Day 3618

I stopped and talked with a guy who owned a Sprinter van while I was on my walk this morning. I've seen this guy in the park before and was curious how he liked his truck. After hearing tales about expensive Mercedes repairs and difficulties in driving around town, I had second thoughts about ever getting one of these things. He said he couldn't make u-turns because of the wide turning radius and couldn't use a lot of city parking areas because the truck was too tall to fit under the height restriction gates. A lot of these gates are pretty low. I had trouble getting the Defender under them. There were a lot of other little problems I never anticipated as well. So much for the idea of using a big van as a daily driver. The guy said he loves his truck for camping trips but drives his wife's Subaru whenever he can. I guess I'll put this idea on the back burner for a while.

Before taking my walk, I took some mail to the post office and stopped at the grocery store to get a Cadence Kitchen flash frozen meal for dinner. I thought I would pick the meal with the lowest salt content and ended up getting prime rib with mushrooms and onions. It was definitely milder than the spicy selections I usually choose. I guess if I was really worried about sodium, I would skip these easy to prepare meals and just cook something from scratch. Somehow, I don't think that's going to happen.

Don't let today's picture confuse you. I took it yesterday. Today the weather was overcast and dreary. I kept expecting it to rain, but luckily it never did. I think my roof repairs will be OK. It's weird that the weather makes such a huge difference in my attitude. Yesterday I was feeling good. Today was pretty dismal and it was all because of the weather. I'm hearing thunder now as well. Thunder is never a good sign.

I was wrong about photo backdrops. It turns out that there are still lots of different types of backdrops available. I was just looking in the wrong places. The technology is different now. Instead of hand painted muslin backdrops, there are lots of photo realistic designs that are printed on fabric that is wrinkle free and easily washable. These new designs are more expensive than the backdrops I used to buy, but if you can wash them they might actually save money in the long run. It's interesting that even in a weird little category like this, everything changes.

Will I ever become comfortable with change? Probably not. I could live comfortably in a world with typewriters instead of computers, carburetors instead of fuel injection, film instead of SD Cards, and wall phones instead of cell phones. I'm old school. I use my high speed fiber optic network to watch Perry Mason movies.

I am glad that someone invented the Vitamix blender and the Keurig coffee maker though. My breakfast wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable tomorrow without these handy gadgets.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3201

The unicorn has never been my spirit animal. I have always been a pragmatic, unemotional, and slightly cynical observer of life. When those "Black Lives Matter" and "Blue Lives Matter" memes were popular, the only thing that resonated with me was an icy cold picture of the Andromeda Galaxy with the inscription "No Lives Matter." We humans think we are way too important. In the grand scheme of things, we are just a single grain of sand on the beach.

I'm convinced that if you want to see what the future is like, all you have to do is look at the past. History repeats itself, over and over again. If you want to stop global warming, you have to realize that it is caused by too many people on the planet. Solar power and carbon credits aren't going to make any difference unless you can reduce the population. It was already been calculated that it will take 1.5 earths to sustain our present population indefinitely. Doesn't that bother anybody? We only have one earth. By the same token, if you want to change people's behavior, you have to understand history. If humanity has acted in a certain way since the dawn of time, things are not likely to change overnight. The pendulum always swings both ways. If you push too hard, the pendulum swings in the other direction and attempts to restore equilibrium.

This is why today's political circus is troubling. In a raw grab for political power, some politicians pushed too hard. They were willing to ignore all laws of fairness and decency and destroy two good people's lives in an effort to get what they wanted. Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh have both become roadkill. Probably anyone who has ever known either of them is terrified that they will become roadkill too if this travesty continues.

If you upend the simple things that have kept civil society from imploding, you've got to expect pushback. Our country was built on the idea that all people are innocent until proven guilty. An assumption that someone is guilty until they can prove their innocence is going to get pushback. If you are expected to believe someone just because they say so, it is going to get pushback. I wonder if the women who want to destroy the patriarchy have really thought this through. If they succeed, 50% of the world's population will still be men.

Can you really change all of recorded history? Aristotle thought women should be slaves. Napoleon Bonaparte thought the same thing. Confucius, that wise sage who said "do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself' also said that "one hundred women are not worth a single testicle." Gautama Buddha, the guy who started Buddhism thought that women were too stupid to become Buddhists. Think that modern men have become more enlightened? Think again. Norman Mailer, one of our most celebrated writers famously said "a little bit of rape is good for a man's soul." Kurt Vonnegut, whose novels are still loved by many young women said that "educating a beautiful woman is like pouring honey into a fine Swiss watch: everything stops." It is well known that Picasso was very abusive to women. I could go on and on.

Are you really going to change all this by destroying a distinguished public servant with a loving family who has led an exemplary life? If it is fair game to go all the way back to someone's high school yearbook in an attempt to create a new narrative, where does it stop? Will we be looking at middle school behavior next? Will an eight year old kid who slapped another kid on the butt find their life ruined forty years later. This is how real fascism starts.

If you woke up this morning and discovered that a family member,  a coworker, or a friend you have known your entire life was actually on the other side, don't be surprised. A line has been drawn in the sand. Some of your best friends are now on the other side.

Let's hope that men don't ever decide that this issue is more important than football. If that ever happens, all bets are off. I don't know where this ends, but if you really want to change things, you've got to be fair. If you want to chase unicorns and change the world, I wish you well. History says it is going to be difficult. If your motive is retribution and payback, it will not end as you expect. I always tell people to be careful what you wish for and to beware of unintended consequences. They never listen.

SweetPea is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2772

After an early walk with Janet and Dash, I returned to the Passport Acceptance Facility this morning and renewed my passport. This time everything went perfectly. I was the first in line. I had my D-11 form already filled out in black ink. And most importantly, I had my checkbook with me. The whole process only took me about fifteen minutes. I don't know why I chose the more expensive expedited option, because I definitely have no place to go. I guess I just hate waiting on things.

I knew it would take me forever to make my morning smoothie, so I stopped and got a breakfast taco on the way home. It was still so early when I returned that I didn't know what to do with myself. If I got up this early every morning, I would have a lot more time, but I'm not sure I need more time anymore. Often, I feel like I've got too much time on my hands.

Since I had a lot of free time today, I thought I'd watch a movie on Apple TV. Much to my surprise, Apple TV didn't work. It worked fine two days ago when I was explaining what it could do to Janet. This time I got a message saying that Apple TV wasn't connected to the internet, even though I could clearly see a cat5 cable connecting the box directly the router. I tried the time honored turn everything off and back on again routine and that didn't work. I tried entering the WiFi password again and that didn't work either. Everything else on the network was working fine, so this was a weird little problem. I found an item on the menu called "troubleshooting" and clicked on that. This brought up another menu where I could enter all the network information manually. I didn't want to do that, so I found another little button that said "find network information automatically." I still don't really know what I did, but eventually Apple TV started working again. By this time I didn't even feel like watching a movie. I turned the TV off and ate a piece of cheese I found in the refrigerator.

The orthopedic specialist called to remind me of my appointment tomorrow. I'm glad he did, because I probably would have forgotten. I'm not even sure what I'm going to see the orthopedic guy for. My wrist is almost back to normal again and since I'm still not interested in surgery for my Carpal Tunnel problems, I doubt that anything can be done. Maybe I'll ask the doctor about my shoulder. My shoulder is actually in much worse shape than my wrist.

When I was working on the computer this afternoon, A message from Apple appeared on my screen, saying that a virus had been discovered that needed to be removed immediately. The message definitely looked like an official Apple communication, but Apple doesn't normally do this sort of thing. I quickly forced Safari to quit even though there was a little countdown clock saying I had two minutes before my computer destroyed itself. I opened Firefox and quickly did a Google search describing what I had just seen.

It was a scam. If I wasn't so familiar with Apple, I might have fallen for it. A few more Google searches showed me how to clear the Safari cache files and delete the cookies that were causing this alarming message to appear. It's amazing how much time you have to spend protecting yourself from scams these tays. They're everywhere.

Janet's recovery is going remarkably well and she will be returning to work soon. I've enjoyed having her home, but she loves her job and is eager to get out of the house again. I guess there are only so many Netflix movies you can watch in a single summer. Dash will be lonely for a while. He loves having everybody home and follows Janet around like a shadow during the day. It's a good thing that dogs live in the moment. They can usually adjust to changes quicker than people can.

It's going to take me a while to adjust. Without Dot to take care of or business to keep me busy, I've got to come up with a Plan B.

Deuce is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day