Day 4150

What a beautiful day. This would have been a good day to do yard work, but by the time I changed the sheets on the bed and did several loads of laundry I was too tired. Somehow putting a fitted sheet on a low platform bed is a lot harder than it used to be. I had my normal smoothie for breakfast, checked my messages, and got ready to walk Dawn. We walked Dawn early today because Janet was going to be away during the afternoon. Dawn was fine with the change in schedule. She liked the nice Spring weather too.

I knew there was going to be a Starship launch today, so I checked the computer from time to time to see how things were progressing in Boca Chica. The launch didn't take place until late in the day, but it was worth the wait. The fifth time was the charm for the Starship. It didn't blow up this time and made a perfect landing. It's impressive how quickly things are moving down at Boca Chica. I still think Elon might make it to the moon before NASA. I've really got to get down to Boca Chica and see one of these launches for myself.

There was plenty of time for a long walk while I was waiting for the Starship launch to take place. I made pretty good time today even though I was unusually tired. I think I didn't get enough sleep last night. The wildflowers are looking good this season. Somehow they weren't affected by our big freeze this winter. The Rhododendrons and Azaleas in Dallas didn't do so well. Most of these popular plants died. Usually in the Spring, I spend a day or two photographing all the wildflowers before the Summer heat dries them out. I've got plenty of flower pictures now, but I ought to schedule another photo day anyway just for old time's sake. 

I shouldn't have bookmarked the page of that telescope I'm interested in. I found myself going back to the page today and trying to justify purchasing the little telescope. It's really just a telephoto lens that has been optimized for astrophotography, but it's pretty cool. It even has a cool name: Redcat 51. I'll probably wish I'd ordered it when I return from the observatory and discover that the telescope is out of stock again. If this thing was available three weeks ago I probably would have ordered it instead of the telephoto lens I got recently. Oh, well. Maybe next time. I'm sure this won't be my last trip out to the observatory.

I still can't decide whether to apply from some June launch opportunities at Kennedy Space Center. I feel like I'm jinxed now and it hardly seems worth the effort, but if you don't apply you're never going to get accepted. I wish I knew why my applications were being rejected now. I've gotten a press pass before and I can't figure out what has changed. Maybe it's just one more thing to fret about. I'm not good at going with the flow. I'd like to have the rest of my year mapped out in great detail and then I'd just follow the schedule. 

I do have something on my schedule for tomorrow. I get a haircut. A haircut isn't a big deal but it fits in with my one activity a day philosophy. A haircut and a long walk. That ought to take care of the day.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4143

Upgrading my computers is always a traumatic experience. I carefully followed all the instructions for installing new memory in my laptop and was convinced that I'd done everything correctly. When I put the computer back together and pressed the power button nothing happened. The computer was completely dead. I took the computer apart again and reinstalled the old memory. It was still dead. After several false starts I finally got it to start using AC power. My control panel said the battery was completely empty. How did that happen? The battery was at 90% when I started the repairs. I called technical support and they told me to try resetting the system management controller. I've reset a lot of things on Apple computers over the years, but I'd never even heard of this. The service guy said that my problem didn't make any sense, but that sometimes things get scrambled when the battery is disconnected. Evidently. The battery is recharging now and we'll see if it holds a charge overnight.

I got some good news from McDonald Observatory today. I can stay at the Astronomer's Lodge while I'm attending the astrophotography workshop. This might not seem like a big deal, but it actually is. I hate driving late at night on mountain roads. I almost hit a deer the last time I was driving back to the Prude Ranch after the workshop was over for the night. If I'm staying on-site at the observatory I can relax and probably stay up a little later taking photographs. Meals are included at the Astronomer's Lodge too. I'm looking forward to this.

We were supposed to get severe weather today, but it never materialized. So far this year we have been very lucky. The bad storms always seem to go to the north or the south of us. I hope this trend continues. I always worry about tornados since our house offers no protection whatsoever. May is supposed to be the worst month for tornados in Texas but the weather hasn't been that bad this year. Alabama and Tennessee seem to be getting a lot worse weather than we have lately. 

It was overcast with a little drizzle today, but I was still able to take my long walk. There are two very large Muscovy ducks I frequently see on my walk. These ducks always hang out together, but today they were more than a mile apart. This was the first time I've ever seen the pair separated. I wonder if they had a spat? Ducks are noisy and apparently very social. I often wonder what all the quacking is about?

It looks like there will be another Starship launch at Boca Chica this week. I keep thinking that I ought to go down there, but it is not as easy as it sounds. South Texas is almost as far away as Florida and there are fewer hotels. Also, when you get down there you never know if there actually will be a launch. This doesn't seem to bother some of the launch photographers, but they are much more adventurous than I am. I still like Florida when NASA rolls out the welcome mat the best. I hope those days aren't gone forever, but we'll just have to wait and see. 

I certainly won't be doing anything exciting tomorrow. I'll look forward to another fruit smoothie and a long walk. Maybe if I'm lucky I can convince Dawn to be friends with me.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4110

I took a few things to the storage warehouse today and while I was there, I looked for the missing video component. Maybe I moved the thing there and just forgot about it. Nope. I really did throw it away with the empty boxes. Oh, well. Kind of an expensive lesson to learn, but I doubt that I will be making corporate videos again anyway. While I was searching through my storage unit, I found an entire case of yellow tennis balls. Why? I don't play tennis. We must have gotten them for some dog related event in the distant past.

Spring is here. Everything is turning green except for our Asian Jasmine ground cover. It still looks brown and completely dead. I wonder why this stuff fared worse than the rest of the plants? We have a lot of ground cover in the back of the yard because it grows well under our large trees. I have a feeling that the yard is going to look pretty ugly for a while. It's kind of amazing what a week of freezing weather can do.

It was a beautiful day for walking, but my feet didn't get the message. Yesterday, I had a spring in my step and walked briskly. Today I felt like I was carrying a sack of rocks. I got plenty of rest last night, but I just didn't have any energy today. I kept walking and completed five miles, but my time was a lot slower.  Before I started wearing my Fitbit, I wasn't even aware of these changes. I've done this walk so many times now that I can calculate my pace just from the sound of my footsteps. I can pretty accurately guess how many calories I'm burning as well. The trade off is that I don't stop and take pictures as much as I used to.

Dawn likes being outside, but she still won't go outside with me unless I take her out on a leash. As soon as I attach the leash, she hops off the bed and follows me out the back door. I take the leash off as soon as we are in the back yard and she is very comfortable staying out in the yard with me. She wanders around the yard barking at things and will occasionally come over to the chair where I'm sitting to be petted. When we go back inside, she heads straight for the bedroom and waits for Janet to return. It's very strange behavior, but it's starting to feel normal.

The star tracker I ordered has already shipped. This flies in the face of everything I've been reading on the Internet about having to wait months for astronomy equipment. Hopefully, I can learn to use this thing before I go out to the observatory. The trick will be finding any stars to track. You really can't see much of anything here in Dallas.

There was supposed to be a Starship launch today, but it got canceled for some unknown reason. I've known several people who travel down to Boca Chica to watch these launches, but I haven't had the nerve to go myself yet. You could end up waiting for days because Space X schedules change frequently and they are never published ahead of time. There also seems to be a major influx of people crossing the border around Brownsville, so this might not be the best time to visit the area. I'm still amazed that they launch these rockets within a few feet of a Texas state highway and visitors can walk right up to it. This is bound to change soon, but for now it's still the Wild West down in Boca Chica. I really need to plan a visit before the whole compound becomes a restricted area.

I need to plan a lot of things, but I'm finding it extremely difficult to get motivated. It's easier to just get up, fix my smoothie, and repeat the same things I did the previous day. There's always tomorrow, but usually it's just like yesterday.

Bubba is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4056

Today was quiet and uneventful. We had a leisurely breakfast before taking Dawn on her morning walk. Walks are not a problem now. Dawn really seems to enjoy things now that she's getting her own way. Janet continued walking with me after we took Dawn back to the house. I thought we were walking faster than usual, but my Fitbit said I was burning fewer calories than when I walked alone. Maybe you walk a little slower when you are talking. At any rate, it was a very pleasant walk even though it was still very windy today.

I need to find something to do. Now that following rocket launches and volunteering at the observatory have been curtailed for a while, I don't know what to do with myself. My office is littered with the debris from former interests and obsessions, but very little intrigues me anymore. 

When I was cleaning the other day, I found some old lenses I'd completely forgotten about. I knew that I'd used these lenses with digital cameras before, but I'd forgotten how to connect them. Where were the special adapters I'd purchased many years ago? My office is a black hole that just swallows stuff up. Looking for the adapters kept me occupied for hours. I finally found a fitting that seemed like it would allow a 500mm mirror lens from the 1980's to be connected to one of my older digital cameras. This was a start. If I could get the big telephoto lens to work with this camera, I knew where there was another adapter that I could add that would let it work with my newer mirrorless cameras. I have no idea why I spent so much time doing this because none of these older lenses are nearly as good as modern digital lenses. Sometimes I think I'm more interested in the cameras themselves than in the pictures they take.

There are two Starships sitting on the pad at Boca Chica right now. When I see the images of these monster rocket sitting right next to each other, it is very tempting to make a trip down to South Texas. Several of the launch photographers I've met in Florida have already made the trek. So what's stopping me? I already live in Texas. Lots of things actually. Space X has no real schedule. You could go down to Boca Chica and end up waiting for weeks before there was a launch attempt. There aren't a lot of places to stay either. Whenever there is a launch or hop planned, the few hotels on South Padre Island get booked very quickly. Sadly, the real reason I'm hesitant is snakes. I hate snakes and the dunes around Boca Chica are full of them. Rattlesnakes, Copperheads, Desert Massasauga, Cottonmouth, Corral Snakes, and more. They are all down there.

There are snakes here too, but I've learned how to avoid them. I certainly don't anticipate encountering a snake tomorrow when we go visit the rescue Dalmatians at the kennel. I think the same three dogs are there, but every once in a while we are surprised to meet a new one. I walk much later in the day on Mondays because we spend quite a while at the kennel. Last Monday the sun was setting by the time I returned to the house. Better late than never I guess. I still think walking is one of the best ways to stay healthy.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4003 - Dawn's Birthday

Most of our dog's birthdays have been celebrated on the day we adopted them. It is rare to know a rescue dog's actual age. We know that Dawn is eight years old today because she was used as a breeding dog at the same kennel where she was born as a puppy. The dogs might not have been cared for well, but they did have records. I don't know if she ever had a birthday celebration before. We do know that she loves cake though. I think she had a good day today.

I went back to the dermatologist for a followup visit this afternoon. I think this visit was largely unnecessary, but the doctor did find two new patches of keratosis that he zapped with his handy bottle of liquid nitrogen. It's interesting that the solution to many minor skin problems is to freeze the offending area or burn it away. It seems pretty crude and basic to me, but it seems to work.

Going to the doctor still doesn't seem normal yet. All the new Covid protocols make it seem like you are in some kind of dystopian novel. You can tell that people don't want to ride in an elevator with anyone else in a hospital. They wait until they can get a car for themselves and then try to push the button before anyone else can get in. Half the chairs have been removed in most waiting rooms so that patients are spaced out. Everyone wears a mask of course and you always have to fill out a form saying that you don't have a cough, a fever, or have had any exposure to someone with Covid. Whoever is making those infrared forehead thermometers is making a ton of money. Everyone takes your temperature these days. Sometimes your temperature is taken several times before you actually see a doctor.

Apparently some of my friends out at McDonald Observatory have already received their copies of the February issue of Sky & Telescope. I got tagged on Facebook this evening with a congratulatory message about the article that included a picture of the February cover. My editor didn't even tell me that my article made the cover! I was surprised and elated. I didn't expect that I would be the magazine's feature article and I certainly didn't expect to be on the cover. Now I am stoked to write more astronomy articles. I'd like to go out to Mount Wilson in California and spend some time in Big Bend where the skies are even darker than they are on Mount Locke. All I need now is for Covid to go away. It's really put a damper on everything.

I watched the high altitude Starship test at Boca Chica on the Internet this afternoon. Everything went extremely well until the very end when the Starship exploded on landing. This was pretty good for a first test though. There are already two more Starship prototypes ready to go and I have a feeling that one of them will make a successful landing. SpaceFlight Magazine is interested in doing a feature on the Boca Chica facility, but I need to figure out if there is a story for me to tell. It is almost impossible to get access to the facility from Space X and if you go down on your own you can end up waiting weeks for a launch. Schedules change frequently and nobody on the outside really knows what is going on. There will be lots of Starship launches in the future, so maybe I can make some connections. I don't even know where I would stay right now.

I still can't figure out this weather we've been having lately. I had to wear a heavy coat on our morning walk with Dawn, but when I took my afternoon walk later in the day it was warm enough to wear shorts. I end up changing several times a day just to keep up with the weather. We've got another nice day in store for us tomorrow, but there's a 90% chance of rain on Friday. I don't know why I even look at these weather forecasts. They're always wrong.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4002

Today was full of pleasant little surprises. The weather was much warmer. I was even able to wear shorts on my afternoon walk. My warranty replacement dehumidifier is already on its way. The machine may not have preformed as promised, but the company definitely provides great service. I'm not sure that Janet will want two dehumidifiers running constantly in the house, but having a second machine will definitely keep the place dry.

The best surprise was a preview of my Sky & Telescope article. I was sternly admonished not to share this pre-publication preview with anyone, so even my astronomy friends will have to wait until the magazine appears on newsstands to see it. This is "for your eyes only" my editor said. The article really looked good. There were lots of pictures and it appears like the article will be a major feature. I'm really starting to feel like a journalist now. I've managed to get five articles published in a little over a year. If Covid doesn't spoil all my upcoming trips, I may be able to do even better next year.

Dawn's birthday is tomorrow. I wonder if she's ever had a birthday celebration before? I'll have to go out tomorrow morning any get some dog cupcakes for her. I'll pick up a few cupcakes for Janet and I as well. We used to bake special cakes for our dogs birthdays. I even took a cake decorating class a long time ago. I don't think either of us have the patience for that sort of thing anymore, but we still try to celebrate.

I watched the high altitude test of the Space X Starship this afternoon on YouTube. The launch was scrubbed with one second left on the count. Nobody seems to know what went wrong yet. They may try to launch again tomorrow, or it could takes weeks to resolve the problem. It's amazing how complicated it can be to get a new rocket off the ground. I'm glad I didn't try to go down to Boca Chica for this launch. It has already been postponed several times and I would probably have needed to return home without seeing anything. Maybe I should wait until they have worked some of the bugs out of the Starship before attempting a visit.  I'm not really sure where I'd stay anyway. There aren't that many hotels on South Padre Island. 

Sadly, Covid appears to be getting worse everywhere. SpaceFlight Magazine is interested in having me do an article about the Perseverance landing next February, but I'm not sure a trip out to JPL would be wise. I'm not sure I can get myself invited either. Hey, it's something to think about. I've always wanted to visit the Jet Propulsion Lab. I'm just not sure I want to visit California right now. Maybe life will be better in February. Who am I kidding. It will probably be worse.

I've got another doctor's appointment tomorrow. This is a follow up visit with my dermatologist. I had some small seborrheic keratosis growths removed earlier in the year and now the dermatologist will probably want to see me forever. Doctors never seem to forget about you. If you see them once, you will definitely see them again. I guess this is a good thing. The older you get, the more important it is to be proactive about your health.

I still haven't taken any pictures with my new camera. I'm thinking about it though. I'm terribly slow about everything these days. I guess there's no need to hurry. Sooner or later the camera will get used.

Willow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3908

No rain today. Luckily, it was still cloudy and cool. We had a nice walk before breakfast this morning, although the park was already filled with weekend athletes. I don't know if there is an increased interest in fitness or if people just haven't returned to the gym yet. Janet says her gym is still pretty empty. I've never seen so many people jogging and cycling in the park before. Maybe one hidden benefit of the pandemic is that people are finally starting to realize that it's a good idea to be healthy.

I found almost everything on my grocery list this morning. They even had rubbing alcohol today. Strangely, peaches have returned to the produce section less than a week after I received that notice from the store to throw mine away. Maybe they realized what I've known all along. There's nothing wrong with most of these peaches.

It was long past time for some serious house cleaning. I hate changing the sheets now because it hurts my dislocated shoulder to remove and replace the fitted bottom sheet. Like getting up on the roof, this is something that still needs to be done unfortunately. I also washed the comforter and all the dog blankets. Dawn sheds a lot. Actually all Dalmatians shed a lot.

Dog hair means I need to vacuum more often than I'd like as well. I did a lot of vacuuming today. My part of the cleaning duties are done for a while. I try to do my share, but Janet actually does a lot more cleaning than I do. She still cares about a clean house.

I didn't bother to take an afternoon walk today. Even though it never rained, I kept hearing thunder in the distance. We were able to complete our full five miles this morning and I got plenty of exercise cleaning the house this afternoon. I still haven't removed the standing water from the roof. No sense in overdoing things. Maybe I'll take care of the roof tomorrow. It looks like we've got several days of clear weather ahead and I still don't feel like going back to the gym.

When I looked at the Boca Chica cameras today there was a torrential rainstorm going on. The rain knocked out several of the remote cameras but it didn't seems to stop work at the facility. Nothing seems to stop these guys. It's fascinating to watch how quickly this brand new spaceport is developing. They're still making the rockets in tents, but that's about to change. By the time the real Starship makes it's debut next year, this place will look a lot different. I've got to figure out a way to get down there and do a story. This dusty little strip of land is definitely where the future is happening.

There's not much happening here. Whenever I venture out on my shopping day, I'm appalled at how everyone seems to be totally ignoring the virus. Restaurants are full. Masks are required everywhere, but nobody wears them correctly. Almost half the people I saw today were wearing their mask below their nose. A lot of people take their mask off to talk to store employees too. It must be frustrating to be a store employee. I'm still doing my part, but it's mostly because I don't like people anyways. It's easy to stay six feet away. I'll be keeping my distance long after this is over.

Allie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3902

We got a lot of rain today. It started raining before we woke up this morning and continued through midmorning. There was no early walk this morning. Dawn wouldn't even go outside to pee. The rain was so heavy that I began worrying about roof leaks again. It didn't help that the pumps weren't working. I had to wait until the rain subsided a bit before I could go outside and discover that the circuit breaker for the pump circuit had been tripped. I got one of the pumps working and disconnected the other one so the breaker wouldn't trip again.

We ate breakfast and waited for the rain to stop. We were finally able to walk Dawn around 10:30 AM. The rain had cooled things down considerably. It was only 75 degrees when we left the house. There was a nice breeze as well. Unfortunately, this didn't last very long. As soon as the clouds began to dissipate and the sun came out you could feel the temperature immediately start to rise. Before we returned home it was already oppressively humid and you could tell it was going to be a hot day.

The first order of business after we returned home was getting the water off the roof. I knew if I waited, it would be too hot later in the day. When the pumps aren't working correctly there is a huge amount of water on the roof. A lot of the water was stained a dark brown by the pecans falling from a neighbor's tree. Squirrels eat the pecans and then the shells rot.  It's a mess. I've always thought that chemicals in the pecan shells cause the roof coating to deteriorate. I've always had the most problems with leaks during this time of the year. While I was up on the roof, I replaced one of the pump hoses. These things don't last long in the summer heat.

There must have been a power surge or a very brief outage last night. The breaker for the security light in the back yard had also been tripped. Oddly, I didn't notice anything strange inside the house. Only the outdoor circuits seem to have been affected.

There were several rocket launches today and I watched them on the computer between household chores. Space X was supposed to do a short hop with it's latest Starship prototype in Boca Chica and then launch a Falcon 9 down at Cape Canaveral later in the day. The SN6 hop never happened, but it was interesting to watch. Boca Chica is only about a mile from the Mexican border. After the pad had been cleared and the launch site had been secured there were two illegals who walked right past the rocket carrying a bucket. After passing near the pad, they pulled some clothes out of the bucket, changed outfits, put on facemasks, and disappeared into some nearby brush. The announcer for the launch coverage seemed startled and said "I wonder if these guys realize that 250,000 people are watching them." I have no idea what happened to the guys. They probably have jobs in Brownsville by now.

By the time I took my afternoon walk, the temperature was over 100 degrees again. It's weird to have temperature swings of over thirty degrees in a single day. That's Texas for you. I guess I shouldn't complain. We don't have to worry about hurricanes and we haven't had a tornado in a long time. I think we're going to try for another pre-dawn start to our walk tomorrow. By the time we returned home today, it was way too hot. Maybe the weather will improve in September. It would be nice if everything else improved as well.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3899

It took me a long time to figure out why today was a special day. One year ago today Janet and I were out at McDonald Observatory. That was kind of special. Nope. That wasn't it. I kept wondering and finally realized that it was Dot's birthday. We used to have big birthday celebrations for Dot and Dash. It all seems so long ago now. I hate it when memories start to fade. It's inevitable though. I guess that's why it's important to replace old traditions with new ones. We'll have to make sure that Dawn has a special birthday celebration this December.

My Apple Watch notified me that I've met my daily move goal for 365 consecutive days. I wondered why I'd missed a day a year ago and then I remembered that we'd spent August 26 last year in the car driving to Fort Davis. I didn't make the same mistake when I returned to the observatory the next March. I took a long walk as soon as I arrived. I've been routinely closing all three activity circles on the watch for months now. I wonder how long this will continue. At some point it seems like I might find something else to do.

The crystal popped off Janet's Apple Watch today. How was that possible? I wonder if this will happen to my watch as well. I did a little research on Google and discovered that this was fairly common. When the battery goes bad, it can swell and push the crystal out. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. I've had swollen lithium batteries make a mess of laptops, a baby monitor, and a little WiFi hotspot. Why can't everyone make their batteries like Tesla? Tesla guarantees the batteries in their cars for ten years. You're lucky to get two years out of anything else.

We got an early start on our walk this morning. I think Dawn might be a little scared of the dark. She seems more comfortable when the sky lightens up a bit. I still enjoy these early walks, but it isn't always easy to get up in the morning. I still need to get more sleep. We were back at the house by the time the sun rose this morning. You'd think this would give me a lot more time to do other things. Usually it doesn't work out that way. I often feel like the day is finished by 9 AM.

I tried to do a few useful things today. I managed to open the sliding glass door enough to squeeze inside and clean the atrium. I've given up on getting this door repaired. Nobody seems to have the skills anymore. I swept some leaves off the porch, cleaned the car, and then called it a day. I should do more, but it's almost impossible to get motivated.

I'm trying to stay motivated about writing. That's getting harder too. I wrote some letters today trying to set up a visit to the Space X Boca Chica facility. I wrote a launch photographer asking for advice on how to reestablish contact with the Air Force. All this is kind of like putting a note in a bottle and throwing it out in the ocean. You've got to do something though.

We'll see what tomorrow brings. It doesn't look like we'll get any rain after all. I'm glad it is gradually getting a little cooler. Maybe we'll survive this summer after all.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Dayu 3897

Every once in a while I make an effort to get motivated. It usually doesn't get very far. I haven't had much luck sending e-mail to my Air Force contact, so today I thought I'd call instead. I tried five different numbers at Patrick Air Force Base and each of them gave me a "mailbox full" message. I couldn't reach a real person at all. I couldn't even leave a message. Why did I think getting media credentials through the Air Force would be easier than getting credentialed by NASA? I'm beginning to realize that I just might be out of luck until the pandemic is over. I know a few people who are still getting launch access at Kennedy Space Center, but they are all well-known Florida locals. It's kind of a shame to realize that I am one of the "non-essential" people. I might still want to do certain things, but nothing grinds to a halt when I'm not there. I guess this is the essence of being retired. Nobody is depending on you. My interest in space and astronomy is just an indulgence. I'm reluctant to call it a hobby, but that's probably what most people think.

We got an early start this morning. Sometimes Dawn gets spooked by things we can't see in the dark. She is very alert. It's weird that I can identify all the stars in the pre-dawn sky. It isn't hard when there are only a dozen of them. Light pollution is really this bad in Dallas. I know there are thousands of stars up there. I just can't see them. Despite the city lights, dawn is still a magical time. I love seeing the sky lighten as daylight arrives. Birds start to sing as sunrise approaches. I've learned to identify many of them. We often hear owls and hawks. Lately, we've been hearing Egrets and Herons. The ducks and geese are always noisy, but we haven't heard the Monk parrots in a while. I wonder where they went?

Facebook looked different today. I hate the new layout. I immediately switched back to the 'legacy" view which I guess will disappear forever on September 1st. Why do people feel compelled to change things? Everybody does it. I'm still mad at Apple for taking the DVD drive out of all their computers. I like the old Land Rover Defender a lot better than the new one. Truthfully, I still like film cameras better than digital cameras, but that ship sailed a long time ago. There's not much you can do about change. You certainly can't stop it. I try to go with the flow and accept change gracefully. It's sad though when you realize that certain aspects of the past were measurably better and you're never going to be able to convince anyone to turn around and go back.

I "drove" around Boca Chica today using Google street view. It's weird to think that the Google camera car has even been here. The landscape is pretty bleak down here. There are very few trees and  a lot of dirt. It makes me wonder why those people in Boca Chica Village decided to live there. There are no shops, no restaurants, and no gas stations. The place is certainly no luxury resort. The houses are very modest. Space X moved here because Boca Chica is the southern most point in the United States and this helps when you are launching things into orbit. I'm still not sure why the other residents moved there though.

I think that Hurricane Laura is going to bring some rain to our area tomorrow and Wednesday. The heavy rain is expected to be East of us, but we'll probably still get wet. I should have gone up on the roof today and made a few repairs while things were still dry. There's a lot of things I should have done today. I guess that's why there's always tomorrow.

Pinky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3893

The article I wrote last December about my visit to Michoud Assembly Facility and Stennis Space Center has finally been published in SpaceFlight Magazine. I received the press proofs this morning. The article looks nice and they even used several of my photos. I'm happy. I just have to learn to remain patient with these magazines. They all operate on their own timetable. The Sky and Telescope article about my week long stay at McDonald Observatory is currently inching it's way toward publication. If I'm lucky I'll see the article early next year.

My editor at SpaceFlight Magazine is interested in an article about the Starship facility at Boca Chica. Maybe this will provide the incentive I need to pull something together. I only know one person who works at Space X, so it may take a while to make the contacts I need to get invited down there. The visit may never happen, but what have I got to lose. This will give me something to do in the weeks ahead. I'm certainly not having much luck getting invited back to Kennedy Space Center.

We had a nice walk this morning. It's still noticeably cooler than it was last week. Dawn definitely loves the Fall weather. She had lots of energy and was even playful this morning. When we passed the Mexican Plum trees, there were two hispanic ladies who seemed very interested in the fruit. I wanted to ask them whether the plums were edible and what you do with them, but they didn't speak English. The fruit looks pretty tasty, but I'm still not sure what these things actually are. I can identify a few ducks and geese at the lake, but I'm no arborist. This stuff still might be poisonous.

There's a free shredding event at a local church tomorrow morning, but as usual I am not prepared. I really need to throw away a lot of old documents, but I hate to discard them without looking through everything. Of course, I hate looking through everything too, because it takes so much time. This is why the paper keeps stacking up. I keep thinking that I'll deal with it later. Unfortunately, later is tomorrow. Will I be bold and throw the ancient documents awasy, or just wait until the next shredding event? I guess I'll see how I feel in the morning.

Since McDonald Observatory is starting to open up again, I wrote a letter to some of my contacts out there to let them know I was still interested in volunteering. I received a quick reply thanking me for my interest and saying that they'd let me know how their plans to reopen the facility are developing. Maybe I'll be returning to the Davis Mountains before the end of the year. I spend a lot of time maintaining contacts in the space and astronomy world. I don't want to be forgotten, but I don't want to be a pest either. It's a fine line.

Since we are taking so many walks in the dark, I thought about going to REI and buying one of those LED lights you wear on your head. Janet carries a small flashlight now, but one of those headlamps might be useful. You've got to carry a light so the bicycles won't run over you. Some of the cyclists get an even earlier start than we do. I never made it out of the driveway today, but at least the thought is in my head. I can always go to the store later.

It's grocery shopping day again tomorrow. One of these days I'm finally going to find Clorox Wipes.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3887

We're getting better at leaving the house early. The main reason for our pre-dawn walk today was to see if we could avoid the Saturday crowds in the park. It worked. There are much fewer joggers and cyclists before 7 AM. Janet got Dawn a little red light to put on her collar, but it quit working before we finished our first mile. There was a nice conjunction of the Moon and Venus in the morning sky, but no sunrise clouds today. We did see the Muscovy ducks sitting on the bridge rail again though.

I found almost everything on my shopping list today. Another benefit of getting an early start on Saturday morning is that there are fewer people in the grocery stores. Almost all the stores seem to offer curbside pickup now. Most have reserved spaces in their parking lots for this sort of thing and I always see people waiting in their cars. It seems so much easier to just go in the store though. The waiting time is still less if you do the shopping yourself.

There seems to be no end in sight for our hot weather. I think the high today was 104 degrees. I guess I need to start watering again. The grass is turning yellow and two of the Photinia bushes appear to be dying. I'm bad about watering because a wet yard always leads to a muddy dog.

I'm thinking about going down to Boca Chica to see the Space X facility. I got as far as checking airfare to Brownsville or South Padre Island and surveying the general area using Google Earth. I continue to look at the LabPadre remote cameras every day and there is a lot going on down there. I think this would make a good story for SpaceFlight Magazine, but there isn't much point in going unless I can obtain some kind of access. Evidently you can drive very close to the Starship launch site on public roads, but the roads are always closed when there is activity. I'll have to do some research and find out who to write about getting a tour. It couldn't be any harder to gain access to the Space X site than it is to get press credentials at Kennedy Space Center. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself though. I'm not even sure if the magazine is interested in an article about Boca Chica.

I thought I might be able to fix the sliding glass door today, but failed miserably. A few weeks ago I noticed that there was a little piece of metal blocking one of the tracks for the door. I got a small metal file and filed the gouged area smooth. Logically, this should have worked, but it made no difference whatsoever. If anything, the door was even harder to move than the last time I tried.

I got Chinese take out for dinner again. Every time I go to pick up a take out meal at a restaurant, I see more and more people dining in. I guess I shouldn't find this strange. Janet and I went out for dinner ourselves on my birthday. We'll probably go out again on her birthday. It's still hard to strike a balance between being ultra careful and getting on with your life. I have a feeling that this virus is going to be with us for a long time. I got a haircut. I've been to the dermatologist and the dentist. I certainly don't do much though. I really wonder how long a large group of people can live this way without going insane? Almost anybody can handle a lockdown of a few weeks. I'm not so sure about two years though. We've got to find a way out of this mess.

I'm still not comfortable going back to the gym. It was a nice thing to do on Sunday though. Even though I consider myself Mr. Isolation, I'm getting tired of days that consist entirely of long walks and staring at a computer. I haven't planned a launch trip in a long time. Maybe I need to be connected to something too.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3884

Another starlit start to our morning walk. You can tell what kind of day it's going to be the moment you step out the back door. When the air is stifling and you can smell the humidity, you know it's not a good sign. It was a pretty morning though. I could still see the constellation Orion just below Venus. I kept hoping to see a few meteors, since the Perseid meteor shower was supposed to peak this morning. No such luck. The sky wasn't dark enough.

We've decided that the ducks and geese stay on the water at night to stay safe from the coyotes. They are always out in the lake on the outbound leg of our walk and have returned to the shore when we see them again on the way home. All the animals we see are very predictable. I guess they probably think the same thing about us.

After breakfast I went to the Land Rover dealer so I could get my car safety inspected for another year. The state sets the price for these inspections, so this is just about the only time I can escape a huge bill when I take my car to the dealership. Safety inspections are a bargain at Land Rover. One of the sales guys I know keeps trying to get me interested in buying a new Defender. I have to admit that I like the car, but I bet I could get a pretty nice Bronco for half the price. There is going to be lots to choose from in the next year or two. A Bronco with the Sasquatch package sounds intriguing. If I really want my old Defender back, there's the new INEOS Grenadier. This new 4x4 is almost a direct copy of the Defender design with a BMW engine. There's always the Tesla Cybertruck too. For someone who doesn't really like to drive and seldom ventures off of paved roads, I'm way too interested in rugged four wheel drive vehicles. Maybe I just want to get ready for the apocalypse.

I don't know how I got started watching the 24/7 Boca Chica cam, but I look at it every day now. It's amazing how quickly things change at this Space X facility in South Texas. They've already got a new Starship prototype on the launch pad and are are preparing for another hop test. These guys are working 24 hours a day. I still have a feeling that they are going to beat NASA to Mars. At the rate they are going, they might even beat them back to the moon. I keep wondering how hard it would be to get access to this facility? This would make a good story for SpaceFlight Magazine. Unfortunately, Covid is spreading like wildfire near the border in South Texas. Maybe I ought to wait a while.

Now that I've gotten my car inspected, I can go get the new window sticker. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. You used to need two stickers on your windshield, but the state scrapped the inspection sticker a few years ago. When you go to get your registration sticker, they already know whether you've had the car inspected. There is no need to take care of this immediately, but I do need something to do.

I'm sure we'll get up early again tomorrow. The temperature is supposed to reach 103 degrees. We've already shortened Dawn's walks. I have a feeling that we'll need to shorten them even further. I don't know about you, but I'm ready for Fall.

Ellis is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3876

We got such an early start this morning that we had to take a flashlight with us. Venus, Mars and a full Moon were still bright in the sky and there was a cool breeze. We kept an eye out for coyotes. They are often on the move at this time of day. I'm not typically an early riser, but the hour before sunrise is definitely the best part of the day. The sky changes from darkness to daylight remarkably quickly and if there are clouds in the East, you often get to enjoy a beautiful sunrise. I just need to go to bed a little earlier to fully enjoy the experience.

Our walks were the main event of the day. Our morning walk is for Dawn and the afternoon walk I take by myself is basically just a substitute for going to the gym. Eating, sleeping, and walking. That's pandemic life for you. I paid some bills after breakfast and did a little bookkeeping, but spent most of my time watching the Space X Starship's first test hop down at Boca Chica. Coverage of events at Boca Chica is strictly a volunteer affair. A couple of Space X fans have set up cameras outside the perimeter of the Space X compound and provide a running commentary whenever something is going on. Often hours go by and nothing happens at all. If there is a puff of smoke or even a bird flying by, there will be a lot of speculation about what it all means.

Boca Chica is the exact opposite of Kennedy Space Center. There are lots of tents and temporary buildings. The place is a mess. Rocket parts and construction equipment are strewn around everywhere. After seeing all the high tech equipment and precision engineering at Michoud Assembly Facility, this place seems more like a bunch of oil field workers decided to weld together a rocket out of scrap steel. The SN5 prototype that was being tested today looked exactly like a huge grain silo. It certainly didn't look like it could fly. The first attempt today got scrubbed, but everything went perfectly the second time. The flying grain silo slowly rose over 150 feet in the air and then descended again to land safely at a nearby landing pad. Probably in less than a year, a more refined version of this rocket will be launched into into orbit from this same Boca Chica site. It doesn't look like much now, but if Elon Musk has his way, this barren strip of land on the Gulf Coast will be where we depart for Mars. Hope I'm still around to see the journey begin.

I wish people could make up their minds about the virus. In less than ten minutes this morning I heard that things are getting better, that conditions are getting worse, that the virus will be with us forever, and that we are getting ourselves in a panic for nothing. Wait a few minutes or flip the channel and you will hear something completely different. Who do you trust these days? Even the scientists don't seem to agree on this one. I have no doubts that this is a serious disease, but I'm equally convinced that the media is stirring the pot.

I think we're going to try to get up real early again tomorrow. It's a little strange walking in the dark but it's the only way to beat the heat. The only downside to these early walks is that too much of the day remains after you return. What do you do next? Tomorrow I'll attempt to answer this seemingly eternal question again.

Pebbles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day