Thursday, December 31, 2015

Day 2207

It's been an odd year. Who would have thought that Dr. Huxtable would turn out to be a rapist, that Bruce Jenner would be named Woman of the Year, and that Donald Trump would be the most popular candidate for President of the United States. It makes you wonder what is going to happen next year. I wouldn't even hazard a guess these days. The world has simply become too strange.

I went out for breakfast this morning, just like I did last Thursday, because tomorrow is a holiday. The restaurant was empty, but the breakfast was good. When I got home I took a quick shower and got Dot ready for her weekly physical therapy session. We were late again, but so was everybody else. Last week Dot's vet told me she was coming down with the flu. It turned out she had pneumonia instead and had been extremely sick for most of the week. She said she thought she caught the bacterial pneumonia from treating a cat. I didn't even think that was possible.

Dot did very well in the underwater treadmill today. I was surprised, since she seemed slow on her morning walk. Maybe she was just slow because she had to wear her winter coat under her Help 'Em Up Harness. It was extremely cold this morning. For the past two days it has been clear outside when we start our walk, but completely cloudy by the time we return. Could sunrise and the heat of the sun cause clouds to form? I don't know enough about weather to know the answer, but it seems plausible. If it clears up in the next day or two, I'll be able to see Mercury in the evening sky right after sunset. Later in the week, Saturn will be right next to Venus in the morning sky. I enjoy watching the seasonal progression of the stars and planets. I don't particularly enjoy the seasons themselves. The weather is always too hot or too cold.

I decided to go ahead and upgrade my Avid Media Composer application like I did earlier with Pro Tools. I'd be very surprised if I got any big video production jobs next year, but if I do I'll be ready. Avid has the most convoluted upgrade process imaginable. It takes me forever to upgrade and activate their products. Today the process became even more difficult when my bank rejected the online software purchase because they said it didn't match my "buying pattern." I didn't even know I had a buying pattern. When I explained that software like this isn't something you buy everyday, they released the hold on my credit card and I began the download process all over again. I never did get around to installing the software because by the time I completed the complicated purchase, it was time for the dogs dinner. Since Dot hadn't pooped yet, I knew I was playing with fire if I altered their feeding schedule. Hopefully, I'll get around to installing Media Composer sometime this weekend. Lord knows when I'll ever get around to using it.

New Years Even is pretty quiet at our house. Years ago when I played bass guitar in a band, there would always be a big New Years Eve gig. We made some of our best money playing New Years Eve parties, but I don't remember the events as being very fun. By the time I packed up all the equipment and got home around 2 AM I was dead tired. Watching crowds of drunks from the stage while you're still sober didn't really make me want to join the festivities either. A quiet celebration with the dogs is much better. A quiet evening at home certainly seems better than watching a fireworks display while a gigantic 63 story high rise hotel goes up in flames nearby. This happened in Dubai today. People were literally standing in the streets cheering the fireworks while a skyscraper that looked like a scene from Towering Inferno burns. Unreal. Like I said, it's been an odd year.

Lou is today's Dalmatian of the Day
Watch of the Day