Day 4584

This heat is wearing me down. The entire day just seems like a futile effort to escape from it. The temperature on our sunrise walk with Dawn is already higher than the high of the day just a few weeks ago. By lunchtime the temperature is well over 100 degrees and it doesn't begin to cool down again until it is time to go to sleep. The air conditioner is working, but it can't keep up with the heat. We start out at 75 degrees in the morning and it is always over 80 by dinnertime. I'm sure it has been this hot before. I'm not so sure why people settled here in the first place. I'd rather be in the mountains right now. Telluride sound nice. So does Flathead Lake.

I continue to take my long walk right after breakfast. I'm still able to complete my route, but I need a change of clothes when I'm done. The trails are pretty empty these days. Only fools like me are out walking. As soon as my car repairs are finished, I'm headed back to the gym. I'm still kind of irritated about the cost of catalytic converters, but what can you do? I can't pass my annual safety inspection without one.

I tried entering an online photo contest this afternoon. After filling out the lengthy entry form, I discovered that the submit entry button didn't work. All that work for nothing. I thought I had a good photo too. This contest was put on by the International Dark Sky Association and I've got some fairly decent Milky Way photos. I probably wouldn't win anyway, but hopefully these guys can get the website fixed before the entry deadline closes. I rarely enter contests of any type, but I like this organization. I think I've even met some of these guys out at the observatory.

I got a letter from the Space Force today saying that my press credentials have been renewed for another year. This is good news. It means I've got a back up plan if NASA rejects my application to cover the Artemis-1 launch. The Space Force location for viewing launches isn't quite as close to the pads as the NASA Press Site, but it's still pretty good. There are actually quite a few Space Force launches during the year. I won't be able to afford to go to Florida for a while though. I've got a catalytic converter to pay for.

Dawn loves to lie out in the sun on days like this. Maybe this is why she's been itchy lately. I bet she gets bitten by ants. I get bitten by ants every time I'm out in the yard for any length of time. The ants are everywhere and it's increasingly difficult to keep them out of the house. I don't mind all the squirrels in our yard, but I wish the ants and the hornets would go away. I don't let Dawn stay out in the yard for too long. Ten or fifteen minutes at a time is plenty. I don't want her to get sunburned or have a heat stroke. I'm surprised she actually likes the sun because she also loves the air conditioning.

It was really a slow day. The big event of the day was reading a camera manual in an attempt to remember how to change a setting on one of my cameras. I eventually solved the problem, but I still hate that I forget things. Don't let anyone tell you that old people's memory is just as good as a younger person's. It's not. I really think there should be an age limit on politicians. There are far too many forgetful old people running things.

Watson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day