Day 4013

My new shoes are a success. I wore them for the first time on our morning walk with Dawn and experienced considerably less foot pain. There are still a few aches and pains, but what a difference. My late afternoon walk was even better. Usually by this time of day my feet are wrecked, but I was able to walk reasonably normally this afternoon. These shoes weren't cheap, but they are worth every penny. I feel like I have one less problem to worry about.

The broken dehumidifier that Janet dragged out to the curb for bulky trash pickup is already gone. I told Janet that someone would probably take it because it still looks new. Some poor fool probably thinks they scored a real find. It will take weeks for them to discover that the machine is basically worthless. It still turns on and sounds like it is working. All the buttons and displays still function. It just does a terrible job of extracting moisture from the air. Since the machine still extracts a little water from the air every day, the new owner might think that this is the way it is supposed to work. Nope. It's broken. Maybe I'll go get the other broken dehumidifier from the storage warehouse and put it out for big trash day too. Someone will inevitably snag this worthless machine as well. I know how this works because I used to be one of those people who would bring home worthless treasures I found along the side of the road.

Dawn is definitely back to normal. She had lots of energy this morning and we were able to take our full five mile walk. She seemed happy that I was able to walk a little faster as well. Even the dog likes my new shoes. Every morning we see four Muscovy Ducks. These ducks are kind of rare and stand out among the other ducks. Two males and one of the females always hang out together. The other female always seems lost or shy. Sometimes she follows along behind the other Muscovy Ducks. Other times she tries to hang out with the geese. Today we found her with a bunch of little black Coots. I've started to feel sorry for this pitiful little duck. All the other ducks seems to have rejected her. You know you've been walking a long time when the wild animals start to develop personalities. I'd never see all these things if I was just walking on a treadmill at the gym.

It was overcast this morning, but by sunset the sky was completely clear. I was able to see Jupiter and Saturn again. They keep getting closer and closer together. Maybe Monday evening will be clear. There has been such a media buildup about this planetary conjunction that it will be a disappointment if I don't get to see it. My best view tonight came as I was walking from the parking lot to pick up Chinese take out for dinner. I like PF Changs in Northpark, but this was not the best time to visit the mall. The place was packed around dinner time and it was almost impossible to find a parking place. There is such a disconnect between what I see on TV and what I see around town. On television the world is still shut down. In Dallas everything seems normal. Parking lots and restaurants are full. People are going to work and doing lots of shopping. They say hospitals are filling up in Dallas, just like other cities. You'd never know it though. The city seems exactly like it did last Christmas.

The shopping app on my phone didn't work today and I had to check out with a cashier. How old fashioned. I've totally adopted the new normal. I like contactless shopping and online pill payment. The fewer people I need to interact with the better. I don't miss holiday family gatherings at all. I never got along with my own family anyway. I don't really like wearing masks, but I find myself turning into a mask snob. I bite my tongue, wanting to tell other people that their cloth mask is worthless or that they are wearing it wrong. Maybe I'm wearing mine wrong as well. I don't think anyone has really mastered pandemic etiquette yet.

I'm going to try to throw some stuff away at the storage warehouse tomorrow. I'd better take Janet with me or I will just start labeling things and leave all the junk there. There has got to be an easier way to declutter. Getting rid of things still seems foreign to me.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4012

Dawn seems to be feeling better. We had a nice walk this morning and Dawn showed no signs of discomfort. We thought it would encourage her to walk if we let her choose the way. Luckily it was dry outside because Dawn quickly left the trail and went down by the shoreline. There's lots to smell down there. The uneven ground was a little harder on my foot, but Dawn had fun.

I followed my orthopedic surgeon's suggestions and got the running shoes he recommended. They definitely felt different in the store, but it remains to be seen whether they will cure my foot pain. I mostly buy shoes in self-serve discount stores, so it's been a while since I've had anyone fit me for a shoe. It appears that shoe shopping has gone high-tech. I stood on a special machine that displayed pressure points in your step as different colors. Even when I was standing relaxed with my weight equally distributed on both feet, it looked like I was placing more weight on my left foot. Interesting. Apparently I was compensating for something. Maybe it was the old knee injury in my right knee. I'm not expecting miracles, but I hope these new shoes help. I do like to walk. It's about the only form of exercise that I actually enjoy.

I'm glad I made an effort to look at Jupiter and Saturn the other day. It was overcast today and it occurs to me that I may not get a chance to see the planets again before the conjunction. The weather might be beautiful on Monday, but you never know here in Texas. If it is clear on Monday evening I'm going to attempt to photograph the planets through the biggest telephoto lens I've got. It's not a telescope, but it will have to do. I don't have the right adaptors to attach my camera to the one telescope I do own. I doubt that the photos will be spectacular, but taking pictures helps me remember things. I definitely won't have the opportunity to observe something like this again.

It's weird that after seeing two highly regarded medical specialists this week that their recommendations were just to change the shoes I was wearing and starting taking more Pepcid AC.  Somehow I was expecting much more complicated remedies. I sure would be nice if I could eliminate the foot pain, coughing, and heartburn with such a simple solution. One added benefit of taking Pepcid is that a recent research study showed that Covid patients taking Pepcid were 45% less likely to die in the hospital. I don't think the new shoes will have any effect on the virus.

I paid my property taxes today. Somehow, I was under the impression that property taxes were capped for senior citizens and wouldn't go up any more after you turned sixty-five. That was clearly wrong. They went up quite a bit this year. I'm sure this is a sign of things to come. Municipalities are losing a lot of sales tax revenue because of virus restriction and online shopping. They're going to get the money wherever they can find it. Oh, well. At least I won't have to worry about this bill for another year.

Where did this week go? It's already time to make a grocery list again. If it's not raining tomorrow morning I'll wear my new shoes on our walk with Dawn. I'll add a Pepcid to my list of evening meds as well. 

Alvin is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4011

My swallow test was inconclusive. I thought this might happen. I ate or drank a variety of substances, all mixed with barium so they would show up on the x-ray video. It doesn't appear that I have any problems with pulmonary aspiration or dysphagia. The doctor said that my swallowing actually appeared fairly normal. She suspected that the coughing was associated with my ongoing heartburn problems. I used to take Protonix, a proton pump inhibitor that effectively eliminated the heartburn. As I grew older doctors said I should quit using this because it has been known to cause bone density to decrease. The older you get, the more your doctor tends to worry about weak, brittle bones. Gradually the acid reflux returned and now I just take a Pepsid AC whern I have a problem. "Why don't you just start taking these every day," my doctor suggested. Famotidine seems to work and there are few known side effects. We'll try this. It sure seems a lot easier than more aggressive treatments. While I was getting my tests done in the Baylor radiology department, I was afraid that I was just going to be referred to another specialist. Perhaps I would need to see a gastroenterologist or an esophageal specialist. Nope. We're just going to try the Pepsid for a while. Sounds good to me.

My medical exam ate up a lot of time today, so there wasn't much else on the agenda. Just finding a parking place in a hospital parking garage can take forever. By the time I returned home, there was time for an afternoon walk and not much else. Janet walked Dawn while I was gone. They went further than we did yesterday, but Janet said that Dawn still seemed uncomfortable. I still think she is just sore from the injections she got at the vet. My arm often feels sore for several days after an injection myself. Hopefully Dawn will be back to normal by this weekend.

I used to be so good at bookkeeping when I was working full-time. Now, I hate to even open Quickbooks. I finally got around to entering October credit card charges today but I'm still way behind. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I just quit keeping track of things, but I'm way too disciplined to go that far. I guess I'll continue methodically keeping track of everything while gradually getting further and further behind.

My editor at Sky & Telescope gave me the go ahead to start on a new article. He wants an outline this time before I submit a finished draft. That's OK, even though I'm not much of an outline guy. When advertising clients wanted an outline, I often complete the assignment first and then write an outline afterwards based on what I'd already written. I've got a good relationship with SpaceFlight Magazine now. I hope I can build one with Sky and Telescope as well.

I went out after dinner and looked at Jupiter and Saturn again. The two planets are getting closer and closer together every day. I hope it stays clear for the conjunction next Monday. I'm going to try to photograph the two planets together, but since Jupiter is so much brighter than Saturn, getting the right exposure might be challenging. The fact that I'm even thinking about photographing the conjunction here in Dallas is a good sign that my interest in astronomy is real. I seldom even leave the house after dark in Dallas.

Tomorrow I'll go looking for the shoes that the foot surgeon recommended. I doubt that new shoes will eliminate the foot pain, but maybe it will help. I can live with the aches and pains I have now. I just don't want them to get worse.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4006

It's weird how quickly the weather changes around here. The sky was completely clear when we started our walk this morning, but became overcast by the time we returned home. I thought it would warm up quickly because that's what happened yesterday, but it seemed to actually become colder as the day progressed. For the first time in quite a while I skipped my afternoon walk because I just didn't feel like dressing up in warm clothes again.

I received my author copies of Sky & Telescope in the mail today. I'd already received a PDF file of my article in the February issue, but I'm old school and like to hold a magazine in my hand. I've read this well known astronomy magazine off and on since I was in high school and it felt good to be included as one of the magazine's contributors. It felt even better to be the February issue's featured cover story. I think I'm on my way. I don't know what I'll write about in the future, but I definitely feel that there is a future.

Janet was gone this afternoon and when it was time for her dinner, Dawn followed me right out to the kitchen and watched as I prepared her evening meal. You'd think that any dog would do this naturally, but with Dawn this was progress. Inch by inch, she is slowly learning to trust me. I can join her on the bed now and she doesn't run away. I've learned to never make sudden movements and not to expect too much, but things are definitely changing for the better. Hopefully, by the time Covid restrictions are over and Janet starts to travel again, Dawn and I will be best buddies.

I need to find a place to observe the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on December 21st. Both planets will be low in the Western sky and I don't have a good view of the Western horizon. I had the same problem when I was searching for comet Neowise earlier this year. Neowise was a little higher in the sky though. Hopefully, I'll find a good place close to home. I really don't like driving around in Dallas after dark anymore. It's a shame that cities don't feel safe these days. When I was younger I thought nothing of packing up my gear in front of a club at 2 AM after our band had finished a gig. Not anymore. Even an astronomical event that happens only once every 800 years, leaves me a little apprehensive. I'll find a good location, but this would be so much easier if I were out in the Davis Mountains.

I signed up for this pilot program with my insurance company to use a special device to continuously monitor my electrical wiring for signs that could potentially cause a fire. Since we live in an old house with dubious wiring, this sounds like a good idea. On the other hand since we live in an old house, the device will probably find problems and cause our insurance rates to increase. There's always a catch to everything. I've always been worried about electrical fires though, so on balance this still seems like a good idea. I just hope that every time it rains and the pump on the roof shorts out, the device doesn't send a warning to the monitoring company. This is going to happen and the outdoor outlet that the pump is plugged into is already protected by a breaker that I reset frequently. I guess we'll see what happens.

The weather forecast says that there's a 100% chance of rain tomorrow morning. What are the chances that we'll go on our morning walk anyway. Apple needs to do some work on it's iPhone weather app. It's almost always wrong.

Savannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day