Day 4776

Grocery shopping provides a unique window into what is happening in the world. It isn't pretty. Prices keep increasing. Variety and selection seems to be decreasing. There are a lot more empty shelves than there used to be. Stores like Costco and Sam's Club keep replacing national brands with their own private label brands. Prices are lower on these private label brands, but so is the quality. I suspect that these stores know that price matters a lot more to their customers than quality. You might not notice many changes on a week-to-week basis, but if you keep track of things, you will definitely notice that a lot has changed in a year. I find this all very disappointing. Younger people never experienced better times and nobody listens to older people, so the world just keeps deteriorating.

The sun was already up when we took Dawn on her early walk this morning. That was fine by me. I get my best sleep just before it is time to get up. A few hours of extra sleep is great. I thought I'd start sleeping well again after I returned from Florida, but so far that hasn't been the case. I've had sinus congestion all week and I have to sleep on my back to keep my nose clear. I fall asleep much faster when I sleep on my stomach, but the nasal congestion turns me into a mouth breather and I wake up with a dry mouth in the middle of the night. I don't do well with over-the-counter decongestants, so I just get irritated and wonder how I got this head cold. I felt fine in Florida. Maybe it's just allergies. I could easily be allergic to something in the house.

I didn't accomplish much today. Grocery shopping took longer than usual because the stores were crowded. My walk in the park took longer because I woke up tired and walked slowly. The weather was a lot colder than yesterday. I have trouble deciding what to wear on these walks. If it's a windy day, I freeze down by the shoreline. If the sun pops out from behind a cloud on a calm day, I'm usually too hot. I can either dress for the first part of the walk or the last part. Today I was cold for the first few miles, but was fine on my way home. I noticed today that the city has fenced off a large area near the eagle's nest. Maybe they haven't noticed that the eagles don't seem to be using the nest anymore. It's weird that the city seems to be doing a much better job of protecting the eagles than protecting the people. I still don't feel safe in this park after dark.

I don't know what it's going to take to get me back to the gym. I had the best of intentions today, but after I brought the groceries home, I didn't feel like going out again. I was actually pretty close to the gym when I was out shopping, but I didn't want the food to go bad in the car. Oh, well. The gym isn't going away. One of these days I'll start using it again. For now, it's a lot easier to just easier to open the back door and start walking.

I need to at least make an effort to do something productive tomorrow. I'll go mall walking in the morning, but that's just another way of avoiding things. I used to always have a project I was working on, but most of these projects seem pointless now. I probably just have a bad case of 'been there, done that.' Tax season is right around the corner, so I'll have to start gathering materials for my accountant soon. Working on my upper body strength would be a good project, but so would reading a good book. Starting this blog was a project and look what that got me into. Luckily I have less than a year to go.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4747

It was as just as cold and nasty as everyone predicted this morning. It was eleven degrees when we woke up, with a wind chill that was below zero. Not surprisingly, we did not take a morning walk with Dawn. Dawn is no fool. She ran out in the back yard and quickly did her business and then came right back inside again.

Considering the weather, I actually had a very busy day. After breakfast I went and had my annual eye exam. My cataracts are getting worse, but evidently my eyes are deteriorating very slowly. My doctor said that he wouldn't recommend doing anything yet and said that I could easily go another year without cataract surgery. I no longer have 20/20 vision unfortunately. I was given a prescription for glasses, but it is optional if I ever use it. I'm still OK to drive and I guess do anything else without glasses. I may fill the prescription if I ever drive back to McDonald Observatory. My eyes get tired on long car drives.

The car started fine in the cold weather. I was a little worried about that. The outside faucets that I set to drip are still dripping, so I guess that's good too. So far there are no problems related to the cold weather. The furnace is running constantly, but it is still working normally. Our house is not well insulated and you can see condensation on all the windows on days like this. The dehumidifiers help, but there is only so much you can do with large expanses of single pane glass. I just hope that this cold spell doesn't linger. With temperatures this low, I feel like we are under siege.

This afternoon I got a haircut. Either my hair is growing faster or it's been longer than I thought since my last haircut. Even my stylist thought it was growing fast. I guess Covid worries are largely over. I didn't need a mask at the eye doctor or at my hair appointment either. Janet was the only one worried about Covid since she is traveling soon and didn't want to go if I was infected. She worries about giving Covid to her relatives. I took another Covid test this morning and that one turned up negative too. I just have a head cold and even that seems to be getting better.

Since it was way too cold to go walking in the park today, I stopped by the gym on the way back from my hair appointment. I still had to get my steps. I was in street clothes, but that was fine for walking around the indoor track. Actually I fit right in. A lot of the old people who come to my gym just wear street clothes anyway. I got my 10,000 steps, closed all the rings on my Apple watch and headed home for dinner.

Janet fixed an early Christmas dinner for us tonight, since she will be gone on Christmas Day. I'm glad that Dawn doesn't know what's up yet, since she will be very upset. We made it through Janet's last vacation, and we'll make it through this one as well. I know how to get Dawn to eat and take her meds and she will go down to the field behind our house with me in the morning to poop and pee. We won't even try to take a walk while Janet is gone. That would be stressful for both of us. 

Ziggy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4746

Brrr. It is really cold today. I think the temperature dropped thirty degrees in less than an hour when the arctic front rolled through town. Luckily we were able to give Dawn a morning walk before the cold weather arrived. I don't think we'll be walking tomorrow morning though. It's just too cold.

After breakfast I put the faucet covers on the three outdoor faucets. The covers are a little too small but they will have to do. Actually I should have bought four covers. There is a fourth outdoor faucet I forgot about. I covered that one with a big pile of leaves.

Janet wanted me to take a Covid test today because she thought my head cold might be Covid. I didn't think so, but what do I know. We still had a bunch of those home test kits around the house, so I read the directions and did the test. I found it ironic that the test kit was made in China. According to the test, I don't have Covid. I definitely have a cold though. I wonder how I caught this since I am seldom around other people. This is the first time in years that I've had a sore throat.

I drove to the store where I got the faucet covers yesterday because I needed to warm up the car. Not surprisingly, they had sold out of the covers again. I think everyone in town must be looking for faucet covers. I always have this fear that my car won't start in cold weather, so I started it several times today. No problems today, but I hope the car starts tomorrow. I've got an appointment with the eye doctor in the morning and am getting a haircut in the afternoon.

I should have gone to the gym today. I was really cold on my long walk. I dressed warmly, but there was a fierce wind. My face was the only exposed skin, but I really should have worn a scarf that covered everything except my eyes. I was the only person out in the park today. There were no bicycles, joggers, or dog walkers. No park department workers either. I guess I was the only stupid one. It was so cold that I couldn't complete my full route. After walking a mile or so I was ready to turn around and come home. Not a stellar day for exercise, but I did manage to get 10,000 steps.

I think I've lived in Texas to long. I don't understand how anyone could live in Wyoming or North Dakota in the Winter. I went to high school in Alaska and spent several of my early working years in Idaho, but that's ancient history now. I like being warm and right now even Texas is too cold for me. 

We'll see what tomorrow brings. I'm afraid it's going to bring single digit temperatures. The wind chill index is already below zero here. I may break with tradition and have a hot breakfast tomorrow. 

Two sisters are today's Dalmatians of the Day

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Day 4745 - Winter Solstice

I should have known. You don't start planning for cold weather on the day before the cold weather arrives. I went out this morning to get some faucet covers for our outdoor faucets. It seemed like a simple enough errand. Home Depot was completely out of stock. Lowes was completely out of stock. Ace Hardware was out of stock as well. I couldn't even find any of the covers at Teeters. Everyone seemed to be looking for these things. I definitely wasn't the only one asking about faucet covers today. I started calling around and eventually found a few covers in a small neighborhood store. The guy on the phone said that he had ten faucet covers left. I asked if he could hold three for me and that I would be right over to pick them up. When I arrived at the store my three faucet covers were sitting behind the register and the other seven were in the hands of people checking out. I'm glad I called ahead of time. If I had just driven over to the store, they would have all been gone before I got there. If this little saga proves anything it is only that I'm not the only one who waits until the last possible minute to plan for bad weather.

It also took quite a while to get gas this morning. Everyone seemed to want to fill their tank before the storm arrives. I don't know if it makes any difference, but a full tank of gas seemed like a smart move to me as well. Am I ready for the arctic blast? I doubt it. Thankfully the really cold weather will only last two days.

We had a nice early walk with Dawn this morning. It was quite dark when we left the house and I was worried about coyotes. The sky brightened rapidly though and it was daylight by the time we arrived home. I didn't' sleep well last night and even this short walk made me tired. I should have gone back to bed, but I ate breakfast instead and got ready to take an even longer walk.

I sent in my application for press credentials for the January falcon heavy launch. I'm pretty sure that my application will be accepted since credentialing is being managed by the Space Force. The Space Force is easier to deal with than NASA for some reason. I wish I knew the actual date of the launch so I could go ahead and make travel arrangements. I'd like to stay at my favorite Airbnb again.

I was really slow on my long walk today. I thought about turning around early but I kept trudging along and eventually made it home again. Maybe I do have a cold instead of seasonal allergies. I certainly didn't feel very good today. I wanted to take a nap as soon as I returned home, but Dawn didn't want me in the bedroom. As soon as I got on the bed she went out in the hallway and started whining. Eventually I just took a nap on the sofa in the living room. I hate to see Dawn crying. She's a very manipulative dog and I think she's got me figured out.

The cold weather and high winds arrive tomorrow afternoon. We should be able to have a normal sunrise walk with Dawn, but all bets are off after that. I just hope we don't have any problems with the furnace. It has a tendency to go out at the worse possible times.

Willow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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