Day 4206

No rain today. There was an abundance of heat and humidity though. Even though the sky was pretty with lots of big puffy clouds, it wasn't a great day to be outside. That didn't stop us from walking of course. We got up early and walked Dawn before the heat became opressive and then I ate my breakfast. I didn't really feel like going to the gym again, so I convinced myself that it was still cool enough for a walk in the park.

It's too bad that sweating isn't as beneficial as elevating your heart rate when you exercise. If sweating was the goal, I'd be in great shape. Today would have been better if there was a breeze, but the air was pretty still. I completed my six miles, but by the time I returned home I was beat. Maybe I should have gone to the gym after all. I've finally learned the importance of hydration and drink a lot of water while I cool down. As I was returning to normal I watched a repeat of yesterday's Space X Transporter 2 launch on the streaming channel. This time the rocket got off the pad without incident and everything worked like clockwork. The booster landed back at Kennedy Space Center which doesn't happen very often. Seeing the booster return is pretty exciting if you are watching the launch in person. Maybe someday. I definitely don't have any plans to travel this summer. It's going to be a while before travel seems normal again. Hotels and air fares still seem way too high to me. 

I watered the new grass this afternoon. It's hard to tell if I'm watering too much or too little. When it's hot, the water seems to disappear pretty fast. I hope I can keep this grass alive. It was a lot of trouble to put it in. While I had the hose out, I watered the plants in the atrium. There's an outlet inside the atrium, but I haven't used it since there was a severe plumbing problem years ago and we almost flooded the house. Now I just use an outside hose and water the plants through the screen wire wall that forms one side of the atrium area.

On days like these I wish I could sleep soundly during the day. I take short naps, but I don't really go to sleep. If I could get the sleep I need during the day, I wouldn't feel bad about staying up late at night. I've always been able to get more done at night. It's quiet and peaceful. When I was working, I did a lot of my writing jobs at night. It's unfortunate that writing at night and stargazing aren't really compatible with each other. One activity is inside and the other is outside and both require a certain amount on concentration. Oh, well. At least I'm wide awake if there is a good opportunity for stargazing. I do pretty well out at the observatory.

I really need to make another attempt to find the source of the roof leak tomorrow. All the forecasts say that it's going to start raining again later in the week. I'm probably going to end up just pouring some of the silicon material over random spots as a futile gesture. I really did look carefully when I was up on the roof the other day and couldn't find any obvious place where the water might be getting in.

Janet and Dawn went to training class again tonight. Dawn certainly seems excited as they are getting ready to leave the house. I'm not sure that Dawn is wild about being trained, but she sure seems to like to go places in the car. Hopefully she will learn to heel eventually. She still pulls pretty bad when she is on a leash. Pulling on the leash is a lot better than panicking and freezing in place though. I think we are making progress. 

Tucker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4196 - Summer Solstice

It's the first day of Summer, the longest day of the year, and also Father's Day. Occasionally my birthday falls on one of these days as well. I'm going to skip the Father's Day remembrances this year. A lot of what happened during the early years have been lost to the mists of time. I do remember the latter years when I had to take over my Dad's affairs after he could no longer handle things himself. Not a lot of good memories there. Truthfully, I've never had strong family ties and don't spend a lot of time thinking about family. I jokingly tell people that I was raised by wolves, but I suspect that my parents did a pretty good job raising me. I've always been able to cope and have succeeded at just about everything I've tried. I'm sure my Dad had a lot to do with that, whether I was aware of it or not.

I thought I'd try to outwit the weather and take my long walk right after breakfast this morning. I don't drink my morning smoothie during the weekend, so I was able to get an early start. Janet volunteered at a dog event again today, so Dawn had no interest in walking with me. If she could have overcome her fears, she would have enjoyed the walk. It was still pretty cool outside at 7:30 AM. Keep in mind that this is Texas in the Summer, so 'pretty cool' means 80 degrees.

I was easily able to complete six miles this morning. I should do this more often. The problem is that it takes so long to drink a half-gallon fruit smoothie that I don't know where I'd find the time. If I drink the smoothie first, it's already gotten too hot outside for a pleasant walk by the time I'm finished. If I walk first, I don't feel like eating or drinking anything when I return. Today was easy. I just had a quick bowl of cold cereal before leaving the house. I won't abandon the smoothie though. I've convinced myself that it is extremely healthy.

I was a little tired when I returned from my walk, but a short nap took care of that. I realized that it was now or never for removing the rest of the dead Photinia trees, so I got out my heavy reciprocating saw and went to work. I must have saved the hardest trees for last, because it required quite an effort to cut them down. The trouble with this type of saw is that the blades are relatively short, making it almost impossible to cut through a thick stump. It is also impossible to cut the trees down flush to the ground. At some point I'm going to have to hire someone to dig up the roots of these trees. The exposed stumps don't look all that great. All that being said, the yard does look a lot better now. I don't look better unfortunately. I always manage to cut myself when I am doing yard work. One of the hazards of taking blood thinners I guess. The slightest scratch results in a cut.

It's time to start watering the grass again, but I couldn't find a sprinkler that worked. All three were broken. I guess it's time for another trip to Home Depot. I'll need to buy a hose as well. The one hose long enough to reach all parts of the yard has a big leak in it. Whatever I buy probably won't last any longer than the worthless tools I threw away today. I think all this stuff is made in China out of recycled tin foil.

Dawn had no interest in staying outside with me while I worked in the yard today. Every time I took her out to pee, she immediately went to the back door and wanted to go inside as soon as she had done her business. The little diva spent her day sitting in the middle of our king sized bed while I was sweating outside. Whoever coined the phrase 'it's a dog's life' never met our dogs.

Alamo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4193

We've settled in to our summer routine. We get up early and walk Dawn before sunrise. I don't bother to make the bed until we return because every minute we waste, it gets a little hotter. You can immediately feel any difference in the temperature and humidity the minute you step out the back door. Today was a little warmer than yesterday morning, but it was still quite nice. I'm glad Dawn enjoys these early morning walks because she probably wouldn't get a walk at all otherwise. Once the sun is high in the sky, it just isn't safe for dogs. You've always got to remember that dogs don't sweat and they overheat very quickly. The pavement is way too hot for their paws as well.

I still have my morning smoothie for breakfast, but I've noticed that I'm not as hungry on hot days. The heat saps your energy and you don't even feel like eating. I've been eating smaller dinners as well. This is probably good. I put on a few pounds during the pandemic and now is as good a time as any to lose them.

I asked Janet if she wanted to postpone hauling the dead trees and brush out to the curb for bulky trash day and of course she said no. It didn't take as long as I thought to move everything and the yard looks a lot better now. I still need to cut down one more dead Photinia tree, but the trucks won't arrive for a few more days so I've got time. I'd like to wait for a cloudy day to do the work, but there aren't any of those in the forecast. All I see in the week ahead is lots of sunshine and blistering hot temperatures.

The power company is telling us to conserve energy during the heat wave. This has everyone mad because the excuse the power company gave for the week long power outages during last winter's big freeze was that the Texas power grid was optimized for summer weather. They promised that there'd be no problems during the summer months. So much for that. Personally, I think the problems started when all these people started moving here from other states. Texas is a welcoming place but we're getting too crowded.

After we moved all the brush and wood to the curb, I went to the gym. A trip to the gym has become part of my new summer routine as well. It's just too hot to take my long walk thru the park these days. It's going to take a while to get back in shape, but my workout today was better than yesterday. I'm not going to concentrate on cardio for a while and work on my upper body instead. My heart is fine. It's my arms and torso that have grown weak. I could do some of these exercises at home, but I never do. There's something about going to a gym that forces you to do the work. 

I made tentative plans to go back to the observatory in the Fall. October is one of the best months for stargazing and I wanted to make sure that there would be some special Fall photography nights. It's looking good. This gives me something to look forward to. I'm not going to even think about going back to Kennedy Space Center until the kids are back in school again, hurricane season is over, and the weather gets a lot cooler. I suspect by next Winter the rental car crisis will be over and everyone who wanted to go to Disneyland will have taken their vacation. Mosquitos aren't as bad in the winter either. Maybe Artemis-1 will launch sometime this winter.

I need to water the grass tomorrow. This means I have to go to Home Depot and buy a new sprinkler. All the sprinklers around the house are broken. These things used to last, but they don't even make it through a single season now. The bad thing about watering the lawn is that Dawn heads straight for the mud when the ground is wet. It's always something I guess. At least I've taken this week's trash to the curb and am ready to call it a day.

Bali is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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