Day 4865

After our early walk with Dawn this morning, I turned on the computer and watched the Starship explode. A lot of people expected this would happen, but it was still disappointing. At least the massive rocket made it off the launch pad. It looked like a lot of photographer's remote cameras were destroyed though. Hopefully things will go a lot smoother for the Viasat-3 launch next week. My accreditation request was approved today, so I will be going to the launch. I just finished making my reservations. Last minute airfares were predictably expensive and my favorite Airbnb was already booked, but the trip is scheduled.

It looked like it was going to rain all day, but the rain didn't start until this evening. I think Dawn enjoyed her walk more than I enjoyed mine. I made an effort to move faster on my long walk this morning, but that just made my foot hurt more and I ended up walking much slower on the final mile. Even though my first two miles were faster, my overall pace didn't improve at all. Growing older is frustrating. Even on the best of days, aches and pains are just part of normal life. I think I'm healthy, but maybe I'm fooling myself. It seems almost impossible to increase muscle mass at my age and my balance isn't what it used to be. You've got to keep moving though. I think things would be a lot worse if I just sat around.

I finally changed the furnace filters today. I've been seeing a reminder on the thermostat to do this for the past three days, but I keep forgetting. I even forgot what day it was today and Janet had to remind me to take the trash out to the curb. It's actually pretty easy to forget what day it is when they are all basically the same. Maybe another launch trip will be the change of pace I need. These trips aren't very relaxing though.    I don't sleep well and I usually just end up substituting anxiety for my typical boredom.

The temperature got up to 85 degrees today. I was hot on my long walk and it made me realize that Summer is not far away. Nice weather doesn't last long here in Texas. Currently we are under another severe weather alert. There is no danger of a tornado this time, but we might get some good sized hail. We'll see what happens. I'm watching the weather radar and it looks the worst of the storm is going to travel a little north of us. So far we've been pretty lucky with bad weather. No damage this year, but I still haven't repaired the damage to the greenhouse from last year's storms.

This week has gone quickly. I'm really glad that Dawn seems to have fully recovered. She's fine now. I'm not so sure about myself. I didn't accomplish much this week, but I'm still here. We'll see if I can do a little better next week. I hope the Viasat-3 launch schedule doesn't change at the last minute. Flights already looked pretty full when I made my reservations. Oh, well. Much of this is out of my control. At least we missed the really bad weather tonight. I think the storm has already moved north of us. 

Wilson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4812

Today was a nice combination of mall walking and dog walking. It was overcast, but there was no rain and it was quite warm. Sadly, that is about to change since we are under a severe weather warning for later tonight. I'm glad now that I didn't go to Florida for the Crew-6 launch. I would be worried about Janet and Dawn.

The mall was crowded with walkers today. I have no idea why the place is almost empty one week and busy the next. Mall walking seems popular with families that have young children. There are always lots of strollers and little kids. I guess this is inexpensive entertainment for some. The kids all seem to be having fun. There are also a fair amount of older people like me. I'm probably not the only one who has discovered that this is a good way to stay active. I'm a lot more active than some of these geezers. A few of them can barely move. There was nothing new in the windows this week. This seems to be an in-between time for retailers. All the window displays were the same as they were last week.

Since the ground was muddy at the park where we normally take Dawn on Sunday, we thought we'd try someplace new. Janet and I had no idea how Dawn would react. We weren't sure she would even get out of the car since new routines often frighten her. Much to our surprise Dawn was really excited to visit this new location. She had a great time smelling things and probably would have walked further. We were a little nervous about walking too far though. We both had memories of taking Dawn on walks where she was walking just fine and then would suddenly freeze and refuse to walk any further. The freezing in place behavior disappeared quite a while ago and I hope it never returns. Dawn does seem a lot more relaxed and well adjusted now. It took a while but I think she finally knows she has a home.

Even though we went to a different place this week, we still ended our outing with ice cream cones. Dawn loves getting ice cream. Occasionally, we've wondered if this little indulgence was bad for her health, but all her vital signs came back normal after her annual exam last week. Dawn is a good dog and she deserves a special treat every now and then.

The leak in the office has finally stopped but I won't be surprised if it starts leaking again after the storm passes through town later this evening. It's good to know that the leak finally stopped on its own. I didn't even bother getting up on the roof and sweeping away the standing water this time. Why bother if more rain is on the way.

My big project for today was cleaning out the dryer hose. I was convinced that a clogged or dirty hose was causing the dryer to overheat. What a messy job. I never should have attempted this right after taking a shower because I got dirty all over again. I had to move the dryer so I could squeeze behind it and unhook the dryer hose. It was a tight squeeze since the utility room is very small. I thought I could vacuum the lint out of the dryer hose, but the vacuum cleaner clogged up immediately. I had to reach into the hose and pull the caked on lint out of the tube with my hands. By compressing the flexible hose at either end, I was able to reach a lot further than I thought. There is still an area where the hose runs behind the furnace that I couldn't reach, but I did what I could. I thought I had fixed the problem, but when we ran a test load of wash through the dryer, it shut down just like it did before. The cycle finished and the clothes got dry but the machine wouldn't run another cycle until it cooled off. Oh, well. I tried. The thermostat has probably gone bad and I will have to call the appliance repairmen tomorrow.

Hopefully tonight's tornado warnings won't amount to anything. The storm front will be here soon. I'll probably watch the Crew-6 launch later on the Space X live stream. Wish I was there, but you can't have everything.

Bingo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4637

It was just a normal Sunday until the severe weather warnings started to appear later in the afternoon. We got up early and took Dawn on her sunrise walk. It seemed like it was going to be a nice day. The weather was cool and the humidity was low. We had breakfast when we returned and then I got ready to go mall walking. It was certainly cool enough to go walking in the park, but the ground was very wet. I'm not fond of walking with wet feet.

I make five circuits of the Northpark Mall to give me the steps I need. Nothing much to look at this time. The store windows haven't changed and the display of new cars is gone. There was a display of sculptural objects made using stacks of tin cans. I think this was a benefit for a local food bank. There were lots and lots of cans. I wondered if participants had to buy them or if they were donated. I also looked inside the new Eataly store. It was pretty impressive and seemed like a great place to buy overpriced food. 

Dawn got her Sunday outing today. We didn't walk far because it was already getting hot by the time we left the house. Dawn did get a little walk though and then we went for ice cream. I wish they hadn't raised the price for ice cream, but I'm not surprised. The price for literally everything has gone up dramatically this year.

I keep checking the Internet to see if there is any news about the Artemis launch. So far it looks like another launch attempt won't take place until October. Will I try to go see this again? I'm not sure at this point. I'm not even sure if my credentials will still be good. I know that there's a Falcon Heavy that is supposed to launch in October. It would be cool if the timing was right and I could see both. 

It was an uneventful afternoon until it started raining again. This was quite a storm. Our lights flickered but we did not lose power. We just got lucky. Several areas nearby did lose power. The flickering lights did scare Dawn. She decided that her dog bed in the kitchen was a safer place to be. We definitely needed rain after a long hot summer, but I think we've had enough. Every time it rains I start to worry about roof leaks.  Nothing today, but that was only because the rain didn't last very long.

I'll start working on my SpaceFlight Magazine article tomorrow. I'm not sure if they want the article to be just about these first two launch attempts, or if they want the story to continue until a launch eventually takes place. I didn't get many good pictures this time. I had camera problems and there was no launch. I bet they will just postpone the story until a later edition. 

We don't visit the rescue Dalmatians on Mondays anymore. It's a shame that the old kennel closed and the dogs had to be moved. Visiting the dogs was always a pleasant way to spend Monday afternoon. Oh, well. Life is always full of changes. The dogs are still well cared for and that's what matters.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day