Day 3433

Another 20,000 step day. It's not really that much of an accomplishment, but it will have to do for now. All I know is that keeping moving seems better than standing still. My routine at the gym hasn't changed, but I go earlier now. There is still plenty of time for several long walks and a few unavoidable household chores.

I had to go back to the grocery store today because I forgot to put several things on my list yesterday. You'd think I would have remembered these things while I was at the store, but I just blindly follow my list. I also spent a little time looking for boots at REI, but didn't see anything I liked. I'm beginning to think my problem isn't my shoes, it's my feet. It's probably time for a trip to the podiatrist and some expensive custom orthotics. I did this once a long time ago and it made a huge difference.

I couldn't figure out why one of the one of the backup batteries I used during the power outage yesterday wasn't recharging. I had just about convinced myself that the Lithium Ion battery had gone bad when I realized that I'd plugged the thing into a power strip that wasn't connected to anything. Sadly, this is what growing old is like. Nothing dramatic happens. You just go to the grocery store over and over again and start plugging things into dead outlets.

It was hard to believe that yesterday was filled with thunderstorms because today was beautiful. The sky was blue and the temperature was in the eighties. It was warm enough to remind me that hundred degree days and high water bills weren't that far away. I wonder how I'll feel about walking in July? Knowing my tenacity, I'll probably continue but it won't be fun.

The shower head has developed a weird drip that's driving me crazy. Some days I can turn the shower off and other days it continues to drip for hours. I don't think the faucets are bad because at least half the time they shut off perfectly. I took the shower head apart today and cleaned it, but that didn't seem to make any difference. Minor plumbing problems are maddening. One of the toilets is making a irritating whistling noise again. The whistling stopped on it's own for about three months and now it has started again. The toilet works perfectly but I don't like hearing the noise. I hate calling a plumber for things like these because frequently they don't know what's going on either. Plumbers are used to dealing with big problems. Little problems don't seem to interest them.

I wish this weather would make up its mind. The forecast says that another band of thunderstorms will be arriving around sunrise tomorrow. Will the power go out again? Will the roof leak? Will the roof blow off the greenhouse? I don't like all the uncertainty. Sometimes I wonder if a perfect place even exists. If it rains too much it floods. If it rains too little there are wildfires. I guess I should be happy that Dallas is usually somewhere in between these extremes.

I still haven't heard anything from NASA. Maybe I'll find out something this week. I have no idea whether I'll be accepted to attend the Falcon Heavy launch, but it would be nice to have a plan for June. Until then, I've got a fresh supply of berries for my morning smoothies and some reasonably comfortable boots. Sooner of later the rainy season will be over. You've just got to have patience.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2490

Forget what I said about wishing I could remember my dreams. I actually remembered a dream pretty clearly when I woke up this morning and it was pathetic. Somehow when I went outside to check the mail, I discovered a man building an elaborate rock garden in my front yard. I asked the man what he was doing and he told me that the yard needed something extra and that he would send me a bill. I argued with him for a while and then went back inside to discover that I wasn't in my own home anymore, but was at a housewarming party at the home of Dot's veterinarian. Dot wasn't at the party, but I did remember seeing a large Persian rug under the dining room table with a woven Dalmatian pattern. I asked if I could have the rug and then I woke up. This was nothing like the dreams I used to have many years ago where I had the ability to fly.

I always make a grocery list when I go to the store, but when I got home today, I noticed that I failed to buy several items that were clearly marked on my list. It wasn't like these items were out of stock.  I just completely forgot about them, even though I looked at the list at the store. This isn't like me. I'm usually very methodical. Is this how Alzheimer's begins? If I got Alzheimer's, probably nobody would know the difference. I don't remember much anyway.

Dot seemed was a bit stronger today. I don't know causes her dramatic change in energy levels from one day to the next, but I'm always glad when she has a good day. Maybe it's as simple as a change in temperature. Fall is definitely here and Dot loves the cooler weather. I had to wear a jacket for the first time on our morning walk. I think the temperature was in the low fifties when I woke up. I bought several Winter jackets at dirt cheap prices when the sporting goods store was going out of business earlier this Summer. I wasn't sure if I'd actually wear these coats then, but it turned out to be a good purchase. The feather light insulated jacket was perfect for mornings like this.

Couldn't we just have a do-over on this presidential election? Both candidates keep getting worse and worse. Even the two independent candidates are embarrassingly bad. I bet if there was a way to vote on just canceling the election and starting over, the measure would pass overwhelmingly. I don't buy the argument that you've got to vote for one of these candidates because the other one is worse. I think we need to admit that we have failed miserably as a country and just start over.

I got my first payment from Shutterstock today. Hey, it only took me a year. I guess this isn't so bad, considering that I only uploaded about ten photos to the stock library. I wish I could get motivated to upload hundreds, or even thousands of pictures. If I had more pictures available, this might end up being a decent form of passive income. Unfortunately, I lost interest in Shutterstock about two weeks after I joined. I got tired of having to extensively tag each photo with a long list of keywords before it was even approved. It was also pretty irritating when many of my favorite images got rejected for poor focus or excessive grain. I love shallow depth of field where only a small part of the image is in sharp focus and grainy images never bothered me at all. What do I know though? It is nice getting a check, so maybe I'll upload some more pictures.

Today wasn't a bad day at all. The weather was perfect. Even though Dot pooped in the house, she managed to avoid making a mess. For my part, I managed to get caught up on all my web assignments. Janet even fixed some delicious trout for dinner. I will have to go back to the grocery store tomorrow to pick up the items that mysteriously vanished from my memory today, but this is no big deal. A few more days like this would be just fine.

Madison is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day