Day 3678

Another 20,000 step Sunday. Before starting a long day on the move, I sat still for a while and watched the Space X Crew Dragon launch abort test on my computer. Everything went well on the test and it looks like the next time the Crew Dragon capsule launches, there'll be astronauts onboard.

When I went to the gym a few hours later, things didn't go quite so well on the basketball court. I was terrible today. I can't figure out why I'm not completely consistent by now. I've been shooting free throws on this court for years. Some days I sink baskets routinely and other days I can't seem to hit anything. I'm not very consistent about sleep either. You'd think I'd be able to sleep eight hours every night. My days aren't very stressful and I have no reason to get up early. Sleep is very inconsistent though. Some days are good and other days aren't for reasons that are still unknown to me. Have I mentioned that I like consistency?

I definitely wish that cars were consistently reliable. It doesn't matter what kind of car you have. Things always break when you least expect it. I still can't decide whether to take my own car to the Davis Mountains this Spring. It would be more convenient and less expensive than renting a car as long as nothing breaks. If something does go wrong, it will be a nightmare. There is no Land Rover service for hundreds of miles. I thought that there might be some independent garages in the area who could work on my car. A Google search today didn't do much to fill me with confidence. Mostly what I found were horror stories from people who had car problems while on vacation in Big Bend. I guess there's a reason I saw very few imported cars while Janet and I were out at the observatory last Fall.

I think everyone in town was walking their dog today. There must have been hundreds of dogs in the park this afternoon. It was still chilly outside, but it was a perfect day for a walk. Most of the dogs were very well behaved. I think they appreciated the chance to be outside on a crisp, clear January afternoon. I can remember so many times when the weather was much worse than this in January. It's kind of nice to have a mild winter.

I did go to REI today but wasn't very impressed by the stuff on clearance. I guess there's a reason why things wind up on the clearance racks. Coats just aren't as well made as they used to be. I think my best bet is just to have my old Eddie Bauer Alaska coat dry cleaned and wear that on the mountain. I could wear that coat at the South Pole. I might not be able to move, but I definitely will be warm.

Tomorrow we visit the Dalmatians again. When I was working, I always used to hate Mondays. Now, this has turned out to be my favorite day of the week. These are all such great dogs. It's nice to have a chance to get to know each of them a little better.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3677

It was nice to see the sun again. Although it was still cold and windy, the sunlight made a big difference. I ran my Saturday errands before going up on the roof in hopes that it would warm up a bit. By the time I filled the car with gas, got groceries, and took a few bills to the post office, I was ready. I wish I could get all the water off the roof using the pumps, but that would take at least five pumps. I've only got two now. I put one on the carport and the other over the lowest spot on the roof, which happens to be over the living room. The pumps do a good job of lowering the overall water level, but there are still a lot of big puddles when they stop working. I wonder how much longer I can continue sweeping all this water away by hand? It's pretty tiring. I'm going to be too old for this one of these days. Maybe I'll finally have a new roof by then.

When I was walking in the park today, I saw a guy who appeared to be out cold on the pavement ahead. As I approached, some EMT guys arrived in an ambulance and began working on the man. I wonder if he had a heart attack? I didn't see any blood or sign of injury. A lot of people overdo it on exercise and heart attacks in the park are not uncommon. Drownings are common too. I see the fire department boat searching for people several times a year.

Accidents and injuries always make me nervous. I'm probably careful to a fault, but things can happen when you least expect it. I see accidents on the road almost every time I'm out and about. There seem to be an enormous amount of car accidents in Dallas. Is this common for any big city or are the people here just bad drivers? It's probably a little bit of both.

I got a notice from REI saying they were having a Winter clearance sale. Maybe I'll stop on my way to the gym tomorrow and look for winter coats again. I probably need an ultra wide angle lens more than a coat though, so I can take pictures of the Milky Way while I'm out at the observatory. You need a wide angle lens for those cool time exposure pictures of rocket trails too. Actually, I've already got an ultra wide angle lens. It's for the wrong camera though. I don't use heavy, bulky cameras anymore. I guess I've got a heavy winter coat too if I want to use my old Alaska parka. The older you get, the lighter you want everything to be. A few pounds can make a big difference when you're feeling tired.

Maybe it's a good thing that I'm interested in buying something again. I haven't had the urge for a long time. It's too bad I'm not still working. I'd feel less guilty about spending money if I was still making money. Of course if I was working, I wouldn't have time to go to rocket launches and distant observatories. That's the big irony of retirement.

If the weather stays nice, I might rake some more leaves tomorrow. We've already bagged a ton of leaves and taken them out to the curb for bulky trash day. There are still plenty on the ground though. If I need another reason to remove the damaged Oak tree in the back yard, this might be it.

Dovey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3671

There was an indoor triathlon underway when I went to the gym this morning. The cycling segment took place on stationary bicycles set up on the basketball court. The swimming segment took place in the indoor pool. Finally, the running segment took place on treadmills. Somehow, this didn't seem like a real triathlon at all. Contestants only spent ten minutes in the pool and twenty minutes on treadmills. Most of the people I see at the gym do a much more strenuous workout than this anyway. I think the contestants did get a special t-shirt though. Unfortunately, I didn't get to shoot baskets today since the court was filled with stationary bicycles. I spent my hoop time on the rowing machine instead.

I looked for winter coats at REI on my way to the gym. I wasn't impressed. Most of the coats looked like they were made of plastic. These high tech materials were supposed to keep you warmer than down, but they didn't look like they'd last more than a single season. I wish the old Eddie Bauer coat I wore while we were living in Alaska wasn't so heavy. That very old monster of a coat still keeps me warmer than anything I've purchased recently. I guess I could take this coat to the Davis Mountains, but it would double the amount of luggage I need to take.

Luckily, I didn't need a heavy coat on my walk today. It was only 34 degrees when I woke up, but the sun was out and it warmed up rapidly. I got my 20,000 steps, but I wasn't winning any races. Even young mothers pushing baby strollers were passing me today. The park is really popular on weekends. During the week the place can still feel like a nature preserve. On a weekend when the sun is out, it feels more like going to the state fair.

Although I managed to keep moving, I certainly didn't accomplish much today. My one household chore was changing the sheets on the bed. There is so much that needs to be done around the house but none of it is appealing. There is nothing pleasant about painting or repairing sheetrock. We haven't even finished raking all the leaves. I guess it will all get done eventually. Maybe not the sliding glass door though. I can't find anybody to fix that thing.

This week has gone quickly. It's almost time to visit the Dalmatians again. We need to take Larry to the vet while we're up at the kennel. It's just a routine exam, but it will be interesting to see how he rides in the car. Hopefully, all the dogs are doing well. I really enjoy seeing these guys.

I'm debating whether to take a better camera with me to Florida. It's a battle between my desire to up my photography game and my aversion to taking a lot of luggage. I usually take a little pocket camera with a long optical zoom. It's great for website pictures, but not so great for magazines. If I take a DSLR, I have to take multiple lenses and all the sudden I'm taking twice as much luggage. I'd rather take no camera at all, but I am a photographer. A camera is expected.

Suzie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3670

It snowed this morning. This was no winter wonderland, but it was snow. Less than two days ago it was 70 degrees. Where else could you go from a warm Spring day, to tornados, to snow in 24-hours? That's Texas weather for you. I'm not even going to predict what's going to happen tomorrow.

It seemed harder than usual to get the water off the roof today. Maybe it was just because it was so cold. I kept the pumps running all night, but they must have gotten clogged. There was still a ton of standing water to remove when I got to work. I'm way beyond tired of doing this loathsome chore, but it's got to be done. Left to its own devices, standing water will always find a way inside.

Batteries were on my shopping list today. Unfortunately, the store had moved the battery display again. I knew they were somewhere, but it took forever to find them. Why do stores do this? Almost every week I'm looking for something that is not in its usual place. I know that stores are trying to get you to explore new aisles and end up buying more but this tactic of constantly moving the merchandise around seems almost diabolical.

It's hard to know how to dress at this time of year. When I take my walk I'm almost always too cold when the wind blows and too hot when the sun come out from behind a cloud. It seems ten degrees colder when I walk along the shoreline and is always warmer away from the lake. I was a little cold today, but that's still better than being too hot. At least when I go to the gym, I know exactly what to expect.

I'm wondering whether I should go buy a warmer coat. On cold days like today I wonder how much colder it is going to seem when I'm outside helping with star parties on Mount Locke. Brrr. I was already cold when we went out there last Summer. I have a feeling that I just can't handle cold weather anymore. I'm always dressed warmer than most of the other people I see on my walk. Today, several joggers dressed in shorts and t-shirts passed me again. Are these people insane? It was barely above freezing.

We got some pictures of Selena in her new home. She already seems more relaxed than she was at the kennel. I think these dogs know when they have found their forever home. It is amazing how quickly some of them adapt. Sooner or later they are sitting on the couch or sleeping on the bed. Dalmatians can be very persuasive in getting what they want.

Time just flies by now. It's already the middle of January. So much to do. I need to make reservations for my trip to Florida. I need to schedule some telescope time at the little observatory north of Dallas. I want to be a knowledgable star party guide when I head for the Davis Mountains. I need to find out if Sky and Telescope is still interested in an article. I hope they are. First things first though. Tomorrow, I just need to go to the gym and see if I can still shoot free throws.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2865

There was frost on the ground this morning. That's close enough to Winter for me. I was cold when I woke up this morning, but was happy to hear the furnace running. Cold weather brings back memories of recurring furnace problems, ice storms, and power outages. My memories of snow are fading. It just doesn't snow down here anymore.

We got an early start this morning. Even though Janet got up extra early to go to this year's Race For The Cure, Dash still wanted her to feed him breakfast before she left. Since Dash was wide awake, I ate breakfast early as well. We were both ready to walk before the sun came up. Dash has a coat he usually wears in the Winter. So far, I can't figure out how to put it on over all his other gear. Luckily, it wasn't that cold this morning. I did wear a down ski jacket and wool hat though. I like to stay warm.

When I took an Instagram picture this morning, I noticed that something had changed. The format of the pictures was different. Why do people keep changing things? The old Instagram pictures were the perfect size for the blog. These new ones looked like they would have to be cropped and enlarged. After I thought about it a bit, I realized what Instagram had done. They'd changed their latest app update to optimize pictures for the newest iPhones. Since I have an older phone, I got left in the dust.

There were more app update surprises when I checked my blood pressure later in the day. The Withings app on my phone now had a Nokia brand. Didn't Nokia used to make phones? When I put the wireless blood pressure cuff on my arm, I got a message saying that I need to update my hardware before I could proceed. If I knew it was going to be this much trouble, I would have waited until next month to take my blood pressure.

At least nothing has changed with the refrigerator. It still appears to be keeping food cold. Based on the last tike I defrosted the evaporator coil, the temperature should be warming up again if there was still a problem. The temperature in the refrigerator is still 40 degrees and there is no visible ice on the back side of the freezer compartment, so maybe everything is working properly again. I hope so. There are plenty of other problems to solve.

We forgot that today was National Drug Take Back Day. There was a pile of expired meds that we wanted to get rid of and the collection location was near our house. It's too bad we forgot. Everybody probably has expired meds in their medicine cabinet. You usually end up taking all the antibiotics you were prescribed, because doctors make a point of telling you to take them all. Pain pills are different. They usually just say "take as needed" on the bottle. Dentists are notorious for prescribing too many pain pills. You don't tend to throw these pills away when you quit taking them. Instinctively, you keep them in the medicine cabinet, thinking "Well, what if I'm in pain again. I may need them." Usually you forget about them after a while and they go bad.

I looked on the DEA website to see if there was another collection location and it just said to throw the unused pills down the toilet. What? I thought the whole point of the take back program was to keep you from throwing pills down the toilet. I've always thought throwing pills down the toilet could pollute the water supply. Shows what I know. It turns out that the real pollution problem comes from people peeing. I guess this makes sense. Millions of people are taking millions of meds and their bodies aren't processing everything. Neither is the sewage system. One more reason there are to many people in the world.

On that happy note, I'll call it a day. I got one more pair of rubber dog boots repaired today and found everything on my grocery list. not bad. It was a little cold, but I'm not complaining. The furnace still works.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2553

Everything was crowded today. Traffic was slow. Parking lots were full. And stores were extremely busy. Apparently, a lot of people haven't discovered online shopping yet. I wasn't even Christmas shopping. All I had to do was get gas, stop by the storage warehouse, go to the post office, and do my grocery shopping. From now through Christmas, these simple errands are going to take a lot longer.

I picked up Janet's puffy coat while I was at the storage warehouse and brought it home. There were some winter coats of mine there as well, but they were too heavy and bulky. I wonder why I ever wore those coats. The lightweight down jackets I wear now are so much better. I've finally learned to dress in layers on cold days. Instead of one humongous, heavy winter coat, I wear several much lighter ones. I wonder why it took me thirty years to learn this?

We got to sleep in a little later today. It was only an extra hour, but it seemed to make a difference. It always helps when Dot doesn't poop during the night. Today, she waited until I was getting her up for breakfast to do her business, which was actually very convenient. Everything landed right on a nearby puppy training pad, which I quickly rolled up, bagged, and threw away. Small saves like this are all it takes to make me think I'm going to have a good day.

A lot of yesterday's unfinished business got taken care of this morning. I wrote a letter to my sister and finished all the website updates that I had started yesterday. I had no trouble uploading the new files to the server today, so apparently the  problem that practically took down the entire hosting company has been resolved. This must have been a really major service outage. I checked around midnight, just before I went to bed last night and all the sites were still down. Somebody stayed up late and fixed things though. Everything is fine now.

I don't know how you Northerner's do it. The temperature hasn't even dropped below freezing yet and I'm already in full Winter mode. I've got a little ceramic heater under my desk to keep my feet warm. I wear sweaters around the house. I'm always checking the furnace to make sure it is running smoothly. The dogs seem to enjoy the cold weather, so I have to make sure there's a warm coat near the back door when I take Dot out to pee. Winter has barely begun and I'm already looking forward to Spring.

I wonder if I can avoid vacuuming tomorrow? I'd rather go to the gym. Actually, I'd really rather download Arrival and watch it while the dogs are sleeping. The movie isn't available on iTunes yet, so I'll probably just stay on schedule and do my Sunday chores. Heaven forbid that I would ever drive to a theater and watch the movie on a big screen. I'll just wait.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2225

I frequently forget what day it is. It seemed a lot like Sunday to me. Since Janet had the day off, we got up late again and didn't finish breakfast until almost lunch time. We walked the dogs a little later this morning on the theory that if the sun was a little higher in the sky, it would be warmer outside. It never did get very warm, but at least it was clear and there was no wind.

Since I didn't go to the gym yesterday, I decided to go today. I'm always surprised at how crowded the place is on Monday, but maybe it was because today was a holiday. I stopped at a new REI store I always pass on my way to the gym. I hadn't been inside a REI store since I used to live in Seattle, but was delighted with what I saw. I love this kind of stuff. There were tons of warm coats and lots of sturdy pants with pockets everywhere. There were boots that looked like they would last forever, although I could probably wear them out in a year. I like to dress like the apocalypse is just around the corner, so this store was right up my alley. Oddly, they were having a Winter clearance sale during one of the coldest days of the year. I found a nice goose down jacket on sale and bought it. When I was at the register the clerk asked me if I was an REI member. I didn't think so, but the guy insisted on looking up my name. "Sure, you're a member," he said. "Did you ever live in Rogers, Arkansas?" "That's my Dad," I told him. "Well, would you like to use his membership for this purchase," he said. It didn't seem right. My Dad has been dead for over a decade.

Since the gym was kind of crowded today, I had to use some different equipment than I normally use. One of the machines required me to move my wrist a lot. Ouch! I hadn't used this particular machine in over a year and it was obvious that during that time my carpel tunnel had gotten worse. I'm not sure what to do about this wrist. I do my stretching exercises, but my range of motion continues to gradually get worse. I definitely don't want surgery. I know several people who have had surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome and their condition didn't improve at all. I've learned from the dogs that surgery should only be an option when you have run out of other options. Dot and Dash wouldn't be here today without the help of some very talented surgeons, but their cancer surgeries weren't without consequences. It takes a long time to recover from major surgery and the older you are, the more difficult the rehabilitation becomes.

Dot's front leg continues to improve. I think we got lucky, because it appears that all she did was strain a muscle or ligament. We're still taking it easy on our walks though. We walk slow and watch carefully for any sign of weakness. It's always a balancing act with Dot. It is essential to keep her moving to keep her condition from rapidly deteriorating, but she is very fragile, so you've got to be careful not to let her overexert herself. At least for today, I think everything is in balance. Dot had a good day.

Tomorrow should be busy. Janet returns to work and so do I. I have new writing assignments to complete and another website to update. There is a fresh supply of strawberries and bananas for my morning smoothies and a new winter coat if it is really cold in the morning. I measure my days now by my ability to get Dot outside before she poops. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

Dovey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day