Day 4308

Sunday is all about walking and eating. Janet fixes a big dinner and I spend most of the day walking. I should be fixing things around the house but almost everything that needs attention is way out of my league. I like walking because it's easy to convince myself that I'm doing something healthful and beneficial while I'm really just killing time.

Dawn went back to taking the short way home on her sunrise walk this morning. Maybe she was just saving her energy for the Sunday outing that came later. Dawn seems to love walking in this other park, although she whines in the car the entire way there. She's never been big on riding in the car.

There was a light mist when I took my long walk after breakfast. It cleared up a bit later in the morning and I was hoping that the forecast had changed. Nope. Severe weather is still headed our way and probably should arrive within an hour or so. Most of the really bad weather is to the North of us, but we are still under a tornado warning. I'm always apprehensive about bad weather. Power outages are common and too many things can go wrong. I keep wondering if there is a place where the weather is always perfect, but nothing comes to mind. We have the occasional tornado, but other places have floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and terrible winters. I shouldn't complain. Actually, Dallas weather has been better than most of the country this year.

Dawn is getting really bold. She even comes out in the kitchen when I'm fixing her dinner now. We're not best buddies yet, but we are making progress. She's real friendly early in the morning, but as the day progresses she remembers that I'm a man and not to be trusted. I wonder what those two guys who used her for breeding did to her. She clearly has some bad memories.

I should hurry up and finish this post because the storm keeps getting closer. I can hear thunder off in the distance now. If the power does go out, I can usually keep writing using the laptop. I've had to do that a few times before. I've even got an alternate way to get on the Internet using my little mobile hotspot. I still don't like storms though. We've got too many big trees in our yard that could come crashing down on the roof.

Tomorrow we'll visit the Dalmatian Rescue kennel again. There's a new girl entering the program, but I think she might still be at the vet getting her initial checkup. I'll take my camera anyway, just in case. We always enjoy meeting the new dogs, but we enjoy seeing Charlie too. He's been at the kennel so long that I'm sure he thinks it is his home.

Dawn enjoyed her ice cream cone today. I enjoyed our dinner tonight. It was a very nice day, even though very little happened. I guess I should say that very little has happened yet. The big storm is still not arrived.

Neo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3048

It was a nice, uneventful day. Everyone got enough sleep. Dash seemed in good spirits. And the weather was wonderful. I had no plans for the day and was determined to keep things that way. I went to the gym right after walking Dash and eating breakfast. It was the path of least resistance. You don't have to think at the gym. You just follow routines.

There were plenty of things that needed to be done around the house when I returned, but I watched another episode of The Expanse instead. Now I'm all caught up on Season 3 and will have to start watching the show on Wednesday evenings. I can see the appeal of binge watching on Netflix now. A lot of current season shows are available for streaming on the SyFi Channel, but all the commercials are there. To avoid the commercials, you have to wait until you can find what you're looking for on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or iTunes. It's probably worth the wait.

I probably should have a little more respect for commercials. They did provide me with a pretty good income for decades. In retrospect, I wish I'd worked for Space X. Going to Mars seems like a worthy goal. Getting someone to eat a taco, not so much.

The world of The Expanse is pretty bleak. Apparently, 200 years from now we are still involved in continual wars and are on the verge of annihilating ourselves as a species. Personally, I don't think humanity will have spread across the solar system in 200 years. It's been almost 50 years since we went to the moon and we haven't been able to get back there yet. Maybe I'm wrong. Medicine and technology are advancing faster than I ever imagined. I could never have predicted that I'd be walking around with a little phone in my pocket that was so powerful it has basically replaced my camera, my computer, the weatherman on TV, my rolodex, and most of my friends.

It's kind of irritating that I'm having problems with acid reflux again. I thought I'd put this all behind me. After taking Pantoprazole for ten years, my doctor convinced me to stop and I was actually doing very well without the proton pump inhibitor for at least three years. I'm almost certain the problem is just a lack of discipline on my part. When I was being treated for Hepatitis C, I completely changed my diet. For the first time ever, I was really eating healthy meals. It made a difference. After I was cured, I gradually began backsliding. I still don't drink and try to eat healthy meals, but I am eating red meat and pasta again. I've resumed eating bread and occasionally enjoy a pizza. Sadly, I can't handle Italian food anymore. Even a cheeseburger is risky these days. A mostly vegetarian diet completely eliminated the acid reflux, but it was so boring. There's always a price to pay for pleasure.

It's hard to believe that it's almost May. It's been such a chilly Spring that the furnace is still coming on at night. I should enjoy these cool mornings, because they won't be around much longer. The temperature will be over 100 soon and I'll be turning 70. I'm not looking forward to either event, although my advanced age will get me out of jury duty.

Parker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day