Day 4375

It's feeling like Ground Hog Day again. Every day the same frustrations occur over and over. My feet continue to hurt despite wearing the special shoes that the orthopedic surgeon recommended. My FedEx package remains lost despite calling them twice a day and begging for additional information. I keep walking longer and longer, mostly because it keeps me from thinking about all the aspects of modern life that irritate the hell out of me. Just about everything we as a society are currently doing is wrong. It just seems weird that so many people see things differently than me. In my heart I know I'm right.

I don't know what I am going to do about my FedEx package. The company really doesn't seem to care about their customers. Instead of trying to improve service, they seem to have put all their efforts into insulating themselves from customers. I'm actually impressed at how clever they've been at preventing me from finding out the status of this package that I know is sitting in a warehouse less than twenty miles from where I live. It is impossible to talk to anyone in the warehouse or even to a supervisor. You always get routed to an offshore call center where contract workers are employed to be friendly without really telling you anything. I'm starting to suspect that they dropped and broke my star tracker. I'm starting to get asked about what's inside the package. Today I was told that if the package didn't arrive within three or four days from now, I should ask the shipper to file a claim for damages so they could be compensated for the lost package. "But the package isn't lost," I reminded the call center agent. "I can tell from looking at the tracking history on my FedEx account that it's sitting in your Hutchins warehouse." "You scanned this package again this morning," I added. None of this gets me anywhere, because the call center representatives are forbidden from transferring my call to someone local who might actually know what is going on.

I feel like FedEx has stumbled onto a fiendishly clever plan to drive me crazy. I've always cared more about objects and gear than people. I want this star tracker. I've been waiting for it since last March. Maybe there is a holiday rush for delivery services. Maybe the driver had a bad day. Maybe the warehouse facility is understaffed. I still keep thinking that this should be a no brainer. The package initially didn't get delivered for some reason. It should have been redelivered the next day unless something is going on that they aren't telling me. I have many reasons to be suspicious.

I'm in such a bad mood that I don't even feel like going to rocket launches or out to the observatory anymore. My feet and shoulder hurt so much that I'm not even sure I could make the long drive to West Texas. It wasn't a pleasant drive even when I was feeling better last year. Florida is a different story. SpaceFlight Magazine seems to be under new management and they don't appear quite as interested in me these days. Hotel and rental car rates continue to increase as well. People are traveling again and flight are often full. It's a mess. I think I liked traveling more when the world was completely locked down.

The weather has been just as weird as everything else this Winter. One day it is 70 degrees and the next day it is freezing. The changes from day to day can be dramatic. Today was quite warm. I was able to take my long walk wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Just a few days ago I was wearing a down jacket. This inconsistency certainly isn't helping my overall mood. I don't mind having four seasons, but the seasons need to behave. Winter should be cold. Summer should be hot. And Spring and Fall should be nice. So far, we seem to be packing Winter, Summer, Spring, and Fall into a single month.

It's been a long day, but I've finished my dinner and taken this week's trash out to the curb. I'll probably just have shredded wheat for breakfast again even though I've been planning to resume my Friday restaurant breakfasts for weeks now. I'm really proud of Dawn. She seems to be doing a better job of adjusting to her new life than I am.

Hannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2347

It has been unseasonably cold this month. When I wake up on a damp, grey day like today, it's easy to imagine that I'm still living in Seattle. I'm not a fan of dreary, wet weather, but the cool mornings have definitely been beneficial for Dot. It's easier to take our limited walks in the morning when we don't have to worry about the heat. Dot seems to be getting back to normal, but each new normal plateau is a little slower and more debilitating than the one before. Maybe next week we'll try water therapy again. It would be easy to just give up at this point, but I think we've got to try.

I rescheduled the plumber to come out and fix the leaking faucets and made a mental note to take my car in for service tomorrow morning. Oddly, on this day last year I was also planning to take my car in for service in the morning and thinking that Dot was getting back to normal even though she was already in decline. I need to be careful about reading old blog posts. It can be unsettling to realize how completely monotonous and repetitious my life has become.

Since it was a slow day and I wasn't in a very good mood, I wrote a long letter to my financial adviser detailing why I was so unhappy with my portfolio's performance. It was pointless to write this letter, since my broker is who he is and isn't going to change just because I don't agree with his investment strategy. A normal person would just quietly find a new broker, but I'm not a normal person. I'm a writer. In almost every aspect of my life, I feel compelled to have the last word.

Dot was always an independent dog, but she is becoming increasingly needy. At certain times during the day she will whine or bark if I don't come and sit next to her until she goes to sleep. I guess this is inevitable. The dogs have always depended on us for food and shelter, but now Dot depends on Janet and I for everything. She can't even get up or walk without our help. I try to be as unobtrusive as possible when assisting her. I remember during my Dad's final days, the thing he hated losing the most was his independence. I'm probably not the world's best caregiver, but I think that everybody should be able to keep their dignity as they age. Some day I'm going to be in the same situation as Dot. It can 't be easy when you are pooping all over yourself and can't even get out of bed in the morning.

I'm starting to see fresh peaches in the stores again. This is always a good sign. When I first started making smoothies for breakfast, peaches were my favorite ingredient. I've been having smoothies for breakfast for over a year now and it's important to have a little variety without deviating too much from the basic concept. When I started writing the blog, I was making elaborate and very creative omelettes each morning. Then, when I was being treated for Hepatitis C, I switched to hot oatmeal for a year or so. After I was cured, I went back to bacon and eggs for a while and then realized I had grown tired of cooking. I started eating granola with fresh fruit, but never really liked to idea of cold cereal for breakfast. The smoothies started shortly after we got the Vitamix machine. Fruit smoothies with a real breakfast on Friday has worked for quite a while now.

I'm seeing so many bunnies in the park this Spring. The coyotes in the neighborhood must have moved on, because I've never seen this many rabbits before. Like the peaches I'm starting to see, this is another good sign. I'd much rather have bunnies for neighbors than coyotes.

Skippy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1957

The nasty storms that blew through town last night were followed by clear blue skies and mild temperatures this morning. The beautiful weather was a bit of a surprise, but a welcome one. The dogs both enjoyed their walk today and it was hard to get them headed toward home again before they became too tired. Although he is continuing to get better, Dash still starts limping if he walks too far, and Dot just doesn't have the strength for a long walk yet. While we were headed home, we passed a fire department ambulance hopelessly stuck in the mud. I hope that there was nobody in the back, because it looked like it was going to be a long time before this particular ambulance was going to be delivering anyone to the hospital.

As I do on most days following a hard rain, I removed the standing water from the roof. Today I let the pump do most of the work. It takes a lot longer and I have to climb up and down several times, but removing the water is definitely easier this way. I let the pump run on the main roof while we were eating breakfast, changing the bed sheets, and doing laundry. Then I went up again and switched the pump to the lower carport roof while I swept off the residual water from the main roof. Sound exciting? No, I didn't think so. Hey, at least I got something done. This seems like a much better way to spend my time than all those people down in the park today who spent their afternoon sitting in a hammock. I counted about ten hammocks today. Apparently sitting in a hammock on a nice day is a popular thing to do.

Since I was thinking I'd mastered the basics of responsive design, I thought I'd try something a little fancier this afternoon. Apparently, I didn't master all that much. I was trying to add drop down menus to my rudimentary mobile friendly site and even watching the tutorial video three times didn't help. This is a lot different than Dreamweaver.

When I was getting groceries today, I stopped by the pharmacy and filled the prescription the oral surgeon gave me in January. The prescription consisted of an antibiotic and two painkillers. Great. So, having your wisdom teeth removed is going to hurt and there is a risk of infection. I'm still not very happy about having this tooth removed. I'm a very symmetrical person and it's going to drive me crazy to have more teeth on one side of my mouth than the other. You might wonder why I don't just have the wisdom tooth on the opposite side of my mouth removed too, but removing more teeth than absolutely necessary would also drive me crazy. I'll just be glad when this is over.

Dot seems to be in a bad mood tonight. She's been barking at me and Dash for most of the evening. I don't know what she wants. I've taken her outside three or four times and she just stands there. I think she's frustrated that although she is much stronger now, she is still not strong enough to do the things she wants. It would probably be frustrating for anyone to get a taste of freedom and then realize you are still not really free.

I'll probably go back to the gym tomorrow for the first time in ages. I used to get a lot of exercise walking the dogs, but now that both Dot and Dash are taking short, very slow walks, these excursions hardly even register on my UP band. I'm definitely not getting my 12,000 steps a day anymore. I could always mow the grass tomorrow, but I think I'll wait until the ground gets dry again. I don't want the lawn mower to get stuck in the mud like that ambulance I saw this morning.

Pogo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day