Day 4865

After our early walk with Dawn this morning, I turned on the computer and watched the Starship explode. A lot of people expected this would happen, but it was still disappointing. At least the massive rocket made it off the launch pad. It looked like a lot of photographer's remote cameras were destroyed though. Hopefully things will go a lot smoother for the Viasat-3 launch next week. My accreditation request was approved today, so I will be going to the launch. I just finished making my reservations. Last minute airfares were predictably expensive and my favorite Airbnb was already booked, but the trip is scheduled.

It looked like it was going to rain all day, but the rain didn't start until this evening. I think Dawn enjoyed her walk more than I enjoyed mine. I made an effort to move faster on my long walk this morning, but that just made my foot hurt more and I ended up walking much slower on the final mile. Even though my first two miles were faster, my overall pace didn't improve at all. Growing older is frustrating. Even on the best of days, aches and pains are just part of normal life. I think I'm healthy, but maybe I'm fooling myself. It seems almost impossible to increase muscle mass at my age and my balance isn't what it used to be. You've got to keep moving though. I think things would be a lot worse if I just sat around.

I finally changed the furnace filters today. I've been seeing a reminder on the thermostat to do this for the past three days, but I keep forgetting. I even forgot what day it was today and Janet had to remind me to take the trash out to the curb. It's actually pretty easy to forget what day it is when they are all basically the same. Maybe another launch trip will be the change of pace I need. These trips aren't very relaxing though.    I don't sleep well and I usually just end up substituting anxiety for my typical boredom.

The temperature got up to 85 degrees today. I was hot on my long walk and it made me realize that Summer is not far away. Nice weather doesn't last long here in Texas. Currently we are under another severe weather alert. There is no danger of a tornado this time, but we might get some good sized hail. We'll see what happens. I'm watching the weather radar and it looks the worst of the storm is going to travel a little north of us. So far we've been pretty lucky with bad weather. No damage this year, but I still haven't repaired the damage to the greenhouse from last year's storms.

This week has gone quickly. I'm really glad that Dawn seems to have fully recovered. She's fine now. I'm not so sure about myself. I didn't accomplish much this week, but I'm still here. We'll see if I can do a little better next week. I hope the Viasat-3 launch schedule doesn't change at the last minute. Flights already looked pretty full when I made my reservations. Oh, well. Much of this is out of my control. At least we missed the really bad weather tonight. I think the storm has already moved north of us. 

Wilson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4856

Another slow day. At least the weather was nice. Dawn enjoyed her early walk this morning and still seems fine after we discontinued her pain medication. I'm glad she's feeling better. I still see people photographing the baby owls when take our walk. Those little owls are getting a lot of exposure.

I still haven't heard anything about the Falcon Heavy launch next week and am beginning to wonder if I've been forgotten. Usually I get some sort of notification even if my application for credentials has been rejected. There's still time, but the launch is getting pretty close. Is chasing rockets even worth it? I wonder. I probably should be planning a trip to Brownsville for the first Starship orbital launch next week, but I have little interest in going to South Texas. I guess I'll just wait and see if I hear anything from NASA later this week.

You'd think I'd find something new to occupy my time, but I keep following the same routine day after day. My long walk has become extremely predictable. So many things are the same that I keep an eye out for little differences. There's always something new. Sometimes the air smells different. Sometimes I catch a glimpse of illusive park animals. Occasionally I see rare or strange cars. Park department workers are always doing something different. This week they are making large piles of brush along the shoreline that will get hauled away later by other park workers. They always seem to be mowing the grass.  I'll be glad when the mowers make it around to our side of the park again. The grass in the meadow behind our house grows fast.

Since it was a nice day, Janet and I tried to rake up the remainder of the leaves in the back yard. Since a lot of the remaining leaves were in the Asian Jasmine ground cover, it was hard to remove them without ripping up the ground cover. We did our best. The yard does look better now. Dawn watched us while we worked and ended up completely flattening a small patch of Monkey Grass that was just starting to grow. She loves to roll in the grass, which I guess is better than rolling in the dirt.

I have little interest in yard work or home repairs anymore. You can't ignore these things though. I wish it were easier to find people I trust to do these things for me. My problem is that I don't really trust anyone. The office is filled with things to occupy my time, but I've lost interest in most of them as well. It's been ages since I've picked up my guitar. I can't even remember how to use some of my recording gear. I still have a passing interest in photography, but that's fading as well. I guess it's a good thing that I still enjoy chasing rockets. Everybody needs something they enjoy.

Tyson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4849

Another slow day. A few things got done, but not very much. I had a telephone meeting with my financial advisor this afternoon. These meetings used to happen more frequently, but I don't have much to say anymore. The market goes up and the market goes down. You really can't outsmart it indefinitely. I basically just wished the guy luck. I certainly don't think I could make better financial decisions on my own.

I got a message from my accountant that he'd finished doing my taxes and they've been filed. I think I lead a simple life, but my tax return always looks complicated to me. At least taxes are done for another year. Now the only thing on my to-do list is renewing my driver's license. It's kind of depressing that I'm not making money anymore, but I had some good years. Things could be a lot worse. I need to remember that I'm not in debt or losing a lot.

The weather continues to baffle me. I was surprised at how cold it was this morning since the temperature was over 90 degrees yesterday. It warmed up later, but I had to wear a jacket on our early walk with Dawn. The day was kind of dismal. It looked like it was going to rain all day, although it never did. There is more rain in the forecast late tonight. Luckily there are no severe weather warnings.

I tried again to find out whether I've been credentialed to cover the upcoming Viasat 3 Americas launch. No luck so far. The friends I wrote in Florida haven't heard anything yet either. I guess I'm just going to have to live with last minute notices and higher airfares. I did receive a notice from the National Reconnaissance Office asking me if I'd like to attend a pre-launch Media Day for the NROL-68 mission. Sure. I'd like to go to all these things. It's just a shame that travel is becoming so expensive.

At least walks in the park are still free. I hope these walks are doing me some good, because they are becoming boring. I could always walk somewhere else, but that would involve getting in the car and driving somewhere. It's so much easier to just head out the back door. I walk the same route every day and usually see the same ducks and geese. A lot of times I see the same people too, although I don't know who they are. I guess a lot of people like to exercise in the park.

I think Dawn is back to normal. She hasn't fallen or appeared to be in any discomfort for over a week. We're going to discontinue her remaining medication in a few days an see if that makes any difference. We're trying real hard to keep her from jumping, but that's hard to do with a Dalmatian. At least she's getting better at using her step to get on and off the bed. We all continue to take things one day at a time. Luckily, most of the days are good.

Dottie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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