Day 3623

Whenever I go to the eye doctor, I'm always tempted to get out of the chair when nobody's looking and go take a closer look at the eye chart. It would be easy to just memorize the bottom line of letters so I would have a perfect score. That bottom line of tiny letters always looks fuzzy to me, but it is the only one the doctor is interested in. I can read the larger letters just fine.

The doctor told me basically the same thing he told me last year. My distance vision is still 20/20. My close up vision is slowly deteriorating. And I am developing cataracts. Apparently cataracts are extremely common as we age. I won't need to do anything about mine for at least another five years, but according to the doctor they aren't going away. They say that researchers have discovered a compound that can safely remove cataracts without surgery. They've only tried the eye drops on mice so far, but maybe they'll be available five years from now. I'd definitely prefer eye drops to surgery.

The worst thing about these annual eye exams is driving home with your eyes dilated. I wore dark sunglasses but the road was still pretty bright. Luckily the effect wore off pretty quickly this year. Within a few hours after I returned home, I was able to take my walk in the park. I think I'm good for another year.

I went to the storage warehouse and picked up some kiddie gates, a large crate, a dog bed, and Dot's food and water bowls for our Thanksgiving guest. Janet picked up some food at the vet. We'll be keeping Ginny at our house during the Thanksgiving holiday. Treasure gets a holiday vacation with another volunteer as well. Some of the dogs will stay at the kennel, but hopefully this will help keep things from becoming too crowded. Ginny is still recovering from her heartworm treatment and needs to stay quiet. Kennels are definitely not very quiet during the holiday rush. There's a lot of barking going on. I think our house is the perfect alternative for a dog who needs her rest. Very little happens here.

I found out today that my background check has been completed and that I have been approved to stay on Mount Locke for an extended period of time. The public affairs director at the observatory said that they would be looking forward to seeing me next year. This is good news. I've got a lot of planning to do. The first obstacle to overcome is finding a place to stay. I could always rent an RV for my initial visit, but I'd rather stay at the astronomer's lodge or some type of permanent housing at the observatory. Almost 100 people live on-site. Some of them are temporary. Maybe I could make arrangements to rent somebody's place while they weren't there. This can all be worked out. I doubt that I will be returning to the Davis Mountains until next Spring anyway.

I need to write Spaceflight Magazine and see whether they'd be interested in an article about my upcoming trip to the Michoud Assembly Facility. It's not a launch, but it still could be very interesting. The first of the Space Launch System rockets that will return the United States to the moon is nearing completion at Michoud now. If I can follow this rocket on it's journey through testing and launch, it would make a good story. The launch is still over a year away though. We'll see what I discover in New Orleans. There's always a story somewhere.

I hope that Ginny enjoys her stay at our house. I'm a little nervous and a little excited. They say Ginny sometimes tears up her bed. Hey, it happens. We've got an indestructible Kuranda bed for her, so she should be fine. There's a lot on my plate for a guy who does nothing. A NASA adventure, an interesting volunteer opportunity at a distant observatory, and a dog around the house for a while. It's going to keep me busy.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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