Day 5000

I actually did it. Remind me not to set any other goals that take fifteeen years to accomplish. I'm still a bit surprised that I managed to write something every single day for 5000 consecutive days. There were times when I found myself in remote locations with no WiFi and only one bar on my phone. There were times when I posted from a hospital bed a few hours after surgery. There were lots of computer crashes, but I still never missed a day. This might have been a silly goal, but it wasn't always an easy one.

I learned long ago that writing has consequences. An early story about our first Dalmatian caught the eye of a small magazine called The Dalmatian Quarterly and I ended up becoming a contributing editor. I had a regular column called Seeing Spots that I wrote for many years until the magazine eventually folded and disappeared. A watch company saw my Watch of the Day feature on the blog and it led to a multi-year writing gig. One of my earlier online efforts called The Road to Nowhere was nominated for Website of the Year and I ended up being a finalist. I went to San Fransisco for the awards ceremony but didn't win. Story of my life.

I can't really remember why I decided to start a blog. Blogs were really popular for a while and it seemed like the thing to do at the time. I didn't start with a 5000 post goal, but after the first year it seemed like something I might be able to accomplish. I never thought my life was particularly interesting but I had already been keeping a daily journal in little leather bound volumes that I bought once a year at the Montblanc store. My handwriting was slowly deteriorating and blogging just seemed like an easier way of journaling. I remember blog hopping in the early days and I would faithfully visit dozens of my favorite blogs every evening. I took almost as long to visit other blogs as it did to write my own. Sadly, most of those blogs no longer exist. One or two are still around though and I continue to read them.

Will I miss writing something every night? That remains to be seen. I'll probably eventually end up doing something else but I don't know if it will involve writing. Maybe I'll start reading again. I used to love reading and always had an unfinished book nearby. I doubt that I'll spend a lot of time watching television.  I watch old British comedies on weekends, but there is very little that interests me. I certainly can't say much for the advertising on TV these days. The ads I used to write were much better.

It's probably fitting that my last day of blogging was just a regular day. I did my grocery shopping in the morning and went to the gym in the afternoon. I had a scare later in the day when Dawn had another panic attack. She has had three or four of these since we adopted her. At first we though she might be having seizures but this is just raw fear. Janet and I still don't know what frightens her. It was completely quiet in the house when today's episode started. I heard a strange noise in the living room and discovered she had torn up her dog bed and was trying to hide behind a chair. I led her back to the bedroom on a leash and gated her in the back of the house to keep her safe. That didn't help. A few minutes later I found her behind the television. She had knocked over a large floor lamp and managed to unplug most of the electronics. I took her outside to change the scenery a bit and then sat with her on the bed until she calmed down. The fact that she let me sit next to her was a clear sign that she was really scared.

All is fine now. We had Maryland Crabcakes for dinner and Dawn is snoozing on the bed. Tomorrow evening I'll be doing something different. My thanks to all of you who became regular readers over the years. I really don't know what you saw in this blog, but I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4999

I woke up with a terrible stomach ache this morning. I must have eaten something yesterday that had gone bad in the refrigerator. It happens ocassionally. I felt better as the day progressed but I need to be more careful about eating old food.

We had a nice sunrise walk with Dawn and then I made the bed and ate my breakfast. The good thing about eating shredded wheat for breakfast is that it never goes bad. I could probably open a two year old box and it would still be fine. After breakfast I checked my messages and went to the bank. I got stuck behind someone making a long transaction at the drive up window, but I wasn't in any hurry. The only thing on my schedule was a trip to the gym.

I didn't complete my routine today. All I did was walk three miles around the indoor track and come home again. It seemed strange that I did so well yesterday, but I just didn't feel like exercising today. When I returned home I let Dawn out in the back yard so she could sun herself. She loves to sit out in the sun, but I bring her back inside after about ten minutes. When I start getting really hot, I figure she's had enough.

It's still hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of the blog. I've been doing this for a very long time. I still have mixed feelings about ending things but I think it's time. I don't enjoy writing these daily posts as much as I used to and often feel like I'm running out of things to say. Sometimes I'm amazed that anyone still reads this. In the early days of the blog my readers seemed amazed when I posted something every evening for 500 consecutive days. Now that I'm approaching 5000 days there are few readers left. Blogging just isn't as popular as it once was. My plan was always to take long walks in the morning to keep my body in shape and write something every evening to keep my mind in shape. Not a bad plan actually, but it probably would have worked just as well if I did Sudoku puzzles instead.

This afternoon was uneventful. I hope things finally start to cool off in September. The weather app on my phone still shows clear skies and triple digit temperatures for the next two weeks, but this has got to end sometime. I need to think of something to occupy my time but I'm in no particular hurry. Until something captures my interest I can just watch old Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond episodes on TV.

It's time to make my grocery list again. Janet did her grocery shopping today and Dawn was just as excited as ever when she returned with lots of bags of food to put away. Grocery day is a big deal to Dawn. I'd like to post something meaningful tomorrow, but I suspect that it will be another ordinary Saturday. There has certainly been some excitement during the past fifteen years, but life isn't like that always. Maybe that's the charm of this blog. I make the ordinary and uneventful seem OK.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4998

Not a bad day. We had a nice sunrise walk with Dawn this morning. These early walks are still very pleasant. It's just too bad that the temperature warms up so quickly once the sun appears. We see lots of people walking their dogs these days. I think everyone in the neighborhood has realized that this is the only sane time to walk your dog. Dawn seldom wants to greet the dogs we pass on our walk, but she always wants to smell where they've been. We take our time on these walks and let Dawn smell things to her heart's content. They say smelling things is a really important part of a dog's life. Smells certainly seems to be a high priority for Dawn.

I wasn't in a hurry to get to the gym this morning so I did a load of laundry after breakfast. Doing laundry is oddly satisfying. I like having everything in it's place and folding the laundry and putting it away is so much easier than cleaning up the office. I don't know why I bother to check my messages anymore. I seldom get any. Today I had one form letter from the new head of media operations for the Space Force. It basically said that he looked forward to seeing me at future launches. I'm glad the Space Force hasn't forgotten about me. It's been a while since I've attended a military launch.

Lately, I've been trying to get to the gym just before lunchtime. The gym is never crowded then and it's much easier to find a place in the parking garage. I did much better today. My time on the three mile walk around the indoor track was pretty decent. There are still people faster than me, but I kept up a respectable pace. I actually did great on the basketball court. I completed my ten free throws in less than six minutes which I think is a record. Today I completed five free throws in a row. I don't think I've ever done that before. If I ever manage to complete all ten shots in a row I'll move on to something more difficult. I have no idea if that will ever happen. I still miss quite a few shots.

I did all my weight lifting exercises today and even thought about adding a few more. Maybe later. I was actually pretty tired by the time I headed home again. One of the streets I normally take on the way home was blocked because of road construction so I had to take a detour. You'd think that the city would eventually finish with all the roads, but they've been under construction even since I moved here in the mid 70's. You can't drive five miles in this town without encountering road construction.

I've been making myself a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch lately. I never used to eat lunch so I feel vaguely guilty of eating something now. I think I just eat out of boredom. I'm seldom all that hungry which is probably one of the reasons I don't go out for breakfast on Friday's anymore. A small bowl of shredded wheat is just fine.

Janet wants to get a new chair for Santa to sit in to go with our new Santa Paws backdrop. We looked at chairs that would look nice in a Winter outdoor setting and I think we found something that will work. I'm glad Janet cares about these things, because all I'm thinking about is how tired I'm going to be and wondering whether my strobe lights will still work this year. I thought I was getting too old for this five years ago and yet here we are. We've got three dates scheduled for this year. I guess I can make it.

I've finished taking this week's trash out to the curb and it still seems way too hot around sunset. Hopefully September will be a little cooler. I have no plans for tomorrow at all which just means I will be going back to the gym around 11:30 again.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4997

I wish I was ending the blog on a high note. It would be nice to go out describing some sort of grand adventure. Not very likely. It looks like this summer will continue to be an endless series of very hot days where my main activity is staying out of the sun.

The sunrise walks are still nice. The temperature was in the high 70's this morning and there was a nice breeze. The construction activity in the neighborhood seems to have ended. The water department made a mess of the streets, but I guess we have new pipes now. There are currently three empty lots on the street. The houses have been scraped and the buyers of the properties don't seem to be in any hurry to put up anything new. They're probably waiting for interest rates to go down again. There doesn't appear to be any desire to save these older houses. The main reason they get demolished so quickly is that property taxes are lower if there is no house on the lot.

I watched the news about the hurricane while I ate breakfast this morning. It was a strong hurricane, but it went through a rural part of Florida so damage wasn't as bad as people expected. Nobody that I know down there suffered any damage. I'm glad we don't have to worry about hurricanes in Dallas. We do have the occasional tornado, but there haven't been any problems this year. Before you can worry about tornados you need rain. We haven't had any rain for over a month.

I went to the gym again this morning. I didn't even complete my full routine today. All I did was walk three miles around the indoor track and come home again. I don't know why I didn't stay longer because I definitely had no plans for the afternoon. I wasn't particularly tired either. I just wasn't in a great mood. Oh, well. At least I got my steps.

I seem to have lost interest in the star tracker. I haven't even turned it on in quite a while. The lack of interest probably coincides with my lack of a plan to return to McDonald Observatory. I miss the place, but I have serious doubts about making the long drive again. I just don't have the energy that I used to have and it isn't worth being run over by an eighteen wheeler just to get a chance to see the Milky Way again. Hey. I did see the moon tonight though. The rare blue super moon was noticeably larger than usual.

Dawn won a ribbon in her training class tonight. We thought she might never win a ribbon again because she has to wear a harness at class now. All the other dogs are on a regular leash and collar and were easier to control. Dawn did well. She completed all the exercises without the need for a training collar or any pressure on her neck.

It's hard to believe tomorrow is the last day in August. This entire year has gone quickly. Maybe September will be cooler. I certainly hope so. I don't know if I can take another month like this.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4996

We walked very early today since Janet had plans. Dawn wore her green LED collar and Janet and I had little clip on lights. We walk this way all Winter, but it still seems early in the season to be walking in the dark. The weather was pleasant though. The temperature was in the low 70's and there was a nice breeze. I'm definitely not an early bird, but these sunrise walks are still the nicest part of the day.

I usually wake up with no plans for the day. I make the bed, eat my breakfast, and reluctantly turn the computer on to check for messages. Needless to say, I don't get a lot of messages these days. I still haven't finished the website I'm helping my neighbor with. I'm basically done but they can't seem to find the guy with the passwords to the server. Occasionally I get messages from my contacts at Kennedy Space Center. I've applied to attend a launch in early October but haven't heard anything yet. Most of my mail is spam.

I thought about walking in the park again, but it was warmer than yesterday so I decided to go back to the gym. I'm seldom in any hurry because my daily workout is usually my only activity. If I go to the gym too early I'm left with a huge chunk of the day to fill. I could certainly stay at the gym longer, but after an hour on the track and fifteen minutes on the basketball court I'm usually ready to come home again. These trips to the gym are about as close to Ground Hog Day as you can get. They are all exactly the same. The same people seem to be at the gym every day. I'm never motivated to do anything new, but I still feel like I'm getting some benefit out of this. I'm certainly in better shape than my Dad was at my age.

We ordered a new backdrop for Santa Paws pictures today. I've already got a ton of these backdrops in the storage warehouse, but since a lot of people who come for Christmas pictures are repeat customers it's nice to offer them something new. I'm glad these newer backdrops are machine washable. Some of the early backdrops we used to use were hand painted on muslin and couldn't be washed at all. After a few dogs peed on them they were basically worthless.

I didn't do much this afternoon, but that shouldn't be surprising by now. I never do much in the afternoon. I'm still looking for something to do after I finish the blog. I really ought to clean out the office, but I probably won't. It is filled with years of clutter and remnants of old interests. When I look around it's amazing how many different things I've been interested in over the years. Some interests like astronomy seem to ebb and flow. Other interests just disappear completely. I'm sure something new will come along. One thing I never lost was my curiosity.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4995

This morning was a pleasant surprise. We didn't get any rain yesterday but the cold front definitely brought cooler weather. The temperature was in the low 70's when we took our sunrise walk this morning. There was a nice breeze as well. I don't know how long this is going to last but the change is welcome.

It was still reasonably cool after I finished breakfast this morning, so I decided to take my long walk in the park instead of going to the gym. It's been a while, so I thought I'd see a lot of changes. Nope. Nothing changed at all. I suspect that it just been too hot for the maintenance workers in the park. Everything is looking really dry. This is fire hazard dry. Many trees are turning yellow early and starting to lose their leaves. The water level in the lake is very low as well. A big stretch of Sunset Bay has completely dried up. 

I find walking in the park more tiring than walking at the gym. Strangely, my Fitbit seems to think I'm actually getting more exercise at the gym. This is a mystery to me. There are lots of small hills on my walk and maybe I don't burn much energy when I'm walking downhill. My feet definitely hurt more when I'm walking outdoors. I'd almost forgotten how bad my feet can get after a long walk. I think the indoor track at the gym has a cushioned surface. Oh, well. Despite the problems, I still enjoy being outdoors.

I'm glad I didn't go down to Florida for the Silent Barker launch. I was approved for this one, but didn't go because I've been feeling poor this month. Staying in Dallas was definitely the right decision. I just got a notice that tomorrow's launch has been postponed indefinitely because of Hurricane Idalia. They are rolling the rocket back to the vertical integration facility. No new launch date has been announced. This would have been a huge mess if I was down in Florida. I'd be trying to change reservations and get a flight back to Dallas right when the hurricane was arriving.

I got my August electric bill today. Not good. This was the highest bill I've ever received since we moved here many years ago. I know that TXU has raised their rates, but this is ridiculous. The bill was higher than my car insurance payment and more than I charged for monthly rent back when I owned rental property. Oh, well. It is what it is. Hopefully things will cool down and next month's bill will be lower.

I'm so tired of this weather. I never was interested in much but the heat has destroyed my interest in just about everything. I don't want to take too many naps or I won't be able to sleep at night. I probably ought to get some books to read, but my interest in reading has wained. It wasn't always this way. There are hundreds of books on shelves in the office and I'm sure I enjoyed reading them. Luckily the days go quickly. Before you know it Dawn is ready for her dinner and I have mine shortly afterwards. I still don't know what I'm going to do with myself when the blog is finished. This has been my evening for many, many years. So far, no regrets about ending the daily posts though. It's time to do something else.

It would be nice if it's cool enough to walk in the park again tomorrow. We'll see. It was quite nice when I started out this morning, but was getting pretty hot by the time I returned. At least tomorrow's sunrise walk will be pleasant. This is always the nicest part of the day.

Mandy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4994

We almost got some rain this afternoon. Lots of people around us saw a little rain today, but sadly we didn't see one drop. It's still bone dry. I kept watching the weather radar and the closest the rain got to us was about five miles away. Oh, well. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't. I don't  think we'll see another chance of rain for a while. This rain coincided with the arrival of the cold front that is supposed to bring temperatures down to the mid 90's tomorrow.

The rest of the day was fairly predictable. We got up a little later this morning, took our early walk with Dawn, had a big weekend breakfast again, and then I went mall walking. The mall was kind of strange this morning. There were lots more people than usual. Many of them were slightly overweight young men walking around staring at their phones. They all looked like they had spent the past ten years sitting at home playing video games. I had no idea what was going on until I started seeing t-shirts saying Pokémon GO Fest 2023. These guys, along with a few girls, were all looking for Pokémon at the mall. I still don't understand why.

The store windows are all filled with Fall clothes now. These styles would make a lot of sense in New England, but it never gets cold enough in the Fall to wear this stuff here. Yes, it occasionally snows here and we do get freezing temperatures but it is very rare. Heat waves like we are experiencing now are more common. Although we continue to set record high temperatures, I remember one summer where it got so hot that our lake almost dried up.

When I returned home Dawn was already waiting for her Sunday outing. She even gave me one of those Dalmatian smiles when I entered the house. It was too hot for a real walk, but we took Dawn to the Sunday park anyway and let her smell things for a few minutes. She's no fool. After she found the right smell to pee over, she headed straight back to the air conditioned car. The ice cream cones were nice and cold today, but they didn't give us very much. The server just plopped a scoop of ice cream on top of an empty cone. For the prices they charge, they could definitely do better.

My 5000 Day blogging goal is less than a week away. If you count up the number of days on the calendar since I started posting, I actually reached this goal yesterday. Somewhere many years ago I must have made a typo in the blog header that threw the count off. I've never been able to find the error even though I've tried several times. Looking through 5000 blog posts trying to find a typo will drive you insane. Let's just stick with calling this Day 4994. It certainly wouldn't be the first time I've made a mistake.

Tomorrow's sunrise walk should feel a lot cooler. I think temperatures will only be in the 70's tomorrow morning. Of course it will get a lot hotter later during the day. It will probably just feel like a normal August day instead of the end of the world.  Eventually the heat dome will dissipate and normal weather will resume. I can't wait until we start to see some real Fall weather even if it means raking leaves again. I don't think our Fall will be cold enough to wear those wool clothes I saw in the store windows today, but it will be a lot nicer than it is now.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4993

Another busy day. It never cools down anymore. Our air conditioner runs throughout the night and our early morning walk feels more like a midday walk. At least it's still cool enough before sunrise to give Dawn a walk. It's far too hot later in the day.

We had a big weekend breakfast and then I left to do my grocery shopping and other errands. I had to get a prescription transferred to a different pharmacy this morning because my regular pharmacy couldn't obtain the pills anymore. The new pharmacy said the pills were on backorder as well, but luckily they still had some in stock. Hopefully this problem will be resolved before my 90 day supply runs out.

I filled my car with gas and noticed that gas prices are going up again. I guess the gas companies don't want to be left behind. All prices keep going up. It's a regular guessing game to see what the prices of my regular items are going to be this week. At least I could find everything today. Some common items seem to be in short supply as well.

After I put the groceries away, I let Dawn out to pee, checked my messages, and went to the gym. My gym is always pretty empty on weekends. This seems counterintuitive to me, but I'm always happy to have the place to myself. I did my three mile walk around the indoor track and was disappointed in my time again. I wasn't great on the basketball court either. I didn't even bother with lifting weights today. I was ready to come home and take a nap.

I'm still disappointed that I'm not down in Florida this weekend. Other people's photographs of the Crew 7 launch early this morning looked great and there was a Starlink launch just about an hour ago. There will be a third Space Force launch on Tuesday. It's rare to have this many launches so close together and I could have been approved for all of them. Oh, well. I need to think of the money I'm saving. At least that's a positive.

I went out and got a pizza for dinner tonight. Our favorite pizza place has raised their prices as well. You wonder where this is going to end. Everyone can't keep raising their prices indefinitely. If I was working I would probably raise my own prices as well. Retirees can't do this though. We're kind of at the mercy of everyone else.

I keep checking my weather app to see if there is a chance of rain. Nope. We're looking at clear skies for the rest of the month. They say a cold front will be arriving on Monday, but temperatures will still be in the 90's. It's going to be a while before I can resume my long walks in the park. Tomorrow I'll go back to the mall. Mall walking is pleasant and it's always nice and cool inside. I don't think Dawn is going to get a Sunday outing walk. We'll still go for ice cream though. An ice cream cone on a hot day always makes things a little better.

Cammy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4992

We keep setting record high temperatures every single day. I'm beginning to think this heat wave will never end. They say a cold front will arrive next Monday though. For a few days the high temperature will only be in the 90's. We got a late start on our sunrise walk this morning, but very few people were out on the trails. I think the entire city has retreated indoors.

Dawn had lots of energy this morning. She wanted to take a longer walk than usual. She's still coughing a little but seems to be feeling much better. One thing we learned from the x-rays they took at the vet yesterday was that Dawn has hip dysplasia. She doesn't show any signs of discomfort yet, but this is troubling. One of our earlier Dalmatians had hip dysplasia and had to take Rimadyl for years. There is always a danger of liver or kidney damage with this drug.

After breakfast this morning I tried to do a few useful things around the house. I deep watered some trees in the front yard that were starting to look dry. Then I attempted to bleach away some of the water stains in the ceiling. This was more or less a failure. When I got a ladder out so I could inspect the damaged areas more closely I discovered that the sheetrock around the cracks was more of less ruined. It was all powdery and probably spreading a coat of mud over the cracks isn't going to help much. I need to find a tape and bed guy to completely replace the damaged sheetrock. This is going to create so much dust and mess in the house that I'm reluctant to do this yet. Maybe the solution is just to not look up at the ceiling.

I'm beginning to regret that I didn't apply to attend either the Crew 7 or Silent Barker launches. Since there is a Starlink launch as well, there will be three different rockets launching within a few days of each other at the end of the week. It would be a good time to be down at Kennedy Space Center. Oh, well. Snooze, you lose I guess. There will always be other launches later in the year.

I didn't do well at the gym today. I was slower walking around the indoor track and I was definitely off my game shooting baskets. It's weird how much things can change from one day to the next. I have a hard time telling whether it's my body or my mood that affects my performance. I got a good night's sleep last night and wasn't all that tired. I wasn't in a good mood though. Maybe that was it. Since I go to the gym every day now, maybe there's a chance to redeem myself tomorrow.

I don't think I like my new phone as well as my old phone. The touch screen seems way too sensitive. Several times the camera or flashlight apps have opened on their own while the phone was in my pocket. If the flashlight app is running in your pocket the battery can be drained in just a few hours. I guess I could always go back to using the old phone, but this new one is so much faster.

This day was more exciting for Dawn than for me. It was grocery day again. She always gets so excited when Janet returns with groceries. I need to make my own grocery list soon because I always complete the week's grocery runs tomorrow. There will be triple digit temperatures again this weekend, but I'm looking forward to Monday. The prospect of a cold front arriving sounds appealing.

Pinky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4991

Dawn had to go to the vet for her dental cleaning today. She got her regular sunrise walk, but couldn't eat breakfast this morning. You aren't supposed to eat prior to having anesthesia. Dawn is always excited to ride in the car, but is so disappointed when we wind up at the vet instead of the ice cream store. She was not a happy camper when we dropped her off this morning.

The house was pretty quiet without Dawn today, but actually it is pretty quiet with Dawn as well. I ate my breakfast, took care of some correspondence, and then went to the gym.  It's still way too hot to do any outdoor chores and I don't feel up to fixing the cracks in the ceiling yet. My daily trip to the gym remains my only consistent activity.

I think these trips to the gym are starting to produce results. I'm faster on the indoor track now. It used to take me around 23 minutes to complete a mile. Now it only takes me 20 minutes. I'm gradually adding weights to my strength exercises and doing more repetitions as well. My biggest improvement is on the basketball court. I'm getting much more consistent about completing free throws. I'm certainly not bragging. Fat people still pass me occasionally on the indoor track and almost everyone can lift more than me in the weight room. I think I'm making progress though. My Fitbit agrees.

I have mixed feeling about missing tonight's Crew 7 launch. I didn't apply for credentials after the magazine told me that one of their staffers wanted to attend. Crewed launches are always a big deal down at the space center, but I'm not terribly sorry that I'm missing this one. It's still very hot in Titusville and the launch isn't until 3 AM. I've never been a fan of these late launches. It's very hard to get good pictures and 3 AM is way past my bedtime. I've been to several late night, or technically early morning, launches and I'm always very, very sleepy. I bumped the lens on one of these night launches and all my pictures were out of focus. I'm not even going to stay up and watch this launch on the Space X live feed. I'll be asleep by then.

We weren't able to pick Dawn up at the vet until very late in the day. She was there for most of the day. The dental cleaning didn't take that long, but she needed some x-rays as well. The vet always wants to keep dogs for observation at least two hours after having anesthesia as well to make sure they are stable. Dawn got a good report. There were no cavities and no teeth needed to be pulled. There were no longer signs of gingivitis either. We try our best to keep her teeth clean, but it's hard with a dog that doesn't like you messing with her mouth.

This week has gone quickly. I've taken this week's trash out to the curb and have finished watering the lawn. It would be nice if tomorrow were cooler, but the temperature is supposed to reach 107 degrees. That doesn't sound better to me.

Hero is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4990

When is this month going to be over? I keep waiting for the weather to change, but every day is the same. It looks like we're going to have clear skies and triple digit temperatures forever. The only time when the weather is tolerable is just before sunrise. Our early walks with Dawn are warm now, but they are still the nicest part of the day.

I applied to attend another launch at Kennedy Space Center. This one isn't until early October and I'm not even sure I want to go. I need to keep my space connections alive though. It took me a long time before I was publishing regularly and could consider myself an official space reporter. I definitely don't want to be forgotten and have to start all over again. Maybe my interest in things will return when the weather gets cooler. Right now I just want to hibernate.

I took my time with breakfast this morning because I didn't want to get to they gym too early. What's the hurry? Going to the gym is my only regular activity lately. I've got to space things out so I don't have an entire afternoon to fill. When I did arrive for my workout there seemed to be twice as many people on the floor as there usually are. I'm convinced that the heat is driving everyone indoors. Luckily someone was leaving just as I arrived and I still found a spot in the parking garage. If I have to park outdoors, the steering wheel is almost too hot to touch when it's time to go home again. I was slow on the track today, probably because there were too many other people walking and running. I was pretty good on the basketball court though. If I can ever manage to complete ten free throws in a row, I'll move on to something more difficult.

I wish I hadn't started eating lunch again. I know that's why I'm gaining weight. I'm not even that hungry, but fixing myself lunch is a great way to kill time. There are all kinds of things that need attention around the house, but I'm doing my best to avoid them. Painting is messy. Repairing cracks in ceiling is messy. Some of the carpentry work that is needed is probably beyond the scope of my abilities. It's actually pretty easy to talk myself out of doing repairs. I'm an expert at talking myself out of things.

The pharmacy still doesn't have the pills I need. I may have to get the prescription refilled at a different pharmacy because I will run out tomorrow. It seems like a pharmacy should always have the pills you need but nothing works smoothly anymore. Little inconsequential things have a way of becoming giant hassles.

It looks like we're going to be doing Santa Paw pictures again. We've already got dates scheduled in December. I hope my old equipment keeps working. I hope my body keeps working as well. I definitely don't want to buy any new photo equipment at this stage of my life. I'll keep walking to keep myself working.

Dawn didn't get to go to her training class tonight. It's still way too hot outside. Maybe next week will be better.

Mickey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4989

I wonder why this seems like the hottest summer ever? I think there have been several years when it has been worse, but I can't remember exactly when. I know there was a time when the water level in the lake was even lower. When I would walk along the shoreline I would see vast expanses of dried mud extending out at least 100 yards. This isn't the first year that the grass in the front yard has died either. There have been many years when the park department has mowed down the native prairie grasslands to prevent fires. There have been other years where there have been giant cracks in the soil as well. This still seems like the hottest summer ever though. I guess my memory is selective. We just tend to remember the good years and forget the bad.

There are very few people walking in the park these days. It's too hot. On our sunrise walk this morning we hardly saw anyone. It seems weird to have the temperature approaching 90 degrees at sunrise, but that's the way it is. We still had an enjoyable walk this morning. Everything is relative I guess. 85 degrees is still a lot nicer than 105 degrees.

After breakfast this morning I took a letter to the post office and went to pick up a prescription. The message on the pharmacy line said the prescription would be ready at 11 AM, but when I went to pick it up they told me that the pills were out of stock and it would be several days before they had them again. "But your phone message said," I began. The pharmacist just shrugged and told me to come back later.

The same people seems to be doing the same things at the gym every day. Of course I'm no different. I do the same things every day as well. When I begin my three mile walk around the indoor track I'm always bored and think that I'll go straight home as soon as I'm finished. After I've walked two miles my opinion seems to change and I think I might as well shoot a few baskets. After I complete my ten free throws I think I might as well lift a few weights now that I'm already here. It's always the same. I wonder if I'll ever feel like doing anything different?

I've been trying to go to the gym later because I can't think of anything I feel like doing in the afternoon. I've been an avid reader for most of my life but I don't even feel like reading anymore. I'm not sure what I did this afternoon, but the time went quickly. Pretty soon it was time to fix Dawn's dinner and then eat my own. I'm watering the lawn now, but it's probably a hopeless endeavor. Nature usually wins these battles.

I keep toying with the idea of going offline entirely when I finish the blog. I'm not working now and it gets harder and harder to find any benefit in social media. Maybe my Luddite sister is right. I spent many, many years without the Internet and I did just fine. It's weird that we have all grown so dependent on having instant access to everything. I used to correspond with lots of people and was always getting letters in the mail. I used to go read magazines in the public library when I was bored. Of course most of those magazines are out of business now. I drove a manual transmission car and found my way around town without GPS. Oh, well. I guess you can't turn back time although I'd certainly like to.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4988

The Bordetella vaccine that Dawn got yesterday really helped. She hardly coughed at all today. I think the only time she started coughing at all was when she drank water too fast. I don't know why nobody seemed to think she had kennel cough. If it quacks like a duck, it is usually a duck. I always thought she had either kennel cough or the canine flu. Hopefully Dawn remains healthy and we can put this problem behind us. The last thing we need during this impossibly hot summer is a sick dog.

It looks like Houston might get some rain from the storm system currently in the Gulf, but it doesn't seem like any of this moisture will reach Dallas. The forecast still indicates clear skies and triple digit temperatures for the next week. We've learned to look forward to our sunrise walks with Dawn. The hour before sunrise is the only time when you can even pretend that being outdoors is enjoyable. It was 85 degrees when we walked Dawn this morning. There was a light breeze though. It felt nice.

I went to the gym later today because Janet likes me out of the house while she's cleaning on Monday afternoon. I had lots of time to kill this morning so I wrote a letter to my sister, did a load of laundry, payed bills, and did some more work on my neighbor's website. Website maintenance is turning into a struggle these days. The Dreamweaver software I've always used to upload and maintain sites is obsolete and barely runs anymore. I'm sure there are newer alternative available but they won't run on my older computer. I'm still running the Sierra operating system, which is the latest system that will run on my 2011 desktop. I really don't want to buy a new computer at this point. I don't use it very much and will use it even less when I finish with the blog.

When I finally made it to the gym I did surprisingly well. Where did I get all this energy today? I had my best pace on the indoor track in weeks and completed my ten free throws on the basketball court in record time. It took me less than seven minutes today. The gym must have fixed the air conditioning system because it was nice and cool inside while I was there. No wonder there have been more people using the gym lately. It's probably one of the more pleasant places you can go in town these days. The temperature at the gym is certainly cooler than the restaurant where we ate on Janet's birthday.

I made some minor updates to the Dalmatian Rescue website when I returned home and then took a nap. I got an invitation today from McDonald Observatory to attend an appreciation dinner for past and present volunteers. I appreciate the invitation but it seems like a really long drive just to go out for dinner. I think I'll pass on this one. I'd love to return to the observatory at some point, but I don't know if I'm up for the drive anymore. On my last drive home from Fort Davis I had a strong feeling that this was going to be the last trip. I was really tired and the eighteen wheelers that were continually barreling past me on the freeway were frightening. These days my drive to the gym is about as far as I want to go.

I'm probably still up for an occasional trip to Kennedy Space Center. Titusville is a nice sleepy little town and I like it there. The launch photographers are a pleasant group to hang out with as well. With any luck I'll make it down there again this year. There's no hurry though. I don't feel like going anywhere until the weather cools off. Right now I'll just make very short trips to my very cold gym.

Joe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4987

The heat is relentless. It's even hot on our sunrise walks now. I just wonder how long this can continue. I keep looking at the weather app on my phone and all it shows are sunny days and triple digit temperatures. Everything is so dry that now were are getting fire hazard warnings in addition to the daily heat advisory warnings. Today there was an ozone warning as well. I guess things could be worse. There have been no tornado warnings in a long time and we certainly don't have to worry about flooding.

I followed my regular Sunday schedule today. We had a big breakfast and then I went mall walking. I've noticed that there are a lot more walkers lately. The mall is nice and cool and I think a lot of people have started coming before the stores open just to get out of the heat. I'm almost certain that they keep the mall cooler than most people's homes. We do pretty well maintaining temperatures inside our house at night and during the morning hours. By mid afternoon our system is struggling though. If you set the thermostat at 76 degrees the temperature is going to be 80 by dinnertime.

There was nothing new at the mall today. The auto show is still going on, but I have little interest in looking at cars. The car I'm driving now might end up being the last car I have. I don't drive much anymore and my current car is becoming a really low mileage vehicle for it's vintage. We'll see what happens though. I've learned that you can never take mechanical things for granted.

It kind of bothers me that I'm walking slower now. It took me longer than usual to do my five laps at the mall today. I'm slower at the gym as well. I think this heat has just drained all the energy out of me. Hopefully this will change when things get cooler. Right now very little captures my interest and all I want to do is sleep.

I started on the web project that I volunteered to help my neighbor with this afternoon. The files they sent me didn't match at all with what they said they wanted. This might be a little harder than I thought. Situations like this used to be a daily occurrence back when I made my living as a web designer. It all seems a bit strange now though. I'm glad I've officially retired.

Dawn still gets her Sunday outing, but it's way to hot for a second walk. We let her outside at the park for a few minutes so she could pee and then we headed straight for the ice cream store. They must have been having problems today, because the line at the drive through window moved a lot slower than usual. Our cones weren't as cold as they should have been either. Dawn didn't mind though. She loves ice cream.

On the way home we stopped at the vet so Dawn could get her Bordetella shot. Actually, she got a nasal spray today instead of a shot because she was already coughing. We don't think she has kennel cough, but she was due for a Bordetella shot in a few weeks anyway. There was a sign on the door of the vet today warning that there has been an outbreak of canine flu in the area. The symptoms of canine flu are very similar to what we are seeing with Dawn as well. The vet doesn't think Dawn has either kennel cough or canine flu. So what actually is going on here? We still don't know.

I don't expect very much to change tomorrow. I wish I could just hibernate like a bear until cooler weather arrived. This has definitely been a very strange summer.

Blackjack is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4986

Another busy day. We got up a little later this morning and the park was already filled with people when we took Dawn on her early walk. I think everyone is starting to realize that just before sunrise is the only time even worth thinking about going outside. We passed a lot of people walking their dogs this morning. It's way too hot for dog walks later in the day. The park department has even started putting up signs warning people of the dangers of walking your dog on hot pavement.

After breakfast I did my grocery shopping. My list was longer today and I had to go to several stores. It didn't take long to get oppressively hot. By mid-morning the temperature was already over 100 degrees. The traffic is terrible on weekends now. Where did all these people come from? Once again I ended up very close to my gym, but came home first because I had groceries in the car. My strawberries wouldn't last very long if I left them out in the hot sun for several hours. 

I went back to the gym after I put the groceries away. Usually the gym is virtually empty on Saturday, but there were lots of people today. Some people probably come here just because it's so cold inside. I completed my usual routine and came home again. I really ought to stay a little longer and use some of the many resources this gym provides. Somehow after an hour or so I'm almost always ready to come home. I like getting my steps every day, but don't really get that much pleasure from going to the gym. 

On the way home from the gym I stopped at Sprinkles and got cupcakes for Janet's birthday. I was going to get a special cake at Central Market but the decorated cakes were horrendously expensive. I probably should have got the cake. Sprinkles raised their prices again and I could have gotten a nice cake for the price of several cupcakes.

Janet wanted Chinese food so we went to a nice Chinese restaurant for her birthday. The food was terrific, but something seemed to be wrong with their air conditioning system. The place was too hot. I think everyone is struggling with this heat. Our house feels warmer and even the gym can't keep things as cool as they used to. The electric company probably loves this. When we return from our early walks, all we hear is the hum of everyone's air conditioner compressors. 

We sent our vet some videos of Dawn coughing, but he didn't seems to think it was serious. I beg to differ. This coughing doesn't seem normal at all. It sounds like she's choking on something. The vet doesn't think Dawn has kennel cough, but thinks she's doing something he calls reverse sneezing instead. We'll watch her for a while. We still haven't rescheduled her dental cleaning though.

Dawn has the next birthday on the calendar. She's the youngster in the family. Janet and I don't feel that old, but we're both getting up there. Oh, well. At least we don't need to think about aging for another year. Tomorrow I'll go mall walking and we'll take Dawn on her Sunday outing. I can't wait for Fall to arrive. This heat wave is starting to get on my nerves.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4985

Dawn woke us up early this morning with a rasping cough. We think she has kennel cough, although we have no idea how she caught it. Other than her weekly training class she's not around other dogs. We canceled her dental appointment and will be taking her in Sunday for another exam. The cough could be something else and we definitely don't want to put her under anesthesia for a dental cleaning until we can figure out what is going on.

Since we got up so early, we ended up taking our sunrise walk in the dark. It was the first time we'd gotten out the flashlights and lighted dog collar since last Winter. Even though it was still dark it was already hot. The temperature was in the mid 80's and there wasn't any breeze. We didn't need the sun to tell us that today was going to be a hot one.

When I was fixing breakfast I discovered that the Keurig coffeemaker was broken. How did this happen? It was working fine yesterday. Breakfast without coffee wasn't an auspicious way to start the day, but what could I do. At least I had orange juice. Later in the day I did a Google search and figured out how to fix the coffeemaker, but it didn't help me much at breakfast. 

The thermostat had a message that it was time to change the furnace filter, so I did that after breakfast. I also cleaned the toilets and swept some more spiderwebs off the office windows. I didn't want to go to the gym too early because it's always full early in the mornings. A friend asked if I could make some minor revisions to a website I'd done years ago. Sure. Why not. I think I can still remember how to do these things. I wasn't even sure I could open the site since I built it so long ago, but I managed to find a web development program on the computer that still worked. I'll make the revisions this weekend.

I decided not to apply to attend the Silent Barker Space Force military launch. I was pretty sure I'd be accepted for this ULA launch, but I have a feeling that I'll only be able to afford one more trip to Florida this year and I didn't want to squander the trip on this launch. There will be better things later in the Fall. It's also been very stormy in Titusville lately. I've already made too many launch trips where bad weather spoiled everything.

It got up to 110 degrees today. I thing we set another record high. There is no end in sight either. The weather app on my phone shows sunny skies and triple digit temperatures for the next ten days. Will we ever get any rain? There is a hurricane starting to develop out in the Caribbean and I'm kind of hoping that it will move through the Gulf and eventually bring some rain to Texas. There's only a 40% chance that this storm will even develop though. It may amount to nothing. 

My gym has always been freezing cold, but even the massive air conditioning units can't keep up with this heat. I noticed that the gym felt warmer yesterday and today the temperature crept up a little higher. It's still reasonably cool inside, but I don't think I need to wear a long sleeved shirt anymore. Maybe it's the heat thats slowing me down. I was still slow on the indoor track today. 

Dawn was happy that it was grocery day again. When I do my own grocery shopping tomorrow it will be a non event though. There is a big event tomorrow however. It's Janet's birthday.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4984

It's hard to believe that the temperature can fluctuate 40 degrees in just a few hours. That's what happened today. We had a very pleasant early morning walk with Dawn this morning. It was only 72 degrees. By the time I returned from the gym a few hours later, we had set an all time record high of 109 degrees. To make matters worse the rain that was in the forecast yesterday has disappeared. It's clear skies and triple digit temperatures as far as the eye can see.

The weather may be terrible, but my teeth are fine. I have no cavities, my gums are healthy, and the dental hygienist says I'm doing a good job keeping things clean with the Waterpik. My teeth felt so clean when I came home that I kind of hated to eat anything. I'm good till next February. Everyone seems to want to see me every six months now.

My application to attend the OSIRIS-REx sample return event got rejected. I was a little surprised, but I shouldn't have been. The NASA invitation went out to social media influencers. It's been a long time since anything I've posted on the Internet has been popular. I think the blog only has about twelve readers these days. That's all fine by me but NASA is looking for people with thousands of followers. Years ago, actually decades ago, I created a website that was nominated for website of the year. Another website I created was included in a book called The World Wide Web Top 1000. I also had a ton of followers on the short lived Google+ platform after a well know photographer praised my images. Like I said, that was a long time ago.

I'm happy to live in relative obscurity now, but I still like rockets and space. I guess it's a good thing that a little magazine in London likes me. If I wasn't publishing in SpaceFlight Magazine regularly, I probably wouldn't get to attend launches and space related events at all. Like I said, this is all fine by me. I've always liked the printed page better than online publications anyway.

When I returned from the dentist I changed clothes and went to the gym. The gym was actually on my way home from the dentist, but I didn't want to wear shorts to the dentist or long pants to the gym. I let Dawn out to pee before I left but she didn't want to stay outside long. It was just too hot. I was slower on the indoor track and better on the basketball court today just like yesterday. I wonder why I'm slowing down on the track. I didn't really feel tired. I was just slow. My shoulder is starting to hurt from the weight training I'm doing now. Maybe I should back off a bit. I'd be happier if I could just go back to walking in the park but that's going to be a while. These continual high temperatures are starting to feel apocalyptic.

I watered what is left of the lawn this evening but it was probably just a waste of water. The sun is winning this battle. They say there is a heat dome over Texas now. I'd never heard of a heat dome before, but apparently a high pressure ridge has trapped hot dry air and is keeping clouds from forming which could cool things down and bring much needed rain. How do you get rid of a heat dome? That remains to be seen. 

Toby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day