Day 4654

The Artemis fueling test went well today, so it's looking more like a launch attempt will actually take place next Tuesday. I was hoping for a delay since I just got finished paying for my previous trip to Florida. If the launch stays on schedule, I'll be there though. I feel lucky to be among the journalists selected to cover this launch. I don't want to squander this opportunity. We'll see what happens in the next few days. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the launch date still changes.

We got another early start on our sunrise walk this morning. I wish Dawn would stay in the neighborhood when we're walking in the dark, but she still insists on going to the park. The smells are better there. Dawn doesn't seem to mind walking in the dark, but I'm still a little nervous about bumping into a coyote. I'm always surprised at how quickly the sky brightens just before dawn. By the time we returned home the sky was blue and daylight had returned.

After breakfast I watched the Artemis fueling test on NASA TV for a while before heading for the gym. This was not exactly must see TV. The rocket just sat there doing nothing and every twenty minutes or so an announcer would give a brief update on what was taking place. There was another hydrogen leak at one point but they got it under control and were able to complete the test. When I returned from the gym, the test was still going on. I'm glad I didn't watch the whole thing. 

I had trouble finding a parking place at the gym today. I was expecting a crowd on the gym floor, but it was just the same people I always see. What were all those extra cars doing? Somebody must have been having a meeting. Since the gym is owned by a major hospital, a lot of hospital functions take place here as well. My routine never varies. There's a large wall clock on the gym floor and I always try to guess when I'll be finished exercising. My whole routine is just like clockwork. I shoot baskets. I walk two miles on the indoor track. And I lift free weights for a while. It's no surprise that I usually guess within a few minutes of the actual time I spend on the floor.

I paid a few more bills this afternoon and finished the accounting work I started yesterday. I still haven't had the nerve to look at my brokerage account. The stock market hasn't been doing so good lately. I learned a long time ago to stay the course when the market fluctuates. If you pick good solid companies and stay aware of what is happening in the world, you'll usually do OK in the long run. A bear market is still unsettling though.

Dawn won another ribbon at her training class tonight. She really looks forward to this class now. She starts getting excited at least an hour before it's time to leave for class. I don't go to the classes with Janet, but I'm really pleased that Dawn is doing so well. She's come a long way since she came to us as a frightened breeding dog in a puppy mill.

Rowe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4074

Somehow they can flawlessly land a rover on Mars, but they can't keep the lights on in Texas. I watched the Perseverance landing today and I'll have to admit that I was impressed. After traveling almost 300 million miles, the spacecraft landed within 115 feet of it's target. I can't say that I'm very impressed with Texas. Other states seem to be able to cope with winter. Why can't we? Not planning for a storm like this is like not putting antifreeze in your car because you don't think it's going to be cold. Jeez. I can't predict the future. Can you? I'd like to see a little contingency planning. If the utility company's were cutting corners to save money, then why is my electric bill always so high? Something seems fishy to me. At the rates most utilities charge, there should have been plenty of money to winterize everything.

It still hasn't gotten above freezing, but it was a little warmer today. Maybe tomorrow will be the magic day when everything starts to thaw. We still have power and no pipes have frozen. I'm glad that our water pipes are buried under the slab. Most of the burst pipes in town seem to be located in exterior walls or uninsulated attics. For once the design of our house is working to our advantage. Even the snow on the flat roof is providing extra insulation. This is no time to let down your guard though. I think we'll leave our faucets dripping until it's t-shirt weather again.

I hope we don't have problems getting Dawn to walk again when this cold spell is over. She seems awfully comfortable sitting on the bed and doing nothing. Most dogs would be upset if you left them behind on a walk. Dawn doesn't even leave the bed. She just gives us this look that says "Bye you crazy fools. I'll keep the bed warm for you." 

Our shorter walks seem much more tiring than the longer ones we used to take when the weather was warmer. It's hard to walk on crusty snow and icy roads. Neither of us wants to fall. Your bone density gets worse as you age and I don't think a bad fall would be very forgiving. My boots aren't very forgiving either. I don't think the orthopedic surgeon who looked at my feet would approve of these boots, but they are waterproof and keep my feet warm. I'll go back to wearing the special running shoes when all the snow melts.

They say that most grocery stores are running out of food because trucks can't get in to restock them. I hope that changes in the next day or two. We've got enough food left for a couple more days, but the refrigerator is starting to look a little bare. I'm glad we stocked up on grocery day last Saturday. People who didn't plan ahead are living on Cheetos now.

While I was watching the Perseverance landing on NASA TV today I kept thinking how ironic it was that I abandoned my attempts to go out to JPL in California because of Covid. It never even occurred to me that if I had managed to get press accreditation, I wouldn't be able to go anyway because a winter storm had closed all the airports. It just goes to show that it doesn't pay to predict the future.

I"m not going to predict what will happen tomorrow. I do hope it gets above freezing though. This winter storm has worn out it's welcome. It's time to go back to regular weird weather.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3810

It was nice to see something positive today. The Crew Dragon launch was flawless. It was amazing how clean and futuristic the capsule looked. Somehow the two astronauts even managed a change of clothes a few hours after liftoff. I wonder how long before scenes like this become commonplace again. I'll have to remember to watch TV again tomorrow when the capsule arrives at the space station. Maybe I'll get to see one of these launches in person someday. The world has to return to normal eventually.

Normalcy is already returning to Dallas. There are no lines at stores anymore. The grocery store wasn't even crowded this morning. It's still impossible to find Clorox wipes, but almost everything else was on the shelves. I wonder how long we will continue wearing masks? If there isn't a huge surge in new infections two or three weeks from now, I predict they will slowly disappear. We'll probably be like Asian countries where some people will always wear them. I'll probably ditch mine later this Summer as the virus fades from the news.

Of course, maybe it doesn't fade from the news. Maybe all the large crowds we are seeing on TV will trigger a whole new wave of outbreaks. Almost anything could happen in a year like 2020. I'm just waiting for hurricane season to start.

The weather is still very pleasant. We had a nice walk with Dawn this morning. We started before 7 AM, but there were already a lot of joggers and cyclists in the park. More people must be working again, because weekends are starting to feel different than weekdays. As the day grew warmer, large groups gathered in the park for picnics and play. I'm sure people are still being diagnosed with coronavirus in area hospitals. There are probably protests in town as well. Nevertheless, it still seemed pretty much like a normal Saturday in Dallas. Normal is good. We need a lot more normal.

I wasted a lot of time watching the launch on TV today. This stuff never gets old for me. I wondered whether the black boots the astronauts wore are actually part of the spacesuit, or were more like the rubber garden boots I wear on rainy days. Maybe the white space suit was under these boots. I wonder whether toy stores are already sold out of sparkly toy dinosaurs? I was surprised to see that one of the astronauts wore glasses. I guess perfect vision isn't a requirement. It's amazing these rockets even work at all. They are so complicated. My car doesn't even work all the time. Neither does my computer.

I went out and brought home a large pizza for dinner. Pizza and beer, a friendly dog looking for table scraps, a warm Spring evening, and a rocket launch. Sounds like a good day to me.

Ollie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3468

Today was amazing. We started the day by attending a press conference that was broadcast on NASA TV. We got to ask the payload specialists questions about the satellites that will be launched tomorrow. These were the people who actually designed the satellites, so the presentation was very interesting. I got to ask one question about the Deep Space Atomic Clock myself. I'm always amazed that many of the people working on these missions seem so young. They look like they just got out of high school but they have PhD's from prestigious universities and are already doing cutting edge research. When I think what I was doing at that age, I can't help but be very impressed. I think our future is in good hands.

After the press conference, we were taken out to the famous countdown clock near the Vertical Assembly Building. I've seen this clock in many memorable news broadcasts, but I never thought I'd be standing next to it. Traditionally, this is where the press watches important launches. Nobody will be there tomorrow though. The Falcon Heavy is still considered experimental by the Air Force and they still feel this location too close in case the rocket explodes. Our group, along with other members of the press, will be viewing the launch from a location near the Banana River.

I got to spend the afternoon at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The new Atlantis exhibit is fantastic. The Space Shuttle Atlantis and a full size replica of the Hubble Space Telescope are displayed as if they were floating in space. When you see a space shuttle up close like this, it is astonishing how big it is. I had no idea. The Hubble Space Telescope is pretty huge too. It's about twice the size that I thought is was.

There is a space shuttle simulator as part of the Atlantis exhibit that lets you experience what it is like to be launched into space on one of these things. Astronauts who have ridden in the simulator say it is remarkably realistic. I'm not a big fan of roller coasters and tend to get seasick, so I was a bit wary of the ride. What the heck. I knew I might not get this chance again, so I grabbed a seat on the simulator. It was quite an experience. The whole simulator tilts vertical and you are lying on your back during the launch phase of the ride. There is lots of noise and vibration and somehow they have even managed to created the illusion of G-forces. I enjoyed myself. As I was leaving this afternoon, I even got a space shuttle astronaut named Sam Durrance to sign my launch credentials.

Today was just a prelude to the main event. The weather still looks good, so everyone seems to think that the launch will take place tomorrow as planned. During the day, we may even get to go out to the launch pad and see the rocket up close. I'm not quite sure where we'll be going tomorrow, but it will definitely be someplace I've never been before. The launch is at night, so we were warned several times to wear a hat, long pants, and apply plenty of bug spray. The mosquitoes are supposed to be horrendous. We were also told that if we were late for the credential check tomorrow morning, the bus would leave without us. I don't take chances. I was early this morning and I'm sure I'll be early tomorrow as well. I hope the launch goes smoothly. I don't have a bucket list, but this is definitely a bucket list item.

Boo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3356

20,000 steps today. That's what you get when you walk the dog twice, go to the gym, and remove all the water from the roof. I was surprised that Dash even wanted a walk this morning. It was bitterly cold. There was a brisk wind for most of the day and the wind chill made the temperature feel like 20 degrees. I definitely didn't feel like going up on the roof in this kind of weather, but I knew that if I didn't remove the standing water immediately, it would be ice by morning. So far, the roof leak hasn't reappeared, so maybe all my efforts have been worthwhile. Just being outside today was quite a workout. My trip to the gym seemed easy by comparison.

I wasn't surprised that Dash seemed tired today. Walking in freezing weather takes a lot out of you. We probably should have stayed inside but it's hard to convince a dog who loves to smell things in the park that it is too cold. As soon as Dash gets back inside on these cold days, he starts shivering. He never shivers while he is actually walking though. I still haven't figured this out. At any rate, after a short nap under his favorite blanket, Dash was fine. The cold weather certainly didn't hurt his appetite. Dash ate anything within reach today.

I watched the Crew Dragon capsule dock with the International Space Station on NASA TV this morning. The capsule looked so clean and neat inside. It looked a lot more like the interior of a Tesla Model 3 than your typical space capsule. The Russian Soyuz capsule looks like a flying garbage can by comparison. I'm amazed at the progress that Elon Musk has made in the last ten years. It's pretty impressive. I hope he can reach his goal of landing on Mars while I'm still alive.

I didn't have the energy to do any house cleaning after I finished with the roof this afternoon. I didn't finish updating the Dalmatian Rescue website either. I guess I can do those things tomorrow. Today just seemed like a long, continuous workout. Maybe I lost a few a few pounds. It isn't every day that I rack up 20,000 steps on the Fitbit.

I wonder why I've become so fascinated with tracking things. The Fitbit tracks me while I'm walking around and up until yesterday an IOS app called Fabric tracked me when I was driving around. the Fabric company went out of business recently and the app has gone dead. The same thing happened to Moves, another tracking app I used to use. I guess this shows that there isn't much of a market for apps that track your every more. Most people apparently don't want to be tracked.

I wonder whether I should cancel tomorrow's appointment with the plumber? Another arctic cold front is on the way and temperatures are supposed be get down in the teens. I would imagine that if the ground is frozen, it's going to be a lot harder to find that leak in the sewer line. I can't imagine that the plumbers would enjoy working out in the cold either. I'll call in the morning and see what the plumbing company wants to do. This seems like something that could wait until things warm up a bit.

Dash was restless last night and I didn't get a lot of sleep. Hope things improve this evening. I've done enough moving for one day. I need to be still for a while.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3295 - New Year's Day

I got a surprising amount of sleep last night, especially considering that I'd stayed up past midnight to greet the new year. Two glasses of champagne didn't seem to bother me either. There was no reason to get up early today. It was cold outside and we had no plans. We all slept in until well past 8 AM. At some point during the night I got up to let Dash outside, but I barely remember it. These nightly disruptions are routine now. Pooping in the bed a few hours later wasn't a big deal either. Dash has gotten pretty good about staying on his puppy training pad. I just slide out the soiled pad, roll it up and replace it with a fresh puppy pad. Dash never even wakes up.

Before I went to bed last night I watched the New Horizons flyby of Ultma Thule on NASA TV. There wasn't much to see. The probe was more than four billion miles away and it would take another six hours for the signal that the mission had succeeded to reach Earth. The fact that we will soon get a look at something located way beyond Pluto is amazing to me. We are so good at science like this and yet for some reason we still can't get along with each other.

I imagine that quite a few people will make a New Year's Resolution to be more agreeable this year, but few will succeed. There are just so many reasons to be irritated at our fellow man. If Dash was a human he would be in an assisted living home by now. He's a dog though, so I'm willing to do anything I can to make his last day's comfortable.

Dash loves his walks so we all got bundled up and braved the cold this morning. It was a gloomy, grey day but at least it wasn't raining. Dash is so intent on smelling things these days that he forgets about his rear legs. I'm constantly having to steady him by holding the handle on his harness to keep him from falling over. While we were walking I kept thinking it was Sunday and was thinking about having pancakes for breakfast. I was actually kind of surprised when I remembered it was only Tuesday. The entire holiday season has been like this. It's hard to tell what day it is.

I didn't do much today. The days when we would watch the Rose Bowl parade followed by an entire day of football seem so long ago. Even the names of the bowl games have changed. They are all named after corporations now and some of them aren't even on New Year's Day. To avoid doing household chores, I caught up on some overdue correspondence. I wrote the roofer, begging him to hurry up with repairs. I wrote the friend who is selling my train collection. He wants to lower prices, since sales have been slow. I'm still hoping that someone like me will wander into his store and buy everything. I sent Christmas greetings to a few people even though Christmas is over. Why not?

I didn't finish breakfast until well after noon and by the time I took a shower Dash was already waiting for his evening walk. Where did the day go? Jeez. Where did the year go?  2018 seemed to slip by awfully fast. Dash ended the year a little bit healthier than he started it. Like Dot, he is very determined to make the most of the time he has. Auctioning my art this year was an interesting experience. It actually got me interest in art again. Unfortunately, I don't have any left.

Like many people, I hope that 2019 will be better than 2018. You've got your reasons and I've got mine. Whatever you're hoping for, I wish you luck. All I know is that anything could happen during our next trip around the sun.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3259

I did a lot of laundry today and watched the Mars landing on NASA TV. That was about it. Of course there was poop to clean up, a walk in the park, and a large smoothie to drink, but these things happen every day. Mars landings and major cleaning efforts happen much less frequently.

I started watching Mars landings when the Spirit and Opportunity rovers made their debut in 2003. When I look up at Mars at night, it seems amazing to me that we can send things to this distant point of light. Traveling to a different city seems complex to me. It's hard to even imagine traveling 300 million miles and still arriving right on time. Maybe if I understood orbital mechanics a little better I might not have not have wound up in advertising. What I do definitely isn't rocket science.

I'm not sure if the solar panels have deployed yet, but the Insight mission appears to be a success. So few things in life work perfectly that I'm always impressed when anything goes exactly as planned. So many things could have gone wrong today, but they didn't. If my car worked as well as a Mars lander it would probably last 100 years. The space program proves that we actually do have the capacity to do things right. The reason that we don't have lawn mowers and cars built like the Insight lander is that nobody could afford them. Even though the space program is horribly expensive, it's cheap compared to all our senseless wars. I'd like to see fewer aircraft carriers and more Mars landers. Hopefully, I'll see a lander with a person in it while I'm still alive.

Dash was frustrated that he couldn't sleep on the bed while everything was being laundered today. Janet took the big, heavy comforter to a laundromat and I washed everything else at home. Everything looks crisp and new again. Even the pillows look good. It would sure be nice if Dash doesn't poop in the bed tonight. We need a few days to enjoy things the way they used to be.

The weather continues to be confusing. It was 34 degrees when we woke up this morning. Just a few days ago the temperature was almost 70. We'll probably go back and forth like this for the rest of the Winter. I just hope we don't get much snow. When I see the blizzard conditions in other parts of the country, it makes me glad I live in Texas. Dash had to wear a sweater this morning under all his other gear. He wasn't happy. It wasn't easy to get the sweater on because he wouldn't relax his legs so we could slip them through the armholes. I'm sure he doesn't enjoy all the time we spend dressing him to go outside, but it is necessary. The little guy likes his walks but he's pretty fragile these days.

Dash has a vet appointment scheduled on Wednesday, but I'm not sure what we'll do tomorrow. I certainly don't have much on my schedule. I'll have to say that I enjoyed watching the Insight landing today. I don't think I missed much by not being there in person. I wish there were more events like this. Watching a talented group of people accomplish the impossible is uplifting to me. It sure beats watching congress accomplish nothing.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3054

When I got up last night to take Dash out to pee, I noticed the moon centered between Mars and Saturn in the Eastern sky. The celestial display reminded me that the InSight Mars mission was launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base in less than an hour. I decided to stay up and watch the launch on NASA TV. Actually, I couldn't get back to sleep anyway. Just as I predicted, last night's pizza gave me a bad case of heartburn.

Seeing the rocket shrouded in fog just before liftoff reminded me of my own visit to Vandenberg Air Force Base several years ago. I could have applied to view this launch as well, but it wasn't in the cards. Dash is too fragile to take to a boarding kennel these days and I couldn't afford the trip anyway. Maybe someday. Being a space launch groupie seems to make as much sense in retirement as anything else I could think of.

When I looked at Mars this morning, it seemed amazing that someone could aim something so precisely at this tiny speck in the sky. I've always wanted to be involved in the space industry, but I was never good at math. It doesn't matter if you're Neil Armstrong or Steven Hawking, it's all about the math. I wish I understood orbital mechanics. I don't even understand why the moon seems to wander all over the sky.

Nice weather always puts me in a good mood. Even though I didn't get much sleep last night, I felt fine. I  definitely needed to stay in good spirits, because today was the day to go to the storage warehouse and get my collection organized. I sorted through box after box and was amazed at how much I had. I'd totally forgotten buying some of this stuff. I wish I had the foresight to collect something that the younger generation liked. Nobody collects model trains anymore. My friend says most of his customers are old men. I'm glad he knows where they are. I certainly couldn't find them.

My Dad was an accomplished wood carver and kept buying carving tools long after his Parkinson's Disease destroyed his dexterity. I think I finally realized the futility of collecting when I was dealing with his estate. There were boxes and boxes full of brand new tools that never got used. Hopefully, disposing of this initial collection of model trains will make it easier to do further downsizing in the future.

Dash had a lot of energy today. Maybe the Movoflex supplements we're giving him are working. At one point on his morning walk, he actually started to run. Running isn't a good idea for Dash. He's not very coordinated anymore and his back legs don't work as good as his front legs. When he feels like running, I run along beside him, holding on to the handle of his Ruffwear harness. I want him to enjoy himself, but I definitely don't want him to fall. Dash never runs far, but I'm glad he hasn't given up.

I haven't given up either. To the casual observer, it might appear like I've lost interest in everything. Not really. I've still got my curiosity.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2395

Independence Day ended as it began, with a horrendous thunderstorm that lasted for the rest of the night. I didn't get much sleep. Dot got so upset that I thought she was going to have a stroke. Dash was pretty upset too. This was some of the most intense thunder and lightening I've ever seen. The storm went on for hours and this morning I heard that some parts of town had gotten up to four inches of rain.

The U-Verse TV didn't work when we woke up this morning. Rebooting the receiver didn't fix things. Rebooting the router didn't help either. Nothing worked. Oddly, the U-Verse land line phone and the WiFi network were just fine. I called technical support and they said they needed to do some tests. After they tried to reboot the router remotely, everything went dead. Somehow they fried the entire gateway. The tech support guy claimed that last night's storm had damaged the router, but I think they ruined it themselves. Luckily, I had a spare router that AT&T sent me last month. I had been reluctant to install it because I knew I would have to re-pair every single wireless device on the network.

Since the router I'd been using was toast, I really had no choice. I spent the rest of the day configuring the gateway and then painstakingly reattaching all the devices on the network. Some devices were easy to reattach, but others were insanely difficult. A wireless office is convenient when it's working, but it can drive you crazy when something goes wrong. If I had it all to do over again, I'd just hook everything up with Ethernet cables.

After I finally got everything working again, I heard something on the weather report saying that there were more thunderstorms in the forecast for tonight. That's all I need. After spending all day getting my network running again, I certainly don't want to fry my new router tonight. I don't want to deal with two storm phobic dogs either. If the storm is bad enough, I really worry about Dot and Dash. When they go into panic mode, it feels like I'm only inches away from a medical emergency. Hopefully, things will be a bit calmer tonight. I really need some sleep.

I did manage to update some websites today, but I don't remember much about the assignments. All I remember is struggling to get the wireless thermostat working again and cleaning up dog poop. When I watched the Juno orbit insertion maneuver last night on NASA TV, I couldn't help feeling a bit envious of the folks I was watching at the Jet Propulsion Lab. I felt the same way when I watched the New Horizons spacecraft rendezvous with Pluto and as I held my breath watching Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity make successful landings on Mars. Ad people often think they are doing something important, but it's all just smoke and mirrors. These scientists at JPL actually are doing something important.

I don't expect to get a lot done tomorrow. It's Dot's physical therapy day and each week these sessions seem to take longer and longer. There are things I'd rather do, but the therapy is important. Maybe the weather will be nice tomorrow. Maybe Dot's won't poop in my car. A little good news tomorrow could go a long way.

Isabella is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2394 - Independance Day

My favorite Fourth of July memories took place in Alaska. I lived there when I was growing up and there was a magic about the place that could not be duplicated today. I remember that family and friends gathered together on the Fourth for a large picnic in an abandoned gravel pit that usually involved a fish fry with freshly caught salmon. Fireworks weren't regulated then and teenage boys like myself came to these parties armed with large paper bags filled with cherry bombs and M-80's.

It's a miracle that I still have both arms. We would place cherry bombs in the center of toilet paper rolls and throw them in the air to watch them explode. We made a makeshift cannon from a length of cast iron sewer pipe and fired shells made from aluminum cans filled with sand. The procedure involved putting the can in the tube, throwing a lit M-80 behind it, and then quickly blocking the end of the tube with a large rock. The sand filled cans could easily travel the length of a football field. I'm glad we never hit anybody because these were not harmless projectiles. Thinking back on these occasions, the amazing thing was that none of the parents in attendance did anything to stop us from this mayhem. Of course we were driven to these picnics in cars without seat belts and most of our parents smoked cigarettes. It was a different time and there was a naive innocence to the way we all lived. We were just kids having fun.

Things are much quieter now. I haven't bought fireworks in years and you couldn't pay me to go to a public fireworks show. We used to barbecue in the back yard on the Fourth, but eventually we realized that it wasn't much fun sharing your dinner with fire ants and mosquitoes. This evening, Janet picked up a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken along with some potato salad and baked beans. The older we get, the less we cook. I'm convinced that tonight's meal wouldn't have tasted any better if we cooked it ourselves. Sometimes the easy way is the best way.

Mother nature started her own fireworks show shortly after midnight. Less than an hour after we all went to sleep, a major thunderstorm rolled through town and woke everyone up again. Dot was scared, so I grabbed a blanket and slept on the floor with her for the rest of the night. Storms worry Dot even more than they used to, because she can't quickly run to her safe place under my desk. Things calmed down a bit when I blocked her view of the window. She can't hear the thunder very well anymore, and when she could no longer see the lightning, she eventually went back to sleep. I was a bit nervous sleeping next to Dot, since I thought she might poop on me. We got lucky though and made it through the rest of the night without any accidents. When the rain finally stopped around 9 AM it was twenty degrees cooler. With the cooler air and cloudy skies, we actually had a very pleasant walk this morning.

When I went to pick up the prescription I had forgotten about yesterday, I was disappointed to see that the price had gone up. This happens all too frequently. Healthcare is so expensive already that I hate to think what it's going to be like ten years from now. Truthfully, I hate to think what anything is going to be like ten years from now. We are not headed in the right direction.

Instead of watching fireworks this evening, I'm going to watch the Juno spacecraft being placed into orbit around Jupiter on NASA TV. Talk about pressure. It took five years for the spacecraft to reach Jupiter and if everything doesn't go perfectly about an hour from now, the entire mission will have been for nothing. I'm an unapologetic space geek. This little bit of engineering drama is actually exciting to me.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2037

I had a fairly useless doctor's appointment today. The doctor I meant to see canceled on me at the last minute because he was going to be in surgery. When I tried to reschedule, I was informed that my doctor was closing his practice to become a hospital administrator and that there were no more openings available until his last day at the clinic toward the end of this month. This was surprising news, mostly because why would a doctor want to become a hospital administrator anyway? I was encouraged to see one of the doctor's colleagues instead. When I arrived today, the new doctor was clearly overworked. He must have taken over the other doctor's entire case load. Instead of answering a lot of questions and running a lot of tests like the other doctor did, this guy rushed through his exam and quickly pronounced me good to go for another year. Usually a quick exam is exactly what I'm looking for, but this time I felt shortchanged. I may need to find a new doctor.

I'm havin an odd problem with my new website project. The client gave me an FTP address where I could upload the new site, but when I went there, there was nothing on the server. Where was the existing site? I contacted the client's IT guy and asked where the site actually was and he didn't know. The old site is active, but it isn't where it is supposed to be. I used the correct domain name to login to the server and everything. The whole thing is a mystery to me. This is getting to be a case of all dressed up and no place to go. The new site is just about finished, but I've got no place to put it.

I just saw on NASA TV that the New Horizons team has received a signal from the spacecraft that the Pluto flyby was successful and the memory banks are full of pictures. I'm sure we'll see something pretty impressive tomorrow, but it will take over a year to transmit all of today's images and observation data back to earth. Pluto is so far away and data transmission rates are so slow that it makes old dial up modems seem super fast by comparison. It is just amazing to me that the little spacecraft can do all this using technology that is a decade old and already obsolete. I'm sure you know by now that your phone has a more powerful computer than the ones aboard Apollo 11, but did your know that the Voyager spacecraft that took the first photos of Neptune actually saved the images to a tape recorder. That's all they had back then. If an old analog tape recorder can work billions of miles away in space, why doesn't the ice maker in my refrigerator work? These audacious space missions have confirmed what I have long suspected. We know how to do things the right way. We just don't bother most of the time.

Dot is still having problems with her left rear leg. I wish there was a way to make her youthful and strong again, but realistically what I am doing is managing an inevitable slow decline. Dot seems comfortable and happy, but she's having a harder time getting up than she was even a month ago. Hopefully, we can figure out the reason for this setback and get Dot back on course for a full recovery. I still think it might be the Palladia pills that are causing this recent weakness, but it's going to be a tough choice if chemotherapy is causing the problem. What do you do if you have to choose between cancer and walking?

I can't wait to see the Pluto close up pictures tomorrow. My own day won't be nearly as exciting. There will be barking dogs during my breakfast. I will see if I can find the real location of the mystery website so I can exchange the old for something new. I updated an animal rescue website today, but there may be more new dogs and cats to add tomorrow. I wish it was cooler outside, but hey, it's July in Texas. What else can you expect.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2021

Sunday's are often the busiest days of the week. The dogs get longer walks because there are fewer work constraints. The lawn gets mowed, because what better is there to do after breakfast than mow the lawn. Sometimes the house gets cleaned, but not today. I was pleased the Dot had more energy today. She always walks better when Dash is with her. Since Dash was so good about walking slow for Dot's benefit, we took him to a nearby dog park as a special treat later in the morning. You can tell that Dash is getting older too. He used to race around the dog park with wild abandon. Now, he just walks slowly from tree to tree, smelling things and looking for new places to pee. He still enjoys being off leash though. I'd take him to the dog park more often if people were more responsible. There's always someone who brings an aggressive dog. Today we saw one dog get in a fight with several others. The dogs that got attacked didn't appear to be injured, but the whole episode was totally unnecessary.

Mowing the grass with a non-self propelled mower definitely burns up a lot of calories. I think I'm just about the only person in the neighborhood who still mows their own grass anymore. Most of the other neighbors have a lawn care service. I still do a lot of things that other people have given up on. I'm kind of a throwback to an earlier era, except when it comes to technology. I may still mow my own grass, vacuum my own floors, and fix my own refrigerator, but I'm not shy about adopting the latest technology if it will do the job better. This year I have become a huge fan of Keurig coffee makers, Dyson vacuum cleaners, and even though I collect vintage mechanical watches, I'm going to add the Apple Watch to my list of really useful technical innovations.

I watched the Space X Dragon 9 launch on NASA TV right after breakfast and was shocked to see the rocket explode two minutes into its flight. Space X has had a remarkable success record, so this was very unexpected. This is a major setback, since this same rocket is scheduled to start carrying people to the space station in a little over a year. The astronauts on the station must be getting nervous. This is the second supply rocket failure in a row and the third in less than a year. In a way, I'm glad I didn't go to this launch. I'd much rather cheer on a success than witness a failure.

There are some pilings in the lake that Double-crested Cormorants and Gulls like to roost on in the Winter. I've probably photographed these pilings hundreds of times. They look completely different in the morning than they do in the afternoon. On foggy days they look spectacular. Sometimes each pole has a bird sitting on top, and other days, like today. they are all empty. I find these pilings strangely beautiful, but the city wants to demolish them. Some neighbors love these things and others think they're an eyesore. There's no accounting for taste I guess.

I listened to a Ted Talk on the way to the gym where the speaker was talking about how technology is fundamentally changing what it means to be human. The guy's point was that people are slowly becoming more comfortable interacting with their phones and robots than they are with other people. I guess this is true, but from my perspective it's not necessarily a bad thing. I'll always use the automated checkout kiosk in a store instead of going to a cashier. It's quicker, easier, and you don't have to talk with anyone. I would probably never use a personal trainer at the gym, but I felt strangely motivated today when my watch told me that I only had a few minutes to go before I'd burned 300 calories.

Patch is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1873

Today's photo shoot went well. I think everybody involved was very happy with the results. In a couple of weeks or so, these images will be featured on thousands of posters and postcards. The young puppies and kittens I photographed were surprisingly well behaved. Nobody tried to chew the leather saddle. Nobody peed on the backdrop. And nobody chased the cat. The little kitten was fearless and clearly wasn't intimidated by dogs. Doing a photo shoot with puppies is always a dicey proposition. The won't stay in one place more than two seconds and seem to pee every five minutes. To even attempt something like this, you need a wrangler for each animal. The small cowboy hats were constantly falling off and needed to continually be repositioned. Puppies and kittens get tired quickly too, so there is always an optimal moment between crazy exuberance and deep sleep were you get your best pictures. All in all, I think I did pretty well today.

The SMAP spacecraft had a successful launch this morning. The four or five people from our group who had flexible enough schedules to stay in the area for the launch all said it was spectacular. I wish I could have been there too. I did get up early and watch the launch on TV and everything seemed to go perfectly. The network news channels only showed a few seconds of the launch, but NASA TV broadcast the whole thing live for over an hour. I was mesmerized. I don't think I'll ever look at those short clips of satellite launches on the evening new the same way again. Now, when I see a rocket go up, I'll be thinking of the hundreds and hundreds of people that it took to get it off the launch pad.

The animal rescue community is all abuzz about the new GoDaddy commercial depicting a puppy who falls off the breeder's truck, gets lost, and eventually finds his way home, only to discover he's been sold. It didn't take long for rescue advocates to get this spot pulled. I saw the commercial and agree that this definitely looks like a puppy mill breeder. A responsible breeder would never ship a bunch of puppies of in a truck and wouldn't sell them online either. Many rescue advocates think all breeders are evil and that you should always get your dog from a shelter. I've been involved in animal rescue for many, many years and I don't necessarily agree with this position. Responsible breeders are wonderful people who understand their dogs, keep them healthy, and always find them great homes. It's easier to buy a house than it is to purchase a dog from a very good breeder. They are very particular about who gets their pups. Dot and Dash were both rescued from shelters, but we've gotten dogs from breeders as well. If your have your heart set on a particular breed, there is nothing wrong with getting your dog from a good breeder. Puppy mill breeders are cruel to their animals and should be eliminated, but responsible breeders should be your friend. They are actually some of the biggest supporters of rescue efforts. Nothing is black or white, except Dalmatians of course. I hate to see issues like these polarize people.

I don't know who to root for at tomorrow's Superbowl game. Neither the Seahawks or the Patriots are teams that I'm particularly fond of. If Dallas couldn't be in the Superbowl, I'd much rather root for Green Bay or Pittsburgh. I'll watch the game and eat more than I should like everybody else, but what I'm really interested in is the Culwell and Son Superbowl sale. These guys were a client of mine for many years and once a year they mark everything down up to 75% off for just a few hours on Superbowl Sunday. Since it's the only time I can actually afford these expensive clothes, I never miss this sale.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1870

Today was amazing! I got to go inside the ultra high security mission control building at Vandenberg. We visited the tower where the SMAP satellite will be launched early tomorrow morning. We saw the world's last remaining ICBM from the early days of the cold war. There were rockets everywhere. We were even on a live broadcast on the NASA TV channel. Oh, and I capped the day off by wrecking my rent car.

It was only a fender bender, but since it happened near a big Air Force base, three Air Force fire trucks and two MP's came to the scene. The Air Force guys quickly left when they discovered that nobody was hurt,  but I still had to wait on the side of the road for over half and hour for the California Highway patrol to show up. I knew I was going to miss the roll out of the rocket from the tower, but I didn't want to be charged for leaving the scene of an accident. In Texas, people just trade insurance information on minor accidents and go about their business. The other driver wanted to wait for the police though. When the highway patrol finally did show up, the first thing they asked was why we didn't just trade insurance information and leave. You could tell that they thought the whole thing was a waste of their time. Later I learned that the roll out had been delayed and that the other people attending the launch didn't get to see anything either.

The press conference for the launch was broadcast live on NASA TV. Janet said she saw me ask my one question on TV and that I didn't look like a dork. That's always good to know. I usually look like a dork. I learned a lot today. I never knew that there was a launch facility for the space shuttle at Vandenberg. At one point they were planing to launch the shuttle into polar orbit. The huge facility was finished about the same time the space shuttle program was canceled. It was never used. I never knew that at the beginning of the cold war, the USA only had three nuclear missiles and that they was all based at Vandenberg.

The rocket is scheduled to launch very early tomorrow morning. There is only a three minute launch window on Thursday, since it will be launched into a polar orbit. This means that if the launch is delayed at all, it can't be rescheduled until the next day. Hopefully, everything will go like clockwork. If the launch gets postponed, I'll have to return home without seeing it.

I met a lot of people today that worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Goddard Space Flight Center, or directly with NASA. I even met someone who had been accepted into the Mars One program. Every one of them seemed to really love their job. If you gathered a similar group of advertising people together, I doubt that you'd find anyone who genuinely loved their job.  I think I'll never look at "rocket science" the same way again. These people were amazing! We need a lot more of them.

At one point during the day, we had to leave all our phones, cameras, and computers on the bus while we visited a secret location. "Don't worry, your stuff is safe here," said an Air Force Sargent. I imagine it was. The is the most secure facility I've ever been to in my life. It was quite an experience to be allowed to see behind the curtain.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day