Day 4767

Today was very busy. Dawn got a bath. I went out and got ink for both printers and got them working again. All the batteries for my devices have been charged. The laundry has been done. I've answered my e-mail and caught up on all my messages. Of course Dawn got her early morning walk and I took a longer walk later in the morning. I still haven't finished packing, but there's still time. Hey, I've got to save something for the last possible minute.

I was surprised at how cold it was this morning. It was over 80 degrees yesterday, so I expected that it would be warm today as well. Nope. Texas weather is never predictable. The temperature was in the low 40's and there was a stiff wind. I was chilly on our early walk, but Dawn seemed to love the brisk weather.

Everything I did today seemed to take twice as long as I expected. The shower drain was clogged when I took a shower. Every towel we own seemed to be in the laundry. I wanted to switch to using Firefox on my laptop, but I had trouble importing my desktop settings. I still can't decide what clothes to take to Florida. Right now it's colder down there than it is here.

I felt like skipping my long walk today, but I went ahead and got my steps. I was reasonably fast today. I had to be. I doubt that I'll have time to take a long walk tomorrow, but Dawn will still get her early morning walk. Today I walked my regular route, counted all the ducks, and made it home in time to help Janet get Dawn ready for her bath. We go to a self bathe place in the neighborhood and Dawn always gets her nails clipped and her anal glands expressed while she's there. Needless to say, bath time is not one of Dawn's favorite activities. She looks so much better though. Her coat is actually white again. It's hard to keep Dawn clean after a bath because she loves to roll in the grass. Oh, well. She'll look good for a couple of days anyway.

I guess I'll finish packing after I complete this blog post. I hate packing. No matter how hard I try, I always forget something. Sometimes it's reading glasses and toothpaste. Other times it's a raincoat, or a sweater for cool mornings. At least I'm pretty good at getting the computers and cameras ready. I can spend hours transferring information from the desktop to the laptop and then just spend a few minutes throwing some clothes into the suitcase. True luxury would be having a Titusville apartment stocked with a full complement of everything I need. That's never going to happen, but it's something to daydream about on my long walks.

I've got my writing assignments now. The article the magazine wants isn't going to be as easy as some I've written in the past, but I'm pretty sure I can deliver what is needed. I've downloaded my boarding pass on my phone, so I guess I'm ready to go. Oops. My suitcase is still empty. I guess I've still got some work to do.

Suzie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4739

It was clear and cold this morning. I made sure to dress warmly this time for our early walk with Dawn. Even Dawn wore a sweater today. There aren't nearly as many people out on cold mornings but we did encounter a few hardy souls. I was just glad to see the sun again.

The leaks have finally stopped at the house. I put the buckets aways again and tried not to look up at the ugly stained ceiling. I still haven't found anyone who can fix everything but it's not for lack of trying. The world has changed and the suppliers I have relied on for years are no longer around. I'm not a big fan of online resources. Recommendations from friends are much better. Of course you have to have friends with similar problems for that to work.

I think I continue taking my long walk every day because it's a great way to kill time. I'm usually out for over two hours and that's two hours that would be totally wasted if I was sitting around the house. These walks are hard on my feet but are probably great for my heart. I've been doing this for so long that people wave at me as I go by. I don't know who they are, but I suppose I've become a fixture in the neighborhood. We've lived here for thirty years and I've always walked in the park. Spot, Petey, Greta, Dot, Dash, and now Dawn have all gotten daily walks in the park. People often stop me to ask about the dogs but often I find that they are thinking about the wrong dog. I guess if you don't own one, all Dalmatians look alike.

I still wonder where the eagles go when they are not near their nest. Sometimes I will go weeks without seeing them, but I know they are around here somewhere. I don't know where the White Pelicans go when they aren't at Sunset Bay either. It's hard to hide a hundred pelicans. The only birds I see consistently are the five domestic geese and three Muscovy ducks that live near Sunset Bay.

I paid a few more December bills today but that was about it. I wonder if something has happened to the price of natural gas? Our gas bill went up dramatically this month. It has been colder than usual but there have been plenty of cold months in the past where our bill was much lower. I guess this is to be expected. The prices for everything are becoming ridiculous.

It's hard to believe that it's already the middle of December. Where has this year gone? I did get to see Artemis launch and spent several days out at McDonald Observatory last Spring, but all in all it's been an uneventful year. I kind of miss working. A steady stream of writing jobs provided a structure to my life that is missing these days. There just isn't that much that interests me.

I've taken this weeks trash out to the curb and am already wondering what I'm going to do tomorrow. I keep thinking about restarting my Friday breakfast restaurant tradition but I'm not as hungry as I used to be. Some of my favorite restaurants have closed too. Maybe I'll get in the car and try something new one of these days, but for now a bowl of shredded wheat and fruit is just fine.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4711

Life is back to normal again. We took Dawn on a cold early morning walk and then returned home where I had my usual shredded wheat and fruit for breakfast. I enjoy traveling, but I eat healthier at home. I sleep better too. It's probably a good thing that I'm home a lot.

After breakfast I unpacked my bags, put my equipment away, and did a load of wash. I'm ready for the next launch trip as soon as my bank account recovers. Most of the morning was spent writing my article about the launch. My editor wanted a shorter article than I usually write. Writing something short and succinct is actually harder. I usually ramble on at great length. When the article was finished I edited a few pictures and sent everything off to SpaceFlight Magazine. A few hours later I got a thumbs up from the editor, so I guess I'm done with Artemis-1. I've been to the Michoud Assembly Facility and watched this rocket being assembled. I've been to the Stennis Test Center in Mississippi where it underwent an eight minute live fire test. I was there when the first launch attempt was scrubbed and yesterday I finally got to see it launch. Say what you will about this overpriced and long delayed rocket, but it is pretty impressive.

After our cold morning walk I thought I'd go to the gym today. Cold weather is not my friend. The temperature warmed up quickly though and I eventually decided to go on my long walk instead. It turned out to be a beautiful day. It's too bad my feet still hurt. I probably should think of a better way to exercise, but walking is easy. If I'm not having a good day I can always walk slower.

I'm glad the furnace is working well again. It still seems like this repair was way too expensive, but it was still much cheaper than a new furnace. It's a shame that the cost of virtually everything is spiraling out of control. I used to never think about the cost of things, but living on a fixed income in inflationary times will do that to you. Maybe I'm just being nostalgic, but life seemed a lot easier twenty years ago.

Looking at the night sky while waiting for Artemis to launch briefly rekindled my interest in astronomy. It's strange that so many of the things I like seem to happen at night. I'm not a night person at all. When I was in a band we always played at night. It's a lot easier to see the stars at night and I always write my blog posts at night as well. I guess I could blog during the day, but I'm usually waiting for something to happen. Some days nothing happens at all. It still seems odd that so many rocket launches take place at night. I've seen more night launches than day launches.

I wonder if anything interesting will happen tomorrow. Today was largely uneventful, but I did get 20,000 steps. I've taken this week's trash out to the curb, so the week is officially over for me.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4411

I'm getting better at finding the eagles. It helps to look for them late in the day. You almost never see them in the morning. Today I took a little point-and-shoot camers with a zoom lens with me on my walk. The picture still wasn't great, but it was better than yesterday's iPhone attempt. Too bad I didn't have the little camera with me yesterday. I was much closer then. This time the eagle was in a distant tree on the other side of a swampy area. I couldn't get any closer. I have better cameras, but this pocket sized one will have to do for now. The larger cameras are too cumbersome to hike with and driving to the woods where the eagles live isn't practical. Traffic is so bad on our street that I can't even get out of the driveway during the evening rush hour.

The temperature was even colder than yesterday when we woke up this morning. There was no point in making Dawn miserable, so we skipped the sunrise walk and took her on another walk after lunch. I waited until later to take my long walk as well, which is probably why I saw the eagle again. It was a clear day with no wind, so it got warmer fairly quickly. Twenty-three degrees seemed way too cold. Forty-three degrees seemed just about right. 

I didn't do a lot this morning. There was a ULA Space Force launch to watch on my computer that a lot of my Florida friends got to see in person. I got invited, but it's much too expensive to make a trip down to Titusville every time there's a rocket launch. I didn't set up the star tracker today, but I did try to trouble shoot my camera in case there were settings enabled that would cause the camera to shut off automatically when it was under control by the tracker. Another Kickstarter backer suggested that maybe there was an auto shutdown feature enabled on the camera. I actually found several settings that would automatically shut down the camera or put it to sleep if it was idle for a certain amount of time. Maybe this was the problem I was having the other day. I'll test everything again in a few days.

My editor at Sky & Telescope wrote and told me that he didn't think readers of the magazine would be interested in an article about my troubles with the star tracker. He seemed to indicate that they were more interested in products that actually worked. I beg to differ, but what do I know. This strange saga seems much more interesting than an ordinary product review.

I ordered our free Covid test kits from the post office today. Maybe Janet will need them when she goes on a cruise with her sisters later this Spring. It seems a little late for the free test kits and masks. If you haven't caught the virus after all this time, you are probably pretty safe. I still think the simplest and best way to avoid the virus is to stay away from other people. Works for me anyway. I don't want to be smug though. I'm a very superstitious person. If I ever bragged about being immune from the virus, I'd probably catch it the next day.

Dawn is slowly getting friendlier with me. When I returned from my long walk today, she started barking and came out in the back yard to greet me wagging her tail. She also comes out to supervise when I'm making her dinner now. We've still got a ways to go though. She still doesn't like to share the bed with me. If I take a nap during the day, she will usually get up and go to her dog bed in the kitchen. I don't think we're buddies yet, but she has decided that I'm a pretty good kennel attendant.

Is it already time to make a grocery list again? Where did this week go? I think it's supposed to be warmer tomorrow. That's something to look forward to.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4366

I ordered some Christmas gifts on Amazon this morning and within a few seconds after placing my order everything connected with Amazon crashed. Amazon Prime deliveries, Disney+, and the Amazon.com website were all down. This must have been a big service outage because it made the national news. I spent the rest of the day wondering whether my order actually went through, but eventually the problem got solved. All is well and my Christmas shopping is done for the year.

It was really cold when we got up this morning. I had to add a few extra layers before we took our sunrise walk with Dawn. At least the furnace is still working well. I'm thinking of cleaning the flame sensor before it goes bad this year. The furnace always seems to go out on a particularly cold morning when the last thing I want to do is crouch down in the tiny utility room and attempt to fix things before I've even had breakfast. Although it was near freezing before sunrise, things warmed up surprisingly quickly. By the time I finished breakfast and was ready to take my long walk, it was already warm enough so that I could shed a few layers. On the home stretch, I was even able to take my jacket off.

I got a notice today that the Kickstarter project I backed has finally shipped. It was supposed to ship in June, but I suspected it would be late. I'm still wondering whether this advanced computerized astro tracker is going to work. Communications from the Chinese manufacturer have been vague at best. One of the recent messages said to be sure to check my junk mail and answer all phone calls until the package is delivered. Hmm. I can tell you right now that's not going to happen. Evidently I will still need to pay import duties before the package can be delivered. FedEx is delivering the package. I wish it was DHL, but I'm sure it will eventually get here.

The mosquitos in the house are driving me nuts. If I have any exposed skin showing, they will bite me. Most of the time I don't even see the mosquitos until it's too late. These are smaller than usual and very stealthy. Oh, well. At least we don't have problems with ants or roaches this year.

A lot of people I've met on my NASA trips seem to have applied to become astronauts. At least three people I know posted their rejection letters today on Facebook. These people were all really talented, so the criteria for getting selected to join the latest class of astronaut candidates must have been really stringent. Even if I were much younger I don't think I would have applied. My stomach feels a lot more comfortable when it's on the ground. I took flying lessons once a long time ago and spent a lot of time throwing up in the plane. I passed ground school easily, but flunked out of flight school. None of the instructors wanted to go near me.

The sunset was beautiful tonight. I really ought to spend more time out photographing things. At the very least I should get a better phone. There's a lot of beauty out in the park, but most of the time all I am thinking about is how much my feet hurt. I don't think my photography days are over, but it's a lot harder to get interested. If I see something interesting I'll pull my phone out of my pocket, but that's about it. If it weren't for the Santa Paws dogs I'd probably forget that I used to do this for a living.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4136

I voted this morning. Like most local elections, the polling place was practically empty. There were only a few old people voting and most of them looked even older than I was. If you had a couple hundred good friends, you could probably win one of these low turnout elections. There were several initiatives on the ballot that were worded so ambiguously that it was hard to tell what you were voting for. When I see a lot of double neatives in the language of these initiatives, I am convinced that someone is trying to confuse me and make me vote the opposite of the way I intended. I seldom voted when I was younger, but my Mom finally convinced me that it was my civic duty. I still wonder though. I don't care who you support. There's just not a lot of honesty in politics.

As expected, it was really cold when we woke up this morning. It's pretty late in the year to experience near freezing weather. All is well though. The furnace is still working like a charm. I really should have brought the lawn mower battery inside last night. Forgetting to do this during a surprise cold spell is usually how I ruin these batteries. We'll see how it goes the next time I try to mow the grass. With my bad back and gimpy shoulder, I haven't had the nerve to try this yet.

My lost package still hasn't arrived. I've generally had pretty good luck with shipments so I thought that lost packages were just for other people. Several Christmas presents Janet mailed this year got lost and I keep hearing that unreliable mail is becoming a big problem. Maybe my luck has finally run out. The post office can't seem to find my package and neither can the shipper. Since I already paid for the memory chips, I'm sure that I'll eventually receive them. If the company has to send a duplicate shipment, I'm going to request UPS this time. I've lost faith in the post ofice.

Several of my photographer friends are already in Florida covering the upcoming Crew-2 launch. When I see their pictures on Facebook I can't help being a little envious. Most of the regulars live in the area and have gotten to know the folks that approve credentials. Even though I have gotten credentials to cover a number of launches, I still feel like an outsider. There's a big difference between going to Kennedy Space Center twenty times a year and going two times a year. This year, I'll be lucky if I can make it down there once. I wish getting press accreditation was easier, but then I wish everything was easier. Life just seems to be an uphill battle these days.

Janet took Dawn to the vet today to get her anal glands expressed and her nails trimmed. Dawn is healthy and I hope things like this are the only reasons she needs to go to the vet for a long time. I have so many bad memories of serious medical problems. Dealing with very sick dogs was one reason that Janet and I thought that we weren't going to get another dog after Dot and Dash died. Life is full of surprises though. I'm really glad we have Dawn in our life, even though she doesn't appear to like me.

I really do need to find another place to walk. My route has become so familiar that I think I could complete it with a blindfold on. I see a lot of the same people day after day, so I guess I'm not the only one leading a repetitive life. Even though it was chilly today, this is a great time of year to be outside. Everything is so green and new wildflowers appear every day. Perhaps I could make better use of my time, but I don't think so. Being outside is good. It certainly beats staring at this screen.

We'll see what tomorrow brings. I don't really have high expectations at this point. Maybe my package will arrive. Maybe I'll hear good news from NASA about the next launch I applied for. Maybe Dawn will stay in the kitchen with me while I eat breakfast. Naw. That will never happen.

Joe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4133

It was cold when I woke up this morning. I got up and looked at the furnace. Just as I expected, a red light was flashing. The furnace wouldn't ignite. I thought I was going to be able to avoid fixing the furnace this Spring, but I guess my luck ran out. If the furnace won't light, the problem is almost always a dirty flame sensor. It's not hard to fix. It's just a nuisance. I shut the furnace off, unscrewed several access panels so I could reach the sensor and got out my sandpaper. Sanding the flame sensor cleans it so that it will turn on the gas whenever the pilot light comes on. I've done this many times, but I wish someone had told me how to fix this earlier. When I first bought the house, the HVAC guys would come out, tinker around for a while, and then charge me a lot of money. I didn't know that all they were doing was cleaning the flame sensor.

An hour later I had everything put back together and we had heat again. This fix ought to last until next winter. There can't possibly be too many more cold mornings left. I was actually surprised that it was 40 degrees this morning because later in the day I was wearing shorts. That's what happens this time of year. The furnace comes on in the morning and the air conditioner comes on in the afternoon.

After breakfast we took Dawn to her alternate park for a walk and then got ice cream cones on the way home. This is getting to be a Sunday ritual. Dawn gets excited to do something different and seems to really enjoy these outings. We had one minor problem when she appeared lost at one point and refused to move. We thought the new park was familiar to her by now, but apparently not. To get Dawn started again, Janet sits about ten feet in front of Dawn and calls her. Dawn starts moving forward in small, jerky steps and finally she starts walking normally again. By the time we were eating ice cream cones, she had probably totally forgotten about the incident.

Since bulky trash day is tomorrow, I thought I'd spend a little more time cleaning up the yard. Anything I couldn't take care of today will have to wait until next month. I cleared weeds and brush from an area in front of the house and quickly discovered that weeding is not a good activity for someone with a bad back.    I have a lot more sympathy now for people with back problems. A bad back and almost any type of yard work isn't a good combination. I do feel a little better than I did yesterday, so hopefully this problem is just temporary.

After a short nap, I took my daily walk. I never was all that fast, but now I'm walking slower than ever. I'll have to forget about Fitbit goals for a while, but at least I'm still moving. The park was really crowded today. There were Little League games on the baseball diamonds and lots of people having picnics. There are always people feeding bread to the ducks despite signs saying that bread is bad for ducks and that you should feed them dry corn or peas instead. I see messages on the Internet all the time about bread being bad for ducks, but apparently nobody listens.

The extra memory I ordered for my laptop is apparently lost in the mail. I'll have to check on that tomorrow. I also need to reserve a car for my trip to the observatory next month. I keep reading articles that say rental cars are in short supply now. Apparently most of the rental companies sold off excess inventory during the pandemic and now that people are traveling again, they don't have enough cars. I won't have to worry about getting a rent car in Florida for a while. I can't figure out how to get NASA to reinstate my press credentials.

All in all it was a very nice day. Nothing exciting happened, but the yard looks a little nicer and we had a delicious dinner. They say that the Mars helicopter will fly tomorrow. The next Starship prototype and the Space X Crew-2 mission will launch later in the week. I feel out of the loop now, but maybe I can get back to attending some of these launches later in the year. 

Mattie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4008

With temperatures hovering around 32 degrees when we woke up this morning, we decided that it was too cold for an early walk. I ate my breakfast and waited for the sun to warm things up. It didn't take long. By the time Janet returned from the gym, it was pretty nice outside. Dawn was eager to walk and I had trouble keeping up with her. My feet were bothering me this morning and I eventually handed the leash to Janet. I think they arrived home a good fifteen minutes ahead of me. Oh, well. I see the foot doctor on Wednesday. We'll see what he has to say.

Since it was Monday, we spent the afternoon visiting Charlie and a new dog named Clyde at the Dalmatian Rescue kennel. I think Charlie expects to see us on Monday's now. When we arrive he races around like a maniac tossing toys in the air and catching them. We throw balls for him and play for a while and then take him outside to pee. After he has calmed down a bit we sit on a bench with him while he chews on a red Kong. Charlie is always chewing on something. Eventually Charlie gets tired and we bring out the treats. This dog will do anything for a treat and we've managed to teach him quite a few tricks.

Charlie and Clyde have completely different personalities. Clyde is kind of shy and seemed a little nervous around us today. He really likes one of the kennel attendants though so she stayed with us while we visited. I have a feeling that Clyde will be more relaxed the next time we visit. The kennel is still very new to him.

I got a check from Sky & Telescope today. The adventure that started well over a year ago has finally come full circle. I have been to the observatory three times since my initial visit in August of 2019. I have made some lasting friends. And I have gotten published in a magazine I have enjoyed since childhood. It's a good start. I'm already thinking of a second article to submit to the magazine.

Tomorrow Dot goes to the vet for her annual physical. She has recovered so well from her seizure incident that it's hard to believe the event even happened. We've got a list of questions for the vet, but there is nothing alarming at the moment. Dawn seems pretty healthy. She is going to need her teeth cleaned pretty soon, but hopefully there is nothing else on the horizon that would require her to be anesthetized. I hope that Dawn stays healthy for a long. long time. I have too many memories of serious illnesses with earlier dogs.

I don't know why it is so hard for me to throw away the two damaged dehumidifiers. My HVAC guy has explained to me how expensive is would be to get these things fixed. I have two perfectly good working dehumidifiers, including one that is still in the box. In my head I still think these things should be easy to fix. I guess that's why my storage warehouse is filled with junk. My large production printer is nonfunctional now, but I still remember the beautiful prints I used to make. I can't seem to throw this away either. I went to great lengths to fix three vintage synthesizers last year and I still haven't bothered to play any of them. It's a sickness.

Hopefully Dawn will get a clean bill of health from the vet tomorrow. Then it's my turn to go to the doctor on Wednesday and Thursday.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3997

I took my paperwork for the dehumidifier warranty replacement to the post office today. I was going to pay extra for delivery notification, but there was a long line of grumpy old people waiting to mail Christmas stuff. It seemed a little early to mail Christmas stuff, but what do I know. Several of the people were complaining that other people were standing too close to them. I wasn't going to stand in that line, so I just dropped my letter in a letter box and headed home again. I hope the mail doesn't get lost because I had to peel a label off the back of the dehumidifier and send it in to start my warranty claim. I have no faith in the mail anymore and don't have any extra labels either.

I've been wondering why Sky & Telescope hasn't paid me yet, so curiosity finally got the better of me and I wrote their billing department. The magazine initially told me that they paid on acceptance and that was almost two months ago. I guess it was a good thing I contacted the magazine. My invoice had gotten lost somehow and they had no record of it. They asked me to resubmit the invoice and this time I asked them to acknowledge that they had received it. I sent the invoice to exactly the same place I did several months ago, but this time it worked. When I asked what could have happened to the first invoice, the woman in the billing department just said "Hey, it happens."

It seemed really cold this morning. I wore two coats, a wool hat, and heavy gloves on our walk with Dawn. Dawn wore her winter coat, but she let us know that she wasn't having anything to do with that hat again. I don't know how Northerners can stand this kind of weather. It wasn't even snowing or anything, but I couldn't wait to get back inside again. Janet and I occasionally think about moving, but we quickly come face to face with Winter. Texas has its faults, but our Winters are definitely much milder than what you'd find in Wyoming or Idaho. Maybe I'm just getting old and soft. I went to high school in Alaska and I don't remember feeling as cold as I did this morning.

I had to go looking for a lower dose of vitamin D this afternoon. For years I thought it was impossible to get too much vitamin D. I took 5000 units a day for quite a while. Then I backed off to 2000 units a day. My doctor now wants me to take 1000 units a day. These lower doses are actually harder to find. The most common bottles on the shelves seem to contain 5000 IU pills. We'll see if this change makes a difference when I take my next physical six months from now. 

It was cold last night so I put a fuzzy blanket on the bed that Dawn seems to like. Usually she sleeps at the foot of the bed, but this morning when I woke up she was curled up right next to me. Interesting. Dawn's love of fuzzy blankets is much stronger than her fear of me. Maybe we'll eventually bond over a shared blanket.

I almost forgot that it was time to take out the trash again. This entire week has gone really fast. Our Santa Paws photo shoot will be here before you know it. After that, I've got a few more doctor's appointments and the year is over. We're thinking of having a Crown Roast for Christmas Dinner. Hey, that's something to look forward too. I love a Crown Roast.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3716

It was really cold this morning. We thought Dawn might like to wear Dot's winter hat on her walk. Dawn wasn't so sure. She gave us one of her huge Dalmatian smiles, showing not only her teeth, but her tongue as well. This was kind of a nervous smile. "What are you doing to me," she was saying. "This hat doesn't even fit." Dawn didn't have to wear the hat. She tried to humor us though, wearing the hat around the house for a little while without trying to shake it off.

One of the reasons it felt so cold this morning was that there was a fierce wind. The temperature was in the high thirties, but the strong winds made it feel like it was well below freezing. The weather didn't seem to bother Dawn. She still loved her walk. The sky was clear and there were lots of things to smell. Dawn really enjoys smelling things, but so far doesn't chase squirrels.

It's a shame that people steal packages off porches these days. It takes away one of the main benefits of ordering online. I had to re-route a FedEx delivery to a FedEx facility today. Hopefully, I can pick it up tomorrow. I do this for UPS deliveries as well. Janet picks up her Amazon purchases at Whole Foods. It's less convenient, but this is just the world we live in. Who would have thought that you'd end up driving across town to pick up a FedEx delivery or never answer your phone because you didn't want to talk to a telemarketer. I never thought I'd have to take my shoes off at the airport either.

It looks like I'm going to be really busy at the observatory. I received a ton of additional background information today. There are viewing targets for each Star Party night as well as a list of alternate targets in case it is partly cloudy. If your target is covered by clouds, I guess you just point your telescope somewhere else. There is a lot to look at in the night sky. The few things I'm familiar with don't even begin to scratch the surface.

Reading all this background material inspired me to send another article proposal to Sky and Telescope. We'll see if I get a response. I'm learning to be patient about query letters. Some magazines respond quickly and others seem to take forever. Sky and Telescope is always slow to respond. I hope I don't end up being a nuisance to the editors I've gotten to know. I think I want to hear from them a lot more than they want to hear from me.

I think I'm going to take my McDonald Observatory target list to the observatory north of town when I visit. It would be really beneficial to know where to find some of these objects ahead of time. I talk a good game about liking astronomy, but I really don't spend a lot of time outdoors looking at the stars. I don't like the cold for starters. Tilting my head sharply to look straight overhead occasionally gives me neck pain as well. It might have been easier if I was interested in stamp collecting instead.

I still haven't picked up another bucket of the silicon coating to apply on the roof. I'm going to regret this the next time it rains. I keep postponing this chore because the silicon material is quite expensive and it's a long drive to the roofing supply store. It didn't take me long to buy that wide angle lens though. I guess we all have our priorities.

Bingo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3383

Go home Texas weather, you're drunk. I had just about convinced myself that Spring was here and then I wake up this morning to hear the furnace running again. Winter has returned. It was cold and windy when I walked Dash, which was fine with him. He was still slow and forgetful, but the cold seemed to invigorate him and he was determined to explore new paths. We followed a coyote trail this morning which is never a good idea. It wasn't raining, but the ground was damp. By the time we returned, Dash was dirty and his protective boots were wet. So were mine.

Dash didn't want to take his pills this morning. He kept rejecting all the usual treats we use as pill pockets. He didn't like ham. He didn't like cheese. He didn't like turkey. Eventually, he took the pills in some leftover Jimmy Dean sausage. I could always pill Dot by placing pills directly down her throat when it became necessary. This doesn't work with Dash. He tries to bite you and if you do manage to get the pill down, he gags and tries to throw it up. As always, all's well that ends well. Once Dash decided to take his meds, the rest of the day went smoothly.

I had to get a bunch of things at Sam's Club today. They completely rearranged the store this week. Every single aisle had been moved and nobody could find anything. All the customers kept asking employees where things were, buy nobody seemed to know. It was as if somebody had come in during the middle of the night and reinvented the store. Even the brands on the shelves had changed. To make matters worse, the app I use to bypass the checkout line had been discontinued and I was forced to download the replacement app in the store. Of course I couldn't remember my passwords and I had to start over from scratch. The old app was simple and just recorded your transactions. The new app was complicated, played ads while I was shopping, and tried to get me to buy things I didn't want. Jeez. Who thought this was a good idea? I was so disgusted by this display of corporate hubris that I completely forgot to go to Kroger and finish my shopping on the way home. I'll have to go back and get peaches tomorrow.

I'd forgotten over the years that Blogger and Google+ have always shared a lot of functionality since the are both owned by Google. I've been getting warnings for several weeks that I need to remove any shared profiles and widgets from the blog before April 2 or they would just disappear. I clicked the "return to Blogger profile" button this morning without realizing that I never had a Blogger profile in the first place. Suddenly my blog description was blank and there was no way to return to the Google+ profile to see what I had written. I had to write a new profile from scratch. I briefly wondered why I was even doing this. Very few people read the blog anymore. Blogging has become passé. I think the cool people have moved on to podcasts now. The popularity of blogging peaked quite a few years ago.

When I was walking Dash this afternoon, one of his rubber boots and a sock came off. This is the equivalent of having a flat tire in your car. I needed to replace the boot so Dash's paw wouldn't bleed, but Dash wasn't being very cooperative. I couldn't hold him up and replace the boot and sock at the same time, so I had to get him to lie down in the grass. The grass was wet and Dash wasn't pleased. I eventually got the boot back on, but when I got home I noticed that it was inside out. I'm glad this doesn't happen very often.

I hope it is warmer tomorrow. Flowers are blooming. Trees are turning green. It is supposed to be Spring.

Sparky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3317

I didn't want to get up this morning. It's probably good that I don't set the schedule around here because I'd end up sleeping till noon every day. Dash always likes to walk right after he takes his morning meds and Janet likes to take early classes at the gym, so we get an early start on Wednesdays. Today, the temperature was below freezing when we woke up, so Dash needed his full Winter outfit. It takes a while to get all his gear on, but it's worth the effort. Dash moves so slow now that he'd freeze on cold mornings without a warm sweater and paw protection.

The sky was clear today, so the temperature did eventually warm up as the day progressed. When the thermometer hit 40 degrees, I figured it was warm enough to go up on the roof again. There wasn't a lot of standing water today, but I don't want to take any chances. So far there haven't been any additional leaks. One of the pumps had tipped over again. Maybe it was that windy day when the greenhouse roof blew off. No wonder no water was coming out of the hose yesterday when it rained. I had to watch my step because there was still some ice on the roof. It took me about an hour to get things cleaned up. Hopefully I won't need to go up on the roof again for another week or so. The forecast looks pretty good for the rest of the month.

It was a sad state of affairs that clearing the water off the roof was the big event of the day. Things have been extremely uneventful lately. I spent some time after breakfast cleaning up a small cut on Dash's leg. He bleeds so easily now. He must have scratched his leg against a twig or some brush on our morning walk. I'm always careful where we walk, but it is impossible to prevent these accidents. Dash is a dog and he loves to smell things. The small cuts don't freak me out anymore. I've gotten much better at stopping the bleeding.

I got a message from Herman Miller that the replacement part for my Aeron Chair has been shipped from Michigan. That certainly took a while. I'd almost forgotten about the chair, since the loaner chair they gave me is pretty comfortable. As far as I'm concerned they can take their time with the repairs. It's just one more bill I'll have to pay when they're done.

Maybe I'll use the gift card the electric company sent me recently when the chair is ready for me to pick up. The electric company sends me a gift card every year to "thank" me for being a customer. Wouldn't it be easier to just lower my rate a bit? The gift card is always small and sometimes I forget about it until after it has expired. Maybe the electric company's marketing department has determined that customers like these little gift cards. They seem silly to me. Nobody gives you anything for free. I'd just like a lower bill every month.

I'm already thinking about breakfast on Friday. I'll probably go back to the same restaurant I tried last Friday, since there were so many things on the menu. Those shrimp grits sure were good. Maybe I need something special to do each day of the week. I've got the breakfast restaurants on Friday and the gym on Sunday. Tomorrow is trash day, but that doesn't sound very special. I'll have to think about this.

Chloe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3315

I must have slept better last night because I didn't wake up when Dash pooped in the bed. Luckily, one of us usually wakes up when this happens. These nightly accidents aren't as much of a problem now because we always make sure there's a puppy pad under Dash's butt before we go to bed. We've almost used up the carton of training pads that were left over when Dot died. Pretty soon they're going to be back on the shopping list again.

It's still bitterly cold on our morning walk. Dash's paws have started bleeding again. The bleeding is minimal, but it shouldn't be happening at all. His rear paws are very well protected now. I wish his boots were waterproof. On damp mornings, all three layers of foot protection are wet when we return. Part of the problem is that Dash makes no effort whatsoever to avoid mud puddles. He just goes wherever the smells are the strongest.

The only thing more uneventful than a regular Monday is a holiday Monday. Part of my morning routine is waiting for the mail to arrive and listening to the market reports on the business channels. No mail today and the stock market was closed. I pretty much just drank my smoothie in silence, wondering how I could improve Dash's footwear.

With every passing day, I'm spending more time picking Dash up off the floor. He seldom falls hard. He'll just be standing somewhere with a vacant look on his face and slowly sink to the floor. I leave his harness on in the house now because the handle on the top makes it much easier to get him upright again. It still seems strange that our house has become treacherous for Dash. He still does fine when he is moving forward on our walks. I think the walks are good for him because he has less muscle atrophy than Dot did when her legs began to fail. Dash even has enough strength to walk up reasonably steep hills. It's just standing still that's becoming a problem. I kind of wish I could find a small ottoman or big pillow to place under his belly while he was drinking from his water bowl. He drinks very slowly and usually starts sinking to the floor before he has quenched his thirst. If I could just find something appropriate to place under his belly to prop him up while he drinks, I wouldn't have to spend so much time holding up his rear legs.

Everyone must have been looking at the moon last night. My Facebook timeline was filled with pictures of the eclipse. Some of these pictures were great and others were terrible.You could tell how much people knew about astronomy by what they posted. Quite a few folks took a picture of the moon before the eclipse even started. Others used their phone and the moon was only a very bright dot. A lot of pictures were excellent though. Many were better than mine. Some of the best pictures were from folks I met at Vandenburg Air Force Base when I was there for the SMAP launch. I was glad to see that these people were still interested in space and astronomy several years later.

It's supposed to start raining again tonight. Tomorrow doesn't look good either. I'm tired of looking at the damaged sheetrock in the ceiling and wondering when the roof is going to start leaking again. Sooner or later it will. I don't want to replace the roof while it is raining every few days, but I think it's going to be a long wait until it's warm and dry again.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3307

It was hard for me to get up this morning. Once again I didn't get enough sleep. I'd stayed up too late late watching an old black and white Dr. Who episode and wondering which Doctor it was. If you were wondering too, it was Patrick Troughton and his companions were Jamie and Zoe. The show was eventually over, but a crinkling noise from the shower curtain I'd bought to protect the bed woke me up more than Dash did. He rarely gets up at night anymore. He just poops in the bed in his sleep. That's OK though. I always make sure that there's a puppy training pad placed under his butt. Whenever I wake up, which is often, I check to see if he's pooped and when necessary change the puppy pad for a fresh one.

I probably would have slept until ten this morning if Janet and Dash hadn't already been ready to walk. I quickly got dressed and off we went. It's still very cold. I'm surprised at how many joggers we see on days like this. They dress lightly, but seem to be enjoying themselves. I, on the other hand, dress like a polar explorer. I wear more layers than I used to, but I still can't stay warm.

Cold day always reminds me of a story I'd read as a kid called "A Pail of Air." The story was about the last four people on earth, who stayed alive after the earth got pulled out of its orbit by a passing dark star. They stayed alive by heating frozen air they scooped up in buckets and let it turn back into oxygen by placing it in front of a perpetual fire they could never let go out. How can I remember this old science fiction story sixty years later? It must have made an impression.

They keep the gym colder than I'd like, but about halfway through my workout I'm usually feeling fine. Maybe this is how those joggers feel. I probably just don't move around enough in the Winter. I'm too tired to move more. My Fitbit says I take between 10,000 and 15,000 steps a day. That's plenty for me.

I couldn't postpone vacuuming any longer because the floors were getting filthy. Most dogs are scared of vacuum cleaners but Dash likes to follow ours around. It never was a problem when he was younger, but now Dash can barely stand up and keeps getting tangled up in the cord and falling over. After extricating him a few times this afternoon, I finally had to pen him in another room until I finished cleaning.

Maybe that old Fritz Leiber science fiction story from 1951 stuck with me all these years because life has always been about survival to me. You do simple things over and over again to stay alive, to stay sane, and to keep moving forward. Hey, it's working. I'm still here. I don't get bored doing the same things at the gym every Sunday. I'm finally starting to understand how to shoot free throws. I don't get bored eating the same thing for breakfast over and over again. Actually I think I have perfected breakfast. I don't even get bored with writing about nothing every evening for thousands of days. Writing is good. It keeps you thinking.

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3295 - New Year's Day

I got a surprising amount of sleep last night, especially considering that I'd stayed up past midnight to greet the new year. Two glasses of champagne didn't seem to bother me either. There was no reason to get up early today. It was cold outside and we had no plans. We all slept in until well past 8 AM. At some point during the night I got up to let Dash outside, but I barely remember it. These nightly disruptions are routine now. Pooping in the bed a few hours later wasn't a big deal either. Dash has gotten pretty good about staying on his puppy training pad. I just slide out the soiled pad, roll it up and replace it with a fresh puppy pad. Dash never even wakes up.

Before I went to bed last night I watched the New Horizons flyby of Ultma Thule on NASA TV. There wasn't much to see. The probe was more than four billion miles away and it would take another six hours for the signal that the mission had succeeded to reach Earth. The fact that we will soon get a look at something located way beyond Pluto is amazing to me. We are so good at science like this and yet for some reason we still can't get along with each other.

I imagine that quite a few people will make a New Year's Resolution to be more agreeable this year, but few will succeed. There are just so many reasons to be irritated at our fellow man. If Dash was a human he would be in an assisted living home by now. He's a dog though, so I'm willing to do anything I can to make his last day's comfortable.

Dash loves his walks so we all got bundled up and braved the cold this morning. It was a gloomy, grey day but at least it wasn't raining. Dash is so intent on smelling things these days that he forgets about his rear legs. I'm constantly having to steady him by holding the handle on his harness to keep him from falling over. While we were walking I kept thinking it was Sunday and was thinking about having pancakes for breakfast. I was actually kind of surprised when I remembered it was only Tuesday. The entire holiday season has been like this. It's hard to tell what day it is.

I didn't do much today. The days when we would watch the Rose Bowl parade followed by an entire day of football seem so long ago. Even the names of the bowl games have changed. They are all named after corporations now and some of them aren't even on New Year's Day. To avoid doing household chores, I caught up on some overdue correspondence. I wrote the roofer, begging him to hurry up with repairs. I wrote the friend who is selling my train collection. He wants to lower prices, since sales have been slow. I'm still hoping that someone like me will wander into his store and buy everything. I sent Christmas greetings to a few people even though Christmas is over. Why not?

I didn't finish breakfast until well after noon and by the time I took a shower Dash was already waiting for his evening walk. Where did the day go? Jeez. Where did the year go?  2018 seemed to slip by awfully fast. Dash ended the year a little bit healthier than he started it. Like Dot, he is very determined to make the most of the time he has. Auctioning my art this year was an interesting experience. It actually got me interest in art again. Unfortunately, I don't have any left.

Like many people, I hope that 2019 will be better than 2018. You've got your reasons and I've got mine. Whatever you're hoping for, I wish you luck. All I know is that anything could happen during our next trip around the sun.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3292

I spend my Winters wishing it was Summer and my Summers wishing it was Winter. I was definitely wishing for warmer weather today. Everything takes longer when it's cold. I'm slow anyway, but dressing in layers on a cold day takes me forever. Making the bed takes longer when it is piled with blankets. You've got to let the car warm up before you leave the driveway. You can't even depend on the weather forecast. Yesterday I was looking at a week of clear skies. Now the forecast says it is going to rain tomorrow.

I had lots of errands to run today. There were prescription to pick up and groceries to buy. The car needed gas. I had to retrieve a few things from the storage warehouse. I needed strawberries for my smoothies, clorox wipes to help clean up dog poop, halogen bulbs for the sconce lamps in the living room, and salicylic acid for my oily skin. Each of these things came from a different store. No wonder so many people shop on Amazon.

I can't seem to catch up on sleep anymore. When I returned from my errands, all I wanted to do was sleep. Since Dash spends most of his day sleeping anyway, it's always easy to take a nap with him. If I lie down on the bed, he'll be curled up next to me within a matter of minutes. I just need to stay alert until he navigates the dog step at the foot of the bed. Occasionally, he falls and I have to catch him.

I used to start projects on weekends, but not anymore. I just take care of the bare necessities now. Instead of making Giclée prints for gallery shows, I unclog drains. You really can't ignore a clogged drain for very long. I thought I still had some 'instant plumber' stuff that uses compressed gas to clear gunk out of pipes in seconds, but I guess I'd left the can standing in the utility room too long. All the gas had escaped. I had to clear the drain the old fashioned way using a plunger. What a mess. You'd think by now that someone would have invented a coating that prevents gunk from accumulating on the inside of pipes, but apparently not. I have to clear slow drains much more often than I'd like.

I repaired another pair of Dash's Ultra Paws boots and did a few loads of wash. I was going to watch some of the afternoon cooking shows on PBS, but I fell asleep instead. Dash did get two walks today. He was slow and stumbled a lot, but he definitely enjoyed himself. His sense of smell is one thing that hasn't deteriorated. Dash wants to smell everything these days. I'm glad he still has something to look forward to.

I ought to look forward to going to the gym tomorrow, but the weekly workout is just one in a long list of weekend chores. I'm lazy at heart and fit out of necessity. I may be 70 but there are still drains to clean, standing water on the roof, and poop on the floor. I need to keep moving.

Petey & Greta are today's Dalmatian's of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3244 - Veteran's Day

It was a slow day at the gym. Moving the storage warehouse has taken its toll. Every bone in my body protested as I went through my routine today. Maybe it was worth it though. I did feel better when I was finished than I did getting out of bed this morning. I hope the aches and pains subside. I don't like feeling this way, but I don't like being too old to do things either. Maybe I'm just out of shape. I'm certainly not as active as I was when the dogs were younger.

Today was even colder than yesterday. Janet and I both wore our Winter coats when we walked Dash this morning. The weather was way too cold for me, but Dash seemed to enjoy it. He was more active than usual and wanted to walk down by the shoreline. It's always good to see Dash with a little energy because these days are becoming rare. After an hour out in the cold, we were all ready for breakfast.

If I didn't turn on the television this morning, I'd never have known it was Veteran's Day. Both my parents, who served in the Navy, are long gone. I had an art director partner who was a Marine and had two friends who used to be fighter pilots, but I've lost touch with all these people. When I listen to the tributes and Veteran's Day memorials on TV, all I can think of are the many pointless wars that have taken place in my lifetime. Vietnam and all the wars in the Middle East that followed didn't really liberate anyone or advance the cause of freedom. A lot of good people died needlessly. I guess I'm an isolationist at heart. My parents couldn't have ignored Hitler and the attack on Pearl Harbor, but a lot of the regional conflicts that my generation found themselves involved with were different. We didn't change anything for the better in Vietnam. The Middle East has been a mess for thousands of years. We should have stayed home and let some of these countries sort things out for themselves.

The shoes that seem to be doing a good job of protecting Dash's feet are wearing out fast. I don't think these new boots will last another week. I can envision the type of boot Dash needs, but nobody seems to make it. Since his rear paws turn under when he walks, he needs protective rubber on both the top and bottom of the boot. The rubber needs to be durable while remaining very flexible. It is impossible to get a thick rigid boot on. The shape of Dash's paws makes him very hard to fit. It's too bad I couldn't make an impression of his rear leg and have someone fabricate a custom fitted boot. For now, I guess I'm just have to keep buying these off the shelf dog boots fairly frequently.

I guess advertising does work. Lately, I've been real tempted to buy one of those "My Pillows" you always see advertised on TV. They probably aren't any better than any other pillow, but when you aren't sleeping well, it's always easy to blame it on your pillow. Maybe I should blame the mattress as well. It used to be really firm, but years of dogs playing and sleeping on the bed have worn it out. Dalmatians can be rough on furniture when they're young and active. I think my back would feel better if I slept on the floor. I'm not going to try that though. The floor is cold and full of dog hair.

I think I'd better get a flu shot next week. I rarely get the flu and often skip the shot. Maybe my luck has run out. I volunteered to take pictures at a children's event this month. The flu doesn't bother me, but children do. I always manage to catch a cold when I'm around children. I wish I'd remembered this before I volunteered.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day