Day 3101 - Summer Solstice

It certainly seemed like the longest day of the year. I didn't get that much accomplished, but I've been busy all day. It takes me so long to get things done now. By the time I walked Dash, ate breakfast, paid a few bills, and watched last night's episode of The Expanse, it was time to get my hair cut. I'd made the appointment for 2:15 this afternoon, thinking that it would give me plenty of time, but I was almost late.

By the time I got home again, it was already time to feed Dash his dinner. I always feel better after a haircut. I may not look any younger, but at least I don't look like a madman. Maybe if I cut my hair more frequently, the transformation wouldn't be so severe. I used to go shopping when I made this periodic trip to Northpark Mall. Now, I don't even bother to stop at the Apple Store. I never thought I'd grow tired of computers, but I think the day has finally arrived. I certainly don't need any more clothes. After taking three bags of stuff to the Goodwill the other day, my closets are still filled with things I've never worn.

Dash is back to normal again. I'm glad he is able to bounce back from these frightening vestibular episodes. His appetite has returned and the nausea has gone. It makes a huge difference when Dash is willing to eat. Some of his meds are absolutely essential and when he has an upset stomach, it is nearly impossible to give him his pills. After a while, you really learn to appreciate the good days.

Summer Solstice in Texas just means that the heat lasts a little longer in the evening. There was a time though, when this day was pretty special. When I was growing up in Alaska, my Dad packed the family in the car and we drove to the Arctic Circle one Summer to see the midnight sun during the solstice.  It was a long time ago, but I still remember how cool it was to see the sun above the horizon at midnight. With 24-hour days in the summer and auroras almost every night in the Winter, it's not surprising that I developed a lifelong interest in astronomy.

I was really disappointed to hear that the Supreme Court is going to allow states to collect sales tax from online sales. For many years, I've bought all my computers and cameras online primarily to avoid the sales tax. Buying online has saved me a lot of money over the years. I feel sorry for small Etsy businesses. It's going to be a nightmare for them to calculate all the different tax rates that various different municipalities are charging. I'm glad I was around at the beginning of the Internet. Ten years from now, it's not going to seem very special at all.

I have no idea where I'm going for breakfast tomorrow. I wish I still enjoyed this little Friday morning adventure. Like the early Internet, it was fun for a while. What I can't figure out is if I'm losing interest in food, why am I still gaining weight?

Barley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1649 - Summer Solstice

It doesn't really seem like the longest day of the year. The sun should be setting right about now, but since it's cloudy outside, it seems like sunset occurred quite a while ago. Solstice is a big deal to some people I know, but it's just another Saturday to me. The only Summer Solstice that seemed very memorable to me was years ago when I was going to high school in Alaska. My family was living in Fairbanks at the time and on June 20, we got in the car and drove north as far as we could. We almost had 24-hour daylight in Fairbanks during the Summer, but not quite. On this particular Solstice I remember climbing up a hill just above the Arctic Circle near midnight with my Dad and watching the sun still shining, low on the northern horizon. Winter skies were pretty cool as well. There were lots and lots of auroras to be seen.

There was nothing that exciting today. I saw a rabbit and a couple of ducks in the park. That was about it. It's amazing how quickly we can go from too much rain to not enough. We're gone a couple weeks without significant rain and the ground is already getting parched and dry. I made sure to water both the front and back lawn today. I'm determined to keep the grass growing as long as I can this year. We don't have an automatic sprinkler system, but I did put mechanical timers on the little oscillating sprinklers attached to the garden hose. I like these timers. There are no batteries or electricity required. The entire thing is just a simple clockwork mechanism that you wind up and then it turns the water off thirty minutes to an hour later.

I called in some prescription renewals this morning and the pharmacist told me that some of them needed doctor approval again. My GP has been renewing these things one month at a time until I go in and have another physical exam. I already made an appointment for an exam next month, but I guess I've actually got to have the exam before my doctor will go back to renewing my meds for a year at a time. I really liked my team of liver doctors. They really believed that a good diet and lots of exercise were the keys to good health. I don't think my general practitioner has ever met a pill he didn't like. He's always trying to prescribe something new for me. I'd really like to find a reputable doctor who could find a way to ween me off of all my meds. I'm tired of taking pills. I guess I shouldn't be too disparaging about the pharmaceutical industry though. As much as I hate pills, I need to remember that it was a pill that cured my Hepatitis C.

I took some stuff over to the storage warehouse today and spent a few minutes looking around. There are a lot of things I should probably just get rid of. It's just not useful anymore. I don't imagine that people are going to start using tape machines again. I still have tape machines from the days when I did a lot of video editing. Everything is file based now though. The tape machines are museum pieces.  Old software is pretty useless too. I have tons of software still in the original boxes from the days when you installed it using floppy disks. Some of this software was pretty cool, but absolutely none of it runs on modern computers. Framed photographs that never sold at gallery shows are taking up a lot of space too. Lord only knows why I have so many electric trains.

I'm not sure what I'll do tomorrow. There's an animal rescue website to update. I need to do some cleaning around the house. Maybe I'll go to the gym. One of these days, I'm sure the dogs would like to go to the dog park again as well.

Barley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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