Day 4874

Life is back to normal. Dawn seems happy that I am walking her again. Only a dog could appreciate a regular routine more than me. After our early walk with Dawn, we had a big weekend breakfast and then I did my Saturday grocery shopping. I only went to one store today and managed to find everything I needed. I should do this more often. Shopping is a lot easier when you don't have to visit multiple stores. I probably won't be able to do this again next week because I didn't need shop towels, laundry detergent, orange juice or my favorite beer today. Sam's Club still has the best prices on bulk items and Central Market is the only place that sells fresh squeezed, cold press juices. Today I only went to Tom Thumb.

It didn't take long to unpack my bags and put everything away. It pays to travel light. I did all my laundry from the trip and put that away as well. Now I'm ready to go again. The only thing preventing me from taking another trip to Kennedy Space Center is the expense. I'm getting ahead of myself though. I haven't been approved yet for any future launches and I'm too tired to go anywhere anyway. I sleep better and eat a lot healthier when I'm at home. Even though I got to bed late last night, I slept better than I have all week.

The weather was nice today. It was chilly when we took Dawn on her sunrise walk, but it warmed up to the mid 60's later in the day. This is perfect walking weather. I don't need a heavy coat and I don't get hot and sweaty either. The park looks great this Spring. With all the rain we've had lately, there is an abundance of wildflowers and the native prairie grasses in the meadows are lush and green. I need to enjoy this while I can. By July or August all these areas will look parched and dry.

The baby owls must still be in their nest because all the bird photographers were back this morning. The park department has posted signs that say "do not disturb, sensitive nesting area," but nobody reads signs anymore. Photographers still surround the tree with the nest. I wish people would leave the animals alone. They are constantly feeding the ducks bread, which is very bad for them. Today I saw a little kid try to pick up a turtle. Luckily his mother told him to stop. It was a snapping turtle.

I made good time on my long walk today. It aways helps when the weather is nice. It's probably time to retire my current pair of Hoka shoes. They don't provide enough support anymore and are slowly starting to disintegrate. A good pair of hiking boots will last a lifetime. A pair of running shoes is lucky to last a year. I've already got a replacement pair of Hokas, but I'm trying to get as much use out of the old pair as possible.

It looks like the weather will be nice again tomorrow, so Dawn will get her Sunday outing. We've had a lot of rain, so hopefully the park we go to on Sunday won't be muddy. I'll go mall walking again tomorrow as well. The park is great, but it's still nice to have a change of pace every once in a while. The Falcon Heavy launch I went down to Florida to see has been rescheduled for tomorrow evening. I'll watch that on the Space X live feed. The weather down there is still iffy, so we'll see if the launch gets scrubbed again.

Parker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4512

There are only four Dalmatians at the kennel now. Dorothy found her forever home this week. Sammy has not been staying at the kennel since she's been busy raising eleven puppies. The puppies are all weaned now and ready to go to their new homes, so Sammy was able to go to her forever home this week as well. Rocket is the only one of our puppy mill dogs that has not found a home yet. He will soon though. He is overcoming his fears and each week we see him he acts more and more like a normal dog.

We are really pleased with Rocket's progress. He has gone from a terrified dog who wouldn't even come near us, to a much happier dog who wags his tail and runs to greet us when we arrive with a bag of treats. We even managed to teach Rocket to sit today, which was a major accomplishment.

We know why it is going to take Charlie a little longer to find a home, but it's a mystery why Oliver and Jo Jo haven't already been adopted. Both dogs are some of the friendliest we've ever had in the program. Oliver loves to play and Jo Jo just wants attention. Maybe people want a smaller dog. Oliver and Jo Jo are both larger male Dalmatians. Maybe their luck will change soon. All these dogs really deserve a great home.

I spent a big chunk of today unpacking and doing laundry from the trip. Everything is back in it's proper place now and ready for the next adventure. It's a shame that travel has become so expensive. I wouldn't mind spending more time at McDonald Observatory as well as Kennedy Space Center. You may wonder why I spend so much time at these two locations. The answer is easy. They feel like home. I avoid people in Dallas, but I always find folks that seem like kindred spirits at the observatory and the space center. Rocket launches and the night sky never get old to me. I'll keep going back because it is just more satisfying than visiting someplace new as a tourist.

I went to the bank today and picked up prescriptions for myself and Dawn. When I went to pick up my prescription at the pharmacy, I was confused. "Didn't I just pick up this same pill last week," I asked. The pharmacist checked and sure enough I was right. It turned out that I had two separate prescriptions for the same medicine. One renewed in 30 days and the other renewed in 90 days. "Let's just cancel the 30 day prescription," I said. One more example of automated systems run amok. For some reason neither my doctor or the pharmacist ever noticed that there were two identical prescription floating around in the system.

Almost every day something we need goes up in price. It's not just travel expenses. My storage warehouse had a dramatic price increase this year. Real estate taxes are up. The cell phone bill keeps getting higher even though I don't make any calls. Today I got a letter from my primary care doctor saying that the clinic was going to raise rates again in July. Concierge doctors were always expensive, but this is getting ridiculous. I'm just glad I'm not trying to buy a house. Housing is what has really gotten ridiculous.

Dawn didn't want to walk this morning because it rained last night. She's a strange dog. The thunder and lightning last night didn't bother her at all, but getting her paws wet is another story. She just doesn't want to walk on wet ground. By the time Janet and I returned from the kennel, the weather was nice again and we had a nice walk with Dawn. As I often do, I continued walking after Dawn finished her one mile loop. I guess I'm still tired from my trip because I couldn't complete my regular six mile route. Maybe I'll have to change the name of this blog from "Some Assembly Required" to "Perpetually Tired."

Bogart is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4172

Some days I just stare at the screen and wonder what to write about. I don't like to write about politics or current events and there is only so much you can say about the weather. My routine is fairly predictable and often boring. You already know about my morning smoothie and my long daily walks. I spend hours at the computer every day, but I don't work anymore so it is unclear what I am actually doing. The blog doesn't really have an audience anymore, although it still seems important to reach my 5000 day goal. 

Lately, I've been waiting until I hear Dawn eating her breakfast to get out of bed. She's a noisy eater, so this kind of serves as my alarm clock. I don't want to spook Dawn by coming out to the kitchen while she is eating. She's such a nervous dog that this will often make her quit eating entirely. Every dog we've had has caused me to make changes in my routine. With Dawn the changes have been much more frequent.

I always make the bed when Janet takes Dawn outside to pee after her breakfast. I have to work fast because I know that she will come running back to the bedroom and hop on the bed whether I've finished making it or not. This is where she stays for most of the morning. I'll take her outside on a leash from time to time because I know that she likes being outdoors. She won't take the initiative to go outside on her own though. I've even left the back door open, but all this accomplishes is letting more mosquitos inside.

I waste a lot of time researching my next equipment purchase. Sometimes it's cars I'm interesting in. Other times it's camera gear. Lately, I've gotten interested in small, very portable telescopes. I learn a lot while I'm doing this. It's mostly useless knowledge, but the quest does keep me busy. I'm wondering why Sky & Telescope didn't like my proposal about an article on the trend toward alt-azimuth imaging and tracking. I've learned a lot about the subject while researching telescopes and find it interesting.

I'm not looking forward to summer. I got hot on my walk today and the temperature wasn't even that bad. I"m trying to remember what I used to do in the summer. I walked Dot and Dash around sunset a lot. I used to walk Spot after dark, but Dallas was a lot safer then. I'd never do that now. One way or another, I'm going to have to deal with summer. It's getting hotter every day.

One of these days I'm going to need to finish unpacking from my trip to the observatory. The camera gear still needs to be unpacked and returned to it's usual place. A little voice in my head keeps asking why it is necessary to do this. If I go on another trip, I will have to gather all the gear together again and put it back in the travel case.

I've taken this week's trash to the curb and am ready to start a new week. It's hard to believe it's almost June. I'll celebrate another birthday soon and will find myself even older. I've only recently started thinking of myself as old. My mind still feels young, but my body tells me otherwise.

Libby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4168

Dawn got her special outing today. It wasn't a clear day, but it wasn't raining either. We thought we'd take her someplace new, but the strange surroundings scared her and we got back in the car and went back to her usual Sunday park. What a dfifference. Dawn would hardly move at the new location, but she bounded out of the car and immediately began smelling things when we returned to our regular Sunday park. This park was new to Dawn at one point too, but I don't know how much new Dawn can handle. Of course we got ice cream cones on the way home. Even though it was a gray and somewhat dismal day, I think Dawn really enjoyed herself.

I took a short nap when we returned home and then I went walking again. I could be doing other things, but walking still seems the best way to fill an otherwise uneventful day. I daydream a lot when I walk. I seldom think about serious things. I plan future trips. I think about what kind of car I'd like to buy next. I count ducks, And I wonder what the neighbors are doing. Sometimes these walks are tiring. Other times they are boring. They always beat mowing the lawn though.

I had to do some website updates today and I couldn't figure out why my changes weren't showing up in my browser. I uploaded the new pages several times and still kept seeing the old site. It finally occurred to me that I needed to clear my cache files. When I refreshed my browser, it was just reloading the old site that was already in the browser cache. Problem solved. I vaguely wondered why I don't always have to do this. I probably used to know the answer, but my web development skills are fading fast.

I watched a YouTube tutorial titled "Getting started with PixInsight" this afternoon. I thought if I understood the basics of this complex program, I might actually get some use out of it. This video was supposed to be for beginners, but it still seemed very complex to me. It was hard for me to stay interested. Things that were easy and intuitive in Photoshop required ten mysterious steps here. I still don't even understand the PixInsight menu. It baffles me that a lot of people love this program. Maybe I picked the wrong hobby. I've been taking photographs for the better part of my life. You'd thing this would be easy, but astrophotography has been a struggle for me.

I'm getting bitten by mosquitos inside the house. Where did these things come from? Mosquitos seem unusually bad this year. It must be all the moisture. I'm starting to see lots of ants too. I guess it's that time of year. Where can you go where the weather is pleasant and there are no bugs? Bugs are everywhere. There were moths inside the Astronomer's Lodge. When I go to rocket launches in Florida I always get bitten by bugs. I always get the most powerful insect repellent I can find and the bugs don't even care.

I still haven't finished unpacking from my trip. The clothing has all been washed and put away, but there's still a lot of equipment I need to deal with. I took the star tracker apart and put it back in it's box today. That's a start. Now I've got a case I can use for pet photography again. Maybe I'll deal with the rest of the camera equipment next weekend. I doubt that I'm going to be using it any time soon.

Tomorrow we visit the rescue Dalmatians again. It only seems like a few days have passed since we saw them last week. Where has the time gone? We are almost halfway through 2021 and it still seems like the year is just getting started. Covid has changed everything. I'm so used to doing nothing that it's starting to seem normal.

Willie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3952

No more head in the stars for a while. I have returned to my regular routine. We visited Charlie again today. He's still the only Dalmatian at the kennel. As you can see, he's always happy to see us. Charlie might have to remain the only dog for a while. When Covid took away the rescue group's ability to have in-person events, it also took away our biggest source of revenue. We usually have a golf tournament every Fall as a fundraiser. There won't be one this year and it's going to hurt. Like everything else about the coronavirus, everyone hopes we can return to normal soon. The dogs depend on us.

Janet and I spent quite a while with Charlie this afternoon. Like many rescue dogs, Charlie has a few issues, but he is very smart and loves to play. He probably needs to be the only dog when he finds a home, but he'd be a great companion for the right person. I keep thinking that he'd be fabulous at agility events. He's very athletic, learns commands easily, and loves to play.

Dawn is very quiet and reserved compared to Charlie. She doesn't race around like a maniac or endlessly fetch a ball, but she does love her walks. Since it was cooler again this morning, she was in fine spirits. We had a nice walk before breakfast and took our time so she could smell every rock and tree. Dawn finished all her meds a few days ago and we're hoping that she's back to normal now. Only time will tell, but so far she is doing very well. Hopefully, she won't have another seizure for a very long time.

I still haven't finished unpacking yet. I think I need to catch up on my sleep. I stayed up very late every night at the observatory, but still woke up when I normally do. The lack of sleep catches up with you. Especially at my age. Every time I thought about getting organized today, a little nap seemed a lot more tempting. There's no rush. I've got all the time on the world to put my cameras away, do some laundry, and put my clothes back where they belong.

I looked at the pictures I took at the observatory with a critical eye today and was pleased with the results. I was a little worried that the pictures might not be in sharp focus, since it's always hard to tell with the camera I use. When I looked at the images on a good monitor though, most of them were very sharp. It's hard for me to focus on stars, since they are very dim in the viewfinder. Since the lenses I use are able to focus past infinity and I often shoot with the lens wide open, getting the focus perfect is critical.  There is not much room for error. I've heard that some photographers nail their focus in the daytime and then duct tape the lens in place so the focus point can't move. I might try this next time, although I would never use duct tape on an expensive lens. It seems like you should be able to lock the focus on a lens, so you don't accidentally twist it to a different setting in the dark. Believe me, it is easy to do.

I found the replacement part I need for my Gitzo tripod. I guess I'll order it tomorrow. I probably won't need the tripod again for a while, but I like to have my equipment ready. I'm also kind of obsessive about broken things. It doesn't matter whether it's a car, a musical instrument, or a piece of photo gear, I want my equipment in good condition and ready to go to work. Too bad it's not this easy to replace the worn out things on my own body. I think my cameras are in better condition than I am.

I have no real plans for tomorrow. I guess it would be a good time to unpack. There's no need for suitcases cluttering up the office. There's way to much clutter here already.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day