Day 4861

Another beautiful Spring day. The sun was already up when we took Dawn on her early walk, but I guess it still counts as a sunrise walk. There is always a crowd of photographers when we pass the tree with the baby owls. These appear to be very popular little owls. Dawn had lots to smell and didn't want to stay on the trail this morning. This meant dirty paws and dirty shoes when we returned home, but we all had an enjoyable walk.

After a big weekend breakfast of sausage, eggs, and toast I went mall walking. I'm always surprised at how much changes from week to week. The duck pond has reopened after weeks of renovation. It looks exactly the same, but I suspect the area was leaking. Kids seem to love this little water attraction with ducks and turtles. I still wonder where they kept the ducks while the area was being refurbished.

All the window displays have changed and feature Spring clothing now. White seems to be the seasonal color of choice. Most of the window displays seem very similar. It's kind of weird that the mall has hundreds of stores and they all seem more or less the same. I did my five laps of the mall perimeter and came home. According to Fitbit I was a little faster today, although it certainly didn't feel that way. I still seem to walk slower than most people.

Dawn was ready for her Sunday outing as soon as I returned home. It was definitely a beautiful day for a walk. The sky was clear and no jackets were required. I really hope this Spring weather lingers for a while. This has been an exceptionally nice Spring this year. Dawn really enjoyed her walk and we didn't forget the ice cream either. It wouldn't be a proper Sunday outing without ice cream cones.

I finally finished raking leaves this afternoon. I've been avoiding the leaves in the side yard because this is where the wind blows leaves off the roof and the thick pile of leaves is perpetually damp. Wet leaves are a lot heavier than dry leaves. Every time I filled a leaf bag, I could hardly lift it to carry it out to the curb. I don't think the yard will ever be completely free of leaves, but it definitely looks better now. The yard work tired me out. I'm not as strong as I used to be. It's one more reason I need to start going back to the gym.

Dawn has been getting much bolder around me lately. I took a short nap after I finished raking leaves and Dawn stayed on the bed with me. She didn't appear entirely happy about the situation, but she didn't get up and leave. She never used to come in the office. Now, she'll come in and bark at me when it's time for her dinner. Her internal clock is flawless. She always knows exactly when it is time for breakfast, dinner, and snacks.

I need to remember to get up early and watch the live feed of the Starship orbital launch tomorrow morning. I can't believe how many people I know decided to drive to Brownsville and see the launch in person. Why? There are very few places to stay in the area. If you decide to drive down Highway 4 to see the rocket up close, you need to remember that there are absolutely no public restrooms. If you need to go, you are at least thirty minutes away from the nearest gas station. You are never far away from the bugs and snakes though. I hear that the insect bites are terrible around Boca Chica. At any rate, I think I'll have a much better view of things on my computer.

I won't be going to Florida next week since the Falcon Heavy launch has been delayed. I think all the April launches have been delayed now. Oh, well. There's plenty to do here in Dallas. I still need to get the roof replacement scheduled and I need to go pick up the unsold gear I consigned at the guitar store as well. The yard still needs a lot of work too.

Becker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4700

Only 300 days left. That's less than a year. I think I'll be glad to finish this quest, but maybe I'll feel differently when the day arrives. I don't really have a lot to say anymore, but I still think writing is good for you. There are times when I wish I'd decided to write a new blog post for 4000 consecutive days instead, but I think I can do this now. I wonder if anyone's been reading from the very beginning?

Dawn is not happy with the time change. She's been acting like we've forgotten to feed her all day. You don't need an alarm clock if you have a Dalmatian. They always seem to know exactly what time it is. I ended up feeding Dawn early tonight because she wasn't having any part of waiting another hour for her dinner. Maybe she'll get used to Standard Time in a few weeks.

It was a beautiful day. We probably won't need to put lights on our jackets for a while since the extra hour of daylight made a big difference on our morning walk with Dawn. It would have been a good day for me to take a longer walk in the park as well, but I've done that a lot this week. I went mall walking instead. Mostly I was just bored and needed to do something different.

Christmas has already arrived at Northpark. Christmas trees and decorations were already up and many stores were already putting up Christmas themed window displays. It seems a little early to me. What about Thanksgiving? I guess people don't buy many clothes for Thanksgiving. I never realized what a busy place the mall was until I started walking there on Sunday mornings. Almost every time I visit I notice that a new store has opened. Stores open, close and change locations with regularity.

When I returned home, Dawn was ready to go on her Sunday outing. She is always excited to get in the car, and then immediately becomes frightened as soon as the car starts. It would probably be impossible to take a long car trip with this dog. She just doesn't ride well in the car. Luckily, she's fine once we arrive at our destination. We had a nice walk and then we went to get ice cream cones. The ice cream seems to calm Dawn down. She's always pretty quiet on the way back home.

When we were out today we noticed that the sign had come down where our neighborhood Chinese restaurant used to be. The place is gone for good. What a shame. We loved their food and the young owners were really nice. They probably just picked a really bad time to open a new restaurant.

I wasn't feeling very energetic today, but whenever I went to take a nap, Dawn would go to the kitchen. When I went to the kitchen, Dawn would go back to the bedroom. She's super friendly with me when Janet is in the house. When I'm alone with her, she always acts nervous though. I'm sure there's a reason for this behavior, but Dawn's not talking. Dawn had a hard life before we adopted her. Maybe she will never completely trust me, but I'm still hoping.

I'm still having second thoughts about my next trip to Florida. I really wish the next Artemis attempt wasn't a night launch. There won't be nearly as much to see or photograph at night. I guess the main reason I'm still going is that I'm already credentialed. It's not easy to get press credentials and I don't want to get on anyone's bad side by not showing up. If the Artemis rocket doesn't launch this time I think I'm going to give up on it. I can't afford to keep traveling to launches that get scrubbed.

There is rain in the forecast again for tomorrow. Haven't we had enough rain this Fall? I'm hoping the forecast is wrong. It often is.

Chase is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4658

No hurricanes in Texas, but we did get some thunderstorms this afternoon. As usual, the rain missed our house. It always does. We still had to use the sprinklers to water the grass this evening. It's a different story down in Florida. Everyone in the state seems to be preparing for the approaching storm except for the folks at NASA. The Artemis rocket is still sitting out on the pad. What are they waiting for? The odds of a sucessful launch on October 2nd are practically zero by now. My guess is that Artemis will be loaded on the crawler and will be headed back to the VAB sometime tomorrow. I haven't canceled my reservations yet, but I suspect that I will be doing that tomorrow as well.

I didn't have to cancel anything today. It was a regular Sunday that started with a Sunrise walk and ended with ice cream. Janet fixed a nice Sunday breakfast and then I headed for the mall for my Sunday morning walk. For some reason I wasn't allowed in the entrance I regularly use. I was told that this entrance was only for store managers now and that walkers needed to use a different entrance about a quarter of a mile away. Whatever. I came here to walk anyway, so it wasn't a big deal. I have no idea why Northpark has designated entrances now. It must make sense to somebody. Probably a group of very bureaucratic people sat around for weeks discussing the idea in staff meetings.

The store windows are already filled with heavy Winter clothes. Why? It never gets that cold in Texas. I think the mall gardeners must have bought every pumpkin in Dallas. There were massive displays of pumpkins artfully displayed throughout the mall. I've never seen pumpkins and gourds in so many different colors. I didn't even know that green pumpkins were a thing, but I certainly saw lots of them today. I shouldn't make fun of the elaborately decorated mall. It's always a very pleasant place to get my steps.

I though it would be too hot to take a walk on Dawn's Sunday outing, but the skies were overcast and there was a breeze, so we gave it a try. We made a one mile loop around Dawn's Sunday park and then we headed for the ice cream store. I think Dawn was a little tired, but not as tired as I was. I don't do well walking off pavement anymore. My feet hurt and my balance isn't as good as it used to be. Dawn loves all the new smells though, and it is her day.

I was really surprised to hear thunder this afternoon. I wasn't expecting rain since the weather forecast showed nothing but clear skies for the next week. Actually we didn't get any rain in our neighborhood but it was all around us. I'm glad we were able to take Dawn on her Sunday outing while it was still nice outside. 

When I'm busy in the morning there is often nothing to do in the afternoon. I spent an inordinate amount of time searching for information about the Artemis team's plans for the hurricane. Nothing. Probably putting out press releases is the least of their worries now. I heard somebody wonder what happens if the crawler breaks down on the way back to the VAB tomorrow and is stuck outside when the hurricane arrives The crawler is over 50 years old and every time they move Artemis several of the treads fall off the tracks. It's hard to predict what is going to happen next. The hurricane isn't going away though. This weekend I was putting on some sandals and got stung by a bee that was inside the sandals. I certainly wasn't expecting that. I wish NASA luck. They're probably going to need it.

Rosie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day