Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Day 4765

I received a notice today that my application for press credentials was accepted, so I will be heading to Kennedy Space Center soon to attend the USSF-67 Falcon Heavy launch. These last minute notices make me nervous, but the Space X folks are probably doing the best they can. Things change rapidly with almost any launch and they probably weren't even sure the launch would take place until today's successful static fire. Hey, at least I got credentialed. The weather looks good so far as well. Airfares look terrible though. I thought Southwest would be offering some deals to win back customers after all the problems they had a few weeks ago. Nope. The current fare to Orlando was the highest I've ever seen. The Airbnb I like was open though, so that's good. I've really got to stop fretting about this stuff. There are many launch opportunities and I can only afford to go to a few of them anyway. It wouldn't have been the end of the world if I missed this one.

The laser pointer accessory I ordered for one of my star trackers arrived today but I couldn't figure out how to assemble it. I wrote the company a letter saying that I thought a part was missing. A few hours later I noticed a video on the company website with operating instructions. My bad. I just needed to unscrew the top of the unit so it would fit on the star tracker adapter. I felt kind of stupid, because after looking at the video I felt that I should have been able to figure this out myself. These type of things are going to happen more frequently now. Growing old isn't pretty.

It was foggy outside when we took Dawn on her early walk this morning. Ground fog in the park is often very pretty, but cameras and dogs don't mix well, so I didn't get any pictures. We had a nice walk though and since we started a little later, we didn't even need our flashlights.

I got a late start on my long walk today because I needed to make all my reservations for the Florida trip. By the time I left the house it was warm enough to wear shorts again. I think we set an all time temperature record today. It got up to 83 degrees. I'm sure it will get cold again, but I'll take this warmer weather whenever we can get it. It didn't feel like January at all today. It felt more like April.

I hope all these long walks are actually helping me. Sometimes I wonder. I'm certainly not building any muscle. They say building muscle mass is much harder as you grow older. I'm probably going to have to get serious and spend more time lifting weights. I'm thin enough as it is. I wish I enjoyed going to the gym, because I've certainly got the time. I prefer walking though because I can daydream and let my mind wander. I'd never make a good gym rat.

I can't decide what to write about on this trip to Florida. The USSF-67 Mission is almost identical to the USSF-44 Mission which I've already written about. I doubt that the magazine is going to be very interested in another article about the same thing. I already have a Falcon Heavy article in the January issue. Hopefully, I can think of something interesting in the next day or so because I'd like the magazine to stay interested in me.

Dawn is finally starting to relax around me. It's about time. Maybe we'll eventually end up being best buddies after all.

Murphy is today's Dalmatian of the Day


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