Day 4176 - Memorial Day

Will this ever end? We had more rain today. This is the wettest Spring I can remember. The plants love it, but I don't think anyone else does. We got a lot of rain today, but still managed to find time to walk. Dawn's walk was completely dry, but I ended up cutting it pretty close on my own walk a little later. As soon as I completed my full six miles and returned to the house, the skies opened up and it started pouring. If I'd been walking just a little slower, I would have got soaked.

The park is a popular place for picnics and barbecues on Memorial Day. I was surprised at how many people stubbornly refused to give up in spite of the bad weather. There were makeshift tents and tarps erected over picnic tables. I saw one huge tarp that roofers often use to cover damaged roofs strung between several trees. The tarp not only covered a picnic table and a barbecue pit, it covered the owner's car as well. Nothing seemed to bother these people. The ground was wet and I could hear thunder in the distance, but the barbecues continued all over the park.

I think I've lost my mojo when it comes to fixing things. I have a waterproof iPhone case with a Gorilla Glass screen protector. One of the corners was loose, so I thought I'd fix it this morning. I carefully took the case apart and cleaned it. I found the problem. There was a broken post on the back of the case, so the corner screw on the front couldn't be tightened. I tried to super glue the broken part back together, but in the process a lot of other small parts started breaking or falling off. I tried to super glue these parts back together as well, but ended up losing one of them. I didn't align the post with the brass nut perfectly, so when I finally did attempt to reassemble the case, the screws on the front wouldn't align with the nuts inside the small posts in the back. I can't believe that I used to be able to fix watches. I was so clumsy that I ended up making a mess of the case. I thought the case company had gone out of business, but I managed to find a replacement on the Internet and ordered it. It must be coming from China, because the shipping charges were almost as much as the case.

The pumps on the roof aren't working very well, but I really don't want to climb up there and inspect them.  The weather is nasty and the roof gets slippery when it's wet. If I can't even fix an iPhone case, I don't want to risk fixing a pump on a slippery roof. Luckily, when I was just a little younger I made some pretty decent repairs to the roof. Even after all this rain, there have been no leaks.

We didn't get to visit the Dalmatians today. The kennel was closed for Memorial Day. The dogs were fine because kennel attendants still check on them several times a day to feed them and take them out to poop. The place just wasn't open to the public. Maybe when we visit next time the two dogs that have already been adopted will have gone to their forever homes.

Dawn has started licking her paws a lot. We don't know if this is a nervous habit or whether she is allergic to something outside. I thought she might have been bitten by fire ants, but there are no welts or sign of a bite on her paws. We found some socks that Dash used to wear when he had an injured paw, but they wouldn't fit on Dawn. Dash had really tiny feet for a Dalmatian. There is a big box of dog stuff at my storage warehouse. Dash had so many types of socks, shoes, and booties when his rear legs began to get weak and I may be able to find something for Dawn that might work. She needs to quit licking because her paws are already starting to get red and irritated.

According to the weather forecast, it is supposed to rain every day for the rest of the week. Not good. I hope the forecast is wrong. Enough is enough. I'm really getting sick of this rain.

Amy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4175

Another busy day. It's rare that I get two 20,000 step days in a row, but today was one of those days. The weather was pretty decent, so Dawn got her Sunday outing. She really likes the park we take her to on Sundays, but other places we've tried have been dismal failures. Dawn is a hard dog to figure out. I'm just glad when something works. We always get ice cream cones on Sunday. This time we remembered to bring towels so Dawn wouldn't get ice cream all over the car.

We finally got rid of all the dead Asian Jasmine in the back yard. We spent hours pulling the dead vines off our back fence, which looks pretty bare right now. Surprisingly, the Asian Jasmine that survived the big freeze is coming back strong. In a few years the yard will look just like it did before. This doesn't necessarily mean that the yard will look all that great. There are still several dead photinia trees, bare patches where the grass has died, and a half destroyed greenhouse that was damaged in one of our periodic windstorms.

I was tired after Dawn's Sunday outing and all the yard work, but I still took my long walk anyway. The park was surprisingly crowded today. It was probably the holiday weekend. Usually people stay away when the weather is cool and overcast. Now that crowds are returning everywhere, I'm starting to miss the lockdown. It was nice to fly on empty planes and drive on uncrowded roads. That's all over now. Everyone who has been waiting for an opportunity to gather together is making up for lost time.

I made another effort to understand PixInsight this afternoon. I watched the first four videos in a twelve part series called PixInsight for Total Beginners. The complex astrophotography processing software was still hard for me to understand. Photoshop was designed for and by visual people. PixInsight seems to have been designed by mathematicians. It's clear that the software can do some amazing things, but it's not intuitive at all. I still think that maybe I picked the wrong hobby.

It's difficult to learn things on your own. It's easy to go down a rabbit hole and become hopelessly lost. No wonder classes and clubs are popular. I seldom take classes. I'm too much of a loner. I flounder around and eventually figure out what I need to know on my own. I'm probably doing a lot of things backwards, but does it even matter? People sometimes ask why I use such an old version of Photoshop. My answer is always the same. I'm still discovering new things that CS5 will do.

I'm not sure whether we'll visit the Dalmatians tomorrow or not. The kennel might be closed for Memorial Day. It's hard for me to relate to this day. I've lived a long time and it still seems odd that I don't know a single person who died while in the military. All the people I knew from my parent's generation came back from World War II and Korea. Several people I knew in high school got sent to Vietnam and they all came back. I don't even know anyone who got sent to the Middle East during all the various Gulf Wars. A lot of people did die though. Were any of these wars even necessary? Maybe World War II, but the others accomplished nothing. I'm not a globalist. I guess I'm basically an isolationist at heart. We ought to make all our own stuff in our own factories and stay out of other people's business. 

Ollie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4174

It was a busy day for a lazy guy like me. I got my grocery shopping done right after breakfast and then I came home and mowed the grass. The grass was pretty thick, but I managed to get the job done before the mower's battery ran out. Everything looks surprisingly green this year. All this rain probably helps. After I finished mowing, I treated all the fire ant mounds that have started to appear in the yard. Hopefully, the Amdro powder does the trick. I think these ants are biting Dawn when she's outside. The yard actually looks pretty good now. It probably won't last long.

While I was grocery shopping, I noticed that there are no longer any mask mandates. Everyone still wears a mask though. I didn't see anyone in the two grocery stores I went to this morning without a mask, even though they weren't required. I go with the flow. If everyone else is wearing a mask, I'll wear one too. If people aren't wearing a mask, I won't wear one either. I never wear a mask outside though. That seemed silly even at the height of the pandemic. By the looks of things today, it's going to take a long, long time to return to normal. I think we've all forgotten what normal is.

Dawn is getting more adventurous. She went off in a different direction again on her walk today. She seems to know the way home, which is a good thing. I hope her new found curiosity continues. Exploring is a good thing for a dog. It probably isn't bad for people either. 

I waited a while today before taking my long walk. Mowing the lawn tired me out. When we first bought the house, I mowed the lawn with an old fashioned push mower. It seemed easy back then. Now, mowing is quite a chore. The electric mower isn't self propelled and I have to push it up and down hills. I used to have a self-propelled Yazoo gas mower, but it broke years ago. The gas mower was hard to start and broke frequently. The only problem I've had with the electric mower is dead batteries. It's much easier to buy a new battery than to haul the entire mower to a repair shop. I wonder if I'll feel the same way about electric cars someday. I hear they are pretty low maintenance too.

I walked the full six miles today, but I was very slow. I think my days of doing manual labor are numbered. On days where I have a lot of chores to do, I don't really feel like walking. I keep going though, because I know that if I ever quit, it will be very difficult to get started again. I watched my Dad become sedentary and I don't want it to happen to me. My plan for staying healthy is pretty simple. You've just got to keep moving.

The weather was a lot better today. There were clouds early in the day, but a lot of sunshine later. It was almost the opposite of the way it was yesterday. Tomorrow looks good as well. We'll probably take Dawn on a little outing again. She seems to like visiting a different park on Sundays. Maybe she just likes the ice cream.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4173

Our weird weather continues. I saw the sun for a while this morning, but by mid-afternoon the sky was dark and I was hearing a lot of thunder. My schedule revolves around finding a time to walk these days. I usually manage to stay dry, but sometimes I end up cutting it pretty close.

While I was waiting for a good time to walk, I wrote a bunch of letters. I wrote the tree trimmer, thanking him for his estimate and told him that Janet and I still couldn't decide whether to remove the big Oak in the back yard or just trim it. I wrote SpaceFlight Magazine, asking them if there were any upcoming launches they particularly wanted to cover. I listed the launches I was interested in attending and am hoping that at least one of them will be something the magazine is interested in. I also wrote the observatory asking whether they were planning to continue their new photography night program. I heard back from the observatory in just a few hours with an affirmative answer. I think I'll probably be going back sometime this Fall. Maybe I'll get that little telescope I've had my eye on and take it with me.

Dawn seems to be getting more relaxed around me. We spend time in the back yard together every day when weather permits. She is very relaxed in the back yard with me and reasonably relaxed when we are napping on the bed together. The kitchen is still a problem though. I have a feeling that this is not going to change. 

The training class that we used to take Dot and Dash to has opened up again. It's another sign that Covid restrictions are over. Janet has decided that training will be good for Dawn and has enrolled her in a beginner's class. I'm not sure whether I'll go along or not. I used to train Dash while Janet trained Dot. There's not much point in going to the class without a dog. Dawn might do better in class without me around anyway, since I tend to make her nervous. I'm real curious to see how Dawn will do in this class. She really seems to want to be around other dogs.

The sky was already starting to look dark by the time we got around to walking this afternoon. Dawn was adventurous today and ventured off on a new route she hadn't tried before. She enjoyed smelling things and ended up walking much further than her normal one mile loop. It's encouraging to see her try new things.

We stayed dry on Dawn's walk but I had a feeling that I might get wet on my own longer walk. I continued walking anyway, checking the weather radar on my phone from time to time. For a while I thought I might be able to complete my regular six mile route until I started hearing thunder. I never saw any lightning, but the thunder was very loud. There must have been cloud to cloud lightning high overhead. I headed home expecting to get wet, but only experienced a few light sprinkles. I kept seeing heavy rain falling off in the distance and somehow managed to make it home before it arrived. It wasn't a great walk, but I managed to get enough steps to keep Mr. Fitbit happy.

I thought about mowing the grass today but it was still too wet. Some of my neighbors were mowing their grass, but they had gas mowers. My electric mower just isn't powerful enough to cut through wet grass. I hope we get some dry weather soon. The grass is growing fast and pretty soon it will be too tall to mow. 

It's time to make a grocery list again. I'm glad I got new windshield wipers because it looks like I'll be doing my shopping in the rain. This has been an unusually wet Spring. It probably means that we will have an unusually dry Summer.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4172

Some days I just stare at the screen and wonder what to write about. I don't like to write about politics or current events and there is only so much you can say about the weather. My routine is fairly predictable and often boring. You already know about my morning smoothie and my long daily walks. I spend hours at the computer every day, but I don't work anymore so it is unclear what I am actually doing. The blog doesn't really have an audience anymore, although it still seems important to reach my 5000 day goal. 

Lately, I've been waiting until I hear Dawn eating her breakfast to get out of bed. She's a noisy eater, so this kind of serves as my alarm clock. I don't want to spook Dawn by coming out to the kitchen while she is eating. She's such a nervous dog that this will often make her quit eating entirely. Every dog we've had has caused me to make changes in my routine. With Dawn the changes have been much more frequent.

I always make the bed when Janet takes Dawn outside to pee after her breakfast. I have to work fast because I know that she will come running back to the bedroom and hop on the bed whether I've finished making it or not. This is where she stays for most of the morning. I'll take her outside on a leash from time to time because I know that she likes being outdoors. She won't take the initiative to go outside on her own though. I've even left the back door open, but all this accomplishes is letting more mosquitos inside.

I waste a lot of time researching my next equipment purchase. Sometimes it's cars I'm interesting in. Other times it's camera gear. Lately, I've gotten interested in small, very portable telescopes. I learn a lot while I'm doing this. It's mostly useless knowledge, but the quest does keep me busy. I'm wondering why Sky & Telescope didn't like my proposal about an article on the trend toward alt-azimuth imaging and tracking. I've learned a lot about the subject while researching telescopes and find it interesting.

I'm not looking forward to summer. I got hot on my walk today and the temperature wasn't even that bad. I"m trying to remember what I used to do in the summer. I walked Dot and Dash around sunset a lot. I used to walk Spot after dark, but Dallas was a lot safer then. I'd never do that now. One way or another, I'm going to have to deal with summer. It's getting hotter every day.

One of these days I'm going to need to finish unpacking from my trip to the observatory. The camera gear still needs to be unpacked and returned to it's usual place. A little voice in my head keeps asking why it is necessary to do this. If I go on another trip, I will have to gather all the gear together again and put it back in the travel case.

I've taken this week's trash to the curb and am ready to start a new week. It's hard to believe it's almost June. I'll celebrate another birthday soon and will find myself even older. I've only recently started thinking of myself as old. My mind still feels young, but my body tells me otherwise.

Libby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4171

Today seemed like the first day of summer. It was hot, but not too hot. The sky was blue with a few puffy white clouds. It was still too wet to do yardwork, but it was a nice day for walking. We walked Dawn early today because Janet has a volunteer job on Wednesdays. Dawn didn't mind the change in schedule. She's walking pretty normal now. After we finished our one mile loop, I came back to the house with Dawn and Janet. It was way too early for my long walk.

I spent the rest of the morning practicing processing another image I took out at the observatory earlier this month. What I'm discovering is that  my in-camera noise reduction is actually better than the complicated procedures for reducing noise in my astrophotography software. I have a feeling that I'm doing something wrong, but maybe the easy way is better after all.

I noticed today that McDonald Observatory has started having a photography night once a month. That's all I need is another excuse to go back to the mountain. I haven't even paid my bills for this month's trip yet. I don't think I'll be going back in June. It's a nice idea though. There are no workshops or classes associated with these photography nights. You just get access to the mountain at a reasonable price. If the observatory continues having these monthly photography nights, maybe I'll go back in the Fall

If I go back to Mount Locke in the Fall it will give me an excuse to get the little telescope I've had my eye on. Somehow a return to West Texas seems more appealing than going to Florida right now. I just wish that the drive wasn't so long and that there was a guarantee of good weather when I got there. My batting average for good weather is not so good.

By the time I took my long walk the temperature was in the high 80's. It wasn't too bad, but I was definitely sweating by the time I returned home. This was just a taste of what's to come. I'm not sure how well I'll handle the heat this summer. It seems worse every year. Maybe the summer heat will provide the incentive I need to finally return to the gym. My gym has a nice indoor track and the place is air conditioned. Walking around an indoor track is boring, but so is my walk. I've been following the same route for far too long.

I keep hoping that Dawn will bond with me on afternoons when Janet is away. I almost got her to follow me to the kitchen this afternoon for some cheese, but she lost her nerve in the hallway and ran back to the bedroom. She likes to go out in the back yard on nice days, but she won't go on her own. I have to lead her outside on a leash. I take the leash off at the back door and she's fine outside. I sit on a bench while she lies on the grass. She'll frequently come over to me on the bench and let me pet her. Everything seems normal when we're outside. As soon as we go back inside, she runs back to the bedroom. It's all a giant mystery to me.

I was going to program my new camera with some custom settings today, but I never got around to it. There are four custom menus that allow you to preload settings you commonly use for different situations. I could have a dog picture menu, a night sky menu, a portrait menu, and a nature photography menu. This might actually be useful. I'll probably never do it though. I've never learned the full capabilities of any of my digital cameras. I just pretend that they are an old Nikon F2 and stick to the basics.

I missed the eclipse of the moon early this morning. I got up early and went outside to look, but the skies were completely cloudy. Our nice summer day didn't begin until much later in the morning. 

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4170

We've had every type of weather imaginable today. Pounding rain, high humidity, pleasant breezes, a little sunshine: take your pick. The heavy rain came early and it was relentless. It overwhelmed the pumps on the roof, but luckily the roof still didn't leak. In my younger days I would have climbed up on the roof during a dry spell and unclogged the pumps, but I'm just not up to it anymore. The roof will have to wait.

I'm going to have to come up with an alternative to watching television while I eat breakfast. Not only is the news unrelentingly depressing, the commercials are even worse. I seem to see the same seven mindless commercials over and over again. Most of them are for pharmaceutical products that will probably end up killing you in the long run. Even the business channels have gotten weird. I'm tired of hearing about bitcoin and non-fungible tokens. Nobody really understands these things, but everyone has a story about someone who got wealthy by buying or selling them. Young people seem to love bitcoin, but today's blockchain millionaires seem a lot like the Dutch tulip moguls of the 1600's. I'm old, so gold, boring blue chip stocks, and old Perry Mason movies make more sense to me.

I had to change the sheets today, which is always difficult with Dawn. It takes me a long time to make the bed now with a bad shoulder and weak knees. I usually try to make the bed while Dawn is eating breakfast, but when I'm changing the sheets I can never get finished in time. When Dawn finishes her breakfast she runs back to the bedroom and hops on the bed again. It doesn't matter to her whether the bed is made of not. I could shoo her away easy enough, but I don't want to make her even more fearful of me. I usually just let Dawn sleep on the bed until Janet returns from the gym for lunch and then Dawn goes out to the kitchen again. I eventually got the job done today, but it never used to take this long.

The more I hear about the post-pandemic surge in travel, the more hesitant I become to even try to return to Kennedy Space Center. There are plenty of launches this year, but hotel prices are rising rapidly, rental cars are scarce, flights are full, and everyone is encouraged to plan ahead. You can't really plan ahead with rocket launches. The dates are always changing. Maybe I'm just making excuses, but this doesn't seem like as much fun as it used to be. I'll be glad when everyone has taken their post-pandemic vacation and life returns to normal.

My long walk was certainly normal today. The skies had cleared, my foot wasn't bothering me, and I managed to complete my full six miles. It was still humid outside, but there was a nice breeze and I felt comfortable. There weren't a lot of people out today because of the recent rain and I pretty much had the park to myself. I like days like this. Even all the ducks were in their regular places, so they were easy to count.

I stopped taking famotidine last week because I thought I was taking too much of the heartburn medication. Bad move. Now, everything seems to give me heartburn. Even my breakfast smoothie gave me problems this morning. I always expect that my doctor will provide a solution to problems like this when I go in for a physical exam. He never does. I complain about feeling tired and having heartburn and he checks my vital signs and tells me how healthy I am. My blood work and EKG were perfect this time. So why do I feel so tired? If I made an effort to be vegan, I probably wouldn't have heartburn at all. Unfortunately, I love spicy food and have very little willpower about eating.

There's going to be an eclipse of the moon early tomorrow morning but I suspect that I will miss it. The forecast predicts cloudy weather with a chance of rain. The moon will be near the horizon anyway, which makes viewing difficult even on a good day. I"ll probably have to wait until I get back to West Texas to enjoy the night sky again.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4169

There are still four Dalmatians up at the kennel. Aries name has been changed to Millie, which is probably a better name for her anyway. Two of the four have adoptions pending, but I don't think they'll be going to their new homes until June. This is a great group of dogs. They are healthy, happy, and have great personalities. Janet and I have enjoyed getting to know them this Spring. Hopefully all four will find their forever homes very soon.

When is this rain ever going to end? It didn't rain all day today, but it certainly was another wet and dismal day. I'm getting tired of this. We don't have a set schedule for walking anymore. We just try to go out when the weather radar says it's going to be dry for a little while. Dawn got her walk before we left for the kennel and I split my own walk into two shorter walks after we returned home. There wasn't enough time between storm cells to walk very far today, but I did manage to get at least 10,000 steps. There is rain in the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday as well. It's enough to make me want to forget about exercising for a while and just take a very long nap.

Sky & Telescope isn't interested in the new article I proposed. The letter I got from my editor was nice enough, but it was clear that the magazine just wasn't interested. I'm having trouble coming up with an interesting astronomy article. When I went out to the observatory last October, I thought an article about astrophotography was a sure bet. Unfortunately, it's becoming increasingly clear that I don't really know that much about the subject. There are thousands of amateur astronomers who know much more than I do. and could probably write a better article or tutorial. I am learning a lot though. It just takes time. Maybe I just got ahead of myself.

I hope my budding career as a space and astronomy journalist isn't short lived. It's beginning to seem that way. Spaceflight Magazine doesn't seem as interested in further launch stories either.  I can't really blame them. Unless I can find a way to get interviews and establish an interesting back story for some of these launches, any article I write is going to be more or less the same. I go to Florida, follow an Air Force liaison to the designated viewing location, and watch a rocket disappear into the sky. Five minutes after the launch, it's all over. From four miles away, all these rockets look the same. Where is the story here? It was a lot more interesting when NASA put on special events for social media influencers. We got to go behind the scenes and see some amazing things that people seldom get access to. Covid put an end to all that. Even if NASA resumes the program at some point, I'm not really an influencer anymore. I think I'm basically writing a blog for twelve people these days.

Why am I still interested in astrophotography? Processing the pictures to bring out hidden details has been much more difficult than I anticipated. I don't feel safe going out after dark in Dallas either. There are too many stories about people getting robbed in the park. It's kind of weird that I have to drive 500 miles to a remote mountain in West Texas before I feel safe being alone outside at night. There are Mountain Lions out in West Texas, but these animals don't seem nearly as threatening as people. All that being said, I still might buy a small telescope this year. I do like learning how to use new gear.

It's going to be a long week if this rain doesn't clear up. At least the roof isn't leaking. I actually must have done a pretty good job of patching things up earlier in the year.

Ziggy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4168

Dawn got her special outing today. It wasn't a clear day, but it wasn't raining either. We thought we'd take her someplace new, but the strange surroundings scared her and we got back in the car and went back to her usual Sunday park. What a dfifference. Dawn would hardly move at the new location, but she bounded out of the car and immediately began smelling things when we returned to our regular Sunday park. This park was new to Dawn at one point too, but I don't know how much new Dawn can handle. Of course we got ice cream cones on the way home. Even though it was a gray and somewhat dismal day, I think Dawn really enjoyed herself.

I took a short nap when we returned home and then I went walking again. I could be doing other things, but walking still seems the best way to fill an otherwise uneventful day. I daydream a lot when I walk. I seldom think about serious things. I plan future trips. I think about what kind of car I'd like to buy next. I count ducks, And I wonder what the neighbors are doing. Sometimes these walks are tiring. Other times they are boring. They always beat mowing the lawn though.

I had to do some website updates today and I couldn't figure out why my changes weren't showing up in my browser. I uploaded the new pages several times and still kept seeing the old site. It finally occurred to me that I needed to clear my cache files. When I refreshed my browser, it was just reloading the old site that was already in the browser cache. Problem solved. I vaguely wondered why I don't always have to do this. I probably used to know the answer, but my web development skills are fading fast.

I watched a YouTube tutorial titled "Getting started with PixInsight" this afternoon. I thought if I understood the basics of this complex program, I might actually get some use out of it. This video was supposed to be for beginners, but it still seemed very complex to me. It was hard for me to stay interested. Things that were easy and intuitive in Photoshop required ten mysterious steps here. I still don't even understand the PixInsight menu. It baffles me that a lot of people love this program. Maybe I picked the wrong hobby. I've been taking photographs for the better part of my life. You'd thing this would be easy, but astrophotography has been a struggle for me.

I'm getting bitten by mosquitos inside the house. Where did these things come from? Mosquitos seem unusually bad this year. It must be all the moisture. I'm starting to see lots of ants too. I guess it's that time of year. Where can you go where the weather is pleasant and there are no bugs? Bugs are everywhere. There were moths inside the Astronomer's Lodge. When I go to rocket launches in Florida I always get bitten by bugs. I always get the most powerful insect repellent I can find and the bugs don't even care.

I still haven't finished unpacking from my trip. The clothing has all been washed and put away, but there's still a lot of equipment I need to deal with. I took the star tracker apart and put it back in it's box today. That's a start. Now I've got a case I can use for pet photography again. Maybe I'll deal with the rest of the camera equipment next weekend. I doubt that I'm going to be using it any time soon.

Tomorrow we visit the rescue Dalmatians again. It only seems like a few days have passed since we saw them last week. Where has the time gone? We are almost halfway through 2021 and it still seems like the year is just getting started. Covid has changed everything. I'm so used to doing nothing that it's starting to seem normal.

Willie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4167

I'm a terrible shopper. When I went to the grocery store, Janet wanted me to get her some cream cheese and showed me the tub it came in. All I remembered was the tub and came home with a tub of sour cream instead. I actually saw cream cheese on the shelf next to the sour cream, but it came in a little foil wrapped brick. That couldn't possibly be right. I was looking for something in a little plastic tub.

Our rainy weather continues. There were plenty of dry periods between the showers today. I had no trouble finding time to walk, but it's still pretty wet outside. It's actually raining right now. We had been planning on doing some yard work last week so we could throw away the debris on bulky trash day. The trash pickup got delayed, but we never found a dry enough day to trim the bushes and get rid of the rest of the dead Asian Jasmine. Oh, well. There's always next month.

I updated my company website today and then decided that the update didn't make any sense and didn't bother to upload it. Somehow this wasted effort still seemed more productive than editing more Milky Way pictures. I think I'm burned out on astrophotography for a while. Maybe there's gold hidden away in the images I took out at the observatory last week, but it's been very hard mining it. I'll wait a while before  I resume this activity. I should have learned from last time. After my first astrophotography workshop I didn't even look at the pictures for almost a month. I think the wait allowed what I'd learned to slowly seep into my brain, because when I finally opened the files, everything clicked together fairly quickly.

I thought I'd get wet on my long walk today, but the occasional drizzle kept me cool instead. It's been really humid lately and if the sun was out I would have been miserable. It was a nice day for a walk, but there was no spring in my step today. I was really slow. My feet bothered me a little, but that wasn't the real problem. I was just tired. I shouldn't have been tired. I actually got more sleep than usual. I guess I'm just getting old. For every good day there are usually three bad days. 

I still think I need to stay active. Without ongoing activity and a certain amount of effort I probably wouldn't even be able to get out of bed. I hate to think what the aches and pains are going to be like five years from now. We'll see. I wonder how long I can keep walking six miles a day?

Dawn had a good day. Even though the ground is still soggy, she seems to have overcome her fear of getting her paws wet and is walking well. She was very enthusiastic about her little one mile loop this afternoon. Her appetite has definitely returned. For a while we were worried about a hesitancy to eat, but she devours her meals now. Dawn is fine. I think we just worry too much.

I went out and got a pizza for dinner. Even though pizza is absolutely the worst offender in the heartburn department, I still enjoy a slice now and then. All my favorite foods like spaghetti and chili give me heartburn. It's a shame. I try to eat sensibly, but I'd hate to be limited to a bland diet for the rest of my life. Spice is nice. For now, there's always Pepcid, but it's probably not a good idea to take too much famotidine either. 

I hope it's not raining tomorrow. Dawn missed her ice cream outing last Sunday because of rain. It would be a shame to miss this again. Hard to believe that it's been raining almost continually for an entire week, but that's the way it is in May. Pretty soon I'll be complaining about how hot and dry it is.

Rosco is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4166

There were scattered showers today, but not enough rain to change any plans. Not that I had any plans, mind you. It was such an uneventful day that it's hard to remember if I did anything at all. It's still too wet to do yard work, which is kind of a blessing. I'm not in the mood to do yard work at all. Mostly I just puttered around the house until it was time for my long walk.

You know the routine by now. I made the bed, fixed my morning smoothie, and watched the world fall apart on cable news. After breakfast I checked my messages and practiced processing some more astrophotography images. Today's efforts were a little more successful. I've been working with the same image for several days now and each day it comes out looking a little different. I still did one thing wrong today, so I might have to try this one more time before I move on to the next image.

Dawn was eager to walk today. She even branched off in a new direction, which kind of startled Janet and I. Instead of sticking to her normal path, she ventured down to the shoreline and had a great time smelling things. I thought she might be lost for a while, but at the appropriate time she turned away from the lake and headed back up the hill toward home. If this wasn't Dawn, you wouldn't give this kind of behavior a second thought. Seeing Dawn happy and curious was a big deal to us. She just seemed like a normal dog out for a walk on a Spring day.

As always, I continued walking after Dawn and Janet returned to the house. There was a nice breeze and it was mostly overcast, so I didn't get too hot. My feet didn't bother me too much today, so all was well. If I weren't so lazy, I'd take the car and go somewhere different to walk. It's a nice big park though and I don't mind seeing the same things day after day. At this time of year there are always new wildflowers to identify and lots and lots of ducks. Just about all the wildflowers have appeared by now and the fields and meadows are filled with color. This would be the perfect time of year in Dallas if it didn't rain so much.

The little sensor that monitors our electric lines sent a message to my watch saying that our Internet had gone out while I was out on my walk. Hmm. I didn't know that this thing monitored the Internet too. I called Janet to see if we'd had a power outage and she said everything was fine. It turned out that the only thing that was faulty was the sensor itself. Maybe I'll quit using this thing. It's supposed to help prevent electrical fires, but I'm still not sure if it does anything at all.

I got an invitation to apply for media credentials to attend the Boeing Starliner launch in late July. Do I try to go to this one, or the Falcon Heavy STP-3 launch at the end of June? There's also the Space X Inspiration 4 private mission later this Fall along with the first Starship orbital flight and hopefully Artemis-1 as well. That's a lot of activity and I can probably only afford to attend one of these launches. I'm not even sure I'll get approved to attend any. I've got to remain optimistic though. I've managed to get four articles about launch activities at Kennedy Space Center published, so at least in my own mind I'm a legitimate journalist.

I got a bag of ice from the grocery store, so I can postpone calling the appliance repairman for a while. I don't think I can postpone mowing the grass though. It's really been growing fast with all this wet weather. We'll see how the weekend goes. One way or another, I"m sure I'll be doing a lot of chores.

Casey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4165

Our rainy week continues. It doesn't rain continually and I'm usually able to find time to walk Dawn and myself, but it's pretty damp outside. It's amazing how green everything has become. I thought a lot of our outdoor plants died during the big winter freeze, but most of them have recovered. Even the Asian Jasmine ground cover is coming back. It's nice to see the yard coming to life, even though it will mean I have to mow the grass more often.

Today was a slow day. After breakfast I put together a proposal for a new Sky & Telescope article and sent it to my editor. I have no idea how this proposal will be received, but I definitely would like to keep writing for the magazine. Nothing ventured, nothing gained I guess. I don't expect an answer anytime soon. It took me over a year to get my first article published.

Since I had a lot of time on my hands today, I practiced my astrophotography processing skills. I think I'm doing everything correctly now, but I'm still a bit disappointed in the results. I can spend hours working on a photo and the end result doesn't look that much better than the original out of the camera. This either means that my camera is very good or my processing skills are very bad. I'll keep working with what I've got. It's going to be a while before I see dark skies again.

There was a light drizzle when I embarked on my long walk today. That was fine by me. It's been very humid lately and the light rain helped cool me down. I'd like to think that these walks are helping me physically, but my Fitbit seems to disagree. I'm walking too slow and not elevating my heart rate enough. If I made Mr. Fitbit happy, I could never complete six miles though. Slow and steady is the only way I can continue walking for long distances. I really need to return to the gym. My calves are strong, but the rest of my muscles are pathetic. Walking doesn't do a lot for your upper body.

Most of the bills for my trip to West Texas have come in. I paid some today while wondering why I didn't pick a less expensive hobby. Following rocket launches and searching for dark skies can cost more than you might think. At least I don't collect watches anymore. Who knows. Maybe I'm not doing so bad after all. I know people who spend a fortune on fishing.

Dawn very gradually seems to be warming up to me. There are times during the day when she seems like a normal dog. I still can't be in the kitchen with her though. If I'm in the kitchen, she immediately goes back to the bedroom. She's the first dog we've had that doesn't hang around waiting for table scraps. Dawn likes me to walk her and seems to tolerate me sitting on the bed with her. Hey, it's a start.

I"m having second thoughts about replacing the ice maker in the refrigerator. The freezer is full and I would have to empty everything out to give the repairman enough space to work. Do I really need ice anyway? The only thing I ever use the ice maker for is to add a little ice to the blender when I make my morning smoothie. I just do this to make the smoothie colder. Maybe it would taste just fine without the ice. On the other hand, I could just fill the ice maker bin with a bag of party ice every few weeks. I could do this for years for much less than the cost of an appliance repairman.

I've taken this week's trash to the curb and the weather forecast still says more rain tomorrow. I'm growing tired of this rain and kind of wish that I'd just stayed out at the Astronomer's Lodge. I haven't come up with a plan for tomorrow yet, but if it happens to clear off, I know I'll get a lot more done.

Harley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4164

I saw the sun again today. This might not be the only reason I managed to get more done but it helped. After breakfast I went and got some new windshield wipers for my car. Instead of going to the Land Rover dealer like I normally do, I just went to the neighborhood Auto Zone store. This saved me a ton of money. I think I paid less than half of what the wiper blades would have cost me at the Land Rover parts department. I should do this more often. I'm tired of paying Land Rover's exorbident prices. I also only bought one wiper blade, since only one was broken. When the other blade goes bad, I'll replace it as well.

I think Dawn had the same response to the sun as I did. She was eager to walk this morning. There was no balking or hesitancy at all. She acted like a normal dog and we had a nice normal walk. I wish we could depend on this type of behavior every day, but I doubt that it's going to happen. Dawn is not a normal dog. Something strange is going on in her head. The vet who suggested that she probably had a traumatic head injury earlier in life was probably right. Dawn does the best she can and that's good enough for us. She's a strange, but very sweet dog.

I got Riggs, the new dog, added to the Dalmatian Rescue website and tried to catch up with a bunch of correspondence with my contacts at NASA and the Space Force. I was pleased that I  received a reply from my Space Force contact so quickly. I am good to go for any military launch and they may be able to help me gain access to some NASA launches as well. I am even pre-approved to set remote cameras at the launch pad. I'm not sure I'm ready to lose a camera yet, but it's nice to know that I have that option. There's a Falcon Heavy launch I'd like to cover sometime in June. Hopefully gasoline and rental cars will be available in Florida by then.

It really turned out to be a nice day today, even though there is still rain in the forecast for the rest of the week. We'll see how it goes. When I wake up tomorrow morning the forecast could be completely different. Even though it's been a very wet week, I've still managed to take my long walk every day. You'd never know that rain was forecast for today as well. It was beautiful outside and I had an enjoyable walk. My foot didn't bother me at all. Maybe my foot pain has something to do with the humidity. I really have no idea, but I'm always thankful for a pain free day.

I need to call the appliance repairman and get the ice maker fixed on our refrigerator. I'm not wild about spending the money though. The repair will probably cost several hundred dollars and party ice is cheap. I still have part of the bag I got before I left for the observatory. Ice is ice and the party ice works just fine for my morning smoothies. 

I didn't really accomplish that much today, but it felt like a productive day. Hopefully, I can keep this trend going a few more days. Sunlight makes a huge difference in my mood. On dark, rainy days all I do is worry about roof leaks. It probably helped that I didn't even try to process any astrophotography today. I'll eventually master this, but the learning curve is steep. Maybe processing my star photos is something I should save for a rainy day. I may not succeed, but at least failure won't make me feel any worse.

If the weather is still nice tomorrow I may do a little yard work. The grass is growing rapidly with all this rain. It's definitely time to mow again.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4163

Another rainy day. I think it's supposed to be this way for the rest of the week. This would have been the week to go out to the Davis Mountains. It's still clear out there. I don't know what this proves other than it's very difficult to plan ahead and sometimes I'm just unlucky

I guess having a regular physical exam is an attempt to plan ahead. I do try to stay healthy, even though maintaining your health depends on a certain amount of luck as well. Since I was having blood work done today, I needed to fast and couldn't eat breakfast before my 10 AM appointment. This made for a long morning. I drove to the doctor's office in the rain and noticed that I need new windshield wipers. One more thing to add to my to-do list.

Physical exams are always a mix of good and bad news. The good news was that my doctor seemed pleased with my overall health. The bad news was that I'm due for another colonoscopy. It doesn't seem like ten years since my last colonoscopy, but time flies when you are growing old. I always ask about my ongoing foot pain and my frozen shoulder, but I'm never happy with the answers I get. There's no real cure for osteoarthritis. When the protective cartilage that cushions the ends of your bones wears down over time, there's not a lot you can do. Your choices are usually limited to pain medications, physical therapy, and surgery. I've known plenty of people who have had knee, hip, and shoulder replacements. I'm not sure I want to go down that road.

Dawn didn't get a walk at all today. We tried, but she had no interest in getting wet. It took some planning to take my own longer walk, but I managed to find some dry time between the bands of rain moving from the southwest to the northeast. I got caught in a few sprinkles, but for the most part I stayed pretty dry. This wet weather seems to bring out the snakes. I've seen snakes almost every time I've walked lately.

I made another attempt to process some of the pictures I took last week and wasn't happy with the results. It is much easier to take pictures of dogs. The night sky is quite dim and the stars are always moving, so you can't simply take a very long exposure. Successful astrophotography depends on taking a lot of shorter images of the same subject and then merging them together using specialized software that compensates for the rotation of the earth. There are many steps to this stacking process. You want to keep both your foreground and your stars sharp, while avoiding the camera noise that often accompanies long exposures. I'm learning, but I've got a ways to go.

The Atlas V SBIRS GEO Flight 5 launch was successful today. Several of my launch photographer friends were there and got great pictures. I'm always a little envious when I see these pictures, but I don't think I'll be returning to Florida any time soon. The East Coast gas shortage, lack of rental cars, and the huge number of people who want to get out of the house and return to Disneyland or the beach are going to make travel difficult for a while. I'm hoping that life will eventually return to normal, but clearly we're not there yet.

Dismal weather always puts me in a bad mood. I wonder how long it's going to be before I see the sun again? I spent a lot of time napping today, but that's the way it goes on a rainy day. I'll make up for lost time when the sun returns.

Skippy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4162

There's a new dog up at the Dalmatian kennel. Riggs, our new boy, appears quite young and still acts like a puppy. Looks can be deceiving though. Some Dalmatians act like a puppy their entire life. Riggs was definitely a bundle of energy, but he will be a fun companion for some lucky person. Two of the four Dalmatians currently at the kennel already have homes, but their new owners haven't picked them up yet. This is not unusual, since many of the rescue dogs are adopted out of state and transportation arrangements can be complicated. I'm never sure about adoption details. Janet and I just play with the dogs and work on socializing them.

We tried to walk Dawn before we left for the kennel, but she wasn't having any part of it. Although it wasn't raining, the ground was still wet and that was enough to convince Dawn that an afternoon of sitting on the bed was a better alternative. According to the weather forecast we're going to have rain all week. Today wasn't as bad as yesterday, but we still got a lot of rain. The ground is soggy and the water levels at the lake are quite high. 

I thought I might have to curtail my walk today, but it was still dry when we returned from visiting the Dalmatians. The sky looked dark but I thought I could keep checking the weather radar like I did yesterday. This worked out pretty well. Actually, the skies cleared a bit as I was walking and I even saw a few patches of blue on my way home. I wonder where yesterday's energy went though. Today I felt tired and I walked at a much slower pace. My feet hurt again too. It's a mystery why there is no consistency to my foot pain. I'll ask my doctor about this tomorrow at my physical exam, but I don't really expect an answer.

One of our neighbors had tree trimmers out today, so I asked them if they could give me an estimate for removing the damaged Oak tree in our back yard. This crew seemed more knowledgable and professional than some I've seen in the neighborhood, so I may hire them. I'm in no hurry though. The first thing the tree service guy told me was that our tree was very large and was located next to a power line. It would be a multi-day job to remove the tree. If you've ever had a tree removed, this translates into "very expensive." We'll see what the estimate is. I'm sure it will cost more than my recent trip to McDonald Observatory.

I tried to process another Milky Way photo today, but I must have done something wrong. The edited photo turned out to be worse than the camera original. I think I must have been in a hurry and skipped a few steps. I was trying to complete the processing after breakfast before Janet and I left to visit the rescue Dalmatians. Getting these photos ready for their Instagram moment is a long and tedious process. I shouldn't even bother unless I have a lot of free time.

An Air Force launch that I'd been invited to attend got scrubbed today. This was a reminder that a trip to Kennedy Space Center is just as uncertain as a trip to McDonald Observatory. There are so many things that can go wrong with a launch. Today's mission wasn't scrubbed because of weather. There was a problem fueling the rocket's second stage instead. I think they are going to try again tomorrow. I'm not even going to think about making a trip to the East Coast until the current gas shortage is over. The trip would probably be a nightmare with a shortage of rental cars and no gas available.

Maybe I'll watch the ULA livestream of the launch tomorrow. I have a feeling that I'll still be at the doctor though. I wish I could have gotten an earlier appointment. I have to fast for these semi-annual physical exams and I won't be able to have any breakfast. Breakfast is such an important part of my daily routine that I'm not looking forward to this. I hope the doctor can explain why I've been feeling so tired lately. He'll probably just tell me that I haven't been getting enough sleep.

Susie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4161

We've got an all day rain in Dallas and it's completely clear out at the observatory tonight. Not fair. Sometimes luck just doesn't fall your way. I could have taken the advanced class and has clear skies. Truthfully, I'm not an advanced astrophotographer though. I think I proved fairly conclusively at last week's workshop that I was barely at the intermediate level. Oh, well. I'll try again, even though I tend to bring rain with me wherever I go. I've gotten rained out at Kennedy Space Center as well.

We got soaked today. I think we were even under a tornado warning for a while. I heard the sirens go off around 11 AM, but the weather radar showed that the most severe weather was located a few miles to the north of us and was headed in a northeasterly direction. It goes without saying that Dawn didn't get a walk this morning. Neither did I. It could have been a lot worse though. The house is dry, no trees fell, and there are no signs of a roof leak. Dawn is calm as well. She's the first Dalmatian we've had that isn't bothered by storms. 

Since I was housebound for most of the day, I started trying to process a few of last week's Milky Way photos. I had calibration frames and enough images to stack. Unfortunately, the image I wanted to process has trees in the foreground. Part of the procedure is creating a mask that separates the sky from the foreground. Creating a mask with a lot of bare tree limbs poking up into the sky can be time consuming and frustrating. I took my time and did the best I could. When I was finished and stacked the calibration frames and my eight Milky Way images together I discovered that some parts of the picture were much better and other parts were worse. The boundary between the trees and the sky didn't look completely natural. Actually, this part of the photo sucked. Some of the stars weren't the right color either. On another rainy day I'll start over and process this image again. There's got to be a better way to create a foreground mask.

Around 3 PM, the weather radar showed that there was going to be a break in the storm for about an hour. This was plenty of time to walk Dawn, so we put her harness on and off we went. We didn't get far. Dawn either didn't like her paws getting wet or the smell of rain in the air. We had only gone a few hundred yards before she froze and refused to walk any further. It's such a shame that she's this way. She was really eager to go on a walk when we were in the house.

My own rain phobias are limited to roof leaks, so I had no problem continuing to walk after Dawn and Janet returned to the house. I thought that I could check the weather radar on my phone from time to time and turn around before I got wet. The bands of rain were always nearby, but kept moving to the north or south of me. I didn't walk as far as I usually do, but I managed to complete four miles and made it home completely dry. On a rainy day, that's a win. Oddly, my feet didn't hurt at all today. Go figure.

I paid some online bills this afternoon and that was enough to quell any thoughts I might have had about getting the little telescope that mysteriously became available just before I left for the observatory. There were 16 scopes available when I first noticed it was back in stock. Now there is only one. I refuse to be tempted. I'm sure this telescope or something even better will be back in stock before I have a chance to return to the observatory again. Who knows. If my processing skills don't improve, I might lose interest in this current obsession entirely.

Tomorrow we visit the rescue Dalmatians again. I'm not sure how many we have at the kennel now, but we'll find out when we get there. On Tuesday, I have my semi-annual physical. I have a whole new batch of aches and pains to report, but I'm sure my doctor will tell me that I'm still pretty healthy for my age. There is no magic wand for staying youthful. I try to stay active and eat healthy food. What more can you do?

Liberty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4160

I spent the day falling asleep at random moments. That's the price you pay for spending a week masquerading as a younger man. It was worth it though. I really needed my visit to the observatory. Today was kind of like those stories you hear about astronauts returning from the ISS. I felt heavy and sluggish. Grocery shopping wasn't at all like star watching.

I had a lot of things on my list today. I had to get some fire ant bait because our yard is getting overrun with fire ant mounds. Most of the things on  my list were still readily available, but I had to find a new store that carried my favorite beer. Since the mask mandate has been rescinded in Texas, shoppers were a mix of of masked and bare faced. This is going to be a problem. These two different approaches to life are never going to come to a mutual agreement about anything. I even saw a few gas lines this morning. This is crazy because there is no shortage of gas in Texas. Gasoline is plentiful. We were never affected by that pipeline shutdown at all.

Dawn apparently thinks that I am a necessary component in her daily walks. Janet told me that she was reluctant to take walks while I was away. When I asked her if she was ready for a walk today, she immediately gave me one of those big Dalmatian smiles and started wagging her tail. When we left the house she couldn't wait to return to her regular one mile loop. In Dawn's world I am apparently a necessary and beloved dog walker, but a scary and frightening presence in the kitchen. I can't figure it out, but I'm willing to go with the flow. Maybe Dawn just has PTSD from years of being abused at the breeding kennel.

I took my new camera with me to the observatory, but I completely forgot how to use one of the features I thought would be useful for astrophotography. I didn't have a lot of time to figure things out, so I reverted to using my old camera and a few tried and true settings. I got some good pictures, but was frustrated that the new camera appeared to be broken. This afternoon I was determined to figure out whether it was the camera or me. I loaded the massive 500 page PDF instruction manual in my computer and slowly went through the procedure for creating Live Composite images. Yep. It was me. The camera worked fine. They could have made enabling this feature a little easier to do in the dark. There were way too many steps and it wasn't intuitive at all.  Maybe I just don't have the same capacity to assimilate new knowledge as I did when I was younger. I had trouble with the star tracker  and the PixInsight processing software as well. I'm determined to master the intricacies of the new camera by the time I return to the observatory again. I've probably got plenty of time.

My long walk was difficult today. It was hot outside and my feet were giving me problems again. It's a mystery why my foot pain is so inconsistent. I have good days and bad days. Today was one of the bad days. I completed six miles, but I didn't set any speed records. I was practically limping by the time I returned to the house. I don't understand this at all. I wear the same shoes and walk the same route. It seems like any discomfort would be more consistent.

I'm back on the Air Force launch list. I've received two notifications for upcoming military launches this week, but I don't think this would be a good time to go to Florida. I keep hearing that there are gas lines everywhere and rental cars are almost impossible to find. Rental car rates have gone up in Dallas, but it is much, much worse in Florida. I feel like waiting until life returns to normal before traveling to Kennedy Space Center to attend a launch. On the other hand, I may never travel again if I wait for life to return to normal. Maybe I should just plan a trip to Boca Chica for a Starship launch. That's where the future is anyway.

Tomorrow's version of normal will probably include a trip to Dawn's alternate park for a Sunday walk. If we're lucky there might be an ice cream cone as well.

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day