Day 4599

I took care of a lot of little odds and ends today. Nothing important was accomplished but it was good to cross a few things off my list. The remote for the kitchen TV has been broken for a while. A few weeks ago I found a new unused remote in a box in my office but I couldn't get it to work. Today I remembered that you have to program the thing. This took a while since the cable remote and the kitchen television were old and there were no instruction manuals. I finally got the remote to turn on and off, but then I screwed up the TV and it wasn't picking up the signal from the cable box. It seemed like this whole process was easy when I initially installed everything years ago. I tried looking up information on the Internet but the results were inconclusive. Eventually I got everything working again through trial and error. Hopefully this remote control will last for another ten years. I'm tired of messing with this thing.

I did some laundry, cleaned some stains on the bricks in the kitchen, looked up how to change a few setting on my star tracker camera, and changed the head on my electric toothbrush. I was going to practice with the star tracker again, but decided to wait when I received an e-mail saying that another update would be available this Saturday. I wonder if they are ever going to stop upgrading this thing. I've lost track of how many firmware updates I've already installed.

The day itself was pretty much like yesterday. The sky was clear. The temperature was hot. And I followed the same routine I've been following all summer. We got started a little later on our sunrise walk this morning and you could immediately feel the difference in temperature. We should have started thirty minutes earlier because Dawn wasn't quite as eager to walk. We carry dog treats in our pockets now to get her moving again when she gets stubborn and refuses to move. 

After breakfast I went back to the gym. There weren't many people on the floor today, but the parking garage was still full. I had a good day on the basketball court. I think my hand eye coordination is getting better. I was slower on the indoor track though. Go figure. I am always surprised by exercise inconsistency. My routines are almost always the same, but the results are frequently very different. I didn't feel more tired this morning, but I guess I was. I'll have to check my Fitbit and see how I slept last night.

One of my contacts at Kennedy Space Center said that they expect over 10,000 people to descend on the area for the Artemis launch. The space center will need to charter over 70 busses to move people around. No wonder all the hotels were full. Why am I even going to this launch? I've never liked crowds or complicated logistics. Getting through the checkpoints on launch day is going to be a nightmare. I hope I get a schedule from NASA soon. At this point I don't even know if I made airline reservations for the right days. I always try to minimize my stay to save money, but it would be easier if you had an unlimited budget and arrived early and just stayed until the launch finally took place. I can't do that, so I just cross my fingers and hope that I've picked the right days for my stay.

I keep hoping for rain but the forecast doesn't look promising. It still looks like an endless string of hundred degree days as far as the eye can see. The sad thing is that August is usually even hotter than July here in Dallas. Oh, well. It's not going to be a fun summer. I just hope the air conditioner keeps working. This week has gone quickly. I've watered the back yard and taken this weeks trash to the curb. Tomorrow will probably be a repeat of today.

Queenie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3249

It's been quite a challenge getting Dash's paws to heal while still continuing to walk him. The least little scrape causes them to bleed again. Even walking around the house is starting to cause problems. I found some extra soft socks and we are only using new boots now. Mostly the bleeding has stopped, but I still see little drops of blood on the floor from time to time. The cuts are minor and will definitely heal over time, but cuts like these are much more problematic when you are taking blood thinners.

Even though Dash doesn't stay still at night, I'm going to try placing a puppy training pad under his butt before I go to sleep. It couldn't hurt to try. It's really getting old cleaning blankets and bedding every day. Dash didn't even wake up when he pooped in the bed last night. This is actually a good thing. If he starts staying asleep when he poops, I can put a puppy pad under him and cleanup will be easy.

It was a little warmer this morning, which made our morning walk chilly but pleasant. I'm enjoying this weather. For the second day in a row there wasn't a cloud in the sky. After checking to make sure Dash's paws were OK after our walk, I left for breakfast. Even though I almost always order the same thing, I'm still enjoying going to the hotel. It's pleasant there. The staff knows me by name now. Since most customers are travelers, I'm one of the few regulars.

A trip to the bank was on my to-do list today. I had to clear up a snafu that I probably caused myself by not listening carefully when I opened a new account several months ago. I thought I had one kind of account, but I actually had another. I could have sworn that I opened an account that had no fees associated with it. Nope. I've started noticing fees and charges I wasn't expecting. Eventually I managed to get the fees removed but they shouldn't have been there in the first place.

Getting my bank account straightened out was easy compared to getting a new TV remote from AT&T. I don't know why you can't get a TV remote at an AT&T store. That would be too easy. I had to talk with an offshore customer service representative who couldn't speak English very well. At first he tried to change my U-verse plan. Then he tried to sell me a TV remote. It took forever to explain the my remote was broken and he needed to send me a replacement for free. Who knows if I will get a new remote in the mail. I'm not counting on it. I could barely understand this guy.

I wrote a letter to my sister this afternoon and watched another episode of Mars. I was hoping that this series would be like The Martian. The script isn't nearly as good as Andy Weir's novel. This is definitely not something i could binge watch. After a single episode, I was ready to start repairing dog boots again.

I'm still tired a lot, but I'm sleeping better now. I don't know what has changed. Dash continues to wake me up every night. I'm just getting back to sleep a lot quicker.

Alvin is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day