Day 2484

Sunday is usually the busiest day of the week. It's the last chance to catch up on chores I should have done earlier in the week before it's time to start all over again. I debated on whether to clean the house or go to the gym first. If I go to the gym first, I'm usually too tired to clean. If I clean first, I'm too tired for a workout. The dirty house practically demanded to be made a priority. As I was vacuuming, I wondered if there was anything left that I actually enjoyed anymore. I stay busy. I keep my commitments. I try not to let life get me down. We're taught that life should be an adventure, but often it just feels like a long hike up a very steep hill.

I woke up three times last night thinking that Dot had pooped in her bed. Each time it was a false alarm. I was so tired that when she had her inevitable accident around 6 AM, I was fast asleep. I woke to the sound of her coughing after she tried to eat the mess. This was a frustrating way to start the day. Dot barks all the time. Why couldn't she just learn to bark after she poops at night. I'd have everything cleaned up in a jiffy, if she'd just bark and give me a head's up.

I've been noticing that I'm not as hungry as I used to be. I just can't eat as much anymore. Sunday breakfast is frequently bacon and eggs with a couple of biscuits on the side. Janet used to fix an entire package of bacon and cook three or four eggs to share between us. Today, I only felt like having a couple of pieces of bacon and was full after eating one egg. Breakfast was delicious, but I just wasn't hungry. This isn't like me. I'm even eating less when I go out on Friday morning.

Even though I was tired, I went to the gym anyway. There were people using the basketball court when I got there, so I had to change up the order of my workout, in hopes that they would eventually go away. Most of my workout is about as much fun as mowing the grass, but I do enjoy shooting baskets. The weird thing is whatever I do at the gym, it almost always takes exactly 63 minutes to complete the workout. I purposely never look at my watch until I'm finished and I'm amazed that even though I sometimes use different machines and never spend the same amount of time shooting free throws, my total elapsed time is always exactly the same. It's like I have some kind of internal clock telling me that after 63 minutes, I need to get out of that place.

Last year, the city paved one of the trails I use to walk the dogs and turned it into a bike path. Using this path has become hazardous on weekends because it is filled with cyclists who have little regard for dogs. Dash likes to zig-zag from one side of the path to the other, depending on which side smells better. I have to be real careful that we don't get run over. It's impossible to daydream on our walks anymore. The place has become a race track. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against bicycles.  It's just the aggressive Type-A people who ride them I hate.

I wonder if not buying a pumpkin for your front porch counts as an effort to simplify your life. For years I put pumpkins on the porch in October but they just rotted. They didn't even make the porch look better. I think we'll skip the pumpkins this year.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1332

When I was doing my twenty minutes on the arm bicycle at the gym this afternoon, it occurred to me that this repetitious activity was a pretty good metaphor for what my life has become. I do a lot of boring, repetitious and very necessary activities these days. It wasn't always this way, but I think when you realize that you've already used up eight of your allotted nine lives, your attitude changes a bit. There are times when I wish I was still more adventurous, but my adventures have always been on the self-destructive side and who needs that anymore.

The other people I see at the gym seem just like me. The pick out their favorite machines and do the same routines over and over again. Maybe this is just human nature. On the other hand, maybe I'm just doing my workouts with a bunch of old people.

I saw on the local news tonight that a maintenance worker at the dog park we go to regularly on Sundays attacked one of the dogs in the park with a weed-wacker and injured it pretty bad. The dog had cuts all over its head and neck and had to be taken to a vet for surgery. This is insane. The maintenance company fired the worker immediately, but should have never given him the job in the first place. If you hate dogs, or are fearful of dogs, you should not have a job that involves working around them. On a much happier note, I also saw a segment on the news about Dot's physical therapy vet. Evidently this place is one of the only places in the area that offers this type of advanced therapy for dogs. I'm proud of Dot. Just like me, she's always been an early adopter of the latest things.

I found out today that my assignment in Las Vegas isn't going to happen. I'm disappointed, but not terribly surprised. Maybe Janet and I will go anyway. It's a shame that a money making opportunity has instantly turned into a money losing opportunity though.

Someone wanted me to announce an event that was taking place in May of 2014 on their website today. Even though this seems a bit premature to me, I still approve of this weird request. Updating websites is what I do and as far as I'm concerned, jumping the gun is far better than doing nothing at all. Keep those changes coming guys.

I'm still debating whether to drive a little further just to taste something new for breakfast ntomorrow. There are only so many ways you can cook an egg, and I've tried them all by now. I love the over-easy eggs on a bed of skillet potatoes and pulled pork at the little restaurant down the street from me, but boredom is always a factor on these Friday outings. I certainly wouldn't want my favorite day of the week to turn into another boring ride on the exercise bike.

Lilly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day