Day 3199

Wow. What an ugly day. The hearings were hard to avoid. They were on every channel for the entire day. Dr. Ford was credible and her supporters will believe her completely. Judge Kavanaugh was credible and his supporters will continue to stand by him. I don't think a single opinion was changed today. I do think the country was harmed. Weaponizing sex for political purposes will have repercussions for decades. Turning our justice system upside down and deciding that a person is guilty until proven innocent is breathtaking and almost Stalinist in nature. Both of these tactics were terrible ideas. You may be passionate about who sits on the Supreme Court and think that the end justifies the means. If you feel this way, you may be forgetting about the law of unintended consequences. In the long run, what happened today will not be good for women. It will not be good for men. And it will not be good for the country.

I felt sad watching today's hearings. I kept hoping that sanity would prevail, but it never did. Lines have been drawn in the sand and I don't think anyone is giving an inch. We didn't use to be this kind of a country. I really think we are headed toward a second civil war. It's so sad. When we believed that we were a great melting pot and shared a common set of values, the United States was the greatest country in the world. All that is gone now. I think the future belongs to China. The Chinese don't have to deal with the chaos and discord we witnessed today. Democracy is messy. Perhaps it is too messy to succeed in a world where politicians see no problem in unleashing flash mobs to harass their opponents in restaurants.

No wonder that so many people on Facebook say they prefer dogs to people. People are horrible. The world would be a better place if people spent more time taking their dogs on long walks and less time letting something they saw on their phone work them into a frenzy. It's not going to happen though. Social media is a Pandora's Box that can't be closed.

I spent too much time watching TV today, but there was still poop to clean up and pills to administer. Dash fell again today and I had to put his harness on while he was struggling on the floor so I could lift him up. Dash panics when he can't get up and it's difficult to help him. I think it's time for him to wear his special harness full time. He's still eating well though and enjoys his slow walks. I wish I could make him younger. I wish I could make myself younger as well. Truthfully, I wouldn't want to be young in today's world. I'd rather take a time machine back to 1950 instead.

I just finished taking this week's trash out to the curb. I can't decide whether to go back to the hotel for breakfast. The food and atmosphere are great, but the menu is very limited. I think I've already tried everything. This week went quickly, but apparently not quickly enough. What a mess. I'd love to see sanity return next week, but I'm not counting on it.

Sophie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3119

About thirty minutes after the roofer made a firm commitment to come out and repair the roof tomorrow, it started to rain. It rained quite a bit, so I doubt that the roof will be dry any time soon. I'm probably back to square one. I wonder if this promise to fix things on a rainy day was on purpose? I'll never know for sure. It is hard to predict the weather here in Texas. The forecast changes every day. I check the weather all the time and today's rain even caught me by surprise.

Whether the roofer comes out or not, it looks like it's going to be a busy week. Dash has a vet appointment on Wednesday, I need to take my car in for an annual required maintenance on Thursday, and I have an appointment with an art conservator on Friday to see if an Ellsworth Kelly that has been damaged by humidity can be saved.

I dread taking Dash to the vet. He's terrible riding in the car. He often poops in the lobby while we are waiting for our appointment. And he's going to need his nails trimmed again. Dash won't let anyone near his feet, but there is one vet who seems to have the magic touch. If she ever gives up on us, we're doomed. I wish Dash's nails didn't grow so fast. They seem to grow even faster now, since we are protecting his feet on walks. It's really important to keep the nails short, since he is taking Plavix. If Dash ever ripped out a nail again, it would be very hard to stop the bleeding.

I didn't accomplish much today, so I guess it was a pretty normal day. I repaired another pair of Dash's protective boots. Dash is pretty hard on these boots, so I always have to keep several pairs in rotation. I fixed a Waterpik that has been leaking for about a month. The leak wasn't bad, so it was easy to ignore. I got the pump started on the roof, but it won't be enough to get things dried out by tomorrow. It probably doesn't even matter. I think it's supposed to rain again tomorrow anyway.

I wonder if people realize that all the turmoil about the Supreme Court nomination isn't exactly new. If memory serves, there was a similar uproar when Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas were nominated. Thomas survived and Bork didn't. I suspect that Brett Kavanaugh will survive, but what do I know. This is basically a fight between people who think the Constitution is the law of the land and people who think the Constitution has become outdated and needs to change. I hate to see Americans fighting like this, but I don't think it's going to stop any time soon.

I wish we had the ability to blend our opinions together the same way I make my morning smoothie. American politics needs a Vitamix. I don't even taste the bananas, strawberries, peaches, eggs, oatmeal, blueberries, cinnamon, and ice cream anymore. My creation is much better than these ingredients. Blending is good. It would be hard to convince me that polarization is equally good.

Greta is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day