Day 3325

I think we're well on our way to becoming a surveillance society. Companies know so much about us already, but they still want to know more. I called my insurance agent today to ask about a low mileage discount. I hardly drive at all anymore, so I thought if these things exist, maybe I could lower my bill. The reason I wanted to lower my bill was that I'd just received it and of course, it was higher than it was before. "Sure, we can lower your bill," the agent told me. "Let me send you a small tracker you can install in your car and then all you have to do is download our Safe Driver app on your phone." "How big a discount will I get," I asked. "We can't tell you right away," the agent said. "After we've been able to analyze your driving habits for about six months, we'll revise your premium." "So what you're telling me is that my premium could actually go up after six months," I said. The agent was silent.

My insurance company is becoming just like the phone company, the cable company, Facebook, and everybody else. These companies want to learn your habits, get all your data, and then sell it to third parties who will bombard you with targeted advertising and telemarketing calls. I would have preferred to give the agent two service reports from the Land Rover dealer spaced one year apart that would validate the actual mileage I drove in a year. Apparently, that wasn't an option.

I guess I'm on the wrong side of history. After dealing with the insurance agent, I called another company who wanted me to start paying them electronically. I didn't want to do this. After a long conversation where I explained to them that it was still perfectly legal to pay with a check, they finally relented and let me keep things as the are. I'm sure in about six months I'll get another letter saying that as a "courtesy" my account has been converted to electronic payments.

I've definitely reached the "get off my lawn" stage of life. These companies are just going to have to deal with me for another twenty years. I still like paper. I write letters. I save receipts. And I see no point in talking with Siri or Alexa. As far as I'm concerned the world was a better place when phones were dumb and people were smart. In case you've forgotten, we went to the moon fifty years ago. Have we really advanced that much since then? I don't really thing having my insurance company tracking my trips to the post office and the pharmacy is going to make the world a better place.

Doesn't it seem odd that our society has become obsessed with efficiency and yet nothing actually works. Maybe we should all slow down for a while. We might discover that inefficiency is actually better. Personally, I have lost all interest in speed. Whenever I see someone in a hurry it reminds me of the treadmill at the gym. Sure, you're moving but you're not actually going anywhere.

Today, I made the bed, walked Dash, cleaned up poop several times, fixed a dog boot, did a load of laundry, and took the trash out to the curb. I probably accomplished just as much as all the self-important movers and shakers I saw on TV while I was drinking my morning smoothie.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3286

There were only two people at the gym when I arrived this morning. This is a huge facility with a basketball court, a running track, and an Olympic sized swimming pool, so it's always weird to see the place so empty. Maybe everybody had Christmas plans. My own plans seldom change, so I hope this gym is still around five years from now. The giant hospital chain that owns the place could easily decide that it wasn't worth keeping the lights on for two people.

The weather was clear and cold today. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. There wasn't even much dew on the ground when we walked Dash this morning, so I felt like the the silicon coating on the roof might actually have a chance to dry properly. After breakfast, I went up and took a look and was mildly disappointed that falling leaves had become stuck in the elastomer as it was drying. The crew also missed a spot, but it wasn't in a critical location. Hopefully, we'll be ready for the next band of thunderstorms that are headed our way.

A spring broke in my Aeron Chair today and the back no longer stays upright. Damn. When I bought this chair many years ago, they were guaranteed for life. I've had the chair repaired twice by Herman Miller, but the last time was well over ten years ago. Even back then, the lifetime guarantee was becoming the stuff of myth. It was kind of like the legendary JC Penny battery. A few people knew of the guarantee, but nobody had actually seen a chair that qualified. I think my serial number is low enough, but I lost my purchase receipt long ago since I bought the chair right after it was introduced in the early 1990's. I wonder if it is even worth the effort to try and get another free repair?

Dash's poop stayed on the puppy training pads last night, but then later in the day he pooped on the carpet in my office. I don't know why it never even occurred to me that the danger of an accident was just as real during the day. I guess I'm going to need to place a puppy pad under him at all times now. When he wakes up from a nap, it seems to take a lot more effort for him to get up. Sometimes this extra effort causes him to poop. There are different techniques to cleaning the bricks, the carpet, and the bedding. I'm becoming an expert at all three.

I listened to a show about big data on the way to the way to the gym where a researcher had compared the results of large scale surveys with Google searches during the same period of time. His conclusion was that everyone lies when taking a survey because we lie all the time. Even though the surveys were anonymous, people want others to think well of them. We tend to say we voted even when we didn't and tend to say we care even when we don't. Conversely, there is no incentive to lie when you are looking for something on Google. If you lie, you won't find what you were looking for. So, I guess Google knows what we are really thinking, but the politicians don't. Sounds about right to me.

I felt like taking a nap when I came home from the gym, but I vacuumed the house instead. Hey, I put a few more steps on the Fitbit that way. Sundays are often 20,000 step days. I wonder if staying active just to get a higher Fitbit number is a subtle form of lying? Who am I kidding? Everybody knows I prefer napping to vacuuming.

Ziggy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day