Day 3106

Years ago I thought nothing about hitchhiking around the country to save a little money. It was fun. Hitchhiking not only seemed safe, it actually was pretty safe. When I wanted to sell something back in the day, I would routinely run a classified ad in the local paper, confident that the buyer would be a nice, honest person. Times have certainly changed. A friend was trying to tell me today how to sell guitars on Craigslist without getting scammed or robbed. Jeez. There were so many precautions to take that it made my head spin. No thank you. Why would anyone trust someone on Craigslist or eBay these days? It's sad. These once promising marketplaces have become a minefield.

Maybe some of the bright young people who work at Space X still see a world filled with limitless opportunities. I tend to see Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Where has civility and simple decency gone?  We live in a world where people follow the UPS truck and steal packages off your porch. Real estate agents are frightened to show a house alone these days because of all the stories about assaults and robberies. Even police officers have stopped riding in their squad cars without a partner.

Dystopian science fiction has become way too close to real life. I think I prefer the simple minded black and white worlds of Perry Mason, The Kingston Trio, and Leave it to Beaver. Strangely, few people seem to want to follow me back to the 1950's. Hey, I'd gladly trade my cell phone for a world where you didn't have to lock your door at night.

Time only moves forward unfortunately. I still spend my days waiting for the roofer and the landscaper. I actually got a text message this morning saying that the dead grass will be replaced tomorrow morning. We'll see. I'm not going to get my hopes up though. I've heard promises before.

They did the wrong test on Dash's poop at the vet. I'm glad to know that he doesn't have parasites, but I still don't know whether there is any internal bleeding. I'll have to get another stool sample and have them do the test again. I thought I was pretty clear about what Dash needed, but maybe not. Janet says I mumble a lot and people don't really listen to me.

Dash has started eating grass again this evening. We've got our fingers crossed and hope he doesn't throw up tonight. If we're really lucky, we'll all sleep well and his poop will look normal in the morning. I try to focus on simple things like this. The world close to home still makes sense. Everything else is starting to seem like an episode of Black Mirror.

Derrick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2951

I'm mad at the FDA. I got a letter today saying that Nokia was removing the ability to measure Pulse Wave Velocity from my nifty WiFi scale. The company is apparently worried that they will be in violation of several new FDA rulings regarding medical devices. Why? I have read numerous reviews from well respected doctors saying that the Nokia scale is surprisingly accurate for a consumer device and that Pulse Wave Velocity measurements are a valuable tool to evaluate hypertension and heart health. Since the ability to measure Pulse Wave Velocity was the only reason I bought the scale, this decision makes me angry. It also illustrates the tenuous relationship we now have with the things we buy. Tesla can instantly change battery life and the performance of its cars through software patches. Apple can download U2 songs to your phone whether you want them or not. Apparently Nokia can remove features from its products whenever they wish. This all started with music and movies. You don't really own anything anymore. You are just allowed to use it. Now I have one more reason to hate bureaucracies, digital rights management, and any and all information stored in the cloud.

I still don't understand why the FDA wouldn't want people to have valuable information about their own health. I have a feeling that there is a lawsuit at the bottom of this decision. Maybe there are doctors who feel this new generation of home health tools will cause their patients to self diagnose. Who knows? The sad thing is that Nokia wasn't even forced to remove the Pulse Wave Velocity feature. They proactively trashed their own popular product because they were fearful of future regulations.

Probably this product will reappear for dogs soon. There aren't nearly as many regulations for pets. Sometimes I wish there were fewer regulations for humans, but more for pets. I'm never really sure whether what Dash is taking is safe. Vets have often suggested Gabapentin for our dogs. Apparently it is very effective at reducing some types of pain. I never gave Gabapentin a second thought until I started reading about how horrible it was in articles about the opioid crisis. It is an addictive drug with some frightening side effects. I would never give it to Dash after what I've read.

Life has become entirely too complicated. Some things are over regulated. Other things are under regulated. Everybody means well, but very few of us actually know what we are doing. Just look at our legislators. They are supposed to be our best and brightest, but they continue to act like idiots.

I try to keep things simple. I walked and fed Dash today and finished one of my two articles. I also sent an e-mail to Dash's vet with some questions about his upcoming exam. It wasn't a terribly busy day, but I didn't feel bored or unproductive. The weather still has me confused. It was warm enough yesterday that I could wear shorts and a t-shirt. Something apparently changed overnight. When I woke up this morning, Winter had returned.

I'll finish my remaining article tomorrow and probably brood about Nokia some more. What is wrong with that company? Don't they realize they are no longer in the cell phone business because of their cautious, backward attitude? I wish they had never bought Withings. Withings had some really cool, innovative products and now Nokia is ruining them.

Raider is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day