Day 4782

Another nice day. I wish this weather would continue but there is rain in the forecast for next week. I took advantage of the clear skies and took three walks today. It was cold enough on our sunrise walk with Dawn that I needed two coats. My long walk in the park later in the morning only required one coat. By mid-afternoon it had warmed enough that I wore shorts for a final shorter walk. That's Texas weather for you. Almost 22,000 steps today. Not bad for an old man with creaky joints.

I finally got around to updating the star tracker this afternoon. This update made everything worse. It's always a gamble with these firmware updates. The company is trying to provide compatibility for so many different brands of cameras that when they make an improvement for one brand they often inadvertently cripple something for another brand. I think the tracker works best with Canon cameras. The Olympus I use is not a popular brand and sometimes gets overlooked. The tracker basically still works fine, but my camera wouldn't stay connected today. I have no idea what the problem is. I eventually got everything working, but I don't have a lot of faith in this unit. I think it would be a giant hassle to get everything working properly in the dark.

I really thought the leaks were over after I cleared all the water off the roof yesterday. Much to my surprise another small leak appeared today. Will this ever end? Only about one drop of water fell per minute, but it was still a leak. Probably a lot of water got underneath the surface of the roof before I removed all the standing water. That water's got to go somewhere. I suspect that when everything dries completely the next round of rain will start. I really can't catch a break with this roof.

I got a letter saying that it was time for my annual appointment with my gastrointestinal doctor. When did this start? I think that if you see a doctor once, you will end up seeing them forever. Just about every time I've been referred to a specialist by my primary care physician, I end up becoming a permanent patient. I hate to ignore these doctors, since you never know when you will need them again. I do think I have way too many doctors now though.

It's time to renew my credentials with the Space Force. Unlike NASA credentials, these last for a full year. Since there are launch pads at Patrick Air Force Base as well as Kennedy Space Center, you really need to be able to access both locations. Most people think the space center is one big location, but the NASA side and the Air Force side are two separate entities. It's totally different watching a launch on the Air Force side, but the view is still good. I'll try to send in the renewal forms tomorrow and then I'll wonder for months if they got lost. I always seem to get credentialed, but it really seems to take a while.

This week has gone quickly. It's already time to make a grocery list again. Sometimes it seems like I spend my life repeating the same things over and over again. No wonder Dawn always seems to know what is going to happen next. We are very predictable around here.

Sophie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4565

Our first vacation day has gone pretty well. Dawn is never a happy camper when Janet isn't around, but she did all the important things today. She ate her dinner, took her meds, and went down to the meadow behind our house to do her business. I think she knew what was going on as soon as she saw Janet's suitcase. Dawn is a very smart dog.

We thought we'd try to make the day as normal as possible by still giving Dawn her normal sunrise walk before Janet left for the airport. We had to leave well before sunrise this morning and were a little worried about encountering coyotes in the park. Everything went well though and the sky brightened quickly. When we left the house we got to see the rare alignment of the planets that I've been hearing about recently. Mercury was too near the horizon to see, but Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn were all clearly visible. There was also a nice crescent moon between Venus and Mars.

I'm glad I wasn't the one traveling today. Travel has become very stressful with all the flight delays and cancelations. Almost every day I read sad stories about people who missed a wedding or a cruise because of an unexpected flight cancelation. Luckily, Janet did reach her destination. Even Southwest Airlines, which I have always thought was the most trouble free way to fly, has pilots picketing Love Field now. Flying has become a giant mess for a multitude of reasons. What else is new. Everything these days is a giant mess for a multitude of reasons.

I took a long walk this morning instead of going to the gym. Since we got up so early, I was able to leave the house before 8 AM. This helped, but it still got hot alarmingly quickly. I had to change my route because a construction crew was working on one of the bridges I always cross. They were putting up barricades as I arrived and I asked one of the workers if I would be able to return over this same bridge in about an hour. Nope. It was going to be completely closed to all traffic for at least four hours. Since crossing this bridge was the only way home, I wisely decided to turn around and continue my walk on the other side of the lake. I walked the same number of miles today. Just in a different direction.

I didn't use the car today because I'm always nervous about driving when Janet is away. Who would I call if I had car problems? This is probably irrational thinking because I'll still need to go to the grocery store this weekend. I need orange juice, milk, beer, and some more fresh fruit. The pot roast Janet made will probably last me most of the week.

Since the only thing I had to do today was fret about Dawn, I decided to update the star tracker again. The last firmware update went well, but this new one had problems. Now my camera randomly disconnects from the tracker again, just like it did in the very beginning. It's frustrating being a Beta tester. I documented the problem the best I could and sent all the information to Benro customer support. Since they fixed the problem before, I'm sure they'll eventually fix it again. I wish they'd just decide that the project was done when I had the tracker working. We're a long way away from that unfortunately.

Dawn has to go outside and pee one more time before we call it a day. I hope she decides to sleep normally tonight. When Dawn is too nervous to sleep, I have trouble sleeping as well. I'm going to be optimistic though. Dawn has done pretty well today. She was eager to eat her dinner tonight which was a very good sign. The last time Janet was gone, it took several days to get Dawn to eat normally.

Rio is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day