Day 4568

We didn't make much progress today. Dawn didn't want to come out to the kitchen to eat and I had to take her meals back to the bedroom. She did eat though and took all her meds. At one point I found her hiding in a corner of the bedroom for no apparent reason. A strange noise must have scared her. I took her outside to show her that everything was normal, and then she was fine again. We did get all the essentials done today, but this wasn't one of Dawn's better days. Hopefully, she'll be feeling a little more adventurous tomorrow.

It was a lot cooler this morning. When I woke up the temperature was still in the mid 70's. It was an easy choice to take a long walk instead of going to the gym. I walked right after breakfast and was out of the house before 8 AM. Before eating breakfast I hooked up the second sprinkler I bought and watered the front lawn. I also watered the plants inside the atrium. I used to do this from inside the atrium, but now I just water them through the screen wire wall on the back side of the space. It's just too much trouble to open the broken sliding glass door these days.

My walk was enjoyable this morning because of the lower temperatures, but there wasn't a lot to see. The Spring wildflowers are starting to disappear and most of the animals and birds are in hiding. The fancy new bike path that is being constructed through the park is almost complete now. It looks like they are going to meet their July deadline. My feet aren't hurting as bad lately. Maybe they are just becoming numb. Summer walks aren't nearly as enjoyable as the ones I take in the Spring and Fall. I'm still getting the steps I need though. I think discipline is important. If I only did things I liked to do, I probably wouldn't do anything at all.

The Benro folks wanted me to run some tests on the star tracker to help isolate the problems I've been having lately. I ran the tests they wanted, but the camera didn't disconnect today. Actually, everything seemed to work fine, which baffled me. The phone app and firmware versions were exactly the same as they were before when I was having a ton of problems. This thing is full of mysteries and it is still difficult to talk with the Chinese manufacturers. It gives me something to do on a slow day though. When all the bugs are eventually worked out, it will be an amazing piece of gear to take out to the observatory. I could use it here of course, but there isn't much to see with all the city light pollution.

It was supposed to rain today, but it didn't even get that cloudy. I would welcome a little rain at this point. The yard is getting really dry and without a sprinkler system I need to remember when to water everything. Too much water is just as bad as too little and I definitely don't have a green thumb. I'll make an effort though. We had a wet Spring this year and the yard still looks pretty nice.

Dawn seems a little depressed. I wish she wasn't so dependent on Janet, but there's not much I can do. I make sure she gets her meals at the appropriate time, keep her water bowls filled, and take her out to pee at regular intervals. I'd like to see a little more tail wagging, but she's safe and well taken care of. I was hoping that she'd be more relaxed today, but there's always tomorrow. The last time Janet went on vacation, Dawn eventually did begin to relax. It took forever though.

I'll probably take another early walk tomorrow. The forecast says that the temperature will only be 72 degrees at sunrise tomorrow. I need to take advantage of these cooler mornings while I can. 

Rascal is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4096

The washing machine is working again. The repair technician arrived right on time with a brown box containing the expensive new circuit board. The board must have been located in an inaccessible place because he had to practically disassemble the entire machine to install it. I wonder where appliance repairmen get their training? This guy seemed very familiar with my machine even though it was never a popular brand and hasn't been manufactured for quite some time. I was pleased when the technician put the washing machine back together and turned it on to test it. It worked. There was always a chance that the new motor controller board wouldn't solve the problem. The motor itself might have been faulty. All is good now until the next thing breaks on this machine. Replacing the aging machine piece by piece is still easier than trying to squeeze a new machine into our tiny utility room.

The washing machine wasn't the only thing that I got working again today. Part of my new company website has been non-functional ever since I redesigned it several months ago. It always looked nice on my desktop computer, but never really worked when I looked at it on my phone. I finally found a tech support person who could help me this afternoon and was able to repair the broken code. The solution was fairly obvious in retrospect. I felt a bit foolish for not being able to figure this out myself. Apparently, one of the many hazards of growing older is the inability to understand complex problems on your own. I used to be a lot better at website design when I did this stuff every day.

I got my reservations confirmed at the Prude Ranch for my trip out to McDonald Observatory, so it appears that I'm good to go. The astrophotography workshop isn't being held until mid-May, but it never hurts to plan ahead. Oddly, there is a big regional star party out at the ranch a few weeks before my arrival. If the two events had been closer together it might have been fun to attend both. Never mind. I just read the Covid rules for the WesTex Star Party. They are pretty restrictive. Since only ten people will be attending the astrophotography workshop, dealing with Covid restrictions at the observatory will be a lot easier. I'm already familiar with McDonald observatory rules anyway. I was out there last October.

I think I've figured out why my Apple Watch activity stats have been so dismal this month. It all has to do with how the watch measures things. Really the only things it is able to measure are the speed you are walking and your heart rate. Everything else is extrapolated using some sort of algorithm. Today, I was feeling pretty good so I thought I'd see what would happen if I just walked a little faster. Speed is apparently a lot more important to the algorithm than heart rate. I managed to cut four minutes per mile off my recent times and it made a huge difference. My activity scores look just like they used to. Oddly, my feet didn't hurt any more walking fast than walking slow. I was a lot more tired when I returned home though. I think I'll go back to walking slow tomorrow.

I wish Dawn didn't frighten so easily. Predictably, the repair technician scared her again, even though he was working in the other end of the house. The guy was only here about an hour, but it took Dawn the rest of the day to chill out again. She still enjoyed her walk, but ate more grass than usual. She always eats grass when she's nervous.

I keep reading that we might have hazardous weather this weekend. There are two storms headed our way. The first one is supposed to bring massive amounts of snow to Colorado. The second one might bring tornados to Texas. I hope the forecasts are wrong. We've already had enough bad weather for one year. I'm ready for a nice warm Spring.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day