Day 4080

I had a rare Zoom meeting today. I still don't understand people's fascination with Zoom. In most cases, a simple phone call would suffice. I've participated in a multitude of conference calls during my working years and I can't ever remember a need to actually see the other people. I somehow lost the shared screen during today's call, but I pretended to follow along. I guess my main problem with Zoom is that I can't slouch and stare off into space. I have to look at the camera and appear interested. I guess this is kind of like a real meeting around a conference table. I didn't like those either.

Since rain is in the forecast for tomorrow,  I reluctantly started raking leaves today. I didn't actually spend a lot of time raking. Most of my time was spent with the leaf blower, trying to get all the leaves out of the Liriope and Asian Jasmine ground cover. I thought all the leaves were dry, but there were many layers and the bottom layers were still soggy and wet. When we were younger, cleaning up the yard in the Spring was a routine event. Then for a while, we had a lawn care service do this chore for us. After we retired, we started pinching pennies and returned to doing the annual cleanup ourselves.  I doubt that all the leaves will be gone before it rains again, but at least we've started. For me at least, starting a chore is always the hardest part.

I'm still wondering what has happened to our mail. Deliveries have resumed, but we certainly haven't received a week's worth of accumulated mail. I have a feeling that some of this mail is gone forever. Most of the junk we get I would never miss, but I do hope that my copies of SpaceFlight Magazine turn up eventually. I'm old school. It doesn't really feel like I've been published unless I can hold the magazine in my hand.

I received a message from my new Air Force contact saying that I would soon be receiving instructions on the re-credentialing process and that I should be good to go well before the upcoming Starliner launch. I took this as a good sign that life will eventually return to normal. It's important to me to start covering launches again. In the grand scheme of things, whatever I write is not very important, but it does make me feel like I've got a job. I'd like to feel like I'm entirely self-motivated, but having deadlines and an editor does make me a lot more productive.

Janet was gone this afternoon, so I tried to see if Dawn would do some simple things with me. She likes to lie in the sun on nice days, but she wouldn't leave the bedroom on her own. Oddly, she's happy to follow me outdoors on a leash. When I take the leash off, she will go lie in the grass like she normally does. We did this several times this afternoon. She didn't appear scared when I led her outside on a leash. She just wouldn't leave the bedroom on her own. It's all very weird. Maybe Dawn thinks I'm a kennel attendant.

My foot hurt again today on my long walk. It's baffling why this varies from day to day. Actually, my foot hurt when I woke up this morning, so maybe I'm doing something wrong when I sleep. I'm tired of seeing doctors. I've seen four doctors about this over the years and nothing has changed. There are no fractures or bone damage. Other than some obvious arthritis, the foot is fine. I don't want to take strong pain medication, so I guess I'm stuck. I've seen people get addicted to pain pills and it's not a pretty sight. I'm a born complainer, so I'll live with the discomfort and just complain a lot.

The forecast says that it should start raining tomorrow afternoon. It looks like I'll be bagging leaves as fast as I can tomorrow morning.

Nora is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3924

We met Clyde today. He's a friendly, affectionate owner surrender who's probably still wondering what he's doing at a boarding kennel. Whenever I see a dog that has voluntarily been surrendered, I wonder how this could happen. Dogs are family. I just can't imagine treating a dog this way. Clyde will get a second chance though and I'm confident that this time things will work out better for him. I don't think it will take long for Clyde to find his forever home. We heard that he's already got someone looking at him.

When we go up to visit the Dalmatians at the kennel, that usually takes care of the day. In a post-Covid world having one interesting thing to do a day is plenty. There are many days where nothing happens at all. It's fun spending a few hours getting to know these dogs a little better. Each of them has their own personality, but they are all Dalmatians. You could never mistake a Dalmatian for any other breed.

We spent most of the day wondering when the rain would start. It was overcast all day, but we managed to stay dry on our morning walk. It was a little chilly out and I kept thinking that I should have worn a jacket.   I spotted two more White Pelicans this morning. One by one they are all making their way to their winter home. We didn't see the baby ducks this morning, but it was still pretty dark outside. Dawn managed to spot two rabbits this morning. She is much more interested in the rabbits than the ducks. I think we all had a good walk.

I was planning on calling my contact at the Air Force today, but ended up just paying some online bills instead. I've been looking at the long range weather for launch week and thunderstorms are in the forecast before, during, and after the scheduled launch day. Forecasts can change, but it's not looking good now. If I were a betting man, I'd bet that the Delta IV Heavy launch will get postponed again. 

I really have mixed emotions about traveling. I'm getting a bad case of cabin fever and would really like to start covering launches again. There are some interesting things going on between now and Christmas. On the other hand, I just read an article that said over 11,000 people have already tested positive for Covid after flying on airplanes. I'm hearing more and more that airplanes aren't so safe after all. Who knows what to believe though. There are so many conflicting opinions about almost everything. I'm cynical enough to think that we may never hear of the virus again after the election is over.

Once again, I failed to make any more roof repairs before the rain started. This happens a lot. I probably should have applied the silicon on one of those really hot days last month, but it's a miserable job. I'm still waiting for a stretch of three or four clear, cool days where I can make the repairs without burning my arms and legs. Maybe next week will be good. After the current storms pass through the area, I see a long stretch of sunny days ahead.

I'm still a little surprised that I actually enjoyed the Zoom call last night. Maybe being completely isolated isn't such a good idea after all. One of the things I liked so much about covering launches and spending time at the observatory was that I got to meet really interesting people, but I was still basically on my own.      I need to figure out how to get back to West Texas. Spending long hours alone on Mount Locke punctuated by interesting dinner conversation with astronomers was just about perfect.

Rowe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3923

What a beautiful Fall day. The temperature was in the mid-60's when we went walking this morning. The smoke disappeared overnight and the sky was clear and blue. There was a nice breeze and my allergies weren't bothering me at all. A lot more trees are starting to turn and we noticed that two more White Pelicans have arrived at the lake. We counted five of the birds today.

We also found the lost female Muscovy Duck this morning. Janet and I were convinced that the duck was dead since we haven't seen her in over a month. She is very much alive with six brand new baby ducklings. The ducklings explained a lot. The mom probably just found a safe place to make a nest and it's just now that the ducklings are getting old enough to rejoin all the other ducks. The reappearance of the female duck probably explains why the two male Muscovy Ducks moved to a different section of the lake. All three were together again today. It made me feel good to see the three ducks reunited. Muscovy Ducks are ugly, but we've become attached to them.

After our regular walk this morning we took Dawn to a different park in the afternoon to continue our efforts to get her used to riding in the car. She's still nervous about car rides, but she always enjoys the destination. She got a special treat today because we stopped for ice cream on the way home. I've never met a dog yet who didn't love ice cream.

I was going to make roof repairs today but when Janet suggested taking Dawn on a car ride that seemed like a much better idea. I don't know if there would have been time to apply the silicon coating anyway. It really needs 48 hours to dry completely and it's going to rain again tomorrow. It's looks like there is rain in the forecast for several days. It must have something to do with the next hurricane headed for the Texas coast. We are pretty safe from the hurricanes themselves, but we often get rain from the outer rain bands.

I joined my very first Zoom meeting today. I can see now why the software is popular. It was easy to use and the whole experience was more enjoyable than I thought it would be. Maybe I won't be so reluctant to join these things in the future. It took less than an hour out of my day and much to my surprise I enjoyed talking to these people again.

It appears that there is going to be a rocket launch next Saturday. Now I just need to decide whether I'm going or not. One of my Florida friends said that if I have confirmed press clearance I ought to go. He said that the Covid rules change frequently and nobody with credentials really knows if they are going to get clearance again. We'll see. I'll try calling the Air Force again tomorrow. I suspect that the launch will get postponed again anyway. There are a lot of hurricanes in the Atlantic right now.

There might be a new Dalmatian at the kennel tomorrow. I know that we have a new dog in the program now, but he might still be at the vet getting his initial exams. I'll take my camera just in case. Hopefully, we'll be able to take our walk with Dawn in the morning before the rain arrives. 

Rosie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3922

The sky was exceptionally hazy today. When the sun rose on our morning walk, it was just a dull orange ball in the Eastern sky. Oddly, the air quality was good. The smoke from the Western wildfires must have been high in the atmosphere. We have seen these smokey skies frequently lately. They need to add a new category to my weather app. Clear, partly cloudy, and overcast isn't descriptive enough anymore.

I found everything on my shopping list today, although I has to go to two different stores to find peaches. There were still several things Janet couldn't find on her list. I wonder how long these disruptions in the supply chain are going to last? It's been a long time and quite a few very ordinary things are still hard to find.

We got a late start on our walk this morning and the park was already crowded. The people who go to the park in the morning are completely different from the ones who go in the afternoon. The morning people seem very energetic and productive. They are all cycling, jogging, or walking their dogs. If someone has a camera they are usually taking pictures of wildlife.

Afternoon people are different. Most of them are sitting in hammocks looking at their phones. The cameras are used for taking selfies. There are often large family picnics and the occasional energetic folks are usually riding skateboards. I guess I identify more with the morning people. It's easy for me to imagine that they are the ones designing the phones and selling the hammocks that the afternoon people use.

Dawn was reluctant to come out of the bedroom today and eat her dinner because Janet was gone. I knew she was hungry, but she just wouldn't move. I even went out in the back yard for a while to see if she would come out to her bowl when I wasn't around. Nope. As soon as Janet returned home, Dawn went straight to her bowl and immediately ate all her dinner. This is going to be a problem if Janet ever decides to travel.

Dawn will be just fine if I decide to travel. I just can't decide if I'm ready to go anywhere. I still haven't heard if I am cleared to attend the Delta IV Heavy launch in Florida next week. Would I go if I get the OK? I'm not sure. I still don't feel comfortable sitting on an airliner for three hours with a bunch of strangers. There is so much unrest in the world that I would worry about getting caught up in a demonstration in the wee hours of the morning while returning to my hotel from a launch. Maybe I'm overreacting, but this is the world I'm shown on the news every single day.

I was just getting used to living without seasonal allergies when the Fall allergies arrived. Janet and I are both having problems. It seems like the Spring allergy seasons extends all the way into the Fall allergy season these days. I had a month or so with no problems at all, but unfortunately those were the days when it was over 100 degrees.

I'm thinking about joining a Zoom meeting tomorrow with some of my NASA friends. I'm not all that eager to talk with anyone, but I'm curious how the software works and whether I've actually learned how to use it. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. The meeting is around dinner time. That could be a factor. I hate to miss a meal.

Rhett is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3911

The days are getting noticeably shorter now. We start our morning walks at the same time, but it's much darker now when we leave the house. The sky doesn't noticeably lighten until we're almost at our halfway point. This morning we completed our walk and had returned home before the sun rose above the horizon. Daylight Saving Time doesn't end until November, so we've got more dark walks ahead of us. I think Janet and I will both be glad when the temperature cools enough so that we can walk at any time of day.

I wrote another letter to my sister today and took it to the post office. These are the only physical letters I write to anybody. Everyone else switched to e-mail a long time ago. Sadly, even e-mail is becoming too much of a bother for a lot of people. Texting is gradually replacing e-mail as the preferred way to communicate. I find all this kind of sad. Communication has become so rudimentary now. I still like a nice long letter and will never resort to using Emojis.

This afternoon we took Dawn to another park to get her used to riding in the car. Janet often does this by herself, but sometimes I go along to see whether having both of us in the car makes things better or worse. Helping Dawn overcome her many fears is a long slow process. She seems eager to go on a car ride now until the car starts moving. It's weird. She's always excited when we get ready to go and eagerly hops right in the back seat. As soon as we start backing out of the driveway, she starts shivering, shaking, and panting excessively. Usually she quickly reverts to acting normally again as soon as we arrive at our destination.

I actually found Clorox wipes today. These weren't genuine Clorox wipes. They were just a poorly packaged imitation that was probably quickly rushed to market by someone who wanted to take advantage of the pandemic shortages. I bought the imitation wipes anyway. These things can be useful in a world where you are constantly wiping down surfaces and cleaning your hands away from home. I still think the pandemic will be officially be over when the real Clorox wipes return to the shelves. That hasn't happened yet.

Janet asked me if I had Zoom on my computer. I guess she wants to learn how to use it. You're on your own there buddy. I have no interest in learning about Zoom or installing it on any of my devices. There is a certain freedom in being a Luddite. To me, Zoom just seems like an irritating way to bring the stress of pre-Covid days into your own home. Zoom is incredibly popular and the company is one of the hottest stocks on Wall Street now, but I have no desire whatsoever to talk to twelve people at once.

There was nothing happening on the Boca Chica cam today, but tomorrow something might explode. Since tomorrow will probably be as boring as today, I'm sure I'll tune in to watch the pressure test. I kind of wish there were live streaming cams everywhere. It would be nice to be able to check and see if there were crowds or lines before I went anywhere. I've become obsessive about avoiding crowds these days. They weren't quite finished filling my prescription when I went to the pharmacy this afternoon, and I had to wait at the store for fifteen minutes. Jeez. I couldn't wait to get out of that place.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3882

These weeks go quickly. How did it get to be Dalmatian day again? We still only have three dogs at the kennel. Luckie seems to be adjusting to kennel life. She didn't seem frightened this week and even appeared glad to see us. Charlie was full of energy and got a good workout chasing after a big red Kong. Hank evidently caught a rat in one of the outdoor play areas this week and ate it. Yuk. Dogs will be dogs I guess.

My new walking shoes fit well but my feet still hurt after a long walk. I doubt that there is much that can be done. It's just a combination of arthritis and old age. I've worn all types of shoes, including some very supportive ones. There is no magic bullet. I doubt that I could walk all day anymore no matter what I was wearing.

I'll be glad when Fall arrives. Getting up early helps, but it's still pretty hot. To keep Dawn from getting overheated, we have to make sure we're back at the house by at least 8:30 AM. We did manage to get an early start this morning and are going to try to get up even earlier tomorrow. Walking before sunrise is really the only thing that works.

I need to go get my car safety inspected sometime this week. It really doesn't seem like a year since I've done this. Last August seemed so much busier. I'd recently returned from a trip to Kennedy Space Center to attend a Falcon Heavy launch and was getting ready to make my first trip out to McDonald Observatory. No plans this year at all. Everything is still in limbo.

Some of my friends in the space and astronomy world have started doing podcasts and Zoom meetings. Makes sense, I guess. What else can you do these days? As far as I can tell, these virtual events are similar to the conversations you would have over a few beers at lunch, except that everyone is in a little window on your computer screen. I listen to these things occasionally, but never join in the conversation. Writing seems natural, but talking still seems weird. I don't like to hear my own voice. I skipped an online reunion of my architecture school class because I don't want to be in a little window on someone's screen. I should have been born a hundred years ago. It still seems more natural to write a letter and then wait two months for a reply.

I haven't used my large production printer in so long that it has become hopelessly clogged. I don't even think the Epson repair shop I used to use is even in business anymore. I haven't used my video editing equipment in ages either. I assume this gear still works, but I don't even have any blank Betacam tapes to test it with. Logically, I should just get rid of all this stuff. I'll never use it again. It's so much trouble though. What do you do with high quality, obsolete equipment? My solution is to let the stuff gather dust, but I don't think Janet likes this plan. So far, I'm finding it impossible to clean out the office.

Maybe I'll do something useful tomorrow. Who knows. I'm still hoping to get media accreditation to return to Kennedy Space Center. There are some interesting launches this Fall. I check my e-mail every morning, but so far no response. I've been waiting for months. They say patience is a virtue, but this is getting ridiculous.

J-Lo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3878

I got asked to join a Zoom reunion with some old classmates today. Hmm. I've never used Zoom. I've heard about Zoom meetings on the news, but I don't even have the application on my computer. I have no desire to install it either. I guess I'm officially a Luddite. I have no interest whatsoever in this sort of thing. I'm glad I retired well before Zoom meetings became mandatory in a post-pandemic world. Jeez. I didn't even like conference calls years ago. Why would you want to add a camera to a conference call?

We got started on our morning walk in the dark again. It's weird walking this early. There aren't many people out, but we certainly aren't alone in the park. Cyclists seem to get an earlier start than joggers. The main reason we take a flashlight is so these guys won't mow us down in the dark. Cyclists are relentless and don't slow down for anything. Before the sky started to lighten, we saw what looked like an odd, very slow bicycle moving in the distance. As we got closer, we realized that what looked like bicycle wheels were actually two dogs with red lights on their collars and the third light we thought was a rider was a lighted bracelet on the wrist of the woman walking the dogs. When joggers started to appear on the trails, many of them had little LED lights on their arms and legs as well. Some of the lights were red and green as if the joggers were trying to emulate the port and starboard lights on boats. Maybe Janet and I are even Luddites about walking in the dark. All we had was a flashlight.

My days continue to be slow and uneventful. Maybe this is why blog readership has gone down. Nothing to see here. Very few people read blogs anyway. They're all out doing podcasts and having Zoom meetings. Even some of my space and astronomy friends have their own podcasts now. When did things change? I remember when blogs were very popular. Lots of people used to write blogs. Of course I remember when everything on the Internet was just text because it took too much bandwidth to send a picture. I wonder if Usenet news groups still exist? There were thousands of groups and not a single picture among them. Those were the days. Luddites tend to be nostalgic. We long for manual typewriters, film cameras, and those old brick cell phones.

When we walk really early, we've noticed that the ducks and geese are typically on the water. Later, when the sun comes up they return to the shore. This makes me wonder what the ducks do at night. Do they swim around all night? Are they nocturnal like the coyotes? I guess this will always be a mystery. I'm certainly not going down to the park at midnight to investigate.

Tomorrow I get a haircut. It's about time. I haven't had a haircut since last March. If this goes well I might start going to the gym again. I'm still very careful and tend to avoid people altogether, but this virus is going to be with us for a long time. We've all got to figure out what kind of risk we can tolerate. I'll take one of the good masks with me tomorrow. The masks I wear to the grocery store and get gas are basically worthless.

I've taken the trash out to the curb and am ready for another early morning walk. There are no Friday morning breakfast restaurant outings anymore. Such is life in the new normal.

Margo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day