Day 4405

It was so cold today. I practically had the park to myself on my long walk. It was just me and a couple of idiots jogging in shorts. I certainly couldn't blame people for staying inside. It was thirty degrees with a forty mile an hour wind. I dressed warmly, but it still felt like I was on an expedition to the South Pole. I don't know why I felt compelled to walk today. A sane person would have just stayed home and watched a movie on Netflix.

Maybe nobody was down at the lake because they were all at the grocery store. The stores were packed when I did my shopping this morning. I think the threat of bad weather brings out an instinct to stock up on food. Prices are still going up, although that wasn't stopping people from filling up their buggies. The weekly price increases aren't dramatic, but they've been going on for a long time. I haven't seen anything come down in price.

I'm glad I got the new battery for my car a few months ago. It never would have started this morning without it. I vaguely remember living up north, but I don't think I could handle it anymore. I have memories of scraping ice off of windshields and navigating snow covered roads. No thank you. On days like today I'd like to live even further south.

Dawn likes colder weather but I think she draws the line at freezing weather. She was certainly eager to get back in the house on our sunrise walk this morning. She wore her new sweater this morning, but maybe we should have introduced her to the hat. We got a hat for Dash that actually fits a dog pretty well. It kept his ears a lot warmer on days like this.

Whenever the temperature dips below freezing I always think I am experiencing the coldest winter ever. It's easy to forget that it has been much colder in the past. One winter the entire lake froze over. I didn't even see any ice on the lake today. We've had thick snowfalls in the past as well. In recent years it's been rare to get snow at all. I saw a few flakes fall this afternoon, but there was no accumulation.

The furnace is working fine, but it's still cold in the office. Every winter this is always the coldest room in the house. I had to break out the little ceramic heater this afternoon. I'm pretty sure that this house was designed in the summer. It's a lot easier to cool than to heat. The main problem is that there is way too much single pane glass. Insulation doesn't do a lot of good when you have a lot of floor-to-ceiling glass.

I was going to play around with the star tracker this afternoon, but the cold weather put a damper on things. All I really felt like doing after my walk was getting warm again. I probably should have waited until today to watch the last episode of The Expanse. All I did instead was nibble on snacks.

It remains to be seen whether we'll take Dawn on a Sunday outing tomorrow. These little outings are supposed to be fun for her and walking in freezing, windy weather is the exact opposite of fun. I think Dawn's idea of fun would be to share a little bacon with us at our Sunday breakfast. We'll see what happens though. Maybe tomorrow will be warmer.

Betty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4070 - Valentines Day

Brr. It's 12 degrees now and the temperature is falling. The roads were coated with ice this morning with a light dusting of snow on top. The snowfall was never heavy during the day but it is starting to accumulate this evening. This is exactly what the forecast predicted, but it's still hard to believe. This is not a normal Texas winter.

Needless to say, neither of our cars left the driveway today. We've gone out to start them several times to keep the batteries charged, but that's about it. I'd like the house a little warmer, but we followed the power company's instructions and lowered the temperature. The last thing we want now is a power outage.

Dawn has no interest in going outside. She will run out in the backyard quickly to pee and poop, but I've never seen her do her business so quickly before. I'm sure Dawn thought we were crazy when Janet and I decided to see how far we could walk this morning. We made it four miles, but I don't think we'll be doing this again tomorrow. The first half of our walk was brisk and enjoyable, but we were both really cold by the time we returned home. We had to walk carefully to avoid slipping on icy ground. I wore heavy hiking boots so my feet were warm, but the soles flexed too much which caused my foot pain to return. I really can't win with my feet. Today I wore a lightweight cloth mask which made breathing easier, but what I really need is one of those wool Balaclava head coverings that mountaineers use. Of course by the time I can get the car out of the driveway to get one at REI, the worse of this weather will be over.

When Janet and I were out walking we saw several power company trucks in the neighborhood. Some people must have lost power overnight, but luckily there have been no widespread outages. This is what everyone fears. There have been several ice storms here in Dallas that have knocked the power out for days during the middle of winter. We have so much glass in our house that the temperature drops quickly. An extended power outage in this house isn't fun. I don't think that ice is going to bring down power lines this time, but it definitely is sticking to the roads. I won't be driving anywhere tomorrow. My rear view mirrors have frozen and are stuck in the retracted position anyway, so that's not good. 

Janet made a pot roast in the slow cooker today and the smell made staying inside a lot more pleasant. A good pot roast is almost the perfect meal for a cold winter day. The wind chill is already below zero and the actual temperature will be close to zero by tomorrow morning. I've done everything I can to keep the pipes from freezing, but when it gets this cold they just might freeze anyway. Got my fingers crossed that everything will be fine. They say it's going to be real hard to find a plumber when all this is over.

I don't know why cold bothers me so much. I went to high school in Alaska where the temperatures got down to -40 during the winter. It was common to see kids with bandaged ears at school. The cool kids never dressed warmly enough and their ears would get frostbitten if their cars stalled out on the way to class. Dad made sure that we dressed like we were making a trek toward the South Pole. I was always warm. Our large coal fired furnace ran constantly during the winter. Every Fall a large dump truck would come to the house and fill an entire room in the basement with coal. The house was well insulated and there was double pane glass everywhere. Oddly, I was warmer in Alaska than I am now.

The snow is supposed to stop later tonight, although tomorrow is going to be our coldest day. I feel sorry for folks who had an appointment to be vaccinated tomorrow. It's going to be a mess. At least there won't be quite as many bugs next Spring. This hard freeze should kill most of them.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3704 - Valentines Day

I wasn't going to go to Sprinkles this year, but then I remembered that Dawn had never had a Pupcake. I had to go. Pupcakes for the dogs has been part of our Valentines Day tradition for a very long time. It was nice that we have a dog around the house so we can continue this tradition for another year. I got some cupcakes for us as well, but this year the day was about Dawn. Janet and I are both really happy to have her as a houseguest.

It was a beautiful day, but the temperature was only in the twenties when I woke up this morning. No pipes froze and it was back above freezing by mid morning, but this was still very cold by Dallas standards.  I'm glad I removed all the water from the roof a few days ago. It would have all turned to ice by now.

I tried the new neighborhood restaurant this morning and it was terrible. I like a good breakfast taco as much as the next guy, but this wasn't the place for me. There was certainly plenty of food. I got my meal in one of those tin foil pie pans piled high with Chorizo, breakfast potatoes, and refried beans. There was a stack of flour tortillas so I could roll my own breakfast tacos, but the food got cold before I could finish it. I'm sure this gutbuster of a meal was exactly what most people wanted, but I should have gone back to the hotel and had French Toast. I wish I knew I was in the mood for a soothing meal before I had consumed a huge plate of Chorizo.

Janet had already left for the gym by the time I returned home. We've been leaving Dawn at home for short periods of time so she will gain some confidence about being alone. Dawn was fine, but I could tell she was glad that her people had returned. She gave me a big Dalmatian smile and started wagging her entire body. I waited until Janet returned to go on my walk. There was no sense in leaving Dawn alone again.

It didn't take me long to realize that this morning's breakfast was going to give me a major case of heartburn. When will I ever learn? I need to be eating cottage cheese and peaches for breakfast instead of  chorizo and refried beans. I thought that a long walk might settle my stomach, but all I got was sore feet. I should have listened to Dawn. I could tell she wanted me to take a nap with her.

I never did get started on my Solar Orbiter story today. I'm so slow that I ran out of time. I guess I was busy enough. I just didn't do what I intended. I paid some bills and took them to the post office. I went to Sprinkles and got cupcakes. I picked up some things for dinner at the grocery store. And I tried with limited success to bleach the stains from our recent roof leak out of the kitchen ceiling.

I'm sure my story would be easier to write if I had a deadline to meet. Deadlines motivate me. My recent trip was fascinating and there is definitely a story here. I just need to get it done before the Solar Orbiter becomes old news. Maybe tomorrow. The only thing that could stop me from writing tomorrow is roof repairs. The roof repairs do have a deadline. I need to find this leak before the next rains arrive.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3703

I felt foolish today when I got a letter from one of my editors, saying that he didn't always have time to respond to my mail because he gets 200 to 300 e-mail messages a day. Oops. I guess I've forgotten what it's like to be busy. I probably get 2 to 3 messages a day. I'm sure I still get tons of spam, but I don't even look at my spam folder anymore. Messages of any importance are few and far between. OK. Lesson learned. I guess I don't need to send long chatty letters to busy people.

I do need to get started on my article about the launch. I started editing pictures today and reviewing my notes. It usually takes me three or four days to finish an article. I don't think there is any hurry. I'm not even sure at this point if anyone wants the article. The magazine that sent me to Kennedy Space Center just wanted pictures this time. Writing is always good practice though. The more you write, the better you get.

Dawn still seems to be doing well. She seems a lot more comfortable now that the drainage tube has been removed from her neck. She's finished some of her meds as well and her pill schedule is less complicated. With every passing day Dawn gets a little closer to returning to her normal self. Dawn is a quiet, gentle girl. A lot of Dalmatians are constantly getting into trouble, but Dawn is a model of good behavior. This dog is the perfect companion for a solitary writer like myself. I like peace and quiet just as much as she does.

We're finally starting to see some blue sky again, but it still seems very cold. I think we're supposed to get a hard freeze tonight. I don't have to worry as much about setting the outdoor faucets to drip before a freeze anymore. They all leak anyway. I checked a few faucets in the back yard this evening and they were already dripping.

The roofer hasn't responded to my letter. I'm not really surprised. I have to be persistent to get any sort of response from the guy. The current forecast says it is supposed to get up to to 75 degrees this weekend. I hope this is true. If the weather gets warm enough, I'll use the last of the silicon material I have and do my best to stop the leak myself. I wish the roof wasn't such a problem but everyone has problems. This one just happens to be mine.

I just noticed that there's a new restaurant in the neighborhood. Maybe I'll give it a try tomorrow morning. I looked at the menu online and a brisket breakfast taco sounds pretty good right now. Dawn is getting comfortable around the house, so I think it will be fine to leave for an hour or so. I'm going to start writing my article tomorrow as well. I won't bother any editors though. I promise.

Tessa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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