Day 4467

All is well that ends well. Janet is home again and Dawn is a very happy dog. Actually today was Dawn's best day this week. She was finally starting to relax a little. I could clearly see the fear and uncertainty start to recede. Who knows. If Janet's vacation had lasted a few days longer we might have started to bond. I'm glad the week is over though. It's been a tough week for both of us. Dawn had to work really hard to overcome her many fears. Her worst day was when she threw up on the bed and refused to eat her breakfast. My worst day was when I felt like I'd come down with the flu. I have no idea if I really had the flu or not, but I had a persistant cough, was running a fever, and everything ached. I feel quite a bit better now and of course Dawn is over the moon now that Janet has returned..

I was determined to get something done today. I wrote several query letters with proposals for future articles. I guess it's a good sign that I've already received one reply. There's a launch in early April that Spaceflight would like me to cover, so I've already applied with Space X for credentials. Space X is much easier to deal with than NASA, so I'm optimistic that this is going to work out. The proposal I sent to Sky & Telescope might take a while to percolate to somebody's desk. They have always been very slow to respond. At least I did something. I was getting to the point where I was becoming too discouraged to even try.

I'm not sure how long I can continue taking my daily long walks. It's not fun anymore and the foot pain keeps getting worse. Usually only the last mile is terrible, so I'm thinking of scaling back my walks to 10,000 steps a day. That's less than half of what I can do on a good day, but I haven't had a good day in a long time. Maybe I'm wrong but I think reducing my daily mileage is a lot better than just quitting.

I had to make a non-standard change on the Dalmatian Rescue website today and it took me forever to remember how to write the code. I kept wanting to revert to the old way I used to build static sites years ago. This didn't work because I need to use the new mobile friendly website code. Why have I forgotten all this? I eventually figured out what I needed to do, but it was a bit disconcerting to see how quickly skills fade away if you don't use them everyday. I guess this is why I still do a daily blog post and take pictures with my phone whenever I see something interesting. If you want to call yourself a creative person, you've got to have some skin in the game.

I hope now that life has returned to normal I can finally get some sleep. Dawn and I didn't sleep well this week. The slightest noise would wake Dawn and she would sit up in the bed and look real alert until she thought the danger had past. This would usually wake me up as well. My problem was that I was always either too hot or too cold. The temperature never seemed right and my sleep stats on Fitbit and my Apple Watch were very strange. My resting heart rate was much higher than usual and my respiration rate was all over the place. At any rate, I'm tired of feeling poorly. Maybe I just don't handle stress very well.

It's hard to believe that it's already time to go grocery shopping again. My list will probably be longer than usual this week because the refrigerator is looking pretty empty. The pot roast that Janet fixed lasted all week. I don't know whether I'll need to get gas since I didn't go anywhere this week. The car never left the driveway. Hopefully the car will start tomorrow.

Skippy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4318

I finally discovered what all the commotion on our street was about yesterday. There was a carjacking with police in pursuit of the stolen car. The guy was driving on the wrong side of the road, lost control and crashed not far from our house. He tried to excape by running away from the scene but didn't get far. What was this guy thinking? Did he really think he was going to excape with two helicopters overhead and ten police cars in pursuit. At least this idiot didn't crash in our front yard. We've had cars land in our front yard before. Usually around 3 AM after the bars close.

I didn't get a lot done today. I made an appointment to see the eye doctor, another to get my hair cut, and then paid a few bills. I tried to find a carpenter to do some repair work around the house. I found three carpenters in my contact list, but I couldn't remember which one was the good one. I definitely don't want to call one of the bad carpenters again.

The weather is still quite pleasant. We were hoping that Dawn would be adventurous this morning. She did walk about a half mile longer than usual, but it was such a nice morning that I thought she'd want to go further. I went the distance on my own walk after breakfast. I didn't want to deal with foot pain, so I took two Tylenol tablets again and was able to complete my usual six miles without any problems. I don't want to get in the habit of taking pain pills when I walk, but the foot is getting better, so I think I'll be fine in a day or two.

I watched the Boca Chica live feed for a while this morning while Space X construction crews were adding catch arms to the huge launch tower they are building. The plan is to catch the returning Starship booster in mid air as it is landing so the rocket won't need landing legs. They must be pretty confident that they can guide the rocket into exactly the right position when it returns. There isn't much room for error. Every time I watch what Space X is doing it seems like they are miles ahead of everyone else.

I'm not miles ahead of anyone these days. I used to be a model of efficiency and ran a successful company for several decades. Now, I'm so slow that if I get anything done at all it's a miracle. I'm reluctant to even start a big project because I know I'll never finish it. Most days usually consist of doing laundry, charging batteries, and looking for things I've managed to lose. I've thought about repairing the large production printer so I can print huge impressive prints of my rocket and astro photos. I don't know what the point of this would be though. I've already got boxes and boxes of large prints in the storage warehouse that will never be framed and will probably never see the light of day.

The plumber still hasn't gotten the check I mailed them over two weeks ago. Jeez. I've only written one paper check in the past six months and the post office manages to lose it. I should have know better but the plumber wasn't able to take a credit card and said the company would just bill me later. I've lost faith in the post office. All we get in our mailbox now is junk mail and all we get from the phone company is spam and telemarketers. The phone company even identifies these calls now with descriptive labels on the caller ID like "suspected spam, telemarketer, or political call." If they know what these calls are, why do they even put them through?

Janet said Dawn did really well at training class tonight. Next week is the annual Halloween party. We've got to think of a costume for Dawn.

Emily is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4283

Today got off to a good start. I woke up early enough to have some French Toast for breakfast and take a shower before making the sunrise drive from Titusville to Kennedy Space Center to set up remote cameras for the launch. I don't set up remote cameras myself because I don't have any I can afford to lose. I've heard too many stories about cameras that were ruined by being out in the rain overnight or by wind blown rocket fuel during the launch. This is always your best chance to get close up pictures of the rocket though. If you are lucky, you can get really close to the pad. 

We were lucky this morning because Space X allowed us inside the fence at Pad 39A. This rarely happens on NASA launches. Space X definitely does things a little differently than NASA. Usually there is only a small handful of photographers setting remote cameras on a NASA launch. This morning there must have been almost a hundred people waiting to get on five large busses. 

I was surprised that we were riding in busses to the launch pad. I've been to one NASA launch during Covid and we all formed a convoy and followed a NASA vehicle to the viewing location in our own cars. We even had to social distance our cars when we got to the location. A photographer waiting to get on the bus with me said he thought it was too early for busses. He said he got on a Space X bus during a recent Starlink launch and the bus driver had Covid. Apparently the entire bus had to be quarantined for 14 days. We all wore masks while we were out at the pad this morning but a lot of people in Florida don't. 

Our bus was delayed this morning because somebody forgot to call the bomb sniffing dog. We unloaded all our bags and waited. You can tell the handlers really love their dogs. Most military dogs are Belgian Malinois. They look a lot like German Shepards, but are stronger and more athletic. Today's dog was smaller than usual and looked very young. He was extremely well trained though. I'm always impressed by these dogs. 

I asked if we could come later to view the launch this evening than the 3 PM arrival time mentioned in one of the Space X messages I received. The earliest the rocket was scheduled to launch this evening was 8 PM. That's a long time to be out in the sun. "You can come whenever you want," the Space X representative told me. "If you don't come early though, you'll probably get caught in a traffic jam and end up waiting over an hour to get through the guard gate." I decided to leave early.

I should have waited because the crowds were apparently all Space X VIP's and they went somewhere else to view the launch. I sailed through the guard gate. We could see the VIP's off in the distance in their own special tent. I think Elon was there. When I got to the launch site I saw the astronauts driving to the launch pad in their white Teslas. Unfortunately, I hadn't gotten set up yet and my camera was still in the trunk of the rental car. The guys who were doing the Netflix documentary about the launch were there with a satellite truck and and an elaborate enclosure for their gear and on-camera talent. They were going to live stream the final episode of the series. My setup was pretty simple by comparison, but I did find a good place to take pictures and was very happy with the results. Everything seemed to go perfectly on this launch. There were no delays at all. The launch took place right on schedule and it was quite beautiful.

I enjoyed this trip. I reconnected with some space photographer friends that I hadn't seen in a while and at least for the moment, it kind of seemed like I was back in the game. Now I"ve got to go write my article,
 

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4280

Today was mostly walking and packing. I'm good at walking and terrible at packing. We get up a little later on Sunday, but our sunrise walk was still nice and cool even though the sun was already over the horizon. We had a nice leisurely breakfast on our return and then I took my long walk in the park. Somehow I forgot it was time for Dawn's Sunday outing today, but Dawn and Janet were quick to remind me when I got back home. I rested for about fifteen minutes and then we went walking again. I was really pleased at how well I did today. This was easily the longest I've walked since I was hospitalized.

I wasn't nearly as pleased with the progress I've made getting ready for my trip. Did I mention that I was terrible at packing? I always forget things. Sometimes I forget important things. Every time I remembered something I'm going to need, I dumped it in an empty suitcase. I'll organize things later. I made a list of addresses I'm going to need. I should have these addresses memorized by now, since they're the same places I always go, but this kind of stuff never seems to stick in my head. I'm so old school that I always print out all my reservations and contacts instead of keeping them on my phone. I put all this information in a manila folder and always keep it nearby. My phone stays charged a long time because I hardly ever use it.

Whenever I travel to Florida I always worry that I'll get there and discover that the launch has been canceled. It's miracle when things actually go according to schedule. More than once I have had to extend my stay when a launch got postponed. Usually the delays are only 24 hours though. NASA is pretty good about sending you constant updates, but Space X is a lot more succinct. I received one short message from them that actually had all the information I need and haven't heard anything since. This terse communication makes me a little nervous but what can you do. You either make the trip or you don't.

You can't have a drink on the plane anymore. That's a shame. Having a drink was always relaxing. I guess eliminating alcohol is supposed to make the passengers less unruly. I wish the airline's would go back to keeping the center seat empty. Flying was actually kind of nice when all the center seats were empty. I'll have to remember to take plenty of masks. The space center is fanatical about masks. You have to wear them indoors and out, day or night. I wish I could wear something that would protect me from mosquitos. Florida mosquitos are horrendous on night launches. No matter what kind of bug spray I use, I always come home covered in bites.

The fur on Dawn's paws has finally grown back. So far, she has not started licking again. We still don't know if getting all the stones out of her bladder caused the licking to stop, or if it was the allergy medicine the vet prescribed. We'll probably stop the allergy medicine soon and see if the licking behavior returns. I'm guessing that the stones made her uncomfortable. They certainly made me uncomfortable.

I hope my upcoming trip is worth the effort I'm making. I do want to be a space journalist, but I'm never that wild about traveling. I'm happy enough just taking naps in the afternoon with Dawn. I'm probably happier about the naps than Dawn is. She's still not wild about sharing the bed with me.

Marcie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4278

I got a message from Space X today saying that I had been credentialed to cover the upcoming Inspiration 4 launch. This was a surprise. Somewhat short notice too. I had applied for a press pass so long ago that I'd almost forgotten about it. I think I'm going to go. Hotel, flights to Orlando, and rental cars are all still available. The new editor at SpaceFlight said he had been planning to write the article about the launch himself, but that it would be better coming from someone who was actually there. So it looks like I've got a job to do too. So far, it's all looking good. I just hope the launch doesn't get postponed after I've already arrived in Florida. That can get expensive.

I've been hearing horror stories all Summer about the cost and availability of rental cars and hotel rooms. Rental car rates are about the same as they've always been and the hotel and airfare are actually less expensive than the last time I went to Kennedy Space Center. I guess you can't believe everything you read.

The weather has been beautiful all week. We had a nice sunrise walk with Dawn, although she made it clear that she didn't want to go exploring this morning. I could tell she was going to make a right turn and take the short route home at least 100 yards before we reached the turn. I was still able to take my long walk right after breakfast and stay reasonably cool. It's not jacket weather yet, but I really think Summer is just about over.

Although the message from Space X was a big surprise, the rest of my day was fairly uneventful. My long walk eats up two hours and I probably spend the same amount of time napping. This afternoon I spent quite a while checking prices and making reservations. The rental car website crashed and I had to call to make a reservation. I called the hotel front desk, but my reservation never got recorded on my phone app. More calls tomorrow I guess. I tried to reschedule a doctor's appointment only to discover that the office closed at 4 PM and they had no voicemail. I need to remember to do this on Monday.

Dawn still seems indignant when Janet leaves the house and she has to spend the day with me. She isn't scared of me. She just doesn't seem to like me very much. She followed me outside after I returned from my walk because I knew she needed to pee. Generally, she just ignores anything I say. Dawn is a very smart dog though. I'm amazed at what Janet has been able to teach her at training class. I attribute all this to the old adage about old dogs and new tricks. Dawn is an old dog and she was mistreated by the two men who used her for breeding for a long time. We get along though. I never really expected everyone to like me.

It's time to make a grocery list again. The end of smoothies has changed things up a bit. I'm not sure how much fruit to buy anymore. Maybe this is all for the best. I've noticed that I don't have as many problems with heartburn now that I don't drink breakfast smoothies. This makes no sense though. A bowl of chili is supposed to give you heartburn, not a fruit smoothie.

I hope the weather stays nice through the weekend. I definitely don't want to start worrying about roof leaks again.

Cleo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4124

We got lucky again. The severe weather I've been hearing about all day appears to have missed us. I can see lightning and ocassionally hear thunder, but I don't even think we got any rain. Hopefully, all the storms have moved to the East by now. You've got to take the weather seriously in this part of the world. I'm always glad when the skies clear and the thunder fades away in the distance.

I went out and looked for a birthday card today. There used to be a nice little card shop in the neighborhood, but it went out of business years ago. Now there's just a partial aisle of cards at the grocery store. I don't send many cards and letters these days, but I still know a few people who aren't on Facebook. I still think writing is a great way to communicate, but it's becoming a lost art. It's a rare day that I get a real letter in the mail. 99% of our mail is just advertising flyers and junk. It's a shame that the writing tradition has died. It used to be the main way I kept up with friends.

I read an article today about the growing group of people who spend weeks or even months down on South Padre Island waiting for something to happen at the Space X Boca Chica facility. Some of these people have their own YouTube channels and report on Starship developments daily. A few have a large audience of Space X fans and have made enough money off their YouTube broadcasts to turn their quest into a full time job. All this kind of makes me feel like a slacker. I write a few articles a year for print magazines and these guys are out there making videos about space every single day. Even though my company made a lot of TV commercials and corporate videos back in the day, I have no desire to become a YouTuber. I like the process of slowly writing, editing, and refining an article or story. I don't even understand why someone would want to livestream something. I guess I'm getting old.

I don't know if I'll last as long as Prince Philip, but hopefully I've got a few good years left. I think it takes a lot of luck and some good genes to live to 99. I don't know anybody personally who's been able to do it. I'm sure staying active helps. That's a big reason why I walk everyday. There are lots of ways you can stay active, but walking is unique. There is no stress involved in walking. It's actually very relaxing. You just put one foot in front of the other and let your mind wander. 

I walk the same route every day, but there is always something new. The White Pelicans are gone now. I think they spend the Summer in North Dakota and Southern Canada. It doesn't appear that last year's straggler stayed at the lake this year. I looked carefully today and didn't see a single Pelican. 

There are some construction workers renovating one of the old WPA buildings at the park. It's interesting to see how much progress they make in a day. Since this is a restoration, they are using old construction methods as well. This is quite different than watching a new house go up in the neighborhood. It's makes you appreciate how much craftsmanship used to go into building something.

Dawn acted pretty normal today. I'm getting used to her weird ways. She's friendly with me when I'm sitting on the bed with her, but she's uncomfortable when I'm in the kitchen. I just go to the back of the house while she's eating now. As with most things in life, it's easier to just go with the flow. 

Livy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4110

I took a few things to the storage warehouse today and while I was there, I looked for the missing video component. Maybe I moved the thing there and just forgot about it. Nope. I really did throw it away with the empty boxes. Oh, well. Kind of an expensive lesson to learn, but I doubt that I will be making corporate videos again anyway. While I was searching through my storage unit, I found an entire case of yellow tennis balls. Why? I don't play tennis. We must have gotten them for some dog related event in the distant past.

Spring is here. Everything is turning green except for our Asian Jasmine ground cover. It still looks brown and completely dead. I wonder why this stuff fared worse than the rest of the plants? We have a lot of ground cover in the back of the yard because it grows well under our large trees. I have a feeling that the yard is going to look pretty ugly for a while. It's kind of amazing what a week of freezing weather can do.

It was a beautiful day for walking, but my feet didn't get the message. Yesterday, I had a spring in my step and walked briskly. Today I felt like I was carrying a sack of rocks. I got plenty of rest last night, but I just didn't have any energy today. I kept walking and completed five miles, but my time was a lot slower.  Before I started wearing my Fitbit, I wasn't even aware of these changes. I've done this walk so many times now that I can calculate my pace just from the sound of my footsteps. I can pretty accurately guess how many calories I'm burning as well. The trade off is that I don't stop and take pictures as much as I used to.

Dawn likes being outside, but she still won't go outside with me unless I take her out on a leash. As soon as I attach the leash, she hops off the bed and follows me out the back door. I take the leash off as soon as we are in the back yard and she is very comfortable staying out in the yard with me. She wanders around the yard barking at things and will occasionally come over to the chair where I'm sitting to be petted. When we go back inside, she heads straight for the bedroom and waits for Janet to return. It's very strange behavior, but it's starting to feel normal.

The star tracker I ordered has already shipped. This flies in the face of everything I've been reading on the Internet about having to wait months for astronomy equipment. Hopefully, I can learn to use this thing before I go out to the observatory. The trick will be finding any stars to track. You really can't see much of anything here in Dallas.

There was supposed to be a Starship launch today, but it got canceled for some unknown reason. I've known several people who travel down to Boca Chica to watch these launches, but I haven't had the nerve to go myself yet. You could end up waiting for days because Space X schedules change frequently and they are never published ahead of time. There also seems to be a major influx of people crossing the border around Brownsville, so this might not be the best time to visit the area. I'm still amazed that they launch these rockets within a few feet of a Texas state highway and visitors can walk right up to it. This is bound to change soon, but for now it's still the Wild West down in Boca Chica. I really need to plan a visit before the whole compound becomes a restricted area.

I need to plan a lot of things, but I'm finding it extremely difficult to get motivated. It's easier to just get up, fix my smoothie, and repeat the same things I did the previous day. There's always tomorrow, but usually it's just like yesterday.

Bubba is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4016

Dawn is still very unpredictable on her walks. She seemed very eager to leave the house this morning. After she pooped, she froze and refused to move for a while. I thought she was done, but suddenly she became playful and started running and jumping around. We continued walking for almost two miles while Dawn smelled trees and bushes and was seemingly in a good mood. Then she abruptly froze again and refused to move forward. We tried to change directions and encourage her with a new path, but she just wanted to go home. She obviously wasn't feeling any discomfort, because she kept up a brisk pace all the way home. Something is wrong, but it all seems to be in her head. We are beginning to wonder if Dawn had a traumatic brain injury at some point in her past.

When we got Dawn home again, Janet went to the gym and I just continued walking. It's a shame that Dawn didn't feel like walking today. It was such a nice day. I didn't set any records, but I got quite a few steps today. It wasn't too hot. It wasn't too cold. It was just enjoyable being outdoors.

I'm really making an effort to declutter. It's such a monumental job that I think it's going to take years. Bulky trash day is tomorrow, so I was determined to add a few things to the pile at the curb. I filled several large black trash bags with useless stuff from the office. I finally took the new dehumidifier out of it's shipping container and threw away the box. I threw away a lot of other empty boxes too. It's hard for me to throw away a good box. Shoeboxes always seem useful to me. You can stack them because they're all about the same size. They are well made compared to other boxes and I always seems to have lots of little stuff to fill them with. All the empty boxes got broken down and went to the curb. There were some broken watch winders I threw away. These things were impossible to repair, but they looked nice, so it has always been hard for me to throw them away. I only threw away no-brainer stuff today, but it was surprising how many trash bags I was able to fill. 

The yard got some attention today as well. I threw away some leaky garden hoses and broken hand tools. It was too big of a job to rake all the leaves, but I did manage to sweep them off the front and back porches. I used the leaf blower to blow away a huge pile of leaves that had been blocking the door to the green house and discovered some more broken glass in the process. I guess the last wind storm had knocked out another pane. The greenhouse is a mess. It will be a big job to repair it and an equally big job to tear it down. 

Evidently the whole world watched the conjunction last night. There were a lot of pictures on Facebook. Some were better than mine and others were worse. I felt a little better about my efforts yesterday when I had something to compare my pictures with. Actually, I did quite well considering that I wasn't using a telescope. Almost all the photos that showed more detail than the ones I took were taken with high quality telescopes. Since there won't be another conjunction like this for hundreds of years, I guess it's time to go back to improving my Milky Way pictures.

The Boca Chica livestream was interesting today. Space X was moving the next Starship out to the launch pad. This sixteen story rocket was just traveling down a public highway on a very large truck. The rocket was upright too. It was an amazing sight. I guess Elon doesn't want to spend a lot of money building a special rail line or dedicated road to transport rockets from the factory to the launch pad. A state highway seems to work just fine.

I hope we can get Dawn walking normally again. She's not a playful dog and her walks are about the only exercise she gets. You don't want to let a Dalmatian get fat. It will almost guarantee that the dog will have problems with their rear legs later in life. In dog years Dawn is about the same age as Janet and I. We've all got to work on staying healthy.

Two sisters are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3955

I learned something new today. I downloaded the compositing software I needed, watched a few YouTube tutorials, and started stacking a sequence of Milky Way photos I'd taken out at the observatory. The whole idea of stacking is to take a series of identical images and then layer them on top of each other to eliminate artifacts and electronic noise. The software actually works and really does clean up night sky images while leaving everything looking natural. The process takes a lot of time though and I'm not sure if it's that much better than the internal noise reduction that's already built into my camera. I took some pictures using the camera's internal noise reduction and they were almost as good as the time consuming stacking procedure.

Actually, I was more pleased to discover that my pictures look pretty good right out of that camera than I was to learn how to stack images. It's always nice to learn something new though. Even thought I'm too lazy to stack my night sky images all the time, I'm sure I'll use the stacking software in the future. It's always good to be knowledgable about this stuff when you're talking with other photographers.

It's a good thing I had something new to learn today, because there wasn't much else going on. The weather is still nice and Dawn continues to do well on her morning walks. We have no idea if her seizures will return at some point, but for now everything seems fine. Dawn is definitely back to her old ways, taking long walks in the morning and then sleeping on the bed for the rest of the day.

I kind of felt like sleeping on the bed for the rest of the day myself. I'm still having a hard time catching up on my sleep. I go to bed too late and get up too early. I thought I'd sleep a lot less while I was out at the observatory, but I got almost the same amount of sleep out at the Prude Ranch that I get here. I stayed up a lot later, but I also slept in a lot later every morning. It appears that I get about five hours of sleep each night wherever I am.

When I took the trash out to the curb tonight I was amazed at how few stars I could see. It felt like Dallas was on a different planet than Fort Davis. It's clear out tonight, but basically all I could see was the moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. It's a shame that I now know how to take good star pictures, but there are no stars to photograph. Oh, well. I guess I could drive out in the country to find darker skies, but I don't like driving at night and there's nowhere close where I'd even feel safe.

The Boca Chica live feed was interesting today. The Space X folks added the nose cone and forward wings to the SN8 booster that was already sitting on the launch pad. This thing is huge and really looks like a rocket now. It is quite impressive. It's amazing how different Space X is than NASA. They basically drive the rocket parts down a state highway and assemble them in a field. The activity never stops. There are three shifts that operate 24 hours a day. I still think these guys are going to get to Mars first.

They say Covid cases are spiking in Dallas again. It's a shame that nobody can seem to get a handle on this. I don't think the Europeans are doing any better than we are at this point. I don't even know anyone who is sick now, but we continue to be bombarded with dire statistics every day. This is not good. I'm always wondering when my luck is going to run out. 

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3939

Another busy day. Dawn was in good spirits this morning. I was surprised at how much energy she had. We walked four miles and she kept wanting me to pick up the pace. Now that her Prednisone dose has been reduced, Dawn seems a lot more like her old self. I really hope she remains stable when she has completed her meds. A healthy dog is usually a happy dog.

After breakfast I found a place to stay reasonably near the observatory and made reservations for my trip. I'll be staying at Prude Ranch, a 100 year old working cattle ranch that now hosts visitors in several guest houses on the property. I've passed the ranch several times on my way to the observatory and always wondered what it would be like to stay there. The people I talked with today were extremely nice and made me feel welcome. This is a lot better alternative than driving all the way back to Fort Davis every night after the astrophotography workshop sessions have concluded. 

I got my flu shot this morning. It still seems weird to go to the doctor with all the Covid safety protocols they have in place. The nurse who gave me the shot said that it was a good thing I came in today. There is evidently a lot more interest in flu shots this season than in previous years. Janet and I both got our senior shots today. By the end of the day the supply that came in yesterday was already gone.

Our forehead thermometer never gives me the same readings as the one at the doctor's office. How do you calibrate these things? I suspect that you can't. It's kind of silly taking my temperature every day if the readings aren't even right. There's one thermometer at the house that I know is accurate. It's been up a dog's butt quite a few times though. Not going to use that one.

I wish I had a better way of dealing with my seasonal allergies. They were pretty bad today. I can't take antihistamines. Even newer antihistamines like Zyrtec and Allegra leave me feeling worse than doing nothing at all. As a consequence, my nose is starting to look like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Masks and constant sneezing aren't a good combination. I hope I can shake these allergies before I begin my trip. In a post-Covid world, sneezing a lot is not a good look.

One of the Space X rockets that has been delayed quite a few times finally got off the ground today. Several of my Florida photographer friends got some beautiful pictures. I wonder if today's successful launch had anything to do with Elon Musk flying out to Cape Canaveral to personally inspect things. He spends most of his time in Boca Chica these days. A lot is happening down there. Pretty soon the first Starship prototype that actually looks more like a rocket than a flying grain silo is going to fly. I still watch the Boca Chica live feed almost every day. It's amazing how much is going on down there.

I keep putting off making roof repairs because working with the silicon coating is so messy. This is the perfect time to do it though. The weather is cool and there is a long stretch of sunny days ahead. Maybe I can force myself to do this loathsome chore tomorrow.

Cassie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3908

No rain today. Luckily, it was still cloudy and cool. We had a nice walk before breakfast this morning, although the park was already filled with weekend athletes. I don't know if there is an increased interest in fitness or if people just haven't returned to the gym yet. Janet says her gym is still pretty empty. I've never seen so many people jogging and cycling in the park before. Maybe one hidden benefit of the pandemic is that people are finally starting to realize that it's a good idea to be healthy.

I found almost everything on my grocery list this morning. They even had rubbing alcohol today. Strangely, peaches have returned to the produce section less than a week after I received that notice from the store to throw mine away. Maybe they realized what I've known all along. There's nothing wrong with most of these peaches.

It was long past time for some serious house cleaning. I hate changing the sheets now because it hurts my dislocated shoulder to remove and replace the fitted bottom sheet. Like getting up on the roof, this is something that still needs to be done unfortunately. I also washed the comforter and all the dog blankets. Dawn sheds a lot. Actually all Dalmatians shed a lot.

Dog hair means I need to vacuum more often than I'd like as well. I did a lot of vacuuming today. My part of the cleaning duties are done for a while. I try to do my share, but Janet actually does a lot more cleaning than I do. She still cares about a clean house.

I didn't bother to take an afternoon walk today. Even though it never rained, I kept hearing thunder in the distance. We were able to complete our full five miles this morning and I got plenty of exercise cleaning the house this afternoon. I still haven't removed the standing water from the roof. No sense in overdoing things. Maybe I'll take care of the roof tomorrow. It looks like we've got several days of clear weather ahead and I still don't feel like going back to the gym.

When I looked at the Boca Chica cameras today there was a torrential rainstorm going on. The rain knocked out several of the remote cameras but it didn't seems to stop work at the facility. Nothing seems to stop these guys. It's fascinating to watch how quickly this brand new spaceport is developing. They're still making the rockets in tents, but that's about to change. By the time the real Starship makes it's debut next year, this place will look a lot different. I've got to figure out a way to get down there and do a story. This dusty little strip of land is definitely where the future is happening.

There's not much happening here. Whenever I venture out on my shopping day, I'm appalled at how everyone seems to be totally ignoring the virus. Restaurants are full. Masks are required everywhere, but nobody wears them correctly. Almost half the people I saw today were wearing their mask below their nose. A lot of people take their mask off to talk to store employees too. It must be frustrating to be a store employee. I'm still doing my part, but it's mostly because I don't like people anyways. It's easy to stay six feet away. I'll be keeping my distance long after this is over.

Allie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3906

You want a recipe for a dismal day? Start with lots of rain. Add a huge sell off in the stock market. Throw in a little pandemic isolation and top it off with the latest cable news crisis. It's getting harder and harder to stay positive this year. I'm not a very positive person anyway, but this year is off the charts. Sometimes all it takes is a little rain to tip the balance.

We had to delay our walk again this morning because of the rain. We got up really early to beat the weather, but the forecast was wrong. It was already raining. The rain never lasted long, but it was hard to tell what was going to happen next. We ended up waiting until almost noon before leaving the house. Dawn didn't seem to mind. I think she would sleep all day if given the chance.

I got a letter from the grocery store today telling me to throw away the peaches I had bought from them almost a month ago. A little late guys. I've already had two peach pies and eaten a peach every day in my morning smoothie. If I was going to get salmonella poisoning I'd be dead by now. Who keeps peaches for over a month anyway? They don't last that long. There's still one store that sells peaches. I'm continuing to eat them. It makes me wonder if these peaches are actually safe, or whether the store just didn't bother to read all the recall notices. I do think a lot of these produce recalls are just done out of an abundance of caution. Nobody wants to get sued these days.

I went to the bank today to deposit a check. I wonder if the bank lobby is ever going to reopen? They've probably discovered that it's much easier to have everyone go through the drive up windows. Customers seems to have adjusted to this. Maybe there's no need to ever reopen the lobby. There's an app that lets you deposit checks by taking a picture of them with your phone. I'm too old school for this though. I don't use my phone for any type of transactions. It's just a tool to check the weather with and occasionally take photos. I used my phone to photograph some Bald Cypress fruit today. These don't look nearly as edible as the Mexican Plumbs a little further down the road.

Both Space X launches were successful today. There was a Starlink launch in Florida this morning and another Starship prototype hop in Boca Chica later in the day. The Starship still looks like a flying grain silo, but I bet a year from now it will look a lot more sophisticated. One disconcerting thing is happening down at Boca Chica. Space X is building a giant stainless steel wall around the facility. If I ever get down there, I might not be able to see anything. Since United Launch Alliance didn't have any launches today, they had time to answer my letter. Yay. I'm on the ULA media list now.

The trash has been taken to the curb. The rain has stopped. Dawn seems to be in a good mood. Maybe today wasn't that dismal after all. Really nothing happened today, but nothing happened yesterday either. We'll see if tomorrow is a repeat of today. There's more rain in the forecast starting around 4 AM. Will we get to walk or will we have to wait? There's certainly nothing else on the agenda.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3902

We got a lot of rain today. It started raining before we woke up this morning and continued through midmorning. There was no early walk this morning. Dawn wouldn't even go outside to pee. The rain was so heavy that I began worrying about roof leaks again. It didn't help that the pumps weren't working. I had to wait until the rain subsided a bit before I could go outside and discover that the circuit breaker for the pump circuit had been tripped. I got one of the pumps working and disconnected the other one so the breaker wouldn't trip again.

We ate breakfast and waited for the rain to stop. We were finally able to walk Dawn around 10:30 AM. The rain had cooled things down considerably. It was only 75 degrees when we left the house. There was a nice breeze as well. Unfortunately, this didn't last very long. As soon as the clouds began to dissipate and the sun came out you could feel the temperature immediately start to rise. Before we returned home it was already oppressively humid and you could tell it was going to be a hot day.

The first order of business after we returned home was getting the water off the roof. I knew if I waited, it would be too hot later in the day. When the pumps aren't working correctly there is a huge amount of water on the roof. A lot of the water was stained a dark brown by the pecans falling from a neighbor's tree. Squirrels eat the pecans and then the shells rot.  It's a mess. I've always thought that chemicals in the pecan shells cause the roof coating to deteriorate. I've always had the most problems with leaks during this time of the year. While I was up on the roof, I replaced one of the pump hoses. These things don't last long in the summer heat.

There must have been a power surge or a very brief outage last night. The breaker for the security light in the back yard had also been tripped. Oddly, I didn't notice anything strange inside the house. Only the outdoor circuits seem to have been affected.

There were several rocket launches today and I watched them on the computer between household chores. Space X was supposed to do a short hop with it's latest Starship prototype in Boca Chica and then launch a Falcon 9 down at Cape Canaveral later in the day. The SN6 hop never happened, but it was interesting to watch. Boca Chica is only about a mile from the Mexican border. After the pad had been cleared and the launch site had been secured there were two illegals who walked right past the rocket carrying a bucket. After passing near the pad, they pulled some clothes out of the bucket, changed outfits, put on facemasks, and disappeared into some nearby brush. The announcer for the launch coverage seemed startled and said "I wonder if these guys realize that 250,000 people are watching them." I have no idea what happened to the guys. They probably have jobs in Brownsville by now.

By the time I took my afternoon walk, the temperature was over 100 degrees again. It's weird to have temperature swings of over thirty degrees in a single day. That's Texas for you. I guess I shouldn't complain. We don't have to worry about hurricanes and we haven't had a tornado in a long time. I think we're going to try for another pre-dawn start to our walk tomorrow. By the time we returned home today, it was way too hot. Maybe the weather will improve in September. It would be nice if everything else improved as well.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3900

I like big even numbers. Only a hundred days to go before I've been blogging for 4000 consecutive days. Piece of cake. I'll reach this goal before the end of the year. Can I keep this going for 5000 days? That remains to be seen. I don't even know if I'll live that long. I feel like I've got less to write about than I did in the beginning. I certainly have fewer readers. It's good to have goals though. Even if they are silly ones. One way or another, I'll keep writing.

I thought about repairing Janet's broken Apple Watch today. Hey, I've already successfully fixed two computers. I watched a couple of YouTube videos and it seemed like something I could do if I was careful and dexterous. Parts were available too. I'm not that dexterous unfortunately. Maybe it would be better to take the watch to the Apple Store. Nevermind. The Apple Stores have so many Covid regulations now that it's not not even worth the trouble to go there. Apple repairs are expensive too. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I could get a brand new Apple Watch at Best Buy for half the price of an Apple repair. It was a discontinued Series Three model, but it was still brand new. I went out and got Janet a new watch. I still may attempt to repair the old one though if I get really, really bored.

We got a late start on our walk this morning. The sun was almost up before we even left the house. The temperature warmed up quickly and I was a little worried that Dawn wasn't going to make it. She did fine though. Actually, she seemed to have more energy than I did. When is this summer going to be over? I've had enough.

The State Fair of Texas has been canceled this year, but they've decided to open the fairgrounds on selected weekends for drive-thru fair food. I didn't realize that the demand for funnel cakes, turkey legs, and deep fried pickles was that high, but I guess it is. People actually seem excited about the prospect of drive-thru fair food. I think I'll pass on this one.

I'm amazed at how many people watch the Boca Chica live cameras. There are usually at least a thousand people from all around the world watching even when nothing is going on. People in the chat speculate about what is happening whenever they see a forklift or crane move. It's fascinating to watch how quickly things change at this facility. They work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This is all so different than NASA. Have I become an Elon Musk fanboy? Who knows. I despise politicians, but I admire people like Elon and Steve Jobs. We need more people like this.

I'm kind of glad i didn't get accepted for the Delta IV Heavy launch now. The launch has already been delayed two times and I would have had to extend my stay quite a bit. Hotel bills and rental cars can add up quickly. I wish I had less expensive interests. When a launch gets delayed it can get pretty expensive. You think "one more day won't cost that much," and then it becomes two, three, or even four days. You hate to leave though and miss everything.

These weeks sure go quickly. Tomorrow is grocery shopping day again. It seems like I just did this. Will I find my favorite cheese? Have peaches returned to the produce department? Such excitement. I can hardly wait.

Mandy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3888

The last thing I expected was a thunderstorm today, but here we are. The rain is pouring down and the wind is picking up. As always, I'm worried about a power outage. Thunderstorms and power outages go hand-in-hand in our neighborhood. It hasn't rained for so long that I'm not really prepared. The laptop isn't fully charged and the backup batteries aren't either. Oh, well. It is what it is. Actually, we do need the rain.

It certainly wasn't raining when we took our early walk this morning. The skies were clear with a nice view of Venus and a waning crescent moon to the east. The Muscovy ducks were waiting for us at the bridge and we were kind of mad to see a passing skateboarder try to scare them away. Dawn seemed more tired than usual this morning, but was was very humid. Maybe that should have been our first warning that the weather was about to change.

I noticed that I was about out of collagen powder, so I went to get some more after breakfast. I'm not a huge fan of nutritional supplements, but I've been taking this stuff to help with arthritis and aching joints and it seems to work. Too bad that collagen has become popular recently. It sure seems expensive to me. I also looked for rubbing alcohol again. This is another one of those things that has inexplicably disappeared from grocery and drugstore shelves. Who knows. Maybe all the alcohol is being used to make hand sanitizer now. I finally found a small bottle of the stuff but the store said there was a limit of one to a customer. Jeez. It was just a bottle of rubbing alcohol.

I watched the Boca Chica live feed for a while this afternoon. Space X was doing a cryo test of the next Starship prototype. Basically, watching these pressurization tests is like watching nothing at all. Occasionally you will see some white smoke or a little ice forming on the surface of the rocket, but nothing moves. Probably the most interesting thing is reading all the YouTube comments from other people watching. Everyone is speculating about what is going on, but it is clear that nobody knows for sure. These live feeds are just Boca Chica neighbors pointing their cameras over the Space X fence. Nothing is authorized by Space X at all. This is the exact opposite of how NASA would handle something like this. I like it that a small group of South Texas amateurs is providing the most accurate and up to date information about what Space X is doing.

We're getting lots of thunder and lightning now. Dawn doesn't seem to be bothered at all. She is the first dog we've had that isn't scared of storms. Of course, she is scared of everything else, but she's fine in a thunderstorm. I worry a lot more about storms than she does. A tree may fall. The roof may start leaking again. The power may go out. A lot of things can go wrong. Look what happened in Iowa recently. I can't believe there isn't more on the news about this derecho storm. It was devastating. They say over one third of the state's corn crop is gone. Lots of farms have been destroyed. This is all going to show up in grocery stores later. One more legacy of 2020.

I hope the weather improves tomorrow. There are walks to take and so much more. Just kidding. It's just the walks.

Pogo 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 3884

Another starlit start to our morning walk. You can tell what kind of day it's going to be the moment you step out the back door. When the air is stifling and you can smell the humidity, you know it's not a good sign. It was a pretty morning though. I could still see the constellation Orion just below Venus. I kept hoping to see a few meteors, since the Perseid meteor shower was supposed to peak this morning. No such luck. The sky wasn't dark enough.

We've decided that the ducks and geese stay on the water at night to stay safe from the coyotes. They are always out in the lake on the outbound leg of our walk and have returned to the shore when we see them again on the way home. All the animals we see are very predictable. I guess they probably think the same thing about us.

After breakfast I went to the Land Rover dealer so I could get my car safety inspected for another year. The state sets the price for these inspections, so this is just about the only time I can escape a huge bill when I take my car to the dealership. Safety inspections are a bargain at Land Rover. One of the sales guys I know keeps trying to get me interested in buying a new Defender. I have to admit that I like the car, but I bet I could get a pretty nice Bronco for half the price. There is going to be lots to choose from in the next year or two. A Bronco with the Sasquatch package sounds intriguing. If I really want my old Defender back, there's the new INEOS Grenadier. This new 4x4 is almost a direct copy of the Defender design with a BMW engine. There's always the Tesla Cybertruck too. For someone who doesn't really like to drive and seldom ventures off of paved roads, I'm way too interested in rugged four wheel drive vehicles. Maybe I just want to get ready for the apocalypse.

I don't know how I got started watching the 24/7 Boca Chica cam, but I look at it every day now. It's amazing how quickly things change at this Space X facility in South Texas. They've already got a new Starship prototype on the launch pad and are are preparing for another hop test. These guys are working 24 hours a day. I still have a feeling that they are going to beat NASA to Mars. At the rate they are going, they might even beat them back to the moon. I keep wondering how hard it would be to get access to this facility? This would make a good story for SpaceFlight Magazine. Unfortunately, Covid is spreading like wildfire near the border in South Texas. Maybe I ought to wait a while.

Now that I've gotten my car inspected, I can go get the new window sticker. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. You used to need two stickers on your windshield, but the state scrapped the inspection sticker a few years ago. When you go to get your registration sticker, they already know whether you've had the car inspected. There is no need to take care of this immediately, but I do need something to do.

I'm sure we'll get up early again tomorrow. The temperature is supposed to reach 103 degrees. We've already shortened Dawn's walks. I have a feeling that we'll need to shorten them even further. I don't know about you, but I'm ready for Fall.

Ellis is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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