Day 4326

Dawn got a bath today. I'm sure she thought we were going for ice cream when she hopped in the car. She certainly seemed disappointed when we arrived at the self-bathe place instead. I don't mind a dirty dog, but Janet prefers a clean dog sleeping next to her. My sense of smell isn't so good, so I probably wouldn't know the difference even if Dawn was filthy. I'll have to admit that Dawn's fur does feel soft and smooth again though. The lady that owns the facility clips Dawn's nails and does her anal glands while we are there. We've never been very successful at doing these things ourselves.

The plumbing company still hasn't received the check I sent them almost a month ago. I called today to see if they wanted me to cancel the check and pay with a credit card, but the bookkeeper told me to wait another week or so. They have discovered what the problem is. They typically send prepaid return envelopes with their invoices and evidently the post office is holding on to over a hundred of these invoices because the woman who processes them quit and they haven't finished training her replacement yet. How hard could it be to process a postage paid envelope? I always thought they were treated just like any other piece of mail. You don't see postage paid envelopes very much anymore, but they used to be very popular. I remember using them quite often back in the day. Needless to say, the plumbing company isn't very happy with the post office. I don't blame them. Mail service for all types of mail has deteriorated recently, but a month to get a letter delivered less than ten miles away is pretty extreme. If I had known this was going to be a problem, I would have just gotten in the car and driven the check over to the plumbing company.

In other dysfunctional news, I read an article that people in North Texas are camping out in front of DMV offices at 2 AM just to get a good place in line to get their driver's license when the office opens the next morning. Evidently the influx of people moving to Texas and chronic staff shortages have caused a huge backlog at the DMV. It can take over a month to get an appointment to renew your license or take a driver's test. Who knew? I haven 't been to the DMV in years because I started renewing my license online as soon as that became an option. I hope they get this all sorted out before I have to go back in person to take the vision test again.

It was cold and windy today. In fact, it was so windy that I had to hold on to my hat frequently while I was taking my long walk. Several times I felt like the wind was going to blow me off the trail. I didn't make very good time today, but I don't think it was the wind that slowed me down. I'm still feeling tired because of the Covid and flu shots I got the other day.  My arm doesn't hurt as much at the injection site anymore, so hopefully my energy will bounce back soon. This shot seemed to pack more of a punch than the first two, but I will feel safer traveling on an airplane now.

I have to go back to my doctor so the nurse can add the booster shot information to my vaccination card. I thought I wouldn't need the card anymore now that you can download an official vaccination record to your phone. When I showed my phone to the nurse she said, "What good is this? I can't write anything on your phone." The whole idea of these vaccination cards wasn't thought out very clearly. They don't fit in your wallet and in most cases there is no corresponding electronic record. You should be able to update all this information electronically. Right now, it's a mess if you happen to lose your card.

Janet had a meeting tonight, so I took a long nap on the bed with Dawn. She seemed reasonably relaxed and stayed on the bed with me the entire time, but was sure happy when Janet returned. I don't think this dog is every going to be best friends with me.

Abi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3964 - Halloween

This weather can't make up it's mind. It was cold again this morning. What happened to yesterday's t-shirt weather? I had to get out my winter coat when we walked Dawn. I may have been a little chilly, but Dawn liked the cooler temperatures. She had lots of energy this morning. Her condition has certainly improved. I had trouble keeping up with her today.

When I went grocery shopping this morning, I was surprised to discover that I can now buy gas with my phone. The app I use to avoid the checkout lines now works at the gas pump as well. There was no need to slide my credit card into the pump. I just pointed my phone at the pump and filled my tank. I love technology when it works. Unfortunately, it frequently doesn't work.

I buy pretty much the same things every week, but my bill is always a little higher than it was the previous week. What's going on here? Some items have gone up more than others. I don't see much of a pattern in the price increases, but I'm sure it has something to do with Covid. Maybe manufacturers who have been disrupted are trying to make up the difference somehow. I never look for sales, but maybe I should.

Janet and I decided to get a new dehumidifier. We weren't sure which model we had, so I looked at a small label on the bottom of the machine. Near the label was a little vent I had never noticed before. It was completely clogged with dust. I cleaned out the vent and the defrost light didn't come on for the rest of the day. Maybe there was nothing wrong with the dehumidifier. I'll have to go check the other dehumidifier in the storage warehouse. I wouldn't be surprised if the little vent was clogged in that one too.

There are Halloween decorations in our neighborhood, but I didn't see any trick or treaters this year. Maybe I wasn't looking very hard, but I suspect that parents weren't that eager to have their children asking strangers for candy in today's environment. Halloween was a big deal when I was a kid. We wandered all over the neighborhood unsupervised and came home late at night with huge bags of candy. Streets were safe back then and nobody was worried about a deadly virus. Times have definitely changed. Halloween is still spooky, but it isn't ghosts and goblins that are scaring us anymore.

I still need to find something interesting to do. I got my 20,000 steps today, but that was about it. It's hard to put what I learned at the astrophotography workshop to good use because you still can't see much when you look up at the sky in Dallas. Light pollution is terrible here. It's easy to forget that I am technically still on assignment for SpaceFlight Magazine. I seldom hear from those guys anymore because they are all preoccupied with the virus over in the UK. Hopefully, I can come up with an interesting article for the magazine when I go to Florida.

Do I go to the gym tomorrow? They're sure trying hard to get me to return. I get an e-mail almost every day about new classes and activities. I really need to stay in shape, but my instinct is to take long naps instead. Dawn is a bad influence on me. She's all about taking long naps. We'll see what tomorrow brings. I think I dodged a bullet with the dehumidifier today. It's still working like a champ.

Roxy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day