Day 4052

I used to own GameStop. I can't even remember how I acquired this stock, but I always thought it was a total dog and eventually sold it at a loss. Jeez. Who buys video games at a store anymore? Imagine my surprise when the stock went from 3 to over 300 in just a few days. Some kids on Reddit, cheered on by the likes of Elon Musk, decided to take down the short sellers and hedge funds and that's exactly what they did. Do I wish I'd held on to my shares a little longer? Maybe. It's a strange world we live in now. It's a little unsettling to see investing and sports betting converge, but I'll have to give these kids credit. I never liked the whole idea of short selling myself and always wondered why it was legal.

It was chilly today, but the skies were still blue and it was hard to complain about the weather. We walked Dawn earlier than usual because Janet had some things to do in the afternoon. I tried to give Dawn her second walk by myself later in the day, but Dawn was having no part of it. If Janet wasn't going, she wasn't either. I still follow the same trails where we used to take Dawn on a long walk. It's a nice walk and I still don't understand why Dawn doesn't like to do this anymore.

Wednesday has become the day I watch The Expanse. This won't last long because Series 5 is almost over, but for now it gives me something to do. I've watched Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, Farscape, Lexx, Firefly, and Dr. Who in the past. All these shows are kind of mindless and predictable, but so are Hallmark Movies. For now, The Expanse will have to do. I can't watch Dr. Who anymore. The writing is terrible.

I got a notice from my pharmacy today inviting me to schedule a vaccination. I went to the website and started filling out the application. I let them know I was over 65. I found a convenient location. I did all the steps until I got to the page where I was supposed to pick a date and time for my appointment. The entire months of January and February were greyed out and a note said there was no vaccine available yet. There wasn't even a place to leave your name. The page just said to try again later. Wouldn't it have been easier to just tell us this at the beginning? Why ask people to make an appointment when there is no opportunity to actually make an appointment? I don't think this appointment system is ready for prime time.

There were a bunch of small projects I was going to start today, but I didn't begin any of them. It's so easy to convince yourself that something can wait until tomorrow when it actually can wait until tomorrow. Last year I had some goals. It took me a year to get my story published in Sky & Telescope and almost as long to get press credentials at Kennedy Space Center. I had built up some some momentum but Covid has taken the wind out of my sails. What now? I've convinced myself that it would be stupid to travel at the moment. The virus is worse now than it was last April and with all these new variants cropping up, who's to say that the vaccine will even work on them? This is a time to find something that you really enjoy doing at home. Damn. I'm out of luck there.

Maybe I"ll start some of my small projects tomorrow. Maybe not though. Most of these projects are really just chores in disguise.

Sophie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3527

I got a letter from the Editor at Sky & Telescope today saying that the magazine was interested in my proposal for an article about the McDonald Observatory Special Viewing Night program. The Editor didn't promise to publish anything, but did encourage me to write an article about my trip to the observatory and submit it to the magazine on completion. This was encouraging. A personal letter from the Editor saying "your proposed article sounds interesting" is definitely a step above those little "thank you for your submission" postcards I used to get from magazines when my articles were rejected.

It was another slow, very hot Summer day. I only took one walk today, but that was enough. Instead of an afternoon walk, I went to Northpark and got a haircut. The mall was having their annual auto show and it was amazing how many cars on display were over $100K. I wasn't surprised that prices for the Rolls Royce Wraith and the McLaren 720S Spider were in the stratosphere, but a lot of ordinary cars were out of reach as well. When I bought my first car, you could get a nice Ford Mustang for under $2500 and a VW Beetle for $1800. Jeez, a new Porsche 911 only cost around $6000. This would be one of those out of reach 100K+ cars today. And they say inflation isn't a problem.

Of course haircuts, food, clothing, and just about everything else are more expensive as well. You notice these things when you're living on a fixed income. Hopefully the economy stays strong. I'm too old for another financial crisis like we had in 2008.

My stylist asked me about the new breakfast restaurant I've been going to lately. Several other people have asked me about this place as well. Probably as soon as I tell everyone how much I like this place, they'll get a new chef and everything will fall apart. Nothing seems to last very long in the restaurant business. Hopefully this restaurant will continue to do well. I like having good food in the neighborhood.

I always feel better after a good haircut. Anything that makes you think you've got your act together is a plus. I didn't feel like shopping after my haircut was finished. I just returned home and did nothing. Apparently I don't have my act together after all. Basically it's too hot to embark on any sort of a major project. Sometimes just getting through these hot days is a major project in itself.

I don't think there'll be any major projects tomorrow. I need to clean out the greenhouse before repairs can start, but I think I've already missed this month's big trash day. I guess this task can wait another month. I don't want to attempt to take the old dehumidifier apart unless I've got a lot of time. I'm bound to encounter some surprises and the job will probably take three times as long as I expected. I can always think about what type of article I'm going to write. That's something I can do indoors. I can even think about writing lying on the bed. I might fall asleep, but it's worth the risk.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day