Day 3289

The rain is here. It's been pouring for hours now. There is thunder and lightning. The phones are beeping with flood alerts. Dash is scared and confused. He can't crawl under desks and tables anymore and I think he feels vulnerable. I feel a bit vulnerable as well, because I don't know if the roof is going to start leaking again.

I've done all I can. Before the rain started I went up and walked the roof to makes sure all the rips and tears in the elastomer material had been sealed. The new silicon patches have had time to fully cure and they look pretty good. I've got both pumps running now. So far, so good. We'll see if the roof can weather the storm.

At least Dash got one walk today. He certainly didn't get an evening walk. I knew the rain was coming, so I tried to get all my errands finished before the storm arrived. I paid my property tax today, so there are no more bills for 2018. I contacted the manufacturer of my Aeron chair and found out that there are two authorized Herman Miller repair centers in the Dallas area. Both were closed today, but it looks like I'll be able to get the chair repaired whether it is under warranty or not.

I have no idea why the stock market went up 1000 points today. Of course I have no idea why it went down 600 points yesterday either. They say this extreme volatility is caused by algorithmic trading. These automated, computerized high frequency trades make up almost 70% of the overall trading volume these days. This is what happens when we let artificial intelligence take over our lives. It's only going to get worse. AI is here to stay. I hate to think what is going to happen when our highways are filled with driverless cars. There are unintended consequences to everything.

I wish I could go back to 1955. Cars were cool then. Most machines could be fixed by someone of average intelligence. A 30 point move in the Dow was considered a huge day on Wall Street. We certainly weren't backward in the 50's. We already had atomic energy and Wernher von Braun was planning to take us to the moon. The pace was slower though and that was a good thing. I think we've gotten ahead of ourselves by allowing technology to advance faster than we have.

Since I can't turn back time, I live in a crumbling mid-century modern house plagued by roof leaks. I guess I've benefited from modern advancements, but sometimes I wonder. My blog is really no different than the hand written diaries I used to keep long before the Internet was invented. I could actually type much better using a manual typewriter when I didn't depend on spell-check and had to start over whenever I made a mistake. I suspect that my life with dogs would be exactly the same no matter what era I was living in.

They say the skies will be clear tomorrow. I'll be a happy camper if the house is still dry. Dash is almost certain to poop in the bed tonight because he won't go outside in the rain. We'll see what happens. Hey, I made it through 2018. I'm not going to let a little poop and water bother me.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1660

One of my photographer friends said that people are crawling under cars in his office parking lot, sawing off the catalytic converters and stealing them. Has it come to this? I knew we were getting close to living in a Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome world, but I didn't think we were that close. Every time I hear stories like this, I want to move to a little town that's been frozen in time somewhere around 1955. Now where would that be? I doubt that places like this even exist anymore.

I knew the power company was raising electricity rates, but I really didn't expect my electric bill to go up by 30% in a single month. The temperature has been fairly constant for the past several months, so it wasn't a heat wave that caused the bill to go up so much. It was a greedy power company. I just wonder where this is going to end? Gas prices are up. Meat and dairy products are up. The cable bill has gone through the roof, and now the power company is climbing on the bandwagon.  I keep hearing that inflation is low, but I don't believe it. Inflation is quite high in my world. Prices keep going up and wages keep going down. It's not a good combination.

At least the dogs are happy. If I can get them out on their morning walk around 7 AM, there's usually a nice breeze and the walk is enjoyable for all. We're still able to walk several miles early in the morning, although it's an entirely different story in the evening. During the day, the dogs are content to stay inside with me where the air conditioner is cranked up. They sleep while I work, although today I did a little bit of sleeping as well. Yes, it was another slow day. We got lucky at training class this evening. Instead of a typical hot and muggy July evening, we had a pleasant breeze instead. It felt like a cold front was blowing through town and it probably was, since it is supposed to rain later tonight.

One of my doctors wants me to postpone the prescription changes another doctor made last week. I hate dueling doctors. I never know who to believe and usually end up believing nobody. I see a third doctor about something entirely different next Monday. Maybe this one will be the tie breaker. I'd just as soon ignore all these doctors, but I saw what happened to my Dad when he got older. It wasn't pretty. If any one of these guys can save me from that fate, I'll be happy to go along with the program.

Since Friday is a holiday, I'm wondering whether to make tomorrow my restaurant breakfast day. So many decisions.

Bud is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day