Friday, February 18, 2022

Day 4439

Another uneventful day. We're having better luck with Dawn's morning walks when we let her choose which direction she wants to go. Lately she wants to turn right at the back gate, go down the hill and walk along the shoreline. That's OK with me. I don't know why we kept trying to get her to walk up the street for so long. It's still very cold in the morning but it warms up quickly. Dawn doesn't seem to mind the cold. I'd like it a little warmer, although I'm getting used to the thirty degree temperature swings every day.

I keep thinking that I'm going to skip my long walk for a while because my feet are bothering me so much. I keep walking though because I can't think of anything better to do. I waited until several hours after breakfast this morning in hopes that it would warm up. It did warm up a little, but it was still below freezing when boredom set in and I decided to set out on my daily trek anyway. I dress warmly and am always amazed to see runners pass me wearing light shorts and a t-shirt. I look more like I'm headed for the South Pole on days like this. Even though it was chilly this morning, it was a beautiful day. It's always nice to see blue sky. Cloudy skies bring rain and rain brings roof leaks.

I kind of miss seeing the eagles. I was seeing them every day for a while. With the nest gone, there are no longer any gawkers in the park. I guess the birds are still in the area. Some people say they are building a new nest but I don't think anyone really knows for sure. They were certainly nowhere to be seen today. I'm glad I managed to get a few pictures. Now I'll have to go back to snapping shots of more common birds.

I was going to practice using the star tracker again today, but lost interest before I even got the thing out of the box. I think I've already proved that the unit does work. It doesn't work that well though because the current software version is still buggy. I'm waiting for the next software upgrade. One of these days I'll take the tracker out at night and photograph something. I think I'll wait until it is warmer though. I'm kind of a fair weather astronomer.

It's tax season again. What a pain. I haven't even started gathering my tax files together. It seems like I just finished doing this for the previous year. Why do old people even have to pay taxes? It seems like you should be exempt at some point. Oh, well. I'd better start working on this stuff. Every year my accountant seems to want my files a little earlier.

It's time to make a grocery list again. Janet says gas prices have gone up. Probably everything has gone up. I'm glad I'm retired. If I was still working full time I think today's economy would make me a little nervous. The 70's and 80's were a good time to be an ad guy. The 90's were actually a good time to start a business. Today I'm not so sure. What would I do today? Maybe I just don't know where to look for opportunities anymore.