Day 4743

It's definitely Winter. It's cold. It's damp. I want to sleep with an extra blanket on the bed. Winter is not my favorite season, but luckily it's not as bad here as it is further north. The problem with Winter is that I continue to do exactly the same things I do in the summer even though the experience is not as pleasant.

I dressed warmly for our early walk with Dawn. Actually I dressed a little too warmly, but I didn't want to take chances. As temperatures drop, there are fewer people on the trails. We're dedicated though. If it's not raining, we'll be out walking.

I waited a while before taking my long walk today because I was hoping that it would either warm up or the wind would die down. Neither happened but I went walking anyway. I must really hate driving because in many ways it would be so much easier to go to the gym on days like this. Sadly, the weather was nice today compared to what it is going to be like later in the week. Single digit temperatures are still in the forecast.

I found a really nice sweater under a pile of clothes when I was getting dressed for my walk. Where did this come from? I must have had the sweater for years. It looked like it had never been worn. I wonder what else I have. I accumulated a lot of clothes during the time I traded design services for clothing and shoes. Looking back, this was a pretty good deal. The money I made during the early years of my company disappeared a long time ago. I still have a lot of the clothes though.

I didn't see the eagles today on my walk. I wonder where they go when they aren't near their nest? I cover a lot of ground in the park and you'd think I'd see them somewhere. They're either near the nest or gone completely. People speculate that since the pair returned this year to build a second nest that they might have made the lake their permanent home. I don't think anyone really knows however. I hope they didn't scare the pelicans away. I think I enjoyed watching the pelicans more than the eagles. 

Since the ground has dried out and bulky trash pickup is later this week, it was a good day to start raking leaves. Since we have large Oak trees in our back yard, there are a ton of leaves on the ground every fall. I'm not a fan of raking and bagging leaves, but it needs to be done. When we first moved here I just let the leaves blow away during the Winter. It worked pretty well until all the neighbors built tall privacy fences. Now we don't get the same kind of breeze we used to get and the leaves just stay on the ground. 

I bagged a lot of leaves this afternoon and took them out to the curb. There are still a lot of leaves on one of the Oak trees, but it's a start. Maybe I'll rake a little more tomorrow. The leaves are dry now and it is supposed to rain later in the week. For a while, Janet and I were both out working on the leaves and Dawn got excited, thinking that we were out there to play with her. She had great fun racing through the big piles of leaves. It was nice to see her enjoying herself. Dawn is not usually a very playful dog.

I made an appointment to get a haircut later in the week. I have an appointment to see the eye doctor the same day. Doing two different things in one day is rare for me. I think I'll manage though. I'll probably find time to take a walk as well.

Ranger 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 4447

Another cold, grey day. We were finally able to take Dawn on a walk before breakfast and she seemed to enjoy it. We had a big weekend breakfast and then I went and did my grocery shopping. I left a little early this morning because I thought it was going to rain. Actually it did rain, but not until much later in the day.

The shelves are still looking a little bare in most stores but I still found everything I needed. I was going to get gas, but there were lines at Sam's Club where prices are lowest. I can wait. I drive so little that my tank won't be empty for a long time. Prices in the stores still seem high, but that is probably because I never used to look at prices. Now that I've become more aware of what things really cost, it all seems expensive.

I've been worried about falling for months, but it was Janet who actually fell. She stumbled while running in the park this morning and got some nasty looking scrapes and bruises. Hopefully no harm was done, but falling on pavement is never fun.

I dressed warmly for my long walk today. It wasn't as cold as yesterday, but it still felt very chilly to me. Nobody seems to dress as warmly as I do. I don't see how some of the people I see in the park can stand the cold. On cold days I wear a light down ski jacket under a heavier down outer jacket. The inner jacket has a hood and I wear a wool hat under that. Add a pair of lined leather gloves and I'm ready for anything.

So far no roof leaks today even though we got quite a bit of rain later in the day. I'm glad the pumps are still working because I have no desire to go up on the roof these days. My sense of balance isn't as good as it used to be and there is no reason to be tempting fate.

I'm still working on getting Dawn to trust me. She's fine when Janet is in the house, but still seems nervous around me when we are alone together. I don't know what to expect when Janet goes on vacation. I guess she'll either get used to me or it will be a very long week. I don't think I'll be able to take her on walks while Janet is away. If she froze in place a long way from home I would be out of luck. Right now it's hard enough for both of us to get Dawn moving again when she has these periodic freezes. I don't think the refusal to move is stubbornness. It is some kind of fear or panic.

I follow space more than politics and have been surprised that even this tiny little slice of reality has been affected by the crisis in the Ukraine. A major component of the Cygnus rocket that resupplies the international pace station is manufactured in Ukraine. Without this component there will be no more launches from Wallops Island. The Atlas 5 rocket which has been used for years to launch the majority of research satellites uses Russian engines. The fuel used to keep the international space station in a stable orbit comes from Russia as well. If the supply for these things is disrupted, the space program slowly grinds to a halt. It's sad how little I knew about Ukraine before this crisis. I still thought that Chernobyl was in Russia. And when did the spelling and pronunciation of Ukraine's capital city change from Kiev to Kyiv? Is this recent or am I just another unaware American?

I think it is supposed to be sunny tomorrow. I sure hope so. There's been too much gloomy weather on top of all the world's gloomy news. I want an early Spring, a friendly dog, and lots of wildflowers in the park. 

Bingo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4392

It was 18 degrees when we woke up this morning. There was a strong wind as well. Needless to say, we didn't take a sunrise walk. We ate breakfast and waited for it to warm up a little. I was just glad the house was warm. Right after I posted my worries about the furnace going out yesterday evening, the furnace actually did go out. The temperature was dropping rapidly, so it was important to get it fixed before I went to bed. I suspected a dirty flame sensor, since that's usually the problem when the pilot light won't ignite the burners. Luckily, fixing a dirty flame sensor is fairly easy. You unplug the furnace, unscrew a few metal panels, and then sand the flame sensor with fine grit sandpaper. I used to take the flame sensor out of the furnace to do this, but I've learned that I can contort my hand and reach through a little hole to sand the sensor in place. I can't see what I'm doing, but I've learned to do the cleaning operation by feel. It took about an hour to get the furnace running again, but it sure beats freezing.

It warmed up a little, but it was still below freezing when we took Dawn on her Sunday outing. She wore her sweater this morning, but I think she was still a little cold. I was pretty warm because I was wearing two down jackets and long underwear. The double layer of jackets works great and keeps me much warmer than the heavy winter parka I used to wear on colds day like this. We still got ice cream after our walk today, but we were sitting in a warm car. Dawn would have been really disappointed if we didn't get ice cream.

I made some progress with the star tracker today, but I'm still unable to connect a camera to it. The cables that came with the tracker don't fit any of my current cameras. I did find an older camera that could use one of the supplied connection cables, but it saved pictures in the wrong format. At least the star tracker itself seems to work. I updated the firmware and formatted the internal SD card. I can control the tracker from my phone now. I just can't take pictures yet. I suspect that I will have to go to the Apple Store and buy a few more cable adapters.

I don't know why I bothered to take a long walk today. It was really cold. I should have learned my lesson after our short walk with Dawn, but I was determined to get my steps in. The wind was strong and my feet hurt, but I did complete my route. I still don't understand how northerners put up with the cold. There were joggers passing me today wearing only light jackets. I looked like I was headed for the South Pole.

I hope I can get the star tracker to work with one of my cameras. As usual, I don't have one of the popular cameras this system was apparently designed for. I tend to obsess over things and this whole process of figuring things out with very little documentation will probably just lead to frustration. I'm sure I'll end up buying a bunch of cables that don't work and just end up wasting money. The weird thing is that even if I can get the tracker to work, it will probably just sit in a box for months. Dallas just isn't a good place for astrophotography.

I don't have much of a plan for tomorrow. Hopefully it will be a little warmer. It's hard for me to get motivated on warm days. On cold days it's almost impossible. If I can get at least one camera to recognize the star tracker tomorrow, the day will be a win.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3695

We escaped the ice and snow forecasters were warning us about. We must have gotten some rain overnight though because there was water on the roof again when I woke up. I decided to act quickly this time. For the second time in two days I went up on the roof and swept the water away. I guess I did the right thing because the leak hasn't reappeared.

It was definitely cold enough for snow today. A strong wind made things even worse. Even though I dressed warmly, I was freezing on the roof. It was not the best day to be getting wet. When the roof was dry, I went inside to get dry myself. We've got a lot of winter left, but I'm definitely ready for summer.

After breakfast this morning I continued to get organized for my trip to the Space Center. I'm always torn between a need to plan for contingencies and a desire to travel light. It's easier to travel in the summer when you don't have to consider whether to take sweaters and coats. An extra coat takes up a lot of space. I can't decide which cameras to take either. Usually a little pocket camera is fine, but I don't want to humiliate myself if I do manage to make it on the press bus to the launch pad.

Basically, I'm a terrible traveler. I continue to go back and forth about what to take and usually just end up throwing a bunch of stuff in a bag at the last minute so I won't miss my flight. I'm fine when I arrive, but getting there is like pulling teeth.

Taking my long walk today seemed like pulling teeth as well. It was very cold. The wind was so strong that the windchill made me wish that I'd gotten my old Alaska coat out of the storage warehouse. The coat is very heavy and probably needs to be dry cleaned, but it does a great job of protecting you from the wind.

I've pretty well decided not to view the launch rollout from a boat. It wasn't even that hard of a decision. All I needed to do was remember all the times I've gotten seasick on ships in the past. I'm usually OK on a calm lake, but the ocean is not my friend. Don't ever invite me to go deep sea fishing with you. Hey, I'm going to stay optimistic though. I'm still on the waitlist for the press bus to the launch site. Maybe if I just hang around where the bus is boarding, they'll be able to squeeze one more person onboard.

Sometimes I wish social media didn't exist. If it weren't for all the alarmists on my Facebook feed, I probably wouldn't even be thinking about the coronavirus. Jeez, the common cold is a type of coronavirus. Tons of people die from the flu every year. Is this really something to panic about or not?   You just don't know what to believe anymore. I'm generally really healthy, but I sneeze a lot because of seasonal allergies. I don't want to get thrown off the plane just because I sneezed.

Maybe everything will be fine. Usually I think "maybe everything will be fine" each morning when I wake up. My day is filled with irritating small problems but almost all of them get resolved. Life goes on. At the end of the day, I feel foolish for making a mountain out of a molehill.

Zorro is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3670

It snowed this morning. This was no winter wonderland, but it was snow. Less than two days ago it was 70 degrees. Where else could you go from a warm Spring day, to tornados, to snow in 24-hours? That's Texas weather for you. I'm not even going to predict what's going to happen tomorrow.

It seemed harder than usual to get the water off the roof today. Maybe it was just because it was so cold. I kept the pumps running all night, but they must have gotten clogged. There was still a ton of standing water to remove when I got to work. I'm way beyond tired of doing this loathsome chore, but it's got to be done. Left to its own devices, standing water will always find a way inside.

Batteries were on my shopping list today. Unfortunately, the store had moved the battery display again. I knew they were somewhere, but it took forever to find them. Why do stores do this? Almost every week I'm looking for something that is not in its usual place. I know that stores are trying to get you to explore new aisles and end up buying more but this tactic of constantly moving the merchandise around seems almost diabolical.

It's hard to know how to dress at this time of year. When I take my walk I'm almost always too cold when the wind blows and too hot when the sun come out from behind a cloud. It seems ten degrees colder when I walk along the shoreline and is always warmer away from the lake. I was a little cold today, but that's still better than being too hot. At least when I go to the gym, I know exactly what to expect.

I'm wondering whether I should go buy a warmer coat. On cold days like today I wonder how much colder it is going to seem when I'm outside helping with star parties on Mount Locke. Brrr. I was already cold when we went out there last Summer. I have a feeling that I just can't handle cold weather anymore. I'm always dressed warmer than most of the other people I see on my walk. Today, several joggers dressed in shorts and t-shirts passed me again. Are these people insane? It was barely above freezing.

We got some pictures of Selena in her new home. She already seems more relaxed than she was at the kennel. I think these dogs know when they have found their forever home. It is amazing how quickly some of them adapt. Sooner or later they are sitting on the couch or sleeping on the bed. Dalmatians can be very persuasive in getting what they want.

Time just flies by now. It's already the middle of January. So much to do. I need to make reservations for my trip to Florida. I need to schedule some telescope time at the little observatory north of Dallas. I want to be a knowledgable star party guide when I head for the Davis Mountains. I need to find out if Sky and Telescope is still interested in an article. I hope they are. First things first though. Tomorrow, I just need to go to the gym and see if I can still shoot free throws.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3611

It was a little warmer today, but apparently not warm enough to get me motivated. I certainly didn't accomplish much. While I was waiting for the temperature to rise, I wrote a letter to my sister and paid a few bills. I'm in no hurry to take an early walk anymore. I debated whether to call McDonald Observatory again or apply for a second NASA event in December and eventually decided to do neither. Maybe I felt that appearing over eager could jinx things.

When I did get around to taking my walk I was surprised when someone stopped me to ask about Dot and Dash. How could anyone even recognize me when I was bundled up like this? Although it was warmer than yesterday, it was still cold enough to warrant wearing my down coat and heavy boots. I looked like the Michelin Man again. I realized later that I was wearing the same winter outfit I've worn outside for many years. These were my dog walking clothes. I was probably instantly recognizable as soon as someone saw the puffy blue coat and wool hat.

There is a big patch of purple asters I pass every day on my walk. These Fall perennials always seem to be the last wildflowers to bloom. I doubt that they'll last much longer in this cold. The butterflies that congregate around these flowers are already gone. They're probably in Mexico by now. Pretty soon the trees will be bare and I won't see any more wildflowers until Spring. I was never very concerned about what to look at in the park in prior years. I was way too busy walking the dogs.

We've got ants in the kitchen again. I think this happens every winter. These are tiny little sweet ants and they seem to be everywhere. We spray and it doesn't do much good, but eventually the ants disappear. One of the many downsides to winter is that the bugs like to come indoors.

I've been a little concerned that my resting heart rate has been higher lately. Why should this change since I do the same things everyday? I did a Google search and learned that your resting heart rate increases when you are warmer and if you are dehydrated. Maybe this explains it. I'm sleeping under a blanket now and wearing much warmer clothes, which I never used to do during the summer. I'm also not drinking as much water. I drank a ton of water when I took hot summer walks. I also learned that my normal resting heart rate in the low 50's is considered very low unless you are an athlete and that my 'elevated' rate in the low 60's is considered normal. Maybe the only thing I really learned today is that I am still a hypochondriac who hates to see anything change.

I need to remember to buy some spare quartz modeling lights and an extra strobe tube for my strobe lights. The SantaPaws season is rapidly approaching and every year I worry that my aging Norman strobes are going to break. I definitely don't want to buy any more studio lights at this point in my life. Good studio strobes have gotten very expensive. I'm hoping that since I basically just use this equipment to shoot Santa photos once a year now, that it will last as long as I do.

The refrigerator was looking empty so I bought some more Cadence Kitchen dinners. I had the Mexican Style Pulled Pork with pineapple and achiote sauce tonight over rice. So good, but they use too much salt. As always, the best tasting things seem to inevitably be bad for you.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

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