Day 4851

It felt like Winter again today. How is this even possible? A week ago it was 90 degrees outside and now I'm wearing my down jacket and gloves again. This month every day brings something new. You never know what to expect. I'll take the cold over rain any day though. I've got plenty of warm coats.

The launch I applied for yesterday has already been postponed. Something mechanically is wrong with the rocket and a new launch date has not been announced yet. This is why it is so hard to plan these trips to Kennedy Space Center. Even when I do manage to secure press credentials, the launch itself is never certain. I've made several trips where the launch was canceled after I arrived and I ended up seeing nothing. Much more common is a one day delay. I've experienced a lot of those. You've got to stay flexible and hope you can extend all your reservations.

Dawn enjoyed her early walk this morning, but I can't says the same for my long walk later in the day. I waited a while to leave the house, hoping it would get warmer, but it never did. I guess today wasn't any colder than your average day in early January, but this is April. Winter is supposed to be over by mid April. I really doubt that we will get another hard freeze, but forty-five degrees with a brisk wind still feels like Winter.

After I returned from my chilly long walk, I basically did nothing for the rest of the day. Janet likes to watch movies, but I rarely do. I haven't picked up a book in a while either. Sometimes I test cameras and other equipment. Other times I do a load of laundry. Mostly I just waste time on the Internet. I catch up on the day's news on Google and check my Facebook feed. Neither of these activities gives me a lot of faith in the direction the world is headed. It's probably not surprising that I've spent a lot of time messing with the Polaris star tracker. It has been challenging to master this device since there is no instruction manual and it is still potentially useful in the future. It keeps me busy. The star tracker seems to have replaced the interest I once had for mechanical watches.

I wonder how much longer I can keep using this computer. It's a Mid 2010 27-inch iMac and can't be updated anymore. Almost every day I discover something new that isn't working the way it used to. The hardware seems to work fine, but the Apple operating system, browsers, and even mail have changed a lot. Website developers have changed the way they code things and I frequently find that windows won't open or pages won't scroll properly. Sometimes my WiFi connection disappears completely and I have to reboot the computer to restore it. Oddly I still have no desire to replace the computer. I liked the way the Internet and computers were in 2010. The bulky old Mac desktops I used before 2010 were even better. I had one with four hard drives, two Apple superdrives, and a modded CPU that was great. I think I detect a theme here. I just don't like change.

I think Dawn has a hard time with change as well. She spent so many years as a breeding dog in a puppy mill run by two old men that I'm probably always going to seem like a kennel attendant to her. In her mind Janet will always be the person who rescued her and I am Janet's assistant. I'm good for walks and fixing dinner, but she will never completely trust me. It's a shame that she doesn't trust me since we spend most of the day together in the house. Dawn has her room in the bedroom and I have mine in the office. She will follow me out to the back yard when she needs to pee and she always eats the meals I fix, but I can see a huge difference as soon as Janet comes home. She instantly becomes a happy dog again.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4456

It was a busy day at the kennel. We met the three new females. Candy is a very active eight month old pup. Julip is a small four year old who loves to smile. And Sammy is a sweet three year old mama who is going to have puppies soon. Sammy will go to a foster next week to have her puppies and Candy and Julip will soon be joined by Rocket, a three year old male who is still at the vet. Considering what these puppy mill dogs have been through, they all seemed happy and remarkably well adjusted.

We spent a lot of time taking pictures of the new dogs, but we didn't forget about Charlie, Oliver, Jo Jo, and Willie. The rescue group hasn't had this many Dalmatians for quite a while. Each of these dogs has their own unique personality, but they are all wonderful. I would have a hard time choosing a favorite. When we left the kennel this afternoon I wondered if I would see some of these dogs again. The younger Dals often get adopted very quickly.

Winter has returned, but I hope it doesn't stay around long. It was so cold when we took Dawn on her early walk this morning that she didn't want any part of being outside. As soon as she did her business, she quickly turned around and wanted to go back to the house. While I was eating breakfast it was even sleeting for a while. Eventually the sun came out, but it never got very warm. It was still cold when I took my long walk later in the afternoon when we returned from the kennel.

I didn't walk far today because my feet were bothering me again. Every day is a new day. Some days I can walk almost normally, while other days I just hobble around. The inconsistency makes no sense to me. I probably spend way too much time wondering about my feet. If things were really bad I wouldn't be able to walk at all. The simple truth is that just about everyone my age deals with aches and pains. I'm probably still doing better than most.

I noticed on my calendar that Spot's birthday is tomorrow. If Spot hadn't been such a good dog, we probably wouldn't have continued having Dalmatians after he passed away. Spot changed everything. So many Dalmatians have been a part of our lives over the years. We've had some serious health issues and there are still teeth marks in some of the furniture, but I wouldn't change a minute of the time we've been able to spend with these dogs. Hopefully the people who end up adopting our friends at the kennel will feel the same way about their Dalmatians.

I'm just about finished with my taxes, so I'll probably take the files to my accountant tomorrow. Next on the list is re-applying for press credentials with the Space Force. With NASA you apply to attend individual launches, but Space Force credentials last for the entire year. It's good that I am thinking about going to Kennedy Space Center again. For a while this Winter I didn't feel like going anywhere.

Tomorrow I need to get the new dogs up on the Dalmatian Rescue website. I probably need to get the star tracker out of the box again too. There have been several software and firmware upgrades recently and I need to keep up. I keep moving along but I still have trouble doing more than one thing a day.

Connor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day