Day 4529

I had my semi-annual physical today. It seemed exactly the same as every other physical exam I've ever had. What medications are you taking? Same as always. Do you have any questions or concerns? Not really. My doctor wants me to continue to take baby aspirin despite the negative press it has received lately. He asked if I wanted a second Covid booster. I told him I didn't think I needed one. A nurse gave me an EKG. Another nurse took my blood. I gave them a urine sample and I was done. It looks like I'm still in pretty good shape. The doctor probably made some notes about cognitive decline though. I couldn't remember the names some of the specialists I've been seeing. I couldn't even remember the names of most of the medications I'm corrently taking. In fairness, how can anyone remember these long incomprehensible names? I did remember the color and shape of each pill though.

Medical exams are one of many things that make me think of the Ground Hog Day movie. So many things in life are exactly the same no matter how many times we experience them. We repeat these things over and over again. Whenever I brush my teeth, load the dishwasher, go to the post office, or even take my daily walks, I feel a sense of déjà vu. I've been here before.

I had to fast before my medical exam this morning, but that didn't prevent me from having breakfast when I returned. It was almost lunch time, but I still had a big glass of orange juice and a bowl of shredded wheat topped with fresh fruit. My doctor seems to approve of my long walks, so I took another one after I finished my late breakfast. I completed my full six mile route, but it took me a while. There just isn't much joy in walking in hot weather. I should start going back to the gym, but it's so much easier to head out the back door and start walking instead of driving all the way to the gym. Even when I'm exercising, I'm basically lazy.

The batteries have gone bad again in the backup UPS for my computers. I'll have to take the heavy UPS to the battery store and get the batteries replaced this weekend. I might as well have the lawn mower batteries replaced while I'm there. I think all these people buying electric cars are forgetting some very basic things about batteries. They don't really last that long and they can be quite expensive to replace. If you forget to remove the batteries from an unused item, they can leak and ruin your expensive gear. Batteries have always been my nemesis.

I watched the livestream of the Boeing Starliner launch this afternoon. I kind of wish I'd been down there. United Launch Alliance lets you get a lot closer to the pad to place remote cameras than Space X does. This was a daytime launch too, so the bugs aren't so bad. I always get eaten alive by mosquitos on night launches. Don't think I'll be traveling any time soon though. I paid my remaining travel bills today. Ouch. This is getting ridiculous.

I took the trash out to the curb this evening. This always marks the end of the week for me. Tomorrow I'll think about going out for breakfast, but will probably just stay home and have another bowl of shredded wheat. It's time to mow the grass again. I should call a lawn service, but I'll probably just continue doing it myself. Hey, it's good exercise. My doctor would probably approve.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4078

Clyde got adopted this week, so only Cooper and Charlie remain at the kennel. We weren't able to visit the dogs last week because of the snow and ice, but they survived the cold pretty well. The kennel never lost power, but they were well prepared in case they did. One of the kennel managers stayed overnight with the dogs on the coldest days to make sure they were OK and plenty of water was set aside in case the kennel lost running water. There still seems to be no rhyme or reason to who had electricity during the storm and who didn't. There were people near us who lost power and there were people near the kennel who lost power. I guess the Dalmatians got lucky, just like we did.

The temperature got up to seventy degrees again today. If you didn't have a plumbing problem, there is very little evidence that the storm even existed. The snow and ice are completely gone and it feels like Spring is around the corner. I hope that last week was our Winter. Enough is enough. We really don't need any more cold weather this year.

I went up to the post office to see if I could pick up our accumulated mail this morning and the postmaster said that most of the mail for our area hadn't even arrived yet. Evidently, many post offices in the vicinity were without power during the storm, including the main Dallas sorting facility. Mail is still scattered all over the place and could take up to a week to arrive. We did get a little mail today at the house, but it was all junk.

I looked up what bills usually arrive around this time of the month and paid them online. I think we're good, although I do hope that my copies of SpaceFlight Magazine don't get lost. Trash service has resumed in our neighborhood and hopefully vaccine distribution will get back on schedule as well. We've got another week before we're due for our second shot, so everything should be back to normal by then.

I don't know what I'm going to do about my foot. I used the Voltaren gel today, but my foot was still very painful after about four miles. I'm probably not using enough of the gel to be effective, but I've always been a little suspicious of NSAID anti-inflammatory medicine. This stuff is probably safer than Ibuprofen, but long term use of any NSAID is not recommended. I wonder why the shoes don't work anymore. They really helped a lot for the first three weeks.

I'm thinking about applying for press credentials to attend the Boeing Starliner launch in April. This launch takes place almost a month after my second Covid vaccination, so I should have as much immunity as I'm going to get. At some point we all need to pick up where we left off in life last March. Lockdowns weren't meant to become a way of life or a permanent condition. I"m not even sure I can get NASA accreditation again. Somehow, I got lucky with the Crew 1 launch, but I have a feeling that I have fallen to the back of the line again. It's really hard to get established when your magazine isn't widely known and you can only afford several trips a year.

Dawn took two walks again today, but she is still nervous around me when Janet is away from the house. I don't know if this is ever going to change. Dawn is nervous about many things. I'm just one of a long list of phobias she has. Hopefully, we can work this out in the next several months, because Janet is even more eager to travel than I am.

The weather has been so nice for the past two days that I almost failed to notice that there is an entire week of rain in the forecast starting this Thursday. Oh, well. Rain isn't great, but it's a lot better than ice. Maybe if it rains a lot, I will be forced to stay inside and my foot will finally heal.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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