Day 4782

Another nice day. I wish this weather would continue but there is rain in the forecast for next week. I took advantage of the clear skies and took three walks today. It was cold enough on our sunrise walk with Dawn that I needed two coats. My long walk in the park later in the morning only required one coat. By mid-afternoon it had warmed enough that I wore shorts for a final shorter walk. That's Texas weather for you. Almost 22,000 steps today. Not bad for an old man with creaky joints.

I finally got around to updating the star tracker this afternoon. This update made everything worse. It's always a gamble with these firmware updates. The company is trying to provide compatibility for so many different brands of cameras that when they make an improvement for one brand they often inadvertently cripple something for another brand. I think the tracker works best with Canon cameras. The Olympus I use is not a popular brand and sometimes gets overlooked. The tracker basically still works fine, but my camera wouldn't stay connected today. I have no idea what the problem is. I eventually got everything working, but I don't have a lot of faith in this unit. I think it would be a giant hassle to get everything working properly in the dark.

I really thought the leaks were over after I cleared all the water off the roof yesterday. Much to my surprise another small leak appeared today. Will this ever end? Only about one drop of water fell per minute, but it was still a leak. Probably a lot of water got underneath the surface of the roof before I removed all the standing water. That water's got to go somewhere. I suspect that when everything dries completely the next round of rain will start. I really can't catch a break with this roof.

I got a letter saying that it was time for my annual appointment with my gastrointestinal doctor. When did this start? I think that if you see a doctor once, you will end up seeing them forever. Just about every time I've been referred to a specialist by my primary care physician, I end up becoming a permanent patient. I hate to ignore these doctors, since you never know when you will need them again. I do think I have way too many doctors now though.

It's time to renew my credentials with the Space Force. Unlike NASA credentials, these last for a full year. Since there are launch pads at Patrick Air Force Base as well as Kennedy Space Center, you really need to be able to access both locations. Most people think the space center is one big location, but the NASA side and the Air Force side are two separate entities. It's totally different watching a launch on the Air Force side, but the view is still good. I'll try to send in the renewal forms tomorrow and then I'll wonder for months if they got lost. I always seem to get credentialed, but it really seems to take a while.

This week has gone quickly. It's already time to make a grocery list again. Sometimes it seems like I spend my life repeating the same things over and over again. No wonder Dawn always seems to know what is going to happen next. We are very predictable around here.

Sophie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4729

All the Santa Paws gear has been stored away for another year. I literally only use this stuff once a year, but I'm glad I never threw it away. This year's backdrop has been washed and folded. The poles and crossbar have seen better days, but will survive to be used again. The boxes of bandanas and bows for the dogs have been washed and cleaned. My Norman strobe lights still work and all my camera batteries have been recharged. Next year I will probably start complaining again that I'm too old to be doing this, while secretly being pleased that I still can. Back in my studio days I never thought of photography as a physical activity, but it definitely is.

I try not to visit my storage warehouse very often. It's depressing. There are too many things that have memories attached to them that I don't really need. Do I really think I'm going to use a wind sailer again? The fiberglass board and sail take up a lot of space. I have several shelves filled with old Macintosh computers that are worth absolutely nothing. Maybe I should save one as an emergency backup, but do I really need seven? I still have a lot of my Dad's fishing gear, including an almost new outboard motor. I don't even like to fish. For the time being, it's easier to just forget about this stuff.

It was much warmer today. I overdressed for our sunrise walk with Dawn, but that's better than being too cold. Janet had plans so we walked in the dark again. I'll be glad when the days start getting longer. I'm not a big fan of Winter. Since I wasn't able to do my grocery shopping this weekend, there was no fruit to go with this morning's shredded wheat. That won't be a problem tomorrow. I went and did this week's grocery shopping right after breakfast.

I buy the same things over and over again. Almost everything keeps getting more expensive. The weekly price increases aren't dramatic but they are relentless. Maybe they think I won't notice. Over time the increases are getting ridiculous though. Some things I buy regularly have literally doubled in price. Is all this really necessary? The stores definitely aren't spending as much on labor anymore. Self checkout is the norm these days. I don't even use self checkout since I have an app on my phone that lets me bypass the checkout line. Even with all these high-tech innovations, I still miss the way life was in the 70's and 80's. You'd have a hard time convincing me that anything has actually improved over the years.

I should have gone to the gym today, but took another long walk in the park instead. I need to do something different because these walks are getting boring. I used to walk on the other side of the lake when things started to seem monotonous, but I can't be bothered anymore. It's still the same lake. The best incentive I have to keep walking is my Facebook feed. I'm amazed at the number of people I know who have already died. I don't think of 75 as old, but it's definitely not young. Oh, well. I guess I'll keep walking.

Tomorrow I need to take Janet to the dentist for dental surgery. On Friday I go to the eye doctor, who will probably want to schedule me for cataract surgery. It seems like there is always something medical on our calendar these days. Dawn has a birthday coming up soon. At least Dawn is still healthy.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3969

Don't you hate it when you're running errands and you realize that you forgot your mask right as you reach the first store on your list. Damn. I had to drive all the way home, get a mask, and start my errands all over again. I finally did what I should have done months ago though. I put a few spare masks in the glove compartment.

I wrote my NASA contact and asked whether they had an updated schedule yet. Nope. They did tell me that I probably guessed correctly on my choice of travel days though. I feel a little better now. I'd still like to see an official schedule however. Kennedy Space Center is fairly huge. If you arrive at the wrong gate for an event, you might miss it completely. I've already had a fifteen minute drive turn into an hour drive by getting confused on directions. Don't want that to happen again.

It was overcast today, but the temperature was still nice for our morning walk with Dawn. I thought it might rain for a little while, but it never did. By mid afternoon, the skies had partially cleared and I could see a little blue peaking through the clouds. I shouldn't have been disappointed today, but I've been spoiled by the near perfect weather we've been having lately. 

I finally worked up my nerve to look at the long range weather forecast for Titusville. There's a 30% chance of rain on launch day and thunderstorms are predicted on the day before the launch. This is fairly typical weather for the Space Coast at this time of year, but it sure would be nice to have clear skies down there as well. I'm not wild about driving in from Orlando in a rainstorm, but I don't have much influence over the weather. It is what it is.

I got the results for my recent doctor visit and all is good. I always prefer it when a doctor calls me with results. Everyone is switching to online patient portals now, and half the time the information gets entered incorrectly. Occasionally, the information is correct, but I completely misinterpret it. It's better if you can talk to someone and ask questions. If we have to do this electronically, it would be nice if all the doctors could just enter their information in a common database. It would seem that they would wont to share information, but that never seems to happen. I have so many separate patient portals now that I have a hard time remembering what they are for.

I discovered that my new carry-on bag includes a nifty built-in battery that can be used to recharge a phone or tablet up to five times. This is actually very handy. I wonder why nobody has thought of this before. It's easy to run your battery down at the airport if you have a long wait between flights. The charging stations at airports never seem to work either.

Janet and I still can't decide what to do for Thanksgiving this year. In recent years we've gone out to eat at a local hotel that has an amazing Thanksgiving buffet. It was always fun to try all sorts of things that we normally never eat. I think buffets are gone for the foreseeable future though. What a shame. I doubt that many people get Covid from serving themselves at a buffet. Probably a lot of people will get the virus from having Thanksgiving dinner with their family though. Experts still say that family gatherings are one of the most common ways the virus spreads.

I loaded the dishwasher last night and forgot to turn it on. I forgot to wear a mask to the pharmacy today. I wonder what I'll forget on my trip to Florida. I was real careful about taking everything I needed on my trip to McDonald Observatory, but I still ended up forgetting several things. I guess I'd better get used to this. Old people forget things. I did remember to take the trash out to the curb this evening though. That's something.

Coach is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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