Day 4871

The rocket didn't go anywhere today. Space X scrubbed tonight's launch due to the potential for severe weather in the area. Since the launch was postponed early in the day, we weren't even able to get our credentials. This was a disapointment to everybody waiting for their badges at the Press Accredation Office. We were hoping that we could at least go visit the Press Site today and get some pictures. I guess Space X didn't want us wandering around unsupervised. The launch has been rescheduled for tomorrow evening. The weather looks better tomorrow, but it's still not a sure thing. Basically, it has been a very rainy week. It's even raining in Dallas today.

I think there was some severe weather near Kennedy Space Center this afternoon, but it was very localized. When I went back to my hotel in Titusville, we didn't even see any rain until very late in the day. I guess this was a good thing because I was able to get my steps. I walked back and forth between the hotel and a Cracker Barrel restaurant at the other end of the street until I got my daily 10,000 steps. My timing was good because shortly after I got 10,000 Fitbit steps and closed all three rings on my Apple Watch it started raining pretty hard.

The rain didn't last very long and I didn't want to spend the entire afternoon in my hotel room, so I drove out to Playlinda Beach. This beach is located in the Canaveral National Seashore and is a place I like to visit. There are some nice views of the launch pad in several areas as well as an abundance of wildlife. The seashore is a protected nature preserve and is the longest stretch of pristine, undeveloped beach in Florida. The area is run by the National Park Service and today I traded my annual pass for a Lifetime Senior Pass. If you save your old yearly passes, they count toward the price of a lifetime pass. I ended up getting my Lifetime Pass for half price.

I did get a few photos of the Falcon Heavy rocket from the top of one of the walkways to the beach. The park service doesn't want you to walk on the dunes surrounding the beach, so they've built wooden walkways over the dunes in selected areas. I saw several other launch photographers I know taking pictures as well. Today, Playlinda Beach was the only game in town. It was a grey day and my pictures weren't spectacular, but at least it wasn't raining. Actually the weather was nice for the entire time I was out at Playlinda Beach and it only started raining again when I returned to Titusville for dinner.

I stopped at my favorite barbecue place for dinner. If I'm in Titusville I've got to have at least one meal at Sonny's. Most of the other launch photographers seem to favor seafood restaurants, but I'm from Texas and I'll take barbecue over fish any day of the week. When I travel I realize that I'd be fat if I made a habit of eating restaurant meals. Janet is a great cook and fixes really healthy meals. I'm lucky that I get to enjoy them.

It's too bad Space X didn't go ahead and have the launch today. The storms are gone and it's clear outside right now. I'm sure they had their reasons. I did see lightning several time times during the afternoon. The weather forecast said there was a possibility of large hail, but I didn't see any. I hope there is no rain tomorrow. At one point when I was driving through a short patch of heavy rain, my rental car had an electrical problem. The headlights went out and the GPS display went dark. Everything returned to normal a few minutes later, but this would be bad news if it happened at night.

I've changed all my reservations and will be staying another day in hopes that the Viasat-3 launch will take place tomorrow evening. Lets hope the weather improves. This isn't the first launch delay I've experienced and it won't be the last. When you are chasing rockets you've just got to expect these things.

Brady is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4657

I canceled all my reservations for the 27th and made new reservations for October 2nd. Will Artemis actually launch on the 2nd? I kind of doubt it. There's a good chance it will roll back to the VAB tomorrow and sit there for weeks. It doesn't hurt to be optimistic though. I can always cancel the reservations if Artemis has to return to the VAB. One good thing about the October 2nd date is that my favorite Airbnb is available again. I can't imagine leaving Artemis out on the pad with a hurricane approaching but stranger things have happened. NASA really wants to launch this thing. It will be interesting to see what takes place tomorrow.

The park was busy this morning. This always happens on a weekend. We have to stay alert so Dawn doesn't get run over by bicycles. The weather was nice and Dawn enjoyed her walk. We got a later start this morning and the sun was already up. You could tell that it was going to warm up quickly. It felt like it would make more sense to go to the gym today.

I got a late start on my grocery shopping because I needed to change all my reservations as soon as I heard that the launch attempt on the 27th had been canceled. I've finally learned to act fast whenever there is a schedule change. Every other journalist covering the launch was probably doing exactly the same thing this morning.

With my reservations in order again I went to get groceries. The stores were crowded, but this was probably just because I got a late start today. I'm sure they're like this every week. I filled my tank on the way back from the store. Gas is less expensive now. The decrease in gas prices wasn't enough to offset the increase in food prices unfortunately. Food prices keep going up.

The gym was almost empty today. I did my normal routine and came home. I should probably try a little harder to improve myself when I'm at the gym. I just do the same things over and over again. On many days I don't even work up a sweat or elevate my heart rate much. I do get my steps though, and I guess that is the whole point for me.

My task for the afternoon was defrosting the little refrigerator. We got this refrigerator after a power outage years ago. It's small enough that it can be easily powered by our generator. It's weird that this simple little dorm room refrigerator seems essential now. We use it every day.

Tomorrow I'll probably go mall walking again and then we'll take Dawn on her Sunday outing. Since the weather is getting cooler now, we might be able to take a real walk. If not, there's always ice cream.

Scout is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3690

I've changed my reservations so many times that it will make your head spin. The two day event at Kennedy Space Center is now a three day event. I guessed wrong on this new turn of events and will have to change my reservations again. Hopefully, I can add a day to my hotel stay. Currently, I have a choice of attending events for the press or events for social media influencers. I'd like to attend both, but they overlap. I've got to choose one or the other. I'm not complaining though. I'm definitely invited to this launch.

I had to run some errands this morning and was wondering why the traffic was so heavy on a weekend. Then I realized that it was Friday. It's getting harder and harder to tell the difference between Friday and Saturday. I'll probably make the same mistake tomorrow since I forgot to get everything I needed at the store and will need to run the same errands all over again.

I have an opportunity to place a remote camera near the launch site for close up pictures as the rocket lifts off while I'm at Kennedy Space Center. You attach a special sound trigger to the camera and the noise of the launch starts the picture sequence. I don't know if I have the nerve to do this though. Sometimes these remote cameras have been ruined by heat or moisture. I guess alligators might be a problem too. Losing a camera might not be a big deal to a commercial magazine photographer with a production budget, but it would be a big deal to me. I don't have many cameras.

Today was beautiful. It was still a little chilly, but I would prefer to describe the weather as brisk. There was plenty of blue sky and the wind wasn't bad. I only needed my lighter coat. Basically, it was a great day for a walk. I wasn't surprised that I saw a lot of people in the park today. You've got to take advantage of days like these.  It might be completely different tomorrow.

The clear skies reminded me of my plan to visit the little observatory north of town. I wrote the owner and made tentative plans for a visit around the middle of February. The plans will have to remain tentative until a few days ahead of time because you just can't depend on Texas weather. If I booked a day now, there could be ice, snow, or even tornados when the day arrives. Hopefully, we'll have clear skies though.

I wrote a letter to my sister today. I wish she'd just read the blog. I always end up repeating myself in these letters. I still believe it is a good idea to write letters though. It is quickly becoming a lost art. Everyone needs a few Luddite friends just to keep them in practice.

I made myself a delicious omelet instead of going to a restaurant this morning. I'm actually a pretty decent cook, but I've become hooked on drinking smoothies. I'm a bit apprehensive about going without my smoothies for an entire week while I'm out at McDonald Observatory. It really isn't practical to take the Vitamix and a week's worth of fresh fruit and bananas to the mountain though. They'll probably think I'm weird enough as it is.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3689

Sometimes it's the little things. I got the toilet to stop running today. I took everything apart again and soaked all the parts in vinegar for an hour to remove the built up scale. Then I bought a new ballcock membrane at a plumbing supply store. This tiny little piece of rubber was seventeen dollars, but apparently it is vital. After I carefully put everything back together again, the toilet worked normally. As I have mentioned many times, I will never buy a French toilet again.

It looks like the launch date for the Solar Orbiter has changed again. A new launch hazard warning has been issued, but so far I have received no confirmation from NASA about the new date. This makes changing reservations difficult. I was able to book another hotel for the revised date, but will have to cancel one of my reservations by tomorrow night to avoid a penalty. I can change my flight right up until the day of departure, but hotels are more difficult. When things are busy at the Space Center a last minute change in the launch schedule can leave you without a room. Hopefully, this will all be resolved tomorrow. I hate uncertainty.

The weather was even colder today than it was yesterday. It didn't seem to bother the birds though. The Egrets and Herons seemed at ease wading in the icy water. I was warm enough on my walk, but I needed two coats today. I'm beginning to think that dressing in layers like this will be better out at the observatory than my bulky Alaska coat. There was a stiff wind when I walked along the shoreline and I was still reasonably warm. A lot of people might think that a down jacket on top of another down jacket is overkill, but it seems to work great. Hey, I get cold easily. The inner down jacket is very light and the outer jacket is a larger size so it fits perfectly. Now I need to find some comfortable shoes that keep my feet warm.

My plan to get some astronomy lessons at the little observatory north of town hasn't worked out very well. There haven't been many clear days in January. I guess January has always been like this, but it sure seems gray and dismal this year. Maybe February will be better. I've still got some time. I'd really like to be more knowledgable when I arrive at the observatory.

I have no idea what I'll be doing tomorrow. I'm sure I'll check my e-mail a lot to see if there is any news from the Space Center. I need to answer the latest letter my sister sent. Maybe there'll be bills to pay as well. It's still not warm enough to make roof repairs, but that's probably useless anyway. I guess I should just concentrate on breakfast. Should I go out for French Toast or make an omelet at home? Oddly, little decisions like these seem just as difficult to make as the larger ones.

Malcolm is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3685

I changed all my reservations this morning. The Solar Orbiter launch has been postponed. I was kind of expecting that this might happen, but I hope it doesn't happen again. Just because you managed to make reservations for one date doesn't guarantee you can make them for another. Luckily, I was successful this time although hotels seem unusually full for this time of year. At any rate, I hope this new date sticks. Last minute changes are a lot of trouble.

It was an uphill battle to get my 20,000 steps today. I did my usual workout at the gym but it felt like someone had changed all the settings on the machines. I looked and nothing had changed. The only thing that had changed was me. I was terrible on the basketball court as well. Oh, well. We all have good days and bad days. At least I finished everything.

The sluggish feeling continued when I began my walk a few hours later. I blamed this on the wind. It was warmer today, but it was very windy. It looked like a good day for sailing. Not so good for picnics though. By the time I returned home I was finally starting to feel normal. It was odd that I felt sluggish today because I actually got a good night's sleep.

I thought about putting some more silicon on the roof, since it was so warm today. Then I remembered how windy it was and decided to wait until the weather was calmer. This stuff is messy on a windless day. I'd probably end up with liquid silicon all over myself on a day like today. I'm not even sure there is a point to continuing these repairs. I still don't know where the leak is.

I guess I missed my chance to go up to the little observatory north of town. There just weren't enough clear nights in January. Now the moon is back and nights will be getting brighter for the next several weeks. I read that tonight was a good night to see Mercury just below a very thin crescent moon right after sunset. There were clouds on the horizon though and I'd have to walk quite a ways to find an unobstructed view anyway.  It wasn't worth the trouble.

It's easy to talk me out of going outside at night, but it would be difficult to talk me out of visiting the Dalmatians. I'm already looking forward to our weekly trip to the kennel tomorrow. I hope everyone is doing well. We will continue our efforts to socialize the dogs and spoil them with treats. I haven't heard anything recently, but it would be nice to learn that a few more are on their way to their forever homes.

I listened to a little bit of the Grammy Awards this evening. Once again I didn't know who most of the artists were. I did know who Usher was, but was he really the right guy for a Prince tribute? Who am I to say? I'm still listening to Hotel California in the elevator.

Jazz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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