Day 4799

Not a lot happened today. It's a good thing that I have a high tolerance for boredom, because I didn't do anything of consequence all day. I'm actually surprised that the day went so quickly. We got up later than usual so there was no need for flashlights on our early walk with Dawn. No clear blue skies today. The temperature was warm enough, but it was overcast and felt like rain was on the way. It's discouraging to think that the buckets will be back in the house and strategically placed under the leaks again by tomorrow morning.

Dawn expects a piece of shredded wheat when I fix my breakfast now. We have many little rituals and most of them involve food. I was in no hurry to get started this morning because I knew there was nothing on the agenda. I have nobody to blame but myself for this. I'm just not interested in very much these days.

After I checked the mail and looked for nonexistent important messages in my inbox, I got ready for my morning walk. It's hard to decide what to wear on days like these. If I dress for the back yard, I'm cold when I'm walking near the lake, If I dress for the shoreline, I'm hot during the rest of the walk. I should have this figured out by now. I've been walking this same route for years.

When I was walking, someone warned me about a loose pitbull in the park. I said that I knew about the dog and that it belonged to a nearby neighbor. "Oh, dear," said the woman and told me she had already called 311 about the dog. This dog is very sweet and I hope it went back inside before animal control came to pick it up. There are people who think it is perfectly fine to let their dog out to pee without a leash even if they don't have a fence. You can't convince these people that this is dangerous for the dog. 

My pace wasn't that great today and my feet hurt, but I managed to complete my six miles. By my last mile I'm always wondering why I do this everyday. Often my walks are boring. Walking is good exercise but I ought to be able to think of something more interesting to do. I must be a familiar face in the neighborhood by now. A lot of people wave at me, even though I have no idea who they are.

This afternoon I made an appointment to see the dermatologist. I don't really need to see the dermatologist anymore, but I've learned that it's easier to go ahead and make an appointment whenever you get a notice from a doctor. You can't ignore doctors. Once you are on a doctor's list, you're going to be there forever. Maybe I'll ask the dermatologist about my tick bite. Usually I have no reaction to ticks at all, but this time I have a hard lump where the tick bit me. Hopefully it wasn't once of those Lyme Disease ticks.

I spent the afternoon recharging camera and computer batteries and updating the apps on my iPad. My cameras are always ready even though I seldom use them anymore. I do use the camera on my phone though. That's probably reason enough to get a new phone.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4740

I often have trouble remembering what day it is. It's understandable. I do the same things every day. I get up when Janets says "We'll be walking in twenty minutes." I dress warmly for these early walks and then change back into indoor clothes as soon as we return. I make the bed and then eat my breakfast when Janet and Dawn are finished in the kitchen. I fix my coffee and have a bowl of shredded wheat with fruit. Lately the fruit of choice is strawberries, but I enjoy peaches in the summer. I've tried blackberries, blueberries and raspberries, but didn't like those as much. I've gone through periods when I've fixed myself an omlette, made french toast, or eaten a grapefruit. I even got my special omlette recipe featured in a cookbook once. Now shredded wheat seems to do the trick. They have to be mini-wheats without a sugar coating though. I don't like the old fashioned full sized shredded wheat either.

I usually watch television while I'm eating breakfast. This does little to remind me what day it is. I'm a channel surfer and find all the channels equally bad. Fox is the pillow guy every five minutes. MSNBC is non-stop January 6. CNN is the Ukraine channel. Business is looking up on CNBC. A recession is just around the corner on Fox Business. I only watch the local channels if there is a tornado warning. It's all basically worthless, but it's better than eating in silence.

I try to wait until it warms up a bit before I take my long walk, but usually I get bored and leave right after I check my e-mail for messages. When I was working there were a lot of messages. Now my inbox is mostly spam. Walking is even more boring than watching cable news during breakfast, but I've convinced myself that I'm doing this for my health. I'm sure the long walks do some good, but I'm a long way from becoming a gym rat. I still walk pretty slow and occasionally fat people pass me on the trails. 

To amuse myself I try to keep track of what the local birds and waterfowl are doing. There is a lot of activity. We've got a colony of very noisy green monk parakeets. There are tons of mallards, coots, and ruddy ducks. Occasionally I will see some very colorful wood ducks. A large group of American White Pelicans spend the Winter at the lake along with an even larger group of Double Crested Cormorants. I frequently hear owls but rarely see them. I do see lots of Great Egrets, Cattle Egrets, and Blue Herons. Hawks are pretty common too. I always see the five domestic geese and the three Muscovy ducks near Sunset Bay because they are always looking for handouts from the people who feed them. Of course, now we've got two Bald Eagles as well. Everyone is interested in the eagles.

Monday is Dawn's favorite day because that's when Janet does her grocery shopping. Grocery day is a big deal for  Dawn. She's waiting at the front door at least an hour before Janet returns. For some reason Dawn seems to get great pleasure watching all the groceries being put away. She certainly knows what food is. I think her favorite words are turkey and bacon.

On slow days I recharge batteries. That's what I did today. Phones, laptops, recorders, cameras and much more all rely on batteries. These batteries go dead whether you use the equipment or not. It seems like I'm always recharging or replacing batteries. This is probably why I will never buy an electric car. Batteries are a giant pain. They're expensive, they don't last long enough, and they perform poorly in cold weather. I've had to replace the lawn mower batteries several times because I forgot to bring the battery pack inside during cold weather. These batteries are inside now because the temperature will dip below freezing soon.

Hannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day