Day 4874

Life is back to normal. Dawn seems happy that I am walking her again. Only a dog could appreciate a regular routine more than me. After our early walk with Dawn, we had a big weekend breakfast and then I did my Saturday grocery shopping. I only went to one store today and managed to find everything I needed. I should do this more often. Shopping is a lot easier when you don't have to visit multiple stores. I probably won't be able to do this again next week because I didn't need shop towels, laundry detergent, orange juice or my favorite beer today. Sam's Club still has the best prices on bulk items and Central Market is the only place that sells fresh squeezed, cold press juices. Today I only went to Tom Thumb.

It didn't take long to unpack my bags and put everything away. It pays to travel light. I did all my laundry from the trip and put that away as well. Now I'm ready to go again. The only thing preventing me from taking another trip to Kennedy Space Center is the expense. I'm getting ahead of myself though. I haven't been approved yet for any future launches and I'm too tired to go anywhere anyway. I sleep better and eat a lot healthier when I'm at home. Even though I got to bed late last night, I slept better than I have all week.

The weather was nice today. It was chilly when we took Dawn on her sunrise walk, but it warmed up to the mid 60's later in the day. This is perfect walking weather. I don't need a heavy coat and I don't get hot and sweaty either. The park looks great this Spring. With all the rain we've had lately, there is an abundance of wildflowers and the native prairie grasses in the meadows are lush and green. I need to enjoy this while I can. By July or August all these areas will look parched and dry.

The baby owls must still be in their nest because all the bird photographers were back this morning. The park department has posted signs that say "do not disturb, sensitive nesting area," but nobody reads signs anymore. Photographers still surround the tree with the nest. I wish people would leave the animals alone. They are constantly feeding the ducks bread, which is very bad for them. Today I saw a little kid try to pick up a turtle. Luckily his mother told him to stop. It was a snapping turtle.

I made good time on my long walk today. It aways helps when the weather is nice. It's probably time to retire my current pair of Hoka shoes. They don't provide enough support anymore and are slowly starting to disintegrate. A good pair of hiking boots will last a lifetime. A pair of running shoes is lucky to last a year. I've already got a replacement pair of Hokas, but I'm trying to get as much use out of the old pair as possible.

It looks like the weather will be nice again tomorrow, so Dawn will get her Sunday outing. We've had a lot of rain, so hopefully the park we go to on Sunday won't be muddy. I'll go mall walking again tomorrow as well. The park is great, but it's still nice to have a change of pace every once in a while. The Falcon Heavy launch I went down to Florida to see has been rescheduled for tomorrow evening. I'll watch that on the Space X live feed. The weather down there is still iffy, so we'll see if the launch gets scrubbed again.

Parker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4819

Today was a good day. The weather was almost perfect, but more importantly, Dawn is back to normal again. We may never know what was wrong with her yesterday. I suspect that she just pulled a muscle or something when she got too wild during her grocery day shenanigans. She gets very excited and races around the house when Janet brings home the groceries. At any rate, we saw no signs of problems today. She walked normally and had no problems getting on and off the bed.

If it's Sunday, I go walking at the mall. I went earlier this morning and the place was almost empty. I need to remember this since I'm perpetually trying to avoid crowds. I can't get over how much the place changes from week to week. I always see stores that have closed and others that have just opened. A surprising number of businesses seem to just move from one location in the mall to another. You have to watch where you're going while mall walking. So many people never look up from their phones while walking that you'd bump into them if you didn't move out of their way. I see this in the park as well. We have an entire nation of people who've become addicted to their phones. The young people are the worst. Very rarely l'll see an older couple actually talking to each other without a phone in sight.

Since Dawn was feeling better we took her on a Sunday outing this morning. She seems to enjoy new places now, so we drove her to the other side of the lake. We didn't take a long walk because we didn't want to push our luck, but Dawn had a good time smelling new things and looking for critters. As always we ended our outing with a trip to the ice cream store. The ice cream cones are no bargain, but it's a nice little Sunday treat. Even though Dawn rides terribly in the car, the ice cream seems to calm her. On the way home from the ice cream store she appears almost normal.

I thought about going up on the roof this afternoon and looking for the remaining leak, but quickly changed my mind when I realized what was involved. Chances of failure were very high and I really didn't want to deal with the messy silicon coating again. Even though I keep a roller on the roof to spread the stuff around, I always seem to get some of the Armor Flex on my hands and clothing. I still need to try this before the next rain though. My last attempt slowed down the leaks considerably. If I can just find where the remaining water is getting through, I may be able to stop the leaks entirely. I'm probably being too optimistic, but I need to give it a try.

Instead of going up on the roof, I vacuumed the carpets instead. I need to do this more often because the carpets were really dirty today. Dawn used to sit on the bed and stare at me while I cleaned the bedroom. Not anymore. She left the room and wouldn't come back until I was finished and put the vacuum cleaner away. She wouldn't stay in the room when I took a short nap after I finished my chores either. It's kind of sad. If Janet isn't around to keep her safe, Dawn wants nothing to do with me.

I'm going to have to call the roofers tomorrow because they seem to have disappeared. Several weeks ago I couldn't get rid of the guys. Now it's crickets. I need to get this job scheduled so we can get on with our lives. A new roof won't solve all my problems, but it will certainly help.

Hopefully tomorrow is an uneventful day with no surprises. A day where nothing happens is always a good day as far as I'm concerned.

Rory is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4489

Life has returned to normal. I unpacked my bags, put everything back in its proper place, and did my laundry from the trip. Other than that, today was just like any other Saturday. I got to sleep in a little late this morning, but when I woke up, Dawn was ready to walk. It was a very nice day, but the air feels different here. My allergies typically go away when I'm in Florida and come back as soon as I return. I'm sure it has something to do with the different vegetation we have here, although I'm still not certain what causes these lengthy seasonal allergies. At least the differences in the two states pretty much confirms that that I do have allergies and am not in denial about having a persistent cold or Covid.

I didn't have a big grocery list today, but I did need to get gas for my car. You may wonder why I get gas so frequently if I don't drive much. Just another compulsion. I always like the gas gauge to be on full. Gas seems to have come down in price a little and fresh fruit seemed reasonable as well. I think the strawberries and blueberries are just cheaper because they are back in season though. The price of fruit might not have anything to do with inflation.

I continued writing my article for SpaceFlight Magazine today and am making good progress. If I keep working tomorrow, I should be able to submit everything to the magazine on Monday. It will probably take me longer to edit the pictures than to write the article. I took a lot more pictures than usual this time. When I am taking launch pictures, I'll take a continuous rapid burst of images until the camera image buffer runs out. Somehow I forgot to turn off the burst setting while I was setting up my gear, so every time I took a test picture I ended up taking a dozen pictures instead. At any rate, there is a lot of stuff on the SD card to sort through.

I didn't feel like taking a long walk today. Maybe I overdid it yesterday. My feet were bothering me and it was kind of hot in the afternoon anyway. I just took a short walk around the neighborhood to make sure I got my daily minimum of 10,000 steps. The walk with Dawn this morning was pleasant. By mid-afternoon it was already way too hot.

I still haven't heard anything from the new manager at the Astronomer's Lodge. I wrote about reservations over a week ago and still haven't received a reply. Maybe this is an omen. I still have mixed feelings about making this trip. Driving around in Florida certainly didn't make me eager to take a long road trip. Even though I only drove several hundred miles the entire time I was away, but my shoulders hurt from holding the steering wheel, my but hurt sitting down for long periods of time, and my fingers would go numb if I gripped the steering wheel too tight.  Maybe it was just the car. I think this Chevy Malibu was the worst car I have even rented.

I got take out for dinner this evening and when I got home I discovered that they gave me someone else's meal. You'd think I would have noticed at the restaurant, but I never check to see what is in the bag and seldom even look at my receipt. I just sign the piece of paper and go. When I did look, it turns out that I did pay for what was in the bag. My bill was almost double what it should have been. I guess it was all an honest mistake. The name on the bag did say John. I called the restaurant to let them know that the other John might be angry when he discovered he got my much smaller order. The restaurant offered to refund the difference, but I told them that I was fine with what I got. My mystery meal was much more interesting than what I actually ordered. Maybe I should quit ordering take out and just go to the restaurant and ask if they have anything for John. Janet liked the surprise dinner too. I got the impression that this was the most adventurous thing I'd done in a while.

Livy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4468

I can't seem to shake this cold I've got. There's no fever anymore and my cough isn't as bad, but I'm still not feeling myself. I kind of just trudged through the day in a fog. I'd sit down on the bed to rest for a few minutes and then I've wake up several hours later wondering where the day went.

Dawn was eager to take a walk this morning. This was the first family walk she'd had in a week. She certainly hasn't forgotten her old schedule and had a good time smelling things in the park. Dawn has resumed all her old habits and has started barking at me again if I don't fix her dinner fast enough. She was a little nervous when Janet left to go to the gym this morning but after she returned Dawn realized that all was well. This was just the way life had always been.

For the first time in ages I saw almost nobody wearing masks in the grocery stores when I was shopping this morning. The stores didn't even have signs on the doors anymore. It was as if the entire city decided they'd had enough at the same time. I think the few people that still wear masks everywhere will continue doing so for the rest of their lives. That's OK. There are lots of things of dubious medical value that give people comfort. Just look on the shelves at any health food store. 

I continue to think the best way to stay healthy is to avoid crowds, get outside a lot, eat healthy food, go easy on the sweets, and get lots of exercise. Seems simple enough. So why do so many people still go to McDonalds? I guess I don't even understand the concept of fast food and haven't been through a drive thru window in years. Even a good restaurant meal usually has way too much salt. So, if I'm so healthy, why do I have a cold now? I think Janet gave me this cold, but she says that is ridiculous. Her cough was just allergies, she says.

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring. Somehow today felt like the first day of Summer. It was really hot this afternoon. I started to sweat on my long walk which reminded me that Winter isn't all bad. I didn't walk nearly as far today. I'm going to try this for a few days and see if it helps my feet any. I'm going to order some Hoka boots with an REI coupon I've got. They probably won't make any difference, but at least I won't have to wonder about this any longer.

It looks like it's going to be a good day for Dawn's Sunday outing tomorrow. Spring is always nice, although I tend to like Fall better. It's the temperature extremes of Summer and Winter that I try to avoid. I hope Dawn enjoys her walk tomorrow because it looks like we're going to get a lot of rain on Monday. Why? The roof is finally dry again. I'm so tired of rain, roof leaks, and the inability to find a roofer that I really trust. 

I think the eagles are gone for good. I haven't seen either of them in weeks. Nobody even talks about the birds anymore. It's almost like the whole eagle episode that captivated Dallas for a few weeks never even happened. I guess Andy Warhol's thirty minutes of fame principle applies to birds as well.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4426

Life is back to normal. It was much warmer today and the snow and ice has virtually disappeared. Dawn was happy to get a morning walk again. It was still chilly early this morning but the temperature was above freezing for most of the day. 

The roads are no longer empty. When I did my grocery shopping this morning the traffic was as bad as it ever was. The only thing strange today was that the grocery store shelves were surprisingly empty. I guess there was a lot of panic buying before the storm and nobody has had time to restock yet. I did manage to find what I needed though. All in all, this winter storm wasn't nearly as bad as everyone expected. We've seen a lot worse. Hopefully this is as bad as it gets this year. I have my doubts though. We've seen a lot of nasty weather later in February.

The leak in the office finally stopped. The leak stopped for a while last night when everything refroze, but started dripping again this morning. Luckily, this was the only leak this time. I can see a little staining in the living room ceiling where I carefully bleached everything clean just last week. This means that some moisture is getting in, but not enough to actually cause a leak. I'm glad I didn't attempt to repair the sheetrock yet. Now I'm going to have to bleach the ceiling all over again. I knew this was going to happen. Leaks always occur when the roof freezes over. I actually think the roof leaks started many years ago when a thick canopy of ice covered the roof for weeks during an extended cold spell. At least the pumps are working again. I pumped quite a bit of water off the roof today. I'm not climbing up there though. With my foot pain, a bad knee, and a poor sense of balance, it wouldn't be a wise thing to do. I'm really hoping to replace the roof this Spring. Still got to find a good contractor though.

Janet has returned to the gym, so I walked by myself today. Most of the roads and trails were dry and I was able to wear my Hoka shoes again. I'm sure this helped, but my feet still hurt. I'm still walking the same distance, but my pace has really slowed down. It's really pathetic how slow I'm walking lately. Just about anybody can pass me now. At least I'm still moving. That's the important thing.

The two eagles that have taken up residence in the park have become quite the local attraction. People call them Nick and Nora now. There was quite a crowd watching the nest today. There are always a lot more people in the park on weekends. I didn't bother to join the group this time. I've already seen the two eagles many times and once I managed to get a few good pictures my interest has started to wane. I'll probably get a few more pictures in the days ahead. There's no hurry though. The pair is expected to remain in the area until Summer.

I didn't bother to monkey around with the star tracker today. The next step will be to take it outside at night and actually try to track and photograph something. It's still too cold for that though. I don't expect any dramatic results because there is so much light pollution in Dallas. Orion is bright enough to see from our back yard though. That's a good place to start. 

I think it's going to be even warmer tomorrow, so it looks like Dawn will get her Sunday outing. Even though Dawn is a lazy dog who loves to lounge on the bed, I could tell that she missed her walks the past several days. It will be good to resume our regular routine again. The regular routine definitely includes ice cream. We all love ice cream.

Zorro is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4286

Life is back to normal. I feel good and have resumed all my regular activities. Life without a gallbladder is fine. The big black and blue patch on my stomach has finally faded away and it's OK to lift things again. My heart rate, blood pressure, and Fitpit stats have all returned to their normal ranges. It's kind of amazing to watch the body heal itself.

I did my grocery shopping this morning, but didn't go to the gym. Maybe I should have. By the time I got around to taking my long walk it had gotten pretty hot. Our early morning walk with Dawn was great though. Just as Janet and I both expected, Dawn resumed her normal walking schedule as soon as I returned from Florida.

I got a message from my editor this morning saying that he likes my Inspiration 4 article and that it will run in the November issue. He made a few more changes than I would have liked, but that's life. I'm happy that I can continue writing for SpaceFlight Magazine. Now that the crew has safely returned to earth, I suspect that the magazine will change the article's conclusion a bit. I thought everything would end well, but I couldn't say it, because it hadn't happened yet. Maybe I should have waited one more day to finish the article. This Space X mission continues to amaze me. I watched the live stream of the splash down this evening and everything went perfectly.

While I was shopping this morning I noticed that the stores were full of pumpkins and Halloween candy. I even saw artificial Christmas trees in one store. Covid might not be over yet, but it's pretty clear that business and most customers are ready to turn the page and move on. Maybe this is why people are still getting sick.

The water level in the lake is getting really low. This happens almost every year, but it is surprising since we had such a wet Spring and early Summer. Dry weather is fine by me. I don't have to worry about roof leaks or mow the grass as often. Somehow I think Dallas is in the sweet spot between the dangerous dry weather wildfires out west and the impossible humidity of Florida and the Gulf Coast. I've lived a lot of places, but Texas seems just about right. I think I'll stay.

I've noticed that most of my space photographer friends are quick to post all their pictures on Facebook and Instagram. I wonder why I have no desire to do this myself? I took a lot of nice pictures of the Inspiration 4 launch, but after sending a selection to the magazine, I don't even feel like looking at them again. I've felt this way on all the launches I've attended. It's pretty much the same for astrophotography out at the observatory as well. The last thing I want is for something to go viral. Maybe this is why I continue blogging. Nobody reads blogs anymore. I feel like I'm writing for about ten people. That's OK though. The blog was popular many years ago and I think I'm happier now that I'm more or less invisible.

Now that it's finally starting to get a little cooler, our Sunday outing with Dawn will be more enjoyable. I'm feeling like I can keep up with Dawn and Janet this week. Last Sunday I was packing for my trip to Florida and this Sunday the trip is just a memory. Time flies by at an alarming rate. What's the hurry. The closer I get to the finish line, the more I wish that time would slow down a bit.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4209

When I woke up this morning I was surprised at how cool it was outside. The temperature was in the 70's when we took Dawn on her early walk and I don't think it got above 84 degrees all day. There was a pleasant breeze as well. I complain about the weather a lot, but we have some of the best weather in the country right now. We're not in the middle of a drought. There are no wildfires. There are no hurricanes. The temperatures tend to be high, but they're still lower than people in the Pacific Northwest are experiencing. Maybe I shouldn't complain so much.

My grocery list was small this week, so shopping didn't take as long as it usually does. I was surprised that the stores didn't seem full for a holiday weekend. The roads weren't crowded either. Did the entire town go to the beach or something? I'm still getting used to a post-pandemic world. Very few people wear masks in stores anymore. The signs on the doors are gone and everything has more or less returned to normal. There are fewer shortages as well. Shelves that were empty a few months ago are fully stocked again. The only thing weird about this July is that everyone seems to want to take a vacation at the same time. I'm glad that I don't have a terrible urge to travel right now. Maybe by Fall the vacation surge will have run its course and I can think about going somewhere.

I wanted to take advantage of the cooler weather, so I took my long walk as soon as I put the groceries away. It was quite pleasant outside. There was a nice breeze and it was mostly overcast so there was no direct sun. It's too bad I still felt sore from yesterday's workout at the gym. I use a completely different set of muscles at the gym and these muscles didn't really feel like walking today. I took it slow and finished my six miles, realizing that staying in shape would probably be an uphill battle for the rest of my life.

Janet found some food that Dawn will eat. It's not a long term solution, but hopefully it will keep her eating normally until we find something better. Finding the perfect food for your dog is never an easy task.  If you ask ten people what they feed their dog you will get ten different answers. We stopped asking our vet years ago because all they recommend are Hills Science Diet products. Probably the best thing is to cook fresh chicken and rice. We've done this before and dogs seem to love it. If you start cooking for your dog, there is no turning back though. Its hard to get them to eat dog food again. We always wondered if we were leaving out essential nutrients and vitamins. Most premium dog foods claim to be a complete, balanced meal for your pet and have a long list of ingredients. Chicken and rice is just chicken and rice. I'm sure we'll be able to find something that is both good for Dalmatians in general and tastes good to our own somewhat picky Dalmatian. There certainly is plenty to choose from. I'm always amazed at how many varieties of food there are when you go to a pet store.

I noticed a lot of signs in the park saying that fireworks were illegal in the city of Dallas and that you could face up to a $3000 fine for setting them off. I wonder if that will take care of the problem. Usually it sounds like a war zone on the Fourth of July. It's certainly quiet now. In pervious years, we'd be hearing fireworks right now. Some of our dogs have been terrified of fireworks. We're not sure how Dawn will react, but I suspect that they won't bother her since she doesn't react to thunder and lightning at all. 

I hope our cooler weather continues. I'd like the roof to dry out so I can inspect it again. I'd also like to take a long walk since my gym is still closed on Sunday. It remains to be seen whether we watch the fireworks displays tomorrow evening. There's a good viewing spot just up the street from us, but it's not a high priority now.

Bob Hope is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3934

Our long family walks may be over. Dawn still enjoys her morning walks. She just doesn't feel like going very far. This morning we turned around at about the same point we did yesterday. I'm glad Dawn knows how to tell us when she has reached her limit. At least she's able to get some exercise this way. Other than not having quite as much energy, she seems to be doing fine. There is no fever and as far as we can tell, no signs of discomfort. Dawn's appetite is better than ever, but a lot of that is because of the Prednisone. I'll be glad when she has finished her meds and we can see if we've made any real progress.

The Delta IV Heavy isn't making any progress at all. I stayed up late and watched the launch on my computer last night. It didn't happen. For the second time in less than a month the launch was scrubbed in the final seconds of the count. Considering that this rocket was originally supposed to launch back in June, it has had an extraordinary streak of bad luck. Articles are starting to be written now about how the launch pad is so old that it is falling into disrepair. I doubt that ULA will be spending a lot of money to upgrade things though since there are only two launches left at Cape Canaveral before the rocket is officially retired. All this kind of makes you realize how far ahead of everyone else Space X is now.

The weather was perfect for making roof repairs or mowing the grass, but I couldn't get motivated to do anything. This year has just sucked the energy out of me. Some days I don't even feel like taking a shower.   I still take long walks where I often daydream about better times. I count the ducks and pelicans and still try to identify mystery trees. I got over 20,000 steps today. Not bad for a weekday without a trip to the gym.

When I got back from my long walk, Janet thought Dawn might like a short afternoon walk, so I just continued walking. We took Dawn down to the shoreline where there were lots of things to smell. We didn't go far, but Dawn really seemed to enjoy herself. That's our goal now. We just want to make Dawn's days as enjoyable as we can, since we don't really know how long she has left.

Janet said her doctor is taking part in a vaccine clinical trial. I don't think I'd have the nerve to do this. I assume that at some point the participants will be told whether that got the vaccine or a placebo. What if you got the vaccine but it wasn't very good? Could you still take another type of vaccine later? It still seems so weird to me that are moving full speed ahead without a lot of knowledge. Why is it considered unsafe to eat in a restaurant when you can fly on a crowded plane? Isn't anybody even curious whey so few people are getting the virus in Africa? Why are infections rising again in Europe? Aren't these the guys who were supposed to be doing everything right? Statistics are constantly being revised and a lot of them were never correct in the first place. It's all very frustrating.

All I really want is the ability to travel freely again without worrying about catching a deadly disease from a stranger or finding myself in the middle of a riot in a strange city on the way back to my hotel. It's an unsettling dystopian world we live in now. Maybe all those zombie movies were just getting us ready for what's to come.

Tori is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3821

What a difference a day makes. The weather this morning was beautiful. A rare Summer cold front swept away yesterday's dust and cooled things down significantly. It was only 68 degrees when we woke up. Needless to say, Dawn loved her walk today. I felt pretty good myself. The sky was clear and the air even felt fresher. My seasonal allergies are finally gone. It's kind of amazing how little it takes to put me in a better mood. A nice day isn't going to change the world, but I'll take what I can get.

The day got even better when I checked my e-mail after breakfast. I finally heard from the Air Force. They said they were beginning my credentialing process this week and that they would let me know when I was good to go for 2020. I haven't actually received media clearance yet, but the upbeat tone of the letter made it seem like this was only a formality. I've also applied for NASA media accreditation, but I'm not as optimistic about this route to attending the Mars 2020 launch. NASA has already said that they are still limiting the number of journalists that can attend launch events because of the coronavirus.

I hope there isn't a huge spike in virus outbreaks in the weeks ahead. I'm OK with traveling now, but things could change quickly. The virus definitely isn't under control yet and both Florida and Texas seem to be heading in the wrong direction. I could easily change my mind about attending the launch if things start heading downhill. I'm eager to return to being a space journalist, but I'm not stupid. You've got to be careful where you go these days. I'm not planning any trips to Seattle either.

The weather was so nice today that I thought I'd better mow the grass while I had a chance. This might be the last 70 degree day we have for quite a while. The yard looks a lot better now and I managed to accumulate 23,000 steps today as a bonus. My day was so productive that I even managed to fix the carport security light. It doesn't work quite as well as it used to but if a moose or large cow walked by it would probably trigger the sensor. I probably should have just bought a new motion detector, but I still feel compelled to fix things.

My dentist called today and finally wants to reschedule my appointment. My gym said it is reopening next week as well. Everyone is starting to seem almost desperate to return to some form of normalcy, but the virus doesn't appear to care. Protesters don't appear to care either. I really hope we don't have a second wave of outbreaks in the Fall because that might be the last straw that brings everything crumbling down. We're only holding on to sanity by a thread right now. It wouldn't take that much to push civil society right over the edge. Hopefully the world can get its act together. There are still things I want to do. I definitely don't want to spend my old age living in a dystopian nightmare.

Escher is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3762 - Easter

You know something, I don't want to go back to normal. Normal wasn't that good. I'm not typically an optimistic person, but I see a unique opportunity in the days ahead. The world has been given a once in a lifetime chance to wipe the slate clean and start over. Everything has been so fundamentally disrupted that there is no reason to go back to what we were doing before.

Personally, I like the fact that everything has slowed down a bit. Streets are much quieter now. It's rare to hear an airplane overhead. They say crime is down in many cities. Maybe I'm imagining things but people even seem more polite. Who knows. Maybe we should have been staying six feet apart all along.

Easter is a time of rebirth. Why not give it a try. I'll be the first to admit that it won't be easy. If we continue our political bickering here in the United States it will be impossible. Don't the Democrats and the Republicans seem almost irrelevant now? They don't have the answer. It's time to stop blaming each other. The virus isn't Trump's fault or Pelosi's fault. It's a plague. I'd like to see a third person unaffiliated with any party come out of nowhere and capture the country's imagination. Neither party deserves to win at this point.

The problem with starting over is that your idea of a brighter future might be a lot different than mine. What would I do? Probably the same things I've been doing for years. I certainly don't find the answer in government. It's time to start taking personal responsibility for our own lives. Nobody owes you anything. Start eating healthy food. Get outside more. Quit smoking, vaping, and putting anything other than air into your lungs. So many of of our problems are caused by bad lifestyle choices. If we were a healthy nation both physically and mentally, the next few months would be a lot easier.

We need to realize that global pandemics are a consequence of a global economy. We need to think small again. A bunch of small economies, each making what they need for themselves ensures that nobody can bring the entire house of cards tumbling down. I hear people wondering why we don't have enough masks and gowns for doctors when we're the richest country in the world. Duh. We don't make anything anymore. The countries that actually make the masks and gowns have people dying too and are keeping their production for themselves.

It doesn't really matter what things cost if people have secure jobs and there is food on the table. When I was growing up every little town had a factory. We made everything here. Wouldn't you like to have those factories back now? Sure, your TV and sneakers would cost more, but who cares. The world is telling us, "you can pay me now or you can pay me later."

Back in the day it use to cost a lot more to fly, but was your last trip to a business meeting really even necessary? People used to fly me to Germany just to go to meetings. I didn't even speak German. It was silly. Lets get back to basics. Make the things you need. Use the things you need. Develop self-sufficiency as a person and as a country.

I like analogies. It is Easter. Maybe people are dying for our collective sins. We have an opportunity to start over as a society. Call it a resurrection if you will. We got so many things wrong, but there's no reason we can't get it right this time.

Nellie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3701

An all day rain reminded me that life has returned to normal. I've traded rockets for roof leaks. Even though it's hard to get me out of the house, I'll have to admit that life on the road does have its advantages. The problems of day-to-day life fade away temporarily. I don't worry about plumbing problems and having trees removed when I'm away. I've never had my hotel roof leak either. It's nice to have someone clean your room and make your bed every day as well. Rental cars never have to be taken to the dealership for expensive repairs. This is all an illusion of course. A month after your trip ends the credit card bills arrive and you realize that all this freedom can get pretty expensive as well.

Today was definitely a day to stay home and get to know Dawn a little better. What a sweet, gentle girl. It's sad that she was attacked by another dog, but she is doing well and we all think she will make a complete recovery. Dawn seems much more mature than the male Dalmatians we currently have in the rescue program. I guess this makes sense. Dawn is older than the boys. She is completely house trained and doesn't chew or tear things up. She can't wear a cone because of the injuries to her neck, but she probably doesn't need one anyway. So far she hasn't tried to pick at her stitches or pull out her drainage tube.

We go to the vet tomorrow for a checkup and hopefully they will remove the tube in her neck. I think there's a good chance that the tube will be removed since there is very little bleeding or drainage. Dash had to have drainage tubes inserted for almost a month, but his wounds were much more severe. We will keep Dawn until she is healthy again. She already has a forever home, but her new family has other dogs and it's easier for her to heal in a quiet environment.

I don't know what I'm going to do about this roof. We're in the middle of the rainy season and it hasn't gotten dry enough for me to attempt new repairs or even make a decent inspection. I keep the pump running but there is still plenty of water on the roof every time it rains. It's kind of a losing battle to keep the water out. Traditional repair techniques don't work with a silicon roof, so I'm going to be forced to call the roofer again. I know he's sick of hearing from me by now, but what choice do I have? This company is the only one with experience in applying silicon roofs. Architects recommend these guys, but unfortunately I don't think they had enough experience to realize that I wasn't a good candidate for this type of roof. A silicon membrane might be great for new construction, but it doesn't work well in old houses that have settled. New flat roof are designed to drain properly. Basically, all roofs need to drain properly or they are eventually going to leak.

I hope it quits raining tomorrow. It was cold and wet all day. I thought I had found an hour or so when I would be able to take a walk, but unfortunately I miscalculated. About two miles from home, it started raining again. By the time I returned to the house I was soaking wet. I put on some dry clothes, put my wet coat and hat in the dryer and took a nap with Dawn.

I should have just stayed home and taken a longer nap with Dawn. She is definitely a good dog to curl up with on a cold winter day.

Lady Gogh is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3640

Life has returned to normal. I was up on the roof, wondering why there was still so much water even though it hasn't rained for several days. I wish I could just ignore this standing water, but I can't. Whenever I'm removing water from the roof, I'm reminded of a quote from an old Dr. Who episode. "Water is patient, Adelaide. Water just waits. Wears down the cliff tops, the mountains. The whole of the world. Water always wins." So true. The roof isn't leaking now, but if water sat there long enough, it would find a way in.

I finished editing the pictures from my trip and sent a few more to SpaceFlight Magazine. No reply or acknowledgment yet. This happens a lot. I never know whether people are too busy to reply or if my mail has gone into someone's junk mail folder. You always get an answer right away if someone wants something from you. If you want something from them, you may have to wait a while.

Our new petcam has been moving around on its own when nobody is looking at it. I looked on the Internet and a surprising number of people were experiencing the same problem. "It's creepy," most of them said. Strangely, the Chinese company that makes the IP camera openly admits that their camera pans and tilts on its own. "Don't worry," a company representative told one worried customer. "Nobody is spying on you. This is normal camera behavior. Our camera goes through a self-test routine periodically to make sure all systems are operating properly." Why am I skeptical? I doubt that this cheap camera is sophisticated enough to have a self-test routine. It's also a Chinese company, just like Huawei and Tik-Tok. The little camera works great, but for the moment we just put a paper bag over it.

Keeping track of my health is a mixed blessing. I'm always wondering about my sleep and heart rate now. My resting heart rate always gets lower when I settle into a routine. The more boring the routine, the lower the heart rate. Whenever I do something new, my resting heart rate goes up. Since a low resting heart rate is good, this would seem to indicate that a boring life is healthy. Exercise, even strenuous exercise does not elevate my resting heart rate. Travel does. I also sleep better after a boring day at home. This is all somewhat counterintuitive. You would think that doing new things would be good for you. Maybe not. Stress is a weird thing. Could it be that what is good for the brain is not necessarily good for the body.

I found a new spot that needs to be patched when I was up on the roof today. I wonder if the remaining silicon is still any good. I forgot to bring the bucket back inside on a night where the temperature got down in the low 30's. If the weather ever gets warm again, I guess I'll find out. I need to use this stuff up.

I don't think I'll go out for breakfast tomorrow. I've lost interest. I keep trying new places and new things that I don't really like. My smoothie is comfort food. I wonder sometimes if trying to be adventurous is even worth the effort. I'm comfortable with my routines and a simple, uneventful life seems to suit me.

Savannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3639

I'm still coming down to Earth. I spent most of the day catching up on things around the house. There was water on the roof that needed to be removed. I got the pumps running, but I'm not going up there until the weather gets warmer. It's time to start getting ready for the next Santa Paws photo event. I began by transferring last Sunday's pictures to my computer and charging up the camera batteries. Actually, we're pretty organized. There is not really that much to do at this point.

I'm trying to think of publications that might be interested in an article about Michoud and the Artemis Program. I've read tons of articles about this subject already. Would another article even be interesting? It might if I had the scoop on something. I don't. I may send out some query letters anyway tomorrow. I did send a few photos of the Artemis Day event to SpaceFlight Magazine. They told me they were interested in publishing them to illustrate a story they are already working on. We'll see if this is really true.

I went to the grocery store to get some fresh fruit so I could have my smoothie for breakfast tomorrow. I picked up something for dinner too. The refrigerator is looking empty. I also talked to someone at McDonald Observatory about writing for their StarDate magazine. Basically, I was not very focused today. I was all over the place.

The weather has gotten much colder. We keep going back and forth like this. One day I'm warm and the next day I'm freezing. I had to wear a winter coat when I took my walk this morning. I guess that's not so strange. It is Winter after all. It's just hard to get used to all these rapid changes. It was 70 degrees when I left for New Orleans.

It doesn't look like I'll be going to see the Starliner launch. I thought I had a good chance to get off the waitlist when the launch got postponed twice. The launch is so near Christmas now that I'm sure quite a few people are dropping out. The NASA folks told me that some attendees have indeed canceled, but they can't add anyone else to the roster because there is no time to complete the security checks. Jeez. I've gone through a ton of security checks already. How many of these things do you really need? Couldn't the government just keep a master file somewhere.

I'm not sure if I accomplished anything at all today, but at least I made an effort. I think that a picture I took of Hank at last Sunday's Santa Paws event has helped find him a home. I need to check on this and see if it is true. Hank does take a good picture. It would be cool if his Christmas picture resulted in an adoption.

I have no idea what I'll be doing tomorrow. I still don't feel like going up on the roof. Maybe I'll get an answer to some of the e-mails I sent out today. If not, I can always take a long nap.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3608

It's back to normal. I got my 20,000 steps. All the weekend errands are done. No more large restaurant meals for a while. Even the pain in my arms from the shots the doctor gave me is starting to fade. I kind of regret not making another trip up on the roof to look for more bad spots, but since it's supposed to start raining again tomorrow, I don't think there's time enough for repairs to dry properly. I don't have that much silicon left. I want to use it wisely.

The park was really crowded today. I think everybody must know that today might be the last day of Fall. According to the latest weather reports, our next cold front will bring temperatures in the twenties. To a Texan, that's winter.

The gym was much emptier than the park, but the roads were horrible. It was almost like a workday. What are all these people doing? Could they be Christmas shopping already? City congestion makes me realize how much I prefer solitude. I fantasize about the Davis Mountains a lot these days. I wouldn't miss the restaurants and shopping malls a bit. I would be a little nervous about not having good medical care nearby. I'm less than fifteen minutes away from some of the best doctors in the world. Dallas has some pretty impressive veterinary capabilities as well, which was equally important when we had dogs. I guess shifting priorities are normal as you get older. I'm a pragmatic person. I'd hate to have a heart attack or even a bad fall in the middle of nowhere.

I hope we don't get any freezing rain tomorrow night. Snow is rare in Dallas, but freezing rain is common. Icy roads create a traffic nightmare. Ice on power lines causes power outages. More trees fall during ice storms than during wind storms. Ice creates a mess on my roof as well. I think the skies are going to clear before the really cold weather arrives. I hope so. I'll have to be quick removing the water from the roof though. I don't want ice accumulating on the remaining trees or on the roof.

All the activity in the park on a nice day makes me wonder about people. Why would someone want to spend hours outside sitting in a hammock looking at their phone? Why has slacklining become popular? What are all these weird motorized wheels people are riding? I looked up a few brands on the Internet and they are quite expensive. There is a sport for everyone I guess. I'll just stick to walking. It's harder to hurt yourself walking.

I'm looking forward to seeing the Dalmatians tomorrow. I really miss having a dog, but I don't miss all the responsibilities that come with having a pet. I kept thinking that yesterday's trip to Palestine would have been next to impossible with a sick dog. Attending rocket launches or spending several weeks at an observatory wouldn't be easy either. We always put our dogs first. That's the way it should be. It's kind of a novelty to be able to put ourselves first for a change.

I still think I'm not getting enough sleep. Maybe I should just quit looking at Fitbit. I usually think I'm sleeping just fine until I look at the Fitbit log and see how restless I've been. The little tracker even logged some aerobic activity in my sleep last night.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3457

Life is good. We finally got power restored early this afternoon. Most of the traffic lights are functioning again and people have stopped driving like maniacs. The gas company even fixed a gas leak in the neighborhood that nobody even knew existed. There's nothing like a four day power outage to make you appreciate the little things. Janet and I actually did pretty well without electricity, but there are so many things we take for granted.

Before the power was restored today, I took a walk through the neighborhood to see how everybody else fared. I was amazed at the devastation. We lost a tree, but it didn't wreck our house. Some people had serious roof damage. A few people still had trees on top of their cars. I was sad to see that Erykah Badu's Porsche had been demolished. It was one of the prettiest cars in the neighborhood. The sound of chain saws was everywhere. Almost everyone had a big pile of logs and tree limbs in their front yard. It's going to take months for the city to clear all the debris away. Who knows. Maybe the city won't need to clean up all that much. I've already started seeing people scavenging the log piles for Winter firewood. One guy I talked to today said he had a wood burning stove and he was specifically looking for pecan logs because he liked the smell when they burned. I think this guy might have hit the jackpot. The park is full of old growth pecan trees and these trees seemed particularly vulnerable to being uprooted by the high winds. Mesquite trees seemed to survive pretty well but a lot of pecan trees bit the dust. Our two large Oak trees survived the storm intact. It was our Elm tree that got toppled.

It took a while to reset the clocks, put all the food in the ice chests back in the refrigerator again, and reconnect everything on the network. During the outage I kept wishing I had a larger generator. As soon as the power returned the urge for a huge generator quickly faded. Big generators are heavy, noisy, expensive, and I've really got no place to keep one. My little generator actually did just fine. We just had to learn to do stuff one thing at a time. You could use the hair dryer and brew coffee. You just couldn't use two high wattage gizmos at the same time. I discovered that everything ran smoother if I plugged the big UPS backup battery I use for the computers into the generator and then plugged all the other things into the back up battery. This seemed to filter out the power spikes that gave the generator problems. Starting an electric motor takes a lot more power than keeping the same motor running. I could always tell when the compressor kicked in on the little refrigerator. That was the only thing that temporarily overloaded the generator.

I was shocked that I actually have some website work to do tomorrow. One of my few remaining clients wants to update his site. I'm usually very responsive, but I told him he'd have to wait until the power returned. Tomorrow would have been a busy day even without the website work, but I'm always happy to have the work. There's still tons of laundry to do. I need to get new tires for the car before the trip to Kennedy Space Center. It's been a while since we've seen the rescue Dalmatians too. No problem. It will all get done now that we have electricity again.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2159

Life is returning to normal. Water is flowing. The large tunnel under the house has been filled in. The dogs have quit barking. The only reminder of our plumbing problems is a big blue dehumidifier humming away in our living room. Since I knew the tunneling crew would be arriving early this morning, I masked off the windows again so Dot wouldn't see strangers in her yard and picked up some take-out breakfast tacos instead of going out for breakfast like I normally do on Fridays. Apparently, it is much easier to fill in a hole than to dig one. The tunnel took about fourteen hours to dig, but only about four hours to backfill. By mid-afternoon, the crew had packed up their tools and left.

I turned the furnace on this morning for the first time since the leak started and the humidity in the house didn't rise appreciably. I no longer have to huddle around the little ceramic heater while I work. It seems decadently luxurious to have a warm, moisture free house with working toilets and a washing machine that can handle as many blankets as Dot is able to soil. I think we're back in business.

Dash got a bath today in preparation for a big animal rescue event tomorrow that he will be attending. I took a bath today to give the shower stall I've been attempting to repair one more day to cure and dry. That was a mistake. I'm definitely not a tub person. I'm going back to the shower tomorrow whether my grout work is ready or not. How can you wash your hair in the tub? I think it's impossible.

It is so sad to watch what is happening in Paris tonight. I'm glad that Janet and I had an opportunity to spend time in that wonderful city when life was sane and the city was peaceful. I've spent a lot of time in Europe and used to work there frequently. I don't know if I'd ever feel comfortable traveling there again. Every time I see wave after wave of refugees descending on European countries from the Middle East, I think that this isn't going to end well. I'm convinced that hidden in the midst of these refugees are many more of the same terrorists that are currently laying seige to Paris. Western nations need to start getting serious about closing their borders, or this is only going to get worse. I don't understand what our military planners are thinking. Bombing these people just makes them mad. What we really need to do is totally isolate them. If they want to continue living in the middle ages, let them do it in their own countries.

I got my November invoices out today. Hmm. This isn't going to pay the plumbing bill. I've got to come up with a new source of income, or I'm going to be fretting about money for the rest of my life. I've gotten good enough at designing responsive websites that I could probably get hired by one of the big interactive design shops. Then I would have to go to work though. That's not going to happen. I don't think I'm even capable of leaving the dogs anymore. We have bonded. I'm not a team player anymore either. Actually, I was never a team play, but I was pretty good at faking it. When you get older, faking it loses its appeal. Poor, uncompromising, and a little frustrated. Maybe that's my destiny.

Puppies are today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2156

We've got water! The broken pipe was exactly where the plumber said it would be, which kind of amazed me. The leak was located right on schedule too, which amazed me even more. I was afraid it might take weeks to resolve this problem. If you're wondering what actually caused the leak, it turns out that a section of the copper pipe that supplies water to the house was located right next to a larger cast iron pipe that carries waste water away. There were places where the two pipes touched and over the years, the rusting cast iron caused the copper to corrode and fail. That's what the plumber said anyway. He showed me a small hole in the damaged pipe about half the diameter of a pencil. It's still hard to believe that such a small hole could have caused so much damage.

I asked the plumber if there might be other places under the house where the copper supply lines could be touching the cast iron drainage lines. "Sure," said the plumber. "There could be lots of places like this." "Is there anything you can do to prevent this from happening again," I asked. "Nope," said the plumber, "You could have another leak like this tomorrow, or it might never happen again." That wasn't the kind of reassurance I was looking for, but I guess I'll have to live with it. Even though there's a huge hole under the house, it only exposed a tiny fraction of what the builders had put there over sixty years ago. Lord knows what still lurks under the dirt.

In the grand scheme of things, the problems we've experienced this week are tiny compared to the disasters some people have to deal with. The house wasn't hit by a tornado. It didn't catch on fire. A tree didn't crash through the roof. Life was a little inconvenient, but it could have been so much worse. You always see these stories on TV about people rebuilding their lives from scratch after a major disaster has destroyed their home. I don't know how they find the strength to put the pieces back together. Just having no toilets or running water for a week just about drove me over the edge.

There is still a lot of cleanup to do, but life is already starting to return to normal. I ran the dishwasher today and will do a big load of laundry tomorrow. The tunneling company is supposed to come out in the morning and fill in the big hole they created. It's too bad they can't just add concrete walls to the sides and put a door on top. It would be the tornado shelter I've always wanted. They could just keep digging and we could put in a full basement, but it would be much cheaper to just buy a new house.

The environmental cleanup company is supposed to clean our vents before they haul away their big dehumidification machines and leave. When the water was off, I used the opportunity to re-grout the shower stall, so maybe we'll see some improvements there as well. We'll have a lot of bottled water left over when this is all finished with. I was anticipating a long siege and bought too much.

If there's a silver lining to all this, it would be that being trapped here at the house forced me to buckle down and finish the complicated mobile ready website I've been working on. I'm actually caught up with all my work now. Tomorrow I get to see whether the tunneling crew can make the huge mountain of dirt in our back yard disappear. I bet they can't. They'll probably leave us with a smaller pile of dirt and tell us to plant a garden. I'm going to miss taking showers at the hotel. Their shower was so much nicer than ours.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day