Day 4614

JoJo got adopted today. Janet and I met the couple who were interested in him this morning. They looked at several dogs but it was clear that JoJo was their favorite. JoJo seemed to know that he had found his forever home. He didn't want to get in the car when we were changing kennels, but this time he hopped right in the couple's car for his freedom ride. They definitely got a good dog. Everyone who meets JoJo comments on how friendly and easy going he is. I'm glad he found a home.

Since I knew we were going to the kennel today, I went to the gym early. Dawn still got her sunrise walk and I had my regular breakfast, but I was out of the house before 9 AM. One of these days I'm going to need to change up my exercise routine. I continue to do exactly the same things day after day. That's OK though. It's an easy way to get my Fitbit steps and have a little fun on the basketball court without getting hot and sweaty. I don't know how they keep my gym so cold. The place is like a refrigerator.

I finally heard something from NASA today. Unfortunately it was not the news I've been waiting for. Today's message was primarily meant for people planning to attend the rollout on August 18. It would be nice to attend both the rollout and the launch, but I can barely afford launch day travel expenses. Oh, well. I've already seen the Artemis rocket sitting on the pad. It was there the last time I was down at the space center for the Axiom-1 launch. I'm really hoping that everything stays on schedule. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do if the launch gets delayed.

We're planning to move the rescue Dalmatians to a new kennel tomorrow. The current kennel is nice, but the kennel runs are too small for larger dogs like Dalmatians. Since some of the dogs end up spending a long time at the kennel before they find their forever homes, they deserve a bigger kennel run. I wasn't aware that there were so many boarding kennels in the Dallas area until we needed to find a new home for the dogs. There seem to be kennels everywhere. The place we are going tomorrow is new and is very clean. I think we have enough volunteers that everyone will only need to make one trip when we are transferring the dogs. I hope that everyone, especially Charlie, likes their new home and we won't have to move them again. Rescue dogs have had enough stress in their lives already. We want them to be happy.

It doesn't seem like it's time to make a grocery list already. It feels like I just did this a few days ago. I need to remember to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy as well. It's shaping up to be a very busy day tomorrow. It's already too hot again to go walking in the park during the day, but I'm not sure when I'm going to find time to go to the gym. I'll probably end up going late in the day. I was hoping that we might get some more rain next week, but rain has already disappeared from the forecast. At least Wednesday's rain didn't cause any roof leaks. I dodged a bullet on that one.

Ellis is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3924

We met Clyde today. He's a friendly, affectionate owner surrender who's probably still wondering what he's doing at a boarding kennel. Whenever I see a dog that has voluntarily been surrendered, I wonder how this could happen. Dogs are family. I just can't imagine treating a dog this way. Clyde will get a second chance though and I'm confident that this time things will work out better for him. I don't think it will take long for Clyde to find his forever home. We heard that he's already got someone looking at him.

When we go up to visit the Dalmatians at the kennel, that usually takes care of the day. In a post-Covid world having one interesting thing to do a day is plenty. There are many days where nothing happens at all. It's fun spending a few hours getting to know these dogs a little better. Each of them has their own personality, but they are all Dalmatians. You could never mistake a Dalmatian for any other breed.

We spent most of the day wondering when the rain would start. It was overcast all day, but we managed to stay dry on our morning walk. It was a little chilly out and I kept thinking that I should have worn a jacket.   I spotted two more White Pelicans this morning. One by one they are all making their way to their winter home. We didn't see the baby ducks this morning, but it was still pretty dark outside. Dawn managed to spot two rabbits this morning. She is much more interested in the rabbits than the ducks. I think we all had a good walk.

I was planning on calling my contact at the Air Force today, but ended up just paying some online bills instead. I've been looking at the long range weather for launch week and thunderstorms are in the forecast before, during, and after the scheduled launch day. Forecasts can change, but it's not looking good now. If I were a betting man, I'd bet that the Delta IV Heavy launch will get postponed again. 

I really have mixed emotions about traveling. I'm getting a bad case of cabin fever and would really like to start covering launches again. There are some interesting things going on between now and Christmas. On the other hand, I just read an article that said over 11,000 people have already tested positive for Covid after flying on airplanes. I'm hearing more and more that airplanes aren't so safe after all. Who knows what to believe though. There are so many conflicting opinions about almost everything. I'm cynical enough to think that we may never hear of the virus again after the election is over.

Once again, I failed to make any more roof repairs before the rain started. This happens a lot. I probably should have applied the silicon on one of those really hot days last month, but it's a miserable job. I'm still waiting for a stretch of three or four clear, cool days where I can make the repairs without burning my arms and legs. Maybe next week will be good. After the current storms pass through the area, I see a long stretch of sunny days ahead.

I'm still a little surprised that I actually enjoyed the Zoom call last night. Maybe being completely isolated isn't such a good idea after all. One of the things I liked so much about covering launches and spending time at the observatory was that I got to meet really interesting people, but I was still basically on my own.      I need to figure out how to get back to West Texas. Spending long hours alone on Mount Locke punctuated by interesting dinner conversation with astronomers was just about perfect.

Rowe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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