Day 4572

Another uneventful day. I think it's impossible for me to get eight hours of sleep. When I go to bed earlier, I wake up earlier. Somewhere between six and seven hours is all my body seems to want. It's too bad that Dawn wasn't in the mood to walk when I took her outside this morning. It was really nice out just before sunrise. She's not going to walk until Janet returns though. I'm lucky that I can get her to go down to the meadow behind our house to do her business.

I took my long walk right after breakfast to avoid the heat. Apparently, I'm not the only one trying to avoid the heat. The park is surprisingly crowded early in the day this summer. I often see neighbors walking their dogs while I'm in the park. Today one of them was one dog short. It turned out that the dog had died of cancer recently. It's sad that our dogs are with us for such a short time.

I went to the bank this morning and then stopped at a nearby grocery store to get some more salad greens. Actually I just got a couple of pre-made salads so I wouldn't have to make anything. I'm spoiled that Janet makes me a nice salad every day. On my own, I would revert to eating tuna fish out of the can pretty quickly.

The Benro folks wanted me to run a test on my star tracker and sent me some pre-release software to install. I was a little apprehensive because there was a good chance that everything would stop working again. Boredom makes you take chances though. I figured that if the beta firmware didn't work, they would fix the problem later. I carefully followed the instructions I was sent and was pleasantly surprised that the tracker still worked. There weren't any camera disconnect problems either. Maybe my problems are over for a while. Actually, I'm pretty lucky to be communicating well with the manufacturer in China. They always answer my questions within a day or two and have been pretty responsive. A lot of people on the user group haven't even received their trackers yet. One of these days I'll have some really nice astro photos to show you. It might be a while though. Lord knows when I'm going to be able to get back to the observatory.

I finally contacted the right person at NASA and got an update on my Artemis-1 status. Yes, they received my application for press credentials a long time ago. No, they haven't made any final decisions yet. I hope I get selected but it would certainly save me a lot of money if my application is rejected. I don't think airfares and hotel rates are going down any time soon.

I found Dawn sitting in the corner again this afternoon. Some noise that I hadn't even heard had spooked her. She came when I called and we went outside to sit in the sun for a while. Dawn is fine, but she is still very nervous without Janet at her side. We get all the essential things done during the day, but I can tell that she is sad and a little depressed. At least she doesn't run away when I take a nap on the bed anymore. I took a long nap this afternoon and Dawn stayed right there with me. We are definitely building trust, but there is a big gap between trust and joy. I tell Dawn that her friend will be returning soon, but I'm not sure she understands.

It's grocery day again tomorrow. This week really went quickly. I don't need much since I got some of my shopping done today, but I do need strawberries. Janet returns on Sunday. I think Dawn will be very happy.

Bentley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4454

My grocery list was long this morning. Prices are still going up. It's not just a few cents anymore either. Most of the items I got today were at least a dollar higher than the last time I bought them. I don't really know who to blame here. Companies are facing a host of problems they never had to deal with before. There is a shortage of workers. Supply chain problems make it harder to get components to the factories and finished goods to the consumer. It's pretty clear that Covid has messed up everything. On the other hand, I think a lot of companies are taking advantage of the situation and raising prices just because they've got a good excuse now. I want prices to stay reasonable but I also want a healthy stock market because I depend on it for a retirement income. Why do I have a feeling that I'm not going to be able to have both.

It was quite warm today. We didn't even have to wear jackets on our morning walk with Dawn. I don't call this a sunrise walk anymore because the sun is rising earlier now. Lately, it's almost always been up by the time we get started on our walk. Unfortunately, this is going to change in a few weeks. Daylight Savings Time begins again on March 13. I don't think anyone likes the time change but like everything else in modern life we are divided on whether to make Standard Time permanent or Daylight Savings Time permanent. My vote would be to make Standard Time permanent. I've never liked Daylight Savings Time and am not looking forward to walking in the dark again.

For some reason my pace was a lot better on my long walk today. I completed my walk at least five minutes faster than I usually do. Not a lot has changed. I still wake up tired and I have foot pain, although it wasn't all that bad today. Maybe I walked faster because it was so warm that I wore shorts today. I don't see a lot of cold weather in the long range forecast so maybe we really will get an early Spring this year. I hope we do. I'm tired of freezing weather and wearing multiple coats in the morning.

I wonder when my seasonal allergies are going to stop. My nose feels red and raw now, but the drip is relentless. Years ago my allergies didn't start until everything started turning green in the Spring. That hasn't happened yet, so maybe the worst is yet to come. There's got to be a solution to this that doesn't involve taking Allegra-D or other powerful decongestants. I don't handle decongestants well, but lately I think I'd prefer the buzzing in the head they give me to a constantly dripping nose.

I had the best intentions to start working on my taxes today, but one thing led to another and I ended up doing nothing. I'll get this finished before the deadline, but I have no desire to deal with taxes this year. I know I'm procrastinating but procrastinating is one of the things I do best. It's almost a superpower. I tend to wait until the last possible minute on everything and somehow still manage to get things done just in the nick of time.

I think I'm making a little progress with Dawn. She comes to me in the mornings now to get her harness on for her walk. About half the time, she'll stay with me on the bed if I take a nap during the day. She's more likely to stay if I don't look at her though. If I turn away and sleep on my side, she usually stays. She's getting a lot bolder in the kitchen too. I don't think that has a lot to do with me. Dawn just loves food.

It looks like we'll have a nice Sunday outing tomorrow as long as it doesn't rain. There's a slight chance of rain but the temperature will certainly be nice. Here's hoping for sunshine and ice cream for all.

Rory is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day