Day 4593

Yay. NASA approved my application for press credentials and it looks like I will be attending the Artemis-1 launch later this summer. Forget everything I said yesterday. This launch definitely won't look like all the others. The Space Launch System is the largest rocket we've ever built and it's headed to the moon. Well, this first one is headed around the moon anyway. Hopefully, I'll get lucky about the launch dates. The trip could still get expensive if the launch gets delayed after I'm already in Florida.

All in all, it wasn't a bad day. I entered a few of my astrophotography pictures in a Dark Skies photo contest, went to the gym in the morning, and got a haircut in the afternoon. The weather was still very hot, but other than our sunrise walk with Dawn I managed to stay indoors. These sunrise walks provide a good preview of what the day is going to be like. It was humid this morning. I hate getting hot and sweaty before the sun even comes up. Sunrise walks are still tolerable though and Dawn likes them.

I haven't had the nerve to check airfare and hotel rates for my upcoming trip to Florida yet. I'm sure it will be more expensive than last time. I can't think of a single thing that has gotten less expensive this year. Sign of the times I guess. I think travel is still beneficial though. I don't do much, but it's good thing to have something to look forward to. Who knows. I may make it as a space journalist yet.

I got stung by a bee again this morning. This is the second time in a week. Technically, I guess I got stung by a wasp, but it still felt the same. These wasps are everywhere in our yard. It's hard to avoid them. I really hope that Dawn doesn't get stung. She's scared of almost everything already. I definitely don't want her to get scared of going out in the back yard. Lounging in the grass on a sunny day is one of her favorite things.

I always feel better after a haircut. I don't know why I spent my younger years wearing my hair longer. Shorter is definitely better. Especially in the summer. My hair is a lot thinner now, but it still seems to grow fast. It's funny. Yesterday I said I typically don't get a haircut unless I've got a trip planned. Well, now I've got a trip planned again. I still can't decide whether to go back to the observatory this year. One thing at a time is probably best.

I take my car in tomorrow morning for the factory recall. It seems like my car is a little old to still be getting recall notices, but you hate to ignore these things. Hopefully the dealership will do what they promised and won't keep my car over the weekend. They said the repair should only take two hours. I've heard that before. Two hours means about the same thing as two weeks to these guys. We'll see how it goes. I've got groceries to buy tomorrow and being without a car will complicate things.

Pongo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3804

We went out for breakfast this morning at a little neighborhood restaurant that had recently reopened. We should have taken Dawn with us, since the place had a nice dog friendly outdoor seating area. You could tell that the restaurant was trying super hard to get back on its feet. All the new distancing rules were followed and everyone was super friendly. I was initially a little sceptical about going to a restaurant, but I'm glad we did. I hope this place makes it. They had only been open a month or so when the pandemic hit. Not very good timing.

We took another very early walk this morning, but the park wasn't empty this time. I guess I should have expected more people since it is Memorial Day weekend. We were expecting rain again, but the skies lightened and we began to see patches of blue during our walk. I got overconfident seeing the weather improve and went up on the roof to remove yesterday's standing water. I should have waited. The rain returned later in the day and the roof is already wet again. This has definitely been the wettest Spring I can remember.

It was time to defrost the little spare refrigerator today. We got this refrigerator during a power outage because it could be powered by our generator. Somehow the refrigerator went from temporary to permanent after the power was restored and is now an essential part of the kitchen. Things that won't fit in the regular refrigerator go here. I wonder if anyone makes a self defrosting dorm refrigerator? We never even looked. It's hard to believe that everybody used to have to defrost their refrigerator. All the places I lived right after college had refrigerators that needed to be defrosted. I never did this very often. Usually my freezer compartment was caked in a thick sheet of ice.

I sure wish that bee hadn't stung me the other day. I've still got a big welt on my leg. Now that I've started looking, I'm seeing the beginnings of nests everywhere. It's time to get some more wasp and hornet spray and get rid of them before they get any bigger. We have wasps who build paper nests and mud daubers who make theirs out of mud. Both critters seems to love our house. The spiders are starting to return as well. Welcome to Summer in Texas.

I've started listening to astronomy podcasts. I was surprised at how many there are. Obviously a lot of people are a lot more industrious about their hobbies than I am. One of the astronomers I met at McDonald Observatory does regular videos about galaxies and deep sky objects. Several people I've met at NASA events have podcasts about rocket related stuff. I watch some of these too. It seems weird to me that there seems to be fewer and fewer really good blogs, but an abundance of podcasts. I like listening to podcasts, but can't imagine doing one myself. I don't even like to talk.

We're not sure if the kennel will be open on Memorial Day, but if it is we'll go photograph a new Dalmatian that recently entered the rescue program. If the kennel is closed I can always make my smoothie and sweep the water off the roof. It's life in the fast lane around here.

Ziggy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3802

Maybe I've become too dependent on weather forecasting apps. Janet and I were both convinced that it was going to rain this morning, so we walked Dawn even earlier than we usually do to avoid getting wet. Getting started before sunrise meant we had the park to ourselves. We saw dozens of Great Egrets and very few people. The temperature was nice as well. I was a little sleepy when we started our early walk, but I hope we can manage to do this again. It was a very pleasant two hours.

It never did rain today. Actually the skies cleared up and it got quite warm later in the day. I didn't feel like mowing the grass, so I thought I'd try to remove the water stains in the living room ceiling with bleach. I don't know why I'm always convinced that this will work, because it never does. I certainly didn't get off to a good start today. When I went outside to get the stepladder, I got stung by a bee.

It's not easy to soak the ceiling with bleach, because gravity causes it to drip down my arm and all over the floor. I've ruined a few items of clothing when I've tried to do this in the past, so I only wear things that I don't mind getting soaked by bleach. I made a good effort today, but I can't honestly say that the ceiling looks any better. I guess I'll be forced to sand everything down and patch the areas with drywall mud. There's still no reason to actually remove and replace the sheetrock until we get a new roof. It would be nice if the house looked a little better though.

I paid some more bills and did a little accounting in Quickbooks this afternoon. Online banking is starting to seem more familiar now. I don't know if I'll ever be confident enough to set everything up to auto-pay, but I'm making progress. I'll have to admit that this is a lot easier than writing checks and driving to the post office.

After all the dire warnings from my dermatologist about possible side effects from cryosurgery, I haven't noticed anything at all. If my face is going to turn bruised and blotchy, it certainly hasn't happened yet. The keratosis doesn't look very different either. Did I even go to the dermatologist? We'll see if the liquid nitrogen treatment works, but this wasn't what I expected.

It's a shame I'm not down in Titusville now. I'm starting to see a lot of media coverage of the Demo-2 mission now that the launch is only a few days away. Obviously some people still have media credentials. Too bad I'm not one of them. I can see these guys asking the astronauts questions on TV. I wonder how many members of the press are actually there. NASA isn't saying, but the Press Site at KSC does look pretty empty.

It was amusing to hear Dr Fauci say that there would be irreparable damage to the country if we didn't open up soon. Wasn't this the same guy who said kids shouldn't go to school next year and that we should stay in lockdown mode over the Summer? I wonder why nobody seems to hold the good doctor accountable for his many flip-flops? He has changed his mind radically on almost everything. The virus isn't something to worry about in the United States. No, forget that. The virus will kill millions. Don't wear a mask. Nevermind. You've all got to wear a mask. I could go on and on. It's all on tape. Hey, the guy's got an honest face. And he's a scientist.

In other news, the State of Washington announced today that they mistakenly gave away millions of the state's unemployment money to a Nigerian Prince. Yep. We're really on top of this pandemic stuff.

Rosco is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3167

It's always something. Dash got stung by a bee today. We were taking our morning walk when all of the sudden he yelped and immediately began limping. I suspected an insect bite, but it could have also been a sprain. When old dogs rear legs begin to go, it puts a lot of extra strain on their front legs. Either way, this was not good. Let me tell you, it was not easy getting a dog back home with only one good leg.

I was hoping that when we finally got Dash home, he would relax so I could examine him better. Unfortunately, this is not Dash's style. He tends to panic when things go wrong. He was agitated and we noticed that the leg was starting to swell so we loaded him in the car and headed for the emergency clinic. On the way, Dash finally started to calm down. By the time we arrived, he was semi-normal again.

The admittance nurse said that Dash wasn't having an allergic reaction and didn't appear to have sprained anything. He wasn't limping anymore either. Faced with a choice of waiting in the lobby for several hours until we could see a vet and then getting a $75 bill for a few Benadryl tablets, we decided to just turn around and go home. Dash has been stung by bees before. He completely freaks out for about thirty minutes and by the time a vet is able to look at him, he is all better.

I gave Dash some Benadryl when he returned home and he quickly went to sleep. By the time he woke up, he was back to his old self. Notice that I didn't say "back to normal." Dash will never be back to normal. We all ate our breakfast late enough to be called brunch and then resumed our regular Sunday routine. I kind of suspected a bee sting the moment it happened, but it's better to be safe than sorry. If Dash had seriously injured his front leg, it would all be over.

I think I'm going to have to stop using the arm bicycle at the gym. My wrist started hurting again and this appeared to be the cause. It makes sense. Twenty minutes on the arm bicycle can put a lot of strain on your wrists. Too bad. I like this machine. It's a great upper body workout and seems to be better than the treadmill for elevating your heart rate.

Elevating your heart rate during exercise can be good for cardiovascular fitness. At other times, it's not so good. I noticed on my Fitbit that my heart rate went way up right after Dash got stung by the bee. This was stress. I wasn't sure how I was going to get him home again. I wasn't sure what had happened either. Luckily, everything ended well today, but it definitely wasn't a relaxing day.

I'm sure the bees have moved by now, but I'm a superstitious person and I won't want to take the same route on our walk tomorrow. This might be problematic, because Dash is set in his ways and always wants to take the same route. I wish the city would hurry up and mow the field behind our house. The grass in the park is getting high again and it's hard to tell what Dash and I are walking through.

I guess I'll have to wear the brace on my wrist again tonight. I should have known better than to use the arm bike. It's pretty clear that Dash and I are both set in our ways. We'll try not to injure ourselves tomorrow.

Cammy s today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2429

Dash got stung by a bee this evening. At least I think he got stung by a bee. We were taking our evening walk and all of a sudden he started limping on his right front leg. We were about three blocks from home, and he refused to put any weight on the leg the rest of the way home. He growled at me when I tried to examine the leg too. It was time for a trip to the emergency vet. Since I didn't have an appointment, Dash and I had to wait a long time in the lobby. During the hour or so we were waiting, Dash started to calm down and by the time the vet got around to seeing us, he seemed well on his way back to normal.

Basically we still don't know what is going on. It definitely could have been a bee sting, but there was no obvious redness or swelling. The vet said there were lots of things that could cause this sort of sudden lameness. It could be a soft tissue injury. It could be arthritis. Although unlikely, it could even be an early sign of bone cancer. I decided to wait to do anything further. We'll give him a Benadryl tonight and see how he feels in the morning. If he needs x-rays, we can do them during his next re-check at the cancer center. Dash probably does have arthritis. His rear legs are starting to get stiff and I wouldn't be surprised if he develops hip dysplasia as he grows older. It's always something with these dogs.

The last thing I expected today was a trip to the emergency vet, but I really shouldn't have been surprised. Nothing else went right today either. I wasted a huge amount of time trying to get AT&T tech support to show me how to enable port forwarding on my router. I knew how to do this on the old router that broke, but this new one doesn't seem to allow port forwarding. There ought to be a special place in hell for companies who outsource all their customer support. It takes forever to resolve the simplest of problems when you're talking with someone who doesn't speak English well. About one time out of ten, I manage to get a technician who actually knows something about technology. The rest of the time I end up talking with people who are just reading from a script. I don't think the guy I talked with today even knew what a router was. My conversation was definitely a wasted effort.

I had some website updates this morning, but they didn't keep me busy all day. I actually spent more time cleaning up after Dot, than I did modifying the websites. It was good to have something to do though. Days filled with writing and coding chores are definitely more satisfying than days where there is nothing to do but clean up poop.

I was going to get my safety inspection done today, but Land Rover said that I needed to make an appointment. Evidently they only do safety inspections in Friday's now. I made an appointment for Friday and then went up on the roof to check on last week's repairs. Our current dry spell has allowed the patches to cure nicely. From the looks of things now, I think the roof is going to be OK this Winter.

I hope that Dash is back to normal tomorrow morning. If he is still limping, I'll see if I can get him over to his regular vet for some x-rays. It's been a long day and I'm ready for bed. All I need to do now is see if I can take Dot's harness off without waking her up. I don't want to wake Dash up either. Everyone seems so calm now.

Lilly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2141

Dash is much better today. The swelling has gone down on his paw and he's walking more or less normally again. He remembers where the bee stung him and won't walk in that section of the park. He's a nervous dog, but he's a very smart dog who learns from his experiences. I wouldn't walk on that trail either if I'd been stung yesterday. I had been thinking about making another vet appointment because Dash had been having some digestion issues last week, but that problem seems to have resolved itself. Dash is eating normally again. He's about as normal as he's going to get.

I didn't see the cluster of three planets this morning, because the sky was very overcast. It wasn't raining though. That's always a good thing. By around 10:30 this morning the blue sky I was hoping for suddenly materialized and it was nice for the rest of the day. Since it was a typical slow Monday, I used this opportunity to clear off the roof again. You would think that I could find better things to do with my time than to spend it perpetually removing water from the roof. Maybe. I can tell you one thing. Once you've had a bad water leak with sections of wet sheet rock falling from the ceiling, you never really trust water or your roof again. I'll always be looking over my shoulder when it rains.

Although my website business has slowed down quite a bit, I still get update requests every couple of days. Most of these updates are simple and don't provide much of a challenge. Sadly, they don't provide much of an income either. I keep hoping that these maintenance clients will spread my name around and one of their friends will eventually bring me a big new project that will keep me busy for months. That probably isn't going to happen though. Everybody has a website these days, but not everybody needs one. Some of my clients look at their website like an electronic Yellow Pages ad. Others have forgotten that they even have a website until I remind them. It can be discouraging to realize that you're not exactly setting the world on fire. On the other hand, it's kind of nice to have clients who still keep using you even though they don't need you at all.

I'm getting to the age where I see far too many obituaries. I see most of these notices on Facebook, because that's where you see everything these days. I haven't subscribed to a newspaper in years. Most of my college teachers have died by now. Many of my former ad agency bosses and early mentors have passed away as well, including one more today. It's kind of sobering to realize what a limited amount of time we have on this planet. Whenever I read that a friend or co-worker has died, I renew my resolve to put my remaining years to good use. This resolve usually lasts about an hour and then I revert to my old ways.

Apple is really getting sloppy about its upgrade program. During the past two weeks I have installed three different IOS upgrades to my phone plus another two upgrades for my watch. I just installed another Apple Watch upgrade this afternoon. Each of these upgrades was designed to fix a series of flaws and omissions found in the previous upgrade. I wish they'd tested these patches before they released them. I'd rather wait a little longer than hurry to install software that is full of bugs.

There will be one more chance to see Mars, Jupiter, and Venus packed into a tight little triangle tomorrow morning. The best viewing time was today, unless you had a sky full of thick clouds like we did. Maybe we'll get lucky tomorrow. Clear skies, no dog poop in the house, and a new job in my morning e-mail: that would be my tight little triangle.

Pearl is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2140

Poor Dash can't seem to catch a break. Just when his back legs were getting back to normal, he gets stung by a bee on his evening walk and now he's limping on his front leg. Actually he was doing a lot worse than just limping at one point. I was worried that he was having an adverse reaction to the sting and managed to get him to the vet five minutes before they closed for the day. Dash can't take antihistamines or Benadryl because he is still taking Phenobarbital to control his seizures. The vet removed the stinger, which I had been unable to find, and gave Dash a steroid shot to reduce the inflammation and pain. He is resting now and should feel much better in the morning.

Before all the bee sting drama, it was just a normal Sunday. For the most part, a normal Sunday involves vacuuming the house and going to the gym. There are always a lot more steps on my activity tracker on Sunday than on any other day of the week. There was a police car in the parking lot when I arrived at the gym and it was still there when I left an hour later. It made me wonder if the gym was having problems with crime in the area. Just about every other part of town is having problems, so it wouldn't be that surprising if this area had an incident as well. Whatever the cause, I was glad to see the police presence. I just wish they'd patrol the park a little more frequently.

There were quite a few people working out today and many of the machines were occupied, so I had to do my normal workout in reverse order. Surprisingly, I burned up more calories doing things backwards like this. I usually do the difficult routines first to get them out of the way. Maybe doing the most strenuous exercises toward the end of my workout when I was already tired burned up more energy. Who knows. I wasn't as good at basketball today either.

The temperature was in the low fifties for most of the day. Shouldn't the bees have moved on to someplace warmer by now? Maybe the bee that stung Dash was a straggler. I usually don't see many bees this late in the year. It would have been hard for a bee to sting me today. I wore my Winter coat for the first time this season. It seemed a little much at first, but I ended up being glad I overdressed. The air was damp and there was a brisk wind. This always makes it seem even colder than it really is.

I hope there is a break in the clouds early tomorrow morning. There is a rare conjunction of Jupiter, Venus, and Mars in the morning sky called a planetary trio that won't occur again until 2021. I've been watching these three planets move closer and closer together for the past month now. If the sky is clear, I should set up a tripod and try to get a decent picture of the event. Usually there's no time to do this sort of thing, since it takes so much time to get the dogs walked and fed before Janet leaves for work.

At this point, I don't think Dash will be going on a walk tomorrow morning, and it is questionable how far that Dot will walk without him. Dot was barking during dinner because she smelled the Beef Stroganoff that Janet had cooked for our evening meal. I told Dot that she had to be good, because she was the therapy dog today. For the first time in a long time, Dot was actually in better shape than Dash. To say we have high maintenance dogs would be an understatement.

Patch is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1378

We got off to a late start this morning, but it didn't really matter since the temperature has cooled down quite a bit. You never know what is going to happen with the dogs. Dash started limping today on the way home. At first I thought he had stepped on a thorn or a burr, but I could find nothing when I examined his paw. Since he was limping on his left front paw, I knew he hadn't torn his anterior cruciate ligament. Something was really bothering him though. We would walk about ten steps and the stop for a while to rest. It took forever to get home again. I thought about trying to carry him home, but he's too heavy to carry very far. Since Dot was with me too, carrying Dash was pretty much out of the question. Eventually we made it home and I gave Dash a Benadryl and called the vet. After a two hour nap, Dash got up and started walking normally again. I still don't know what was wrong. Maybe he got stung by a bee.

On the way to the gym this afternoon, I stopped by the dealership and got some rubber mats for the new car. Hopefully, this will make it a little easier to clean up the mountains of dog hair. Dog hair was never much of a problem when Dot and Dash rode in the Defender, since they always rode in the large dog crate I kept in the back. While I was getting the rubber mats, I discovered that I'm supposed to put nitrogen in my tires instead of air and that there is a special button that will lower the car two inches closer to the ground to make it easier to load packages, or large dogs.

So many people I know tell me how much they enjoy things like running, cycling, zumba, and weight lifting. I have yet to discover the allure of these sweaty activities. I think I have been successful at incorporating a regular exercise regime into my weekly activities. I just don't enjoy it. I'm still waiting for the endorphins to kick in and I suspect they never will. So far, going to the gym seems a lot like mowing the grass indoors. Don't get me wrong. I thing the exercise is good for my health and I'm going to stick with it. It's just no substitute for photography or playing the guitar.

Other than Dash's unexplained limping, it was a fairly normal day. I went to the bank and the grocery store. I got some website work finished that I should have done over the weekend. Tomorrow looks like it's going to be a busy day, so I guess I can postpone painting the ceiling a little longer. Every time I look up, I realize that the Sheetrock repairs I made a month or so ago won't be complete until I re-paint the ceiling. Since painting is right up there with exercise on my list of things I could do without, finishing this little chore could take a while.

Sage is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1279 - Father's Day

My Mom used to tell me that I was her Father's Day gift to my Dad, since my birthday periodically coincided with Father's Day. I don't think Dad was all that happy about this situation, since I was frequently a thorn in his side. Although we were never really close, I always thought my father was a good Dad. He was a loyal, honest man who never forgot his family. Although I've never been a Dad myself, I suspect that this is exactly how a Dad ought to be.

I got stung by another bee today. In the process, I discovered where the bees were coming from. A group of them had made a home in an old stepladder that I'd been using to fix some things on the house. No wonder I was getting stung. You'd think I would have noticed the bees before I started using the stepladder. Nope. Sometimes, I don't notice much of anything.

The bee sting didn't stop me from doing some much needed Sunday yard work. I mowed the grass, front and back, and then did some weeding in the yard. Now, the house looks just as good as all the other houses in the neighborhood. I removed the remaining water from the new roof, because I wasn't patient enough to wait for it to evaporate. The cheap broom I bought at Sam's Club yesterday worked a lot better than the much more expensive professional broom I had purchased earlier at a builder's supply store. Go figure.

Without our usual Sunday trip to the dog park, the day seemed a bit empty. I guess it wasn't really a big loss. It was so hot that Dot and Dash had little interest in going outside anyway. We watched a movie on Hulu instead. I think we've finally reached an agreement on how to share the bed. There was no barking or commotion during the movie anyway.

Tomorrow, it's back to work again. I need to remember to pay my quarterly estimated taxes as well. I'm going to try to get up early, so I can walk the dogs before it gets too hot outside. Early in the mornings, it's still quite nice. Later in the day is another story. The dog days of Summer are definitely here again.

Harshey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1277

Fridays are somewhat ritualized. After I walk the dogs, I go out for breakfast and order something more interesting than oatmeal. This is usually a high cholesterol meal with several eggs, but I figure that one day out of seven with too much cholesterol is a lot better than the seven days out of seven that used to be the norm for me. After breakfast, I go to the grocery store and buy groceries for the weekend. Then I come home and try to finish the week's work so I can start my weekend free and clear of obligations.

I woke up this morning with a throbbing pain in my right leg. I momentarily thought I might have deep vein thrombosis or something equally foreboding. Then I remembered that I was stung by bees yesterday. I seem to be a lot more sensitive to bee stings than I used to be. This was one heck of a sting. Maybe the dreaded killer bees have finally arrived in Dallas.

It keeps getting hotter. The temperature was over 100 degrees at some point this afternoon. Maybe I'll finally get a tan this Summer. I've lost to much weight recently that I finally don't feel bad about walking the dogs without a shirt in the Summer. I certainly don't look like a young lifeguard, but it's better than it used to be.

I never like driving in Dallas in the Summer. The old Defender has a tendency to overheat and when I'm stuck in rush hour traffic I can literally see the temperature gauge on the dash inch upwards as I sit stranded at a traffic light. I've had to pull over to let the engine cool before, and it will probably happen again. It certainly takes the fun out of driving when every drive is a race against the clock to get home again before the engine overheats. Today, I needed to get some more ink for my large format printer. I did the smart thing. I just had my ink vendor drop ship the ink to me via UPS. I never though I'd use UPS to send things across town, but sometimes it makes sense.

I took Janet to the airport again this afternoon in 99 degree weather. It definitely made sense to take her car. No matter which Land Rover I drive, the airport is about as far as I ever go these days.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day