Day 4318

I finally discovered what all the commotion on our street was about yesterday. There was a carjacking with police in pursuit of the stolen car. The guy was driving on the wrong side of the road, lost control and crashed not far from our house. He tried to excape by running away from the scene but didn't get far. What was this guy thinking? Did he really think he was going to excape with two helicopters overhead and ten police cars in pursuit. At least this idiot didn't crash in our front yard. We've had cars land in our front yard before. Usually around 3 AM after the bars close.

I didn't get a lot done today. I made an appointment to see the eye doctor, another to get my hair cut, and then paid a few bills. I tried to find a carpenter to do some repair work around the house. I found three carpenters in my contact list, but I couldn't remember which one was the good one. I definitely don't want to call one of the bad carpenters again.

The weather is still quite pleasant. We were hoping that Dawn would be adventurous this morning. She did walk about a half mile longer than usual, but it was such a nice morning that I thought she'd want to go further. I went the distance on my own walk after breakfast. I didn't want to deal with foot pain, so I took two Tylenol tablets again and was able to complete my usual six miles without any problems. I don't want to get in the habit of taking pain pills when I walk, but the foot is getting better, so I think I'll be fine in a day or two.

I watched the Boca Chica live feed for a while this morning while Space X construction crews were adding catch arms to the huge launch tower they are building. The plan is to catch the returning Starship booster in mid air as it is landing so the rocket won't need landing legs. They must be pretty confident that they can guide the rocket into exactly the right position when it returns. There isn't much room for error. Every time I watch what Space X is doing it seems like they are miles ahead of everyone else.

I'm not miles ahead of anyone these days. I used to be a model of efficiency and ran a successful company for several decades. Now, I'm so slow that if I get anything done at all it's a miracle. I'm reluctant to even start a big project because I know I'll never finish it. Most days usually consist of doing laundry, charging batteries, and looking for things I've managed to lose. I've thought about repairing the large production printer so I can print huge impressive prints of my rocket and astro photos. I don't know what the point of this would be though. I've already got boxes and boxes of large prints in the storage warehouse that will never be framed and will probably never see the light of day.

The plumber still hasn't gotten the check I mailed them over two weeks ago. Jeez. I've only written one paper check in the past six months and the post office manages to lose it. I should have know better but the plumber wasn't able to take a credit card and said the company would just bill me later. I've lost faith in the post office. All we get in our mailbox now is junk mail and all we get from the phone company is spam and telemarketers. The phone company even identifies these calls now with descriptive labels on the caller ID like "suspected spam, telemarketer, or political call." If they know what these calls are, why do they even put them through?

Janet said Dawn did really well at training class tonight. Next week is the annual Halloween party. We've got to think of a costume for Dawn.

Emily is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4184

I got this letter from O'Reilly Auto Parts in Springfield, Missouri today addressed to Johnny Sealander. That's odd, I thought. Nobody calls me Johnny except my sister. Inside this letter was another letter from, you guessed it, my sister. Along with the letter was a note from the auto parts company saying that the post office delivered the letter to them by mistake. Hmm. I wonder how much other mail of mine the post office has lost and scattered around the country? It's hard to figure out how a letter clearly and legibly addressed to me could wind up at an auto parts store in Missouri. It's no wonder I have so little faith in the post office or any government entity these days. I feel bad now about complaining to SpaceFlight Magazine about not sending me author copies. They probably sent the magazines months ago and the post office just lost them.

For the first time in weeks there is no rain in the long range forecast. It did rain for a while early this morning, but that might be the last we see for a while. I should be happy that our yard looks so green this year. Rain depresses me though. I'm always waiting for the roof to start leaking again. I'll give the yard a couple of days to dry out and then I'll mow the grass again.

We're getting way more spam and telemarketing calls than we used to. They've always been a problem on the land line, but now I'm getting them on my cell phone as well. The phone company needs to do a better job of screening these calls. If the caller ID says "suspected spam" why do they even let the call go through? It's become an almost daily ritual to block callers on my iPhone. I wonder if there is a limit to how many numbers you can block? If there is, I'm probably pretty close to reaching it. I think the phone company needs a new billing plan. If a spam call gets through, they should credit your account instead of billing you. Right now I'm just paying the phone company to be irritated.

I'm wondering how much longer I can continue my long walks as temperatures continue to rise. It wasn't even that hot today by Dallas standards, but I was drenched in sweat by the time I completed my walk. It's only going to get worse too. I think Winter walks are much more enjoyable. I don't think Dawn likes the heat either, but she's smart enough to keep her walks short. Janet just goes to the gym where it is air conditioned. I keep walking because the walks add a little structure to my day. I can't say it's any fun though. I'd much rather be on top of Mount Locke out at the observatory.

We live near the remnants of the Blackland Prairie. I can remember fields covered with native grasses like Big and Little Bluestem, Indian grass, and Canada Wildrye. Lately, these prairie areas are completely overrun with Johnson Grass and Queen Ann's Lace. Sometimes I see small groups of people trying to weed these huge prairie areas, removing Queen Ann's Lace plants one by one. What are these people thinking? They are out in the hot sun for hours and maybe are able to remove a hundred plants. There are millions of Queen Ann's Lace plants in the park. If you look out over a field all you see is a sea of Queen Ann's Lace. This futile gardening effort seems like a metaphor for something but I can't figure out what. 

It's hard to tell if Dawn is becoming normal or I'm just becoming weird. I stay out of the kitchen now while Dawn is eating or hanging out with Janet. Dawn stays out of the bedroom while I'm making the bed. We cross paths during the day going back and forth between the front and back of the house. I've gotten to where I think I'm just being polite by staying out of Dawn's way. She's super friendly when I have a leash in my hand and she likes me to take her on walks. She just doesn't like to hang out with me. I don't think she's ever been in my office. For some reason she thinks the room is off limits.

Life is strange. I've given up trying to figure dogs or other people out. You could drive yourself crazy looking for answers where there aren't any. I've got a little routine that gets me through the day and so does Dawn. It's all good.

Lacey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4136

I voted this morning. Like most local elections, the polling place was practically empty. There were only a few old people voting and most of them looked even older than I was. If you had a couple hundred good friends, you could probably win one of these low turnout elections. There were several initiatives on the ballot that were worded so ambiguously that it was hard to tell what you were voting for. When I see a lot of double neatives in the language of these initiatives, I am convinced that someone is trying to confuse me and make me vote the opposite of the way I intended. I seldom voted when I was younger, but my Mom finally convinced me that it was my civic duty. I still wonder though. I don't care who you support. There's just not a lot of honesty in politics.

As expected, it was really cold when we woke up this morning. It's pretty late in the year to experience near freezing weather. All is well though. The furnace is still working like a charm. I really should have brought the lawn mower battery inside last night. Forgetting to do this during a surprise cold spell is usually how I ruin these batteries. We'll see how it goes the next time I try to mow the grass. With my bad back and gimpy shoulder, I haven't had the nerve to try this yet.

My lost package still hasn't arrived. I've generally had pretty good luck with shipments so I thought that lost packages were just for other people. Several Christmas presents Janet mailed this year got lost and I keep hearing that unreliable mail is becoming a big problem. Maybe my luck has finally run out. The post office can't seem to find my package and neither can the shipper. Since I already paid for the memory chips, I'm sure that I'll eventually receive them. If the company has to send a duplicate shipment, I'm going to request UPS this time. I've lost faith in the post ofice.

Several of my photographer friends are already in Florida covering the upcoming Crew-2 launch. When I see their pictures on Facebook I can't help being a little envious. Most of the regulars live in the area and have gotten to know the folks that approve credentials. Even though I have gotten credentials to cover a number of launches, I still feel like an outsider. There's a big difference between going to Kennedy Space Center twenty times a year and going two times a year. This year, I'll be lucky if I can make it down there once. I wish getting press accreditation was easier, but then I wish everything was easier. Life just seems to be an uphill battle these days.

Janet took Dawn to the vet today to get her anal glands expressed and her nails trimmed. Dawn is healthy and I hope things like this are the only reasons she needs to go to the vet for a long time. I have so many bad memories of serious medical problems. Dealing with very sick dogs was one reason that Janet and I thought that we weren't going to get another dog after Dot and Dash died. Life is full of surprises though. I'm really glad we have Dawn in our life, even though she doesn't appear to like me.

I really do need to find another place to walk. My route has become so familiar that I think I could complete it with a blindfold on. I see a lot of the same people day after day, so I guess I'm not the only one leading a repetitive life. Even though it was chilly today, this is a great time of year to be outside. Everything is so green and new wildflowers appear every day. Perhaps I could make better use of my time, but I don't think so. Being outside is good. It certainly beats staring at this screen.

We'll see what tomorrow brings. I don't really have high expectations at this point. Maybe my package will arrive. Maybe I'll hear good news from NASA about the next launch I applied for. Maybe Dawn will stay in the kitchen with me while I eat breakfast. Naw. That will never happen.

Joe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4080

I had a rare Zoom meeting today. I still don't understand people's fascination with Zoom. In most cases, a simple phone call would suffice. I've participated in a multitude of conference calls during my working years and I can't ever remember a need to actually see the other people. I somehow lost the shared screen during today's call, but I pretended to follow along. I guess my main problem with Zoom is that I can't slouch and stare off into space. I have to look at the camera and appear interested. I guess this is kind of like a real meeting around a conference table. I didn't like those either.

Since rain is in the forecast for tomorrow,  I reluctantly started raking leaves today. I didn't actually spend a lot of time raking. Most of my time was spent with the leaf blower, trying to get all the leaves out of the Liriope and Asian Jasmine ground cover. I thought all the leaves were dry, but there were many layers and the bottom layers were still soggy and wet. When we were younger, cleaning up the yard in the Spring was a routine event. Then for a while, we had a lawn care service do this chore for us. After we retired, we started pinching pennies and returned to doing the annual cleanup ourselves.  I doubt that all the leaves will be gone before it rains again, but at least we've started. For me at least, starting a chore is always the hardest part.

I'm still wondering what has happened to our mail. Deliveries have resumed, but we certainly haven't received a week's worth of accumulated mail. I have a feeling that some of this mail is gone forever. Most of the junk we get I would never miss, but I do hope that my copies of SpaceFlight Magazine turn up eventually. I'm old school. It doesn't really feel like I've been published unless I can hold the magazine in my hand.

I received a message from my new Air Force contact saying that I would soon be receiving instructions on the re-credentialing process and that I should be good to go well before the upcoming Starliner launch. I took this as a good sign that life will eventually return to normal. It's important to me to start covering launches again. In the grand scheme of things, whatever I write is not very important, but it does make me feel like I've got a job. I'd like to feel like I'm entirely self-motivated, but having deadlines and an editor does make me a lot more productive.

Janet was gone this afternoon, so I tried to see if Dawn would do some simple things with me. She likes to lie in the sun on nice days, but she wouldn't leave the bedroom on her own. Oddly, she's happy to follow me outdoors on a leash. When I take the leash off, she will go lie in the grass like she normally does. We did this several times this afternoon. She didn't appear scared when I led her outside on a leash. She just wouldn't leave the bedroom on her own. It's all very weird. Maybe Dawn thinks I'm a kennel attendant.

My foot hurt again today on my long walk. It's baffling why this varies from day to day. Actually, my foot hurt when I woke up this morning, so maybe I'm doing something wrong when I sleep. I'm tired of seeing doctors. I've seen four doctors about this over the years and nothing has changed. There are no fractures or bone damage. Other than some obvious arthritis, the foot is fine. I don't want to take strong pain medication, so I guess I'm stuck. I've seen people get addicted to pain pills and it's not a pretty sight. I'm a born complainer, so I'll live with the discomfort and just complain a lot.

The forecast says that it should start raining tomorrow afternoon. It looks like I'll be bagging leaves as fast as I can tomorrow morning.

Nora is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2317

There was a pile of mail on our doorstep early this morning. It obviously didn't come from the post office, so I will have to assume that it was another batch of misdirected mail that our mail carrier left at a neighbor's house instead. This has happened before. Luckily, our neighbors are usually more reliable about returning the mail than the post office is in delivering it. We used to have a fabulous mail carrier, but things have gone downhill in recent years. I suspect that the post office has become mired in bureaucracy, just like the veterans administration and other government agencies. It's hard to fire bad mail carriers too. They probably have a job for life.

It was difficult to focus on anything today. I had some websites to update, but there wasn't enough work to keep me occupied for long. I kind of drifted aimlessly through the day. I paid some bills, took a small check to the bank, picked up a prescription, and bought a big bag of Cheetos. I really try to eat healthy, but I've become addicted to Flaming Hot Crunchy Cheetos. I hope the red dye in these things doesn't give you cancer, because it sure stains your hands when you eat them. I don't know what happened to the guy who studiously avoided wheat products and dined on Kale and Quinoa for over two years. I hate to admit it, but I've become a culinary backslider, trading fish and fresh veggies for bacon cheeseburgers whenever I can.

My big production printer is out of ink again. Do I buy eight more expensive cartridges, or do I just give up on the thing? The printer is a relic from another era. I used to make beautiful very large Giclée prints. I sold the prints and had several gallery shows. After a while I lost interest. Now, I just make a small test print every evening to keep the printer from clogging. I've run through two complete sets of ink cartridges making the same test print over and over again. The printer is ready if I need it, but I doubt that I will ever need it again. I haven't made a large exhibition quality print in three years.

I don't take as many photos as I used to either, although I keep checking the B&H website every few days to see if the camera I want is still on sale. The camera has been discounted quite a bit, so I suspect that it is being discontinued. That doesn't matter to me. Practically everything I own has been discontinued. Truthfully, I don't need a new camera any more than I need a huge commercial ink jet printer. It's frustrating. I'm just as addicted to gear as I am to Flaming Hot Crunchy Cheetos, but the cameras and computers are much more expensive. There was a time when these things were just normal business expenses, but that ship has sailed. I'm going to have to come up with a less expensive way to spend my remaining years.

I've got lots to remember tomorrow. It's time for Dot to take her next batch of Palladia pills. Our physical therapy session is also tomorrow, even though I still keep thinking it's on Thursday. My leather jacket is ready to pick up at the tailor shop. I'm sure there are other things as well. I'll try not to take the trash out a day early like I did last week. It's hard to remember what day it is when you keep track by how many bananas are left in the kitchen. If it's four bananas, it must be Wednesday.

Marley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 535

I got distracted today trying to repair the rubber case on a Suunto watch. These watches are little technological marvels with built in altimeters, barometers, compasses and GPS tracking. Unfortunately, this state-of-the-art technology comes in a cheesy rubber case that starts to fall apart the minute you begin wearing it. I've patched, glued and tried to repair my Suunto case so many times that it probably wouldn't be waterproof anymore if I sneezed. I don't know why so many manufacturers put absolutely amazing technology in cheap plastic cases. The Zoom video camera I got for my blogging stint in Houston was the same way. The camera itself was full of professional features and performed very well. The case, on the other hand, was absolute crap. If you even held the camera too tightly in your hand, you would break it. There are companies like Sound Devices that manage to but fabulous technology in rugged, durable cases, but you pay an arm and a leg for the extra protection. I guess cheap plastic cases are a strange thing to be whining about, but I hate the stuff. I think everything should be made out of titanium.

The post office lost another check that I've been waiting for. This is the third or fourth time this has happened. The check was mailed on May 24 from just across town, so I definitely should have received it by now. It is not uncommon for the mailman to drop one of my letters in the wrong mailbox. What is uncommon is for the people who actually received my mail to take the time to return it. I guess I understand, but it still is frustrating. Most mail is junk these days. If you don't recognize something right away, you probably just throw it away unopened. That's what I do anyway. I hope I haven't accidentally thrown away someone else's check.

I think Summer is officially here. The dogs don't want to walk anymore. They're OK on their morning walk as long as I get started early enough. The evening walk is a disaster though. Usually, before we even get halfway, one of the two dogs will dig in their heels and refuse to move an inch further. I'll try all the normal sit, stay, heal commands, but they usually won't do anything. At this point, there's only one thing the dogs want to hear. When I say "are you dogs ready to go home," they both turn in unison and start walking briskly back toward the house. I'm not looking forward to July. Texas Summers might be one of the few things I dislike more than cheap plastic cases.

I started looking forward to the Memorial Day weekend at some point during the day and then I realized that the holiday was last week.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day