Day 4969

Not a lot happened today. At least Dawn acted normally all day. I'm trying to decide whether to apply to go see the OSIRIS-REx astroid sample return at Johnson Space Center this Fall. Ordinarily this would be a no brainer, but it's a two day event and I've never liked spending time in Houston. What have I got to lose though. I may not even get accepted for this event and I did really enjoy the last time I went to Johnson Space Center.

It never really cools down anymore. It's already hot outside when we take our sunrise walk with Dawn. It seems weird when the temperature is already in the high 80's before the sun comes up, but that's the way it is this summer. We see a lot more people when we take these early walks these days. Everyone realizes that this is the only sensible time to run, ride a bicycle, or walk your dog. 

The air conditioner runs nonstop now. During the hottest part of the day the system can't even maintain the temperature we set. I keep hoping that nothing breaks. Even a few days without AC in this heat would be miserable. So far, so good. The house is reasonably cool, but the electric bill is very high.

I wish the wrecking crew would hurry up and finish knocking down the house up the street. The demolition noise is getting on my nerves. The noise didn't seem to bother Dawn today though. Maybe Dawn did have a mild seizure yesterday. We'll probably never know for sure. It still bothers me that this nice house is coming down. What is wrong with people that a house that would have been considered luxurious in the 1950's or 60's isn't good enough for them now. When people buy a house in the neighborhood now, they are basically just buying the lot and the location.

After I finished breakfast today, I waited a while before going to the gym. I keep thinking that the place is less crowded around lunchtime, but I may be fooling myself. This heat wave is driving people indoors. There seems to be a lot more people using the gym this week. I guess it makes sense. The management keeps the place really cold. I have to wear a long sleeved shirt when I work out.

UPS delivered a package addressed to an obviously different address to our door this morning. I had to take it to the nearest UPS store because that was a lot easier than calling UPS to pick the package up again. I don't know what is wrong with UPS and Fedex these days. I used to depend on them when my business was active, but Amazon Prime seems much more reliable these days. I try to avoid ordering by mail now because the delivery drivers don't seem to care anymore. I often know a package has arrived when I hear it being thrown on the front porch.

I made an appointment to get a haircut on Friday. Usually haircuts are timed to coincide with a trip, but I have no travel plans for the foreseeable future. I'm just starting to look a bit ratty. I also called the music store to see whether they'd found my missing mixer. Nope. I thought giving them a month to look would be plenty of time, but apparently not. I'll never use this heavy, multi-channel mixing board again, but it was a nice piece of gear. I should have just left it in the storage warehouse instead of consigning it, because it I ever get it back again, it's going right back to storage.

106 degrees today. I wish tomorrow was going to be cooler, but it's going to be like this for the next several weeks.

Scout is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4743

It's definitely Winter. It's cold. It's damp. I want to sleep with an extra blanket on the bed. Winter is not my favorite season, but luckily it's not as bad here as it is further north. The problem with Winter is that I continue to do exactly the same things I do in the summer even though the experience is not as pleasant.

I dressed warmly for our early walk with Dawn. Actually I dressed a little too warmly, but I didn't want to take chances. As temperatures drop, there are fewer people on the trails. We're dedicated though. If it's not raining, we'll be out walking.

I waited a while before taking my long walk today because I was hoping that it would either warm up or the wind would die down. Neither happened but I went walking anyway. I must really hate driving because in many ways it would be so much easier to go to the gym on days like this. Sadly, the weather was nice today compared to what it is going to be like later in the week. Single digit temperatures are still in the forecast.

I found a really nice sweater under a pile of clothes when I was getting dressed for my walk. Where did this come from? I must have had the sweater for years. It looked like it had never been worn. I wonder what else I have. I accumulated a lot of clothes during the time I traded design services for clothing and shoes. Looking back, this was a pretty good deal. The money I made during the early years of my company disappeared a long time ago. I still have a lot of the clothes though.

I didn't see the eagles today on my walk. I wonder where they go when they aren't near their nest? I cover a lot of ground in the park and you'd think I'd see them somewhere. They're either near the nest or gone completely. People speculate that since the pair returned this year to build a second nest that they might have made the lake their permanent home. I don't think anyone really knows however. I hope they didn't scare the pelicans away. I think I enjoyed watching the pelicans more than the eagles. 

Since the ground has dried out and bulky trash pickup is later this week, it was a good day to start raking leaves. Since we have large Oak trees in our back yard, there are a ton of leaves on the ground every fall. I'm not a fan of raking and bagging leaves, but it needs to be done. When we first moved here I just let the leaves blow away during the Winter. It worked pretty well until all the neighbors built tall privacy fences. Now we don't get the same kind of breeze we used to get and the leaves just stay on the ground. 

I bagged a lot of leaves this afternoon and took them out to the curb. There are still a lot of leaves on one of the Oak trees, but it's a start. Maybe I'll rake a little more tomorrow. The leaves are dry now and it is supposed to rain later in the week. For a while, Janet and I were both out working on the leaves and Dawn got excited, thinking that we were out there to play with her. She had great fun racing through the big piles of leaves. It was nice to see her enjoying herself. Dawn is not usually a very playful dog.

I made an appointment to get a haircut later in the week. I have an appointment to see the eye doctor the same day. Doing two different things in one day is rare for me. I think I'll manage though. I'll probably find time to take a walk as well.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4662

Today was disappointing. The rent has gone up again on my storage unit and the washing machine broke. The storage warehouse increases rates every year. All storage warehouses do this. This is why I moved several years ago. Now my rent is even more than it was at the last storage warehouse when it became too expensive. I hate to move again because it is a giant pain. Janet says I ought to just throw everything in the storage unit away. That's not easy for me either.

The irritating thing about the washing machine is that I may have caused the problem myself. I decided to wash the hat I always wear when I walk in the park. The old hat was filthy. I was going to put the hat inside a lingerie bag but I couldn't find one, so I just threw it in with the rest of the laundry. I was kind of worried that the bill of the ball cap might get bent by throwing it in the washer, but I never thought the whole hat would fall apart. When the washer stopped in mid-cycle with an error code that indicated a clogged filter, I unloaded the soggy wash and discovered that parts of the hat had completely disappeared. Who knows how this happened but I bet those missing pieces are stuck in the machine's filter. I'd clean the filter myself if it were accessible. It's buried away inside the machine somewhere. I called the appliance repair shop but my favorite technician doesn't work there anymore. Hopefully whoever replaced him knows what they are doing. It's always something. I was dreading the annual maintenance costs for my car and now I've got an appliance repair bill on top of that.

The web worms in the park keep getting worse. Janet and I have to check each others clothing after our sunrise walk to make sure we aren't bringing any of the little green worms inside with us. Typically a few worms escape our scrutiny and I'll see them crawling on my shirt while I'm eating breakfast. They say the infestation should be over in two or three weeks. It won't come a minute too soon.

I don't know how the people in Florida can handle all the devastation they are currently facing. I think the worst that has ever happened at our house was a broken water pipe under our concrete slab that flooded the AC vents under the floor. A tree fell on our house once, but it didn't do any real damage. It's a good thing we've been lucky because I don't handle major problems well. I get the problems fixed, but they put me in a bad mood for weeks. Even something as minor as a broken washing machine can ruin my day.

At least the weather was nice today. It's easy to avoid the web worms when I'm taking my long walk in the park, but it's dark when we take Dawn on her sunrise walk and she often leads us right through them. Dawn is a creature of habit and it's easier to walk through the web worms than it is to get her to take a new route. I wasn't very fast on my walk this morning. My feet are slowing me down again. I think the recurring foot pain is going to be around forever. It's not bad enough to stop walking, but it sure is irritating. 

For some reason Southwest Airlines has only refunded half my airfare from the canceled Florida flights. I did change my reservation from September 27 to October 2, but I didn't think that would complicate a refund. I suspect that the rest of the money will turn up in a few days, but today the missing funds were just one more source of irritation.

I finally tested the remote shutter app for the Olympus camera. It works, but is not nearly as convenient as the remote shutter app for the Panasonic camera. Both of these apps connect to the camera using WiFi, but it's not easy to get the Olympus camera to connect. I guess I'll keep using the Panasonic camera for rocket launches.

I've taken this week's trash out to the curb and I've got an appointment for a haircut tomorrow. Getting a haircut usually puts me in a good mood for a while. I could have used a haircut today.

Sweet Pea is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4429

We got off to a slow start today. Dawn froze on her morning walk and refused to move. This hasn't happened in ages. It's been so long since Dawn froze on a walk that we thought this behavior was ancient history. Usually Dawn will start following Janet if she starts walking away, but not today. We tried everything we could think of to get her interested in walking but all she wanted to do was go back to the house. Later in the afternoon we tried the same walk all over again and had no problems whatsoever. Go figure. 

When Dawn first began to freeze in place we didn't know whether she was having a small seizure or was just being extremely stubborn. We still don't know. She's always fine as soon as we return home. At least we were close to the house this time. Once on a walk I had to leave Janet with Dawn and walk over a mile home to get the car so we could retrieve Dawn and get her back to the house again. We've asked several vets what this all means but it seems like a mystery to them too.

I did even less today than I did yesterday. I paid some bills and made an appointment to get a haircut. Other than my perpetual long walk, that was about it. I got a letter from NASA this morning asking me to fill out a survey so they could assess my needs at the Artemis 1 launch before they made a final credentialing decision. I don't know if this means I'm about to get a press pass or not. The letter did say that completing the survey did not guarantee getting credentialed. I'll just have to wait and see. It does appear that NASA is expecting a lot of people for this historic launch. My best hope for getting accepted is if Covid fades away before the launch takes place. I never had a problem getting a press pass before all the Covid restrictions began.

I wish I hadn't gotten apprehensive about going up on the roof. I know there's still water up there and it doesn't evaporate very fast in the winter. It's discouraging to see brown stains begin to reappear on the living roof ceiling. I worked really hard to get rid of those stains less than a month ago. The roof does better if I go up and remove all the standing water right after a big rain, but I think my recent apprehension is warranted. My sense of balance just isn't as good as it used to be. Bad feet and a weak knee don't help either.

At least I can still walk. I had another 20,000 step day and I wasn't really trying. I wish I could find a source for the Hoka hiking boots. I know if I just go ahead and buy another pair of Hoka running shoes like I've got now, the boots will suddenly reappear and be available everywhere. These shoes really do help my feet but they don't last very long. High end running shoes never last very long. I'm used to keeping a pair of leather boots for decades. I've had boots that I've resoled five or six times. You can't do that with flimsy running shoes. You are real lucky if they last a year.

I added Jo Jo to the rescue website today and marked several dogs as adopted. This is the only website I work on anymore. There used to be dozens of websites that I actively maintained and website maintenance kept me busy every single day. The days of old fashioned static sites are over and my programming skills are deteriorating. I had a good run while it lasted though. It's weird to see a profession slipping away. I'll be able to keep writing forever, but I just don't have the desire to keep up with all the changes in website design. Today's dynamic sites are much more complicated than they used to be. Actually, everything in life seems more complicated than it used to be.

Tomorrow I get a haircut and Dawn gets her annual exam at the vet on Thursday. I'm trying to stick with doing one thing a day. It keeps life simpler.

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4428

Peanut has been adopted. When we saw this six month old puppy last week, we knew it wouldn't take long for him to find his forever home. There were still three Dalmatians at the kennel however. Today we met the newest member of the rescue program. Jo Jo is a three year old male Dalmatian mix who is still getting used to his new surroundings. We took some pictures for the website, but didn't spend a lot of time playing with this handsome boy. He needs some time to relax and get settled. Charlie and Oliver were certainly relaxed. They look forward to seeing us now and always enjoy the toys and treats we bring.

Visiting the kennel is really our only activity on Monday. Dawn got her sunrise walk, but I didn't take mine until later in the afternoon. I wanted to wait until it got warmer. It's hard to decide when to walk in the Winter. I have more energy in the morning, but don't have to wear as many coats in the afternoon. Either way, I usually have problems with my feet. I probably should start going back to the gym and try a different type of exercise. These long walks don't seem to be helping things.

I wonder when the trash is going to get picked up. The ice storm threw the sanitation department off schedule and last week's trash is still sitting out on the street. I don't think any trash got picked up last week because the dumpster at the kennel was full and so was the one at our vet. It's kind of amazing how much trash we all generate. In our neighborhood most of it is Amazon boxes. No wonder a lot of shopping malls are going out of business. Everyone is buying their stuff on Amazon.

I've been watching the power company tree crews slowly get closer and closer to our house. I wonder how cooperative they are going to be this time? We are going to ask them to take down the two trees near the alley. After many years of power line trimming, they have totally butchered these trees. Since they are right next to the power lines, there isn't much left when the trimming crews are finished with them. I wish now that we'd removed the trees seven years ago when the power company offered to cut them down. Now, they seem to be doing minimal trimming, so they might just make them really ugly again. We'll see. They'll probably be here later this week.

I didn't pay any attention to the eagles today. I didn't pay any attention to the star tracker either. I did a load of wash and ate a lot of snacks. That was about it. Other than meeting the new Dalmatian it was really an uneventful day. I wonder what I'm going to do with myself this year. I'm not nearly as obsessed with going to Kennedy Space Center or McDonald Observatory as I was in previous years. Covid restrictions have taken a lot of the fun out of traveling. I don't have the energy I used to either. I guess that's why I keep walking. It would be so easy to slip into doing nothing.

I still need to make an appointment to get my hair cut. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. I can't believe I wore my hair long for so many years. It just seems like a nuisance now. A lot of things seem like a nuisance as you grow older. I'm glad I started this blog a long time ago. Today my attitude would be more like "why bother." Writing something every day is definitely a nuisance.

Stortz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4320

I saw an eagle on my walk this morning. I'd heard that there was a new nesting pair of bald eagles in the neighborhood, but this was the first time I'd seen one of them. I see eagles frequently at Kennedy Space Center, but they are rare in Dallas. The bird was spectacular and I found myself wishing that I had my good camera with me. The bird was sitting on a dead limb in a nearby tree and it would have made a great picture. Maybe I'll see the bird closer to home one day. I don't take a camera with me when I walk anymore. It's too heavy. That's why I mostly take pictures of squirrels. If I can't photograph something with my phone, it just becomes a memory. Memories are fine though. I've been taking photographs for as long as I can remember. I have plenty of pictures already.

I wonder how long this nice weather will last. We've had an unusually nice Fall this year. Usually the leaves have turned by now, but everything is still pretty green. I hope this continues for a while. The water level in the lake is back to normal and the winter birds are all here. The White Pelicans started arriving almost a month ago and today I noticed that the Double Crested Cormorants are back. I'm not much of a naturalist and I'd never make a serious birder, but I do like to watch the seasons change. It's comforting to know that everything that disappears also returns.

I got a haircut today. I always feel better after a haircut. I wore my hair long for many years when I was younger, but that seems like another universe now. What was I thinking? I don't understand men who favor long beards and man buns. Neatly trimmed hair and a black t-shirt is my uniform now. It's easy to get dressed in the morning because I always wear the same thing. I used to buy a pair of jeans and some black t-shirts every time I went into a clothing store. I've got enough to last a lifetime now as long as I don't get fat. I guess I'll have to add Hoka shoes to this simple uniform. They look like clown shoes but they're the only thing that keeps the foot pain at bay.

I so pleased at the progress Dawn's been making. She gains confidence everyday and I think she's starting to like me. It just takes time. She is always eager to walk in the morning and always hops up on the bed beside me so I can rub her belly while I am putting on my walking shoes. She's turned into a bossy little thing. She barks at me now if I don't fix her dinner fast enough. She also barks at anything moving in the alley. Dawn has had a rough life and in the beginning I think she was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Finally, she's realized that this is her real home and that the good life is going to continue. She's healthier now too. She hasn't had a seizure in a long, long time and I think those bladder stones that the vet removed recently must have been really bothering her.

Oddly, I'm feeling better too. You wouldn't think gallbladder surgery would make any difference, but my hospital stay resulted in subtle but seemingly permanent changes in my diet. I'm eating less now and I think what I'm eating is healthier. Maybe the smoothies weren't such a good idea after all. I always have a green salad with dinner now and am eating half as much meat as I used to. I'm making no effort at all to do this. My body just seems to be telling me that it is the right thing to do.

I get the days of the week confused sometimes now, but I'm pretty sure that tomorrow is Saturday. Time to go grocery shopping again. I wonder how much prices will have gone up this week.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4235

Today was busy. Well, at least it was busy for me. I did more than one thing today which is becoming increasingly rare. It doesn't cool down at night the way it used to last month. Since our sunrise walks are warmer, Dawn doesn't like to walk as far. We are back to our bare minimum one mile loop again. I can't blame Dawn for wanting to get back inside. I usually feel like getting back inside as well.

I stopped at REI to pick up my new running shoes on my way to get a haircut. You could tell the whole mask situation is getting very confusing. Some of the staff were wearing masks while others weren't. The customers were the same way. I see this everywhere. When I went to the pharmacy a little later to pick up the antibiotics I need for my upcoming root canal, none of the pharmacists on duty were wearing masks. My hair stylist still wants customers to wear masks though and says she might continue wearing them forever. Clearly, we are just as divided on masks as we are on everything else in this country. I carry a mask in my back pocket and put it on if it makes someone happy. I don't think they are necessary if you have been vaccinated though. I'm wearing mine less and less.

I always enjoy getting a good haircut. Usually a haircut means I will be traveling somewhere interesting in the near future. Not this time. Travel is another thing that has become completely messed up in a post-Covid world. Planes are crowded and the people flying on them have become extremely rude. Hotels have gotten very expensive and rental cars are almost impossible to find in popular destinations. This is one of many reasons why I will be missing the upcoming Boeing Starliner launch. It's just as well I guess. If I was down in Titusville now, I would be fretting about the latest launch delay and wondering how I was going to pay for the trip. I'm hoping that things will change in the Fall, but I'm not counting on it. A perpetual Covid panic seems to benefit some people. This may go on forever.

I feel bad about making Dawn wear the cone so much, but it is the only thing that keeps her from licking and biting at her paws. We can usually leave the cone off in the mornings because she is tired after her sunrise walk and just goes to sleep. It's the afternoons where she gets into trouble. She knows we don't like the licking and will usually not go after her paws while one of us is in the room with her. If we leave her alone in the house she starts licking immediately. I thought this might be separation anxiety for a while, but she also does a lot of licking while we are asleep. Luckily, she can sleep normally wearing the cone, because she's been having to wear it at night lately.

I'm getting tired of spending money on things that bring no joy. I got my car insurance bill today and of course it was a lot higher than it was six months ago. I looked up the average price of a root canal on Google and was horrified at how expensive they were. Several reputable tree guys want to charge me as much as $5000 to remove the big Oak tree in the back yard. Lord knows how much it will cost to fix all the things that need attention in the house.

I went to the gym again today. I may not be getting any satisfaction, but I am still getting my steps. Maybe I'm fooling myself, but I still think staying in shape and drinking a healthy smoothie every morning is the secret to everything. We'll see how tomorrow goes. I've taken the trash out to the curb and watered the new grass. I'm ready for anything as long as there are no surprises.

Tink is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4151

I got a haircut today, so that means I'm one step closer to being ready to travel. I always get a haircut before I take a trip. I guess it's kind of like putting clean clothes in your suitcase. It's not totally necessary, but it's nice to get started out on the right foot. I definately look more presentable now. I don't get haircuts as frequently as I did before the pandemic, but I'm certainly not going back to the way I looked in college. Back then I thought long hair made me look like a rock star. Now I think it makes me look like a homeless person. I asked my stylist when she was going to feel comfortable cutting hair without a mask. She said maybe never. This didn't seem strange to me at all. A lot has changed during the past year.

I got another rejection letter from NASA today. This notice was a bit different. It said that my credentials had been verified but my request to cover the launch was declined because the launch had been canceled. I will be given another chance to reapply when the launch is rescheduled. Is this good news or bad news? I have no idea. Since the launch was supposed to take place last March, it seems like they could have just waited a little longer instead of starting over from scratch. I'm kind of hoping that there are no important launches until all the post-pandemic travelers get their first vacation out of their systems. Planes are full and prices are insane right now. I'm in no hurry to join the madness. At least my trip to the observatory should be fairly quiet. There's not a lot of people traveling to that remote mountain.

I successfully added the astrophotography software to my new laptop partition. I thought that this would be easy, but it was surpassingly difficult because the software was developed by Germans. These guys were obsessed with verification and security. I had to jump through all sorts of hoops to get access to their download servers. When I launched the software to see if it worked on my computer, it seemed totally confusing to me. I have no idea what this actually does. That's OK. Learning how to use PixInsight is one of the reasons I'm going to the workshop.

We decided to wait until I returned from my haircut to walk Dawn today. I don't think she was happy with this plan. She was definitely eager to get out of the house. I was surprised at how hot it was this afternoon. Maybe this was why Janet and I walked Dawn really early last Summer. Neither of us can remember why we started doing this. It seems crazy to walk before sunrise now.

Dawn was hot and tired when we completed her short one mile loop. I probably should have gone back to the house with her. By the time I finished my long walk I was sweating profusely and was pretty tired myself. The temperature was in the high 80's today and it was very humid. I hope this isn't a sign of what's to come. I'd like our nice Spring weather to last a little longer.

I've taken the trash out to the curb and am ready to restart the week again. It looks like I'm going to have to mow the grass again this weekend. I'm not looking forward to that. This mower isn't self-propelled and it's getting harder and harder to push. I'd like a weekend with nothing to do at all.

Patches is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4150

What a beautiful day. This would have been a good day to do yard work, but by the time I changed the sheets on the bed and did several loads of laundry I was too tired. Somehow putting a fitted sheet on a low platform bed is a lot harder than it used to be. I had my normal smoothie for breakfast, checked my messages, and got ready to walk Dawn. We walked Dawn early today because Janet was going to be away during the afternoon. Dawn was fine with the change in schedule. She liked the nice Spring weather too.

I knew there was going to be a Starship launch today, so I checked the computer from time to time to see how things were progressing in Boca Chica. The launch didn't take place until late in the day, but it was worth the wait. The fifth time was the charm for the Starship. It didn't blow up this time and made a perfect landing. It's impressive how quickly things are moving down at Boca Chica. I still think Elon might make it to the moon before NASA. I've really got to get down to Boca Chica and see one of these launches for myself.

There was plenty of time for a long walk while I was waiting for the Starship launch to take place. I made pretty good time today even though I was unusually tired. I think I didn't get enough sleep last night. The wildflowers are looking good this season. Somehow they weren't affected by our big freeze this winter. The Rhododendrons and Azaleas in Dallas didn't do so well. Most of these popular plants died. Usually in the Spring, I spend a day or two photographing all the wildflowers before the Summer heat dries them out. I've got plenty of flower pictures now, but I ought to schedule another photo day anyway just for old time's sake. 

I shouldn't have bookmarked the page of that telescope I'm interested in. I found myself going back to the page today and trying to justify purchasing the little telescope. It's really just a telephoto lens that has been optimized for astrophotography, but it's pretty cool. It even has a cool name: Redcat 51. I'll probably wish I'd ordered it when I return from the observatory and discover that the telescope is out of stock again. If this thing was available three weeks ago I probably would have ordered it instead of the telephoto lens I got recently. Oh, well. Maybe next time. I'm sure this won't be my last trip out to the observatory.

I still can't decide whether to apply from some June launch opportunities at Kennedy Space Center. I feel like I'm jinxed now and it hardly seems worth the effort, but if you don't apply you're never going to get accepted. I wish I knew why my applications were being rejected now. I've gotten a press pass before and I can't figure out what has changed. Maybe it's just one more thing to fret about. I'm not good at going with the flow. I'd like to have the rest of my year mapped out in great detail and then I'd just follow the schedule. 

I do have something on my schedule for tomorrow. I get a haircut. A haircut isn't a big deal but it fits in with my one activity a day philosophy. A haircut and a long walk. That ought to take care of the day.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4149

I'm making progress. I've now got a dual boot laptop that will run the old software I depend on and the new astrophotography software I need. I was a little apprehensive about adding a partition with a new operating system to the laptop's hard drive, because if something went wrong I could lose important applications that I no longer have the install disks for. Things don't always go as planned when I do stuff like this, but I followed the instructions carefully and everything went perfectly. I'm surprised that I've never done this before. Usually if I need a different operating system I just use an external hard drive. Now I just need to add the astronomy software to the new partition and I'm ready for the workshop.

There was another Starlink launch at Kennedy Space Center this morning. There are so many of these things now that I'm losing track of them. A few of my Florida friends seem to go to every single one of these launches. I'm a little envious, but I don't know if I'd have the stamina to drive out to the Space Center and set up cameras day after day. A few launches a year is fine by me. The dedicated photographers are the one who get accredited though. Only one of the regulars routinely comes from out of state. His son is an airline pilot though and he gets free airfare. It's hard to compete with these guys. 

A popular small telescope that is perpetually out of stock suddenly became available on one of the astronomy equipment websites today. Should I order this? Probably not. It's tempting, but it wouldn't arrive in time for the workshop and there is no time to learn to use it anyway. I need to learn that equipment isn't always the answer. My time would be better spent learning how to get the most out of the stuff I already have.

Dawn got a bath today. She wasn't happy about the bath, but Janet likes a clean dog. I keep telling Dawn that dirty dogs are fine with me, but she doesn't appear to get the message. Dawn and I should be best buddies because I think like a dog. Dirt is fine. Eating, sleeping, and long walks are my life. I'm not wild about people walking down the alley either. Sometimes I think that Dawn is warming up to me. I'm probably fooling myself though. Dawn isn't frightened of me at all. She just doesn't like me.

The park was pretty empty today. Life must be returning to normal because there is a real difference between weekend and weekday activity now. During the worst of the pandemic, every day was the same. There were days when I couldn't tell the difference between Tuesday and Sunday because nobody was working. I'm not seeing as many people wearing masks outdoors in the park either. Little by little, a sense of normalcy is returning.

I made an appointment to get a haircut before my trip. I always do this before I travel. Luckily, I've still got hair to cut. My age is showing though. I often feel tired when I return from my walks. These walks shouldn't bother me at all because I'm not exactly setting the world on fire. I walk pretty slow. "All in good time" should be my new motto. Hey, I did get my laptop properly configured today. Tomorrow, I'll do something else. Don't let me buy that telescope though. I don't need it. I should start saving for a trip to Florida instead.

Crosby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4082

I got a haircut today. Haircuts have been few and far between since Covid arrived on the scene, but eventually you look in the mirror and realize it's time. I never really thought that getting a haircut was dangerous. With little to do and no place to go, it just doesn't seem worth the trouble. I look more presentable now, but there's still little to do and no place to go. Hopefully, that will change in the near future. Whenever I've been out in public lately, the topic of conversation seems to be the vaccine. Everyone asks whether you've gotten your shot yet. A surprising number of people have. I know quite a few people who have already finished with their second vaccination. My stylist and I compared notes about getting vaccinated. I had no reaction whatsoever and she felt sick for a day. Both of us hoped that after our second shot that we could begin to return to a more normal life.

It must have rained a lot last night because the water level in the lake appeared to be almost a foot higher than it was yesterday. The rain was largely over by the time we got up this morning, so we were able to take our walks as usual. I got the pumps running before breakfast and was glad I had removed all those leaves yesterday. Dawn was eager for her walk, but didn't feel like going the extra mile today. I didn't really feel like going the extra mile either, but I continued walking. Walking eats up a lot of time and that's good.

When I was driving home from my hair appointment today I noticed a mobile document shredding truck next to me at a stop light. This reminded me that I really need to get serious about getting rid of old documents at my storage warehouse. I should have taken a picture of the truck with my phone, because I've already forgotten the name of the company. If I could get rid of all the useless documents I've saved, I could probably get by with a storage warehouse half the size of my current one. I need to do this because the storage warehouse keeps raising my rates every year. If it wasn't so much trouble, I could probably go back to my old storage warehouse as a new customer and get a great rate again. That's how storage warehouses work. You start out with a decent rate and then it goes up dramatically year after year. 

I can't believe there are still people in the Dallas area without running water. Evidently there were so many  broken pipes during the big freeze that plumbers haven't been able to catch up yet. Apparently apartment buildings fared worse than single family homes. I'm so glad that we didn't have water problems during the storm. We've had serious water problems before and they are the worst. You really feel helpless when water is seeping out of a wall and you're not even sure what is behind the sheetrock. Let's hope that Spring is just around the corner. I think everyone in town is tired of Winter by now.

Janet and I got a reminder that our second Covid shots are next week. I'll be glad when I can put this all behind me. Somehow, I have a feeling that we'll be taking Covid shots every year for the rest of our lives. That's OK if everything just opens up again. I haven't really minded the isolation, but I would like to travel. When you travel, you don't have to think about storage warehouses and water leaks. I'm hoping that by late April I'll be able to start attending launches again.

That's all in the future though. Tomorrow is just another grocery day. The stores are well stocked now, but I need to stop thinking about food. Even with my long walks I'm starting to gain weight.

Bingo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3971

I got a haircut today, so I guess I'm ready for my trip to Florida. My stylist recently started her own company, so we talked about the joys and pitfalls of owning a business. I hope she does well. I'm glad that I'm not trying to start a company in the middle of a pandemic. Finding a good N-95 mask and worrying about whether my customers were going to give me a deadly disease wasn't even on my radar when I started my own company.

My grocery list was small today and I found everything I needed. The stores were busy today. I don't know why they even bother to put all those stickers on the floor telling people where to stand. Everyone completely ignores them. If it wasn't for all the masks, you'd never know there was a pandemic at all. I guess I wish the unnatural quiet of April and May had lasted a little longer. I liked the empty roads and uncrowded stores. I didn't like the hoarding though. Hopefully, we won't run out of toilet paper again.

We're finally starting to see a little Fall color around town. I'm beginning to notice a lot of reds and yellows among the trees during our walks in the park. We don't have many Maple trees around here, but there is some colorful foliage. Red Oaks actually do turn red in the Fall. Many of the Sumac trees are turning bright red as well. Dogwoods and Crepe Myrtles can be colorful too. Who knows. Maybe the trees will put on a show this year after all.

It's a shame that I don't have as much energy as I used to. I continue to get my 20,000 steps on most days, but that's about it. There were a number of chores that needed my attention today, but I just couldn't bring myself to tackle them. Mowing the grass and washing the car will have to wait. So will vacuuming the house. Grocery shopping and a haircut were all I accomplished today. Maybe I'll be more industrious tomorrow. The weather tells me that it's time to work in the yard, but my body tells me that it's time to take a nap.

Dawn still seems nervous around me when Janet isn't in the house. She must have had a terrible life with the two men who used her as a breeding dog. Dawn just isn't as comfortable around men as she is with women. I have a feeling that it is always going to be this way. Dawn isn't a young dog and her well established view of the world will be hard to change. This is still kind of new to me. All our other dogs instantly identified with my lazy doglike ways.

It's too bad my gym is closed on Sundays now. I"m finally ready to go back, but it's hard to find the time on a weekday. It's not like I'm super busy or anything. It's just hard to find the time because I'm so slow at everything these days. I doubt that I'll get any faster, but I'm definitely going to keep moving. Sedentary people my age begin to go downhill very quickly.

I'm watching tropical storm ETA carefully now. There's a good chance that it could mess up my trip to Florida. Current projections show the storm crossing back over Florida just about the time I'm due to arrive. If the launch gets delayed, I hope they decide something before I leave for Orlando. The last thing I want is to be landing right in the middle of this thing. There's really nothing I can do except to continue watching the weather reports. Hey, it's 2020 so almost anything could happen.

Chase is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3970

When some days draw to a close, I wonder if I've done anything at all. Today was slow, even by my own lax standards. I must have done something, but nothing comes to mind. Dawn seems to have adjusted to the time change quicker than I thought she would. She's content to sleep in until we get up now and doesn't demand her dinner at 4 PM anymore. We walk in the daylight now, even though the days are still getting shorter. The weather remains pleasant and we are finally starting to see some Fall color in the park. A lot of trees just turned brown this year, but there are patches of reds and yellows. You'd never mistake this place for Vermont, but it's starting to look pretty outside.

My watch said that my heartbeat was dangerously low last night. I guess 40 beats per minute is pretty low. I think this was a mistake, but I didn't even know that the Apple Watch warned you about this type of thing. The watch has also warned me about falls where I have never fallen. Are you OK it asks me? This all seems a little overprotective to me. It makes me wonder what else the watch is keeping an eye on. I just hope that it doesn't call an ambulance for me while I'm sleeping some night.

The company I ordered the N-95 masks from told me that shipping is taking  from ten to fifteen days because of hight demand. What did I pay for expedited shipping for? Ten to fifteen days was the time listed on the web site for regular shipping. I wonder why shipping takes so long when Amazon can send you almost anything in two days or less? I have a feeling that these masks will arrive the day after I leave for Florida. That's always the way these things work.

I got a notice that some events prior to the Crew-1 launch may be canceled due to tropical storm Eta. I wonder why they even plan launches when the weather looks bad. It happens again and again though. Sometimes they'll wait right up to a few minutes before liftoff to scrub the launch when it is clear that the weather isn't improving. I guess you have to be optimistic in Florida. I don't think I've ever been there when there hasn't been at least a little rain during the day. I hope the storm has either dissipated or moved on by launch day. I'd really hate to make this trip for nothing. It's kind of late in the season for a storm like this to appear, but then it is 2020. Anything can happen in a year like this.

I think I'll get a haircut tomorrow. It doesn't seem like that long since my last haircut, but it does look like I need one. All the virus restrictions have distorted my sense of time. I've really only had one haircut since last March. Maybe it is time. I always seem to wear better clothes and look more presentable when I travel. It's a shame that appearances don't seem to matter the rest of the time. Retirement and virus restrictions can definitely change your perspective on things. I'm amazed that I even get dressed some days.

It's grocery shopping time again. I finally found Clorox wipes but now they say that disinfecting wipes and toilet paper will soon be in short supply. Do I stock up and start hoarding again? Who knows. This whole year seems like groundhog day. The same things keep happening over and over. I always thought I liked consistency, but I'm not so sure about consistent chaos. 

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3879

I look presentable again. It's hard to believe I haven't had a haircut since early March. My stylist's new salon was a bit of a drive. I kept thinking that I'd been on this road before, but I couldn't remember why. Somewhere out here was a store where I bought my kayak. I think I passed a machine shop where I had some parts fabricated once. I know I used to pull dogs from a small community dog pound in the area. The details are all kind of fuzzy. I think I've lived in Dallas too long.

The salon was surprisingly busy for a place out in the middle of nowhere. I guess I wasn't the only one who needed a haircut. It seemed like everyone was playing it safe. Customers and employees all wore masks. A few people wore those clear face shields as well. There was a long list of rules on the front door but a lot of them appeared to have been forgotten. Nobody took my temperature or asked me to wash my hands when I entered the building. Hopefully, the next time I need a haircut the world will seem a little more normal.

We got started on our walk a little later this morning. A half hour makes a big difference around sunrise. I wish it were easier to get up early enough to start walking a full hour before sunrise. The air is much cooler at this time of day and the trails are mostly empty. Mornings are pleasant, but afternoons feel like I'm walking on a different planet. Sometimes there is a thirty degree temperature difference between sunrise and sunset.

I didn't stay up late enough to watch the Space X launch last night, but I watched the replay after breakfast this morning. I'm amazed at the dedication of my Florida photographer friends. They are always out there. Whenever there is a launch, they will post pictures of it on Facebook within a matter of hours. Even though last night's launch was in the middle of the night, there were still plenty of pictures. I'm still a little jealous. These local guys still seem to be the only ones getting access to the Space Center.

I'm seeing a lot of Egrets lately. These birds migrate, but I think ours hang around all year. I see lots of Great Egrets on our morning walks, along with the occasional Great Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, and Black-Crowned Night Heron. I'll never be a birder, but I'm slowly learning to identify all the local wildlife. We've got quite a variety down at the lake.

It's been a year since we had Hank over to the house for a few days following a medical emergency. It doesn't seem that long ago. I thought he would have found a home by now, but he's still up at the kennel. Dogs with special needs often take longer to place, but hopefully Hank will find his forever home soon. We also went to the Dior show at the Dallas Museum of Art about a year ago and I was starting to plan my first trip out to McDonald Observatory. What a weird year it's been. One year ago I would never have predicted that we'd have a new dog now and that I'd be wearing a mask to get my hair cut.

Tomorrow it's time to get groceries and fill the car with gas again. The precautions are all starting to feel normal now. I hope we don't get used to this. The old normal was a lot better than the new normal.

Lou is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3878

I got asked to join a Zoom reunion with some old classmates today. Hmm. I've never used Zoom. I've heard about Zoom meetings on the news, but I don't even have the application on my computer. I have no desire to install it either. I guess I'm officially a Luddite. I have no interest whatsoever in this sort of thing. I'm glad I retired well before Zoom meetings became mandatory in a post-pandemic world. Jeez. I didn't even like conference calls years ago. Why would you want to add a camera to a conference call?

We got started on our morning walk in the dark again. It's weird walking this early. There aren't many people out, but we certainly aren't alone in the park. Cyclists seem to get an earlier start than joggers. The main reason we take a flashlight is so these guys won't mow us down in the dark. Cyclists are relentless and don't slow down for anything. Before the sky started to lighten, we saw what looked like an odd, very slow bicycle moving in the distance. As we got closer, we realized that what looked like bicycle wheels were actually two dogs with red lights on their collars and the third light we thought was a rider was a lighted bracelet on the wrist of the woman walking the dogs. When joggers started to appear on the trails, many of them had little LED lights on their arms and legs as well. Some of the lights were red and green as if the joggers were trying to emulate the port and starboard lights on boats. Maybe Janet and I are even Luddites about walking in the dark. All we had was a flashlight.

My days continue to be slow and uneventful. Maybe this is why blog readership has gone down. Nothing to see here. Very few people read blogs anyway. They're all out doing podcasts and having Zoom meetings. Even some of my space and astronomy friends have their own podcasts now. When did things change? I remember when blogs were very popular. Lots of people used to write blogs. Of course I remember when everything on the Internet was just text because it took too much bandwidth to send a picture. I wonder if Usenet news groups still exist? There were thousands of groups and not a single picture among them. Those were the days. Luddites tend to be nostalgic. We long for manual typewriters, film cameras, and those old brick cell phones.

When we walk really early, we've noticed that the ducks and geese are typically on the water. Later, when the sun comes up they return to the shore. This makes me wonder what the ducks do at night. Do they swim around all night? Are they nocturnal like the coyotes? I guess this will always be a mystery. I'm certainly not going down to the park at midnight to investigate.

Tomorrow I get a haircut. It's about time. I haven't had a haircut since last March. If this goes well I might start going to the gym again. I'm still very careful and tend to avoid people altogether, but this virus is going to be with us for a long time. We've all got to figure out what kind of risk we can tolerate. I'll take one of the good masks with me tomorrow. The masks I wear to the grocery store and get gas are basically worthless.

I've taken the trash out to the curb and am ready for another early morning walk. There are no Friday morning breakfast restaurant outings anymore. Such is life in the new normal.

Margo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3872

We tried an experiment this morning. I attempted to walk Dawn by myself. She started out confidently enough, but quickly became apprehensive and nervous. Where was Janet? I walked confidently and was very encouraging but Dawn kept looking back toward the house. After we had gone about a quarter of a mile, she stopped completely and wouldn't go any further. "Do you want to go home," I said. Immediately, she turned and started walking confidently toward the house.

We knew Dawn still wanted a walk, so Janet put on some shoes and off we went again. Everything was fine now. Dawn just wanted to make sure that Janet was with us. We'll have to keep working on this. Actually, I was encouraged that Dawn made it down to the edge of the lake with me. We've never made it this far before. Dawn has always seemed frightened when Janet isn't nearby. When Janet first began fostering Dawn, I was in Florida attending a launch. Maybe that had something to do with her uncertainty toward me. I was the stranger who just appeared about five days later. It's weird. Dawn is super friendly with me when Janet is around. It's only when she and I are alone that she gets nervous. I keep thinking that she was treated badly by the puppy mill breeders who kept her before she entered the rescue program. We'll never know everything about Dawn's former life, but she clearly prefers women.

I was back up on the roof this morning. The rain we got last night didn't last long, but it was heavy. There was a lot of water on the roof. At least it was a little cooler today. The rain brought a cold front with it. A cold front in July doesn't mean much, but it was definitely a little cooler than yesterday. I'm starting to see a little deterioration in the silicon coating. At some point I'm going to have to start making repairs again if I want to keep the roof from leaking this winter.

I made another appointment to get a haircut toward the end of next week. We'll see how this goes. I'm still not completely comfortable being out and about, but you can't put everything on hold forever. I have a feeling that this virus is going to be with us for a long, long time. I'm careful, but you've still got to get groceries and eventually you're going to need a haircut.

I'm still getting 20,000 steps a day, but that's about it. I'd like to think I'm in between avocations, but who knows. I certainly don't want to become a collector again. That was a giant waste of time and money. I don't want to be a fine art photographer either. Been there, done that. After spending years getting to the point where I could have my own gallery shows, I discovered that being around other artists irritated me. The art world turned out to be just as phony as the advertising world. These days I prefer the company of scientists. I'm sure this is an illusion as well, but the people I've met in the space and astronomy communities have seemed really interesting. Unlike ad folks, they all appear to be doing something of substance.

Hard to believe it's going to be August tomorrow. Where has this year gone? It's time to make a grocery list again. I wonder if I'm ever going to find Clorox Wipes? I have a feeling that when Clorox Wipes are readily available again, the pandemic is officially over.

Shelby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3870

It's been exactly one year since I received the press proofs of my first article for SpaceFlight Magazine. A second article was published about six months later and a third is still scheduled for publication in September. It was a good beginning, but I thought my budding career as a space journalist be a lot further along by now. I certainly thought I'd be down at Kennedy Space Center tomorrow morning for the launch of the Mars 2020 Perseverance mission. Oh, well. It wasn't meant to be. Little did I know back then that the world was about to change. I keep trying to get media accreditation again, but it might be a while. In a post-covid world, newcomers go to the back of the line.

I shouldn't complain though. My problems are small compared with what other people are going through. I was going to get a haircut later in the week, but my stylist got laid off at the salon. Another covid casualty. I know someone locally who got infected now. He's OK, but it makes me realize that the disease is all around us. Most of my friends are healthy and continue to lead normal lives. A few seem to have flipped out and are way too angry for their own good.

Sometimes when my day is uneventful it is tempting to go on an angry rant myself. It would certainly be an easy way to fill up space. The problem is that I'm not really angry. I'm still very detached. I think this is the secret to social distancing. I look at the world like it is an episode of Black Mirror or the Twilight Zone. It is not my world though. I try to navigate the pandemic and the social unrest like everything is covered in a sticky glue that you can't let touch you. You have to plan your moves very carefully.

I have a few farmer and rancher friends that I envy. I keep thinking that their farms are so remote that they are completely unaffected by all this turmoil. This probably isn't true though. Farmers and ranchers might not have to worry about riots in the city or getting killed by a random cough at a grocery store, but some of them are probably having big problems selling their cattle or their crops. The whole supply chain is screwed up now. We are in the middle of a global mess that affects all of us.

You'd think we could all rally together to find a solution. That's what my parents did during World War II. It's not happening though. I have never seen so much anger and division. Much of the rancor takes place on Facebook. I look at what some of my friends say online and think "Do I even know you." I think there are going to be articles in prestigious medical journals for years to come about how social media causes mental illness.

The solution for some of us has always been dogs. It's hard to be angry when you've got a good dog. Dawn continues to be a joy. She certainly came into our lives at exactly the right time.

Tink is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day