Day 4313

I recorded my slowest walk ever today. My pace was a full six minutes per mile slower than a normal day. Sadly, I was never that fast to begin with. The main reason I was so slow was that my feet hurt, but my terrible seasonal allergies certainly didn't help. I walked over four miles, but by the time I returned home I could barely move. I don't know whether I need to quit walking for a while, or just start wearing the new Hoka shoes I bought a month ago. I'll try the new shoes first. I'd really hate to give up walking.

One year ago at this time I was out at McDonald Observatory for an astrophotography workshop. I was definitely feeling my age then, but things have gone downhill since that little adventure. The way I feel today, I'm wondering if I can even make another of these long trips out to West Texas. Astrophotography involves a lot of standing and even worse, kneeling in the dark. The terrain is uneven and you need good balance. It's very cold at night too. The drive itself is a nightmare. The past two trips to the observatory were during the height of the pandemic when traffic was lighter. Now that Texans have decided that the pandemic is over, freeway traffic is as bad as it ever was. I've heard horror stories from some of the West Texas locals about I-20. Evidently, there's a lot of road construction now, which makes the long drive even worse.

My motto is to always keep moving, so hopefully I will rebound from my current foot pain setback quickly. If the new shoes don't work, I may have to scale back walking for a while. I can't imagine quitting though. Walking defines my day now. I feel the same way about trips to McDonald Observatory and Kennedy Space Center. There are so few things I really enjoy these days that it would be a crime to give up any of them.

I think the cold wave that everyone's been talking about has finally arrived. The skies cleared today, but the temperatures kept getting cooler. Actually, the only pleasant thing about my long walk this morning was the temperature. It was a little chilly, but not quite jacket weather yet. If my feet didn't hurt so much, it would have been perfect walking weather. I think it's going to be even colder tomorrow. Luckily, there is no more rain in the forecast. I'm glad I cleared the roof of standing water when I did. I doubt that I could even make it up on the roof today.

Janet is trying to help me with my heartburn. She brought home a vegetarian pizza tonight for dinner. It was basically just artichokes, fetta cheese and a few olives on a pizza crust without any of the normal sauce. This isn't going to give me heartburn, but it isn't a pizza either. I told Janet that she ought to keep eating what makes her happy and if I need to fix something else for myself that's fine. We both agreed that an artichoke and fetta pizza wasn't a good idea.

We haven't seen any of the empty store shelves they keep talking about on TV. Gas is more expensive but everything else seems pretty normal. I'm wondering if I should stock up on a few things when I'm grocery shopping tomorrow though. This is probably how panic buying starts. Everyone is just trying to get ahead of the curve. We'll see how the stores look tomorrow. I basically think panic buying is stupid, but I'd hate to run out of toilet paper.

I still keep hoping that Dawn will warm up to me. She adores Janet, but still thinks I'm a kennel attendant.  She's fine when I'm feeding her or walking her on a leash. The rest of the time she gives me the stink eye.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4103

Today I found out that the electrician I've used for many years has died. I'm getting older. Many of the best service people I've used over the years have passed away. Nobody seems to replace these people. Their skills and expertise just seems to disappear forever. It's kind of sad to see a generation of people who could fix everything be replaced by a new crop of folks who can only replace disposable components. Looks like I'm going to have to find a new electrician. I just hope that nothing breaks for a while.

I have so many unanswered questions that I'm beginning to feel like I'm invisible. I write people, fully expecting a prompt reply and then I never hear anything back. I still don't know whether my press credentials have been approved by the Air Force. I never received a confirmation about my stay in West Texas in May. I've been waiting for months for author copies of some of my articles. Questions about my new camera have gone unanswered and the dehumidifier company hated my continual questions so much that they wrote me a check for the machine instead of fixing it and told me to throw it away.

I got Dawn to go down to the park with me this morning while Janet was away. We didn't go very far, but it was a start. After she peed in a field immediately behind our house, she quickly turned and immediately headed for home. I didn't try to make her walk further. I want her to learn to trust me, so this will be a very slow process. Janet wants me to work with her every day, even if I don't make much progress. Right now, Dawn won't even eat when Janet is away. This makes it very hard for Janet to make any travel plans. It's all very weird. I'm used to being the one who takes care of the dogs during the day because I'm always here. If Dawn could just learn to trust me, she would have so much more fun.

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring. It's certainly starting to look like Spring has arrived. Wildflower season is still a few weeks away, but I see a few new blooms every day. The trees are definitely looking greener. I've even started seeing turtles sunning themselves on logs at the lake. Pretty soon I'll start seeing baby ducks again. I enjoy seeing this seasonal rebirth. It's especially nice this year after the big freeze where everything appeared to have died. It's amazing how predictable this cycle of life is. I've seen wildflowers reappear in exactly the same spot year after year. There are winter animals and summer animals and they never seem to get the seasons mixed up. I guess there is that one Pelican that always refused to fly north with the others in the Spring. I wonder what the Pelican will do this year?

My foot still hurts when I walk, but there are plenty of reasons to keep walking. I don't want to wind up like my electrician. He was younger than I am when he died. I really should start going back to the gym. I'm fully vaccinated now, but I'm still a bit reluctant to spend time around a bunch of sweaty people. My gym reopened their pool recently, so they're clearly not worried about much anymore. I don't know why they're still closed on Sundays though. Janet has been going to her gym for weeks now. Maybe I'm just lazy.

It's time to make a grocery list again. It's amazing how quickly these weeks go by. It will be Summer soon and I will be wishing for cooler weather again. Hopefully 2021 will be a little more interesting than 2020. I applied with NASA to attend the Space X Crew-2 launch today. Who knows if I'll get approved, but eventually things will start clicking together.

Pringles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3558

Two days before my billing cycle ends AT&T tells me that I've used up my data plan for the month and as a courtesy they've added $20 to my bill so that I'll still have data access on my phone for the next two days. Jeez. Couldn't they have given me the option of just going without a data plan for two days. I never would have missed it. I seldom use my data plan anyway. The only reason I ran out last month was that I used my phone as a WiFi hotspot for my laptop while we were in Fort Davis.

I called customer service to complain, but the guy I talked to had no interest in refunding my $20. He tried to sell me an iPhone 11 instead. I have no problem with the electric company, the gas company, and the city water department. The phone company always irritates me though. Everything they do seems like a rip off. What are you going to do? Even a budding Luddite like me needs a phone.

Maybe my data plan ran out today because I kept having problems with the app that lets me bypass the checkout lanes at the grocery store. Everything I tried to scan in the produce section kept giving me an error message saying "must use cashier for this item." I finally gave up and used the cashier for everything.

I keep reading about the new Land Rover Defender, hoping that I'll like it better. I've been waiting for this thing to arrive for a long time and I'm so disappointed. It doesn't look like an indestructible off road vehicle at all. The design looks like something you'd take to the grocery store or use to pick up the kids after school. I have no doubt that the new design is more reliable than my old Defender. That thing broke down all the time, but it was part of the charm. Why does everything need to be computerized these days. If I wanted a computerized car, I'd just go buy a Tesla.

When I'm sleeping I'm always wandering around lost in my dreams. When I wake up, I'm taking long walks in the park. Sometimes it feels like I'm spending all my time walking. There is definitely a Forest Gump quality to all this. It's too bad that all the walking I do in my dreams doesn't count as exercise. It probably barely counts as sleep. They say that REM sleep isn't as beneficial as deep sleep.  I spend a lot of time dreaming, but according to Mr. Fitbit, I don't get much deep sleep at all.

I didn't accomplish anything today, but I did keep moving. Tomorrow I'll move even more. Sunday's have become my 20,000 step day. Years ago, the band used to practice on Sunday. Then there was a time when I would use Sundays to build up my photography portfolio. Now I just walk. Priorities change when you've got nothing to prove.

Rowe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3482

Sunday is all about taking 20,000 steps. I have to stay pretty active to do this, but I've reached my goal for over a month now. Fitbit says I've walked 2,500 miles since I began wearing their bracelet. I haven't even been wearing the Fitbit that long. I wore a succession of Jawbone UP bands before buying the Fitbit. I wonder how many miles those bands accumulated? When Dot and Dash were young we walked long distances every day without bothering to keep track of anything. I had nothing to prove in those days and the walks were probably more enjoyable as a result.

I'm not sure I'm trying to prove anything now. It just seems prudent to keep moving. A lot of my friends are still reasonably healthy, but whenever someone falls by the wayside it is alarming. This is the age when people around you start to drop like flies. I've already outlived a number of friends I went to college with. You hate to think that you only have a limited amount of time left, but that's just the reality of things. Ten to twenty more years at best. Jeez. I've lived in this house longer than that.

It seems much hotter than it did last summer. It's probably just my perception of things. As Dash got older and became less mobile, we never went out during the heat of the day. We would take our short walks before sunrise when the air was still cool. Back when my company was busy I didn't have time to worry about how many steps I was taking anyway. I had ads to write and websites to design. Back in the day I spent a lot more time at this computer than I ever did walking.

I feel bad for all the dogs I see being walked in the park this summer. It is too hot for many of them. Dogs don't sweat like we do and they are wearing a fur coat. If you feel compelled to walk your dog in 100 degree weather, please take water with you and if your dog gets tired go sit under a tree for a while. Whatever you do, don't walk on hot pavement. Paws get burned in this weather. I'm sure people get heatstroke too, but I mostly just worry about the dogs. Today I saw a dog standing on one of those stand up paddle boards way out in the middle of the lake. If the dog fell off the board it probably wouldn't be able to climb back on and it was too far to swim to shore. Why do people do things like this?

I had a good day at the gym. I think I set an all time record for the number of baskets I sunk in a row. I don't think my skills have actually improved though. It was just blind luck. When my streak was eventually broken, I went right back to the same mediocre performance I usually show on the court.

I need to go fix the pump on the roof tomorrow morning. It's bound to rain again soon. I should try that Liquid Rubber in a Can stuff too and see if it works. It it's too hot tomorrow, I can always wait until Tuesday. There's really nothing that's all that urgent anymore. I'm just counting steps these days.

Delaney is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3419

The goal these days is to keep moving. I went to the gym much earlier than usual. The place was surprisingly busy. Who knew that so many people liked to exercise early on a Sunday morning. I did my usual workout fully intending to take a nap when I got home. It wasn't meant to be. It was such a nice day that I decided to go ahead and take my usual three mile walk anyway. I really need to find something I enjoy doing or I'll be walking all day by the end of the Summer.

I keep waiting for something to find me. Today it was an auto show. I'd completely forgotten about this annual British and European Car Show. It is often held during the Spring in the park when the weather is nice. I used to go frequently when I had a cool car myself, but I haven't been in years. There is was today, right in front of me on my regular path. I enjoy looking at cars, so this was an unexpected treat.

I ended up talking with the owner of a Noble M400. I'd never seen one of these cars in person before. Only about 200 of them were ever imported into the United States. I remember a review once that said "Don't buy this car to impress girls. Only guys are impressed." The car certainly impressed me. The spectacular mid-engined supercar was lighter than a Mazda Miata and faster than a Ferrari Enzo. The owner was only 22 years old. Somebody asked the guy how much it cost to insure a car like this. "Nobody will insure this thing," the owner said. "I had to get my Dad to put it on his homeowners insurance." Then he smiled and added, "Technically, I'm not allowed to drive it."

There were no French cars at this years event. I used to enjoy looking at well preserved Citroëns. I've owned several, including a beautiful silver 1972 Citroën Maserati. I had to sell the car when I ran out of mechanics who could work on it. Body parts were in extremely short supply as well. As the car got older and older I began to realize that keeping a rare old car on the road was a rich man's pursuit. Buying vintage cars is one thing. Restoring them and keeping them running is another thing altogether.

My Fitbit was impressed with me today. I can't say the same for my feet. I shouldn't have changed shoes when I went walking in the park. My feet had swollen and the boots didn't fit like they usually do. By the time I returned home, I could barely walk. I have some excellent shoes I wear when I'm at the gym. I don't like to get them muddy though, so I changed into a pair of boots before I went on my walk. Bad move. I guess I'll know better the next time I do something foolish like this.

I probably should have gone outside and looked for meteors last night. I woke up to go to the bathroom right about the time when the Eta Aquariid meteor shower was supposed to be at its peak. I thought briefly about going outside and then went back to bed. I've seen meteors before. A short little trail of light across the sky wasn't enough of a temptation to lose any sleep over.

Bunny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2070

Sundays are simple. One glance at my fitness tracker will tell you everything you need to know about Sunday. I don't do a lot of thinking on Sundays, but I do keep moving. 19,000 steps so far today. The dogs got several walks. Dash went to the dog park. I went to the gym. The house got thoroughly vacuumed. And I still had time for a nap. I definitely needed the nap, because I only got about 4 and a half hours of sleep last night.

It takes forever to vacuum the house with all the little throw rugs we have to keep Dot from slipping. The Dyson is too powerful for these flimsy rugs and it keeps wanting to suck them up. I'm constantly having to turn off the vacuum cleaner and pull the edge of these rugs out of the rotating brush. In a way these small rugs are good though. If Dot inadvertently poops on a rug, we can just take it outside and hose it off. If things are particularly messy, we can just throw the rug away. Life would be a lot more difficult, and probably smellier, with wall-to-wall carpet.

You learn a lot of little things when you track yourself at the gym. I was somewhat surprised to discover that twenty minutes on the hand bicycle burn up far more energy than twenty minutes on the treadmill. I use the hand bicycle because it was part of my exercise routine when I went to physical therapy for my shoulder. I only did five minutes on the bike back then, but I figured that if five was good, twenty would be even better. Hardly anybody every uses this machine except feeble old heart patients. This is apparently not a cool machine for younger people to use. I like it though. Using your arms to peddle strenuously for twenty minutes or more is a pretty good upper body workout.

There's a section in the meat department at Central Market that features a huge assortment of marinated meats. There are all sorts of interesting regional flavors and you don't have to go to the time and trouble of marinating the meat yourself. I've grown fond of these pre-marinated cuts of meat, partially because I'm lazy and partially because I don't think I could ever do a better job of preparing the meat myself. Tonight, we had a marinated pork roast for dinner and it was delicious. I'm starting to feel guilty about eating pork though. There are lots of animal advocates on my Facebook feed who constantly post cute pictures of little piglets or upsetting messages about the cruel ways commercial pork producers treat their pigs. I love bacon but this is starting to upset me. I wonder if you can find free range pork, somewhat like free range chickens and beef?  I'll never be a vegan, but maybe I'd feel better about eating a pig that at least had an opportunity to live a life outside of a small cage.

I don't feel guilty about drinking my breakfast smoothies.  There are two raw eggs for protein, but mostly the ingredients consist of fresh fruit, with some rolled oats and ice cream thrown in for flavor. Janet bought the Vitamix to make fancy soups, but mostly it just gets used to make my breakfast now. I don't know what I'd do without the Vitamix and my Keurig brewer. They have both become my breakfast best friends.

Tomorrow, I'll need to see where I can get a new registration sticker for my car. I think you can still get these things at Kroger and Tom Thumb stores. I hope so anyway. Going to the grocery store for the sticker definitely beats standing in a long line at the courthouse. Dot has her annual exam this week and her birthday is next week. She goes to the vet so often that an annual exam almost seems redundant, but I guess it is still something you need to do. Inspections and exams are how I measure time these days. The car gets safety inspected and another year has passed. A trip to the urologist and another year has passed. A real estate tax notice arrives in the mail and another year has passed. Way too many years have passed this way. I wish there was a way to slow down time.

Pogo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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