Day 4850

Some really loud thunder woke us up last night. The lightning flashes were quite bright and even Dawn, who isn't scared of storms, seemed alarmed. From the sound of rain hitting the roof, I was prepared for roof leaks to start any minute, but the storm was over as quickly as it started. We went back to sleep and by the time we got up, the ground was almost dry again. The roof never leaked.

The rest of the day was uneventful. Dawn got her early walk at the normal time and I had my regular weekday breakfast of shredded wheat and fruit. It actually felt colder than it did yesterday because there was quite a bit of wind. Not a bad day though. Any rainy day where the roof doesn't leak is fine by me.

I applied with the Space Force to cover another April launch today. This military mission will be one of the last remaining Delta-IV Heavy launches, since this vehicle is being retired. I'd like to see one of these rare launches before this rocket disappears entirely. I don't know what I'll do if all my applications get approved. I can't afford to go to all of them. Nothing ventured, nothing gained though. There's a good chance that at least one application will be rejected, Several of the April launches are very close together, so I'd probably only need to make one trip to Florida. We'll see what happens. It wouldn't be the end of the world if nothing gets approved.

It's probably time to start going back to the gym again, since my daily long walks are getting really boring.  Every day is exactly the same. The walk has become so predictable that I can guess my time within a few seconds at just about any location. It's clear that I'm not the only one with a predictable schedule because I pass a lot of the same people every day. Many of these people are walking their dogs. It would be nice if Dawn would walk with me sometimes, but she'll never go anywhere without Janet. All things considered, it's better that I walk alone.

I keep reading that artificial intelligence is going to replace us all. This might have worried me when I was younger, but it's hard to care now. I've already been replaced by younger humans. They say that artificial intelligence applications like Chat GPT are well suited for advertising copywriting. I'm not surprised. Copywriting never seemed to require a lot of intelligence. That's probably why I was good at it. I don't know what I would choose as an occupation if I were young today. In high school I thought I was going to be a physicist. In college I chose to be an architect. Despite the best of intentions, I wound up in the advertising industry. Go figure.

Janet said Dawn did well in training class tonight. She's currently the only dog in class wearing a harness instead of the required prong collar. Dawn has a doctor's excuse though, so everything's OK. Hopefully everything will remain OK for the rest of the week. We're going to discontinue Dawn pain medication soon because she is doing so well on a minimal dose. There is no rain in the forecast for tomorrow but that doesn't mean much. I'm sure it will rain again soon.

Angel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2866

For months now, I've been sleeping on top of the bed. I think I started this when Dot was sick. I'd just take my shoes off and lay down next to Dash. This way, I was always ready to help Dot go outside at night. I'm a lazy person, and after a while it just seemed easier to sleep this way. I'm always the last one to go to bed and it wasn't worth waking Dash up after he was already asleep. No matter what time it was, he would think it was morning and go to the kitchen and bark for food. I was happy enough sleeping this way, but last night it got very cold and I got under the sheets again. I was surprised at the difference. I think I slept a lot better last night.

Although I'm a creature of habit, I can make changes. In addition to sleeping under the sheets, I've started going to the gym a lot earlier. I used to go in the afternoons on Sunday and now I go right after breakfast. I don't know why, but I seem to have more energy when I exercise early in the day. I get more done too, since I have the afternoon to clean and do projects around the house.

Since I've finished repairing all three sets of Dash's protective boots, I thought I'd try my hand at repairing my own shoes. I used to wear heavy duty leather hiking boots when I walked the dogs, but since Dash has been so flaky about walks lately I've had to wear something I could put on quickly before he got out of the mood. I had a pair of pull on rubber rain shoes that fit the bill, but I've worn them out in less than a month. Tire patches seemed perfect for reinforcing these things. I glued three large patches in strategic places on each shoe. I'll let the rubber cure for 48 hours and then I'll put them through their paces. These shoes are incredibly ugly and Janet is embarrassed when I wear them in public but they may turn out to be the perfect dog walking shoe. After I added some orthotics for arch support, they are quite comfortable. They are completely waterproof and I can put them on in seconds. The soft rubber didn't hold up very well on the trails, but maybe my tire patches will solve that problem.

When I went to the gym today, there was an open newspaper next to one of the machines I use. I noticed a headline that said "In the future people are going to need bigger brains to survive." This sounded intriguing, so I read the article before I started my workout. The premise was that advances in artificial intelligence and robotics are occurring more rapidly than our own ability to deal with the changes they are causing. Apparently it is just a matter of time before artificial intelligence is smarter than we are. I can believe this. Robots are designing other robots now. Our entire society moves around with their faces glued to their phones. Who is the master and who is the slave? I think I share Elon Musk's worries about AI. In less than fifty years it is going to change everything.

My machines are simple. I can take most of them apart and put them back together again. I actually understand how a lot of them work. This is changing rapidly unfortunately. I remember modifying my first computer by soldering new stuff to the motherboard. I couldn't begin to do that anymore. I have no idea how WiFi works and I kind of think the cloud is evil. I think I am more comfortable in a world where I can fix a pair of shoes with tire patches and get a refrigerator running again by defrosting the evaporator coil with a hair dryer.

Dash had a good week. I hope next week is even better. I still don't really know what has changed. We've basically have let him choose his own food and are dressing him up in rubber boots. That's not enough to cause the changes we've seen. He's still got the two large blood clots in his heart and is dealing with vestibular disease. Even with the best doctors, health often remains a mystery. I guess the best thing is just to be happy for the good days and be prepared for the bad days.

Dakota is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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