Saturday February 6th, 2010 - Cheri's return

I've been married to Cheri for over 25 years. We got to know each other in 7th grade math class. We started dating in our junior year of high school. We married a year after graduation. We have three boys 20, 18, and 13. Occasionally, we've been apart for a few days for a variety of reasons. I'm not particularly fond of our absences, but I've found as I age to dislike them more. Cheri went to Dallas for three days of training on a new dental machine that I kind of understand. I guess the point is that I've had to keep myself very busy, hence, the museum trips and other business. She returned last night and where was I? Out with my 18 year old and some of his art class friends eating sushi and touring North Denver galleries. And then, this morning I went early to take my mom to the gym. I finally saw her around 1pm and she was asleep so I took an hour nap as well. After the nap I went grocery shopping.

Finally, after dinner I got to watch a very uplifting movie about Temple Grandin with her. Temple Grandin PhD is an autistic agricultural genius who has helped one third of the nation's cattle industry design more humane beef processing systems. Grandin regularly performs audits for the meat industry and the big fast food franchises like McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s. According to Grandin, animals have five basic needs or “freedoms” that need to be met in order to be happy:
Freedom from hunger and thirst,
Freedom from discomfort,
Freedom from pain, injury or disease,
Freedom to express normal behavior,
Freedom from fear and distress.

I've always assumed that fast food was the worst food, in terms of the treatment of beef. I'm impressed, however, that also means that two thirds of cattle processing is or can be very inhumane. Those horrible cow hells are the ones I've seen in documentaries. I'm still vegan, but it is nice to know that some companies feel a responsibility to limit the cruelty of animals.

For the rest of my life I will be 99% vegan. Why 99%? If the family is eating something that looks irresistible, then I might take a bite. Usually I find that I'm not a fan, but it's a rare occasion and sometimes it ends up in a napkin anyway. So, it really shouldn't come as a surprise that I've been eating vegan, but maybe a little too much. I've gained back a few pounds since the beginning of the month. Of course, the beer from all these parties hasn't helped. Time to tighten the belt again.

Tomorrow is my late father's birthday. Instead of getting depressed, I bought a fruit tart to celebrate his birthday and hopefully just let the date fly. I've written too much. Good night.