Day 3666

Janet wanted to rake leaves today. It's not my favorite activity, but we did get a lot done. I'll have to admit that the yard looks a lot better now. In prior years we just hired a yard guy to do this sort of stuff. I guess things have changed. When you're living on fixed incomes, it becomes almost instinctual to save money whenever you can.

The weather is still exceptionally nice. After finishing our yard work, I took my long walk and didn't even need a jacket. I hope this weather continues. So far, it doesn't feel like January at all. Things can change quickly in Texas, but somehow I don't feel we are going to get much snow this year. A winter without snow is fine by me. I'd be content to never see snow again.

I re-applied for NASA media accreditation as a photographer today. I hope this doesn't confuse everybody since I already applied several weeks ago as a writer. The magazine's editor says this is the way to go though. Who am I to argue. If this move gets me the press pass I want, I'm good. We'll see what happens. I have a feeling that nobody else is thinking nearly as much about this as I am.

I also wrote a letter to McDonald Observatory in an effort to clarify some things about an upcoming trip to the Davis Mountains this Spring. I've been having a hard time reaching the people I need to talk with by phone. Truthfully, I have a hard time reaching anyone by phone these days. Nobody wants to talk anymore. Apparently, the only way to communicate now is with a text message.

Treasure got adopted today. Janet showed me a picture of Treasure with her new family and everyone looked happy. I'm glad that Treasure finally found her forever home. She'd been at the kennel way too long. Since Treasure was a Dalmatian-mix, she often got overlooked. All is well that ends well though. I think this sweet girl found the home she deserved.

There's not a lot of good news these days. Most people seems to be worried about the news coming out of Australia and Iraq. I was horrified to read about a man who almost died from a rare blood disease after trying to remove a piece of popcorn that had gotten stuck in his teeth. I guess he shouldn't have used a nail to try to remove the popcorn, but everybody gets things stuck in their teeth. I've probably got a piece of popcorn stuck in my teeth right now. This story was almost as bad as the story about the guy who lost his arms and legs after his dog licked his face. There's way too much to worry about these days.

I have a rare meeting tomorrow. I hope I can remember it. I have a hard time even remembering what day it is. I also need to remember to inspect the roof before it rains again. I think we've got one more nice day before thunderstorms arrive on Thursday or Friday. Actually, the threat of rain is why we raked leaves today. Dry leaves are much easier to rake and bag than wet ones.

Misty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3574

Treasure got her stitches out today. Hopefully she won't need to wear the cone of shame anymore. Nobody rides better in the car than Treasure. Some of the rescue dogs bark at everything and others won't stay still, but Treasure just sits quietly and looks out the window during the trip. She's curious about her surroundings, but never seems alarmed. I think she just likes car rides.

Charlie likes playing with a ball so much that we thought we'd see if he liked catching a Frisbee. He was good at chasing after the disc and caught it a few times, but he didn't want to give it back so we could throw it again. All he really wanted to do was chew it up. We'll have to work on this for a while. Maybe we can find an indestructible Frisbee. Hey, at least Charlie was interested. The Frisbee scared Jelly Bean and Hanks had no idea what to do with it.

All the dogs were in good spirits today. They're all getting healthier too. Hank is finally starting to gain weight and as soon as Jasmine finishes her heartworm treatment, she'll be good to go as well. There is a new group of dogs that are still being evaluated at the vet. A few have bad skin conditions like Sock did when he first entered the rescue program, but so far the vet hasn't found any serious problems. As soon as the new dogs have been spayed and neutered, they will join the others at the kennel.

Our long awaited cold front arrived last night. The temperature was still in the nineties when I finished dinner, but had dropped to seventy eight degrees by the time I went to bed. Some parts of town saw rain when the front passed through, but we stayed dry. This morning the weather really felt like Fall. It was crisp and cool with a light breeze and blue skies. The temperature was only sixty nine degrees at sunrise.

The weather stayed nice all day. I didn't take my five mile walk until later this afternoon because we were visiting with the dogs, but it was still very pleasant. This was the first time I wasn't drenched in sweat for a long time. I'm not sure how long this is going to last, but I'm calling today the first day of Fall.

If our cooler weather is here to stay, I'm going to need to call the carpenter and tell him to get started repairing the greenhouse. He didn't want to start the repairs during the hottest part of the Summer. That was fine by me because I wasn't ready to spend the money yet. I can't see any reason to delay things much further. The greenhouse is a wreck and it's time to get this fixed.

I wonder how long it's going to be before we need to use the furnace again. Sometimes it starts up just fine and other times I have to clean it first. It's always a guessing game. I used to have to call the HVAC guys every Fall to get the furnace running. Now I know to check the flame sensor first. If the flame sensor is dirty, the furnace won't light. I spent a fortune on needless repairs before a friendly technician showed me how to clean the furnace myself.

As usual, I have no plans for tomorrow. I'm busy planning imaginary trips to visit the darkest skies in America.

Hershey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3573

Is today the day our long awaited cold front arrives? Some say yes, others say no. The weather radar seems to indicate that a big change is coming, but it's still 93 degrees outside. I don't know how I feel about the weather anymore. We could certainly use the rain, but I hate dealing with roof problems. We'll see what happens. There are still two big trees in the backyard that could fall in the next big windstorm. Our power can go out at any time. It often does when it rains. The roof probably won't leak, but it always could. My pumps are far from reliable.

This morning I wasn't even thinking about rain. I slept in late, so I got a late start at the gym. Everything seemed a little harder this morning, so maybe I should have slept in even longer. I wish it was easy for me to get eight hours of sleep, but that's not going to happen. Even without dogs to wake me up at night, I still wake up early. I was certainly wide awake by the time I got home and prepared to take my five mile walk. Too bad it was so hot. I'm hoping that the cold front everyone is talking about is real. October is way too late in the year to be having July temperatures.

I've been visiting websites about how to outfit a van. It's much more complicated than I thought. Marine toilets vs Porti Potties? Propane vs Electricity? Diesel vs gas engines? Solar power vs a second alternator? Options are almost unlimited and usually quite expensive. This type of complexity puts a live-in van squarely in the daydream category. I can't imagine making a decision anytime soon.

Truthfully, it's hard to make a decision about anything these days. Decisions that open doors are OK. Decisions that lock you into something and might close some doors are to be avoided. Any decision that involves a lot of money is especially tough. I always start with easy things. I think I'm going to have McDonald Observatory go ahead an start a background check on me. That's a pretty open ended decision. If I get certified as a star party assistant, it becomes much easier for me to become a volunteer and stay at the observatory for extended lengths of time. I don't have to do anything though. I could just continue thinking about this for another year.

We take Treasure back to the vet tomorrow to get her stitches out. Hopefully, she is good to go now and won't have any further problems. Treasure is currently our only mix in the rescue program and often gets overlooked because people are usually looking for a purebred dog. There is nothing wrong with this. People go to breed rescue groups because they are looking for a particular type of dog. There are tons of rescue groups that specialize in finding good homes for mixed breeds. There's basically something for everyone out there. That being said, I wish more people would look at Treasure. She's really a great dog.

I used to dread Mondays. They aren't so bad when you're retired. Sure, there are still bills to pay and appointments to make, but there are also dogs to visit. Visiting the Dalmatians on Monday has become a regular part of our week. Everything else can wait until Tuesday if needed.

Cassie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day