Day 4796

The roofing guy was nice and seemed knowledgable. He didn't like my idea about going back to a tar and gravel roof, but the solution he proposed seemed reasonable. At first he wanted to put a new roof over the existing roof, but we've already been down that road. I made it clear that I wanted to remove the existing roof material, check to make sure there was no rotted decking, and then apply a completely new roof. Lord knows how much that's going to cost. The guy said he'd have a firm estimate in three or four days. No hurry. I think it would be crazy to do this before it gets warmer anyway. This company came highly recommended, but so did the companies that replaced my roof before. I don't have a lot of faith in roofers.

It was so cold today. This was a total surprise to me, since it was nice yesterday. Dawn seemed fine on her early morning walk, but I made a mental note to dress warmer when I took my long walk a little later. Part of the problem today was the wind. A cold winter wind isn't very pleasant to walk in.

I waited until after the estimator finished his roof inspection to take my long walk. I was thinking that it would get warmer if I waited until later in the day, but actually it seemed to get colder. At least there was no rain. The ducks and geese seemed hungry today and would chase after anyone who came near them at Sunset Bay. I would think it would be pretty miserable to be a duck in the winter, but then I'm not a duck. I'm certainly glad I don't live up North anymore. I have no tolerance for cold weather.

Despite the cold I managed to complete my six miles and get my steps. I'm persistent and it takes a lot to keep me indoors. The walk is getting boring, but I'm a creature of habit. Since the park is huge, I could easily take a different route but I seldom do. I think I follow the same route day after day because it's easy to compare results. I know exactly how long it takes to reach various points along the way on both good and bad days. I'm not a competitive person by nature, but I do compete with myself from time to time. It's always nice to get better at something. Even walking.

I didn't do much this afternoon, but the day still seemed to go quickly. The roof is still leaking a little but I don't hear a lot of dripping water anymore. Probably by tomorrow morning all the leaks will have stopped. Actually I'm surprised that the roof is still leaking at all. It seemed pretty dry when I was up on the roof with the estimator this morning. There is no rain in the immediate future but I'm sure it will rain many times before a new roof can be installed. 

I hope I hear something about my application for Crew-6 credentials soon. Sometimes NASA waits until the last minute to issue credentials and then the airfare to Orlando becomes more expensive. Hotels are often more expensive if I wait until the last minute to book as well. There's nothing I can do about this, so I just wait. Last minute credentialing is no problem for the launch photographers who live in the area. It can be a problem for me though. I wish I could plan ahead.

I do have a plan for tomorrow. It's grocery day for me. If I go to the gym at all, it's usually on Saturday. We'll see how the day goes. Maybe I'll go back tomorrow afternoon and shoot some baskets. I'm getting tired of counting ducks in the park.

Landry is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day