Day 4807

I'm tired. I did a lot of chores today that I've been trying to avoid. I knew that bulky trash pickup was this week, so I raked leaves right after breakfast. It's a good thing I started early because the trash trucks came today. I thought they were coming tomorrow. I hadn't finished by the time the trucks arrived but at least three big bags of leaves got hauled away. I guess I'll get the rest of the leaves next month.

Dawn wore her No Flap Ear Wrap on our early walk this morning. We hope this helps the hematoma on her ear to heal. I wasn't aware of how often she shakes her head. She does this a lot when she's outside. The device really does a good job of keeping her ears in place and Dawn doesn't seem to mind wearing it. Lets hope it works.

It was really warm today. I wore shorts and a t-shirt on my long walk and was still hot. By mid-afternoon it got up to over 80 degrees. This isn't like February at all. Even though the weather was nice, I was fairly slow this morning. This was probably because I had already been raking leaves for over an hour. I just don't have as much energy as I used to. I still managed to walk six miles. It just took me a little longer. I always try to convince myself that it's better to go slow than to quit, even though on many days I'd much rather just take a long nap.

With 80 degree weather I knew the roof would be dry, so I managed to lug the big bucket of Armor Flex silicon up on the roof and used it to patch the holes where the coating had torn. There was only about one gallon of liquid silicon left in the bucket, but it was enough to fill most of the bare areas. This stuff is so old now that I'm not even sure if it is good anymore. It's got to help though. I'll try to go up on the roof again tomorrow and see if the coating I applied dried properly. I hope this works because it's supposed to start raining again tomorrow. The roofing company still hasn't called me with their bid, but I'm not in any particular hurry to get started. I know the job is going to be expensive and the rainy season isn't over yet. I guess I can keep setting buckets under the leaks until Spring.

The Crew-6 launch got postponed until Monday. I doubt that this matters much to me, since I still haven't heard whether I've been credentialed or not. It's odd that I haven't been either accepted or rejected yet with the launch so close. Usually I would have heard something by now. Maybe this is a sign that I should just plan to skip this launch. There's a good chance that it's going to rain this weekend anyway and I don't want to leave Janet with a bunch of leak buckets to manage.

It's weird to have the air conditioner running in February, but at least the air conditioner is working fine. I've just about given up trying to predict this weather. I wouldn't be surprised if we're freezing again soon. I know we've still got a lot more rain to look forward to, but I hope it stays dry long enough for the silicon patches I applied today to dry. We'll see what happens tomorrow. I probably didn't fix the roof, but at least I got rid of some leaves today.

Lizzy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3944

The people who visit the park in the morning are completely different than the ones who visit in the afternoon. When I walk in the morning I see people full of purpose. I still have hope for humanity when I see these people. They are athletes in training. They are trying to lose weight. They are walking their dogs. They are lugging cameras with long telephoto lenses to photograph shorebirds. I want to give these people a thumbs up when we pass them on the trails.

I completely lose my faith in humanity on my afternoon walks. Today I saw a photographer taking family portraits in a patch of poison ivy. I saw a group almost start a grass fire with their barbecue grill. I saw a guy fall out of his hammock on his ass. And I saw a mother and daughter going way too fast down a steep hill on skateboards. They both crashed and although neither seemed seriously injured, there was a lot of blood.

I guess I identify with the purposeful people, even though I have a strong lazy streak. I finally hauled a bucket of liquid silicon up to the roof today and continued my repair work. I was able to patch most of the questionable areas before I became too tired. Even though the weather was nice on our early walk this morning, it had warmed up considerably by mid-afternoon. After an hour or two on the roof I was exhausted and drenched in sweat. I still have enough of the silicon material for two more repair efforts. I think I'll wait until after the next rain and see how these repairs hold up.

I didn't even think about going to the gym today. After taking a short nap to cool down, I vacuumed the house. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to find some camera gear that I want to take with me to the observatory. I know I've used this little adapter that allows you to connect one brand of lenses to a different brand of camera. I couldn't find it anywhere. Sadly, this is a frequent occurrence. I can't remember where anything is anymore.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not as sharp as I was in my 30's and 40's. This is why I wonder why we let so many really old people run for public office. Term limits might be a good idea, but age limits would be even better. When I see some of these geezers on TV, it's embarrassing. Both parties are to blame. Apparently, power is very addictive. I wouldn't know. I've never had any.

This weekend has gone quickly. Tomorrow is some sort of holiday. Is it Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples' Day? Maybe it's both. At any rate, we won't be getting any mail. I'd better not plan any trips to the bank either. I'm sure stores will be open. I still need to go to REI and look for a headlamp with a red beam that I can use to check camera settings in the dark. On second thought, I might not do any of these things. I just remembered that tomorrow is Dalmatian day. We still need to visit Charlie at the kennel.

Dawn continues to get better. Janet fixed a delicious dinner tonight. Sky & Telescope really seems to like my article. Im old and forgetful, but life is good.

Katy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3783

I've decided it's time to face an emerging new reality. My comfortable analog world is gone. When virus fears eventually fade, a lot of things familiar to me aren't coming back. There are a businesses and restaurants I'll never visit again. They aren't going to survive. Rather than lament the loss of familiar places and routines, maybe it's time to embrace the cloud and go digital. Do I really need to go to the post office and bank anymore? Not really. I set up all my recurring bills for online payment today. I don't know why I didn't do this sooner. It's easy, relatively painless, and will save me a lot of time.

I don't need to go to CVS, Home Depot, or shopping malls either. Anything you can buy in a store, you can get delivered to your door. Why go to Home Depot to look for lightbulbs, only to discover that they are out of stock again? Things are almost always in stock at the online store and are usually delivered in just a day or two. Stores have been practically begging me to buy online for several years now. I just didn't realize how easy it was.

It's time to take a look at my investments as well. The economy is going to take a terrible hit, but there will be winners. Who is going to thrive in an increasingly digital economy? Some companies already seem well prepared for a world where work takes place in the cloud and almost anything can be delivered to your door. Everyone keeps asking when the world is going to return to normal. I don't think it ever will. We do a lot of things out of habit, and each of us is slowly but surely developing brand new habits. Which of our quarantine routines are going to stick? If you guess correctly, you will do very well in the years ahead.

We walked very early this morning. I thought about getting a picture of Dawn with the dawn of a new day in the background. The sunrise wasn't all that pretty though, so I'll save that picture for another day. It was enjoyable having the park to ourselves. The weather was beautiful and we only saw a few dedicated runners and cyclists. The weekend crowds were still waking up. We didn't see any teenagers or families with children this morning.

I did some more roof repairs this afternoon. I tried to lift the heavy bucket of silicon to the roof, but my rope broke and I had to transfer the messy material to a smaller bucket again. Luckily the rope broke when the heavy bucket was less than a foot off the ground, so nothing spilled. It would have been a giant mess if the bucket of silicon spilled and covered the yard. After today's repairs, I can't find any more bad areas. We'll wait until the next rain, and then the whole process begins all over again. Eventually I'll become confident enough to begin sheetrock repairs inside.

This weekend was pleasant and it certainly went quickly. Lets see what happens next week. I'm hoping for additional news from Sky and Telescope and NASA. It would be nice to have a plan again. Until then, I'll probably move ahead and upgrade the laptop computers with solid state drives. I'll order the parts I need tomorrow. Embracing online banking was a big deal for me. I didn't think I'd ever do this. Maybe there are more things I can improve as well. In troubling times it is important to keep moving.

Milo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3757

I keep wanting to say "Y'all are doing it wrong" when I hear all these suggestions about social distancing. I don't think extroverts have a clue about staying apart. Unfortunately, extroverts are making the rules. I actually think I was doing a much better job of keeping my distance before all the restrictions started. When most of the stores are closed, people just congregate at the few remaining open ones. I've never seen Lowes and Home Depot as busy as they are now. Did everyone start a home improvement project at the same time or do they just want to get out of the house?

Social distancing is much easier when you basically don't like people. I've never had a problem staying away from you guys. When you zig, I zag. I do all my shopping when you are at work. I love the gloomy, overcast days at the park when nobody is trying to barbecue or get a suntan. I don't even understand the concept of a virtual cocktail party on Zoom. Real cocktail parties were bad enough. Back when I had to attend parties for work, I would quickly find the host, make a little small talk and then quietly leave when nobody was looking.

You don't need to scream at me on Twitter to "just stay home" in all capital letters. Other than a walk in a nearly empty park with Dawn, I was home all day. I'm almost always home all day. I did get a lot done today. The weather was warm this afternoon so I pulled the big bucket of silicon up on the roof using a rope and made some more repairs. I must be doing a pretty decent job. We've had a lot of rain this Spring and the leak still hasn't returned. When today's repairs dry completely, I'll make another sweep of the roof and look for more weak spots.

Janet and I both washed our cars today, but they never left the driveway. I think one reason that mine was so dirty is that it has been sitting so long. At this time of year, the trees seem to shed a fine yellow powder that gets over everything. I'm not a botanist, but I think the yellow powder must be the  pollen inside the catkins that fall from our Oak trees. This is also the season when the ants and tent caterpillars arrive. I saw a ton of ants on the roof and a lot of them will end up getting trapped in the wet silicon. It serves these pesky ants right for trying to find a way into our kitchen.

I passed my security clearance to get a press pass for the upcoming Crew Dragon launch in late May or early June. I doubt that I'll get final approval for a while though. The folks at Kennedy Space Center are probably still trying to decide if the launch will even happen. I bet the two astronauts are already in quarantine though. NASA definitely doesn't want those two to get the virus. The Crew Dragon launch and the Mars 2020 Lander are still on schedule. Just about everything else at NASA has been put on hold. We'll see what happens. I'd still like to go cover this launch.

Tomorrow is Wednesday for those of you who have forgotten what day it is. It's easy to do. Like many of you, I need a project. Maybe I'll finally start uploading a bunch of new pictures to my Shutterstock account. Stock photography is a good way to make money even if you are confined to your house.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3719

Having an extra day in February always seems kind of weird. Of course, February is a weird month anyway since it is so short. I kind of wish every month has twenty eight days. Four complete weeks each month would make things easier to remember. Unfortunately, the Earth's orbit doesn't work out that way. I'm always impressed that our ancestors were able to divide up the year so accurately even back in Roman times. Caesar's calendar wasn't all that different than ours.

Breakfast was interrupted this morning by a visit from the roofer I met yesterday. He seemed very knowledgable and his company had good credentials. Not surprisingly, his bid was just as high as the other reputable roofers I've talked with. There are no bargains here. Basically a flat roof is always going to cost about three times more than a shingle roof.

While I was up on the roof this morning I was pleased to see the the silicon patches I applied yesterday had cured properly and looked ready for the next rain. I was a little worried about this batch of silicon because it didn't seem quite as thick as the previous batch. Probably I just didn't stir the stuff enough. Silicon is a lot harder to mix than paint because it is so thick. You can't shake the bucket either because it is too heavy. Probably I should have bought one of those paint mixers you attach to a power drill. I just stirred the stuff with an old drumstick I found in the storage warehouse. I guess mixing the silicon coating isn't rocket science, because the batch I applied yesterday dried just fine.

Janet walked Dawn by herself today to see whether her nervousness was because of me or if she just always want both of us to accompany her. Evidently, Dawn was still a little apprehensive, but they completed their walk successfully. Probably it is just a matter of getting used to new situations. We try to introduce Dawn to new experiences and it seems to be working. She seems more relaxed with each passing day.

Something is wrong with Facebook again. For the past several weeks I've been having problems uploading the preview picture that accompanies my daily blog post. When you post a link, the preview pictures are supposed to be uploaded automatically. It usually takes several tries now to get a preview picture to load with the link. I guess it wouldn't matter if I wasn't such a stickler for consistency. I had to try twelve times last night before I could get Facebook to find the preview picture. Hopefully, things will be easier tonight.

I wish the media would quit talking about the coronavirus. I've always been a bit of a hypochondriac and all it takes is a ten minute Google search to convince me that something is terrible wrong and I'm going to die. That's the trouble with having an imagination. It's easy for it to run wild. Now, every ten minutes I'm hearing that I should never touch my face and eyes with my hands. Jeez. I've got terrible seasonal allergies and I'm always rubbing my eyes. Visine doesn't really help that much and my eyes are always watering on walks. I probably don't wash my hands enough either. I hate that Purell stuff.

Should I apply more silicon to the roof tomorrow, or have I done enough? It's impossible to know. I wish I could get over my obsession with taking at least 20,000 steps on Sundays. It would be much more enjoyable to just stay home and take a long nap with Dawn.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3718

Maybe we're going to have an early Spring. Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow this year. Just saying. There are other signs as well. The Dogwood trees are already starting to bloom. I'm starting to see small flowers like Crow Poison and Blue Eyed Grass as well. These are all good omens. I'm tired of winter, even though it had been quite mild this year.

It was quite warm this morning, so I thought it would be a good day to apply more silicon to the roof. I called the roofing supply store and they had two buckets of the coating in stock. I told them to save one for me and got in the car to go pick it up. The stuff is expensive and it was a long drive to get it, but I'm convinced that this leak isn't going to stop on its own.

While the roofing supply folks were processing my order, I asked if they knew any good roofers. Truthfully, I don't believe they exist, buy I always ask. "Why don't you talk to Ellis over here," the lady at the front desk told me. This roofer was buying supplies as well and he certainly talked a good game. I asked him to come over and give me a bid.

I applied about a gallon of the stuff this afternoon and hoped for the best. The roofer I talked with this morning told me he never uses silicon because it doesn't breathe and allow moisture and humidity from inside the house to escape. Could this be true? I thought the whole point of a roof was to keep moisture from outside the house from getting in.

When I finished working on the roof, I tried to take Dawn on a walk. Janet had a doctor's appointment, so she couldn't go with us today. The walk started fine, but after about 500 yards, Dawn had a panic attack and refused to move forward. She just sat in the grass and looked at me with pitiful eyes. "Do you want to go back home," I said? She immediately turned around and started walking briskly toward the house. This was the first time she had been outside the yard without Janet. Dawn obviously trusts Janet more than me. Toward the end of the day, we both walked her together again and she did just fine.

I went back to the hotel for breakfast this morning. There were a lot of travelers dining this morning. You couldn't hear what they were talking about, but every now and then I heard the word coronavirus rise about the background noise. Clearly people are thinking about this. I wonder why the unknown scares us much more than the known? Cancer kills far more than this virus probably will. Probably many things do. I'm not immune from irrational fears though. Please don't cough if I'm nearby.

Connor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3716

It was really cold this morning. We thought Dawn might like to wear Dot's winter hat on her walk. Dawn wasn't so sure. She gave us one of her huge Dalmatian smiles, showing not only her teeth, but her tongue as well. This was kind of a nervous smile. "What are you doing to me," she was saying. "This hat doesn't even fit." Dawn didn't have to wear the hat. She tried to humor us though, wearing the hat around the house for a little while without trying to shake it off.

One of the reasons it felt so cold this morning was that there was a fierce wind. The temperature was in the high thirties, but the strong winds made it feel like it was well below freezing. The weather didn't seem to bother Dawn. She still loved her walk. The sky was clear and there were lots of things to smell. Dawn really enjoys smelling things, but so far doesn't chase squirrels.

It's a shame that people steal packages off porches these days. It takes away one of the main benefits of ordering online. I had to re-route a FedEx delivery to a FedEx facility today. Hopefully, I can pick it up tomorrow. I do this for UPS deliveries as well. Janet picks up her Amazon purchases at Whole Foods. It's less convenient, but this is just the world we live in. Who would have thought that you'd end up driving across town to pick up a FedEx delivery or never answer your phone because you didn't want to talk to a telemarketer. I never thought I'd have to take my shoes off at the airport either.

It looks like I'm going to be really busy at the observatory. I received a ton of additional background information today. There are viewing targets for each Star Party night as well as a list of alternate targets in case it is partly cloudy. If your target is covered by clouds, I guess you just point your telescope somewhere else. There is a lot to look at in the night sky. The few things I'm familiar with don't even begin to scratch the surface.

Reading all this background material inspired me to send another article proposal to Sky and Telescope. We'll see if I get a response. I'm learning to be patient about query letters. Some magazines respond quickly and others seem to take forever. Sky and Telescope is always slow to respond. I hope I don't end up being a nuisance to the editors I've gotten to know. I think I want to hear from them a lot more than they want to hear from me.

I think I'm going to take my McDonald Observatory target list to the observatory north of town when I visit. It would be really beneficial to know where to find some of these objects ahead of time. I talk a good game about liking astronomy, but I really don't spend a lot of time outdoors looking at the stars. I don't like the cold for starters. Tilting my head sharply to look straight overhead occasionally gives me neck pain as well. It might have been easier if I was interested in stamp collecting instead.

I still haven't picked up another bucket of the silicon coating to apply on the roof. I'm going to regret this the next time it rains. I keep postponing this chore because the silicon material is quite expensive and it's a long drive to the roofing supply store. It didn't take me long to buy that wide angle lens though. I guess we all have our priorities.

Bingo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3711

Dawn got her stitches out this morning. The vet examined her and said that all her wounds were healing nicely. We were worried that she might have an ear infection, since she keeps trying to scratch at her ear. It was probably just the stitches though. The ear looks fine. Hopefully, she feels more comfortable now. She had a lot of stitches.

I kept thinking it was Saturday today. Friday and Saturday seem virtually the same. I wrote a letter to my Luddite sister, took it to the post office, and then went to the grocery store to pick up some things for dinner. I'll go back to a different grocery store and do the same thing tomorrow. Maybe that's why it felt like Saturday.

I wish I had more of the silicon material. This would have been a good day to re-coat the entire area above where the leak appeared. Unfortunately, there aren't many places that carry the special silicon coating. When I can't get the roofer to give me some, I usually have to special order the stuff. Janet wants me to hurry up and put on a new roof, but all the bids I've gotten so far leave a lot to be desired. Most roofers don't have a good plan for adding a slope to the roof and I don't want to pay a lot for a new roof that is still going to have standing water after every rain. Basically it's all a complicated mess.

The weather looks like it is getting better. Maybe I'll get a chance to schedule a night at the little observatory north of town after all. I'd really like a refresher course on Winter galaxies before I leave for McDonald Observatory. It might be nice to know how to correctly set up an equatorial mount telescope in a hurry as well. I want to be familiar with the night sky and learn how to find objects quickly before I start helping with star parties. Basically, I just don't want to look like an idiot.

Dawn is a smart dog. She's only had a few walks and she already knows the way home. It was fun watching her lead the way home. She knows exactly where our house is now and goes straight to the back gate. She seems to know where the vet is too. She was shaking and shivering in the car on the way to the vet this morning, but was very calm and went to sleep on the way home.

My seasonal allergies are terrible this year. I've had watering eyes and a runny nose for weeks now. It seems like the allergy season starts a little earlier with each passing year. I shouldn't be having Spring allergies until it is actually Spring. Today was nice, but it is definitely still Winter. I wish this would stop. I'm running through a lot of Kleenex.

I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow. I've finished my Solar Orbiter article and received an acknowledgment that it will be published. I've sent my best pictures to the magazine. Dawn is getting better and doesn't need as much supervision. It's too early to pack for the observatory as well. Dawn is scared of loud noises, so I'm definitely not going to vacuum. Sounds like a day for a long walk.

Lizzy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3706

Dawn got her first walk in the park today. She loved it. Before Dawn entered the rescue program, she had been used for breeding. We think she is about six years old and Lord knows how many litters of puppies she's had. She hasn't really had a chance to be a normal dog. You can tell she's trying to make up for lost time. It's been a joy to have this gentle girl around the house. Her wounds are healing nicely and every day she discovers something new.

Today was beautiful. The sky was clear and the temperature was around seventy five degrees. It was definitely not your typical Winter day. It wasn't surprising that the park was full of people today. Dawn encountered lots of other dogs on our walk and wasn't reactive to any of them. She just minded her own business and continued exploring new smells. This was really encouraging. Despite her recent attack, she appears willing to forget the past and move forward with her life. A person could learn a lot from this dog.

I stayed pretty active today. As far as I can remember, this was my first 25,000 step day. According to my watch, I set a personal best for exercise and activity. I might do this more often if every day was as nice as this. I had a good workout at the gym, came home and walked Dawn with Janet, then mowed the grass and took my regular five mile walk. You might wonder why I'd be mowing the grass in February. It wasn't really grass. Just a lot of Winter weeds. Weeds are a year round problem here in Texas.

I wish I had more silicon material because this would have been a great day to spread the stuff everywhere. It's still Winter and there are a lot more cold, wet days to come. I hope that I fixed the worst areas yesterday, but it's better to be safe than sorry. I probably should go to the roofing supply store and buy another bucket of this stuff in case we get a nice day like this again.

There were lots of small sailboats on the lake today. I think one of the sailing clubs was having a regatta. When we first moved here, I thought of getting a small sailboat. I'm glad I didn't. I doubt that I would have used it much. I rarely even use my kayak. It's nice living near the water, but I don't have a strong desire to be out on the water. I've seen too many large snakes swimming in the lake and I tend to believe the people who say the water is polluted. No thank you to water sports. I'll just stay on the shore and photograph pelicans.

Monday is our day to visit the kennel dogs but I'm not sure what we'll be doing tomorrow. Maybe Janet can go to the kennel while I stay home with Dawn. If Janet wants to stay home and have me go to the kennel, that would be fine too. We just don't want to leave Dawn for a long time before her stitches are removed. She could still make a mess of things if she started to scratch at the stitches and try to pull them out.

I've got a title for my Solar Orbiter article now. That's as far as I've gotten. No apologies. Did you really expect me to write on a day like this?

Joshua is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3705

Have you ever tried to change a password and gotten a dialog box that starts with "enter old password" before letting you enter a new one? Jeez. If I knew my old password, I wouldn't be needing a new one. We stopped using our petcam after it seemed to acquire a mind of it's own one evening. Now, we want to use it again with Dawn, but can't remember the password. The only alternative was to restore the camera's factory settings and install it all over again. This was a difficult process the first time and seemed even harder today. I guess I've lost a few more brain cells.

When I finally got the IP camera working again, I went up on the roof to see if it was dry enough to do some more repairs. Everything looked good. I took a tape measure and found the exact spot where the water was leaking in the kitchen. Now that everything is dry, I did see a small tear that could be causing the problem. I used the remaining silicon to cover this area and hoped for the best. The entire five gallon container is gone now. If this doesn't work, I'm going to have to buy another container of this expensive stuff and keep trying. The roofer has gone radio silent and doesn't answer the phone or e-mail. I have a feeling that I'm on my own now.

Dawn is doing so well now. She's become a member of the family. She's very comfortable around the house now and isn't bothered when we have to leave. Because she's a curious Dalmatian, I went to the storage warehouse and retrieved some more gates. We always gated our other dogs in a safe area when we had to leave. This gave them more space than keeping them in a crate and kept them from eating little things that would require a trip to the emergency vet. I'm never gone long, but it doesn't take a lot of time for a dog to get into trouble.

By the time I finished all my Saturday chores, I was surprised that I still had time for my walk. It was windy today, but the temperature was much warmer. I was tired by the time I returned home, but it was a nice day to be outside. All in all, I felt pretty productive today. I went grocery shopping, filled the car with gas, paid a few bills, reinstalled the petcam, and made some roof repairs.

I also watched the launch of the 13th Cygnus resupply mission on NASA TV this afternoon and wondered about traveling to Wallops Island. It's one of the few NASA launch sites I haven't visited yet. Wallops Island is pretty remote with few nearby hotels. There are no convenient airports either. Everyone I know who has gone to Wallops has loved the experience though. It's not high on my list, but one of these days I'll probably go there myself.

One thing I didn't do today was write. I still haven't started my Solar Orbiter article. I'm a procrastinator who is at his best staring at a deadline. With nobody demanding a finished article immediately, it's easy to keep saying "maybe tomorrow." The article will get written. I just don't know when.

One thing I'm sure I'll be doing tomorrow is going to the gym. Those 20,000 steps on Sundays don't walk themselves.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day