Day 4972

Just a normal Saturday, doing my Saturday things. We're taking our sunrise walks earlier now to avoid the heat but it doesn't really help. It's already uncomfortably warm even before the sun comes up. At least there was a breeze this morning. A breeze always helps.

We had our big weekend breakfast this morning and then I got started on my grocery shopping. I had to get gas today and it was even more expensive than it was last week. It seems weird that the price has shot up so suddenly. Gas prices were a lot lower earlier this summer.

I'm still trying to find a replacement for my favorite beer. I try something new every week. Maybe I'll get lucky with this week's selection. I did get lucky in the seafood department at Central Market. Maryland Crabcakes were on sale. Yum. Janet and I both love these. I discovered that the hydroponically grown strawberries I got last week were exactly twice as expensive as Sam's Club strawberries. Oh, well. It's back to the regular strawberries.

After I put the groceries away I went to the gym. I like the gym on weekends because it is virtually empty. It's easy to find a spot in the parking garage and there are no trainers on the floor. I still go through my regular routine on weekends, but it seems more peaceful. I was slower on the indoor track today,  but oddly I was much better on the basketball court. I completed my ten free throws in record time today.

Dawn loves to sit out in the sun even on hot days like we've been having lately. I let her out when I returned from the gym and kept an eye on her so she wouldn't get overheated. Five or ten minutes outside is plenty of time in this weather. When I start to get hot, I know she's getting hot as well and we come back inside. Our air conditioner is still working well. Knock on wood. I really hope it doesn't break down this summer.

I read an article yesterday that said that short naps were good for the brain and could actually cause it to grow. Just what I wanted to hear. I usually take a short nap in the afternoon and today was no exception. Dawn doesn't run away as frequently now when I take a nap in the bedroom. I think that's a good sign. I'm not typically an optimistic person, but I do think that she'll eventually learn to trust me.

These weeks go so quickly now. It doesn't seem like a week since I've been mall walking, but it's almost time to go again. Mall walking is a nice change of pace from going to the gym. Both places are indoors and the air conditioning works well. We'll take Dawn for ice cream cones tomorrow, but it's way too hot for a mid-day walk during our Sunday outing. I think Dawn is fine with just getting ice cream.

I wish I could hibernate like a bear until Fall arrived. I keep looking at the weather forecast and all I see is an endless string of triple digit days.

Morgan is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4825

It was just a normal Saturday with a few major changes. It's weird not taking our sunrise walk anymore. It's seems like we've been doing this forever. Hopefully Dawn will be able to resume this activity when she has finished her two week course of meds. Dawn spends most of her time sleeping on the bed now. We still guide her up and down her steps at the foot of the bed, but I think she would do this on her own now. 

Dawn seems to be a quick learner. I can watch her on the pet cam from anywhere in the house, but she is not inclined to move. The only time she would try to jump off the bed is when Janet is returning to the house. Now Janet calls me on the phone when she is several blocks away so I can be in the room with Dawn when she arrives. This seems to work pretty well. There have been no falls since we all started being a lot more careful.

I waited until Janet returned from the gym before going shopping this morning. Traffic was even worse than usual because there was a St. Patrick's Day parade on Greenville Avenue. I've never understood why people love a parade, but this one always seems to attract a huge crowd. At any rate, I changed my route a bit and avoided the crowds while still getting my shopping done. It was a busy morning since I also needed to fill the car up with gas, go to the bank, and stop at the pharmacy while I was out and about this morning. I only had to visit two grocery stores today, so my Saturday morning errands didn't take me any longer than usual.

When I returned, we took Dawn down to the park to poop. Her schedule has changed now that she is on all these meds. She used to do her business first thing every morning. Now she waits until mid afternoon. She doesn't have much of an appetite early in the day either. To get her to eat I've been bringing her breakfast back to the bedroom. The spoiled dog gets breakfast in bed now. Overall her appetite is still good. She is eager to eat her dinner and bedtime snack.

When Janet left the house again I updated the Dalmatian Rescue website and paid some online bills. I don't think my own schedule has changed much since I'm around the house a lot anyway. I just need to make sure I can always see what Dawn is doing. When I'm working on the computer I can usually see her through the office door sitting on the bed. When I'm in other rooms I can watch her on the pet cam. I'm probably being overprotective but we really don't want her to jump off the bed and fall again. Life would be easier if we could gate her in a hallway with her dog bed. She won't relax in the dog bed though and insists on returning to the big king-sized bed in the bedroom. Whatever works is fine by me. Dawn is definitely getting the bed rest the vet recommends sleeping on our bed.

I'm beginning to think I might be unsteadier on my feet than Dawn is. When I was walking down a road in the park today a guy leaned out his car window and asked if I needed help. It was kind of embarrassing. "Nope, I'm fine," I replied. I suspect that I don't naturally walk in a straight line. Janet says I wobble a bit when we are walking Dawn. It all seems natural enough to me, but maybe it looks strange to others. Hey, at least I'm still moving. A lot of people my age aren't. Something must be working because few people believe that I'm seventy five. They all say I look much younger. They roofing guys couldn't believe I was still climbing up on the roof when I told them my age.

We're not going to be able to take Dawn on her Sunday outing or even go get ice cream for a while. Dawn is way too shaky to ride in a car right now. Even on her best days she's not very good in the car. I'll still go mall walking tomorrow and then go home and babysit Dawn while Janet goes to the gym and runs her errands. I do think Dawn is improving. It's just going to be a long, slow process.

Tyson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4300

I like big round numbers. Only 700 days to go. Writing something for 5000 days in a row has turned out to be a harder challenge than I originally imagined. A lot has changed over the past ten years. I'm still determined to make it to Day 5000 though, even though I don't really have much to say.

I certainly don't have any great insights today. It was a typical Saturday. We got up a little later than we do on weekdays and took Dawn on her early walk. Dawn wasn't adventurous today and just wanted to take her short one mile loop. We had bacon and eggs for breakfast and then I left to do my grocery shopping.

I have to go to three stores now to find the things I need. The supply chain in America still seems broken. A lot of common, ordinary things seem harder to find now. At least I'm having trouble finding the things I like. Stores are not shy about discontinuing brands that don't sell well. Everything is so computerized now that larger stores only restock items that customers are buying the most. They know exactly what you are buying because everything on your register tape is entered into their master database. This doesn't help me, because I'm not always buying what everyone else is. The shopping app I often use to bypass the register line always shows me a list of basic items I commonly buy and asks if I'd like to purchase them again. Sure, but where is that cheese that was on here last week? The list is convenient though. Maybe I don't need a shopping list. It's already in my phone.

I'm not wild about being held hostage to the latest buying trends. Things go in and out of fashion, even though my personal tastes rarely change. You used to be able to find local craft beers everywhere. Now the selections are more limited. I'm having a lot of trouble finding my favorite brew these days. The same thing is happening with cheese. I got hooked on some very sharp imported cheddar and now I can't find it anywhere. What you can find are store brands. All grocery stores have their own private labels now. These items are usually less expensive, because stores have learned that most customers will buy the cheapest thing available.

The temperature was fairly cool today but the humidity was extremely high. I'll take hot and dry over cool and damp any day. When I returned home from my long walk my clothes were drenched even though the temperature was only in the mid-eighties. I spent the rest of the day inside. At least the rain is over with for a while. The forecast shows clear skies for the next week. I probably need to get up on the roof and clean things up while the weather is nice. I'm not looking forward to this, but I've already proved that I can get up on the roof and down again.

I finally decided to install IOS 15 on my phone. This huge download seemed to take twice as long as most phone updates. The companion update to the Apple Watch took even longer. When the watch update began, it said it would take 4 hours. This estimate was pretty accurate. I think the update actually took about three hours. This pair of new updates is supposed to unlock a ton of new features. I wonder if I'll use any of them. There are several new apps on the phone that are supposed to help you achieve peace and serenity. I'm pretty serene anyway, so I doubt that I'll use those. I am interested in the new sleep tracking capabilities of the watch. I'm always interested in what happens while I'm asleep. Too bad I can't remember my dreams.

It looks like our nice Fall weather will return tomorrow, so we ought to have a good Sunday outing with Dawn. She really likes this change of pace from her normal routine even though a ride in the car still scares her. It's hard to tell the difference between fear and excitement with Dawn. She's certainly happy when we get to our destination. We all love the ice cream. We've even started taking home a pint of our favorite flavor when we get the cones. Life is good when there's long walks and ice cream.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4293

Just a normal Saturday. I filled the car with gas and then went to Sam's Club and Central Market. I debated whether to go grocery shopping first and then walk, or the other way around. If you go grocery shopping early, the stores are less crowded. If you go walking early, it's nice and cool. It's too bad you can't do everything early. I opted to get the shopping out of the way, but it was pretty hot by the time I got around to taking my long walk. I had to use the spray fountain in the park to cool off again. I didn't think it would warm up so quickly, especially since we needed light jackets on our sunrise walk with Dawn.

I've had a stomach ache for several days now. At first I thought that something might have gone wrong with my surgery, but I feel better now. I probably just had a mild case of indigestion. It takes a while to get used to a new diet. I've been having huge fruit smoothies for so many years that solid food must be somewhat of a shock to my system. I think I am eating healthier now, but I always thought I was eating healthy before. Who knows? It's hard to get a straight answer on diet and nutrition. I know I'm doing better than all my friends who still get their meals through the drive-thru window at Wendy's, McDonald's, or Whataburger.

Dawn seems friendlier toward me recently. It's a long, slow process but she doesn't run away when I come into a room anymore. Janet thought that if I was the one who fed and walked her, she would eventually start to warm up to me. It seems to be working. She's real friendly early in the mornings now. Later in the day, she remembers that I'm a man and she's got to be cautious. We are making progress though, so that's a good thing.

I'm not making much progress toward finding something I enjoy doing in Dallas. I still wouldn't mind living out at the observatory and I kind of envy my Florida friends who have built an entire lifestyle around following rocket launches. I guess I just don't like big cities anymore. City life revolves around doing things with other people. Not so good when you are trying to avoid people. I can remember a time when I loved going to gallery openings, lectures, and plays. Not anymore.  Did I change, or did the cities themselves change? I know I used to feel safe in almost any large city. That's a big change right there.

It's time to go up on the roof again. I keeps hearing pecans falling on the roof and if I don't remove them, they will stain the water a dark brown the next time it rains. I need to clean things up and do a thorough inspection before the leaves start to fall. A leak under a huge pile of Oak leaves is even harder to find. I wish I could find someone to do this odious job for me. It would take forever to explain what needs to be done and the roof surface is kind of fragile. I've learned a lot tending to this miserable roof over the years. If someone else was up there, I'd just feel that they were making things worse. I'm not getting any younger though. One of these days, I'm not going to be able to climb up there.

I hope the weather stays nice for Dawn's Sunday outing tomorrow. Walking outdoors is so much more enjoyable when the weather is nice.

Rosie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4160

I spent the day falling asleep at random moments. That's the price you pay for spending a week masquerading as a younger man. It was worth it though. I really needed my visit to the observatory. Today was kind of like those stories you hear about astronauts returning from the ISS. I felt heavy and sluggish. Grocery shopping wasn't at all like star watching.

I had a lot of things on my list today. I had to get some fire ant bait because our yard is getting overrun with fire ant mounds. Most of the things on  my list were still readily available, but I had to find a new store that carried my favorite beer. Since the mask mandate has been rescinded in Texas, shoppers were a mix of of masked and bare faced. This is going to be a problem. These two different approaches to life are never going to come to a mutual agreement about anything. I even saw a few gas lines this morning. This is crazy because there is no shortage of gas in Texas. Gasoline is plentiful. We were never affected by that pipeline shutdown at all.

Dawn apparently thinks that I am a necessary component in her daily walks. Janet told me that she was reluctant to take walks while I was away. When I asked her if she was ready for a walk today, she immediately gave me one of those big Dalmatian smiles and started wagging her tail. When we left the house she couldn't wait to return to her regular one mile loop. In Dawn's world I am apparently a necessary and beloved dog walker, but a scary and frightening presence in the kitchen. I can't figure it out, but I'm willing to go with the flow. Maybe Dawn just has PTSD from years of being abused at the breeding kennel.

I took my new camera with me to the observatory, but I completely forgot how to use one of the features I thought would be useful for astrophotography. I didn't have a lot of time to figure things out, so I reverted to using my old camera and a few tried and true settings. I got some good pictures, but was frustrated that the new camera appeared to be broken. This afternoon I was determined to figure out whether it was the camera or me. I loaded the massive 500 page PDF instruction manual in my computer and slowly went through the procedure for creating Live Composite images. Yep. It was me. The camera worked fine. They could have made enabling this feature a little easier to do in the dark. There were way too many steps and it wasn't intuitive at all.  Maybe I just don't have the same capacity to assimilate new knowledge as I did when I was younger. I had trouble with the star tracker  and the PixInsight processing software as well. I'm determined to master the intricacies of the new camera by the time I return to the observatory again. I've probably got plenty of time.

My long walk was difficult today. It was hot outside and my feet were giving me problems again. It's a mystery why my foot pain is so inconsistent. I have good days and bad days. Today was one of the bad days. I completed six miles, but I didn't set any speed records. I was practically limping by the time I returned to the house. I don't understand this at all. I wear the same shoes and walk the same route. It seems like any discomfort would be more consistent.

I'm back on the Air Force launch list. I've received two notifications for upcoming military launches this week, but I don't think this would be a good time to go to Florida. I keep hearing that there are gas lines everywhere and rental cars are almost impossible to find. Rental car rates have gone up in Dallas, but it is much, much worse in Florida. I feel like waiting until life returns to normal before traveling to Kennedy Space Center to attend a launch. On the other hand, I may never travel again if I wait for life to return to normal. Maybe I should just plan a trip to Boca Chica for a Starship launch. That's where the future is anyway.

Tomorrow's version of normal will probably include a trip to Dawn's alternate park for a Sunday walk. If we're lucky there might be an ice cream cone as well.

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4153

New census data shows that the Dallas/Fort Worth area had the biggest population growth in the country in 2018. We could overtake Chicago in size in the near future. This seems impossible until I start running my Saturday errands and then I realize that the story is true. The traffic is impossible now. Where did all these cars come from? Many cars have out-of-state plates. I guess I was ahead of the curve when I moved here in the 1970's. Dallas was still a big city then, but life moved at a slower pace. I liked it better then. To be fair, Seattle, the city I moved here from, was a lot better in the 1970's as well. I need a time machine.

Before the pandemic I used to love Cadence Kitchen flash frozen meals. These tasty nitrogen frozen skillet meals quickly disappeared from stores when people started panicking about touching things. The Cadence Kitchen meals weren't packaged. You scooped the amount you wanted from big bins in a display case and put it in your own container. The brand quickly disappeared because of Covid fears, but I saw the exact same meals today in standard frozen food packages under a different brand name. Was this the same product, or did somebody copy the idea. I bought one of my favorites and we had it for dinner tonight. Same name. Different recipe. Janet and I both agreed that this wasn't the same as the original. It didn't taste as fresh and there were too many added spices. I think it was more expensive too. How could a company get away with such a blatant steal? I looked on the Internet and didn't see anything about a licensing agreement or a sale of technology. I guess I don't know much about the food industry.

The ice maker broke in our refrigerator. This is a problem because ice is an important ingredient in my morning smoothie. I guess I'll have to call the appliance repairman again. Major appliances used to last forever. Not any more. I'm always having problems with the washer, dryer, and the refrigerator. We have a dishwasher that has worked pretty well for over twenty years and a microwave that has worked flawlessly for over thirty years. Our newer appliances are the ones that are always causing the problems.

The grocery store I shop at stopped carrying my favorite brand of beer. Last month they stopped carrying my favorite cheese. I hate that modern stores routinely change the merchandise they carry based on the check-out tapes of their customers. They carry more of what customers are buying and less of the things that aren't so popular. I always seem to be the loser in these situations. I could always go to a different store, but this store is convenient. I can't help it that demographics are changing. I know what I like and hate driving all over town to find it.

Maybe this is why I like walking. The lake changes at a much slower pace than the city around it. When I look at the trees and the water I can often fool myself into thinking that things haven't changed at all. The ducks still quack the same. It's all an illusion though. The neighborhoods surrounding the park have changed a lot. The houses are bigger and the lots are smaller. Nobody does their own yard work anymore. You can't walk two blocks without seeing a lawn care truck with a long trailer full of lawnmowers. Everybody seems to be doing well. I guess that's why people are moving here.

I didn't mow the lawn today. I felt tired after my long walk and took a nap instead. Maybe I'll have more energy tomorrow. I  hope so. It's supposed to start to rain again soon.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4048

Today was busier than usual. I can't say that I accomplished a lot though. When I woke up, Janet had gone running and Dawn was nervously peering around the corner of the bedroom door at me. As soon as I got up, she hopped on the bed and reclaimed it for herself. It's unfortunate that she still doesn't feel comfortable being alone in the house with me, because that's how we spend most of our time together. Janet has always spent more time away from the house than I do. Eventually, I made the bed with Dawn sitting right in the middle. I've actually gotten pretty good at this. Dawn is often on the bed when I'm trying to make it.

Before getting started on my Saturday errands, I wrote a letter to my sister and took it to the post office. This periodic letter to a Luddite relative is the only reason I have to go to the post office anymore. It's the end of an era. I've spent a lot of time at the post office over the years. On my way to the grocery store, I stopped at my pharmacy to ask when they were going to get the vaccine. My pharmacist had no idea. He said that the website I'd signed up on was only to receive information about when the vaccine might become available. It was not a sign-up sheet to get vaccinated.

I found everything except for raspberries on my grocery list. I had to go to a second store to get the berries and ended up buying some tasty looking items at the deli counter for dinner. I also stopped at Fry's to get a nickel metal hydride backup battery for an audio recorder. I thought that this hard to replace battery was the reason that the time and date settings wouldn't stay in the recorder's memory. I had to disassemble the recorder to access the rechargeable battery, but it turned out that this wasn't the problem after all. The recorder's main battery had gone bad.  

After lunch we took Dawn on her one mile walk. She loves the one mile walk but definitely doesn't want to go any further. I continued to walk after Dawn and Janet returned to the house. That's what I do these days. I thought it might rain, so I wore the new raincoat I got for the last launch I attended in Florida.  The raincoat was a tight fit over my winter coat. I guess I should have gotten a larger size. Maybe it will just be a summer raincoat. It fits perfectly over a t-shirt.

I seldom get over 20,000 steps on a single walk, but I did today. With Dawn's new schedule it's more convenient to take one longer walk than the morning and evening walks I used to take. Hey, I'm flexible, even if I continue to do the same things over and over again. My new shoes are still comfortable, but they are already starting to show some wear. Expensive running shoes are a new thing for me, but they are much more comfortable than the longer lasting leather hiking boots I used to wear outdoors. I guess since all I do these days is walk, the cost of these shoes isn't exorbitant at all. It makes more sense to spend money on something I use every day than on audio recorders that sit on a shelf until all the batteries go bad.

There are severe thunderstorms in the forecast for tomorrow. I'm never happy about the prospect of thunderstorms. I have too many memories of leaking roofs and falling trees in the backyard to appreciate this type of weather. I don't think the bad weather is going to start until sometime in the afternoon. Tomorrow's project for the day is to convince Dawn to walk in the morning.

Chloe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4034

Another uneventful Saturday. I had a hard time finding fruit at the grocery store this morning. I don't think that people are panic buying strawberries. I just hit the store at the wrong time. I ended up finding everything I needed, but I had to go to several different stores. Janet shops multiple stores every week. I don't know how she had the patience.

Walking Dawn was a strange adventure this morning. She was enthusiastic leaving the house and we ended up walking several miles before she realized that she was lost and panicked. When she froze this time it was very hard to get her moving again. I thought that I would have to go get the car again, except this time we were not in a place that was accessible to cars. We finally got Dawn moving again by having Janet sit in the grass about twenty yards ahead of her. It seemed to take forever, but eventually Dawn would run toward Janet. We had to repeat this process about four times before Dawn got to an area of the park that she was familiar with. She seemed to remember that the road home involved a left turn and tried to go up every road to our left. When we refused to head up these roads, which actually headed in the wrong direction, Dawn would freeze again. As soon as Dawn knew where she was, she headed confidently back to the house.

All this weird behavior is new and she never behaved like this before she had that seizure. Dawn doesn't have a fever and acts completely normally at home, but something is wrong. When you combine extreme stubbornness with extreme fear, you've got a mess. I guess we could get an MRI of Dawn's brain, but we did that with Dot once and the results were very inconclusive. All we really learned was that dogs have very small brains.

Since Dawn didn't walk far this morning, I had to take another long walk by myself. I'm learning that my new shoes work great on pavement but aren't so good on rough ground. By the time I returned home today, I had some very sore feet. I guess I could go back to wearing heavy hiking boots, but I've gotten used to having something light on my feet. The easy solution would be to just walk a little less. I really don't have many problems until I start walking over five miles.

I started watching Season 5 of The Expanse this afternoon. Somehow the show doesn't seem nearly as exciting as it did when I first discovered it. Maybe the world has changed. Maybe I have changed. I suspect that I'm just not very interested in watching TV anymore. I doubt that I'll even finish watching the other episodes in this new season.

It is supposed to snow tomorrow. One forecast says there is a 100% chance of snow. Another says we will get a wintery mix of rain and snow. Either way, I'm glad I finished running all my errands today and have no need to be out on the roads tomorrow. I'm curious what Dawn thinks about snow. Some of our dogs have loved it and others have hated it. I'm not a big fan of snow myself. I'm not a fan of anything wet on the roof.

Mack is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3894

I missed the free shredding event this morning. It was only two hours long. Who has an event that is only two hours long? Oh, well. I didn't really know what I wanted to throw away anyway. There will be other events like this and I will probably miss them too.

I still can't find everyday items in the grocery store. Today my favorite kinds of cheese and popcorn were gone. I couldn't find those blue Scott shop towels either. When I asked where the peaches were, the produce guy told me that they had all been recalled. This seemed odd. I'd read about fresh peaches being recalled because of Salmonella contamination, but this wasn't supposed to be happening in Texas. The contaminated peaches were a different brand than I buy anyway. Hopefully, I haven't been eating contaminated peaches. I eat a lot of peaches.

We got an early start on our walk this morning in an effort to avoid the Saturday crowds. Apparently we weren't early enough. I think twice as many people cycle and run on Saturday than on any other day of the week. The pandemic hasn't been kind to many businesses, but it's been great for anyone selling recreational equipment. They say sales of bicycles, running shoes, and kayaks are skyrocketing. I see more people exercising in the park than I've ever seen before.

I'd hate to work in retail these days. I basically only go out on Saturdays now and I continue to be amazed by what I see. A huge number of people wear their mask below their nose. Don't they know that the nose is connected to your lungs? Even stranger are the people who always pull their mask down or take it off when they are talking to someone. Jeez. You can talk through these things. I went out to pick up some barbecue for dinner and while I was waiting for my order, I watched three different people pull down their mask to talk to the lady at the checkout register. No wonder we are having problems with this virus. Maybe this was why there was a help wanted sign on the restaurant as well.

I'm tempted to call my contact at the Air Force and ask what has happened to my request for media credentials. The only reason I hesitate is that I don't know what I would do if I was suddenly approved. There is a launch I'd like to go to next week at Kennedy Space Center, but I'm not really ready to fly yet. I've been on enough airplanes to realize that flying is probably the worst place to social distance. If the airlines were still running a full schedule, this probably wouldn't problem. Unfortunately, most airlines are cutting back flights so when their planes are in the air, they are still full.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow. Eventually boredom is going to drive me back to the gym. Janet has been going to her gym for several weeks now and says it isn't crowded and feels much safer than the grocery store. She's probably right. My gym was never crowded even before the pandemic. It's probably virtually empty now.

I do lots of daydreaming on my walks these days. I've got plenty of of plans, but most of them take place in a world that probably doesn't even exist anymore. What's going to happen to my plan to become a space reporter? I've got the full support of a magazine in London, but basically no place to go. I'm getting older and don't want to get sick either. I think 2020 is a lost cause. I'm thinking about 2021 now.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3887

We're getting better at leaving the house early. The main reason for our pre-dawn walk today was to see if we could avoid the Saturday crowds in the park. It worked. There are much fewer joggers and cyclists before 7 AM. Janet got Dawn a little red light to put on her collar, but it quit working before we finished our first mile. There was a nice conjunction of the Moon and Venus in the morning sky, but no sunrise clouds today. We did see the Muscovy ducks sitting on the bridge rail again though.

I found almost everything on my shopping list today. Another benefit of getting an early start on Saturday morning is that there are fewer people in the grocery stores. Almost all the stores seem to offer curbside pickup now. Most have reserved spaces in their parking lots for this sort of thing and I always see people waiting in their cars. It seems so much easier to just go in the store though. The waiting time is still less if you do the shopping yourself.

There seems to be no end in sight for our hot weather. I think the high today was 104 degrees. I guess I need to start watering again. The grass is turning yellow and two of the Photinia bushes appear to be dying. I'm bad about watering because a wet yard always leads to a muddy dog.

I'm thinking about going down to Boca Chica to see the Space X facility. I got as far as checking airfare to Brownsville or South Padre Island and surveying the general area using Google Earth. I continue to look at the LabPadre remote cameras every day and there is a lot going on down there. I think this would make a good story for SpaceFlight Magazine, but there isn't much point in going unless I can obtain some kind of access. Evidently you can drive very close to the Starship launch site on public roads, but the roads are always closed when there is activity. I'll have to do some research and find out who to write about getting a tour. It couldn't be any harder to gain access to the Space X site than it is to get press credentials at Kennedy Space Center. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself though. I'm not even sure if the magazine is interested in an article about Boca Chica.

I thought I might be able to fix the sliding glass door today, but failed miserably. A few weeks ago I noticed that there was a little piece of metal blocking one of the tracks for the door. I got a small metal file and filed the gouged area smooth. Logically, this should have worked, but it made no difference whatsoever. If anything, the door was even harder to move than the last time I tried.

I got Chinese take out for dinner again. Every time I go to pick up a take out meal at a restaurant, I see more and more people dining in. I guess I shouldn't find this strange. Janet and I went out for dinner ourselves on my birthday. We'll probably go out again on her birthday. It's still hard to strike a balance between being ultra careful and getting on with your life. I have a feeling that this virus is going to be with us for a long time. I got a haircut. I've been to the dermatologist and the dentist. I certainly don't do much though. I really wonder how long a large group of people can live this way without going insane? Almost anybody can handle a lockdown of a few weeks. I'm not so sure about two years though. We've got to find a way out of this mess.

I'm still not comfortable going back to the gym. It was a nice thing to do on Sunday though. Even though I consider myself Mr. Isolation, I'm getting tired of days that consist entirely of long walks and staring at a computer. I haven't planned a launch trip in a long time. Maybe I need to be connected to something too.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3880

One of the worst things about the pandemic is that every little ache and pain makes you think that your luck has finally run out. I woke up with a sore throat this morning. "This is how it begins," I thought. Never mind. I forgot that this is a common occurrence. When I don't sleep on my back, I get nasal congestion and start breathing through my mouth. Instant morning sore throat. As soon as I was up and had some coffee the sore throat disappeared.

Maybe I'm just a hypochondriac, but this has happened before. Occasionally I'm winded after a long uphill walk and I start to wonder about my lungs. I'm always checking my temperature with the forehead thermometer. If it even varies by a tenth of a degree I wonder if this could be the start of something. Every time I hear someone cough, I wonder how far the virus can travel through the air. None of this is good, but there is a certain logic to this sort of thinking. The virus is relentless and people aren't all that careful. I find it easy to believe that the longer you stay healthy, the more likely it is that your luck will eventually run out.

This is probably why I'm never wild about shopping day. Half the people in the grocery store had their mask below their nose this morning. I forgot the doggie poop bag I usually put over my hand when I pump gas. People are always picking through the produce to find the freshest items. There are so many opportunities for things to go wrong.

Oddly, I never worry about walking in the park even though I don't wear a mask outdoors. Joggers and cyclists pass us on the trails, but nobody lingers and nobody gets close. Fresh outdoor air is much different than a building's air conditioning system. I'm sure that if sports eventually returns, watching football in an outdoor stadium would be safer than watching basketball in an indoor arena. It's not good to think this way. Once you become convinced that every stranger is a potential danger, it's going to be hard to trust anyone again. No hugs please. Ever.

Every time I go shopping, I'm more and more convinced that our country's supply chain and distribution system has become seriously damaged. Stores just aren't as well stocked anymore. I'm still seeing an overreaction to the toilet paper shortage. There is an abundance of toilet paper and bleach now, but not enough cheese. Every week I find common, everyday items that just aren't on the shelves anymore. Some aisles are half empty and I can't even remember what used to be there. This inconsistency often forces you to go to several stores when one used to be enough. If the whole idea is to get in and out of the store as quickly and efficiently as possible, it would be nice if the store had what you need.

We got a late start on our walk again this morning. Saturday should be the day we start extra early. The park is always crowded on Saturday, but few people get up before sunrise. Old habits die hard though. We always used to sleep in on Saturdays. One of these mornings we need to take a picture of Dawn right at dawn. At least once a week we see a beautiful sunrise. This would make a nice backdrop for a portrait of Dawn.

I hope I don't wake up with any aches and pains tomorrow. I'm tired of waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's about time to wake up and feel like going to the gym.

Lilly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3873

The park is so busy on Saturday mornings now. It never used to be this way. We got an early start today, but apparently not early enough. It was way too crowded on the trails. Is the pandemic turning us into a nation of fit and healthy people? Naw. Probably not.

I ran my usual Saturday errands after breakfast and on the way home a warning light came on saying that I had a low tire. Typically I would have gone to the dealership because the tires are filled with nitrogen. I didn't have the patience to sit around for several hours, so I went home and got out the air compressor. Ordinary air will do just fine. I couldn't find any nails in the tires, so I filled them up to the required pressure and called it a day. I used to do this all the time with the Defender, but I haven't used the compressor in so long that I was surprised that it even worked.

Dawn took her monthly heartworm pill this morning. I'm glad that she's relatively healthy and doesn't need a lot of meds. Giving the dogs their pills eventually got very complicated with Dot and Dash. So far, I take the most pills in the family. Nothing exotic, but they all are necessary. If you aren't taking any meds at my age, you probably aren't seeing the doctor enough.

I wonder why it took me so long to warm up to online banking? It sure is easier to pay bills this way. It only took me a few minutes to pay my utility bills this morning. I haven't gotten around to depositing checks using my phone yet, but it's only a matter of time. If the pandemic has caused me to change ingrained habits like going to the post office every few days, I imagine that other people's habits have changed as well. I read an article the other day that said ice cream sales are up and deodorant sales are down. Somebody is certainly selling a lot of bicycles in town. I've never seen so many cyclists in the park. Life is changing and some of the changes are going to be permanent.

Sadly, a lot of jobs will never return. Companies are already discovering that they can do just as well with fewer people. So many of us were always non-essential and just didn't realize it. I've been non-essential for most of my life. I was just lucky that my clients and employers seemed to find me useful.  I'm sure the pandemic is already creating a wide variety of brand new jobs. Change always creates new jobs. Actually, this probably isn't a bad time to be a web designer. Everything takes place online these days. I'd have to know a lot more if I was starting a web design shop today. Things were a lot simpler back when I started my company. Life in general was simpler then. It's not that surprising that I would like to find a time machine and go back.

I picked up Chinese food for dinner tonight. When I went to the restaurant to get my order, there was an entire section reserved for DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub deliveries. There seemed to be a constant stream of drivers picking up orders. There seems to be a lot of people in grocery stores doing home delivery or curbside pickup shopping as well. This is probably why I can never find Clorox Wipes. I got a mailing from one of the New York auction houses that sold my art a few years ago. It was about an upcoming sale of one-of-a-kind face masks created by well known artists. I wonder if all this strangeness will just seem normal next year? We're not in Bladerunner territory yet, but we're definitely headed in that direction.

Snoopy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3852

Saturday is my day to venture out of the house and see if the world is still there. This isn't a big change from my life before the pandemic, but I'm still making an effort to stay isolated. Dallas is officially a hotspot now. You wonder what made things suddenly spike? Everyone I know is still acting responsibly. We don't have a beach, so it wasn't that. We did have some protests, but ours weren't nearly as bad as some other cities. The few things Janet and I have done after the city opened up again have all seemed quite safe. Nevertheless, there has been a huge surge in new virus cases.

A lot of things just don't make sense about this virus. You'd think that African countries would be hit the hardest since they always are during any type of pandemic. Medical care isn't good in Africa and people in many countries are packed together in unsanitary conditions. So far, there have been very few deaths in Africa. China, which started this whole thing, isn't even on the list of affected countries anymore. If you believe all the charts and graphs, little countries like Peru are apparently doing much worse than China. The United States seems to be doing worse than Sweden, which didn't do anything at all to flatten the curve. It all makes you wonder.

They say that someone has invented a new heated air filter that kills the virus instantly. If heat does the trick, why are we still having all these problems in Texas? It has definitely been a hot summer. We got started a little late on our walk this morning and had to cut things short as a result. It was already getting too hot for Dawn around 8 AM. Later in the day when I took my afternoon solo walk, it was miserable outside. I guess this is to be expected. It is almost the middle of July.

The skies look clear tonight, so I think I'm going to set an alarm and go look for that comet tomorrow morning. I'm seeing so many cool pictures on the Internet that I'd like to see the comet for myself. Some of the best pictures have been taken by my friends out at McDonald Observatory. I'd like to trade places with those guys. They are so remote that since the observatory closed, they have become almost completely insulated from the problems we are seeing in the cities. This is extreme social distancing and it works for me.

I'm going to skip going to the gym again tomorrow. If I went, I'd probably change my mind because the gym is air conditioned. Of course they now say that building air conditioning systems spread the virus, so there's that. You really don't know who to believe anymore. I have a feeling that the governor is going to close gyms again pretty soon anyway. Texas isn't doing very well these days.

I brought a pizza home for dinner, even though pizza gives me heartburn. Actually the Cowboy Burgers we had for dinner last night gave me heartburn as well. I may be good at social distancing, but I'm not very good at staying on a bland diet.

Sophia is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3789

Saturday is my day to observe the rest of the world. It's the only day I get in the car and go anywhere. Some things I see astonish me, but I'm not going to be judgmental. The post-pandemic world is complex, and humans don't deal with complexity well. We crave a simple answer. I think most of us have a reason for what we are doing, even if it ultimately proves to be wrong. So far, there are very few answers about the virus, so there is a natural tendency to interpret anything we hear as evidence that our existing beliefs and theories are correct. This is called confirmation bias.

I see no point in telling you what to do, but I do notice things. Traffic is already back to pre-pandemic levels. I'm having trouble getting out of my driveway again. I wonder where everyone is going? I see little shops in the neighborhood with signs in the window saying that they are open, but I don't see any customers. People are still afraid. I don't think everyone is afraid of the same thing. Some people wear masks at the grocery store because they are afraid of getting sick. Others wear them because they are afraid of being shamed. I'm becoming afraid of people who feel compelled to go around saying "I'm not doing this for me, I'm doing this for you."

We walked Dawn very early this morning because we knew the park was going to be crowded. It was  a beautiful Spring weekend and the park is always crowded on beautiful Spring weekends. At sunrise the only people out are the most dedicated runners and cyclists. We had a pleasant walk before breakfast. When I went out later in the day, the park was a zoo. It was still easy to keep your distance, but people were playing volleyball, the ice cream truck was making its rounds, the kayak rental store had resumed business, and there were hammocks tied to every available tree. Most of these activities didn't really bother me. The small group throwing axes did make me a little nervous though.

Kids have been hanging out in the park since the pandemic started. They just hang out with their friends and never seems to mix with other groups of kids. Maybe if you are a certain age, these small groups of friends are considered a family unit. At any rate, these kids have been hanging out together for several months now. I see some of the same ones almost every day. If what they were doing was that risky, they would all be dead by now.

I believe the experts who say that it's important to keep your distance. Most of the virus deaths have been in extremely high density areas. People work right next to each other in meat packing plants. Few people own a car in New York City. They all travel by subway. It's no surprise at all that cruise ships quickly became infection factories. Wearing a mask isn't a long-term solution. Moving to the country might be.

I know changing behavior is hard, but it's actually pretty easy to keep your distance. I've been doing it for years. I think the solution to the coronavirus problem and future pandemics that might be even worse is obvious. We've got to reduce population density. Why are we still living in cities?  Cities are obsolete. We spend so much time and money trying to make cities work when they have never really worked. Maybe it's time to embrace technology and spread out to the vast empty areas of this country. There's plenty of room.

Janet and I were saying today that we both feel healthier at 70 than we did at 60. Maybe if this virus causes more people to become conscious of their own health and make some necessary lifestyle choices, it will ultimately be a good thing. I applaud the people I see out running early in the morning. You guys who are still sitting at home watching Netflix, you've got work to do.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3754

I try to go out for supplies once a week now. When I made my weekly run this morning, the world looked a lot different than it did last Saturday. For the first time I felt like I was walking around inside a Steven King novel. It was easy to sense that something apocalyptic was happening. Almost everyone was wearing masks. You could tell people's professions by the type of mask they wore. Men in the building trades were wearing well made masks that dry wall workers, painters, and woodworkers often use on the job. My own mask fell in this category. It was old and smelled of sawdust. I found a few in the tool shed and I'm sure I'd used them once while sanding something. Nobody was wearing a N-95 mask, but quite a few obviously came from medical supply rooms. I don't think hospital workers are stealing masks but I'm sure they are taking a few home for their families. Who could blame them. The only people I saw who weren't wearing a mask were the senior citizens who probably needed them most. The stores weren't crowded and everyone seemed very polite. People were methodical about their buying and didn't linger. I got the impression that everyone knew that things weren't going to return to normal for a very long time.

There weren't any problems with overcrowding in the parks today. It was cold and rainy and the streets we're virtually empty. Janet and I timed our walks between storm cells and managed to give Dawn a nice walk and get our daily exercise without getting too wet. Only the most dedicated runners and cyclists were out today. It was pretty nasty. Technically, I guess it is Spring, but it definitely felt like Winter is Coming today.

I have mixed feelings about the non-stop news coverage of the virus. I guess it's good to know what is going on, but there is no new information. People still don't know how this virus works or how to stop it. The talking heads just repeat the same information day after day. Unless you've been living under a rock, you already know to clean everything obsessively and to stay away from other people. Mostly what the news coverage does is stoke unnecessary fear. We should all be cautious and methodical but it won't help much to be fearful. The situation is what it is. This virus is like a runaway freight train. It will eventually run out of gas but we aren't going to stop it.

Janet and I are a good team when adversity strikes. I think we are going to be OK. I'm glad Dawn is with us. We had no idea that things would get this bad when we adopted her, but this is definitely not a good time for a dog to be alone in a kennel. I'm glad that Dalmatian Rescue has done such a great job of placing dogs this year. Six months ago we had dozens of dogs in the rescue program and now just about all of them have found their forever homes.

I didn't even bother to get gas today. At this rate a tank of gas will last me all year. I'm still having problems wrapping my head around the idea of exponential growth. Too many people seem to be dying unless we are all already infected. It would be nice to know how long it takes to show symptoms. Is is four days or four weeks? Nobody knows. When I have to venture out, I would like to be able to count the days until I felt safe in my house again.

Dottie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3691

How can it be February already? It seems like I was trying to stay awake until midnight on New Year's Eve just a few days ago. Time flies. Tomorrow, we'll be watching the Superbowl again. I guess I'm for Kansas City although I don't know why. I haven't really followed either team this season. I hope the ads are better this year. I think Superbowl advertising has been going downhill for quite some time. I'm pretty old school. I still want to see a Budweiser ad with Clydesdales and a Dalmatian. I used to always go to a special game day Superbowl Sale at a clothing store that was once a client of mine. They had some great bargains, but I think the sale has been discontinued. Like almost everything else in life, Superbowl Sunday doesn't seem as familiar anymore.

When I was running errands this morning, I noticed that a little neighborhood watch repair shop I used for many years had gone out of business. The building was empty. Even the sign was gone. This made me a little sad. The owner was a nice guy but he was in poor health. The last time I saw him, he told me that he had to go in for dialysis three times a week. I wouldn't be surprised if he died. I wish I'd gone in to visit a few more times while the store was still open. I'm not all that interested in watches anymore, but I still could have stopped to say hello. Now the store is empty and I'll never know what happened. I can't even remember the guy's name.

I guess the press office folks at Kennedy Space Center don't work on weekends. I still had some questions on Friday but haven't received any answers yet. The schedule has changed so much that I'm not sure what to do now. Some of the most interesting parts of the event have been canceled and now there is a down day with nothing to do between all the briefings and the actual launch. I'd like to find out if I have the option to go to some of the events, but not all. Maybe I'll find out something on Monday. I'm reluctant to add another day to this already lengthy  trip, but I might have to.

This has been one weird winter. For now, I'm not complaining though. Today was beautiful. The sky was clear and it felt like an early spring day. I should have gone up on the roof this afternoon and maybe even washed my car, but I'm too slow for this many activities in a single day. After I ran my usual Saturday errands and took my walk, the day was essentially over. I'll probably regret not getting more done today because I just noticed that it might snow next Wednesday.

The building where Dot and Dash got cancer treatments was badly damaged by the tornado we had several months ago. I just learned that they decided not to rebuild and permanently closed the office instead. Now dogs will have to go to the clinic's Fort Worth office for treatment. I can't help but think how bad this would be if your dog was in the middle of treatment when the tornado hit. Dot and Dash had to go to the cancer center several times a week for radiation and chemotherapy treatments. It was hard enough to transport them to the nearby clinic when they were sick. Taking them to an entirely different city three times a week would have been a full time job.

No more Superbowl Sale. No more neighborhood watch repairman. No more convenient cancer center. And a whole new schedule for the Solar Orbiter launch. Why does everything have to keep changing?

Myles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3684

Whenever something bad happens these days it almost always reminds me of a movie I've already seen. Reality and fiction have become hopelessly blurred together in ways I never would have thought possible a decade ago. When I first started hearing about the coronavirus scare it seemed so much like the movie Contagion that it would be impossible for me to tell which story was real if I didn't already know that Contagion was a movie. In many ways the idea that there is a city in China that is larger than New York City where people routinely eat bat soup and snakes on a stick seems more like fantasy than any movie I've seen. I guess I'm not as well informed as I thought I was. Until a few weeks ago, I didn't even know that the city of Wuhan existed. Sure, I knew about Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, but Wuhan? Never heard of it.

A pandemic like ebola, bird flu or the coronavirus has to make you wonder about globalism. When anything becomes too big to fail, what happens when it inevitably does fail? When engineers want a failsafe system, they build in a lot of redundancy. When a single system fails, the machine continues to run. We ought to think of the world this way. A lot of independent, self-sufficient economies is a lot safer than a single global economy. We were a lot more resilient as a country when every city had a factory and we were able to make everything we needed ourselves. I think a world where it is not so easy to travel from one country to another is better as well. What is so bad about applying for a visa and planning ahead? The reason we all know about Wuhan today is that it is super easy to just hop on a plane and be anywhere else in the world in a matter of hours.

A guess you can't have it both ways. I'd like to see flying cars and cities on Mars, but I'm still more comfortable in the simpleminded black and white worlds of Have Gun Will Travel and Perry Mason. Old TV westerns make more sense to me than today's news.

Our world may be falling apart, but I find that my own little world usually gets better as soon as I turn off the TV. There is something to be said for concentrating on your immediate surroundings. There is usually plenty there to keep you busy. I ran my usual Saturday errands in the morning and took my walk in the afternoon. Not a lot happened today, but that was fine. An uneventful afternoon is much better than a roof leak.

As my trip to the Davis Mountains draws closer, I'm starting to realize that my knowledge of astronomy is woefully inadequate for conducting star parties at the observatory. I'm reading a lot online these days and spending time looking at star charts. This is no substitute for actually going outside at night, but we haven't had many clear nights lately. The more I read about contemporary astronomy, the more I remember why I chose advertising as a profession. A clear, dark night fills me with wonder, but I don't think I'd have the patience to spend years studying the rotation of galaxies or exploring stellar mass and luminosity.

I hope tomorrow is uneventful as well. A good breakfast and a trip to the gym are all that is on the agenda. That's enough for me.

Bones is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day