Day 3742

If we all die it will be because of a basic lack of common sense instead of the coronavirus. I really wonder about people. We are not running out of food. If we all just started shopping normally again, there wouldn't be shortages of anything. You don't have to stay indoors either. Just stay away from other people. I could be wrong, but I still think outdoor air and lots of exercise is good for you. And couldn't the people we elected just quit fighting for a while? Is it really that hard to pass a bill that would give hospitals and first responders what they need without trying to pack it with a long wish list of pet projects? Democrats and Republicans are equally guilty of this. I don't understand why quarantined senators and representatives aren't allowed to vote. Do you really have to physically be on the floor of the senate to vote? This is silly. It is just political gamesmanship with one side trying to gain an advantage over the other. There ought to be a way to test for antibodies, so people who have developed an immunity to the virus can get back to work. A complete shutdown just isn't sustainable for very long. The deaths ought to be put in context too. I suspect that a lot more people are still dying from auto accidents and gunshot wounds than from the virus here in the United States.

I went to the audio repair shop to pick up my Sequential Circuits synthesizers this morning. The employees were all wondering how long they could stay in business without musicians. Live music venues throughout Texas are all closed. There are no concerts either. Working musicians aren't thinking about repairing their equipment these days. They are more likely to be thinking about pawning something.

The head electrician who owns the company came over to look at my switch today. He said a lot of his younger employees didn't want to go into people's homes anymore because they had young children at home. I guess that's understandable. I have no desire to go into other people's homes these days either. The electrician did figure out what was wrong with my switch and said he could order a part to fix it. You can always depend on the old guys to actually fix things.

The baby owl has been gone from its nest for several days now. I'm thinking now that I may have seen the owl on the day it finally decided to fly. It was tentatively flexing its wings when I was photographing it. I suspect that both baby owls are still in the area. I hope they stick around. Since owls have taken up residence in our neighborhood, there has been a noticeable decrease in the number of mice and rats we see in the yard.

I finished my article about McDonald Observatory and sent it to the editor at Sky and Telescope. Now I wait. Unfortunately, I'll probably have to wait a long time. This magazine is not terrible responsive. I often wait weeks, wondering whether my e-mail has wound up in someone's spam folder. Since this has happened before, it is a concern. I think my article turned out pretty well. I hope the editors agree.

Dawn got another long walk today. Luckily, walking your dog is still acceptable under the new citywide lockdown. I see more people in the park lately, but social distancing isn't a problem. Most of the people we saw today were several hundred yards away.

Ariel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1393

I barely left the house today. Don't worry, the dogs still got their morning and evening walks, but that was about it. The rest of the day I spent staring at the computer. It's no surprise that carpel tunnel has taken its toll on my wrists. My main exercise today was pushing the mouse around on my desk.

Not that it matters, but I did get quite a bit done. Three more websites are up to date again, an article is on its way to be published, and a new print ad is looking pretty good in Quark Express. Sometimes I think I ought to teach my clients to update their own websites, but that would be shooting myself in the foot. I'm fully aware that my client's don't hire me for my wisdom. They hire me because I'm willing to do tiresome, mindless things that they don't feel like doing.

Although I've never liked the randomness of Texas weather, I find the changing of the seasons comforting. As Fall continues its approach, I see familiar signs that I know I've seen before. The leaves on certain trees are starting to turn yellow and orange. The Coots have returned to the lake and the Cormorants aren't far behind. As the days grow shorter, the dogs and I cast long shadows on our morning and evening walks. I'm certainly no Henry David Thoreau, but I've documented these seasonal transformations so thoroughly over the years, that I can tell you exactly what is going to happen next, just by looking at the photos I took in previous years. Maybe the ice is melting and the oceans are rising in other parts of the world, but nothing is changing here. Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter are as regular as clockwork.

I am baffled by all the bickering in Congress. Sometimes I don't think anyone understands the healthcare industry at all. First of all, there is nothing new about Obamacare. Most states have had high risk pools for people with pre-existing conditions for decades. I should know, because I have some serious pre-existing conditions myself. It's not that people with pre-existing conditions can't get insurance, they just don't want to pay for it. Anyone with a pre-existing condition could always get health insurance the same way I did. For over a decade my company has leased my own services through an employee leasing company, just so I could get on the employee leasing company's group health insurance plan. This was always an expensive solution, but the insurance was quite good.

I have a feeling that I made the transition to the world of Medicare at precisely the right time. I noticed recently that the employee leasing company I was affiliated with has quietly dropped the gold plan I was using and is now advising customers to use one of the new private health care exchanges instead. The irony of this whole healthcare mess is that the people who hate the Affordable Care Act the most will probably benefit from it by being able to drop their company insurance programs entirely. On the other hand, the people who love the Affordable Care Act now, will probably hate it several years from now when they discover how much they will actually have to pay.

Noting is as it seems. I discovered that a long time ago.

Madison is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1386

Today didn't get of to a good start. I got up late. The dogs were exceptionally slow on their morning walk. Even though I rushed through my normally tranquil breakfast, I felt like the day was half over before I began to immerse myself in a long list of projects with immediate deadlines. It might have been brain fog, but the articles on my plate today seemed more difficult than usual. Then there was that troublesome Wordpress site I'm developing. Even though I'm learning more and more about Wordpress with each passing day, it is still a thorn in my side. Today, I learned that my favorite Javascript applets don't work in Wordpress. I haven't really mastered the art of editing Wordpress themes in Dreamweaver either. I guess you're just supposed to buy a theme and leave it alone.

I got so tangled up with work problems today that I almost forgot about Dash's vet appointment. Luckily the vet was flexible and I was able to re-schedule his regular 2 PM appointment for 3:30 PM. Sometimes I feel like a full-time dog nanny. Dot has her own vet appointment tomorrow.  Taking care of the dogs takes a lot of time, but it's still the only thing that seems genuinely important. Everything else is basically BS.

Are you guys as tired of Congress as I am? This whole attempt to shut down the government to protest Obamacare is absurd. Hey guys, just leave things alone. If Obamacare works and people end up liking it, so be it. If Obamacare doesn't work and people end up hating it, it's not going to last very long. I've been in business long enough to realize that sometimes things just sink under their own weight. You don't even have to try to sink them.

Tomorrow looks like it will live up to its reputation as the busiest day of the week. I've got my 7 AM business networking breakfast to attend. Dot has her afternoon water therapy appointment. And it looks like I've got at least two new articles to finish. Hopefully, I won't even think about Wordpress tomorrow. At least the weather is nice. October is typically the prettiest month of the year here in Texas and if today is any indication, the month is getting off to a great start.

Tori is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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