Day 3726

Adoption fail. I think we've got ourselves a dog. Dawn had a major panic attack on the way to the kennel this afternoon. She was shivering and whining and it was clear that she didn't want to go. It was almost as if she could read our minds. Janet and I were having serious misgivings as well. We'd both become very attached to Dawn during her recovery. How would we know if this was the right home for her? We've known for some time that Dawn already thought she'd found her forever home.

Amazingly, everything turned out well. The lady who was interested in looking at Dawn told us that she really preferred to adopt a male. Dawn was the right age for her, but the wrong sex. We showed her Larry, who we initially assumed was too young and she really liked him. We showed her Charlie too, but he was a bit too wild. Larry ended up being a good match and the woman adopted him. Larry will get a very good home. The woman was very nice and had done her research about Dalmatians. She would have provided a good home for Dawn as well. I'm glad things worked out as they did. The woman got the dog she really wanted and Dawn breathed a sigh of relief. On the way home, she was a different dog. Was the anxiety attack just a big show to pull at our heartstrings? We'll never know. Dawn was pretty relaxed on the way home though. She just fell asleep in the back seat.

Technically, we're still fostering Dawn, but she's made it very clear where she'd like to stay. I'm sure we'll formally adopt her soon. We weren't ready for a new dog, but sometimes fate intervenes. Dawn is a wonderful, quiet, very mature dog. All she wants is a peaceful place to live with good food and a big king size bed to sleep in. We've been good for her and she's been good for us.

My big fear is that Dawn will become old and sick about the same time we are becoming old and sick as well. Dealing with two cancer patients at the same time wore us out. Actually for a time it was three cancer patients, because Janet had cancer as well. You can't spend your life worrying about dying though. Janet and I are still going to travel and do our best to lead active, interesting lives. It helps that we trust the people at the kennel and they love Dawn as well. If we need to go somewhere, we'll be able to board Dawn with confidence. Dawn is healthy now and so are we. We'll enjoy our time now and when things start to deteriorate, we'll deal with it. That's what we've always done.

I'm finally getting organized for my trip to the observatory. It has finally occurred to me that I'm not flying, so there is no need to take a tiny suitcase. This makes it much easier to pack. I can just throw way more than I need in a big bag and go. It looks like the show will go on despite all the coronavirus scares. Probably a remote mountain in West Texas is one of the safest places you could be.

We celebrated an eventful day with a pizza and shared the crust with Dawn. Everybody is happy. Dawn is sleeping on the bed now and I will be joining her soon. I'm glad that my Facebook readers seem to like the solution I've come up with to let them keep reading. For now, all is well in the world.

Connor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3725

I think I figured out a way that my Facebook readers can still see the blog. I created a new Facebook Group called Some Assembly Required and each night after I publish my blog entry, I take a picture of the post and upload it to the Facebook Group. There are no links and no text for the robot censors to pass judgement on. The only thing I'm actually putting on Facebook is a JPEG image. The group is private and only people who seem to like reading the blog anyway are invited. I think this is a clever plan. Let's see if Facebook can block this. If you read the blog on Facebook and didn't get invited, let me know and I'll add you to the group. I know who some readers are, but I certainly don't know all of you. If you have trouble reading the blog entry, just click on the picture and it will become larger, making everything much easier to see. I'm not sure if you are notified when new posts are added, but the Group is easy to find once you've joined. Let's see how this works. Posting this way is certainly a lot easier than convincing all of you to move to Twitter.

Today's big event was giving Dawn a bath. We took her to a self-wash place where we always used to bathe Dot and Dash. I didn't expect Dawn to enjoy the bath, but she was much better behaved than we expected. She even let the lady who runs the place clip her nails and clean her ears. Why did we go to all this trouble to get Dawn looking sparkly clean? Someone wants to look at her tomorrow and she might get adopted. Janet and I both have mixed feelings about Dawn going to a new home. She's a wonderful dog and we've become attached to her.

This is why so many fosters fail. I wanted to keep Ginny and it wouldn't have been hard to convince me to keep Hank. Basically, I've wanted to keep every Dalmatian we've had at the house. We knew this would happen when we agreed to foster dogs. The bottom line is that if Dawn gets a great home, that's all that matters. I still think that fostering is important. Janet and I don't have a dog now, which make our home the perfect place for a sick dog to recover or a scared, shy dog to develop trust. That doesn't make it any easier to say goodbye to Dawn though. She's just about perfect. We'll see what happens tomorrow. I don't think we would ever let Dawn go to a bad home. Dalmatian Rescue has an excellent record of matching the right people with the right dog.

I'm still worried that the Spring activities at McDonald Observatory are going to get cancelled at the last minute. I was shocked to learn today that SXSW was canceled this year. This is a huge event for the city of Austin. The city will lose millions and millions of dollars. Is the coronavirus really that bad or is this a case of mass hysteria? It's hard to tell at this point. If the observatory is going to cancel their Spring Break activities, I hope they tell me before I start the long drive to West Texas. I'd hate to discover that things have changed when I'm stopping for gas in Amarillo.

I think Spring might have finally arrived. Today was beautiful and I'm starting to see small flowers pop up everywhere. Crow Poison is always one of the first flowers to emerge. I wonder how this plant got its name. There are huge fields of the stuff in the park, but there are still plenty of Crows. Acording to Cherokee legend this plant was used to make a poison that would kill the crows eating their corn. The jury is still out on whether Crow Poison actually kills crows. Don't add any of the flowers to your salad though. The plants are poisonous to humans.

I bought some more socks and underwear today since I was told to bring enough clothes for my entire trip. Probably most volunteers would do this automatically. I like to travel light and would much rather do laundry every few days. I don't think this is an option.

Anne is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3702

We took Dawn back to the emergency vet today to get the drainage tube removed from her neck. She was nervous in the car because she knew where she was going but was a lot more relaxed on the way home. She had to feel better without the plastic tube protruding from her neck. We'll have to go back again in about ten days to get her stitches removed, but so far everything is looking good. The vet said her wounds were healing nicely.

Dawn has been the perfect houseguest. She has adapted so quickly to her new routine that it seems like she has been living here for years. The family who adopted her couldn't have found a better dog. Dawn is one of those Dalmatians who smiles, but I haven't been able to get a picture yet. When you point a camera at her, she quits smiling. We have a low platform bed, which probably seems like the world's biggest dog bed to Dawn. It's easy for her to get up and down and she loves to take naps on the bed. We haven't been able to walk her because the location of her wounds makes it difficult to use a collar or harness. She likes our yard though and is completely housetrained. Just like Ginny, it's going to be hard to see her leave.

I miss having a dog, but I still think fostering is the right thing to do. Since we're experienced with Dalmatians, but don't have a dog of our own now, we're the perfect place for dogs like Hank, Ginny, and Dawn who temporarily need a quiet place to rest and recuperate.

The rain finally stopped around noon today. I was able to get up on the roof and remove all the water. A few hours later the leak in the kitchen stopped. I noticed that there is another leak on the back porch as well. I wrote the roofer a very polite letter asking for help. He's done so many repairs already that I know he doesn't want to hear from me again, but I don't think I can fix this leak myself. I can't really call other roofers either, because he's the only one locally who specializes in these silicon roofs. I think I've found where the water is getting in, but I could be wrong. I definitely don't want to make the situation worse.

I sent my pictures of the launch to the magazine but still haven't received a response. This is a little troubling but it has happened before. The magazine is based in London and the editor is often away from the office for days at a time. Oh, well. I've done my part. I hope they like the pictures. I offered to write a story, but since the Solar Orbiter was a European mission I think they already had a European writer working on an article. I'll probably write an article anyway and try submitting it to other publications.

Janet wanted to see how Dawn would do alone in the house, so I took a short walk while she was out running errands. Dawn seemed a little nervous when I gated her in the bedroom but quickly warmed up when I gave her a few treats. When I returned home, she was sleeping comfortably in the center of the bed. I'm usually here, but it's nice to know that it's safe to leave her if we need to be somewhere else.

It's hard to believe that it's almost the middle of the month already. I need to start working on my taxes and do some more planning for my upcoming trip to McDonald Observatory. Retirement is starting to feel busier than when I was working. That's probably a good thing.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3700

At 12:01 this morning I was packing up my camera gear 526 feet above Kennedy Space Center on the roof of the Vertical Assembly Building. I had just witnessed the launch of an Atlas 5 rocket that will carry the ESA Solar Orbiter toward a rendezvous with the sun. It was a beautiful night for a spectacular launch. I could hardly believe where I was standing. Only fifteen photographers were granted access to the VAB roof for this launch and I was one of them. To say this was a bucket list moment would be an understatement.

There aren't many people who routinely cover rocket launches. The photographers on the roof with me early this morning all knew each other long before this launch. Some had been covering space ever since the Apollo program. With such a small tight knit group, I was immediately recognized as a newcomer. I wasn't ostracized though. These guys couldn't have been nicer. They shared stories with me and gave me tips on how to get the best photos during a launch. I immediately felt welcomed.

Photographing rockets at night is more of an art than a science. It is dark and it is hard to check your camera settings. When the countdown reaches zero, things start to happen so fast that there are no second chances. You either get the shot or you don't. I was amazed that my photos came out as well as they did, because I didn't bring a tripod on this trip. Luckily, there was a heavy steel rail around the edge of the roof. I placed my camera on this rail and held it firmly in place. I'm glad I didn't drop it.

When I returned to Orlando this morning I was pretty sure that the airport would be on the rental car's  list of "recent destinations" in the GPS menu. Orlando International Airport was on the list, but it wasn't until I reached my destination that I realized that the person who rented this car earlier wasn't headed for the rental car return. I blindly followed the GPS and wound up at a Southwest Airlines maintenance facility in an obscure corner of the airport. When I tried to find my way back to the rental car return, I became hopelessly lost. Since I was off the beaten path, there were no signs to the rental car area. I found myself going round and round in circles with no place to stop and get my bearings. For a while I was afraid I would miss my flight, but I eventually stopped to ask someone for directions. I made the flight.

When I got on the plane I discovered that I was sitting next to someone who had also gone to the NASA Social event. This was really a strange coincidence. We both agreed that the launch was amazing  and were determined to come back to the Space Center again. I could easily become a launch rat. Going to these events can become addictive.

We had a new houseguest when I returned home. Dawn is settling in very well. I wasn't a bit surprised when Janet told me she was already sleeping on the bed. Dawn's injuries were serious but we think she will make a full recovery. The vet thinks they will be able to remove the drainage tube in her neck by Wednesday. I hope everything goes smoothly. Dawn is such a sweet dog.

Landry is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3629

Another active Sunday. I managed to put 22,000 steps under my belt today. It didn't hurt that it was a clear, sunny Fall day. Janet and I took turns being away from the house, so someone was always home with Ginny. When I returned from the gym this morning she gave me one of those Dalmatian smiles. This was the first time we'd seen Ginny smile. I think she likes me.

Some days it's hard to take my five mile walk after I've been to the gym, but today I seemed to have more energy than usual. I even managed to clear the water off the roof as well. When I was walking, I saw my first Kestrel of the season. You never see these birds in the summer, but the American Kestrel is a frequent visitor to the park during the winter months. These small falcons always seem to be looking for food. I also saw a formation of White Pelicans returning to their winter home on Pelican Bay. They approached at a high altitude and then descended in a concentric circle. They almost looked like little airplanes on final approach.

I've decided that I like walking toward the end of the day. As the shadows grow longer and twilight approaches, everything changes quickly. If I start my walk at 4 PM, I can go from full sunlight to darkness in less than two hours. Sunsets are always beautiful on the lake on a clear day. As I approached home in late twilight, I was able to see Venus and Jupiter again. Venus was higher in the sky while Jupiter had moved lower. I was surprised at how much their positions had changed since the last time I saw them.

I was also surprised at how well my roof repairs have held up. We have had a significant amount of rain since I made the repairs and so far there have been no leaks. When I cleared the remaining standing water away this afternoon, everything looked pretty solid. I think my technique in applying the silicon material has improved. This stuff is very expensive and I used to apply a thin coat to cover a wider area. That was a bad idea. You need a thick coat to be effective. It's almost best if you just pour the stuff on the roof and let is flow, rather than try to spread it thinly using a paint roller. I'm learning. I have about a gallon to the silicon material left. I'll try to use if wisely the next time we have a really warm day.

We got another pet monitor to replace the one that broke recently. This probably means that we will be fostering more dogs in the future. Ginny needs to return to the kennel tomorrow afternoon. We've really enjoyed having her as a house guest, but she needs to go to her forever home soon. I used to think that it would be impossible for me to foster dogs because I would want to keep them all. Ginny is near perfect, but I am glad she has already found a good home. I don't know what has caused me to become a little less possessive but it's probably a good thing. Maybe we helped prepare Ginny for the journey she has ahead. On the other hand, maybe we just spoiled her. Either way, it was a very pleasant week. I'm going to miss this girl.

Jada is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3626 - Thanksgiving

It was a nice relaxing day. We stopped cooking on Thanksgiving years ago and just go out to a nice restaurant. It's a no dishes, no stress holiday for us. I think we finally found the best Thanksgiving buffet in Dallas and we've been returning to the same place for the past four years.

Eating out on Thanksgiving is more popular than you might think. We see young couples, families of all sizes, retired people, and today there was a large family gathering of at least thirty people. The food is delicious. I just had a bagel and a cup of coffee this morning so I'd have room to try everything that looked good. Janet and I eat healthy all year long. This is probably the one time where we overindulge. We start with a salad plate of interesting salads, move on to a seafood plate, and then have a big plate of traditional Thanksgiving fare. You've got to have sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top at Thanksgiving. I finally decided that you don't have to eat turkey though. In recent years I'll have prime rib instead. There's something old fashioned about prime rib. It reminds me of going to Lawry's when I was younger.

We checked on Ginny using the iCam app while we were out. She was fine. She actually did better than Dot or Dash tended to do when left alone. As soon as we left the house, Ginny immediately went to her Kuranda bed and went to sleep. She was glad to see us when we got home though. I think she smelled that we had a treat for her almost immediately. We gave her a little bit of turkey and prime rib and she loved it. Ginny is such a sweet dog. It will be sad to see her leave, but I know she is going to a great home.

It was a lot warmer last Thanksgiving. This year it was pretty cold and nasty. It rained a lot last night and I got the pumps on the roof running as soon as I got up. I should have just taken a nap when we returned from dinner, but I decided to walk it off instead. This was probably a mistake because the light mist was still enough to get me quite wet after the first three miles. There was nobody in the park except for a few dedicated runners. It was very cold so I was wearing two coats. After an hour the outer coat was soaking wet and felt twice as heavy. My shoes were wet as well. I decided to cut the walk short so I could come home and warm up again. I guess the walk did me a little good. I don't feel as lethargic as I usually do after a huge meal.

Our backdrop for the Santa Paws events is coming from Singapore. We'll see how long it takes to get here. I think it shipped today. I have a feeling that it will arrive before our first event. DHL is usually pretty fast. I used to have to ship things internationally and was often amazed at how quickly air freight arrived. Hey, if it doesn't get here on time, I've still got plenty of backdrops from prior years.

Tomorrow, I'll make my travel arrangements for the NASA event at Michoud Assembly Facility. It's going to be a busy December. I definitely won't be going out to breakfast tomorrow. I'm so full I may not eat breakfast at all.

Scooter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3625

As Ginny continues to become more relaxed, she is acting more and more like every Dalmatian I have ever known. She is a velcro dog who follows me everywhere. I have to be careful not to trip over her because she is always nearby. If she wants something, she will nudge me with her snout or if I'm at my desk will slap me with a paw. Usually what she wants is food. If I'm up, she always heads straight to the kitchen. She loves to take naps and already has a favorite blanket. As luck would have it, I'm fond of naps too. Ginny is always right beside me on the bed. If this girl didn't already have a good home after she finishes recovering from her heartworm treatment, it would be very hard to take her back to the kennel.

We wanted to make sure that Ginny was comfortable being alone in the house, so we set up a camera to watch her in a safe gated area while we walked around the block. She wasn't frantic at all. She sat in her Kuranda bed looking at the door for a few minutes and then curled up and went to sleep. We repeated this exercise twice and she was fine both times. When we returned, she got off her bed and began following me around again. I'm glad she used the Kuranda bed. When we're here, she doesn't go near it and prefers the comfort of our large king-sized bed. Like I said, she appears to be a very normal Dalmatian.

When we were doing our little test, I was disappointed to discover that our Baby Monitor doesn't work anymore. I don't know when it broke. We haven't used it since Dash died. Luckily, there was an alternate way to keep an eye on Ginny. I still have the iCam app on my phone. Even though this app is very old, it still works. You can use any computer or another phone to sent the pictures and then you receive them on your iPhone. I wrote the Withings company to see if they could fix the broken Baby Monitor but I doubt there is much they can do. Like many things in our house, this handy monitor is too old.

I wrote the editor of Spaceflight Magazine to see if they'd be interested in an article about the Artemis Program and then signed up for a rental car loyalty program. Now that I'm visiting observatories and getting invited to NASA events, I'm renting more cars than I ever thought I would a few years ago. Maybe if this continues, I'll get a free rental one of these days.

I probably spent more time napping with Ginny than anything else today. I did take my five mile walk though when Janet returned from her errands. Walking is when I think and plan things. I'm not sure how much good this does since my mind wanders and much of what I'm thinking about evaporates as soon as I return home. Even though I'm not a disciplined planner, I do think I'm making progress. I've been to Johnson Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, and McDonald Observatory this year. Oh, and I managed to see the Big Boy steam engine in operation too. Hopefully, by this time next year I'll be able to add more interesting things to this list.

No fruit smoothie for me tomorrow morning. Thanksgiving dinner is almost an all day event and I need to save room for some holiday indulgence.

Spots is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3624

There's a dog in the house again. So far, Ginny seems to be enjoying her vacation. We picked her up at the kennel this afternoon and the place was already filling up with holiday boarding customers. She definitely rides better in the car than Hank or Jasmine. We made it home without any vomiting or frantic barking. It didn't take Ginny long at all to relax and make herself at home. She's definitely a Dalmatian. Within an hour she was taking a nap on our bed. She's a counter surfer too and took a great interest in the way I was fixing my dinner this evening.

I think a few days of peace and quiet will be good for Ginny. When the kennel is crowded, she barks a lot. This is pretty normal. When one dog starts barking they all start barking. We haven't heard a peep out of her at the house. She's curious and follows us around like glue but she is very gentle and well behaved. Ginny has already found her forever home but she can't join her new family until she finishes her heartworm treatment because they have other dogs. She needs to remain quiet for a while longer as the remaining worms continue to die. It won't be long though. In just two more weeks she'll be ready to run and play with her new friends. I hope she enjoys her new life. The family who adopted her certainly got a wonderful dog.

I took my walk today before we went to the kennel. What happened to our nice weather? It was still warm but very humid and overcast with a few light showers. I got wet but it was OK. I'm used to walking in the rain. The roof got wet as well, but I think the repairs I made the other day had plenty of time to dry. We'll see if there are any problems. I think more rain is expected later in the week.

I need to start making my travel plans for the trip to the Michoud Assembly Facility and Stennis Space Center soon. I'm not wild about arriving in New Orleans at night, but that's the way it's got to be. I'll try to find a hotel near the NASA facility. As long as I get a rental car with GPS navigation, I'll be fine. I still wish this event didn't start at 7 AM, but what are you going to do? I'm not going to complain. I feel lucky that I got selected to attend this special event.

I think our new photo backdrop is going to ship tomorrow. I'm real curious where this is coming from. I'm pretty sure these backdrops are printed on demand in China when you order them, but there is no address for the company on their website. The website is well designed and the shopping cart storefront works well. Customer service is responsive too, even though you can tell that English is clearly a second language. They must ship the backdrops by air freight. They promised to meet a very tight deadline that some companies here in the states couldn't deliver on. I hope this works out. Just having a lightweight backdrop that you can throw in the washing machine if a dog pees on it is a game changer.

It's too bad Ginny can't take a walk with me tomorrow morning. She'd enjoy it. You've got to be real careful when dogs are recovering from the heartworm medication though. They need to stay very quiet until all the worms are out of their system. One squirrel could ruin everything.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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