Day 3763

Dash died one year ago today. Janet and I were devastated. We were also very tired after tending to sick dogs for almost five years. Neither of us thought we would ever have a dog again. Here we are one year later with another Dalmatian sleeping in our bed. Life is full of surprises and Dawn was one of the good ones. It just goes to show that it doesn't pay to predict the future.

I don't think any one of us could have predicted that we would be living in Chapter Two of a Steven King novel right now. I certainly wasn't thinking that a plague was coming on the day Dash died. Sure there were those who told us that a pandemic was likely many years ago. They wrote books about the coming storm. There were also people telling us that aliens were living among us and that the Illuminati were secretly controlling the world. We ignored the threat of a pandemic the same way we've been ignoring the threat of nuclear war. If you want to lead a normal life, you tend to believe things that let you continue living normally.

I have a friend who has recovered from the coronavirus. He said that fighting the disease was horrible but that when he came out the other end, he felt like he had acquired a superpower. I found this interesting and somewhat prophetic. Universal testing is coming. It will take a while, but it is the only way for society to get a handle on the pandemic. Eventually we will know who is safe and who is a carrier. The people who have developed an immunity and are safe will have a superpower. They can resume normal life. The carriers who can still transmit the disease may not be sick themselves, but nobody will want to get anywhere near them. They will become social pariahs. Nobody will be able to hide because when this day arrives, the detection software Apple and Google are developing now will have been perfected and built into the operating systems of our phones. You know how addicted we are to are to our phones. When your phone starts to beep you will run the other way.

I find myself thinking more about the societal changes to come in the days ahead than about the people dying today. Maybe I'm not compassionate enough. People die everyday, but society only dies once. I don't want to go back to the Stone Age or live in a world that resembles a Bladerunner movie. I don't particularly want to die either. This is the Sophie's choice we are facing as a society.

I called a repair shop about fixing my computer and found myself wishing that my nonchalent electricians could fix computers. These computer repair guys seemed freaked out about seeing me in person and had a complex procedure that involved filling out a bunch on Internet forms and leaving the damaged computer on their front door step. They definitely didn't want me inside their store. Maybe I'll watch a few more YouTube videos and work up my nerve to fix the computer myself. How hard could it be to replace an iMac hard drive?

Today was beautiful and we decided to walk in a more remote section of the park. Dawn loved the new smells and the longer walk certainly didn't interrupt any plans. Who has plans anymore? I did have to remove the water from the roof all over again later in the day. I miscalculated yesterday and should have waited a while before removing the standing water. We ended up getting a lot more rain. At least we didn't get a tornado. You've got to be thankful for things like that.

Valli is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3754

I try to go out for supplies once a week now. When I made my weekly run this morning, the world looked a lot different than it did last Saturday. For the first time I felt like I was walking around inside a Steven King novel. It was easy to sense that something apocalyptic was happening. Almost everyone was wearing masks. You could tell people's professions by the type of mask they wore. Men in the building trades were wearing well made masks that dry wall workers, painters, and woodworkers often use on the job. My own mask fell in this category. It was old and smelled of sawdust. I found a few in the tool shed and I'm sure I'd used them once while sanding something. Nobody was wearing a N-95 mask, but quite a few obviously came from medical supply rooms. I don't think hospital workers are stealing masks but I'm sure they are taking a few home for their families. Who could blame them. The only people I saw who weren't wearing a mask were the senior citizens who probably needed them most. The stores weren't crowded and everyone seemed very polite. People were methodical about their buying and didn't linger. I got the impression that everyone knew that things weren't going to return to normal for a very long time.

There weren't any problems with overcrowding in the parks today. It was cold and rainy and the streets we're virtually empty. Janet and I timed our walks between storm cells and managed to give Dawn a nice walk and get our daily exercise without getting too wet. Only the most dedicated runners and cyclists were out today. It was pretty nasty. Technically, I guess it is Spring, but it definitely felt like Winter is Coming today.

I have mixed feelings about the non-stop news coverage of the virus. I guess it's good to know what is going on, but there is no new information. People still don't know how this virus works or how to stop it. The talking heads just repeat the same information day after day. Unless you've been living under a rock, you already know to clean everything obsessively and to stay away from other people. Mostly what the news coverage does is stoke unnecessary fear. We should all be cautious and methodical but it won't help much to be fearful. The situation is what it is. This virus is like a runaway freight train. It will eventually run out of gas but we aren't going to stop it.

Janet and I are a good team when adversity strikes. I think we are going to be OK. I'm glad Dawn is with us. We had no idea that things would get this bad when we adopted her, but this is definitely not a good time for a dog to be alone in a kennel. I'm glad that Dalmatian Rescue has done such a great job of placing dogs this year. Six months ago we had dozens of dogs in the rescue program and now just about all of them have found their forever homes.

I didn't even bother to get gas today. At this rate a tank of gas will last me all year. I'm still having problems wrapping my head around the idea of exponential growth. Too many people seem to be dying unless we are all already infected. It would be nice to know how long it takes to show symptoms. Is is four days or four weeks? Nobody knows. When I have to venture out, I would like to be able to count the days until I felt safe in my house again.

Dottie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3750

The world is starting to look like a Steven King novel. For the first time in years I was able to back out of the driveway during the afternoon rush hour without any worries about traffic. The streets were empty. I took some bills and a letter to my sister to the post office today and there were giant sheets of clear plastic hanging from the ceiling separating the postal employees from the customers. I saw no need to add to the madness and quickly dropped my mail in a letter box and left. I stopped by the bank on the way home and discovered that the lobby was closed but a drive thru window was still open. There were lots of cars at the drive thru, but I was already here, so I waited in line with everybody else. I guess a line of cars is social distancing. All the neighborhood stores and restaurants were closed and parking lots were empty. The lack of activity make me feel uneasy. In one empty parking lot there were two crazy people wandering around aimlessly and yelling loudly at nobody. Was this how The Stand started? I was glad to get back to my own house.

The park was almost empty this morning. Blocking the entrances has made a huge difference. I still saw my neighbors walking their dogs, along with a few cyclists and joggers, but that was it. It was almost like the old days before the city passed a big bond issue and decided to make the park a recreation destination. I enjoyed the solitude but I'm sure this is temporary. Someday the crowds will be back.

I don't know how she did it, but Janet managed to catch a urine sample from Dawn this morning. I haven't had any luck at all. Hopefully, Dawn doesn't have urate crystals or bladder stones. It is a common problem with Dalmatians and you often have to change their diet. Dawn really likes what we are feeding her now so I'd hate to have to switch to a different type of food.

Operating my computer from an external drive is going surprisingly well. The only problem is that the computer is painfully slow. If my company was still busy, fixing the damaged drive would be priority one. A slow computer doesn't seem to matter as much anymore. I'm equally slow. Just about the only thing I use the computer for anymore is writing the blog and storing Dalmatian pictures. I have a feeling that if I deleted all my old client files, I wouldn't even need a huge hard drive anymore.

When you hear on the news that 200,000 people in the United States could die from the virus, it makes you wonder whether you should leave the house at all. I guess you could have your groceries delivered, but who is actually delivering them? So few people are being tested that almost anyone could be a carrier. I still think long daily walks are healthy for both the body and the mind, but what do I know? What if the virus can be aerosolized and is floating around in the air? What if masks actually do work, but are still unavailable? Janet may be sewing masks instead of dog bandannas for next years Dalmatian Rescue gold tournament.

I'm starting to forget what day it is. They all seem the same.

Amy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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