Day 4892

It was pretty noisy today. The roofers arrived around 7 AM and immediately begain tearing off the old roof. There was a lot more damage than I anticipated. There were several places where the 4x8 plywood decking underneath the roof had completely rotted away. We ended up having to completely replace 5 of the half inch thick 4x8 decking panels. No wonder the roof had been leaking so bad. Once water managed to penetrate the Armorflex silicon coating, it had a clear path to the inside of the house. There was a modified bitumen roof under the Armorflex, but the seams had gone bad long ago. Basically, the previous roofer had just done a shoddy job.

So far, I've been very impressed with this roofing crew. They have been extremely professional, always making me immediately aware of surprises they discovered. There were a fair share of surprises. The amount of rotted wood was massive. They actually did an excellent job of repairing the rotted wood I already knew about. The fascia and soffit on the low side of the roof where the water normally drains looks as good as new now. I was surprised that these guys brought a real carpenter with them. Usually the people roofing companies try to pass off as carpenters is laughable.

The roofers were surprised that our existing roof had virtually no insulation. I knew about this just by looking at my electric bills in the summer. The original tar and gravel roof provided excellent insulation, but when a previous roofing company replaced it with a thin torch down modified bitumen roof placed directly over the decking, the insulation value vanished. This time we are adding three inches of insulation under a TPO Membrane roof. The low areas where water used to pond have already been leveled and hopefully I will never need to use the pumps again.

Right now the house and yard look like a disaster, but I have high hopes that everything will look good again in a few days. I'm finding nails everywhere. I'm going to have to do a very careful sweep of the driveway before we bring our cars back. So far, everything is right on schedule. I'm hoping that the roofers are able to finish tomorrow. The weather was great today and will still be good tomorrow. There is rain in the forecast on Friday though. 

We still managed to get all the usual things done. Dawn got her early morning walk before the roofers arrived. I took my regular long walk as well. I waited until Janet returned home before I left though. All the noise on the roof kind of scared Dawn and I didn't want to leave her alone in the house. Fitbit says I'm not burning as many calories on my walks now, which is weird since my pace has been faster than usual this week. Sometimes I don't trust my Fitbit. It often doesn't agree with the Apple Watch at all. I wonder if I could ever walk without all the tracking devices? I tend to think that things don't even exist unless you measure them or write about the experience.

In other news, I applied for TSA Pre today and got the lawn mower batteries replaced. I filled out the TSA Pre registration information online, but I can't get an appointment to be fingerprinted until June 20. Bureaucracy has become impossibly slow. I had to wait over a month to get an appointment to renew my driver's license. They say it can take up to a year to get your passport renewed these days. Ironically, it only takes a few minutes to get a new credit card.

I hope tomorrow goes smoothly. I'll be glad when this roof replacement is behind me. I've still got a lot to do before the AX-2 trip as well. It's good to get things done though. I've been talking about getting the roof replaced for years. Now it's finally happening.

Susie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4758

I stayed surprisingly busy today. Janet had an early class at the gym, so we took our early walk in the dark again. Walking in the dark doesn't seem to bother Dawn at all. She uses her nose more than her eyes anyway. It was a little chilly early this morning, but it warmed up quickly. I could tell it was going to be a nice day.

I always think I'm going to do something different for breakfast, but I never do. When I have my shredded wheat and fruit I don't have to think and I don't have to cook. It's always the easy way out. After breakfast, I changed the sheets on the bed, did three loads of laundry, and paid some online bills. With bad knees and a dislocated shoulder it's harder to change the sheets than it used to be. Somehow lifting up the mattress to tuck in the fitted sheets is always a problem. I'm starting to understand why my Dad decided to just sleep on top of the bed in his latter years. It saves a lot of trouble if you don't have to make the thing every day.

I had to trick Dawn to get her off the bed so I could change the sheets. She wasn't very happy about that but we survived. Everything is clean and fresh again, but it will be covered in dog hair in a matter of days. I won't give this chore another thought until Janet reminds me that it's time to do it again.

When I finished my household chores, I went to the bank and took some stuff back to my storage warehouse. There was a long line at the drive up window today. The bank probably need to hire some more staff. There was just one guy handling both the inside and outside transactions. He seemed very busy.

It was a good day for a walk, but my heart wasn't really in it today. I felt tired and my pace was slower than usual. It is discipline, not a love of the outdoors that keeps me walking. Sometimes I see interesting things, but often the long walk is boring and just hurts my feet. There were no eagles today at the nest site.   There weren't many people on the trails either. I guess everybody is returning to work.

I don't know what I'm going to do about the house. I still can't find a carpenter or a contractor I like to undertake the needed renovations. I've got a long list of roofers, but I don't like any of them. The house isn't going to fix itself though. I've got to do something. I wonder why it's so much easier to find a good appliance repairman or plumber than a carpenter? Is carpentry becoming a lost art? 

I made no New Year's resolutions this year. My old resolutions to write 5000 consecutive blog posts and walk at least 10,000 steps every day are keeping me busy enough as it is. It's amazing what a little discipline can do. I'm basically a very lazy person.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4751

Dogs love consistency. As luck would have it, so do I. Dawn and I do exactly the same things at the same time every day and this consistancy seems to help us both. I've turned off Janet's alarm clock and we sleep until 8 AM now. I've learned how to make the bed while Dawn is still in it because she refuses to leave her spot on the bed. I get dressed, fill Dawn' water bowl with fresh water and then make her breakfast. I take it back to the bedroom and then go out to the kitchen and start fixing my own breakfast. I can hear her eating because the tags on her coller jingle on the ceramic dog bowl. When I'm sure she has finished eating, I put on a coat, and grab her blue training leash. When she is wearing this leash, she will follow me down to the park. Without the training leash, she won't leave the yard. I always make sure I have poop bags in my pocket before we leave the house. Dawn usually does her business very quickly and then immediately wants to return to the house.

I take my time eating my own breakfast, because a day is a long time to fill and I don't have that much going on. After breakfast I give Dawn her morning meds. She likes to take them in cream cheese. Since it's been very cold lately, I try to wait a few hours before taking my long walk. The walk is more pleasant if I leave around noon. Before I leave I'll take Dawn out to the back yard to pee. She always returns to her place on the bed. That's where she likes to spend her day. When Janet is home, Dawn will follow her around like glue. She doesn't follow me around.

My long walk is always the same. I know where the birds and animals live and keep an eye out for them. Some days I see lots of wildlife. Other days I see none. I always see joggers, dog walkers, and cyclists. The park is a popular place to exercise. For me at least, my walk is a lot better than going to the gym. There are lots of elevation changes and if you keep up a decent pace, the walk is great for cardio health. It's also a great way to kill time. I spend several hours each day walking and usually travel at least six miles. I'm about a mile short now that Janet is gone however, because there is no early morning walk with Dawn. Dawn does not want to go walking with me unless Janet is nearby and I'm not going to make an issue of it. 

The parts I ordered for my broken Waterpik arrived today so I took the unit apart and fixed it this afternoon. I guess I could have just ordered a new Waterpik, but why bother? I'm pretty good at fixing things and I knew that this could be fixed. It's hard for me to give up on something, and the computers, the refrigerator, washer, dryer, my phone, and one of the dehumidifiers have all been repaired. The toilet in the office bathroom need work, but I can't find parts. I have been unable to fix the large sliding glass door in the living room as well. It's way too heavy for me to take off its track by myself and nobody seems to repair these things anymore. I wish I was a better carpenter. I have the tools, but the repairs the house needs are way beyond my modest abilities. I do what I can. For now, it's fixing a broken Waterpik.

Our arctic freeze appears to be over. It was still a little chilly this afternoon, but tomorrow the temperature is supposed to climb back to seventy again. That's fine by me. A week of freezing weather was about all I could handle. I keep thinking that the past few days have been the worst ever, but that's just not true. I remember one winter when our lake completely froze over. No frozen lake this year. Not much snow either in recent years. When I first moved to Texas there were some huge snowfalls along with ice storms that knocked down large trees all over town. All in all, the climate does seem to be getting warmer.

Dawn won't be going to her training class tomorrow. That's fine by her. She and I are getting along fine and she seems to enjoy having a lazy week with nothing on her agenda. I'm sure she will be delighted when Janet returns, but so far things are going better than I expected.

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4697

I spent several hours trying to find a better hotel for my next trip to Titusville. No luck at all. Everything is completely booked. Even the place where I'm currently staying is completely booked now. I'll be OK, but I hate it when the reviews start with "smells like pee." I guess I'm a little surprised that the Artemis-1 launch is still such an attraction. After two failures, the chance of a third failure is still fairly high. Maybe others are going back for the same reason I am. If I stayed home this time it would almost guarantee that there would be a flawless, trouble free launch. I guess I still want to see this thing, even if the launch now takes place at midnight.

I don't know why I thought it was Friday for most of the day. I guess I'm just ready for this week to be over. The day started like any other weekday. We walked Dawn in the dark. I ate my breakfast of shredded wheat and fruit, checked my messages, and then contemplated taking another long walk in the park. 

Before leaving on my walk, I made some final edits on my Falcon Heavy article and selected a few pictures to accompany it. I summited the article and a few hours later received a thumbs up from my editor. I'm disappointed that I didn't have better pictures, but the article itself was pretty good. I hope the magazine will be interested in another article about Artemis. I'm not sure though. SpaceFlight devoted much of their November issue to the Artemis-1 mission and the rocket didn't even launch. Hey, I've still got my credentials though. I might as well see this thing through to the end.

I had a nice walk this morning even though I got rained on a bit. The weather will be much worse tomorrow. There are tornado warnings with a chance of quarter sized hail. There's only a 10% chance of a tornado in our location, but any chance at all is always unsettling. I'm really glad I got the tree removed from the roof before the bad weather starts. Any significant wind could have caused the large branch to fall and break something. I don't think any rain is expected until tomorrow afternoon, so we'll still be able to take Dawn on her early morning walk.

I finally found a carpenter to fix the rotted fascia on the side of our house. I found the guy on the Internet. I guess that's just how you do things these days. This guy had good reviews, but I still prefer a recommendation from friends. Since most of my friends are closer to going into assisted living than they are to remodeling their houses these days, we don't trade home improvement recommendations very often. I certainly don't know who to recommend anymore. Most of the people I've used in the past have either retired or died.

My Fitbit isn't recording my steps correctly anymore. This is irritating since I've become addicted to counting steps. I checked on the user group and saw that several other people were having the same problem. I suspect that my iPhone has become too old for Fitbit to bother with. This has happened to me before with other apps and software. When companies update software and apps so they are compatible with new hardware, older stuff like I use often gets left in the dust. One more reason to get a new phone I guess.

I hope the weather reports are wrong about tomorrow's storms. I really hate dealing with bad weather.

Wolfgang is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4690

The dryer is fixed. Now it's on to solving other problems. The repair took longer and was more expensive than I expected because the broken exhaust fan was permanently attached to the motor that turned the drum. This was frustrating. I ended up having to get a new motor, even though there was nothing wrong with the old one. After also replacing the roller bearings and dryer belt, I could have bought a new dryer for less than the cost of these repairs. It would have been an inferior bottom of the barrel dryer though. Oh, well. I like our dryer and now it works again.

Dawn is totally indifferent to having repairmen in the house. Our other dogs would have been barking nonstop, but Dawn just ignores these people. She also ignores the vacuum cleaner, which is definitely unusual with any dog. I vacuumed the bedroom today and Dawn just sat on the bed watching me. Some things do bother Dawn though. I could tell that she was upset that Janet was out of the house too long today. Hey girl, I'm still here.

I didn't take a long walk today. Dealing with the dryer repairs took too much time. I did get outside for long enough to get my 10,000 steps. That was enough. My feet hurt and I was unusually tired. I'll try to take a decent walk tomorrow, unless by some miracle the tree guy decides to show up and remove the tree from my roof. He's never called me back with a schedule yet. I wish it wasn't so difficult to get things done. Maybe I'm just getting old and cranky.

I got credentialed for the Falcon Heavy USSF-44 Mission. Now I've got to decide whether to go to this launch instead of the Artemis launch later in November. I guess I could splurge and go to both, but that's getting really expensive. I still don't know how much it is going to cost to remove the tree on the roof. I'll think about this tomorrow. I'm not sure I could find a hotel for the Falcon Heavy launch anyway.

I need to find time to go vote soon. I used to vote on election day, but early voting seems so much easier these days. Our polling place is right across the street from Home Depot. Maybe I need something from Home Depot as well. I always seem to need something from Home Depot.

Our Fall weather is still quite pleasant, but there is rain in the forecast again. Boo. Unless we get up really early, we might not even be able to take Dawn on her sunrise walk. If we get a lot of rain, I'll have to rethink my plans. I hate driving in the rain.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4688

It's always something. We had a huge wind storm last night and a big branch from one of our Oak trees fell on the roof. The branch is way too big for me to deal with myself, so I called the last tree trimmer I used. He never called me back. I thought I might as well try to deal with a few other issues as well, so I called the last carpenter I used to come repair some rotted fascia on the house. Oops. No longer a working number. I contacted another carpenter who had good reviews on the Internet and he said he was completely booked for the next four months. He advised me to contact a different carpenter but didn't recommend any. Oh, well. I am getting our dryer fixed though. I guess in today's world, one out of three isn't bad.

It was really windy on our sunrise walk with Dawn. I thought she wouldn't want to walk on a day like this, but she was fine with the wind. Actually it seemed to invigorate her. Janet was fine too. I was the only one worried that a tree was going to fall on us. At least the air felt clear and clean. The wind must have blown away all the pollen that has been aggravating my allergies.

The wind died down as I was eating breakfast and it was calm outside by the time I was ready to take my long walk. I didn't feel like going to the gym today. It was a bit chilly when I started walking but it warmed up quickly. I maintained a pretty good pace today and my feet didn't hurt much. I thought I'd see a lot of downed trees in the park during my six mile walk, especially since one fell on our roof during the night. Surprisingly, most of the trees looked exactly the same as they did last week. I only saw a single downed tree and the park department guys were already removing it. I wish I could get these guys to help with my trees. They are very efficient. 

My experiences with finding service people today has made me realize that I'm not ready for what the world has become. Over the years I've built up a carefully curated list of repair people I knew I could depend on. I had the best plumbers, electricians, carpenters, glaizers, HVAC repairmen, and much more on this list. The entire list is useless now. Everyone has retired, died, or simply disappeared. So far, using the Internet to find suppliers has not been a satisfactory replacement for the recommendations I used to get from friends. I refuse to use Angie's list. 

I'm having second thoughts about even going to the next Artemis launch attempt. It's disappointing that this next attempt is at midnight, so there won't be good photo opportunities. I'm not wild about the hotel I was able to book and the entire trip seems expensive and somewhat pointless. Since SpaceFlight Magazine has already published my article about the launch that got scrubbed, I'm not even sure they'd be interested in another article about the same rocket. I'm not canceling anything yet though. Maybe I'm just in a bad mood today.

Tomorrow I've got to clean out the utility room again and wait for the appliance repairman. They always give you a four hour window and then end up coming at the end of the day. The repair needs to be done though. A washer without a dryer isn't of much use. I wonder when I'm going to be able to get my steps tomorrow? I've always got to get my steps.

Patch is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4674

We got the day started with another early walk this morning. I'm surprised at how many people are out this early. When we enter the park, we see lots of small lights in the distance. The brighter, fast moving lights are bicycles. The lights that move up and down are usually runners. Runners seems to like wearing little lights on their shoes. If a moving light is low to the ground is is a dog. The dogs often wear glowing LED collars. If someone wears an entire lighted vest, it's almost always an old person. A few people wear no lights at all. These are the ones you've got to watch out for. Especially the stealth bicycles. I don't think anyone would have any problems spotting us in the dark. Janet carries a flashlight and we both wear small lights on the back of our jackets. Dawn has a spiffy green LED collar.

After breakfast I wrote a letter to my sister and took it to the post office on my way to the gym. I always reply to my sister's letters even when I have little to say. We never talk on the phone and have always communicated through letters. I'm pretty sure I have been writing these letters for forty years now.

It was cool enough to take a walk in the park today, but I'm getting bored with these walks. It's nice to have a change of pace. I also enjoy shooting free throws on the basketball court and the indoor track is easier on my feet. If I go to the gym too frequently, I get bored with this as well. I guess I'll keep changing things up. They say variety is good for you. The important thing for me is to keep moving.

I tried a new machine at the gym this morning. It's called a vibration platform and it is designed to improve circulation and increase bone density. I think this machine can do many other things as well, but its ability to increase bone density with regular use was what caught my attention. Brittle bones and falls plague older people and the last thing I want is a broken hip. Improving bone density was one of the reasons I started walking in the first place. We'll see if using the vibration platform helps. I'm not sure how I'll measure any improvements though. My doctor is reluctant to give me any more bone density tests.

Since I went to the gym later today I didn't have to spend as much time doing nothing this afternoon. There are plenty of projects I could start around the house, but I'm doing my best to avoid them. Painting and sheetrock repairs are messy and I'm not terribly good at either of these activities. I'm not good at stopping roof leaks either, even though I've spent twenty years trying. I'm certainly as good as the roofers I've hired over the years. They haven't done a good job either. What can I say. I used to be a regular Mr. Fix-it around the house, but I've totally lost interest. Living in a little room at the Astronomer's Lodge sounds pretty good to me now.

Dawn still leaves the room every time I want to take a nap in the bedroom. She's fine about sharing the bed if Janet is in the room, but is still wary of me if we are alone in the house. I don't think this behavior is going to change, although Janet thinks the solution is for her to go on another cruise and leave me here with Dawn for two weeks. You know what they say about old dogs and new tricks. I'm very reluctant to do anything new myself. Why should I expect Dawn to be any different. 

Katy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4564

The time before 10 AM is very valuable in the summer. It's just about the only time you can get anything done outside. The best time of the day is our sunrise walk with Dawn, but there's usually enough time left for another walk or an outdoor chore before it gets too hot. Today I washed the car, cleaned spider webs and mud dauber nests off the front windows, and washed the sidewalks and front porch. I was going to clean up some of the wood siding, but the paint is so old that it was flaking off when I used the pressure hose. Never mind. I think I accomplished enough. Washing the car was really all I wanted to do anyway.

The house smelled good today. Janet was making me a slow cooker pot roast to eat while she was away. I did a load of laundry and did some bookkeeping on the computer once it became too hot to work outside. I definitely wasn't feeling very energetic today. I took a nap and was pleased that Dawn didn't immediately run away.

After lunch I went to the gym. It would have been insane to walk outside this afternoon. I think this was the hottest day of the year so far. The gym's air conditioning bill must be huge. They keep the place really cold. This is fine by me. I like to exercise without sweating. I'm still surprised that I burn more calories shooting baskets than I do using some of the machines. This is good news because I can count shooting hoops as exercise instead of just having fun. 

I've settled into a routine at the gym that probably won't change much. If the basketball court is empty, I'll use it first. I've learned that if I wait, I often miss my chance. I'll be doing something else and a bunch of kids will arrive and start a pickup game. After shooting free thows, I'll use the indoor track for a while. The number of miles I walk varies. I'll walk less if I already have quite a few steps when I arrive at the gym. I'll walk more if I still need to walk a few miles to get my self imposed minimum of 10,000 daily steps. I don't get 20,000 steps a day nearly as often as I used to. I'm getting older and it just doesn't seem worth the effort on many days. Depending on how much time I have left, I'll finish my workout by doing a few things that will improve my upper body strength. I need to do more of this because my upper body strength is abysmal. 

I really need to work on my balance. I read an article recently that said if you couldn't balance on one leg for at least ten seconds with both arms at your side, you were likely to die within ten years. That sounded pretty harsh, but it's very difficult for me to balance on one leg for ten seconds. I always thought it was just because I had weak ankles, but maybe there's a lot more going on. At any rate, I'm going to work on my balance. It couldn't hurt.

The little bird whistle for the Alessi tea kettle arrived in the mail today. It pleases me to be able to fix little things like this. A big project for me is putting a new hard drive in a computer or learning how to use the star tracker. Huge home improvement projects are out of my league. I don't even want to think about the big stuff. We still need a new roof, major sheet rock repairs, and some carpentry work on the exterior siding. A huge Oak tree needs to come down as well. Lord knows when this stuff will get done. I really hate dealing with the contractors and workmen you need for big projects. Fixing a tea kettle is more my style.

I'm really tired of turning on the television in the morning and hearing about politics. This is not what I'm worried about. Where are the stories about giant solar flares that could wipe out the entire power grid? These solar storms have happened before and will happen again. Where are the stories about global crop failures? What happens if the giant volcano under Yellowstone National Park explodes? I guess I like astronomy because it tries to deal with the big things. The little things are like mosquito bites. They are irritating, but we'll probably live. 

I'm going to try to get to bed earlier tonight. We have to get up really early tomorrow so we can walk Dawn before Janet leaves for the airport. I hope that Dawn decides to get along with me. It's going to be a long week otherwise.

Kirby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4554

Yay. We have a new dishwasher. I don't know how to use it yet, but I'll worry about that later. I'm glad I had a good plumber install this thing. Nothing is as easy as it seems and there were some complications on the installation that the Home Depot delivery crew would have probably just given up on. I wish modern electronics weren't so complicated. Old major appliances were simple and lasted forever. Everything nowadays basically has a computer inside and tends to break quickly. Our old dishwasher had a single round dial on the front. This new one looks like the control panel on the space shuttle. 

The big difference on this new machine is that there is no heater coil at the bottom of the tub to dry the dishes. This new dishwasher uses super hot water on the final rinse and then somehow vents away the moisture inside. It sounds like the dishes just air dry to me, but what do I know. I need to get some of that rinse-aid liquid that prevents streaks on glasses tomorrow. The instructions say that you need to use this stuff to ensure effective drying. Why so complicated? I would have much rather had the old fashioned electric heating coil on the bottom of the tub. Oh, well. It is what is is. Maybe I made the wrong choice but I really didn't have many options. Most dishwashers are 24" wide. The space available in my cabinet was slightly smaller than this. The LG model I bought was 23.75" wide and barely fit. The reviews on this machine were very good, although some people were frustrated about the strange drying system. I may be one of those people.

It turned out to be a very busy day. While the plumbers were here I had them fix a few other things around the house as well. There was an outdoor faucet in the back yard that had been leaking for years and a rubber cap on a drain access line that leaked even worse. Too bad they couldn't fix my strange French toilet. Parts just aren't available for that thing anymore. The plumbers were on time and everything went relatively smoothly, so we were still able to visit the rescue Dalmatians this afternoon. This whole dishwasher episode ended up costing more than I expected, but what else is new. Everything costs more than you expect these days.

The Dalmatians are all doing well. We didn't play with Rocket today because he is still recovering from his heartworm treatment. Charlie, Willie, Oliver, and JoJo were all in fine form though. I don't know why JoJo still wanted to go outside on a day like this. It was way too hot, but JoJo insists on playing outside. The other dogs were smart enough to stay in the air conditioned indoor play area. 

By the time we returned from the kennel it was way too hot to even consider walking in the park. It even seemed too hot early this morning when we were taking Dawn on her sunrise walk. I went to the gym instead. I was surprised at how many people were at the gym this afternoon. It was probably the weather. Something was wrong with the air conditioning system on the main floor today, but it was still much cooler than it was outside. I didn't stay long today. I just shot some hoops on the basketball court, walked a mile or so on the indoor track, and used the rowing and the abdominal crunch machines. Maybe I'll go back tomorrow, but I hope it is cool enough in the morning so I can walk in the park instead.

They say it's going to be a very hot summer. It certainly looks like we are headed in that direction. I just hope we don't have blackouts or major power outages this summer. With everything else that is going wrong in the world, a lack of electricity might just be enough to push me over the edge. 

Marcie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4552

Nothing is easy these days. The appliance installers arrived this morning, carried a huge box containing the new dishwasher inside the house and then told me that they couldn't install it. What? Why not? This is an easy job. You pull the old dishwasher out, attach the supply and drain lines to the new dishwasher, push it back under the counter and you're done. 

No can do, they told me. "You have copper supply lines," one of the guys said, "and we're not allowed to touch copper." I couldn't believe it. "You'll have to get a plumber to install this," the other guy told me. The installers left and I now have a very large box sitting in my living room. I called the two plumbing companies I normally use and they both told me that they charged emergency or after hours rates on weekends. Since these exorbitant rates were double what they normally charge, I decided to just wait until Monday to deal with this. I kind of wish I'd just called an appliance repairman to fix the old dishwasher now.

When I called to get my installation fee refunded I was told that I would have to go back to the store because I used two different credit cards on the transaction. I did use an old gift card I had for part of the purchase, but never realized that it would cause complications later. When I went back to the store I ended up talking to the same salesperson who sold me the dishwasher. "I warned you about copper pipes," she said. Nope. I don't think so. This thing will eventually get installed, but it has become a major nuisance.

I think we set a new high temperature record today. The thermometer on the back porch reached 106 degrees. How did the weather go from wet and cool to impossibly hot so quickly? It wasn't that long ago that the furnace was coming on in the morning. It was good that we got Dawn walked very early this morning. We weren't really trying to avoid the heat at that point. We were just trying to get everything done before the dishwasher installers arrived. At least I managed to get my grocery shopping done before everything started to unravel.

By the time I finished dealing with all the installation problems it was way too hot to walk in the park. I decided to go to the gym after I got my installation refund from the appliance store. The gym was almost empty by the time I arrived because it was getting close to closing time. I still had time to shoot some hoops on the basketball court, use the rowing machine, and walk a mile on the indoor track. It wasn't my best workout, but it will have to do.

I'm so tired of dealing with broken things I could scream. The dishwasher problems will be resolved sooner or later, and then it will be on to the next thing. It would be tempting to just tell a contractor to fix everything all at once, but we still live here. There's nothing worse than trying to go about your life in the middle of a bunch of construction. I hate all the surprises that contractors and repair people throw at you too. Few people these days are really familiar with old houses and they either don't know how to do the job right or are in too much of a hurry to do the job right. Most of these people prefer to work on new construction when the homeowner isn't even around.

We might not be able to take Dawn on her regular Sunday outing tomorrow. If we wait until the ice cream store opens, it will be too hot. Dawn will get her sunrise walk, but maybe we'll skip the later walk at our Sunday park and just go directly to the ice cream store. I don't think Dawn will have any complaints. It was almost too hot for her last week and tomorrow will be much warmer. So far, it looks like it's going to be a long, hot summer.

Willa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4528

Yay. The star tracker is working again. I'm not sure what the Benro people did, but apparently their third try was the charm. The first two patches they sent me to fix the connectcion problem didn't work, but the one they sent me yesterday worked perfectly. I'm still curious how a routine firmware upgrade rendered my camera useless and what the Benro engineers did to fix the problem. I'll probably never know the whole story though. Communication with my Chinese contacts has been rudimentary at best.

Now that the star tracker is working again, I'll have to turn my attention elsewhere. There are a ton of things that need attention around the house, but most of them are beyond my ability. I can't put on a new roof by myself. I'm not a good carpenter. And I'm certainly not a plumber. Sadly, I'm not very good at delegating things either. It would be easier if I could do everything myself, because I don't tend to trust people.

I went out and voted after breakfast this morning. When I arrived at the polling place, I was greeted by a poll watcher who told me that the power was out and asked if I was scared of the dark. Hey, no problem. I actually kind of like the dark. The room where the voting machines were was completely dark. All I could see were the glowing screens of the machines. I was surprised that the place was even open, but they said the voting machines were running on backup power. I was led to a machine by a lady with a flashlight and I cast my ballot. If there was even a time to be suspicious about whether your vote counted, this might be it. There must have been some people scared of the dark, because it appeared that I was the only one in the room voting. Voting in a dark room was certainly easier than getting the star tracker to take pictures on a dark sky.

It looked like it was going to rain this morning when we took Dawn on her sunrise walk. The rain never came, but it did stay overcast for most of the day. The cloudy weather made it easier to take my long walk. I was able to complete my full six mile route, but it wasn't easy. My feet seem to be getting worse. The Hoka shoes help, but walking is still painful on some days. It's time for my physical exam tomorrow, so I'll ask my doctor if I'm doing anything stupid. My gut feeling is still that a little discomfort is better than becoming idle. I need to keep moving and walking is still a lot easier on my joints than most other forms of exercise.

I've got to remember not to eat breakfast tomorrow. I need to fast because they will be doing routine blood work again. At least I was able to get an early morning appointment. I hate going without food for very long. I got a call from the clinic while I was out walking reminding me to wear a mask. I have a feeling that my doctor's office will keep requiring masks forever. Not a problem. Whatever keeps you happy is my motto. I don't wear a mask very often these days, but I've got plenty of them. Most are unused. I just wear the same one over and over again.

Dawn won a ribbon at training class again tonight. She's got quite a collection now. Janet says Dawn really enjoys the training class. Like most Dalmatians, she forgets everything she's learned on our morning walks, but that's OK. I've forgotten almost everything I learned in school as well.

Skippy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4525

The weather was still hot, but it didn't affect our plans. We still had a nice early walk with Dawn and were able to take our Sunday outing a little later in the day after the ice cream store opened. It was getting a little hot by the time we took our second walk, but there was a nice breeze and Dawn did OK. We may have to stop these daytime walks later this summer though. Dawn doesn't do well in the heat.

I tried to be industrious today with mixed results. I really felt my age when I tried to fix the greenhouse door this morning. The door was heavy and I had trouble holding the pieces together without breaking the glass window in the center. I've repaired this door before, but it seemed much easier ten years ago. I thought I might need to go to Home Depot for parts, but I found everything I needed in the tool shed. The amount of stuff in the shed would indicate that I used to spend a lot more time fixing things than I do now. I didn't do a great job, but the old door is back together again. I don't know what the two hours I spent prove. The greenhouse still doesn't have a roof.

Since bulky trash day is this week, I tried to clean out the yard a bit. I noticed a lot of brush and fallen tree branches in the side yard where the air conditioner is the other day. I had to cut a path through the brush so the repairman could get to the compressor. I cleared the mess away today and hauled the brush to the curb. I cut down some giant weeds in the other side yard and hauled them to the curb as well. The yard looks a little better, but most of the time I forget the side yards even exist. Most of what I cleaned up today never gets seen by anybody.

I didn't take a long walk today. It was just too hot. I figured that between Dawn's two walks and my carpentry and clean up tasks that I already had all the exercise I needed. The worst part about being outside today wasn't the heat. It was the bugs. While I was fixing the greenhouse door, I must have been bitten twenty times. I think they were mosquitos, although I never saw any. Chiggers and other tiny critters bite as well, so it could have been anything.

There's an eclipse of the moon later this evening. I can't decide whether it's worth the effort to stay up late and try to watch it. The weather isn't cooperating. It was clear around sunset, but it is partly cloudy now and the weather radar shows a line of thunderstorms headed south toward us from Oklahoma. I'll take a look outside and see how things look after we take Dawn out to pee for the night. No great loss if I can't see the moon. I've seen lunar eclipses many times before. They all look pretty much the same.

It's been a nice weekend even though it is way too hot. I think we are setting record temperatures for May. Hopefully it will be cooler tomorrow when we go visit the rescue Dalmatians. I've never met a Dalmatian that enjoys the heat. 

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4521

Good grief. It's the hottest day of the year so far and our air conditioner broke. It got uncomfortably hot inside very quickly. Hopefully things will cool off tonight. I called our HVAC guy, but the soonest they can get over here is tomorow afternoon. It's easy to forget how much we depend on air conditioning in the South. A day without a working AC serves as a pretty good reminder. I'm not sure what is wrong, but I hope it's an easy fix. An entirely new system could be pretty expensive.

At least the day started out nice. We didn't notice that the air conditioner wasn't working until around noon. It was still nice outside when we took our sunrise walk with Dawn. I should have just kept walking after Dawn finished her one mile loop. As soon as the sun got higher in the sky, the temperature warmed up quickly. Instead of walking when it was cooler, I started monkeying around with the star tracker again right after I finished breakfast. I think I'm obsessed with getting this thing to work. I installed the custom firmware the company provided a second time in hopes that it would work properly this time. Nope. I got exactly the same results as I did yesterday. I realize that the star tracker is still under development, but it's frustrating to go backwards. This thing was working fine when I was out at the observatory and now it isn't. The only thing that has changed is an app and firmware upgrade.

By the time I was ready to take my long walk, it was already too hot. I didn't do well at all and was only able to complete half my normal distance. This isn't good. We've got a long summer ahead of us. It's always hot in the summer, but I don't think I can handle the heat as well as I used to. I know we're having record temperatures for early May, but this is nothing compared to what it's going to be like in July and August. I need to get used to this.

I wonder what is going to break next? Broken toilets. Broken air conditioner. Fire ants in the back yard. I'm really tired of dealing with bugs and broken stuff. Living in a hotel room while I'm watching rocket launches seems really appealing at this point. Even the simplest task always seems to turn into something more difficult. I went into the greenhouse this afternoon to turn off a faucet that had been on drip all winter. The door to the greenhouse fell apart when I tried to open it. Now I've got to find some special fasteners to put the door back together when I go to Home Depot to get fire ant killer. Yes, I was supposed to do that today, but I got sidetracked by the star tracker again.

Growing old is weird. When I had the money to travel, I didn't have the time. Now that I have the time, I don't have the money. Rampant inflation is especially irritating when you're living on a fixed income. Everything seems so much more expensive than it did two years ago. The cost of my recent trips to Kennedy Space Center and McDonald Observatory were almost double what they were several years ago. I don't really notice the price of gas because I don't drive much, but airfares have gotten ridiculous. Hopefully the price of air conditioner repairs hasn't gone up that much. This is another expense I wasn't expecting.

Sometimes I envy Dawn. All she does is eat and sleep. I'd be OK with just eating and sleeping as long as nothing went wrong. I hate it when things go wrong. That's life, I guess. Things always go wrong.

Dodger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4418

Today was busy. I fixed the other toilet after breakfast and then I finally bleached the rust stains in the living room ceiling where the worst water leak was. The ceiling looks much better now. I'm tempted to get some drywall mud and finish repairing the ceiling but I need to remember that I never found where the water was getting in on the roof. It might be worth repairing things even if it is a temporary fix. I'm getting tired of looking at the crack in the ceiling.

I hope the toilet repairs last a while this time. Little by little, everything on my to-do list is getting done. Janet wanted me to change the battery on the key fob to her car today. I followed the directions, but couldn't get the key fob to open up. Clumsy hands I guess. Janet finally got the key fob to open herself. I think the key fob for my car has a better design. I had to change my key fob battery a few months ago and it opened up in less than a minute. It doesn't take long to learn that there are some things on modern cars that are better to do yourself. All it takes is a two dollar watch battery to fix a key fob. The dealership wanted to charge me twenty dollars.

I keep putting off upgrading the firmware on my star tracker. For now I'm content to just read the user forum and see what the other Kickstarter backers are doing. Maybe I'll feel more like using this thing when the power line tree crews arrive in our neighborhood. Right now two big trees block my view of the southern horizon from the back yard. The utility company has eminent domain and about every six years they come and butcher these trees so they don't get too close to the power lines that run down the alley. After decades of doing this the trees look really ugly now. 

Janet and I decided to just ask the crew to cut the trees down this time. It would be easier for them in the long run and it would also make it easier for us to reroute our driveway to the back yard someday. Backyard astronomy might become easier as well. I don't know if the utility company will remove the trees though. I've been watching the crews inch their way toward us in the neighborhood and it looks like they are only doing minimal cutting this time. The last time these guys were here they made such a mess of everybody's trees that the entire neighborhood rose up against them. There were lots of threats of lawsuits, although I don't know if any were actually filed. Eminent domain laws are pretty powerful. If you have a power line running next to your property the utility company can pretty much do whatever they want to any trees that are in the way.

I keep getting 20,000 steps a day despite my foot problems. My pace has slowed quite a bit though. Now my right knee is starting to bother me as well. I feel like I'm slowly falling apart. Unfortunately, the alternative is falling apart much more quickly if I became less active. I still think it is important to keep moving. I think Dawn wishes I moved a lot faster. Her natural pace is a lot quicker than mine. Hey, I'm doing the best I can. I'm kind of amazed that I used to walk two young, strong Dalmatians at the same time. I couldn't do that anymore.

It's time to make a grocery list again. I wonder how expensive things are going to be this week. It's easy to forget that there have been high gas prices and rampant inflation before. I remember gas lines in the Jimmy Carter era and the first time I bought a house, interest rates were over 11%. There have always been problems. You expect things to get better though. It's disappointing when we keep making the same mistakes over and over again.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4417

My teeth are in good shape. My dental hygienist always complements me on how well I take care of my teeth and gums. I try. The last thing I want at this stage of my life are implants or more crowns. I kind of wish that I'd had braces when I was younger, but that ship has sailed. My teeth are a little crooked but I have very few fillings. I still have three of my four wisdom teeth, with none of the dental problems that both of my parents endured. Hopefully I'm done with medical and dental appointments for a while. I think I've had more than my share this Winter.

When I returned from the dentist, I went to the good plumbing supply store and got the parts I needed to repair both toilets. I got high quality parts with brass fittings instead of the plastic stuff you find at Home Depot. I hate masquerading as a plumber so maybe this will help minimize future repairs. You never know though. Something else may break tomorrow. 

I'd never make a good plumber. The work is way too messy for me. I'm always very methodical and careful, but somehow I always end up making a mess. It's almost impossible to disconnect the supply lines to a toilet and remove all the internal parts without spilling a little water. At least I didn't try to remove the supply line without turning off the water to the house at the meter. I think I learned that lesson on a previous repair. The shut off valve on one of the toilets doesn't completely close and water sprays everywhere if you don't shut off water to the house first. The good news is that my first repair worked perfectly. The bad news is that I got tired of being a plumber and I still have to fix the other toilet. At least Janet's toilet is fixed. I'll deal with mine later.

I could tell on our sunrise walk with Dawn that this wasn't going to be a good day for my feet. I still can't figure out why some days are relatively pain free and other days are terrible. It doesn't seem to be the humidity because I've had good and bad days when the weather was exactly the same. It doesn't seem to be the result of too much exercise either. I've been able to go on long walks multiple days in a row without a problem. On a bad day I have trouble just walking around the house. I probably need to make another appointment with the orthopedic surgeon. I need to make sure that I'm not inadvertently damaging my feet. If walking doesn't really make things any worse, I can probably live with the pain.

The park has been virtually empty for the past several days. There hasn't been as much traffic on the roads either. Is something going on that I don't know about? I don't have a clue. Maybe it's just the weather. It has been cold and nasty lately. Maybe it's Covid. There are a ton of people who've gotten the virus recently. I can't says that I don't know anyone who's caught Covid anymore. I know quite a few people who've come down with it. It's kind of amazing that Janet and I haven't caught the virus. The test Janet had to take to see her doctor was negative and I've had several negative tests recently. So far, so good anyway.

There is new firmware available for the Polaris star tracker. I'm kind of nervous to install it though. It's always a mixed bag whenever there's an upgrade. Some people on the user forum report better results after an upgrade while others report that their tracker doesn't work anymore. I'm tempted not to bother with every upgrade and just keep watching the user forum until everyone seems happy. I think that day is still a long way away. I'm not sure I would have backed this project if I knew I was going to be a Beta tester. I just want things to work when I turn them on. Finding bugs and solving problems isn't exactly my cup of tea. Being a Beta tester isn't as messy as being a plumber, but it's almost as bad.

It seemed really cold when I took the trash out to the curb this evening. That means it will be even colder in the morning. If Dawn could overcome her fears and learn to walk with me without Janet nearby, we could do her morning walk a lot later. I have no schedule and actually like to sleep in. Dawn doesn't know what she's missing.

Sophie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4416

Another slow day. I had been planning on practicing with the star tracker again but got bogged down with a variety of irritating little tasks. Now we've got two running toilets. Both should be easy to fix, but I hesitate to mess with either of them. The last time I tried to install a new toilet kit, the fit was poor and I ended up with a leak at the base of the tank. At least the second toilet uses commonly available parts you can find at any Home Depot. The weird French toilet uses hard to find, expensive parts that are only available at one plumbing supply store in town. What do you do? I can buy a ten dollar toilet kit at Home Depot or pay a plumber a hundred dollars to install the same thing. Plumbers won't even touch the French toilet. I have to handle that myself anyway. I hate things that break all the time, but that doesn't stop them from breaking.

I had trouble getting my accounts to balance in Quickbooks today as well. This is irritating because the problem is always a data entry mistake I've made and never noticed. It's surprisingly hard to find a small mistake you made over a month ago. I eventually found the error and everything balances again but it took a while. It would be a lot easier to just make a journal entry and adjust the Quickbooks files to match what the bank says is correct. Mistakes always bother me though and in the long run it is always easier to take the time to find them.

I was surprised to learn that two more pieces of my model train collection have sold. Sales dropped off dramatically when Covid started and my dealer friend hasn't sold anything in over a year. I'm glad he's still in business. Maybe things are starting to look up again. Over half the collection has already sold, but a lot still remains. I may need to put this collection in my will. How did I ever acquire so many electric trains and construction models?

Today was a nice day for walking. I managed to get 20,000 steps without a lot of foot pain. Walking slower seems to help. I didn't see the eagles today but someone asked me about them. The word had gotten out about these birds and it appears like the entire city is out looking for them. I've heard that the park department might build a fence around their nesting area to keep people away. This is probably a good idea. Keeping the nesting area a secret didn't seem to work. You can't really keep anything a secret these days.

Janet said that Dawn did really well in training class tonight. She is much less fearful now and is a quick learner. I guess patience pays off. Dawn is even a lot friendlier with me now. I don't think she completely trusts me but we are definitely making progress. It's important that she learns to trust me because Janet wants to travel again. One of these days it's just going to be me and Dawn in the house for a while. I really don't want her to feel afraid while Janet is away.

I need to remember I've got a dental appointment tomorrow. It's just a cleaning but I've finally realized that dental hygiene is important. This cleaning was originally scheduled for weeks ago, but someone in the dentist's office got Covid and they had to close down for a while. Everyone seems to be catching Covid now. It's kind of amazing that Janet and I have managed to avoid it this long.

Jazz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4407

It was a busy day. We visited Charlie, Oliver and Jack at the kennel and they were all in a playful mood. Jack doesn't like to play with toys like Charlie and Oliver, but is extremely friendly and seems to have settled in well to kennel life. I think someone will be looking at the dogs soon, so one of them might not be there when we visit next week. The kennel was pretty quiet today since all the holiday boarding dogs have gone back home.

It was my turn to drive to the kennel today and I was amazed at the terrible gas mileage my gas was getting. Maybe it always got terrible gas mileage, but I'm more aware of things since the price of gas has gone up so much. Traffic was terrible today as well. It's a good thing we are always going in the opposite direction of the inevitable rush hour traffic when we visit the kennel.

I replaced the battery in my phone this morning and the phone seems to be working a lot better now. I'm glad I found the little neighborhood phone repair store. The battery replacement only cost about half of what the Apple Store currently charges and was done on less than thirty minutes. The only weird thing was the technician didn't want me in the store while he was working. He seemed unusually worried about Covid and said I was welcome to wait in the car. I went to a nearby CVS and picked up a few things instead. 

The day started out cold but warmed up quickly again. I'm getting used to wearing different clothes depending on the time of day. It was below freezing when we took our sunrise walk with Dawn but when I took my long walk after we returned from the kennel, I didn't even need a jacket. Unfortunately, I think these warm afternoons might be over soon. I think another arctic cold front is headed our way.

I saw the eagle for the second day in a row. Another bird watcher told me that if I had arrived five minutes earlier I would have seen both eagles together. Judging by the bird's behavior, most of the local birders don't think there are any eggs in the nest yet. Apparently, late in the day is the best time to view the birds. I should probably drive over to the area where they are often seen near sunset one of these day and try to get a picture. I've seen people photographing the birds for several months now and I still don't have a single picture. I do have good pictures of owls and hawks though. There are plenty of owls and hawks in the park. There are only two eagles.

I didn't think I'd be walking far today, but my feet held up better than I expected. I ended up getting 23,000 steps. My pace has really slowed unfortunately. If I walk slower my feet don't hurt as much. It's kind of embarrassing though. The other day an old guy walking with a cane passed me on the trail. 

My toilet repair didn't last very long. It's only been a few days and the toilet is already running again. I guess I'm going to have to go to the plumbing supply store and buy the expensive little pneumatic valve after all. The little plastic valve always seen to do the trick. It gets tiring to be constantly fixing things. I wish I lived in a house where nothing broke.

I should have raked leaves this afternoon, but there just wasn't time. I think the bulky trash trucks are coming tomorrow and it would have been a good time to bag up as many leaves as we could. Oh, well. There's always next month. We've got to get rid of the leaves because Dawn is way too interested in something that is hidden underneath. There are lots of feral cats in the neighborhood and that probably means there are a few dead birds and mice in the yard. You can't tell a dog not to eat nasty stuff. I think they live to eat nasty stuff.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day