Day 3507

The carpenter came over again to look at the greenhouse this morning. He asked me what I was trying to accomplish. Did I want a second office? A tiny guest house? A man cave? A woodworking shop? It didn't take long to come to the conclusion that I didn't have an objective. I just wanted to get rid of the eyesore the demolished greenhouse had become. It turns out that it would be a lot easier and less expensive to just make the place a nice greenhouse again. Glass was broken and the roof was gone, but most of the basic structure was intact. I guess thats what we're going to do. Neither Janet or I have much interest in gardening, but if we ever move, having a greenhouse in the back yard could be a selling point.

There were a lot of things I never considered when I was thinking of turning the greenhouse into something else. The first big hurdle would be putting in a concrete floor. Right now the place has a thick gravel floor covered with loose fitting bricks you can walk on. This is great for drainage in a greenhouse, but terrible for any kind of a living space. Due to the location of the greenhouse you'd have to use one of those giant concrete pump trucks to pour a concrete floor. I'm not even sure a concrete pump would work because of the location of several large Oak trees. Occasionally the greenhouse floods after heavy rains as well. Mostly this is because the place is right in the path of runoff from the flat roof of our house. Making the place cozy and watertight wouldn't be easy. It's just not worth the trouble. It looks like we are just going to repair the greenhouse and make it like it was before.

I sent off a few query letters to see if any magazines would be interested in an article about my upcoming trip to McDonald Observatory. I felt I needed to make the effort. I'm so lazy that I could easily go another year without writing anything at all. Who knows. It might make an interesting story. Or maybe not. I have no interest in writing a travel guide. Basically everything I write is all about me. Reading about my low key adventures is definitely an acquired taste. Not everyone is interested.

Is a trip to Alpine, Texas inherently any more interesting than a walk in the park? I'm not sure. Either way, you observe things and think about them. My daily walks take two hours and the road trip will take seven hours. Most of my travel west of Fort Worth has been in an airplane. From what I've seen out the window, West Texas is pretty flat and uneventful. If there is a story at all it will probably be found at the observatory itself. We'll see what happens.

It is hard to believe that it is already August. Where has this year gone? Time seems to speed by so fast now that you hate to waste it. Maybe that's why I'm thinking about travel and new experiences more than I have in prior years. In the grand scheme of things, there isn't that much time left. Maybe becoming a space journalist is kind of a worthy goal after all. There are lots of places to visit and things to do. When I was a kid I loved astronomy and read a lot of science fiction. Now, I've come full circle.

I skipped going out to breakfast last week. A restaurant breakfast is starting to sound appealing again. Pancakes, waffles, omelets, or Eggs Benedict? So many choices. It's odd that not a single restaurant I've even been to offers a fruit smoothie for breakfast. It's a shame. I've got a good recipe.

Snoopy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day