Day 4886

I finally got out the star tracker and began testing it again. This thing is so frustrating. It works perfectly ocassionally, but mostly it randomly crashes in unpredicctable ways. I've spend hours and hours trying to identify and isolate the problem. I always come up with nothing. Is it a bad cable that causes the camera to disconnect? Why does the app often fail to stitch together panorama shots? I can't tell whether it's the camera, the iPhone app, the Polaris itself, or the connecting cables that are causing all the problems. It doesn't help that there never was an instruction manual for this thing. There is an online user group, but almost evereyone is using a different type of camera to connect to the tracker, so useful advice is limited. I gave up trying to communicate with the Chinese manufacturer a long time ago. The marketing people speak English but most of the engineers don't. When this thing works it produces spectacular results, but it only works for me about 20% of the time. I certainly didn't accomplish much today, so the Polaris will go back in the box for another month or so.

The rest of the day was about what you'd expect. Dawn got a nice early morning walk. I ate my breakfast of shredded wheat and fruit while watching the world disintegrate on cable news. I checked my messages and once again found nothing but spam. Then I got ready for my long walk.

My feet haven't been bothering me as much lately. I have no idea why. I can't be bothered to walk in a different direction, so I keep following the same path over and over again. I've walked this route so many times that I notice the smallest details. A piece of gum on the pavement becomes a mileage marker. A missing duck becomes a cause for concern. I'm surprised at how many people follow the same predictable routines as I do. I pass some of the same people walking in the opposite direction every single day. There are a lot of dog walkers I recognize now. There is even one guy who walks his cat on a leash. The park department spent a lot of money putting up fancy barriers to prevent vehicular traffic on the wider trails. Less than three months later most of the barriers are down. I suspect  the park maintenance people complained that they couldn't get their mowers, trash trucks, and other equipment through the barriers. One more example of a bureaucracy at work. Often the left hand isn't talking to the right hand.

My long walk took most of the morning and my experiments with the star tracker took most of the afternoon. There are lots of chores I could do around the house, but chores were the last thing I wanted to do today. I also wasn't interested in mowing the grass, even though it has been growing very quickly with all the rain we've been having. I guess I'd rather just go back to Florida and watch another launch. There is an opportunity to get press credentials at the end of the month for the AX-2 launch, but they'll probably wait until the last minute to notify me again. Who knows if I'll end up going. A lot depends on when the roofers decide to replace the roof.

It looks like tomorrow will be a nice day and then there is rain in the forecast for a solid week. This has been such a rainy Spring. It's has been hard to plan for anything. One way or another I'm sure we'll have a new roof by Summer. I'll probably see another launch or two as well. By July I'm sure I'll regret complaining about the rain. We get all our rain at once and it can be extremely dry later in the Summer. At least some things are predictable. I took this week's trash to the curb like I always do on Thursday evening. The trash truck always arrives while we are walking Dawn on Friday morning. The garbage man is very predictable.

Dodger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4765

I received a notice today that my application for press credentials was accepted, so I will be heading to Kennedy Space Center soon to attend the USSF-67 Falcon Heavy launch. These last minute notices make me nervous, but the Space X folks are probably doing the best they can. Things change rapidly with almost any launch and they probably weren't even sure the launch would take place until today's successful static fire. Hey, at least I got credentialed. The weather looks good so far as well. Airfares look terrible though. I thought Southwest would be offering some deals to win back customers after all the problems they had a few weeks ago. Nope. The current fare to Orlando was the highest I've ever seen. The Airbnb I like was open though, so that's good. I've really got to stop fretting about this stuff. There are many launch opportunities and I can only afford to go to a few of them anyway. It wouldn't have been the end of the world if I missed this one.

The laser pointer accessory I ordered for one of my star trackers arrived today but I couldn't figure out how to assemble it. I wrote the company a letter saying that I thought a part was missing. A few hours later I noticed a video on the company website with operating instructions. My bad. I just needed to unscrew the top of the unit so it would fit on the star tracker adapter. I felt kind of stupid, because after looking at the video I felt that I should have been able to figure this out myself. These type of things are going to happen more frequently now. Growing old isn't pretty.

It was foggy outside when we took Dawn on her early walk this morning. Ground fog in the park is often very pretty, but cameras and dogs don't mix well, so I didn't get any pictures. We had a nice walk though and since we started a little later, we didn't even need our flashlights.

I got a late start on my long walk today because I needed to make all my reservations for the Florida trip. By the time I left the house it was warm enough to wear shorts again. I think we set an all time temperature record today. It got up to 83 degrees. I'm sure it will get cold again, but I'll take this warmer weather whenever we can get it. It didn't feel like January at all today. It felt more like April.

I hope all these long walks are actually helping me. Sometimes I wonder. I'm certainly not building any muscle. They say building muscle mass is much harder as you grow older. I'm probably going to have to get serious and spend more time lifting weights. I'm thin enough as it is. I wish I enjoyed going to the gym, because I've certainly got the time. I prefer walking though because I can daydream and let my mind wander. I'd never make a good gym rat.

I can't decide what to write about on this trip to Florida. The USSF-67 Mission is almost identical to the USSF-44 Mission which I've already written about. I doubt that the magazine is going to be very interested in another article about the same thing. I already have a Falcon Heavy article in the January issue. Hopefully, I can think of something interesting in the next day or so because I'd like the magazine to stay interested in me.

Dawn is finally starting to relax around me. It's about time. Maybe we'll eventually end up being best buddies after all.

Murphy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4759

I must have done something today. There are days when it's really hard to tell. It was definitely a slow day. I still haven't heard anything about the upcoming Falcon Heavy launch. That's probably not a good sign. My friend who is selling my train collection made a minor sale today. That was a surprise. Most of the good pieces in the collection are already gone, so sales have slowed down considerably. I probably should have started selling the collection a few years earlier. Nobody is interested in model trains anymore.

We had to wear our warning lights again on our morning walk with Dawn. I'll be glad when the days start getting longer. I can't say that I'm a fan of walking in the dark. Dawn enjoyed herself though. We had a good walk. I'll have to admit that these early walks are good for me. It's hard for me to get out of bed, but I'm always wide awake by the time we return home.

I thought about going to REI today because they are having a big sale. I looked on their website and there was absolutely nothing that interested me. I used to always be able to find something at this store. I still had an itch to buy something, so I ended up ordering some more astrophotography gear. Today's purchase was a little green laser that attaches to one of my star trackers. You just point the laser toward Polaris and you are aligned. Never mind that I can't even see Polaris from my house. I probably couldn't use something like this in the city anyway. It will be useful if I ever go back to McDonald Observatory though. The attachment wasn't very expensive and I don't feel like buying things anymore. Mission accomplished.

I'm still wondering where the eagles go when they aren't near their nest. Occasionally I'll see them and then they'll disappear for two weeks. They were gone today. The new female Muscovy duck has disappeared as well. Now we are back to three ducks again. There isn't a lot going on in the animal world. I haven't seen a bobcat or coyote in months.

The construction in the park is finally finished. All the construction equipment is gone and the last piles of debris have been cleaned up. The six stone gates were the last things to be finished, but they are done now.  Yesterday, custom metal posts were installed between each of the gates to prevent cars from driving on the trails. These gates are pretty elaborate, so the park department must have had some extra money lying around. 

Dawn did well in training class tonight. She's not winning ribbons anymore, but Janet is pleased with her progress. I'm not so pleased with my own progress. I'd like to find something that interests me that doesn't involve traveling halfway across the country. I shouldn't complain though. Chasing rockets is really quite interesting even though you can't do it in Dallas.

Hunter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4733 - Dawn's Birthday

Good grief. I forgot my appointment with the eye doctor today. It wasn't their fault. They've been sending me reminders for the past two weeks. I got distracted by a roof leak this morning and just forgot. I remember thinking yesterday that maybe I ought to leave a note out on the kitchen table to remind me while I was eating breakfast. No, I'll remember I thought. I rescheduled the appointment, but I feel kind of foolish. I can't remember anything anymore.

Today's roof leak was minor, but it was annoying. This is what happens in the Winter. It never gets hot enough for the water to evaporate, so it just sits up there. I used to get on the roof and sweep the water away after every rain, but I try to avoid that now. I'm getting clumsy and I don't want to fall off the roof.

The park was empty when we walked Dawn this morning. You don't see many bicycles or runners on days like this. People still walk their dogs though. No matter what the weather looks like, we always see several other people walking their dogs. 

I keep telling myself that I don't feel like walking in the park, but somehow I end up doing it anyway. It's just easier to go out the back door and start walking than it is to go to the gym. I completed my entire walk this morning without thinking that I should have been at the eye doctor instead. It never even occurred to me that I'd missed my appointment until later this afternoon. Next time I will make myself a note and place it on the kitchen table. 

I upgraded the star tracker this afternoon. I don't know why I bothered because it doesn't seem any different than the last version. The unit still works, but it takes me a while to get it going. There is a specific start-up sequence that needs to be followed and I never remember to do everything in the right order. I wouldn't be surprised if I wear the star tracker out testing it and never get around to doing any actual astrophotography.

Today is Dawn's birthday. She is now ten years old. Coincidentally, December 9th is also my Dad's birthday.  He would have been 102 year old if he hadn't died 19 years ago. Dawn is getting older, but she still seems very healthy. I think she enjoys her life with us and is finally starting to relax. I took a short nap on the bed earlier this evening and she didn't leave. She actually seemed fairly content. One of these days she's going to realize that I mean no harm and we'll be buddies. We'll have a little birthday party for Dawn when Janet gets home this evening. We don't make elaborate dog cakes anymore, but we do get pupcakes from Sprinkles. Janet and I will have a little champagne as well. It's just a birthday tradition.

There's more rain in the forecast for tomorrow. I wish the rain would wait until I finish my grocery shopping, but it probably won't. I'm resigned to getting wet tomorrow. Dawn might get a morning walk though. I don't think the rain is supposed to start until around 10 AM. If it keeps raining I'll go to the gym in the afternoon. It's time for me to go back to the gym anyway.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4731

I have a hard time getting used to Winter in Texas. A few weeks ago it was below freezing. Today the temperature was in the mid-70's. No goose down coats today. I wore shorts and a t-shirt on my walks. It would have been nice if the sun was shining today, but at least it wasn't raining. The sky was grey and looked like it was on the verge of raining all day, but luckily it never did.

We had a nice quiet walk with Dawn this morning. There were very few bicycles to avoid because the roads were wet. There weren't many joggers either which was surprising. It seemed like a good day for a run. One problem with days like this is that our shoes get muddy. We have a system for cleaning them but Dawn gets impatient with us. She's ready to go inside and eat some more as soon as we return home.

I continued changing old passwords today. Some of my oldest passwords were so simple that anyone could figure them out. I discovered that I'd reused many of these passwords as well. You can't do that these days. Implementing more secure passwords made me nostalgic for the days when the Internet was innocent and simple. These days it seems more of an adversary than a friend.

I continue walking in the park because I don't like fighting all the Christmas traffic on the way to the gym. At least a walk in the park creates an illusion of peace and tranquility. I saw both eagles today. They were sitting in their nest. I wonder why eagles love to build nests in dead trees. The eagles I see in Florida do the same thing. A rotten dead tree got Nick and Nora in trouble last year and they lost their nest. Hopefully they will have better luck this year.

I keep wondering why five of the domestic geese that live near Sunset Bay have disappeared. I keep thinking that someone captured them and took them home to eat. Something like this wouldn't really surprise me at all. There has to be a reason for all the "no trapping or poaching" signs I see along the shoreline. 

There is a rare occultation of Mars and the Moon happening right now. I'd been hoping to see this, but it's quite cloudy outside. I keep going out in the back yard, hoping for a break in the clouds. No such luck. Occasionally I'll see a faint glow through the clouds where the moon is supposed to be, but mostly I see nothing. The sky is really overcast tonight. My luck with astronomical events isn't very good. This definitely isn't the first time that bad weather has prevented me from seeing something interesting in the night sky.

There is another firmware update available for the star tracker but I didn't feel like bothering with it today. The day was dismal and I didn't feel like doing much of anything. Dawn was in a better mood than me and  actually did pretty well in her training class this evening. Maybe we'll see the sun tomorrow. I certainly hope so.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4726

I would have preferred to sleep in this morning, but Dawn and Janet were ready to walk. Did it rain last night? The ground was very wet even though I don't remember it raining. There was a light mist in the air and my coat was damp by the time we returned home. Dawn had a good walk though. We took our lights this morning because we got started early, but we didn't need heavy coats. It was surprisingly warm today.

After breakfast I installed the latest firmware on the star tracker and tested everything to make sure it still worked. This took about an hour. I must have upgraded the firmware on this tracker at least a dozen times by now. There have been quite a few changes to the software app that controls the tracker as well. After many hours of testing, I've still only used this thing out in the field once. I guess it was a good purchase though. It has kept me occupied for many hours and I suspect that I've learned a lot along the way. One thing I've learned is that I'm not quite as interested in astronomy as I thought I was. The night sky is fascinating, but I'd really rather stay inside at night.

I changed my eye doctor appointment because it turned out to be on the same day I need to take Janet to and from dental surgery. When they asked when I'd like to reschedule, I felt like saying how about several years from now. I know my eye doctor is going to want to do cataract surgery and I'm not ready yet. Somehow it really bothers me that I won't be able to quickly change focus between near and far objects anymore. The artificial lens is just a simple fixed focus lens usually optimized for distance viewing.

It was fairly warm by the time I took my long walk, but it was not a nice day. It's been grey and gloomy all day. There were lots of people with cameras and binoculars when I passed the eagle's nest. I thought it was funny that the three Muscovy ducks were wandering through all the gawkers and being totally ignored. I'm sure the ducks thought the people were there to feed them and they looked pissed. "Hey, what about us," they seemed to be saying.

Construction continues on the world's most elaborate stone gates. I would have liked to be a fly on the wall at the meeting where the city approved these five gates. I'm still not sure what their purpose is, but there had to be a less expensive way to accomplish the park department's goals.

I think I've got my equipment ready for the first Santa Paws photo shoot tomorrow morning. I always take an extra camera body and a spare strobe light and power supply in case something breaks. Likely the only thing that is going to break is me. I'm getting too old for this. Dogs are small and I'm down on my knees a lot trying to get the best angle. I'm sure I've already mentioned that my knees are terrible. Last year I brought a cane to one of the photo shoots, but it didn't help much. Oh, well. This event is a good fund raiser for the dogs. I don't really do enough to help the rescue Dalmatians.

I can postpone my weekly grocery shopping, but I'm not sure how I'm going to get my steps tomorrow. Santa Paws days are long. Did I manage to get 10,000 steps last year? I don't even remember. 

Gretta is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4597

It was a slow day. The big event of the day was giving Dawn a bath. She likes to roll around in the grass in the back yard and gets dirty incredibly quickly. It was a good time for a bath since we had just cleaned all the bedding on her favorite bed. Like most dogs, Dawn isn't fond of getting a bath, although she always seems to feel better after the ordeal is over. We gave up on bathing our dogs at home years ago and use one of those self-bathing places. It is much easier to bathe a large dog on one of those large raised tubs. After a bath and a nail trim, Dawn is good for another month. Sometimes I wish I only needed one bath a month. I've grown to hate getting wet

The day started as usual with a sunrise walk with Dawn. It was nice this morning. The humidity was low and there was a gentle breeze. It was so pleasant outside that I thought seriously about taking a walk in the park instead of going to the gym. That didn't last long. When I went outside to check on the weather after breakfast, it was already too hot. In just one hour the temperature had already gone up over six degrees.

Before going to the gym I wrote a NASA contact with some questions about the upcoming Artemis-1 launch. I was amazed that I got an answer later the same day. Although the trip is still over a month away, it seems like I will be leaving soon. I'm not a spontaneous traveler and it takes me a while to get ready. The trip to Titusville should be a piece of cake by now since I've been there many times before. Nope. I still fret about what cameras and clothes to take and wonder how everything will fit in a small carry on bag. I'm not a great traveler.

I went to the gym as soon as it opened. There wasn't much else to do. I still wonder why the gym parking lot is always full when there are typically very few people on the gym floor. There must be something else going on that I don't know about. I know they have classes in another nearby building. The cars could belong to employees, but I seldom see over five employees when I'm there. I guess I could ask someone. That's not my style though. I'll just wonder about this for years.

I thought about practicing with the star tracker this afternoon. There is already a new version of the iPhone app available. I ended up doing nothing. I'm already starting to tire of experimenting with this thing and wonder if I will ever put it to good use. I've had the tracker for many months and so far I have only taken one decent picture of the night sky. It's a useful tool to have around though. As long as the tracker is still under development, it always gives me something to do on a slow day.

Janet and I may go visit the rescue Dalmatians again tomorrow. The kennel is closing soon and we will be moving the dog to a new location. We're still not sure if we'll be able to play with the dogs regularly at the new place, so we wanted to see everyone again before the move. The rest of the day will be just like today. There will definitely be a sunrise walk with Dawn and a trip to the gym.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4590

It's going to be a very long summer. Every day seems the same. The relentless heat takes away my desire to do anything. Our sunrise walk with Dawn feels like what you'd expect at noon in a normal year. This is the only walk that Dawn gets now. It's far too hot for an afternoon walk. It's too hot for anything. I eat my breakfast, check my messages on the computer, and then wonder what to do next.

This morning I went to the gym fairly early. I have no burning desire to exercise, but it is something to do.  I'm getting better on the basketball court, but I'm not very athletic. All I do is shoot free throws. I'm not very fast on the indoor track either, but my Fitbit doesn't care. I make sure to walk at least 10,000 steps and close all the activity rings on my Apple Watch. I've actually learned a lot watching other people's personal trainers. Maybe someday I'll put these fitness tips to good use. I think I'm in reasonably good shape but older, heavier people often pass me on the track. Usually after about an hour and a half I've had enough and I head back home again.

My phone said that there was a new version of the Polaris app available, so I downloaded it. Strangely, it was exactly the same as the version I downloaded last week. Since I didn't have anything better to do, I set the star tracker up again and put it through it's paces. I had better luck today and the camera only disconnected from the tracker once. I have a feeling that some of the problems I've been having might be user error. It's hard to tell though, since there has never been an instruction manual for this thing. Most of what I've learned comes from the Facebook user group and the majority of these other users don't know any more than I do. 

I wish it were easier to keep our house cool. We have a ton of single pane windows that act just like radiators in the summer. When you stand near them you can feel the heat. The roof isn't insulated well either. Originally, the house had a thick tar and gravel roof that provided excellent insulation. When it came time to replace this roof, we discovered that nobody does tar and gravel roofs anymore. The thinner roofing materials that replaced the tar and gravel don't provide much insulation at all. I have a feeling that the weather was cooler fifty years ago as well. There were also more large Oak trees that provided a lot of shade. Several of these trees have died and the remaining ones are not in great shape. It all adds up to a house that isn't that comfortable in triple digit weather. Our air conditioning system is doing all it can. Most AC systems will only lower the temperature about twenty degrees. This means when the temperature is over 100 degrees outside, it can still approach 80 degrees inside.

I still wish I could hibernate like a bear. Napping is the next best thing though. Dawn has finally realized that nothing bad happens when we share the bed for an afternoon nap. We're actually getting along pretty well now. Maybe those nine days we spent together while Janet was on vacation helped. It's a good thing we can nap together. What else is there to do on a hot July day.

I'll probably go back to the gym tomorrow morning. I need to mow the grass but I'd rather wait for a cloudy day. It's time to get a haircut again too. Maybe I'll make an appointment tomorrow. I'm sure there are all sorts of things I could do if I was more industrious. We'll wait until it's cooler for that. This heat has killed my motivation.

Jade is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4588

We are well on our way towards having the worst summer of all time. There are so many triple digit days ahead of us in the weather forecast that chances are good that we will set an all time record soon. It's not a good sign when you start to sweat on a pre-dawn walk with your dog. Our sunrise walk wasn't that bad though and we got Dawn back to the house before it got too hot. My long walk after breakfast was quite a bit worse. I managed to complete my entire route and was back at the house before 10:30 AM. The walk still wore me out though. Janet says I ought to go mall walking when my gym is closed. Actually, it's a pretty good idea. Walking around Northpark Mall on a hot day would probably be more interesting than walking around the indoor track at the gym.

Dawn got her Sunday outing, but we didn't do much walking. We just let her out of the car for a few minutes at the Sunday park to smell things and then headed straight for the ice cream store. I don't know why the store picked National Ice Cream day to raise their prices, but they did. It was so hot that the ice cream was a little soft. It seemed a bit like Dairy Queen soft serve, but it was still good. 

Since I definitely didn't want to go outside again, I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to upgrade the star tracker. There always seems to be an app upgrade or new firmware available for this thing, but I'm usually very apprehensive to install it. Once burned, twice shy I guess. I should have known that this latest firmware upgrade would break my camera connection again. I've been through this before. Benro sends me a custom software patch that fixes the problem and then a few days later there is a new firmware update that breaks things all over again. It's a good thing I don't actually need this star tracker. I've spent hours and hours testing this thing, but have only used it once to photograph the night sky on my last trip out to McDonald Observatory. I guess all these problems are par for the course for being a beta tester. It's frustrating though. I don't know why the company keeps trying to upgrade this product. It seemed to work fine to me several months ago.

Dawn has finally realized that I am not a threat when I nap on the bed with her. We coexist on the bed pretty well now. When I decide to take a nap, she no longer gets up and leaves the room. She doesn't even look alarmed. You can tell Dawn is starting to worry when her ears are laid back. When they are relaxed, she is fine. It's a good thing that Dawn is finally warming up to me. I can appreciate why she likes staying on the bed. The room is cool and the bed is comfortable. It's too bad I can't hibernate like a bear. I'd like to just take a very long nap until this heat wave is over.

Janet fixed a great dinner tonight. I'm glad she likes to cook because I sure don't. I do like to eat though and it was a nice way to end a very hot day. Tomorrow we'll go visit the rescue Dalmatians again. I think we need to take Spot back to the vet although I'm not sure why. I hope he rides well in the car because it's my turn to drive this week. I don't think I'll attempt another walk in the park. I'll probably go to the gym when we get back from the kennel. I'd still rather hibernate like a bear until this horrible summer is over. Jeez. When are we going to get some rain?

Riley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4556

Today was busier than usual for me. I actually got a few things done. After our sunrise walk with Dawn and my usual bowl of shredded wheat for breakfast, I decided to mow the grass instead of taking a long walk. I still need to replace the batteries in the electric mower because a charge only lasts long enough to mow half the yard. No problem though. I find that I need to recharge myself as well these days. I mowed the back yard and then checked my e-mail while the mower was charging before I went back outside and mowed the front. I don't know why I keep doing this. I've found someone who will do the mowing for me, but old habits die hard.

The new dishwasher is a success. Janet likes it anyway. I didn't have much faith in the unusual drying system when I started an overnight cycle before I went to bed last night, but all the dishes were clean and dry when we woke up this morning. The tub was dry as well. I think this machine takes longer to dry things than our old dishwasher, but it isn't a problem since I only run the machine once a day before I go to bed. This thing sure is quiet. I can't even tell it is on when it is running. 

Since I used up the cooler part of the day mowing the grass, I went to the gym this afternoon to get my steps. I stopped at the pharmacy on the way to pick up a prescription and discovered once again that GoodRx had a much better price than my Part-D prescription drug plan. The pharmacist said my Part-D rates would get better once I met my yearly deductible, but why bother. The GoodRx price is so much better.

I'm glad they opened up the basketball court again at my gym. Shooting baskets is one of the few things I actually enjoy while I'm there. They closed the court for a long time because I guess they thought people might catch Covid by touching basketballs. Sadly, now that things are finally returning to normal at the gym, they are crazier than ever everywhere else. Gas is expensive, food is expensive, the stock market is tanking, and everyone seems angry.

It was still pretty early when I finished my workout and returned home, so I decided to bite the bullet and upgrade the star tracker again. I wish they'd decide that this thing was ready for production and stop the almost weekly upgrades. Some of the upgrades make things better and others make things worse. Every time I do an upgrade, I'm afraid my Polaris will stop working again. Actually I'm surprised that the Benro folks have done as well as they have. They're attempting to create a product that can be controlled by hundreds of different cameras that all work a little bit differently. Luckily, this upgrade went smoothly. Everything still works. I took a few test shots and put the contraption back in its box. I"m sure there will be at least ten more firmware upgrades before I get a chance to take this thing back to the observatory again.

It was one of those rare days when everything went right. I didn't kill myself mowing the grass. The new dishwasher works like a charm. And the star tracker still provides me with an odd amount of pleasure every time I can get it to work. Dawn was even a bit friendlier with me today. All in all, I'd call today a win.

Shadow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4550

I had a memory lapse today and thought I had ordered the wrong dishwasher. For some reason I was convinced that I had ordered a unit with top mounted controls. This was going to be a problem because there is a slight overhand on the top of the kitchen counters that would cover up the controls when the door was closed. I don't know why it took me so long to look at the picture on my phone that I took in the store. What was I thinking? The controls were right on the front of the door like they should be. I guess it was an easy mistake to make. I looked at a lot of dishwashers and they all basically look the same.

I wish the temperature would stay the same as it has been lately when we take Dawn on her sunrise walk. It's pleasant to walk when the temperature is 72 degrees and there is a nice breeze. It's a lot different later in the day when it's 92 degrees under a hot sun. I'm really trying hard to walk earlier now before the temperature becomes unbearable. I started my long walk right after breakfast this morning. It started out well, but I'm slow and it takes me almost two hours to complete my route. By the time I returned home I was hot, sweaty, and wishing I'd gone to the gym instead.

The ants are back. Every June around this time a huge swarm of small ants appears on our front porch. I don't know if they are climbing down from the roof or up from the ground. There are thousands of ants crawling up and down the brick walls of the house. I spray the column with ant spray and the mist inevitably falls back on my head. Most of the ants are dead now, but I'll have to wait a few days to see if they come back. Sometimes it takes two treatments to get rid of them. It's weird that this had happened every June that I can remember. There are usually no ant problems for the rest of the year.

Since I haven't seen the rat in almost a week, I decided to take some leftover potting soil and fill in a hole where I thought it might be getting in the atrium. There used to be a large cactus growing in this area, but it died long ago. If this dirt is disturbed it means the rat is still around. I'm leaving the Havahart trap in place for a few days, but I have a feeling that the rat has moved on.

Since it was an exceptionally slow day I found myself experimenting with the star tracker again. I wanted to make sure that the new attachment I bought would allow me to quickly change the camera from a landscape to a portrait orientation. Everything worked fine, but I still don't have the nerve to install the newest firmware version. I've written the Benro folks in China several times to see if this new update was safe, but communication has always been difficult with these folks. I guess you get what you pay for. Early backers of this project like me received the product for basically half of its eventual retail price.

It was too hot to give Dawn an afternoon walk again. I don't think she cared. Dawn is basically a very lazy dog. Sometimes I envy her lifestyle. She takes a brisk walk early in the morning when it's still cool and then sleeps for the rest of the day. She never misses a meal though. Dawn has a good little internal clock and knows right down to the minute when she is supposed to be fed. As long as a strange noise doesn't upset her, Dawn is a happy camper.

This day is almost over and I've accomplished nothing. The week's trash has been taken to the curb and I'm already wondering what I'm going to do tomorrow. Part of me wants to resume my old breakfast restaurant Friday tradition, but I'm just not very hungry anymore. 

Liberty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4540 - Memorial Day

My Mom's Dad was career military. Both her brothers were fighter pilots. My Dad served in the Navy during World War II, although I'm still not entirely sure what he did. I never served. I had a low draft number during the Vietnam era, but got a medical exemption due to an injury I received rock climbing in college. Several high school friends served in the military, along with a couple of early ad agency co-workers. One of my art director partners was in the Marines and another flew jets in the Air Force. All in all, I've had very few connections with people who served and am probably not qualified to make many judgements about military life. I do think it's terribly sad that so many people have died in needless wars. The best way to honor all who died would be to just stop getting involved in needless wars. Going to Vietnam proved absolutely nothing. Going to Iraq and Afganistan proved nothing as well. I wonder if we will ever learn.

If you don't have military family or friends, Memorial Day is mostly an excuse to put some meat on the grill and have a barbecue. I didn't even do that today. I did try to go to the gym because it was a hot day. Their website said they'd be open this morning, but when I arrived, the place was closed. I wish more people would take the time to update their websites. The trip wasn't a total loss though. I stopped at a store and got some socks that were on sale on the way home.

I think I've become obsessed with the star tracker. Even though I'll seldom use the tracker, it is a cool, well designed piece of technology that appeals to me in an odd way. Little complicated things are fascinating. Maybe that's why I used to like mechanical watches so much. At any rate, I keep looking for ways to enhance the little tracker. Recently I discovered a better way to connect my camera to the tracker. The gizmo was a little expensive and I've been looking for a used version. Today I found one on eBay and bought it. I'm sure I'll get a lot more use out of the socks I bought.

Since I couldn't go to the gym today, I was forced to take my usual walk in the park. I could have skipped a day of course, but I'm nearing 200 days of meeting all my Fitbit goals. Why stop now?  Goals can be addictive. Just look at all these blog posts. I've completely forgotten why I started this blog in the first place. Now the goal is to just keep going.

Our sunrise walk with Dawn was quite pleasant this morning, but the afternoon walk to get my Fitbit steps was miserable. It was too hot for me. I wasn't able to complete my full route today but that's OK. As long as I get at least 10,000 steps and am able to close all three rings on the Apple Watch activity app, I'm good.

I missed having a chance to see the rescue Dalmatians today. It really didn't seem like Monday without a visit to see the dogs. We'll see them next week though.  It's nice having a routine. I've got Saturday, Sunday, and Monday covered. Maybe I need to find a repetitive activity for Tuesday.

Ollie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4524

It's nice to have a livable house again. It's hot outside, but the air conditioner is working fine and keeping it nice and cool inside. Hopefully, nothing else will go wrong this summer. I'm sure we've got a lot more hot days to come. 

If I didn't get to bed so late, I'd probably enjoy getting up early. Now that the weather has gotten warmer, it's definitely the nicest part of the day. We all enjoy our early walks with Dawn. The temperature is still in the low seventies before sunrise and there is usually a nice breeze when we get near the lake. Dawn has been very enthusiastic about these early walks lately. I can't blame her. Later in the day it is fairly miserable outside.

Today was grocery shopping day. I found everything on my list fairly quickly, but I don't enjoy this activity any more. I think a ton of new people have moved to Dallas recently. The stores are always crowded and the traffic is terrible. There really isn't a good time to avoid the traffic anymore. It is always bad.

I was finally able to download the new firmware that the Benro folks wanted me to install in the star tracker. I didn't have high expectations, but I did have a lot of time this morning. I gave it a try. I installed everything exactly as instructed and absolutely nothing changed. The firmware seemed exactly the same as the previous firmware I installed. The star tracker still won't connect to my camera.  I wish I'd never bothered to upgrade things after I returned from the observatory. When I was testing the Polaris on Mount Locke at the end of last month, it was the last time it worked.

I really can't handle the heat anymore. I took a walk after lunch today, but I wouldn't call it long. Two miles and I was done. I even wet down my hat and shirt, but it didn't help much. Why was this so much easier in previous years? I guess I'm just getting older. I hate to think what the weather is going to be like in July. Who knows. The weather has been so strange lately that it might actually be cooler in July. I doubt this will happen, but I can always hope.

There's a ton of stuff I need to do around the house, but this heat has taken away my motivation. It's just not supposed to be this hot in May. If I'm going to do anything in the yard, I need to do it early. Afternoons are way too hot. I don't know why I feel like I need to fix the greenhouse door. The greenhouse doesn't even have a roof anymore. A bad storm blew most of the roof off last year. We really need to tear the greenhouse down, build a carport and move our cars to the back. Traffic has gotten so bad that it's hard to get out of the driveway now.

Hopefully it won't be too hot for Dawn's Sunday outing tomorrow. She enjoys exploring a different park on Sunday. If it is too hot, we'll still go get ice cream though. Ice cream is good in any type of weather.

Lady is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4518 - Mother's Day

Well, Dawn is certainly a mother. I bet she was a good mom. Lord know how many litters of puppies she had when she was a breeding dog at the puppy mill. I don't think those were pleasant days because she is still very fearful. She loves her new life now, but I think she's always waiting for the other shoe to drop. We suspect that one of the reasons that she's fearful of riding in the car is that she's worried she might be going back to her old life in Marshall, Texas. Dawn enjoys her walks and likes her Sunday outing, but is always relieved to be back at home in her safe spot, sitting on our big bed.

She must have known that today was a special day. She was full of energy this morning and ended up walking twice her normal distance on our sunrise walk. We always led her lead the way and are curious to see where she'll go. Usually she just follows her familiar one mile loop, but occasionally she gets adventurous.

After our walk we had breakfast and then did some household chores while waiting to take Dawn on her Sunday outing. We always wait until the ice cream store is open because getting ice cream is a big part of this Sunday adventure. I thought Dawn might be tired because she already walked quite a bit. Nope. She enjoyed this second walk too. She loves smelling new things. We have to steer her away from the poison ivy though. Lots of poison ivy in this park.

The ice cream store seemed short staffed this morning. Probably because it was Mother's Day. The staff seems too young to be moms, but thats just an old guy's perspective. Everybody seems young to me. Probably most of the staff are in their mid twenties. We all enjoyed our cones today. Dawn always seems calmer after having ice cream. She is always remarkably calm on the ride home.

I decided to mow the grass today. It was a little hot for my taste, but the traffic is much lighter on a Sunday. I don't enjoy mowing down by the street when everyone is in a hurry. I'm not close to the road very long, but even a few minutes seems too long when cars are racing by just inches away at fifty miles an hour. I'm not sure how much longer the electric mower is going to last. At the very least it needs new batteries. There used to be enough charge in the battery to mow the back yard after I finished the front. Now I have to let the mower recharge for a while before I can tackle the back yard. I could buy a new mower, but I really ought to just start paying the guy who is willing to mow my yard for me.

I felt industrious today, so I tried to fix the running toilet again. It's a shame that the parts I really need aren't available anymore. I've tried, but even the best plumbing supply store in Dallas can't find them for me. I do what I can and usually my repairs last about a week. My last attempt only lasted two days though. It's probably time to break down and get a Toto.

I didn't take a long walk today. After two walks with Dawn and mowing the grass I had all the steps I needed. It was hot this afternoon and I was tired. There is no need to punish myself just to keep my Fitbit happy. I"ll probably go back to taking a long walk tomorrow. Hey, what else is there to do?

I wish I'd get some feedback from the Benro people in China. I'm in no particular hurry to use the star tracker for astrophotography, but it's driving me crazy that I can't get it to work correctly. Since I had at least a partial success with the tracker out at McDonald Observatory, I can see it's potential. It's a pretty cool little piece of machinery. I'd like it a lot better if it worked though.

I like weekends because they inject a little variety into my life. Tomorrow it's back to shredded wheat for breakfast, long walks, and looking up random information on Google. 

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4517

The stores were really crowded today. Maybe it was because Mother's Day is tomorrow. Maybe it was because stores are always crowded these days. Who knows? I keep saying that I should do my grocery shopping during the week when people are at work. I never do though. I'm a creature of habit. I've always done this on Saturday morning and I probably always will.

Taking an early walk with Dawn is another thing we will probably always do as long as Dawn is healthy. I like these early morning walks. The city is still relatively quiet, although we still hear police and fire sirens occasionally. We see joggers, but the park generally doesn't get crowded until later in the day. Dawn enjoys the walks too unless it is wet. Today was dry and everyone had a good time.

Once I finished my shopping I didn't do much for the rest of the day. There are chores around the house that need attention but they can wait. The star tracker can wait too. I just don't have the energy to figure out why it stopped working yesterday. Maybe the Chinese manufacturer will have a suggestion for me. Until then the frustrating machine can just sit in its box.

My foot pain returned today. When I took my long walk later this afternoon it was a struggle to complete four miles. The weather wasn't great either. I had hoped that it would stay cool since it was overcast all day, but by mid-afternoon it was hot and muggy. It's starting to feel a lot like summer. The city was having an educational event in the park about native plants and prairies. Maybe I should have stopped and learned a little more about the plants I see everyday. I kept walking though. Too many people.

I should contact the guy who said he would mow my grass. With all the rain we've had lately, it's getting pretty thick. I'll probably just mow it myself though. It's hard for me to make changes. By the time I made arrangements with someone else, I could have the grass mowed. I do need to quit doing this pretty soon, because it's become too tiring. I'm sure I can keep mowing the lawn a few more times though. I'm such a procrastinator that I even procrastinate about making my own life easier.

I took a couple of short naps today and every time I got on the bed, Dawn got up and went to her dog bed in the kitchen. When I got up and left the room, Dawn immediately went back to the bedroom again. That dog is just rude sometime. I keep telling Dawn that she needs to get used to me because Janet will be going on another vacation this summer. I wonder if we will ever be buddies?

It's almost time for Dawn's Sunday outing again. We won't be celebrating Mother's Day because both our moms passed away a long time ago and neither of us have ever had children. We've had a lot of dogs though. We can always celebrate dogs.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4516

The star tracker is driving me crazy. It kind of worked out at the observatory, but there were a few serious problems. I had high hopes that the latest upgrades would resolve these issues and I would be good-to-go. I installed the new app on my phone and downloaded the latest firmware to the Polaris after breakfast this morning. Did this help? Nope. Now my camera won't connect to the tracker at all. I wasted an inordinate amount of time trying to get the camera to connect, but it was all for nothing. I'm going backwards now. The camera would never stay connected for long, but it always worked before. Now what? I sent my Chinese contact a message. Maybe they'll come up with another update that can turn this brick back into a star tracker.

The weather was great today. No threat of rain at all. Dawn seemed to approve. She was so eager to walk this morning that she added another half mile to her regular route. I never know what to expect when we leave the house in the morning. Sometimes she isn't interested in walking at all and other times she acts like a young pup. Today she really enjoyed her walk and just kept walking.

After I gave up on the star tracker this morning, I decided to defrost the little refrigerator. We got this thing years ago during a major power outage but we still use it today. It's small enough to be powered by a small generator and serves as an overflow fridge when the big one gets full. I wish I'd looked around for self-defrosting mini-fridge now. This one needs to be defrosted every few months. It's easy to forget that all refrigerators needed to be defrosted not that long ago. At any rate, I'm good-to-go for another few months and I didn't make too big of a mess.

My long walk wasn't so long today. My feet weren't the problem this time. It was the heat. It really felt like Summer today. I'm not ready for this yet. With the temperature near 90 degrees, I just didn't feel like walking my full six mile route. I'd better get used to warmer days because they're coming soon. Last Summer I used to soak my hat and shirt in water before I left the house and they would be completely dry before I returned. Maybe the heat will drive me back to the gym again. I prefer walking outside, but the gym is air conditioned.

I keep getting messages that it's time to apply for credentials for a variety of upcoming launches. Things are hopping down at Kennedy Space Center. It's a shame that I can't get down there more often, but it's just too expensive. I wonder if prices will ever go down again? I doubt it. I'll have to choose my launches wisely. I can probably afford one more trip to Florida this year and maybe one more trip out to the observatory as well. It's a shame that there's nothing I like to do in Dallas.

Time to make a grocery list again. The stuff I buy every week isn't a huge expense, but a trip to the grocery store certainly makes inflation seem real. Certain things seem to go up in price every single week. If this is the future I may need to think about working again.

Patches is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4508

I got up early this morning and watched the milky way core rise in the East before dawn. The morning sky is actually more interesting than the evening sky at this time of year. It's pretty dark at 5 AM, but it's late enough so you can still get some sleep. I was able to see Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn all lined up in a nice row, and as the sky started to lighten a very thin crescent moon followed behind them. I didn't try to use the star tracker this morning because the sky was getting lighter instead of darker. I've been having so much trouble with this thing that I knew the sun would probably be up before I could get the tracker working  properly

It was an enjoyable day. I didn't really do much but doing a whole lot of nothing is my kind of day. I walked a few miles before eating a leisurely breakfast and then walked a little more. I'm glad I brought some shorts with me because it was surprisingly warm today. By mid-atenoon the temperature was almost ninety degrees. When it got too hot outside I went to my room and learned a little more about Messier 3, the globular cluster I am supposed to show star party visitors during the festival. I also tried to make sense of the vague star tracker instructions.

An astronomer friend loaned me a tripod to use while I'm here, so I was able to test the star tracker after all. I spent a couple of hours this evening putting the tracker through its paces with decidedly mixed results. When it worked, the tracker was quite impressive. The problem is that it disconnects from the camera at random intervals. This is the problem I've been having since I received the tracker several months ago. I still don't know whether the problem originates in my camera, the Polaris tracker, or the app on my iPhone that controls everything. I did get a few decent pictures tonight, but until the software improves I doubt that I'll be using this thing very much.

It is so quiet up here. It is amazing to take a walk and hear absolutely nothing except for the wind blowing softly through the trees. You hear bird sounds very early in the morning, but they are quiet later in the day. Occasionally you will hear a car off in the distance in the valley below, but not very often. I like the peaceful isolation of this place. If you actually lived here it might get old quickly, but for a few days at a time it is very peaceful. There are no radios or televisions at the Astronomer's Lodge. If you really insist on keeping up with what is going on in the world, there's always Google News on your computer. We do have a good WiFi connection.

I don't know if I'm going to get up early again tomorrow morning. It's hard to get any sleep when you go to bed late and the turn around and get up early. I usually get to bed really late after star parties because I've still got to write the blog after the star party is over. I guess I could sleep during the day like the astronomers do but that is an acquired skill. My body clock is still set to night time sleeping. We'll see how it goes tomorrow with my first real work day. So far, my stay on the mountain has been very enjoyable.

Parker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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