Day 4059

I went to see the foot doctor again today. The visit was largely unnecessary since the guy is a surgeon and we've already decided that I wasn't a candidate for surgery. The doctor did approve of my shoes though and said I was doing all the right things. I asked him about my shoulder and he referred me to a different orthepedic surgeon. It's weird that doctors are so specialized now. Every doctor in this practice is an orthopedic surgeon, but they all seem to specialize in a different bone.

Dawn surprised us today. On her afternoon walk, she kept on walking after she finished her perfunctory mile. She ended up walking over two miles, making it a total of three miles for the day. Janet and I weren't expecting this, but we'll take what we can get. Dawn still seems to be enjoying her walks. I guess we'll just let her choose how far to go and see what happens.

The weather continues to be exceptionally nice for the middle of Winter. When I took my own longer walk after I returned from the doctor's office, I didn't need a jacket at all. I was able to walk wearing a t-shirt again. I hope this weather continues. I'll take a seventy degree day over six inches of snow any time I can get it. 

I still haven't started raking leaves, but my doctor's appointment and various walks with and without Dawn gave me an excuse. I don't have much of an excuse tomorrow, so I'd better get to work. Hmm. Maybe I do have an excuse.  I didn't watch the new episode of The Expanse today because I was too busy with other things. I think watching The Expanse sounds a lot better than raking leaves.

People are reading my Sky & Telescope article. My editor sent me a question he'd received from a planetarium director in Australia. Of course I didn't know the answer to this question since I'm not really an astronomer, but maybe my friends at the observatory can help me out. I think the magazine wants to feature the question in a future "letters to the editor" column.  I may need help with the new article I'm writing for the magazine as well. I'm struggling with this one. It's hard to write about the night sky when you aren't actually looking at the night sky. Nothing to see here in Dallas.

I'm discovering that quite a few people I know went down to Boca Chica for yesterday's SN9 Starship launch. It makes me feel like a slacker for not going myself. I still kind of feel like I am living on borrowed time and don't feel like going anywhere until I get vaccinated. I've actually traveled quite a bit during the pandemic and I feel like my luck will run out eventually. With vaccinations right around the corner for old coots like me, it just seems prudent to wait a while. There will be plenty of rockets to see next year. Who knows. I might even feel comfortable traveling again later this year.

I got a notice from UPS that a shipment of parts for my dehumidifier will be arriving tomorrow. This will be interesting. Did I bite off more than I can chew? I was hoping that the company would just exchange my unit for a brand new dehumidifier, but I guess the company already did that last month. My noisy dehumidifier with the missing shut off float supposedly is the brand new model. Oh, well. I guess I get to play Mr. Fix-it again.

I wonder where Dawn will want to go tomorrow. This dog continues to be a mystery. Who would have thought that I would fall for a dog that didn't even like me.

Casey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day