Day 4429

We got off to a slow start today. Dawn froze on her morning walk and refused to move. This hasn't happened in ages. It's been so long since Dawn froze on a walk that we thought this behavior was ancient history. Usually Dawn will start following Janet if she starts walking away, but not today. We tried everything we could think of to get her interested in walking but all she wanted to do was go back to the house. Later in the afternoon we tried the same walk all over again and had no problems whatsoever. Go figure. 

When Dawn first began to freeze in place we didn't know whether she was having a small seizure or was just being extremely stubborn. We still don't know. She's always fine as soon as we return home. At least we were close to the house this time. Once on a walk I had to leave Janet with Dawn and walk over a mile home to get the car so we could retrieve Dawn and get her back to the house again. We've asked several vets what this all means but it seems like a mystery to them too.

I did even less today than I did yesterday. I paid some bills and made an appointment to get a haircut. Other than my perpetual long walk, that was about it. I got a letter from NASA this morning asking me to fill out a survey so they could assess my needs at the Artemis 1 launch before they made a final credentialing decision. I don't know if this means I'm about to get a press pass or not. The letter did say that completing the survey did not guarantee getting credentialed. I'll just have to wait and see. It does appear that NASA is expecting a lot of people for this historic launch. My best hope for getting accepted is if Covid fades away before the launch takes place. I never had a problem getting a press pass before all the Covid restrictions began.

I wish I hadn't gotten apprehensive about going up on the roof. I know there's still water up there and it doesn't evaporate very fast in the winter. It's discouraging to see brown stains begin to reappear on the living roof ceiling. I worked really hard to get rid of those stains less than a month ago. The roof does better if I go up and remove all the standing water right after a big rain, but I think my recent apprehension is warranted. My sense of balance just isn't as good as it used to be. Bad feet and a weak knee don't help either.

At least I can still walk. I had another 20,000 step day and I wasn't really trying. I wish I could find a source for the Hoka hiking boots. I know if I just go ahead and buy another pair of Hoka running shoes like I've got now, the boots will suddenly reappear and be available everywhere. These shoes really do help my feet but they don't last very long. High end running shoes never last very long. I'm used to keeping a pair of leather boots for decades. I've had boots that I've resoled five or six times. You can't do that with flimsy running shoes. You are real lucky if they last a year.

I added Jo Jo to the rescue website today and marked several dogs as adopted. This is the only website I work on anymore. There used to be dozens of websites that I actively maintained and website maintenance kept me busy every single day. The days of old fashioned static sites are over and my programming skills are deteriorating. I had a good run while it lasted though. It's weird to see a profession slipping away. I'll be able to keep writing forever, but I just don't have the desire to keep up with all the changes in website design. Today's dynamic sites are much more complicated than they used to be. Actually, everything in life seems more complicated than it used to be.

Tomorrow I get a haircut and Dawn gets her annual exam at the vet on Thursday. I'm trying to stick with doing one thing a day. It keeps life simpler.

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4151

I got a haircut today, so that means I'm one step closer to being ready to travel. I always get a haircut before I take a trip. I guess it's kind of like putting clean clothes in your suitcase. It's not totally necessary, but it's nice to get started out on the right foot. I definately look more presentable now. I don't get haircuts as frequently as I did before the pandemic, but I'm certainly not going back to the way I looked in college. Back then I thought long hair made me look like a rock star. Now I think it makes me look like a homeless person. I asked my stylist when she was going to feel comfortable cutting hair without a mask. She said maybe never. This didn't seem strange to me at all. A lot has changed during the past year.

I got another rejection letter from NASA today. This notice was a bit different. It said that my credentials had been verified but my request to cover the launch was declined because the launch had been canceled. I will be given another chance to reapply when the launch is rescheduled. Is this good news or bad news? I have no idea. Since the launch was supposed to take place last March, it seems like they could have just waited a little longer instead of starting over from scratch. I'm kind of hoping that there are no important launches until all the post-pandemic travelers get their first vacation out of their systems. Planes are full and prices are insane right now. I'm in no hurry to join the madness. At least my trip to the observatory should be fairly quiet. There's not a lot of people traveling to that remote mountain.

I successfully added the astrophotography software to my new laptop partition. I thought that this would be easy, but it was surpassingly difficult because the software was developed by Germans. These guys were obsessed with verification and security. I had to jump through all sorts of hoops to get access to their download servers. When I launched the software to see if it worked on my computer, it seemed totally confusing to me. I have no idea what this actually does. That's OK. Learning how to use PixInsight is one of the reasons I'm going to the workshop.

We decided to wait until I returned from my haircut to walk Dawn today. I don't think she was happy with this plan. She was definitely eager to get out of the house. I was surprised at how hot it was this afternoon. Maybe this was why Janet and I walked Dawn really early last Summer. Neither of us can remember why we started doing this. It seems crazy to walk before sunrise now.

Dawn was hot and tired when we completed her short one mile loop. I probably should have gone back to the house with her. By the time I finished my long walk I was sweating profusely and was pretty tired myself. The temperature was in the high 80's today and it was very humid. I hope this isn't a sign of what's to come. I'd like our nice Spring weather to last a little longer.

I've taken the trash out to the curb and am ready to restart the week again. It looks like I'm going to have to mow the grass again this weekend. I'm not looking forward to that. This mower isn't self-propelled and it's getting harder and harder to push. I'd like a weekend with nothing to do at all.

Patches is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day