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 4873

Should I stay or should I go? When I woke up this morning I immediately checked all the weather apps on my phone, trying to decide whether it was worth extending my trip to Kennedy Space Center even further. None of the forecasts came to exactly the same conclusion, but the general consensus was that there was about a 20% chance of favorable weather at launch time. Not good. When I checked with the front desk at the hotel they said they were fully booked for the weekend. Not good either. I would have to look elsewhere for a new place to stay if I wanted to watch tonight's launch attempt. Finally, airline prices were even higher this weekend and most flights to Dallas were already full. Things weren't looking good.

I reluctantly decided to call it quits and made plans to head for the airport after a final breakfast at the Cracker Barrel Restaruant down the street from my hotel. I second guessed my decision all the way home. As luck would have it, I ended up making the right decision after all. Tonight's launch was scrubbed with only 59 seconds left on the clock. That's three scrubs in a row for this rocket. Ironically, tonight's scrub had nothing to due with the weather. The weather was actually improving.

When I was only a few miles from the Orlando airport I got a message on my phone saying that my flight had been canceled. What? This was disconcerting to say the least. I briefly thought about going back to Titusville, but I was already at the airport. I turned in my rent car just as I got another text message saying that I'd been rebooked on a flight leaving at 8:30 this evening. Not good. I definitely wasn't looking forward to spending the entire day at the airport. When I looked at the departure board, my flight was the only one canceled. Why? I saw that there was another flight leaving for Dallas in ten minutes, so I quickly headed for the gate in hopes that I could get on board as a standby passenger. When I arrived at the gate the plane was already loading. I thought I was too late, but the gate agent managed to get me onboard. I was the last passenger to board the plane. I was very surprised that I got on this plane since it was supposedly full. I learned later that a lot of Southwest employees fly free on the airline and they get bumped if there is a paying customer who wants their seat. 

I must have brought the bad weather back with me to Dallas. The sky looked dark, but I thought I could still take my long walk. I never got a chance to get my steps at the airport, since my flight left almost immediately after I arrived. For better or worse,  I'm definitely hooked on getting at least 10,000 steps every day. It's a good thing I kept up the pace today. When I was about five minutes from home, I got another severe weather warning on my phone. I made it to the house with minutes to spare. The storm was pretty bad, but it was nothing compared to what I experienced out at the Space Center last night.

I'm not sure when I'll get back to Kennedy Space Center again. These launch trips are getting expensive. There are several other launches I'd like to see this Spring, but I definitely can't afford to see them all. Dawn was actually glad to see me when I returned home. I guess life is full of surprises.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4484

Well, I'm still here. I got a message from Space X late last night saying that the Axiom-1 launch had been delayed for two days. I'm really glad they sent me the message last night instead of this morning, because I would have been on my way to Florida. I hastily rescheduled my airline, hotel, and rental car reservations and discovered that prices vary wildly depending on which day you travel. It's a lot less to fly on a Wednesday than on a Monday, but Friday is more expensive than either of those days. I was lucky to be able to reschedule on such short notice. It wasn't entirely smooth sailing though. I had to use a different rental car company because my first choice was completely out of cars on the new dates I selected. I hope there aren't further delays to this launch. A lot of people are traveling again and it's not always easy to make changes.

I guess I was right to be apprehensive when I learned that the Artemis-1 dress rehearsal was having problems. Pads 39A and 39B are close together, so what is happening on one will often impact what is going on at the other. The giant Artemis moon rocket is always going to be first in line down at the space center. I guess the Axiom Space folks will have to wait. Oh, well. I was glad to be able to sleep in longer this morning, but I'm going to have to unpack my suitcase to find today's evening meds.

Since I was home today, it was just another day to visit the rescue Dalmatians at the kennel. There are so many dogs now that it takes us quite a while to see everyone. These dogs always make us laugh. Dorothy and Candy are wild. Julip and Willie are shy. Oliver and Jo Jo are big clumsy goofballs. Rocket is still scared, but he seemed more relaxed than last week. Charlie is just Charlie. We had a good time this afternoon. Several dogs are being looked at, but nobody got adopted this week. I don't know if we'll see Sammy again, but her puppies are all healthy and doing well. Their eyes are open now and they are getting their spots.

I took several short walks today, but didn't feel up to taking my regular long walk. I probably wouldn't have had time anyway since we spent so much time up at the kennel. My shoes feel different now since I've already transferred the custom orthotics to the new Hokas that are currently sitting inside my suitcase. It's not worth the trouble to transfer them back again.

We are under a severe weather warning tonight although I haven't seen or heard anything yet. So far the storm seems to be moving to the north of us. I hope this continues. Tonight's storm is associated with high winds and possible tornadoes. That's the last thing we need. I still worry that one of our remaining large Oak trees will be toppled in a big storm. We've already lost several this way. I always see downed trees in the park after a major storm. Our own trees are about the same age, so you never know.

I got a notice this morning that my application to attend the NASA Crew-4 launch was not accepted. That's just as well because I couldn't have afforded to go to two launches so close together anyway. Crew-4 is scheduled for next week. I just applied to attend both launches in hopes that one of them would come through. All is well. Now I've just got to decide whether to go out to McDonald Observatory at the end of the month. It's not an easy decision.

There's not much on the agenda tomorrow. My bags are packed and even if it rains tonight it's still supposed to be a nice day tomorrow. Maybe I'll sleep in late again.

Dottie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4437

I had to scramble to get all the bagged leaves out to the curb for bulky trash day. For weeks I'd been thinking that big trash day was next week, but it turns out it is tomorrow. How is it already the third week in February? It seems like February just started. I guess I could have looked at a calendar. Depending on memory doesn't work so well these days. 

After I moved all the bags of leaves out to the street, I thought I'd start cleaning up the sticks and twigs left behind in the yard by the power company tree trimmers. These guys should have done a much better job of cleaning up. There were twigs and small branches everywhere. I picked up as much as I could before it started to rain and added the growing brush pile to the leaf bags piled on the curb. All this activity was harder than I thought it would be. Old bones aren't meant for bending over and picking up hundreds of twigs and branches. My back hurts now.

Maybe I was just tired because I took my long walk before attempting to clean up the yard. It wasn't as windy as yesterday, but there was still a strong breeze. There was a light mist as well. It didn't really feel like it was raining, but by the time I returned home my jacket was wet. Dawn has done better than I have on walks lately. The weather was fine on her sunrise walk this morning. If I remember, it was pretty good yesterday morning as well. Yesterday the temperature dropped as the day progressed. Today it got wetter as the day progressed. My feet weren't my friends today. Lots of foot pain, but by the time I finished hauling trash out to the curb, I still managed to get 20,000 steps.

We got more rain than I expected this afternoon. I really hope we don't have another roof leak. I have the pumps working and there appears to already be a lot of water on the roof. Hopefully, the pumps will remove enough so a leak doesn't develop. I probably should have waited to start making repairs, but the stains on the ceiling were driving me crazy. Winter just isn't a good time to deal with roof problems. As soon as you start making a little progress, it starts raining again. Needless to say, it's frustrating.

Basically, everything is frustrating these days. I don't get angry, but I'm in a continual state of mild irritation. Do I really need dozens of robocalls and spam messages every single day? Why am I paying AT&T to irritate me using my own phone? Why do all publications have paywalls on the Internet now? I'm never going to subscribe to your online whatever. I know if I wait a few days I'll be able to find the same information for free somewhere else. A pox on your paywalls. Why is every ad on television for some kind of prescription medicine with announcer copy describing side effects that will probably kill you. Can't we just go back to ads about tv-dinners and refrigerators. Social media is insanely irritating. I'm convinced that you can trace back most of today's problems to social media. Society doesn't function well when every problem is instantly broadcast to the entire world. Someone lights a match and all the sudden it's a forest fire. We don't need to know what everyone else is doing in real time. It's not good. We would all be better off if we all just minded our own business.

I need to remember that I have a teleconference with my gastro-intestinal specialist tomorrow. I've never done one of these virtual visits before, but it sure beats driving down to Baylor hospital. When I was given the option of an office visit or a virtual call, it didn't take me long to decide. One of the biggest changes that Covid has made is that you basically don't have to leave your house anymore. There is a virtual option for just about everything.

Dawn didn't get to go to training class tonight. It's raining outside now. I keep hearing about severe weather warnings, but it's hard to tell what's headed our way. It's pretty calm right now. There are some severe storms out in West Texas this evening that are headed to the Northeast. Hopefully they will pass to the North of us by the time they arrive here tomorrow morning.

Joshua is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day