Day 3788

Fake news isn't limited to politics. If you try to fix a computer using online tips and suggestions, you will encounter an almost unlimited amount of nonsense. It's frustrating to wade through inept YouTube videos, argumentative user forums, and out-of-date manufacturer tutorials, but you can still learn a lot. That's how I spent my morning. I'm still trying to figure out what went wrong in yesterday's botched computer upgrade. I eventually learned enough to ask some intelligent question when I was able to connect with a tech support person later in the day. A sane person would probably realize that this computer is too old and give up, but I am determined to fix it.

We got a lot of rain overnight, but the skies were already starting to clear up when we got up this morning. As soon as the rain quit, we took Dawn on her morning walk. We took a different path today and saw some parts of the park we rarely visit. Dawn loved the cool, overcast weather. It was windy though and I should have worn a light jacket. It's almost impossible to know what to wear at this time of year. You can be cold one minute and then hot five minutes later. No complaints however. 60 degree days are so much better than 100 degree days.

Our Pulse Oximeter arrived in the mail today. Janet and I both have excellent blood oxygen levels. We'll add this little gadget to the infrared forehead thermometer and growing stack of masks on a shelf in the entry hallway. I was curious how pulse oximetry works. The device clamps on your finger  and sends two beams of light through your skin, measuring the level of oxygen saturation in your blood. By comparing the ratio of the red light to infrared light that is absorbed by the blood, a little computer in the oximeter can quickly determine your current blood oxygen levels. For an inexpensive little device, it is all very complex and surprisingly accurate. I have an oxygen saturation level of 97%. Not bad.

I wonder what I'll be measuring next month. People have become obsessed with their health lately.  Some of this is a good thing, but there is a lot of paranoia as well. Nobody wants something invisible in the air to kill them. When I see people driving around alone in a car wearing a mask and gloves I thing we may have gone too far. I'll give these people the benefit of the doubt however. Maybe they are headed toward a crowded destination and just wanted to get ready ahead of time. The masks I see in the park still baffle me. Usually these people are walking alone and are nowhere near another person. This is what fear will do to you. I continue to believe that fresh air is good. I'm not going to ride in a crowded elevatory with you any time soon though.

Tomorrow it's time to go to the store again. I don't really enjoy these excursions, but they don't take long. Grocery shopping is the only time I feel like I'm living in a science fiction movie. I don't know if I'll ever get used to seeing a store full of people walking around wearing masks. I ordered a new battery this evening, along with a few more installation tools for my laptop. I don't know if this will solve my problems, but I hope so. The computer still runs on AC power with the battery removed, so at least I haven't ruined the logic board. I'd like to say tomorrow is a new day, but it's still groundhog day at our house.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3780

I've been interested in astronomy for a long time. I'm certainly no expert, but I do know the basics. That's why I've been completely baffled to keep seeing articles on the Internet saying that the Moon, Jupiter, and Venus will form a smiley face in the sky on May 16th. If you Google this event you will literally find dozens of articles, some from seemingly reputable sources, telling you how and when to view this rare celestial show. I've even started seeing Facebook friends telling each other to mark their calendars.

Have any of these people actually gone outside and looked at the sky? Jeez. There isn't going to be a smiley face in the sky. It's not going to happen. On May 16th, Venus shines brightly in the evening sky after sunset, but you won't see Jupiter unless you get up early the next morning and look toward the East a little before sunrise. These two planets are on the opposite sides of the sky. The Moon is a waning crescent at this time, but it isn't even thin enough to look like a smile. The only planet anywhere close to it is Mars.

So how could so many people be completely wrong? Do people actually believe what they see on the Internet more than what they can see with their own eyes? Sadly, the answer is yes. This isn't rocket science, people. Just go outside and look at the sky. I'm kind of amazed that none of the many "fact checker" websites have called out the "smiley face" story as a hoax. They probably believe the story too.

I think the reason this obviously false story persists is that people like a smiley face. A smiley face makes them feel good. They want to believe the story. A smiley face in the sky is an innocent little story but it illustrates perfectly why fake news is so prevalent today. People believe what they want to believe. Nobody questions anything in a clear, dispassionate way anymore. You find something that supports your preconceived opinion and then you tell your friends about it. If enough people agree with you, your opinion goes viral. I doubt that the bogus smiley face story is any sort of conspiracy. It's just laziness. There actually have been conjunctions of the Moon, Jupiter and Venus in the past. I think the last time this happened was in 2008. You can see almost anything in the sky if you wait long enough.

I don't know why the smiley face story bothers me so much. Perhaps it is because it illustrates human nature so well. If you can easily convince people to ignore the laws of physics, you can convince them of anything. Almost everything we see and hear in the media has been designed to influence you in one way or another. Ads try to influence you to buy something you may or may not need. It's pretty easy to do this because people are gullible and they have emotions. I spent my entire career trying to influence you and got pretty good at it. Today, what used to be called "hard news" has just become another form of advertising. These news sources feed you a steady diet of what you already believe so you will continue watching. Pick your poison. It's not that hard to to find something that appeals to you these days. Maybe you like OAN and Fox. Maybe you like CNN and MSNBC. Don't expect that what you are hearing is true however. You are being manipulated.

If you have your heart set on seeing something cool in the sky on May 16, just wait until the next morning. If you get up around 5 AM on May 17 you can see Jupiter and Saturn extremely close together in the Eastern sky. The two planets will only be a few degrees apart. No smiley face though. I have no idea when that will happen again.

Bea is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3735

I'm glad I went to the gym yesterday. I got an e-mail this morning saying that they were closing until further notice. Stores are closing. Restaurants are closing. The world as we know it is starting to disappear. No wonder people are buying everything in the grocery stores. Things are changing so rapidly that it's hard to tell what is going to happen next.

Janet and I both went back to get more groceries today. I think we've got plenty of food for at least a month. As luck would have it, they were restocking the bottled water when I went to the store, so I added to our supply. Janet got extra food for Dawn and lots of things we can freeze. We've got plenty of food, water, medicine, and household supplies now. Eventually we'll use all these things, but I hope our lives don't depend on them.

It's weird that everything is closing to keep people from congregating, but the grocery stores are still full. There was no social distancing at the store I went to today. The place was packed and people were buying like there was no tomorrow. It's hard to know what to buy for the apocalypse. If things really do get bad, I imagine that most of us will realize that we bought the wrong things.

I heard that the stock market had it's worst day in history, dropping 3,000 points in today's session. This is not good. A lot of small businesses will be wiped out. It's sad to see so many restaurants closing. Owning a restaurant is not easy during the best of times. I hope all my favorite places survive. When this all blows over, there is going to be a huge desire to go out to eat again. Canned beans and tuna fish are going to get real old after a while.

This is a bad time to lose faith in the media. There is so much information floating around and it's almost impossible to tell which of it is true. I was feeling pretty good when I read that if you could hold your breath for ten seconds, your lungs were in good shape and it was unlikely you had the virus. On a good day I can hold my breath for thirty seconds. Later, I was disappointed to read that this test was bogus and had nothing to do with the coronavirus. The theory that drinking lots of hot tea or other hot liquids will kill the virus turns out not to be true either.

It looks like I'll have plenty of time to write my Sky and Telescope article. I'll start writing tomorrow before the memories begin to fade. Even though my trip to McDonald Observatory was cut short, I had some very memorable experiences. It was an amazing week. If I can manage to turn my time on the mountain into an article worthy of publication, a little home quarantine might even be worth it.

I wonder if society is going to fundamentally change after this pandemic runs its course and things return to normal? I can't remember a time where we were all actively encouraged to stay away from each other. It would be ironic and even a little funny if a lot of people started living like me. What if people discovered that living in relative isolation wasn't all that bad? It's been my little secret until now. If you stay away from people, you automatically remove most of the things that cause you stress.

I don't think my life will change all that much, even if we are in a lockdown. I've been known to go weeks without leaving the house even when things were normal. I doubt that anyone will ban walks in the park. Outdoor air and exercise are good for you. I guess we'll all just have to wait and see what happens. This is all new. I have no idea what will happen next, but I hope it ends well.

Ruthie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2972

Why can't you purchase individual TV channels? Janet and I only regularly watch five or six channels, but for years have been forced to buy an expensive cable package with hundreds of unnecessary channels just to get the ones we like. Cutting the cord sounds appealing, but it's turning out to be just as difficult to find our favorite channels on popular streaming packages. You'd think Hulu Live, Sling TV, or Direct TV Now would include PBS in their lineup. PBS is almost as basic as local news. Nope. Even the most expensive packages don't offer PBS. Nobody offers MeTV either. I like this weird little channel because it has all the old Perry Mason and Twilight Zone shows I watch while I fall asleep. Very few people offer NASA TV. This just seems like a public access channel like CSPAN. I though you had to offer public access channels. Maybe I'm stuck with paying too much for cable. It was a slow day and I had a lot of time for comparison shopping. I couldn't find anything I liked.

I'm still trying to figure out why my WiFi connection crashes occasionally. A quick Google search revealed that lots of other people were having the same problem. So many people were complaining about connectivity issues between AT&T and Apple computers that you'd think one of these companies would have come up with a solution. Nope. Neither of these corporate giants would even acknowledge there was a problem.

Here's where things get difficult. If you want to learn how to fix your car, your refrigerator, or your broadband router on the Internet, you've got to sort through dozens, or even hundreds, of wacko solutions offered by ordinary folks and hope that one of them doesn't make things even worse. You'd think people would agree on how to fix something, but they never do.

Fake news isn't limited to politics. It's everywhere. Most diet plans you read about online are fake news. So are restaurant reviews, miracle cures for cancer, and stories about the best food for your dog. When did people become so confident about information that is at best just an opinion? I try to avoid telling people how to fix things. At least I realize that my opinions are probably no better than all the others out there. So far, I don't have the nerve to reconfigure my router based on something I heard on the Internet.

Hey, I did manage to get my refrigerator running again from watching a YouTube video. I've learned a lot about fixing old watches online too. The problem is that I never actually become an expert by watching a YouTube video. Most things I fix end up breaking again. I read a lot about routers today and I still don't really understand how they work. Why can't AT&T or Apple give me reliable, trouble free WiFI? I shouldn't have to do their work for them.

Maybe I should limit myself to simple things. I'm pretty good at doing laundry and finding dog poop in the yard. My morning smoothies are better than anything you'd find at Smoothie King. I make a mean omelet when I'm in the mood too. Maybe this is enough.

At least Dash had a good day. He ate well, took two nice walks, and only got me up once last night. So far, we haven't has any shivering episodes. I was the only one shivering today. It is still very cold.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2663

It's fascinating how the same wildflowers reappear year after year. There are hundreds of varieties in the park and I've learned the names of many of them over the years. Nobody waters or tends to these flowers, but they seem to do just fine. In fact, they seem indestructible. We've had unusually wet years and unusually dry years and the wildflowers just keep blooming every Spring. Many of these flowers are actually considered weeds, but they are still quite spectacular in April. I see something new almost every day now and it makes my walks with Dash more interesting.

I saw my first Spider Milkweed plant this morning. Some people call these Antelope Horn Milkweed and they are supposed to attract Monarch Butterflies. This morning they seemed to be attracting a lot of bees.

Dot woke us up last night trying to re-position herself. When I tried to lift her up so she could move, it caused her to pee. I had to turn the light on to see what was going on. This woke Janet up and we tried to get her harness on so we could take her outside. At this point she decided to poop as well. While Dot was outside I changed all her bedding and ran a load of wash. By the time I got back to bed, I'd been up almost an hour. Luckily, it was early Sunday morning. We all slept in until almost nine AM. I wish they made large puppy training pads that would cover her entire bed. That would make cleanup a lot easier. Huge absorbent pads would probably be too expensive though, especially at the rate we go through them. I buy them by the case now.

I finally made it back to the gym this afternoon. Although I've been following exactly the same routine for several years now, I've been noticing that I'm not burning quite as many calories as I used to. I feel just as tired when I am finished, but I must be slowing down. The fitness tracker doesn't lie. I must be slowing down at everything I do. It takes longer to mow the lawn now and it's even tiring to make the bed. Don't laugh. Getting a fitted sheet on our low platform bed takes more effort than you might think.

On slow days like this I drive myself nuts trying to figure out how to get all the office computers on the same page. Some are new with the latest operating systems. Others are ancient. One of the biggest drawbacks to upgrading everything is my accounting software. It's so old now that I'm not sure that a modern replacement would be able to import my files. The old software works just fine, since the rules of accounting haven't changed much over the years. It would be nice to be able to keep all the computers in sync though. I still haven't come up with a good solution.

I had to renew Dot's Tramadol today. It's always harder to get controlled substances like Tramadol and Phenobarbital renewed. The pharmacist always has to get an OK from the vet, even if the dogs have been taking the pills forever. I guess this makes sense. You don't want to be taking pills like these for the wrong reasons. I think we're going to have to increase Dot's pain medication soon. It's complicated. Do we discontinue the Tramadol and just give her more Gabapentin? Do we increase the dosage of both meds? Or do we try something new entirely. Luckily, Dot's oncologist is very knowledgable about pain management. We'll be talking to her later this month.

My anti-virus software says I've got a virus. I did some research on Google and discovered that quite a few people think my anti-virus software is worthless and that the file that was identified as a virus is really just a normal component of the Apple operating system. Who are you going to believe? If even my anti-virus software is full of fake news, the world is hopeless.

Livy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2655 - April Fools Day

I honestly couldn't tell any difference between the April Fools fake news on Facebook and the regular fake news. It's all just blended together now. Everything is fake news. I realize now that there was fake news long before it became a political hot potato. Most health news on social media is fake. I still fall for those articles that tell you that drinking beer is actually healthy for you, or that drinking a glass of red wine is the equivalent of spending thirty minutes at the gym. I think people figured out long ago that if you tell people what they want to hear, most of them will believe it.

I paid my phone bill really early this month to avoid last month's ridiculous late charge. I paid in plenty of time last month, but AT&T still maintains that it took two weeks for them to get my check. I know they are messing with me. I looked at this month's bill and they have shortened the payment period so the bill is basically late when you receive it. I know they are trying to force me to switch to electronic payments. I get little flyers inside my bill every month urging me to switch. This month there was even a message on the envelope encouraging me to stop using the mail. More any more companies want to abandon dealing with paper in the worst way and I hate it. I've been using paper checks for my entire adult life and see no reason to change now.

I have a feeling that the grocery store is messing with me too. Once again there were no blueberries. I even went to the store early today, but it didn't matter. The store apparently wants me to shop on Monday. Could it really be that hard to stock the store with produce before the store opens on Saturday morning? Maybe so, but I don't believe it. Probably some efficiency expert discovered that they could save money by cutting back deliveries on items that would stay fresh in the store for several days.

I mowed the grass in the front yard this morning. I would have mowed the grass in the back yard too, except there isn't any. Basically we killed all the grass and most of the ground cover by walking around behind Dot while holding her up for the past year and a half. I'm going to replace the grass in the back later this month, but I don't expect it to last. If it stays green and pretty for six months, I guess that's enough. The grass in the front is certainly green enough, but on closer inspection, a lot of the green is just weeds. Underneath the grass is a whole lot of clover, which it probably doing its best to choke out the grass. I don't use any chemicals or fertilizers on the yard because of the dogs, but I think my desire to protect them has given nature the upper hand. Weeds seem to love me now.

Dot seemed weak today. She stumbled a lot when we took our short walks. Since I support her now at both her shoulders and her hips, she didn't fall, but I could tell she was having trouble walking. I hate to see this happen, but there is little I can do to stop it. Dot seems very susceptible to the weather. It was very humid for most of the day. Maybe that made her more tired than usual. Hopefully, after a good rest tonight, she'll feel better in the morning.

I remembered something that I really needed to pick up at the store while I was walking Dash this morning. By the time we got home, I had completely forgotten what the item was. I still don't remember. This happens a lot these days. I did remember to do my website updates this morning though. I remembered to turn on the dishwasher after breakfast too and clean the load of clothes that had piled up in the washer. Sometimes I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle, but at least I'm still trying.

Haley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2642

I increased Dot's pain medication today. Actually, I'm only giving her the dosage the vet recommended, but it's still more than she was getting yesterday. Did the extra meds help? It's hard to tell. Dot slept well during her morning nap and actually did seem more active and engaged in the afternoon. She appeared tired on her afternoon walk though. It could have been the humidity, or maybe the pills are doing nothing at all. It sure would be easier if I could just ask Dot how she was feeling. If my own doctors prescribed pain medication the way vets do, lord knows what I'd be taking now. The doc would probably just twist my bad shoulder and when I screamed, he'd prescribe something for pain. I'm not a big fan of pain medication. A lot of it is addictive. For the most part, I've just learned how to compensate.

So, what do you do with a dog? A mild amount of discomfort will keep an injured dog from doing something stupid and injuring themselves further. Mild discomfort is kind of a reality check. Severe pain is something else entirely. Since cancer can cause severe pain, I rely on what the oncologist tells me when I take Dot for her periodic evaluations. We always run some tests to determine whether things are getting better or worse. I try to notice subtle changes too. Changes in behavior do mean something. Dot is definitely more uncomfortable than she was a year ago. She still seems happy though and rests easily without a lot of panting or muscle tenseness. I want Dot to be as happy and comfortable as possible as she completes her journey. It's hard to hit the sweet spot though. Too little medication leaves you in pain and too much turns you into a zombie.

I must really be bored. I spent an inordinate amount of time this afternoon looking for someplace new to have breakfast. I extended the radius I was willing to travel from five miles to ten miles and several new options turned up. Everybody basically offers the same thing on their breakfast menu, but the quality and price vary wildly. Who would have thought that there were so many variations on pancakes, bacon and eggs, migas, eggs benedict, breakfast tacos, and waffles. Yelp reviews aren't very much help. Some people actually seem to like crappy food. I found a place in Lakewood that sounded interesting and another in the lower Greenville area. Both are a little further than I usually travel, but what better have I got to do in the morning anyway?

Don't let me start talking about politics. Ever. Political discussion seems to be a virus that has infected most of my Facebook friends. I've never seen anything like it. The weird thing is that everyone is just preaching to the choir. I can't think of a single person I know that has actually changed someone's mind. If I did talk about politics, I'd probably just become a purveyor of fake news. It's almost too easy to rile someone up with fake news. Everyone is so locked into their preconceived view of the world that they'll latch on to anything that reinforces their beliefs. I feel like throwing a bucket of cold water over some of my friends. Good grief. The world isn't coming to an end and I doubt that we are on the verge of a new renaissance either. Ten years from now, you'll look back and wonder what all the commotion was about.

I just hope I'm still around ten years from now. People in my age range are dropping like flies. Almost every week I read about someone I know who has passed away or is fighting a losing battle with cancer. Not everyone is Betty White and quite a few folks never make it to 80. There's not much I can do to change the odds. If having a Dalmatian keeps you young, I'll live forever. If you need close friendships and a sense of community to keep you going, I'm probably a goner.

Val is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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