Day 4183

It rained a lot today. That didn't stop us from visiting the Dalmatians though. Millie, formerly known as Aries, has gone to her forever home. The three boys, Cooper, Riggs, and Charlie, were still at the kennel and were ready to play. They all acted like they had cabin fever because the heavy rain was keeping them indoors. We always bring an assortment of toys with us so the dogs won't tear the squeakers out while we are gone. The guys love these "fresh" toys and give them a good workout. We didn't work on training much today, but everybody had a good time.

Traffic is always bad in Dallas, but it is even worse on a rainy day. It seemed to take forever to get to and from the kennel. Luckily, by the time we returned home, the sky was getting lighter and the rain was finally stopping. We waited a little while for the rain to stop completely before taking Dawn on a walk. Dawn must have had cabin fever too, because she was eager to go outside even though the ground was still quite wet. She was adventurous and took a new route today, although we still ended up only walking a mile. One mile seems to be Dawn's limit these days.

I felt tired this afternoon but I continued walking after Dawn and Janet returned to the house. We got back from the kennel later than usual and I didn't want to end up walking in the dark. I was amazed at how high the lake was today. The water was over the banks in several places and there were tons of logs and other debris that had washed up along the shoreline. I wonder how much rain we ended up getting last night? The pumps on the roof ran continually for most of the day and water was still coming out of the hose after about seven hours. I don't even want to know how much standing water is still up there. There are still no signs of any leaks though, so that's encouraging.

I finally put all my gear away from the observatory trip. Everything has been sitting on the floor of the office for weeks. I thought that the office would look a lot neater after everything had been put away, but it really didn't. The place is still a mess. I left the new little telescope out in a place that was easily accessible. I need to learn how to use this thing on the star tracker in case we ever have a clear day. I may have to wait a while. There's still a lot of rain in the forecast.

One of the launch photographers I know sent me some tips for getting credentialed at Kennedy Space Center. I've tried most of these ideas already with little success, but it was a nice gesture. Even though there have been a record number of launches this year, I'm starting to think that this isn't the best time to be planning a trip to Florida. Everyone wants to take a vacation now and all roads lead to Disneyland. Flights between Dallas and Orlando are packed. I keep hearing horror stories about finding a rental car as well. Maybe I'll wait until Fall when kids will finally be back in school. Hurricane season has started as well. On second thought, maybe waiting until Winter would be an even better idea.

Hopefully, I can think of something interesting to do tomorrow. I used to have an endless list of projects I was working on, but very little interests me anymore. I haven't taken the Stratocaster out of its case in more than a year and I don't think the large production printer even works anymore. Playing in a band and having gallery shows are just distant memories. Thank goodness for astronomy. This is probably a transitory interest as well, but for now it seems to keep the old brain from getting rusty.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day