Day 4785

The weather was dismal today. The temperature never got above freezing and the sleet that everyone had been predicting has finally arrived. I think it's going to be like this for the rest of the week. This is definitely not my favorite type of weather, but there's not much I can do about it.

I shouldn't complain though. The furnace is working well and the house is warm. Although it is currently sleeting outside, the volume of water falling from the sky is much less than a heavy rain. Maybe the roof won't leak. I didn't drive anywhere today because I didn't want to encounter icy roads, but the weather didn't stop me from walking.

I wasn't the only one who wore two coats today. Even Dawn wore two coats on her early walk. It was still dry outside this morning, but it was very cold. We were all glad to return home to a warm house. After breakfast I went out walking again. I wasn't ready to give up on getting my daily steps. I dressed very warmly, but this was one of the coldest walks I've taken in over a year. At about mile three I was beginning to question my sanity. I probably should have gone to the gym instead because the sleet and freezing rain didn't start until after dinner this evening. There certainly weren't many people on the trails today. I only encountered two other people on my walk.

The rest of the day was uneventful. I tried to make a doctor's appointment, but never could reach anyone. After a long wait on the phone, I was just told to leave a message on voicemail. I ended up making the appointment using the clinic website. I don't think anyone picks up their phone anymore.

This afternoon I filled out my 2023 credential application with the 45th Space Wing. This should have taken about ten minutes but ended up taking hours because the PDF document the Space Force sent me was formatted wrong and it was almost impossible to enter my information. I should have just printed out the blank form and entered the information by hand. Eventually I finished the form and sent it back. The information on this year's form was exactly the same as it was last year. Nothing had changed. Even though I wasted a lot of time, it was worth the effort. There are always a few launches where the Space Force provides much better access than NASA. You can't have too many credentials if you want to chase rockets.

I don't think we'll be going anywhere tomorrow. If the sleet continues, there's a good chance that the roads will be icy. We'll still probably take a morning walk with Dawn unless the weather is really bad. I'll reserve judgement on walking further. I like getting my steps, but I'm not fond of falling on my ass. If it's slippery outside in the morning, we all may just stay in the house all day. Dawn is not fond of nasty weather. I think she'd rather stay under a blanket on the bed.

Malcolm is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4584

This heat is wearing me down. The entire day just seems like a futile effort to escape from it. The temperature on our sunrise walk with Dawn is already higher than the high of the day just a few weeks ago. By lunchtime the temperature is well over 100 degrees and it doesn't begin to cool down again until it is time to go to sleep. The air conditioner is working, but it can't keep up with the heat. We start out at 75 degrees in the morning and it is always over 80 by dinnertime. I'm sure it has been this hot before. I'm not so sure why people settled here in the first place. I'd rather be in the mountains right now. Telluride sound nice. So does Flathead Lake.

I continue to take my long walk right after breakfast. I'm still able to complete my route, but I need a change of clothes when I'm done. The trails are pretty empty these days. Only fools like me are out walking. As soon as my car repairs are finished, I'm headed back to the gym. I'm still kind of irritated about the cost of catalytic converters, but what can you do? I can't pass my annual safety inspection without one.

I tried entering an online photo contest this afternoon. After filling out the lengthy entry form, I discovered that the submit entry button didn't work. All that work for nothing. I thought I had a good photo too. This contest was put on by the International Dark Sky Association and I've got some fairly decent Milky Way photos. I probably wouldn't win anyway, but hopefully these guys can get the website fixed before the entry deadline closes. I rarely enter contests of any type, but I like this organization. I think I've even met some of these guys out at the observatory.

I got a letter from the Space Force today saying that my press credentials have been renewed for another year. This is good news. It means I've got a back up plan if NASA rejects my application to cover the Artemis-1 launch. The Space Force location for viewing launches isn't quite as close to the pads as the NASA Press Site, but it's still pretty good. There are actually quite a few Space Force launches during the year. I won't be able to afford to go to Florida for a while though. I've got a catalytic converter to pay for.

Dawn loves to lie out in the sun on days like this. Maybe this is why she's been itchy lately. I bet she gets bitten by ants. I get bitten by ants every time I'm out in the yard for any length of time. The ants are everywhere and it's increasingly difficult to keep them out of the house. I don't mind all the squirrels in our yard, but I wish the ants and the hornets would go away. I don't let Dawn stay out in the yard for too long. Ten or fifteen minutes at a time is plenty. I don't want her to get sunburned or have a heat stroke. I'm surprised she actually likes the sun because she also loves the air conditioning.

It was really a slow day. The big event of the day was reading a camera manual in an attempt to remember how to change a setting on one of my cameras. I eventually solved the problem, but I still hate that I forget things. Don't let anyone tell you that old people's memory is just as good as a younger person's. It's not. I really think there should be an age limit on politicians. There are far too many forgetful old people running things.

Watson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4458

Another slow day. Dawn still won't walk in the morning because it's too cold. We go down to the field behind our house and as soon as she poops she wants to come back home again. For a dog that's scared of everything, she's incredibly stubborn. When she's ready to go home, nothing can make her move forward. Until Spring really arrives, we're just going to walk her in the afternoon. The temperature warms up quickly. It went from 30 degrees to 60 degrees today.

After breakfast I filled out my application for 2022 press credentials with the Space Force. I've been credentialed for the past two years, so it shouldn't be a problem. You never know though. I don't take anything for granted anymore. I'm not even sure the magazine I write for likes me these days. Something has changed but I can't quite put my finger on it. At any rate, I hope everything goes smoothly. I still want to attend the Artemis 1 launch. I watched this spacecraft being assembled at Michoud Assembly Facility and have followed its journey for several years. Hopefully when the time comes I'll be able to afford airfare. I have a feeling that the cost of a plane ticket is going to be a lot higher in a few months from now.

I wasted a lot of time this morning trying to get my Dreamweaver software to work better. My plan was to boot the computer from an older system that I was using about the same time I bought my Adobe CS-5 software. Surprisingly this actually worked, but my WiFi was really slow because I was running an old operating system from an external hard drive. The website files I needed weren't on the drive either. By the time I finished transferring everything I realized that this was a pretty stupid plan. I guess I'll go back to using my semi-broken copy of Dreamweaver on my main computer.

I got my 20,000 steps again today but it wasn't easy. My feet felt terrible. Usually the last mile is the worst. At least I dressed appropriately this time. It was pretty warm by the time I took my long walk and I wore a light jacket that I could easily tie around my waist as I warmed up. I didn't see any ducks of geese this afternoon. I doubt that I'll ever see the eagles again. I wonder where the birds went. Parks and Recreation has been doing a lot of work in the park lately. Maybe all the noise is disrupting things. I haven't seen this much activity in many years. I may be wrong but it feels like the park department is trying to use up the remaining money in their fiscal year budget before it disappears.

I still think we should be doing more to help the Ukrainians. What good are NATO and the United Nations if all they can do is issue proclamations? I seem to remember no fly zones being established in almost every major conflict during the past thirty years. So now it's too dangerous to have a no fly zone? Basically the Ukrainians got screwed. When they broke away from the Soviet Union and became an independent country, they voluntarily relinquished their own nuclear weapons in exchange for protection from the West. It sure doesn't seem like we are doing much to protect them from Putin.

Janet said that Dawn did really well at training class tonight. We definitely won't be going to training class while she's away on vacation. The way things are going, we might not even leave the backyard.

Bacardi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day