Day 4965

Another Saturday in the books. We see lots more people on our weekend sunrise walks. The park was full of runners this morning. I guess if you like to run, this would be the time to do it. Since we got up later this morning, it was already a bit warmer outside. We still had an enjoyable walk though because there was a nice breeze.

I'm glad we slept in later because I didn't get much sleep last night. Dawn woke me up several times itching and scratching. We don't know what is bothering her, but she's been itching and licking her belly a lot lately. I think she's itchy from sitting out in the grass, but it could be anything. Since she mostly does this at night, maybe she's allergic to the comforter or blankets on the bed.

After our big weekend breakfast I did my weekly grocery shopping. I had to get gas today and was surprised at how much prices at the pump had gone up in just a week. I don't think there are any gas shortages, but I haven't been keeping up with the news. It's weird how volatile prices are these days. At least eggs are a bit more reasonable now.

Strawberries have been in short supply for several weeks. This week I saw something new called hydroponically grown strawberries. They looked a lot fresher than the regular berries. I thought they might be expensive since there was no price listed on the display, but they turned out to be about the same price as strawberries grown in the ground. We'll see what they taste like when I resume eating shredded wheat and fruit on Monday.

It's kid of irritating that stores have quit selling my favorite beer. Maybe the company doesn't brew it anymore. Probably it just wasn't a big seller. If I like something there's always a good chance that nobody else does. At any rate, I finished my shopping fairly quickly this week. It probably helps that I'm starting earlier now.

After I put the groceries away I went back to the gym. I like going to the gym on weekends because it is virtually empty. It's easy to find a spot in the parking garage and there were only five people on the floor when I arrived. The gym is quite large and five people working out are almost invisible. I felt like I had the place to myself. Even though all the machines were available, I just did my same old routine. I briskly walked three miles on the indoor track and then spent ten or fifteen minutes on the basketball court. All I do is shoot free throws. If I ever get really good at this, I may try something else.

When I returned home I took a shower and did a load of laundry. I got some author copies of SpaceFlight in the mail with my article about the AX-2 launch. All in all it was a pretty good day. Tomorrow I'll go mall walking, but it will probably be too hot for Dawn's Sunday outing. We'll take her to get ice cream cones though. She'd be real disappointed if we forgot the ice cream cones.

Tink is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4930

Just a normal Saturday. We took Dawn on an early walk to avoid the heat, we had a big weekend breakfast, and then I got ready to do my grocery shopping. My grocery list was a little longer than usual today and I had to go to four different stores. I do my shopping earlier now, but the roads are still crowded. A lot of newcomers have moved to Dallas in recent years. A lot of them have apparently arrived recently because today I saw almost as many out of state plates on cars as Texas plates.

I'm really not fond of crowds. Every time I'm out and about, I grow nostalgic for the emptiness and wide open spaces of West Texas. Dallas is way too busy these days. I'm glad my working years are over. I'd hate fighting this traffic every day on the way to work. I got my shopping done as quickly as I could and headed back home. There are always surprises on my shopping run. I couldn't find my favorite brand of beer today and had to pick something else. I did find real whipping cream though, which has been in short supply recently.

It was too hot and humid to walk in the park this afternoon, so I headed back to the gym as soon as I put the groceries away. The gym was fairly empty this afternoon but there were people already using the basketball court so I didn't get to shoot baskets today. I walked around the indoor track until I got my Fitbit steps, worked on upper body strength with a few machines, and went back home again. It wasn't really a serious workout, but it was as good enough for me.

I'm still thinking about getting a new phone. There's nothing wrong with my current phone, but Janet's new phone has renewed my interest in getting something better. It isn't that hard to justify a new phone. It seems like I spend half my life using three Apple products. It's hard to imagine living without an iPhone, Apple Watch, and a computer anymore. I lived many, many years with any of these things and I'm not sure being connected had made my life better. I'll probably get the phone though. The newer cameras on these phones are great and there's an app for everything these days.

All my activity seems to take place in the morning lately. I finished all my shopping and was home from the gym before noon. I didn't do anything useful this afternoon. I wandered aimlessly around the house and took several short naps. There are definitely things that need attention, but it just seems too hot to start anything. I'm trying to decide whether to attempt painting the house myself. It's time. I've done this before but it's a messy job and I'm a lot older now. For now, I just keep looking at problem areas and wishing they'd go away.

I guess I'll go mall walking tomorrow. I discovered that my gym has reopened on Sundays now, but I've grown to like mall walking. Mall walking lets me observe the world without actually interacting with it. Maybe I need a weekly reminder of how silly and superficial our society has become. At least I've got a choice of things to do indoors now. Until this weather cools down a bit, it might be a while before I go walking in the park again.

Rio is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4650

We got started on our sunrise walk later than usual this morning, but the park was still very quiet. A few of the trees are already starting to turn. There is definitely a hint of Fall in the air. Dawn really enjoys these early walks. I'm still half asleep, but it's a pleasant way to wake up.

Saturdays are always the same. We have a big breakfast and then I do my grocery shopping. I didn't have much on my list today, but it still took the same amount of time. Most of the time is spent driving from store to store. It's almost impossible to find everything you need in a single store anymore. I go to specific stores for specific items. I guess I could just go to Walmart to save time, but I prefer to just pretend that Walmart doesn't exist.

It wasn't that hot today but it felt very humid. I decided to go to the gym instead of walking in the park. My trips to the gym are just as predictable as my other Saturday errands. I shoot twenty-five free throws on the basketball court, walk two miles on the indoor track, and spend a little time working with free weights. I could do more, but I usually get bored after an hour or so. 

It's frustrating that I can't upgrade my watch or phone anymore. I've reached the end of the line with these devices because Apple has officially abandoned them. Both the watch and the phone work just fine but Apple clearly thinks it's time for me to get something new. Both my laptop and desktop computers haven't been able to run later Apple operating systems for quite a while. This means that my Safari browser is way out of date and runs slow. I still have no interest in buying anything new. I have a variety of older Apple systems on external hard drives and often use them when I run really old software. I've reached the age where I keep wondering why things have to change. I was perfectly happy with the way things were 15 or even 25 years ago. 

I'm glad that there weren't any launches I felt compelled to attend down in Florida this week. It's been raining all week in Titusville. Space X has delayed one of their Starlink launches for five straight days in a row because of bad weather. I hope the weather improves before the next Artemus launch attempt. There are enough problems with the rocket itself. Adding bad weather into the mix will only make things worse. I don't even like to leave my car out in the rain. You'd think they'd worry about leaving this billion dollar rocket out in the weather for weeks at a time. The rocket already leaks. We certainly don't want it to rust.

I guess I'll go mall walking again tomorrow. There's absolutely nothing I'm interested in buying at the mall, but walking around and around the huge square enclosure is still kind of pleasant. The air smells clean and the temperature is just right. It's nice and cool inside but I don't need a jacket. Maybe someday I'll find something more interesting to talk about than all these walks I continue to take. I wouldn't count on it though. I'm becoming more and more like a dog. All I think about is walking and eating. And rockets. I still think about rockets.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4636

I feel somewhat vindicated now. Looks like I made the right decision to return home on Wednesday. Artemis scrubbed again this morning with 2 hours and 28 minutes remaining on the countdown clock. They didn't even get as close to launching the rocket as they did on Monday. This time the problem was a hydrogen leak that could not be controlled. They'll have to roll Artemis back to the VAB for repairs and another launch attempt probably won't occur until October. Something just didn't feel right when I made the decision to return home. When you repeat a procedure that failed and expect different results, you usually aren't successful.

I repeat my routine every Saturday, but usually I succeed. Grocery shopping isn't rocket science. We took Dawn on a nice sunrise walk and then had our weekend breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast. I had a longer grocery list this morning, but found everything easily. Prices are still sky high, but I don't think anything was more expensive than last week. Jeez. I could have done all this yesterday when I was at the store. I wonder why I didn't.

When I returned home from grocery shopping, I turned on NASA TV and learned that this morning's launch attempt had been scrubbed. This isn't a good look for the Artemis program. NASA is trying to put a positive spin on things by reminding people how many failed launches there were during the Apollo and Space Shuttle era. I think they are missing the point. People aren't accustomed to failures anymore. Space X launches rockets like clockwork and not only do they not fail, they can be used over and over again. Artemis is 1970's technology, brought back to life. For some reason, NASA is simply unwilling to admit that the entire program is obsolete.

Even though it was nice outside when we took our sunrise walk, the temperature climbed quickly. I wisely decided to go to the gym again. There was nothing new about my exercise routine, but there was a new basketball. I'd never seen a black and green basketball before, so I had to try it. It bounced higher and seemed to go in the basket a little easier. Maybe I was just imagining things though.

There still seems to be a lot of rain in the area, but we didn't get any at our house. I don't think we need any more. I'm still waiting for the grass to dry out so I can mow. It's going to be a few more days. The ground seems saturated now. Strange that I was writing about a drought just a few weeks ago and now everything is soggy and wet. Texas weather again. You can never take Texas weather for granted.

I'll probably go walking at the mall again tomorrow morning. This has turned out to be an enjoyable way to get my steps. Dawn will get her Sunday outing as well. We'll definitely get ice cream, but if the weather stays cool we might try a Sunday walk as well. It's too early to decide whether I'll return to Florida for the next Artemis launch attempt. I'm sure I'll go back sometime. I'm kind of drawn to the space center like a moth to a flame. 

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4622

Just a normal Saturday. We got up early and took our sunrise walk with Dawn. The park was even busier than usual. We must have caught the tail end of a 5K race because we saw lots of people walking rather than running with race numbers attached to their clothing. I don't know how early you'd have to get up to beat the crowds on weekends, but it's probably too early for us.

When we returned home we had our usual weekend breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast. You can't eat shredded wheat all the time. I did a few small chores around the house after breakfast and then did my grocery shopping and went to the gym. I briefly thought about walking in the park again, but it was too humid today. 

The stores weren't crowded today because I remembered to go shopping early. I went to the gym earlier as well. Nobody seems to go to the gym on weekends. The place was practically empty this morning. Often this seems like a private gym for twelve people. Since this place is run by a large hospital they probably don't need the LA Fitness customers. I'm sure they do just fine with all their physical therapy patients.

I think I figured out why I don't get the same Fitbit results walking indoors as I do outdoors. I noticed today that I take shorter steps when I'm walking on the indoor track. Fitbit doesn't count the length of your stride, just the number of steps. This probably explains why I can accumulate 10,000 steps in a shorter distance at the gym than I do when walking in the park. Why do I have a longer stride when I'm walking outdoors? One of life's mysteries.

I looked at the long range weather and there appears to be a good chance of rain while I'm in Florida. It actually always rains at some point during the day in Titusville, so this doesn't actually mean much. The passing showers usually don't last long. I've seen thunderstorms at 5 PM and then watched a launch take place right on schedule at 8 PM the same day. That being said, I'd still rather see a forecast of clear skies for the entire week. There's already enough that could go wrong with the rocket. We don't need bad weather to screw things up even further.

I had a long list of things to do this afternoon and didn't do any of them. I did do a load of laundry. Laundry is my go-to activity when I don't feel like doing anything. Janet dusts, I do laundry. I'm trying to adjust my schedule so I get to bed and get up earlier. So far, this effort has been a total failure. I never seem to be able to get to bed before midnight. With a very early flight and an early launch next week, I need to do something. I'm usually so tired on these trips because I never get any sleep.

Ants have invaded the house again. I've noticed that they are falling out of the can lights in the bathroom ceiling. Most of the ants are dead. I guess the heat from the light bulbs kills them. I wish the ants would move on. It's way too late in the season for an ant invasion. At least it's just ants living above the sheet rock in the ceiling. Once we had a colony of bees up there and had to get a beekeeper to come remove them. The beekeeper didn't kill the bees. He just found where they were entering the house and put something with a smell the bees didn't like at the entrance to the hive. The entire colony of bees left and moved somewhere else the same evening.

There is rain in the forecast for tomorrow, but Dawn will get her Sunday outing rain or shine. We can still go for ice cream cones in the rain. I can go mall walking in the rain as well. It doesn't matter what the weather's like when you're walking in an indoor mall. I'd probably enjoy walking at the mall every day if it weren't for all the shoppers. The mall is much more enjoyable for me when the stores are closed.

Blackjack is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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