Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Day 3961

More rain and cold weather. I'm really glad our furnace is working well this year. I didn't even want to get up this moring. I was warm under a heavy blanket and I knew it would be all downhill as soon as I got out of bed. We had to postpone our morning walk again because of the rain. I ate breakfast. Dawn went back to bed. And Janet went to the gym.

Our second dehumidifier seems to be on its last legs. We run the thing 24/7, but it seems like a dehumidifier should last a lot longer than this. The dehumidifier still works, but the defrost cycle kicks in a lot and it doesn't extract as much water from the air as it used to. This is exactly what happened to the first dehumidifier before it gave up the ghost about a month later. I was going to get the first machine repaired but I never could find a convenient service center. It's still sitting in the storage warehouse with a lot of other broken stuff.

I finally found a medical supply company that would sell me some decent American made 3-M N-95 masks. I had to call customer support several times to get the shopping cart on the website to work. The website left a lot to be desired but eventually I got my order to go through with expedited shipping. I ordered the smallest number of masks available because these things just seemed too expensive. Someone is making a fortune selling this stuff. I remember what industrial masks used to cost at Home Depot. I wish I'd bought a bunch back then. It's definitely a different world now.

The rain always seems to stop around noon, so we've been walking Dawn right after lunch. She's pretty particular about the weather. She loves cooler temperatures, but hates getting her paws wet. She was reluctant to leave the house today, but once we reached the park she found lots of things to smell and her interest in walking picked up quite a bit. We actually made good time today, but I was winded by the time we got home. Dawn and Janet put me to shame on these walks. I really need to start going to the gym again.

Janet had a tire pressure warning on her dash, so I got out the air compressor and pumped up her tires. I hate getting old. I remember that moving the air compressor around used to be easy. I had to struggle with the thing today. Somehow it felt a whole lot heavier than it did a few years ago. I was going to top up my own tires as well, but then I remembered that they are filled with nitrogen instead of air. Luckily, none of my tires were low. It's a pain to go to the dealership just to check your tire pressure.

I asked my NASA contacts when they were going to update the media schedule for the upcoming Crew-1 launch. They are still about a week away. I guess that still leaves me plenty of time to make travel arrangements. I'm still a little apprehensive about flying, but that's why I ordered the good masks. I'm convinced that Covid is going to be with us for a long, long time. I'm going to continue to be very careful, but you can't just put your life on hold forever. I think all of us have to figure out ways to continue doing what we think is important even though the rules have changed. I won't be going to weddings or large parties, but a rocket launch every now and then should be fine.

The rain should be over tomorrow. It's still going to be cold, but I've got warm coats. I don't know how Northerners stand living through long, cold Winters. The worst weather hasn't even arrived yet, and I'm already waiting for Spring.

Abi is today's Dalmatian of the Day


Watch of the Day