4063 - Superbowl Sunday

I expected Tampa Bay to win tonight, but I didn't expect the game to be a complete rout. Kansas City was completely humiliated. It just goes to show that you should never count the old guys out. Experience beats youth almost every time. At 43, Tom Brady never looked better. At 68, Bruce Arians is one of the oldest head coaches in the NFL. No risk it, no biscuit is what Bruce always says. I think Elon Musk would agree with this philosophy. Jeez. Rob Gronkowski even came out of retirement to play this year. Lets hear it for the old guys.

The NFL could learn a few lessons from the old guys when it comes to halftime shows. What on earth has happened to music. Do today's artists even have a clue? Personally, I don't think there has been a truly great halftime show since Micheal Jackson. Prince came pretty close when he sang Purple Rain in a driving rainstorm, but Michael Jackson is still the king of pop. Bruce Springsteen put on a good show. Bruno Mars put on a good show. That's about where it all ended. Recent Superbowl shows have been uniformly terrible. I couldn't even hear the Weeknd's vocals. The sound was muffled and there was way too much reverb. OK, I'll admit it. I've never even heard of the Weeknd. Who is this guy? And what on earth was that chorus of guys wearing jockstraps on their heads? 

I can't say much for the ads either. Superbowl ads used to be one of the best things about the game. Not anymore. The quality of Superbowl ads has been slowly deteriorating for years, but this year hit a new low. Usually car ads are the worst, but this year two of them were the best of the lot. I liked the humorous GM ad taking on Norway and I liked the serious Jeep ad about coming together in the middle. Most of the rest of the ads were crap. This is what happens when you cancel Stan Richards. There used to be Tom Brady's in the ad industry as well, but giants like George Lois and William Bernbach just don't exist anymore. 

After we finished walking Dawn, Janet and I took our long walk together. There is one particular duck we see frequently that we've always called the Lonely Duck because she never seemed to be part of a group. All the other ducks want nothing to do with this one. Today we watched the Lonely Duck chase four larger ducks off a little island. The four ducks had a conference and all went back after the little duck, but she lowered her head and held her ground.  She ran straight toward the larger ducks and they all scattered and started running toward the water. That wasn't good enough for the little duck. She started swimming toward the larger ducks and chased them entirely out of the lake. This performance explains a lot. We're not going to call her the Lonely Duck any more. From now on, she's the Mean Duck.

Tomorrow is Dawn's first anniversary living with us. A lot has changed, but a lot has stayed the same. Dawn is a well loved member of the family and we are convinced that she really likes it here, but she's still scared of everything. I don't think this is going to change. She is an older dog and has a lot of bad memories. You have to be careful not to make sudden movements or talk too loudly. She's always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Dawn has quite a personality though and always makes us laugh. In an odd way, I think we were all meant for each other.

Next week ought to be interesting. It's going to continue to get colder, although I don't think there is snow in the forecast anymore. Janet and I get our Covid shots next week. Will we get the Pfizer or the Moderna version? I still have no idea which of the two is better. If anyone does know, they're certainly not going to tell us at this point. We'll see how it goes. Hey, if we get to travel again, I'm good.

Stortz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2610 - Superbowl Sunday

Well, that was a pretty amazing game. I was rooting for the Falcons at first. By halftime, the game seemed like such a mismatch that I almost quit watching. The fourth quarter made me change sides and start rooting for the Patriots. With a comeback like this, they deserved to win. By the time the game was over, I had to admit that this game was almost as exciting at the Clemson Alabama National Championship game last month where the Clemson Tigers won with one second on the clock. Superbowl 51 was one for the record books. Tom Brady now has more Superbowl wins than any quarterback in history. It was the first Superbowl that went into overtime. Even Lady Gaga put on a good show and didn't ruin things with a political rant.

The only disappointment was the commercials.  I've always loved watching Superbowl commercials. They usually represent the very best that the ad agency folks can come up with. This year the commercials were terrible.The current crop of creative folks apparently have little understanding of humor and irony. You could tell that some companies spent a lot of money, but the money was largely wasted. An hour after the game was over, I couldn't begin to tell you what anybody was selling. I do remember an unbelievable fourth quarter performance by the Patriots and a great Superbowl meal. Not a bad way to end the day.

The day started well too. When Dash's doctor called us this morning with an update on his condition, she seemed very upbeat and encouraging. She said that Dash seemed about 40% better than he did the day before. I don't know how they can quantify how Dash is feeling so exactly, but I'll take 40% any day. They are thinking now that high blood pressure might have triggered the massive cluster of seizures that Dash experienced early Thursday morning. Dash had been taking blood pressure medication and we thought his blood pressure was controlled, but apparently it was still too high and may have ruptured capillaries in his brain. Dash seems to be responding well to a change in blood pressure medication, so hopefully any damage he sustained in his cerebellum won't be permanent. The doctors still aren't entirely sure if the seizures were caused by a vestibular event or cerebellar degeneration. Either way it is pretty serious.

I failed to get Dot out of the house this morning before she peed. We are still washing rugs many hours later. Weekends are always the hardest, because we don't keep the rigorous schedule we do on workdays. Other than peeing in the house, Dot had a good day though. She seemed a bit stronger than she did yesterday.

My day wasn't bad either. I was really encouraged to hear that Dash is finally improving a bit. The weather was nice too. The temperature is up above 70 again. I can never figure out Texas weather. Yesterday I was wearing a heavy winter coat and today I'm wearing shorts. Instead of taking advantage of the nice weather, I stayed inside and went to the gym. On the way to the gym, I stopped at the Superbowl Sale I was telling you about yesterday and got a pair of pants and a shirt for 75% off. I don't need pants, but I do like a deal.

I hope Dash can come home with us tomorrow. We miss the little guy. I'm sure things will be different now because it might take months for Dash to make a full recovery. We'll manage somehow. It will be more important than ever to take things one day at a time.

Zorro is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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