Day 4240

Dot got a bath today. That was about the extent of today's excitement. We were going to take her to the vet for a bath, but decided that she would end up in a cage licking her paws for a while while the groomers were working through their schedule. We took her to a self-bathe place instead and Janet got some special shampoo that is supposed to relieve itching. I'll be glad when Dawn finishes her antibiotics so we can concentrate on finding a solution to the licking problem. We've added a probiotic to her diet, but it isn't wise to do any allergy testing until she has completed the antibiotics and her bacterial infection is gone.

My gym has reinstated a mask mandate. It's only a matter of time before other places do the same. Whenever I'm out and about I've noticed that almost nobody is wearing masks anymore. I don't think a new mandate is going to go over well. Everyone is sick of the pandemic and nobody knows who to believe. You should never politicize a disease, but that's where we are. I'm convinced that the story is a lot more complicated than what we are hearing in the media. The young Hispanic plumber who came over to the house the other day thought he was safe from Covid because he didn't go to bars. He wasn't planning to get vaccinated. Our vet has returned to normal office visits, but several other vets I know still require you to stay in your car while they come out and take your pet inside. Some people are excited about going back to rock concerts and sporting events, while other are still driving around alone in their car with a mask on. There is no consensus about anything.

I think I am a rational person, but Covid has affected me as well. I don't want to go near a hospital now. That's where the disease is. I don't even like to sit in a doctor's waiting room. One of the main reasons I switched doctors a while ago was my old doctor's waiting room was always full. I keep postponing my colonoscopy because the procedure is done in a hospital under sedation. You wouldn't catch me getting on a bus or a subway anymore, but I'm comfortable going to the gym without a mask. Go figure. Covid is going to be around for a long time because we live in a world full of people that all have their own fears and phobias. The more politicians talk the more suspicious we all become.

It was a little cooler today so I decided to take my six mile walk instead of going to the gym. Maybe I was just mad at my gym's new mask mandate. Things were going so well there for a while. Walking outside in the summer is hot and sweaty, but nobody can mess with you in the woods. As long as you watch out for snakes and poison ivy, you're OK. I'm sure I'll end up back at the gym soon enough. Texas summers are brutal and I can't stand the heat anymore. I've certainly got plenty of masks. Both our cars are full of them.

The Boeing Starliner launch got postponed again. I applied for credentials for this one and got rejected. It's just as well. This launch has gotten postponed so many times that I would have had to return home without seeing anything. Florida is a Covid hotspot again too, so there's that as well. Maybe someday I'll return to Kennedy Space Center with a bag full of cameras and a story to write. It's not looking good now though.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

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Day 4091

I'm still fighting these allergies. The Flonase works pretty well at clearing my nasal passages, but I've still got the runny nose. I did sleep better last night because I didn't wake up several times completely congested and breathing through my mouth. I guess this is progress, but I still feel like I've got pepper up my nose.

I vacuumed and did some small chores around the house, but it was hard to get motivated. I successfully repaired Dawn's collar although I still don't know how it became damaged. When a dog gets used to wearing a collar, they become very nervous when you take it off. All our dogs have been this way. Dawn didn't look pleased when I took the collar off to glue it back together and seemed quite relieved when I put it back around her neck a few hours later.

Janet joined me on my long walk today. I've noticed that I walk a little faster when we walk together. Usually each mile I walk is little slower than the last, but we kept a pretty steady pace today. Neither of us is setting the world on fire, but I think we're doing pretty well for 72. We're both in better shape than a lot of 40 year olds.

I never did have any reaction to the Covid shots. Even the minor soreness at the injection site is gone now. It still seems strange that people react so differently to this disease. Some people get infected and die. Other people get infected and aren't even aware they have the disease. So far, I've only known two people who have gotten sick and both recovered quickly. Nobody in my immediate circle of friends has gotten sick. It pays to be careful though. Our house has never been struck by a tornado either, but I know it could happen at any time.

The Starliner launch I've been hoping to go to in Florida has been postponed again. This is probably a good thing. I'm hoping that the closer we get to Summer, the more relaxed that current Covid restrictions are going to get. It's going to be a lot easier for me to get press accreditation for my small, obscure magazine when the world returns to normal. I'm pretty confident that I'll be going somewhere this year. I just don't know when or where.

Maybe by the time I start traveling again my seasonal allergies will be over for the year. That alone would make any trip a lot more enjoyable. Last March when I went out to McDonald Observatory I thought I would leave my allergies behind. Nope. They followed me out there and I ran through two rolls of blue Scott shop towels blowing my nose. Every single year this happens. You can look back through the blog archives and see for yourself.

This weekend really went quickly. We had a wonderful dinner tonight, but tomorrow it's back to fruit smoothies and leftovers. I guess I'll take my tax files over to the accountant tomorrow. You never get a refund when nothing has been withheld, but hopefully I won't get hit too bad this year. I wouldn't mind paying taxes if I could choose where the money went. As it stands now, I'm convinced that anything I give to the government will just be wasted.

We won't be going up to visit the Dalmatians tomorrow because the kennel is too busy with Spring Break boarders. Spring Break is still a mystery to me. I don't ever remember getting off for Spring Break when I was in school.

Connor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4079

I tried to get organized today. I applied for press credentials to attend the Boeing Starliner launch in April. I made an appointment to get a haircut. I wrote the Air Force, asking how to renew my 45th Space Wing credentials when they expire in March. Amazingly, I was finally able to reach a real person at the dehumidifier company and asked if they could send me the part I need to get my replacement machine working properly. I thought this would be easy since I was talking directely to the manufacturer. Apparently, nothing is easy. 

I learned that I had reached the corporate headquarters here in the United States, but that the dehumidifiers were actually made in Mexico and that it was impossible to get the part I needed. "We can prorate your machine based on use and give you a refund," the technical support guy told me. This made no sense to me because the machine was brand new and I had paid nothing for it in the first place. "Wouldn't it be easier to just send me the inexpensive part I need," I asked? Nope. I guess if they want to send me money for a machine they just gave me, I'll take their money. I just need to remember to empty the collection bucket more often because this dehumidifier will overflow if it gets too full.

I hope that I haven't fallen out of the loop with NASA and the Air Force. It wasn't easy to get credentials to cover launches in the first place, and now it appears I will have to start all over again. Covid changed everything and there are new rules and restrictions now. Oh, well. It will give me something to do this Spring. It is frustrating how rare it is to be able to do something once and be done with it. People change jobs frequently. Rules change. I guess it has always been this way. I had to make new contacts frequently during my working days, but I was younger then and had more patience for this sort of thing.

Dawn is eager to go on her walks again. She seemed so happy to be outside this morning that we thought we'd see if she'd walk in a different direction. Nope. Every time we tried to get her to turn left, she insisted on turning right. The one mile loop she has chosen as her daily walk consists of a series of right turns. Dawn knows exactly where she wants to go and won't turn left at all. While I took my longer walk, Janet took Dawn in the car to a different park to get her used to different surroundings. As usual, she hated the car ride but was happy enough to walk around and smell things at the new location. I don't think we will ever know what is going through Dawn's head. She's made it pretty clear what she wants though, so we'll just go with that.

My feet didn't hurt as much today on my long walk. I walked the same distance at my usual pace, but it wasn't nearly as much of a struggle today. I didn't use any of the anti-inflammatory gel on my foot either. One more mystery to think about. I have no idea why the foot pain varies from day to day. I am very consistent about my activities. The weather has been pretty consistent for the past several days as well.

The weather has definitely not been consistent for the past several weeks. The temperature got up to 80 degrees this afternoon. At some point during the day, our air conditioner came on. It's pretty weird to go from -2 degrees to 80 degrees in less than a week, but that's what happened today. Texas weather is full of surprises. I guess I should have learned that by now.

I need to start raking leaves tomorrow. The leaves are dry again and we've got plenty of large leaf bags to put them in. Since we're looking at a solid week of rain on the horizon, tomorrow might be the best day to start this odious chore. I wish the leaves would just disappear on their own, but that's not going to happen.

Joey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3650

Today seemed longer than usual. Janet got up early to go to the airport and I couldn't get back to sleep, so I watched the early morning Starliner landing on NASA TV. I was surprised at how cold it was out at White Sands, New Mexico. The temperature was in the twenties and the recovery crew were all dressed in winter parkas. It was a little chilly here as well, but I knew it would warm up quickly as soon as the sun came up.

By the time I finished my morning smoothie and went to the gym, it was already looking like a nice day. When I returned home, I thought about going back to look at the pelicans again, but decided against it. I was tired after my workout and didn't really feel like a lot of extra steps today. My basic Sunday 20,000 is more than enough. I definitely didn't feel like going up on the roof, although it would have been a good day to make some additional repairs. Maybe I'll do that later in the week. It's supposed to be even warmer on Tuesday.

Since I was feeling lazy, I watched a few more episodes of The Expanse on Amazon Prime. I don't think the writing is quite as good as it was last year when the show was on the Sci-Fy channel. The show is still interesting however, and I don't think it will take me long for finish viewing Series Four. The show seems designed for binge watching now. The entire season appeared at the same time and you can skip the intro and credits for individual episodes to easily view everything at once. Binge watching doesn't appeal to me. One show a day is fine. It will give me something to do during the week.

The first batch of LED bulbs I bought for the house is starting to burn out. Strange. I thought these things were supposed to last forever. I guess that four or five years is a long time for a light bulb. I just wish the bulbs weren't so expensive. I guess I'd better go to Home Depot and get some more tomorrow. They're all starting to fail at once.

I have a feeling that it's going to be a very quiet week. I can't think of anything that I need to do tomorrow. Even light bulbs don't feel like a priority. Right now, I just need to catch up on my sleep. I didn't get enough today. It's still early and I'm already having trouble staying awake. Maybe if I go to bed early I'll feel a little more motivated to do something useful tomorrow.

Two sisters are today's Dalmatians of the Day

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Day 3639

I'm still coming down to Earth. I spent most of the day catching up on things around the house. There was water on the roof that needed to be removed. I got the pumps running, but I'm not going up there until the weather gets warmer. It's time to start getting ready for the next Santa Paws photo event. I began by transferring last Sunday's pictures to my computer and charging up the camera batteries. Actually, we're pretty organized. There is not really that much to do at this point.

I'm trying to think of publications that might be interested in an article about Michoud and the Artemis Program. I've read tons of articles about this subject already. Would another article even be interesting? It might if I had the scoop on something. I don't. I may send out some query letters anyway tomorrow. I did send a few photos of the Artemis Day event to SpaceFlight Magazine. They told me they were interested in publishing them to illustrate a story they are already working on. We'll see if this is really true.

I went to the grocery store to get some fresh fruit so I could have my smoothie for breakfast tomorrow. I picked up something for dinner too. The refrigerator is looking empty. I also talked to someone at McDonald Observatory about writing for their StarDate magazine. Basically, I was not very focused today. I was all over the place.

The weather has gotten much colder. We keep going back and forth like this. One day I'm warm and the next day I'm freezing. I had to wear a winter coat when I took my walk this morning. I guess that's not so strange. It is Winter after all. It's just hard to get used to all these rapid changes. It was 70 degrees when I left for New Orleans.

It doesn't look like I'll be going to see the Starliner launch. I thought I had a good chance to get off the waitlist when the launch got postponed twice. The launch is so near Christmas now that I'm sure quite a few people are dropping out. The NASA folks told me that some attendees have indeed canceled, but they can't add anyone else to the roster because there is no time to complete the security checks. Jeez. I've gone through a ton of security checks already. How many of these things do you really need? Couldn't the government just keep a master file somewhere.

I'm not sure if I accomplished anything at all today, but at least I made an effort. I think that a picture I took of Hank at last Sunday's Santa Paws event has helped find him a home. I need to check on this and see if it is true. Hank does take a good picture. It would be cool if his Christmas picture resulted in an adoption.

I have no idea what I'll be doing tomorrow. I still don't feel like going up on the roof. Maybe I'll get an answer to some of the e-mails I sent out today. If not, I can always take a long nap.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3622

It was a typical busy Sunday. I got my 20,000 steps with a few extra to spare. It was a nice day so I went to the gym early to give myself time to make some more roof repairs when I returned. Sometimes I wonder if going to the gym on Sunday does me any good at all. I've noticed that walking for an hour and a half burns more calories than an hour and a half at the gym. I guess a little variety doesn't hurt. My workout at the gym is certainly different than a long walk.

It took a while to find additional worn spots on the roof. I'm gradually getting them all repaired. I didn't apply a lot of silicon today, but hopefully the strategic small repairs I made will help. I don't think I will ever have faith in this roof, but if I can keep it from leaking until I can find a reasonable bid from a reputable roofer, that's good enough for me. It looks like I have a little less than a gallon of the silicon material left. I'll save the rest for emergencies. Hopefully, there won't be any.

I sent my acceptance letter to NASA today, so I will definitely be attending the Artemis Day event at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. I've seen pictures of this enormous rocket factory and it will be interesting to see the next moon rockets being assembled. The first one is almost ready to be shipped to the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for live fire tests. Hopefully, I will find a way to see it again when it eventually launches from pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center sometime in 2021.

Our road is open again. I was amazed at how much the construction crews were able to accomplish in a single day. All the beams that will support the roadway on the first half of the bridge are in place now. It looks like there will be no support columns between the Northbound and Southbound lanes anymore. The long steel beams span the entire length of the bridge. There must have been a huge crane to lift these beams in place but I didn't see it. I was asleep. Most of the work must have taken place last night.

It looks like we will be keeping one of the rescue dogs over the Thanksgiving holiday. Boarding kennels are typically booked to capacity over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays so we are trying to find temporary short-term fosters for some of the Dalmatian Rescue dogs. Hopefully, this new experience will be good for the dogs. I'll have to go pick up kiddie gates, dog beds, water and food bowls, and other paraphernalia from the storage warehouse tomorrow.

I'm kind of dreading my appointment with the eye doctor. My doctor is kind of old school and doesn't have an Optomap camera to take pictures of the retina. He still dilates my eyes which I hate. It takes me about six hours for the effects of the eye drops to wear off. They give you a pair of paper sun glasses but they don't help much. I never enjoy driving home after an eye exam.

McDonald Observatory has scheduled a Special Viewing Night for the 82" Otto Struve Telescope on December 16. It's tempting. That's when the Starliner launch is supposed to happen at Kennedy Space Center too. What are my chances of getting off the wait list and invited to the launch? Honestly, chances are slim but it could easily happen. It also snows in West Texas in December. There's that too. I'll probably just fret and end up doing nothing.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3620

I got waitlisted for the Starliner launch. This pretty much means that I won't be going. Not a lot of people get invited to these launches and very few decide that they don't want to go after they receive an invitation. Cancelations do happen but they are rare. Hey, at least I got accepted to one of the two events I applied for. Strangely, I think there will be more cancelations  for the Michoud Assembly Facility event. It begins at 7 AM. Why so early? I was hoping to fly to New Orleans on the same day as the event to avoid an extra night in a hotel. That's not going to happen. The earliest flights leaving Dallas won't get me there in time.

It rained a lot last night but I haven't been up on the roof yet. It was a windy, cold day and I didn't feel like dealing with the standing water. I'm going to have faith in my repairs and wait until the weather warms up a bit. I may regret this decision, but so far there are no signs of a leak. I think the weather will be much warmer on Sunday. Let's see if I can postpone this awful task for a few days.

The highway department is closing down our street again tonight. Something major must be happening with the bridge construction again. This new shutdown only lasts for one day, so there won't be as much of a disruption as there was before. It will be a little harder to go to the grocery store tomorrow, but it will be a lot easier to get out of the driveway without any traffic. I still don't know why they are replacing this bridge. So far, the new bridge doesn't look any bigger or better than the old one.

Everybody is already making fun of Tesla's new pickup truck. They are saying that this Bladerunner inspired design won't be popular. This is probably true because it appears that the target market is me. I like this thing, even though I will probably never buy an electric car because I'm deeply suspicious of lithium ion batteries. I admire the fact that nothing appears to slow Elon Musk down. His spaceship blew up in Boca Chica a couple of days ago and his live test of the Tesla pickup's shatterproof windows was a disaster. These problems will be fixed and Musk will just keep moving along. I still think he's going to get to Mars before NASA.

It was still raining when I woke up this morning, so I didn't go out for breakfast. I probably would have stayed home even if it had been a nice day. It was a good run while it lasted, but I'm starting to get tired of my Friday breakfast outings. I've tried everything in dozens of restaurants and nothing appeals to me anymore. I just had a bowl of cold cereal and a cup of coffee today. I think I need to start buying more fruit so I can have my smoothie on Friday as well.

I'm disappointed that I won't be able to visit the Dalmatians next Monday. I just realized that I have an appointment with the eye doctor and it's too late to change it. Actually the NASA event in New Orleans begins on a Monday as well. I need to do a better job of planning ahead. I need to block out Monday's on my calendar forever. It's really the only good day to spend a lot of time with the dogs. The kennel is too busy on other days.

I guess I'd better put a bucket out tonight. I don't think the roof will leak, but you never know. Better safe than sorry I say.

Chelsey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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