Day 4994

We almost got some rain this afternoon. Lots of people around us saw a little rain today, but sadly we didn't see one drop. It's still bone dry. I kept watching the weather radar and the closest the rain got to us was about five miles away. Oh, well. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't. I don't  think we'll see another chance of rain for a while. This rain coincided with the arrival of the cold front that is supposed to bring temperatures down to the mid 90's tomorrow.

The rest of the day was fairly predictable. We got up a little later this morning, took our early walk with Dawn, had a big weekend breakfast again, and then I went mall walking. The mall was kind of strange this morning. There were lots more people than usual. Many of them were slightly overweight young men walking around staring at their phones. They all looked like they had spent the past ten years sitting at home playing video games. I had no idea what was going on until I started seeing t-shirts saying Pokémon GO Fest 2023. These guys, along with a few girls, were all looking for Pokémon at the mall. I still don't understand why.

The store windows are all filled with Fall clothes now. These styles would make a lot of sense in New England, but it never gets cold enough in the Fall to wear this stuff here. Yes, it occasionally snows here and we do get freezing temperatures but it is very rare. Heat waves like we are experiencing now are more common. Although we continue to set record high temperatures, I remember one summer where it got so hot that our lake almost dried up.

When I returned home Dawn was already waiting for her Sunday outing. She even gave me one of those Dalmatian smiles when I entered the house. It was too hot for a real walk, but we took Dawn to the Sunday park anyway and let her smell things for a few minutes. She's no fool. After she found the right smell to pee over, she headed straight back to the air conditioned car. The ice cream cones were nice and cold today, but they didn't give us very much. The server just plopped a scoop of ice cream on top of an empty cone. For the prices they charge, they could definitely do better.

My 5000 Day blogging goal is less than a week away. If you count up the number of days on the calendar since I started posting, I actually reached this goal yesterday. Somewhere many years ago I must have made a typo in the blog header that threw the count off. I've never been able to find the error even though I've tried several times. Looking through 5000 blog posts trying to find a typo will drive you insane. Let's just stick with calling this Day 4994. It certainly wouldn't be the first time I've made a mistake.

Tomorrow's sunrise walk should feel a lot cooler. I think temperatures will only be in the 70's tomorrow morning. Of course it will get a lot hotter later during the day. It will probably just feel like a normal August day instead of the end of the world.  Eventually the heat dome will dissipate and normal weather will resume. I can't wait until we start to see some real Fall weather even if it means raking leaves again. I don't think our Fall will be cold enough to wear those wool clothes I saw in the store windows today, but it will be a lot nicer than it is now.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4913

I changed my phone plan today. I thought this would be easy, but nothing is easy these days. When I got home from the phone store my e-mailed receipt showed that my new rate was almost double my old rate. The whole point of the change of service was to save money, not to pay more. I called the store but they said I needed to call someone else. It turned out that a bunch of small mistakes were made and services I didn't want or need had been added. Everything is fixed now, or at least I think it is. We'll see when I get my new bill.

It was a slow day. I took the letter I wrote yesterday to the post office and called in a prescription renewal. That was about it. The rest of the day was just walking and eating. I did end up watching a live stream of the first static fire of the new Vulcan Centaur rocket. The excitement lasted about two seconds. I'd like to see this launch when it is scheduled later this year. I'm not sure how often I can afford to return to Kennedy Space Center though. 

Dawn's early morning walks are always enjoyable, but the temperature rises quickly. By the time I took my long walk later in the morning, it was already too hot. I keep saying that I'm going to start going back to the gym, but when the time comes it's always easier to just walk out the back door and go to the park. Sometimes I wonder why I keep doing this. The walks are boring and not really that strenuous. If I really wanted some serious exercise, I could do a lot more at the gym. I guess the walks are just an ideal way to kill time. I write articles for SpaceFlight from time to time and still update animal rescue websites, but I'm not that busy. I kind of miss the days when there was a deadline to meet every morning.

I've been hearing thunder all evening, but so far no rain. It's a big relief not to have to worry about roof leaks every time there is thunder and lightning. Now that the roof is no longer a problem, it has become even more evident that there are still many other problems with the house. Hopefully, it won't take me as long to fix the other things as it took to replace the roof. Problems are no longer a challenge. They are just a nuisance. I long for a world where nothing breaks or needs to be replaced.

When I went to the phone store today they tried to sell me on the idea of getting rid of U-Verse and getting a streaming service instead. They said they don't even sell U-Verse anymore. Streaming might be a good idea. I looked at the channel guide for U-Verse recently and half the channels are just ads or informercials now. Too bad I hate dealing with change. U-Verse is being discontinued. My computers are obsolete. My car is getting old. It's frustrating. I'd be happier if everything was just like it was in the 1980's. The 70's weren't so bad either. 

Janet said that Dawn did well at training class tonight. She doesn't listen to me, but she's a very smart dog. We'll see if anything interesting happens tomorrow. I still need to fix that screen door.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4885

I spent the day trying to avoid the rain and it never actually rained. I think I pay too much attention to the weather. Its going to do what its going to do anyway. Everything did get done. Dawn got walked and I stayed dry on my daily long walk. It just would have been a little easier if I wasn't constantly checking the weather radar.

I'm starting to see lots of baby ducks in the park. It's that time of year. I rarely see young squirrels although squirrels are everywhere. I sometime hear coyote cubs howling, but I've never seen them. They stay well hidden. Maybe the baby owls near us have grown old enough to fly. I never see photographers around their tree anymore. With all this activity you'd think the resident eagles would be making a nest as well. They abandoned an earlier nest and don't appear to have built another one. I'm curious about these things, but not curious enough to become a birder myself. The animals in the park are just something to occupy my mind during my daily walks.

For the past several weeks I've seen lots of birders taking pictures of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers. This seems curious to me, since the birds are not rare or hard to photograph. I've taken many pictures of these birds over the years. They often perch on top of yucca flowers and look quite striking. Maybe people are interested now because the birds are migratory and are just now arriving for the summer. Of maybe the birders can't find the eagles and are just looking for something to photograph.

I didn't end up doing much today. After my long walk I was planning on practicing using the star tracker again, but never got around to it. I did do a minor update to the Dalmatian Rescue website because I got one of the dogs names wrong when I was doing updates yesterday. I got an e-mail from Southwest Airlines advertising discount flights to Florida this month. This made me rethink returning to the Space Center this Spring. I haven't heard anything yet, but I think I will end up getting credentialed for the upcoming AX-2 launch. It's always tempting to go back to Florida. Especially when I can't think of anything to do here.

There seem to be a lot of homes for sale in our neighborhood now. I wonder why? When we first moved here people would live in the same homes until they died. There are still a lot of permanent residents, but the neighborhood seems more transient now. People will stay for five or six years and then disappear. Almost all the houses on our street have changed hands since we initially moved here. Things change I guess. In the beginning we were one of the youngest people on the street. Now we're one of the oldest.

Yesterday the weather forecast looked good for next week's roof replacement. Today there's a chance of rain on the day the roofers planned to begin. I definitely don't want the roof being replaced on a rainy day, so we may need to change the schedule. I probably should have just waited until July to do this. We get very little rain in the Summer here. One way or another, this job will get done. I'm just not looking forward to it.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4829

It was a busy day. Dawn is getting her sunrise walks again and appears to be back to normal. Now that we're on Daylight Savings Time we're actually seeing the sunrise again. Dawn continues to seem steadier on her feet than I am. I think she's made a remarkable recovery. She finished her pain medication today, so hopefully she'll feel just as good tomorrow.

My e-mail is working again. Yay. The guy I talked to last night accomplished nothing, but I got lucky this morning and ended up talking with a different tech support person who actually knew what he was doing. This guy was a software engineer and not some call center flunky. He diagnosed my problem and had everything working again in less than five minutes. Sadly, I'll probably never talk to this guy again. One of the worst things about modern tech support is that you never end up talking to the same person twice. You are just randomly assigned to the next available agent. Some of these people know what they're doing, but the majority don't. I can't believe how many hours I spent talking to the first two tech support representatives yesterday and neither of them accomplished anything.

I made surprisingly good time on my long walk today. I managed to get over 21,000 steps and doubled my normal Apple watch move goal. It's a mystery how I had so much energy since I woke up tired. I'll have to admit that it was a nice day for walking. It felt brisk outside but it wasn't too cold. I just wore a light jacket and felt fine. I noticed that another of the resident geese was missing today. Where are these geese going? There were ten about three months ago and now there are only four. Is someone capturing these geese and taking them home to eat? Are they dying of natural causes? Or are visitors killing them by feeding them unhealthy food? The are signs all over the park explicitly telling people not to feed the ducks and geese bread. Nobody listens. Almost every day I see people feeding the ducks bread. Sometimes they are feeding them right next to a sign telling them not to. Bread is one of the worst things you can feed waterfowl. If you insist on feeding ducks and geese, feed them cracked corn or frozen peas. Ducks will eagerly eat the bread but it is very bad for them.

It's tax season again and Janet and I both have to print out a lot of forms. Janet uses an iPad for almost everything and our existing printers are all to old to print from phones and iPads. I went out this afternoon and bought her a modern printer that supports Apple Airprint. Printers are amazingly cheap these days. This printer was very nice and cost less than what I typically pay for printer ink. The printer was a lot harder to configure than I thought, but it's working now and has made both our lives easier. Janet can print anything she wants directly from her iPad and phone. I continue to print the old fashioned way, with an Ethernet cable attached to my printer.

I got a lot done today, but the one thing I didn't have time for was searching for the remaining leaking spots on the roof. That's a shame because it's supposed to start raining again tomorrow morning. I really can't catch a break with this roof. There's been so much rain this Spring that it's rare for the roof to get dry enough for me to apply the remaining Armor Flex coating. I'm almost certain that the roof will start leaking again, but I hope the area in the living room that I cleaned up the other day stays dry. Cleaning that area was a lot of work.

The friend who has my train collection sold a few more trains today. At this rate I may be able to liquidate the collection in another ten years. This buyer lives in India. Go figure. I'm surprised at how many buyers are outside the country. Some of my guitars went to a band in the UK. Several trains have gone to Europeans. The auction house never disclosed who bought my art, but I suspect that most of them were European too.

I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow. Dawn is really enjoying her walks now and I'm enjoying having a dry ceiling again. Oh, well. Eventually the rainy season will be over and we'll have a new roof. Until then, I've got the buckets ready.

Carmine is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4601

There have been rain clouds around us all day. I even heard thunder at one point. We didn't get a single drop of rain. This was the one day where we might have had a chance. It didn't even get up to a hundred degrees today. Now we return to another never ending string of triple digit days in the weeks ahead.

I got the electric bill today. It was literally double what it was this time last year. Last month was high. This month was a lot higher. This is not good. The cost of everything has gone through the roof. Grocery bills are ridiculous now. So are utility bills, insurance bills, gasoline, and just about everything else. It makes you wonder where all this is going to end. It doesn't help that we are in the middle of an almost unprecedented heat wave. I'm just waiting for water shortages.

Our sunrise walks with Dawn are getting uncomfortably warm. The temperature was in the high eighties this morning and the sun wasn't even up yet. Dawn was panting when we returned home and I was starting to sweat. You really don't expect this before breakfast. I keep hoping that nothing goes wrong with the air conditioner. It could get dangerously hot very quickly.

We had a nice weekend breakfast and then I went to the gym again. More people are wearing masks on the gym floor now. Sign of the times I suspect. I'm getting a lot better on the basketball court. I'd probably get some real exercise if I'd start dribbling and shooting from other points on the court. So far, all I'm doing is shooting free throws from the free throw line. I've got really bad knees though. The last thing I want to do is screw up my knees running around on the basketball court.

I'm walking at a faster pace on the indoor track as well. Practice makes perfect I guess. This is a lot better than walking in the park. They keep my gym really cold. Sometimes I feel like I need a jacket. I won't be able to go to the gym tomorrow since it is closed on Sunday, but I will be busy anyway. Tomorrow is the day we move the rescue Dalmatians to the new kennel. Hopefully the dogs will like their new home. I haven't seen the place yet, but I hear it is a little smaller than the current kennel.

I'm beginning to get apprehensive about my trip to Florida. I'm hearing that up to a million people might converge on Titusville for the Artemis launch. This can't possibly be true, but locals say that this many people used to come to watch the Apollo launches. I am told to expect huge traffic jams on the roads leading to the space center on launch day. Yikes. Maybe I should have gone out to the observatory instead. There certainly aren't many people out there.

I did my grocery shopping earlier today. I should do this more often. There really aren't a lot of people in the stores before 10 AM. There seemed to be a better selection of fruit as well. I don't know how I got such an early start today since I think we actually got up later. Gasoline was the only thing that was less expensive this week. The price drop was probably temporary, but I'll take what I can get. 

I don't know how long it will take us to move the dogs tomorrow, but hopefully Dawn will still get her Sunday outing. There won't be a walk, but there will be ice cream. I'm not sure how I will get my steps tomorrow. I definitely don't want to walk in the park, so I'll probably try mall walking. I always thought that this was something only old people did, but I guess I'm an old person now.

I wish life didn't feel so apocalyptic. I'd like things to return to normal before I completely forget what normal looks like. Tomorrow will be normal though. Dalmatians and ice cream are always good.

Penny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4585

There was rain in the forecast today. I was hoping we'd get some, but we didn't get a drop. The sky darkened and I heard thunder, but the storm passed a little to the east of us. Usually, I'm always trying to avoid the rain, but today I was disappointed. The rain would have cooled things down a bit and our yard could have used a good soaking.

At least it was a little cooler this morning. Our sunrise walk with Dawn was pleasant and the weather was still reasonably nice when I took my long walk after breakfast. I really thought I was going to get wet today because the sky kept getting darker the further I walked. It's a shame that the rain went elsewhere.

I was hoping to hear something about my car today. No calls or progress reports though. I didn't call them. I've learned not to bother repair people. It just makes them mad and never makes the job go faster. Hopefully, I'll still get the car back sometime tomorrow. The shop is closed over the weekend and I'd hate to be without a car on Saturday and Sunday. If I was smart I would have just kept the car until the part arrived. Your car will run fine without a catalytic converter. You just don't want to get it safety inspected.

Dawn started acting weird again when Janet left the house this afternoon. She refused to leave the bedroom and wouldn't even come out to eat her dinner. I thought that Dawn would relax after Janet returned from vacation. Nope. Every time she leaves the house Dawn starts acting worried. Maybe she thinks Janet is leaving on another vacation. It's sad that Dawn is still not entirely comfortable with me. I'm the one who is here at the house all the time. We really should be best buddies by now.

For the first time in several weeks the temperature didn't top 100 degrees. The high today was in the low 90's. Our air conditioner didn't struggle to keep the desired temperature and I was even mildly tempted to do some yard work. I stayed inside though. The temperature might have been a little lower, but the ants and wasps were still out in force. I'm afraid that today's milder weather was just an anomaly. We'll be back to triple digits tomorrow and it looks like the heat wave will continue for the rest of the month.

One downside to walking early in the morning is that there isn't much to do in the afternoon. There are still things on my to-do list that need attention, but I don't feel like doing them. This usually leads to mindless things like watering the lawn and doing laundry. I'm always up for a nap, but Dawn kept leaving the room this afternoon whenever I came in the bedroom and this made me feel guilty. She loves that bed and I can always nap on the couch.

I hate to see Covid making a resurgence. I really thought we were done with this thing. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if mask mandates and other restrictions return. I do know several people who have successfully avoided Covid  for the past two years, only to catch it within the past two weeks. I still haven't caught Covid. The main precaution I take is to avoid other people. It isn't hard, because I was doing this long before the virus arrived on the scene. I would be really surprised if I caught the virus at this point, but stranger things have happened. I learned a long time ago to never take anything for granted.

The trash has been taken to the curb and my week is essentially over. I have no real plans for tomorrow, although I would like to get my car back.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4478

We had a short power outage last night. The beeping noise one of the battery backups for the computer made when the power went out got Dawn upset and she wouldn't go back to sleep. I turned the noise off but it seemed like Dawn was on high alert for the rest of the night. I had trouble getting back to sleep because she wouldn't sleep and woke up tired this morning. I probably would have woke up tired anyway. That's been happening a lot lately.

The weather changed again overnight. It was still warm, but extremely windy. The wind didn't seem to bother Dawn. She was eager to walk this morning. The walk woke me up, but I was eager to go back to bed when we returned. I made myself stay up, made the bed, and finished my breakfast, but my heart wasn't in it today. I really shouldn't be feeling this tired.

I made my travel arrangements for the Axiom-1 launch after breakfast. I was surprised and a bit disheartened at how much more expensive everything was than when I planned a similar trip about a year ago. Airfare, hotel rates, and rental cars were all significantly more expensive. Why? Are company costs that much higher, or do these guys just think they can get away with it? At any rate, I don't think I can just travel on a whim anymore. Making too many of these trips to Florida could put a serious dent in my budget.

I was determined to do something useful today, so I got the vacuum out and cleaned the carpets. The carpets are worn and need to be replaced. Somehow this seems impossibly hard to me, since so much stuff would need to be moved. The office is full of heavy stuff that would need to be moved out of the way.  It took over twenty years to fill this room up, so clearing it out in a day for the carpet installers wouldn't be easy. The master bedroom isn't as cluttered, but that seems daunting as well. There is a large, heavy king sized bed and I would have to hook up the television and all the home network stuff all over again. I'm beginning to understand why every room in my Dad's house was piled to the ceiling with stuff when he passed away. It's easy to accumulate stuff. A lot harder to make sense of it later.

I tried to walk a little further this afternoon, but was only able to add one additional mile to yesterday's pitiful total. I think the wind did me in today. The wind was so strong when I was down near the lake that it almost blew me off the trail. There was a news story recently that a body had been discovered in the lake on Friday. Yesterday someone discovered a dead dog in the lake. It's sad that this idyllic place is really just a part of a very big city with all of the problems that big cities typically have. Police patrol the park a lot more frequently now. I guess that's a good thing, but this is definitely not West Texas. I miss the empty, wide open spaces but I do worry about falling more than I used to. At least Dallas has good hospitals.

It's supposed to rain later tonight. I dread the thought of rain these days. I don't like to go up on the roof anymore and the longer standing water sits up there, the greater the chance of a leak. I really need to call a roofer and get started on a new roof. I'm just procrastinating now. I guess I know I'm going to be disappointed whoever I choose. I'll be even more disappointed if I do nothing though. 

Now that I've take care of my Florida trip, it's time to decide whether I'm going back to the observatory at the end of April. I probably will, but I dread that long drive. I seem to dread everything these days.

Elliott is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4310

I spent the day trying to stay ahead of the rain which still hasn't arrived. They say it's supposed to rain later this evening. I don't know why I put so much faith in weather forecasts because they are seldom right. At least getting an early start allowed me to get some things done today. I wasn't really trying to get things done, but I had so much time on my hands that boredom set in and I actually did some vacuuming and house cleaning.

I'm not going to be able to wear shorts much longer. It was a little chilly on our morning walks. Dawn reverted to her short one mile loop and I took my regular long walk high after I finished breakfast. There was a light mist in the air, but I didn't really get wet. This was a far cry from the hundred degree walks I was taking earlier this summer. It's pleasant to walk without getting hot and sweaty, but my feet are starting to hurt again. Probably my special running shoes are starting to wear out and it's time to break in a new pair. I keep thinking that I just got these shoes but the soles tell another story. I've put a lot of miles on these puppies.

Tuesday is cleaning day at our house. Personally, I don't mind a little dust. It's easy to convince myself that dust protects things. Janet sees things differently. I'm sure she'd rather I'd just get out of the way, but I'd already taken my walk and I thought it was going to rain. I did the vacuuming today. I'm no better at vacuuming than anybody else but I am better at cleaning the vacuum cleaner. I don't know why we got a Dyson. Our old vacuum was so much easier to use. All the dust just went in a bag that you threw away when it got full. The Dyson has no bag and you practically have to take the thing apart to get it clean. I have to take the canister outside and use the leaf blower to get the leftover dust out of the canister after I have emptied it. You shouldn't have to use a leaf blower to clean your vacuum. This is typical of me. I'm more worried about dust in the vacuum cleaner than dust in the house.

I got a letter from Medicare today detailing the charges for my hospital visit. Some things were more expensive than I thought they'd be and other things were less. I was a little surprised that the anesthesiologist seem to make more money than the surgeon. A lot of labs test seemed relatively cheap. Medical billing is a complete mystery to me. The initial charges are always quite high. Medicare seems to pay surprisingly little. Always at the end of the day the whole thing just goes away. Maybe my supplemental insurance picks up the rest. Maybe all these numbers are just imaginary. Hospitals seem to know how it all works. Most patients don't.

I wish dogs had health insurance. The only time I get a true picture of what things actually cost is when one of our dogs has become seriously ill. Our dogs have had MRI's, CAT scans, ultrasound imaging, neurosurgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and much more, all using the same machinery and medications that humans use. It can get expensive.

There is a crew behind the house tearing up the alley again. They are destroying the work they did just a few weeks ago. These guys dig a big hole with a backhoe, no pipes of leaks seem to be uncovered, then they fill the hole in again. Today they ripped out the concrete they poured  earlier, dug an even bigger hole, and then filled it in with new concrete. They seem to make a lot of phone calls to their supervisor. I may be wrong, but I don't think these guys know what they are doing. Luckily we don't use this alley for anything. Our neighbors who use it as a driveway are probably pretty mad.

The weather app on my phone says we will have all day rain tomorrow. I don't know whether to believe this or not.

Kuuipo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4031

Today was dismal. It was supposed to rain all day, but for the most part it was just dark and overcast. When we tried to walk Dawn, she wanted to turn around before we even finished our first mile. She always starts out very enthusiastic, but as soon as she spots a way home, she's done. We keep wondering if she has arthritis or if something else is wrong, but she always makes the journey home just fine. All she seems to want to do these days is lie on the bed.

After we returned home with Dawn, I continued walking. I was pretty sure I would get wet, but there was nothing to lose. Wet or dry, I had very little to do today. Although I got a little damp, the rain never really amounted to much today. I ended up walking about six miles.

I had trouble getting motivated today. I didn't take down the Christmas tree and I didn't start my next astronomy article either. I certainly didn't begin raking the leaves. You never want to rake leaves when they are wet. I ended up watching the Space X Starship static fire test in Boca Chica, but I couldn't bring myself to watch any of the news channels. It was just too discouraging. 

I think there's a new season of The Expanse available now on Amazon Prime. I think this would be season five. Maybe I'll watch that tomorrow. I always liked this show and the previous seasons seemed to get me through dismal days before. Unless I'm really motivated to start my astronomy article tomorrow, a little science fiction seems to be in order.

Janet was gone this afternoon and I had a hard time getting Dawn off the bed. I had to take her outside to go pee on a leash. She does fine on a leash, but she won't come when I call whenever Janet is gone. Sometimes she won't even leave the bedroom to eat her dinner. When I fixed her dinner this evening, she wouldn't leave the bedroom to eat until I went back to the office and ignored her. I heard her eating, but I didn't leave my desk because I didn't want to scare her. As soon as she finished her meal, I heard her go to the front door and wait for Janet to return. As soon as Janet came home, everything was fine again. It's kind of sad. I'm always here and Janet is gone a lot. I'm sure Dawn would prefer the opposite.

I'm going to have to disable some more things on my Apple Watch. After I upgraded the system, it's become way too intrusive. The watch is reminding me to go to bed now and asking me if I want a wake up alarm. I disabled the feature that calls 911 if you fall, but there are apparently more things I need to disable as well. A watch that tells the time, tracks my walks, and provides a decent weather forecast is all I need. Actually, I don't need any of this. I'm pretty content not wearing a watch at all.

I hope I'm more motivated tomorrow. It really is time for the Christmas tree to come down. I'm sure there's water on the roof as well. I should be getting to know my new camera and sending queries and proposals to magazines. I'm doing nothing instead. January is never a great time for me, but I should be able to do better than this.

Nellie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3992

Did I need toilet paper today? Not really. Did I grab a package when I saw the small supply at my grocery store dissapearing in front of my eyes? Absolutely. This is how hoarding starts. Nobody wants to be that person who just found out what everybody else was doing yesterday. Everything else on my grocery list we actually needed. I definitely don't want to wind up with a huge pile of food and supplies blocking the front hallway again.

Today was another day when the rain arrived much later than expected. It was supposed to start raining this morning, so we made sure to take our walk with Dawn earlier than usual. I went to the grocery store earlier than usual and took my afternoon walk at noon for the same reason. Since it is just starting to rain now, I guess all this activity was unnecessary. I don't know why rain bothers me so much. It probably has a lot to do with all the problems I've had with the roof. The roof isn't leaking now though and rain still bothers me. Maybe I just don't like surprises.

I found everything on my grocery list and scored a huge package of toilet paper as a bonus, but I didn't accomplish much after I returned home. It took forever to break down the large box the dehumidifier came in so it would fit in our trash can. It took even longer to clean all the scum out of the collection bucket on the old dehumidifier. After I got the machine looking sparkling new again, it occurred to me that maybe I should have left the oily scum inside the bucket alone. Oil was leaking somewhere and it might have helped the HVAC guy diagnose the problem. 

I was thinking about taking a few pictures with the new camera today, but the thought of rain put a damper on things. There is no urgency anyway. I often leave new things untouched for weeks before I actually begin to use them. One day I will feel a genuine need for this thing and will learn everything I need to know in a matter of hours. Since I bought the camera mainly for launch photography, it might be a while before I need it.

Dawn follows Janet around like glue when she's home. Whenever Janet leaves, Dawn retreats to the bedroom and seldom gets off the bed until Janet returns. Sometimes Dawn will come out to the kitchen when I am fixing her dinner, but even that is not consistent. I keep hoping that Dawn will bond with me, but I think she decided that men weren't to be trusted long ago. She's friendly with me when Janet is around, but when we're alone together Dawn is definitely wary. We'll never know what happened in Dawn's past, but it definitely wasn't good. It's a shame that she doesn't trust me. She's missing out on an afternoon walk that she could have every day.

I wanted to see if the automatic shut-off worked on the new dehumidifier so I let the bucket fill with water all the way to the top. I was apprehensive as the bucket filled, thinking that the living room would soon be filled with water. Everything worked properly though, so I can now leave the machine running all night without worries. This bucket must hold a little more water than the old dehumidifier because it was quite heavy when I eventually emptied it. I see a spill waiting to happen.

If the weather forecast holds, it will be raining when we wake up tomorrow. This means no early morning walk with Dawn. It also means another day of fretting about whether my roof patches will hold up. Did I mention that I don't like rain?

Scooter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3923

What a beautiful Fall day. The temperature was in the mid-60's when we went walking this morning. The smoke disappeared overnight and the sky was clear and blue. There was a nice breeze and my allergies weren't bothering me at all. A lot more trees are starting to turn and we noticed that two more White Pelicans have arrived at the lake. We counted five of the birds today.

We also found the lost female Muscovy Duck this morning. Janet and I were convinced that the duck was dead since we haven't seen her in over a month. She is very much alive with six brand new baby ducklings. The ducklings explained a lot. The mom probably just found a safe place to make a nest and it's just now that the ducklings are getting old enough to rejoin all the other ducks. The reappearance of the female duck probably explains why the two male Muscovy Ducks moved to a different section of the lake. All three were together again today. It made me feel good to see the three ducks reunited. Muscovy Ducks are ugly, but we've become attached to them.

After our regular walk this morning we took Dawn to a different park in the afternoon to continue our efforts to get her used to riding in the car. She's still nervous about car rides, but she always enjoys the destination. She got a special treat today because we stopped for ice cream on the way home. I've never met a dog yet who didn't love ice cream.

I was going to make roof repairs today but when Janet suggested taking Dawn on a car ride that seemed like a much better idea. I don't know if there would have been time to apply the silicon coating anyway. It really needs 48 hours to dry completely and it's going to rain again tomorrow. It's looks like there is rain in the forecast for several days. It must have something to do with the next hurricane headed for the Texas coast. We are pretty safe from the hurricanes themselves, but we often get rain from the outer rain bands.

I joined my very first Zoom meeting today. I can see now why the software is popular. It was easy to use and the whole experience was more enjoyable than I thought it would be. Maybe I won't be so reluctant to join these things in the future. It took less than an hour out of my day and much to my surprise I enjoyed talking to these people again.

It appears that there is going to be a rocket launch next Saturday. Now I just need to decide whether I'm going or not. One of my Florida friends said that if I have confirmed press clearance I ought to go. He said that the Covid rules change frequently and nobody with credentials really knows if they are going to get clearance again. We'll see. I'll try calling the Air Force again tomorrow. I suspect that the launch will get postponed again anyway. There are a lot of hurricanes in the Atlantic right now.

There might be a new Dalmatian at the kennel tomorrow. I know that we have a new dog in the program now, but he might still be at the vet getting his initial exams. I'll take my camera just in case. Hopefully, we'll be able to take our walk with Dawn in the morning before the rain arrives. 

Rosie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3722

I had a lot of little errands to run today. I finished everything on my list but don't feel that I accomplished much. Oh, well. I guess you've got to start somewhere. I went to the pharmacy to see if I could renew a prescription early so I don't run out of meds while I'm out at the observatory. I went to the bank and paid a few bills, but still can't decide how to pay bills while I'm gone. I went to the AT&T store to ask how to turn on WiFi calling on my phone. My phone supports this feature, but nobody seems to know how to enable it. When I ask at the Apple store, they say it is an AT&T problem. When I ask AT&T, they say the problem is with my phone.

I made an appointment to get a haircut, but I failed to take my tax materials to the accountant. Maybe tomorrow. I just hate dealing with taxes. I did make a rental car reservation. It would make more sense to take my own car, but I just don't want to deal with a broken Land Rover and no service or parts within 400 miles. To me, it's easier to rent a a reliable, easy to fix car and let the rental car company deal with any problems.

I was initially worried that I'd get everything ready to go and then the observatory would cancel the entire Spring open house because of the coronavirus. I doubt that's going to happen though. This place is very remote. There is no airline service to the area. You have to drive a long way to get there. Nobody in their right mind is going to make the journey if they are sick. On the downside, there are no hospitals in the area and very few doctors. I guess you've got to take your chances. I'm guessing that the top of Mount Locke is a lot safer place than downtown Dallas.

I'm learning that Dawn sometimes doesn't recognize me if I wear strange clothing into the house. Several times I've come inside wearing a thick wool hat and she started barking at me like I was a stranger. She didn't like it when I came home from the kennel wearing a shirt that smelled strongly of other dogs either. I don't want to scare her, so I guess it's important to always be clean and presentable.

Dawn is a smart dog. She already knows her way around the park. She leads the way now and follows our regular route. As we approach the house, she turns up the alley on her own and knows exactly where our gate is. I'm impressed. It really didn't take her long to get her bearings.

It's supposed to start raining again tonight and then continue raining throughout the day tomorrow. I hope that my roof repairs work. I'm going to be really discouraged if the roof continues to leak after all the work I've done this week. If the roof still leaks, it's basically game over. I'd rather wait until Summer to put on a new roof, but we can't have a leaking roof every time it rains. Fingers crossed. We'll see what happens tonight.

I didn't expect that Joe Biden would win big tonight. I didn't think that a Chinese super flu would crash the stock market and cause a worldwide panic either. Life is full of surprises.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3434

It looks like the bad weather everybody was predicting is well to the North of us. We might not get any rain at all until the whole severe weather scenario repeats itself tomorrow. It's easy to forget that this always happens in the Spring. We get all our rain for the year in one or two months. At least we don't live in the Tornado Alley corridor where the bad storms are headed tonight. When the weather is bad in Dallas, it always seems to be worse in Oklahoma.

It's amazing how different the park is on a weekday. Yesterday the place seemed like a carnival. Today it was just me and a few ducks. I like quiet, overcast days like today. I keep my eye out for interesting animals and new flowers although very little changes from day to day. I did see something new today. The Texas Thistle is starting to bloom. When you start seeing thistles you know that Spring is ending. These drought tolerant plants seems to thrive during the Summer.

I don't know if I'm going to thrive during the Summer. It's already starting to seem too hot and humid for me. Long walks aren't nearly as enjoyable when you're sweaty and sunburned. When Dot and Dash were young there was an indoor dog park where we used to take the dogs on hot days. The place was huge and it was air conditioned. People with active dogs loved the place. We were regulars. Dot and Dash even had special electronic tags on their collars that let them inside. Unfortunately the fancy indoor park didn't stay in business all that long. The city uses the building to park school busses now.

Dallas is a thriving, successful city but nothing I really like seems to do well here. My favorite restaurants, furniture stores, camera shops, and art galleries have all gone out of business. I was convinced that the indoor dog park would be a huge success. The facility was well thought out and dogs loved it. Apparently their owners liked free dog parks better.

I've been thinking about emergency power lately since I put most of my devices to good use during our recent power outage. I've been thinking about buying more Goal Zero generators since you can easily chain the smaller 400 watt units together to achieve higher output. Do I actually need a higher output solar generator? Probably not. If I ever get the urge, there are plenty of YouTube videos showing me how to hook everything up. I'm amazed that there are YouTube videos explaining how to fix or install just about anything. Who makes these things? Some of the subjects are so strange and esoteric that you wonder if anybody actually watches them. Hmmm. I guess I answered my own question. I watched a bunch of these videos this morning.

The drip in the shower is getting worse. Do I call a plumber or try to fix things myself? I'm almost certain that the faucets for the shower just need new washers, but I'm equally certain the I tend to screw things up when attempting plumbing repairs. I hate to pay a plumber $100 to replace a fifty cent washer, but on the other hand I hate to break a pipe trying to remove a rusty frozen bolt. Decisions, decisions.

Harley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day