Day 1743

Surprisingly, everything turned out well today. I walked Dash while Janet fed Dot her breakfast and when we returned, Dash just went to sleep until it was time to go to the vet. I didn't expect this, but it made life a little easier. Dash's blood was free of lipids this time, so we got a good sample for the thyroid level tests. Dot got her DHPP and Bordetella vaccinations when she went to the vet a little later, and so far she has had no adverse reactions. Hopefully, we're done with shots and lab work for a while.

Despite the multiple vet appointments, I still managed to get quite a bit of work done. There were the usual website updates, along with a new writing assignment. I didn't finish the writing assignment, since it was longer than usual, but it will give me something to do tomorrow.

I'm wondering what's so special about IOS 8. I installed it on my phone several days ago and still haven't noticed anything different. There are supposed to be hundreds of new features, but apparently none of them have any impact on the five simple apps I actually use. The camera is supposed to gain several additional features with the new operating system, but it still doesn't have the features I've been wanting since the very first iPhone. I can't understand why you can't manually focus the camera, or control the f-stop. These two things seem pretty basic to me.

One of the dog's vets was telling me today how much her kids liked Dr. Who. I'm pretty fond of Dr. Who myself, so it made me wonder if I was still basically a kid at heart. I certainly don't tend to see "adult" solutions to most of the world's problems. The world is simple to me. Unemployment? Just start manufacturing things in this country again the way we used to and there will be plenty of jobs. Global warming? If global warming is caused by man like everyone says it is, just quit having kids for a generation. The population growth will slow dramatically, nature will reclaim what it lost, and everything will be fine. Terrorism? Just don't let these guys on planes. Ever! No exceptions for anyone. Keep your oil and keep your camels and let the rest of the world get back to business.

None of this will ever happen though. Too many people still believe that globalization is a good thing and that by relentlessly promoting diversity, we can somehow all learn to get along. Not very likely. If your own family can't get along at Thanksgiving dinner, how is the whole world going to get along?  Personally, I think we have made such a mess of things that we ought to give the place back to the whales and the dolphins.

Enough with the seriousness though. It's not really part of my narrative. I prefer to talk about dogs for a reason. Dogs aren't Democrats or Republicans. They may bite you, but they'll never lie. Feed a dog and treat it properly and you've got a friend for life. People are a bit different.

Sage is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1425

Dot and Dash got a bath this morning, since they'll be representing Dalmatian Rescue at a rescue event tomorrow. We went to a new self-bathe place near Janet's office and the dogs weren't impressed. The facility was actually quite nice, but it didn't matter to Dot and Dash. They hate getting a bath. The manager of the place ought to get some sort of salesmanship award. We walked away with two clean dogs, two new dog harnesses, and a pound of dog treats.

Since we'll be at the rescue event tomorrow, I decided to go to the gym today. The place was even emptier on Saturdays than it is on Sundays. This still seems strange to me, but Janet explained it to me this way. "People have things to do on weekends," she told me. "You're the only person I know who makes going to the gym the main event of your day." Maybe so. At any rate, it's nice to know when the place will be empty.

The Christmas tree stands are already going up all over town. Sure seems way too early to me. Jeez, it's not even Thanksgiving yet. If you went out and bought a Christmas tree today, it would be a dry stick of kindling wood by Christmas. You don't even hear much debate anymore about whether Christmas is being over commercialized. Everybody knows the answer by now. The answer is yes.

There's a lot of talk around town about the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination. Has it really been 50 years?  This really makes me feel old, since I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was going to high school in Alaska in 1963. That same year, a new group called The Beatles created a sensation with a song called I Want To Hold Your Hand. Where does the time go?

I'd like to think that the ensuing years were all eventful and important, but probably a lot of them were just like today. I didn't change the world today. I washed a dog, bought groceries for the week, shot a few baskets at the gym, and put clean sheets on the bed. That's about it. After I finish writing the blog, I'm going to cut out a lot of little adhesive black spots that children can attach to the big dog in our "make a Dalmatian" game tomorrow.

Nope, I don't think I'll be changing the world tomorrow. Fifty years ago, I actually thought I might. I think a lot of us did. Little did we know that it would be the world that changed us instead.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day