Day 3607

Road Trip. We went to Palestine, Texas today to see Union Pacific's Big Boy 4014 arrive on it's journey through the Southwest. It was definitely worth the four hour trip to see this historic train traveling under its own power. The Big Boy was the largest steam locomotive ever built and the 4014 is the last one running. Union Pacific spent over four years restoring this train. It was pretty impressive. I was amazed at how close we could get to the tracks. As I was taking pictures I realized that if I had tripped I might have fallen into the train. Closer to the depot the police had the tracks pretty well blocked off, but we went to the outskirts of town to get better pictures. We had a good clear view and I could put my camera anywhere I wanted.

There were several other photographers with the same idea. One of them had been following the train for several days, carefully picking different locations to get the best shots. A few of the older photographers were walking encyclopedias about old steam trains. I was definitely an amateur in this group. The train was moving faster than I would have thought. It was all over in a matter of minutes. I managed to get a few decent pictures though. I don't think looking through a viewfinder is as enjoyable as watching the same event without a camera. You always concentrate on getting the shot and in the process you miss a lot of the whole experience.

There were so many railfans watching the train arrive in Palestine that I kept wondering why Union Pacific didn't sell tickets and carry passengers on this historic run. The big steam engine was pulling a long line of restored passenger cars and they were all empty. Union Pacific definitely missed a marketing opportunity here. Anyone dedicated enough to follow this trains journey in a car would almost certainly prefer going along for the ride. The passenger cars were the very best from the railroad's glory days too. It would have been quite an adventure.

It's weird that I'm so apprehensive about traveling. Once I'm underway I always have a good time. Janet is a good traveling companion too. She's always up for going somewhere. Last night I was thinking that it wouldn't be worth making this trip. It was just an old train and my arm still hurt from yesterday's pneumonia shot. Luckily, I woke up in a better mood. It was a beautiful Fall day. Too bad the weather wasn't this nice when we went to McDonald Observatory.

The car did well on the trip. It probably would have made it to Fort Davis or even Kennedy Space Center. My gas mileage certainly leaves something to be desired. It's terrible actually. You just can't expect good mileage from a 500 horse power supercharged V-8. My bad shoulder leaves even more to be desired. It can be very tiring driving long distances with a bad shoulder. These were minor issues though. All in all it was a very enjoyable trip.

We thought about stopping in Corsicana on the way home and picking up a fruitcake from The Collin Street Bakery. Neither of us like fruitcake though, so we kept driving. We arrived back in Dallas around dinnertime and stopped at Knife for burgers. The place was crowded since it was a football weekend at SMU. We had to sit at the bar where you can watch the chefs cook. It was much more interesting than I thought, although sitting here for very long would drive a vegan insane. We watched lots of beef being cooked tonight. I was amazed at how thick the uncooked steaks were. They shrink to about half their size as the fat in the heavily marbled meat melts. Our burgers were delicious, but I don't think I'll be eating much tomorrow. I might have to spend some extra time at the gym as well.

I really need to overcome my fear of traveling. I've enjoyed every journey I've taken this year and there's definitely nothing compelling keeping us in Dallas.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3600

There was very little to complain about today. It was a beautiful Fall day. I filled the car with gas, did my Saturday shopping, and took a long walk. Life seems less stressful than it did last year at this time. I was moving into a new storage warehouse, Dash was having alarming vestibular seizures, and the roof was leaking. The roof is still leaking of course, but some things never change.

I've been following the progress of Union Pacific's Big Boy 4014 as it makes a commemorative journey through the western United States to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad. The Big Boy was the largest steam locomotive ever made and number 4014 is the last one still running. I was hoping that this journey would take the train through Dallas, but the closest it's going to get will be when it arrives in Palestine, Texas next week. Is it worth a trip to Palestine to see this impressive old steam locomotive? I'm still trying to decide. I guess I'd still consider myself a railfan, but trains aren't nearly as important to me as they used to be. I suspect I could say the same about a lot of things.

If the weather stays nice tomorrow I might go up on the roof and see if I can find the source of the current leak. Since the leak is small and the area directly above it appears solid, this task may prove impossible. I've still got some of the silicon material and I might as well use it. Once you open the container, the material won't stay liquid forever. I'm not sure what will happen to the stuff after our first freeze either. Since the water is coming through a can light in the ceiling, it is probably following the metal electrical conduit lines. The actual source of the leak could be anywhere.

Yesterday, all the White Pelicans were gone. Today, they were back again. I wonder where these birds go when they are not at the lake? The Double-crested Cormorants seem to do everything together as well. Sometimes I see huge groups of these birds leave the lake to go somewhere else. I rarely see Cormorants fly anywhere alone. The Raptors in the area always fly alone. I saw a nice looking Red-shouldered Hawk today. It's easy to see why small animals are wary of hawks. They are always looking for food. Although the birds in the park are interesting, I'd never make a proper birder. I see lots of birders with their long telephoto lenses, binoculars and note pads. I'm just not that obsessive about counting things.

Truthfully, I'm probably the wrong person to be calling anyone else obsessive. I've been making a blog entry every day for 3600 consecutive days. Why? I complete my five mile walk even when the weather is terrible. I'll go to the gym tomorrow as well, even though I don't really enjoy exercise. It's probably best that I don't question these things. There doesn't have to be a reason for everything.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

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Day 3422

An all day rain really tests my patience. I kept looking at the weather radar over and over again this morning, hoping that the storm would move faster. No such luck. Since I couldn't walk and didn't feel like driving in the rain, I was left with tending to the pumps on the roof and trying to stay out of Janet's way while she cleaned. I think the weather radar is more interesting than TV these days. At least there's something different every time I look. I forget what day it is when I look at the TV news. It is always the same.

Eventually the storm line moved to the East and the rain finally stopped. I immediately put on my boots and took a walk. Much to my chagrin, I discovered that my waterproof boots were no longer waterproof. They do pretty well walking through wet grass, but I had to navigate some deep puddles today. Maybe this will be the incentive I need to go out and find some high quality boots that really fit. Chances are that the ground will dry out soon enough and I'll just continue wearing the old boots. Given a chance to be decisive, I'll almost always procrastinate.

The park is interesting after a rain. You tend to see birds and animals that remain hidden otherwise. The ducks were everywhere. They were in the sky, on the water, and wandering around in the meadows looking for a place to nest. I saw a Great Egret catching a fish and I even found the White Pelican again. It was a long way away, but it was definitely the same bird. As long as I'm not actually getting wet, I love cold damp days. I'm usually the only one in the park and the soft light on cloudy days is great for photography.

I don't think our mail carrier delivered the mail today. That old adage "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night..." must not mean much anymore. Mail delivery used to be as regular as clockwork back in the days when the entire neighborhood knew their mail carrier by name. Times have changed. Every time I see our mail carrier now, it's a different person. It's probably just as well that our carrier doesn't bother to deliver the mail on rainy days. Whenever these guys do come out in the rain, the mail is a soggy mess.

I'm really becoming a Luddite. Not only am I nostalgic about reliable mail service, I've become very interested in the Transcontinental Railroad's 150th anniversary celebration. Union Pacific has restored one of the last remaining Big Boy locomotives to service and it's back on the rails right now headed toward Ogden, Utah where the golden spike was driven. The last time one of these trains ran was back in 1962. A Dallas rail museum has a non-working example of the Big Boy on display, but I had no idea that one was being restored to service. The Big Boy weighs more than a fully loaded 747 and is considered one of the most complex purely mechanical machines ever built. Kuddos to the folks who got it running again. I'd love to see this thing if it ever comes through Texas on its year long commemorative tour. I've ridden on several steam trains before, but nothing like this.

I should have no trouble walking tomorrow. I think we're going to get some sunshine. It won't last long though. Another storm system is supposed to arrive on Friday. I'm really getting tired of this extended rainy season. I keep forgetting that this happens every year. I think we get our entire year's quota of rain in May.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2943

I used to be an avid railfan. I liked to ride trains, read books about trains, hang out in hobby shops, and buy model trains. I built several model railroads, although I never really had a place to keep them. Eventually all three train stores in Dallas went out of business, people I knew stopped collecting trains, my own trains wound up in the storage warehouse, and I completely forgot about my old hobby. Today, I was thinking about the owner of one of those old school hobby shops and thought I'd look him up on the Internet. I wasn't expecting to find anything. The guy is older than me and I thought he retired years ago. Much to my surprise I discovered he was alive and well and owns what is billed as "The largest train store between Chicago and Atlanta." For some reason this made me feel great. It's nice to know that it is still possible for old men to pursue an obscure dream and succeed at it. I don't know anyone in Dallas these days who even knows what a train is, but apparently they are still quite popular in Kentucky.

If this store were closer, I might start hanging out in hobby shops again. Kentucky is a long way away though. I'm not much of a collector anymore either. I really doubt that I'll pursue a hobby that involves collecting things ever again. The last thing I need is more useless stuff. That being said, I hope my friend's store stays in business. I'm going to need a place to sell my trains someday and it sure isn't going to be eBay.

Since I can't hang out in hobby shops anymore, I go to the gym. Hobby shops were more fun, but the gym will keep me alive longer. I've started going right after breakfast on Sunday mornings now. The place is practically empty and there is never anyone on the basketball court. It always surprises me that I am so inconsistent on the court. Some days I can sink quite a few free throws in a row. Other days, I can't seem to hit the basket at all. I was not at my best today and I have no idea why. I was actually in a pretty good mood.

I'm getting closer and closer to binge watching on Netflix. I've set up the account on both Apple TV and the Roku Stick, but I haven't actually watched anything yet. I can't get past the enormous menu. I scan through this menu from time to time and it seems endless. You could spend the rest of your life watching Netflix movies if you were so inclined. I was bored this afternoon, so I looked at the menu again. As always, there were too way many choices. There were several things that Netflix said I had a 96% chance of liking. How do they know that much about me already? Hey, I was thinking about watching Black Mirror anyway, so it might be a good idea to just go with their suggestions.

The weather was nice today, but it is supposed to rain tomorrow. Then on Tuesday, another cold front arrives and the temperatures are expected to drop into the teens again. I wish the weather would just make up it's mind. I don't even know what to wear anymore.

Kasey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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