Day 4916

Why do grocery stores keep changing the location of everything? It's irritating. They must think you will buy more if you have to search for the items on your shopping list. I couldn't find the aisle with all the spices this morning, so getting more pepper will have to wait until next week. Wherever you go, there are fewer and fewer cashiers and more self-checkout stations. Central Market just replaced a large section of cashier stations with self-checkout machines. I ended up in this section by mistake and will make a point not to go there again. The new machines weren't working correctly and kept ringing up the items I scanned twice. You couldn't correct this mistake yourself. You had to wait for someone from the store to come reset the machine. These machines won't let you buy alcohol without an employee checking your ID either. Good grief. Even a machine should know that I'm 75 years old.

I'm not totally against automation. I like the app that Walmart and Sam's Club use to let you bypass the checkout line. You scan the items on your phone as you are shopping. This is much easier than rows of self checkout stations near the exit. I don't think this trend is going to end any time soon. Pretty soon there won't be a need for employees in stores at all.

There were lots of severe weather warnings for today, but once again we didn't get any rain at all. I keep planning to go to the gym, but always end up taking my long walk because I'm tired of driving. With all the warnings about large hail I didn't want to risk leaving my car out in the open either. It was hot and humid today but that didn't stop me. I trudged along, completing my regular route at a very slow pace. Truthfully, I've grown tired of taking a long walk every day, but these walks are still preferable to other exercise alternatives. I'd probably gain ten pounds if I quit walking entirely.

I have quit thinking about switching from cable TV to a streaming service. It's easier to just pay a bit more and stick with something familiar. The experimenting I did yesterday convinced me that streaming is a bit of a nuisance. I don't watch TV that much, but I still like using a regular remote to change channels. Oddly our TV has a built-in Alexa which I have never activated. I think you are supposed to talk to your TV and tell it what you want to watch. Not for me. I'm becoming more an more like my Dad. He refused to use computers and used an old manual typewriter for most of his life. Maybe is is natural to become resistant to change as you grow older. Why relearn something you already know?

I got a press proof of my article about the AX-2 Mission from my editor at SpaceFlight. The article looks nice and they used four of the launch pictures I took. Whenever I see these articles in print, it makes me want to do more of this type of thing. I don't have any strong desires these days, but writing about rockets and attending launches at Kennedy Space Center is enjoyable. It's not a good way to make money though. None of the launch photographers I know are getting rich. Hmm. Is this a hobby or an occupation? It's hard to tell sometimes.

The weather is supposed to be much nicer tomorrow. I'll go mall walking in the morning and then we'll take Dawn on her Sunday outing. It doesn't bother me that we do the same thing every week. Actually it's kind of comforting.

Escher is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4851

It felt like Winter again today. How is this even possible? A week ago it was 90 degrees outside and now I'm wearing my down jacket and gloves again. This month every day brings something new. You never know what to expect. I'll take the cold over rain any day though. I've got plenty of warm coats.

The launch I applied for yesterday has already been postponed. Something mechanically is wrong with the rocket and a new launch date has not been announced yet. This is why it is so hard to plan these trips to Kennedy Space Center. Even when I do manage to secure press credentials, the launch itself is never certain. I've made several trips where the launch was canceled after I arrived and I ended up seeing nothing. Much more common is a one day delay. I've experienced a lot of those. You've got to stay flexible and hope you can extend all your reservations.

Dawn enjoyed her early walk this morning, but I can't says the same for my long walk later in the day. I waited a while to leave the house, hoping it would get warmer, but it never did. I guess today wasn't any colder than your average day in early January, but this is April. Winter is supposed to be over by mid April. I really doubt that we will get another hard freeze, but forty-five degrees with a brisk wind still feels like Winter.

After I returned from my chilly long walk, I basically did nothing for the rest of the day. Janet likes to watch movies, but I rarely do. I haven't picked up a book in a while either. Sometimes I test cameras and other equipment. Other times I do a load of laundry. Mostly I just waste time on the Internet. I catch up on the day's news on Google and check my Facebook feed. Neither of these activities gives me a lot of faith in the direction the world is headed. It's probably not surprising that I've spent a lot of time messing with the Polaris star tracker. It has been challenging to master this device since there is no instruction manual and it is still potentially useful in the future. It keeps me busy. The star tracker seems to have replaced the interest I once had for mechanical watches.

I wonder how much longer I can keep using this computer. It's a Mid 2010 27-inch iMac and can't be updated anymore. Almost every day I discover something new that isn't working the way it used to. The hardware seems to work fine, but the Apple operating system, browsers, and even mail have changed a lot. Website developers have changed the way they code things and I frequently find that windows won't open or pages won't scroll properly. Sometimes my WiFi connection disappears completely and I have to reboot the computer to restore it. Oddly I still have no desire to replace the computer. I liked the way the Internet and computers were in 2010. The bulky old Mac desktops I used before 2010 were even better. I had one with four hard drives, two Apple superdrives, and a modded CPU that was great. I think I detect a theme here. I just don't like change.

I think Dawn has a hard time with change as well. She spent so many years as a breeding dog in a puppy mill run by two old men that I'm probably always going to seem like a kennel attendant to her. In her mind Janet will always be the person who rescued her and I am Janet's assistant. I'm good for walks and fixing dinner, but she will never completely trust me. It's a shame that she doesn't trust me since we spend most of the day together in the house. Dawn has her room in the bedroom and I have mine in the office. She will follow me out to the back yard when she needs to pee and she always eats the meals I fix, but I can see a huge difference as soon as Janet comes home. She instantly becomes a happy dog again.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4650

We got started on our sunrise walk later than usual this morning, but the park was still very quiet. A few of the trees are already starting to turn. There is definitely a hint of Fall in the air. Dawn really enjoys these early walks. I'm still half asleep, but it's a pleasant way to wake up.

Saturdays are always the same. We have a big breakfast and then I do my grocery shopping. I didn't have much on my list today, but it still took the same amount of time. Most of the time is spent driving from store to store. It's almost impossible to find everything you need in a single store anymore. I go to specific stores for specific items. I guess I could just go to Walmart to save time, but I prefer to just pretend that Walmart doesn't exist.

It wasn't that hot today but it felt very humid. I decided to go to the gym instead of walking in the park. My trips to the gym are just as predictable as my other Saturday errands. I shoot twenty-five free throws on the basketball court, walk two miles on the indoor track, and spend a little time working with free weights. I could do more, but I usually get bored after an hour or so. 

It's frustrating that I can't upgrade my watch or phone anymore. I've reached the end of the line with these devices because Apple has officially abandoned them. Both the watch and the phone work just fine but Apple clearly thinks it's time for me to get something new. Both my laptop and desktop computers haven't been able to run later Apple operating systems for quite a while. This means that my Safari browser is way out of date and runs slow. I still have no interest in buying anything new. I have a variety of older Apple systems on external hard drives and often use them when I run really old software. I've reached the age where I keep wondering why things have to change. I was perfectly happy with the way things were 15 or even 25 years ago. 

I'm glad that there weren't any launches I felt compelled to attend down in Florida this week. It's been raining all week in Titusville. Space X has delayed one of their Starlink launches for five straight days in a row because of bad weather. I hope the weather improves before the next Artemus launch attempt. There are enough problems with the rocket itself. Adding bad weather into the mix will only make things worse. I don't even like to leave my car out in the rain. You'd think they'd worry about leaving this billion dollar rocket out in the weather for weeks at a time. The rocket already leaks. We certainly don't want it to rust.

I guess I'll go mall walking again tomorrow. There's absolutely nothing I'm interested in buying at the mall, but walking around and around the huge square enclosure is still kind of pleasant. The air smells clean and the temperature is just right. It's nice and cool inside but I don't need a jacket. Maybe someday I'll find something more interesting to talk about than all these walks I continue to take. I wouldn't count on it though. I'm becoming more and more like a dog. All I think about is walking and eating. And rockets. I still think about rockets.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day