Day 2522

I felt good this morning. The rain has lifted and Dash and I walked under a partly cloudy sky, watching the dawn turn into a beautiful sunrise. It was also heartening to see that democracy still works.

I was beginning to wonder. To my democratic friends who think the world has ended, how could you not see this coming? You simply can't go around saying let them eat cake forever. I'm convinced that the election turned out the way it did because millions of good people got tired of being ridiculed and shamed for simply wanting to continue living according to the values their parents and grandparents taught them. Our parents were good people. They weren't burdened with the tyranny of political correctness. They had more important things to do than worry about gender neutral pronouns and safe spaces. They won World War II, went to the moon, and built an an amazing, vibrant country with the belief that we were a great melting pot where everyone could prosper by working hard and adopting a shared set of values. When a political party starts to ridicule those values, this is what happens. When you look at a political map, you see a vast sea of red surrounded by a few slivers of blue on either coast. It is arrogant and wrong for the elites to characterize this vast sea of red as an irrelevant bunch of ignorant racists, sexists, and homophobes. These people are America and they have spoken.

I'd like to see us adopt a shared set of values again. Diversity without the desire to assimilate just creates tribalism. That's where we are now. We are just a bunch of tribes with no particular loyalties to any of the other tribes. Remember that poem by William Butler Yeats where he says "when the centre cannot hold; anarchy is loosed upon the world?" That's where we're headed. So many things are falling apart because we have lost the center that kept us together for so many years.

Perhaps I had time to ruminate about politics because today was so slow. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm ever going to get any more writing assignments. I didn't even have any website updates today. I picked up some prescriptions at the pharmacy and spent the rest of the day walking Dot up and down the hallway. She is not sleeping as much as she did a few months ago. Now, I get summoned by her barking every hour or so. We walk around for a little while and then she gets tired and wants to lie down again. It's too bad we can no longer take the long, active walks we did when the dogs were younger. Dalmatians are very active dogs and I think they get frustrated when they spend too much time in the house. I get frustrated too.

I saw another meteor this evening. I guess that's one good thing about the time change. I don't like walking in the dark, but I do like looking at the stars. In less than a week I'm going to get a chance to see the largest supermoon since 1948. I've seen these close approaches of the moon before and it really doesn't look much bigger. Maybe this time will be different. I hope it doesn't rain on the 14th. I'd really like to see this.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2067

It's hard to know what Dot's limits are. She seems more enthusiastic about life now that she's not taking the Palladia pills, but she's not really very much stronger. Will continuing her exercise walks make her stronger, or will this activity just wear her out? I don't know. Walking Dot is like driving a car held together with duct tape.

Dot stumbled around when she first got up this morning and pooped in the house again, but seemed eager to walk a few minutes later. She seemed strong and confident even on the tough hills, but crashed as soon as we got home. I was hoping that she'd continue sleeping while I fixed breakfast, but the smell of sausages cooking woke her up and she got up and went to the kitchen where she could be certain that I would hear her barking. The entire day was like this. I'd be thinking that I'd worked her too hard and then she would roar back to life for an hour or two. Considering how active she was today, Dot did very well in the underwater treadmill. She's sleeping now though. Probably enough is enough.

It didn't take that long to get caught up on my assignments, since there were only two of them. Today was just about right. I did a little writing, did a little website work and still had time to fix myself French Toast and sausages. I even managed to get Dot to the vet on time, since the traffic was surprisingly light this afternoon. If it weren't still unbearably hot, I would have little to complain about today.

I find it fascinating that a 73 year old socialist and a 69 year old egotist have captured the nation's political attention. Who would have thought? Everyone is always talking about being sick of the Washington establishment, but maybe this time they mean it. If I was a politician, I'd be a little worried about Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. I'm not all that fond or either political party, but I definitely don't think we need another Clinton or Bush in the White House. It's time for something different. Don't expect me to get excited about the upcoming election though. I'm still a little nervous about democracy in general. Walmart and the Kardashians are great examples of democracy at work. You can never underestimate the will of the people. Basically, whoever wins, we deserve exactly what we get. If we really thought about who we were electing, we would do things a lot differently.

The roofers have promised to come out and patch my roof tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. I really don't have much faith in anybody these days. With no rain in sight, I guess there's no hurry in getting the elastomer coating repaired, but it will rain eventually. Probably the day after it rains will be when the roofers actually arrive. I've already taken the week's trash out to the curb. Maybe I'll go get my car safety inspected tomorrow. I've got to do it sometime this month anyway. I'll definitely go out and have a tasty breakfast tomorrow morning whether I make it to the dealership or not. My go-to Amigas plate is less expensive than a safety inspection and a lot more enjoyable.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day