Day 4636

I feel somewhat vindicated now. Looks like I made the right decision to return home on Wednesday. Artemis scrubbed again this morning with 2 hours and 28 minutes remaining on the countdown clock. They didn't even get as close to launching the rocket as they did on Monday. This time the problem was a hydrogen leak that could not be controlled. They'll have to roll Artemis back to the VAB for repairs and another launch attempt probably won't occur until October. Something just didn't feel right when I made the decision to return home. When you repeat a procedure that failed and expect different results, you usually aren't successful.

I repeat my routine every Saturday, but usually I succeed. Grocery shopping isn't rocket science. We took Dawn on a nice sunrise walk and then had our weekend breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast. I had a longer grocery list this morning, but found everything easily. Prices are still sky high, but I don't think anything was more expensive than last week. Jeez. I could have done all this yesterday when I was at the store. I wonder why I didn't.

When I returned home from grocery shopping, I turned on NASA TV and learned that this morning's launch attempt had been scrubbed. This isn't a good look for the Artemis program. NASA is trying to put a positive spin on things by reminding people how many failed launches there were during the Apollo and Space Shuttle era. I think they are missing the point. People aren't accustomed to failures anymore. Space X launches rockets like clockwork and not only do they not fail, they can be used over and over again. Artemis is 1970's technology, brought back to life. For some reason, NASA is simply unwilling to admit that the entire program is obsolete.

Even though it was nice outside when we took our sunrise walk, the temperature climbed quickly. I wisely decided to go to the gym again. There was nothing new about my exercise routine, but there was a new basketball. I'd never seen a black and green basketball before, so I had to try it. It bounced higher and seemed to go in the basket a little easier. Maybe I was just imagining things though.

There still seems to be a lot of rain in the area, but we didn't get any at our house. I don't think we need any more. I'm still waiting for the grass to dry out so I can mow. It's going to be a few more days. The ground seems saturated now. Strange that I was writing about a drought just a few weeks ago and now everything is soggy and wet. Texas weather again. You can never take Texas weather for granted.

I'll probably go walking at the mall again tomorrow morning. This has turned out to be an enjoyable way to get my steps. Dawn will get her Sunday outing as well. We'll definitely get ice cream, but if the weather stays cool we might try a Sunday walk as well. It's too early to decide whether I'll return to Florida for the next Artemis launch attempt. I'm sure I'll go back sometime. I'm kind of drawn to the space center like a moth to a flame. 

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4620

It rained again last night and it was a lot cooler this morning. Ten degrees can make a big difference. We had an enjoyable early morning walk with Dawn and since the skies were overcast it looked like it might stay cooler all day. I ate my breakfast and checked the temperature again. Finally, it was cool enough for a long walk in the park.

I enjoy walking outdoors more than on the indoor track at the gym. I don't enjoy the heat though, so I need to take advantage of days like this. It didn't even get up to 90 degrees today and for most of my walk it was in the 70's. The only thing I don't like about walking outdoors is the continual drone of leaf blowers from the landscaping crews in the neighborhood and the frequent police and fire sirens. Add in all the planes on final approach to Love Field and it's not a very quiet place. Our park is a beautiful wooded area but it is located inside a large city. You really can't avoid the noise.

Since it was cooler today I decided it was finally time to mow the grass. We've been letting it grow because the taller the grass, the deeper the roots. Even though it has been a dry summer, I think the lawn is going to survive. I'm not sure how long the mower is going to survive though. I definitely need new batteries. I used to be able to mow both the front and back yards on a single charge. Today the mower died before I finished the back yard. I hesitate to buy another mower though. I think the next step is to join the other neighbors and just get a landscaping service to do the mowing for me. I'm definitely not getting any younger. Mowing the yard tires me out now.

I managed to find another ESA astronaut to interview while I'm down at Kennedy Space center. Maybe I can turn the two interviews into a separate article. Both astronauts have interesting stories. The Italian astronaut had a close call when a faulty spacesuit caused his helmet to fill up with water while he was outside the space station doing repairs. The German astronaut is a musician and joined a live Kraftwerk concert while he was on the space station and may be the only person to play a synthesizer in space.

I'm still a little apprehensive about my upcoming trip. Everything important happens early in the morning and I'm not a morning person. My flight leaves at 6 AM and the launch itself takes place at 6:30 AM. Different days though. I've been told to arrive at the press site five hours ahead of the launch. Yikes. That means I'll be getting up in the middle of the night. I'm not so sure about staying at an Airbnb either. The place I selected got great reviews but I've never stayed at an Airbnb before. I've stayed at the Titusville Holiday Inn so many times that I feel like family there. Oh, well. You know what they say about old dogs and new tricks. It might be good for me to try something new.

I briefly thought about getting out the star tracker and seeing if I could duplicate yesterday's test session. It seemed like too much trouble though and I ended up doing a load of laundry instead. Even though I mowed the lawn today, it still seemed like a slow day. Hey, there's nothing wrong with slow days. I've taken this weeks trash out to the curb and I'm read to start all over again tomorrow.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4604

Everything went well at the dentist this morning. No new cavities or root canals. There was a new dental hygienist today. I don't like anything new at the dentist office, but she did a good job. My teeth are clean now and I'm good for another six months. Like everything else in life, the price for the exam, x-rays, and cleaning went up. I wasn't surprised though. I'm getting used to the price for everything going up.

The day started normally enough. We took a sunrise walk through a parched and very dry park. The city has mowed the native prairie grass to reduce the risk of fire. The water level of the lake is noticeably lower. We don't see many ducks or animals now. I wonder how they are managing in this drought?

I had to get gas today. There are no lines at the pump when prices are coming down, but long lines when prices are doing up. Go figure. Human behavior is weird. You'd think that people would want to take advantage of lower prices, but usually fear kicks in when prices start rising. Somehow my car seems to get even worse gas mileage since I took it in for the recall repair. This doesn't make sense though. I'm probably just imagining things.

I went back to the gym this afternoon. I don't think mall walking will work during the week. I drove by Northpark on the way to the gym and the place looked packed. I guess I'll just do this on Sunday before the stores open. The gym was crowded too, but I did manage to find a parking place. At least half the people who come to my gym seems to be having physical therapy. It's an eye opener watching what they have to go through. Yikes. I need to be careful not to fall or injure myself. This is going to be harder than it seems. My balance isn't as good as it used to be and life is full of hazards. Even today, I noticed that my shoulder hurt after I got home. I have no idea what I did.

I got a bill from my HVAC supplier today for work done back in May. This was a surprise. I was sure that I'd already paid this bill because the technician told me that both service calls would be rolled into the final bill. Evidently he was wrong and my AC repair was even more expensive that I thought it was. The first call to diagnose the problem was never added to the final bill. I paid this bill over the phone and then noticed later in the fine print on my invoice that there was a 3% convenience fee for paying bills over the phone. You really can't win these days.

I'm apparently not the only one nervous about travel arrangements for the Artemis-1 launch. Hotel rooms are already drying up in Titusville and the launch is still a month away. I'm glad I already made my reservations because other people are already having problems. This is not normal. I've made last minute decisions to travel to Titusville before and never had any problems finding a room. There are three launch opportunities in late August and early September that are spaced four or five days apart. I'm hoping that everything goes smoothly on the first attempt. I can't afford to stay in Florida for two weeks and I probably couldn't extend my stay anyway with hotels rooms in such short supply. My editor at SpaceFlight is really happy that I will be attending the launch. I see no reason to burden him with all the problems that might occur.

I'm hearing that we should expect our hot weather to continue all the way through the end of August. That sucks. They say that the summer of 2011 was even worse, but you couldn't prove it by me. This seems like the worst summer ever. I shouldn't complain though. Our air conditioner is still working and I certainly don't have to worry about roof leaks for a while.

Scout is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4601

There have been rain clouds around us all day. I even heard thunder at one point. We didn't get a single drop of rain. This was the one day where we might have had a chance. It didn't even get up to a hundred degrees today. Now we return to another never ending string of triple digit days in the weeks ahead.

I got the electric bill today. It was literally double what it was this time last year. Last month was high. This month was a lot higher. This is not good. The cost of everything has gone through the roof. Grocery bills are ridiculous now. So are utility bills, insurance bills, gasoline, and just about everything else. It makes you wonder where all this is going to end. It doesn't help that we are in the middle of an almost unprecedented heat wave. I'm just waiting for water shortages.

Our sunrise walks with Dawn are getting uncomfortably warm. The temperature was in the high eighties this morning and the sun wasn't even up yet. Dawn was panting when we returned home and I was starting to sweat. You really don't expect this before breakfast. I keep hoping that nothing goes wrong with the air conditioner. It could get dangerously hot very quickly.

We had a nice weekend breakfast and then I went to the gym again. More people are wearing masks on the gym floor now. Sign of the times I suspect. I'm getting a lot better on the basketball court. I'd probably get some real exercise if I'd start dribbling and shooting from other points on the court. So far, all I'm doing is shooting free throws from the free throw line. I've got really bad knees though. The last thing I want to do is screw up my knees running around on the basketball court.

I'm walking at a faster pace on the indoor track as well. Practice makes perfect I guess. This is a lot better than walking in the park. They keep my gym really cold. Sometimes I feel like I need a jacket. I won't be able to go to the gym tomorrow since it is closed on Sunday, but I will be busy anyway. Tomorrow is the day we move the rescue Dalmatians to the new kennel. Hopefully the dogs will like their new home. I haven't seen the place yet, but I hear it is a little smaller than the current kennel.

I'm beginning to get apprehensive about my trip to Florida. I'm hearing that up to a million people might converge on Titusville for the Artemis launch. This can't possibly be true, but locals say that this many people used to come to watch the Apollo launches. I am told to expect huge traffic jams on the roads leading to the space center on launch day. Yikes. Maybe I should have gone out to the observatory instead. There certainly aren't many people out there.

I did my grocery shopping earlier today. I should do this more often. There really aren't a lot of people in the stores before 10 AM. There seemed to be a better selection of fruit as well. I don't know how I got such an early start today since I think we actually got up later. Gasoline was the only thing that was less expensive this week. The price drop was probably temporary, but I'll take what I can get. 

I don't know how long it will take us to move the dogs tomorrow, but hopefully Dawn will still get her Sunday outing. There won't be a walk, but there will be ice cream. I'm not sure how I will get my steps tomorrow. I definitely don't want to walk in the park, so I'll probably try mall walking. I always thought that this was something only old people did, but I guess I'm an old person now.

I wish life didn't feel so apocalyptic. I'd like things to return to normal before I completely forget what normal looks like. Tomorrow will be normal though. Dalmatians and ice cream are always good.

Penny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4600

Only 400 days to go. Kind of a strange goal to write something for 5000 consecutive days, but I'm thinking I'm going to be able to do this. We're getting close now. Maybe a few more interesting and unexpected things will happen along the way, but probably not today. I got excited when it looked like we might get some rain this evening, but it missed us again. Still bone dry.

Today really was a lot like yesterday. Our sunrise walk with Dawn was warm but tolerable. My breakfast was boring but easy to fix. I made the bed, checked my messages and headed for the gym. I'm glad I have this option. It's been way too hot lately to take my normal walk in the park. 

Fridays are Dawn's favorite day. Janet does her grocery shopping on Friday morning and Dawn loves to watch as the food is being put away. She's not nearly as interested when I return from the store because I tend to buy the bulk items like laundry detergent and trash bags. Janet buys the sliced turkey which Dawn dearly loves.

I probably should stay at the gym longer. I always walk two or three miles on the indoor track and shoot free throws on the basketball court, but I'm seldom very tired when I'm finished with my workout. I should probably try a little harder to elevate my heart rate. My goal is mostly just to keep moving. Hey, I burn just as many calories as I did walking outdoors and I don't get sunburned. It's hard to argue with that. If I remember, I'm going to try mall walking this Sunday when the gym is closed. I have no desire to walk outdoors again until this heat wave is over.

I practiced using the star tracker again this afternoon. I was going to wait until the new firmware update was released, but boredom intervened. For the first time in ages there were no error messages today. Everything worked perfectly. I try to be consistent but I still can't figure out why I have good days and bad days with this thing. Even if I don't spend a lot of time doing astrophotography with the tracker, it was probably a good investment. It has already provided hours of entertainment. Although frustrating at times, testing the tracker is much more enjoyable than mowing the lawn.

I'm still waiting to hear more about the Artemis-1 launch. I've already made my reservations, but it would be nice to know whether I picked the right days to travel. I've been invited to attend several other launches in the interim, but I can only afford one more trip to Titusville this season. I need to just be patient and wait. Eventually, I'll get a schedule from NASA and I'll be on my way.

Tomorrow I do my share of the grocery shopping. I've got my list ready and expect prices to be higher again. It's probably time to fill the car with gas too. No shredded wheat in the morning. Janet cooks a big breakfast on the weekends.

Tink is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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