Day 4350

Another Sunday with lots of walking. My feet held up fairly well today and my pace was back to normal. The weather seemed strange today. When we took Dawn on her sunrise walk it was warm and a little humid. It was still pretty warm when I took my long walk, but later in the day it suddenly became a lot colder. I've given up predicting the weather. Every day is a new day.

We discontinued Dawn's new meds. They actually seemed to be making Dawn worse instead of better. Janet and I both noticed strange changes in behavior that could only be explained by the new meds. I'm glad that Janet noticed the changes independently and was the first to want to discontinue the meds. I've tried to remain neutral since both Janet and the vet wanted to give the medicine a try. I've never been a fan of Prozac or any other anti-depressants. My Mom was manic/depressive and I've seen what these drugs can do. It's not good. You are playing with fire when you try to mess with the brain.

Dawn will never be completely normal, but she is back to her old self. I don't think any damage was done with the short trial of the drug. She was anxious in the car when we began our Sunday outing today, but quickly recovered when we arrived at our destination. She's always this way. Dawn doesn't like surprises and wants her life to be very predictable. I'm sure the drugs made her feel a little different and in her mind that was a big surprise that frightened her. I can appreciate this. For most of my life I've felt the same way. When I was in college in the 60's, I tried almost every mood altering substance you could eat, drink, or smoke. Once was enough for me. I hated being high. I don't like being out of control. LSD and Psilocybin were the worst, but I didn't even like weed. To this day I still think substance abuse is at the root of most of our nation's problems.

Every year about this time I'm inundated with ads for Black Friday bargains. This year for the first time I can remember, I have no desire to buy anything. I don't think I've reached the decluttering stage yet, but I've got all the stuff I need. Since I've always been somewhat of a gearhead, I can see how technology companies try to make you feel like what you are currently using is obsolete. There is this relentless desire to sell you new stuff because if you were happy with what you had, they wouldn't have a business. I think the fashion industry operates the same way. It's a shame that we are being programmed to desire cheap, disposable stuff that only lasts a few years, when what we really need are a few durable things that last a lifetime.

While we're on the subject of cheap, disposable stuff, I many need to get a new Fitbit soon. Why do they make these things with a battery that can't be replaced? When the battery wears out, you have to buy a whole new tracker. Would it have been that hard to design a tracker using a small flat easily replaceable watch battery for power? A lot of new technology is this way. It is not designed to be repaired, it is designed to be replaced.

While we were eating dinner this evening we heard the news about the Christmas parade in Wisconsin. What a shame. These kind of things keep happening over and over again. It's like humanity has become a bunch of wild, feral animals. Events that would have seemed impossible when I was a child are just considered normal now. It makes you wonder how low we can go? I don't think humans deserve this planet. We manage to screw up everything we touch.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day