Day 4594

It was a busy day. The good news was that I got the recall work done on my car without a lot of problems. They were ready for me when I arrived and the car was finished as promised by the end of the day. It is a shame that loaner cars seem to be a thing of the past. They sold them all when new cars were impossible to get from the factory. Now they just call an Uber for you and give you a ride home. Hey, it's better than nothing I guess. I have no idea what they actually did on the recall. The car was running fine before the recall work and it is still running fine.

The bad news is that I can't find a hotel for my upcoming trip to attend the Artemis-1 launch. I knew that hotels were going to be tight for this launch, but I had no idea that they would be sold out a full month ahead of time. I'll continue looking tomorrow. It looks like I'll be staying a lot further from Kennedy Space Center than I'd like. I really hope I don't have to stay in Orlando. I suspect that I'll have the same problem with rental cars. You can't really plan a trip like this too far in advance though. Truthfully, I didn't really think I'd get press credentials for this popular launch. Without credentials, there would have been no point in making the trip at all. I've always stayed at the same hotel on previous trips to Titusville. You'd think being a regular customer would help me get a room. Nope. Sold out just means sold out.

Since I didn't have a car for most of the day, I couldn't go to the gym. I took my long walk in the park again and almost instantly regretted it. It is still way too hot to take an enjoyable five mile walk. I soldiered on and completed my route, but I'm definitely going to return to the gym as soon as it opens again on Monday. There still seems to be no end in sight for these hundred degree days. The forecast is discouraging. It looks like triple digits as far as the eye can see.

I got my grocery shopping done later in the afternoon after my car was finished. It's a lot better to shop early in the morning. Everything disappears quickly. The first store I went to didn't have strawberries and the second store I went to didn't have my favorite beer. I didn't have a long list today, but it seemed to take an inordinate amount of time to find everything. Maybe it was the heat. I couldn't wait to get back home and take a nap with Dawn.

We had Chinese take out for dinner again. The restaurant I like had a coupon that said I'd save $8 on my order if I ordered online. I gave it a try and only saved one dollar because of some additional online charges. The food was still good though. I hope this little neighborhood restaurant manages to stay in business. It looked alarmingly empty today when I went to pick up my order.

I'm still trying to decide whether to go out to the observatory at the end of September. There is a rare special viewing night at the 82" Otto Struve telescope and it isn't sold out yet. Only one place left though. Is this worth the terrible drive out there? It's hard to say. The Otto Struve is one of the largest telescopes in the world that occasionally provides access to the general public. There is no guarantee that you'll see anything though. I've made the long drive several times only to find cloudy skies or rain when I arrived.

We'll take Dawn to get ice cream tomorrow, but her Sunday outing won't include an afternoon walk. It's just too hot outside. I'm sure I'll still take my walk in the park though. I'm closing in on completing a full year of meeting my step goals. I'd hate to blow it now just because of some hot weather. Wish me luck at finding a hotel in Titusville tomorrow. I should have been more optimistic and booked a hotel before I got my press credentials.

Jewel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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