Day 3433

Another 20,000 step day. It's not really that much of an accomplishment, but it will have to do for now. All I know is that keeping moving seems better than standing still. My routine at the gym hasn't changed, but I go earlier now. There is still plenty of time for several long walks and a few unavoidable household chores.

I had to go back to the grocery store today because I forgot to put several things on my list yesterday. You'd think I would have remembered these things while I was at the store, but I just blindly follow my list. I also spent a little time looking for boots at REI, but didn't see anything I liked. I'm beginning to think my problem isn't my shoes, it's my feet. It's probably time for a trip to the podiatrist and some expensive custom orthotics. I did this once a long time ago and it made a huge difference.

I couldn't figure out why one of the one of the backup batteries I used during the power outage yesterday wasn't recharging. I had just about convinced myself that the Lithium Ion battery had gone bad when I realized that I'd plugged the thing into a power strip that wasn't connected to anything. Sadly, this is what growing old is like. Nothing dramatic happens. You just go to the grocery store over and over again and start plugging things into dead outlets.

It was hard to believe that yesterday was filled with thunderstorms because today was beautiful. The sky was blue and the temperature was in the eighties. It was warm enough to remind me that hundred degree days and high water bills weren't that far away. I wonder how I'll feel about walking in July? Knowing my tenacity, I'll probably continue but it won't be fun.

The shower head has developed a weird drip that's driving me crazy. Some days I can turn the shower off and other days it continues to drip for hours. I don't think the faucets are bad because at least half the time they shut off perfectly. I took the shower head apart today and cleaned it, but that didn't seem to make any difference. Minor plumbing problems are maddening. One of the toilets is making a irritating whistling noise again. The whistling stopped on it's own for about three months and now it has started again. The toilet works perfectly but I don't like hearing the noise. I hate calling a plumber for things like these because frequently they don't know what's going on either. Plumbers are used to dealing with big problems. Little problems don't seem to interest them.

I wish this weather would make up its mind. The forecast says that another band of thunderstorms will be arriving around sunrise tomorrow. Will the power go out again? Will the roof leak? Will the roof blow off the greenhouse? I don't like all the uncertainty. Sometimes I wonder if a perfect place even exists. If it rains too much it floods. If it rains too little there are wildfires. I guess I should be happy that Dallas is usually somewhere in between these extremes.

I still haven't heard anything from NASA. Maybe I'll find out something this week. I have no idea whether I'll be accepted to attend the Falcon Heavy launch, but it would be nice to have a plan for June. Until then, I've got a fresh supply of berries for my morning smoothies and some reasonably comfortable boots. Sooner of later the rainy season will be over. You've just got to have patience.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3432

It doesn't seem to take much to knock out our power. Lately, every time a big storm passes through, the electricity goes out. We definitely got a lot of rain today. At least the tornadoes we were warned about never materialized. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get both the fiber optic network and the pumps on the roof running again using various backup power supplies. A small gasoline generator powered the pumps and a solar powered generator took care of the WiFi and computers. When the power eventually returned, nothing important was disrupted at all.

Even though we had quite a storm today, I was still able to take both my walks and do the Saturday grocery shopping without getting wet. Accuweather's Minute-by-Minute  weather forecasting service is pretty amazing. Type in your street and zip code and you know exactly when the rain is going to start and stop within a two hour window. I knew how long it takes to walk three miles and the forecast said I was OK, so off I went. The sky looked a little menacing and I heard thunder off in the distance but the rain didn't start until five minutes after I returned. I love when technology works.

The storm had already passed when it was time for my evening walk. There must have been some high winds. Several large trees were down in the park and smaller limbs were scattered everywhere. One of the creeks feeding the lake was a rushing torrent. Even though the rain had subsided, the water level was still rising. Several piers along the shoreline were under water and the dock for a local rowing club seemed to have floated away. None of this deterred the fishermen. After a big rain fishermen are always attracted to the lake. I saw ten this evening. Are fish more likely to bite after a rain? There must be a reason for this.

There seems to be a reason for everything. I've been noticing that the wildflowers always bloom in a very specific order. The grape hyacinths seem to bloom first followed by lots of showy and evening primrose flowers. Next I'll start to see the bluebonnets. Next a variety of different daisies arrive. I see lots of cowpen daisies, shasta daisies, engelmann daisies, and blackfoot daisies on my walks. The firewheels are blooming now and I'm starting to see milkweed, coneflowers and mexican hat. There are always lots of tiny flowers like crow poison and blue eyed grass. I like to learn to identify the plants and animals I see. Jimson weed is blooming now. I learned to identify this poisonous plant a long time ago because I didn't want the dogs eating it. I learned to identify poison ivy, oak, and sumac a long time ago too.

It's still raining, but it's just a gentle shower and both pumps are working. All is well. Janet fixed chili tonight which is the perfect antidote to a dismal day. I'm recharging all my backup batteries and looking at dog pictures on my Facebook feed. I think I am ready for tomorrow.

Skippy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2915

Our power is out. I'm better prepared than I used to be, but power outages are always a hassle. It doesn't help that it's cold outside today. I can already feel the temperature dropping in the house. We're got lights this time. During our last power outage I discovered that the LED light panels I use for video production will run for a long time on Anton Bauer batteries. They're really bright too. I've got backup power for the laptop and phones, along with an alternate source of WiFi. If they restore the power tonight, everything is fine. We've had power outages last as long as four days though, so we're not out of the woods yet.

The main problem I've had so far is that I forgot my Google password and couldn't access my Blogger dashboard from the laptop. I didn't want to reset the password because then I would have to use the e-mail on the laptop to confirm the new password and thousands of messages stored on the server would come flooding into my mailbox as soon as I opened it. Luckily, I have a pretty hefty backup battery, so I fired up the big desktop computer for a while, just so I could retrieve my Google password. I probably expended twenty minutes of battery life by doing this, but now I'm online.

Before the power went out it was a fairly normal day. We walked Dash, ate breakfast, and did our Sunday chores. I had plenty of time to go to the gym and wonder about the meaning of life while I exercised. Whenever I go to the gym I become very aware of how repetitive everyday life is. It always takes me 62 minutes to complete my workout. If I took me 66 minutes, I would think something was wrong. Much of my day is this way. I brush my teeth the same way every evening. I go to bed at the same time. The same ingredients go into my smoothie every morning. Everything is as familiar as the steady pace I maintain on the treadmill while I'm at the gym.

Dash is the wild card. Something is always changing with Dash and this is probably why I worry so much. Does it mean anything if his poop gets soft or his appetite changes? Dash has so many things wrong with him that I'm sure that everything I observe means something. You'd have to be a highly trained vet to intrepret these subtle clues though. Most of the time I'm just guessing. Today Dash seemed fine. He ate all his breakfast. He had lots of energy on his walks. Actually, Dash is pretty consistent. There are just occasional moments of raw panic when something goes wrong.

I don't know why I thought we were through with power outages. Tonight was a reminder that just because things are going smoothly doesn't mean that problems won't return. Problems always return. When I got a new roof I thought I'd never have roof problems again. That honeymoon didn't last long. The sad fact is that sometime when I least expect it, the car won't start. Someday another water pipe will break. Someday, I'll be rushing Dash to the emergency room again. That's just the way life is.

I took some satisfaction in how well prepared I was tonight. We weren't sitting in the dark. The oven didn't work, but we had plenty of vegetables and Janet fixed a delicious salad for dinner. My backup power sources worked perfectly. After dinner, Janet watched Netflix movies while I wrote tonight's blog entry. If it wasn't for the fact that the entire neighborhood was completely dark, it was just a normal Sunday evening.

Hopefully, our power will be restored soon. I've got plenty of sweaters, but I do like a warm house. I wonder if I could make my smoothie using the backup batteries. Maybe not. That Vitamix is one powerful blender.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day