Day 4097

I think Dallas has decided that the pandemic is over. Every week the roads and stores become more and more crowded. People are definitely eating out and restaurants seem to be operating at full capacity. Most businesses still require masks, but you see a lot more people without them now. It's hard to tell what's going on. You hear one thing on the news and see another thing in the streets.

There seems to be two parallel worlds now. I still see a lot of people wearing masks when they are walking alone outdoors in the park. Some folks still wear them when they are driving alone in their cars as well. On the other hand, I'm seeing a lot more large groups socializing together without masks now. People are planning weddings again. There are several event venues for rent in the park and I frequently see the party planning trucks out front, hauling in tables and chairs for another reception. I guess this is all to be expected. It is weird that everyone seems to have their own reality though. I wonder if this will ever change. I suspect that I will always be a bit more cautious around other people now. Why not. I was fairly cautious around other people before all this happened. Strangers have always been an unknown quantity. I've always worried about drunk drivers and crazy people wandering around on the streets. Now there is the added worry that someone might kill you by sneezing. 

I finished my shopping quickly today. I didn't need to get gas because I didn't go anywhere this week. This left plenty of time for a long walk. I was hoping to repeat yesterday's success, but it wasn't meant to be. I tried to walk faster, but my pace was considerably slower today. Did my feet hurt because I overdid things yesterday? I don't think so, but who knows. I was able to complete five miles, but I think I enjoyed the very slow walk that Janet and I took with Dawn a lot more. 

We've moved all our bags of leaves out to the curb now. All the other neighbors appear to have done the same thing. I think the city is going to have to add some extra trucks for this month's bulky trash day. There are a lot of Live Oak trees in our neighborhood, and the fact that the freeze caused all the Live Oaks to lose their leaves increased the number of bagged leaves considerably. Our yard is looking a lot better now. All we need is some new grass for Dawn.

The Kickstarter project I backed appears to have reached it's funding goal. Now we wait. Will this product deliver everything it promised? Will it even be produced? When will I receive it? You never know about these things. There appears to be a growing amount of skepticism about the ambitious product, but I'm still hopeful. I hope I haven't wasted my money, but I can recall wasting money on products that were actually sitting on store shelves. You wouldn't think a somewhat cynical ad guy could be fooled so easily, but we all can be fooled if we want to believe.

Dawn is still eating a lot of grass on her walks. Does this mean anything? She's still got a good appetite and her poop looks normal. Maybe I worry too much. The grass does look green and fresh. Maybe she just likes the taste. I wish dogs could talk so they could tell you if they were having problems. A talking dog would probably just gripe a lot and quickly become just as irritating as I am though. I guess barking is better.

I picked up some Chinese take-out for dinner and I've already got heartburn. I guess I'll never learn.

Wyatt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4050

These weeks go quickly. It's Dalmatian day at the kennel again. Cooper was much more relaxed this week. He has started playing with toys and we discovered that he already knows several commands. If you have a treat in your hand he will sit, lie down, stay, and come. Clyde is still pretty shy, but he will sit and extend a paw for a treat. Charlie is still a crazy nut. He loves the new toy we bought him last week. It is shaped like an octopus with tough webbing tentacles and a head made of a rope that has been knotted into a ball. The toy is virtually indestructible, but give Charlie enough time and he will figure out a way to "kill" it. He loves to take the toy and vigorously shake it back and forth. I'm surprised he hasn't knocked himself out. 

Dawn walked two miles today. We discovered that after she walks her mile in the morning, she will walk the same route all over again later in the day. She might not do this every day, but she seemed to enjoy a double walk today. The weather was so nice this afternoon that we all enjoyed a second walk.

I continued walking again after Dawn and Janet returned to the house. I probably should have gone home with them. For some reason my foot pain returned with a vengeance this afternoon. I was still wearing the special shoes the foot doctor recommended, but there was no magic today. My left foot hurt so bad after I had gone five miles that I could barely make it home. Oddly, my wrist hurt more than usual today as well. Maybe my aches and pains are weather related. The weather was really nice this afternoon, but there were severe thunderstorms and a lot of rain overnight. Truthfully, I have no idea why my joint pain varies from day to day. I understand what is going on with the loss of cartilage, but logically it seems like the discomfort would be constant.

I bought some more N-95 masks today. I have a feeling that we're going to be wearing these things for a while. It's odd that N-95 masks are still hard to find. I have to order them from a specialty medical supply company in New York. You'd think that after companies have had almost a full year to ramp up production, these things would be everywhere.

I'm still thinking about buying a new lens for my camera. I probably will. There's nothing like a new lens to get me photographing things again. I don't have a lot of natural curiosity about the world around me, but I do like to test equipment. I"m much better at preparing for things than I am at actually doing them. Hey, what's to lose? If I ever get to attend rocket launches again or spend time at observatories, I'll be ready.

Janet and I are still trying to figure out Dawn's odd reaction to me. She is very friendly when we are resting on the bed together. She is very nervous when I'm out in the kitchen. She loves to eat, but sometimes she won't even leave the bedroom when I'm fixing her meals. I've learned to never make sudden moves. If I move suddenly, she panics and runs away. She likes me to walk her though and is very good on a leash with me. This inconsistent behavior doesn't make a lot of sense. Dawn has spent her entire life in a kennel. Maybe she just thinks I'm a kennel attendant.

I hope my foot feels better tomorrow. I don't think I'm walking too much, but maybe I am. If I had to give up walking, I'm not sure what I'd do. So much is on hold until the pandemic is over that walking has become the perfect placeholder for meaningful activity. Nobody questions walking. If I sat in my room for months and did nothing, people might become alarmed. If I say I'm going on a walk, everything is fine. 

Bones is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3984

My editor likes the story and photos I submitted. I think my article will appear in the January issue of the magazine. Now it's on to the next adventure. I'd like to attend the static fire test of the Artemis 1 rocket that's scheduled to take place at Stennis Space Center in December, but that will require NASA approval. We'll see what happens. I applied for credentials months ago but almost forgot about it because the Artemis 1 Green Run tests have had many delays. This static fire would have have already taken place if it weren't for the recent Gulf hurricanes that I believe caused some damage to the test stand. Hopefully I will be approved. This is an easy trip that is much less expensive than going to Kennedy Space Center. I could even drive there is I needed to.

The only place I drove today was to the post office. It was time to mail another letter to my sister who refuses to use the Internet. Now that I pay all my bills online, mailing this periodic letter is the only reason I have to go to the post office at all. On the way home I stopped at the smokehouse again and got a small ham for Thanksgiving. Now I know what to ask for. The little hams are called "chops" because they are cut from the end of a larger bone-in ham. The smokehouse uses them to make sandwiches for customers in the restaurant section of the store. At any rate, I now have a holiday ham that is perfect for two people without a lot of leftovers.

I'm having a hard time getting up lately. We walk at the same time every morning, but it seems like I should be sleeping at least an hour longer. You don't keep Janet and Dawn waiting, so I stumbled out the door and woke up along the way. Our Fall colors are already fading. There are lots of leaves on the ground now, and the ones still on the trees are turning brown. I found a few colorful leaves this morning, but even these will be gone soon.

I've stopped looking at Sprinter Van websites. I have no desire to get an RV anymore. Hotels are much nicer. You can take long showers and you don't have to deal with the dreaded black water tank. I'm no longer looking at Ford Bronco sites much either. The new 4x4 is already sold out through the end of 2021. I wonder why I'm still looking at telescope sites? A good telescope is expensive, quite heavy, and there is nothing to see in Dallas anyway. It probably makes more sense to save my money and make a trip out to the Davis Mountains whenever I need a dark sky fix. 

Old habits are hard to break. I really need to curb my desire to acquire new gear when I'm still trying to get rid of old gear. I had to go to the storage warehouse the other day and the thought of cleaning that place out seems almost impossible. The office is just as bad. I'm a borderline hoarder and get no pleasure out of throwing things away. On the other hand, I'm the first to admit that life would be better if all the clutter was gone and I was just surrounded by things I actually use.

It's time to make a grocery list again. I wonder if I'll ever be able to go to a grocery store without feeling like I'm making a journey into the heart of Chernobyl? The weird thing about living through a pandemic is that you gradually get used to things that would have seemed unthinkable a few years ago. I hope the "new normal" never becomes something we just take for granted. We need to remember that life used to be better than this. I'm still hoping that those days will return.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3971

I got a haircut today, so I guess I'm ready for my trip to Florida. My stylist recently started her own company, so we talked about the joys and pitfalls of owning a business. I hope she does well. I'm glad that I'm not trying to start a company in the middle of a pandemic. Finding a good N-95 mask and worrying about whether my customers were going to give me a deadly disease wasn't even on my radar when I started my own company.

My grocery list was small today and I found everything I needed. The stores were busy today. I don't know why they even bother to put all those stickers on the floor telling people where to stand. Everyone completely ignores them. If it wasn't for all the masks, you'd never know there was a pandemic at all. I guess I wish the unnatural quiet of April and May had lasted a little longer. I liked the empty roads and uncrowded stores. I didn't like the hoarding though. Hopefully, we won't run out of toilet paper again.

We're finally starting to see a little Fall color around town. I'm beginning to notice a lot of reds and yellows among the trees during our walks in the park. We don't have many Maple trees around here, but there is some colorful foliage. Red Oaks actually do turn red in the Fall. Many of the Sumac trees are turning bright red as well. Dogwoods and Crepe Myrtles can be colorful too. Who knows. Maybe the trees will put on a show this year after all.

It's a shame that I don't have as much energy as I used to. I continue to get my 20,000 steps on most days, but that's about it. There were a number of chores that needed my attention today, but I just couldn't bring myself to tackle them. Mowing the grass and washing the car will have to wait. So will vacuuming the house. Grocery shopping and a haircut were all I accomplished today. Maybe I'll be more industrious tomorrow. The weather tells me that it's time to work in the yard, but my body tells me that it's time to take a nap.

Dawn still seems nervous around me when Janet isn't in the house. She must have had a terrible life with the two men who used her as a breeding dog. Dawn just isn't as comfortable around men as she is with women. I have a feeling that it is always going to be this way. Dawn isn't a young dog and her well established view of the world will be hard to change. This is still kind of new to me. All our other dogs instantly identified with my lazy doglike ways.

It's too bad my gym is closed on Sundays now. I"m finally ready to go back, but it's hard to find the time on a weekday. It's not like I'm super busy or anything. It's just hard to find the time because I'm so slow at everything these days. I doubt that I'll get any faster, but I'm definitely going to keep moving. Sedentary people my age begin to go downhill very quickly.

I'm watching tropical storm ETA carefully now. There's a good chance that it could mess up my trip to Florida. Current projections show the storm crossing back over Florida just about the time I'm due to arrive. If the launch gets delayed, I hope they decide something before I leave for Orlando. The last thing I want is to be landing right in the middle of this thing. There's really nothing I can do except to continue watching the weather reports. Hey, it's 2020 so almost anything could happen.

Chase is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3970

When some days draw to a close, I wonder if I've done anything at all. Today was slow, even by my own lax standards. I must have done something, but nothing comes to mind. Dawn seems to have adjusted to the time change quicker than I thought she would. She's content to sleep in until we get up now and doesn't demand her dinner at 4 PM anymore. We walk in the daylight now, even though the days are still getting shorter. The weather remains pleasant and we are finally starting to see some Fall color in the park. A lot of trees just turned brown this year, but there are patches of reds and yellows. You'd never mistake this place for Vermont, but it's starting to look pretty outside.

My watch said that my heartbeat was dangerously low last night. I guess 40 beats per minute is pretty low. I think this was a mistake, but I didn't even know that the Apple Watch warned you about this type of thing. The watch has also warned me about falls where I have never fallen. Are you OK it asks me? This all seems a little overprotective to me. It makes me wonder what else the watch is keeping an eye on. I just hope that it doesn't call an ambulance for me while I'm sleeping some night.

The company I ordered the N-95 masks from told me that shipping is taking  from ten to fifteen days because of hight demand. What did I pay for expedited shipping for? Ten to fifteen days was the time listed on the web site for regular shipping. I wonder why shipping takes so long when Amazon can send you almost anything in two days or less? I have a feeling that these masks will arrive the day after I leave for Florida. That's always the way these things work.

I got a notice that some events prior to the Crew-1 launch may be canceled due to tropical storm Eta. I wonder why they even plan launches when the weather looks bad. It happens again and again though. Sometimes they'll wait right up to a few minutes before liftoff to scrub the launch when it is clear that the weather isn't improving. I guess you have to be optimistic in Florida. I don't think I've ever been there when there hasn't been at least a little rain during the day. I hope the storm has either dissipated or moved on by launch day. I'd really hate to make this trip for nothing. It's kind of late in the season for a storm like this to appear, but then it is 2020. Anything can happen in a year like this.

I think I'll get a haircut tomorrow. It doesn't seem like that long since my last haircut, but it does look like I need one. All the virus restrictions have distorted my sense of time. I've really only had one haircut since last March. Maybe it is time. I always seem to wear better clothes and look more presentable when I travel. It's a shame that appearances don't seem to matter the rest of the time. Retirement and virus restrictions can definitely change your perspective on things. I'm amazed that I even get dressed some days.

It's grocery shopping time again. I finally found Clorox wipes but now they say that disinfecting wipes and toilet paper will soon be in short supply. Do I stock up and start hoarding again? Who knows. This whole year seems like groundhog day. The same things keep happening over and over. I always thought I liked consistency, but I'm not so sure about consistent chaos. 

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3920

I guess it was inevitable. I can no longer use the old Blogger layout to write the blog. I kept switching back to the original legacy version of Blogger for as long as I could, but today that option disappeared. I don't know why this is a big deal to me. I guess I just hate needless change. My familiar Facebook timeline is going away as well. I keep pressing the "return to legacy view" button, but I've been warned that this option will disappear in September. Hmm. I guess it already is September. I'm even reluctant to install IOS 14 on my phone because I've heard that Apple is changing the way the screen looks. I'm used to the way my phone screens look. I don't want anything new.

I don't have to worry about change on our morning walks. These walks are remarkably consistent. The seasons and the weather change of course, but natural changes are much easier to deal with. The seasons are actually very consistent. I'm not surprised by Fall weather. It is supposed to be cooler at this time of year. The motion of the moon and planets is extremely consistent. You can plot their positions for years in advance. Even the ducks and geese at the lake are fairly consistent. They are always in the water at night and routinely come ashore right around daybreak. 

I'm very comfortable with nature. It's people who are inconsistent. People get bored easily and like to change the way they dress and the types of cars they drive for no reason at all. All this needless change drives me nuts. As soon as I manage to find something I really like, it's gone. Maybe this is why I keep trying to fix old things. I guess I'm supposed to throw away my old computers, printers, and cars after three of four years. It is probably actually cheaper to toss things when they become obsolete. I keep trying to patch them back together. Old things are familiar and comfortable. Who really needs a faster computer or a car with LED headlights? I'm tired of all these needless changes.

I send the low resolution pictures to Sky & Telescope this morning even though they probably won't be needed for several months. I also wrote some people in Florida to find out more about upcoming launches. There are several interesting events occurring in the next several months, but I can only really afford to go to one. It's hard to decide, especially when Covid restrictions reduce access to everything. 

It's weird. Smoke from the West Coast wildfires is dramatically reducing visibility at dark sky areas all over the country. The Rio Grande valley, where the Boca Chica Space X facility is located, currently has the highest rate of Covid infections in the country. Florida and the Gulf Coast is having an unusually heavy hurricane season. It's almost like the universe is telling me to just stay home and wait until all this is over.

It probably would be wise to hunker down and forget about travel plans for a while. I've already been doing that for most of the year however. Eventually boredom and cabin fever become a significant part of your decision making process. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's decided that 2020 totally sucks. Unfortunately nobody has figured out how to hit the fast forward button and move on to something better.

I doubt that tomorrow will be better, but it probably won't be worse either. The weather still looks good and I bought some fresh strawberries for my smoothie. I just finished taking this weeks trash to the curb. I'm done for the day. I think it's time to hit the new orange "publish" button on my Blogger layout and see what happens.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3898

Sometimes monotony and boredom are good. At time like these I'm glad my life is devoid of drama. I certainly wouldn't want to live in the path of a hurricane. Laura looks pretty bad. It is already a Category 4 storm and growing stronger. I know a couple of people who live in that part of the country and I hope they have evacuated. It's probably too late to leave now.

Living near a beach has a certain appeal, but I think the chance of a hurricane would rule out coastal living for me. I prefer a place with no chance of hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, or earthquakes. Hmm. Where would that be? If you managed to find the perfect place, that's probably where the asteroid would fall.

I woke up again wondering what day it was. When I started this blog, I never dreamed that I'd be writing about a world where nothing happened for months at a time. Sure, things are happening on television. There is social unrest and a huge hurricane is closing in on the Gulf Coast. I try to avoid all that. The essence of social distancing is to put yourself in a little bubble. You start by staying six feet away from other people and pretty soon you want to be six miles away from everything. I still watch the news every morning while I drink my smoothie. So far, I haven't seen any good reason to rejoin the fray.

We had a nice walk this morning. We got started a little later than usual, but the park was still relatively empty. We found two of the three missing Muscovy ducks, but the female is still gone. Where could she be? There are more Great Blue Herons near the shoreline now. These birds are spectacular. I'm waiting for the White Pelicans to return now. It won't be long. I'm never going to be a birder, but these daily walks have taught me a lot about the local wildlife. We share our lake with some pretty interesting critters.

I think we're going to get some heavy rain tonight. I hear thunder in the distance now. We're too far away from the hurricane for tonight's weather to have anything to do with Laura's early rain bands. It's probably just a coincidence that it's raining here too. It's been dry this summer and we need the rain. I just wish I'd been a little more diligent about taking care of the roof. I don't think we're going to have a leak, but I've been surprised before. One thing is certain. It's a lot better to be worrying about a leaky roof than worrying about your house getting blown away in a hurricane.

There's a launch tonight that I really wanted to attend. Oh, well. It wasn't meant to be. Perhaps it is just as well that I haven't been able to work out my media accreditation issues at Kennedy Space Center. The launch is at 2:30 AM this morning and there are tons of mosquitos and bugs this time of year in Florida. 2:30 AM is past my bedtime anyway.

Tomorrow is another day. Or is it? It's hard to tell anymore. Maybe that thunder I heard was a false alarm. We still haven't gotten any rain. Stay safe if you are in the path of the hurricane. Stay safe if you aren't too. It's 2020 and anything might happen.

Cammy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3877

Wednesday has turned into house cleaning day. Don't look at me. I have lost all interest in cleaning, but I don't want to be a slacker. I still try to do my part. Today I vacuumed the house. I used to think the Dyson was amazing because it appeared to pick up so much dust. Now I suspect that the clear plastic cylinder is just a marketing gimmick to make you notice the dirt. The house doesn't seem any cleaner than it did with our old fashioned vacuum. It certainly was easier to empty a paper vacuum cleaner bag than it is to clean the Dyson. I have to go outside and use a leaf blower to get all the residual dust out of the canister after I empty it. Oh, well. The carpets and the Dyson are clean again until I have to repeat this exercise next Wednesday.

We got a later start on our morning walk today, but we got lucky with the weather. There was heavy overcast and a nice breeze that kept things cool. It didn't seem as humid today either. If you can manage to avoid the sun and the humidity, even August isn't quite so bad. We must be having a hot summer though. Our August electric bill hit an all time high. Something was fishy about that bill though. I know we have had hotter summers. I think the electric company just raised our rates.

At first it was baffling to me why the stock market was doing so well at the same time there was record unemployment and well known companies were going bankrupt every day. Now the answer is becoming clearer. The economy didn't shut down at all. It just changed. Some companies lost, but other companies were big winners and are doing better than ever. It seems like the pandemic just accelerated the rate of change that was happening anyway. Even Luddites like me have gone digital now. A wide varieties of companies have been urging me to use their mobile app, go paperless, and try online payments for years. All it took was a global pandemic to get me to change my ways.

I'm always curious about long-term trends. I think it will be five years before we realize how much has changed. I used to think everyone would revert to their old ways as soon as the lockdown was lifted. New habits are emerging though. We aren't going to be comfortable around strangers for a long time. Nobody even wants to ride in an elevator with me anymore. Handshakes are no longer going to be a common ritual. Ghost kitchens will become more popular than restaurants. Sports fans are going to have problems with the new normal, but ticket prices were becoming exorbitant anyway. Fewer and fewer people could even afford to go to a professional football game. Maybe fans will learn to love players in empty stadiums. I guess the big question is whether schools can safely reopen. If the kids have to stay home indefinitely, we are in for a world of hurt.

I guess we're just going to have to learn to live with the changes. Some of these changes were going to happen anyway. Just not as fast. Change is never easy and it is seldom fair. I'm certainly having problems dealing with all this. I need to remember the importance of staying flexible. Youth was all about staying flexible and seizing opportunities. It was only when I became older that I became set in my ways. We'll see how it goes. There will be winners and losers in the days and months ahead. It would be nice to be a winner.

Tomorrow we're going to try to get up early again. The flashlights are ready. I don't know how ready I'll be. I was never a morning person and it's not easy to change old habits. I'm convinced that the future will be all about changing old habits. I might as well get good at it.

Morgan is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3873

The park is so busy on Saturday mornings now. It never used to be this way. We got an early start today, but apparently not early enough. It was way too crowded on the trails. Is the pandemic turning us into a nation of fit and healthy people? Naw. Probably not.

I ran my usual Saturday errands after breakfast and on the way home a warning light came on saying that I had a low tire. Typically I would have gone to the dealership because the tires are filled with nitrogen. I didn't have the patience to sit around for several hours, so I went home and got out the air compressor. Ordinary air will do just fine. I couldn't find any nails in the tires, so I filled them up to the required pressure and called it a day. I used to do this all the time with the Defender, but I haven't used the compressor in so long that I was surprised that it even worked.

Dawn took her monthly heartworm pill this morning. I'm glad that she's relatively healthy and doesn't need a lot of meds. Giving the dogs their pills eventually got very complicated with Dot and Dash. So far, I take the most pills in the family. Nothing exotic, but they all are necessary. If you aren't taking any meds at my age, you probably aren't seeing the doctor enough.

I wonder why it took me so long to warm up to online banking? It sure is easier to pay bills this way. It only took me a few minutes to pay my utility bills this morning. I haven't gotten around to depositing checks using my phone yet, but it's only a matter of time. If the pandemic has caused me to change ingrained habits like going to the post office every few days, I imagine that other people's habits have changed as well. I read an article the other day that said ice cream sales are up and deodorant sales are down. Somebody is certainly selling a lot of bicycles in town. I've never seen so many cyclists in the park. Life is changing and some of the changes are going to be permanent.

Sadly, a lot of jobs will never return. Companies are already discovering that they can do just as well with fewer people. So many of us were always non-essential and just didn't realize it. I've been non-essential for most of my life. I was just lucky that my clients and employers seemed to find me useful.  I'm sure the pandemic is already creating a wide variety of brand new jobs. Change always creates new jobs. Actually, this probably isn't a bad time to be a web designer. Everything takes place online these days. I'd have to know a lot more if I was starting a web design shop today. Things were a lot simpler back when I started my company. Life in general was simpler then. It's not that surprising that I would like to find a time machine and go back.

I picked up Chinese food for dinner tonight. When I went to the restaurant to get my order, there was an entire section reserved for DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub deliveries. There seemed to be a constant stream of drivers picking up orders. There seems to be a lot of people in grocery stores doing home delivery or curbside pickup shopping as well. This is probably why I can never find Clorox Wipes. I got a mailing from one of the New York auction houses that sold my art a few years ago. It was about an upcoming sale of one-of-a-kind face masks created by well known artists. I wonder if all this strangeness will just seem normal next year? We're not in Bladerunner territory yet, but we're definitely headed in that direction.

Snoopy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3868

It's Dalmatian Day again. We have a new boy named Marshall on the way, but for now there are still just three dogs at the kennel. Luckie is really making progress. She trusts the kennel staff now and didn't seem nearly as shy as she did last week. She loves treats and Janet and I were both able to get her to come over to us for a cookie. Luckie might even have a forever home in the near future. We learned today that someone is looking at her this week. Charlie and Hank seemed quieter than usual. Maybe it was the heat. They played with their toys for a little bit, but mostly they just wanted to sit next to us. Not surprisingly, the two boys were just as interested in treats as Luckie. Hank has learned to sit for a treat and Charlie has a whole repertoire of tricks to impress us with.

We managed to get an early start on our walk with Dawn this morning and it was definitely worth the effort. The combination of an overcast sky with a nice breeze made the walk fairly pleasant for late July. Dawn seemed to agree. She had lots of energy today and we completed our full five miles. The park is much less busy on a weekday, but we still encounter a lot more people than we would have at this time last year. I used to remember the park being completely empty on a Monday morning. Those days are gone. There are too many folks who are still out of work and looking for something to do.

I wrote one of my Air Force contacts today to ask about the status of my media accreditation request for upcoming military launches at Kennedy Space Center. I imagine that everything has been delayed because of the coronavirus, but I would have thought I'd have an answer by now. I submitted my application months ago. It's hard for me to be patient when so many things have been put on hold. I'm very polite because I don't want to burn any bridges, but I wish I could figure out a way to move the ball forward. I'm ready to resume writing about rockets and astronomy.

I'm doing a better job of maintaining contacts with my friends out at the observatory. I got a letter from one of the astronomers today. I'm pretty sure that I'll be welcome back as soon as the place opens up again. Lord knows when that will be though. There are certainly no plans at the moment. I don't think anyone is welcoming visitors now. Even the National Parks are starting to regret opening up again. I imagine Disneyland is having second thoughts as well. Until the situation changes, I'll have to be content with making travel plans in my head while I watch the ducks and geese at the park.

I wonder if anyone realizes the true extent of the mess we have managed to create? Some say that at least half the jobs lost during the pandemic will never return. People are leaving big cities in droves. Why live in a city when the stores are boarded up and you've lost faith in public transportation. Now that they're saying the virus can be transmitted through air conditioning systems, is anyone ever going to want to come back to work in a high rise? I doubt it.

With bad news everywhere you look, this is starting to look a lot like the fall of the Roman Empire. Civilizations come and go but I never thought I'd witness something like this during my lifetime. It's easy to focus on what is happening in the United States, but the changes I'm seeing are global. I sure hope the world can manage to get it's act together. When Rome fell, it wasn't followed by the Renaissance. The Middle Ages lasted for a very long time.

Deuce is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3862

One of my credit cards got updated recently with a new contactless version that you don't need to insert in a terminal. For some reason the bank decided to change the number on the card, so I thought I would have to update all my online accounts. Much to my surprise, most of the websites where I had an account on file already had the new credit card number before I even had a chance to tell them about the changes. Weird. I've long suspected that privacy is just an illusion and that all our secrets are out there in the cloud already. I was initially surprised when I started using online banking services to pay bills. The whole process was so easy. It's all starting to make sense now. The banks and financial institutions already know everything about you.

It was supposed to rain today, but it never did. All we got was a lot of humidity. We took a shorter walk this morning just to get back inside where it was air conditioned. Our clothes were so damp from the humidity that it might as well have rained. At least rain would have been cooler.

I don't think I did anything productive today. I continued to sort thorough old photo gear, looking for the perfect lens to take a picture of the comet. I was looking for a fast manual telephoto with clear distance markings on the lens so I could focus easily in the dark. All my new digital cameras have lenses that focus electronically. You can set them to manual mode, but the focusing is still done electronically. This makes it hard to focus when you turn autofocus off and can't see anything through the viewfinder. Some of my best comet pictures the other day were ruined because the lens wasn't exactly set on infinity. If I want to use these new lenses for astrophotography, I guess I need to focus on a distant object in the daytime and then tape the lens barrel in place. It probably doesn't matter anyway. There are lots of clouds on the horizon tonight. Time is running out. I might not see the comet ever again.

Dawn has another vet appointment in the morning to recheck for crystals in her urine. Hopefully, she will cooperate and give us a sample before we go to the vet. I think Janet has perfected a method of getting a urine sample from Dawn, but it still doesn't work every time. If you don't place the ladle just right when she starts to pee, you are out of luck. I think the vet is still under Covid protocol. You can't actually go in the exam room with the vet. A vet tech just takes your dog to the back and then you wait for the results. It's weird that everyone seems to have different rules for dealing with the virus. I haven't gone out much, but the dermatologist, dentist, and hair salon all clearly had very different rules. The restaurant where we went for my birthday dinner didn't seem to have any rules at all.

The longer this pandemic goes on, the more envious I am of my friends out at McDonald Observatory. They were socially distanced before the pandemic even began. When the observatory closed to the public, they didn't have to worry about people at all. This sounds perfect to me. What could be better than getting paid for doing something interesting without any of the craziness that the rest of us are dealing with. I worry that they might start to like the isolation and never open the observatory again.

I hope Dawn's exam goes well tomorrow. I'm not ready for any sort of doggie medical problems. Been there and done that way too many times.

Katie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3859

I found most of the items on my grocery list this morning. It remains to be seen whether I'll find the comet tonight. While I was out grocery shopping and running errands today, I scouted some more promising locations. Everyone says you have to be at least ten miles away from the city to see this thing with the naked eye. I'm not going that far, but I did find a little hill that might be better than down by the lake. We'll see. I hate driving at night. I might not even have the nerve to leave the house tonight.

We got a late start on our morning walk, but at least we had a breeze this morning. Saturday morning is always busier than other days of the week. We see the same people in the park day after day. At first I thought it was curious that everyone seemed to always wear the same clothes when they walk or jog. Then I realized that Janet and I do the same thing. I guess there is no sense in changing outfits on pre-dawn walks. We know the names of a few other dogs now. People are always curious about Dawn. We trade names and ages of our dogs as we pass on the trails. We keep our distance, but early morning walkers seem like a nice group of people.

I found blueberries again at the store, but I don't think I'll ever find Clorox Wipes. Now that conditions are getting worse in Texas, I hope people don't go back in hoarding mode. Shopping was just starting to feel normal again with most items back on the shelves. People do seem a bit nervous now. I know I am. When I was getting gas this morning I noticed two ladies sitting in their car at the next pump. They were both wearing gas masks that covered their entire face and purple rubber gloves inside their car. I haven't seen that before. I still wear the old drywall masks I bought at a hardware store a long time ago. I'm not sure how good they are, but they seem to last a long time.

Days are still extremely uneventful. I easily got my 20,000 steps today after two walks and a little grocery shopping. I'm working on getting Dawn to trust me more. She's still more comfortable around women, since the breeders who mistreated her were both men. I've learned never to make any sudden moves when I'm around her. She walks well on a leash with me and relaxes when we are both on the bed together. She's still a little wary when I'm doing something unfamiliar though. I'm fairly predictable. Eventually everything will become familiar. You just have to be patient with rescue dogs.

I think I'm going to go ahead and get a haircut. My stylist really needs the work. Since I'm retired, it's easy for me to forget how hard the pandemic has been on people who have a small business. Gig workers have it the worst I think. My stylist is very careful and I have an N-95 mask. I don't think I can wait until this is over anyway. Covid is going to be with us for a very long time.

You didn't know I was gone, but I took a break from writing for a couple of hours and went looking for the comet. Found it. I went to the only hill I could find in Dallas and discovered that there were other people looking as well. One couple I spoke with had even been out to a special observing night at McDonald Observatory. The comet was almost impossible to see with the naked eye, but looked spectacular in my image stabilized binoculars. I took some pictures but they didn't turn out very well. The sky just wasn't dark enough. I did see a pretty bright meteor though. Too bad my camera was pointed in the other direction at the comet. It was surprising to meet random astronomy people on a hill in the dark in the middle of a pandemic. They were nice people though. Maybe a comet brings out the best in us.

Beemer is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3856

I received a notice this morning that NASA rejected my request for media accreditation for the July 30th Mars 2020 launch. The language in the notice was exactly the same as it was for the DM-2 launch last month.  "Due to the continued COVID-19 pandemic, we had to limit the number of media permitted on site, etc..." I wasn't going to go to Florida anyway, since it has become one of the world's leading virus hotspots, but this was still sad news. How long is this going to go on? I'm sure there are many people who have had more important plans interrupted, but this is very frustrating. I haven't heard from the Air Force yet, but I doubt that they are credentialing out of state visitors right now either. Florida is struggling. So is Texas for that matter. Maybe 2021 will be better.

The skies have been clearing this afternoon and I decided to try and find the comet this evening. I scouted out a few locations on my afternoon walk and thought if the skies remained clear, I might finally be able to see it. The best location I found still has some trees on the horizon, so wasn't sure if the comet would clear them. I wasn't sure if sunset haze would obscure things either. Hey, what did I have to lose.

It was another hot day. Getting started on our morning walk before 6 AM really helps. It is noticeably cooler before the sun rises. Today we had a nice breeze and lots of cloud cover too. We had a nice walk and were able to complete our full five miles. Dawn seems to be an early bird. She likes these early walks as long as she gets her breakfast first. Dogs have their priorities. I'm content to wait for breakfast until we finish our walk, but Dawn wants to eat as soon as she gets out of bed in the morning.

If I'm able to find the comet tonight, I'll want to take a picture of it as well. Hmm. How do I take long time exposures with my good camera? Seems like I've done this before, but it's been a while. I looked up directions on the Internet and the procedure was a little more complicated than I anticipated. With old mechanical cameras you just set the shutter on bulb and used a locking cable release to activate the shutter. With modern digital cameras you have to disable a lot of automatic functions before you can use the camera manually.

After spending an hour looking for the comet, I finally had to admit defeat. I saw nothing. The sky was pretty clear, but there was haze on the horizon. Actually, there is always a thin haze on the horizon down by the lake. If I really want to see this comet, I'm going to have to get in the car and look for a higher elevation. It's possible that I was just looking in the wrong place, but I don't think so. There were many maps on the Internet showing just where to look.

I've never been wild about venturing into the park at night. It's dark, there are coyotes, and there are always the voices. I can always hear people off in the distance that I can't see. What are these people doing? Every time I've gone into the park to look at stars at night, I hear these hidden voices. It's kind of creepy.

When I returned to the house from my futile comet hunting excursion Dawn didn't initially recognize me and started barking like crazy. She's a good little watch dog. I wish she'd watch things a little more carefully though and realize that it's me coming in the house. Don't bite me girl. I'm friendly.

Lizzy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3835

Dawn got a bath today. Yes, that was the big event of the day. We took her to a neighborhood dog-wash place and probably erased weeks of car conditioning efforts. As far as Dawn is concerned, a bath is even a worse destination than the vet. None of our dogs have liked getting baths, but it was time. The dog-wash place was busier than we expected, but everybody was wearing masks. I thought the restaurant we went to on my birthday felt safer. I'm sure Dawn would have agreed. She would have loved to accompany us to the steak house.

Since Dawn was good about getting bathed, we took her to get an ice cream cone on the way home. All is well now. We have a clean dog and Dawn is starting to think that all car rides end with ice cream.

I forgot what day it was again. For a while this morning I thought it was Tuesday. I guess it's understandable that the days would blend together. The pandemic has made them virtually indistinguishable. It's a shame that infection rates are going up in Texas. I was hoping that things were returning to normal. I'm hearing now that some stores and restaurants are thinking of closing again. I might have missed my chance to get a haircut. We'll see what happens in the next week or so, but things aren't looking good.

Things aren't looking good in Florida either. I really doubt that I'm going to get media accreditation to attend the Mars 2020 launch now. Especially since states are starting to impose travel bans on other hot-spot states. Even if I did get approved, I'm not sure if it would be wise to go. Air travel still seems questionable. Now that we are all getting used to the idea of distancing, I wonder if people will ever feel safe on a plane again. Do you remember how crowded a full plane actually is? Yikes. I haven't been that close to other people since this whole mess started.

Our early morning walks are still enjoyable, but it is definitely getting warmer. At least the rain is gone for a while. I don't know if we could get started any earlier. I'm half asleep when we leave the house as it is. The only way to get more sleep would be to get to bed earlier. I've tried, but it seems to take longer and longer to finish the blog every evening. It's hard to write when you've got nothing to say.

I got a call from the dermatologist's office today saying that my biopsy results were negative. What biopsy? I didn't even know they did one when they removed the keratosis from my face. I guess this is good news. The blemishes were not melanoma or even a pre-cancerous lesion. It's a little late now, but I didn't need to have these things removed in the first place. Better safe than sorry though. You don't want to mess around with anything that might turn into cancer.

It looks like I'm going to have to go up on the roof tomorrow. There's still water up there from our recent rain. The hotter is gets, the worse it is up on the roof. Being a roofer has got to be one of the worst jobs in the world. Oh, well. I've got to keep the roof free of water. It's the only way I'm going to keep the leak from returning.

Hopefully, I'll remember that tomorrow is Thursday. I can't forget trash day since we seem to generate a lot of trash. I hope nothing terrible happened today. I didn't even turn on the TV.

Rio is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3832 - Father's Day

Mom used to say that I was her Father's Day gift to Dad, since my birthday was so close to Father's Day. I think Dad would have preferred a Bass boat or even a new fishing rod. We weren't close for many years. It took a long while for each of us to realize how similar we were. I don't think children are destined to become like their parents, but it does help to understand where you came from. Although Dad and I followed very different paths in life, I grew to respect him. He was a good man. I hope Dad didn't feel like I let him down in the end. When I had to get a Power of Attorney and take over his affairs I know he was disappointed. I never was able to get him out of critical care. Getting old and sick is a bitch. I still think Dad's fate might become mine as well. That's why I try so hard to stay healthy.

Today was another rainy day. By carefully watching our weather radar apps, Janet and I were able to give Dawn her morning walk, but we were housebound for much of the day. I'm glad I didn't try to remove the standing water from the roof yesterday. It would have been a wasted effort. I'm pleased that after two heavy rains, there are still no roof leaks. I think I did a good job of patching things earlier in the year. There is still work to do, but nothing is critical now. I think it is safe to turn my attention to other things that are falling apart.

Since McDonald Observatory is still closed, some of the resident astronomers have started live streaming their evenings at the observatory's telescopes. I've subscribed to one of these podcasts and it makes me really miss my time on the mountain. I have a small telescope but there are too many lights in our neighborhood and I don't feel safe taking the telescope into the park at night. The splendid isolation of Mount Locke is the exact opposite of life in the city. You have to be cautious about mountain lions, javelinas and bears, but there are few worries about other people. When you live in a city you quickly realize that people are the most dangerous animals of all.

I tested a lot of old cameras and electronic gear this afternoon. Everything still seemed to work, but there were a lot of batteries that needed to be replaced or recharged. I used to be a lot better at keeping my gear operational and ready to go. It's hard to be all that diligent when you realize that you will never use a lot of this stuff again. Much of my equipment is obsolete. It got a lot of use in the 1990's when my business was flourishing but times have changed and I tend to hold on to things too long. It was easier to get rid of my art and collections because I knew that the stuff had resale value. Old studio gear is different. I'm either going to have to toss this stuff or add it to the growing pile in the storage warehouse.

My gym is open again, but I didn't go today. I'll probably eventually return, but for now my long walks seem like all the exercise I need. There are so many new rules at the gym that it hardly seems worth the trouble. One of my favorite things was shooting baskets and I think they've closed the basketball court. They don't want anyone touching the basketballs. I guess I could bring my own, but it is a collector's item given to me by Dick Vitale. I'll wait.

I hope I can find something useful to do next week. I still need to get a haircut and I'm hoping to hear from NASA about the Mars 2020 launch. I have my doubts that I'll be able to attend this launch, but one can always hope. Eventually, something has to return to normal.

Barley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3824

When I was leaving the grocery store this morning I noticed that the guy ahead of me had a package of Clorox Wipes in his buggy. How could I have missed these? I've been looking for them for months. I went back into the store and asked an employee where I could find the elusive Clorox Wipes display. "We're sold out," he told me. "You must have seen the guy who bought the last ones today." I asked when the store was getting more and was told that they were receiving a pallet of wipes several times a week. This was encouraging news. I've been convinced that when Clorox Wipes were on the shelves again the pandemic would be over.

I'm going to buy a ton of Clorox Wipes the next time I see them again. I'll buy a bunch of N-95 masks if I happen to see those too. It hard to believe now that these masks used to be a common item in the paint section at Home Depot. Even though I continue to see crowds in the park and traffic is back to pre-pandemic levels, I don't think anything is over. The virus will ebb and flow for the next year or so. People will forget about it for a while and then they will panic all over again. Civil unrest probably won't disappear until after November 3rd. Call me cynical, but I think both political parties have reasons to keep stirring the pot right up until election day.

I think the only way to restore a sense of normalcy quickly would be if there was a way to completely eliminate the media for 30 days. I"m talking about all the media, including Facebook and Twitter. The media loves a crisis. They always have. A crisis is good for ratings. Wars. Hurricanes. Civil unrest. It's their bread and butter. Have you ever noticed how quickly war correspondents rise through the ranks at news organizations? Cover a good war for a while and sooner or later you are hosting the evening news.

At any rate, without the media constantly stirring the pot to increase their ratings, we might actually be forced to talk to our neighbors to find out what is going on. Without looking at the world through the distorted lens of social media, we might actually go outside and notice that our immediate surroundings aren't so bad after all. I know a few people who are little terrors on social media that are actually fairly nice when you can sit down and have coffee with them. We need a lot more real conversations and a lot fewer emojis.

Our society has made has made it far too easy to act without thinking. The ignorance I'm seeing these days is breathtaking. When you form your opinions by looking at memes, you wind up vandalizing a statue of Matthias Baldwin without even realizing he was a leading abolitionist. When you keep saying you've got to "follow the science" without having a clue what scientists actually do, you wind up wearing a mask when you are driving alone in your own car. When you try to start the next revolution by turning a few city blocks in Seattle into a low rent copy of Burning Man, you probably just leave advocates for real social change shaking their heads in despair.

I've said it before and I'll probably say it again. Everything we have experienced in the last six months has been made worse by social media. We live in a world where everyone is glued to their phone and nobody talks to their neighbors. The traditional media isn't helping things either. They keep pouring gasoline on the flames in a mostly failing effort to stay relevant. Lord help us in the days ahead. We have become a nation of idiots.

Marcie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3805 - Memorial Day

Another all day rain. This one was a soaker. We thought we could squeeze in a shorter walk this morning, but we were wrong. The storm moved faster than we did and by the time we returned home we were all very wet. Oh, well. We tried. I think Dawn would have preferred to sleep in late.

I must have done a decent job on roof repairs because even though we have had a ton of rain this Spring, there is still no evidence that the leak has returned. I left the pumps running all day today. They can't keep up with the rain, but over time they do help reduce the amount of standing water on the roof. It's clear that I will be up on the roof again soon. I've just got to wait for the rain to stop.

The wet weather didn't stop us from visiting the Dalmatian kennel. Today, in addition to playing with all the dogs, we photographed Murphy, our new arrival. Murphy is an owner surrender. Like most owner surrenders, I can't imagine why anyone would even consider giving this dog up. Murphy was extremely friendly and had obviously had some obedience training. He knew how to sit, stay, and lie down. He also seemed very adept at catching treats in the air. I don't think Murphy will be with us for very long. He's an amazing dog and should find his forever home very soon.

There were no Memorial Day picnics in the park today. There wasn't even much traffic on the roads. A hard rain really puts a damper on things. There is more rain in the forecast for tomorrow, but I hope the forecast is wrong. I'm sick of this wet weather. Pandemic confinement is bad enough on a good day, but wet weather makes it seem even worse. As long as I can take a long walk, I'm fine. Sitting in the house watching TV while rain pounds on the roof gets old quickly though. I'm totally over listening to "experts" disagree with each other about the virus. It's refreshing to occasionally hear a thoughtful person admit to the world that actually nobody has any answers.

The weather isn't looking good for Wednesday's Demo-2 launch. Maybe NASA's new media restrictions just saved me from making an expensive trip to Florida to view a launch that ended up getting scrubbed. This has happened to me before. Sometimes it is possible to stay an extra day or two, but other times you end up going home without seeing anything. Hopefully, everything will go according to schedule. Whatever happens, I'm sure I'll be streaming the event on my computer.

I'll add Murphy to the Dalmatian Rescue website tomorrow. Hopefully the skies will clear so we can take a decent walk without getting wet. Maybe I can think of something else to do as well. It's hard to believe that it's almost June. Half the year is already gone and the world is still on hold. I'm certainly on hold myself. There are no observatory trips to plan. I have no idea when Kennedy Space Center will open again. I haven't heard from the Air Force yet either. I'm a self-motivated person by nature but it's hard to get excited by anything when the world feels like a giant jigsaw puzzle that has just been dropped on the floor. I'm not smart enough or patience enough to put all the pieces back together. You probably aren't either.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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