Day 3527

I got a letter from the Editor at Sky & Telescope today saying that the magazine was interested in my proposal for an article about the McDonald Observatory Special Viewing Night program. The Editor didn't promise to publish anything, but did encourage me to write an article about my trip to the observatory and submit it to the magazine on completion. This was encouraging. A personal letter from the Editor saying "your proposed article sounds interesting" is definitely a step above those little "thank you for your submission" postcards I used to get from magazines when my articles were rejected.

It was another slow, very hot Summer day. I only took one walk today, but that was enough. Instead of an afternoon walk, I went to Northpark and got a haircut. The mall was having their annual auto show and it was amazing how many cars on display were over $100K. I wasn't surprised that prices for the Rolls Royce Wraith and the McLaren 720S Spider were in the stratosphere, but a lot of ordinary cars were out of reach as well. When I bought my first car, you could get a nice Ford Mustang for under $2500 and a VW Beetle for $1800. Jeez, a new Porsche 911 only cost around $6000. This would be one of those out of reach 100K+ cars today. And they say inflation isn't a problem.

Of course haircuts, food, clothing, and just about everything else are more expensive as well. You notice these things when you're living on a fixed income. Hopefully the economy stays strong. I'm too old for another financial crisis like we had in 2008.

My stylist asked me about the new breakfast restaurant I've been going to lately. Several other people have asked me about this place as well. Probably as soon as I tell everyone how much I like this place, they'll get a new chef and everything will fall apart. Nothing seems to last very long in the restaurant business. Hopefully this restaurant will continue to do well. I like having good food in the neighborhood.

I always feel better after a good haircut. Anything that makes you think you've got your act together is a plus. I didn't feel like shopping after my haircut was finished. I just returned home and did nothing. Apparently I don't have my act together after all. Basically it's too hot to embark on any sort of a major project. Sometimes just getting through these hot days is a major project in itself.

I don't think there'll be any major projects tomorrow. I need to clean out the greenhouse before repairs can start, but I think I've already missed this month's big trash day. I guess this task can wait another month. I don't want to attempt to take the old dehumidifier apart unless I've got a lot of time. I'm bound to encounter some surprises and the job will probably take three times as long as I expected. I can always think about what type of article I'm going to write. That's something I can do indoors. I can even think about writing lying on the bed. I might fall asleep, but it's worth the risk.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day