Day 3953

The weather was warmer today. You can almost tell what temperature it is by how fast Dawn walks in the morning. She seems very sensitive to temperature and walked a little slower this morning. I'm equally sensitive to changes in the pollen count. My allergies have returned with a vengeance. I'm blowing my nose constantly again. It's hard to know what to wear on our morning walks. Sometimes the temperature remains constant. Other times it is ten degrees warmer by the time we return. The only thing constant about Dallas weather is that it is constantly changing. Needless to say, I liked the cool, dry, and allergy free air in the Davis Mountains a lot better.

Today was uneventful. I unpacked my bags, put my stuff away, and set then up a few more accounts for online payments. I guess I'm done with writing checks and paying for things in person. I've even set up an online account for the storage warehouse. I used to pay for my storage space a year at a time. I'm paying month to month now in hopes of getting rid of enough stuff to move to a smaller, cheaper unit later this year. Janet loves to throw stuff away, so she said she'll help.

I got a bid for taking down the big Oak tree in the back year. The bid seemed horrendously high, so I guess I'm get another bid. I wish this tree was healthier, because one of my favorite things about the yard when I bought the house years ago was all the big mature trees. Sadly, these tree are nearing the end of their life. I see trees just like our own trees fall in the park for no reason at all there doesn't even need to be a storm. Every time I see one of these huge trees fall, I wonder if one of our trees is going to be next. I'd hate to have a tree fall into the house, or even worse into the lawyer's house next door.

I have all these cool pictures from my trip, but I decided years ago that I would always include a single square picture taken on the same day as my latest blog post. All I could find today was some pathetic leaves trying their best to show some Fall color. Most of the leaves just turn brown here, but occasionally we get a little color. I guess I could always add more pictures, but I won't do it for the same reason that I always drink a large fruit smoothie every morning. Consistency is everything to me. It drives some people nuts, but I find comfort in doing the same things over and over again. Maybe I'm really a dog. All our dogs have been nervous of changes in their schedule and wanted a very consistent life.

I'm glad I already voted. It looks like the lines are getting longer now. The trouble with social media is that there are no secret places anymore. If there is a polling place without much of a line, everyone takes selfies and brags about how quickly they voted. The next day the place with no line has a huge line. I think life would be so much better if social media didn't exist. We don't really need to know what everyone else is doing.

I wonder when NASA is going to reschedule the Space X Crew 1 launch? I was feeling pretty good about making the trip to Florida when Covid cases seemed to be declining. Now, cases are spiking again almost everywhere. I wonder if we're ever going to get a handle on this thing? I'm pretty good about wearing a mask and keeping my distance, but there's that pesky airline flight to Orlando. I learned recently that a Dallas woman actually died of Covid while she was on a plane returning from Arizona. That's a little unnerving.

Emily is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3943

Dawn had a great day. For the first time since she became sick, we were able to complete our regular five mile morning walk. The nice weather helped, but Dawn seems to be getting better as well. When we returned, she still had plenty of energy and was eager to beg for treats while we ate breakfast. I hope this continues. Dawn is almost finished with her meds, so we should get a better idea soon if her condition is stable.

I had a lot of items on my shopping list today and ended up having to go to several stores. I'm still a bit surprised at how crowded stores have become. Why are we worrying about restaurants and churches when the grocery stores are jam packed? People wear their masks, but nobody pays any attention to distancing. All those little X marks and circles on the floor appear to mean nothing. I've heard all the arguments about air flow in restaurants and singing in churches. I guess they make sense until you realize that airlines are still filling their planes to capacity and people are mingling and talking as loudly in public as they ever did. Rules are rules, but a lot of them are completely arbitrary.

I found out today that the Space X Crew-1 launch has been postponed until sometime in November. Good thing I haven't started making travel arrangements for that trip yet. It's amazing how many launches have been canceled or scrubbed this Fall. Maybe this is a good thing for me though. Creating more distance between the trips to West Texas and Florida makes it a little easier for me to pay for them. Hopefully, later in the year there will be fewer bugs in Florida as well.

I'm trying to decide when the lines at the polls will be shortest. Do I go early, before everyone knows that early voting has started? Or do I wait until the initial rush is over? It's hard to say. Sometimes it just depends on which polling location you choose. Early voting is still the best though. The lines are always longer everywhere on election day.

I still haven't made it up on the roof. I guess it just shows how much I hate this job. I keep checking the weather every day because I know that I'm going to regret it if I slip up and let it rain again before I make any repairs. Everything still looks good, but the weather app on my phone is remarkably unreliable. Will I get the job done tomorrow? Who knows. They say that Sunday is a day of rest.

I'm wondering what I'm going to eat in West Texas. There were never many restaurants to begin with, and most of them are closed now. I thought about bringing food from home, but there's no way to heat it up out at my spartan ranch cabin. I was looking for ideas when I was shopping today, but all I could come up with was granola bars. Oh, well. I've still got a few days to think about this.

One of these days I need to start going back to the gym. My gym is bound to be cleaner and safer than the grocery stores I visited today. Walking is good exercise, but it doesn't do much for my arms. While I'm walking it's easy to ignore the fact that I'm lazy. I don't know why Dawn and I haven't become instant soul mates. Both of us love to sleep.

Neo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3940

It's going to be a very busy month. I'm still planning my trip back to McDonald Observatory for the astrophotography workshop and I found out today that I have been cleared by NASA to attend the upcoming Space X Crew 1 launch. I was quite surprised to receive media accreditation for this important launch because Kennedy Space Center is still restricting media access because of Covid. Maybe persistence pays off. I'm still near the bottom rungs of the ladder, but I'd like to think that I'm slowly rising among the ranks of space journalists. At any rate, my magazine seems excited that I am welcome again at Kennedy Space Center and is planning to do a feature on the Crew 1 launch.

To be honest, I'm still a little apprehensive about flying as well as making that long drive out to West Texas again, but life goes on. I simply can't spend the rest of my life doing nothing but taking long walks in the park. Both the astrophotography workshop and the opportunity to witness another manned launch are events I've been wanting to do for a long time. I'll look for some really good masks and be as careful as I can.

Our beautiful Fall weather continues and Dawn definitely seems to approve. We took another four mile walk this morning and Dawn did great. She did better than me actually. On the final stretch as we were returning to the house, Dawn had so much energy that I gave the leash to Janet and they both pulled well ahead of me, arriving home almost five minutes earlier than me. I really slow down toward the end of our walks these days, mostly because my feet start to hurt. I've really got to find some better shoes.

By all indications, Dawn is back to normal again. She is certainly acting normally. Hopefully, this will continue and Dawn will remain stable after she had completed taking all her medication. I would like to think that this seizure is a rare event and if it ever reoccurs in the future we can just repeat the treatment that we are using now. Janet and I are both hoping to avoid complex MRI and CT scans when there is no practical medical solution anyway. 

In theory you can do brain surgery on a dog, but it is risky and not very common. There are no guaranties that the dog's life will be any better afterwards. Sometimes I think we went too far with extreme medical intervention with our other dogs. I'm still not sure that spinal surgery helped Dot all that much and we never should have attempted liver surgery with Gretta. She never made it out of the hospital.

I may be forced to try taking Allegra soon if my allergies don't clear up. With two long distance trips on deck, I just can't risk sneezing constantly. Sneezing and a runny nose are awkward at best and might even be alarming to someone else when you re wearing a mask. I could explain again and again that I am just suffering from seasonal allergies but nobody would believe me. I am so tired of this pandemic. I've always has seasonal allergies. They've gradually gotten worse as I've grown older and I doubt that there is anything I can do about them. I will test some antihistamines later this week, but I already know how they make me feel. It might be better than sneezing in public though.

I still haven't started my roof repairs. I did write a letter to my sister though and took it to the post office. One day at a time. I always try to accomplish something.  Today was actually pretty good. I think I accomplished several things. So did Dawn. We are both moving forward.

Hersey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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