Day 4349

I keep hearing that the shelves are going to be empty this Christmas, but that doesn't seem to be the case around here. When I did my shopping this morning, the stores were full of Christmas stuff. Nobody seems to be waiting until after Thanksgiving anymore. Christmas tree lots are already up and running. Stores are full of gifts. Some of our neighbors have already put Christmas lights up.

I keep worrying that Dawn might be having an adverse reaction to the new meds she's taking. She seemed slower on her walk this morning. She spit out the cookie I always give her before I leave on my own long walk. She certainly doesn't seem any friendlier toward me. I guess the real test will be tomorrow when she rides in the car to go on her Sunday outing. It's hard to evaluate Dawn's mood anyway. To me, she is always acting weird. 

It didn't take long to get my shopping done today. There were no lines at the gas pump. The shelves were well stocked. And I didn't have a long list anyway. It did take a long time to complete my walk unfortunately. The weather was nice but my feet hurt again today. My pace was pretty slow today. Even old, overweight people were passing me on the trails.

I was wrong when I said we weren't going to get any Fall color this year. The trees are just turning a little later than usual. I saw lots of reds and yellows today. I didn't see the eagles unfortunately. I didn't even see the regular group of ducks and geese. I am seeing Kestrels again and the White Pelicans have started to become active. I like it when the animals are active. They keep my mind off the human side of the equation.

I wonder why there are so many for sale and for rent signs in the neighborhood. The population seems a lot more transient than it used to be. Janet and I seems to be the only people who have been here forever. A lot of the older neighbors have either passed away or moved on to assisted living. I don't know what the young ones are doing. I don't know hardly any of them because they don't stay here long enough.

I also wonder why almost all modern cars look the same and why there are so many people walking babies in strollers? It's a different world now. I hear police and fire sirens constantly these days but I don't see as many airplanes overhead. I don't think that air travel has completely recovered yet. Maybe everybody is just out on the highways. I've never seen traffic this bad in all the time I've lived here.

My Fitbit battery ran out this morning. It bothered me a bit because I didn't get any credit for my long walk. I'm definitely hooked on checking my stats. Every morning I check to see how many hours of deep sleep I got and how long I was in a dream state. I dream a lot, but from what I can remember the dreams are never very satisfying. When I was young I had flying dreams. Now I seems to be constantly lost. I'm always looking for my car in a parking garage or riding up and down elevators looking for my room in a hotel. I think Dawn has lots of dreams too. She often wakes me up at night while barking in her sleep.

The vet called with Dawn's test results. Everything looks normal. I hope she enjoys her Sunday outing tomorrow. I'm not a big fan of her new meds but I do want her to be happy. If she is less anxious it's probably a good thing. 

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4338

Today was quiet and uneventful. I woke up to a pretty sunrise. We took Dawn on her early morning walk and then I came home and ate a bowl of shredded wheat. After breakfast I took my long walk and was amused at how many people are out looking for the eagles with binoculars. The nest location hasn't been revealed, but everyone seems to know where it is. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been dispatched to protect the nest from foot traffic, but I don't think there will be a problem. By all indications, the nest is located in a swampy area that is not very accessible. That doesn't mean people won't try. Today I saw a helicopter circling the area. I'll bet the two eagles loved that. I'm not sure why a pair of eagles would choose Dallas as their home. Actually, I'm not sure why anybody would choose Dallas as their home.

Today's NASA teleconference was interesting. I wasn't terribly surprised to learn that the Artemis program was going to be a lot more expensive than expected and that the moon landing had been delayed for another year. They don't expect the Artemis III mission, which will land two astronauts on the moon, to take place until 2025 now. I had a couple of questions ready to ask, but by the time CBS News, The New York Times, The Discovery Channel, The Washington Post and other well know outlets had finished asking their questions, the moderator announced that they had run out of time and the event was over. Even The Verge, a very popular website, was at the very bottom of the question list. Before the first five minutes had passed I knew they weren't going to get around to my question.

DHL was supposed to deliver our new photo backdrop for Santa Paws pictures today, but it never arrived. So much for German efficiency. I thought the package would be arriving on Monday the 15th, but I got a message this morning saying that it was already out for delivery. I was kind of hoping that this delivery would be more reliable than FedEx or UPS, but apparently not. Oh, well. We've still got a lot of time. With any luck at all, the backdrop will still be here in time for Christmas pictures.

We may still get some Fall color after all. When I was taking my walk today I noticed that some of the Oak trees were starting to turn red. A few other trees have turned yellow, but I can't remember what species they are. The trees are turning a lot later than they did last year. Maybe it is because it has been warmer than usual. We often have a hard freeze by this time of year and occasionally we've even had snow. Personally, I'm pleased by the warmer weather. I was never a big fan of snow.

I've discovered that the extra strength Ginger Ale I've been looking for is available at Target. I never even thought of looking there. Maybe finding some Reed's Extra Ginger Brew will be my mission for tomorrow. At the moment I can't think of anything better to do. A lot of grocery stores will tell you  exactly how many items are available at specific stores on their websites now. This would be pretty amazing if it worked. In my experience, this inventory information is almost never accurate. The humans entering and updating the information are still the weak link in the chain.

Dawn comes out and watches me fix her dinner now. She barks at me like I'm some kind of servant, but I still consider this progress. Maybe by the time Janet starts to travel again, we'll be best friends.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4336

I've been waiting for this day. It's daylight when we walk Dawn in the morning again. I've never really understood the time change anyway. Noon should always be when the sun is at it's highest point in the sky and we should just adjust our schedules accordingly as the days get longer and shorter. I don't think that Dawn would agree with this philosophy though. She seemed very indignant that I didn't fix her dinner at 4 PM today. Personally, I don't mind it it's dark when we eat dinner. I've usually finished all my outdoor activities by early afternoon.

It would have been another 20,000 step day if I had remembered to wear my Fitbit this morning. I always do a lot of walking on Sunday. Dawn enjoyed her sunrise walk and still had plenty of energy when we took her on her Sunday outing around noon. In between, I took my regular long walk in the park and added another five miles to my total. While I was out, I encountered some sort of marathon race. There were lots of people running, but none of them were going very fast. I must have encountered the stragglers at the end of the race. The winners had probably already finished before I entered the park. I suppose that running is excellent exercise, but all I saw today were a bunch of future knee replacements.

Since it was such a nice day today, I decided to mow the grass. At this time of year I always hope that this is the last time I have to mow and that I can put the mower away for another year. It seldom works out that way. If we get a lot of rain and there isn't a freeze, the grass just keeps growing. I'm going to remain hopeful though. Maybe I won't have to mow again until next Spring.

There seems to be virtually no Fall color this year. The trees seem to be going directly from green to brown. In previous years there would be a lot of reds and yellows in the park by now. Every once in a while we have a spectacular Fall. This year is kind of blah. I wonder why? It seems like the warm days and cool, crisp nights we've been having lately would be perfect for vibrant Fall colors.

The proton pump inhibitor I've started taking seems to be working. Last night's chili didn't give me heartburn. I haven't had acid reflux for several days now. I still have misgivings about taking a PPI though. Stomach acids are actually essential for digesting food and preventing bacteria from developing. You just don't want the acid escaping into your esophagus. We'll see how long my doctor wants me to continue this medication. If the answer is forever, we may have problems.

My watch winders are all starting to die. I guess they are getting pretty old. I keep thinking that a watch winder should last forever. It's just a simple motor that rotates the watch for a while combined with a circuit that turns the motor off for about 17 hours to let the watch unwind. I've never had a watch winder that lasted ten years. Some haven't even lasted five. I guess this shouldn't even matter since I seldom wear a mechanical watch anymore. The Apple Watch has replaced all the watches I used to wear. Watch collecting just seems like a strange hobby now. How did I ever get interested in the first place? 

At least I'm still interested in dogs and rockets. I'm interested in astronomy when I'm out in West Texas. Here in Dallas the light pollution is so bad that it's hardly worth the effort to look up at the sky. Most of my interests wind up in the storage warehouse eventually. Am I fickle, or is this just the way it works? The storage warehouse has become a museum of things I am no longer interested in.

Chase is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3970

When some days draw to a close, I wonder if I've done anything at all. Today was slow, even by my own lax standards. I must have done something, but nothing comes to mind. Dawn seems to have adjusted to the time change quicker than I thought she would. She's content to sleep in until we get up now and doesn't demand her dinner at 4 PM anymore. We walk in the daylight now, even though the days are still getting shorter. The weather remains pleasant and we are finally starting to see some Fall color in the park. A lot of trees just turned brown this year, but there are patches of reds and yellows. You'd never mistake this place for Vermont, but it's starting to look pretty outside.

My watch said that my heartbeat was dangerously low last night. I guess 40 beats per minute is pretty low. I think this was a mistake, but I didn't even know that the Apple Watch warned you about this type of thing. The watch has also warned me about falls where I have never fallen. Are you OK it asks me? This all seems a little overprotective to me. It makes me wonder what else the watch is keeping an eye on. I just hope that it doesn't call an ambulance for me while I'm sleeping some night.

The company I ordered the N-95 masks from told me that shipping is taking  from ten to fifteen days because of hight demand. What did I pay for expedited shipping for? Ten to fifteen days was the time listed on the web site for regular shipping. I wonder why shipping takes so long when Amazon can send you almost anything in two days or less? I have a feeling that these masks will arrive the day after I leave for Florida. That's always the way these things work.

I got a notice that some events prior to the Crew-1 launch may be canceled due to tropical storm Eta. I wonder why they even plan launches when the weather looks bad. It happens again and again though. Sometimes they'll wait right up to a few minutes before liftoff to scrub the launch when it is clear that the weather isn't improving. I guess you have to be optimistic in Florida. I don't think I've ever been there when there hasn't been at least a little rain during the day. I hope the storm has either dissipated or moved on by launch day. I'd really hate to make this trip for nothing. It's kind of late in the season for a storm like this to appear, but then it is 2020. Anything can happen in a year like this.

I think I'll get a haircut tomorrow. It doesn't seem like that long since my last haircut, but it does look like I need one. All the virus restrictions have distorted my sense of time. I've really only had one haircut since last March. Maybe it is time. I always seem to wear better clothes and look more presentable when I travel. It's a shame that appearances don't seem to matter the rest of the time. Retirement and virus restrictions can definitely change your perspective on things. I'm amazed that I even get dressed some days.

It's grocery shopping time again. I finally found Clorox wipes but now they say that disinfecting wipes and toilet paper will soon be in short supply. Do I stock up and start hoarding again? Who knows. This whole year seems like groundhog day. The same things keep happening over and over. I always thought I liked consistency, but I'm not so sure about consistent chaos. 

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day