Sunday, September 26, 2021

Day 4294

Sunday's are always enjoyable. We get up a little later. We spend more time with Dawn. And we end the day with a nice dinner that usually provides leftovers for the rest of the week. Lately, our Fall weather has been making Sundays even better.

I did a lot of walking today. The temperature was only in the sixties when we took our sunrise walk with Dawn. You can tell the days are getting shorter. We get up later now, but it is still dark outside when we leave the house. I wonder why they wait so long to go back to Standard Time? The time change doesn't happen until November 7 this year. A lot of people seem to think it would be better to stay on Standard Time all year. I think I agree.

It was still cool outside when I took my long walk after breakfast. I've noticed that I walk faster when the weather is cooler. I'm sure I have more energy on some days than others, but the temperature has proven to be a pretty reliable predictor of my pace. I can tell how fast I am walking now just by listening to the rhythm of my steps. Usually the Fitbit confirms my guess. If you do something long enough it all starts to fall into a pattern. Sometimes when the park is empty I see how far I can walk with my eyes closed. Often I know exactly where to turn.

I think we need rain. The grass in the park is starting to turn yellow and the water level in the lake is really low. The geese have moved because the little bay where they used to congregate is completely dry now. I'm always surprised at how shallow this lake is. I think you could walk halfway across before the water got above your head. I'm sure our yard could use some rain as well, but I'm not ready to start worrying about the roof again. This long dry spell has been kind of relaxing for me.

Dawn had a nice Sunday outing today. We've been waiting until later in the morning to leave the house to make sure the ice cream place is open and now we don't have to worry about it being too hot outside for Dawn. The weather was nice all day today. Dawn enjoyed her walk and we all enjoyed the ice cream. It's a simple little tradition, but seeing a dog eat ice cream always makes us smile.

Ever since I returned from the hospital I've been getting e-mail surveys from various places asking me to rate the care I received. Even the anesthesiologist sent me a survey. Today I got a survey asking me to rate another survey. What is the point of all this? Do people even tell the truth on surveys? I rarely fill them out, but if I do I always say nice things. I just don't want anyone following up with me trying to resolve a problem that wasn't a big deal in the first place. 

I have to take my car in this week for a scheduled maintenance. I skipped last year's scheduled maintenance so I expect that this will be expensive. I had planned to do the maintenance earlier, but it took almost a month to reserve a loaner car. The dealership used to have tons of loaner cars, but now they are in short supply. One more example of a supply chain problem caused by Covid.

I need to remember my camera tomorrow. Janet tells me that there is a new Dalmatian up at the kennel. Even bigger news is that Cooper got adopted a few days ago. We already go a picture of Cooper sitting on his new owner's sofa. Dalmatians adapt really quickly to home life. 

Suki is today's Dalmatian of the Day


Watch of the Day