Day 4705 - Veteran's Day

Today was disappointing. The carpenter came over right when he promised he would. He was a nice guy. Unfortunately, when he looked at the damage, he told me that the repairs looked too complicated for him and he didn't want to bid on the job. After several days of searching, this was the best carpenter I could find, so I don't know what I'm going to do now. Carpenters seem to fall into two categories. There are framers who build new houses and cabinetmakers who remodel kitchens and make custom bookshelves. I need one of those carpenters like you see on that "This Old House" show on PBS. I think a restoration carpenter is going to be very hard to find in Dallas. This city doesn't value anything old. Scrape it and replace it is the motto here.

After my failure with the carpenter, I went back inside and checked my e-mail. There was a message from NASA saying that the NASA Causeway bridge between Titusville and Kennedy Space Center had been damaged by Hurricane Nicole and was closed until further notice. They said that journalists would have to take an alternate route to the Press Site for the Artemis-1 launch. Bummer. This new route adds an extra hour of driving time each way between the hotel and the space center. A big section of this road is under construction as well. Since the launch is scheduled to take place at 1 AM, the last thing I want to be doing is driving at night on roads that have those concrete construction barriers on either side of a narrow lane. I've been on this road before and it's a pain during the day. I'm really not looking forward to driving two hours every time I want to go to the Press Site. There will probably be horrible traffic jams as well, since this alternate route is now the only entrance to the space center. A lot of people work at this facility. Add all these employees to the visiting Artemis press and you've potentially got a real mess. I find it difficult to believe that a hurricane that could seriously damage a major bridge would leave the Artemis rocket unscathed, but that's what they say. NASA is apparently still planning to launch this thing on November 16th.

I'll think about this over the weekend, but I'm really tempted to cancel my plans and just stay here in Dallas. None of this seems very fun anymore. I'm staying in a bad hotel. The launch is in the middle of the night now, so you won't be able to see much. Worst of all, the main bridge connecting Titusville to the space center is out, forcing everyone to take a very long detour to reach the press site. Is it worth it? I seriously doubt it. There will be other launches in the future. It might be time to get realistic and cut my losses.

Not only was it a dismal rainy day, it was also very cold. When we took our sunrise walk this morning, it didn't feel like Fall, it felt like Winter. I think it will be even colder tomorrow with temperatures approaching freezing. This all seems rather sudden, but that's Texas weather for you. We're going to have to find Dawn's sweater for tomorrow's walk.

It rained for most of the day but I still had to get my steps. The fact that I drove to the gym in heavy rain shows how committed I've become to getting my steps. Maybe the cold weather improved my metabolism because I was pretty good on the basketball court this afternoon and made surprisingly good time walking on the indoor track. I may end up going back to the gym tomorrow. It's grocery day for me and I often don't have time to take a walk in the park.

I don't have much of a connection to Veteran's Day anymore. Both my parents were Navy veterans but they've been gone a long time. I don't actually know many people who've served. I think our veterans deserve a lot of respect, but we really need to stop sending them to needless, pointless wars. We never should have gone to Iraq and Afghanistan. We probably should have never gone to Vietnam either. 

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4632

The launch has been rescheduled for Saturday afternoon. This wasn't even one of the three original launch opportunities, so this new date came as a surprise to many. It certainly came as a surprise to me. Some of the local photographers liked the idea of a weekend launch because they wouldn't have to miss work. For the out-of-town folks it complicated travel arrangements even further. After listening to the readiness review teleconference this evening, I reluctantly decided to cut my losses and come home tomorrow. 

There is already a 60% chance that the Saturday launch attempt will be canceled because of a weather violation. It almost always rains during the middle of the day in this part of Florida. It didn't really feel like they had solved the problem either. The launch team felt like the problem with engine 3 was caused by a bad sensor, but they didn't want to roll the rocket back to the Vertical Assembly Building so they could remove and examine the sensor. They kept saying that they felt the system was working because their data showed that liquid hydrogen was flowing at the proper rate to engine 3. I'm no rocket scientist, but it sure seemed like they were just guessing at some of these things.

I suspect the real reason I decided to return to Dallas tomorrow was when the launch director said that the Saturday launch date was still subject to a final readiness review to be held at some uncertain time between now and Saturday. There's a good chance that they'll decide that Saturday no longer looks good while I'm sitting down here waiting. At this evening's teleconference, someone on the launch team mentioned that it wasn't a big deal if they missed the Saturday launch window because they could turn things around in 48 hours and try again on Monday. Maybe the people on expense accounts from The New York Times and National Geographic can afford to stay down here forever, but I don't have that luxury.

Truthfully, I'm ready to come home. I'm getting eaten alive by mosquitos and there isn't much to do while waiting for another launch attempt. I went out to the Press Site again today and the place was virtually empty. There was no traffic on the roads either. What a difference a day makes. I'm even starting to feel weird on my evening walks through the neighborhood. Dogs bark at me and I occasionally set off alarm systems as I walk past people's houses. The entire neighborhood seems empty. This definitely isn't a place where people take walks. I have a feeling that I am being watched through venetian blinds though. 

This trip feels a lot like one of those trips out to McDonald Observatory where I drive all day only to discover clouds or rain at my destination. I knew from the beginning that there were no guaranties that this launch would take place on schedule. I was hoping that it would though. I think everyone was hoping that the Monday attempt would be successful.

I'm fairly certain that Artemis will launch eventually. It might even happen on Saturday. I'm not so sure the program will survive though. The Space Launch System is already obsolete and the entire program is hugely over budget and years behind schedule. I'd still like to see this thing launch though. Maybe someday. For now I'm going to cut my losses and head back home.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4631

Bummer. Today's launch scrubbed with only 40 minutes left on the clock. There were lots of problems this morning but the engineering team was able to resolve most of them. The problem that shut down the launch was that one of the four main engines wasn't able to pre-chill properly during the engine bleed proceedure. The other three engines were fine, but you need all four to launch. Evidently these engines have to be super cold prior to launch so the liquid oxygen and hydrogen will flow through them. Pre-chilling the engines with liquid hydrogen prior to launch is very important.

I'm hoping that the engineering team can resolve the problem in time for a second attempt on Friday, but there are no promises. Nobody know what caused the problem yet. If they can't fix the rocket out on the pad, they will have to roll it back to the Vertical Assembly Building again. This could put the launch weeks or even months behind schedule. There will be a briefing tomorrow evening that hopefully will provide some answers.

I decided to stay an extra day to see if the launch team can make a decision about how to proceed tomorrow. I can't stay down here forever, but I'd hate to fly home and then discover that the launch was successful on Friday. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised at what happened today. This is a new rocket and scrubs are quite common for any number of reasons. I overheard one of the astronauts tell someone that his Space Shuttle flight was s scrubbed four different times before it eventually got off the ground.

There were more people at the press site this morning than I've ever seen before. They all disappeared quickly after the launch got scrubbed though. I hung around for the rest of the morning hoping to hear something about rescheduling the launch. There was a final press conference where the NASA officials basically said to stay tuned because they didn't know what went wrong yet. I could have asked a question myself, but didn't. The reporters who did ask questions pretty much covered all the bases anyway. I went and had lunch at the space center cafeteria before heading back to Titusville, and was surprised to see an astronaut sitting at the next table. There was a lot of disappointment in the air this morning but nobody seemed terrible surprised that the launch got scrubbed. 

I drove over to the Canaveral National Seashore before returning to my Airbnb. It is very pretty out there but the mosquitos were biting and it was getting hot. I took a few more pictures and called a day. It took a while to reschedule my flight, car rental, and Airbnb, but I'm all set now. We'll just have to see whether I'm staying one more day or four more days. If the launch gets delayed any longer than this, I'm out of luck.

I have no idea what I'll end up doing tomorrow, but it probably won't involve going back to the press site. I doubt that much is happening out there tomorrow. The press conference tomorrow is virtual and I'll need to call in to find out what the Artemis team has decided about rescheduling the launch.

I think it's time to call it a day. I haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately and I'm feeling tired. Maybe I'll just get some rest tomorrow. I'm still really disappointed that the launch didn't take place today, but hopefully I'll still be able to see Artemis fly when all the problems get sorted out. Eventually this rocket will get us back to the moon, but maybe not as soon as I'd hoped.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3732

It's definitely Friday the 13. We're currently under a tornado alert and we just learned that McDonald Observatory is being closed because of the coronavirus. All visitors and non essential staff will meed to leave by tomorrow morning. The visitor center has already been closed and there are no more star parties. The Astronomer's Lodge will be closed as well. Essentially, my visit is over.

I got one of those severe storm alerts on my phone a little while ago, but have no idea what I'd do if there actually was a tornado.  I"m not  even sure there's anybody in the building right now. The engineering team who is staying here is still up at the telescope trying to finish their work before they have to leave as well. I actually think the severe weather is north of us, but what do I know? My weather radar coverage is pretty spotty up here.

I did work a full day today. The three tours we did seemed pretty normal. That's why the sudden decision to close the observatory came as a surprise to almost everybody. We started hearing rumors that the University of Texas might do something like this yesterday, but I didn't believe them. I was still planning on having a star party tonight. The star party activities are outdoors and visitors aren't packed closely together. Could some of the visitors to my telescope be spreading the virus around? Possibly. I think spreading fear is even worse though. I'm sure this virus is serious, but so is mass hysteria.

I'm disappointed that my visit has been cut short. I've really enjoyed my time here. I was really hoping to have another chance to spend an evening observing with the 36" Dall-Kirkham telescope, but the situation is what it is. Pretty soon, everything in the country will be closed. Personally, I think the cat is already out of the bag. This virus has such a long incubation period that chances are high people were being infected here in the United States well before we started hearing about a pandemic.

I think the best thing you can do is try to stay healthy. Eat nutritious food. Get lots of exercise. Go outdoors and don't spend you day cooped up with a lot of other people. Basically, I'm doing this already. I can't see that a home quarantine would change my life all that much. I've been social distancing for most of my life.

I'd much rather stay up here on this lonely mountain than return to Dallas and join the ongoing panic. It's kind of ironic that they are sending us home. I have a much higher chance of catching the coronavirus in Dallas that I do here. It is what is is though. I'll be packing my bags and leaving in the morning.

The coronavirus is definitely a Black Swan event. I didn't see this coming. SARS, Bird Flu, Ebola, H1N1, HIV Aids, and many other nasty diseases never caused this type of mass panic. Either the world has gone mad or somebody knows something I don't.

I don't look forward to the drive home tomorrow, but the traffic probably won't be all that bad. Nobody is going anywhere these days.

Wyatt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3533

Tonight was an adventure. We saw lots of Javelina pigs. Some of them were very close but we didn't get attacked. We saw enough deer crossing the road to make us drive very carefully. Before it got dark were saw an enormous number of hummingbirds. When we got to the top of Mount Locke around 9 PM, we were treated to a spectacular lightning show. We saw no stars tonight. An unexpected thunderstorm rolled through the area and we were right in the middle of it.

All was not lost though. Since the astronomers were not able to see anything tonight either, we got a behind the scenes look at some areas at the 107" Harlan J. Smith telescope that are normally off limits on tours. During an earlier daytime tour of this same telescope I was even able to operate the controls that made the telescope move. Getting to experience these huge telescopes up close was pretty amazing, but it would have been nice to see stars. I asked one of the astronomers what was the best time of year to visit and he said you could get bad weather at any time of year. He told me that some visitors were lucky to experience a spectacular night on their first visit, while others had bad weather three or four times in a row. "You just have to get lucky," he said.

At least the skies were clear last night. Before we went to sleep yesterday Janet and I went outside and looked at the sky for a while. The night sky was amazing. I saw more stars than I'd even seen in my life. It's too bad that the Special Observing Night wasn't yesterday. Evidently Sunday night was even better, but we were still in Dallas then. All this just goes to show that nature is full of surprises. The fancy long-term weather forecasting service I subscribed to predicted an 87% chance of clear skies tonight. Unfortunately, tonight was part of that remaining 13%.

As you might imagine, I was disappointed not to see stars. It was a long drive to get caught in a storm. We could have stayed home and had a rainy day. I think it rained in Dallas today too. At least we made it back to the hotel before the severe weather arrived. I wouldn't want to be driving on those mountain roads at night an a bad thunderstorm.

Even though we got rained out tonight, this has still been a very enjoyable trip. The Davis Mountains are beautiful. McDonald Observatory is fascinating even on a cloudy day. The three large telescopes are amazing. The largest, the 433 inch Hobby-Eberly Telescope is still one of the largest in the world. It is currently one of the telescopes being used to find exoplanets around distant stars and is also involved in a study about dark matter.

It's too bad this place is so remote. I'd like to return when the weather is better. Fort Davis is a charming little town. Most of the residents are retired. Evidently local businesses have a hard time finding help because all the young people can't wait to leave the area and go to a city where there is more action. When we returned from the observatory tonight there was not a single car on the city streets. The place looked like a ghost town. Actually the observatory looked pretty ghostly tonight too with the observatory towers bathed in flashes of light from nearby lightning strikes. Janet said it felt like we were watching an old Frankenstein movie.

The rain is pounding outside our hotel window and I hear a lot of thunder at the moment. The weather might clear up tomorrow, or it might continue raining. Weather is unpredictable, Either way we will be leaving town after breakfast in the morning. Maybe I'll come back someday.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3290

The repairs failed. The roof is leaking again. I heard the familiar sound of water dripping on the brick floors around 3 AM this morning. While I was getting a bucket positioned under the leak, Dash woke up and proceeded to poop on the floor. By the time I finished cleaning everything up, it was hardly worth going back to bed.

This was all very very disappointing to say the least. The rain was pretty intense last night, but I genuinely expected the roofers patches to work. Everything looked pretty good before the rain started. To make matters worse, the pumps I'd placed on the roof weren't very effective either. I'd hoped that the two pumps would significantly reduce the volume of water on the roof during a storm, but they quickly became clogged with leaves and debris from the trees and the flow of water through the hose gradually slowed to a trickle. At least the rain is gone for now. The weather was clear and cold when we woke up this morning. Dash got a nice walk, although he stumbled a lot. He's stumbling more now and it worries me. After breakfast I went up on the roof and began sweeping the standing water away. I've been up on the roof way too often lately and every bone in my body aches. I'm used to the pain in my shoulders and wrists, but today it felt like I'd developed tennis elbow as well. I'm way too old for this.

The leak stopped within an hour after I removed all the standing water. I still don't know how it is getting inside. I called the roofers and they said they'd be back next week. This is getting very irritating. I'm genuinely tired of fixing things. Unfortunately, with an old house you are always fixing things.

At least I was able to talk with a technician who said he can fix my chair. Unfortunately, he isn't available until the week of January 7. I guess the trash can I've been placing under the chair to keep the back upright will work until then.

Clearing the roof was tiring and I didn't feel like doing anything else today. Some things couldn't be avoided unfortunately. It was time to vacuum water from under the shower stall with the wet/dry vac and there was a big pile of laundry to do. Eventually I decided that enough was enough and I took a long nap with Dash.

The market is still insanely volatile. Within an hour or two this afternoon there was an eight hundred point swing. The Dow went from being down 600 points to closing up over 200 points. Just like yesterday, there was no real news. I guess volatility is just a sign of the times.

Maybe tomorrow will be uneventful. I think I'll go back to the hotel for breakfast. That will be nice and calm, even if the market isn't.

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3087

I'm very disappointed. The blood clot in Dash's heart has returned. Actually, the doctors think that this is a brand new clot and aren't entirely sure why it has appeared. The current theory is that Dash has a heart valve problem that causes a vortex around the valve that lets clots start to form. We've known that Dash has had a heart murmur for a long time. It's possible that he has had periodic clots for a long time as well. There's not really much we can do. Since one clot actually did dissolve over time, we're hoping that this new one will as well. I was expecting a more favorable outcome after the good news we heard on our last visit. It wasn't meant to be.

Dash's early morning vet appointment caused the day to get off to a slow start. By the time we were ready for our morning walk, the sun was already high in the sky and Dash quickly got overheated. He just can't take the heat anymore. I cut our walk short and returned home. This was fine with Dash. I think the vet visit was all the activity he wanted to deal with today anyway.

The grass I thought was dead yesterday looks even worse today. I'll give it a little time, but I think I'm going to have to complain. I hear thunder in the distance, so maybe a good soaking rain will help. It won't help the roof, but it just might help to revive this pitiful looking St. Augustine grass.

I photographed some more art work for the auction house today. I'm still not quite sure what they're looking for. Some items they get excited about and others not so much. I still think that this is a good time to begin to simplify my life. I just wish it wasn't so complicated to simplify.

My pharmacy has been bugging me to pick up some prescriptions. An automated message calls me every day to remind me to pick these things up. I finally did go to the pharmacy today and the pharmacist told me that it was too early to get the pills. WTF? "Medicare won't pay for these renewals until June 30," he said. "Well, why to you keep asking me to pick them up," I asked? The pharmacist had no answer. We both knew that this was just one more example of a healthcare system out of control. I'm not out of pills anyway. I'll just go back and pick these up at the end of the month.

Dash currently is shivering under my desk again. There isn't a lot of rain, but there sure is a lot of wind and thunder. I don't know what Dash is worried about, but I'm worried about losing power. We definitely have had a lot of rain in the past several weeks. Every time I get ready to tell the roofer that there's going to be a long enough stretch of dry weather to finish the repairs, another storm pops up.

I forgot to record the new episode of The Expanse last night. It just goes to show that I can't even remember things that I want to remember. No great loss. I'm sure I can find this episode online anyway. If I had a little more patience, I could just buy the entire season on iTunes and avoid all the commercials.

The new syndication service that replaces NetworkedBlogs actually works. Yay. Truthfully, I wasn't expecting this. I'm always pleasantly surprised when something works.

Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1851

Yay! The washing machine works again. I asked the technician why the machine breaks so often and he told me the wax motor that engages the locking mechanism on the front door was poorly designed. Wax motor? What the hell is a wax motor? It turns out that this expensive little component actually is full of wax. When the wax is heated by an electric current it melts and expands, pushing a pin outward and locking the front loader door. This seems insanely complicated, when all you really need is a simple mechanical latch on the outside of the machine to lock the door. Commercial laundromat machines have these sturdy and simple locking devices. Why can't consumer machines have the same thing? Apparently to prevent people from starting the machine without properly securing a mechanical lock, the manufacturer created a "fool-proof" electronic lock that breaks all the time.

When I grew tired of being frustrated with washing machine reliability, I became frustrated with airline fares. All those websites that promise tantalizing low fares are basically bait and switch machines. The low fares always come with a catch. You either have to change planes in four different cities, wait in an airport for nine hours to catch your connecting flight, or pay a month in advance for a non-refundable ticket. If you want a simple, flexible flight where you don't have to change planes or spend hours waiting in airports, it's best to just go straight to the airline websites. A flight without ridiculous restrictions costs about the same anywhere. Hotels and rental car companies operate basically the same way. The upshot of all this is that I'm going to have to pay more for for my trip to California than I thought I would. I don't know why I was surprised at this disappointing revelation. If you want something extra, you're always going to have to pay extra.

At least my breakfast was good. This simple Friday morning meal at a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant has become the high point of my week. I almost always order the same thing. My go-to meal is the Amigas with chorizo. It's just scrambled eggs, fresh chorizo sausage, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, thin tortilla strips and spices, but it's so good. The coffee isn't bad either. They even roast the beans themselves onsite.

The video project I was supposed to begin tomorrow got postponed another week. I don't know whether I'm happy or disappointed about this. On one hand, I'm glad to have my Saturday back to do all the usual weekend errands. On the other hand, I'd like to have this project behind me. It's not that I don't like to shoot video anymore, it's just that I'd like all my projects behind me. I don't seem to look forward to many things anymore. I'm just glad when they're over.

Yeah, I know I should be more positive. You don't need to remind me that the glass is half full. Hey, I love my dogs. I'm sure I'll enjoy the satellite launch when I actually get out there. I even like some of my clients. Life is good. Sometimes.

Mack is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 814

I took Janet's tax information over to the accountant's office today and the first thing they asked me was why I didn't have my own tax information as well. "Well, I haven't started working on mine yet," I said. They gave me this look that told me I'd better get started. Guess what I'm going to be doing this weekend?

On the way home, I stopped by my rental property to see if the place was even close to presentable. I wasn't even sure I could get in the door, since I'd lost my set of back-up keys. I make lots of key duplicates though, so I took everything I could find that looked like a front door key with me. I almost gave up and went home, but literally the last key I tried worked. It's a good thing I never throw anything away.

I was disappointed when I saw the place. My renter had told me that she'd hired a maid service clean the place out before she moved, but it still looked pretty messy to me. There were Velcro strips glued to the wall where apparently pictures had been hung. There was a sticky residue on the dining room floor that looked like someone had been using spray glue for art projects. My renter apparently had a TV in every room, because the cable company had stapled wires everywhere. I've seen a lot worse, but I've seen better too. At least the refrigerator was clean.

It rained again today. I was able to use the weather radar app on my iPad to map out a few dry periods where I could walk the dogs, but basically it rained all day. As the day progressed, it kept getting colder and colder. Jeez! Why keep tempting us with Spring, if the weather keeps reverting back to this miserable stuff? I had to get up on the roof again too. The standing water was getting pretty deep.

At least it's Friday tomorrow. I think I'll have waffles for breakfast.

Bacardi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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