Day 4928

Last night's rain cooled things down a little this morning, but the temporary respite from our ongoing heat wave didn't last long. By mid-morning it was already hot and muggy again. At least Dawn got a nice early walk this morning. It's a shame that it's too hot for her to walk in the afternoon, but at least she gets a little activity.

With a forecast that includes triple digit temperatures for the next ten days, I don't think I'm going to be walking in the park for a while. I ate my weekday breakfast of shredded wheat and fruit and then headed for the gym to attempt to renew my membership. It turned out the the whole membership issue was no big deal. They told me that they just need to confirm that all my information was correct once a year. I'm still a member in good standing.

I only accomplished two things today, I walked three miles on the indoor track and I shot some baskets on the basketball court. I'm really glad I didn't have to change gyms. My favorite things about this gym are the basketball court and the nice indoor track. For some reason I like using the indoor track a lot more than using a treadmill. The basketball court is just for fun. I'm not very good, but I enjoy shooting baskets.

The Internet is definitely not fun anymore. Navigating websites has become a password hell, now that everyone is demanding unique and complex passwords that are impossible to remember. Gone are the days on innocence where I used to use the same password for everything. I'm beginning to think my Luddite sister is right. Who needs this? I had to call my hosting company today and ask if they could get rid of the person or people who are spoofing or cloning my e-mail address. At least once a week I find mail in my spam folder that appears to come from me. I'm sure other people get this spam as well. The tech support guy said he'd increase the spam protection on my account so I would no longer see these messages. "You're missing the point," I said. "I don't care if I see them. I don't want the rest of the world getting spam that appears to come from me." We'll see if the hosting company can do anything. My hopes aren't very high at this point.

I got my known traveler number from TSA today. Wow. That was quick. I thought I'd be getting a physical card to keep in my wallet, but that's apparently not the way it works. You add your known traveler number to your profile on the various airline sites you use and then when you book a flight it shows up on your boarding pass that you are TSA Pre approved. I guess we'll see how this works the next time I travel. If it works this will save me a ton of time at the Orlando airport.

Janet has a vacation planned and I'm practically begging Dawn to bond with me before she leaves. The last time Janet went on vacation Dawn was a mess. She wouldn't even come out in the kitchen to eat her breakfast. I had to feed her breakfast in bed. Eventually I got her used to going down to the park with me to do her business, but she never would take a walk with me. As soon as she pooped, she headed straight back to the house. Life would be much less stressful for Dawn if she understood that I really liked her and would never harm her. This may never happen though. Dawn spent too many year being used as a breeding dog by two guys who weren't nice at all.

It looks like tomorrow will be another day just like today. The temperature is going to keep getting a little hotter every day for the next ten days. I really hope we don't have a power outage or air conditioner problems. Next month's electric bill is going to be sky high, but that's the price you pay for living in Texas in the summer.

Kirby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4881

It was a typical Saturday. I walked and went to the grocery store. That was about it. I didn't have any problems finding things today. My list wasn't long though. I knew Janet was going to be gone tonight and I didn't feel like cooking, so I just got some chicken salad for dinner.

The day started as usual with an early walk with Dawn. We hit an all time record high temperature today, so this early walk was the only time when it actually felt nice outside. Dawn enjoyed her sunrise walk, but later in the day she didn't even want to go outside. I can't blame her. I did go out for my long walk later in the morning, but I think Dawn had the right idea. This was the first day this year that I regretted walking in the park instead of going to the gym. It was just too hot.

How am I going to make it through another hot summer? Last year I wet down my clothes and hat on hot days before I started walking. I'll probably have to start doing that again soon. The clothes were always dry again by the time I returned home, but this did cool me down for a while. Today's walk was uneventful. The meadows are green and full of wildflowers, but I have no desire to take pictures. I think I already have good pictures of almost everything in the park.

There has been rain in the forecast all day, but so far nothing had materialized. I stayed dry on my walk, but I wouldn't have minded getting rained on. It was unusually  and humid today and my clothes were quickly covered in sweat. There was some sort of native prairie appreciation day going on at the park while I was out walking. I was surprised at how many people were attending. There were numerous booths set up and several groups were taking tours of the grasslands. I guess I just take the park for granted since I live here, but it is a special place.

Janet is at a rescue event tonight, so Dawn has reverted to her fearful mode. I got her to come out and eat her dinner, but she will probably just sit on the bed and shake until Janet returns. It's a shame that Dawn doesn't feel comfortable when Janet is gone. I'm around the house a lot more than Janet is and Dawn would be a lot happier if she could just get used to this. 

Home is definitely the best place to be today. I turned on the TV while I was eating dinner and discovered that there had been a mass shooting at a large outlet mall north of town that Janet and I have shopped at a number of times. This is the last place I would have expected something like this to happen. Sadly, no place is safe anymore. We live in a dystopian world that appears to be crumbling around us.

The mall shooting won't stop me from mall walking tomorrow. Plane crashes don't stop me from flying and seeing accidents on the road doesn't stop me from driving. I am more cautious as I grow older though. I don't feel comfortable being out late at night these days. I guess I'm not the same person who used to play in bands at clubs at all hours of the night. It's a shame that the world doesn't feel safe anymore. I'm glad that Janet and I did our traveling when we were younger. I have no desire to visit New York City or San Francisco anymore.

There's a storm headed our way, but hopefully it won't rain long and we'll still be able to take Dawn on her Sunday outing tomorrow. I don't know when we'll be able to start the roof replacement. I see rain in the forecast for the rest of the month.

Patches is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4704

Another slow day. I ate, I walked, I did all the usual things. The carpenter who was supposed to come over and give me an estimate couldn't make it and said he'd stop by tomorrow. I signed up for another patient portal so I could view the lab results from Tuesday's exam. Medical websites seem a lot more concerned about security than banks. Thats always seemed strange to me. Doctors never share information either. I've bookmarked half a dozen patient portals and they all have basically the same information. 

When I took my long walk today, I saw the bald eagles again. When I returned home I searched the Internet for news about whether the Artemis rocket survived the hurricane. I didn't learn much. For a significant part of the day I thought it was Friday. It was that kind of day.

Something scared Dawn this morning and she wouldn't come back to the bedroom. The power didn't go out and I didn't hear anything, but Dawn was definitely alarmed. I delayed my walk until she calmed down a bit. I wonder what was bothering her? She's very alert and is a good little watchdog. I kept looking for the source of the problem but couldn't find anything. Dawn certainly wasn't talking. Eventually I noticed that she was asleep on the bed again and I took my walk.

Janet and I spent some time today looking for a new photo backdrop for this year's Santa Paws pictures. We couldn't find anything as nice as the backdrops we've used before. Maybe we'll just use a previous backdrop for this years pictures. Since we've been doing these Christmas pictures since 2012, I've got quite a collection of backdrops by now.

The November issue of SpaceFlight with my first Artemis article came in the mail today. The article and pictures looked good. I'd already seen the issue in PDF form, but I still like a real magazine you can see and touch. I keep telling my accountant that these articles constitute a real business for me, but his answer is always "show me the money." For practical purposes, there isn't any. You're not going to get rich writing about astronomy and space. I still feel like a journalist though. I get to hang out with other journalists at Kennedy Space Center and I've amassed quite a collection of press credentials by now. As hobbies go, this certainly beats collecting model trains.

I hope that the carpentry work I need isn't too expensive. The repairs need to be made, but I've still got another trip to Florida to pay for. It's a shame that old web designers aren't in demand. One or two websites a month would make a big difference in my income. The kids working at ad agencies don't want to hire someone older than their grandfather though. I've come to the conclusion that it's better to just accept this graciously. I manage to stay busy and I'm not broke. It's probably better that I don't have young clients driving me crazy.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4585

There was rain in the forecast today. I was hoping we'd get some, but we didn't get a drop. The sky darkened and I heard thunder, but the storm passed a little to the east of us. Usually, I'm always trying to avoid the rain, but today I was disappointed. The rain would have cooled things down a bit and our yard could have used a good soaking.

At least it was a little cooler this morning. Our sunrise walk with Dawn was pleasant and the weather was still reasonably nice when I took my long walk after breakfast. I really thought I was going to get wet today because the sky kept getting darker the further I walked. It's a shame that the rain went elsewhere.

I was hoping to hear something about my car today. No calls or progress reports though. I didn't call them. I've learned not to bother repair people. It just makes them mad and never makes the job go faster. Hopefully, I'll still get the car back sometime tomorrow. The shop is closed over the weekend and I'd hate to be without a car on Saturday and Sunday. If I was smart I would have just kept the car until the part arrived. Your car will run fine without a catalytic converter. You just don't want to get it safety inspected.

Dawn started acting weird again when Janet left the house this afternoon. She refused to leave the bedroom and wouldn't even come out to eat her dinner. I thought that Dawn would relax after Janet returned from vacation. Nope. Every time she leaves the house Dawn starts acting worried. Maybe she thinks Janet is leaving on another vacation. It's sad that Dawn is still not entirely comfortable with me. I'm the one who is here at the house all the time. We really should be best buddies by now.

For the first time in several weeks the temperature didn't top 100 degrees. The high today was in the low 90's. Our air conditioner didn't struggle to keep the desired temperature and I was even mildly tempted to do some yard work. I stayed inside though. The temperature might have been a little lower, but the ants and wasps were still out in force. I'm afraid that today's milder weather was just an anomaly. We'll be back to triple digits tomorrow and it looks like the heat wave will continue for the rest of the month.

One downside to walking early in the morning is that there isn't much to do in the afternoon. There are still things on my to-do list that need attention, but I don't feel like doing them. This usually leads to mindless things like watering the lawn and doing laundry. I'm always up for a nap, but Dawn kept leaving the room this afternoon whenever I came in the bedroom and this made me feel guilty. She loves that bed and I can always nap on the couch.

I hate to see Covid making a resurgence. I really thought we were done with this thing. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if mask mandates and other restrictions return. I do know several people who have successfully avoided Covid  for the past two years, only to catch it within the past two weeks. I still haven't caught Covid. The main precaution I take is to avoid other people. It isn't hard, because I was doing this long before the virus arrived on the scene. I would be really surprised if I caught the virus at this point, but stranger things have happened. I learned a long time ago to never take anything for granted.

The trash has been taken to the curb and my week is essentially over. I have no real plans for tomorrow, although I would like to get my car back.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day