Day 4993

Another busy day. It never cools down anymore. Our air conditioner runs throughout the night and our early morning walk feels more like a midday walk. At least it's still cool enough before sunrise to give Dawn a walk. It's far too hot later in the day.

We had a big weekend breakfast and then I left to do my grocery shopping and other errands. I had to get a prescription transferred to a different pharmacy this morning because my regular pharmacy couldn't obtain the pills anymore. The new pharmacy said the pills were on backorder as well, but luckily they still had some in stock. Hopefully this problem will be resolved before my 90 day supply runs out.

I filled my car with gas and noticed that gas prices are going up again. I guess the gas companies don't want to be left behind. All prices keep going up. It's a regular guessing game to see what the prices of my regular items are going to be this week. At least I could find everything today. Some common items seem to be in short supply as well.

After I put the groceries away, I let Dawn out to pee, checked my messages, and went to the gym. My gym is always pretty empty on weekends. This seems counterintuitive to me, but I'm always happy to have the place to myself. I did my three mile walk around the indoor track and was disappointed in my time again. I wasn't great on the basketball court either. I didn't even bother with lifting weights today. I was ready to come home and take a nap.

I'm still disappointed that I'm not down in Florida this weekend. Other people's photographs of the Crew 7 launch early this morning looked great and there was a Starlink launch just about an hour ago. There will be a third Space Force launch on Tuesday. It's rare to have this many launches so close together and I could have been approved for all of them. Oh, well. I need to think of the money I'm saving. At least that's a positive.

I went out and got a pizza for dinner tonight. Our favorite pizza place has raised their prices as well. You wonder where this is going to end. Everyone can't keep raising their prices indefinitely. If I was working I would probably raise my own prices as well. Retirees can't do this though. We're kind of at the mercy of everyone else.

I keep checking my weather app to see if there is a chance of rain. Nope. We're looking at clear skies for the rest of the month. They say a cold front will be arriving on Monday, but temperatures will still be in the 90's. It's going to be a while before I can resume my long walks in the park. Tomorrow I'll go back to the mall. Mall walking is pleasant and it's always nice and cool inside. I don't think Dawn is going to get a Sunday outing walk. We'll still go for ice cream though. An ice cream cone on a hot day always makes things a little better.

Cammy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4887

My editor liked my article about the Viasat-3 launch and sent me a press proof of how it will appear in the July issue of SpaceFlight. I'm getting to be a regular contributor to this magazine. Will I be able to make it to the AX-2 launch several weeks from now? We'll see. I paid my credit card bills from the previous launch today and it's not looking promising. Everything is getting way too expensive. Being a space journalist is not a lucrative endeavor. Most of the other rocket photographers I've met down at the space center get paid virtually nothing for their efforts. We all seem to think it's worth it though. Not many people get inside access to view launches like this.

I continue to worry about the weather for the roof replacement next week. I was going to call the roofers today and try to postpone things, but I think I'll wait until Monday. The weather forecast changes daily. If the weather improves we might as well go ahead and get this done. I still don't want to deal with rain while half the roof is pulled off though. I'd kind of rather wait till July when we can go for weeks without any sort of moisture. With my luck, the best time for the roof replacement will probably be when I want to go to Florida for the AX-2 launch.

Today was a typical Friday. Janet did her grocery shopping. Dawn got impatient waiting for her to return. And I took another long walk. It was a good day for walking. The sky was overcast and it was relatively cool with very little wind. I like days like this. Dawn wasn't so sure about her own morning walk. She's scared of the neighbor's cat and won't go down into the park if the cat is outside in the neighbor's yard. We had to take a different route this morning but it all worked out fine. Dawn actually seemed excited to be doing something new.

I did nothing new at all on my long walk later in the morning. I followed my familiar route. Made sure all the resident ducks were accounted for. And tried to keep up a decent pace. I'm hopelessly slow compared to some people I see walking. Fitbit thinks I'm doing a good job though. Walking six miles a day still seems like a better alternative than going to the gym.

My supplemental health insurance went up in price again. I think the cable bill went up too. Everything keeps getting more expensive, while no additional money is coming in. This sucks. It's too bad I am no longer an in demand web designer. I could use a little extra income these days. I hear jobs are plentiful, but I don't think I'd want the type of job seniors tend to get these days. I'm not cut out to be a greeter at Walmart. I'll just have to learn to be more frugal. I was never very good at being frugal.

This week has gone quickly. I need to make a grocery list because my own grocery run is tomorrow. I'm trying to avoid outdoor chores, but the grass will need to be mowed very soon. Can it wait another week? We'll see.

Dixie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4840

Another beautiful day. I hope this weather lasts for a while because it sure is pleasant. I didn't do anything out of the ordinary today, but that's OK. My Sunday routine is fairly relaxing. Dawn got a nice early walk before breakfast and then I got ready to go to the mall and walk some more. This mall is built around a large outdoor courtyard, so you basically walk in a huge half mile circle. I always make five circuits around the perimeter and then I come home. Although I think I'm walking at a brisk pace, I'm always slower than I am in the park. Very little changes from week to week, but it is still interesting to look in the windows. I have no desire to buy anything and actually prefer visiting the mall when the stores are closed.

On the way home from the mall I stopped at the REI store to use a 20% off coupon before it expired. All I got were some socks. How did socks get to be $24 a pair? I used to be able to get a decent pair of pants for that. Not anymore. Most of the pants I saw started at $89. Some brands were over $200. Good thing I don't really need any new clothes.

Dawn seems to have recovered by now, but we are still taking her on shorter walks. We found a new park to take her to on Sundays and she seems to enjoy the variety. I sit in the back seat with her these days so I can hold on to her harness and keep her from falling when we go around corners. Maybe we'll resume our old schedule at some point, but these shorter Sunday outings seem fine for now.

We didn't forget the ice cream. The ice cream store has raised their prices again. This increase isn't a big deal, but it makes you wonder if this is ever going to end. It's been a long time since anyone actually lowered prices. People still seem to be buying though. The mall was packed as opening time approached and even the ice cream store had a line of cars at the drive up window.

The paper ID cards that wound up in the washing machine yesterday seem to have dried out enough to put them back in my wallet. They look a bit wrinkled now, but so do I. Oh, well. The information on the cards is still readable, so I guess we're OK. I think I'll be more careful now about checking my pockets before I do a load of wash. People used to want to see the Medicare cards, proof of insurance cards, and even my gym membership card. Now all this information is on my phone. I probably don't even need a wallet full of paper ID cards.

Although this would have been a perfect day to mow the grass, I didn't do anything productive all day. I took a shower, napped a lot, and kept wondering whether I really need a new printer. I still want to get the large format printer repaired, but it's too heavy for me to move. How did I ever get it into the office in the first place? There are so many things in the office that I don't use anymore, but they remind me of a time when I was super busy. I used all this stuff back in the day. I think I picked a good time to start a business. It wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable now.

Tomorrow it's back to shredded wheat and fruit for breakfast. I need to call the guitar store and check on the missing gear I consigned before Covid hit. I also need to reply to a letter from my sister. I'm sure I'll contemplate future trips I may or may not take. Imaginary travel planning is something I always do.

Bubba is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4811

It must have rained last night because the roof started leaking again. It wasn't a bad leak, but a leak is a leak. I didn't even bother to go up on the roof and remove the standing water. Every time I do, it just starts raining again. These leaks are frustrating. There's little I can do about them. It's going to continue raining and I can't find the source of the leak. Eventually we'll have a new roof but I can't find a lot of joy in that. Putting a new roof on our house is way too expensive and when everything is said and done, the house will still looks the same.

Roof leaks weren't my only problem today. The dryer quit working as well. Luckily the load in the dryer was almost dry when the machine quit. Who knows what the problem is this time? I've already replaced a lot of things on the washer and dryer, but there's obviously still a lot of stuff left that can break. I'm hoping that the dryer just overheated and threw some kind of circuit breaker. That is doubtful though since the machine has cooled down and still is  not working. I can't call the appliance repairman until Monday either. Did I mention that I hate going to the laundromat.

I had a lot of things on my grocery list today, so shopping took a while. I'm still having trouble dealing with the continual price increases. Enough is enough. Almost every week I notice that something I buy regularly has gotten more expensive. This trend has been going on for a long time and shows no signs of ending soon. You'd think at some point customers would revolt. I'm not sure there's a lot we could do. Nobody's forcing us to go to the grocery store.

My walk was slower today. I probably walk slower when I'm discouraged. It's not surprising that I like going to launches so much. These trips take me to an imaginary world that is largely free of day-to-day problems. Broken appliances and roof leaks aren't the end of the world, but they are irritating. As soon as you take care of one thing, something else needs attention. I enjoy my walks, but even a walk in the woods doesn't eliminate day-to-day problems. My feet still hurt and I never know when it's going to start raining.

Janet has gone to a charity event tonight and this always puts Dawn in a bad mood. This dog has grown way too dependent on her and neither of us know what to do about it. Dawn just doesn't trust men. She's fine with me feeding and walking her, but she's always waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's a shame that Dawn doesn't trust me since I'm the one who's here at the house the most. I understand though. Dawn was mistreated by men for most of her life and I'm a man. It's pretty simple.

I guess I'll go mall walking in the morning. If I'd been selected for Crew-6 coverage I'd be leaving for the space center tomorrow. I shouldn't dwell on that though. I get accepted for some launches and rejected for others and never know why. There are plenty of other launches later in the year. 

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4776

Grocery shopping provides a unique window into what is happening in the world. It isn't pretty. Prices keep increasing. Variety and selection seems to be decreasing. There are a lot more empty shelves than there used to be. Stores like Costco and Sam's Club keep replacing national brands with their own private label brands. Prices are lower on these private label brands, but so is the quality. I suspect that these stores know that price matters a lot more to their customers than quality. You might not notice many changes on a week-to-week basis, but if you keep track of things, you will definitely notice that a lot has changed in a year. I find this all very disappointing. Younger people never experienced better times and nobody listens to older people, so the world just keeps deteriorating.

The sun was already up when we took Dawn on her early walk this morning. That was fine by me. I get my best sleep just before it is time to get up. A few hours of extra sleep is great. I thought I'd start sleeping well again after I returned from Florida, but so far that hasn't been the case. I've had sinus congestion all week and I have to sleep on my back to keep my nose clear. I fall asleep much faster when I sleep on my stomach, but the nasal congestion turns me into a mouth breather and I wake up with a dry mouth in the middle of the night. I don't do well with over-the-counter decongestants, so I just get irritated and wonder how I got this head cold. I felt fine in Florida. Maybe it's just allergies. I could easily be allergic to something in the house.

I didn't accomplish much today. Grocery shopping took longer than usual because the stores were crowded. My walk in the park took longer because I woke up tired and walked slowly. The weather was a lot colder than yesterday. I have trouble deciding what to wear on these walks. If it's a windy day, I freeze down by the shoreline. If the sun pops out from behind a cloud on a calm day, I'm usually too hot. I can either dress for the first part of the walk or the last part. Today I was cold for the first few miles, but was fine on my way home. I noticed today that the city has fenced off a large area near the eagle's nest. Maybe they haven't noticed that the eagles don't seem to be using the nest anymore. It's weird that the city seems to be doing a much better job of protecting the eagles than protecting the people. I still don't feel safe in this park after dark.

I don't know what it's going to take to get me back to the gym. I had the best of intentions today, but after I brought the groceries home, I didn't feel like going out again. I was actually pretty close to the gym when I was out shopping, but I didn't want the food to go bad in the car. Oh, well. The gym isn't going away. One of these days I'll start using it again. For now, it's a lot easier to just easier to open the back door and start walking.

I need to at least make an effort to do something productive tomorrow. I'll go mall walking in the morning, but that's just another way of avoiding things. I used to always have a project I was working on, but most of these projects seem pointless now. I probably just have a bad case of 'been there, done that.' Tax season is right around the corner, so I'll have to start gathering materials for my accountant soon. Working on my upper body strength would be a good project, but so would reading a good book. Starting this blog was a project and look what that got me into. Luckily I have less than a year to go.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4699

It was chilly this morning. We got up a little later today, so we actually saw the sunrise on our sunrise walk with Dawn. Dawn likes the cooler weather, but I was ready to get back to the house where it was warmer. I never seem to be happy with the temperature. When it's hot, I wish it was cooler. When it's cold I wish it was warmer. I was happy with the skies though. It was a crystal clear morning with no pollen in the air.

After our weekend breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast, I did my weekly grocery shopping. Prices continue to rise. A case of bottled water was a dollar more than it was two weeks ago. My favorite beer has gone up in price as well. I wonder how long this will continue? These weekly price changes aren't dramatic, but they've been going on for months. Virtually everything costs considerably more than it did a year ago. Some prices have doubled.

I had been planning on going to the gym today, but changed my mind because the weather was so nice. By noon the temperature had warmed up enough so I could wear shorts again. My feet didn't bother me as much today, but I was pretty slow. I think I'm faster when I walk early. I didn't get on the road this afternoon until well after lunch. People are stopping me on my walk again to ask where the eagles are. I don't know why they think I would know, but I get asked about Nick and Nora, our two resident eagles, almost every day now. They are definitely in the area, but I've only seen them once so far.

I was paying some online bills this afternoon and discovered that my cable bill has disappeared. U-verse isn't even on the AT&T menu anymore. It looks like they are discontinuing the service and I am grandfathered in somehow. I finally found where my bill was hidden but it wasn't even labeled as U-verse. There was only a cryptic account number and an insanely high price. I could get AT&T's best streaming service for half the price of U-verse. I'll have to go to the store and ask about this next week. Websites just don't answer my questions anymore.

I tried to make a reservation for the Thanksgiving Brunch Janet and I like, but the hotel website didn't work and they never answered their phone. There was just a voicemail message saying that they'd return my call. Of course they never did. This seems to be a trend. Customer service is abysmal these days. You can never get anyone on the phone. Real people are rapidly being replaced by mobile apps. Hotels want you to use their app to make reservations. My doctors all use apps and patient portals these days. If you do manage to get someone on the phone, it's usually a call center in India. I hate all this. I have simple questions. I'd like to just pick up the phone and get a simple answer.

I'm beginning to sound like my Dad. He was always frustrated by the advent of computers and refused to learn how to use one. He said his old manual Royal typewriter was all he needed. He never got a cell phone and seemed happy playing vinyl records of his favorite symphonies on an old turntable. Maybe this is natural. I found change exciting when I was in my 20's. Now I wish things would stay the same, or preferably reverse direction so I could go back in time a bit. There was a time when everything seemed just right. That time has passed.

Daylight Saving Time ends tonight. We probably won't need lights on our morning walks for a while. I've always preferred Standard Time. I tend to get all my chores and activities done in the morning, so extra daylight at the end of the day has never mattered much. The days are still getting shorter, so we might need the lights again, but it will be nice walking in daylight for a while.

I'll probably go mall walking tomorrow. We'll definitely take Dawn on her Sunday outing and get ice cream cones. I like the continuity of a regular routine. There is far too much randomness and chaos in today's world.

Coach is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4685

Today was busy. We got up extra early so Dawn could go down to the park and pee before we left for the Dalmatian Rescue Golf Tournament. Janet left first so she could help check the golfers in and I left about an hour later to take pictures. This was our first morning tournament. Previously, everyone ate lunch and then there was a shotgun start around 1 PM. Most teams seemed to like this early start better.

It was a beautiful day, although it was quite windy. The wind might have affected the golfer's score but it didn't dampen their enthusiasm. Everyone had a good time. It took me a while to find the teams playing in the tournament. The course was huge and there were jogging trails mixed in with the cart paths. Occasionally I would find myself on a jogging trail and wonder why I wasn't seeing any golfers. After circling the course several times in my cart, I eventually found everyone for their team pictures.

Most of the people who adopted the litter of puppies we had back in April came to the tournament. I was amazed at how quickly the puppies had grown. They all looked like adult dogs now. All Sammy's puppies looked fabulous. This was an exceptionally good looking litter. I enjoyed getting a chance to see the dogs again, and the dogs seemed to enjoy seeing their brothers and sisters. Lots of other people brought their dogs as well, but we didn't take Dawn to the tournament. She wouldn't have made it this far in the car. It's a shame that she is still terrified of car rides, but she seemed happy enough to take a long nap on the bed while we were gone.

My knees are terrible now. Every time I got down on my knees to get a better angle, I had trouble getting back up again. I think I took some decent pictures, but some of the people took even better pictures using their phones. Smart phones have come a long way since we started doing these golf tournaments. The annual golf tournament is still Dalmatian Rescue's biggest fundraiser of the year. We've had more golfers in previous years, but I think we still did pretty well. 

After finishing my photo duties, I drove home again so I could feed Dawn and let her out to pee. She actually seemed glad to see me this time. I'm usually around the house and this was a long time for her to be alone. After Dawn finished her lunch, I left to do my grocery shopping. There was no time for a long walk today, but I got plenty of steps walking around the golf course. 

As usual I had trouble finding certain items. I think selective scarcity is just a fact of life now. Rising prices are definitely a fact of life. I ran into an old ad agency buddy while I was at the grocery store. We hadn't seen each other in over five years and were both old men now. We traded stories about surviving the  Covid years and wondered about the future of the ad biz. A lot has changed. I think we were both glad we spent our working years during advertising's golden age. I had a lot more fun working during the 70's than I do facing retirement while I'm in my 70's.

Dawn was glad to see that life had returned to normal after Janet returned to the house later in the day. We had a light dinner and got ready to start over again tomorrow. I'll probably go mall walking again and then we'll take Dawn on her Sunday outing. It was nice to have a change of pace today. I'm not a very sociable person, but I enjoyed going to the tournament. Hopefully my knees will still function when we do this again next year.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4604

Everything went well at the dentist this morning. No new cavities or root canals. There was a new dental hygienist today. I don't like anything new at the dentist office, but she did a good job. My teeth are clean now and I'm good for another six months. Like everything else in life, the price for the exam, x-rays, and cleaning went up. I wasn't surprised though. I'm getting used to the price for everything going up.

The day started normally enough. We took a sunrise walk through a parched and very dry park. The city has mowed the native prairie grass to reduce the risk of fire. The water level of the lake is noticeably lower. We don't see many ducks or animals now. I wonder how they are managing in this drought?

I had to get gas today. There are no lines at the pump when prices are coming down, but long lines when prices are doing up. Go figure. Human behavior is weird. You'd think that people would want to take advantage of lower prices, but usually fear kicks in when prices start rising. Somehow my car seems to get even worse gas mileage since I took it in for the recall repair. This doesn't make sense though. I'm probably just imagining things.

I went back to the gym this afternoon. I don't think mall walking will work during the week. I drove by Northpark on the way to the gym and the place looked packed. I guess I'll just do this on Sunday before the stores open. The gym was crowded too, but I did manage to find a parking place. At least half the people who come to my gym seems to be having physical therapy. It's an eye opener watching what they have to go through. Yikes. I need to be careful not to fall or injure myself. This is going to be harder than it seems. My balance isn't as good as it used to be and life is full of hazards. Even today, I noticed that my shoulder hurt after I got home. I have no idea what I did.

I got a bill from my HVAC supplier today for work done back in May. This was a surprise. I was sure that I'd already paid this bill because the technician told me that both service calls would be rolled into the final bill. Evidently he was wrong and my AC repair was even more expensive that I thought it was. The first call to diagnose the problem was never added to the final bill. I paid this bill over the phone and then noticed later in the fine print on my invoice that there was a 3% convenience fee for paying bills over the phone. You really can't win these days.

I'm apparently not the only one nervous about travel arrangements for the Artemis-1 launch. Hotel rooms are already drying up in Titusville and the launch is still a month away. I'm glad I already made my reservations because other people are already having problems. This is not normal. I've made last minute decisions to travel to Titusville before and never had any problems finding a room. There are three launch opportunities in late August and early September that are spaced four or five days apart. I'm hoping that everything goes smoothly on the first attempt. I can't afford to stay in Florida for two weeks and I probably couldn't extend my stay anyway with hotels rooms in such short supply. My editor at SpaceFlight is really happy that I will be attending the launch. I see no reason to burden him with all the problems that might occur.

I'm hearing that we should expect our hot weather to continue all the way through the end of August. That sucks. They say that the summer of 2011 was even worse, but you couldn't prove it by me. This seems like the worst summer ever. I shouldn't complain though. Our air conditioner is still working and I certainly don't have to worry about roof leaks for a while.

Scout is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4501

I paid my travel bills today. What a discouraging experience. When I enter transactions in Quickbooks, it always brings up the previous transaction I had with that company. This comes in handy for recurring transactions, but it was just an irritating eye opener this time. Wow. I knew things were more expensive but I guess I didn't realize how much more. Airfares, hotels and rental cars were all just about double what they were during a very similar trip to Florida last September. I stayed in the same hotel and flew on the same airline too. If prices can go up this much in less than a year, I hate to even think what things will be like next year.

I think my new boots are keepers. I wore them on a six mile walk today and they did pretty well. They are firmer than my Hoka Bondi 7 shoes, but they still have that same Hoka feel. The Kaha boots provide a lot more ankle support and the Vibram soles provide a better grip on loose surfaces. These boots are waterproof as well, which wasn't a factor today but it will be soon enough. I'd like to think that the boots provide a little better protection against snake bites, but I certainly don't plan on getting near any snakes.

Dawn has really come a long way. She comes when I call her now and is really excited to go on walks. We try to give her two walks a day now since she seems to like them so much. Dawn is enjoyable for me to walk because she stops to smell things so often that it's easy for me to keep up with her. I think we're both basically lazy. Dawn still won't walk alone with me but luckily Janet enjoys walking too, so it isn't a problem. I wish I enjoyed walking as much as Dawn does, but I can't smell things as well as a dog. Dawn has an incredible sense of smell and can smell critters long before I see them. I can't smell much of anything, which can sometimes be a benefit in today's world.

I lost another sock in the wash today. I don't know how this happens. I looked in the washer and dryer and it wasn't there. I looked through all the other laundry to make sure it wasn't stuck to anything. It didn't appear to fall on the floor either. The sock just disappeared. Sometimes these things turn up later, but other times they never do. One of life's many mysteries.

I'm still eating Easter leftovers. Variety was never a big deal with me. If I find something I like, I can have it over and over again. I do like ham. It certainly seems to keep well. You need to eat seafood right away, but I think you could keep making ham sandwiches with leftover ham forever.

I'm still having trouble keeping track of the days. Today seemed like Friday which means tomorrow will seem like Saturday. It's kind of amazing that I can crank out something a little different each day on the blog because my days are remarkably similar. Every once in a while something different happens, but not that often. I'm not complaining though. Monotony can be kind of relaxing if you don't fret about what you could be doing instead.

It did get the trash out to the curb this evening. I changed the furnace filters too. I could have done more. If I was smart I'd start packing now instead of waiting until the last minute. Nope. Can't do that. I need to avoid the issue for a few more days.

Joe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4454

My grocery list was long this morning. Prices are still going up. It's not just a few cents anymore either. Most of the items I got today were at least a dollar higher than the last time I bought them. I don't really know who to blame here. Companies are facing a host of problems they never had to deal with before. There is a shortage of workers. Supply chain problems make it harder to get components to the factories and finished goods to the consumer. It's pretty clear that Covid has messed up everything. On the other hand, I think a lot of companies are taking advantage of the situation and raising prices just because they've got a good excuse now. I want prices to stay reasonable but I also want a healthy stock market because I depend on it for a retirement income. Why do I have a feeling that I'm not going to be able to have both.

It was quite warm today. We didn't even have to wear jackets on our morning walk with Dawn. I don't call this a sunrise walk anymore because the sun is rising earlier now. Lately, it's almost always been up by the time we get started on our walk. Unfortunately, this is going to change in a few weeks. Daylight Savings Time begins again on March 13. I don't think anyone likes the time change but like everything else in modern life we are divided on whether to make Standard Time permanent or Daylight Savings Time permanent. My vote would be to make Standard Time permanent. I've never liked Daylight Savings Time and am not looking forward to walking in the dark again.

For some reason my pace was a lot better on my long walk today. I completed my walk at least five minutes faster than I usually do. Not a lot has changed. I still wake up tired and I have foot pain, although it wasn't all that bad today. Maybe I walked faster because it was so warm that I wore shorts today. I don't see a lot of cold weather in the long range forecast so maybe we really will get an early Spring this year. I hope we do. I'm tired of freezing weather and wearing multiple coats in the morning.

I wonder when my seasonal allergies are going to stop. My nose feels red and raw now, but the drip is relentless. Years ago my allergies didn't start until everything started turning green in the Spring. That hasn't happened yet, so maybe the worst is yet to come. There's got to be a solution to this that doesn't involve taking Allegra-D or other powerful decongestants. I don't handle decongestants well, but lately I think I'd prefer the buzzing in the head they give me to a constantly dripping nose.

I had the best intentions to start working on my taxes today, but one thing led to another and I ended up doing nothing. I'll get this finished before the deadline, but I have no desire to deal with taxes this year. I know I'm procrastinating but procrastinating is one of the things I do best. It's almost a superpower. I tend to wait until the last possible minute on everything and somehow still manage to get things done just in the nick of time.

I think I'm making a little progress with Dawn. She comes to me in the mornings now to get her harness on for her walk. About half the time, she'll stay with me on the bed if I take a nap during the day. She's more likely to stay if I don't look at her though. If I turn away and sleep on my side, she usually stays. She's getting a lot bolder in the kitchen too. I don't think that has a lot to do with me. Dawn just loves food.

It looks like we'll have a nice Sunday outing tomorrow as long as it doesn't rain. There's a slight chance of rain but the temperature will certainly be nice. Here's hoping for sunshine and ice cream for all.

Rory is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4440

Today was busy. We started out with a fairly long sunrise walk with Dawn. She likes walking along the shoreline now and had a good time smelling things. As usual, it was cold when we left the house this morning but it warmed up quickly. By the time we returned home for breakfast, I already felt like shedding my heavy coat.

Grocery shopping is always interesting these days. I pay more attention to prices now. I had to fill my tank and gas is definitely more expensive than last week. A tub of strawberries that was $2.95 six months ago is now $7.95. A bottle of Tide liquid that was $17 not long ago is now $24. My Keurig coffee pods have gone up quite a bit as well. Even bottled water is much more expensive than it used to be. At least the beer I like is still the same price. That's probably just because it was too expensive to begin with.

The weather was so warm this afternoon that I finally decided to wash my car. The car looks nice now which almost guarantees that it will rain the next time I have to take it out of the driveway. I also cleared the carport and front porch of leaves again. Every time I do this I think I'm done for the year, but the leaves keep coming. I don't know where they are coming from. There haven't been any leaves on the trees for quite a while now. Out last windstorm took care of the few remaining ones. We've already removed most of the leaves from the back yard. There are still some in the side yards, but we'll take care of those before next month's big trash day.

I don't know why I bothered to take my long walk today. By the time I finished my grocery shopping and household chores, I'd already had plenty of activity. I should have been content with 10,000 steps and rested my feet a bit, but long walks have become a compulsion. Without my persistent foot pain, today would have been a great day for walking. The sky was clear and the temperature was unusually warm for February. It was over 70 degrees this afternoon. I just wore a t-shirt and jeans on my walk and probably could have gotten away with wearing shorts. I don't think this will last unfortunately. I believe another cold front is headed our way later this week.

I hope Google isn't abandoning my blogging platform. Yesterday I has a lot of trouble adding pictures to my post and today I noticed that my blogspot layout is all screwed up. Hopefully this is just a temporary glitch. After I've made this big commitment to post for 5,000 consecutive days it would be just my luck that Google blogs don't last that long.

Janet had a volunteer event today so this was a good time for Dawn and I to get to know each other a little better. Dawn wasn't pleased about the situation, but she's actually been pretty good with me. I've been able to feed her meals and get her to take her meds. When it's time for her to go outside and pee, she's come to the door when I call. She even stayed on the bed with me when I took a short nap this afternoon. We aren't best buddies yet, but this is encouraging. We've got a long way to go before Janet leaves on her Spring trip, but I think we're making progress.

Hopefully, the weather will be as nice tomorrow as it was today. It's always a pleasant surprise to have great weather in February. We'll plan on having our Sunday outing with Dawn. Of course there'll be ice cream.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4398

Success. I finally got the star tracker to work. The problem wasn't really buggy software or bad cables. The problem was me. After all these years I still haven't learned to use my iPhone. I was expecting buttons to control the software app. The developers chose to use gestures instead. Who uses gestures? Apparently everyone except me. I still haven't taken the Polaris outside at night to attempt star pictures, but I think it's going to work. This is an incredible little piece of machinery. That's more than I can say for my own brain at the moment.

We took a fecal sample to the vet this morning and were happy to learn that Dawn doesn't have giardia. The vet gave us some pills to control diarrhea and hopefully Dawn will be back to normal soon. Her poop is still very soft, but she's definitely getting better. Last night she slept through the night, so neither of us had to sleep with one eye open in case Dawn needed to make a quick trip outside at 3 AM. We're going to have to rake leaves soon. There was probably something nasty under the leaves that she ate. I don't think she ate anything on her walks. We watch her too carefully.

I doubt that we'll be raking leaves tomorrow or even the next day. It's still too wet. It rained again last night and was misty and foggy all day today. It was really kind of a dismal day. It never got warm and it never got dry. I still took my long walk though. It's got to be pretty bad before I stop walking.

I forgot to take the Christmas stuff back to the storage warehouse while I was out grocery shopping this morning. I seem to forget something almost every day now. Usually the memory lapses are minor, but occasionally they are major. I've started leaving notes around the house for myself now with messages like "remember to feed the dog."

Prices are still going up at the grocery store. The weekly changes are small, but they add up over time. If this continues I may have to start looking for bargains. Janet is a savvy shopper, but I just buy the same things over and over again. I typically don't even look at the price. It's really only recently that I've become aware that something has changed. Some items have gotten expensive a lot more quickly than others. It probably has something to do with transportation and the current lack of truckers. I'm glad I'm not looking for a car right now. Car prices are even worse than food prices. Even used car prices are out of sight.

It's hard to say whether Dawn is going to get a Sunday outing tomorrow. The weather still looks marginal and Dawn hates to get wet. We'll see what happens. I really don't trust the weather apps on my phone anymore. They've been wrong more than they've been right lately. I need to find a new project now that my month long Odyssey with the star tracker is coming to a close. Learning to use the Polaris was actually kind of interesting. Now it's on to more mundane things like fixing a running toilet.

Jordan is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4342

Prices still seemed outrageous when I went shopping this morning. Inflation is real and I don't think it's going away any time soon. People will get used to the new prices and eventually they will seem normal. It's always been this way. Prices from everything from gasoline to butter routinely go up and down, but at the end of the day they always seem to be higher than they used to be. When I was in college, gasoline was 25 cents a gallon and a $40,000 house was considered expensive. I wish I'd bought a $40,000 house back in the day and held on to it. I could sell it for millions now. I wish I'd bought that 1956 300 SL Gullwing I saw on sale for $25,000 when I lived in Seattle. That car would definitely be worth more than most houses today. The problem was that when gas was 25 cents a gallon, I was young and had no money. 

Prices have always seemed to rise faster than wages and yet most people seem better off than they used to be. All the little frame houses in our neighborhood are gradually being replaced by McMansions. When I was grocery shopping this morning, the parking lots were all filled with shiny new cars. I guess I really don't understand economics. We complain about high prices, but as a country we appear to be doing really well. There will always be poverty, but I think it was a lot more prevalent when my parents were young.

It was only 39 degrees when we got up this morning. This meant we had to wear warm clothes when we took Dawn on her sunrise walk. Dawn, like most Dalmatians, appears to like the colder weather. I complain a lot, but I don't really mind it either. It's a lot easier to add clothes when you're cold than to subtract them when you are hot. 

When I took my long walk after I finished grocery shopping I saw one of the eagles again. It was more distant than it was when I saw it a few weeks ago, but it was still easy to tell the bird was an eagle. The size of these birds and the white head makes them pretty distinctive. I walked across an open field trying to get closer to the eagle, but all I managed to do was twist my ankle. My feet are a mess these days. I really need to stick to walking on pavement and well defined trails.

Grocery shopping and my long walk used up a big chunk of the day, so I didn't feel guilty about doing nothing for the rest of the day. I went out to pick up Chinese take-out for dinner and was amazed at all the traffic. Where were all these people going? It felt like the entire city was on the move. Heavy traffic is the main reason I don't like to drive anymore. Driving on empty roads out in West Texas is a completely different experience.

I watched the Starlink launch on the Space X live feed this morning. This would have been a really pretty launch to see in person. Kennedy Space Center was covered in a thick ground fog and only the top of the rocket poked through the cloud bank while it was on the launch pad. It kind of looked like a science fiction movie where the Falcon 9 was taking off from a different planet. I would have loved to photograph this one.

I would have loved to photograph the eagle I saw today too. I don't think I have the dedication though. Some of the local photographers hang around the area for hours, hoping to catch a glimpse of the bird. It's usually a photographer who points the eagle out to me. I would have missed the bird today if it weren't for a photographer crossing my path holding a camera with a long telephoto lens. "See the eagle over there," he gestured toward me as he raced to get his shot. Sure enough, there it was.

I guess people are still reading the blog. My niece sent me a picture of my Mom in uniform after reading my Veteran's Day post.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4335

I was surprised at how much prices had gone up when I went grocery shopping this morning. Janet had warned me that things would be more expensive, but this was fairly spectacular. A two pound tub of strawberries was over $10. Granted, these were the more expensive organic strawberries, but I've bought these things for $2.50 before. Gas has been creeping up in price as well. I've noticed that lines are starting to form at places where gas is the cheapest. I wonder where this will end? It's certainly not very encouraging.

As least my car starts easily now. Hopefully with a new battery and a recently completed scheduled maintenance, I will be good to go for another year. I don't drive much anymore so it doesn't seem fair to have car problems. I need to save my money and my energy for the house problems that are going to need attention soon.

We had no problems with loose dogs this morning, but Dawn wasn't interested in a long walk. It was a nice day and we tried to get her to try a new route, but she let us know that she preferred her short one mille loop.  We saw another Dalmatian on our walk this morning. It's rare to see a Dalmatian in the neighborhood these days. The owner lived on the other side of the lake, so she was either taking a very long walk or had driven her dog over here for a change of scenery. 

I probably need a change of scenery on my own long walk. My route has become so familiar now that I've practically memorized every step along the way. There are other routes I could take, but on most days it just doesn't matter. I'm not sightseeing when I take these walks. I'm just trying to stay active and get some exercise.

We'll see how good the new PPI I started taking is at controlling heartburn. We had chili for dinner tonight. Chili, spaghetti, pizza, and several other of my favorite meals have been pretty much off limits for the past year or so. Chili was generally number one on the heartburn register, so I'm a bit skeptical about whether a little green pill can change all that. It's worth a try though. If I still have heartburn tonight, it certainly won't be the first time.

My new editor at SpaceFlight must work all the time. I get messages from him on the weekends now. This never used to happen with the old editor, who was more my age. I guess there's a changing of the guard at the magazine. I miss the old familiar faces in my life. One by one they are all starting to disappear. My advertising friends are just birthdays to remember on Facebook now. Even some of the people I've met out at the observatory are starting to retire. I'm not terribly worried about being replaced by a younger writer at the magazine though. Writing is becoming a lost art. All the younger folks want to do podcasts and videos.

Where did this week go? It's almost time for Dawn's Sunday outing again. It's should be a nice day with a lot of walking. It's too bad my feet still hurt. Even with bad feet, I still prefer walking to lifting weights though. Walking is the perfect activity for daydreaming.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4328

Every time I go shopping, the world seems a little more dysfunctional. The stores are far from empty, but I'm having a harder time finding what I need. I used to find everything in one store. Now I have to go to three. Gas has been more expensive in the past, but it's definitely creeping up there again. The increasing prices and decreasing inventory isn't dramatic, so you don't really question it. You just wonder why your grocery bill keeps getting a little higher every week.

The doctor still hasn't filled my colonoscopy prep prescription. This might be a problem. I tried to call the doctor's office but they were closed for the weekend. When I called the pharmacy, nobody answered. The pharmacist I've known for years isn't there anymore. He either retired or quit. The kids that are running the place now seem very disorganized. Of course the front desk at the doctor's office seems a little disorganized too. I'll see if I can sort out the problem tomorrow when I go to the hospital for a pre-admission Covid test. I guess multiple Covid tests have just become a regular part of modern life. I keep expecting life to eventually return to normal, but maybe all this is normal now.

I'll be glad when the time changes in early November. It is completely dark when we get up in the morning now. We wait until the sky lightens a little before we leave on Dawn's sunrise walk, but we still need to take a flashlight. The flashlight isn't really to help us see. It is mostly so cars and cyclists can see us. We used to have a little red light that we clipped to Dawn's collar, but it got lost. Pretty much anything you clip to a dog's collar will eventually get lost. One vigorous shake and it's gone.

It's still nice and cool for my long walk, but I'm getting tired of walking. Maybe I need to go back to the gym for a while. The park seemed congested today and my feet are starting to hurt again. I think I prefer walking on cold, gloomy days when I'm the only one in the park. Right after a rain is usually a good time. The air smells fresh and there are a lot fewer bicycles when the roads and trails are wet. Since it was a nice day, everyone was out and about. I shouldn't complain about foot traffic in the park though. It isn't nearly as bad as traffic on the roads. Traffic was horrible when I was grocery shopping today. It doesn't matter when I leave the house. It always feels like rush hour.

After my last astrophotography workshop I joined several astrophotography groups on the Internet. I still read these things every day but it it is becoming clear that I don't have the same temperament as most of the other amateur astronomers. They will spend weeks planning and executing a single shot. To get good results, you often have to take hundreds of images and then combine them all together using special software. It's a slow tedious process and very often things go wrong and you have to start over. My roots were in fashion photography, which actually made me well suited to taking pictures of dogs. I'm pretty good at capturing a moment, but I find technical photography boring. I like to see the results right away. I still love to look at the night sky though and am eager to return to the observatory again. Maybe next Spring.

Until then, I'll continue my regular routine here in Dallas. It looks like it will be a good day for Dawn's Sunday outing tomorrow. I scheduled my Covid test early tomorrow so I will be back in time for a walk and some ice cream.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4202

I've had to switch to a different grocery store because the store has become too efficient in measuring its customer's buying habits. All stores do this. Your purchases are scanned at checkout and the information is used to determine what items will be restocked. Basically stores want to sell what people are buying. This often leaves me on the short end of the stick. For weeks I haven't been able to find my favorite cheeses, beers, spices, or even bottled waters. I switched stores today and found an abundance of everything I like. I have to drive a little further, but that's better than being continually frustrated.

Inflation is real. Everything I buy has gone up in price. Sometimes the price increases are small, but they add up. Prices for fresh fruit and vegetables still go down when the produce is in season. Paper products and processed food always go up though. It's amazing how expensive those blue Scott shop towels have gotten. Gas is pretty high too. I'm glad I don't drive a lot.

Dawn enjoyed her early morning walk. I'd easily sleep an hour longer if we didn't walk Dawn so early. I guess it's worth it though. The weather is very nice just before sunrise. Today we had the added benefit of a pleasant breeze. We definitely aren't the only people who have discovered the benefits of walking early. You see a lot of people walking their dogs at this hour. I thought that Dawn might like to walk a little longer this morning because it was so nice outside. Nope. One mile is still plenty for her.

I knew the gym was going to close early today so I decided to take my long walk right after breakfast and then do my weekly grocery shopping later. This turned out to be a good plan. It had warmed up quite a bit by 9 AM, but the temperature was still in the low 80's. When the sun was behind a cloud, I was quite comfortable. Some group was having a charity race in the park this morning. You don't see many of those in the summer. It must have been a short race, because it was all over by the time I returned home. 

I probably should have started looking for the source of the leak on the roof this afternoon, but by the time I took my walk and finished all my Saturday errands it was way too hot. I've slowed down so much that there is never enough time to finish everything I need to do anymore. If I accomplish anything at all it's a plus. Things never seem to get easier either. Now my Saturday errands will take a little longer because I have to drive further to go to the grocery store. Roof leaks don't disappear on their own unfortunately, so I will have to make an effort to find the source of the leak and patch things very soon.

We'll probably have to combine Dawn's Sunday outing and early morning walk tomorrow. I'm sure that will be fine with Dawn, but it may be too early for ice cream on our way home. I wish my gym would reopen on Sunday, but it might be a while. They seem quite happy with reduced hours and a smaller staff. There still aren't as many people using the gym as there were in pre-pandemic days, so they probably won't go back to their old schedule until demand increases significantly. It is what it is. I'm beginning to think that life will never return to normal. Normal has changed.

I wouldn't want to own a condo on the beach right now. You'd have to wonder if your building is going to fall next. Nature is relentless. If it only took forty years for salt air and shifting sand to destroy this building, imagine what Miami is going to look like in 200 years. You might think that moving inland to a remote corner of Wyoming will keep you safe, but then there's that huge super volcano under Yellowstone waiting to explode. If you look at the world through the eyes of a geologist, it's kind of amazing that we're here at all.

Derrick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3964 - Halloween

This weather can't make up it's mind. It was cold again this morning. What happened to yesterday's t-shirt weather? I had to get out my winter coat when we walked Dawn. I may have been a little chilly, but Dawn liked the cooler temperatures. She had lots of energy this morning. Her condition has certainly improved. I had trouble keeping up with her today.

When I went grocery shopping this morning, I was surprised to discover that I can now buy gas with my phone. The app I use to avoid the checkout lines now works at the gas pump as well. There was no need to slide my credit card into the pump. I just pointed my phone at the pump and filled my tank. I love technology when it works. Unfortunately, it frequently doesn't work.

I buy pretty much the same things every week, but my bill is always a little higher than it was the previous week. What's going on here? Some items have gone up more than others. I don't see much of a pattern in the price increases, but I'm sure it has something to do with Covid. Maybe manufacturers who have been disrupted are trying to make up the difference somehow. I never look for sales, but maybe I should.

Janet and I decided to get a new dehumidifier. We weren't sure which model we had, so I looked at a small label on the bottom of the machine. Near the label was a little vent I had never noticed before. It was completely clogged with dust. I cleaned out the vent and the defrost light didn't come on for the rest of the day. Maybe there was nothing wrong with the dehumidifier. I'll have to go check the other dehumidifier in the storage warehouse. I wouldn't be surprised if the little vent was clogged in that one too.

There are Halloween decorations in our neighborhood, but I didn't see any trick or treaters this year. Maybe I wasn't looking very hard, but I suspect that parents weren't that eager to have their children asking strangers for candy in today's environment. Halloween was a big deal when I was a kid. We wandered all over the neighborhood unsupervised and came home late at night with huge bags of candy. Streets were safe back then and nobody was worried about a deadly virus. Times have definitely changed. Halloween is still spooky, but it isn't ghosts and goblins that are scaring us anymore.

I still need to find something interesting to do. I got my 20,000 steps today, but that was about it. It's hard to put what I learned at the astrophotography workshop to good use because you still can't see much when you look up at the sky in Dallas. Light pollution is terrible here. It's easy to forget that I am technically still on assignment for SpaceFlight Magazine. I seldom hear from those guys anymore because they are all preoccupied with the virus over in the UK. Hopefully, I can come up with an interesting article for the magazine when I go to Florida.

Do I go to the gym tomorrow? They're sure trying hard to get me to return. I get an e-mail almost every day about new classes and activities. I really need to stay in shape, but my instinct is to take long naps instead. Dawn is a bad influence on me. She's all about taking long naps. We'll see what tomorrow brings. I think I dodged a bullet with the dehumidifier today. It's still working like a champ.

Roxy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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