Day 1776

When I arrived at the gym this afternoon, there was a big sign at the reception desk that said "Pool Closed Until Further Notice." My paranoid mind immediately made the assumption that this must have something to do with Ebola. In all likelihood, the pool had just developed a leak. It doesn't matter anyway, since I never use the pool. Swimming might actually be better for my shoulder than what I'm doing now, but it's too much trouble to get a locker and change. The place was pretty empty this afternoon, but that didn't mean anything at all. The gym is always empty on Sunday afternoons.

On my way home I listened to a Ted Talk on the radio where a geneticist talked about human evolution. It was fascinating. I was surprised to learn that although Homo sapiens have been around for several hundred thousand years, modern day humans are only about 60,000 years old. That's pretty young, considering how long crocodiles have been around. According to this geneticist, the human race almost went extinct when the ice age coincided with the eruption of a huge supervolcano in Indonesia about 70,000 years ago. The explosion dimmed the sun for six years, disrupted seasonal rains and almost killed off the human race. With fewer than 2000 people left on the planet, evolution kicked into high gear, forcing humans to either adapt or die. The remaining humans left their home in Africa, searching for a more hospitable climate. They invented language as we know it today. They developed agriculture and other ways to improve their survival odds, and spread across the world in less than 10,000 years. All this information was just the prelude to the main event, however. The guys main point was that he thinks that evolution has kicked into high gear again and in less than 500 years we will change into a completely different species. We are being asked to process more information in a single day now than we used to process in a year. Our current brains can't handle the load and they are trying to adapt, just like the first humans were forced to adapt to a cataclysmic change in climate. Some of the science in this Ted Talk went over my head, but it caught my attention when the explosion of autism in children and many other modern day disorders were explained as explorations on a DNA level as the evolutionary process tries to arrive at whatever comes next. Of course none of this may be true, but it is still fascinating. Your great, great grandchildren might not even be human. I've always thought that people who worry about the glaciers melting are thinking way too small. The earth is 4 billion years old. If we're really only 60,000 years old, I'm sure the earth has a way to deal with us. Maybe we won't destroy the planet after all. Maybe the planet will change us.

I think I'll go vote tomorrow. I'm not sure where the early voting place is, but it should be easy to find. I've become a fan of early voting in recent years. It's so much more convenient that waiting in line on election day. The early voting locations all seem to have the latest touch screen voting machines too. When I vote at my local precinct on election day, I get a paper ballot where I have to mark a lot of little circles with a #2 pencil. The type on the ballot is very small and when I forget my reading glasses, I don't know what is going on.

We've finally come up with costumes for the Halloween party at our dog training class this Wednesday. Janet is sewing them together now. No, the costumes aren't for us. They are for the dogs.

Pearl is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 979

I could learn to live this way. We just finished enjoying a wonderful dinner at Todd English's Olives Restaurant while watching the sun set through a nearby window against the backdrop of the spectacular Fountains of Bellagio. It was a nice ending to a relaxing and enjoyable day. I actually like living in hotels. Someone comes and makes your bed every day. They bring you clean towels and leave little chocolates on your pillow. What's not to like? 

We don't have a pool at home, so it's always enjoyable to take a swim after breakfast. When I'm in the water, I realize I should swim more often. I still have a dislocated shoulder and swimming would really help build up those muscles. I'd never swim at home though. There's too much to do. It's only on days like these that I realize how enjoyable being in the water can be. Yeah, I know. I live right next to a large lake. I'd never swim in the lake. Many say it's polluted and it's full of snakes anyway. I think the pools at luxury hotels are much nicer places to swim.

I miss the dogs. We watch them every day on the webcam, and you can tell they don't really like being boarded. We could never bring them to Las Vegas though. I haven't seen a single dog since we arrived. I wish the dogs traveled better in the car. We could take them down to the Gulf Coast and let them run along the beach. We've got a long way to go before we can get them to Padre Island though. Dash totally freaks out in a car and we're lucky to get ten miles down the road without a major panic attack. A long trip would be a nightmare. Since Dash is a rescue dog, we think his previous owners might have just dumped him on the side of the road and left him. He definitely doesn't have positive associations about riding in a car.

This might be the last lazy day I'll have while I'm in town. Tomorrow is a work day. I'm covering the WWD Magic show for one of my clients and since since this is the magic show, I'll somehow manage to transform myself tomorrow from an old guy in swim trunks at the Bellagio pool to a hip young fashion blogger. I'll admit I'm an unlikely fashionista, but I do like the industry. The Devil Wears Prada was one of my favorite movies and I seldom miss an episode of Project Runway.

I used to like playing the penny slots in Vegas, but they're all gone now. In the old days you could stretch out losing your money over an entire afternoon, while friendly waitresses brought you free drinks. Now the electronic machines literally suck the money out of you. I put a twenty dollar bill in a slot machine this morning and it was gone in less than five minutes. What's the fun in that?  I love Las Vegas for the food and the shows and the people watching. I'll leave the gambling to someone else.

Blackjack is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 641

We took the dogs to the Wags and Waves event at Hawaiian Falls today. Somehow, I thought that Dot and Dash would really like the water this year, since they were curious about it last year. No such luck. When we would get in the water with them, all they wanted to do was get out again as fast as they could. There were hundreds of dogs splashing around and having a grand time, but our two wanted nothing to do with the water.

A video crew wanted to get an interview with Dot and Dash at the Dalmatian Rescue booth. Ann and Janet didn't want to do the interview because they don't like being on camera. I didn't want to do the interview because my neck is still stiff and I look like a zombie. Lucky, Travis was there. Travis is usually up for anything, so with any luck, his interview segment with Dot and Dash will be on TV somewhere this evening. Even though the event lasted all day, we all left a little after 2 PM. Lots of dogs were having fun, but we didn't make much in donations today. Anyway, when Dash is ready to go, you might as well just go.

Even though Saturdays are busy errand days, I really didn't do much today. I got my grocery shopping done when we returned from the water park and used the rest of the day to take a nap. I wish I'd start feeling better soon. Right now, a nap is about the only thing that seems to work.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day