Day 4176 - Memorial Day

Will this ever end? We had more rain today. This is the wettest Spring I can remember. The plants love it, but I don't think anyone else does. We got a lot of rain today, but still managed to find time to walk. Dawn's walk was completely dry, but I ended up cutting it pretty close on my own walk a little later. As soon as I completed my full six miles and returned to the house, the skies opened up and it started pouring. If I'd been walking just a little slower, I would have got soaked.

The park is a popular place for picnics and barbecues on Memorial Day. I was surprised at how many people stubbornly refused to give up in spite of the bad weather. There were makeshift tents and tarps erected over picnic tables. I saw one huge tarp that roofers often use to cover damaged roofs strung between several trees. The tarp not only covered a picnic table and a barbecue pit, it covered the owner's car as well. Nothing seemed to bother these people. The ground was wet and I could hear thunder in the distance, but the barbecues continued all over the park.

I think I've lost my mojo when it comes to fixing things. I have a waterproof iPhone case with a Gorilla Glass screen protector. One of the corners was loose, so I thought I'd fix it this morning. I carefully took the case apart and cleaned it. I found the problem. There was a broken post on the back of the case, so the corner screw on the front couldn't be tightened. I tried to super glue the broken part back together, but in the process a lot of other small parts started breaking or falling off. I tried to super glue these parts back together as well, but ended up losing one of them. I didn't align the post with the brass nut perfectly, so when I finally did attempt to reassemble the case, the screws on the front wouldn't align with the nuts inside the small posts in the back. I can't believe that I used to be able to fix watches. I was so clumsy that I ended up making a mess of the case. I thought the case company had gone out of business, but I managed to find a replacement on the Internet and ordered it. It must be coming from China, because the shipping charges were almost as much as the case.

The pumps on the roof aren't working very well, but I really don't want to climb up there and inspect them.  The weather is nasty and the roof gets slippery when it's wet. If I can't even fix an iPhone case, I don't want to risk fixing a pump on a slippery roof. Luckily, when I was just a little younger I made some pretty decent repairs to the roof. Even after all this rain, there have been no leaks.

We didn't get to visit the Dalmatians today. The kennel was closed for Memorial Day. The dogs were fine because kennel attendants still check on them several times a day to feed them and take them out to poop. The place just wasn't open to the public. Maybe when we visit next time the two dogs that have already been adopted will have gone to their forever homes.

Dawn has started licking her paws a lot. We don't know if this is a nervous habit or whether she is allergic to something outside. I thought she might have been bitten by fire ants, but there are no welts or sign of a bite on her paws. We found some socks that Dash used to wear when he had an injured paw, but they wouldn't fit on Dawn. Dash had really tiny feet for a Dalmatian. There is a big box of dog stuff at my storage warehouse. Dash had so many types of socks, shoes, and booties when his rear legs began to get weak and I may be able to find something for Dawn that might work. She needs to quit licking because her paws are already starting to get red and irritated.

According to the weather forecast, it is supposed to rain every day for the rest of the week. Not good. I hope the forecast is wrong. Enough is enough. I'm really getting sick of this rain.

Amy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4115

The star tracker I ordered arrived today. I looked at the instruction manual just long enough to realize that it's going to take me a while to learn to use this thing. I've got a month or so to master assembling and operating the tracker in complete darkness. This is not easy. When I was out at McDonald Observatory last October, even setting camera exposures in the dark was a chore. I spent a lot of time looking for little things I dropped on the ground. It was way too easy to throw off your polar alignment by bumping the tripod in the dark or spoiling the focus that took you forever to get just right by accidently touching the lens. Astrophotography is not an avocation for the clumsy. Unfortunately I am very clumsy. We'll see if I can be more careful this time. The last time I was on the mountain, I almost fell in a hole and broke my leg.

Maybe I ought to stick to photographing dogs. I'm pretty good at photographing dogs. Getting a good picture of the Andromeda Galaxy or the Orion Nebula is much harder for me. The night sky is interesting though and there are very few things that interest me anymore. Hey, if other people can do this, I should be able to take good night sky pictures as well. I'll figure out this star tracker in the weeks ahead and I bet my photos will be a lot better this time than they were last October.

I resumed my long walks today. It was very windy which made it almost impossible to dress for the occasion. When I was near the shoreline and the wind was blowing in my face I was cold. When I was out in the meadows and away from the water I was hot. I don't know where the ducks were today. I saw very few. Pretty soon the pelicans will fly North for the summer. There are already a lot fewer of them at the lake. Another week of two of warm weather and they'll be gone.

I see a few new wildflowers blooming every day now. It's interesting that the blue and purple flowers bloom first. Then the yellow flowers start blooming. The red flowers are almost always last. In April and May you see all the flowers at once and then they slowly start to disappear. It's not as much fun to photograph these flowers anymore because I've already captured every variety that grows here many times. April used to be a time for photography. Now it's mostly a time where I don't need to wear a coat and I don't get sunburned either. 

I was going to go looking for an Easter ham today but I forgot. I need to do this tomorrow. I've learned to ask for a Chop at the smokehouse. This is a small boneless cut that the store uses to make ham sandwiches for customers. A regular ham is way too much for two people and this small size is perfect. If you vacuum seal the meat in a boil-in bag you can keep it nice and juicy by just heating it in boiling water instead of putting it in the oven. Did I mention that I love a good smoked ham?

It's hard to believe that tomorrow will be April 1. It's getting harder and harder to separate the April Fool's jokes from reality. Life is so strange now that I'm having a difficult time telling the difference. The fact that Covid is still with us after an entire year seems like a cruel joke, but I guess it's real. I don't need any more big surprises. I'm waiting for life to become simple and predictable again. That wish is probably an April Fool's joke. I don't think that life will ever be simple and predictable again.

Smiley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3499

It's weird to go this long without talking to anyone. I don't spend a huge amount of time talking with Janet but I rarely talk to anyone else. Usually there isn't a need. After I finish the blog each evening there is nothing more to say. I guess I must have talked to the dogs in the past when Janet was traveling. The house is strangely silent now.

It is particularly quiet right now because U-Verse is down again. Usually this is our most expensive utility bill but the service is not particularly reliable. I'd switch to another provider, but Spectrum is even worse. The worst thing about U-Verse is that when you do have a problem you have to talk with an offshore customer service representative who can barely speak English. It's very frustrating to talk with someone on the other side of the world when you know there's probably just a problem with the line a few blocks away. I try to avoid calling these people because the problem sometimes fixes itself in a couple of hours. I always have an alternate way to get on the Internet. AT&T disappoints me frequently but my trusty little T-Mobile WiFi hotspot hasn't failed me yet.

The water level in the lake has been slowly dropping all month. It's been very dry. Today I noticed that one of the shallow bays had completely dried up. Like the age spot on my arm, this also seemed to happen overnight. I haven't seen the water level this low in many years. I guess we need some rain.  The odd thing was that it wasn't particularly hot today. On the news they even said we were having a cold wave. It's strange to think of 80 degree temperatures as a cold wave, but this is Texas.

I was happy to see the cooler temperatures. I knew they wouldn't last long so I made a point to mow the grass this afternoon. There is still a big dead spot where the huge pile of brush used to be but maybe it will fill in if we ever get some rain. This is the perfect time to make repairs to the roof, but I haven't received any of the silicon coating the roofer promised yet. Probably there will be a can of the stuff on my doorstep on the day it rains.

It's hard to find anything to photograph in the middle of July. The meadows in the park are becoming brown and dry. Most of the wildflowers are gone now except for the Firewheel plants and a few Morning Glories. I did find a Buttonbush that had seen better days. The spherical flowers would have been much more impressive if I'd found them a month ago.

I hate how clumsy I've become. I cut my finger with a kitchen knife while I was slicing a watermelon this afternoon. I rarely even eat watermelon but I had to go slicing one today. I guess I learned my lesson. This wasn't a bad cut but it feels like a paper cut right on the tip of my index finger. Irritating. I'm feeling this thing every time I type.

Every year I get this small gift card from the electric company. It's some kind of rebate for being a good customer. I wish they would just lower my bill a little instead. I almost always buy stuff online now, so I never know what to do with this card. To make matters worse, the card always expires a few months after the electric company sends it out. It's about to expire now so I need to go out and buy something I don't need before it becomes useless like it did last year. Maybe I'll do this tomorrow. Hey, I already mowed the grass. I need something to do.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3114 - Independence Day

The park was surprisingly quiet today. If park attendance is any indication, Cinco de Mayo has become a bigger holiday in Dallas than the Fourth of July. There are still neighborhood parades in several parts of town, but we haven't gone to one in a while. Janet used to be a judge at a local Fourth of July parade. I think we even walked with the dogs in one of these small parades when they were young. It's been a long time since we watched fireworks. Most of our dogs have been terrified of the noise. All I remember about watching fireworks in the park is getting bitten by ants.

These days we just watch the holiday concerts on TV. The Beach Boys always seem to play at these type of concerts. I was wondering how The Beach Boys were even still alive and then I noticed that the band is really just Mike Love and a bunch of much younger musicians. Listening to The Beach Boys brought back memories of Independence Days many decades ago. I'm really lucky to still have both hands after all the cherry bombs and M-80's we used to play with as kids. Fireworks weren't regulated at all back in the day. Now, these things are considered explosive devices and are illegal. I wonder how I survived cherry bombs and learning to drive without seat belts?

We were thinking about going out for dinner tonight, but it was too hot. Sometimes we have ribs on the Fourth of July, but neither of us was very hungry tonight. We still have a grill, but haven't used it in ages. Barbecue for us means driving to a good barbecue place and getting take out. No barbecue today. No burgers and beer either. We just ate left overs.

The wall I've been fixing finally looked smooth enough to paint, so I applied a coat of primer today. I was real careful, but still managed to spill paint within ten seconds after opening the paint can. I just don't seem to have any dexterity anymore. I'm always tripping over things and making a mess. I used to have perfect vision and a very steady hand. Not anymore. Using my watchmaking tools has become a joke. I don't even attempt to change batteries anymore.

It didn't seem like Wednesday today. I almost went to the gym, because it felt like Sunday. Then I remembered the place was closed. I'm really going the be confused tomorrow. I'll probably think it's Monday. Dash knew it was a holiday because both of us were home. We seems happier when we're both around.

Hopefully, he'll sleep through the fireworks tonight. I'm starting to hear explosions now. It's not as bad as it used to be because there aren't as many kids in the neighborhood anymore. I guess I ought to cut these kids some slack. Their fireworks antics aren't nearly as noisy as mine were when I was their age.

Matao is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2367

I moved the domains I own to a new registrar today. I'd been planning to do this for quite a while, but kept postponing the task because of the hassle I anticipated. Basically it was now or never. Several of the domains needed to be renewed soon, and if I renewed them at the old registrar, I would have to wait at least 60 days before I would be able to transfer them. The move was just as problematic as I feared. For starters, I couldn't remember the password to my old account. There are all kinds of safeguards to prevent domains from being hijacked, so I had to get permission from the old registrar to move the domains and then the new registrar had to verify the move to prove that I was really who I said I was. To make matters worse, there was no way to automate the process. I had to go through the complicated transfer process on a case by case basis for each domain. Luckily, I had nothing better to do today, because the process took a long time.

I didn't sleep well last night. Dot pooped in her bed twice and seemed unusually lethargic when I woke up this morning. I always worry when Dot's condition seems to change, but she seemed to bounce back after breakfast and by the time the dog walker arrived for our morning walk, she seemed fine again. Maybe I should be more worried about myself than the dogs. I have been unusually clumsy lately. I drop things all the time, which I never used to do. Yesterday, I dropped a Corningware cooking dish and broke it while I was trying to get some utensils out of a kitchen cabinet. Today, when I was eating breakfast, the glass with my fruit smoothie literally fell out of my hand while I was drinking it. The glass didn't break, but I did make a big mess. I never used to be this clumsy. I also inadvertently stepped on Dash's foot while I was walking him this afternoon. Dash wasn't hurt, but we both were startled. I wonder if this had anything to do with not being able to use the treadmill at the gym without using the handrails. Most of the other people never use the handrails, but I always do. Maybe something is going wrong with my balance and coordination. On the other hand, maybe I'm just being a hypochondriac.

After I successfully transferred all my domains, I decided to fix my voter registration online. For some reason now, the information on your voter registration card needs to match the information on your drivers license exactly. I has used my full middle name on one and a middle initial on the other. I got a letter last week saying that if I didn't fix this, I would be given a provisional ballot the next time I went to vote. This kind of scrutiny seemed a lot like making my 80 year old father take his shoes off for the TSA folks at the airport, but I learned a long time ago that it is pointless to argue with bureaucracy. I filled out the online form, which involved providing them with a lot of identifying information that I didn't even know belonged to me. When you look at your driver's license with a magnifying glass, there is a lot more information than you might think.

I'll be glad when Janet gets back. Dealing with the dogs when I first wake up is like herding cats. Dot and Dash have different agendas and are never where I need them to be. Dash sometimes wakes up with an upset stomach, and will race outside and eat grass and leaves if you don't watch him like a hawk. If I see him eating leaves, but am holding on to Dot's harness at the same time, it is hard to get him to stop. I could always let the dogs out one at a time, but they both need to pee as soon as they get up. Of course, I always need to pee as soon as I get up too, so it gets complicated.

All in all, we are doing pretty well. The soiled area rugs are clean again and back on the living room floor. I found a new kibble combination that Dash seems to like for breakfast. I'm still having problems getting Dot to pee just before bedtime, but we're working on it.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get Dot down to her physical therapy session tomorrow without another messy accident in the car. We'll see.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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