Day 4726

I would have preferred to sleep in this morning, but Dawn and Janet were ready to walk. Did it rain last night? The ground was very wet even though I don't remember it raining. There was a light mist in the air and my coat was damp by the time we returned home. Dawn had a good walk though. We took our lights this morning because we got started early, but we didn't need heavy coats. It was surprisingly warm today.

After breakfast I installed the latest firmware on the star tracker and tested everything to make sure it still worked. This took about an hour. I must have upgraded the firmware on this tracker at least a dozen times by now. There have been quite a few changes to the software app that controls the tracker as well. After many hours of testing, I've still only used this thing out in the field once. I guess it was a good purchase though. It has kept me occupied for many hours and I suspect that I've learned a lot along the way. One thing I've learned is that I'm not quite as interested in astronomy as I thought I was. The night sky is fascinating, but I'd really rather stay inside at night.

I changed my eye doctor appointment because it turned out to be on the same day I need to take Janet to and from dental surgery. When they asked when I'd like to reschedule, I felt like saying how about several years from now. I know my eye doctor is going to want to do cataract surgery and I'm not ready yet. Somehow it really bothers me that I won't be able to quickly change focus between near and far objects anymore. The artificial lens is just a simple fixed focus lens usually optimized for distance viewing.

It was fairly warm by the time I took my long walk, but it was not a nice day. It's been grey and gloomy all day. There were lots of people with cameras and binoculars when I passed the eagle's nest. I thought it was funny that the three Muscovy ducks were wandering through all the gawkers and being totally ignored. I'm sure the ducks thought the people were there to feed them and they looked pissed. "Hey, what about us," they seemed to be saying.

Construction continues on the world's most elaborate stone gates. I would have liked to be a fly on the wall at the meeting where the city approved these five gates. I'm still not sure what their purpose is, but there had to be a less expensive way to accomplish the park department's goals.

I think I've got my equipment ready for the first Santa Paws photo shoot tomorrow morning. I always take an extra camera body and a spare strobe light and power supply in case something breaks. Likely the only thing that is going to break is me. I'm getting too old for this. Dogs are small and I'm down on my knees a lot trying to get the best angle. I'm sure I've already mentioned that my knees are terrible. Last year I brought a cane to one of the photo shoots, but it didn't help much. Oh, well. This event is a good fund raiser for the dogs. I don't really do enough to help the rescue Dalmatians.

I can postpone my weekly grocery shopping, but I'm not sure how I'm going to get my steps tomorrow. Santa Paws days are long. Did I manage to get 10,000 steps last year? I don't even remember. 

Gretta is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4443

The weather was crazy today. It seemed unseasonably warm when we walked Dawn early this morning. The temperature was 70 degrees and we didn't even need jackets. We returned home thinking that it was going to be a nice day. I was dumbfounded when I walked outside again after eating breakfast and the temp-erature has dropped to 38 degrees. What happened? This sudden change seemed almost instantaneous. Oh, well. I put on some warmer clothes and took my long walk. The weird thing about this sudden change of temperature was that it wasn't accompanied by a lot of wind. It didn't even feel like a front was moving in.

I walked early today because it was time for Janet to have cataract surgery on her second eye and I was the designated driver. I was a little surprised that they scheduled both eyes so close together, but that's the way they do it these days. The whole procedure is amazingly fast. It was almost time to return to the surgery center by the time I drove home. I've been dreading having cataract surgery myself, but Janet's success with these procedures makes me feel a little more confident. The first surgery has already dramatically improved her vision and she said the second surgery went well too. 

The surgery center is super efficient and they always send the designated driver lots of messages about how the surgery is progressing and when and where to return. Some of these messages arrived while I was in the car driving back to take Janet home again. Much to my chagrin I realized that I've forgotten how my paired phone works in the car. Nobody calls anymore and I never listen to the radio. When the calls would come in I would press the green button on the steering wheel and couldn't figure out why I couldn't hear anything. The call was connected but I could barely hear a voice. How do I make this thing louder I kept thinking? After several dropped calls I finally figured out that you controlled the volume on the phone with the volume dial on the car radio. The volume dial was multi-function and controlled all the car's audio. Since I had turned off the audio months or even years ago, I'd almost forgotten that this button existed. When we drive to visit the kennel Dalmatians in Janet's car she listens to the radio. When I drive, we don't listen to anything. I've forgotten how to program stations in my car's radio. Basically I like silence. When I drive out to West Texas, I make the entire long drive in silence.

Apparently, another arctic cold front is headed our way. This seems a little strange because it feels like it is already here. Nope. According to the forecast it is going to be even colder tomorrow. It is supposed to rain as well. I just hope that we don't have any more freezing rain. If history is any guide, we will have to endure this erratic winter weather for another month. Occasionally we've had some really bad weather in March. I'll be glad when April arrives. It's officially Spring in April and wildflowers are everywhere.

I hope we don't allow ourselves to be dragged into another needless foreign war. Haven't we learned our lesson by now? I'm an unabashed isolationist and think our country would be a lot better off if we just minded our own business. The Vietnam era was pointless. So were the endless wars in the Middle East. I can understand why Putin would like to recreate to old Soviet Union. Maybe he succeeds and maybe he doesn't. I just don't understand why we are obligated to get involved. Let the Europeans handle this. I don't even understand why we are a member of NATO. Sadly the only thing that Democrats and Republicans seem to agree on is foreign wars. They both love a good foreign war. It's a perfect distraction from all our domestic problems.

I was able to walk three miles today. I guess that's progress. I was struggling to walk two miles yesterday. It's sad that my two regular activities have lost their magic. What would I replace them with though? Walking keeps me moving and blogging keeps me thinking. I still believe that physical and mental activity are equally important so I'll keep on keeping on. I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to look a lot like today.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4422

We walked Dawn this morning and then I took Janet to the eye surgery center. The place was huge. It was also crowded. I never dreamed there were so many people in town with eye problems. The surgery center was very efficient. I got text messages every hour updating Janet's progress. The cataract surgery went well and Janet said that I had nothing to worry about when it was my turn.

All our phones seem to be dying. I took another phone to the neighborhood fix-it place today and they put in a new battery in less than thirty minutes. This is so much easier than going to the Apple Store. On the way back home I drove by the eagle's nest and noticed that the area was being fenced off. There didn't appear to be any eagles in the nest, but I can almost guarantee that there will be wrecks along this stretch of road, now that the nest location is common knowledge.

On the other side of the road there now appears to be a growing contingent of eagle watchers.  Some bring lawn chairs and sit there for hours whether the eagles are there or not. This nest must be new. It appears that the whole city discovered it the same day I did.

I don't think I've done a good job preparing for the storm. We haven 't gone to the store and bought extra food, stocked up on batteries, or done any other panic buying. Actually buying extra food doesn't make sense. If the power goes out for any length of time, the food in your refrigerator is just going to go bad anyway. I was going to test my generator to make sure I can still get it started, but I can do that tomorrow. The generator is a little harder to start with a bad shoulder, but I'm pretty sure it still works fine. It's too bad that the power company guys didn't trim our trees near the alley before the storm. They're in the neighborhood now, but they haven't made it to our house yet.

When I took my long walk today, I brought a camera with me. The eagles weren't in their nest unfortunately, but I did see one of them a mile or so down the road. The birds hunt over a fairly wide area, so you never know when they are going to turn up next. Usually when you see one, it is sitting on a branch near the top of a tall tree. One of these days I'll get a good picture, but it probably won't be when I'm taking my long walk. It's too much trouble to carry a DLSR with a telephoto lens while I'm walking and the little pocket camera I had with me today just doesn't take great bird pictures. It does pretty well with squirrels though.

It's weird how dependent we are on electricity. We have a gas furnace, but it doesn't work without electricity. The fan and a lot of switches and sensors all require electricity. It's too bad we don't have a fireplace. A fire in the fireplace makes a long power outage a little less ominous. We do have hot water though. The water heater doesn't seem to require any electricity at all. Maybe this storm won't be that bad. I'm not a very positive person, so I always expect the worst.

Janet has a follow up appointment with her eye doctor tomorrow, but I don't think Dawn will be going to training class tomorrow night. The rain isn't supposed to start until the afternoon. Who knows when it will start turning to ice. I plan on hunkering down and not going anywhere until this is all over. Hopefully, we won't lose power this year.

Myles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4421

We picked up a new dog at our vet on the way to the kennel today. Peanut is a six month old male owner surrender. He was a little thin, but very healthy and well cared for. I never make judgements about why someone would give up their dog, but it does puzzle me when a dog this nice turns up in the rescue program. Peanut came with a big box of blankets and dog toys, along with a list of what tricks and commands he knew. Peanut knew quite a bit and totally charmed Janet and I, along with the entire kennel staff. We spent quite a while playing with him today because we suspected that this might be the last time we see him. Young dogs like this get adopted incredibly quickly. Don't worry. Charlie and Oliver didn't get left out. We spent a lot of time playing with them as well.

The weather was nice today, but the cold front keeps moving closer and closer. The bad weather isn't supposed to arrive until Wednesday but I can already feel a change in the air. I'm trying to take advantage of the nice weather while I can. I took my long walk early this morning so we'd have plenty of time to visit the kennel. On the way home I finally spotted the eagles nest, along with both eagles. I was totally surprised at where the eagles built the nest. I had always suspected that it was hidden deep in a thick wooded area away from human contact. Nope. These two eagles built their nest right next to a busy road in plain sight of everyone. It's only a few miles from our house. I don't know why I never noticed this before. I drive right by the nest every time I go to the post office. I've heard that the eagles have actually built two nests. I have no idea whether the nest I saw today was the new one or the old one. It was definitely occupied though. The female was sitting in the nest and the male was guarding it from a nearby tree.

The closer the winter storm comes, the more apprehensive I become. Everyone remembers the big fiasco last winter when big chunks of the entire state lost power for days. The cold is bad enough, but this storm comes with freezing rain. Ice storms are the worst because they knock down trees and power lines. I remember a few ice storms where we had to go stay in a hotel for a few days because the power company wasn't making restoring power to our neighborhood a priority. This was back when Janet was still working so we could all go to Janet's office during the day and warm up. Don't have that luxury anymore. I'd be nervous taking Dawn to a hotel anyway. She freaks out about doing anything new. Hopefully, the storm won't be as bad as it already is in my mind. We'll probably be OK. Most things aren't nearly as bad as they are in my mind.

Janet has cataract surgery tomorrow, so I'm the designated driver for a while. I hope the surgery goes smoothly and is as trouble free as most people say it is. I'm next on the list for this same procedure. I'll probably delay my surgery until next year, but I can already tell that I'm going to need it. I've made my living using my eyes for a long time and the thought of a doctor doing anything to them makes me cringe. They say you are back to normal remarkably quickly though. At any rate, I'll be paying close attention to what happens with Janet's procedure.

I took a camera back to the park late in the day to get a picture of the eagles in their nest. Not surprisingly, they were gone. If they went to this much trouble to build the huge nest, they'll probably be back though. I'll keep watching for them. Maybe I'll even have a camera with me. The birds are interesting, but dogs are still much easier to photograph.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4360

The television broke today. I hate it when stuff you take for granted breaks. Things like toilets, stoves, and televisions should never break. I started looking at new televisions and it seems they've grown quite a bit since our last one. An average sized flat screen won't fit in our bedroom. Jeez. I don't even like television, but it seems wrong not to have one nearby. I guess we could watch the little TV in the kitchen, but that won't work for falling asleep at night. Too bad this little mishap didn't happen a few days earlier so I could have snagged one of those Black Friday deals.

The weather continues to be exceptional. I continue to walk my same route but there's always something new to look at. The park department is ripping out some of the old trails and replacing them with new superhighway trails. This is not good news for me because the trails will be full of bicycles now. There was lots of activity this morning with surveyors staking out the route and bulldozers clearing a path. I saw several signs saying to expect disruptions until the Summer of 2022. We'll have to be careful where we walk with Dawn for a while. There are lots of new ways to get muddy.

I wrote a letter to my sister this afternoon and took it to the post office. I think the post office is one of the only places left in Dallas where everyone still wears a mask. My old bank closed recently, so on the way home I went to the new branch that replaced it. The old bank had three drive thru lanes for deposits and one for the ATM machine. This new branch had multiple ATM lanes and one drive thru for deposits. I guess that means more people are taking money out of the bank than putting money in these days. I used to always go inside the bank but Covid made me a believer in drive thru windows. I still go inside the post office though. I don't trust those blue postal boxes.

It looks like we added another Santa Paws location. Lord help me. These events are fun but they are hard on my knees. I think I've finally found all the equipment I took last year. I was missing spare bulbs for the strobes and a battery charger for one of the cameras, but everything has been located now. I've decided to use an old camera I know is dependable. Maybe I'll use my new camera next year.

I've got to see the eye doctor tomorrow. I know he's going to tell me that it's time for cataract surgery, but I'm going to try to wait another year. I can tell that there's something going on in my right eye now, but it doesn't seem too bad. I'm pretty sure I could still pass a driving test. Eventually I will need the cataract surgery, though. I keep wondering how it feels to not be able to focus your eyes. I've heard that new technologies like Crystalens make it possible to focus an artificial lens but it all seems a bit scary to me. You really don't know what your vision is going to be like until the procedure is over and you can open your eyes again.

Janet said Dawn did well in training class tonight. Little by little she is becoming more relaxed and increasingly confident. She may never decide to become my best friend, but she's really making progress.

Jada is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day