Day 4392

It was 18 degrees when we woke up this morning. There was a strong wind as well. Needless to say, we didn't take a sunrise walk. We ate breakfast and waited for it to warm up a little. I was just glad the house was warm. Right after I posted my worries about the furnace going out yesterday evening, the furnace actually did go out. The temperature was dropping rapidly, so it was important to get it fixed before I went to bed. I suspected a dirty flame sensor, since that's usually the problem when the pilot light won't ignite the burners. Luckily, fixing a dirty flame sensor is fairly easy. You unplug the furnace, unscrew a few metal panels, and then sand the flame sensor with fine grit sandpaper. I used to take the flame sensor out of the furnace to do this, but I've learned that I can contort my hand and reach through a little hole to sand the sensor in place. I can't see what I'm doing, but I've learned to do the cleaning operation by feel. It took about an hour to get the furnace running again, but it sure beats freezing.

It warmed up a little, but it was still below freezing when we took Dawn on her Sunday outing. She wore her sweater this morning, but I think she was still a little cold. I was pretty warm because I was wearing two down jackets and long underwear. The double layer of jackets works great and keeps me much warmer than the heavy winter parka I used to wear on colds day like this. We still got ice cream after our walk today, but we were sitting in a warm car. Dawn would have been really disappointed if we didn't get ice cream.

I made some progress with the star tracker today, but I'm still unable to connect a camera to it. The cables that came with the tracker don't fit any of my current cameras. I did find an older camera that could use one of the supplied connection cables, but it saved pictures in the wrong format. At least the star tracker itself seems to work. I updated the firmware and formatted the internal SD card. I can control the tracker from my phone now. I just can't take pictures yet. I suspect that I will have to go to the Apple Store and buy a few more cable adapters.

I don't know why I bothered to take a long walk today. It was really cold. I should have learned my lesson after our short walk with Dawn, but I was determined to get my steps in. The wind was strong and my feet hurt, but I did complete my route. I still don't understand how northerners put up with the cold. There were joggers passing me today wearing only light jackets. I looked like I was headed for the South Pole.

I hope I can get the star tracker to work with one of my cameras. As usual, I don't have one of the popular cameras this system was apparently designed for. I tend to obsess over things and this whole process of figuring things out with very little documentation will probably just lead to frustration. I'm sure I'll end up buying a bunch of cables that don't work and just end up wasting money. The weird thing is that even if I can get the tracker to work, it will probably just sit in a box for months. Dallas just isn't a good place for astrophotography.

I don't have much of a plan for tomorrow. Hopefully it will be a little warmer. It's hard for me to get motivated on warm days. On cold days it's almost impossible. If I can get at least one camera to recognize the star tracker tomorrow, the day will be a win.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day