Day 3465

It was so hot today that all I really wanted to do was drink cold beverages. I need to start taking water with me on my walks. You sweat so much in this hot, humid weather that I've started to think that dehydration might be a risk. I always made sure that the dogs had water when we walked in the Summer, but I was never that concerned about myself. Maybe you sweat more when you get older, or maybe this is just a particularly bad summer.

It looks like the Falcon Heavy launch is actually going to happen. The rocket had a successful static fire late last night and the weather in Florida seems to be improving. I think some of the other social media folks attending this event have already started their journey. The people NASA selects tend to come from all over the place. Several people are traveling from Seattle. At least one person is coming from San Diego. More people are making a very long drive than I expected. I'm still glad I decided to fly. I don't think I have the stamina for a long drive anymore. I'm just hoping that I don't throw my back out while I'm there.

The little baby monitor that we always used to keep an eye on Dot and Dash while we were away broke during the power outage. There are no dogs to watch now, but it still bothers me to have broken things around the house. I contacted the manufacturer and they told me that the unit will not function without a working backup battery. I know the lithium ion battery is bad, but replacing it won't be easy. After making a few calls I learned that the battery isn't being made anymore. They probably make much better and cheaper webcams these days, but I am determined to fix this thing. I'll add it to my list of broken things that need fixing.

I got an e-mail today that began with "I understand that you developed our website. We need to make some changes..." Wrong. I'm the guy you fired after the client decide to put one of his lazy kids in charge of the marketing department. The kids friends build a brand new website and then probably disappeared. The guy who wrote me sounded desperate, but I told him that the company's website wasn't mine and that I didn't even know how to access it. If there is a lesson in all this it is that you should never hire your kids to take over the marketing department. It seldom turns out well.

I need to decide what to take on my trip. Mostly this just involves finding some comfortable shoes. If you're on your feet all day, good shoes are critical. NASA has a dress code, but it shouldn't be a problem for a guy like me. I wouldn't be wearing shorts, open toed shoes, or tank tops anyway. Sometimes they encourage you to bring your own food. There aren't any restaurants out at the launch pad. I actually wish I had brought my own food while I was in Houston. I went all day without eating anything.

I don't want to go all day without eating anything tomorrow, but I don't really feel like going out for breakfast. Maybe I'll just stay home and finish what's left of the fresh fruit. A peach and a banana sounds fine when you're not that hungry.

Alamo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1445

We thought today might be a good day to go see the new presidential library here in Dallas. How wrong we were! When we arrived, there was already a long line of people snaking around the building. The line wasn't moving either. We decided to come back another day. I guess this library has replaced the city zoo and the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza as the go-to place to take visiting relatives on the day after Thanksgiving.

I'm still interested in seeing the library. I've never been to a presidential library before. I've driven past LBJ's library in Austin several times, but I've never gone inside. I should have seen Clinton's library by now, since I grew up in Arkansas, but I haven't been there either. I did visit Dwight Eisenhower's home near Gettysburg once and found it very interesting. Presidents lived pretty simple lives in the 1950's.

Since the library was so crowded and it was already too late to go to an afternoon movie, Janet and I both went to the gym instead. Her gym was crowded and mine was nearly empty. I don't understand why young people don't go to my gym. It is the easily best equipped facility in the city. There is a heated Olympic size pool, a regulation size basketball court, a huge, well equipped weight room, a boxing area, and every type of resistance machine and treadmill ever created. I suspect that the young people who keep all those trendy new LA Fitness Centers busy just don't want to be seen with the old geezers who frequent my gym. I see an older gentleman almost every time I'm working out wearing a t-shirt that says "I wish I was 88." He is actually 94.

My missing UPS package mysteriously appeared on my doorstep this afternoon. Nobody knocked on the door and there was no explanation. I still don't know whether the UPS driver found the missing package and re-delivered it, or whether the person who actually received the package last Tuesday  finally decided to drive it over to my house. I'll probably never know what really happened, but at least I now have what I need. Hopefully, these new supplies will revive my hopelessly clogged printer and get it working again.

Although we didn't do any of the fun things we had planned, Janet and I both got a lot done today. She braved the Black Friday crowds and got a new Winter coat, while I found a replacement for the blinking, non-functional overhead light in my office. I'm sure I could have found a cheaper light fixture at IKEA, but it was worth paying almost any amount just to be able to avoid going to IKEA.

When I went to my regular breakfast restaurant today, I noticed that the other customers looked like hell. Actually, they just looked very similar to what I look like every day. I figured that most of these  people must still be on vacation. I guess this proves that without a dress code to conform to, almost everyone will immediately sink to the lowest common denominator. Personally, I don't know why I bother to get dressed anymore. The dogs don't care what I look like and my Internet-based clients will never know the difference. Wearing a suit on Wednesday mornings is still a novelty, but I'm sure this will wear off soon enough. The day I show up at one of these networking meetings wearing a Nirvana t-shirt and sweat pants is probably the day they'll kick me out of their club.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day