Day 4122

Well, at least I tried. Today I spent way too much time trying to figure out how to add a Windows partition to my laptop and when that didn't work, trying to get my Fitbit to track sleep stages again. I've known for years that Apple computers with Intel chips can run Windows, but I never tried to install it. Having a Windows partition on the laptop would let me easily run the astrophotography software I need for this May's workshop.

I should have known that nothing is easy. I quickly learned that my laptop and its Sierra operating system were too old to run Windows 10. No problem. Windows 7 would be fine for my needs. Not so fast. Microsoft doesn't let you download Windows 7 anymore. The Apple Boot Camp Assistant that is used to install Windows on a Mac no longer accepts older versions either. 

Basically, all the old software that used to work perfectly on all my computers has been erased from the earth. Nobody wants to deal with 32 bit software anymore, so they have just eliminated it. Backwards compatibility doesn't exist anymore. Apple, Microsoft, Dell, HP, and everyone else have been been relentless in their efforts to make sure that everyone upgrades to their current models. This is very frustrating to someone like me. I'm not interested in anything new. All I want is to retain the ability to do the things I could easily do twenty years ago. Quite literally, I could do a lot more useful work with computers twenty years ago than I can now.

My Fitbit isn't old at all, but I'm sure that the problems I'm having measuring sleep stages is related to software upgrades as well. Apps on your phone seem to automatically upgrade every week or so. There are so many minor upgrades that you quickly lose track of them. Somewhere along the line my Fitbit gained the ability to measure blood glucose levels and lost the ability to track sleep. Sadly, I'd probably sleep a lot better if I just quit trying to measure everything. I actually thought I slept pretty well last night, but the sleep app on my Apple Watch said I was only asleep for 2 hours and 37 minutes. 

I watched the Space X Starlink launch livestream while I was getting ready to walk this afternoon. This was a rare daytime launch and the weather looked beautiful. It would have been nice to see this in person, but it was all over in six minutes. The launch basically looked identical to all the other Falcon 9 launches as well. I'm beginning to question my desire to attend these launches. Covid restrictions have made attending launches in Florida much harder and it's getting a lot easier for me to say "been there, done that."

My daily walks are pretty routine as well, but at least they're easy and free. All I have to do is put on my shoes and walk out the back door. Today's walks were actually pretty enjoyable. Dawn did well on her short one mile walk and I did pretty well on my longer walk as well. No foot pain today. I have no idea why today's walk went so smoothly, but I'll take a good day when I can get it. When my foot doesn't hurt, I tend to walk a bit faster. I didn't embarrass myself today and kept up a pretty respectable pace for a septuagenarian.

While we were walking Dawn this afternoon, we ran into a neighbor who warned us about places where cars were getting broken into during the day. Apparently there is an epidemic of car break-ins in the city. I'm not surprised. Everywhere you look it seems like the fabric of society is breaking apart. Some call it progress, but it looks like chaos to me. I'm starting to envy my parents. I don't think they realized how good they had it back in the day.

I have no idea what is going to frustrate me tomorrow, but I'm sure something will crop up. For now, I'm just hoping that I won't have weird dreams tonight. I've been having a lot of weird dreams lately. Maybe my Fitbit doesn't count them as sleep.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2858

It doesn't look like I'll have to take the refrigerator apart this weekend after all. The temperature is holding steady. I have no idea why the temperature is getting cooler again, but I'll take it. I think we're probably good until the repairmen shows up Monday afternoon.

Dash let us sleep in until about seven-thirty this morning. He ate a good breakfast and then took a surprisingly long walk. This improvement is as much of a mystery as the refrigerator, but I'm happy to see our guy in good spirits again. I know he isn't entirely happy about the protective gear he has to wear. It's helping though. He doesn't lift one of his rear legs very well when he walks and he had ground down several of his nails all the way to the quick. Two of them were even starting to bleed. The protective boots keep his paws safe and the nails are starting to grow back again. I hope the knee brace is equally effective. Dash walks a little stiffly wearing the brace, but I think this is what is supposed to happen. By restricting his range of motion a bit, his knee will have a chance to heal.

I guess fresh peaches are finally out of season. I've been enjoying them in my morning smoothie, but they're getting harder to find at the grocery store. Peaches are more expensive now and are starting to taste mushy. I guess peaches are harder to grow in a greenhouse. Strawberries and blueberries are available all year long. I know there is a season for those berries as well, but it doesn't seem to matter.  You can almost always find good strawberries.

I upgraded the newer iPad to IOS 11. I kind of hope that I don't like the new operating system. If I do, I will be forced to get a new phone. My old phone can't be upgraded anymore and is stuck forever at IOS 10.3.3. My old original iPad is stuck way back at IOS 5.1.1. Apple used to be much better at making sure that their software worked with older products. Like most manufacturers, they've discovered that planned obsolescence is much more profitable. Computers are one of the few tools that become obsolete even when they are still working perfectly. I still have some hand tools that my Dad got from his father. A good hammer will last for a hundred years. A good computer probably won't last for five.

When I was recording some purchases in Quickbooks this afternoon, I noticed an entry from 12/10/17. That hasn't even happened yet. It took me quite a while to figure out where this entry actually belonged. We've all gotten so used to spellcheck that we become complacent and don't think we make mistakes anymore. I'm amazed at how many mistakes I make. I'm a typo factory these days. I wonder how many other undiscovered errors are hidden away in Quickbooks, Word, and Excel? I've even gotten the day count wrong on the blog and I don't have a clue where the error is.

A storm is headed our way. We really need the rain, but I'm always apprehensive about bad weather. I've been watching the storm approach on the weather radar and hope that nothing bad happens. I think the cold front and accompanying rain are supposed to arrive around 2 AM. Maybe we'll just sleep through it. That would certainly be better than having Dash freak out when he hears thunder. I don't want any more large branches falling on the roof either. Let's not even think about a power outage.

The good thing about the rain is that it's supposed to be clear and much cooler by morning. That would be nice. A clear Fall morning is exactly what I need.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2841

Time slows down when you're waiting for a repairmen. They never tell you when they are going to arrive, preferring to keep you guessing. If you think they're going to be early, they'll be late. If you think they're going to be late, they'll arrive when you're taking your morning shower. I wish they'd just tell you how many service calls were ahead of you. Maybe then I could plan my day a little better.

Since the most likely components to fail have already been replaced, the list of things that could still cause the refrigerator to malfunction is growing smaller. I did a little research and found two more parts that could cause the evaporator coil to freeze. One of these parts costs $14 and the other one costs $250. You can guess which one the repairman said I needed.

It's kind of hard to decide at this point whether to give up on the refrigerator and buy a new one or just keep replacing parts until it finally works. The repairman said that if I bought a new refrigerator, I shouldn't expect it to last more than five or six years. "They don't build these things to last anymore," he said. I'm sure this is true. We live in a throw away society. Our whole economy depends on people replacing everything they own every five or six years. My parents had a refrigerator that lasted twenty five years. I don't think that's even possible anymore.

I'm inclined to buy the part and hope for the best. The weekend we went looking for refrigerators, I didn't see anything I liked that would fit in the small space we have available. If Janet has strong feelings one way or the other, I'll just do what she wants. That usually ends up being the best solution anyway.

Dash seemed to have a little more energy today. He still wouldn't take a walk this morning, but his appetite has improved. I don't know if we'll ever convince him to eat dry food again, but if he's healthy I don't even care. After sleeping most of the day, Dash seemed eager for an evening walk. When Janet got home from work we took him to the park and were genuinely surprised at how perky he seemed. Maybe the Plavix is starting to work. Since it is still important to keep Dash calm and rested, we actually had to slow him down this evening. I wasn't expecting that.

Last night the battery charger for my Anton Bauer batteries quit working. This morning the wireless mouse for my computer quit working. I wonder what will quit working tomorrow? Surprisingly, the shower didn't leak today. Go figure. As long as Dash keeps eating and continues to hang in there, I'm not going to worry about the little stuff.

Jersey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day