Day 3776

We walked five miles before breakfast this morning. The weather was beautiful and the park wasn't crowded yet. I kind of like this new routine. It sure helps build an appetite. Breakfast was delicious, but by 9 AM we both wondered what we were going to do next. We'd used up our day's activities too early.

I continued my house cleaning efforts today. I filled a large trash bag with clothing I knew I'd never wear again. Some of the clothes I'd never even worn once. I certainly threw away a lot of socks. I seem to have a habit of buying socks that don't fit. I'd buy a package of six, wear one pair, and after discovering that the socks didn't fit, never bother to wear the rest. From the number of unworn socks I found, I must have done this over and over again. I also threw away some short sleeve dress shirts. Whatever possessed me to buy these? They look ridiculous. All the clothes were clean and in good shape, so I bagged them up and drove them over to one of those little kiosks where you can donate clothing. There are lots of these places all over town and some of them benefit animal rescue groups. Much to my surprise the dropbox was closed and there was a sign saying that due to Covid-19 they could not accept clothing at this time. My guess is that someone thought people were sneezing on clothing before they donated it. Not me. My clothes were clean and had been safely stashed away in a dresser drawer for years.

Now that my computer is fixed and my upcoming trips are in limbo, I'm not sure what to do next. Cleaning is sort of a last resort. I really don't enjoy cleaning at all. I was so bored today that I took a second walk in the park. The place sure looked a lot different this afternoon. Early this morning there weren't many folks out and about. This afternoon, the place was filled with people. It looked exactly like any normal Spring Sunday afternoon. The city seems to have had a change of heart about closing the park. Basically the closure lasted one day and the place has been gradually reopening ever since. Today I didn't see any police at all. People were having barbecues, throwing frisbees, and hanging hammocks between trees. Even the ice cream truck was back. I think the city realized that people need an outlet during a lockdown and going to the park was a lot safer than having everyone turn up at Home Depot.

I've been noticing something kind of weird lately. You don't have to tell me to stay away from other people. I do this naturally. I'm really an expert at social distancing and know some tricks most of you won't learn until you take the advanced course. You'd think I'd be happy to see other people get on the social distancing bandwagon. Nope. When I hear someone preaching to me about staying indoors and accusing others of being selfish for wanting to walk their dog, it just pisses me off. Just shut up already. Moralistic preaching is not helping anything. It just further polarizes an already polarized population and brings out the "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges" in me. I'm going to lay low and mind my own business. If you want to have a party, it's fine by me. I'm pretty sure that Darwin will take care of things in the long run.

And don't you guys get all moralistic on me. If humans had a shred of morality, we wouldn't have been having pointless wars since the dawn of time. We wouldn't have bioweapons labs either, which is probably where this virus originated in the first place.

Brady is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3100

Every time I think we've turned the corner with Dash, something happens to remind me that he's still a sick dog. He must have had another vestibular episode last night. When I took him outside to pee around 1 AM, he was drooling a lot and wanted to eat grass. I thought he was going to throw up, but he didn't. We went back to sleep, but he had no appetite the next morning. It was really hard to get him to take his morning meds. He wasn't interested in anything. Eventually we were able to wrap the pills in small pieces of a leftover quesadilla. He still seemed eager to walk, but when we got home he wanted to throw up again. It was way too soon to throw up because his phenobarbital hadn't gotten into his system yet. I wouldn't let him eat grass in the yard, gave him a Pepsid AC, and went back in the bedroom with him until he eventually fell asleep on the bed. This was a little risky, since I didn't want to clean vomit off the bedspread. The plan worked though. When Dash woke up three hours later, he seemed fine.

When we went out to dinner yesterday I put on a shirt that Janet said was fifteen years out of style. It probably was. I have trouble throwing stuff away, so I told her she could go through my closet and get rid of anything she'd be embarrassed to see me wear in public. Janet loves to get rid of clutter, so I wasn't surprised that she took me up on my offer. This afternoon, there were three large trash bags filled with an odd selection of old polo shirts that looked like they belonged to a guy thirty pounds heavier than me. Jeez. Did I ever wear those shirts? I guess I must have. There were also a ton of old t-shirts I must have picked up at trade shows. Janet seemed delighted to pare down my collection of ugly sweaters. I must have been fond of loud, colorful sweaters at some point. I could never throw away this stuff myself, but I won't miss anything. Truthfully, I'm glad the stuff is gone.

When I went to the bank this morning, I stood in line behind a man who'd brought a shopping cart into the lobby with him. He looked like a homeless guy, but he must have had a business of some sort. I watched as the teller handed him bag after bag of coins. When he had filled the grocery cart with coins, he left the bank and started pushing the cart down the sidewalk. I have no idea where he was going. It's a strange world we live in. You never would have seen this at a bank twenty years ago.

I made an appointment to get a haircut tomorrow, but I forgot to check the weather forecast first. It looks like there are supposed to be thunderstorms. I hope the forecast changes overnight. Weather forecasts change every few hours here in Texas, so it might be clear tomorrow. If there are storms, I'll have to cancel my appointment. Dash's storm phobia has gotten worse and I can't risk leaving him alone in a storm anymore.

Dash ate his dinner tonight, so hopefully he is feeling better. We still don't know what triggers these vestibular episodes. They seem to occur when you least expect them and they are always alarming. The vet says he will experience these periodic sensations of vertigo and nausea for the rest of his life. Luckily, they don't seem to happen too often. Lets hope he has a normal day tomorrow.

Alamo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day