Day 4395

I didn't accomplish much today. The weather was warmer, but it still felt really cold on our morning walk with Dawn. Without a plan for the day, I just followed my regular routine. I make the bed. Get dressed. Walk Dawn. Eat breakfast. Check my e-mail. Take my long walk. And then try to find some project to eat up the rest of the day.

This week my project has been trying to get the star tracker to work. Still trying. The new cable I bought at the Apple Store yesterday did nothing. I guess the cable did work, but the camera it was attached to still refused to connect to the tracker. The tracker itself works fine. I just can't attach any of my cameras to it. It's looking like I might have to buy a new camera body that's on the approved list. Lots of cameras are on this list. Just not mine. Maybe I can find a used camera that's on the list. I just want to get this thing working. It's not like I'll be using it all the time. Maybe I should have paid more attention to the approved list before I bought this thing. 

My feet didn't hurt as much today on my long walk. Maybe the discomfort does have something to do with the weather. Today was a low humidity day. It seems like things are worse on high humidity days, but I haven't really been keeping track. I don't know if keeping track of the weather would make much of a difference. I still need to keep walking and I think I'm already wearing the best shoes I can find. Maybe I just complain too much. The fact that I'm able to keep walking probably indicates that the pain isn't quite as bad as I think.

When my efforts to get the star tracker working proved futile, I watched the latest episode of The Expanse. Basically the show is just a Western in space. Now that I think of it, most science fiction series are just Westerns in space. I still like the show, even though I've forgotten how it all began. I guess all the loose ends will be pulled together soon. After a few more episodes, the series will be over for good.

I'm starting to have second thoughts about going back to the observatory. I almost fell the last time I was out there and my sense of balance seems to be getting worse. I'd really hate to take a bad fall out there. There are no good medical facilities in the area. I should probably take one of those balance classes for seniors at my gym. Balance is definitely something you can work on. I've always been reluctant to take a seniors class. At least when I'm walking alone in the park I can still feel young in my own mind.

Maybe I'll take the star tracker down to a local camera store tomorrow and try it out with some different cameras. Something is bound to work. Some of the cameras on the approved list are older, so maybe I could find a used approved camera fairly cheap.  I don't know why I've become so obsessed with this thing. I've already got another star tracker. The Polaris is completely automated though and is supposed to be able to find celestial objects on its own and automatically track them using an app on your phone. You can also us it to create panoramas, time-lapse shots, and many other things. I think you can also set it to automatically follow a person in the frame while you are making movies. This would be a pretty cool gizmo if it worked.

I haven't heard much about Artemis 1 lately. I kind of hope the launch keeps getting postponed until Covid is over. Covid restrictions have really taken the fun out of travel. There is a big star party in West Texas later this Spring, but after reading the multi-page list of new Covid rules I immediately said never mind. Maybe next year. I think people overestimate their ability to stop a virus. It's a virus. We haven't even figured out how to stop the common cold yet. 

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4250

Dawn's infection is gone. There was no bacteria in the cultured sample this time. This is good news. We've still got to get rid of the bladder stones though. She has an appointment next week and the vet is going to try to flush out her bladder first and try to avoid the need for surgery. We still may need surgery though because the infection will reoccur of the stones remain in her bladder. There was some talk of doing a CT scan to see if there was anything else going on in her abdomen, but we decided to take things one step at a time and see if getting rid of the bladder stones solves her problems. The new allergy pills Dawn is taking now appear to be working. She hardly tried to lick her paws at all today.

I scheduled a service appointment for my car today and was surprised to discover that the first availability for a loaner car was September 28. Jeez. I asked what the problem was and the service guy said that the chip shortage we've been hearing about was so bad that the dealership was having problems keeping cars on the lot. They have started to sell their loaner car fleet as used cars now. They said they could do the service sooner without a loaner car, but I'm not falling for that again.  Whenever the dealership says they can get the car back the same day, you're usually still waiting four days later. I still need to get my car safety inspected this month, but I can do that anywhere.

Dawn seemed slow on her walk this morning. Maybe it is the new allergy pills she's taking. I hope allergy medications don't affect her the same way they affect me. When I take antihistamines or even something like Allegra, I just don't feel right. It feels like there is a constant buzzing in my head. It's almost better to have the allergies. Luckily allergy season is over for a while. I wish dogs could talk. It's always hard to tell how medications affect them.

The gym seems different now. It feels like the early days right after it first reopened. More people are wearing masks while they exercise now. There is no requirement to do this, but some people must be worried. The gym is so large and empty that being near other people is rarely a problem. There were less than ten people in the entire place this afternoon. I saw no need to keep my mask on while I exercised.

The treadmill I use is near a TV that is permanently tuned to HGTV. I've noticed that these home improvement shows all follow a fairly rigid formula. First a designer leads a couple through a house that looks completely messed up. A wall is always removed to "open the place up." A huge amount of time is spent choosing ceramic tiles for a kitchen backsplash. Usually the old carpet is ripped up to reveal a pretty hardwood floor underneath that everyone wants to keep. Finally pine cones and arty little nicknacks are placed on shelves, throw pillows are strategically placed on the couch and the couple is invited back in to ooh and ahh. I'm sure the cooking shows follow a formula too, but those TVs are in another part of the gym that I seldom use.

We had spaghetti for dinner tonight. I know this will give me heartburn, but it is still one of my favorite meals. Other than the occasional acid reflux, I'm feeling pretty healthy. My dermatologist keeps leaving me text messages to make an appointment, but there is nothing wrong with my skin. I feel like staying far away from hospitals and medical facilities right now. It's time to make a grocery list again. I feel sorry for the grocery store people because they're probably going to have to put all those "Stay six feet apart" stickers back on the floor that they just got finished scraping up. Hopefully nobody starts hoarding toilet paper again.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4242

I'm really trying to get things done. Today I tackled a task I've been avoiding for months. I got a stepladder and scraped all the loose paint and plaster from the ceiling in the area where the worse leak has been occuring. The ceiling still looks terrible, but now the area is clean and I can apply spackling or even tape and bed if I am so inclined. The sheetrock was completely dry, so that's encouraging. Maybe I'll just paint over the rust colored stains with Kilz white primer as a temporary fix. I always hesitate to spend a lot of time on the ceililng, because the roof is just going to leak again if we get a heavy enough rain. I still need to search further for the source of the leak on top of the roof, but it's been too hot lately.

It took longer to clean up all the dust, paint chips and plaster chunks on the floor than it did to scrape the ceiling, but at least the job is done. With this task out of the way, I tackled another messy job. I finally removed the crumbling, disintegrating foam from the Zero Halliburton camera case and replaced it with the new foam inserts I bought recently. The old foam had basically turned to a sticky powder and was a mess to remove. At some point within the past five years, I realized that this was going to happen and carefully wrapped the camera and six lenses in heavy duty blue Scott shop towels. This protected the equipment, but I had to be really careful removing each item from the case so it wouldn't come in contact with the sticky foam residue. I did all this outside, because I didn't want to spend the rest of the day cleaning up a sticky mess in my office. Actually the case is not finished yet. The foam in the lid and at the base of the case are in place, but I couldn't bring myself to cut a bunch of holes in the central piece that holds the cameras yet. I still need to figure out how to do this precisely so I won't make a mess of things. To temporarily protect the camera and lenses, I cut apart a small pool noodle and wrapped it around the equipment. This actually worked very well. I may go to Home Depot tomorrow and look for a long foam tube that matches the color of the other foam. The foam tubes used to protect outdoor pipes from freezing might be perfect.

Dawn has lost her nerve again. I have to take her outdoors on a leash again when she needs to pee and she has reverted to her short one mile loop on our sunrise walks. She won't follow me out to the kitchen anymore when I am fixing her dinner either. I don't know what gave her so much confidence a few weeks ago or why she has lost it now. Dawn is a very complicated dog. You could write a book about all her weird personality traits. I wish I could make a list of every strange thing she does, take it to the vet, and get an immediate and definitive answer that would explain what is going on. I keep thinking she has some weird, undiagnosed disease. Janet just thinks the hard life she's led has made her extremely nervous and unstable. 

Finding normal with Dawn is such a long, slow process. I was able to take a nap with Dawn this morning for almost an hour without her biting or licking her paws at all. She was very relaxed and even curled up next to me. As soon as I left the room, she started going after her front paws unfortunately and I had to put the cone on her. Strangely, she doesn't seem to mind the cone at all. It seems to calm her and she usually goes to sleep within several minutes after I put it on. Go figure.

It was too hot to walk this afternoon so I went back to the gym. It's disappointing to see everything slowly revert to lockdown mode. We were doing so well there for a while. A lot more people are wearing masks now. The Covid testing center I pass on the way to the gym has a long line of car now. It was virtually empty earlier this summer. I'm glad the gym is still open, but it will be the first to close again if things get worse. Florida is a mess. Let's not even talk about Florida. Oh, well. At least the money I was going to spend attending a launch this summer will pay for my root canal.

Morgan is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4241

I checked a few small chores off my list today. I took the two ice chests back to the storage warehouse because the refrigerator is fixed and we don't need them anymore. The storage warehouse is really full. My plan to clear it out clearly isn't working. I keep adding more and more stuff. The ice chests were actually in Janet's storage warehouse before the refrigerator problems, but it is more convenient to get them when needed if they are in mine.

An LED bulb burned out in the bathroom, so I needed to find a replacement that would match the bulbs in the other ceiling can lights. All these new LED bulbs claim that they'll last twelve years, but mine burn out frequently. They're still a lot better than the older incandescent bulbs though. I eventually found a bulb that matched the other bathroom bulbs. Hopefully this one will last a few years.

Dawn has reverted to taking very short walks again. The weather was quite nice when we left on our sunrise walk and I thought she'd want to go further. Nope. She back to her short one mile loop. She's also more obsessed with licking her paws than ever. We have to leave the cone on whenever we aren't watching her now. I hate to do this, but it's the only thing that's working. If we forget and leave her unattended, she can do a lot of damage in just a few minutes. The redness is getting better, but it's an uphill battle. Every time we forget the cone, we're back to square one. We still don't know what is causing the licking, but I bet it has something to do with the antibiotic resistant infection she has. I didn't even know that dogs could get a MRSA infection, but they can. Hopefully the new antibiotics will work.

It was probably cool enough to take an outdoor walk today, but it felt very humid. My feet hurt too, and I didn't feel up to walking six miles. I went back to the gym instead and made sure I had a mask in my pocket this time. Even though the gym has reverted to the same Covid restrictions that were in place when they first reopened, it didn't feel like much had changed. The masks are largely symbolic, because you don't have to wear them on the floor when you are actively exercising. I don't think there's much to worry about at this place. I'm almost certain that everyone at my gym has been fully vaccinated for quite a while. It's an older crowd. There are quite a few people even older than me on the floor.

I still haven't changed out the foam inserts in my camera case. I dread doing this because I have to cut openings in the foam for lenses and the camera. It's not easy to cut this type of foam. I want the cut outs to be straight and professional looking, but I don't think I have the proper tools. I'll probably just end up using a steak knife. I tried to order pick and pluck foam, but it wasn't available for my sized case. I may postpone this job for quite a while, since I don't actually use the cameras. 

Now that Covid restrictions are coming back, I wonder if my trip to the observatory in September is off too. I wouldn't be surprised. The observatory has been closed to the public for a long time because of the risk of the staff becoming infected. The place is a long way from a medical center, so the risk is real. It's such a shame that we are headed in the wrong directions again. There's plenty of blame to go around, but someone needs to shut the southern border immediately. It is insane to be imposing travel bans on European countries while we continue to let tons of unvaccinated, sick migrants flood the southern border. 

Hopefully my two Pfizer shots will continue to provide the protection I need. I'm really getting tired of this. As soon as the Delta variant fades away it will probably be replaced by something even worse. All this is so unnecessary. The virus spread through international travel. The dreaded Delta variant certainly didn't originate locally. Couldn't everyone just stay in their own country for a while. Maybe stay in your own state as well. None of this would have happened if there wasn't this compulsion to travel internationally. Don't get me started on another anti-globalist rant, but the world would be a better place if we all stayed home, raised our own food, made our own stuff, and minded our own business. 

Pebbles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4229

I got a message from Patrick Air Force Base today saying that due to the increased threat from Covid, new protocols would be going into effect immediately. In a long list of new restrictions, one thing stood out to me: no more on base launch viewing. What a shame that things are going backwards. I was hoping to resume attending launches soon. I wouldn't be terribly surprised to hear that McDonald Observatory is reconsidering its plan to resume pre-Covid operations in September. Very little surprises me anymore. I'm beginning to think that this virus might be with us forever. People overestimate their ability to control things. Do you really think we can stop floods, wildfires, and deadly new diseases? We can't even control overpopulation which is causing many of these problems in the first place.

There is no point in being gloomy though. Dawn had a good day and I actually got quite a bit done. Maybe Dawn didn't lick her paws because she wasn't left alone today. I made sure to wait until Janet returned from grocery shopping before I went to the gym. We had a nice sunrise walk and are continuing to explore new locations in the park. Dawn seems curious and increasingly confident. When it was time for me to take her outside to pee around lunchtime, I didn't even need to put her on a leash. I just told her it was time to go pee and she followed me out to the back door. This may seem like a small thing, but it's been months since she has followed me on her own. Maybe Dawn is starting to like me.

I think the camera case foam inserts I ordered over a month ago are finally on their way. I thought I was dealing with a large organization, but apparently the company is just a single guy who cuts the foam to order. He wrote me today saying that he'd been sick lately and was way behind on orders. I was promised that my order would be in the mail tonight. I kind of feel bad now that I've been pestering this guy. Keeping a small business alive is never easy and I imagine that there isn't a lot of demand to refurbish old camera cases.

When I went to the gym this afternoon I was surprised to discover that half of the treadmills weren't working. I usually use the same treadmill, so I've never really paid much attention to all the others. Today someone else was using my regular treadmill, so I was going to use one of the many others on the floor. It took quite a while to find one that would work. What happened to the repairman who used to regularly service these machines. I used to see him frequently at the gym. Did the guy get Covid? Did he retire? People who make or fix things are in short supply these days. One by one, many of the craftsmen and repair people I used to depend on have simply disappeared.

I paid a bunch of July bills today and continue to be amazed at how much more expensive everything is getting. Inflation is real. Utility bills are higher. Insurance is higher. Not only are prices going up in stores, quantities are getting smaller. I've been using those blue Scott shop towels for years and the price has literally doubled. To add insult to injury, I noticed last week that the size of the rolls is smaller and they decreased the size of each sheet to maintain the same sheet count per roll. Who do these guys think they're fooling? When we started buying wet food for Dawn, we've noticed that many brands have smaller cans now. The cans were larger when we bought for Dot and Dash. The prices haven't come down though. The prices never come down.

It's time to make a grocery list again. I will have to buy some more party ice tomorrow because I still haven't gotten the ice maker in the refrigerator fixed. I haven't made a service appointment for my car either, or scheduled two upcoming doctor's appointments. I'd just as soon postpone everything this summer. The dentist did pin me down though. Got to go to the dentist next week.

Jewel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4090

Was today some sort of a holiday? I couldn't believe all the traffic on the roads this morning. The stores were crowded. There was even a line at the gas station. I still can't figure out why today was so different. Even the park was crowded this afternoon. Crowded stores often mean empty shelves and I had to go to three different grocery stores and three different drug stores to find everything on my list. Is this what happens during Spring Break? And why is Spring Break even a thing this year? Haven't most of the schools been closed? 

I managed to get everything done despite the unusual crowds. A few delays rarely have any impact on me at all. It's not like I'm exactly busy. When I got the groceries put away, the only thing on the agenda was my daily long walk. It was a nice day for walking. I wore a light jacket that I can take off and tie around my waist when I get hot. The jacket goes on when I'm walking along the shoreline and the wind is blowing. The jacket comes off when I'm away from the water and the sun is shining. Usually the trees are starting to bud around this time of year, but our freezing weather a few weeks ago changed all that. I don't see any signs of growth yet. The Live Oak trees in the neighborhood have lost all their leaves. All the Asian Jasmine in our yard looks dead and probably needs to be cut back. I hope everything starts to grow soon. We have enough dead stuff in our yard already.

At the suggestion of a friend, I'm going to try Flonase for my allergies. This stuff seems like a high tech version of the old nasal sprays I used to use as a kid. I had to resist the urge to spray the stuff in my nose every few hours. You are only supposed to use two squirts a day. I put one measured squirt in each nostril when I got home from the drug store and we'll do this again just before bedtime. The spray seemed to have some effect, but I wonder how much of the stuff is still in my nose. I blow my nose so frequently and often violently during allergy season that I imagine that my first dose is largely gone by now. We'll see what happens after I've been taking the spray for a few days. I hope it works.

I keep reading stories about people having terrible problems getting the Covid vaccine. Even here in Texas  a lot of people seem to be having problems. This seems so weird because Janet and I had no problems at all. It was easy to get an appointment. It was easy to find a convenient location near the house. Everything worked smoothly, just like it should. Maybe rural areas are a lot different than a major city like Dallas. That's why I don't live in a rural area. It's nice and peaceful out in the country, but when you get older you need to be surrounded by good doctors.

I think I'm making progress with Dawn. When I take a nap on the bed now, she stays with me. It wasn't that long ago that she would hop off the bed and go to her dog bed in the kitchen every time I came in the bedroom. She also waits for me to make the bed in the morning now. She waits patiently at the foot of the bed while I straighten the covers and then she hop up and reclaims her place. This is an improvement. Dawn and Janet get up earlier than me and often she would already be finished with her breakfast and back in bed by the time I woke up. It's hard to make a bed with a big dog right in the middle of it.

I'm still disappointed that The Texas Star Party has been canceled for 2021. How long is this going to go on? The world seems divided into two camps. One side want to open things up right now and the other side is still terrified that they're going to catch Covid and wants even more restrictions. At some point we're going to have to realize that Covid is going to be with us forever. No society can stay locked down forever, so lets all get vaccinated and move on.

Anne is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4047

Another gray, dismal day. At least it wasn't raining. It's hard to get motivated on days like this. I impatiently channel surf while I'm eating breakfast, never finding anything worth watching. I check the pumps on the roof and then forget to turn them off. I turn on my computer and mindlessly scroll through my Facebook timeline. I keep thinking I ought to be doing something useful and usually just end up charging camera batteries.

Janet goes grocery shopping on Friday now, so we didn't walk Dawn until she returned home. Dawn acts listless and seldom leaves the bed when I'm puttering around the house by myself. As soon as she hears Janet's car in the driveway, she hops us and races to the door to greet her. Lets face it. This dog just doesn't like me. I guess I can live with this. She's a very sweet dog and I'm sure she has her reasons.

As long as we take the short one mile route that Dawn likes, we have no problems walking her anymore. I'm beginning to think that she never liked our longer walks, but just went along with us because she was afraid something bad would happen if she resisted. Dawn is much more confident and assertive now. Maybe we're finally starting to see her real personality. There are any number of reasons why Dawn could be acting this way, but maybe she's just a lazy dog.

When Dawn returns to the house with Janet, I continue walking. I sometimes think that Dawn has the right idea, but I'm more disciplined than she is. I know that I'm getting older and my contemporaries are dropping like flies. If I want to stay healthy, I'm going to have to work at it. I have no interest in taking a class at the gym or doing anything competitive. Walking is the best way I can think of for staying active. 

When I leave the house, I can go West or I can go East. There is a well developed path that goes all the way around the lake and smaller trails that branch off in different directions. I've tried them all. The park is interesting and is a great place for bird watching, but after ten or fifteen years there aren't many surprises anymore. I probably should find someplace new just for a little variety, but I can't bring myself to get in a car just to go walking. Some days are boring, but I'm content with learning the habits of animals and watching the seasons change.

I'm reading more and more about astrophotography and realizing that the premise of the article I'm planning to write isn't original at all. People have been writing about this subject for decades and what's new to me is already old hat to scores of others. It's a good thing that I'm discovering this now. I'm a good writer, but I need to learn more before I attempt to teach. I'm still going to submit an article to Sky & Telescope, but it will take a little longer and will probably be much different than what I originally envisioned.

It's time to make a grocery list again. I continue to be amazed at how quickly time flies when you're doing nothing. I would have thought that the days would just drag on in slow motion, but this entire year has gone by in a flash. For a while I was frustrated that Covid has seriously curtailed my efforts to become a space and astronomy journalist. Now I'm realizing that there's a reason for everything. I couldn't really afford to be traveling all the time anyway. I'll attend launches and see dark skies again, but taking a break gives me time to rebuild my finances. My big project now is getting Dawn to like me.

Raider is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4037

I tried to catch up on some correspondence today. I doubt that I accomplished much, but at least I tried. I wrote my editor at SpaceFlight Magazine and told him that I won't be attending any space related events this Spring because of Covid. I'm sure he'll understand because he lives near London and people in the UK are under even more severe restrictions than we are. 

I wrote the dehumidifier manufacturer and describled the problems I'm having with the replacement they sent in great detail. I sent pictures as well. I don't know what this will accomplish but it's frustrating that I'm having just as many problems with the replacement unit as I was with the dehumidifier they replaced. I took care of a few other odds and ends as well, but mostly I was just avoiding starting anything new.

We experimented with Dawn today. Since Dawn is sometimes scared of me, Janet walked her by herself to see if that made a difference. Nope. Dawn walked about a mile, which is exactly the same distance she's been walking when we all walk together. Dawn just doesn't want to walk anymore. This is baffling to us, since she used to love her walks. We still don't know if the issue is physical or mental. All our other dogs loved their walks. Dot and Dash loved to walk even when they got old and could barely move. We didn't learn anything during Dawn's recent vet exam. Other than having too much protein in her urine, she seems to be quite healthy.

Maybe I'm trying to read too much into this. I didn't really enjoy my walk today either. It was a beautiful day, but I felt like I was on a forced march. The park is quite large, but I've practically memorized all the paths by now. There isn't much point in going somewhere else to walk. This is the largest, most interesting area for walking within fifty miles. Driving to go walking seems counterproductive too. One of the main reasons I started doing this was to avoid using the car.

I wonder why I've been spending so much time looking at telescopes lately. If I got a better telescope, there's nothing to see. I went outside last night and could barely see Orion. The light pollution in Dallas is really that bad. I still like gadgets and gear though, so I guess this telescope quest is a good way to daydream. There are a lot of interesting dark sky sites within driving distance, but there is little point in making travel plans until Covid is over. One of the main reasons that infections got so bad in rural West Texas was the surge of bored city people visiting Big Bend National Park. Staying put and doing nothing is really the best plan until I get vaccinated. I've abandoned my plans to go out to JPL in February for the Mars Perseverance landing. It just isn't worth the risk.

Maybe there will be a new episode of The Expanse to watch tomorrow. The Season 5 isn't over yet, but I'm not sure how frequently new episodes are released. One a week seems reasonable, but that's probably because I'm used to watching old fashioned episodic television. There are thousands to movies to stream these days but very few things capture my interest. I'm really surprised that I'm even watching this show.

I wish Dawn could talk and would tell us why she has lost interest in walking. There's got to be a simple answer for this. I lose interest in things all the time for no real reason. Who knows. Maybe dogs do the same thing.

Suzie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4036

We went and photographed Cooper, the newest Dalmatian in the rescue program, this afternoon. Cooper is a handsome dog, but was a little nervous around us, so the kennel attendants kept him on a leash. Maybe a good picture will help him find a home. Clyde seems to be adjusting well to kennel life, and Charlie was just Charlie. We spend most of our time at the kennel with Charlie because he really seems to enjoy the time we spend with him. Hopefully, all three of these boys will find their forever homes soon.

The weather was much better today but that didn't seem to impress Dawn much. She wasn't in the mood for walking at all. She likes to smell things in the meadow behind our house, but after five or ten minutes she's ready to go home again. Her world seems to be getting smaller. She just wants to spend her time inside these days. It wasn't always this way and we can't figure out what caused the change.

I picked up some prescriptions at the pharmacy after we returned from the kennel and looked for one of those frames that holds a leaf bag open at Home Depot. I couldn't find anything, but remember having something like this in the past. It's much easier raking leaves when you aren't always struggling with the bag. I guess this means that we are going to try raking the leaves ourselves again this year. We have a ton of leaves, but we also have a lot of time. There was no need to start today. The leaves were still wet from yesterdays rain and snow.

I didn't get started on my long walk until later this afternoon. It was just as well that I waited because it was much warmer than it was this morning. It's kind of amazing to see the wild temperature swings you can get on a sunny day. It was below freezing when I woke up and almost sixty when I took my walk. My new shoes really help on these walks, but they aren't so new anymore. They are already starting to show some wear.

I guess I need to tell my editor at SpaceFlight Magazine that I won't be going to either the Artemis-1 static fire or the Perseverance rover landing at JPL. You can blame Covid for that. It's kind of discouraging that I was just getting established covering these events when Covid restrictions changed everything. It is much harder to get press accreditation these days. I didn't even bother to apply for accreditation out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. California doesn't want visitors these days and even if your visit is considered essential, you have to quarantine on arrival. I think I'll wait.

The vaccine is slowly making its way to Texas, but I think I'll wait until my own doctor gets a supply before I get the shot. I think you can already make an appointment at one of the mass distribution centers, but the last thing I want to do is sit in a car for six hours waiting to arrive at the tents where they vaccinate people. I hate being in a long line off cars. I'm always afraid that my car will stall out or overheat idling for so long. It still seems like the best solution is to just stay away from other people. That's pretty easy for me to do.

We made an appointment to get Dawn's teeth cleaned. She doesn't like going to the vet, but she's got some significant plaque build up on her teeth. It's time. Maybe the vet will have some suggestions about her recent behavior. The refusal to walk really seems to be more of a mental issue than a physical one. Dawn has a few minor medical issues but basically appears to be very healthy.

I have no idea what I'll be doing tomorrow. I wish I hadn't already watched all the new episodes of The Expanse. A little science fiction seems a lot more appealing than going up on the roof or raking leaves.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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