Day 2857

When I was at breakfast this morning, I heard people at two different tables arguing about politics. This isn't a good sign. People should be talking about Halloween costumes and home improvements at breakfast. Football and Fall weather are OK, but it's way too early to talk about politics. I guess it's a sign of the times. I didn't hear the entire conversations, but these didn't seem to be Democrat vs Republican arguments. I got the impression that everyone was disgusted with both sides and thought that the entire system was broken. Actually, most people would probably agree that the system is broken. They just can't agree on how to fix it.

I tried to order something off the menu again with very limited success. I wasn't asking for anything exotic, but my request seemed to confuse the waiter. I should have stuck to the menu. I probably should have just stayed home. I wasn't even hungry this morning.

Our plan to get Dash walking again didn't work today. We should have headed toward the park where the smells were stronger, but we headed down the street instead. Janet was able to turn around and go home, but Dash didn't walk much further after that. When I stopped to clean up his poop about halfway down the street, he used the opportunity to turn around and head for home again. I tried to get him turned around so we could continue our walk, but his will was stronger than mine.

This evening, we tried an experiment. Janet tried to walk Dash by herself to see if he just liked to walk with her better. He refused to leave the yard. I watched her try several times to get Dash moving before I joined them. As soon as Dash saw the whole family was together, he headed for the back gate and we took a very normal walk. I can't really explain this behavior, but I can't seem to change it either.

It was a very slow day. I had to go to the grocery store twice, because part of the store was closed when I went after breakfast. Come back after 10:30 AM the sign said. I had a coupon Janet wanted me to use, but I probably didn't save any money, since my car gets such poor gas mileage.

I repaired another pair of Dash's protective boots this afternoon. This has turned out to be a very messy job. The Shoe Goo I'm using to repair things seems to be fairly durable, but it's hard to apply neatly. Someone needs to invent a better way to bond rubber to rubber. Rubber cement might work if the surfaces were smooth, but they're not. I guess it doesn't really matter if my repairs aren't pretty. The boots just need to stay together.

The refrigerator isn't warming up as quickly as I thought it would. Should I take things apart and defrost the coil this weekend, or just let the food get a little warmer and wait for the repairman on Monday afternoon? Those are the kind of decisions I make these days.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2526

Well, the moon didn't look that super tonight. I guess it was a little bigger and brighter than usual, but it was hard for me to tell the difference. I think tonight's rare supermoon was supposed to look about 14% larger than usual. If the moon was twice as big, I'm sure that I'd notice the difference, but 14% doesn't even compute for me. Would I notice if Cheetos were 14% larger, or if there was 14% more coffee in a Starbucks cup? Probably not. The moon was pretty though. I always enjoy seeing the moon.

I'm sure you know what I did today already. Sunday's are always the same. I went to the gym, vacuumed the house, and walked the dogs. On sunny days like this, the gym is practically empty. I think there were only seven people working out. I did my usual routine and finished in 63 minutes, just like last week. The house is cleaner now and there are fresh sheets on the bed. The days seem so short now. I never notice the extra hour of daylight in the morning, but I definitely notice how quickly it gets dark in the evening. I'm always walking Dash at sunset now.

I need to resist the urge to get drawn into political arguments on Facebook. I've inadvertently joined these discussions a couple of times and instantly regretted the decision. You're not going to change anyone's mind at this point. As a writer, it's tempting to want to have the last word, but you've got to resist the temptation. The world is not going to end and the country's many problems are not going to be resolved overnight. As usual, the answer will lie somewhere in between.

I actually learned something about the election today. I was curious why both sides were claiming to have won the popular vote. This seems like a no-brainer to me. Either you did or you didn't. As it turns out, absentee ballots aren't even counted in most states unless the election is close. For example, if there are 50,000 absentee ballots, but a candidate won a state by 60,000 votes, the prevailing wisdom is that it is not worth the trouble to even tabulate the extra ballots since they wouldn't make a difference in the outcome. This allows both sides to claim victory in a close popular vote by making their own projections about the uncounted ballots. I never knew that absentee ballots weren't typically counted. I learn something new every day.

I never knew the moon's orbit wandered all over the place either. Why did I always think it is was a nice circular path around the earth? I guess if I looked up at the sky more often, I would have figured out the answer years ago. Sometimes a full moon is directly overhead. Other times it is low in the southern sky. I wondered about this occasionally, but never gave it much thought.

So far, it looks like it's going to be a slow week. Dash needs a thyroid test before he can get his thyroid medication renewed. I need a visit with my own doctor before I can get all my prescriptions renewed for another year. No wonder the pharmaceutical industry is so huge. Our lives today revolve around the pills we take.

The chores are done. The dogs are resting peacefully. I've got a supply of fresh strawberries and bananas for tomorrow's breakfast smoothie. I'm ready for another week.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day