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 4544

Do people still work on Friday? The park was so full of people when we took Dawn on her sunrise walk that I thought it was Saturday for a moment. Maybe everyone was just trying to get their jogging and cycling in before the rain started again. It's been pretty wet lately.

This was definitely a slow day. I didn't do much of anything. After breakfast I tried to find out where the leak in the kitchen was coming from without much success. It's not a bad leak. I removed some drawers from cabinets next to the dishwasher so I could see underneath and the area looked pretty dry. My best guess now is that the seal on the dishwasher door is starting to go bad. The rubber feels pretty dry and a leak on the right side of the door would correspond to where water is appearing on the floor. I'm no expert though. The water might actually be coming from the ice maker in the refrigerator. Who knows? I'm such a procrastinator that I actually thought about washing the dishes by hand to avoid using the dishwasher. That wouldn't work very long though.

When I took my long walk today the road over the little creek feeding the lake was open again. It apparently only took one day to install the new bridge. The bridge is for the fancy bike trail the city is building and is right next to a larger bridge for cars. The construction company building the trail must have a penalty clause in their contract because there is a ton of activity these days. It looks like the trail will actually be finished in early July as they promised.

I was able to complete my full six mile route today, but I probably should have just gone to the gym. I thought it would be a nice walk because it was quite cool outside on our early walk with Dawn. I guess I miscalculated because I was hot and sweaty by the time I returned home. It was overcast all day, but the temperature still climbed quickly. I'm probably going to be walking in the park a lot less during the summer. I just can't handle the heat anymore.

I'm trying to find out if I'm credentialed to attend the Artemis-1 launch this Fall. I applied so long ago that I've completely lost track of my status. The last time I was down at the space center I got the name and e-mail address of the person who handles all NASA credentialing issues. I sent a message this morning but it came back return to sender. I guess the person who wrote down the address for me misspelled something. Back to square one. There is still a lot of time and it's likely that the launch will get delayed again, but I'd sure like to find out something. I've already promised the magazine an article about this launch. It would be a shame if I don't get press credentials.

It's raining again and I've got the pumps on the roof working. I hate all these water problems. There's the toilet that runs in the bathroom, the mysterious leak in the kitchen, and the perpetual threat of roof leaks every time it rains. Plumbers won't work on the strange French toilet, the appliance repairmen is good at fixing things but bad at diagnosing problems, and the roof is just very expensive to add a slight pitch so it will drain properly. I'd rather deal with little problems like the star tracker. Old houses have so many problems that it can be overwhelming at times.

Time to make a grocery list again. This week has gone very quickly. Janet says the price of gas has gone up. I think it goes up every day now. We'll see how bad things are when I fill my tank along with a few grocery bags tomorrow. Life seem normal when I'm just sitting here at home. It's kind of a rude awakening when I have to venture out into the world these days.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4372

It was a normal Monday. We got up early, took Dawn on a sunrise walk, I ate my breakfast, and then took my own longer walk. The weather was a little warmer  today so I didn't have to change clothes as the sun got higher like I did yesterday. I has a leftover Santa Paws donut with my breakfast this morning and wondered how people can eat these things on a regular basis. There is an insane amount of sugar in a regular glazed donut.

The park has turned into a construction zone. You'd think they were building a new freeway instead of a trail by the amount of activity I'm seeing. It's going to be this way until next Summer, so walking options for Dawn are a bit limited now. I don't think Dawn minds. There is no construction near her favorite one mile loop. Janet has done an amazing job with Dawn at their Wednesday training class. She's starting to act like a well behaved dog now.

My feet gave me a lot of trouble on my long walk this morning but I managed to complete five miles. I've tried Biofreeze and Voltaren for pain, but neither makes much of a difference. Maybe it's just time for new shoes again. Despite the foot pain, it was a nice day for a walk. The weather was crisp and cool, but not freezing and windy like it was yesterday. All the ducks and geese were in their proper places too. I do like consistency.

When I returned home we went up to visit Charlie and Oliver at the kennel. Both dogs were full of energy today and we played for a long time. Oliver seems to be getting more mature. He loves to fetch things and bring them back to you. He is even learning to release the toys so we can throw them again. Charlie is a little different. When you throw a toy for Charlie, he wants to thrash and kill it. To get Charlie to release a ball or toy you just throw another. He has a short span of attention and is easily distracted. We washed Janet's car at a car wash next to the kennel on the way home. I was surprised at the price of a car wash now. It seems to have doubled since I've taken my own car through a car wash. 

I was planning to pick up my FedEx package on our way home from the kennel, but it still isn't ready yet. I think this further delay might have been my fault. When I put a one day vacation hold on the delivery, I thought it would only apply to home deliveries. Apparently the package doesn't go anywhere during a vacation hold. It's still sitting at the main FedEx receiving warehouse. 

I guess it doesn't really matter when I get this little star tracker. I'm hearing on the Kickstarter support group that most people who received early shipments haven't been able to use them yet. There is nothing wrong with the product itself, the the app on your phone that controls the tracker is still full of bugs. I have a feeling that the lower price Kickstarter backers were able to get on this innovative product is because we are really just product testers. The company is using our feedback to refine the product for retail sale. By the time I eventually get a chance to use this thing under a dark sky, I'm sure all the bugs will be gone.

Tomorrow I have an appointment to see the dermatologist. This is the last of my annual appointments, although I still need to see the dentist toward the end of the year. I have to have these annual visits to make sure that my Actinic Keratosis doesn't turn into squamous cell skin cancer. This type of Keratosis is caused by caused by ultraviolet damage to the skin. It is very common. I guess I should have worn sun screen or at least worn a hat when I was younger. I'll be glad when I can check all these doctor visits off my list. I'm getting tired of going to the doctor.

Hopefully, I will finally be able to pick up my FedEx package tomorrow. I may not be able to use it for a while, but it's been a long time since I initially backed this Kickstarter project. I'm very curious to see if it works.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4347

The weather has changed again. It was really cold this morning. Northerners wouldn't consider today's temperature cold, but it was pretty chilly to me. I just can't handle cold anymore. I'm wearing sweaters around the house when Janet is still in shirtsleaves. I'll turn the thermostat up and she'll turn it back down again. This is all kind of weird since I've spent plenty of time in cold climates. I went to high school in Alaska and lived in Idaho for a while right after college. I don't remember being cold then. Of course my memory may be fooling me. I don't remember a lot from 60 years ago.

Dawn seems to love the colder weather. She was full of energy on her sunrise walk and even took a second walk with Janet later in the day. I bundled up for my long walk and for the first time this season didn't feel like taking my jacket off after the first few miles. A brisk wind made it feel even colder, but I finished my six miles. My pace was better today. I must have been walking faster to stay warm.

I can't say that I did anything useful today. I did clear the leaves off the front and back porch, but that was a futile activity. It was a windy day and by the time I was finished, a new batch of leaves had already fallen from the trees. I have to sweep the front porch often. Prevailing winds push leaves against our front door and then when you open the door they blow inside. I think the fun part of Fall is almost over. Now comes months of leaf raking. The leaves used to just blow away, but now that all the neighbors have built those awful tall wood security fences, we don't get a breeze anymore and the leaves have no place to go.

There's an eclipse of the moon later tonight. It's supposed to be the longest eclipse in hundreds of years according to the media accounts I've read. Will I get up at 4 AM to look at the moon as it approaches totality? Maybe. There's a good chance I'll just sleep through the whole thing. I've already photographed a number of lunar eclipses and they are all pretty much the same. The only time I bother to go outside when astronomical events like eclipses and meteor showers are taking place in the wee hours of the morning is if I happen to wake up to go to the bathroom at the same time. I value my sleep. The last thing I want to do is get up in the middle of the night. Maybe I should write a book called The Lazy Astronomer. I love looking at the night sky between 9 and 11 PM. After that, it's bedtime.

It looks like there is a lot of construction going on in the park. The city is replacing some of my favorite trails with much larger concrete walkways. This isn't good news for me. The new walkways will be promoted as bike paths by the city and all the sudden there will be a new influx of bicycles from all over the place. Bicycles don't mix well with people walking dogs. Cyclists never slow down for anybody and dogs love to wander around and sniff things on both sides of the trail. For as long as I can remember I've had to be on the lookout for bicycles so the dogs and I don't end up getting run over. 

I filled out my application to attend the Artemis 1 roll out this morning. Will I get credentialed? Who knows. They haven't even set a date for the roll out yet, but it will probably take place toward the end of December. I kind of like Winter events in Florida because the mosquitos aren't so bad. If I don't get accepted for this one, it's not a big deal. I can still apply to attend the launch sometime in 2022. I'd enjoy seeing the roll out, but if I don't go, I'll save some money.

It was chilly when I took the trash to the curb this evening. The sky was clear and the moon was trying to tempt me. I still can't decide whether to get up for the eclipse. I will have to get up tomorrow morning and the temperature is only supposed to be 37 degrees. Brrr. It's almost time to set the outdoor faucets on drip and bring the lawnmower battery inside for the winter.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day