Day 4970

I think this heat has fried my brain. I can't think of anything I want to do. Basically I just get up every morning and repeat the previous day. Our sunrise walks are getting warmer and warmer. It was almost 90 degrees when we left the house this morning. These early walks are still the only time it makes any sense to go outside. I spend the rest of the day inside, hoping that the air conditioner keeps working.

I applied for the OSIRIS-REx astroid sample return event at Johnson Space Center this morning. Hopefully my application will be accepted. The astroid sample hasn't even returned to earth yet, so I guess everyone is being optimistic. I've been to Johnson Space Center before and the place is amazing. It doesn't cost much to fly to Houston either. We'll see what happens. I won't be returning to Titusville very soon anyway. The launches I am interested in attending have all been delayed.

In lieu of traveling I guess I'll just keep going to the gym every day. It's not very exciting, but it beats doing nothing. I'm getting a little faster going around the indoor track and I actually did pretty well shooting baskets today. I've added a few upper body exercises to my routine, but I could do a lot more if I had any motivation. These trips to the gym are still just a substitute for my walks in the park. The way the summer is going, it may be October before I can resume my long walks though. This has been a very hot summer. It could be worse though, although I'm not exactly sure how.

They are still knocking down the house up the street. There is not much value placed on older homes here in Dallas. I've seen some really nice places disappear in our neighborhood over the years. Our house will probably be knocked down when we're gone as well. The place is supposed to be architecturally significant, but that's not going to stop anyone. The house is small and people want big these days.

As usual, the afternoon was uneventful. I'm beginning to understand why Dawn spends so much time napping. What else do you do on a hot day? I took the trash out to the curb this evening, but that was about it. I wonder what I'm going to do with myself when I finish this blog? I've only got about a month left before I reach my goal.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

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 4968

Today was a little weird, although it started normally enough. Like always, we took our sunrise walk with Dawn during the coolest part of the day. Unfortunately, it was already 85 degrees when we got up. It was still cool enough for a pleasant walk though. When we got home I made the bed and ate my breakfast. I was about ready to go to the gym when I heard a strange noise in the living room. When I went to investigate I saw Dawn perched on the edge of one of the chairs in the living room and her dog bed in the kitchen had been torn up. I don't like her sitting on that chair because it is near a glass coffee table and I'm always afraid she might cut herself if she tries to jump off the chair. This has happened before, but not very frequently.

I led her back to the bedroom on a leash and gated her in the back of the house where it was safer. Unfortunately this didn't solve the problem. A few minutes later I found her cowering under the sink in Janet's bathroom. I led her back to the bed again and this time she calmed down. I don't know whether noises from the machines tearing down the nearby house scared her or whether she might have had a mild seizure. It's hard to tell with Dawn. She's scared of all sorts or things, but she has also had a seizure once before.

I didn't want to leave her alone, so I stayed at the house until Janet returned home. I actually got quite a bit done. I did a load of laundry, paid some bills, took care of my August bookkeeping, and wrote a letter to my sister. Dawn was calm and mostly sleeping during this time. Whatever was bothering her only lasted about ten minutes.

I think she was bothered by the demolition noises. They are bothering me too. It has taken two days to tear down this house. Probably because it was very well made in the first place. It still seems odd to me that this is the house that is coming down. I always thought it was one of the nicest houses on the street. There are shabbier houses nearby, but they are all currently occupied by renters. I really miss the days when the people who built these homes in the 1950's actually lived in them.

When Janet returned home I went to the gym. I really wish that my gym hadn't changed management. There are lots of personal trainers now and they must all be on commission. I try not to look at them while I work out because they will inevitably try to engage you in conversation and make their pitch for why they think you need an individualized program. Forget it guys. I just come here to get my Fitbit steps when it's too hot to walk in the park and maybe shoot a few baskets. I've recently added a few upper body exercises to my routine, but I definitely don't need a trainer. As soon as it cools down a bit I'll return to walking in the park.

Since I got a late start today, I arrived home a lot later as well. It wasn't long before Dawn started barking at me for her dinner. She's really bold when Janet is around and seems to like to boss me around. Things change quickly when Janet is away though. I wish I knew what was going on in Dawn's mind. She's a very strange dog. I'm quite fond of her, even though I'm apparently not her favorite person.

It got up to 106 degrees today. Sadly it is going to get even hotter later in the week. I need to remember that this too will pass. Sooner or later I'm going to be complaining about the cold again. The electric bill arrived today and it was even worse than I expected. At least the house is staying cool though.

Snoopy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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