Day 4483

Another nice Spring day. We walked a little later this morning so I got to sleep in a bit. Dawn enjoyed her early walk and enjoyed getting a little bacon with our Sunday breakfast even more. It was a relaxing morning, but the tranquility didn't last long. After breakfast I was forced to start packing for my trip.

I hate packing, but I try to be methodical about it. First I make sure all my devices are fully charged. Then I transfer the documents I need from the desktop computer to the laptop. Most of these documents have been printed as well, but I like to have a backup. I did a load of laundry because some of the clothes I wanted to take were dirty. I located the cables and plugs I need and put them in a bag. I put my meds, toothpaste, razor, other toiletries in another bag, and then put some orthotics in my new Hoka shoes which I will be taking on the trip. I did this off and on during the day and I'm still not completely done. Should I take a jacket? I usually do but the forecast says it will be very warm in Titusville. I'll definitely take a light raincoat. It always rains at some point during these trips.

We had a nice Sunday outing with Dawn this afternoon. It was warm, but it still felt like Spring instead of Summer. Dawn seems to like getting two walks during the day, but she still doesn't like riding in the car. Each of these walks is a little over a mile. Dawn does pretty well, but I don't think she would want to go much further. As usual, we concluded our Sunday outing with ice cream cones. I wonder if all dogs like ice cream. All of ours certainly did.

I didn't take a long walk today because I still had packing to do. I did take a short little walk later this afternoon just to make sure I got at least 10,000 steps. It's hard to meet my step goals while I'm traveling. Sometimes I'll walk after dinner at the hotel. If I'm early at the airport, I'll walk up and down the concourse until my flight boards. Launch events are usually pretty busy though. There always seems to be some place that I need to be.

I hope the trip goes smoothly. Yesterday a ton of flights to Florida got canceled because of storms in the area. Hopefully that is over now. The Artemis-1 wet dress rehearsal got delayed because of lightning strikes and a problem with fans on the mobile launcher. Since the Axiom-1 rocket is on an adjacent launch pad, I hope this doesn't foul things up. The last thing I want at this point is to add extra days to my trip. Everything is too expensive as it is.

I wish I'd booked a later flight, but I really didn't have much choice. I need to pick up my press credentials at a place I've never been before and I wanted to allow enough time to get lost. I'll have to get up very early but I can always sleep on the plane. I always fear that I won't be able to get a car with GPS at the Orlando rental car lot. Oddly, cars with in-dash GPS are surprisingly hard to find. I can't imagine driving around in a strange city without GPS these days. How did we used to do this?

I'd better go finish packing before it gets too late. I'd really like to go to bed early and get some sleep tonight.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4414

Oliver and Charlie were playful today. We had plenty of time to spend with each of them because they are currently the only Dalmatians at the kennel. We've decided that Oliver should have been named Goofy because he acts like a giant clumsy puppy. He can't catch anything, but he sure has fun trying. He loves tug toys though. Playing tug is his favorite game. Charlie seems to be mellowing out a bit. He was content to just sit with us and let us pet him for a while this afternoon. You can't really relax with Charile though. He's not a lap dog. He can go from calm to chaotic in less than a second.

On the way home from the kennel we missed one of our regular turns and ended up getting lost in Richardson. It's weird to think that we have lived here over forty years and there are still many parts of the city and its surrounding suburbs that we have never even driven through. We had to set the GPS in the car for home to find our way out of the suburban maze.

I am continuing to do little chores around the house that I should have taken care of years ago. This morning I bought several hundred pounds of river rock and filled in a big rut in the driveway that was causing the suspension on my car to scrape against the pavement when I was backing out of the driveway. I have been able to avoid fixing the hole for quite a while because my car has a hydraulic suspension and I can raise the car up while I drive over the obstacle. Since I was doing this every time I left the house I began to worry that I might get a leak in the hydraulic system that would cost a lot more to repair than a load of river gravel. The rocks were heavy and kind of a mess to transport, but my repair was a success and I can now get the car into the carport without scraping anything.

On the way to get the river gravel, I stopped at an AT&T store and asked about the iPhone Mini for a dollar a month promotion I'd been getting notices about. "Oh, that promotion ended two days ago," the sales guy told me. Snooze, you lose I guess. I asked why they had been practically giving these phones away. "This was an iPhone 12 and we're practically up to 14 already," he told me. He also added that no one wanted this model because it was too small. "But I wanted one," I said. Too late. The promotion was over.

It was a rainy day today so I didn't even attempt to walk very far. We did manage to get Dawn walked this morning before the drizzle started but the rest of the day was a mess. I found a little dry spell on the weather radar after we got back from the kennel, but it didn't seem like it would stay dry for long. I only walked two miles today and my feet are probably thanking the weather gods. The weather was dismal, but I did see the eagle again. I didn't have my camera with me and didn't particularly care. Hey, I've already got a picture of the bird.

Janet has to get a Covid test before she can go see her doctor. It's weird. When we went out for Thanksgiving Dinner last November I was convinced that the pandemic was just about over. Now it's back  with a vengeance and everyone is scared of Omicron. You have to wonder if we will be stuck with this mess for the rest of our lives. So many things have been done wrong fighting the pandemic and now the disease has become completely politicized. Common sense certainly doesn't prevail anymore. Do you take the red pill or the blue pill. It's a tough choice sometimes.

I have no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow. I'm sure I'll come up with something. The weather forecast says it will be sunny. I'll take that with a grain of salt. It was supposed to be sunny today.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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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

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Day 3637

The Michoud Assembly Facility is amazing. The building itself is enormous. This is where they built the Saturn V rockets for the Apollo program. It is also where the large orange external fuel tanks for the Space Shuttle were made. Today this historic building is being used to assemble a new generation of rockets that will take the United States back to the moon. Artemis Day is a celebration that the first of these Artemis rockets has finally been completed. It will soon go to the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for testing. In a little more than a year from now it will take an unmanned trip around the moon.

When you see the size and complexity of these rockets, you begin to realize why the project is already over budget and behind schedule. The Apollo program basically had an unlimited budget. The object was simply to beat the Russians to the moon at all costs. Things are different now. The NASA folks are trying to do something equally as complicated on a much smaller budget. I hope they succeed. You get the impression that everyone at this factory realizes that the entire program could come to a grinding halt at any moment. The program is expensive and the politicians who approve things like this have been known to change their minds on a dime.

I think NASA invites me to events like this because they know that for space exploration to continue, people need to be enthusiastic about returning to the moon. They're not satisfied with news reports anymore. They want people talking about what they are doing on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik-Tok, and anywhere else they might reach a new audience. If nobody is interested, the program will die.

Most of the people I met today weren't even born when Apollo 11 landed on the moon. This seems weird to me. I remember the moon landings vividly, but it is just something in a history book to a growing percentage of the population.

I have a feeling that most of these younger folks had an easier time getting to the Michoud Assembly Facility this morning than I did. I got lost several times. Even the GPS in my rental car failed me, taking me to a dead end street on the edge of a bayou. I followed the printed instructions from NASA to the letter and ended up at the wrong Michoud building. This time NASA was wrong. They sent out incorrect direction on how to reach our bus. Luckily someone was able to direct me to the right parking lot before the bus left without me.

Everybody loves to eat in New Orleans. Even the staff cafeteria at Michoud had some delicious creole food. People must live on red beans and rice down here. It's everywhere. It's the same way with Gumbo. Everywhere I've been had a pot of Gumbo cooking. They probably eat this stuff for breakfast. I love the flavors, but I have a feeling I'm going to have heartburn tonight.

Tomorrow we go to Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. It's further away than I thought, but I still think I'll have plenty of time to get back to the airport and catch my flight to Dallas. I hope it doesn't rain. The plan was to be outdoors at Stennis tomorrow and I didn't bring a raincoat. I don't think anyone else did either, so maybe the NASA folks are coming up with a Plan B this evening.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

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Day 3369

When I was walking Dash today, a couple stopped us and asked me if I knew the area. "Kind of," I said. We're lost, the guy said and we can't find our car. This seemed strange to me. There aren't very many parking lots in the park and they are all clearly defined. I asked the couple if there were any buildings they could describe near where they parked. They mentioned a few that I recognized. They were on the opposite side of the lake. "You guys are at least eight miles away from your car," I said. "It's over there," I told them, pointing at something near the horizon. The couple seemed discouraged. How could somebody walk so far without having any idea where they were going? I have a pretty good sense of direction, so getting lost this way seemed almost incomprehensible to me. I wished the couple luck and continued my very slow walk with Dash. It was questionable who was going to get home first.

The World War II bombers flew overhead again today. At one point a B-17 made a low pass right over our heads. It would be tempting to go see these planes again, but I'm sure they would look exactly the same as they did last year. Maybe I'll go and see Apollo 11 tomorrow instead. It's playing now at several theaters in Dallas. I've heard a lot about this new documentary. It was made using 177 reels of pristine and previously unseen wide screen 65 and 70 mm Panavision footage recently discovered at the National Archives. Who knew that NASA even made these films. There is nothing new about the story of Apollo 11. I think this is a movie you see primarily for the cinematography. I typically just download movies on iTunes and watch them on my computer. This is something that would definitely look better on the big screen.

Janet had an all-day Dalmatian Rescue event to attend, so I spent most of the day babysitting Dash. You just can't leave him alone for long periods of time anymore. Sometimes he can get up on his own, and other times he can't. If he panics and starts struggling to get up, he can hurt himself. Everything got done today, but sometimes it took a while. It took a handful of treats to just lure Dash to the park this morning. I could tell he wanted to walk, but he also wanted Janet to lead the way. Dash can be very stubborn at times.

I accomplished virtually nothing today. I was able to go out and get groceries after I was convinced that Dash was sleeping soundly. There wasn't much on my list today, so I was able to get back home fairly quickly. Dash was still asleep in exactly the same place when I returned. There were all sorts of things I should have done today but I just didn't feel like it. The house is relatively clean, most of the March bills are paid, and the roof is dry. I'm not quite ready to deal with my taxes yet.

I guess the big decision tomorrow is whether to go to the gym or the movies. It would take too much time to do both. I don't really have strong feelings about either alternative. We'll see how the day goes. Since I fell asleep for about thirty minutes while writing tonight's post, it might be a better idea to just take a long nap.

Ruthie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3318

If there is one recurring theme in my dreams, it is that I'm usually lost. I've been wandering around searching for things in dreamland for most of my life. Last night I was with a group of people and we were trying to return to our hotel. I could see the hotel in the distance, but the road I was on twisted and turned and eventually arrived at a dead end. I climbed over fences, avoided rivers and finally reached the hotel. By this time, all my companions had disappeared. When I went inside, the interior of the hotel looked unfamiliar. I was still lost. I wondered if I was in the wrong hotel. Then I woke up.

I have so many of these type of dreams that I wonder if they mean I am lost in real life. Sometimes I feel that way. Of course, there are other times when I feel like I'm the only sensible person in the room and that everyone else is lost. Maybe dreams mean nothing at all. I sure wish I'd find what I was looking for though. This is getting old.

On cold days like this, I feel like I am part reptile. My entire metabolism slows down. It takes forever to make the bed and to fix breakfast. Morning walks take forever too, but that is Dash's problem, not mine. At least the weather is cooperating. The ground is almost dry again and today my boots weren't even muddy when we returned.

The guy who is fixing my Sequential Circuits synthesizers called me today with another progress report. It is amazing how much can go wrong when you leave something in a storage warehouse for fifteen years. The repair guy is still convinced that he can bring all three synthesizers back to life, but it sounds like he is completely rebuilding them from scratch. He needed me to authorize a new parts list today. I've already reached the point where I'll probably never make a profit if I sell the synthesizers later. I wish I wasn't compelled to always fix and repair things. This has turned into a major and probably very expensive project. The sad thing is that I can't even play the piano very well anymore.

The week has gone quickly. It's already time to take the trash out to the curb again. It's amazing how much trash that two people can generate in a week. Of course a lot of ours is just bagged up dog poop. We're pretty frugal compared to some of our neighbors. The curb is piled with Amazon Prime boxes every Friday morning.

Dash had a good day. We haven't had a medical emergency in quite a while. He is eating well now and seems happy. It's sad that his rear legs have become so weak, but adversity doesn't seem to slow Dash down. He stumbles around, seemingly oblivious to his many problems. I hope that I have the same determination when I start to fall apart.

I'm going to return to last week's new discovery for breakfast tomorrow. There's a huge new menu to try.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2973

My fitness tracker tells me when I dream at night. It appears that I don't get much deep sleep, but I dream quite a bit. I wish I could click on this dream timeline and recall the dreams. I occasionally remember dreams, but most evaporate a few seconds after I wake up. The few dreams I do remember all involve being lost. I walk endlessly down hotel corridors looking for my room. I can't find my car in parking garages. I get separated from Janet on cruise ships and can never find her again. Sometimes I am walking Dash and he runs away. I wonder why this is such a common theme?

Maybe I am lost. I certainly flounder around a lot during my waking hours. Today I felt like I was sleepwalking. Each day seems like the previous one. I walk Dash. I make my morning smoothie. I clean up the dog poop in the yard. I turn on the computer and pretend like I'm working for a while. Dash gets lunch. I take a shower. If there are bills to pay, I take them to the post office. Dash gets an early dinner at 3:30 and then we take an afternoon walk. He gets the remainder of his dinner at 4:30 after we return and then I see if there are any leftovers in the refrigerator for my own dinner. The only time I watch TV is while I'm eating. Today I sent out my February invoices. This didn't take long. There are fewer and fewer invoices each month.

My day has become so repetitive that the thought of doing something new makes me apprehensive. I've been taking care of sick dogs for so long that I associate something new with something bad. As long as Dash stays the same, we're fine. New behavior is usually alarming. I feel the same way about the house. If things stay the same, we're fine. Something new usually involves a water leak or a broken appliance. If I were starting the blog today, the title would probably be "What new kind of hell is this." I dread the thought of anything new.

I do try to take a new photo every day. Maybe I'm hoping that if the narrative becomes too repetitive, the photo will keep things interesting. Today, I encountered a very inquisitive squirrel. I don't know if he was looking at me or Dash, but we were definitely invading his territory. I'm looking forward to Spring and a return of the wildflowers in the park. There are very few things to photograph on cold, grey days like this.

I'm going to need to go to the store tomorrow. I've run out of coffee and the refrigerator is looking bare. I usually get Sprinkles Cupcakes for Valentine's Day, but neither of us eats dessert anymore. It hardly seems worth the trouble of standing in line for overpriced cupcakes if we aren't going to eat them.

I've noticed that my WiFi only crashes if I'm looking at Facebook. That's weird. I can be doing anything else on the computer and the connection is solid as a rock. I wonder what this means? I think all the autoplay movies in my timeline are causing things to go wonky, but it could just be that I'm spending too much time on Facebook.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1941

I wish I'd stop having dreams about being lost or losing things. For decades, I've wandered around in my dreams trying to find my car in a parking garage, trying to find my room in a large hotel, trying to find a connecting flight at an airport. The list goes on and on. Last night I picked out two pair of pants in a clothing store and then lost them before I could get to the register. You'd think it would be easy to find these pants, but I never did. These dreams aren't scary. They're just irritating. I hesitate to analyze any of my dreams. They probably mean something, but not anything I'm eager to know.

We got up earlier than usual today. I'm not sure if Janet had to go to work early or if I was just trying to avoid the rain. It was windy and warm this morning and I could see the moon through thin clouds. There was no pretty sunrise and I just had cold cereal for breakfast when I got home. It was that kind of day.

Don't get me wrong. Parts of the day were very good. Dot did great at her physical therapy session and her vet continues to be impressed with her progress. She walked almost ten minutes in the underwater treadmill and this was in addition to a pretty impressive morning walk. She made it all the way to the entrance to the park this morning. It's not really that far to the park entrance, but this was still a personal best for Dot. She even walked up a gentle hill today to help strengthen her leg muscles. For the most part, Dot is able to walk on her own. We only have to help her if she is trying to climb over a curb or encounters an obstacle.

I've noticed that Dot rests more comfortably in the house, now that she's getting to go outside again. I let her sleep outside her pen now, as long as I'm nearby to keep an eye on her. I'm still housebound, but life is starting to seem a little more normal now. I was thinking that Dot was almost ready to start staying alone for short periods of time and then she managed to get her leg tangled up in her harness today. I quickly unsnapped the harness and freed her stuck leg, but the incident made me nervous about leaving her alone. Maybe it would be better to put her in a small safe area and take the harness off completely if I have to leave the house.

I only got one of my writing assignments finished today, but there is still plenty of time to complete the other. It's hard to get a lot done when Dot has physical therapy. She's only in the treadmill about ten minutes, but it take time to get her situated in the hammock where she rides in the car. It takes time to dry her off after her water therapy, and it takes lots of time to navigate the Dallas traffic. It's a good thing I'm seldom in a hurry, or this whole process could be very frustrating. I actually like going to the vet and don't particularly care how long it takes. These Thursday afternoons are a nice change of pace. I hope Dot enjoys the outing as well.

This week went quickly. I've already taken this week's trash out to the curb for tomorrow morning's garbage pickup and am looking forward to another meal at my breakfast restaurant. I'll have to get up early again so I can walk Dash and get to the restaurant when it opens at 7 AM. I don't even mind getting up early anymore. It's certainly better than weird dreams about being lost.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1869

I made it. It was a long travel day, especially considering I was just going to California. I flew from Dallas to Los Angeles, changed planes and then took a little prop plane up to Santa Maria. Santa Maria looked pretty close to Vandenberg Air Force Base on a map, but I discovered that it wasn't that close when I actually got there. As it turned out, Santa Maria was only about fifteen miles from the North entrance to the huge base, but I needed to go to the South entrance. I could have taken a short cut directly through the base to the South entrance, but I didn't have my credentials yet, so I had to take a long circuitous route around the perimeter instead. I'd probably still be driving around aimlessly, if I didn't have GPS in the rental car. I'm certainly glad I didn't decide to drive up Highway 1 from Los Angeles. I was considering doing this at some point, but wisely reconsidered when I remembered what rush hour traffic was like in California.

I was surprised at how pretty the countryside is in this part of California. There are lots of rolling, green hills dotted with what looked like small Live Oak trees. I was expecting urban sprawl, but this is a lot closer to wilderness. As I approached the base, the terrain flattened and the hills turned to farmland. The soil must be good here, because all the crops looked lush and green. It was weird to see crops growing in January. There was almost no signage on the farm roads that led to the base. Without the GPS in the car and some very explicit directions, I doubt that I would have ever found the elusive South entrance to Vandenberg.

Today's visit to the base was just a dry run. I have to get up very early to check in at the South gate tomorrow morning. This is where I pick up my credentials and join the other media mavens who will be attending the launch. If I'm late, they'll just leave without me. That's why if you have to get lost, it is a lot better to do it today than tomorrow.

I was hoping to have dinner with some of the others attending the SMAP launch this evening, but after driving around endlessly trying to find the correct entrance to the base, I didn't have the energy. I drove back to the hotel in Santa Maria, ate some dinner, and tried to get the WiFi to work instead. I brought a little WiFi hotspot with me, but the hotel seems to block it. It works when I'm driving around, but as soon as I get to my room, it quits.

I think I'm going to be on NASA TV sometime tomorrow, but I doubt if you'll see it. Very few cable companies carry this odd little channel. Tomorrow will be a bucket list kind of day. I'll get to see the rocket up close, talk to the scientists who designed the SMAP mission, and visit all sorts of interesting restricted areas on the base. I think the whole idea is that we're supposed to live Tweet about our experiences. You can't really say much in 140 characters though, so if you really want to know what happened, you'll have to read tomorrow's blog.

I thought I'd forget a lot of things on this trip, but so far all I seem to have forgotten are spare batteries for my wireless mouse and the password for my mobile hotspot. I thought the password was already loaded on my laptop keychain, but apparently it isn't. Oh well, I can always use my phone until the battery runs out. Oops. I forgot the little charger that fits into the car's cigarette lighter too.

I'm tired, but I feel like the day was a success. If you're reading this, it means I've figured out a way to get online. I just put in an early wake-up call at the hotel and I'm looking forward to meeting my fellow space bloggers just before sunrise at the Vandenberg South Gate.

Sophie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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