Day 3864

I'm a firm believer that there should be something interesting in every day, but it's been slim pickings lately. I kind of wish I'd chosen to write the blog once a week instead of every day. I've never liked the summer heat and the hotter it gets, the more I just feel like sleeping all day. The pandemic doesn't help either. After a while you just get tired of looking at stuff on the computer.

I miss the days when there were lots of odd little shops that catered to my eclectic interests. There used to be three stores in Dallas that just sold model trains. There were two stores that just sold telescopes. There used to be half a dozen interesting little camera stores. All these stores are gone. They just couldn't survive in a world of online commerce. On days where nothing was happening, I used to like to hang out at my favorite little shops. I would talk to people and get ideas. I would usually buy stuff as well. That's why my office is so full of crap.

I guess walking has become a substitute for many of the things I used to do. We've been taking our morning walks for long enough now that we're starting to recognize the other people on the trails. The same people seem to be out there every day. We wave or sometimes say hi as we pass each other. It's amazing how predictable everyone is. We pass some of the same people at almost exactly the same locations every day. Most people, including ourselves, even wear the same clothes every day.

The animals in the park actually seem less predicable than the people. There is a large flock of geese that move to a new location every day. Some days they will be on the left hand side of the road and other days they will be on the right. The only time I've seen the cyclists stop is when the geese decide to cross the road. Today they was all in the water. Most of the ducks are back in the water as well. During the nesting season, a lot of ducks move onshore. Probably the animals are just as predictable as the people. I just haven't figured out all their habits yet.

I haven't completely given up on the comet. I'm continuing to look through the office for suitable equipment to photograph it better. I opened an old aluminum camera case this afternoon and discovered that all the foam inserts had gone bad. I hate when that happens. I hadn't looked at these old Nikon lenses in a long time, but I must have anticipated that the foam would eventually disintegrate because I had carefully wrapped each lens in paper towels. I'll add replacing the foam inserts to my growing list of broken stuff to fix. If there were still little camera stores in town, I could have run out this afternoon and got some replacement foam inserts. Nope. I'll have to buy the stuff online instead.

Dawn seems to be warming up to me. She comes when I call most of the time now and even curls up next to me on the bed. She doesn't like people to stare at her directly and still occasionally gets frightened when we make sudden movements. Gaining Dawn's trust is still a work in progress, but I'm starting to see big improvements. Hopefully, when the pandemic is over and Janet starts traveling again, Dawn and I will be best buddies.

Jewel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3858

I can't decide whether to go looking for the comet again tonight. The sky is relatively clear. I know exactly where to look now. I also know that the perpetual haze on the horizon will prevent me from seeing anything. I still have some mosquito bites from my previous comet search as well. It's a tough choice. I'd like to see this thing, but I also like staying inside where it is air conditioned and bug free. Why don't I live in the mountains where I could just walk out on the front porch and enjoy a cool breeze and a beautiful dark sky?

Today was exceptionally uneventful. I got out some older digital cameras and tried to relearn the menu structure. I discovered the other day that my best camera doesn't have a camera raw profile in Photoshop. This is because I refuse to buy a new copy of Adobe Creative Suite. My old Photoshop works best with my older cameras. Usually this isn't a problem, but I'm going to need the camera raw format to get a decent picture of the comet.

I typically spend my days learning new things on the Internet and then promptly forgetting them again. Today I tried to relearn everything about my old Olympus cameras. I feel sorry for kids if they don't get to go back to school this Fall. Online learning has its limits. I learn best by actually doing something  wrong and then doing it again and again until I finally get it right. Somehow, watching a YouTube video just doesn't do the trick for me. If we have enough clear days I'll eventually get a good picture of the comet. I'm sure there will be a lot of trial and error involved.

We had a nice walk this morning, but had to cut things short on the way home. The skies were clear  and as soon as the sun rose, the temperature began to climb immediately. I wasn't surprised that Dawn chose the short route home. Starting these walks before sunrise is the only way to go. I still take an afternoon walk without Dawn, but it is only because I'm a creature of habit. There is no joy in the afternoon sun.

Tomorrow it's time to get groceries again. Who ever thought that getting groceries would feel like a dangerous activity. I"m more aware of other people now and not in a good way. You have to wonder if some of our "new normal" behavior will become permanent? It probably will. Nothing is casual anymore. Did I remember to bring several masks and some cleaning wipes. I usually need a spare mask because I'm always breaking the elastic straps on the cheap paper kind. I try to remember to bring a doggie poop bag as well in case I need to pump gas. I used to bring some Clorox Wipes with me but we used those up a long time ago. My sense of smell is still good and I've become aware of how far away you can smell someone's perfume or cologne. I keep thinking that if virus droplets travel that far, we're all doomed.

Maybe I'll find blueberries tomorrow. My smoothie always tastes better with blueberries. The little things matter when you can't do the big things. Hmm. I think it's time to get gas again. I used to do this once a week. Now once a month is plenty. I doubt that I'll go to the gym this weekend. I haven't even gotten a haircut yet. Basically, the "new normal" means doing nothing at all.

Riley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3855

We got up early enough this morning to see the comet if it hadn't been cloudy again. Cloudy was good though. It kept our morning walk nice and cool. We keep leaving earlier and earlier in an attempt to avoid the heat. I used to think 7 AM was early. Now our goal is to be out of the house before 6 AM. The extra hour makes a big difference. There are fewer people on the trails and the weather is noticeably cooler.

Dawn did well today, but it is still the middle of July. It's going to be a long march to September. Dawn has the right idea about surviving summer. She went back to sleep on the bed while I had my breakfast. I usually watch TV while I'm eating breakfast. The news is still dismal, but the stock market was having a good day. It's kind of a mystery to me why the stock market has made such a dramatic recovery in recent weeks. What do other investors know that I don't. People are even starting to buy cruise line stocks again. I wouldn't feel comfortable taking a cruise for a long, long time.

I got Luckie up on the Dalmatian Rescue website after breakfast. I'm glad the rescue websites I work on are fairly simple. I've lost some of my skills. I haven't created a complex website in quite a while now and it shows. Use it or lose it has been my motto for many years. When it comes to web design, I think I've lost it.

I mowed the grass in the front yard this afternoon. It was too hot to be outside, but if I keep waiting for cooler weather, the yard is going to look like a jungle. Since I survived this task, I decided to go ahead and take my afternoon walk to get my 20,000 steps. It's a simple and at times mindless life, but I do have goals.

I went out and looked for the comet again a few minutes ago, but there were thick clouds on the horizon to the Northwest. I'm still not sure how the comet can be visible in both the morning and evening skies for the next several days, but that's what I keep hearing. Pretty soon it will be evening skies only. I think the best viewing opportunities will last for about a week. I'm hoping that we'll get clear skies on at least one of these days. I keep seeing cool pictures of the comet all over the Internet and I haven't been able to see it at all.

It looks like the new Ford Bronco is going to be incredibly popular. They are taking reservations online like Elon Musk now, and one model sold out in a single day. They say dealers are going to be charging a premium for the Bronco for at least a year. I don't know why I'm even interested. My car is running fine. It still looks almost new. I guess planning to buy a new car is just so much easier than planning to move to a new state.

I've already decided that it would be stupid to travel to Florida right now but I'm still wondering why I haven't heard anything about media accreditation for the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover launch. Usually when a launch is only several weeks away, all these details have been worked out. You'd think I would have at least received a rejection notice by now. Who knows. Maybe I'll hear something tomorrow. Otherwise, the big event of the day might be looking for blueberries.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3853

I didn't need an alarm to wake up in time to see the comet. About the time I had planned to get up I awoke to the sound of a violent wind storm. Where did this come from? There was no rain, but the straight line winds were fierce. Lawn furniture was blowing around in the yard and the tree branches were swaying so much that I was afraid that one of our remaining large trees was going to fall. A few minutes after the wind woke me up, our power went out.

Losing power in July is something all Texans fear. We are lost without air conditioning. I immediately called in an outage report and then looked at the outage map on the Oncor web site to see if power outages in the city were extensive. Yikes. There were thousands of outages all over the city. Despite the widespread outages, we got an estimate of around four hours to restore power.

Four hours isn't bad at all, but sometimes these estimates are way off. We could feel the temperature slowly start to rise in the house, but there wasn't much we could do. The weather radar indicated that some heavy rain would be following the brief wind storm. Janet and I went back to bed and waited for the rain, thankful that Dawn wasn't afraid of storms like some of our other dogs.

Oddly, the storm never arrived. Somebody got a lot of rain, but the storm seemed to be moving to the east of us. When morning arrived, we thought we could take Dawn on a short walk before it started raining. One of my weather apps said we had about a thirty minute window. As we walked, the window kept increasing. When we reached the point where we were going to turn around, it looked like we had another hour before the rain would arrive. This was enough time to complete the entire five mile walk, so off we went. I love these weather apps on my phone. The make life so much easier and predictable. It never did rain.

As we were returning home, I got a message on my Apple watch that our power had been restored. This all worked out almost perfectly. The house was cool again when we returned home and I didn't have to hook up the generator at all. The heavy overcast skies made the walk a lot cooler as well. I didn't get to see the comet, but we did end up having a nice breakfast.

Later in the day the skies cleared and the temperature rose rapidly. It was over 100 degrees when I took my afternoon walk. I had to run a couple of errands during the day and was surprised at how crowded the stores were. Even though Dallas is currently experiencing a record number of new coronavirus cases, everyone is shopping normally again. Go figure.

I mowed the grass in the back yard this afternoon, but it was just too hot to mow the front. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. I really need to find someone to remove the large Oak tree in the back yard. I was really afraid that this tree was going to fall last night. Since the tree is very near power lines, I'm going to have to find a tree service that is certified to do work near electric power. I'll probably need a bucket truck too. This tree is very large and in an awkward place. Did I tell you how much I hate expensive repairs? It needs to be done though. I don't want Janet telling me "I told you so" after the tree falls.

Hard to believe that the year is half over and we've basically done nothing since March. Hey, Ford will be revealing the new Bronco tomorrow. That will be something to watch. We'll be going up to the Dalmatian kennels to photograph Lucky, our newest member of the rescue program as well. Our trees are still standing and the air conditioner is working fine. All is well.

Winston is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day