Day 4390

I'm going to have trouble staying awake until midnight. The older I get, the less of a night owl I become. It's hard to believe that I once played in a band where New Year's Eve always meant loading the bass amp and the PA system back in the car at 2 AM after our gig was over at some hotel. It's hard to understand the desire to party anymore. Why do all those people stand out in the cold in Times Square every year just to watch a big glass ball drop? A glass of champagne while watching the fireworks on TV is festive enough for me.

I did my grocery shopping today because I thought a lot of the stores would be closed tomorrow. I think everyone else must have had the same idea. The stores were packed this morning and the shelves were kind of empty. I think the crowds were worse than just before Christmas. I didn't even bother to get gas because there were long lines at the pumps. Luckily, my shopping list was short, so I didn't have to fight the crowds for long.

It was overcast and foggy again this morning but still quite warm. I don't think the colder weather is going to arrive until Sunday. I need to remember to set the outdoor faucets to drip so they won't freeze. I was going to do this today, but I forgot. Usually after our first hard freeze the faucets continue dripping for the rest of the Winter. The water bill goes up a bit, but it's hard to remember to turn the faucets off again.

I was going to get my star tracker operating today, but I decided to wait. What's the hurry. The beta software for the iPhone app is still going through almost daily changes. Hopefully each version gets a little better. I still read the support group for the Kickstarter backers. Nobody has really gotten their Polaris to work yet. I think I'll let the brave ones monkey around with this thing and potentially break it. I'll wait. I'm confident that everything will be operating reliably by Spring. Maybe I'll take the sophisticated little tracker with me on my next trip to McDonald Observatory.

2021 has definitely been a weird year. I made one trip out to the observatory in May and another trip to Kennedy Space Center in September, but it still felt like I spent the entire year waiting for something to happen. Basically 2020 and 2021 just blur together in my mind. It just seems like we have been arguing about Covid and what it all means forever. I'm hoping that we can move beyond this in 2022, but then I was hoping exactly the same thing this time last year. We'll see what happens. All I know is that dystopian science fiction is getting closer to reality every day.

I stopped making New Year's resolutions years ago. I'm not even interested in becoming a better person. Good enough is fine. I eat healthy food. I exercise. I stay out of trouble. I try my best to stay curious. What more do you need? I have no big plans for the year ahead. It would be nice if Dawn learned to trust me. I'd like to go see the Artemis 1 launch this Spring. Maybe I'll volunteer at the Dark Sky Festival  next year. The world's not going to end if none of these things happen though. I'll continue writing articles but getting published isn't as much of a priority as it was several years ago. Hey, I can always take a long walk.

I hope everyone has a Happy New Year. At my age, a Happy New Year just means not getting cancer or having your dog die. Maybe something exciting will happen next year. We can hope. I do have a project now. It's going to take me at least a month to figure out how to use this new star tracker.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4389

I'm struggling with this new piece of machinery I've got. I finally located an English language version of the instruction manual. At least I know what the various buttons and knobs do now. The star tracker operates by using a Bluetooth enabled iPhone app. The app isn't available on the Apple App Store yet, but other people seem to have it. I keep asking dumb questions but I haven't been able to find the download location for the Beta version yet. Until I can get the app running on my phone, the motorized tripod head/star tracker is basically useless. 

I did go buy a Micro SD Card and a charger that uses USB C cables which are both required. The tiny Micro SD cards are more expensive than the cards I use in my cameras. Of course I can't even format these cards until I figure out how to install the Beta version of the Polaris app on my phone. Maybe I ought to just wait until the final version of this app is available on the App Store. I always thought I was good with technical things but I'm way behind some of the other Kickstarter backers. Maybe I'm just getting old. While I was out looking for Micro SD cards, I also looked for my favorite Reed's Extra Ginger Ale. My supply is getting low. The last store I know of that regularly carried this stuff dropped the product. What am I going to do now? Story of my life, I guess. Everything I like is almost impossible to find.

I did find the missing Muscovy Duck on my walk this morning. I don't know where it has been this week, but it definitely isn't dead. It was good to see this odd pair of ducks reunited again. Some of the Pelicans and most of the Double-crested Cormorants are back as well. I don't know where these birds went either. Maybe I should become a birder. Birds are plentiful at the lake and they are a lot easier to photograph than the Milky Way.

I used to always buy something for the business on the last day of the year so I could expense it and reduce my taxes a bit. That seems kind of pointless now. The business hardly even exists anymore and I don't need new gear anyway. I hope my computer doesn't break because I like it a lot better than the new stuff that is available now. I feel the same about cameras. My old cameras work fine. Basically I've really gotten tired of change. I don't view change as progress anymore. Change has just become a nuisance. My Dad was the same way. He was a scientist, but he refused to get a computer. He kept using an old manual typewriter his entire life.

I've taken this week's trash to the curb. I wish I could just take 2021 to the curb as well. This was supposed to be the year we returned to normal but it didn't turn out that way. It would be nice to start fresh next year, but from my vantage point it looks like 2022 will just be more of the same. Can I keep this tired old blog going for another year? We'll see. I guess anything is possible.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4388

We've basically had all four seasons in the span of a week. Today was warm, but it was rainy. I'm not accustomed to these huge day-to-day changes, so I didn't even check the weather before we left on our sunrise walk with Dawn. Big mistake. I thought it was just going to be another cloudy, foggy morning, but as soon as we entered the park, the skies opened up. We all got soaked and Dawn was indignant. She hates getting wet. We turned around and headed for home as soon as the rain started but it didn't help much. All our clothes went in the dryer as soon as we got home and it took several towels to get Dawn dried off.

It only rained hard for about an hour, but I was in no hurry to take my long walk. I didn't want to get caught in the rain again. I vacuumed the house and did a load of laundry while I was waiting for the skies to clear. I thought I'd read the manual for my new star tracker, but when I clicked on the PDF file, it was blank. The short quick start guide that came with the tracker is basically useless. I did a quick Internet search for the Benro Polaris manual, but I kept getting instruction manuals for Polaris ATV's instead. 

We could tell that Dawn felt cheated out of her morning walk, so we regrouped and tried again as soon as the skies cleared. This time Dawn was able to complete her one mile loop with no problems. It was time for my long walk anyway, so I continued walking. I walked a long way today, but I probably shouldn't have. This was a terrible day for foot pain. I was limping home by the time I finished my six miles for the day. I need to see if there is a correlation between humidity and foot pain. I kind of think that my feet hurt more on wet or high humidity days, but I haven't been keeping records. I might just be imagining things.

I only saw one of the Muscovy Ducks today. There might have been only one yesterday as well. When I saw the pair the other day, one of the ducks just seemed like a flat lump. It didn't seem to be sleeping normally. Now I'm thinking that this duck might have been dead. It was gone today, but the other duck hasn't moved. I don't know if a duck can be depressed, but this duck certainly seemed that way. I hope his companion is just off exploring somewhere else. These two Muscovy Ducks have been inseparable for well over five years. There were a bonded pair that did everything together.

I have tons of SD cards lying around the house. All my cameras use them. As luck would have it, my new start tracker requires a Micro SD card to operate. I don't have any of those. It's a shame that Fry's went out of business. There was a large Fry's store near my house and it was always easy to run down there whenever I needed a computer cable, printer ink, a memory card, or a spare battery. Now I have to venture farther away to find these things and there isn't a single store that has everything anymore. Fry's is the latest in a long line of my favorite stores a that seem to disappear as soon as I grow to depend on them. Stores that I hate like Walmart flourish. Stores that I like always go bankrupt and disappear.

My Fall allergies have returned with a vengeance. If these seasonal allergies weren't so predictable, it would be easy to convince myself that I had Covid. I've certainly got the runny nose. My nose runs so bad when I'm out in the park that I have to stuff a bunch of those Scott blue shop towels in my pocket. Regular Kleenex just doesn't do the job anymore. I've lost track of when the Fall allergies end and the Spring allergies begin. There only seems to be about three months out of the year where there isn't a problem. At least the allergies aren't bad indoors. HEPA furnace filters work wonders.

I don't have any plans for tomorrow, but it's supposed to be clear and warm. I ought to try and take advantage of the nice weather while it's here because a cold wave is on the way. They say freezing weather will arrive this weekend. Freezing temperatures aren't the way I'd like to start the new year, but I don't think I've got a choice.

Petey & Greta are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4387

I paid my property taxes today. I think that pretty much takes care of 2021 for me. I'm done. Maybe we'll stay up on Friday night and welcome the new year with a glass of champagne. Maybe not though. Lately, we've both been falling asleep before midnight. I hope there are still things to look forward to in the year ahead. I'm having trouble getting excited about anything these days. I'll try to rekindle my interest in rockets and astronomy, but that's going to require travel. Traveling in a world filled with Covid restrictions has lost a lot of its luster. 

Until then I'll just keep walking. I'm lucky to live by a beautiful lake. I don't feel like walking anywhere new. The old familiar trails seem fine to me. I've been walking around this lake for thirty years. I find it interesting to watch how things change slowly over time. Flowing water carves gullies into the earth. Old trees die and eventually start to rot. Animal habitats change. I wish the park were quieter. The place seemed a lot more silent years ago. Now it's hard to escape the sound of leaf blowers and police sirens. At least there are no outboard motors. Only sailboats are allowed on this lake.

I saw two White Pelicans today. I have no idea where the rest of them went. It's hard to hide a hundred Pelicans. All the Double Crested Cormorants are gone as well. I hear the Monk Parakeets occasionally, but I haven't seen them in weeks. I have no idea where the two Bald Eagles are hiding. They are supposed to be nesting nearby, but they remain illusive. The most reliable birds on my walk are two large Muscovy Ducks who seem to have established a permanent residence under a picnic table. I see these two every day.

I still haven't used the new star tracker that I spent most of December waiting for. It remains sitting in the box. The software that controls this thing is evidently still going through a lot of changes, so maybe it would be wise to wait. Kickstarter backers got this product first, before it goes on the market. I think we are the beta testers. I read the support group for the product regularly and people much smarter than me are still having problems getting their units to work. I'm in no hurry. Maybe I'll see if I can get Sky & Telescope interested in an article about backing a new astronomy product. It's an interesting story and it definitely isn't over yet.

I'm still making progress with Dawn. The progress is slow but I can feel a difference. She comes when I call occasionally now. I used to have to put her on a leash to take her outside to pee, but typically all I have to do now is say "Dawn, let's go outside." She's very friendly with me early in the mornings. Later in the day, not so much. Janet is going on a cruise with her family next year, so we've still got a lot of work to do. Dawn needs to trust me if I'm going to be taking care of her myself. It's still a work in progress, but things are improving. Maybe some day we will be best buddies.

It's strange to be wearing shorts and a t-shirt in late December, but I'm happy for the warmer weather. I know it won't last. A heat wave in December is much nicer than a heat wave in July. Temperatures are supposed to drop below freezing again this weekend unfortunately. At least there is no snow in the forecast. I'm never happy with the weather. When it's cold I wish it were warmer. When it's hot I wish it were cooler.

I have no plans for tomorrow. I didn't have much of a plan for today. I think you'll agree that blog posts are more interesting when I have a plan.

Dot & Petey are today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4386

I finally got my package. It was 16 days late, but who's counting. The box looked a little worse for wear, but the contents didn't appear to be damaged. Truthfully, I never expected to see this thing. The package arrived in Texas on December 11 and has been bouncing around the Fedex system ever since. I don't think I ever would have found my shipment if an offshore call center employee hadn't eventually taken pity on me and gave me the private number of the local Fedex distribution center. I learned a few things during this never ending search. There are still a few good people in this world, but there probably aren't any good global corporations. I got nowhere until I was finally able to talk with a real person who had the ability to walk out to the loading dock and physically look for the package. Fedex did everything it could to keep me from talking to these people. The call center employees I did talk with with were just looking at numbers on a computer screen. 

The lady who handed me the package today said it would probably take all day to explain what had actually happened. She wasn't really sure herself. She did hand me a piece of paper though that showed the package had been scanned forty two times since entering the Fedex system. This thing had been everywhere except where is was actually supposed to go. 

I still think it is ironic that Fedex stock actually went up while I was looking for my lost package. The investment community apparently likes the fact that the company is investing heavily in artificial intelligence software. It was this same software that was causing all my problems. Nobody was actually looking for my package for a very long time. They were just depending on the software to get it to the right place. Eventually someone discovered that the bar code on my package had gotten damaged and wasn't giving the right results. I probably never should have requested to have my package held at a Fedex Office facility either. This particular facility had huge amounts of outgoing traffic and very little incoming. I think my package actually was delivered to this location at some point, but it just got lost in the Christmas rush and was returned to the distribution center. I don't know why I was in such a hurry to get this little star tracker. Light pollution is so bad in Dallas that I probably won't be able to use it until I get a chance to go back to McDonald Observatory again.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I did a lot of walking and had another 24,000 step day. I don't think the long walks really prove anything. They take my mind off the worries of the world though. If my feet didn't hurt, I would probably walk a lot further. I was surprised when I noticed that all the Pelicans had disappeared today. Where did they go? There are hundreds of White Pelicans that spend the Winter on our lake, but they were nowhere to be found. One more animal mystery. 

Someone in one of the astrophotography groups I subscribe to wanted to start a discussion about self defense and personal safety. A lot of people got angry and told the guy that this was off topic because this was a group about astronomy. A lively back and forth ensued and I was a bit surprised to learn that I wasn't the only one who didn't feel safe taking a telescope outside at night in a city. Several people in other countries said that their equipment would immediately be stolen if they tried to set it up in a public park. It's a shame we've come to this. We really aren't that far away from Mad Max at Thunderdome.

The year is swiftly drawing to a close. I really hope that next year will be an improvement. Even a small improvement would be welcome. Any way you look at it, 2020 and 2021 sucked.

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4385

I wasn't expecting it to be cold and foggy this morning since yesterday was the hottest Christmas on record. The weather has been hard to predict lately. Every day is something new. The dense fog didn't last long, but it was very pretty. Since it was Sunday, I did a lot of walking again. After our early foggy walk with Dawn, I ate breakfast and then hit the trails again. I tried to use Voltaren today to ease the inevitable foot pain, but it didn't seem to work very well. I'm not sure that any of these over the counter pain remedies actually do anything.

The weather warmed up rapidly today. It wasn't as hot as yesterday, but the only time I needed a jacket was on our early walk with Dawn. There were still plenty of people in the park. Kids must have not wanted scooters for Christmas this year, because I didn't see any. On the day after Christmas in previous year you'd see lots of new kids scooters in the park. I did see several guys trying out their new drones. You can always tell when someone has just gotten a drone because they crash them a lot. 

When I returned from my long walk, I could tell that Dawn was ready to go on her outing. She's got a good sense of time and she thought I was late. We almost immediately got in the car and headed for Dawn's Sunday park. Dawn gets so excited to go on her outing, but as soon as she gets in the car, she becomes apprehensive again. It's a good thing that it isn't a long drive. We all had a very nice walk even though the ground was damp and our shoes got wet. I really need to buy some of the waterproof Hoka hiking boots because I'm getting tired of wet feet.

We always enjoy getting ice cream on the way home. The ice cream place still has a help wanted sign out front. Actually every restaurant in town has a help wanted sign out front. I can understand why restaurant jobs might not seem as desirable anymore, but why is there a shortage of truck drivers? A lot of truck driving jobs pay very well. The work ethic that my parents had just isn't there any more. I certainly have no desire to return to the work force, even though I could probably get a shitty job tomorrow since everyone is short on staff. Maybe that's the point. Nobody wants a terrible job anymore and most low level jobs are still terrible.

After we returned from Dawn's outing, my feet were telling me that they'd had enough for today. I've become hooked on getting 20,000 steps a day, so after a short rest, I went out again. For my last walk of the day I've been choosing an old path I used to use a lot when I walked Dot and Dash. I used to have specific things I looked for on this path that I used as memory builders. It became a game for me to find every single item on my list. I've started doing this again, but my mind seems to wander. The game is much harder ten years later.

We had leftover Christmas dinner tonight. It was just as good as it was yesterday. It's hard to cook a small Christmas dinner, so it looks like we will be eating very well this week. I'm a bit apprehensive about tomorrow. I guess I'm optimistic and pessimistic at the same time. The last time I talked with someone at the local Fedex distribution center on Friday, he practically promised me that my missing package would be located and ready for me to pick up on Monday. These people have been wrong so many times before though. I guess it doesn't hurt to remain optimistic until I makes that initial phone call right after breakfast tomorrow morning. 

I'm not sure if we'll be visiting Charlie and Oliver at the kennel tomorrow. The Christmas rush might not be over yet, since some people board their dogs while they are away between Christmas and New Years. One way or another, it should be an interesting day.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4384 - Christmas

We had a nice day. We got up late and then took Dawn on a morning walk before breakfast. After our bacon and eggs, I watched the James Webb Space Telescope launch on the NASA livestream before starting my second walk of the day. The launch went perfectly, but it's going to be a long six months before the telescope arrives at its destination and begins exploring the universe.

Dallas set a new temperature record today. 81 degrees is warm for December, but it was just about perfect as far as I was concerned. I had a very enjoyable walk in the park. Everyone I passed seemed a little friendlier today. I saw a lot of joggers wearing Santa hats and I passed one guy loudly singing Christmas carols in his car. I don't have many Christmas traditions, but we did dress Dawn up in a pretty Christmas scarf on her walk today.

For most of the day the smells of cooking permeated the house. Janet cooked a delicious meal featuring a crown roast, root vegetables, candied sweet potatoes, green beans with bacon, and cranberries. The root vegetables were cooked with the crown roast, so the juice from the meat permeated the vegetables and gave everything a delicious flavor. It was really a perfect Christmas dinner.

This afternoon I watched a new episode of The Expanse. This is the sixth and final season of this show and everything is starting to run together. I can't even remember how the series began. It's basically a lot of space battles without much of a plot. It's still an excellent show as far as TV science fiction goes. You could probably mix in a few shows from season two or three in this final season and I wouldn't even know the difference. I've watched a lot of science fiction. I was never a fan of Star Trek, but I've seen every episode of Farscape, Lexx, Babylon 5, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, and Red Dwarf. I guess this is what happens when you get hooked on the Twilight Zone as a kid. I also read a lot of books from everyone from Robert Heinlein to Philip K Dick, but my favorite author is still John Fowles who is about as far away from science fiction as you can get.

It's hard to believe that 2021 is almost over. 2020 and 2021 just run together in my mind. It seems like 2019 was the last real year. Will we finally get back to normal in 2022? It seems doubtful at this point. I think it's time to stop panicking about each new variant and realize that this virus is probably going to be with us forever. All the lockdowns didn't stop the virus and seem to have created a dysfunctional society instead. Was it worth it? Only time will tell. I kind of think this is nature's way of telling us that there are too many people on the planet and the way we are currently living just isn't sustainable.

Dawn seemed to enjoy her first Christmas with us. Oops. I was wrong. It turns out that this was Dawn's second Christmas with us. I went back and read last year's blog post and was a bit chagrined to realize that last year was almost identical to this year. We did exactly the same things, including our walks with Dawn. We even had the same menu for Christmas dinner. That's OK. Christmas was nice last year and it was nice again this year. I can't help it if my memories are getting fuzzy.

The weather is still going to be nice tomorrow, so we'll take Dawn on another Sunday outing. We'll stop for ice cream on the way home, but I'm not even sure the ice cream place is open. A lot of smaller businesses are closed for the holidays. I should do some yard work tomorrow afternoon, but I probably won't. I'll probably just take a long walk followed by a long nap.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4383

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. There were lots of people walking in the park today and many of them wished me a Merry Christmas. Traffic was lighter as well. If you haven't finished shopping for gifts by now, you're probably too late. There were even fewer people in the grocery stores. I did my weekly shopping today because most stores will be closed tomorrow.

I continued the search for my lost package and thought I got lucky for a minute when one of the Fedex call center representatives gave me the private phone number of the local distribution center. When I called the number, the people I talked to were friendly and actually tried to help me find my package. I was amazed. I thought I hit pay dirt when one lady told me that she had tracked the package down to a trailer on the dock waiting to be unloaded. She said her shift would be over before the trailer could be unloaded, but that I should call back later and someone else would help me. The trailer eventually did get unloaded but the contents were immediately loaded on another truck that was headed out to make deliveries. Needless to say, the package didn't get delivered. My package is still lost. I do think I'm getting closer now, but nobody I've talked to has seen or physically touched the illusive package yet.

I'm going to have to wait until Monday to resume my search because the Fedex distribution center and the Fedex Office Center that was supposed to hold the package for me are both closed for the holidays now. The last person I talked with at the distribution center told me that he would put a "trap" on the package so that it couldn't leave the distribution center again. He was optimistic that I could pick it up on Monday. Ironically, the distribution center is fairly close to my house. I could have easily driven there in twelve minutes and picked up the package earlier in the week if anyone had told me it was there. I wish I had discovered this local phone number earlier. I'm going to chalk this whole episode up to another lesson in patience. I'm not a very patient person. Maybe I need to be.

The weatherman was right about our Christmas heat wave. Today was pleasant, but much warmer than you'd expect for Christmas Eve. I didn't need a jacket today at all and took my walks wearing shorts and a t-shirt. It is supposed to be even warmer tomorrow and might set a new record for Christmas Day. Dawn certainly enjoyed the weather. She lounged on her rug in the back yard for a while and took two walks with Janet and I. With the exception of my Fedex frustrations, it was a pretty nice day.

We're getting older so there aren't a ton of presents under the tree, but we are planning a delicious Christmas dinner. Janet has a great recipe for Crown Roast which has always been one of our favorites. Dawn gets a special treat as well. There's a package from Devon under the tree. Devon's Doggie Delights are the world's best dog treats and they've become a tradition in many Dalmatian households. Dot and Dash loved these things. I'm sure Dawn will as well.

I need to quit fretting about my missing star tracker and just enjoy a relaxing Christmas. The weather looks like it is going to be great. We'll take a Christmas walk with Dawn, enjoy a delicious meal, and maybe watch a movie. The James Webb Space Telescope is supposed to launch from French Guiana tomorrow and I think there's a new episode of The Expanse to watch as well if I run out of things to do. It should be a nice Christmas.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4382

Thanks for nothing Fedex. My package still hasn't been delivered. When I didn't receive a message this morning saying that the package was on the truck for delivery, I called Fedex again to see what was going on. Jeez. Just yesterday the Fedex guy who called me promised that the lost package had been found and that it would be delivered to me today. The representative I talked to today told me that yes, the package had been found, but that it was still in Oklahoma City. The agent I talked with yesterday had been overly optimistic about getting it the rest of the way to Dallas. 

What? How could this even be possible? Contrary to what every other Fedex customer service representative has been telling me for the past two weeks, my package apparently never even reached Dallas. This seemed hard to believe, especially since I've been hearing stories about exactly where the package was for over a week. Apparently, everything I've been seeing on my Fedex account was a lie. The lady I talked with today said that Fedex doesn't even bother with scanning individual packages while they are in route. All packages headed to the same destination are put in a large container together and only the container is scanned. If your package wound up in the wrong container for some reason, all the subsequent information generated by the system would be wrong.

This far fetched story may be true or it may be one more in a long list of fabrications created by people who know nothing more than what they are seeing on their computer screen. All I know is that the last time I looked at my Fedex account all references to the delivery date had been erased and it just said "Delayed, no delivery scheduled." This is beyond frustrating. It is madness. I'm beginning to think that the only people who work for Fedex are drivers, people with bar code scanners, and offshore customer service agents who just make up answers to customer questions. Absolutely nobody seems to know what is really going on.

I didn't get my package today, but I did get my tooth filled. I knew I was in for trouble when I overheard the dentist tell his assistant, "Hmm, this cavity is interesting. It's not what I expected." Thats when I knew my bill was going to be higher than expected as well. I sat in the chair for a long time and although I couldn't see what the dentist was doing, it felt like I was getting three fillings instead of one. When the dentist was finished, he told me that the cavity was much deeper than it looked on the x-ray. The cavity traveled all the way down the root almost to the bone. "So, I guess if you hadn't caught this now, I would have had to have a root canal," I said to the dentist. "No," he replied, "you would have had to have an implant." The dentist assured me that the tooth was stable now, but my mouth still hurts for some reason. I've had enough dental problems for one year. 

Even though my trip to the dentist and an extended conversation with the Fedex agent took a lot of time, I still managed to get a lot of walking in. Dawn got her sunrise walk. I took another short walk after breakfast, and then two more walks after I returned from the dentist. It wasn't my best day, but I did get 20,000 steps. The temperature was pretty warm today. I was able to wear shorts on both of my afternoon walks.

The traffic was terrible today. I thought everyone would be on their way to grandma's house by now but apparently not. My drive to the dentist's office took almost twice as long as it usually does. Hopefully things will be a little calmer tomorrow. I'm going to do my grocery shopping on Friday, since Saturday is Christmas Day. I don't expect to see my package tomorrow and I can't imagine that it will arrive on Christmas Day. Was today's Fedex customer service story true or just another fabrication? I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Ziggy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4381

I got a call from Fedex today. The guy told me that they had found my lost package and that it would be out on the truck for delivery tomorrow. This was great news, but I am still a bit apprehensive. The Fedex representative said that it was impossible to change the delivery address back to my home and that the package would still be going to the same Fedex Print and Ship Center where it became lost on the first delivery attempt over a week ago. The Fedex guy assured me that everything would go smoothly this time. We'll see. I really hope this long saga has a happy ending.

I'll have to admit that I was surprised to actually get a call from the Fedex case manager. I've made so many calls about the lost package with no results whatsoever that I was beginning to think the situation was hopeless. Since I am a skeptical person by nature, I'll need to have the package in my hands before I'm willing to concede that this long series of mistakes is over. It would be a nice little Christmas gift though. I really need to move on to and start worrying about something else.

Aside from the surprise call from the Fedex representative, today was pretty routine. I made the bed, ate my regular breakfast and dinner, all while doing a whole lot of walking. I had another 24,000 step day. My feet continue to hurt but I keep soldiering on. I actually made an effort to find some new Hoka hiking boots today, but the shoe I was looking for was out of stock everywhere. This had to be a supply chain problem. Shoes just aren't made in the United States anymore and the boots I want are probably stuck on a ship somewhere. They aren't supposed to be available again until February. I can get a different style of Hoka boot directly from the Hoka company website, but then I'll have to deal with shipping issues again. I'm a little gun shy about delivery services right now.

Several of the people I've gotten to know at Kennedy Space Center are traveling to French Guiana for the James Webb Telescope launch. Must be nice to have someone cover your expenses for a trip like that. I'd have trouble getting a publication to cover cab fare across town. I'm not jealous though. I've become so reclusive that I'm not even sure I'd have the nerve to go to South America. I'll be lucky if I can convince myself to keep traveling to Florida and West Texas.

I think our cold spell is over. The temperature will be in the 70's tomorrow and will climb to the mid 80's by Christmas Day. This might be the warmest Christmas on record here in Dallas. The warmer weather is certainly fine by me. I'm tired of deciding what coat I need to wear every time I go outside. I would never make it as a Northerner. I've experienced some very cold Winters in my younger years, but I've become accustomed to living down South. I'd be happy wearing shorts and a t-shirt all year long.

Tomorrow I have a dental appointment. The dentist says I have a cavity in one of my lower front teeth. I was supposed to have this cavity filled a long time ago, but my hospitalization and gallbladder removal intervened. Usually you feel a little discomfort if you have a cavity, but this tooth feels absolutely normal. I keep wondering if the dentist made a mistake. I guess I should be a little more trusting. There were x-rays taken of this tooth.

I hope my package arrives tomorrow and that the star tracker inside isn't broken. This package has been kicking around the Fedex system for so long that I'm expecting it to have a few bumps and bruises.

Two sisters are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4380 - Winter Solstice

Today is the shortest day of the year. I can't wait for the days to get longer again. I've never been a fan of Winter, so I'll look forward to getting a little more daylight each day, even though there are many cold mornings yet to come. It was near freezing again this morning but the sky was clear and the temperature warmed up rapidly. I wore two coats on our sunrise walk, was able to shed one of these coats when I took my long walk after breakfast, and when when we took Dawn on her second walk later in the afternoon, I only need a very light jacket. A second walk for Dawn has been added to our daily routine on days when Janet is home. Dawn definitely enjoys the extra activity. For an older dog, she has a lot more energy than we initially thought.

My Fedex package has still not been delivered. Absolutely nothing happened today. The package still appears to be sitting at a distribution warehouse in a nearby town. I tried without any success to contact the Fedex case manager investigating my misplaced package and got nowhere. These people are supposed to contact you within 24 hours, but it's been five days now. I would drive over to the distribution center myself and pick up the package if I could, but these facilities are off limits. I have been told several times that I would not be allowed inside. It's all very frustrating. The only good news is that I have finally been able to contact the Chinese manufacturer and they are going to investigate the lost shipment from their end.

I really need to find something to do other than walking and obsessing over lost packages. These days are getting really monotonous. Unfortunately there just isn't much that interests me at the moment. I don't really feel like I'm a part of the space community since my trips to Kennedy Space Center are so infrequent. I envy the local Florida space photographers who seem to be on site almost every single week. I'm not really part of an astronomy community either. I still like to volunteer at McDonald Observatory, but it is a long and tiring drive to West Texas and the observatory only needs me about once a year. There are local astronomy clubs in the area, but I have become reluctant to drive at night. Almost every single day I read about someone randomly getting shot on a Dallas freeway. It is not a good time to be driving around very late at night.

It's too bad I don't enjoy watching TV more. There are more movies available for streaming than I could watch in a lifetime. Unfortunately, very few of them have any interest to me. I did notice that Season Six of The Expanse has started. The first two episodes are already available on Amazon Prime. Even this simple pleasure seems difficult. For some inexplicable reason Amazon Prime movies won't run if you are using Safari. You keep getting an "incompatible plug in" message. I was finally able to access the new season by using Firefox, but quickly discovered that my computer couldn't keep up with the high resolution stream. I eventually discovered how to lower the data transfer rate, but by then it was time for dinner. Oh, well. At least I"ll have something to do tomorrow.

I have to remind myself not to join the fray and start arguing about politics on the blog. It's tempting, but just because everyone else is doing this doesn't mean it is right for me. I do have opinions but I don't think I'm going to be able to convince you to change yours. We have all dug in our heels. I've never seen the country so divided. Sadly, I don't realistically see us coming together on anything important in my lifetime. I find myself increasingly nostalgic about my childhood. The period of time between the end of World War II and the beginning of the Vietnam Way was pretty darn good.

Willow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4379

It was raining when we woke up this morning, so we had to wait to walk Dawn. Janet went to the gym. I started the pumps on the roof, did a load of laundry and ate breakfast. Eventually the rain stopped and we resumed our regular schedule.

When I checked my Fedex account this morning I saw a note that the barcode on my package was unreadable and a new shipping label had been applied. Jeez. It took them a week and a half to discover this? Maybe they just wore the original barcode out by scanning the package so many times. Apparently Fedex only does one thing each day because there has still been no delivery scheduled. I didn't bother to call again. I have nothing left to say.

When the rain stopped we took Dawn on her morning walk. After she completed her one mile loop, Dawn and Janet returned to the house and I continued walking. This was a terrible day for foot pain. I still don't know what makes things so different from one day to the next. I probably should have cut today's walk short, but I finished my entire route. This might have been my slowest day ever. I keep walking because I don't know if the foot pain is ever going away and I'm not ready to be housebound yet.

Janet got some special Christmas cookies for Charlie and Oliver when we went to visit the kennel today. The dogs were glad to see us and we played until each dog got tired. Nobody wanted to go outside in the yard because it was still very cold. This will be the last time we get to see Charlie and Oliver until the holidays are over. Holiday travelers will start boarding their dogs soon and we would just be in the way. I thought we might meet the two new puppies that entered the rescue program recently but they are still at the vet.

Yesterday I had to figure out why U-verse wasn't connecting to the new TV. Today I had to figure out why my new Fitbit was draining my iPhone battery. As is typically the case with these type of problems, I found a lot of people online who were experiencing the same battery drain frustration. I was able to slow down the battery drain by turning off background app refresh on my phone but then I discovered that the Fitbit wouldn't sync anymore. This is still a work in progress. It's too bad that I am hooked on steps and tracking stats. Today the Fitbit was just a giant nuisance.

The dehumidifiers have prevented moisture forming on the windows in the Winter, but the house still gets cold. My office is always the coldest room in the house since it is the most distant from the furnace. I've had to break out the little ceramic heater again to keep warm while I'm at the computer. I still spend a lot of time at the computer because old habits are hard to break. I'm not sure what else I'd do around the house anyway. At least our current cold wave will be a short one. I think temperatures will be up in the 80's again by Christmas Eve.

I have a dental appointment on Thursday and then I'm done with medical visits for the foreseeable future. I hope I'm not done with everything. The NASA folks have been strangely silent lately and I haven't heard from my friends at the observatory either. Janet keeps wondering when I'm going back to the space center but I just don't know. Until something develops, I'll keep walking every day and looking for my lost package.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4378

24,000 steps today. My feet hurt, but it was a good day to walk. It was very cold this morning, but I have lots of warm coats. On our sunrise walk with Dawn this morning I wore two coats for the first time this season. The double layer of down jackets keeps me warm in almost any type of weather. I used to wear my heavy vintage Eddie Bauer parka on days like these, but these two lightweaght jackets work much better. I wear a snug very lightweight jacket under a looser outer jacket and am never cold. If it's really a chilly day, I'll put on a sweater and wear long underwear as well. The only thing I need now are warmer shoes. The Hoka shoes really help with foot pain, but they aren't built for warmth.

One of the birders at Sunset Bay told me that I'd have a better chance of seeing the eagles if I came in the afternoon. This guy is pretty dedicated. He's out there with his long telephoto lens every single day. I don't think capturing a good photo of an eagle matters that much to me. I've gotten a lot of nice bird pictures over the years. I'm not a birder though. I'm often not even sure what type of bird I photographed until I look it up on Google later. I'm sure I'll see the eagles again at some point, but I probably won't have my camera with me. 

We did end up taking Dawn on her Sunday outing today. There was no reason not to go, especially since Dawn loves the cold. Janet uses this Sunday walk to work on Dawn's training exercises. This is a good thing for me, since I could never keep up with these two otherwise. After our walk, we went for ice cream cones. The ice cream seemed extra cold today, but it was good. It's always funny to watch Dawn eat ice cream. This dog definitely has issues, but she can be very funny.

I can see on my Fedex account that my package has moved to a new warehouse. There was still no attempt at delivery though. Unfortunately the Mesquite warehouse where the package is now has an even worse reputation than the Hutchins warehouse where it was yesterday. I still don't know what is going on, but I don't expect to see this package before Christmas. If some of the comments I'm reading from other customers are true, I may never see it at all. At least I have finally been able to contact the manufacturer and let them know what is going on. Communication is difficult because I think some of the e-mail from the Chinese manufacturer is being intercepted by my hosting company's spam filters. Most people have two layers of spam protection these says. You never even see the spam and malicious mail that your web host or e-mail provider intercepts. Spam still gets through though and the e-mail reader on your computer or phone provides a second layer of protection. With all these filters in place only about a dozen spam messages a day wind up in my in box. Without the spam filters I would be wading through hundreds of spam messages every day.

Our cable set-top box went out today. This used to happen a lot, but service has been fairly reliable for the past year, so I forgot how to reset everything. The U-verse box doesn't interact with our new TV the same way it did with our old TV either. I spent most of my non walking time today trying to bring the U-verse signal back to life.  Eventually I succeeded and I didn't even have to call AT&T. I'm pretty good at solving technical problems. Not so good at anything else lately.

We'll probably visit the rescue Dalmatians again tomorrow. We'll call first and make sure the holiday boarding traffic hasn't started yet. When the kennel fills up, there is no room to play with the Charlie and Oliver. It's hard to believe that Christmas is actually next weekend. I'm not feeling the Christmas spirit yet. Of course that's nothing new. I rarely have any Christmas spirit. I still think Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4377

The temperature keeps bouncing back and forth between Winter and Summer. Today it felt a lot like Winter. We took Dawn on a chilly sunrise walk, came home and ate a hearty breakfast, and then I did my grocery shopping. The traffic seems to get worse every time I leave the house. I don't know where all these new people are coming from, but it appears they are here to stay. Parking lots are even more hazardous than roads at this time of year. Cars are always racing around looking for that last available parking spot. I almost got hit while I was at the grocery store this morning.

I finally saw one of the new Broncos on my shopping run this morning. I was kind of disappointed. After all I've read about this new 4x4, I was expecting something amazing. This particular Bronco looked pretty ordinary to me. The new Land Rover Defender looks a lot better to my eye, but of course it's more expensive too. Bronco vs Defender certainly isn't something I need to fret about at the moment. I'm not planning on a new car any time soon.

I didn't even bother to call Fedex today. What's the point. It's pretty clear by now that my calls are not accomplishing anything. Maybe I'll eventually get the package. Maybe I won't. There's a support group for the Polaris Astro Edition on Facebook and I've noticed that I'm not the only one with delivery problems. Several other Kickstarter backers currently have their shipments in Fedex limbo as well. It is apparently not uncommon to see delays of ten days or more. Delivery problems are becoming national news, so I suspect that it is not just me or this particular product. If your Christmas gifts are being delivered by Fedex, there's a good chance they might arrive late. I do wish that Benro hadn't decided to launch their highly anticipated automated tripod head during the Christmas rush. That's just asking for trouble.

It's hard to believe that I wore shorts on my long walk yesterday. Today I needed a down jacket and a wool hat. The wind was blowing so hard near the lake that I felt chilly even though I dressed warmly. I shouldn't complain though. Our weather still seems a lot better than the rest of the country. The severe storms all seem to be to the East of us. I hope we have a mild winter. I don't look forward to snow at all. Snow is just a nuisance when you live down South. Nobody knows how to drive in the snow and most houses aren't insulated well.

I wish I could get excited about something. I've been away from the observatory too long and my interest in astronomy is starting to fade. I didn't even try to look for Comet Leonard this month. Even though the launch schedule is picking up at Kennedy Space Center again, I don't have any trips planned. It's complicated and expensive to follow launches. I'm not sure if my NASA contacts even remember me anymore. Maybe I should have picked an easier activity. The birders at the lake looking for the eagles look happy enough. So do the people at my gym for that matter. We'll see what happens next year. Maybe all it will take is one good launch to get me excited again. 

I guess we'll still take Dawn on her Sunday outing tomorrow. It's going to be very cold, but Dawn doesn't seem to mind the cold. She has a lot more energy than I do on days like these. I'm not so sure about the ice cream though. A cup of hot chocolate sounds a little better right now. 

Alvin is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4376

I give up. When I called FedEx this morning they basically just told me to get fucked and then hung up on me. The call center person I talked to was nice enough. It wasn't her fault that she had to explain that the company was overwhelmed with Christmas deliveries, was understaffed, and was having a terrible problem finding drivers. When I asked why my package had been sitting in a sorting warehouse for almost a week with no attempts at delivery the sad answer was that it wasn't a priority. Everybody wants their packages delivered before Christmas and with limited drivers available, the company's big corporate customers were the squeaky wheels that get greased. My package simply wasn't important enough to get on the available trucks. I am still unable to talk to anyone locally and I don't think I will receive my package until after Christmas. At this point I don't know if I will ever receive it.

The irony of all this is that I listened to a story on one of the business channels I watch to while eating breakfast that FedEx stock went up today on news that the company was investing heavily in automation to become even more profitable. This doesn't help me. It was one of their fancy new automated systems that screwed up my delivery in the first place by erroneously generating a "your package has been delivered" message when no attempt at delivery was actually made. Now I've got to sort this out with the Chinese manufacturer who somehow received the automated message that my package has already been delivered. There are language barriers involved and it's been difficult to explain to them that the message was just a mistake. FedEx openly admits that the message was a mistake but they say it's my responsibility to alert the shipper. They apparently don't have the time to bother with this little detail. The just want me to go away and instruct their call center representatives to just hang up on me if I take too much of their time. I think this interval must be about ten minutes because I've been hung up on at least three times now after talking for about ten minutes.

The temperature was very warm today and it gave me an opportunity to just keep walking. I took four different walks today and managed to rack up 23,000 steps. My feet hurt but walking helps me keep my mind off my current frustrations. It was supposed to rain this morning, but the rain never arrived. I think it just got delayed because it is now supposed to start raining later this evening. Dawn seems to enjoy getting several walks a day. Two of today's walks were with Dawn and Janet and the other two were by myself. I'm walking so much lately that I'm starting to feel like Forest Gump. For me, walking is the most relaxing way to get the exercise I need. I just wish there was a good solution for my painful feet.

The park is a beehive of activity now with all the trail improvements going on. The construction crews seem much more efficient than the ones I witnessed during the last cycle of trail improvements about ten years ago. I kind of wish they would just leave these trails alone though. When the new superhighway trails are completed, there will be many more bicycles, making it much harder to walk your dog. All cyclists seem to be Type A personalities who don't want to slow down or stop for anyone. Sometimes you don't hear these guys coming and it can be dangerous if your dog suddenly decides to dart to the other side of the trail to investigate a new smell while one of these silent bikes is approaching.

It looks like I will have to take a mandatory IRA distribution again this year. I wish the government would have extended last years Covid exemption on distributions for one more year. These distributions always foul things up for me at tax time. They don't really seem fair either. I feel like I have already paid taxes on this money when I earned it many, many years ago. I've had it explained to me several times that I haven't actually paid taxes on my IRA contributions yet, but it still doesn't make sense. I'm tired of paying taxes to pay for programs I don't agree with. There is a long, and growing list of those.

Time to make a grocery list again. How do these weeks go by so fast? It will be Christmas before you know it. Janet is making a Crown Roast for Christmas dinner. That will be something to look forward to even if I don't get my package.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4375

It's feeling like Ground Hog Day again. Every day the same frustrations occur over and over. My feet continue to hurt despite wearing the special shoes that the orthopedic surgeon recommended. My FedEx package remains lost despite calling them twice a day and begging for additional information. I keep walking longer and longer, mostly because it keeps me from thinking about all the aspects of modern life that irritate the hell out of me. Just about everything we as a society are currently doing is wrong. It just seems weird that so many people see things differently than me. In my heart I know I'm right.

I don't know what I am going to do about my FedEx package. The company really doesn't seem to care about their customers. Instead of trying to improve service, they seem to have put all their efforts into insulating themselves from customers. I'm actually impressed at how clever they've been at preventing me from finding out the status of this package that I know is sitting in a warehouse less than twenty miles from where I live. It is impossible to talk to anyone in the warehouse or even to a supervisor. You always get routed to an offshore call center where contract workers are employed to be friendly without really telling you anything. I'm starting to suspect that they dropped and broke my star tracker. I'm starting to get asked about what's inside the package. Today I was told that if the package didn't arrive within three or four days from now, I should ask the shipper to file a claim for damages so they could be compensated for the lost package. "But the package isn't lost," I reminded the call center agent. "I can tell from looking at the tracking history on my FedEx account that it's sitting in your Hutchins warehouse." "You scanned this package again this morning," I added. None of this gets me anywhere, because the call center representatives are forbidden from transferring my call to someone local who might actually know what is going on.

I feel like FedEx has stumbled onto a fiendishly clever plan to drive me crazy. I've always cared more about objects and gear than people. I want this star tracker. I've been waiting for it since last March. Maybe there is a holiday rush for delivery services. Maybe the driver had a bad day. Maybe the warehouse facility is understaffed. I still keep thinking that this should be a no brainer. The package initially didn't get delivered for some reason. It should have been redelivered the next day unless something is going on that they aren't telling me. I have many reasons to be suspicious.

I'm in such a bad mood that I don't even feel like going to rocket launches or out to the observatory anymore. My feet and shoulder hurt so much that I'm not even sure I could make the long drive to West Texas. It wasn't a pleasant drive even when I was feeling better last year. Florida is a different story. SpaceFlight Magazine seems to be under new management and they don't appear quite as interested in me these days. Hotel and rental car rates continue to increase as well. People are traveling again and flight are often full. It's a mess. I think I liked traveling more when the world was completely locked down.

The weather has been just as weird as everything else this Winter. One day it is 70 degrees and the next day it is freezing. The changes from day to day can be dramatic. Today was quite warm. I was able to take my long walk wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Just a few days ago I was wearing a down jacket. This inconsistency certainly isn't helping my overall mood. I don't mind having four seasons, but the seasons need to behave. Winter should be cold. Summer should be hot. And Spring and Fall should be nice. So far, we seem to be packing Winter, Summer, Spring, and Fall into a single month.

It's been a long day, but I've finished my dinner and taken this week's trash out to the curb. I'll probably just have shredded wheat for breakfast again even though I've been planning to resume my Friday restaurant breakfasts for weeks now. I'm really proud of Dawn. She seems to be doing a better job of adjusting to her new life than I am.

Hannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4374

My FedEx package still hasn't arrived. Actually I think it is even more lost than it was yesterday. After I initiated a trace on the package, I received a message saying that duplicate tracking numbers had been found. One of the identical numbers appeared to originate from Oregon and the other from New Jersey. I was asked which of these numbers was correct. How would I know? I have called Fedex for help numerous times but the only people I am able to talk to are contract call center workers based in another country. They don't know any more than I do. I tried to contact the distribution warehouse myself and eventually found their website. It was filled with a seemingly endless list of one star reviews written by people who were experiencing the same shabby treatment that I'm getting. One person had discovered an unlisted direct line to the warehouse and posted it on the site. When I called the number, nobody answered. FedEx used to be good. Now, it appears that nobody cares. Packages are lost routinely and drivers just make up excuses why they weren't able to make a delivery. I'm not sure if I will ever get my package.

I'm continuing to walk even though my feet are starting to hurt again. Foot pain was pretty bad today even though I'm wearing my newest pair of Hoka shoes. I know I walk a lot, but these shoes should definitely last more than six months. At least it was a nice day for walking. The temperature really varies a lot from day to day. Yesterday was cold. Today was so warm that I didn't even need to wear a jacket. I actually think I made good time today, but I forgot to wear my Fitbit. I hate when that happens. Now I don't get any credit for two hours of exercise.

The photo backdrop we used for the Santa Paws events finally got washed today. Now that it is clean, I'll take it back to the storage warehouse and probably forget where it is when I we need it again next year. It is hard to believe that Christmas is so close. Where has this year gone? We still haven't decided what to have for Christmas dinner. Last year we had a crown roast. The year before we had a smoked ham. Often we go out to eat on holidays, but Christmas Day isn't a good time to go to a restaurant. 

It looks like Dalmatian Rescue is getting two five month old puppies. I don't know if these dogs will be at the kennel next Monday, but it will be fun to meet them when they arrive. We haven't had any puppies in the program for a long time. I guess Oliver is still a young dog, but he is definitely not a puppy.

I don't know why the missing FedEx package bothers me so much. My life isn't going to change much even if I never receive the package. I guess I just hate when things are out of my control. I feel totally powerless to resolve this situation. I've called again and again and nobody seems to care. The entire company seems to be run by a bar code reader. Once something is scanned and in the system the scan becomes the reality. If your own eyes are telling you something different it just doesn't matter. Even today, someone on the phone told me that the package was at the FedEx Print Center and ready to pick up. Umm. No it isn't. I've already been to this store twice and called them again this morning. They are getting tired of hearing from me too.

I finally got a lead on a good contractor from someone I trust. Hopefully we can start fixing a few things around the house soon. Of course "soon" for a busy contractor might mean three to six months from now. Hey, at least I've moved the ball forward a few inches. 

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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