Day 3620

I got waitlisted for the Starliner launch. This pretty much means that I won't be going. Not a lot of people get invited to these launches and very few decide that they don't want to go after they receive an invitation. Cancelations do happen but they are rare. Hey, at least I got accepted to one of the two events I applied for. Strangely, I think there will be more cancelations  for the Michoud Assembly Facility event. It begins at 7 AM. Why so early? I was hoping to fly to New Orleans on the same day as the event to avoid an extra night in a hotel. That's not going to happen. The earliest flights leaving Dallas won't get me there in time.

It rained a lot last night but I haven't been up on the roof yet. It was a windy, cold day and I didn't feel like dealing with the standing water. I'm going to have faith in my repairs and wait until the weather warms up a bit. I may regret this decision, but so far there are no signs of a leak. I think the weather will be much warmer on Sunday. Let's see if I can postpone this awful task for a few days.

The highway department is closing down our street again tonight. Something major must be happening with the bridge construction again. This new shutdown only lasts for one day, so there won't be as much of a disruption as there was before. It will be a little harder to go to the grocery store tomorrow, but it will be a lot easier to get out of the driveway without any traffic. I still don't know why they are replacing this bridge. So far, the new bridge doesn't look any bigger or better than the old one.

Everybody is already making fun of Tesla's new pickup truck. They are saying that this Bladerunner inspired design won't be popular. This is probably true because it appears that the target market is me. I like this thing, even though I will probably never buy an electric car because I'm deeply suspicious of lithium ion batteries. I admire the fact that nothing appears to slow Elon Musk down. His spaceship blew up in Boca Chica a couple of days ago and his live test of the Tesla pickup's shatterproof windows was a disaster. These problems will be fixed and Musk will just keep moving along. I still think he's going to get to Mars before NASA.

It was still raining when I woke up this morning, so I didn't go out for breakfast. I probably would have stayed home even if it had been a nice day. It was a good run while it lasted, but I'm starting to get tired of my Friday breakfast outings. I've tried everything in dozens of restaurants and nothing appeals to me anymore. I just had a bowl of cold cereal and a cup of coffee today. I think I need to start buying more fruit so I can have my smoothie on Friday as well.

I'm disappointed that I won't be able to visit the Dalmatians next Monday. I just realized that I have an appointment with the eye doctor and it's too late to change it. Actually the NASA event in New Orleans begins on a Monday as well. I need to do a better job of planning ahead. I need to block out Monday's on my calendar forever. It's really the only good day to spend a lot of time with the dogs. The kennel is too busy on other days.

I guess I'd better put a bucket out tonight. I don't think the roof will leak, but you never know. Better safe than sorry I say.

Chelsey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3552

I'll have to admit that I'm impressed. Our road is already open again. The highway department was supposed to take three days to demolish the bridge, but they finished what they needed to do in just a single day. Half of the bridge is still there so cars can keep crossing while they start building the new bridge. When the first half of the new bridge is finished, they'll tear down the remaining portion of the old bridge. I wasn't expecting this much coordination. Maybe this project won't be as bad as I thought.

Whenever I go to the gym early, I think I should do this all the time. There's more time for other things when I get my workout finished by mid-morning. My workout hasn't changed, but I've noticed that my heart rate is lower than it was a few years ago. My body seems to be getting used to the routine. This probably means that I should step things up a bit. I do seem to be getting stronger. The first day I extended my morning walk to five miles I thought I was going to die, but now this distance seems more or less normal.

Maybe I'll start wanting to exercise harder and walk longer. I hope not though. I like being healthy, but I'm not really cut out to be a gym rat. Believe it or not, I still need time to do other things. Today I needed to figure out why my phone could connect to the WiFi router, but my computer couldn't. The computer could still connect to the T-Mobile hotspot, but couldn't find the U-Verse WiFi. There was nothing wrong with U-Verse though, because everything else in the house was working fine. I spent way too much time trying to get to the bottom of this mystery. In the end, I solved the problem the same way I solve most electronic problems. I turned everything off and then on again.

I ended up watching the first segment of the new Ken Burns documentary about Country Music tonight. I always think I'm just going to watch a few minutes of a Ken Burns film, but I inevitably get sucked in and end up watching every minute of the entire lengthy series. I'm not sure how long this new documentary is, but I'm positive it will last for several days. They all do. His film about the Civil War was 11 hours long. His subsequent film about World War II was even longer. These documentaries are so well done though that you don't mind the length. After a while, you realize that it is essential to the complicated story he is trying to tell. I was never that interested in history while I was in school. These documentaries are fascinating though. I've learned a lot. I think we could all benefit from learning more about our past.

It's hard to believe that we're already halfway through September. It still seems like August to me. Pretty soon it will be time for the State Fair again. Even sooner than the fair will be the Dalmatian Rescue Golf Tournament. I haven't gone to this tournament for quite a while because I was always busy tending to sick dogs. Dot and Dash don't need me anymore, so I'll be back taking pictures of the golfers again this year.

Janet and I will be back up at the Dalmatian Rescue kennel tomorrow. Sock needs to go back to the vet for his skin condition and the rest of the dogs just need some play time.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3486

Cicadas are the quintessential sound of summer in Texas. They are loud and the sound never seems to go away. I hear these insects when I wake up, during the heat of the day, and well into the night. You hear that Cicadas only appear every 17 years, but I hear them every summer. It took me a while to learn that there are two types of these insects. Annual Cicadas come out every year in July and August and Periodic Cicadas are the ones that periodically appear in massive numbers all at once. Sometimes the 17 year Cicadas appear after 21 years instead. It's confusing. I think we must have both types this year. They're everywhere. Our first Dalmatian, Spot, loved to eat these bugs. He would catch the insects while they were flying and race around the yard with them buzzing in his mouth. Luckily Dot and Dash never acquired this disgusting habit.

The Dog Days of Summer are here. Traditionally, these are the forty days beginning July 3 and ending August 11 when hot, sultry weather is at its worst. I always used to think this term had something to do with dogs panting on a hot day, but it's been around since the early Greeks who used the rising of the dog star Sirius at sunrise as a warning that drought, disease, and discomfort were on the way. For me this time of year is always when the meadows in the park turn yellow, the flowers disappear, and my electric bills go through the roof. It's not a good time to leave your dog outside either. I never seems to be happy with the weather. In the Summer I can't wait for Winter and in the Winter I can't wait for Summer.

I learned recently that the highway department is replacing a bridge near us that I use almost every day. I guess that's a bit of an exaggeration since I don't even leave the house every day, but I do use this bridge a lot. I'm dreading this. Highway construction projects take so long. I suspect there will be detours, traffic delays, and general inconvenience for several years. I wonder why they are replacing this bridge? It seems fine to me and doesn't even get all that much traffic. Nobody ever tells you the truth though. The bridge could be structurally unsound and might collapse the next time I drive over it.

It's time to take the trash out to the curb again, but where do I put it? For some reason there are lots of cars parked on the street that never used to be there. Are these visiting relative or are the neighbors just not using their driveways this summer. There is a particular spot where I always place my can and it was occupied by a car tonight. The fact that this bothered me at all must mean that I have OCD pretty bad.

I'm a little disappointed that the Chasing the Moon series is already over. I've enjoyed watching this show for the past three evenings. Now it's back to old Perry Mason episodes that I've seen three times already. I already know where I'm going to breakfast tomorrow. I liked the new breakfast place I discovered last Friday. There are a lot of tasty things on the menu that I haven 't tried yet. I'm sure I'll eventually get tired of this place too, but it ought to be a welcome diversion during the Dog Days of Summer.

Sophia is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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