Day 4788 - Groundhog Day

I didn't need Punxsutawney Phil to tell me that we were going to have six more weeks of winter. All I had to do was look out the window. The freezing rain actually stopped around noon today and the temperature eventually climbed to two degrees above freezing. This was good news for anyone out on the roads, but it was bad news for me. The thawing ice on the roof just caused my roof leaks to get even worse. I've got more leaks than I have buckets now. The pumps still aren't working either.

It was hard to get to sleep with all the leaks last night. Every time I'd hear a different cadence of dripping water, I'd jump out of bed and investigate to make sure nothing was being damaged. Janet eventually went to sleep with headphones on to block the noise. Fitbit says I fell asleep too, but it doesn't seem like it.

The first thing I did this morning was empty all the water buckets. The whole process seemed to take several hours. Whenever you remove a full bucket, you have to have another empty one ready to immediately slide under the leak. I try to put a sponge at the bottom of each bucket to dampen the splashback, but as the water rises in the bucket, the sponge becomes useless. Sometimes the leaks are too close together for the dripping water to fall into the five gallon buckets. I also need a few large rectangular plastic tubs like people often store sweaters or winter clothes in. I always have to put a towel under each bucket because water inevitably splashes outside as the water drips. If a leak is near a wall it is very hard to capture the water. Trust me. It's a huge mess.

I typically have to empty the buckets three times a day. I have to do this one more time tonight before I go to bed. There is so much standing water on the roof that I will have to get up on the roof either tomorrow or Saturday, depending on when everything thaws completely. Slush is just as slippery as ice. I think this is probably the worst roof leak we have ever had. Probably because the roof is not in good condition. I called a roofing company today that came highly recommended by a friend we trust. I looked at their website before I called and it seemed like they were quite knowledgable about flat roofs and the problems they create. We'll see. At any rate, an estimator is supposed to call me back tomorrow to set up a time to come over. 

In between all my cleanup woes, I still found time to walk. Dawn remains in the yard for the time being because it is still too dangerous to get her down to the park. Maybe tomorrow afternoon we can finally give her a walk. I was able to walk my entire route in the park today. Except for a few bridges, the roads and pathways were free of ice. There was lots of slush, but it wasn't slippery. I had good traction with my Hoka boots and never felt I was in danger of falling. Yesterday I had fears of twisting an ankle while I was off the trails tramping my way through the icy woods. Today was just a regular long walk. The only difference between any other day was that it was messy. I also got rained on for a bit. The cold rain didn't last long, but my outer jacket was wet by the time I returned home.

I got my steps today and am doing the best I can to manage the leaks. I still feel very tired and discouraged though. This is the rainy season and even if I do get a new roof fairly soon, we're going to have to wait until everything dries out to remove the existing roof and replace it. Lord knows how many times it's going to rain again before that happens. I may have to be dealing with the bucket brigade over and over again until it drives me completely crazy.

The roads are definitely drivable now. I may go to Home Depot tomorrow to get more tubs and five gallon buckets, along with some rags and sponges. I may get a ladder too. It's not really safe for me to climb up the bricks anymore. I'm in a bad enough mood as it is. If I break a leg, things will be even worse.

Hopefully, I'll still like the roofing company after we talk. I'm ready to do this. A new roof on a house like ours will be expensive, but it's clear that I need a new roof a lot more than I need a new car. I'm looking forward to a reasonably normal weekend. Hopefully it will be warm enough to take Dawn on her Sunday outing again. She hasn't had a proper walk since this mess started and she's starting to get cabin fever.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4460

What a nasty day. The weather wasn't actually as bad as the forecasters predicted, but it never is. Weather forecasters like to alarm people just as much as the next guy. Dawn wanted no part of today's cold weather. We tried twice this morning to get her to go down to the park and poop, but she wasn't interested. She stubbornly waited until later this afternoon to do her business.

I had planned to just stay inside today, but eventually I couldn't stand to break my Fitbit streak. I've gone over 111 days walking at least 10,000 steps and I wasn't going to let a little sleet stop me now. I put on my warmest clothes and left the house around 11 AM. Unfortunately my timing wasn't very good. I ended up getting caught in the only heavy rain of the day. It didn't last long. Just enough to get me soaking wet and very cold. Needless to say I didn't complete my route today. I headed for home after one mile which meant I only walked two miles today. That was more than enough. I threw all my wet clothes in the dryer and spent the rest of the afternoon warming up. It wasn't a total loss. I did get 12,000 steps. 

If I had just waited a few hours I wouldn't have gotten wet at all. So much to trusting the weather reports. I was convinced that the weather was going to get worse as the day progressed. When Janet returned home around 3 PM, we took Dawn down to the park again and she finally pooped. She wasn't up for a walk though and immediately headed back to the house. I think Dawn is a lot smarter than I am about the weather.

I hate sitting around the house on a cold day. Typically there is absolutely nothing I feel like doing. I'm not a big fan of Amazon, Netflix, or Hulu movies and I haven't read a book in quite a while. That's why work projects were so beneficial. They gave me something structured to do during the day without having to interact with other people. As a bonus, I got paid well for avoiding the idleness I didn't like anyway.

I should probably stop watching cable news, abandon social media, and just start methodically rereading the thousands of books that line all four walls of my office. I've forgotten what's inside most of these books, but I remember really liking most of them. I used to love the novels of John Fowles. I read every one of them. John Nichols Milagro Beanfield War was a favorite of mine. I always liked John McPhee's nonfiction books. The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed was fascinating. Maybe I just liked authors named John. Of course there was Ken Kesey, Hunter S. Thompson, R.V Cassill, and many more. Even Andy Warhol's autobiography was interesting. I don't remember any specifics about these books on my shelves but I was a prolific reader for many years. I wonder what happened? The only books I've read recently are Andy Wier's The Martian, Jenny Lawson's Furiously Happy, and a self published book by an old ad agency boss of mine.

It was cold enough today that I went through the ritual of starting my car and warming it up without leaving the carport. The car would probably start tomorrow anyway, but I hate to leave anything to chance these days. There is water on the roof, but the pumps seem to be working well. I'm hoping that I don't hear a drip coming from the ceiling during the night. Janet sent me a text message saying that there was a dead animal on the front porch after she left the house this morning. When I went out to dispose of it, there was definitely something gross on the porch but it wasn't an animal. I'm still not sure what it was. Maybe it was the rotted remains of an old squirrel nest or something a dragon threw up. Life is always full of surprises.

Tyson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4046

Another rainy day. Even Dawn got bored today. By the time the rain finally stopped around 4 PM, she was eager for a walk. Cabin fever didn't make her walk any longer, but she enjoyed all the new smells in the wet ground. When she reached her one mile limit and headed back toward the house with Janet, I continued walking. A long walk was about all I was going to accomplish today and I wanted to accomplish something. I was able to walk four miles before I noticed that it was getting dark. Even though the days are slowly getting longer, the sun still sets pretty early. By the time I returned home it was completely dark.

There wasn't much to do today. I decided to inventory a bunch of old camera gear and discovered a lot of things I'd completely forgotten about. Why did I buy this stuff? Did I ever use it? The answers to these questions are lost in the mists of time. On thing is certain. I've spent as long, long time photographing things.

I'm getting tired of watching static fire tests on the Boca Chica live feed. The SN9 Starship has had multiple static fires this week. The rocket sits there for hours doing nothing and then the actual test lasts about one second. Space X must be learning something because they keep doing these tests over and over again. Next week SN9 will do another high altitude hop. That will be worth watching.

I'm seeing more and more people posting pictures on Facebook when they get vaccinated. Is this the thing to do now? They even have stickers that say they got vaccinated, just like those stickers you get when you vote. Most of these people I see are younger than me and have nothing to do with the health care industry. I wonder how they got the vaccine? I thought this first round of shots was only for first responders and old people. I'm still in no hurry. I'm happy to let these eager beavers be the guinea pigs.

We had a short power outage today, but the new detector I installed that is supposed to monitor our household wiring and power lines didn't detect anything. Hmm. This gadget probably doesn't work any better than the noisy dehumidifier that keeps rattling in the bathroom. One of my watch winders quit working today as well. I guess that's not a big deal, since I don't wear mechanical watches anymore anyway. A lot of new stuff just isn't made very well. When I was cataloging camera gear this afternoon, I kept noticing that the older something was, the better it appeared to be made.

I decided to go paperless with a few more bills today. I'm getting tired of wondering whether something got lost in the mail. Pretty soon everything will be paperless. I never thought I'd get to this point, but our mail service isn't what it used to be. Most of the mail we get these days is junk anyway. Maybe my goal is to just be able to throw all the mail away without even looking at it.

The trash has been taken out to the curb and Dawn is waiting for her late night snack. This day is done. I don't expect anything exciting to happen tomorrow, but you never know.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4045

It's dental week at our house. Yesterday, Dawn got her teeth cleaned and today I did the same. My proceedure was a lot simpler than Dawn's. There was no anesthesia involved and I was in and out in less than an hour. I think it took me longer to drive back and forth to the dentist's office than it did to get my teeth cleaned. My dental hygienist always seems pleased with how I care for my teeth. I do try. I think I'm doing penance for all those years when I wouldn't see a dentist for decades at a time. Now I get new x-rays once a year and have my teeth cleaned every six months.

I'm always surprised that my dental hygienist wants to talk. How can you talk with a bunch of dental implements in your mouth? There's an art to having a conversation during a dental cleaning. There are lots of long silences. We mostly talk about dogs, but I did learn that dentists and hygienists aren't on the vaccine list yet. This surprised me. My doctor and most nurses I know have already been vaccinated. You'd think that dentists would be at the top of the list since they are right in your face when they are working on your teeth.

Dawn didn't get a walk today. It was a cold, rainy day and she was much happier just taking a long nap on the bed. I insisted on getting my steps and kept checking the weather radar until a found a little gap in the weather pattern that would allow me to walk a few miles. I'm not very good at gauging these intervals anymore. I did pretty well for the first three miles, but on the last mile back home I got soaked. Oh, well. It wasn't much of a walk, but I got 10,000 steps and closed all three activity rings on my Apple watch.

There's a new episode of The Expanse every Wednesday, so this gave me something to do after I returned from the dentist's office. Episode Eight wasn't that good, but I watched it anyway. By next week I will have totally forgotten what happened. This type of episodic television isn't very memorable. There is always a cliffhanger at the end of the show and nothing gets resolved. I could probably watch the same episode over and over again and never realize that I'd seen it before.

I've been reading a lot of articles on beginning astrophotography and I'm starting to realize that the premise of my own article isn't that unique. I'm going to have to rethink the article I'm planning to send to Sky & Telescope or it will never get published. No magazine is going to publish something that they have already published several times before. I'm not sure I even have anything interesting to share, since everything I know about astrophotography is based on a few clear nights in West Texas last October. Nothing ventured, nothing gained though. I know that I need to write about any interesting experiences I have since I really don't do that much. You can't let a good experience go to waste. We'll see what I can come up with. I'll start reworking my outline next week.

I hope the weather clears up tomorrow. I tend to get cabin fever on rainy days, but don't like to drive in the rain. Since I don't like watching television either, it leaves me with very little to do. I'm glad I got a short walk in this afternoon after my dental appointment. The rest of the day was spent doing laundry and paying online bills. Exciting stuff. I'm still researching telescopes and astrophotography gear, but there's definitely no hurry to buy anything. I might not see the stars again for months.

April is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4035

Snow day. It didn't snow for long and the snow didn't stick. There were a few large flakes though. It's been a while. We learned pretty quickly that Dawn doesn't like snow. There were lots of pictures on Facebook of Dalmatians running around playfully in the snow, but Dawn refused to go outside. Eventually she went out for a few seconds to pee, but she immediately raced back inside again. It was actually her kind of day. She got to sit on the bed with Janet for most of the day while Janet watched movies.

I ended up watching movies too. There wasn't much else to do. I binge watched Season 5 of The Expanse. The season must not be finished yet, because there were only five episodes. I take back what I said yesterday. The show actually did become more interesting the longer I watched.

As the day progressed the snow changed to rain and then the rain subsided to a dismal light mist. I was determined to get my steps, so I bundled up in my warmest coats and went walking. My outer coat got a little damp, but I stayed warm. I walked my usual five miles and it was good to be outside. My feet didn't hurt today, but my shoulder did. It must be the weather. Arthritis does that sort of thing. I hope the shoulder pain goes away. I really hate taking pain meds.

The house has felt cold all winter, although the thermostat says the temperature is exactly the same as it was last year. I tend to wear sweaters around the house during the day and always put a blanket on the bed at night. I don't remember doing this in the past, even though we have definitely had colder winters. I wonder if old people become more sensitive to cold? That's a pleasant thought. Next winter I'll probably have the temperature up to 80 degrees and still be shivering.

I live in fear of the furnace going out during the winter. So far, so good. I used to live in fear of roof leaks, but my repairs have held up admirably. I know there's water on the roof right now, but I'm going to wait until the weather clears up to go inspect things. I wasn't always this confident, but I'm still superstitious. I can't leave the water up there too long, because it's just inviting problems. I guess there's no hurry. The way my shoulder feels today, I couldn't make it up on the roof anyway.

Hopefully I can get the outline for my next Sky & Telescope article off to my editor tomorrow. I'll have plenty of time to complete things no matter what the weather's like. There are no more episodes of The Expanse to watch. I squandered the entire new season today. 

I wonder if Dawn will be more enthusiastic about walking tomorrow? I kind of doubt it. She was certainly happy enough doing nothing today. We'll see how it goes. It's supposed to be a lot warmer tomorrow afternoon. If Dawn won't walk, I certainly will. I've convinced myself that I've got to keep moving. Whether this is true or not doesn't even matter. Walking provides a structure to my day and gives me something to do.

What am I going to do tomorrow? My fruit smoothie and several cups of coffee will take care of the morning, but then what? I've finished updating my website after procrastinating about this for several years. Just about the only thing left is cleaning up the office. Heaven forbid.

Murphy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4025

Today was a fitting end to 2020. The weather was absolutely miserable. There was a heavy all day rain and the temparature was in the mid thirties. It felt even colder with a wind chill in the twenties. Needless to say, Dawn didn't get a walk today. She wouldn't have wanted one anyway. It was hard enought to get her to go out in the back yard and pee. Yesterday and today have broken my Fitbit streak. The only steps I got today were walking back and forth between the office and the kitchen to get more snacks.

It's too bad I don't like watching television. Today was tailor-made for watching movies on Netflix or binge watching a new series on Amazon Prime. Without our long morning walk, the day seemed impossibly long. I looked at Facebook for a while, watched some astronomy videos on YouTube, and kept checking on the pumps to make sure that they weren't clogged. I can turn on the pumps from indoors now, but unfortunately I can't see if water is coming out the hoses. To do that I have to go out in the back yard and look around the side of the house. It still beats climbing up on the roof though.

Eventually I got bored enough to start building the new company website I've been postponing forever.  I deconstructed a few websites I like and examined their code to see how they accomplished all their fancy tricks. Once I figured out how these things worked, I started building something similar myself. I didn't really think I'd make much progress, but I had all day. By dinnertime, I had the outline of a pretty nice site. I'm pretty sure I can finish this over the weekend. I don't really expect the new site to bring me any business.  It's just a way to keep my hand in the game.

I'm not really sure who visits my existing website anymore. There was a time when it was considered somewhat innovative and I remember that it used to bring me business. That's ancient history now. It's literally been decades since one of my sites was nominated for Website of the Year and even longer since another site I designed was included in a Ryder Publications book called The World Wide Web Top 1000. I was a very early adopter and did pretty well designing very simple static sites. When Google decided that websites needed to be mobile friendly to be included in their search results, it was time for me to pack it in and pass the torch to a younger generation. To this day I have never looked at a website on my phone.

New Year's Eve is one more thing that never changed for us during the pandemic. Many years ago my band used to routinely play New Year's Eve parties, but it has been a long, long time since Janet and I have left the house to celebrate. We struggle to stay awake until midnight. We'll have a glass of champagne and eat some cheese and crackers as we watch the ball drop on TV. That's what we'll do tonight if we don't fall asleep watching Perry Mason. 

I hope that 2021 ushers in a return to normalcy, but I have my doubts. Realistically, things will probably get worse for a while. Many people are starting to say that Covid will become like the flu and never really go away. Society has already changed so dramatically that there isn't going to be a return to normal. Whatever was normal a few years ago is gone. Have you seen that Boston Dynamics video with the dancing robots? When robots can dance better than you can, you can probably kiss your jobs goodbye. Companies have already learned to operate with a lot fewer people during the Covid lockdowns. I'm convinced that this trend will continue. All things considered, this is a good time to be retired.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4024

It was cold and wet today. Dawn was smart. She quickly went outside and did her business after we woke up and then didn't want to leave the house for the rest of the day. I foolishly thought I could take advantage of a break in the weather and get some steps in. It didn't take long for the rain to start again and I ended up getting wet after I finished my first mile. Janet was smarter. She went to the gym to get her exercise.

Nothing gives you cabin fever like a cold all day rain. I made sure the pumps on the roof were working, but there were very few projects I felt like starting today. After drying my wet clothes, finishing my morning smoothie and wasting as much time as I could on the computer, I eventually became so bored that I decided to go to the grocery store in the rain. I would have waited until tomorrow, but it is supposed to rain all day tomorrow too.

I was surprised at how much traffic there was on this cold dismal day. Were all these other people bored like me or did they actually have important things to do? I got the things I needed and came home again. Of course I had to wash the car because I can't stand a muddy car.

I think the dehumidifier company sent me a factory second. The unit seems to work fine, but it makes a strange rattling noise that sounds like something is loose inside. The other dehumidifiers never made this noise. There is something strange about the mechanism that shuts the unit off when the tank is full as well. It doesn't seem to be connected to anything electrically, so I don't know how it can turn the unit off after the water bucket becomes full. How do I test this thing without flooding the house? For now, I'm just turning it off at night. Better safe than sorry. I hate to complain to the manufacturer because they did give me this thing for free.

I hate the fact that the virus appears to be getting worse even though many states are completely shut down. When is this thing going to end? I'm really hesitant to travel now. It would probably be foolish to go anywhere. So much for following rocket launches for a while. I keep reading that hospitals in Dallas are filling up again, but I still don't know anyone in town who had become sick. It's all very strange. It's easy to become paranoid when you turn on the news. There's always a story about some young, healthy athlete who got the virus and died a few days later. I try to stay safe, but part of me thinks that everyone is going to get this virus eventually.

I've started following a few astrophotography groups on the Internet. It's become pretty apparent that this is all about accumulating as much gear as you can and then trying to figure out how to hook it all together. There is a lot more talk about gadgets on these groups than about objects in the sky. It was pretty much the same when I collected watches or even model trains. Time will tell whether I have the patience to take hundreds of pictures of the same object, call the resulting photographs "data," and then meticulously stack them all together along with dark, flat, and bias frames to produce an image that would be impossible to see with your eye. I love looking at the night sky, but I also like getting a good night's sleep and am not a terribly patient person.

I'm not looking forward to tomorrow. Every forecast I've looked at says there's a 100% chance of rain for most of the day. The best thing about tomorrow is that 2020 will be over. Let's hope that 2021 turns out a little better.

Penny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3924

We met Clyde today. He's a friendly, affectionate owner surrender who's probably still wondering what he's doing at a boarding kennel. Whenever I see a dog that has voluntarily been surrendered, I wonder how this could happen. Dogs are family. I just can't imagine treating a dog this way. Clyde will get a second chance though and I'm confident that this time things will work out better for him. I don't think it will take long for Clyde to find his forever home. We heard that he's already got someone looking at him.

When we go up to visit the Dalmatians at the kennel, that usually takes care of the day. In a post-Covid world having one interesting thing to do a day is plenty. There are many days where nothing happens at all. It's fun spending a few hours getting to know these dogs a little better. Each of them has their own personality, but they are all Dalmatians. You could never mistake a Dalmatian for any other breed.

We spent most of the day wondering when the rain would start. It was overcast all day, but we managed to stay dry on our morning walk. It was a little chilly out and I kept thinking that I should have worn a jacket.   I spotted two more White Pelicans this morning. One by one they are all making their way to their winter home. We didn't see the baby ducks this morning, but it was still pretty dark outside. Dawn managed to spot two rabbits this morning. She is much more interested in the rabbits than the ducks. I think we all had a good walk.

I was planning on calling my contact at the Air Force today, but ended up just paying some online bills instead. I've been looking at the long range weather for launch week and thunderstorms are in the forecast before, during, and after the scheduled launch day. Forecasts can change, but it's not looking good now. If I were a betting man, I'd bet that the Delta IV Heavy launch will get postponed again. 

I really have mixed emotions about traveling. I'm getting a bad case of cabin fever and would really like to start covering launches again. There are some interesting things going on between now and Christmas. On the other hand, I just read an article that said over 11,000 people have already tested positive for Covid after flying on airplanes. I'm hearing more and more that airplanes aren't so safe after all. Who knows what to believe though. There are so many conflicting opinions about almost everything. I'm cynical enough to think that we may never hear of the virus again after the election is over.

Once again, I failed to make any more roof repairs before the rain started. This happens a lot. I probably should have applied the silicon on one of those really hot days last month, but it's a miserable job. I'm still waiting for a stretch of three or four clear, cool days where I can make the repairs without burning my arms and legs. Maybe next week will be good. After the current storms pass through the area, I see a long stretch of sunny days ahead.

I'm still a little surprised that I actually enjoyed the Zoom call last night. Maybe being completely isolated isn't such a good idea after all. One of the things I liked so much about covering launches and spending time at the observatory was that I got to meet really interesting people, but I was still basically on my own.      I need to figure out how to get back to West Texas. Spending long hours alone on Mount Locke punctuated by interesting dinner conversation with astronomers was just about perfect.

Rowe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3794

When a solitary person like myself starts getting cabin fever, things must be getting bad. I guess I spend more time shopping and going to restaurants than I realized because I'm really getting the urge to buy something I don't need. I look forward to our long walks with Dawn every morning, but my reaction when we return home is usually "Now what?"

It's a shame I won't be able to go to Kennedy Space Center for the Crew Dragon launch. This would be the time when I would be making reservations and actively planning for the trip. I've got some new lenses I'd like to try at the launch. There was a magazine interested in having me do a story. Watching the launch on NASA TV just isn't going to be the same.

It's probably going to rain tomorrow since I went up on the roof this afternoon and cleared away the remaining water from the last rain. One of the pumps doesn't seem to be working well anymore. I don't know what to do other than buy a new pump. I've burned through quite a few pumps over the years. The first pumps were made of metal and were tough as nails. I had one that lasted for over fifteen years. The quality seems to gradually deteriorate on each new generation of pumps. I'm sure these new ones are made in China.

Many stores are open again in Dallas. Janet got some new running shoes today. She asked whether I wanted to come along but I was having a bad allergy day and didn't want to sneeze in the store. I do need new shoes though. Shoes don't last that long when you are walking 20,000 steps a day.

How long can the coronavirus continue to be the only topic of conversation nationwide? I think people are already starting to experience disease fatigue. The longer society is disrupted, the more people will start demanding a return to normal. Clearly a plague isn't normal, but neither is locking down an entire country. This can't be sustained indefinitely. I may be wrong, but I predict that if a cure isn't developed in a reasonable amount of time, we will simply stop talking about the dead. As a society we have a remarkable ability to sweep almost anything under the rug.

It's a shame that a health crisis is being politicized, but eventually everything is politicized in this country. The election in November is going to be all about the virus. Pick a side. If you think there is nothing more important than human life, you may change your mind if you are dead broke and without a job in November. If you think it is absolutely essential for society to return to normal, you may change your mind if a loved one becomes sick.

Almost every day I see well known local restaurants announce that they are shutting their doors for good. It's sad to see how unfair the lockdown had been. Home Depot and Lowes have never done better. Their business is thriving. Local businesses a block aways from these stores are dead. They will never return. Who decided which businesses would get to stay open? Clearly safety wasn't the primary factor. Every time I've been to Home Depot lately, the store has been packed. Stores that were designated as "essential" are actually doing more business now than they were before the pandemic. This just seems all wrong to me. I don't like seeing politicians picking winners and losers.

I've taken the week's trash to the curb and there is no more fresh fruit in the refrigerator. This always marks the end of the week for me. Tomorrow I will make myself an omelette and watch politicians argue with each other on TV while I drink my morning coffee. We'll take Dawn on a nice long walk and then I'll wish I had another computer to fix. It's going to be a long, long summer.

Lady is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3708

I woke up in plenty of time, but failed to see the moon pass in front of Mars this morning. The sky was overcast and it was starting to rain. I kind of expected this but I had to give it a try. I turned on the roof pumps and went back to bed.

It rained pretty hard for several hours, but so far there have been no additional leaks. It's far too early to say whether my recent repairs were successful. If a leak is small, it can take several days for the water to find its way inside. I discovered that Dawn doesn't like rain any more than I do. It's hard to get her to go outside and pee in the morning when the yard is wet. This morning, some water fell on her from the trees when the wind blew and it sent her racing for the back door.

After breakfast Dawn and I took a long nap while Janet was at the gym. It seemed like the right thing to do. The house was warm and there was no point in getting wet. I've learned that when a dog feels like napping, it's often best to join them. There's always time to be productive later.

I actually was fairly productive today. I finished my article about the Solar Orbiter launch. It wasn't the best article I've ever written, but it was far from the worst. Maybe I can still find a publication that is interested in publishing it. I've sent query letters to a few magazines, but interest in these types of things fades quickly. We'll see. It's too bad that SpaceFlight Magazine only wanted pictures this time. They're still my best hope for stories about rockets.

Dawn loves a walk. When the rain eventually stopped, we got out her harness and leash. As soon as she saw these things, she immediately started smiling and wagging her tail. She was ready. Dawn is wearing Dot's old harness and it fits her perfectly. It's nice to know that a simple thing like a walk in the park can give a dog such pleasure. I have a feeling that Dawn never got taken on many walks before. Those days are over.

I've got to keep moving, so I put on an extra coat and headed out again after we returned home with Dawn. We didn't want to walk her too far, since her injuries are still healing. There's nothing wrong with me, so an extended walk still sounded better than staring at the ceiling and waiting for the roof to leak. I needed my steps as well. I do wish that we could just fast forward to Spring. I'm really tired of all this rain.

It looks like the weather is going to be even worse tomorrow. I hope the forecast is wrong because cabin fever is real. Even though I spend most of my time around the house anyway, I always feel trapped on a rainy day. Blue sky improves my mood enormously. At least I've got a dog to curl up with on a rainy day. Dawn has her priorities straight. According to Dawn, on a rainy day you just don't get out of bed.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3656

It rained a lot today. I tried to avoid getting wet, but there weren't a lot of breaks in the weather. I tried something different for breakfast this morning. Since I was out of fresh fruit, I made the dish I submitted to the SXSW Cookbook many years ago. I was actually an SXSW presenter back in the day. When they asked me if I wanted to be included in a cookbook featuring recipes from various other SXSW presenters and participants I jumped at the chance. Most of the recipes were from famous people like Sheryl Sandberg. And then there was me. Not surprisingly my recipe was something to eat for breakfast.

I managed to go to the grocery store after breakfast and get some more strawberries and blueberries before the heavy rain started. Luckily, the pumps on the roof were working today. Even though the roof hasn't leaked in quite a while, I'm always nervous when it rains.

I had to postpone my walk because of the weather. There wasn't a lot to do around the house. I did a little searching on the Internet and discovered a retired astrophysicist who offered private viewing opportunities on his rather large backyard telescope. As luck would have it, the guy only lives about an hour from Dallas, so I sent him an e-mail and asked if he'd be interested in giving another retired guy a refresher course in deep sky objects. It looks like I'll go visit this guy on a clear moonless night sometime early next year.

Eventually, the rain stopped a little before sunset. I took an abbreviated walk just to make sure I made my quota of 10,000 steps today. I knew the park paths would be muddy, so I just walked through the neighborhood streets. Wow. There are a lot of new houses since I used to walk these streets with Spot and Petey years ago. Everything is bigger and more expensive than it used to be. I probably couldn't afford to buy a house in this neighborhood anymore.

For a dismal, grey day we ended up having a spectacular sunset. I almost missed it, since I was walking back towards the East. I was quite surprised when I returned home and looked westward before going inside. The sunset was pretty, but I knew it would be gone before I could go grab my good camera. I took a quick picture with my phone and then began fixing dinner.

Hopefully, the weather will be better tomorrow. I had a bad case of cabin fever today. For some reason I'm not very interested in watching movies even though we have Netflix and Amazon Prime. I've been reading some interesting histories of the Davis Mountains and the McDonald Observatory recently. I have to read things two or three times before I start to remember everything.

I'm not sure I'll make it to the gym tomorrow. I'm not even sure I'll remember it is Sunday.

Petey & Dot are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3408

Every time we get a heavy rain my first thought is that this was the worse storm ever. I felt this way last night when the rain was pounding down, but when I took my walk today I had to acknowledge that I've seen higher water levels at the lake before. I think my tolerance for bad weather isn't what it used to be. The rain was pretty bad though. Especially since one of my pumps on the roof wasn't working. I'm really glad that I wasn't traveling. I saw on the news this morning that one of the parking garages at the airport had flooded and lots of cars were completely underwater. This was the same garage where I parked when I went to Houston recently. A lot of travelers are going to be really surprised when they return home.

I was surprised that I even got a chance to walk today. Basically, it rained all day. I saw a little break in the clouds around noon and took advantage of it. I almost finished my three mile trek, but the rain started again when I was about 100 yards from home. I got wet, but it didn't matter. The next thing on my list was taking a shower.

I was almost certain that the roof would leak again last night, but the living room is still dry. So far, so good. Maybe judicious use of the two sump pumps is helping. The second pump started working again this afternoon, so I didn't have to go up on the roof and fix it. I don't know why these things are so balky. Sometimes they become clogged with leaves. There might be a bad electrical connection too. All the extension cords are underwater when it rains.

My contact at the auction house wants to re-offer some of the art that didn't sell recently with a lower reserve. Sounds good to me. The only other alternative is to take the art back and wait until the artist dies. A lot of art spikes in value after the artist dies. This plan probably won't work though, since the artist is younger than I am.

I found out today that the training class where we used to take the dogs on Wednesday evening had made a donation in Dot and Dash's memory to Dalmatian Rescue. This was so nice. Dot and Dash hadn't gone to class since they became sick several years ago and I was surprised that anyone still remembered them. I've still got some dusty ribbons that Dash won sitting on my desk. I continue to be amazed that he won ribbons for obedience when he was young, because as he became older and more stubborn he wouldn't even come when you called. Both dogs enjoyed the class. They probably thought the exercises were silly, but the weekly class was their chance to make friends and socialize with other dogs.

I hope that the weather improves tomorrow. Rainy days give me a bad case of cabin fever. It's not that dry days are all that exciting, but at least I'm not fretting about water leaks. I'll see if I can do something useful when the skies clear again. The back yard could certainly use some work.

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3357

It was 23 degrees and very windy when we woke up this morning. That added up to a wind chill of 9 degrees. Brr. Dash thought he wanted a walk, but I don't think he realized what he was up against. We dressed him up as warmly as we could this morning, but he didn't even make to the back gate. When he felt how cold it really was, he wisely turned around and returned quickly to the house.

We spent the rest of the day indoors. Dash ventured outside to pee occasionally and I made one brief trip to the post office to pay some bills, but that was it. Today's goal was to stay warm. Even Dash understood that it wasn't a day for walking.

I'm glad I got the water off the roof yesterday. Ice on the roof causes some peculiar problems. When the ice starts to melt, the heat from the house causes it to melt from the bottom up. This creates a layer of water covered by a layer of ice, making it impossible to remove the standing water under under the ice. These conditions are a recipe for leaks because if the weather is cold enough, the ice on top can last for weeks.

I canceled today's plumbing appointment because it seemed like a terrible day to dig a big hole in the ground. The ground looked frozen anyway and I had trouble seeing where the leak was. I have a feeling that the cold, hard ground partially sealed the leak. I certainly wasn't seeing any evidence of it anyway. I hope the plumber appreciated what I did. I definitely wouldn't want to be a plumber working outside today.

I sold a few trains in February. I'm glad the collection is getting some interest again. I thought there would be a lot of sales over the Christmas holidays, but I was wrong. Nobody bought any trains for Christmas. Zero holiday sales. Did somebody get a model train for Valentine's Day? Who knows. Stranger things have happened.

I updated the Dalmatian Rescue website today. It seemed like a good thing to do on a cold, housebound day. I do so little website design these days that I'm slowly losing my skills. I occasionally have to look up things that I used to know by heart. It's only going to get worse. Use it or lose it, they always say. I guess I could revamp my own websites to keep my chops up, but I just don't have the interest anymore. Hard to believe that I used to have dozens of active clients that required hours of work every single day. How did I ever find the time? Of course the dogs were young and healthy then. So was I.

I hope that tomorrow is warmer. Two days like this and Dash and I will both have some serious cabin fever. There's nothing all that exciting about a walk in the park, but it's good to get outside. These walks are physical therapy for Dash and mental therapy for me. I hope all the early wildflowers don't die. I'm starting to see Grape Hyacinth all over the place. Based on today's weather, I think these flowers may have jumped the gun.

Orion is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3334

I'm still looking for a better way to protect the bed at night, so I stopped at an army surplus store while I was out grocery shopping this morning. I thought they might have a small canvas tarp I could use. I was amazed at how crowded the place was. The store was packed with people wearing camo jackets buying all manner of knives, survival food, and cheap socks. You folks getting all excited about AOC's Green New Deal ought to visit an army surplus store first. Your revolution isn't happening. I have a feeling that there are going to be methane farting cows supplying McDonald's burgers for folks who love their F-250 Super Duty pickups long after your vegan, solar powered future is forgotten.

I found a tarp that was the right size, but I didn't buy it. For starters it was much more expensive than the much lighter tarps at REI. Then there was a big sign that said "For Outdoor Use Only." When I asked what that meant, I was told that the canvas tarp was waterproofed using a wax coating. OK. Was the wax toxic or something? The more I thought about a wax coated tarp on the bed, it didn't sound like such a good idea. I may come back for some of those cheap socks though.

I'm glad that Dash felt like walking earlier today. By the time we returned and finished eating breakfast, it was already raining. The cold rain continued throughout the day. The roof still isn't leaking, so I'm cautiously optimistic that the roofing crew found the problem. As much as I hate rain, I guess I still prefer it to snow. I can't believe all the snow they are getting in Seattle right now. I used to live in Seattle when I was younger and it never snowed.

Dash continues to amaze me. He's like the Energizer Bunny of old sick dogs. Even though he poops on the bed, has weird shaking and shivering spells, and can barely stand up at times, he still manages to save enough energy for his daily walk and is always nearby to beg for treats at dinnertime. Dash has adapted fairly well to using the Help 'Em Up Harness and lets us use it to help him on the bed at night and steady him while he is eating or drinking water. He needs a lot more rest now, but so do I. We're all getting older.

The Double-Crested Cormorants in the park seem to love terrible weather. We see them every Winter, but when nice weather returns, the birds are gone. I just wish the rain was gone. Unless things dry out a bit, I may not go to the gym tomorrow. I wish I enjoyed binge watching movies more, because Sunday looks like a good day for it. We'll see what tomorrow looks like. Sometimes cabin fever overcomes by distain for rain. I may be forced to go to the gym.

Jazz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3269

It was cold and rainy today. We got up early and managed to get Dash walked before the rain started, but I spent the rest of the day inside. I accomplished virtually nothing today. I turned on the TV during breakfast and the Bush funeral was still going on. I wonder how expensive this funeral was. The casket was riding on a special train today. I switched channels and the stock market was still crashing. It's pretty easy to see how expensive this is going to be. I turned the TV off and drank my smoothie in silence. It was that kind of day. I wonder why it always seems colder in the house on a rainy day? The furnace is working fine and the thermostat indicated that I should be toasty warm. Nope. I was cold all day. I put on a sweater but I couldn't relax. I kept looking at the ceiling and wondering when the roof was going to start leaking again. No roof leaks yet, but it hasn't stopped raining yet.

An old client that I hadn't talked to in years called in a panic today. Evidently their office manager abruptly walked out and quit and nobody else at the company knew the passwords to anything. How did they expect me to still know their passwords? I think these guys fired me five years ago. I wished them luck and tried not to laugh. They should have treated their office manager better. They should have treated me better too.

Since it was a very slow day, I watched the latest episode of the National Geographic Channel's Mars show. I think I've finally figured out the format for this show. In every episode there is a disaster on Mars that is used as a teaching moment to illustrate how similar disasters here on Earth could destroy the planet. In today's episode an unknown pathogen in the water on Mars was causing the crew to get sick and die. The parallel story on Earth was about how warming weather is causing anthrax spores to be released from the soil in Siberia which is also also causing people to get sick and die. Something like this happens in every episode. It's a miracle we aren't extinct yet.

Dash seems to be sleeping better now. He stays in one place for long periods of time and hasn't pooped in the bed for several days. This morning, he slept until 6 AM and then went outside and did his business like a normal dog. Are we doing something right, or is this just blind luck? It's really hard to tell. You'd think with Dash sleeping better that I'd be sleeping better as well. This doesn't seem to be the case. My Fitbit said I got virtually no sleep last night. Maybe the Fitbit is wrong. I do remember having a dream, so I must have been sleeping.

A lot of software and domain names come up for renewal at the end of the year. I'm thinking of letting some things expire this year. I haven't used Pro Tools or Avid Media Composer in several years. Do I really need these expensive subscriptions? There are several domains I have never used at all. Maybe this would be a good time to start simplifying my online world as well. I've got a week to decide. I always like to be ready for any contingency, but if I was smart I would just acknowledge that I'm not going to be doing much video editing anymore and let the Avid subscriptions expire.

I discovered a new place to try for breakfast tomorrow. Chili Rellenos Crepes sound delicious right now. The rain has got to stop first though. I'm not going anywhere in this weather.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3233 - Halloween

The only thing scary about today was the weather. The rain has returned with a vengeance. For some reason the rain usually starts about 9 AM, so I was able to give Dash a morning walk. After that, we were both housebound for the rest of the day. The roof leak hasn't returned yet, but I'm sure it will. The rain was certainly heavy enough.

Needless to say, I curtailed my storage warehouse moving activities today. There is no point in moving wet stuff. I need a rest anyway. When I woke up this morning, my back hurt even more than it did yesterday. A friend gave me the name of another mover, so maybe I can still get someone to do this for me at a reasonable price.

There is no consistency to Dash's sleeping habits anymore. He woke me up every hour on the hour last night. Half the time he was just twirling around on the bed to reposition himself, but occasionally I had to race to the back door to let him out. Our timing was good last night. Dash made it outside to poop every time. Amazingly, I was actually able to get back to sleep after these outings. I must have been really tired.

Sales from the model train collection are slowing down. I hope there are still collectors out there who want a nice rare train for Christmas. I've liquidated less than 20% of the collection so far. I've got a long way to go. At least the first series of art auctions at Phillips went well. My next auction starts in December.

It's weird that I spent the first half of my life accumulating things and will probably spend the rest of it getting rid of stuff. Possessions don't have the same meaning that they used to. Increasingly, everything just seems like clutter. My Dad had family to take care of his clutter when he died. I won't have that option. I keep thinking that I'd better get things organized now while I've still got my wits about me.

I got a reminder for an early morning doctor's appointment next week. I was confused at first, since I never make early appointments. Then I remembered that the doctor probably needed fasting blood work. I used to do these fasting blood draws all the time, but it's been a while. I think I'm healthier now.

I may be wrong, but Dash appears healthier too. He doesn't cough nearly as much at night and he is definitely eating better. Incontinence and weak rear legs seems to be his main problems now. We both have physical exams in November. I hope there are no surprises for either of us.

The rain should be stopping before midnight. Actually, it's supposed to be a clear day tomorrow. We'll see what happens. If the weather is nice, I'll continue moving things from one storage unit to another. I'm only going to move light things though. I learned my lesson.

Roxy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3219

I don't know how to keep Dash from pooping on the bed. He's slept on the bed for his entire life and he's not about to stop now just because he's become incontinent. We've tried all sorts of comfortable dog beds on the floor, but Dash isn't interested in them. He's still mobile enough to move around at night, so if we manage to get him positioned on a protective pad, he's usually somewhere else by the time we wake up.

Last night when Dash woke me up trying to reposition himself, I smelled something. Although most of his body was still on his protective blanket, his butt was on the comforter. This was messy poop too. Everybody got up. We cleaned Dash off. I took the large comforter outside and hosed it off and then threw it in the washer on the super hot germ killing cycle. We re-made the bed and tried unsuccessfully to get back to sleep. No wonder I'm sleep deprived. This happens almost every night.

It was raining again when we woke up, so I had to keep checking the weather radar and wait for an opportune time to take our morning walk. Dash doesn't really understand waiting. He pooped in the house again while I was finishing my breakfast. I had to wait until almost 1 PM for the rain to subside, but Dash was still eager to walk when we finally got an opportunity.

Since I was stuck in the house for most of the day, I spent a considerable amount of time watching the Phillips auction in New York. My two lots didn't set any records, but they met their estimates. I'm happy. I must be totally out of touch with today's art world. Artists who I am familiar with often didn't do as well as I expected, but several names I'd never even heard of set off a frenzy of bidding. Who were these guys and why did people want their stuff? I thought I was knowledgeable, but apparently not.

My soggy bills have finally become dry enough to pay and take to the post office. Unfortunately the glue on the flaps of the return envelopes had become wet and sealed the envelopes shut before I could put anything in them. I had to cut the envelopes apart and then tape them back together. What a waste of time. Online payments are finally starting to make sense.

A pair of my favorite dog walking pants tore today. I've repaired these old pants several times before, but I don't think it's worth the effort anymore. They are pretty threadbare. It's finally time to throw these things in the trash and break out a new pair. It's weird. I've got plenty of clothes that I've never even worn. Unless I'm going to a meeting or doing something special with Janet, I just wear the same things over and over again.

I wonder if this rain is ever going to stop? We're starting to get on the news now with lots of stories about flooding in Central Texas. I guess Dash and I were lucky to get a walk at all today. Our little excursion turned out to be the only dry spell of the day. I got caught in a downpour when I went to pick up more Plavix for Dash at the pharmacy and it's still raining now.

There is more rain in the forecast. If cabin fever was a problem today, it's going to be an even bigger problem tomorrow. Where is that new season of The Expanse I've been waiting for?

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day