Day 3089

What a race. Justify is simply a spectacular horse. It isn't often you get to see a triple crown winner. Well, we did see one just three years ago, but it's still pretty rare. Hey, I'll admit it. I like horse racing. It's a simple sport. The fastest horse wins. Baseball games are too long for me. I enjoy a good football game if the right teams are playing, but I rapidly lose interest in basketball and soccer. Horse racing is just right. After an intense couple of minutes, it is all over. I wonder if Justify will retire after today's race? Whatever the future has in store for this horse, he certainly deserved today's win.

Janet discovered that you get 10% off on anything you buy at Whole Foods if you're an Amazon Prime member. That almost pays for the membership right there. I always thought Amazon Prime was pretty expensive, but a lot of people I know are believers. I'll probably become a believer next year as well. The Expanse is moving to Amazon after SyFy failed to renew the show for another season. It's weird. We've got so many different ways to watch TV now, and I spend my time watching old black and white Perry Mason shows I've already seen.

I've got to keep reminding myself that an offer from an auction house isn't exactly a sale. If no one bids on your item, you can actually end up owing the auction house money. There are no guarantees, but at least there is a market for art and collectibles. Try selling an old computer. Nobody wants an old, slow computer. You can't even give an old computer to schools. I've come to realize that there is a sweet spot for selling everything. I waited too long to sell my Citroën SM. I probably won't live long enough for my odd collection of calculator watches to become valuable. Lets hope the things I'm consigning now are right in the sweet spot.

There's a lot of talk about suicide right now. I wonder if anything can really be done about it. Suicidal people seldom reach out for help and are often very good at hiding their feelings. My mom had several suicidal episodes during her life, but if you didn't know her extremely well, you never would have known anything was wrong. I'm no expert, but maybe suicidal people just care too much. People who don't give a shit are rarely suicidal. They just drive other people crazy. Have you ever heard of a self absorbed person who spends all day talking about themselves committing suicide? Me neither.

Dash is doing better than I expected this Summer. It's getting really hot, but as long as we confine our walks to sunrise and sunset, we're fine. Lately, there's even been a nice breeze when we walk. The key is to stay inside the during the middle of the day. The sun shows no mercy at noon in Texas. Dash likes to naps during the middle of the day anyway. I should probably just nap with him. There isn't much on my schedule.

One of the few things that's always on my schedule s going to the gym on Sunday. That's where I'll be tomorrow. It sure beats mowing the grass on a hot Summer day.

Liberty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1659

I can't say that I'm a big soccer fan, but I did watch the game between USA and Belgium today, mostly because so many people were talking about it. I don't think have the patience for this kind of game. I watched for over an hour and nobody scored. Eventually, I got tired of the game and took the dogs for a walk. When we got back, the game was still going on. It's rare that a sporting event captures my attention for very long. I probably like watching horse races the best. The race is over in just a few minutes and you can bet on the horses.

It was a slow day, so I went to the gym this afternoon. It was an anniversary of sorts. Exactly one year ago today, I joined the gym. I don't think I had great expectations at the time. It was just something to do on a hot Summer day. In retrospect, I've made quite a bit of progress. Most importantly, I'm still going! I rarely continue anything this long unless it has something to do with the dogs. I don't think I will ever become obsessed with physical fitness. Exercise is about as exciting as watching soccer to me. I have taken the advice of my hepatologist to heart though. He managed to convince me that a good diet was only part of the equation. Healthy food needs to be combined with lots of activity to produce the desired results. There's a lot of biology and chemistry involved, but it should suffice to say that diet and exercise go together.

I wish I was making as much progress with my business as I am at the gym. It seems like I was a lot busier last July. I have two website clients who keep me very busy and half a dozen others who need me sporadically. This isn't really enough, but I'm not sure what to do about it. I've had a real good run since I started the company in 1990, but I'm loathe to go after new business anymore. I'm far too used to being the Wizard of Oz. Sometime while I wasn't looking, Toto pulled back the curtain and ruined everything. I've been exposed. Most of what I do has become a low paid commodity to the generation that replaced me. I still chase after the low hanging fruit from time to time, but all too often it is full of worms. I'm beginning to think that the business isn't worth it anymore and I might have more fun working at the genius bar in an Apple store.

I'm still interested in photography, but I'm losing interest in the gear. I take the majority of my pictures using my phone now, just like everyone else. I saw a beautiful, very large butterfly outside the living room window this morning, I ran back to the office to grab a good camera and by the time I got back, the butterfly was gone. That's the trouble with lots of equipment. It's hard to be spontaneous. I used to like to create complex, beautiful images in a studio. Now, I prefer to just capture images as I find them. The phone is great for that. For a cynical person, I still see quite a bit of beauty in the world.

Bentley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day