Day 4950

A plumber came by this morning to add a circular flashing around the hole where the vent from the water heater went through the ceiling. He said this would be necessary when the building inspector arrived later in the day. About two hours later the inspector arrived, spent about a minute looking at the installation with a flashlight, and said everything was up to code. He handed me a little receipt saying that everything was OK and told me to keep it in a safe place. It was unclear why all this was necessary until the inspector told me what he sees sometimes. "You wouldn't believe it," he told me. "I found a guy two weeks ago storing gasoline for his lawn mower right next to the gas water heater." I thanked the guy for coming out and kind of wished he would inspect my new roof too.

This week has gone quickly. I follow a list every day to make sure I don't forget anything with Dawn. I think she appreciates it that I do everything in exactly the same order as Janet does. The only real difference in our schedule is that we sleep in later now. I can see no reason to get up early. The day is long enough as it is.

It's still a mystery to me why Dawn won't come out to the kitchen and eat her breakfast. It's really hard to get her off the bed in the morning. She would eagerly follow Janet around in the mornings, but I guess this is different. The only time she acts normal now is when I'm doing something that was always part of her daily routine. When I fix her dinner at 5:15, she runs right out to her bowl in the kitchen and eats normally.   She does the same thing for her bedtime snack. Breakfast is a tough one though. I had to feed her breakfast in bed again this morning and then stay out of sight while she ate.

It was way too hot for a walk in the park this morning, so I went to the gym again after I finished with the building inspector. I like going to the gym around lunchtime because there are fewer people at this time of day and I have a better chance of finding a parking place in the covered parking garage. My routine has been exactly the same for several weeks now, but that's fine by me. I walked three miles on the indoor track and shot baskets for about fifteen minutes before I headed home again. My pace on the track was good today. I like seeing progress. My elapsed time on a good day is often four minutes faster than on a bad day.

I always try to get Dawn to eat lunch with me, but so far she just stays in the bedroom. She will go outside and pee though. I guess this seems normal to her, because I'm often the one who takes her outside when Janet is home. It's clear that Dawn doesn't want anything new in her life. She trusts Janet, but when I'm here by myself she reverts to kennel mode. Sadly, I will probably always be a kennel attendant to her.

I called my Internet Service Provider this afternoon and asked if they could help me stop the people who were spoofing my e-mail address. The tech support person I talked to knew exactly what I was talking about. Evidently spoofing is a common way to send spam. Tech support said they made several changes on my mail server that should prevent unauthorized people from spoofing my account. We'll see if this works. With any e-mail changes it can take up to 24 hours before the change propagates through the Internet. Hopefully tomorrow the spoofing deluge will stop.

I still don't know what I'm going to do with all the stuff that used to be on the long shelf in the utility room. Now that the shelf is gone, it's all sitting in a pile on the living room floor. Janet likes to declutter and throw things away, so  hopefully she can make this pile a lot smaller when she returns home. Maybe I'll still think about building a new smaller shelf, but it would be a lot easier to just get rid of most of this stuff.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4948

Not the best of days. It was 104 degrees this afternoon, our water heater started leaking and will need to be replaced, and my application to attend the Orion Media Day at Kennedy Space Center was denied. Other than that, it was just a normal Wednesday.

Dawn regressed a bit this morning. I had to put the bowl with her breakfast next to her on the bed again. She didn't want to move and is still fearful about everything. Dawn definitely isn't getting her exercise this week. She goes out in the backyard to pee several times a day and I managed to get her down to the park this morning to poop, but all she wants to do is sit on the bed.

It was too hot for another walk in the park today, so I went back to the gym after breakfast. There were people on the basketball court, so all I did was walk three miles around the indoor track and return home. I tried to find a replacement for the broken knife rack at Bed Bath and Beyond on the way home, but the store is going out of business soon and there wasn't much left. I'll have to look for the knife rack online.

I did find orange juice at Central Market, so at least I could check something off my list. When I returned home I got a rude awakening. There was water on the floor in the utility room and it was spilling out into the kitchen. I was initially puzzled since I hadn't done any laundry recently. A quick look revealed that the water was coming from the water heater. It looked like the place where the supply lines enter the heater had rusted out. 

I shut off the heater to stop the leak and we have no hot water now. A plumber is coming out tomorrow to look at things, but he pretty much confirmed that I'll need a new water heater after looking at the pictures I sent him. He also told me that the shelf that is currently above the water heater will have to be removed because it won't pass current building codes. This was a new wrinkle. The last time I replaced this water heater you didn't need a city inspection. Water heaters have gotten a lot more expensive too. Why is nothing easy anymore? I'm going to have a hard time even finding a water heater that will fit in our tiny utility room. The size and shape of these things has changed over the years.

I'm disappointed that I didn't receive credentials to attend the Orion Media Day at Kennedy Space Center, but the rejection might be a blessing in disguise. Instead of paying for a trip to Florida this month, I'll be paying for a new water heater instead. Hopefully the plumbers can take care of everything tomorrow. I hate being without hot water.

Hopefully nothing else breaks and there is no more bad news tomorrow. At least Dawn ate her dinner normally tonight. I'll feed her a bedtime snack soon and then we'll call it a day. 

Winston is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4947

Dawn was a little calmer today. We're making slow progress. She still wouldn't come to the kitchen for breakfast this morning, but she did get off the bed and eat from her bowl when I placed it on the bedroom floor. Dawn is pretty good about going out in the back yard when she needs to pee. She's still reluctant to go down to the park though. Unfortunately this is still necessary because it's the only place where she will poop. A walk is out of the question. She does her business quickly and then tries to get back to the house as fast as she can. The bedroom is her safe place. I think Dawn knows that Janet hasn't gone out for groceries by now. She's stopped waiting by the front door. She started letting me nap with her for a while in the afternoon. In her own weird way maybe she appreciates my company.

It was surprisingly cool today. The weather radar showed lots of rain to the north of us, but very little reached our part of town. All we got were a few light sprinkles. This seemed like the perfect type of weather to skip the gym and take a walk in the park. The park hasn't changed much since I've been away, but it was still nice to be walking outdoors again. It's an entirely different experience when you can feel the wind and smell nearby flowering trees. Most of the wildflowers have gone to seed by now, but the park is still green and full of life. I enjoyed my walk.

I was surprised that my pace was faster than it's typically been on the indoor track at the gym. Maybe having something to look at put a spring in my step. Most of the migratory birds have gone north for the summer, but there are still quite a few mallards and bluewinged teal, along with our five resident geese. I didn't see the muscovy ducks today, but I'm sure they are still in the area. They tend to stay hidden in hot weather. There were surprisingly few people in the park this morning. I thought more people would take advantage of the cooler weather. Maybe everyone was afraid it was going to rain. There were dark clouds overhead, but I didn't get wet at all. Maybe I just got lucky.

I'm not sure I trust my Fitbit. Even though I walked quite a bit faster and further today, I supposedly burned about the same number of calories as I typically do at the gym. My heart rate wasn't any faster either. Even when I was walking up hills. I should probably just quit looking at the Fitbit and Apple Watch so much. I know walking is good for you and I do a lot of walking. I'd like to go walking in the park again tomorrow, but it's looking doubtful. The weather forecast says it will reach 104 degrees on Wednesday.

I still can't think of much to do in the afternoon. Luckily I'm well versed in doing nothing and enjoy napping. It's nice that Dawn will let me nap with her now. We both got a surprise when we heard a loud clattering noise in the kitchen. When I went out to investigate, I discovered that the knife rack had broken and all the kitchen knives were scattered on the kitchen floor. It's a good thing we were back in the bedroom. 

I've been going to bed earlier, although I'm still not getting any more sleep. It would be nice to get eight hours of sleep sometime, but I seemed to be programmed to get five. No matter when I go to bed I always seem to get five hours of sleep. Not to worry though. If you count naps, I'm certainly not sleep deprived. I'm kind of envious of Dawn. Nobody gets more sleep than that dog. She seems happy though. Maybe she's been wanting a quiet, peaceful room of her own for her entire life.

Sophia is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4946

We made it through our first day. I hate to see Dawn sad, but if she had her way, neither of us would ever leave the house. As I expected, Dawn refuses to take a walk and seems nervous even going outside to pee. At least she is still eating. Dinner and her evening snack are fairly normal because I've always fed her those meals. Breakfast is a bit of a challenge though. Typically Dawn gets up with Janet and follows her out to the kitchen. Janet takes her outside to pee and fixes her breakfast before I'm even out of bed. Now she doesn't know what to do.

She refuses to come out to the kitchen and eat breakfast with me. She won't even get off the bed while I'm trying to make it. The last time Janet went on vacation Dawn would eat her breakfast if I left her bowl on the bedroom floor. That didn't work today. I eventually had to place the bowl on the bed with her and then leave the room. Ten minutes later the bowl was empty and she got her morning meds. 

I wish I could tell Dawn that everything is going to be OK and that Janet will be back soon. It doesn't work that way though. Dawn will act like she lost her only friend until Janet eventually walks through the front door again. I guess it all makes sense in a weird way. Dawn spent most of her life as a breeding dog in a kennel run by two older men. I don't think she will ever trust men. Janet was the one who rescued her while I was away at a launch in Florida. They bonded immediately and in Dawn's mind I'm probably just Janet's assistant. We do the best we can when Janet is away, but she's always been a nervous dog. I do think Dawn is trying and I understand as well. I get nervous too when life throws me a curve ball.

It's still too hot for my long walk in the park, to I went to the gym again after breakfast. I had to walk a little further on the indoor track because there was no sunrise walk with Dawn. I got my steps though and shot some baskets before I returned home again. I thought Dawn might come out and join me for lunch because she always gets some sliced turkey with Janet at lunchtime. Dawn loves sliced turkey. I got the turkey out and called her, but Dawn still refused to leave the bedroom. Oddly, she was happy enough to go out in the back yard with me after I finished my sandwich. This is something we always do, so I guess it seemed normal to her. Dawn loves to lounge in the sun and roll in the grass. We stayed outside for about ten minutes and then Dawn was off to the bedroom again.

We'll follow this weird little routine for the rest of the week. Dawn still needs her bedtime snack, but I know she'll come out and eat that. This is something we do every evening. We'll take a final trip outside to pee before bed and then she'll reluctantly let me join her on the bed after I get finished with today's blog post. I don't know how she can spend so much time on that bed. Even I have my limits when it comes to napping.

At least it didn't rain today. Rain would only complicate things further because Dawn doesn't like to get wet. It's hard enough to get her to go outside and pee as it is. I don't think she's drinking enough water either, but I make sure her bowls are always filled with fresh water. Jeez. How do you make a dog drink water? Dawn will gradually adjust to things as the week rolls on. It's a slow process though. I wish I could make it easier for her.

Keller is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4752

It was a quiet day. Dawn and I have our routines down now. She still seems depressed with Janet gone, but she isn't acting fearful anymore. I was able to take a nap with her on the bed today and she didn't even try to leave. We're not doing anything exciting, but we are consistent. I think Dawn knows she's going to be OK.

My cold is just about gone. There is no sore throat anymore and my cough has subsided. Hopefully, this was my Winter cold for the year. There are things I'd like to do this Spring and I'd like to feel well. I'm glad I didn't get too worried about Covid. This didn't feel like Covid at all. Of course I've never had the virus, so how would I know?

Typically I buy something for the business at the end of the year, but I have no desire to buy anything this year. There's nothing I really need. Who am I kidding. I don't have any clients anyway. Maybe I could convince myself that I've transitioned into an aerospace writer if I made any money. I do get published, but it still seems like more of a hobby. I'm just glad there is still something that interests me. So many of my old interests have vanished.

I wish Dawn was interested in taking a walk. She could use the exercise. I'm not going to push things though. Dawn is finally starting to calm down and act normal. That's all we need right now. We can start walking again as soon as Janet gets home. I'm certainly continuing to walk. There isn't much else to do. It was much warmer today and I only needed a light jacket. I was slower today although I didn't feel particularly tired. I talked to a neighbor who said a stray dog had wandered into his yard and decided to stay. He asked if I wanted another dog and then said he was taking the dog to a vet to see if it was chipped. If he can't find the owner, he'll try to get the dog in a rescue program.  I wish him luck. All the rescues in town all full. It's sad how often dogs get dumped in the park. This isn't the first time something like this had happened in the neighborhood.

I haven't seen the two eagles in several weeks. All the pelicans have returned though. I see lots of people with binoculars looking for the eagles now. If they're in the area they are easy to spot. They are very large birds. I keep thinking I ought to take a camera with me in case the eagles return, but I'm not really that interested. I already got some good pictures last year. I don't think I'd make a good birder. Birds are mildly interesting, but I'd still rather take pictures of rockets.

The Waterpik I fixed yesterday doesn't work as well as I'd hoped. It doesn't seem to have as much water pressure as it used to. This seems weird because the pump was never broken. Oh, well. I tried. I may need to buy a new Waterpik anyway. My dentist convinced me that I need to use this contraption every day and I guess I've become a believer.

I thought our Christmas leftovers would last for the rest of the week, but I may need to go to the grocery store tomorrow. I'm really glad that Janet likes to cook. If I had to fend for myself, my diet wouldn't be nearly as healthy. Maybe I'll pick up a bottle of champagne if I'm out tomorrow. New Year's Eve is just around the corner.

Dot & Petey are the Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4751

Dogs love consistency. As luck would have it, so do I. Dawn and I do exactly the same things at the same time every day and this consistancy seems to help us both. I've turned off Janet's alarm clock and we sleep until 8 AM now. I've learned how to make the bed while Dawn is still in it because she refuses to leave her spot on the bed. I get dressed, fill Dawn' water bowl with fresh water and then make her breakfast. I take it back to the bedroom and then go out to the kitchen and start fixing my own breakfast. I can hear her eating because the tags on her coller jingle on the ceramic dog bowl. When I'm sure she has finished eating, I put on a coat, and grab her blue training leash. When she is wearing this leash, she will follow me down to the park. Without the training leash, she won't leave the yard. I always make sure I have poop bags in my pocket before we leave the house. Dawn usually does her business very quickly and then immediately wants to return to the house.

I take my time eating my own breakfast, because a day is a long time to fill and I don't have that much going on. After breakfast I give Dawn her morning meds. She likes to take them in cream cheese. Since it's been very cold lately, I try to wait a few hours before taking my long walk. The walk is more pleasant if I leave around noon. Before I leave I'll take Dawn out to the back yard to pee. She always returns to her place on the bed. That's where she likes to spend her day. When Janet is home, Dawn will follow her around like glue. She doesn't follow me around.

My long walk is always the same. I know where the birds and animals live and keep an eye out for them. Some days I see lots of wildlife. Other days I see none. I always see joggers, dog walkers, and cyclists. The park is a popular place to exercise. For me at least, my walk is a lot better than going to the gym. There are lots of elevation changes and if you keep up a decent pace, the walk is great for cardio health. It's also a great way to kill time. I spend several hours each day walking and usually travel at least six miles. I'm about a mile short now that Janet is gone however, because there is no early morning walk with Dawn. Dawn does not want to go walking with me unless Janet is nearby and I'm not going to make an issue of it. 

The parts I ordered for my broken Waterpik arrived today so I took the unit apart and fixed it this afternoon. I guess I could have just ordered a new Waterpik, but why bother? I'm pretty good at fixing things and I knew that this could be fixed. It's hard for me to give up on something, and the computers, the refrigerator, washer, dryer, my phone, and one of the dehumidifiers have all been repaired. The toilet in the office bathroom need work, but I can't find parts. I have been unable to fix the large sliding glass door in the living room as well. It's way too heavy for me to take off its track by myself and nobody seems to repair these things anymore. I wish I was a better carpenter. I have the tools, but the repairs the house needs are way beyond my modest abilities. I do what I can. For now, it's fixing a broken Waterpik.

Our arctic freeze appears to be over. It was still a little chilly this afternoon, but tomorrow the temperature is supposed to climb back to seventy again. That's fine by me. A week of freezing weather was about all I could handle. I keep thinking that the past few days have been the worst ever, but that's just not true. I remember one winter when our lake completely froze over. No frozen lake this year. Not much snow either in recent years. When I first moved to Texas there were some huge snowfalls along with ice storms that knocked down large trees all over town. All in all, the climate does seem to be getting warmer.

Dawn won't be going to her training class tomorrow. That's fine by her. She and I are getting along fine and she seems to enjoy having a lazy week with nothing on her agenda. I'm sure she will be delighted when Janet returns, but so far things are going better than I expected.

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4750

I got a message this morning saying that there had been an emergency at Janet's storage warehouse and that I should return the call immediately. The number I was given wasn't the number of the storage warehouse so I was suspicious. Everything seems like a scam these days. I called the real number of the storage warehouse and it turned out there actually had been an emergency. A pipe had burst on Christmas Day and flooded the place. I called Janet to see if she had an extra key to her unit around the house and then drove over to investigate.

There was some water on the floor of her unit, but the location of the burst pipe was in another part of the building, so she didn't get the brunt of the damage. Almost everything in the room was in big plastic tubs with lids. The only things that got wet were some blankets and throw rugs that were on the floor. I took these home to wash and was glad that the damage wasn't any worse. A few of the storage units had significant water damage. It just goes to show that you can't take anything for granted. I've been worried about roof leaks at the house for years, but it never occurred to me that our storage units could get flooded too.

Dawn hasn't warmed up to me yet, but we are getting things done. She eats her breakfast in the bedroom, but comes out to eat her dinner and late night snack in the kitchen. She goes down to the meadow behind our house every morning with me to poop and pee and then immediately wants to return to the house. It's clear that she's not going to venture very far from home until Janet returns. Luckily, she has no problem going out in the back yard when she needs to pee. I wish she was interested in getting a little exercise, but I'm not going to push my luck. I just want her to feel safe and not have any panic attacks.

After I cleaned the things that got wet in Janet's storage unit, I went on my long walk. It was a little chilly, but was actually a nice day for walking. It's too bad that I have so many problems with my feet. I'm constantly battling foot pain, but walking still seems like the best exercise for me. Walking doesn't build muscle, but it's great for cardio. Walking is also relaxing for me, which is something I can't say about going to the gym.

There were a lot of people out in the park today. That probably means that most people got Monday off as a holiday. A lot of folks must have got new bicycles for Christmas, because there were a ton of bicycles on the trails. There were a lot of people walking dogs too. I bet a few of those dogs were Christmas presents. It was clear that some needed a little leash training. I didn't see any eagles today. I didn't see many pelicans either. I'm still wondering where all the white pelicans went. They usually don't leave the lake until April or May.

My cold is getting better. My sore throat is almost gone, although I still have a cough. I can seen how Janet might have thought I had Covid. Some of my symptoms are very similar. I'm pretty sure this is just a Winter cold. I've never had a fever and both Covid tests I took turned up negative. The only good thing about having this now, is that I'll have it all behind me by the time I'm ready to travel again.

I don't have any plans for tomorrow. I didn't have any plans for today either, but I was actually pretty busy.  Let's hope that if there are surprises tomorrow, they are pleasant ones.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4749 - Christmas Day

It was a very quiet day. I didn't talk to anyone all day. Dawn's first day alone with me went better than expected. She was a little nervous last night but she fell asleep long before I did. She wouldn't come out of the bedroom for breakfast this morning, but was eager to eat when I brought her bowl back to the bedroom. The little diva evidently wants breakfast in bed.

I ate my own breakfast and then took Dawn down to the park to do her business. She doesn't like to wear her regular harness when Janet is gone, but will follow me down to the park if I use the special training leash that Janet uses at dog school. She acted fairly normal this morning, smelling everything to find the perfect spot before peeing, but she definitely didn't want to take a walk. As soon as she was finished she headed straight back to the house.

My Waterpik broke today and I tried to order a replacement on Amazon. I discovered that I can't use Janet's Prime account anymore because she's enabled two-factor authentication and gets a code sent to her phone before each login attempt. Oh, well. I used my regular Amazon account and paid the shipping. Amazon Prime is nice but it's not worth each of us having our own Prime account. I use two-factor authentication for almost everything myself. It's weird to think that ten or fifteen years ago you didn't even need passwords on the Internet. A lot has changed over the years. I think I liked things better when I had a little 300 baud dial up modem and getting online was an adventure.

Since both my gym and the mall were closed today, I took a long walk in the park. The temperature had warmed up quite a bit by early afternoon and it was actually a very nice day for a walk. I didn't make great time today, but I did OK. I didn't see the eagles either, although lots of people were looking for them. I've walked this route so many times by now that I can predict my pace along the way almost to the second. There was a little excitement on the way home this afternoon. There were ten police cars and at least thirty cops surrounding a car on a nearby road. The police were lobbing tear gas canisters at the car and using a bull horn to tell the guy inside to come out and surrender. Eventually the driver did surrender and left the car. Then a large group of officers went up the the car with guns drawn to make sure there was nobody else inside. There were lots of spectators taking pictures with their phones but nobody knew what was going on. Clearly this guy was in some serious trouble. Whatever he did, it was a lot more than speeding or running a traffic light. I checked the news but there was nothing about the incident. That's kind of sad. It's probably just another day in the life for Dallas police.

I wish that Dawn didn't get so depressed when Janet is away. I haven't seen her wag her tail yet. She did come out and eat her dinner in the kitchen tonight though. That's a good sign. She came out for her bedtime snack last night as well. Dawn actually adjusts to changes fairly well. I just hate to see her sad.

There isn't a lot on the agenda for the rest of the year. I might be going to another launch in January, but I haven't been approved yet. Basically my life revolves around going down to Kennedy Space Center three or four times a year and and making at least one trip out to McDonald Observatory. I don't have any desire to go anywhere else. I haven't picked up a guitar in years and my little recording studio is gathering dust. Things change I guess. At least I'm still interesting in something. 

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4748

Dawn surprised us this morning. We thought she'd want to stay inside because it was cold, but when we took her out to poop this morning she wanted to walk. She picked her own route and had a good time smelling things. I was glad that Dawn's day started well because I was afraid it wouldn't end well. Janet left for the airport right after breakfast this morning and sooner or later Dawn was going to figure out that she wasn't just out getting more groceries.

After finishing my own breakfast I paid a bunch of year end bills before going to the gym and doing my weekly grocery shopping. I went to the gym first because I didn't want food to spoil sitting in the car. What was I thinking? It was like a refrigerator outside. I could have left food in the car all day and it would have been fine.

After I got my steps at the gym I quickly found everything on my list at the grocery store and came home. I didn't need much this week because there are a lot of left overs from our early Christmas dinner. I thought that people would have finished their holiday shopping by now, but the stores were packed. I had a hard time finding a parking place at Central Market. I was going to get gas today, but there seemed to be long lines at the pumps. Never mind. I didn't really need to get gas anyway. It seems like I just filled my tank a few days ago.

About mid-afternoon Dawn seemed to figure out that Janet wasn't coming back anytime soon. She's been acting depressed ever since. We've gone through these vacation periods before. Dawn will be fine. The first few days are the hardest. The last time Janet was on vacation, Dawn wouldn't even leave the bedroom to eat her breakfast for two days. I had to bring her bowl back to the bedroom and then stay out of sight until I could hear that she was finished. Things gradually improve, but Dawn definitely does not like Janet being away. Since Janet is frequently out of the house and I'm almost always here, life still seems fairly normal to Dawn. Things will get real when it's time to go to bed.

Janet tries to make things easy for me. All Dawn's meds are in little baggies labeled with the time and day the pills are to be given. I already feed Dawn anyway, so I know what she needs for meals and when to give her treats. I am more likely to run out of food for myself than to run out of food for Dawn. We are well stocked with dog essentials.

I didn't think that anyone would be at the gym on Christmas Eve, but about half a dozen of the regulars were there working out. I was only there because it was too cold to walk in the park today. I don't know what their reasons were. I never talk to these people even though they all seem very nice. It's good to always have the option of going to the gym. I think I made my cold worse by trying to walk in the park on a day when any sane person would have stayed inside.

I won't be mall walking tomorrow. The mall doesn't close for many holidays, but it does close for Christmas. We won't be doing Dawn's Sunday outing either. That would be traumatic for both of us. Dawn has actually never been inside my car and I don't think she wants to start anytime soon. We'll try to keep things really low key while Janet is gone. I just want Dawn to be relaxed, eat all her food, and take her meds. It would be nice if she still pees and poops on a regular schedule as well. 

Christmas should be a happy time, but my Facebook feed seemed filled with sadness today. Several dogs died today. Other dogs were sick and owners were wondering what to do when they were stuck in a blizzard. City pounds and shelters were still euthanizing dogs on Christmas Eve. Many people seemed lonely, but a few seemed to be having a good time with family and friends. I'm glad Janet enjoys being with her family. They'll have a great time this week. I'll be fine as well. My cold actually seems to be getting better and I enjoy spending time with Dawn even if she has other ideas. Hope springs eternal I guess. I keep thinking maybe we'll be best buddies by the time Janet returns.

Dash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4466

Dawn wouldn't eat this morning so I had to get out the canned food. If you have a finicky eater, you always keep a little canned food in reserve. I finally got Dawn to eat and do her business, but she is not a happy camper. Despite my best efforts, she still seems stressed and nervous. I think she's given up hope that Janet is going to return and thinks she's stuck with me now. I wish I could convince her that this is all just temporary, but it's hard to convince a stubborn dog of anything.

Other than trying unsuccessfully to cheer Dawn up, it was a fairly uneventful day. I took my long walk, wondered how to eliminate my foot pain, and eventually got the star tracker out again to try to answer the manufacture's questions. The weather was quite warm today but it was really windy. I felt like I was going to get blown off the trail at some points. I walk so slow when my feet are bothering me that I don't know if it even counts as exercise anymore. You've got to keep moving though, and walking is still a great way to fill an empty day.

One of the big selling points of the star tracker was how easy it was to use. I've just about concluded that this isn't true at all. This thing is actually very hard to use and if you don't do everything exactly right and in the proper order it will crash on you. The one encouraging thing is that the software gets better with each new release. I'm probably just not used to being a Beta Tester. I think I finally found the information that Benro wants to document my many crashes, but that's as far as I went today. I still haven't taken the tracker outside at night.

I should have been down at KSC for the Artemis-1 roll out today but I wasn't even invited. Most of my rocket photographer friends were there. Why was I overlooked? Nevermind that I couldn't have gone anyway. NASA couldn't have possibly known that I was here in Dallas caring for a very nervous dog. I tend to overthink things like this. There's probably a reasonably explanation. All I know is that it took me a long time to become accepted as a member of the Kennedy Space Center press. I'd really hate to start over again at this point.

I had a virtual meeting with my financial advisor recently and for the first time I can remember he talked about moving some of my assets into gold. This has never happened before. There has been one crisis after another over the years but maybe the current one is even worse than I thought. I really don't think Putin would nuke a Western country because it would mean the end of the world. Crazy men do crazy things though, so who knows. I remember growing up in an era where all people thought about was nuclear war. People built fallout shelters in their backyards and every other Twilight Zone episode seemed to be about some kind of nuclear disaster. I remember doing the duck and cover exercises in grade school although they wouldn't have helped much. If you are really worried about nuclear war, you need to move to a remote rural area with favorable prevailing winds immediately and start stocking up on canned food and fresh water. If you wait until conditions get worse it will be too late.

I'm not going anywhere because I still think in the long run sanity will prevail. Until then I'll just keep on keeping on. I took this week's trash out to the curb tonight and I'm really hoping that Dawn's appetite will return in the morning. All things considered we've done pretty well, but she's still Janet's dog.

Allie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4465

Dawn was reluctant to eat her breakfast this morning. She eventually got off the bed and ate but it took a while. I'm not sure how a dog acts when they are depressed, but Dawn certainly fits the bill. Luckily her appetite returned later in the day. I wish I could explain to Dawn that Janet is coming back. She seems a bit lost right now. We're getting everything done that Dawn needs to do, but she's not showing a lot of enthusiasm. It's probably not good for a dog to be so fixated on a single person, but I don't know what to do about it. Dawn decided early on that she was Janet's dog.

Tomorrow is the roll out for Artemis-1. I applied to attend this event but I never heard anything from NASA. I didn't even get a rejection letter this time. This is disappointing. I was getting press credentials fairly regularly for a while but something seems to have changed. I think my previous editor at the magazine had better connections with NASA but I'm just guessing here. It does feel like I've slipped off the radar though.

I'm going to have to get out the star tracker again because I did something wrong when I was uploading the information the company requested. I hope I don't lose interest in this thing before I get some good pictures. It could happen though. I don't think I'm cut out to be a Beta Tester. I'm not that detail oriented and for the most part I just expect machines to work. I'm sure that the bugs will be worked out in this thing over time, but I'm not certain that I want to be part of the process.

The weather was beautiful today but it was a bad day for foot pain. I'm really going to have to get some new shoes soon. I keep waiting for the boots I want to come back in stock, but I don't think that's going to happen. I don't know why it's been so difficult for me to buy something else. Walking is about all I do these days. I really need good shoes.

It's pretty quiet around the house now. I rarely watch television and Janet has the TV on most of the time. I wonder if Dawn would like to have a little noise? I think the quiet is peaceful, but I'm not a dog. There are so many things that I'd like to ask this dog. It would be nice to know why she doesn't like me. Maybe I look or smell like one of the guys who mistreated her at the puppy mill. I still hope we will bond at some point. This week would have been a good time to start.

I think I might have a mild case of the flu. My bones ache, I have a persistent cough, and I'm more tired than usual. I don't really feel sick although I do have a low grade fever. Janet's cough went away very quickly so hopefully mine will as well. I should probably take it easy tomorrow although I was going to do that anyway. My days are never very stressful or strenuous.

I hope Dawn perks up tomorrow. I hate to see her looking so dejected. We're just concentrating on the basics now. I make sure she eats, takes her pills, and has plenty of fresh water. She has plenty of opportunities to go outside and pee and at least once a day we go down to the park behind our house. I would be happy to take a walk with her, but as soon as she does her business, she wants to go immediately back to the house. It's actually a good sign that she will leave the yard with me at all. She stays on the bed with me now as well. We're making slow steady progress. Very slow at some points.

Ruthie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4464

Today was busy. It's easy for me to forget how many aspects of Dawn's life that Janet takes care of. I was finally able to get Dawn to do everything she needed to do, but it wasn't easy. I've never seen a dog so totally focused on a single person. Without her best friend nearby, Dawn seemed lost. She was pathetic and sad all day. The only way I could get her to eat was to go to to the opposite end of house after I fixed her meals. When Dawn was sure I wasn't anywhere near her food and water bowls, she would finally venture out of the bedroom and eat. She wouldn't leave the bedroom at all for her meds. I had to bring each pill back to the bed covered in cream cheese. She was reluctant to go outside and pee but I knew she couldn't hold it forever. We were a little off schedule today but I was able to get her to go outside with me on a leash. I didn't even try to get her to poop until later in the morning. She has a favorite place in a field behind our house and it took quite a while to get Dawn to work up her nerve to leave the backyard without Janet nearby. Maybe it helps that I'm usually the one who walks her. I've been doing this for months with this trip in mind.

Hopefully Dawn will start to relax a bit in the days ahead. It's going to be a long week if she stays as frightened as she was today. I was glad that she was OK with sleeping with me. She usually sleeps in the middle between Janet and me, so as long as she was on one side of the bed and I was all the way on the other, we maintained an uneasy truce. If I get too close, she starts to cry. Even with all these difficulties it is still much better for Dawn to be here than at a kennel somewhere. The house is her territory now. She loves our house and yard. I'm just kind of in the way. Dawn tolerates me when Janet is around, but I don't think I'm that important to her. Janet is the love of her life and I'm some kind of kennel attendant that takes care of a few basic chores.

If you saw how scared the puppy mill dogs the rescue group just picked up are, you'd start to understand what Dawn has gone through for most of her life. She was born in the same puppy mill kennel and spent nine years there as a breeding dog. In the grand scheme of things life in a regular home is still very new to her. To say that she has trust issues with men would be a giant understatement.

I'm still hoping that Dawn will eventually learn to trust me. It's going to take a lot of patience because Dawn hasn't had many good things happen to her in her life. She's really a wonderful dog and she deserves to relax and enjoy the rest of her life. Janet loves to travel and I prefer to stay around the house, so it would be great for everyone if Dawn could realize that I want to be her friend.

Dealing with Dawn took most of the day, but I was still able to go on my long walk, take a shower, and work with the star tracker some more. I think Dawn likes it when I take my long walks. She has the house completely to herself for two hours. She's very comfortable being alone. I watch her on the petcam sometimes while I'm out walking and she seems completely relaxed.

The latest version of the star tracker software is finally getting there. I had very few problems today. Some of the things that crashed the app before seem to have gotten fixed. I guess the next step is to take it outside at night and take some pictures. Some of the people in the Polaris support group are already getting good pictures. I'm just a little slower at mastering this thing.

Dawn has two more things to do before we're done for the day. She gets a late night snack at 10:15 PM and then goes out to pee one final time before bed. She's not a happy camper right now, but I think she did pretty good for her first day without Janet.

Carmine is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4463

Janet left on her vacation today. So far, so good with Dawn. She seems a little nervous and runs to the front door every time she hears a noise, but she did eat her dinner and take her evening meds. She spent most of the day on the bed, but that's what she does anyway. Hopefully she will relax a bit in the days ahead.

The weather wasn't great today, but we were able to give Dawn a nice early morning walk before Janet had to leave for the airport. It remains to be seen whether Dawn will walk with me. She might want to go down to the field behind our house if the weather is nice, but I'm not going to push things if she's reluctant.  It fine if she just wants to sit on the bed and do her business in the back yard. As long as she eats her meals, takes her pills, and gets a good night's sleep, we're good. It would be nice if Dawn can learn to trust me and relax when Janet is away. 

I could tell the weather was headed South when I took my long walk today, but I didn't get wet. The rain didn't start until later in the afternoon. It didn't rain long, but we got quite a downpour. We even got a little hail at some point. Luckily Dawn isn't bothered by storms. I'm the one who freaks out at bad weather. I'm always anticipating the next roof leak. The house is dry so far, but the pumps are still running on the roof.   I don't think we'll sleep well. Dawn will be listening for Janet and I'll be listening for the drip, drip, drip that signals a roof leak.

I was planning to test the new software for the star tracker today, but when the time came I just wasn't in the mood. I did a load of laundry and took my long walk but that was about it. Dawn sat out in the yard with me for a while before the rain started. That's a good sign. The yard is her territory now and she loves to roll in the grass.

I still may get 20,000 steps today. I'm almost there. I probably should have taken a shorter walk though. My feet are really bothering me this week. I wish there were other ways to use up the day, but walking still seems the best. You don't have to think while you walk. You don't have to drive anywhere. Walking is actually a very good form of exercise and if you are a visual person, there's always plenty to see. I wonder what I did before I started taking long walks? Oh, I remember. I was working.

I'm still toying around with getting a new iPhone. There are some deals out there now that look pretty tempting. I love gadgets and a phone is little so it won't take up a lot of space. The office is so full that I don't buy big things anymore. I'm trying to convince myself that I need a better phone camera, but do I really? I doubt it. I hardly ever use the phone I already have.

I start a new routine in the morning. Usually Janet feeds Dawn her breakfast, makes sure she takes her morning meds, and takes her outside to poop and pee. Dawn likes to hang around and eat some of Janet's breakfast too. She loves a boiled egg. I'm not sure how much of this morning routine Dawn will do with me. We'll give it a try though. I'm sure she'll eat but I may have to go back and make the bed while she's eating. Dawn doesn't like to eat if I'm nearby unless Janet is nearby as well.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4193

We've settled in to our summer routine. We get up early and walk Dawn before sunrise. I don't bother to make the bed until we return because every minute we waste, it gets a little hotter. You can immediately feel any difference in the temperature and humidity the minute you step out the back door. Today was a little warmer than yesterday morning, but it was still quite nice. I'm glad Dawn enjoys these early morning walks because she probably wouldn't get a walk at all otherwise. Once the sun is high in the sky, it just isn't safe for dogs. You've always got to remember that dogs don't sweat and they overheat very quickly. The pavement is way too hot for their paws as well.

I still have my morning smoothie for breakfast, but I've noticed that I'm not as hungry on hot days. The heat saps your energy and you don't even feel like eating. I've been eating smaller dinners as well. This is probably good. I put on a few pounds during the pandemic and now is as good a time as any to lose them.

I asked Janet if she wanted to postpone hauling the dead trees and brush out to the curb for bulky trash day and of course she said no. It didn't take as long as I thought to move everything and the yard looks a lot better now. I still need to cut down one more dead Photinia tree, but the trucks won't arrive for a few more days so I've got time. I'd like to wait for a cloudy day to do the work, but there aren't any of those in the forecast. All I see in the week ahead is lots of sunshine and blistering hot temperatures.

The power company is telling us to conserve energy during the heat wave. This has everyone mad because the excuse the power company gave for the week long power outages during last winter's big freeze was that the Texas power grid was optimized for summer weather. They promised that there'd be no problems during the summer months. So much for that. Personally, I think the problems started when all these people started moving here from other states. Texas is a welcoming place but we're getting too crowded.

After we moved all the brush and wood to the curb, I went to the gym. A trip to the gym has become part of my new summer routine as well. It's just too hot to take my long walk thru the park these days. It's going to take a while to get back in shape, but my workout today was better than yesterday. I'm not going to concentrate on cardio for a while and work on my upper body instead. My heart is fine. It's my arms and torso that have grown weak. I could do some of these exercises at home, but I never do. There's something about going to a gym that forces you to do the work. 

I made tentative plans to go back to the observatory in the Fall. October is one of the best months for stargazing and I wanted to make sure that there would be some special Fall photography nights. It's looking good. This gives me something to look forward to. I'm not going to even think about going back to Kennedy Space Center until the kids are back in school again, hurricane season is over, and the weather gets a lot cooler. I suspect by next Winter the rental car crisis will be over and everyone who wanted to go to Disneyland will have taken their vacation. Mosquitos aren't as bad in the winter either. Maybe Artemis-1 will launch sometime this winter.

I need to water the grass tomorrow. This means I have to go to Home Depot and buy a new sprinkler. All the sprinklers around the house are broken. These things used to last, but they don't even make it through a single season now. The bad thing about watering the lawn is that Dawn heads straight for the mud when the ground is wet. It's always something I guess. At least I've taken this week's trash to the curb and am ready to call it a day.

Bali is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4028

Dawn only walked a mile today. Janet walked all the way around the lake. I kind of split the difference and I walked about eight miles. I don't know why Dawn didn't want to walk further. It was a really nice day. There is still no rhyme or reason to when Dawn will freeze and refuse to continue walking. Today she was having fun walking along the shoreline, wagging her tail and smelling everything. All of the sudden she just stopped and let us know she was done for the day. As soon as we turned around, she started walking normally again. It would make sense if she was tired, but she sure doesn't appear to be tired when we start heading home.

Janet and I have been wondering for a long time if we could make it all the way around the lake. For some reason she had always thought the distance was 26 miles and I thought it was 16 miles. We've lived here for ages, but neither of us had ever looked up the actual distance. A few days ago I did a Google search and discovered that it was only slightly more than 9.5 miles around the lake. That was a surprise. Janet thought she could do that distance easy and she did. I could probably do it as well as long as my new shoes keep the foot pain at bay. Maybe I'll give it a try one of these days. The park was really crowded today. I guess it makes sense. The holidays are almost over and it was a really nice day. I continue to be surprised that so many people like to gather together in large groups. People like to walk together, jog together, have picnics together, and even string their hammocks together. I'm convinced that this is why the pandemic still persists. This thing would have disappeared months ago if people just kept to themselves like I do. Is it really that hard to be alone? I find it peaceful.

It bothers me that Dawn doesn't really like me. Dogs always seem to like me. Dawn lets me feed and walk her, but she treats me more like a kennel attendant than a friend. Janet is her best buddy though. She follows Janet around from the moment we wake up until we go to bed again. Janet really wants Dawn to bond with me so she can feel free to travel again. We don't know what it's going to take though. The only thing we can think of is that I somehow remind her of the old men who mistreated her. 
 

While Janet was walking around the lake, I continued to tweak my new website. I keep finding mistakes and fixing them, only to find a new mistake a few minutes later. I must have uploaded the site ten times this afternoon. I'll probably find some more mistakes and omissions tomorrow, but the site is getting better.   I'm not striving for perfection here. I just don't want to embarrass myself. It's probably a good thing that I've decided to reinvent myself as a space and astronomy journalist. Writing is easy for me. Coding websites is hard.

It's getting harder and harder for me to post the blog every day. I have to convert each days post to a JPEG image for it to even show up on Facebook. Now Blogger has changed their interface again, making it much more difficult to insert pictures in a post. It took me forever to get today's three small pictures looking the way they usually do. Add this to the frustrations I'm having with updating my company website and I'm just about ready to chuck online media entirely. Give me a real magazine with a real flesh and blood editor any day. It's so much easier dealing with a real person and so much more satisfying to be able to hold the end result in your hand. I'm not quite as much of a Luddite as my sister, but I'm getting there.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4009

Dawn did very well at the vet today. There was a lot of shivering and shaking while we were waiting in the lobby, but when the vet took her back to the exam room, she told us that Dawn almost immediatelly calmed down and was well behaved during her entire exam. Maybe we are being played. We still can't join Dawn in the exam room due to Covid restrictions, but maybe that is for the best. It's nice to know how she reacts when we are out of sight.

There is still no clear consensus about what caused Dawn's seizure and high fever earlier this year, but she certainly appears to be in good health now. Our vet says she is less inclined to think that the seizure had anything to do with brain cancer because the type of cancer associated with the symptoms Dawn showed during her seizure progresses rapidly and Dawn actually seems much better now than she did at the time. I guess we'll just keep monitoring her health and hope for the best. Everyone seems to think that the seizure will appear again at some point in the future. We are not inclined to do an MRI or elaborate imaging at this point. If there is a tumor or lesion in her brain it is likely to be inoperable anyway.

There were no doubts that it was Winter today. It felt like it was about to snow for most of the day. We waited until early afternoon to walk Dawn in hopes that it would warm up a bit. It didn't. The house thermometer said it was 40 degrees, but it felt like it was below freezing. This didn't stop us of course. We added a sweater under Dawn's Winter coat, dressed warmly ourselves, and off we went.

After our walk, all I wanted to do was stay in the house and keep warm. I made a quick trip to the bank at some point but that was about it. It's hard to get motivated on a cold, grey day. It's not surprising that I remembered these lyrics today. "All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey. I'd been for a walk, on a winter's day." I don't spend a lot of time California Dreaming, but it would be nice if it was a little warmer.

Tomorrow I go to the foot doctor. I hope he can come up with a solution for me that doesn't involve surgery. I can't imagine that surgery would be involved, but the guy is a surgeon. For some reason, my regular doctor didn't really want to refer me to a podiatrist. I imagine the guy will take an x-ray, tell me that nothing is really wrong, and prescribe some sort of expensive orthotic. That's what's always happened in the past anyway.

I"m trying to organize my thoughts about a second Sky & telescope article. I've got several ideas, but am not sure whether any of them would be all that interesting. I'm not really an academic writer or a teacher. I think I'm more of a travel writer who just happens to be interested in rockets and space. Since I don't have clear skies, a good telescope, or an extensive knowledge of astronomy, I'll have to think of something else. 

I hope it warms up a bit. Janet says we need to walk early tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. Dawn and I might just want to stay under the covers. 

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4006

It's weird how quickly the weather changes around here. The sky was completely clear when we started our walk this morning, but became overcast by the time we returned home. I thought it would warm up quickly because that's what happened yesterday, but it seemed to actually become colder as the day progressed. For the first time in quite a while I skipped my afternoon walk because I just didn't feel like dressing up in warm clothes again.

I received my author copies of Sky & Telescope in the mail today. I'd already received a PDF file of my article in the February issue, but I'm old school and like to hold a magazine in my hand. I've read this well known astronomy magazine off and on since I was in high school and it felt good to be included as one of the magazine's contributors. It felt even better to be the February issue's featured cover story. I think I'm on my way. I don't know what I'll write about in the future, but I definitely feel that there is a future.

Janet was gone this afternoon and when it was time for her dinner, Dawn followed me right out to the kitchen and watched as I prepared her evening meal. You'd think that any dog would do this naturally, but with Dawn this was progress. Inch by inch, she is slowly learning to trust me. I can join her on the bed now and she doesn't run away. I've learned to never make sudden movements and not to expect too much, but things are definitely changing for the better. Hopefully, by the time Covid restrictions are over and Janet starts to travel again, Dawn and I will be best buddies.

I need to find a place to observe the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on December 21st. Both planets will be low in the Western sky and I don't have a good view of the Western horizon. I had the same problem when I was searching for comet Neowise earlier this year. Neowise was a little higher in the sky though. Hopefully, I'll find a good place close to home. I really don't like driving around in Dallas after dark anymore. It's a shame that cities don't feel safe these days. When I was younger I thought nothing of packing up my gear in front of a club at 2 AM after our band had finished a gig. Not anymore. Even an astronomical event that happens only once every 800 years, leaves me a little apprehensive. I'll find a good location, but this would be so much easier if I were out in the Davis Mountains.

I signed up for this pilot program with my insurance company to use a special device to continuously monitor my electrical wiring for signs that could potentially cause a fire. Since we live in an old house with dubious wiring, this sounds like a good idea. On the other hand since we live in an old house, the device will probably find problems and cause our insurance rates to increase. There's always a catch to everything. I've always been worried about electrical fires though, so on balance this still seems like a good idea. I just hope that every time it rains and the pump on the roof shorts out, the device doesn't send a warning to the monitoring company. This is going to happen and the outdoor outlet that the pump is plugged into is already protected by a breaker that I reset frequently. I guess we'll see what happens.

The weather forecast says that there's a 100% chance of rain tomorrow morning. What are the chances that we'll go on our morning walk anyway. Apple needs to do some work on it's iPhone weather app. It's almost always wrong.

Savannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day