Time

A few weeks ago, I noticed that I was visiting a particular web site every day. This was odd, because the site is updated exactly once per week (on Friday.) Why did I feel compelled to visit the site on Tuesday at 11:50PM? So I decided to keep track of my browsing habits. Of the sites I visit regularly, 11 are updated daily, 9 are updated weekly, and a dozen or so are updated less than weekly. There is nothing unusual about these statistics, but here's the part that freaks me out: I visit every one of these sites EVERY DAY. Some of them I visit TWICE PER DAY. Last Thursday, I made 38 visits to sites which were guaranteed to have the same content as on my previous visit. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I have had similar browsing habits for most of the last decade. I did some quick math: Call it 20 "wasted" visits per day, 3 seconds per visit, 365 days per year, 10 years. That's just over 60 HOURS of my life, gone. And I was being generous with some of those numbers. I rearranged my IE favorites folder to put each site in an appropriate category, but as I sit here typing this entry (6:51PM, Saturday, February 11, 2006), I still feel an absurd desire to check my "Updated Every Monday" category. Insanity!

I love my dog!

I want the world to know that I love my dog infinitely. Two minutes ago, I let him out for his pre-bedtime peepee, and I did so without using his leash. I was very scared to let him outside without his leash (I've never done that before!), but he did his peepee without any fuss, and came back to me immediately when I called him. I have rewarded him with a full-body scratchfest, two big strips of bacon flavored Beggin' Strips, and all the kisses he cared to give me. But I also wanted to give him some external gratification in the form of a blog entry. I know I'm a jerk for thinking this, but: I hope Dreyfus's orginal owner (who apparently dumped him when he started having seizures) someday reads this blog, sees how much love Dreyfus and I have for each other, and feels like the Biggest Loser Ever for having lost the opportunity to feel what I'm feeling right now. I also want to give a big "Thanks!" to all the people who helped me and Dreyfus get together (SU, JS, JM, LW, LL, SH, etc.), and an equally big "Screw you!" to the jerk who abandoned Dreyfus this time last year. Thanks also to Dr. Crawford, who helped Dreyfus and me find a good medicine dosage... he hasn't had a seizure since November 11, 2005! Woohoo!