a change of scenery on my own long walk. My route has become so familiar now that I've practically memorized every step along the way. There are other routes I could take, but on most days it just doesn't matter. I'm not sightseeing when I take these walks. I'm just trying to stay active and get some exercise.

We'll see how good the new PPI I started taking is at controlling heartburn. We had chili for dinner tonight. Chili, spaghetti, pizza, and several other of my favorite meals have been pretty much off limits for the past year or so. Chili was generally number one on the heartburn register, so I'm a bit skeptical about whether a little green pill can change all that. It's worth a try though. If I still have heartburn tonight, it certainly won't be the first time.

My new editor at SpaceFlight must work all the time. I get messages from him on the weekends now. This never used to happen with the old editor, who was more my age. I guess there's a changing of the guard at the magazine. I miss the old familiar faces in my life. One by one they are all starting to disappear. My advertising friends are just birthdays to remember on Facebook now. Even some of the people I've met out at the observatory are starting to retire. I'm not terribly worried about being replaced by a younger writer at the magazine though. Writing is becoming a lost art. All the younger folks want to do podcasts and videos.

Where did this week go? It's almost time for Dawn's Sunday outing again. It's should be a nice day with a lot of walking. It's too bad my feet still hurt. Even with bad feet, I still prefer walking to lifting weights though. Walking is the perfect activity for daydreaming.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day