Day 4725

Another cold and largely uneventful day. We slept in this morning so we didn't need flashlights and lighted collars on our early walk today. I would have preferred warmer weather, but it was actually a pretty nice day.

The leaks have stopped, but I think I'm going to be nervous about rain for the rest of the winter. The trouble with cold weather is that standing water on the roof never evaporates. I'm reluctant to continue climbing up on the roof to sweep the water away as well. The older I get, the clumsier I get. I really don't want to fall off the roof.

My one errand of the day was a trip to the bank. Something spooked Dawn just before I left, and I had trouble getting her back to the bedroom. This is her safe space. One of our earlier Dalmatians jumped through the living room window and cut himself badly trying to get a squirrel. A dog waiting for your return at the front door can always get out as well. I just don't like to take chances. Dawn is always gated in the bedroom before I leave the house. I lured her back to the bedroom with a few treats and was on my way.

Later, when I took my long walk, Dawn had no interest in leaving the bedroom. These walks are getting boring, but I generally still prefer them to going to the gym. Lots of people are looking for the eagles now that the location of the nest is known. I've been seeing them at least once a week lately. I still need to remember to take a better camera with me. You never know when they are going to be nearby.

Everyone is putting up their Christmas lights this week. White seems to be the popular color this year. I see very few colored lights. One family down the street from us went all out this year. They hired a crane to hang lights on their three story house. We've never put lights on the house. We're lucky just to get the tree up.

I didn't upgrade the star tracker after all today. It just seemed like too much trouble. I decided to watch Good Night Oppy on Amazon Prime instead. This documentary about the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers was quite good. I remember watching the landings on my computer. It definitely doesn't feel like eighteen years ago. I've met several people who work at the Jet Propulsion Lab. They all loved their work. The tradition of passing peanuts around for luck before a launch is real. When I was out at Vandenberg Air Force Base in 2015 to watch the SMAP launch, a group of JPL scientists who were nearby passed me a jar of peanuts and explained the tradition to me. The peanuts didn't work well that time because the satellite's radar unit stopped transmitting about three months after launch.

This week has gone quickly. I've already taken this week's trash out to the curb. We'll be doing Santa Paws  pictures this weekend, so I need to make sure my cameras and strobe lights are ready tomorrow. Hopefully nothing breaks and we have good weather for the events.

Jada is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day