Day 4151

I got a haircut today, so that means I'm one step closer to being ready to travel. I always get a haircut before I take a trip. I guess it's kind of like putting clean clothes in your suitcase. It's not totally necessary, but it's nice to get started out on the right foot. I definately look more presentable now. I don't get haircuts as frequently as I did before the pandemic, but I'm certainly not going back to the way I looked in college. Back then I thought long hair made me look like a rock star. Now I think it makes me look like a homeless person. I asked my stylist when she was going to feel comfortable cutting hair without a mask. She said maybe never. This didn't seem strange to me at all. A lot has changed during the past year.

I got another rejection letter from NASA today. This notice was a bit different. It said that my credentials had been verified but my request to cover the launch was declined because the launch had been canceled. I will be given another chance to reapply when the launch is rescheduled. Is this good news or bad news? I have no idea. Since the launch was supposed to take place last March, it seems like they could have just waited a little longer instead of starting over from scratch. I'm kind of hoping that there are no important launches until all the post-pandemic travelers get their first vacation out of their systems. Planes are full and prices are insane right now. I'm in no hurry to join the madness. At least my trip to the observatory should be fairly quiet. There's not a lot of people traveling to that remote mountain.

I successfully added the astrophotography software to my new laptop partition. I thought that this would be easy, but it was surpassingly difficult because the software was developed by Germans. These guys were obsessed with verification and security. I had to jump through all sorts of hoops to get access to their download servers. When I launched the software to see if it worked on my computer, it seemed totally confusing to me. I have no idea what this actually does. That's OK. Learning how to use PixInsight is one of the reasons I'm going to the workshop.

We decided to wait until I returned from my haircut to walk Dawn today. I don't think she was happy with this plan. She was definitely eager to get out of the house. I was surprised at how hot it was this afternoon. Maybe this was why Janet and I walked Dawn really early last Summer. Neither of us can remember why we started doing this. It seems crazy to walk before sunrise now.

Dawn was hot and tired when we completed her short one mile loop. I probably should have gone back to the house with her. By the time I finished my long walk I was sweating profusely and was pretty tired myself. The temperature was in the high 80's today and it was very humid. I hope this isn't a sign of what's to come. I'd like our nice Spring weather to last a little longer.

I've taken the trash out to the curb and am ready to restart the week again. It looks like I'm going to have to mow the grass again this weekend. I'm not looking forward to that. This mower isn't self-propelled and it's getting harder and harder to push. I'd like a weekend with nothing to do at all.

Patches is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day