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

Watch of the Day

Day 4941

Another uneventful day. I'm having problems connecting to the Internet this evening, so this post is taking a lot longer than expected. Actually, everything is taking longer than expected today, but that's pretty typical for a hot July day. I'm not looking forward to the next two months.

It's always deceptively cool on our sunrise walks with Dawn, but the pleasant weather doesn't last long. As soon as the sun hits our faces we know that we're in for another hot day. The humidity seems to have returned as well. Oh, well. So much for fixing the screen door today.

After finishing breakfast I drove to the post office and mailed the letter I wrote yesterday. Then I returned to the gym for another three mile walk on the indoor track and a little time on the basketball court. I know I need to work on my upper body strength, but when I'm finished with these two activities I'm usually ready to go home. At least I found a space in the parking garage today. The car stays much cooler when it's inside.

When I returned home I spent some time corresponding with my editor, trying to sort out which launches I'll be covering for the rest of the year. There are always more launches I'd like to attend than money for unlimited trips to Florida. I think I'll be able to attend the important launches though. Sometimes I wonder why I continue to do this. The magazine doesn't pay travel expenses and all these launches are more or less the same. It's still a pleasant experience to be considered a space journalist though. I guess I'll continue chasing rockets as long as I can.

I wish there was something that captured my interest right here in town. Right now I usually just feel like taking a long nap. I've thought about joining an astronomy club, but I hate driving at night. I've been spoiled by the dark skies out at McDonald Observatory as well. The night sky in Dallas isn't much to speak of. What else is there? I don't collect things anymore and I basically have everything I need. I don't even eat lunch much anymore. I used to frequently go out for lunch with people, but it was usually business related. Pretty much everything I did for thirty years was business related. Truthfully, retirement isn't all that exciting.

There are still plenty of chores to do around the house but I'm trying my best to avoid them. It's too hot to work outdoors and too messy to repair the damaged sheetrock on the ceiling. If we ever get a cool day I'll fix the screen door, but I'm not eager to do that either. In theory I could get more writing jobs. It's just a theory though. Just about all my contacts have either retired or died.

Tomorrow will be just like today. We'll have a nice walk with Dawn before it gets too hot. I'll go to the gym, but won't really take advantage of all it has to offer. I'll end the day with a blog post talking about how little happened that day.

Isabella is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4939

It was a little cooler today. It's surprising what a difference a few degrees can make. We had a very pleasant sunrise walk with Dawn this morning. For the first time in weeks we even saw a bunny again. Dawn loves these early walks but is not a very active dog. After we return home she usually spends the rest of the day sleeping.

After finishing breakfast I thought I'd take advantage of the slightly cooler weather and mow the grass. After mowing the front yard I realized that the temperature was a bit warmer than I'd thought. I was hot and tired. The back yard will have to wait. As long as this hot weather continues, I'll probably be limited to one outdoor task a day. Early mornings are OK, but it warms up quickly.

Janet had volunteer work today so we got an early start. When I finished mowing the grass after breakfast it still wasn't even 9 AM. I answered a letter from my editor at Spaceflight, paid a few bills, and then got ready to go to the gym. I haven't been to the gym this early before and it was probably a mistake. There must have been classes or meetings going on because the parking garage was completely full. I had to park outside which guaranteed a very hot car on the drive home.

For the third day in a row I did exactly the same things at the gym. I walked three miles on the indoor track and shot free throws on the basketball court for fifteen minutes. I could have stayed a lot longer because I had no plans for the afternoon. I just didn't feel like doing anything else. Fitbit is getting on my case, telling me that I'm not exercising as much as I used to. Sorry. Three miles just isn't the same as six miles. I can't imagine walking six miles on that indoor track. Even three miles is incredibly boring. My pace was slower today. I guess mowing the grass tired me out more than I thought. Maybe I'll do better tomorrow. The gym will be open on Independence Day and I'm almost certain I'll be back. It's still way too hot for a daytime walk through the park.

I don't think I'll go to the gym this early again. It leaves too much of the day to fill when I return home. I've started eating lunch again just to kill time. There are definitely things that need attention around the house, but I loathe doing sheetrock repairs and I'm kind of afraid the screen door will fall apart if I attempt to put on a new screen. I have a feeling that my desire to avoid difficult tasks is why I do the laundry so often. Doing the laundry is marginally useful and it is very easy.

The July issue of SpaceFlight with my article about the Viasat 3 launch came in the mail today. The article about the Axiom 2 Mission will be in the August issue. Writing these articles is something I actually do enjoy doing. I've always enjoyed writing. I used to have a ton of writing jobs when print magazines were still popular. Most of these magazines and the ads they used to contain are gone now. Somebody still creates advertising but I'm definitely out of the loop. Most of the ads I see these days are absolutely terrible and the millennials who create them would never hire their grandfather anyway.

I don't know what I'll be doing tomorrow but it definitely won't include watching fireworks. We have no interest in fireworks anymore. Fireworks are just something that needlessly frightens dogs. I probably will go to the gym. Hey, you've got to do something.

Bob Hope is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4922

The weather was a little better today. When we took Dawn on her early morning walk the oppressive humidity was gone. There was a nice breeze and the temperature was in the mid 70's. Of course this didn't last long. By 10 AM it was just another hot summer day. At least Dawn got a nice walk. She's only been getting one walk a day lately since it is too hot in the afternoon.

After breakfast this morning I hauled some brush out to the curb for bulky trash pickup. I wasn't outside long, but it was enough to convince me not to bother with my long walk. Oh, well. I need to make a habit of going to the gym anyway. I'm not good at making resolutions, but I really need to work on improving my upper body strength.

I feel like I'm getting a decent workout at the gym, but both my Fitbit and Apple Watch say that I'm actually getting more exercise on my long walks. It's probably just the amount of time I spend walking. Twenty minutes on a treadmill really doesn't equate to several hours on the trails. I like walking, but I'm probably going to be spending a lot of time at the gym for the next several weeks. According to the weather forecast, the temperature is going to be in the high nineties for the next ten days.

Walking is probably better for me. The rowing machine is hard on my shoulders. When I'm using the treadmill I worry that one of my knees might go out. I'm not terribly strong at this point. Whenever I use a machine, I usually have to subtract some weights from what the previous person used. At the time of day I usually go to the gym it feels a lot like a geriatric physical therapy center. Most of the people on the floor seem even older than I am. Some of them do pretty well though. I've got a long way to go before I could keep up with some of these old codgers.

My editor at SpaceFlight Magazine wants me to attend a media day for the Orion Spacecraft program at Kennedy Space Center. I told him I'd think about it. There is no launch involved, but media would have access to the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building where the Orion capsules for Artemis II through IV are in the process of being assembled. I applied for credentials to this event, but NASA hasn't set a date for the Media Day yet. We'll see what happens. I guess I'm always looking for an excuse to go back to the space center.

I also keep looking for an excuse to avoid mowing the grass. It's definitely time to mow again. I'm going to have to do this very early in the day, because it's just too hot once the sun is high in the sky. Maybe sometime next week. Tomorrow I do my grocery shopping and Sunday I always go mall walking. Monday isn't good either. I don't like the idea of mowing grass on my birthday. 

Janet does her grocery shopping on Friday and Dawn spends the entire morning waiting for her to return with the groceries. The ritual of putting away sacks of groceries seems very special to Dawn. She only gets excited about Janet's groceries though. When I return from my own grocery shopping Dawn doesn't even get off the bed.

My trips to the gym must be working because I feel sore in brand new places. My goals in life are simple now. I've just got to keep moving.

Hershey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4906

I finished my article this morning, edited some pictures, and sent the package off to SpaceFlight Magazine. The pictures were almost identical to other rocket pictures I've taken. The article was pretty similar to other articles as well. It kind of made me wonder why I continue to do this. I guess I chase rockets for fun. What is fun though? I don't really know.

Today wasn't just warm, it was hot. The temperature got up to over ninety degrees. I guess it isn't Spring anymore. Summer has arrived. It was still nice outside when we took Dawn on her early morning walk, but I should have taken my long walk right after breakfast. By the time I got around to leaving the house, it was already too hot. I'm always slow to change my routines, but it's about time to go back to using the treadmill at the gym instead of walking outside.

I still haven't fixed the screen door, but I did update the Dalmatian Rescue website this afternoon. I do so little web design and maintenance anymore that I'm starting to forget things. The applications I use are becoming out of date as well. Luckily I still remember enough to get things done. It seems strange now that I used to have lots of clients and did this every single day. There are times when I miss the structure imposed by work.

The friend who is selling my model train collection sold a few more things today. Sales have slowed down to a trickle, but it's still a nice surprise when something sells. Why did I collect these things in the first place? It's a mystery. I wish I could find someone to sell my watches. I've really lost interest in watches over the years and only wear the Apple Watch anymore. There is nothing wrong with collecting things, but it can become an obsession. There is always something new and you never seem to have enough. I collect absolutely nothing these days. Too bad it took me thirty years to arrive at this point.

I'm still resisting the urge to climb up on the roof and inspect things after yesterday's big rain. If I keep climbing up on the roof it will have defeated the whole purpose of getting a new roof. The roof doesn't leak any more, so I should just leave thing alone. I wonder how many days it will be before curiosity gets the better of me. Realistically, I'll still need to go up on the roof from time to time. We have lots of trees and branches occasionally fall on the roof that need to be removed. I'm not going to make visits to the roof a regular occurrence though. Those days are over.

Dawn did well at training class tonight. She seems to love this class even though she hates riding in the car. I probably need to find some sort of class as well. At this point Dawn is probably learning more than I am.

Amy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4904 - Memorial Day

Today was a two part day. I walked in the morning and wrote in the afternoon. It didn't feel like I accomplished much, but my article is basically done. I just need to wait until the AX-2 astronauts return on June 1 and then I'll finish things up and send the article to the magazine.

I was sleepy this morning and didn't feel like getting out of bed, but you can't procrastinate when you've got a dog waiting for a walk. These early morning walks are nice, but it warms up quickly. By the time I was ready for my long walk after breakfast it was already too hot.

I'm going to have to go out and find some more shredded wheat soon. I'm almost out and it's only Monday. There's still plenty of fruit though. After breakfast I thought about fixing the screen door, but I didn't have enough staples for the staple gun, so that gave me an excuse to put the job off for another day or two. I quickly reverted to my regular routine of checking my messages and getting ready for my long walk.

If I ever needed an excuse to return to the gym it will be summer temperatures. It really wasn't bad today but the warmer weather gave me a feel for what is coming. I don't think I can handle being outside in triple digit temperatures anymore. The gym is air conditioned and has a nice indoor track. It also has everything I need to work on rebuilding muscle mass. All I need to do is get motivated.

The park was busy today. There were more bicycles and joggers than on a typical weekend. At first I was confused and then remembered it was Memorial Day. Everyone must have gotten the day off. I completed my six miles, trying my best not to get mowed down by speeding cyclists. I think I prefer walking on winter days when nobody is out and about.

I was wondering when the roofers were going to call wanting the rest of their money. They called today and apparently want to be paid tomorrow. That's fine. I'm ready to put the new roof behind me and move on to other things. The new roof still hasn't been tested by a heavy rain, but that's bound to happen soon. Lots of people in the area got rain today, but it was all to the north of us. I hope the roofers come back to inspect things after the next big storm. They promised that the new roof will drain well. I'm a bit skeptical but am hoping for the best. I really don't want to be climbing on the roof to remove standing water ever again.

I spent the afternoon writing my article about the AX-2 Mission. The article is basically done unless something surprising happens on the final days of the mission. I had to look at my old article about the AX-1 Mission to make sure that I wasn't duplicating the previous article. The two private missions to the space station are basically the same. This new article was a little shorter than I anticipated, but I think I mentioned everything important. I'll edit some of the pictures I took tomorrow and then submit the article and pictures to SpaceFlight as soon as the astronauts return to earth.

I hope my new driver's license comes soon. I hate loose ends and won't feel comfortable traveling until the license arrives. I have a temporary license, but it's just a piece of paper and doesn't look very official. I doubt that the temporary license would open any doors at Kennedy Space Center. I dread renewing my passport. That's going to make renewing the driver's license look easy. They say it can take up to a year to renew a passport now. Why? I've got some time, but I imagine that conditions will be even worse when it's time for me to renew. It's hard to get used to the fact that nothing works smoothly anymore. 

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4887

My editor liked my article about the Viasat-3 launch and sent me a press proof of how it will appear in the July issue of SpaceFlight. I'm getting to be a regular contributor to this magazine. Will I be able to make it to the AX-2 launch several weeks from now? We'll see. I paid my credit card bills from the previous launch today and it's not looking promising. Everything is getting way too expensive. Being a space journalist is not a lucrative endeavor. Most of the other rocket photographers I've met down at the space center get paid virtually nothing for their efforts. We all seem to think it's worth it though. Not many people get inside access to view launches like this.

I continue to worry about the weather for the roof replacement next week. I was going to call the roofers today and try to postpone things, but I think I'll wait until Monday. The weather forecast changes daily. If the weather improves we might as well go ahead and get this done. I still don't want to deal with rain while half the roof is pulled off though. I'd kind of rather wait till July when we can go for weeks without any sort of moisture. With my luck, the best time for the roof replacement will probably be when I want to go to Florida for the AX-2 launch.

Today was a typical Friday. Janet did her grocery shopping. Dawn got impatient waiting for her to return. And I took another long walk. It was a good day for walking. The sky was overcast and it was relatively cool with very little wind. I like days like this. Dawn wasn't so sure about her own morning walk. She's scared of the neighbor's cat and won't go down into the park if the cat is outside in the neighbor's yard. We had to take a different route this morning but it all worked out fine. Dawn actually seemed excited to be doing something new.

I did nothing new at all on my long walk later in the morning. I followed my familiar route. Made sure all the resident ducks were accounted for. And tried to keep up a decent pace. I'm hopelessly slow compared to some people I see walking. Fitbit thinks I'm doing a good job though. Walking six miles a day still seems like a better alternative than going to the gym.

My supplemental health insurance went up in price again. I think the cable bill went up too. Everything keeps getting more expensive, while no additional money is coming in. This sucks. It's too bad I am no longer an in demand web designer. I could use a little extra income these days. I hear jobs are plentiful, but I don't think I'd want the type of job seniors tend to get these days. I'm not cut out to be a greeter at Walmart. I'll just have to learn to be more frugal. I was never very good at being frugal.

This week has gone quickly. I need to make a grocery list because my own grocery run is tomorrow. I'm trying to avoid outdoor chores, but the grass will need to be mowed very soon. Can it wait another week? We'll see.

Dixie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4883

I got surprised by the weather again today. There was an unexpected thunderstorm on my long walk and I ended up sitting under a picnic shelter in the park for almost an hour waiting for the storm to pass. At least I didn't get wet. You could kind of pick your weather today. It was cool and partly cloudy when we took Dawn on her early walk. For a couple of hours there were dark clouds and lots of rain. Later in the day it cleared off and it was hot and muggy. You never know what to expect at this time of year.

After breakfast this morning I sent my article about the Viasat-3 launch off to SpaceFlight Magazine. I also edited a selection of pictures to accompany the article. My editor responded favorably a few hours later, so this launch visit is officially over. There are several other interesting launches coming up soon, but I don't know when I'll be back at Kennedy Space Center. I'm feeling poor right now.

The roofing company called today to set a date for the roof installation. They want to begin work next week. After making sure we could change the date in case of bad weather, I agreed to the timetable. I'm not looking forward to this and will be glad when the new roof is completed so I can forget about this again. Since the roof hasn't leaked during the past two heavy rains, I'm beginning to wonder whether this is a big waste of money. I guess it is necessary. I've had problems with this roof for a long, long time. I don't think I really have a choice.

I ran into a couple of people I hadn't seen in a long time on my walk today. They told me that a mutual friend had died recently. This seems to happen far too often as I grow older. Sometimes my Facebook timeline seems like an obituary page. I'm still feeling pretty healthy, but it is sobering to realize that quite a few high school classmates and coworkers from the ad agency days are already gone. Not much you can do about growing older, but I'm definitely going to keep walking.

My second Kickstarter project appears to be getting ready to ship. I got a letter today wanting to confirm my shipping address and asking whether I wanted to pay for expedited shipping. This project is a new kind of self leveling camera tripod. In theory it will make it easier to align and use my star tracker. I had an option of getting a small travel version of the tripod or a larger heavy duty model. The smaller tripod would have been more useful since I always carry a tripod with me on launch trips, but of course I got the big heavy duty model that I will probably never use. I'm well prepared for astrophotography now. It's too bad I'm scared to go outside at night in Dallas.

Janet was gone for much of the day and Dawn seemed disgusted that she had to spend the day with me. This dog would be so much happier if she could just come to terms with the fact that she and I are going to be spending a lot of time together. Other than my infrequent launch trips, I just don't have that much desire to leave the house.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4880

I finished my SpaceFlight Magazine article today. I won't send it in until Monday though. Maybe I can think of some improvements over the weekend. This wasn't the best article I've ever written, but it wasn't the best trip to Kennedy Space Center either. I think the story would have been a little more interesting if I had actually seen the launch.

It seemed unusually hot today for early May. By mid-afternoon the temperature was over 90 degrees. It was still nice outside when we took Dawn on her early morning walk, but even then I could tell that I wouldn't be needing a coat. Dawn didn't seem particularly eager to walk this morning. There was nothing wrong. She just seemed lazy. I could certainly relate. I haven't been all that eager to go on my long walks lately either.

After finishing breakfast I worked on my article for a while before getting ready for my long walk. It's hard to believe now that I used to write copiously every single day. Although I was trained as an architect, I spent most of my career as an advertising copywriter. Writing is actually a fairly pleasant way to spend the day. It certainly seemed less stressful than the time I spent as a commercial photographer.

Today felt more like Summer than Spring. I was hot on my walk, even though I only wore a t-shirt and shorts. If anything drives me back to the gym, it will be the temperature. The small indoor track at the gym looks a lot more appealing when it is 100 degrees outside. Today I passed a group of photographers with their cameras all pointed at an apparently empty field. I think they were birders looking for Scissor Tailed Flycatchers. I often see these birds in this particular field and have photographed them many times. It seems strange to photograph something as a group, but I guess that's exactly what I do when I go down to Kennedy Space Center. Are rocket photographers any different than bird photographers? Probably not.

I'm surprised that the roofers haven't called to schedule a start date for the roof replacement. I haven't called them because I'm still not sure when I'd like to start. I've looked at the long range weather and there seems to be rain in the forecast every single week. I'm convinced that once the work begins, it will start raining and the only thing protecting us will be a big blue tarp over the roof. The roof replacement is supposed to take three days, but that means it will probably take a week. I'm dreading this. Loud noises scare Dawn and I know the roofers trucks will end up blocking the driveway when I need to get out. We do need a new roof though. Maybe by mid-Summer this whole experience will be in the rear view mirror.

This week really went quickly. It's already time to make a grocery list again. I think I'll get the lawnmower batteries replaced tomorrow. Replacing the 24 volt batteries is certainly cheaper than buying a new mower.   I've replaced these batteries several times already, but I still prefer an electric mower to a gas powered one. Strangely, I don't feel the same way about electric cars. I have very little interest in buying an electric car. Taking a road trip in an electric car still seems like a giant hassle.

I wonder how many stores I will have to visit tomorrow? Grocery shopping seems more complicated than it used to be. Truthfully, everything seems more complicated than it used to be.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4878

Little by little I'm getting things done around the house. I think it helps to mention that I'm going to do something tomorrow on the blog because it forces me to actually do it. Today I wrote a letter to my sister and took it to the post office. I got some fire ant bait at Home Depot and treated all the mounds around the house. Fire ants are terrible this year. The park is infested with them and we have at least six mounds in our own yard. I think the fire ant bait works, but often you have to treat the mounds several times before the ants disappear. I also bought some river gravel and filled in the big pothole in the driveway. The gravel has to be the right size, but it turns out to be an effective way to stabilize an old driveway.

The weather continues to be near perfect. In retrospect this would have been a good week to install the new roof. The roofers have mentioned something about wanting to start next week, but the forecast looks like rain. With unpredictable Spring weather continuing, it's going to be hard to find a week with no chance of rain. I'm trying to enjoy the nice weather while I can. Dawn loves her early morning walks these days. Even though it is warmer later in the day, my long walks aren't so bad either. I hope this pleasant weather lasts for a while because Summer in Texas can be brutal.

My walk was pleasant today although there wasn't much to look at. The Muscovy Ducks have disappeared and only four of the resident geese remain. The White Pelicans and Double Crested Cormorants all headed North for the summer several weeks ago and there are far fewer Mallards as well. I think the Coots and the Great Egrets will stick around for the summer. 

I kept up a pretty good pace today, although I always slow down quite a bit after I finish the fourth mile. I actually have no idea whether I'm in good shape or not. I did get 20,000 steps today, but I really don't have a reference point. It's obvious that there are plenty of people my age in worse shape than me, but that isn't the point. Could I be doing better? I imagine that I could be doing a lot better if I tried. Especially if I went to the gym everyday like Janet does. For now, a relatively slow six mile walk will have to do. The long walk, doing a few chores around the house, and the blog pretty effectively fill up my day.

I was hoping to write my SpaceFlight article today, but I never got around to it. Since I've written two in-depth articles about the Falcon Heavy for the magazine already, I need to think of a new angle. The previous editor of the magazine liked my first person accounts of trips to Kennedy Space Center, but the current editor prefers more factual articles about the rocket and the mission. I kind of liked the idea of being a travel writer who mostly talked about rockets and astronomy, but I've been writing professionally for over 40 years and can write something in any style you like. Hopefully I will get the article written tomorrow before I start to forget things.

Janet said that Dawn did really well at training class tonight. She doesn't do the heeling exercises as well now that she wears a harness in class, but she does everything else perfectly. Dawn is a really smart dog. It's kind of amazing to see how well she has adapted to our daily routine. If I'm late about anything, Dawn will remind me. I hear her barking for her evening snack right now.

Milo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4859

I received author copies in the mail today for one of my magazine articles. That was a nice surprise and added to my growing collection, but I was really hoping to hear about press credentials for the Viasat-3 launch. I've still heard nothing and am beginning to think this isn't going to work out. Oh, well. There are a ton of interesting launches later this year and I've only got limited travel funds, so I need to just chill out and be patient.

Our clear skies have disappeared and for a while it felt like it was going to rain today. It was still a nice day for walking though. I actually prefer overcast days. I keep following the same routine day after day even though I realize that I should try changing things up once in a while. A little monotony is fine, but too much monotony is bad for the soul. At the very least, I should try walking on the other side of the lake. I used to do this occasionally and it's not that difficult. If I was really ambitious I could walk all the way around the lake. Janet did this once. The distance seems daunting to me, although I could easily circle the lake in less than half a day. I just don't have a strong desire to do this. Six miles a day seems plenty.

Today would have been a good day to finish raking the leaves, but I keep hoping that they will just blow away. I watered the grass instead. It's been over a week since it's rained and things are beginning to look dry. Our water bill goes way up in the summer. I don't know how people with large yards can afford to keep things looking nice.

Earlier this year the magazine I write for asked me if I wanted to participate in a media day for the CHAPEA Mars habitat down at Johnson Space Center. I said I was interested and to send me more information about a time and date. I never heard anything further and totally forgot about the media day until I started reading articles about CHAPEA in other publications a few days ago. They were even talking about the Mars habitat on the Gutfeld show last night. Oops. I guess I missed the media day. I don't think I ever got an invitation, but maybe I did. A ton of mail winds up in my spam folder and I've been known to erase some things by mistake.

I wrote a letter to my sister this afternoon but didn't bother to go to the post office. I can do that tomorrow when I do my Saturday grocery shopping. Janet did her grocery shopping today, which always gets Dawn excited. Grocery day is her favorite day. Today she sat at the front door and whined for about an hour before Janet returned. In Dawn's world everything needs to happen right on schedule. I need to feed her at the proper time and she makes sure we always walk her on time. I don't know how she has such a good little internal clock. Her sense of time is much better than mine.

Maybe I'll hear something about the Viasat-3 launch tomorrow. I'm running out of time to make reservations. I still need to make a grocery list for tomorrow, but that should be easy. I always buy the same things every week.

Flash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4775

Today was uneventful. We took our regular sunrise walk with Dawn. I had my regular breakfast of shredded wheat and fruit. I took my regular long walk in the park and somehow the day was over before I knew what happened. The days are starting to get longer now. It is still dark when we start our early walk, but the sky is lighter. Usually the sun rises while we are out walking. I'll be glad when the winter rainy season is over. It is doubtful that we will get any snow this year, but we will definitely get more rain. All the leaves are off the trees now. One more weekend of raking and bagging leaves and we'll have the yard looking good again.

This morning I received a PDF copy of my Falcon Heavy article as it will appear in the March issue of SpaceFlight. These guys are fast. I only sent them the material two days ago. The article looks good and my editor seems happy. The British magazine describes me as their U.S. correspondent now. I could probably write more articles if I could afford to go to more launches. It's a shame that I'm not in demand as a web designer anymore. Travel is expensive and I could use the extra income.

I've been doing pretty good at walking this week. This was my third 20,000 step day in a row. It's easy to walk 10,000 steps in a day. A little harder to reach 20,000 steps. I hope I can keep this up. Almost every week I hear of friends my age starting to have health problems. I'd like to keep old age at bay for as long as I can. It's inevitable that I'm going to start falling apart at some point, but there's a lot more that I'd like to do. It's encouraging when I read about healthy, active people in their 90's. It's not common, but it is possible.

I cleaned my cameras and put them away this afternoon. Now there is no evidence in the office that I've been out of town recently. I don't know how the cameras get so dirty when I'm down at the space center. There are almost always fingerprints on the lenses. A lot of things happen very quickly during a launch and frequently these launches take place at night. It's really easy to put your hands in the wrong place when you are in a hurry to change settings. It's also really easy to knock something out of focus. I got a lot of really nice pictures on this trip, but my automated launch sequence camera malfunctioned and I didn't get any close-up pictures of the rocket leaving the pad. Luckily the second camera worked just fine.

I always learn something on these trips. I've seen several photographers add a horizontal bar to their tripod, allowing them to mount and control several cameras on a single tripod. Currently I only take a single camera and tripod, but I could easily pack a second camera body. With two cameras I could take close up pictures of the rocket and do a streak shot of the launch. These streak shots seem quite popular now and are often quite beautiful. I also could use a larger camera bag that was exactly the same length as the top of my carry-on luggage. This is not a popular size, but I'm sure I could find something if I looked hard enough. A longer telephoto lens would be nice, but now we're talking big bucks. My 800mm is probably good enough.

I'm just rambling today because nothing really happened. Tomorrow I'll do my weekly grocery shopping and I'll make an effort to go to the gym. 

April is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4774

Sometimes I wonder whether taking business online has solved anything. I spent a huge amount of time this morning paying bills, renewing credit card information, updating passwords, and making appointments. I remember the days where you just could call someone on the phone and they would answer immediately and resolve your problem. I also liked working on a big desk where you could spread lots of paper all over the place and look at everything at once. Screen real estate is awkward for me when I am doing my accounting. I have a large screen on my desktop computer, but it is almost impossible to keep all the windows I need open at the same time. Lets face it. I have become a Luddite, just like my sister. I'm not sure I want to go all the way back to the 1950's, but the 60's and 70's would be fine.

Since I have received several reminders to renew my driver's license, I went on the DPS website this morning to make an appointment. When did appointments start being required? I've been renewing by mail for quite a while, but this year I have to renew in person. When I used to renew my license in person I would just go down to the nearest renewal office a few days before my birthday and get a new license on the spot. When I went to the website this morning, the earliest appointment they had was late in May. Jeez. No wonder everyone was urging me to renew now. This is just one more example of a world that is slowly crumbling to dust. Almost nothing works smoothly anymore.

My editor as SpaceFlight likes my article and pictures and says it will run in the March issue. He wants me to go down to Johnson Space Center in April and cover the Mars CHAPEA experiment. CHAPEA is a long, awkward acronym standing for Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog, whatever that means. NASA is building a full scale 3D printed Mars surface habitat to simulate what astronauts might experience on a long duration mission. They are giving the press a tour of this habitat sometime in April, and I'm invited if I can stand going to Houston again. I can't remember a single time that I've had a good experience on a trip to Houston. It's one of my least favorite cities. I think I'd much rather go back to McDonald Observatory in April.

I wrote my monthly letter to my sister today and took it to the post office. Sending letters through the mail is definitely old school, but it makes sense to me. The time lag involved in sending a letter slows things down to a reasonable pace. My e-mail correspondence is getting ridiculous. Everyone expects a reply the same day. Those folks who insist on texting are even worse. You are expected to reply to text messages immediately.

When all my unpleasant computer business was finished, I took a long walk in the park. It was a little chilly when we walked Dawn early this morning, but by this afternoon it had warmed up quite a bit and was quite pleasant outside. I had an enjoyable walk and managed to complete another 20,000 step day. Almost every day I have plans to go to the gym because I really need to work on my upper body strength. When the time comes, it is always easier to just take a walk. I probably should just start doing some work with free weights here at home. Actually, I see a few five pound weights sitting over in the corner of the office. I guess that would be a good place to start.

It's been a busy week full of small problems. Sunday's Falcon Heavy launch seems like ancient history now. It's funny. Whenever I'm traveling I'd usually rather be home. When I actually am at home though, I'd always rather be traveling. 

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4773

We moved the rescue Dalmatians to their new kennel this morning. The dogs have been in limbo at a temporary facility for several months while the rescue group looked for a replacement for Waggin Tails, which unfortunately shut down. The new place is very nice and we hope the dogs will be happy there until they find their forever homes.

We picked up the dogs at the rescue group's veterinary clinic, where they all had just received a bath. Landry, our newest rescue, rode with Janet and I to the new kennel. He is a handsome two year old male, and like many of our rescue dogs, it was hard to believe he was an owner surrender. Who could give up a dog like this? Landry was well behaved in the car and seemed a little scared. His nervousness was certainly understandable. The poor guy has been through a lot of changes in the last month or so. His life is going to take a turn for the better though. We're going to find him a great home with someone who realizes that having a dog is a lifelong commitment.

The new kennel is further away than the old kennel, but is is very clean and well managed. Everyone who helped with moving the dogs this morning liked the place and we think the dogs will like it too. Janet and I will be able to visit the dogs as well. We might not be able to visit quite as often because the kennel is quite a bit further from our house, but regular visits are important. Playing with the dogs and working on basic training will help socialize them and hopefully ensure a successful adoption.

Our winter weather continues to be full of surprises. It was quite warm today, which makes for pleasant walks. We walked Dawn in the dark again this morning because Janet had an early class at the gym. Dawn could care less whether it is dark or light outside. All she is interested in are the smells. She loves to smell things in the park. There are tons of critters who call the place home and Dawn is curious about all of them. We saw some bunnies this morning. We're seeing a lot more bunnies this year, which probably means there are fewer coyotes in the area.

I proofread my SpaceFlight article several times and selected several pictures to accompany it before sending everything off to my editor in London. I was fairly pleased with the article and hope the magazine likes it as well. Most of my pictures turned out well, but the camera I set up to take an automated launch sequence malfunctioned, so I didn't get good photos of the rocket leaving the pad. Everything else turned out excellent though. It might be a while before my next article. These trips are becoming a lot more expensive and I don't think I can afford to go to Kennedy Space Center more than a couple of times a year.     I still love to chase rockets though, so I'll find a way to get down there for important launches.

I did a lot better on my long walk today than I did yesterday. I completed my full six miles and got over 20,000 steps. The nice weather helped me maintain a pretty good pace today. The temperature was about 68 degrees and there was no wind. For me, this is just about perfect. I'm wondering if the eagles have moved on. I haven't seen Nick and Nora for over a month now. Another Muscovy Duck joined the small group that lives near Sunset Bay. I wonder where this one came from? Unlike the mallards, geese, and white pelicans which tend to travel in large groups, these Muscovy Ducks are loners. Maybe that's why they seem interesting to me.

Dawn got another ribbon at training class tonight. She's a smart dog and has won more ribbons than Dash by now. Janet says she really enjoys the class too. All in all it was a good day. Life is good as long as I keep the TV turned off and don't have to hear about current events. I prefer my own little world.

Dovey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4711

Life is back to normal again. We took Dawn on a cold early morning walk and then returned home where I had my usual shredded wheat and fruit for breakfast. I enjoy traveling, but I eat healthier at home. I sleep better too. It's probably a good thing that I'm home a lot.

After breakfast I unpacked my bags, put my equipment away, and did a load of wash. I'm ready for the next launch trip as soon as my bank account recovers. Most of the morning was spent writing my article about the launch. My editor wanted a shorter article than I usually write. Writing something short and succinct is actually harder. I usually ramble on at great length. When the article was finished I edited a few pictures and sent everything off to SpaceFlight Magazine. A few hours later I got a thumbs up from the editor, so I guess I'm done with Artemis-1. I've been to the Michoud Assembly Facility and watched this rocket being assembled. I've been to the Stennis Test Center in Mississippi where it underwent an eight minute live fire test. I was there when the first launch attempt was scrubbed and yesterday I finally got to see it launch. Say what you will about this overpriced and long delayed rocket, but it is pretty impressive.

After our cold morning walk I thought I'd go to the gym today. Cold weather is not my friend. The temperature warmed up quickly though and I eventually decided to go on my long walk instead. It turned out to be a beautiful day. It's too bad my feet still hurt. I probably should think of a better way to exercise, but walking is easy. If I'm not having a good day I can always walk slower.

I'm glad the furnace is working well again. It still seems like this repair was way too expensive, but it was still much cheaper than a new furnace. It's a shame that the cost of virtually everything is spiraling out of control. I used to never think about the cost of things, but living on a fixed income in inflationary times will do that to you. Maybe I'm just being nostalgic, but life seemed a lot easier twenty years ago.

Looking at the night sky while waiting for Artemis to launch briefly rekindled my interest in astronomy. It's strange that so many of the things I like seem to happen at night. I'm not a night person at all. When I was in a band we always played at night. It's a lot easier to see the stars at night and I always write my blog posts at night as well. I guess I could blog during the day, but I'm usually waiting for something to happen. Some days nothing happens at all. It still seems odd that so many rocket launches take place at night. I've seen more night launches than day launches.

I wonder if anything interesting will happen tomorrow. Today was largely uneventful, but I did get 20,000 steps. I've taken this week's trash out to the curb, so the week is officially over for me.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

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Day 4704

Another slow day. I ate, I walked, I did all the usual things. The carpenter who was supposed to come over and give me an estimate couldn't make it and said he'd stop by tomorrow. I signed up for another patient portal so I could view the lab results from Tuesday's exam. Medical websites seem a lot more concerned about security than banks. Thats always seemed strange to me. Doctors never share information either. I've bookmarked half a dozen patient portals and they all have basically the same information. 

When I took my long walk today, I saw the bald eagles again. When I returned home I searched the Internet for news about whether the Artemis rocket survived the hurricane. I didn't learn much. For a significant part of the day I thought it was Friday. It was that kind of day.

Something scared Dawn this morning and she wouldn't come back to the bedroom. The power didn't go out and I didn't hear anything, but Dawn was definitely alarmed. I delayed my walk until she calmed down a bit. I wonder what was bothering her? She's very alert and is a good little watchdog. I kept looking for the source of the problem but couldn't find anything. Dawn certainly wasn't talking. Eventually I noticed that she was asleep on the bed again and I took my walk.

Janet and I spent some time today looking for a new photo backdrop for this year's Santa Paws pictures. We couldn't find anything as nice as the backdrops we've used before. Maybe we'll just use a previous backdrop for this years pictures. Since we've been doing these Christmas pictures since 2012, I've got quite a collection of backdrops by now.

The November issue of SpaceFlight with my first Artemis article came in the mail today. The article and pictures looked good. I'd already seen the issue in PDF form, but I still like a real magazine you can see and touch. I keep telling my accountant that these articles constitute a real business for me, but his answer is always "show me the money." For practical purposes, there isn't any. You're not going to get rich writing about astronomy and space. I still feel like a journalist though. I get to hang out with other journalists at Kennedy Space Center and I've amassed quite a collection of press credentials by now. As hobbies go, this certainly beats collecting model trains.

I hope that the carpentry work I need isn't too expensive. The repairs need to be made, but I've still got another trip to Florida to pay for. It's a shame that old web designers aren't in demand. One or two websites a month would make a big difference in my income. The kids working at ad agencies don't want to hire someone older than their grandfather though. I've come to the conclusion that it's better to just accept this graciously. I manage to stay busy and I'm not broke. It's probably better that I don't have young clients driving me crazy.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

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Day 4697

I spent several hours trying to find a better hotel for my next trip to Titusville. No luck at all. Everything is completely booked. Even the place where I'm currently staying is completely booked now. I'll be OK, but I hate it when the reviews start with "smells like pee." I guess I'm a little surprised that the Artemis-1 launch is still such an attraction. After two failures, the chance of a third failure is still fairly high. Maybe others are going back for the same reason I am. If I stayed home this time it would almost guarantee that there would be a flawless, trouble free launch. I guess I still want to see this thing, even if the launch now takes place at midnight.

I don't know why I thought it was Friday for most of the day. I guess I'm just ready for this week to be over. The day started like any other weekday. We walked Dawn in the dark. I ate my breakfast of shredded wheat and fruit, checked my messages, and then contemplated taking another long walk in the park. 

Before leaving on my walk, I made some final edits on my Falcon Heavy article and selected a few pictures to accompany it. I summited the article and a few hours later received a thumbs up from my editor. I'm disappointed that I didn't have better pictures, but the article itself was pretty good. I hope the magazine will be interested in another article about Artemis. I'm not sure though. SpaceFlight devoted much of their November issue to the Artemis-1 mission and the rocket didn't even launch. Hey, I've still got my credentials though. I might as well see this thing through to the end.

I had a nice walk this morning even though I got rained on a bit. The weather will be much worse tomorrow. There are tornado warnings with a chance of quarter sized hail. There's only a 10% chance of a tornado in our location, but any chance at all is always unsettling. I'm really glad I got the tree removed from the roof before the bad weather starts. Any significant wind could have caused the large branch to fall and break something. I don't think any rain is expected until tomorrow afternoon, so we'll still be able to take Dawn on her early morning walk.

I finally found a carpenter to fix the rotted fascia on the side of our house. I found the guy on the Internet. I guess that's just how you do things these days. This guy had good reviews, but I still prefer a recommendation from friends. Since most of my friends are closer to going into assisted living than they are to remodeling their houses these days, we don't trade home improvement recommendations very often. I certainly don't know who to recommend anymore. Most of the people I've used in the past have either retired or died.

My Fitbit isn't recording my steps correctly anymore. This is irritating since I've become addicted to counting steps. I checked on the user group and saw that several other people were having the same problem. I suspect that my iPhone has become too old for Fitbit to bother with. This has happened to me before with other apps and software. When companies update software and apps so they are compatible with new hardware, older stuff like I use often gets left in the dust. One more reason to get a new phone I guess.

I hope the weather reports are wrong about tomorrow's storms. I really hate dealing with bad weather.

Wolfgang is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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