Day 1538

Unbelievable! Yesterday it was 81 degrees. I was wearing shorts and we had the air conditioner on. Today, it is twenty degrees, there is a fierce wind, and it is sleeting outside. Only in Texas. I'm beginning to wonder if I just imagined yesterday. It is so cold that even the normally cold blooded Dot refuses to go outside. I don't blame her. I don't want to go outside either.

When I discovered what the weather was like, I immediately scrapped my plans to go to the gym today. There is little point in going to the gym if you end up wrecking your car on an icy road afterwards. The only time I even got near the car today was to start it up in the driveway to make sure the battery still worked. I'm once burned, twice shy about batteries and cold weather. They've let me down before and probably will again.

I'm glad I picked up that DVD of "Gravity" yesterday, because watching an Oscar nominated movie inside a warm house sounds a lot more appealing than anything I might have been doing outside. I really liked the movie, although I probably would have liked it even more if I'd taken the trouble to drive to a nearby 3-D theater and see it on a big screen. I can see why the special effects took over three years to create. They were simply spectacular. After a while I forgot I was looking at special effects. It just looked like someone had filmed the whole thing in space. Alfonso Cuarón deserves major kudos for pulling off an extremely ambitious production. Even Buzz Aldrin was impressed, and he's been to the moon. At any rate, watching this movie, while Janet cooked some savory smelling pork chops in the slow cooker and the dogs curled up for a nap on their dog beds, seemed like a good way to spend a very cold day.

I guess I hadn't realized that the Oscars had become an all day television event. The red carpet fashion shows seemed to begin around noon and the actual ceremony is still going on. If this show is anything like last year, it will still be still be going on long after I go to bed. I guess I don't really care who wins, or I'd be watching the show instead of writing this blog post. Ellen is pretty good as a host though. Maybe I just like snarky humor.

I hope the weather improves tomorrow. I've got a lot to do and I doubt that I'll be able to get away with staying inside all day. Jeez, when is this crazy weather going to finally run its course? I'm ready for Spring. Just like I expected, all the early blooming daffodils and flowering dogwoods are frozen now. An early Spring really doesn't mean much if it is immediately followed by a late freeze.

Despite the terrible weather, there is still a lot to be thankful for. Dash's recovery has been remarkable. The furnace works great this year, and the house is actually warm. I've already received my assignments for tomorrow, so there's be plenty to do, whether I get outside or not. I wish that damn redbird would quit pooping on my car though. It's driving me nuts.

Tucker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1504

What happened to yesterday's balmy seventy degree weather? Today it was closer to thirty degrees with a thirty mile per hour wind. Brr! I'm sure the global warming crowd has a convoluted explanation for these strange extremes, but I've never seen anything like it. When you go from Winter to Summer to Winter again, all in the span of two days, something is messed up.

I picked up some prescriptions today and noticed that the price had gone down again. Apparently the time I had to spend in the dreaded donut hole penalty box was mercifully short. I asked my pharmacist if he knew what was going on, and of course he didn't. The entire healthcare system has become a mysterious black hole that sucks in questions and never regurgitates answers. I have a feeling that Obabacare is just Medicare under another name. If that's the case, lord help all of us.

I had lots of writing work to do today, but still found time to drive downtown for my third blood test in less than a week. Usually, I don't even feel the needle during these tests, but this time I walked away with a sore arm. Maybe I've just been poked too many times in too few days, or maybe the nurse just wasn't paying attention today. Either way, I think I've had enough blood tests to last me for a while. My next test is scheduled for March.

I decided to run the malware checking software I got recently on my large five terabyte backup drive. That was probably a mistake. Almost two days later, the initial scan of the drive still isn't complete. There is a message in the progress bar that says 72 million files have been scanned. That can't possibly be right. Even with the thousands of small invisible Unix files that the Apple operating system installs, how could I have 72 million files on my computer? Even with the separate partition for Linux software that I haven't used in years, this number still seems way, way too high.  It wouldn't surprise me a bit if some of these mystery files were secretly installed by Google or the NSA.  Since a lot of files on any computer are normally invisible these days so you won't erase part of the operating system by mistake, it makes you wonder if anybody really knows what is on their machine.

Apple stock took a huge plunge in after hours trading after a bad earnings report. Every time Apple stock gets down around $500 a share, I wonder if I should buy some again? I used to own Apple and did quite well with it back when Steve Jobs was alive. Now, I'm beginning to wonder if the moment has passed. My latest iPhone is basically the same as my first iPhone. Just about everybody's laptops are basically the same. Lets face it, when your grandparents start to adopt a technology, it's probably time to move on. Maybe 3D printing is the next big thing. I've invested in a few 3D printing companies, but I really have no idea what's around the next bend. I'm afraid if I really could see the future, it would scare the hell out of me.

Sophie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day