Day 4272

It's weird how quickly things change. It seems like only a few weeks ago that virtually all the stores where I shop had gone back to their pre-pandemic days. Everything seemed normal again. Now there are fresh banners at the entrances requiring a mask to enter the building. I wonder if toilet paper hoarding is going to return? Most stores just got finished scraping up all those 'stay six feet apart' stickers on the floor. Are they going to have to apply new stickers now?

Some people are quick to blame the unvaccinated for the current virus resurgence. I'm not so sure. By any historic standards, the country is actually doing a pretty good job of getting vaccinated. At any rate, the wrong people are getting the blame. It's young people who still feel invincible who are not getting vaccinated. I have almost equal numbers of conservative and liberal friends and I don't know a single person who has resisted getting vaccinated. I do know a lot of people who were quick to travel, go to ball games, and start socializing again as soon as restrictions were lifted. Large groups hanging out together are still the real problem. Throughout this pandemic I've always thought that if more people were antisocial like me, we could have significantly minimized this mess.

I still go to the gym, but my gym is far from crowded. I encounter far fewer people at the gym than I used to walking outdoors in the park. There is the constant smell of disinfectant at the gym and some people seem to spend more time cleaning their machines than they do actually exercising. People have definitely gotten meaner. It's not just people on airplanes either. The other day a guy chewed me out for being in the wrong lane on the track. There were only three people using the track and there are three lanes. Get a life, buddy.

Dawn seemed eager to take a second walk today. We waited until almost sunset and made our one mile loop again. The days are still hot, but sunrise and sunset walks seem fine for everybody. It's nice to see Dawn healthy again. She has virtually stopped licking and biting at her paws and has a lot more energy than she did a month ago. Hopefully, this will continue. I think we are both getting better.

I'm having second thoughts about my 5000 day goal. Why am I even doing this? I've learned how to fill up space on days where nothing happens, but I rarely have anything important to share. I think I'm kidding myself when I say a write to keep my mind sharp. If I've proved anything at all, it's than in an average daily life, very little happens. I bet I could substitute a post from two or three years ago and you'd never even know the difference.

Tomorrow I'll continue proving that very little happens. If it's not too hot, we'll take Dawn for her Sunday outing. Maybe I'll be able to complete the full mile this week. Last week I had to turn around and wait for Dawn and Janet at the car. We'll see. I feel a lot stronger now. I'm not sure if I'll feel like ice cream. If not, Dawn can have my cone.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4247

Last year at this time we were in the middle of a pandemic. Apparently, we still are. A year has gone by and it feels like nothing has happened at all. We were taking sunrise walks with Dawn last August because that's what you do when the weather gets hot. I was waiting for things to open up so I could resume attending launches again. I'm still waiting. Last year there was a big stained spot in the ceiling where the roof had leaked. The spot is still there. It's hard to get enthusiastic about anything. Sometime I wake up in the morning and think "That's it, I'm done." Then I get up, make the bed and get ready for our sunrise walk. There is a cadence to each day that is very familiar. It's easy to get from breakfast to dinner without a lot of thought. I often feel like complaining about my many aches and pains and then I remember friends who have cancer or aren't even here anymore and realize I have nothing to complain about at all. Life is good. I just need to appreciate it more.

I called the dentist office to confirm my appointment for tomorrow. I wanted to make sure I could drive to and from the appointment on my own. I don't know why I thought I might be sedated for the procedure, but I've never had a root canal before. They assured me that getting a root canal wasn't much different than getting a filling. I'll be glad when this is over. Having dental work done is the least satisfying way of spending money I can think of. I've thought about getting dental insurance but it really doesn't cover very much. My teeth are pretty good so I'll continue to take my chances. Hey, three cavities in seventy three years isn't bad at all.

Dawn hates the new larger cone, but it keeps her from reaching her rear paws. She only wears the cone while she's on the bed because that's where she does the most damage. While she's walking or active around the house, she seldom pays any attention to her paws. If I feel sorry for her and take the cone off, it won't take five minutes before she starts going after the paws again. It's frustrating. Dawn has a vet appointment this week to make sure her bacterial infection is gone. Hopefully the vet will have some answers about the obsessive licking for us.

I really should have gone to the gym today, but I didn't feel like driving. I took my long walk instead and was very hot. There aren't many people in the park on days like this. A few bicycles passed me on the trails and I think I saw one or two other walkers, but the place was basically empty. I completed my six miles, but when I returned home I was done for the day. 

I wonder how Facebook decides what to show me? I'm not very active and seldom reveal my interests. I always erase the cookies on my computer at the end of the day as well. The blog is just a JPEG image on Facebook,  so I doubt that they're reading that. Nevertheless, my feed is filled with pictures of guitars, reviews of the new Ford Bronco, and updates from NASA. They've actually got me pegged pretty well. There used to be lots of information about watches on my feed, but somehow Facebook has learned that I've lost interest in watches. Even though my timeline is mostly pictures of Dalmatians, I get very few sponsored posts about dog products. It's all very curious.

I don't think I'll have time for my morning smoothie tomorrow. My dental appointment is in the morning and the whole ritual of preparing and drinking the huge smoothie takes forever. Maybe I'll just have a small bowl of fruit instead. I could always skip breakfast entirely. I'm definitely in no danger of starving.

J-Lo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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