Day 4778

I'm getting apprehensive about the weather again. We're supposed to get a lot of rain and possibly even snow tomorrow. This means that the roof will inevitably start leaking and I'll be back to square one with my cleanup efforts. To say that I'm getting tired of this would be an understatement. At this point I just hope the forecast is wrong. It often is.

Today was a another day of long walks and paying bills. I extended my 20,000 step streak to six days. I think that's a record for me. It's going to be hard to make it a full week though if it rains tomorrow. We'll see what happens. I hate the thought of driving to the gym in the rain tomorrow, but I can't just sit around the house all day. Walking brings a necessary structure to my life. I need to keep walking.

It's time to start working on my taxes again. I had a talk with my accountant today about whether it was time to stop filing as a business. Am I retired or not? I'm certainly busy enough. I still build and maintain animal rescue websites and I regularly write for SpaceFlight Magazine. The British magazine even calls me their U.S. Correspondent now. The only problem is that I'm not making any money. I think a business has to make money at least two years out of five. I need to find a gig with a magazine that actually pays for content. Easier said than done though. Especially when all you want to write about is astronomy and space. The magazine industry is not very healthy. I used to receive a ton of trade magazines at the house. Most of them are out of business now.

All the extra walking I'm doing is killing my feet. I probably need to retire my current pair of Hoka shoes and break out a new pair. I have one fairly new pair of Bondi 7 shoes that I just use when I travel and a brand new pair that I got just before they discontinued this style. My current shoes still feel comfortable but I'm sure they are not providing the support I need. The soles and heal areas are completely worn out. It's too bad that sneakers don't last like boots. I've got twenty year old hiking boots that are in better shape than my two year old Hokas.

Tonight there was a conjunction of Venus and Saturn right after sunset that astronomer friends said was a must see event. It's not happening. It was clear for most of the day, but clouds have rolled in and the skies are overcast now. This is probably the beginning of the bad weather that is supposed to start later tonight. There is also a green comet in the northern skies that people are talking about. I'll probably never find this. I had trouble finding Neowise a few years ago and it was much brighter. Lately my only connection with astronomy is testing the Benro Polaris star tracker every time a new firmware update comes out.

We were thinking about visiting the rescue Dalmatians this Wednesday but we'll wait and see what the weather is like. It's a long drive to this new kennel and it looks like we'll be playing with them outdoors instead of indoors like we did at the old kennel. Weather and rain will be an issue. I have a feeling that we won't end up visiting every week like we used to. We'll figure out something though. Janet and I still think socializing the dogs is important.

There's nothing on the agenda for tomorrow. I'll probably spend most of the day fretting about roof leaks.

Chloe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4736

Today was uneventful. When I woke up this morning there was a new leak in the living room. The leak was small and this area has leaked before. Since the rain is over now I thought I had dodged a bullet. No such luck. Water is slow and relentless. Eventually I will find someeone to fix everything, but it won't be easy. I have no problem finding a good plumber. Finding a good HVAC technician is fairly easy too. Good electricians are a little harder to find, but the most ellusive of all are competent carpenters and roofers. I read an article recently about a nationwide carpenter shortage. I believe it is true. Most roofers can't or don't want to deal with damage to the structure underneath the roof. Many don't even want to deal with a flat roof. It's frustrating. I still want to find a group of people like the oncs I see on that "This Old House" show on PBS. I know they're out there but I haven't found them yet.

Today was mostly just walking. We had a nice early morning walk with Dawn and then I took another walk after I ate breakfast and made the bed. The days keep getting shorter. We had to wear our warning lights again this morning. Other dogs in the neighborhood wear lighted LED collars too. I'm learning to recognize the dogs from the colored lights I see in the distance. So far, Dawn is the only dog that wears a green collar.

I saw one of the bald eagles again on my longer walk this morning. I should start bring a camera with me, but I don't really have that much interest. I already took some good pictures of these eagles last year. I definitely don't have the dedication of the photographers who seemingly sit out and wait for them all day. The eagles are just birds. I've taken hundreds of pictures of birds in the park over the years. Pelicans are the most interesting, but I've grown tired of them as well. These day I'd rather take pictures of rockets.

I'm still having problems with my web hosting account. These guys have the world's worst customer service. I'll spend twenty minutes talking with someone I can barely understand and end up accomplishing nothing. I'd move my websites somewhere else, but it is just too much trouble. I really don't even know why I maintain the company website anymore. I'm retired and all it does is serve as a magnet for people trying to sell me something.

I miss seeing the rescue Dalmatians on Mondays. It was always a nice way to spend the afternoon. The temporary kennel the dogs are in now is too far away and I don't think we'd be welcome anyway. We were just lucky with the last kennel. We knew everybody and they had a nice big empty room where we could play with the dogs. In most kennels if there is a big room it is either filled with dogs or used for training.

I don't have any plans for tomorrow. Actually, I don't have any plans for the rest of the year. When my bank account improves I'll start planning another trip to Kennedy Space Center. For now I'm just hoping that the house doesn't fall down around me.

Savannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4637

It was just a normal Sunday until the severe weather warnings started to appear later in the afternoon. We got up early and took Dawn on her sunrise walk. It seemed like it was going to be a nice day. The weather was cool and the humidity was low. We had breakfast when we returned and then I got ready to go mall walking. It was certainly cool enough to go walking in the park, but the ground was very wet. I'm not fond of walking with wet feet.

I make five circuits of the Northpark Mall to give me the steps I need. Nothing much to look at this time. The store windows haven't changed and the display of new cars is gone. There was a display of sculptural objects made using stacks of tin cans. I think this was a benefit for a local food bank. There were lots and lots of cans. I wondered if participants had to buy them or if they were donated. I also looked inside the new Eataly store. It was pretty impressive and seemed like a great place to buy overpriced food. 

Dawn got her Sunday outing today. We didn't walk far because it was already getting hot by the time we left the house. Dawn did get a little walk though and then we went for ice cream. I wish they hadn't raised the price for ice cream, but I'm not surprised. The price for literally everything has gone up dramatically this year.

I keep checking the Internet to see if there is any news about the Artemis launch. So far it looks like another launch attempt won't take place until October. Will I try to go see this again? I'm not sure at this point. I'm not even sure if my credentials will still be good. I know that there's a Falcon Heavy that is supposed to launch in October. It would be cool if the timing was right and I could see both. 

It was an uneventful afternoon until it started raining again. This was quite a storm. Our lights flickered but we did not lose power. We just got lucky. Several areas nearby did lose power. The flickering lights did scare Dawn. She decided that her dog bed in the kitchen was a safer place to be. We definitely needed rain after a long hot summer, but I think we've had enough. Every time it rains I start to worry about roof leaks.  Nothing today, but that was only because the rain didn't last very long.

I'll start working on my SpaceFlight Magazine article tomorrow. I'm not sure if they want the article to be just about these first two launch attempts, or if they want the story to continue until a launch eventually takes place. I didn't get many good pictures this time. I had camera problems and there was no launch. I bet they will just postpone the story until a later edition. 

We don't visit the rescue Dalmatians on Mondays anymore. It's a shame that the old kennel closed and the dogs had to be moved. Visiting the dogs was always a pleasant way to spend Monday afternoon. Oh, well. Life is always full of changes. The dogs are still well cared for and that's what matters.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4582

No luck getting the car into the shop today. I guess those days are gone forever. I do have an appointment for tomorow though. I've abandoned the dealership for an independent Land Rover garage. The dealership couldn't get me in until the middle of August. I still hope this engine problem can be resolved quickly. I'm tired of walking in this heat and am more than ready to return to the gym.

I took my long walk right after breakfast again and it seemed even hotter than yesterday. I was able to complete my entire route today although I was very slow. I'd hate to even think about doing this all summer. I know that we had a terribly hot summer back when we had our first Dalmatian. Spot was getting old and he couldn't handle the heat well at all. I couldn't either, but those days are just a distant memory. Today is very real. I hope our air conditioner keeps working and we don't have any power outages. There was a very brief brownout this morning but it only lasted a few seconds. 

Luckily, Janet's car is still working fine. We went and visited the rescue Dalmatians this afternoon and they were glad to see us. We haven't been up at the kennel for several weeks, so it was good to catch up with everyone. Today, we met Spot, our newest rescue. He is a very friendly young male and hopefully he'll find his forever home soon. I took some pictures of Spot for the website and when we were finished playing with Charlie, JoJo, Willie, and Rocket, we took Spot to the vet for some additional tests and new bloodwork. I was hoping that JoJo wouldn't want to play in the outdoor yard today, but true to form he headed outside as soon as we saw him. It took treats to get him back inside again to the much cooler indoor play area. Rocket has really come a long way. He is no longer fearful and has become an expert at catching treats in the air. All the dogs were more subdued today because of the heat. Just like our own home, the kennel air conditioners were having trouble keeping the place cool.

We're getting these messages from Ercot now advising us to set our thermostat higher to save energy and avoid power blackouts. Usually the recommended temperature is 78 degrees. I hear people saying that there is no way they're keeping their homes that warm. Some still insist on keeping the temperature at 72 degrees. I keep wondering how they can even get their homes that cold. We're meeting the Ercot guidelines, but it's not for lack of trying to get the place colder. We can get the temperature down to 76 degrees at night when things cool down, but during the hottest part of the day our AC struggles to keep the place below 80 degrees. Cool air is still coming through the vents, but it doesn't stay cool long. We have way too many single pane floor-to-ceiling windows. You can feel the heat radiating in just standing next to these windows.

Dawn is a lot smarter than JoJo about the heat. She's OK with her sunrise walk, but wants to stay inside for the rest of the day. When we take her outside to pee, she does her business very quickly and races right back to the door to get inside again. I can't say that I blame her. It takes me almost an hour to cool down after I take my long walk. I'm drinking a lot of water lately. I'm sure that's a good thing. You've got to stay hydrated.

I'm not sure how I'm going to get my steps tomorrow. I have to get the car down to the shop by 8 AM. Since nobody has loaner cars anymore, I'll need to take an Uber back home. Lord knows how long this will take. Everything seems to take longer than expected. I hope this garage will actually work on the car tomorrow. The dealership was notorious for stacking cars up so they could maintain a steady workflow. Sometimes I would take my car in and it would be several days before they would get to it. It is what is is though. There's not a lot I can do about the situation. Car have become way too complicated for me to work on them myself anymore.

Here's hoping that tomorrow goes well. I enjoyed visiting the Dalmatians today and the house is finally getting cooler again now that the sun has set. We're doing the best we can, but this is going to be a very long summer.

Sophia is toay's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4581

This has got to be one of the hottest summers on record. I remember one summer like this, but I was a lot younger then. If this continues, I may just start saying that this summer is the worst ever and chalk the past up to memory loss. If I were smart, I would have just stayed inside today, but I'm hooked on getting my steps. Getting at least 10,000 steps every day and writing a blog post every evening are about the only goals I have left.

I got an early start on my long walk this morning, but it didn't help much. It was already too hot when we took Dawn on her sunrise walk. In this weather I soak my hat in cold water before I leave the house and it is already dry before I reach the halfway point. The wildflowers are almost all gone now and the grass in the meadows is turning yellow. I still see a few ducks, but most of the other animals are in hiding. I don't see as many joggers anymore, but there are still plenty of cyclists. Maybe it feels cooler when you are moving faster. Surprisingly, I was able to complete my entire route today. My pace was really slow, but that had more to do with foot pain than with the heat. 

Dawn did get her Sunday outing, but we were careful to make sure she didn't get overheated. We only spent a few minutes in our Sunday park and then went straight to the ice cream store. It wasn't surprising that the place was pretty busy today. Ice cream and hot weather were made for each other. Sometimes we bring home a pint of our favorite flavor. They said they were out of that today, so we picked something else. We had some of the ice cream for dessert tonight and were surprised to find the flavor that the store said they were out of. It was a small surprise, but a nice one.

I hope I can get my car worked on tomorrow. I don't drive much, but it is still a real inconvenience being without a car. I can't get to the gym for starters. If the car ends up being in the shop for a while, I'm going to have to continue these very hot walks in the park. I stay hydrated and don't think there is any danger in walking in the heat but it isn't very pleasant. It definitely helps to get an early start. I don't think it would be wise to walk in the afternoon. I'm still hoping that the problem with my car is minor. The check engine light came on in my old Defender whenever the gas cap went bad. The same thing happened back when Janet had a LR-2. There is even a sign inside of my gas filler door that says to turn gas cap until you hear a clicking sound or the engine light will come on. Replacing the gas cap is easy. Replacing a major engine component is something else entirely.

Janet tells me that there is a new Dalmatian up at the kennel now. We'll get to meet this new boy tomorrow. I think we are supposed to take him to the vet as well. I need to remember to take my camera. The new guy will need to go on the website soon. It been a while since we've visited the rescue Dalmatians. Last week was the July 4th holiday and the week before that Janet was on vacation. I always enjoy visiting the dogs. Playing with a dog is so much more enjoyable than dealing with people.

The in-door water supply in our refrigerator doesn't work anymore. When did that happen? It might have happened months ago, since I usually just drink bottled water. You can still get ice through the door, but no water. Oh, well. One more thing to fix. So many problems around our house involve water. The washing machine has been repaired several times. We just got a new dishwasher. I need to get a new toilet as well. These are all basically water problems. Our worst water problem was having a water line break under the concrete slab of our house. What a mess. Hopefully that will never happen again. 

Keller is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4406

It was still really cold this morning, but there was no wind. It made a world of difference. We still had to dress warmly for our sunrise walk with Dawn but as the sun got higher in the sky it gradually turned into a very nice day. It was a good day for walking. Dawn got her Sunday outing and I had enough energy left to take my long walk later in the day.

When we went to the ice cream store today we thought the place was closed. We were about to drive away when one employee finally came to the window. It turned out she was the only employee in the building and had to do double duty as cashier and ice cream maker. I don't know if there was a staff shortage or if the management just thought that no one would want ice cream on such a cold morning. Usually there's a line at this place, but we were the only customers today. The ice cream was good though. It made Dawn very happy.

I saw the eagle again today on my long walk. People have told me that you are more likely to see the eagle in the afternoon. Maybe that's true. I've almost always seen the bird when I end up walking later for some reason. I was really glad that it wasn't windy today. Yesterday was miserable. I had a moderate amount of foot pain, but I still managed to get over 20,000 steps. 10,000 steps used to be my goal. Now I try for 20,000. I don't think I'll ever walk 30,000 steps in a day. My body just isn't up to the challenge. For now, I'm lucky to be able to keep walking at all. One step at a time.

I was finally ready to order the Hoka boots today. I didn't expect to find the boots locally, but I never dreamed that every single web site I visited would be out of stock. These shoes must be made in China or Vietnam. Most places indicated that they didn't expect a new shipment until March. This is bad news for me. My current shoes are wearing out and I wanted to replace them with the boots. I may have to buy another pair of regular Hoka running shoes instead. My feet depend on these things now.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to depend on the Polaris star tracker. The last time I tried it, the thing worked pretty well. Today was a disaster. I can't tell whether the problem is caused by bugs in the software, bad connecting cables, or a fundamental flaw in the tracker itself. Inconsistency is a common theme among members of the Kickstarter user group. The unit will work one day and then go haywire the next. Today when I tried to track something it pointed straight down toward the ground when I told it to go find the sun. If this thing can't even find the sun, it's worthless. I don't think I have the patience to be a Beta tester. Maybe I'll just leave the unit in the box for a while until Benro completes a few more software updates. Another firmware update for the hardware itself might be a good idea as well.

I'm pretty sure now that the new Fitbit wasn't draining my phone's battery. I just have a bad battery on my phone. I guess it's time for a new one. I still am using the original battery that came with my iPhone SE. I don't want to deal with the Apple Store again, but I found a little fix-it shop in the neighborhood that can replace iPhone batteries. I'll try to get a new battery installed tomorrow.

I think it's supposed to be a little warmer tomorrow. A nice day would be welcome. I'm already tired of Winter and we've got several more months to go. At least we aren't getting snow like a lot of the Eastern states. Tomorrow it's time to visit the rescue Dalmatians again. I think we'll go, but I'm never sure anymore. Charlie would certainly be glad to see us. He doesn't get as much attention during the holidays.

Shelby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4378

24,000 steps today. My feet hurt, but it was a good day to walk. It was very cold this morning, but I have lots of warm coats. On our sunrise walk with Dawn this morning I wore two coats for the first time this season. The double layer of down jackets keeps me warm in almost any type of weather. I used to wear my heavy vintage Eddie Bauer parka on days like these, but these two lightweaght jackets work much better. I wear a snug very lightweight jacket under a looser outer jacket and am never cold. If it's really a chilly day, I'll put on a sweater and wear long underwear as well. The only thing I need now are warmer shoes. The Hoka shoes really help with foot pain, but they aren't built for warmth.

One of the birders at Sunset Bay told me that I'd have a better chance of seeing the eagles if I came in the afternoon. This guy is pretty dedicated. He's out there with his long telephoto lens every single day. I don't think capturing a good photo of an eagle matters that much to me. I've gotten a lot of nice bird pictures over the years. I'm not a birder though. I'm often not even sure what type of bird I photographed until I look it up on Google later. I'm sure I'll see the eagles again at some point, but I probably won't have my camera with me. 

We did end up taking Dawn on her Sunday outing today. There was no reason not to go, especially since Dawn loves the cold. Janet uses this Sunday walk to work on Dawn's training exercises. This is a good thing for me, since I could never keep up with these two otherwise. After our walk, we went for ice cream cones. The ice cream seemed extra cold today, but it was good. It's always funny to watch Dawn eat ice cream. This dog definitely has issues, but she can be very funny.

I can see on my Fedex account that my package has moved to a new warehouse. There was still no attempt at delivery though. Unfortunately the Mesquite warehouse where the package is now has an even worse reputation than the Hutchins warehouse where it was yesterday. I still don't know what is going on, but I don't expect to see this package before Christmas. If some of the comments I'm reading from other customers are true, I may never see it at all. At least I have finally been able to contact the manufacturer and let them know what is going on. Communication is difficult because I think some of the e-mail from the Chinese manufacturer is being intercepted by my hosting company's spam filters. Most people have two layers of spam protection these says. You never even see the spam and malicious mail that your web host or e-mail provider intercepts. Spam still gets through though and the e-mail reader on your computer or phone provides a second layer of protection. With all these filters in place only about a dozen spam messages a day wind up in my in box. Without the spam filters I would be wading through hundreds of spam messages every day.

Our cable set-top box went out today. This used to happen a lot, but service has been fairly reliable for the past year, so I forgot how to reset everything. The U-verse box doesn't interact with our new TV the same way it did with our old TV either. I spent most of my non walking time today trying to bring the U-verse signal back to life.  Eventually I succeeded and I didn't even have to call AT&T. I'm pretty good at solving technical problems. Not so good at anything else lately.

We'll probably visit the rescue Dalmatians again tomorrow. We'll call first and make sure the holiday boarding traffic hasn't started yet. When the kennel fills up, there is no room to play with the Charlie and Oliver. It's hard to believe that Christmas is actually next weekend. I'm not feeling the Christmas spirit yet. Of course that's nothing new. I rarely have any Christmas spirit. I still think Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4351

It appears that people have forgotten about John Kennedy. November 22 used to get a lot of news coverage, especially locally. Tons of people used to converge on Dealey Plaza on this day, either to pay their respects to Kennedy or to trade the latest conspiracy theories. Back when I first moved here, I visited Dealey Plaza several times on November 22. I haven't been down there in years, but at the time it seemed like an interesting event to photograph. There were still a lot of old timers who had actually been there on that fateful day. Some of them had little booths selling pamphlets claiming to tell you what really happened. There was always a lot of talk about the Grassy Knoll and the mysterious second gunman. I imagine that most of these people are dead now. I also imagine that there weren't nearly as many people at Dealey Plaza today. A new generation of conspiracy theorists have bigger fish to fry these days.

We didn't visit the Dalmatians today. The holiday week has already started for many and that means a lot more people are boarding their dogs while they travel to visit relatives for Thanksgiving. The room where we typically play with the dogs is transformed into additional boarding space during the holidays and we would just get in the way. We'll be back as soon as things quiet down a bit. We'll be visiting the kennel a lot during the holidays anyway. It's also the location of our Santa Paws Christmas photo events.

With the Santa Paws events in mind, I went to REI today and got a trekking pole. Trekking poles are just a fancy high tech version of a cane. Usually they are collapsible so they will fit in a backpack when you aren't using them. I thought one of these poles in the collapsed position would be perfect for helping me get off the floor when I'm down on my knees photographing small dogs. We'll see how this works. It may turn out to be another stupid idea.

While I was at REI I saw a Fitfit on sale and got that as well. So much for yesterday's post bragging about no longer having a desire to buy things. Oh, well. I did need the Fitbit though. I'm hooked on tracking my activity and my old Fitbit is ready to give up the ghost. The battery is just about gone and I have to charge it every day now. One disappointing thing about the new Fitbit is that it expects me to be even more active than the old one. Give me a break. I move slow. I don't think I'll ever get my heart rate up to 180 BPM.

Today was another nice day, but it is very hard to dress for this type of weather. Typically it is quite chilly when we take Dawn on her sunrise walk. I always wear a ski jacket and a wool hat for this walk. It warms up quickly after the sun comes up, so I only need a very light jacket on my long walk. Usually after I've completed a few miles, I get hot and have to take the jacket off and tie it around my waist. It was easier to dress in the summer when I just wore a t-shirt and shorts, but of course then I was always hot.

I'm looking forward to going out for dinner on Thanksgiving. Covid put an end to the extravagant buffet/brunches that some restaurants and hotels served on Thanksgiving. We were actually surprised to find that a few places that have have resumed the tradition this season. It's about time. We've been to this place before but it's been a while. Hopefully the food is still good.

I keep hoping that Dawn will bond with me soon. Janet is going on a cruise with her relatives in about six months. Dawn and I need to be best buddies by then. We've still got a ways to go.

Chelsey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4161

We've got an all day rain in Dallas and it's completely clear out at the observatory tonight. Not fair. Sometimes luck just doesn't fall your way. I could have taken the advanced class and has clear skies. Truthfully, I'm not an advanced astrophotographer though. I think I proved fairly conclusively at last week's workshop that I was barely at the intermediate level. Oh, well. I'll try again, even though I tend to bring rain with me wherever I go. I've gotten rained out at Kennedy Space Center as well.

We got soaked today. I think we were even under a tornado warning for a while. I heard the sirens go off around 11 AM, but the weather radar showed that the most severe weather was located a few miles to the north of us and was headed in a northeasterly direction. It goes without saying that Dawn didn't get a walk this morning. Neither did I. It could have been a lot worse though. The house is dry, no trees fell, and there are no signs of a roof leak. Dawn is calm as well. She's the first Dalmatian we've had that isn't bothered by storms. 

Since I was housebound for most of the day, I started trying to process a few of last week's Milky Way photos. I had calibration frames and enough images to stack. Unfortunately, the image I wanted to process has trees in the foreground. Part of the procedure is creating a mask that separates the sky from the foreground. Creating a mask with a lot of bare tree limbs poking up into the sky can be time consuming and frustrating. I took my time and did the best I could. When I was finished and stacked the calibration frames and my eight Milky Way images together I discovered that some parts of the picture were much better and other parts were worse. The boundary between the trees and the sky didn't look completely natural. Actually, this part of the photo sucked. Some of the stars weren't the right color either. On another rainy day I'll start over and process this image again. There's got to be a better way to create a foreground mask.

Around 3 PM, the weather radar showed that there was going to be a break in the storm for about an hour. This was plenty of time to walk Dawn, so we put her harness on and off we went. We didn't get far. Dawn either didn't like her paws getting wet or the smell of rain in the air. We had only gone a few hundred yards before she froze and refused to walk any further. It's such a shame that she's this way. She was really eager to go on a walk when we were in the house.

My own rain phobias are limited to roof leaks, so I had no problem continuing to walk after Dawn and Janet returned to the house. I thought that I could check the weather radar on my phone from time to time and turn around before I got wet. The bands of rain were always nearby, but kept moving to the north or south of me. I didn't walk as far as I usually do, but I managed to complete four miles and made it home completely dry. On a rainy day, that's a win. Oddly, my feet didn't hurt at all today. Go figure.

I paid some online bills this afternoon and that was enough to quell any thoughts I might have had about getting the little telescope that mysteriously became available just before I left for the observatory. There were 16 scopes available when I first noticed it was back in stock. Now there is only one. I refuse to be tempted. I'm sure this telescope or something even better will be back in stock before I have a chance to return to the observatory again. Who knows. If my processing skills don't improve, I might lose interest in this current obsession entirely.

Tomorrow we visit the rescue Dalmatians again. I'm not sure how many we have at the kennel now, but we'll find out when we get there. On Tuesday, I have my semi-annual physical. I have a whole new batch of aches and pains to report, but I'm sure my doctor will tell me that I'm still pretty healthy for my age. There is no magic wand for staying youthful. I try to stay active and eat healthy food. What more can you do?

Liberty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day