Day 1799

Sometimes I have trouble telling the difference between a cold day and a slow day. On cold days like today there is often plenty of work to do, but it still feels like I'm doing nothing because I never leave the house. Even though I kept myself busy and finished several writing jobs, my mind still wandered. I wanted to hear more about the report I heard that the Rosetta lander had discovered organic molecules on the comet. This would be very big new for anyone with an interest in astronomy or planetary science. I was confused when I heard that the Keystone Pipeline bill failed to pass in congress after receiving 59 votes. I guess I've forgotten everything I learned in high school civics class. After looking the topic up on Google, I discovered that 60 votes were required to prevent a filibuster. And what exactly is a filibuster? I know it's a bunch of people talking endlessly to delay things, but why?

The temperature was in the low 20's when I woke up this morning. The only advantage to this frigid weather was that the dogs don't get muddy on our morning walk. The ground was frozen solid and my boots made a crunching sound when I walked over the frost covered grass. Frost covered plants are actually kind of pretty, but we didn't linger long to observe. It was cold and we all knew that the house was much warmer. The only reason we made it as far as we did this morning was that there was absolutely no wind. On a windy day we would have just stayed inside.

I thought making a fancy omelet this morning would make the day more interesting, but it really didn't. I've seen the early morning Dr. Who re-runs on the BBC channel so many times that I've practically memorized them. Out of boredom I've gone back to watching the news. I flip back and forth between the liberal and conservative channels and find them equally irritating. There just isn't that much to like about a completely polarized society. Occasionally CNN is OK, because they seem to focus more on plane crashes and volcanoes than politics. I hate politics. I wish there was a TV channel that just showed interesting Ted Talks, or maybe featured obscure news about black holes or CERN's Large Hadron Collider.

You may wonder why as a writer, I often talk about watching television and seldom mention anything about reading. I used to be an obsessive reader, but my eyes have gotten bad and reading just isn't that satisfying anymore. The last book that made any impact on me was A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. Geek Love by Katherine Dunn was pretty good too. I used to love everything that John Fowles wrote, even the non-fiction. I was such a fan that I even visited his home in Lyme Regis once. When Fowles died, so did a lot of my desire to read. I'm so far behind that The Shipping News still seems like a new novel to me. I bought a copy once, but have never gotten around to reading it.

There are more articles to write tomorrow and I'll probably go back to having oatmeal and fruit for breakfast. I hope the dogs aren't getting too cold on their walks. They both seem to like the brisk weather, which is more than I can say.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

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Day 1499

I skipped the networking breakfast this morning. Maybe I'm growing tired of bacon, or maybe I just didn't have any interest in learning about how to retain good sales managers. That's the trouble with these networking breakfasts. The food is good, but the speakers very seldom deal with anything I'm remotely interested in. These aren't exactly Ted Talks here. Since I have to give one of these talks myself later this Spring, I shouldn't be too disparaging. I still don't know what I'm going to talk about, but I bet it will be a little different than what these folks are used to.

Since I wasn't stuffing myself with bacon and sausages, I walked the dogs and had my usual bowl of oatmeal and fruit. It was really cold on our walk this morning. All the vegetation was covered with frost. I'm sure glad the furnace is working again. This ongoing tug of war between heat and cold will continue through April. Then it will just be hot all the time. Basically, Texas weather is hopeless.

Since Dot had an acupuncture treatment on Monday when we took her to the vet for her spinal X-Ray, she didn't go for her usual Wednesday therapy today. This made the entire day sort of topsy-turvy. When I finished my work for the day, I used Dot's time slot to go to the gym. I frequently go to the gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but have never gone on a Wednesday before. Much to my surprise the place was crowded. What would make a Wednesday afternoon different than a Tuesday afternoon? Both are workdays. At any rate, I think I'll go back to working out on Tuesdays. You should know my style by now. When I go out in public, I like my destination to be empty.

I had a lot of work to do today, and none of it was very interesting. I won't bore you with the details. Tomorrow should be interesting though. I have an appointment with my hepatologist to discuss, and perhaps even begin, my new Hepatitis-C treatment. I still don't have any idea what this new treatment involves, but I've heard that it is much more effective than the old interferon and ribavirin combo. I'm looking forward to finally putting all this behind me. If the new medicine works, I should be completely virus free in six months. I still find it ironic that I am being treated at the very same hospital that gave me the transfusion of bad blood that started this whole mess over 30 years ago.

I watched a fascinating documentary about J.D. Salinger last night on PBS. I never realized that Salinger kept writing prolifically right up until his death in 2010. He supposedly wrote dozens of unpublished novels and kept the manuscripts in a safe at his New Hampshire home, stipulating in his will that they weren't to be published until 50 years after his death. I don't think J.D. Salinger would have liked the Internet.

Raider is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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