Day 3714

I received the press proofs of my Solar Orbiter article today. Wow. That was fast. The article I wrote about the Artemis program several months ago is still at least a month away from publication. The Solar Orbiter article was edited for length, but I was happy with the results. It looks good. So far, my last three NASA trips have resulted in three published articles. Who knows where this will lead, but I think I'm making progress.

I wish I was making progress with the roof. Since the weather was much better today, I went up on the roof right after breakfast and swept all the remaining water away. I was surprised at how much water was up there. I didn't think it rained that much. At least the roof didn't leak this time. I think the trick is getting the water off the roof quickly. Sustained heavy rains are always the problem. If it rains all day, there is no way I can remove the water quickly enough.

I think I'm safe for a little while. The forecast is predicting clear skies for the rest of the week. I'm going to try to schedule some time at the observatory north of town while the weather is good. This might be the best chance I have before leaving for West Texas. I'd still like to become more familiar with Winter galaxies before helping with star parties on Mount Locke.

Dawn is so good around the house now. She doesn't even seem like a rescue dog anymore. She gets daily walks now and we try to work in a little training time while we're out. Dawn loves being outdoors. We walked two miles today and she wasn't even tired when we returned home. Janet and I felt comfortable leaving her alone while we visited the remaining kennel dogs this afternoon. She was still sleeping on the bed when we returned.

I really need to get organized. It seems like there's a lot of unfinished business I haven't dealt with yet.  It's time to gather up all my tax information and get it to my accountant. I still need to get the damaged Oak tree in the back yard removed. The greenhouse hasn't been repaired yet either. I guess there is no point to start repairs until the tree is removed though. It would be just my luck that the tree guys would drop a limb on the greenhouse roof and ruin it all over again. There is still one roofer on my list who hasn't completed his bid yet. I have a feeling that he doesn't want to do the job. I've given him plenty of time. I need to go buy more silicon material as well, since few roofers seem inclined to help me.

I hope the coronavirus scare doesn't get a lot worse. There's enough to worry about in the world already. The last thing we need is a global plague. A global pandemic reinforces all my reservations about globalism. This wouldn't be spreading so rapidly if people weren't traveling everywhere. The genie is already out of the bottle though. We'll have to see what happens.

I'm happy enough to stay at home in my own neighborhood. Unless there's a rocket launch of course. Then, I've got to travel.

Nora is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3504

It's nice to have Janet back again. Nine days is a long time to to go without talking to anyone. Actually I did talk to a few people during the week. I talked to the couple who adopted Jenga. I talked to my friend who fixed the sculpture that the falling tree demolished. And I talked to the AT&T repairman. It still seemed like a pretty silent week though. Janet enjoyed her trip. I guess nine days in the Caribbean is more relaxing than nine days in Dallas.

I received the press proofs for my article in Spaceflight Magazine today. The article looked great and the editor told me that they liked my writing style and hoped that I will work with them again. He even told me that the magazine would help me get a press pass if I want to cover future launches. That was an easy question to answer. Yes I do. The magazine has already gone to press but I can't share the article until the issue is available to subscribers late next week. I'm sure you'll see it eventually. I can't resist sharing stuff like this.

I'm already thinking about what to do next. I'm wondering if an article about a 71 year old guy going to Space Camp would be interesting. It probably could be humorous as well. I'm no spring chicken. I need to check with my doctor first to see if being put in a centrifuge or a multi-axis trainer might kill me. Part of the training involves assembling things underwater using scuba gear in a neutral buoyancy tank as well. All of this is way outside my comfort zone, but if I stay in this zone indefinitely I'll never leave the house.

I actually did leave the house today. I went to Central Market to pick up the things that Janet always eats for breakfast and of course I went on my morning and evening walks. It's probably too late for sunblock, but I need to do something to save my skin. This sun is brutal. I probably should start walking much earlier, but if I don't eat breakfast early, I usually don't feel like eating at all. It's a tough choice. What I need at this point are more cloudy days.

I'm really striking out with the repair people. The tree guy told me that he'd hurt his back and wouldn't be able to cut trees again until September. The carpenter made an appointment to come over at 4:30 this afternoon, but he never showed up. True to form, it rained before the roofer showed up with the silicon coating he'd promised me. It wasn't a heavy rain this afternoon, but it would have been so much better if I'd been able to make the repairs last week.

Tomorrow we go back to our regular routines. No sandy beaches for Janet but I'll still have my smoothie.

Tink is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day