Day 4887

My editor liked my article about the Viasat-3 launch and sent me a press proof of how it will appear in the July issue of SpaceFlight. I'm getting to be a regular contributor to this magazine. Will I be able to make it to the AX-2 launch several weeks from now? We'll see. I paid my credit card bills from the previous launch today and it's not looking promising. Everything is getting way too expensive. Being a space journalist is not a lucrative endeavor. Most of the other rocket photographers I've met down at the space center get paid virtually nothing for their efforts. We all seem to think it's worth it though. Not many people get inside access to view launches like this.

I continue to worry about the weather for the roof replacement next week. I was going to call the roofers today and try to postpone things, but I think I'll wait until Monday. The weather forecast changes daily. If the weather improves we might as well go ahead and get this done. I still don't want to deal with rain while half the roof is pulled off though. I'd kind of rather wait till July when we can go for weeks without any sort of moisture. With my luck, the best time for the roof replacement will probably be when I want to go to Florida for the AX-2 launch.

Today was a typical Friday. Janet did her grocery shopping. Dawn got impatient waiting for her to return. And I took another long walk. It was a good day for walking. The sky was overcast and it was relatively cool with very little wind. I like days like this. Dawn wasn't so sure about her own morning walk. She's scared of the neighbor's cat and won't go down into the park if the cat is outside in the neighbor's yard. We had to take a different route this morning but it all worked out fine. Dawn actually seemed excited to be doing something new.

I did nothing new at all on my long walk later in the morning. I followed my familiar route. Made sure all the resident ducks were accounted for. And tried to keep up a decent pace. I'm hopelessly slow compared to some people I see walking. Fitbit thinks I'm doing a good job though. Walking six miles a day still seems like a better alternative than going to the gym.

My supplemental health insurance went up in price again. I think the cable bill went up too. Everything keeps getting more expensive, while no additional money is coming in. This sucks. It's too bad I am no longer an in demand web designer. I could use a little extra income these days. I hear jobs are plentiful, but I don't think I'd want the type of job seniors tend to get these days. I'm not cut out to be a greeter at Walmart. I'll just have to learn to be more frugal. I was never very good at being frugal.

This week has gone quickly. I need to make a grocery list because my own grocery run is tomorrow. I'm trying to avoid outdoor chores, but the grass will need to be mowed very soon. Can it wait another week? We'll see.

Dixie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

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 4148

We might have seen Cooper for the last time today. It looks like he will be adopted soon. We met the guy who is thinking of adopting Cooper and he has already adopted several Dalmatian Rescue dogs. The guy just needs to make sure that Cooper gets along with his current dogs and Cooper will have a home. Hopefully this will work out. I think it will. Cooper is very friendly with other dogs.

Charlie was very quiet today. He was actually acting like a normal dog. Since this was Charlie, we were a little worried about him, but the kennel attendants assured us that he was fine. I think we must have woke him up from a nap. It's not like Charlie to sit quietly on a bench with us and let us pet him, but that's what we got today. He did play with his toys but he was uncharacteristically gentle with them. Dalmatians are full of surprises.

The weather may be full of surprises this evening as well. We've had severe weather warnings all afternoon, but so far all the storms have gone North of us. There is one more storm system on the way and this one appears to be headed straight for us. We'll see what happens. Weather is so unpredictable at this time of year. You never know if you are going to get a gentle shower or a tornado. The rain hasn't arrived yet, but I'll be glad when this storm passes to the East of us.

It was hot and humid today. It felt like Summer had arrived when I was taking my long walk. It was a reminder of what lies ahead. Our short Spring is almost over. Pretty soon is is going to be hot and dry. Instead of worrying about rain, I'll be begging for it. That's still in the future though. Right now, I'm still worried about the rain.

The lens I ordered for my trip to the observatory arrived early today. After complaining about the post office last week, it looks like they outdid themselves this time. I took a chance and ordered a used lens. I guess I got lucky. The lens looks perfect and I could have sworn it was new. Hopefully I will get some use out of this. It's definitely not something I'll be using to take pictures of Dalmatians.

I got a notice that I could apply to attend a Dragon resupply mission in June at Kennedy Space Center. This isn't something I would normally want to attend, but I'm becoming obsessed with getting back to the Space Center. Should I apply or not? If I am accepted, I will need to go and that means dealing with a lot of recent travel changes. They say rental cars are ridiculously expensive in Florida now because of short supply. Hotel room rates have gone up significantly as well. Everybody seems to want to travel now. Maybe I should just wait until some sense of normality returns. 
 

I'm hearing a lot of thunder now and see flashes of lightning through the office window. It still hasn't started raining though. On the weather radar it looks like the center of the storm is passing slightly to the South of us. I wish this was over. I'm torn between checking the radar every few minutes and posting this in a hurry in case the power goes out. The one good thing about these storms is that I think it will be a lot cooler tomorrow.

All in all, it was a good day. We enjoyed seeing Charlie and Cooper and I've got my lens now. I just hope the day ends well.

Milo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day