Day 4616

Mall walking has become part of my Sunday routine. This is the third week in a row that I've done this and it still seems like a pleasant activity. The stores are starting to look pretty familiar now. The window displays must not change often because so far everything looks exactly the same. Surprisingly, the art on display does change ocassionally. I've noticed a few new pieces that weren't there several years ago, along with several favorites that are gone. I wonder where they store this art when it isn't on display. Some of the sculptures are huge.

We need to start our sunrise walk with Dawn earlier on weekends. We didn't leave the house until after 8 AM this morning and the park was already bustling with activity. Now that school has started there are high school sports teams that run in the mornings and there are always lots of bicycles to watch out for. The park is a lot quieter in the mornings when the weather cools down. In the winter it is practically empty. Dawn enjoys walking more in cooler weather and so do I. I'm ready for winter so I can start complaining about something else.

The weather was a littler cooler this morning, so we took a short walk in Dawn's Sunday park on her outing today. We didn't walk far though. It is still too hot for a dog to be out in the middle of the day. The price for cones at the ice cream store has gone up at the same time the cones have gotten a little smaller. This doesn't seem fair, but I'm not running a business. People are still buying ice cream, so I suspect that they  are just seeing how much they can get away with.

The real estate market in town seems to have really slowed down. We're seeing for sale and for lease signs stay up in the neighborhood a lot longer than they used to when interest rates were near zero. Houses for rent near the lake used to be snapped up almost immediately. Lately I've seen a couple of real estate signs standing in people's yards for well over a month. Sign of the times I guess. Who would want to commit to a major purchase with so much uncertainty in the world?

I wrote a letter to my sister this afternoon and will mail it tomorrow. I also vacuumed the carpets. The Dyson vacuum still takes longer to clean than it does to vacuum, but I guess it does a good job. There is sure is a ton of dust and dirt in the clear plastic tube when I'm done. I still think old fashioned vacuum cleaner bags are a better solution, but what do I know. When the bags were full on our old Hoover, I just took them out and threw them away.

There is a new version of the star tracker software available now, but I haven't had the heart to install it. I keep thinking that updates to this thing should start slowing down soon, but the Benro team seems relentless in their efforts to add new features. Sometimes the new features work and other times they don't.  This experience has made me wary about buying anything new before all the bugs have been worked out. I have tended to buy computers just before they are discontinued because you can often get great deals. I've rarely had problems with these older computers because mature products are just more stable. I think the same thing can be said for cars. I've been interested in the new Bronco, but early buyers seems to be plagued with problems. Maybe a few years from now this car will be more reliable.

Tomorrow I return to my weekday routine. I'm sure there will be a trip to the gym and maybe a nap with Dawn. I've got a few bills to pay and it's time to take bulky trash out to the curb. I don't think I will mow the lawn though, even though it really needs some attention. Will I finally get details about the Artemis launch press itinerary from NASA? Somehow I doubt it. 

Elliott is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4343

I did a lot of walking today. We started with Dawn's sunrise walk. Even this early I could tell it was going to be a warmer day. Dawn is back to taking her short one mile loop. Any day now she could surprise us though. We never know when she's going to decide to be adventurous. 

Weekends are the only time I eat a big breakfast. Actually, it's the only time Janet and I eat breakfast together. We had a hearty meal of bacon, eggs, and toast and then I went out walking again. My feet still hurt but I am unwilling to quit walking. Basically the problem is just arthritis and I don't want to start taking pain pills on a regular basis. Aching feet slow me down though. I definitely didn't make good time today.

As soon as I returned home, Dawn was ready to go on her Sunday outing. It had warmed up enough at this point that I didn't even need a jacket. Dawn is weird about our Sunday ritual. She gets so excited as we get ready to leave the house and then as soon as we get in the car, she gets terrified. She has never liked riding in the car, but luckily it is a short drive to her Sunday park. As soon as we arrive at our destination, she is back to normal. Normal for Dawn actually isn't very normal, but we'll take what we can get. 

We had a nice walk with lots of new things to smell and then we went for ice cream. The ice cream place always has a help wanted sign out front. Either they have a big turnover or they are very picky about who they hire. We always get good service. Occasionally they even give us a free pup cone. The pup cones are very small. I think Dawn likes the regular cones better. Dawn is a noisy eater. It makes us laugh to hear her crunching on a cone. 

I didn't do much for the rest of the day. I got out the wet-dry vac and removed the water that collects between the tiles and the shower pan after I took a shower. I probably need to re-grout the bathroom tiles, but I've done this several times and it never worked for long. For whatever reason, the bathroom is where there are the most stress cracks in the sheetrock. Old houses move and shift with the seasons. Some of our doors stick in the summer but are fine in the winter. Since tile grout isn't very pliable, it always tends to crack when the house shifts. This is a minor problem compared to others we've had, but it does make me want to quit taking showers occasionally.

Janet was gone for most of the afternoon, so Dawn and I had plenty of time to bond. Dawn wasn't interested. When I would lie down on the bed to take a short nap, Dawn would always groan and move away to the far corner of the bed. Although Dawn clearly prefers that I stay in the office, she likes the bed so much that she reluctantly shares it with me. When Janet's home, Dawn follows her around like glue. I think Dawn thinks I'm a kennel attendant. I'm good for walks and fixing dinner. That's about it.

I read an article today about skyrocketing home prices and the difficulties new buyers are facing these days. Evidently in some cities there are multiple bids on almost every house that comes to market and buyers either get outbid or end up paying way more than the asking price. It makes me glad that we aren't going anywhere and are living in a home that was paid for a long time ago. The world isn't a friendly place anymore. I keep thinking that my parents lived in the best of times. There was no social media or fake news. Everybody trusted Walter Cronkite. Nobody made a lot of money, but things didn't cost very much either. I wasn't even aware of crime when I was a kid. Nobody even locked their doors in our neighborhood. Even much later when I started college it still felt safe to hitchhike. I hitchhiked all over the country. Times have definitely changed. It's not Mad Max at Thunderdome yet, but we are definitely headed in that direction.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

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