Day 3525

This was the first day I haven't walked in quite a while. There just wasn't time. I had quite a few things I needed to do before we headed up to the Dalmatian Rescue kennels, so I decided to skip my morning walk. By the time I ran a few errands and went to the post office it was time to go. I can't say that I missed walking today. It was way too hot to be outside for any length of time.

The dogs were all doing well. Since there aren't a lot of dogs in the program at the moment, we were able to spend quite a bit of time with each one. Dalmatians love attention. I think they were all glad to see us. It's fun to see their personalities develop as they become more relaxed. Rolly still needs to finish his heartworm treatment before he can go to his forever home, but other than that, these dogs are ready. I hope that they all find great homes.

As we were driving back from the kennel it became apparent that school was back in session. Traffic seemed to double overnight and there were school zones everywhere. When school is out, mid-afternoon is often the best time to avoid bad traffic. The lunch crowd is back at work and rush hour hasn't started yet. Those days are over. This afternoon it seemed like the entire city was starting to queue up to pick up their kids from school.

Janet likes watches and loves going to the gym, so I thought she might be able to use my old Apple Watch while she was working out. I figured out how to restore the watch to its factory settings and gave it to her. She reminded me that she had given me the watch in the first place, but I think she was still glad to have it. The Apple Watch workout app is much better than Fitbit. At least the watch will get used. I don't need to wear two of these things.

Janet and I both try to eat healthy, but we love a good burger. In recent years we've been exploring new burger places on our birthdays. This evening we went to a place that has gotten great reviews for several years but that neither of us had ever tried. It was surprisingly close to home, but we don't go out much anymore. Eating healthy is almost impossible if you spend too much time in restaurants. It's OK to indulge every once in a while though. We got lucky tonight. The reviews were accurate and the burgers were delicious. I'm very full. I don't think I'll be eating much tomorrow.

We're both 71 now. All things considered, we're doing pretty well. Two years ago at this time, Janet was getting ready for a second round of cancer surgery. Five years ago, I was being treated for Hepatitis C. We're both healthy now and reasonably happy. I hope this continues. The older you get, the more you realize that having your health is a blessing. All the things you worried about when you were young just don't seem that important.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2089

Do you ever feel that your life is starting to look like a reenactment of Groundhog Day? I'm sure you remember the movie where Bill Murray was forced to repeat the same day over and over again until he finally got it right. Sometimes I feel this way. Every day I eat the same things. Almost every day I clean up poop and wash the soiled dog blankets. Every time I do a load of laundry, I plug the floor drain in the utility room with a rag so water from the rinse cycle won't come back up through the drain and flood the room. After I take a shower I always put rags around the edge of the shower stall to soak up water that has seeped through cracks in the tile between shower walls and floor. Every evening I print the same JPEG file to keep the ink lines in my large printer from clogging. There are literally dozens of little rituals like this. The dogs get the same two walks every day and I patch up and repair the same websites over and over again. I know that I've got to break out of this monotonous cycle, but it's a comfortable rut and I feel no urgency. Hopefully, I won't be stuck in the time loop as long as Phil Connors was in Groundhog Day.

I've been wondering why traffic seemed so bad this week, and then I realized that school was back in session. There literally seems to be twice as many cars on the road. I pass a private school on my way to breakfast every Friday and I see cars lined up for ten blocks as parents queue in the right hand lane to drop their kids off for class. Luckily, I am going in the other direction. The same cars return every afternoon to pick the kids up. When you add the additional trips for band practice, soccer practice, and other school activities, the roads are always busy. It certainly is a different world from the one where I walked or rode my bicycle to school. I wonder how parents find any time to themselves these days.

The stock market had another miserable day. When is this going to end? I feel like my retirement income is an ice cube sitting out in the hot sun. It is just melting away day-after-day and there is very little I can do about it. I think people are going to regret the day when politicians sold them this idea that a 401K Plan that they managed themselves could provide a much more secure retirement income than the old fashioned defined benefit plans their parents generation relied on. It hasn't worked out all that great so far. I'd trade my 401K for my Dad's pension any day. He and my Mom lived comfortably on that pension for many years. I can't say that I'm going to do nearly as well. I might not be able to retire at all.

Work was busy for a change. I added a new section to one of my client's websites and changed out photos in another. There have been no writing jobs all week though. It's always feast or famine. I can never manage to keep a nice, steady workload for very long. At least I can still pay the bills. There's not much left over anymore unfortunately, and that's a bit worrisome. 

We've got a three day weekend coming up. I don't know what we'll do with the extra day, but maybe we'll think of something. I know we won't be sleeping in late. That's just not in the cards anymore. If we don't get Dot outside early, it's a virtual certainly that she'll poop in the house. Of course if she poops in the house in the middle of the night, I can always sleep in a bit longer after I've cleaned things up. That's what I did last night. Oh, well. Here's hoping for a relaxing weekend, starting with no barking dogs at breakfast tomorrow morning.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day