Day 4941

Another uneventful day. I'm having problems connecting to the Internet this evening, so this post is taking a lot longer than expected. Actually, everything is taking longer than expected today, but that's pretty typical for a hot July day. I'm not looking forward to the next two months.

It's always deceptively cool on our sunrise walks with Dawn, but the pleasant weather doesn't last long. As soon as the sun hits our faces we know that we're in for another hot day. The humidity seems to have returned as well. Oh, well. So much for fixing the screen door today.

After finishing breakfast I drove to the post office and mailed the letter I wrote yesterday. Then I returned to the gym for another three mile walk on the indoor track and a little time on the basketball court. I know I need to work on my upper body strength, but when I'm finished with these two activities I'm usually ready to go home. At least I found a space in the parking garage today. The car stays much cooler when it's inside.

When I returned home I spent some time corresponding with my editor, trying to sort out which launches I'll be covering for the rest of the year. There are always more launches I'd like to attend than money for unlimited trips to Florida. I think I'll be able to attend the important launches though. Sometimes I wonder why I continue to do this. The magazine doesn't pay travel expenses and all these launches are more or less the same. It's still a pleasant experience to be considered a space journalist though. I guess I'll continue chasing rockets as long as I can.

I wish there was something that captured my interest right here in town. Right now I usually just feel like taking a long nap. I've thought about joining an astronomy club, but I hate driving at night. I've been spoiled by the dark skies out at McDonald Observatory as well. The night sky in Dallas isn't much to speak of. What else is there? I don't collect things anymore and I basically have everything I need. I don't even eat lunch much anymore. I used to frequently go out for lunch with people, but it was usually business related. Pretty much everything I did for thirty years was business related. Truthfully, retirement isn't all that exciting.

There are still plenty of chores to do around the house but I'm trying my best to avoid them. It's too hot to work outdoors and too messy to repair the damaged sheetrock on the ceiling. If we ever get a cool day I'll fix the screen door, but I'm not eager to do that either. In theory I could get more writing jobs. It's just a theory though. Just about all my contacts have either retired or died.

Tomorrow will be just like today. We'll have a nice walk with Dawn before it gets too hot. I'll go to the gym, but won't really take advantage of all it has to offer. I'll end the day with a blog post talking about how little happened that day.

Isabella is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4670

Today was uneventful for me, but it is Dawn's favorite day. Janet does her grocery shopping on Friday and Dawn loves to supervise in the kitchen while she puts all the food away. All I have to do is tell Dawn that it's "grocery day" and she gets all excited.

We started the day with our usual sunrise walk. We got started a little later this morning so it wasn't quite as dark. Unfortunately, the days keep getting shorter. The sun was already up when we did this walk in the summer. Today a few stars were still shining at 6:45 AM. 

The weather was cool and there was a nice breeze, so I decided to walk in the park again instead of going to the gym. I've definitely had better days. My pace was slower this morning and I felt tired when I returned home. I have no idea why my performance varies so much from day to day. Maybe I didn't get enough sleep last night.

I decided to apply for credentials to attend the next Falcon Heavy launch. The timing isn't ideal, since the USSF-44 Mission is supposed to take place at the end of October, only a month away from the next Artemis attempt. I attended the last Falcon Heavy launch three years ago and always wanted to see another. I'm not sure I can afford two trips to Florida so close together, but we'll see what happens. When I apply for press credentials, I'm never sure if I'll get approved.

I'm thinking about getting a new phone. My old phone works just fine, but it's hard to ignore all the promotional advertising I get on an almost daily basis from AT&T and T-Mobile. I guess it would be nice to have a better camera. I use my iPhone camera a lot more than my professional cameras. I probably wouldn't get the new iPhone 14. An iPhone 13 on sale sounds a lot more attractive. Maybe I won't get anything at all. I always think about buying stuff I don't need when I get bored.

Dawn is still leaving the room when I want to take a nap during the day. This is unfortunate, because I enjoy taking a good nap. I feel guilty when Dawn leaves the room though. It is her room. She spends most of the day in the bedroom and it's the one room in the house where she feels completely comfortable. I'm just going to have to get used to the fact that Dawn was treated very badly by men when she was used as a breeding dog. She has had a hard life and there's no particular reason why she should trust me. 

The failing dryer belt seems to be getting worse. I was hoping that it would last for a while, but I'll probably have to call the appliance repairman again soon. I'm really tired of things breaking or wearing out. Something around the house always seems to be on its last legs. I need to take my car in for a service appointment pretty soon as well. It's always something. I'd much rather spend my money on trips to the space center.

Tomorrow is my grocery day. Dawn is not nearly as excited when I return with groceries. I tend to get unexciting things like bottled water and laundry detergent. Janet brings sliced turkey and cheese.

Harshey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4559

Dawn and I have some work to do. Our trial run at being alone together left a lot to be desired. Dawn was mad when Janet left early this morning and didn't want to get out of bed. When I tried to tempt her with some treats, she spit them out. I gave up on making the bed for a while and went about my business. Usually the first thing she does every morning with Janet is go outside to poop and pee. She didn't want to do that with me. It took four tries throughout the day before I could get her down to the park to do her business. She did eat her dinner though. That was a good sign. Eventually she finally went outside and pooped around 6 PM. It was about twelve hours late, but who's counting. I've been through this before with Dawn. Eventually, she'll get back on a schedule, but she really doesn't like it when Janet is gone.

Dawn definitely doesn't mind it when I'm gone. I think she prefers it. I went out and did my grocery shopping and filled my car with gas right after breakfast. Nothing seemed more expensive this week, but that's not saying much. The prices are high enough already. Gas actually seemed a little cheaper, but maybe I didn't need as much this time. I'm still glad that I don't need to drive much. Prices at the pump are ridiculous.

When I came home I tried to get Dawn to eat lunch with me but she wasn't interested. She loves having lunch with Janet. I did get her to go outside for a while though. She likes to lay out in the sun, but it's too hot these days to stay very long. Dogs can get sunburned too. I definitely wasn't going to do any yard work today, so Dawn went back to sleeping on the bed and I went to the gym.

I wish my gym was a little closer, but the trip still preferable to walking outside in the park on a day like this. The place is surprisingly empty on a Saturday. I would have thought this would be a busy day, but apparently not. I guess people have lots of errands to run on the weekends. I walked a couple of miles on the indoor track to get my Fitbit steps and shot some hoops on the basketball court. I should have done more, but I wasn't really in the mood. When I came home I took a quick nap on the couch. Dawn was still in the bedroom and sometimes it's best to just let sleeping dogs lie.

Things are really busy down at Kennedy Space Center this summer. It seems like there is a launch just about every week these days. I wish it were easier and a lot less expensive for me to get down there. I enjoy the whole experience of covering launches. Some of the locals I know go to every single launch. I'm lucky if I can get to one or two a year. I could imagine living in Florida. It wouldn't be better than living in Texas, but it wouldn't be worse either. The two states are similar in many ways. I'm still hoping to get down for the Artemis-1 launch this Fall, but that's assuming that I get credentials. I wish that process was easier too.

Dawn was really happy when Janet returned this evening. Everything is back to normal again. I wish I knew the secret to keeping Dawn happy, but she's had a very troubled past and will probably never completely trust men. We'll do fine when Janet is on vacation, but it might take a few days to get used to a new schedule. One day at a time. You've got to take everything one day at a time.

Rugby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4340 - Veterans Day

Everyone usually posts pictures of their parents on Veterans Day. I only have a single picture of my Dad in uniform. My Mom was in the Navy during World War II as well, but I don't have any pictures of her service days. I never served myself, although many of my high school friends ended up going to Vietnam. I'm glad I had a medical exemption. Far too many good people have been killed or injured in pointless wars that didn't even serve our national interest. Vietnam is a trading partner and tourist destination now. We didn't win that war. Iraq and Afghanistan certainly aren't any better off after years of war. Both countries are as corrupt as they ever were. I think World War II was the last war that we actually won. I'm proud of my parent's service. Tom Brokaw was right in calling people of my parent's age the Greatest Generation. They had a sense of unity and purpose that just isn't here today. My parents gave me an amazing opportunity to grow and thrive. If you are anywhere near my age, your parents did too. I just hope we don't squander that opportunity as we appear to be doing now.

Last year at this time I was preparing to go to Florida to attend the Space X Crew 1 launch. Time flies. Crew 3 just launched yesterday and it appears that there will be many more missions like this to the ISS. I am pleased that we are finally getting serious about returning to space. We need to remain explorers. I think the Chinese understand this even if some Americans don't. If we don't go to the moon and Mars, they certainly will.

It's weird that I'm so interested in exploring the cosmos since I rarely even leave my own back yard. I took my long walk today, but that was about it. I did get an invitation from the Space Force this afternoon to attend tomorrow's Starlink launch. The invitation was a little late, since the launch is scheduled for early tomorrow morning. There is no way to make travel arrangements that quickly. I was pleased that I'm still on somebody's approved list, but I hope I will get a little more advance warning about future launches. I'm still hoping to return to KSC for next February's Artemis 1 launch.

I need to find something interesting to do in Dallas. It's too complicated and often too expensive to continually plan trips to Kennedy Space Center or McDonald Observatory. Almost every day I see photographers in the park patiently waiting to get the perfect bird picture. I don't have the patience for this. My reaction to birds these days is usually "Hey, I've already got that shot." I used to love to go to movies, but there hasn't been a new movie in a long time that has interested me. I could care less about another James Bond film, or anything in the Marvel universe. I probably wouldn't even like the movies I used to love anymore. I certainly don't like do it yourself projects anymore. I'm really tired of fixing things. Maybe I should volunteer for a sleep study. I do like sleeping.

I've taken the trash to the curb and had a cursory look at the night sky. Jupiter, Saturn and Venus are all really bright. There's a lunar eclipse coming up soon, but it takes place in the middle of the night. I'm not sure I want to get up at 3 AM to see something I've seen many times before. I don't know if I'm getting lazy or just have a bad case of "been there, done that." At any rate, I'm perfectly content to have a bowl of shredded wheat tomorrow and take my long walk. That's enough for now.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4139

Whenever I'm grocery shopping on Saturday I always wonder if there is a holiday I've forgotten about. The roads are so crowded and the stores are so full that I'm convinced that something special must be going on. Nope. Nothing to see here. I just live in a city that is growing by leaps and bounds. It took me a while to find everything on my list today. Maybe I ought to do my shopping on a weekday. Unfortunately, it probably wouldn't make any difference. Dallas is always crowded.

I arrived home later than usual and the house was empty. Janet and Dawn had already gone on their walk.  When they returned, Janet told me that Dawn couldn't wait. I did wait a while before taking my own longer walk. I was tired. I used to enjoy shopping. Not anymore. People are rude. Stores are often out of stock of the things I need. And I'm growing tired of wearing a mask.

At least it was a nice day. It was a little humid for my taste, but the weather was warm and I was able to wear shorts and a t-shirt. The park was definitely crowded today. There was a regatta at the lake and the water was filled with small sailboats. The cyclists were out in force and groups of all sizes were having picnics and barbecues. This happens every Spring, but this year it feels a little different. People are emerging from lockdown and there is a definite celebratory mood in the air. I'm not in a party mood myself, but it is nice to see people happy again. I just wish everyone would clean up their mess when they leave the park.

I wore my snake boots while I was running errands this morning to see if they would be uncomfortable to take on my trip to the observatory. Yep. They fit fine but are definitely uncomfortable after a while. Any shoe where the sole bends is uncomfortable now. This is unfortunate because it makes a rather large collection of perfectly good shoes virtually worthless. The only shoe I can wear for an extended length of time are my Hoka Bondi 7's with their ridiculously thick rigid soles. Do I choose comfort or a perceived  but unproven protection from snakes? We'll see. I've still got some time.

I wrote some photographers who attended the Crew-2 launch and asked whether they would share their secrets with me. One guy wrote back and told me that he didn't get his application accepted by NASA either, but the Air Force helped get him on-site. It looks like I'll have to pursue this route in the future. I do have Air Force accreditation for 2021, but I haven't tried to use it yet. When you view a launch from Patrick Air Force Base you can't get as close as you would be if you were watching at the NASA press site, but it's a lot better than watching on the beach somewhere. I'm still hoping that I can find a way to get back in NASA's good graces. They provide interview opportunities and lots of other perks if you manage to get accredited under their auspices.

Janet and I discovered that Dawn will stay in the kitchen with us if we switch chairs at the kitchen counter nook where we often eat. I'm a little further away from Dawn's bowl and dog bed now. Don't ask why we actually want a dog hovering around the table while we eat. Normal people would probably be happy if their dog stayed in the bedroom. We've had Dalmatians for so long now that it doesn't seem right if there aren't dogs underfoot at mealtimes. I'm totally used to dogs waiting for table scraps to fall on the floor while they are drooling on my shoes.

I don't know how much longer I can postpone mowing the front yard. Weeds are already starting to overpower the grass. Maybe I'll give it a try tomorrow. My shoulder and back didn't feel too bad today and the grass isn't going to mow itself.

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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