We had to get the dogs to the vet this morning for their vaccination updates. I got up, got my shower, got breakfast for the wife and me, and got ready to leave. The dogs were all riled up because the morning routine was out of whack. Also, it was 47 deg F (8.33 deg C) outside. When the temperature starts to drop, the dogs seem to get energized from the cold. They would not settle down when I was trying to get their harnesses on them. Once I finally did, getting them to the car and inside it was a bit tricky. With that feat accomplished, we headed off to the vet’s office.
We got there, I checked the dogs in, and then had to wait to be called. I walked each dog in the grass beside the parking lot so they’d have a chance to potty. Somehow Sirocco got his harness halfway off so I tried corralling him to fix it. I got the harness off and I thought I had a good hold on him so I could get it back on. I didn’t. He took off across the parking lot and around the end of the building. Then he came charging back. Fortunately another patron was loading her dog in the car so she called Sirocco and he bounded over to her with great enthusiasm. She couldn’t quite get a grip on him so another patron got out of her car. Between the three of us we got Sirocco penned in and I was able to get his harness back on him.
We sat in the waiting room for about half a hour with all three dogs before Sirocco and Magdalena caused such a ruckus that I had to take them back to the car and leave them there. It was still cool out and the car was parked in the shade of the building so no worries about them getting baked in a hot car.
At the vet’s office all three dogs had to get their Bordetella vaccines. Things have changed since the last time we had to get that vaccine for them. It used to be that the vet had a syringe, and the vaccine was squirted into the dog’s nose. I was even thinking on the way to the vet that it would be better if a ‘gummie vitamin’ were used. That way the dog would have something to chew and the medication would still get into them. Actually, I bet if all medications were put into gummies the medical community wouldn’t have such a hard time getting people to take their medications. But I digress.
Now the vets have a syringe of some kind of liquid / jelly substance that they squirt into the dog’s mouth. I gather it doesn’t taste fantastic as the dogs didn’t seem to like it, but it was easier to get it squirted into their mouths than into their noses. The dogs ate whatever it was without too much fuss so I guess the found it tolerable. Hopefully the veterinary community doesn’t stop there and moves forward toward a full gummie solution.
Yes, this is all very interesting, I hear you say, but what the @#!$ does this have to do with the decline of civilization?
Just this.
We got to the vet’s office just before 8:00 AM. They do not make appointments, they take patients on a first come, first served basis. The earlier you get there, the sooner you get seen. I thought we’d be getting there just before they opened, but it turns out they open at 7:30 AM, so we were a little late getting our place in line.
We had to wait almost three hours for our turn.
The waiting room had a TV with the sound turned up just enough that you could hear it, but not so loud it would upset the dogs. They had it set to a channel and there was no way to change it. It was a cable channel so they could play one show all day and not have to be concerned with variety. The show they chose is what I consider is the main cause of declining civilization in the world today.
This show has been running off and on since 1999. I don’t get it. It’s like they take the most bizarre random things they can think of, write a flimsy script around them, the animate the whole thing. This seems to be the template for every animated series since the 1990s.
I don’t get it. I guess times and desired content have changed and I’m not keeping up with the Joneses. SpongeBob is mindless drivel lacking in humor or value.
I grew up with Rocky and Bullwinkle and George of the Jungle. They had wit and wordplay. You had to think about them to get the deeper jokes. They were funny on the surface, and kids got that humor, but there were other layers that you didn’t get until you were older. They were absurd humor but still funny. If nothing else, George of the Jungle had one of the best theme songs ever.
I’m sure that many parents groups have been up in arms over Looney Tunes and Bugs Bunny as well, more cartoon staples from my youth. It was mainly slapstick violence, but I would argue they did more for keeping classical music alive in my generation than anything else. And they were funny and stood the test of time.
Content seems to be getting worse and worse in quality, and with generative AI able to crank it out non-stop I think things are likely to get worse. I guess if you can find a human author you like, hold on to them. They may be the last thing to keep civilization afloat.
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