Monday, August 7, 2023

Day 4974

I can cross one more thing off my to-do list. I got the car safety inspected today and picked up my new window sticker. It doesn't seem like a year since I've done this, but time goes by quickly now. Safety inspections are much faster than they used to be. Probably the process is smoother now because I take my car to a little neighborhood garage instead of going to the Land Rover dealer. It used to take forever to get the car inspected at the dealership.

Each day seems a little hotter than the previous day. We take our sunrise walk earlier now, but it doesn't help much. The temperature never really cools down anymore. At least there's a breeze on these early morning walks. Even the breeze disappears later in the day. Dawn still enjoys these early morning walks. I do too. Pre dawn is about the only time when it feels comfortable outdoors anymore.

It's back to shredded wheat and fruit for breakfast again. There's a new restaurant in the neighborhood that I'm vaguely curious about, but I'm just not very hungry anymore. I think my restaurant breakfast days are over. It doesn't matter. I like my boring meals. A bowl of mini-shredded wheat with strawberries is pretty good. I always use half and half instead of regular milk and have a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice and a cup of coffee. How did I drink those huge breakfast smoothies for so many years? Things change, I guess. What I eat for breakfast has changed radically over the years. It will probably change again one of these days.

I didn't want to go to the gym too early so I did a load of laundry after breakfast to kill time. I ended up being early anyway because getting my safety inspection didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. I've decided that I like going to they gym during the lunch hour because there are fewer people on the floor and I can almost always find a place in the parking garage. The car is much cooler on the way home when it's been inside the garage. 

I still complete the same unambitious routine every day. I try to walk three miles on the indoor track in under an hour. Yes, I know this is pretty slow. I then try to complete ten free throws on the basketball court in less than ten minutes. I still miss a lot more shots than I complete, but I'm getting better. I've added a few upper body exercise to improve my arm strength, but I really ought to do more. I usually leave the gym when I'm bored instead of when I'm tired.

Janet cleans the house on Monday afternoons, so I vacuumed the carpets so I wouldn't feel guilty just lying around while she was working. The house never stays clean long when you've got dogs. Dalmatians shed a lot and there's always dog hair everywhere. My standards are a lot lower than they should be. It seems like I was a lot neater when I was right out of architecture school. These days it's hard to care. Janet doesn't even like to come in the office because it is much messier than the rest of the house.

I'll put the new inspection sticker on my windshield tomorrow morning. I'll think about fixing the cracks in the living room ceiling, but I probably won't do anything. I've been staring at the mess for months now. I'm not even sure I can do these repairs myself, but I need to try. If I hire a tape and bed guy to do the job it will be a huge production and there will be dust everywhere. 

We'll still be under a heat advisory tomorrow. There's lots of rain in the Northeast but it's bone dry here. I wonder how long this can continue? We're setting records for triple digit temperatures now. This too will pass I guess. I just hope our air conditioner keeps working.