Thursday, May 27, 2021

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.