Day 3782

I finally heard from Sky and Telescope. Their message was similar to many business messages these days. Basically it said: "Sorry for the delay. We're all working from home and everything is screwed up." I still don't know if my McDonald Observatory article will be published, but I feel better knowing that I'm back in touch with these guys. You don't want to fall into a black hole when you are dealing with an astronomy magazine.

Today was my day to get supplies for the week. I was curious to see if anything had changed since Texas is officially now in the first stage of reopening. There was a lot more traffic on the roads, but I'm not sure where everyone was going. With the exception of Lowes, Home Depot and the grocery stores, most places are still closed.

Every week there is a new item in short supply. When I went to Sam's Club this morning, people were filling their buggies with meat. Now that there are stories of the meat processing supply chain being disrupted, fresh meat has become the new toilet paper. Ironically, the store had a ton of toilet paper. There was a huge display featuring all the popular brands along with a small sign that essentially said: "As you can see we've got plenty, but due to a silly city regulation we are only allowed to sell you one package of this stuff."

There are plenty of silly regulations. They seem to change daily. They city's park system seems to be back to normal. All the blockades have been removed, the police are no longer monitoring group sizes, and people have returned to enjoy the Spring weather. We tried to get an early start on our walk with Dawn this morning, but we should have started even earlier. There were a lot of people in the park today. I guess it shouldn't have been surprising. The weather has been really nice this week.

I have no worries about being outside in the fresh air, but apparently some people do. We see quite a few masks in the park, even though nobody is close to each other. The only folks who ignore the social distancing rules are teenagers. They've been hanging out with their friends since the very beginning of this mess. If we all die, I'm going to blame it on the teenagers.

I've completed an entire week of 20,000 step days. My best day this week was over 23,000 steps. I may have gone too far though. For the first time in a long time, my knee hurts. I had a knee injury back in college and ever since, my right knee has been a bit shaky. I had an operation called Slocum's Procedure that was popular at the time but has since fallen out of favor. ACL injuries are common in both people and dogs, but I think dogs often have better outcomes. My knee has been unstable ever since the surgery. I definitely don't want a second surgery though. I've learned to compensate.

We've been eating well during the pandemic. Janet is a really good cook. Dawn has been getting a lot of attention as well. She's going to be disappointed if life ever returns to normal. I think we're going to take our walk around sunrise tomorrow morning. The park is much more enjoyable when it's empty.

Bogart is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2978

I need to find a better time to go to the gym. For the past two weeks there has been a full court game underway when I arrived, so I haven't been able to shoot baskets. This is disappointing, since my time on the basketball court is the only real fun I have at the gym. The rest of the time is just burning calories and trying to raise my heart rate.

Dash was listless today. He did take a walk, but wasn't very interested in eating. I had to try several different varieties of dog food before I could get him to eat anything. Usually, Dash's appetite returns after a walk, but not today. I don't know what was wrong. He didn't seem nauseous or  show the usual signs of a vestibular event. Dash just wasn't hungry. A Dalmatian who won't eat is always alarming. Typically, they are always hungry.

The rain continued today. There was only a light mist when we took our morning walk, but there were several downpours later in the day. Now that the rain has returned, the dehumidifier is struggling to keep the house dry. I have to empty the water reservoir twice as often as on a dry day. Rain seems to amplify all the other problems in the house. When I think about it, every single house issue is related to water.

There is standing water on the roof. There is a leak that allows water to accumulate under the shower tiles. One of the toilets runs and I can't find parts to fix it. Even the ailing refrigerator is basically a water problem. If the evaporator coil didn't freeze, everything would be fine. I wish the rain would quit so at least the air would feel dry. I'm losing my patience with water.

I could really tell that I had shoulder and knee problems while I was at the gym today. Maybe rain makes my arthritis worse. My shoulder still aches. I wonder how bad things need to get before I consider surgery? Lots of people I know have had knee replacements. Some recover completely and others don't. I've always been fearful of surgery. Most of the surgery the dogs have had was unavoidable, but they never made a full recovery. Surgery is very invasive. I had knee surgery back when I was in college and my knee continues to feel weird to this day. I had something called Slocum's Procedure, which has since fallen out of favor among orthopedic surgeons. It is amazing how many types of surgery have fallen out of favor over the years when doctors discovered that the proceedure basically didn't work.

Tomorrow is one of those holidays that doesn't really feel like a holiday. Janet gets a day off and we won't get any mail, but other than that, it's just a normal day. There aren't even any President's Day savings on the refrigerator I still need to buy. Washington's birthday is really on February 22, but in 1971 we decided that it was easier to give people the day off on a Monday, so a lot of minor holidays began being celebrated on Monday. It was also easier to just take away Lincoln's holiday and call combined birthday celebration President's Day. Not that is matters, but I remember when Washington and Lincoln each had their own holiday.

I have a ton of bills to pay tomorrow, but they will all have to wait until Tuesday. There is no mail delivery tomorrow. It would be nice if there was no rain as well.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day