Day 4904 - Memorial Day

Today was a two part day. I walked in the morning and wrote in the afternoon. It didn't feel like I accomplished much, but my article is basically done. I just need to wait until the AX-2 astronauts return on June 1 and then I'll finish things up and send the article to the magazine.

I was sleepy this morning and didn't feel like getting out of bed, but you can't procrastinate when you've got a dog waiting for a walk. These early morning walks are nice, but it warms up quickly. By the time I was ready for my long walk after breakfast it was already too hot.

I'm going to have to go out and find some more shredded wheat soon. I'm almost out and it's only Monday. There's still plenty of fruit though. After breakfast I thought about fixing the screen door, but I didn't have enough staples for the staple gun, so that gave me an excuse to put the job off for another day or two. I quickly reverted to my regular routine of checking my messages and getting ready for my long walk.

If I ever needed an excuse to return to the gym it will be summer temperatures. It really wasn't bad today but the warmer weather gave me a feel for what is coming. I don't think I can handle being outside in triple digit temperatures anymore. The gym is air conditioned and has a nice indoor track. It also has everything I need to work on rebuilding muscle mass. All I need to do is get motivated.

The park was busy today. There were more bicycles and joggers than on a typical weekend. At first I was confused and then remembered it was Memorial Day. Everyone must have gotten the day off. I completed my six miles, trying my best not to get mowed down by speeding cyclists. I think I prefer walking on winter days when nobody is out and about.

I was wondering when the roofers were going to call wanting the rest of their money. They called today and apparently want to be paid tomorrow. That's fine. I'm ready to put the new roof behind me and move on to other things. The new roof still hasn't been tested by a heavy rain, but that's bound to happen soon. Lots of people in the area got rain today, but it was all to the north of us. I hope the roofers come back to inspect things after the next big storm. They promised that the new roof will drain well. I'm a bit skeptical but am hoping for the best. I really don't want to be climbing on the roof to remove standing water ever again.

I spent the afternoon writing my article about the AX-2 Mission. The article is basically done unless something surprising happens on the final days of the mission. I had to look at my old article about the AX-1 Mission to make sure that I wasn't duplicating the previous article. The two private missions to the space station are basically the same. This new article was a little shorter than I anticipated, but I think I mentioned everything important. I'll edit some of the pictures I took tomorrow and then submit the article and pictures to SpaceFlight as soon as the astronauts return to earth.

I hope my new driver's license comes soon. I hate loose ends and won't feel comfortable traveling until the license arrives. I have a temporary license, but it's just a piece of paper and doesn't look very official. I doubt that the temporary license would open any doors at Kennedy Space Center. I dread renewing my passport. That's going to make renewing the driver's license look easy. They say it can take up to a year to renew a passport now. Why? I've got some time, but I imagine that conditions will be even worse when it's time for me to renew. It's hard to get used to the fact that nothing works smoothly anymore. 

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day