Day 570

It was 104 degrees today. I had to go down to the Photo District to buy a backdrop for a photo shoot I'm doing tomorrow and the roll of seamless paper was so wide that it wouldn't fit in my car. I finally got the roll inside by leaving the front passenger window open and sliding the roll diagonally as far back as it would go. The box stuck out the window a couple of feet, but I could drive just fine. The only problem was that I had to make the trip back to the office without air conditioning. I wonder how people ever managed to live in Texas before air conditioning? I wasn't in the car five minutes before I began to feel like I was on an expedition across the Sahara Desert.

At least the car didn't overheat. Last Summer I had terrible problems with the car overheating. Maybe all the money I dumped into repairs finally cured the problem. I certainly hope so, because being stranded on the side of the road in 104 degree heat isn't a lot of fun.

I don't know what to expect tomorrow. I'm doing a group shot with a nine foot python, two dogs, a cat, an iguana, an owl, and five children. I've been promised a trained handler for all the animals, but still I'm a little nervous. I certainly hope the python isn't hungry.

It's hard to believe that it's already invoice day again. I dropped this month's invoices off at the post office on the way to pick up the photo backdrop and hoped that I'll pick up a few more jobs before the end of the month. I'm usually busiest in the Fall, but it would be nice to have a flurry of activity in July. With the air conditioner running full tilt 24 hours a day, I always worry that I won't even make enough to pay the electric bill.

It was kind of sad to watch the last space shuttle launch this morning. It's hard to believe that it's been thirty years since the first one went into orbit. I've been a fan of the space program ever since I was a kid when we all assembled in the school gym in front of a black and white television to watch Alan Shepard begin the space race strapped on top of a rather small Mercury Redstone rocket that launched him on a very short ride into space. Back then I was convinced that we'd have thriving cities on Mars by now. I never would have dreamed that all we'd have to show for our heroic efforts in space were decaying cities on earth. I still think that humans are explorers and that we need a grand adventure to inspire us. Going to the stars is a lot more achievable than finding peace and harmony on earth anyway.

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