Day 2007

When I went to the gym this afternoon, I thought I'd try to resume the strenuous workouts I used to do this time last year. I was exhausted. Somehow, being one year older, dislocating my shoulder, and going to the gym on Sunday afternoons instead of three days a week have taken their toll. I made it through the routine, but I'll be sore tomorrow. Perhaps I should have skipped getting the water off the roof and vacuuming when I got home.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the little Philae spacecraft that landed on a comet seven months ago has come alive again. The space geeks among you might remember that Philae's batteries went dead after just 60 hours because it landed next to a cliff and wasn't receiving enough sunlight to recharge the batteries. The comet kept moving though and as the sun got closer and closer, the solar panels began receiving more sunlight and the batteries slowly recharged. It amazes me that we know how to build things this well, and yet we rarely do it. I'm lucky if I can get the equipment around the house to run for two weeks without some sort of mishap, and yet the Philae comet lander and several incredibly durable Mars rovers just keep on working. It's a shame that we've almost lost the concept of things that last a lifetime. People seem strangely content to buy something amazingly cool and just throw it away when it inevitably breaks. I wonder how long our cool new Keurig coffeemaker and Dyson vacuum cleaner are going to last?

The dogs had a good day today. They seem much more content on weekends when everybody is home and the pace is a little more relaxed. The recent rain has cooled the air down a bit too. When you're walking old dogs, every degree counts. It's a shame that Dot is so fragile. She had a playful moment today where I could tell that she wanted to race around and play with Dash like she did in the old days. I quickly put her harness on and tried to follow her around so she wouldn't fall and break a hip or something, but I think I spoiled the moment. All the vets have warned me that Dot will injure herself if she tries to run without assistance. Watching her move slowly around the house, I believe them.

Protecting dogs from harm while still allowing them to be dogs is difficult. Instincts are strong and Dot would still like to chase after anything that comes down the alley, while Dash continues to follow his nose to the most appealing smells, even if they lead to something dangerous. Since Dash likes to walk along the shoreline, I have to keep a sharp eye out for poisonous snakes in the Summer.  Today, Dash stubbornly wanted to go down a street where I knew there was a dangerous, aggressive dog that sometimes gets loose. We did walk home the safe way, but Dash wasn't happy about it.

I get the rest of my dental work done later this week. Hopefully when this is complete, the onslaught of ridiculously high bills will abate somewhat. It would be nice to have a Summer without any medical emergencies, car problems, or major appliance meltdowns whatsoever.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1799

Sometimes I have trouble telling the difference between a cold day and a slow day. On cold days like today there is often plenty of work to do, but it still feels like I'm doing nothing because I never leave the house. Even though I kept myself busy and finished several writing jobs, my mind still wandered. I wanted to hear more about the report I heard that the Rosetta lander had discovered organic molecules on the comet. This would be very big new for anyone with an interest in astronomy or planetary science. I was confused when I heard that the Keystone Pipeline bill failed to pass in congress after receiving 59 votes. I guess I've forgotten everything I learned in high school civics class. After looking the topic up on Google, I discovered that 60 votes were required to prevent a filibuster. And what exactly is a filibuster? I know it's a bunch of people talking endlessly to delay things, but why?

The temperature was in the low 20's when I woke up this morning. The only advantage to this frigid weather was that the dogs don't get muddy on our morning walk. The ground was frozen solid and my boots made a crunching sound when I walked over the frost covered grass. Frost covered plants are actually kind of pretty, but we didn't linger long to observe. It was cold and we all knew that the house was much warmer. The only reason we made it as far as we did this morning was that there was absolutely no wind. On a windy day we would have just stayed inside.

I thought making a fancy omelet this morning would make the day more interesting, but it really didn't. I've seen the early morning Dr. Who re-runs on the BBC channel so many times that I've practically memorized them. Out of boredom I've gone back to watching the news. I flip back and forth between the liberal and conservative channels and find them equally irritating. There just isn't that much to like about a completely polarized society. Occasionally CNN is OK, because they seem to focus more on plane crashes and volcanoes than politics. I hate politics. I wish there was a TV channel that just showed interesting Ted Talks, or maybe featured obscure news about black holes or CERN's Large Hadron Collider.

You may wonder why as a writer, I often talk about watching television and seldom mention anything about reading. I used to be an obsessive reader, but my eyes have gotten bad and reading just isn't that satisfying anymore. The last book that made any impact on me was A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. Geek Love by Katherine Dunn was pretty good too. I used to love everything that John Fowles wrote, even the non-fiction. I was such a fan that I even visited his home in Lyme Regis once. When Fowles died, so did a lot of my desire to read. I'm so far behind that The Shipping News still seems like a new novel to me. I bought a copy once, but have never gotten around to reading it.

There are more articles to write tomorrow and I'll probably go back to having oatmeal and fruit for breakfast. I hope the dogs aren't getting too cold on their walks. They both seem to like the brisk weather, which is more than I can say.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

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Day 1793

I need to get a life. I was so disappointed today when the HVAC guys canceled my service appointment. Yes, I was actually looking forward to getting a thermostat installed. I kept thinking that if they could land a spacecraft on a comet 300 million miles away today, it shouldn't be that hard to drive twenty miles to put my talking thermostat in. In fairness, it was a very cold day. The dispatcher told me they were only taking "call for heat" emergency appointments today. This happens every year. The first night it drops below freezing, thousands of people turn on their furnace for the first time and quite a few of them discover that it doesn't work. Having been one of those people in previous years, I could sympathize with the HVAC guys heavy work load today. I'll just wait until it gets a little warmer to get the thermostat put in.

I watched the live feed of the comet landing this morning and immediately wanted one of the cool looking chairs the flight controllers were sitting in at the European Space Agency Center in Germany. I did a Google search for the impressive looking chairs, but couldn't find anything. I bet the chairs are German. If Porsche made a chair, it would look like this. The mission itself was much more impressive than the chairs. The fact that we have the ability to land a spacecraft the size of a washing machine on a small 2 mile wide rock over 300 million miles away that happens to be traveling toward the sun at over 30,000 miles an hour is simply astonishing. Kudos to the team that put this astounding ten year journey together. Not only is the technology amazing, the math involved to ensure that the spacecraft arrived at the right place at the right time after its ten year journey just blows me away. I wish I was smart enough to figure something like this out. When I was young, I thought I wanted to be an astronomer myself. I wasn't very good at math though and picked a profession where no rocket science was involved.

Dash has a delicate stomach, so it's been hard finding the perfect food for him. Some brands of dog food make his poop runny. Others cause crystals to form in his urine or make him gain weight. We finally found the perfect diet and then the pet food stores stopped carrying it. Janet usually picks up food for the dogs, but since the HVAC guys canceled on me today, I had some extra time and decided to go look for the elusive brand myself. After an extensive search, I found nothing. The manufacturer still makes the food, but apparently Dash is the only dog in town that eats it. One store has promised to special order a thirty pound bag for us, but so far the order has never arrived. It's frustrating. We've got about three more days before Dash has to start eating Dot's food. That didn't work out too well the last time we tried it, so hopefully something will turn up soon.

Work has been kind of slow this week. Things always slow down as we approach Christmas. It's kind of a shame, because the colder it gets, the more sitting at a computer and writing seems like a good way to spend the day. I spent a little time updating websites today, but actually I spent more time looking for dog food. It was that kind of day.

Jada is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1770

Dot got a great report from her oncologist today. The ultrasound scan showed no thickening of the intestinal walls, and no evidence whatsoever of recurring tumors. Everyone was impressed at how well Dot's recovery is going. Dot's muscle tone is improving, her incontinence is diminishing, and as far as anyone can tell, she is cancer free. We don't have to go back to the cancer center until next year. Well, actually the next re-check is three months from now, but nevertheless, that's definitely next year.

In addition to being a taxi driver for Dot today, I had quite a few website revisions to make. The work was dull and monotonous even by my own low standards, but at least it kept me busy enough that I didn't need to resort to fixing the leaking shower stall.

I was looking on the Internet today to see if there were any pictures yet of the comet that flew by Mars yesterday. There actually was a picture of comet Siding Spring taken by the Mars Opportunity Rover, but much more impressive was a picture of a completely different comet taken by the Rosetta spacecraft. This incredible photo was taken at a distance of less than 5 miles away from the nucleus of comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The photograph was absolutely amazing. So was the fact that we are able to put a spacecraft in orbit around a tiny little comet three hundred million miles away. The picture should be on the front page of every newspaper, but the last time I looked there were just more pictures of men in hazmat suits, serial killers, and wars in the middle east.

I really should have bought a nice telescope before the last telescope store in Texas went out of business. I've been fascinated by astronomy for most of my life. I just don't feel as comfortable being outside on a dark night as I used to be. I never gave safety a second thought when I lugged my telescope outside to look at the stars when I was a kid. Of course my parents never even bothered to lock their doors back then and all the kids in the neighborhood could go trick or treating on Halloween with no parental supervision. It was a different world and the older I grow, the more I miss it.

I've got another writing assignment with very little input tomorrow. That should keep me busy for a while. I'm two episodes behind on Dr. Who and I haven't even looked at the new iPhone 6 yet. So much to do and none of it even matters.

Emily is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1184

The dogs don't like being walked separately. Both dogs want to be the first one to take a walk and get indignant when they are left behind. Eventually, everything gets sorted out and they are happy again after they've both had their time outside. Dot's legs continue to improve, so hopefully this new arrangement will just be a temporary one. It certainly takes me a lot longer to walk the dogs separately. I know I did other things, but it feels like dog walking was all I accomplished today. Next week I'm going to take Dot in for acupuncture therapy. Acupuncture really helps to reduce pain and inflammation for some dogs, and does absolutely nothing for others. We'll see what happens. I don't think it would hurt to try.

I wonder what would happen if we selected our president the same way the College of Cardinals selects a pope. I kind of like the mystery of the whole process. It probably wouldn't work though. If our senators and representatives went into a secret room that they couldn't leave until they all reached a consensus, I don't think we'd be seeing any white smoke for a long, long time. There's a good chance they'd never reach a decision.

I approved the landscaper's bid and they're going to get started on the back yard sometime next week. That's one ugly eyesore down, three or four ugly eyesores left to go. There are a lot more things that need to be taken care of around the house, but we'll have to deal with them one at a time as money becomes available. Sometimes I think my own services are the only thing that hasn't gone up in price over the years. Everything else has become incredibly expensive.

Tonight was supposed to be the best night to see Comet PanSTARRS. I looked and looked while we were at dog training class this evening, but couldn't see a thing. The comet was supposed to be visible to the naked eye, although I'm sure very few people saw anything inside the city limits of Dallas. There were clear skies this evening, but with all the city lights and haze near the horizon, I had trouble even seeing the moon. I'll try again tomorrow. Comets are rare and it's always fun to see one.

Wyatt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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