Day 4144

It didn't rain as much as expected, but it was still a gray, dismal day. I didn't even want to get out of bed this morning, but I followed my usual routine anyway. After breakfast, I confirmed my reservation at the Astronomer's Lodge and canceled my reservation at Prude Ranch. I'm glad I already reserved a rental car for the trip because I keep reading stories that rental cars are in very short supply now. Everything seems to be in short supply these days. Manufacturers can't get enough computer chips to make their products. I finally got my chips though and the laptop still seems to be working after my memory upgrade yesterday. Knock on wood. I'm hearing that there will be a gas shortage this summer because there aren't enough drivers qualified to drive the tankers that refill the gas stations. Hopefully this won't be a problem when I visit West Texas. It's hard to tell if the problems I keep hearing about are real or imagined because the media loves a crisis. So far, my life still seems pretty normal.

I ordered a used lens today that will be useful at the astrophotography workshop. I rarely buy used photo equipment because there is always something wrong with it. Maybe I'll get burned again, but I hope not. I just didn't want to spend a lot of money on a lens I probably won't use after the workshop is over. I mostly do pet photography these days and I always use fast, quick focusing automatic lenses. Simple, manual lenses are preferred for astrophotography though. 

There were very few people out in the park when I took my long walk. I guess everybody else was afraid of getting wet. I trusted the weather radar on my phone and only got hit with a few brief sprinkles. It was actually a nice, cool day for a walk. I actually prefer overcast days. Shadows are seldom a photographer's friend and photos tend to come out better when clouds soften the light.

The two large Muscovy ducks were reunited today. I'll probably never know what happened yesterday. I saw the mean little female duck that chased all the other ducks off the island for the first time in several months. Watching all the duck activity gives me something to do. Squirrels just aren't that interesting.

The wildflowers are in full bloom now. Somehow, the big freeze this winter didn't seem to hurt them at all.  I really need to spend an afternoon photographing the flowers while they are all still here. The flowers are definitely pretty, but it is hard for me to get excited because I have photographed most of them hundreds of times before. Maybe this is why I'm interested in astrophotography now. It is still completely new to me.

It looks like Dalmatian Rescue is picking up a Dalmatian from a local pound. Maybe Charlie and Cooper will have company soon. The animal control description of the dog called it a Dalmatian Mix, but it sure looked like a pure bred to me. This handsome boy is very young, so he will probably find a home soon. The young ones always seem to get adopted quicker. I'll look forward to seeing this new guy when he arrives at the kennel. A new Dalmatian always makes our Monday a little brighter.

The week's trash has been taken to the curb and I'm trying to decide who to write tomorrow. I owe my sister a letter and I'm still trying to figure out what is going on with NASA press accreditations in Florida. My sister will write me back. NASA probably won't.

Parker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3866

We were looking for a place to photograph Dawn this morning and I discovered some Buttonbush trees. Buttonbush flowers have always seemed strange to me, but now they remind me of the coronavirus. I guess there is good reason to be cautious of this plant. It's poisonous. Native people have used the Buttonbush tree for medicinal purposes for centuries, but don't let your dog get near it. One of the only reasons I started learning about Texas plants was to keep our dogs away from the poisonous ones. There's quite a few around here.

We got a late start on our walk this morning, but at least it was overcast so the heat wasn't so bad. It was very muggy though. Sometimes I think Dawn wishes we were lazier and just slept in on weekends. There are always a lot more people out walking on Saturday morning. The coronavirus had definitely gotten more people interested in exercising. We see a lot more joggers and cyclists in the park than we did this time last year. I preferred things when the park was empty, but I guess it's a good thing that people are finally starting to take fitness seriously.

I never can find everything on my shopping list anymore. There were plenty of blueberries today, but I couldn't find raspberries. I finally remembered to get air filters for the furnace and was surprised to see that the new ones were much more expensive. When I looked at the label when I got home I noticed that these filters had a fancy new layer that trapped even microscopic particles. I guess with all the interest in air conditioning systems and clean air these days, the store thought people would go for a more expensive filter. It might help if I looked at labels before I bought things.

I wasted most of the day trying to fix little things around the house. Janet had a battery powered fan that had sat around so long that the batteries had corroded and started leaking. I thought I could clean up the battery mess and fix the fan, but I failed. The fan motor had gone bad as well. There was a flickering light in the bedroom and I couldn't figure out whether the problem was the bulb or the fixture. Something was causing the LED bulbs to get too hot and they would shut off for a while and then come back on after they had cooled. Why now? This lamp has worked perfectly for years. There was also a clogged drain in the shower. Yuk. I hate pulling hair out of clogged drains.

Dawn seems really tired after our morning walks. I hope we aren't pushing her too hard. She is always eager to walk and never shows any of the warning signs of heat exhaustion. She kept up a good pace this morning and wasn't even panting, but as soon as we got home she went straight for her dog bed. Maybe this is normal. I kind of felt like going back to bed myself.

I doubt hat I'll do anything productive tomorrow. I don't feel like going back to the gym yet. Actually, I'm amazed that the gyms are still open. Things look like they are finally starting to improve in Texas but I don't put a lot of faith in these charts anymore. Some of the tests are notoriously inaccurate and it takes so long to get results that you could be negative when you take the test and positive by the time you get the results. Everyone measures things differently as well. Each country, each state, and even each city has a different method of keeping track of things. It would be nice if there was a little consistency.

No comet tonight. Our skies are very cloudy. Even if we do get clear skies in the next few days, the comet is going to be very hard to find. It's getting fainter every day. It still makes me mad that the one clear day I had, all my pictures were slightly out of focus. Hey, that Buttonbush flower is nice and sharp though.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3618

I stopped and talked with a guy who owned a Sprinter van while I was on my walk this morning. I've seen this guy in the park before and was curious how he liked his truck. After hearing tales about expensive Mercedes repairs and difficulties in driving around town, I had second thoughts about ever getting one of these things. He said he couldn't make u-turns because of the wide turning radius and couldn't use a lot of city parking areas because the truck was too tall to fit under the height restriction gates. A lot of these gates are pretty low. I had trouble getting the Defender under them. There were a lot of other little problems I never anticipated as well. So much for the idea of using a big van as a daily driver. The guy said he loves his truck for camping trips but drives his wife's Subaru whenever he can. I guess I'll put this idea on the back burner for a while.

Before taking my walk, I took some mail to the post office and stopped at the grocery store to get a Cadence Kitchen flash frozen meal for dinner. I thought I would pick the meal with the lowest salt content and ended up getting prime rib with mushrooms and onions. It was definitely milder than the spicy selections I usually choose. I guess if I was really worried about sodium, I would skip these easy to prepare meals and just cook something from scratch. Somehow, I don't think that's going to happen.

Don't let today's picture confuse you. I took it yesterday. Today the weather was overcast and dreary. I kept expecting it to rain, but luckily it never did. I think my roof repairs will be OK. It's weird that the weather makes such a huge difference in my attitude. Yesterday I was feeling good. Today was pretty dismal and it was all because of the weather. I'm hearing thunder now as well. Thunder is never a good sign.

I was wrong about photo backdrops. It turns out that there are still lots of different types of backdrops available. I was just looking in the wrong places. The technology is different now. Instead of hand painted muslin backdrops, there are lots of photo realistic designs that are printed on fabric that is wrinkle free and easily washable. These new designs are more expensive than the backdrops I used to buy, but if you can wash them they might actually save money in the long run. It's interesting that even in a weird little category like this, everything changes.

Will I ever become comfortable with change? Probably not. I could live comfortably in a world with typewriters instead of computers, carburetors instead of fuel injection, film instead of SD Cards, and wall phones instead of cell phones. I'm old school. I use my high speed fiber optic network to watch Perry Mason movies.

I am glad that someone invented the Vitamix blender and the Keurig coffee maker though. My breakfast wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable tomorrow without these handy gadgets.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1815

I wonder how much more forgetful I'm going to become? When I was driving Dot to her physical therapy session today, I noticed my skin turning a beet red color as I felt an intense burning sensation. It only took me a few seconds to realize that I'd inadvertently taken my evening Niacin pill with my breakfast meds. You're always supposed to take Niacin just before you go to bed, because one of the common side effects of this drug is an intense flushing sensation caused by the dilatation of small capillaries under the skin. When the blood rushes to these small capillaries, you feel like you're on fire. It's best if you're asleep when this happens. Luckily, Niacin flushing only lasts a couple of hours, so I was almost back to normal by the time Dot and I returned home.

Dot did really well in the underwater treadmill today. Everyone agrees that it is important for her to continue the treadmill therapy, but some days are better than others. Dot tires easily now and if we walk too far in the morning, or if she overexerts herself, we have to take it easy during her therapy session. Today was a good day and I hope there are many more to come.

This time of year quickly becomes so busy that I often wonder how I'm ever going to get everything finished. I looked at my calendar today and noticed that I have something major planned for every single day from now through the 23rd of December. Most of the things I have to do aren't even related to Christmas, but they will keep me very busy nevertheless. Dash has another cancer re-check coming up. I have several dental appointments, plus an initial evaluation by my new physical therapist. The weekends are filled with Santa Paws pet photo events and I have an appointment to get a haircut as well. I'm really starting to slow down. The thought of something major on my to-do list every single day seems almost overwhelming. When I was younger, I would have tried to schedule all these things on the same day.

I might have mixed up my meds this morning, but I did remember to take out the trash this evening. The dogs got both their walks, even though there was a light mist in the air for most of the day. Dot and Dash don't seem to mind overcast, damp days like today. It's the thunder and lightning they really hate. I didn't get around to investigating dental insurance like I had planned, but I'd better not postpone this too long. It would be just my luck to have the insurance go into effect after all the dental work was completed and not get any benefit from the policy.

I'm glad it's Friday tomorrow. This has been a long week. I definitely need to go to the grocery store, since the refrigerator is almost empty. I'm going to get a haircut in the afternoon, but the most important thing is going out for breakfast in the morning. I've been eating cold Swedish Muesli cereal all week and it's definitely time for something delicious.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1424

There's got to be some correlation between how much sunlight I receive and how much work I get done. It didn't rain today, but the sky was so dark and overcast that the streetlights stayed on all day. I didn't get much done at all. If the sun was shining, lord knows what I might have accomplished.

I got a utility bill in the mail for a service I canceled six months ago. This has happened before. More and more companies sign you up for automatic renewal by default and it's becoming next to impossible to actually cancel your service. Services you signed up for on the Internet are the worst. They all seems to have some sort of automatic renewal enabled. Service is so terrible these days that I seldom want to renew anything. It's frustrating.

I did have a nice breakfast, but you probably know that already. It's Friday, isn't it? I almost posted a picture of my eggs, until I remembered that this is what I did last Friday. Hey, if I can't inject some variety in my life, at least I need to create the illusion of variety. That's why you get an out-of-focus picture of my grey, gloomy day instead.

I actually had time to go to the gym this afternoon, but I was still sore from yesterday's workout. I did a load of laundry and tried to unclog my printer instead. The printer was quite clogged this time, so I did a Google search to see what other people were doing. The best advice I could find was to unlock the 4880 print head and squirt some distilled water on the capping station. We'll give that a try. I wonder what people did before there was a YouTube answer for every question in the universe. Where do people find the time to make all these YouTube instructional videos? I haven't had a question in a long time where I couldn't immediately find the answer on YouTube or Wikipedia. The answer might not have been correct, but does it even matter these days?

We get to try out our "put the spots on the Dalmatian" game at a rescue event this weekend. Janet and I haven't actually cut out the spots for the children to apply yet, but I guess that's what we will do tomorrow evening. There isn't much to watch on TV anyway.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day