Day 4997

I wish I was ending the blog on a high note. It would be nice to go out describing some sort of grand adventure. Not very likely. It looks like this summer will continue to be an endless series of very hot days where my main activity is staying out of the sun.

The sunrise walks are still nice. The temperature was in the high 70's this morning and there was a nice breeze. The construction activity in the neighborhood seems to have ended. The water department made a mess of the streets, but I guess we have new pipes now. There are currently three empty lots on the street. The houses have been scraped and the buyers of the properties don't seem to be in any hurry to put up anything new. They're probably waiting for interest rates to go down again. There doesn't appear to be any desire to save these older houses. The main reason they get demolished so quickly is that property taxes are lower if there is no house on the lot.

I watched the news about the hurricane while I ate breakfast this morning. It was a strong hurricane, but it went through a rural part of Florida so damage wasn't as bad as people expected. Nobody that I know down there suffered any damage. I'm glad we don't have to worry about hurricanes in Dallas. We do have the occasional tornado, but there haven't been any problems this year. Before you can worry about tornados you need rain. We haven't had any rain for over a month.

I went to the gym again this morning. I didn't even complete my full routine today. All I did was walk three miles around the indoor track and come home again. I don't know why I didn't stay longer because I definitely had no plans for the afternoon. I wasn't particularly tired either. I just wasn't in a great mood. Oh, well. At least I got my steps.

I seem to have lost interest in the star tracker. I haven't even turned it on in quite a while. The lack of interest probably coincides with my lack of a plan to return to McDonald Observatory. I miss the place, but I have serious doubts about making the long drive again. I just don't have the energy that I used to have and it isn't worth being run over by an eighteen wheeler just to get a chance to see the Milky Way again. Hey. I did see the moon tonight though. The rare blue super moon was noticeably larger than usual.

Dawn won a ribbon in her training class tonight. We thought she might never win a ribbon again because she has to wear a harness at class now. All the other dogs are on a regular leash and collar and were easier to control. Dawn did well. She completed all the exercises without the need for a training collar or any pressure on her neck.

It's hard to believe tomorrow is the last day in August. This entire year has gone quickly. Maybe September will be cooler. I certainly hope so. I don't know if I can take another month like this.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4778

I'm getting apprehensive about the weather again. We're supposed to get a lot of rain and possibly even snow tomorrow. This means that the roof will inevitably start leaking and I'll be back to square one with my cleanup efforts. To say that I'm getting tired of this would be an understatement. At this point I just hope the forecast is wrong. It often is.

Today was a another day of long walks and paying bills. I extended my 20,000 step streak to six days. I think that's a record for me. It's going to be hard to make it a full week though if it rains tomorrow. We'll see what happens. I hate the thought of driving to the gym in the rain tomorrow, but I can't just sit around the house all day. Walking brings a necessary structure to my life. I need to keep walking.

It's time to start working on my taxes again. I had a talk with my accountant today about whether it was time to stop filing as a business. Am I retired or not? I'm certainly busy enough. I still build and maintain animal rescue websites and I regularly write for SpaceFlight Magazine. The British magazine even calls me their U.S. Correspondent now. The only problem is that I'm not making any money. I think a business has to make money at least two years out of five. I need to find a gig with a magazine that actually pays for content. Easier said than done though. Especially when all you want to write about is astronomy and space. The magazine industry is not very healthy. I used to receive a ton of trade magazines at the house. Most of them are out of business now.

All the extra walking I'm doing is killing my feet. I probably need to retire my current pair of Hoka shoes and break out a new pair. I have one fairly new pair of Bondi 7 shoes that I just use when I travel and a brand new pair that I got just before they discontinued this style. My current shoes still feel comfortable but I'm sure they are not providing the support I need. The soles and heal areas are completely worn out. It's too bad that sneakers don't last like boots. I've got twenty year old hiking boots that are in better shape than my two year old Hokas.

Tonight there was a conjunction of Venus and Saturn right after sunset that astronomer friends said was a must see event. It's not happening. It was clear for most of the day, but clouds have rolled in and the skies are overcast now. This is probably the beginning of the bad weather that is supposed to start later tonight. There is also a green comet in the northern skies that people are talking about. I'll probably never find this. I had trouble finding Neowise a few years ago and it was much brighter. Lately my only connection with astronomy is testing the Benro Polaris star tracker every time a new firmware update comes out.

We were thinking about visiting the rescue Dalmatians this Wednesday but we'll wait and see what the weather is like. It's a long drive to this new kennel and it looks like we'll be playing with them outdoors instead of indoors like we did at the old kennel. Weather and rain will be an issue. I have a feeling that we won't end up visiting every week like we used to. We'll figure out something though. Janet and I still think socializing the dogs is important.

There's nothing on the agenda for tomorrow. I'll probably spend most of the day fretting about roof leaks.

Chloe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4183

It rained a lot today. That didn't stop us from visiting the Dalmatians though. Millie, formerly known as Aries, has gone to her forever home. The three boys, Cooper, Riggs, and Charlie, were still at the kennel and were ready to play. They all acted like they had cabin fever because the heavy rain was keeping them indoors. We always bring an assortment of toys with us so the dogs won't tear the squeakers out while we are gone. The guys love these "fresh" toys and give them a good workout. We didn't work on training much today, but everybody had a good time.

Traffic is always bad in Dallas, but it is even worse on a rainy day. It seemed to take forever to get to and from the kennel. Luckily, by the time we returned home, the sky was getting lighter and the rain was finally stopping. We waited a little while for the rain to stop completely before taking Dawn on a walk. Dawn must have had cabin fever too, because she was eager to go outside even though the ground was still quite wet. She was adventurous and took a new route today, although we still ended up only walking a mile. One mile seems to be Dawn's limit these days.

I felt tired this afternoon but I continued walking after Dawn and Janet returned to the house. We got back from the kennel later than usual and I didn't want to end up walking in the dark. I was amazed at how high the lake was today. The water was over the banks in several places and there were tons of logs and other debris that had washed up along the shoreline. I wonder how much rain we ended up getting last night? The pumps on the roof ran continually for most of the day and water was still coming out of the hose after about seven hours. I don't even want to know how much standing water is still up there. There are still no signs of any leaks though, so that's encouraging.

I finally put all my gear away from the observatory trip. Everything has been sitting on the floor of the office for weeks. I thought that the office would look a lot neater after everything had been put away, but it really didn't. The place is still a mess. I left the new little telescope out in a place that was easily accessible. I need to learn how to use this thing on the star tracker in case we ever have a clear day. I may have to wait a while. There's still a lot of rain in the forecast.

One of the launch photographers I know sent me some tips for getting credentialed at Kennedy Space Center. I've tried most of these ideas already with little success, but it was a nice gesture. Even though there have been a record number of launches this year, I'm starting to think that this isn't the best time to be planning a trip to Florida. Everyone wants to take a vacation now and all roads lead to Disneyland. Flights between Dallas and Orlando are packed. I keep hearing horror stories about finding a rental car as well. Maybe I'll wait until Fall when kids will finally be back in school. Hurricane season has started as well. On second thought, maybe waiting until Winter would be an even better idea.

Hopefully, I can think of something interesting to do tomorrow. I used to have an endless list of projects I was working on, but very little interests me anymore. I haven't taken the Stratocaster out of its case in more than a year and I don't think the large production printer even works anymore. Playing in a band and having gallery shows are just distant memories. Thank goodness for astronomy. This is probably a transitory interest as well, but for now it seems to keep the old brain from getting rusty.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4111

I think a lot of people must have moved here during the pandemic. The traffic is horrible now. Every time I go out, I feel like I am driving in Los Angeles. Dallas was never a small town, but it wasn't always this way. I remember when there was a farm with livestock right across from Northpark. Maybe I'm just getting too old for city life. It's getting harder and harder to find anything positive to say about all this congestion. 

Shopping was relatively easy today. I found everything on my list fairly quickly and was home well before noon. I used to think that the pandemic would be over when I started seeing Clorox wipes again. The wipes are everywhere now, so why does it feel like nothing has changed? Even getting vaccinated didn't change much. I still wear a mask whenever I go out. I seldom eat at restaurants anymore. When I pass someone while I'm walking in the park, I make a conscious effort to move way out of the way. I might never go to a large gathering again. I could go on and on. I doubt that this behavior is going to change any time soon. I've never trusted people all that much. Now I have a reason not to trust them.

I do trust dogs, which is why it bothers me that Dawn doesn't seems to like me. Dot and Dash would follow me everywhere, but Dawn still hasn't set foot in the office. The whole room seems off limits to her. We are making a little progress though. When I take a nap on the bed, she no longer leaves the room. She seems content to share the bed with me now, but she won't follow me outside even when I know she wants to go. The only way I can get her to go in the back yard with me is to lead her out on a leash. Dawn is an entirely different dog when Janet is home. She is much more confident and very little seems to bother her. Oh, well. I guess it's just me.

My long walk was a little slow again today. I felt fine, but I could tell after the first 300 yards that I wasn't going to set any records. It's still a mystery why on some days I have a spring in my step and on other days I don't. I used to think my slow days resulted from a lack of sleep, but I've been sleeping well lately. I doubt that any of this even matters. I should just turn off the Fitbit and enjoy the view. On today's walk I noticed that one of the Muscovy ducks and three of the geese were missing. I saw two Monk Parakeets which was strange since these birds usually fly together as a large group. There were lots of people in the park, which was understandable since it was a nice Spring day. For the first time in over a year I saw some of the baseball diamonds in use. School sports have definitely returned. The soccer fields in the park have been in use for quite a while now.

I'm spending way too much time looking at telescopes and other astronomical paraphernalia online. This usually leads to buying things which is probably unwise. I'm never going to spend much time looking at the stars here in Dallas. The light pollution is terrible and I don't feel safe going out at night in the city anyway. This leaves the occasional trip to West Texas, which might actually be all I need. It's too bad I can't just rent the equipment I need the same way I rent a car for these trips. 

I may be forced to do some yard work tomorrow. The yard still looks terrible after our big freeze, and neither of us want to spend the money to hire a lawn service anymore. I guess we need to clean up the place for Dawn. She loves being out in the yard.

Chloe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4043

We got a new supposedly indestructible toy for Charlie today. In less than five minutes he had broken the squeaker and was shaking the thing so vigorously that I thought he would knock himself silly. Charlie was just having fun, but if I was a squirrel, I wouldn't get anywhere near this dog. Clyde is gradually overcoming his shyness and Cooper seemed much calmer than he did last week. Everyone is making progress and they were all glad to see us. We'll be back again next week. Visiting the kennel Dalmatians has become a permanent part of our routine.

Dawn is making progress as well. She is eager to take her shorter walks now and doesn't balk or freeze at all. Now that she has become confident that we're not going to try to lead her somewhere where she doesn't want to go, she's a happy camper again. Like most of our previous Dalmatians, Dawn is gradually training us instead of us training her.

I continue to walk about six miles every day. I can't say that the walks are always fun, but they are the only real exercise I get. I'd like to walk ten miles every day, but I don't think my feet are up to it. The new shoes help a lot, but I still feel like an arthritic old man when I return home. I had been planning on going back to the gym again, but now that Covid is resurgent, I think I'll wait a while. I've managed to stay healthy all year. There is no reason to start tempting fate now. The pandemic will eventually be over and I have a high tolerance for doing nothing anyway.

I missed my chance to get rid of the leaves in the yard before big trash day. It's supposed to rain tomorrow and the bulky trash trucks will arrive on our street in a day or two. I was hoping that our recent windy days would blow some of the leaves away, but all the wind did was blow more leaves into the yard. The leaves never used to be a problem before all the neighbors started putting up tall security fences. Now, they just stay in the yard forever until we haul them away.

I continue to bookmark interesting astronomy and telescope sites, making imaginary lists of equipment I need to buy and places I'd like to visit. Oddly, I seldom go out in the backyard and look at the stars. I always seem to have an excuse. It's too cold. It's too wet. You can't really see anything in Dallas anyway. I should make an effort just to stay in practice, but I suspect I have become spoiled. Once you've seen the stars from the dark skies in West Texas, looking up at the sky in a large city hardly seems worth the effort.

I hope I don't buy a bunch of gear that I never end up using. I already did that with audio equipment, but I never returned to songwriting. Once I lose interest in something, it's very hard to rekindle. I think my interest in astronomy is real. I had a telescope in junior high and high school and even thought of becoming an astronomer. Math put an end to that. There was some math involved in becoming an architect, but it was nothing compared to being a physics or astronomy major. Let's face it. I was never very good at math.

I learned something new today. I can't open pictures taken with new iPhones. The new photos are saved using the HEIC image format which isn't recognized by anything on my older phones and computers. I finally found a website that allowed me to convert a photo that was sent to me today but it was a pain to use. I'm glad I am retired or I would have to upgrade everything. Why does Apple continue to do this? I continue to get further and further behind. Adobe and Microsoft have gone to subscription services for all their software and now I can't even see iPhone pictures. Maybe my sister was right in becoming a Luddite.

Dovey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4018

Dawn is still acting weird. We didn't even try to walk early this morning because it was so cold. Later in the day, Dawn seemed eager to go outside. We walked normally for a while. She smelled things and seemed active and engaged. Then after we had gone about a mile, she froze, just like she did the other day. Janet walked ahead to see if she would eventually follow her. Nope. She wouldn't turn around and go back home either. I had a hard time getting her out of the middle of the road where she was in the way of cars and bicycles. As soon as Dawn saw that Janet was turning around and coming back to us, Dawn turned around and headed home. She kept looking back to make sure that Janet was following us, but she seemed active and happy again. When Janet caught up with us, Dawn was wagging her tail and had a "mission accomplished" look on her face. I have no idea what is going on. Taking long walks used to be one of her favorite activities. I could be easily convinced myself that Dawn is having a seizure when she freezes like this, if it weren't for the fact that she instantly returns to normal as soon as Janet and I turn around and head home again. This evening she ate a small round hole in her favorite blanket. What's that all about? We were right next to her having dinner and we never saw or heard anything.

Dawn may have tired of walking, but I'm still moving. It's disappointing that Dawn doesn't want to accompany me anymore, but I still need to get my steps. I took a long walk by myself and thought about the complexities of understand a dog's behavior. It would be so much easier if they could talk and tell us how they were feeling. Dawn's vital sighs and her recent blood work look excellent. Physically, she seems to be in good health. We're guessing that she might have had a traumatic brain injury earlier in her life. This would at least explain the signs of atrophy we see on the top of her head. It might explain her erratic behavior too. It's all just a guess though. 

I did some accounting this afternoon and couldn't get things to balance again. This never used to happen. I went over my entries in Quickbooks three times and couldn't find any mistakes. Why was I $50 off then?  Somewhere there has to be an easy answer to all of this. Why does a healthy, active dog suddenly refuse to walk? Why can't I balance my books anymore? I have a feeling that if I were younger and more on top of my game, things would start to make sense.

I installed Stellarium on my computer this afternoon and played around with it for an hour or two. There is so much I will never see in the night sky. It's hard to even learn the basics, like where all the constellations are, when you can't see anything due to city light pollution. Even if I found a dark spot in the park with a clear view of the sky, the light pollution would still be there. It's a shame. When I'm out in the Davis Mountains, I can tell that my interest in astronomy is real. It's an uphill battle to maintain that interest though when you live in a city where it's almost impossible to see anything.

I need to read my e-mail more carefully. I was getting ready to take the trash out to the curb tonight and started wondering whether anything would be picked up on Christmas Day. Probably not. Maybe the city sent us a message. Sure enough, I found a message from the sanitation department that was sent last week. It said that trash would be picked up on Wednesday this week. Oops. That was yesterday.

It's hard to believe it's Christmas tomorrow. Where has this year gone? I hope that all of you enjoy the holidays. Christmas is still a hopeful time, even for someone like me. Hey, maybe 2021 will be better.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4011

My swallow test was inconclusive. I thought this might happen. I ate or drank a variety of substances, all mixed with barium so they would show up on the x-ray video. It doesn't appear that I have any problems with pulmonary aspiration or dysphagia. The doctor said that my swallowing actually appeared fairly normal. She suspected that the coughing was associated with my ongoing heartburn problems. I used to take Protonix, a proton pump inhibitor that effectively eliminated the heartburn. As I grew older doctors said I should quit using this because it has been known to cause bone density to decrease. The older you get, the more your doctor tends to worry about weak, brittle bones. Gradually the acid reflux returned and now I just take a Pepsid AC whern I have a problem. "Why don't you just start taking these every day," my doctor suggested. Famotidine seems to work and there are few known side effects. We'll try this. It sure seems a lot easier than more aggressive treatments. While I was getting my tests done in the Baylor radiology department, I was afraid that I was just going to be referred to another specialist. Perhaps I would need to see a gastroenterologist or an esophageal specialist. Nope. We're just going to try the Pepsid for a while. Sounds good to me.

My medical exam ate up a lot of time today, so there wasn't much else on the agenda. Just finding a parking place in a hospital parking garage can take forever. By the time I returned home, there was time for an afternoon walk and not much else. Janet walked Dawn while I was gone. They went further than we did yesterday, but Janet said that Dawn still seemed uncomfortable. I still think she is just sore from the injections she got at the vet. My arm often feels sore for several days after an injection myself. Hopefully Dawn will be back to normal by this weekend.

I used to be so good at bookkeeping when I was working full-time. Now, I hate to even open Quickbooks. I finally got around to entering October credit card charges today but I'm still way behind. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I just quit keeping track of things, but I'm way too disciplined to go that far. I guess I'll continue methodically keeping track of everything while gradually getting further and further behind.

My editor at Sky & Telescope gave me the go ahead to start on a new article. He wants an outline this time before I submit a finished draft. That's OK, even though I'm not much of an outline guy. When advertising clients wanted an outline, I often complete the assignment first and then write an outline afterwards based on what I'd already written. I've got a good relationship with SpaceFlight Magazine now. I hope I can build one with Sky and Telescope as well.

I went out after dinner and looked at Jupiter and Saturn again. The two planets are getting closer and closer together every day. I hope it stays clear for the conjunction next Monday. I'm going to try to photograph the two planets together, but since Jupiter is so much brighter than Saturn, getting the right exposure might be challenging. The fact that I'm even thinking about photographing the conjunction here in Dallas is a good sign that my interest in astronomy is real. I seldom even leave the house after dark in Dallas.

Tomorrow I'll go looking for the shoes that the foot surgeon recommended. I doubt that new shoes will eliminate the foot pain, but maybe it will help. I can live with the aches and pains I have now. I just don't want them to get worse.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4006

It's weird how quickly the weather changes around here. The sky was completely clear when we started our walk this morning, but became overcast by the time we returned home. I thought it would warm up quickly because that's what happened yesterday, but it seemed to actually become colder as the day progressed. For the first time in quite a while I skipped my afternoon walk because I just didn't feel like dressing up in warm clothes again.

I received my author copies of Sky & Telescope in the mail today. I'd already received a PDF file of my article in the February issue, but I'm old school and like to hold a magazine in my hand. I've read this well known astronomy magazine off and on since I was in high school and it felt good to be included as one of the magazine's contributors. It felt even better to be the February issue's featured cover story. I think I'm on my way. I don't know what I'll write about in the future, but I definitely feel that there is a future.

Janet was gone this afternoon and when it was time for her dinner, Dawn followed me right out to the kitchen and watched as I prepared her evening meal. You'd think that any dog would do this naturally, but with Dawn this was progress. Inch by inch, she is slowly learning to trust me. I can join her on the bed now and she doesn't run away. I've learned to never make sudden movements and not to expect too much, but things are definitely changing for the better. Hopefully, by the time Covid restrictions are over and Janet starts to travel again, Dawn and I will be best buddies.

I need to find a place to observe the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on December 21st. Both planets will be low in the Western sky and I don't have a good view of the Western horizon. I had the same problem when I was searching for comet Neowise earlier this year. Neowise was a little higher in the sky though. Hopefully, I'll find a good place close to home. I really don't like driving around in Dallas after dark anymore. It's a shame that cities don't feel safe these days. When I was younger I thought nothing of packing up my gear in front of a club at 2 AM after our band had finished a gig. Not anymore. Even an astronomical event that happens only once every 800 years, leaves me a little apprehensive. I'll find a good location, but this would be so much easier if I were out in the Davis Mountains.

I signed up for this pilot program with my insurance company to use a special device to continuously monitor my electrical wiring for signs that could potentially cause a fire. Since we live in an old house with dubious wiring, this sounds like a good idea. On the other hand since we live in an old house, the device will probably find problems and cause our insurance rates to increase. There's always a catch to everything. I've always been worried about electrical fires though, so on balance this still seems like a good idea. I just hope that every time it rains and the pump on the roof shorts out, the device doesn't send a warning to the monitoring company. This is going to happen and the outdoor outlet that the pump is plugged into is already protected by a breaker that I reset frequently. I guess we'll see what happens.

The weather forecast says that there's a 100% chance of rain tomorrow morning. What are the chances that we'll go on our morning walk anyway. Apple needs to do some work on it's iPhone weather app. It's almost always wrong.

Savannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3956

We woke up to heavy rain this morning. Where did that come from? I guess I haven't been keeping track of the weather. Along with the rain came a new cold front. It was actually pretty chilly today. We couldn't take our regular morning walk because of the weather, so I got the pumps on the roof started, ate my breakfast, and tried to make the bed around Dawn, who refused to move.

Eventually the rain stopped and we took Dawn on her walk. She loved the cold weather. She was frisky this morning and had a lot more energy than I did. The rain must enhance smells, because she wanted to stop and smell everything. When we arrived at Pelican Bay, all the Pelicans were out of the water and up on the shore. This was the first time I've seen this happen. Usually the birds perch on submerged logs in the shallow water. The Pelicans were huge up close, but Dawn had no interest in them. She mostly just wanted to check her pee-mail by sniffing every rock and tree.

The abrupt change in the weather made me feel even older than usual. Every joint in my body hurt this morning. Most of these aches and pains were very familiar. They are a big reason why I try to stay active. If I were sedentary, I think I would feel the effects of aging even more. Activity does help. By the time we returned from our walk, I was starting to feel normal again.

I don't know where the day went today. I certainly didn't do all that much. Two walks, breakfast, dinner, and a short nap seemed to use up the entire day. I was planning to practice using the stacking software again this afternoon, but never got around to it. I didn't spend much time watching the Boca Chica live feed either. Things were strangely quiet at Space X for a change. 

I didn't watch the debate last night, but clearly it didn't change anyone's opinion. When I was channel surfing during breakfast this morning, Fox and OAN said that Trump clearly won the debate, while MSNBC and CNN said the Biden clearly won the debate. No wonder I just watch the business channels these days. I'm sick of politics.

I hope my car starts tomorrow morning. I haven't used it in nearly two weeks. I always rent a car for my trips and I haven't been shopping lately. It's time to get groceries again though. Hopefully my battery is still good. I have no real desire to go to the grocery store any more, but we still need food. We are actually eating better during the pandemic than we were before. Having a good meal is definitely something you can still do at home.

I'd kind of like to buy a new telescope, but it makes no sense whatsoever. There is nothing to see in Dallas's light polluted skies and I'm still apprehensive about driving to a dark place out in the country late at night. Every time I turn on the local news there's something about another overnight shooting on city streets. Sadly, Dallas is not a safe place to be driving around at 3 AM.

I guess I'll have to be content with periodic trips to McDonald Observatory. I feel safe out there and the skies are amazing. The only amazing thing about Dallas is that it has always been a great place to find a good job. Dallas has been good for my career. Not so sure if it's a great place to retire.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3949

The first day of the astrophotography workshop was a big success. Yesterday's high winds cleared away all the dust and I woke up this morning to beautiful clear skies. I was able to get a take-out breakfast at the Indian Lodge restaurant a few miles down the road and then took a walk along one of the ranch roads before heading for the observatory.

Since I arrived a little early, I learned that I was the last member of the general public to leave the observatory before Covid shut the place down and was also the first person to return. It was good to be back. This afternoon we learned a lot of specialized camera techniques designed to make shooting pictures at night a little easier. I know my way around a camera pretty well, but I learned a lot that I didn't know before. Nobody could answer my questions about how to avoid losing things in the dark. I was very careful tonight, but I did end up losing a small piece of my tripod. I don't know how it fell off, but it's a safe bet that I'll never see it again.

I think I got some nice shots tonight, but nothing is finished yet. A lot of astrophotography is about the processing you do afterwards. To get the best images, you take a lot of pictures of the same thing and then stack them all together. This eliminates the grainy look you see in some night sky photos. We're going to learn how to do this tomorrow.

One thing I learned tonight was that I'm not really made for standing outside for six hours on a cold night. My feet were killing me when we finished our photo session around 1 AM. I definitely showed my age every time I had to kneel down and get back up again. It's hard to set the camera when your hands get really cold as well. I'm not complaining though. It was a memorable evening. The sky was even clearer than it was last March. It's amazing what you can see on a dark night. I saw at least ten meteors tonight, and there wasn't even a meteor shower. If you look carefully, you can often see satellite crossing the sky. I should have brought my binoculars, but I had way too much heavy stuff to carry already.

It's a good thing I was driving slow on the way back to the Prude Ranch after the workshop was over for the night. I almost hit a deer. It was a huge buck with quite a rack on his head. When I was walking this morning, I saw Mountain Lion tracks. There are lots of critters up here. When we were up on the mountain tonight we saw someone shining a searchlight way off in the distance. This was in an area where there weren't any roads, so everyone wondered what was going on. "Some rancher is out hunting wild hogs," we were told.

I'm going to sleep late on Saturday morning. At least I hope I will. I should have written the blog earlier, but then I wouldn't have had anything to say. Daily blogging and astronomy aren't really a great mix, because both happen at night. At least I've finally figured out how to backdate a post so it will appear on the correct day. It may say I posted this late Friday night, but it is really the wee hours of Saturday morning.

If you want to try this sort of thing, get a pair of the most comfortable shoes you can find and dress very warmly. You are going to get cold anyway, but it's worth it. There's something very peaceful about looking up at the night sky. In today's crazy world, I'll take any kind of peaceful I can get. I'm looking forward to doing this again tomorrow night.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3857

After I processed some of the pictures I took last night in Photoshop, I discovered that the comet was there after all. It was exactly where I had been looking, but was too dim to see even with binoculars. So much for astronomy in the city. It's hard to see anything through the perpetual haze. I was a little surprised that my camera captured something I couldn't see with my own eyes, but my eyes can't seem to manage an eight second exposure. This comet is pretty dim. It makes me miss those dark skies of West Texas.

I looked for the comet again tonight but the sky was cloudy toward the Northwest. No luck today.  I did manage to see the ISS as it flew overhead around 9 PM. Unlike comet Neowise, the space station is bright enough to cut through patchy clouds. Every time I see the station it is coming from a different direction. I still have this simpleminded notion that the space station should travel in a predictable path like the planets. Nope. The ISS definitely is predictable because I have an app on my phone that shows where it is at any given time. I just can't wrap my head around orbital mechanics. Maybe that's why I went into advertising.

We got started on our morning walk before daylight again. Today there was no breeze though. Even though it was cloudy, we all got hot fairly quickly. Dawn got excited when she spotted a rabbit, but after that she let us know that she wanted to take the short route home and we were happy to comply. I'll be glad when Summer is over. Every day seems like Ground Hog Day. We just do the same things over and over again.

I think I missed my chance to finish the roof repairs. It's way too hot to go up on the roof these days. I hope my expensive bucket of silicon material stays good until the weather cools down again. I hate to waste this stuff. There are so many things that need attention around the house, but it's almost impossible to get motivated. Covid life is basically just walking and fixing meals.

I find myself looking at telescopes on the Internet a lot now. Buying a nice telescope is tempting, but somewhat foolish at this point. Where would I use it? Light pollution in Dallas is terrible and I hate the idea of a long drive out to the country every time I want to look at the stars. An astronomy club here in Dallas owns some land up in Oklahoma where there are dark skies. Members can use the site for observing, but that's a really long drive. Probably going to Mcdonald Observatory several times a year is a better plan. Oops, I forgot. The observatory is closed.

Clearly I'm not the only person interested in the new Ford Bronco. My newsfeed is filled with articles now. It's weird that Ford seemed to get this retro 4x4 thing right, while Land Rover missed with their new Defender. I waited for years for the new Defender to arrive and now I don't want one. It's too expensive for a utility vehicle and I don't like the styling. So far I like almost everything about the Bronco.

When New York was having a lot of problems with the virus, I kept thinking that Texas had dodged a bullet. Apparently it just wasn't our turn yet. Florida is even in worse shape than we are. I wonder if I'm ever going to get to return to Kennedy Space Center. It's a waiting game now. Janet and I sit here and make plans for things that just aren't going to happen for quite a while.

Laura is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3780

I've been interested in astronomy for a long time. I'm certainly no expert, but I do know the basics. That's why I've been completely baffled to keep seeing articles on the Internet saying that the Moon, Jupiter, and Venus will form a smiley face in the sky on May 16th. If you Google this event you will literally find dozens of articles, some from seemingly reputable sources, telling you how and when to view this rare celestial show. I've even started seeing Facebook friends telling each other to mark their calendars.

Have any of these people actually gone outside and looked at the sky? Jeez. There isn't going to be a smiley face in the sky. It's not going to happen. On May 16th, Venus shines brightly in the evening sky after sunset, but you won't see Jupiter unless you get up early the next morning and look toward the East a little before sunrise. These two planets are on the opposite sides of the sky. The Moon is a waning crescent at this time, but it isn't even thin enough to look like a smile. The only planet anywhere close to it is Mars.

So how could so many people be completely wrong? Do people actually believe what they see on the Internet more than what they can see with their own eyes? Sadly, the answer is yes. This isn't rocket science, people. Just go outside and look at the sky. I'm kind of amazed that none of the many "fact checker" websites have called out the "smiley face" story as a hoax. They probably believe the story too.

I think the reason this obviously false story persists is that people like a smiley face. A smiley face makes them feel good. They want to believe the story. A smiley face in the sky is an innocent little story but it illustrates perfectly why fake news is so prevalent today. People believe what they want to believe. Nobody questions anything in a clear, dispassionate way anymore. You find something that supports your preconceived opinion and then you tell your friends about it. If enough people agree with you, your opinion goes viral. I doubt that the bogus smiley face story is any sort of conspiracy. It's just laziness. There actually have been conjunctions of the Moon, Jupiter and Venus in the past. I think the last time this happened was in 2008. You can see almost anything in the sky if you wait long enough.

I don't know why the smiley face story bothers me so much. Perhaps it is because it illustrates human nature so well. If you can easily convince people to ignore the laws of physics, you can convince them of anything. Almost everything we see and hear in the media has been designed to influence you in one way or another. Ads try to influence you to buy something you may or may not need. It's pretty easy to do this because people are gullible and they have emotions. I spent my entire career trying to influence you and got pretty good at it. Today, what used to be called "hard news" has just become another form of advertising. These news sources feed you a steady diet of what you already believe so you will continue watching. Pick your poison. It's not that hard to to find something that appeals to you these days. Maybe you like OAN and Fox. Maybe you like CNN and MSNBC. Don't expect that what you are hearing is true however. You are being manipulated.

If you have your heart set on seeing something cool in the sky on May 16, just wait until the next morning. If you get up around 5 AM on May 17 you can see Jupiter and Saturn extremely close together in the Eastern sky. The two planets will only be a few degrees apart. No smiley face though. I have no idea when that will happen again.

Bea is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3748

I spent a long time trying to salvage files today and reassemble them on an external hard drive so I can continue staring at a computer as I always do. I'm amazed at how prolific I've been over the years. There were hundreds of client folders filled with tens of thousands of work related files. There were even more pictures. Pictures and videos are what fills up a 4 terabyte hard drive. I was amazed to discover that I've taken over 50,000 Dalmatian pictures. Admittedly, some of the pictures are of other breeds. Dalmatian Rescue has been doing Santa Paw Christmas pictures for many years and I add thousands of Santa Photos to the folder every year. That still leaves a lot of Dalmatians though. Sometimes dogs aren't very cooperative. Occasionally I've had to take a 100 pictures to find one good enough to put on the website. There were thousands of pictures of Dot and Dash. It was kind of sad to see them fly by year after year on my screen as I was copying them to the new hard drive. I lead a solitary life, but you can't say I haven't been busy. I guess you can add over ten years of blog posts to everything else.

I guess the effort was worth it today. I've now got a working, bootable external drive that closely resembles what I had on the desktop computer. To get everything to fit on a much small drive, I threw away mountains of huge WeTransfer, Dropbox, and Zip files that clients sent me over the years. I almost always got way more input than I needed for writing jobs. I don't know why I saved all of my completed projects. Maybe it was just for nostalgia's sake. I actually liked working.

I'm starting to see tons of people posting on the Internet about how to cope with the coronavirus. It's tempting to add my own opinions, but few people would listen. As someone who chose social distancing as a lifestyle many years ago, I don't really have much to say about building a virtual community. I never even heard of Zoom until all this started. I'm not craving a hug either. Couldn't you all just learn to love isolation? It's actually very peaceful. Especially if you turn off the television and put away your phone.

I tend to take the long view on everything. That's why I like geology and astronomy so much. These fields study processes that take millions and even billions of years to complete. I keep hearing so much about global warming and destroying the planet. Do humans really think they can destroy the planet? The planet has been doing fine for billions of years. Humans are just a tiny blip in the grand scheme of things. Dinosaurs were around much longer than we've been here. What if plagues, ice ages, and the occasional asteroid strike are just nature's way of hitting the reset button. The coronavirus has only been around for a couple of months and already skies are starting to clear in many parts of the world. Life is slowing down. People are discovering that they don't have to spend hours each day on crowded freeways driving to work. Maybe we don't need all the things we compulsively buy. Maybe globalism wasn't such a great idea after. What if this was nature's plan all along? If we didn't have the wisdom and willpower to slow down on our own, she'd do it for us.

I hope the city doesn't shut down the parks. For the most part, all the walkers and cyclists have been acting vary responsibly and keeping their distance. If the city does close the parks, it won't be because of these people who love the outdoors. It will be because of the other people who are staying inside and complaining to the city on their phones about walkers and cyclists. Hey, don't try to shame me about social distancing. I'm the king of social distancing. I'm not going to get anywhere near you inside people. You're all batshit crazy.

Elliott is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3717

I had an interesting evening under the stars tonight. It was kind of a dress rehearsal for my stay at McDonald Observatory. It's been so long since I've looked through a decent telescope that I don't even have a frame of reference for what I'm supposed to be looking at. If you get used to looking at spectacular photographs taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, it's easy to forget that distant galaxies often just look like dim smudges through a backyard telescope.

The 16" inch telescope I visited tonight might be small by observatory standards, but it was huge for an individual to have in their back yard. My host was a retired engineer and amateur astronomer who built a fabulous personal observatory on his rural property. I took the list of Spring observing targets that McDonald Observatory sent me and asked which ones would be interesting to look at through his 16" telescope. The observatory owner was extremely nice and spent the next four hours giving me  a refresher course in what to look for in the Spring skies.

Star clusters were a lot prettier than I thought they'd be and most galaxies were a lot less dramatic than they looked in photographs. The spiral structures that look so dramatic in photos were often very hard to see. A lot of galaxies just looked like pale smudges. I saw the planet Uranus for the first time. I've looked for this planet over and over again, but it is too dim to easily spot through binoculars. Even though this powerful telescope, Uranus still just looked like a small green disc. The Orion Nebula looked amazing through a good telescope, but the Crab Nebula just looked like a pale smudge.

I feel more confident about my trip to the Davis Mountains now. The night sky seems more familiar and I know where to look for a few things I've only seen in books before. I definitely know how to find the objects I've been assigned to show people at Star Parties. My coat kept me warm, but I may have to rethink the shoes I take with me to the observatory. My feet were very cold tonight.

The astronomer's wife was originally from Wuhan, China and both of them had visited there as recently as a year ago. I thought it would take years for me to run into someone from that part of China, but it didn't take long at all. It's a small world we live in now. Real life is just like the Kevin Bacon game. Everything is connected.

Traffic wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and I arrived at the observatory earlier than I anticipated. To kill time, I had dinner at a barbecue place that advertised itself as one of the 25 best in the world. I had no reason to doubt the claim. The brisket and ribs were delicious. It was almost worth the trip just for the brisket sandwich.

My wide angle lens arrived today. I should have taken it with me tonight. The skies in Dallas will never be as dark as they are out in the country. I'll have plenty of time to practice with the lens on Mount Locke. I'm thinking that I should have bought a good pair of shoes instead though. I was surprised at how cold my feet got tonight.

Dawn is still doing very well. She's turned into a good little watchdog. I heard her barking before I even opened the door when I came home this evening. She didn't know I'd been looking at the stars, but she definitely knew I'd been around the astronomer's two Corgi's.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3707

Everyone got some attention today. I went and visited the Dalmatians at the kennel while Janet stayed home and gave Dawn another walk in the park. Since I've been traveling, it's been a while since I've been to the kennel and I was pleased to see that everyone was still doing well. Charlie was playful and full of energy as usual. Hank's behavior makes a lot more sense now that I know he is deaf. In the beginning I just thought he didn't listen. Larry and Lord have become best friends and enjoy playing together. I had fun with these two today. All these boys could learn a few manners from Dawn. It's amazing how gentle and polite our new houseguest is. It's been a real joy having her around the house.

I was busy today. In addition to visiting the rescue dogs at the kennel, I finally started making some headway on my Solar Orbiter article. I finished the first third of the article this morning and now that I have a plan, the rest should be easier. With any luck I might be able to finish the article tomorrow, but there is no hurry. I'm still not sure where I'm going to send this piece. A lot has been written about the Solar Orbiter already and not everyone is interested in my first person narratives.

I was planning to inspect my roof repairs today but I ran out of time. I'm going to hope for the best, since it looks like rain tomorrow. It's a shame that it probably won't be clear just before sunrise tomorrow morning. There is a rare occultation of the moon and Mars that I'd love to see. Mars will disappear behind the moon around 5:45 AM and then reappear again around 7:20 AM. Unfortunately the rain is supposed to start around 6 AM. Oh, well. I'll set an alarm anyway. If clouds cover the moon, I can always go back to bed and fret about the roof leaking.

I got a late start on my walk this afternoon. Since the days are getting longer, it's rare that I walk in the dark anymore. It was still quite warm and I didn't need a jacket, but it was very humid. It feels like rain is on the way. Jeez. What happened to yesterday's beautiful weather? Every day is a new day as far as the weather goes. I could use a little more consistency. You just never know what to expect.

I hope the roof doesn't leak tomorrow. I've run out of the silicon material and the roofer is still ignoring me. When the rainy season is over, I can consider making some more serious repairs, but for now it would be pointless. When it rains every few days, the roof just doesn't get dry enough. I'd like to feel confident about the roof before I leave for my trip to the observatory, but right now I'm not very confident about anything.

Rain or shine, I'll probably continue writing tomorrow. Once I've started something, it's hard to stop. I hope I can find someone who is interested in the Solar Orbiter article. This trip to Florida was very interesting and there is definitely a story worth telling. The main problem with the Solar Orbiter story is that it will be three to five years before it starts returning useful data. The anticipation of the launch is already over, but it's going to be a long time before we know if this thing works.

Will I see the moon and Mars tomorrow morning? Will I even wake up in time? It all remains to be seen

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3684

Whenever something bad happens these days it almost always reminds me of a movie I've already seen. Reality and fiction have become hopelessly blurred together in ways I never would have thought possible a decade ago. When I first started hearing about the coronavirus scare it seemed so much like the movie Contagion that it would be impossible for me to tell which story was real if I didn't already know that Contagion was a movie. In many ways the idea that there is a city in China that is larger than New York City where people routinely eat bat soup and snakes on a stick seems more like fantasy than any movie I've seen. I guess I'm not as well informed as I thought I was. Until a few weeks ago, I didn't even know that the city of Wuhan existed. Sure, I knew about Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, but Wuhan? Never heard of it.

A pandemic like ebola, bird flu or the coronavirus has to make you wonder about globalism. When anything becomes too big to fail, what happens when it inevitably does fail? When engineers want a failsafe system, they build in a lot of redundancy. When a single system fails, the machine continues to run. We ought to think of the world this way. A lot of independent, self-sufficient economies is a lot safer than a single global economy. We were a lot more resilient as a country when every city had a factory and we were able to make everything we needed ourselves. I think a world where it is not so easy to travel from one country to another is better as well. What is so bad about applying for a visa and planning ahead? The reason we all know about Wuhan today is that it is super easy to just hop on a plane and be anywhere else in the world in a matter of hours.

A guess you can't have it both ways. I'd like to see flying cars and cities on Mars, but I'm still more comfortable in the simpleminded black and white worlds of Have Gun Will Travel and Perry Mason. Old TV westerns make more sense to me than today's news.

Our world may be falling apart, but I find that my own little world usually gets better as soon as I turn off the TV. There is something to be said for concentrating on your immediate surroundings. There is usually plenty there to keep you busy. I ran my usual Saturday errands in the morning and took my walk in the afternoon. Not a lot happened today, but that was fine. An uneventful afternoon is much better than a roof leak.

As my trip to the Davis Mountains draws closer, I'm starting to realize that my knowledge of astronomy is woefully inadequate for conducting star parties at the observatory. I'm reading a lot online these days and spending time looking at star charts. This is no substitute for actually going outside at night, but we haven't had many clear nights lately. The more I read about contemporary astronomy, the more I remember why I chose advertising as a profession. A clear, dark night fills me with wonder, but I don't think I'd have the patience to spend years studying the rotation of galaxies or exploring stellar mass and luminosity.

I hope tomorrow is uneventful as well. A good breakfast and a trip to the gym are all that is on the agenda. That's enough for me.

Bones is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3664

It felt a lot more like the first day of Spring than the middle of Winter today. The temperature was in the mid-seventies and I was able to wear shorts and a t-shirt on my walk. On days like this the gym is usually empty. Everybody is outside.

I did my usual workout, but spent quite a bit of time outside as well. I took advantage of the warm weather and made some more patches on the roof. I've used most of the silicon material now and what little remains has started to harden in the can. I patched a bunch of very small holes today. After today's patches dry, I've probably got just enough coating left to do this one more time.

The park was packed with people today. There was a traffic jam on the trails as joggers, cyclists, dog walkers, and families out for a stroll competed for space. The weather was nice, but in a way, I like bleak, cold days better when I have the entire park to myself.

You notice things on busy days. More people have small dogs than large dogs. Drivers prefer Japanese cars to American or European ones, but they prefer pickup trucks even more. Kids don't like long walks nearly as much as their parents. Dogs wish their owners would slow down so they could smell things. I'm sure there's more but I'm really not that observant.

I always see lots of hammocks on a nice day. I've never understood their popularity. Why would you go to a park and spend all your time sitting in a hammock looking at your phone? I saw dozens of hammocks strung between trees today and the occupants were all looking at their phones. Of course, I see lots of cyclists and joggers looking at their phones as well. It is that hard to just put the phone away for a while?

I'm thinking about getting one of those Universe2Go AR viewers. These things are dirt cheap compared to other alternatives and I've got an old iPhone without a SIM card that I could use with it. Some reviewers love this thing and others think it is a piece of junk. There are enough good reviews to make me think that the bad reviews were mostly from people who didn't read the instructions. It would be cool to be able to look up at the sky and see constellation names and planet locations superimposed on your field of view.

I need to call the observatory next week and find out about living arrangements. If living in an RV or travel trailer is the only alternative, it's really going to complicate things. It's easy enough to rent an RV, but I hate the thought of driving it to the Davis Mountains from Dallas. I'm still hoping that I can rent a little house or cabin on the mountain somewhere. We'll see. Basically I still don't have a clue how this all works yet.

I also need to find out whether I'm going to get press credentials for Kennedy Space Center. I though I would have heard something by now, but again I don't have a clue how this all works yet. One way or another, this Spring ought to be interesting.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day