Day 4803

Another very cold morning. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since it is technically the middle of Winter. It's hard to tell what season it is in Texas. It might be cold today, but next Tuesday it is supposed to get up to 80 degrees. Go figure. The cold didn't stop us this morning. We bundled up and took Dawn on her sunrise walk. One benefit of the days starting to get longer is that we aren't walking in the dark as often anymore. The skies were clear this morning and I had hopes that it would warm uyp later in the day. It didn't. It got a little warmer but I was still cold on my long walk.

After breakfast this morning I went to Home Depot and got some spare halogen bulbs for the living room lamps. These bulbs burn hot and don't last very long. I always have to remember to have spares handy. The two lamps in the living room are the only lights in the house that haven't been converted to LED bulbs. I called in a prescription and hoped to pick it up while I was out. The pharmacy said it wouldn't be ready until tomorrow. Sign of the times I guess. Prescription renewals used to be ready in two hours. Now it often takes two days.

Every morning when we walk Dawn I think it's too cold to walk in the park and that I should go to the gym instead. When the time comes, I just put on a warm coat and keep walking in the park. I don't go to the gym as often as I used to mostly because I hate all the traffic. It seems like traffic has doubled in Dallas in recent years. It's not pleasant driving in this city anymore. I'm glad the city was smaller and a little more sane when I had to drive to work everyday. After thirty years of working from home I've totally lost my patience with city traffic.

It's nice living next to a huge and still somewhat wild city park. When I take my long walks it's easy to forget I'm living in a large and very busy city. I do have to watch out for bicycles, but for the most part the park is a very peaceful place. Today a couple stopped me and asked where the eagles were. They seemed disappointed when I told them that I hadn't seen them in several months. It's strange that people have become obsessed with the bald eagles. There are lots of other interesting birds. The white pelicans are almost as large as the eagles and look majestic when flying. The Blue Herons and Great Egrets are pretty spectacular too. My favorites are the Muscovy Ducks. They are kind of ugly but have a lot of personality. I always look for them when I pass Sunset Bay on my walk.

Friday is Dawn's favorite day. She gets all excited when Janet returns with the groceries and starts waiting for the car at the front door up to an hour before she returns. Dawn seems to know that it is Grocery Day as soon as she wakes up on Friday. I don't know how this got to be such a big deal, but as soon as the groceries are in the house Dawn races out to the kitchen and stays with Janet until everything has been put away. Needless to say, she had a good time today.

It's my turn to get groceries tomorrow. We each have different things on our lists and it seems to work out well. I'm getting used to the rising prices, but I can't figure out why a lot of things are in short supply now.  I used to be able to find everything I need at a single store. Now I routinely have to visit several stores. I guess this is the new normal. Truthfully, nothing really returned to normal after Covid. The definition of normal just changed. Was life really easier in the 70's and 80's? It certainly seemed that way to me.

Lexi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4724

It's hard to get used to this weather. It was a beautiful day but was very cold. I guess I'd better get used to this. It's Winter now. We bundled up and took Dawn on another early walk in the dark. Mars was very bright in the early morning sky. The planet is nearing opposition now and won't be this bright again until 2033. Dawn wasn't very interest in the sky, but was very serious about smelling things this morning. I was just glad to return to a warm house.

After breakfast I wrote a letter to my sister because I knew I would be passing the post office later in the morning on the way to pick up a prescription. I don't like to drive anymore and try to combine errands whenever I can. After all these years I have never left letters in our mailbox for the postman to pick up. Somehow I have no faith that these letters would get delivered. I always have to drop the letter in a slot at the post office myself.

I don't understand drug prices at all. I still get a much better deal using GoodRx than using my Medicare Part D plan. Today's choice was $17 on GoodRx vs $65 on my supplemental insurance. Lord knows how much this prescription would cost if I was just paying retail. When I asked the pharmacist how this all works, she didn't know either. She said she'll always give me the lowest price available though.

I waited for it to warm up before I took my long walk. Maybe it got a little warmer but it still felt very cold when I left the house. I tried a different coat when I walked today. I'd almost forgotten that I have several goose down jackets. This one was a little warmer but the hood didn't fit as snugly. I continue to be amazed when I see men running on the trails wearing shorts and no shirt in this kind of weather. I dress like I'm on an expedition to the South Pole.

I saw one of the eagles again today. This time it was in flight. The pair of eagles is definitely here for the Winter. The nest continues to get bigger. Maybe there will be eaglets in the nest next Spring. I need to start taking a camera with me. I have a little compact camera with a long telephoto lens. The lens retracts when it is not in use and the camera is pretty easy to carry while walking. Right now all I bring with me on my walks is my phone and the nest is too far away to get a good picture.

I tried to contact a contractor who was too busy for me last Fall. There are so many problems with the house that I really need to do something. I keep hoping to find someone like those people you see on that This Old House program on PBS. Craftsmen like this are hard to find though. It's easy to find someone to remodel your kitchen or bathroom. A lot harder to find someone to do quality restoration work on mid-fifties architecture.

Dawn didn't go to her dog training class this evening. It was just too cold. Dawn didn't seem to mind napping on the bed instead. She's a smart dog. I noticed today that there is new firmware available for the star tracker. That will give me something to do tomorrow. One of these days I might actually go outside at night and use the thing. Maybe I'll wait till Spring though. I really don't like this cold weather.

Belle is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4713

Another cold day. I think today was even colder than yesterday. The cold didn't stop us though. We took our sunrise walk with Dawn, returned home, ate a big breakfast, and got ready for another day. I didn't have a big grocery list today, but shopping still took me a while. 

The stores were really crowded this morning. I guess everyone is getting ready for Thanksgiving. For once the shelves were fully stocked. There seemed to be an abundance of everything. Prices were still high, but it was nice to have a feeling of normalcy again. I don't like seeing empty shelves.

I didn't even think seriously about walking in the park today. Our sunrise walk with Dawn convinced me that it was too cold and windy. I went to the gym, feeling thankful for the car's heated seats and steering wheel. When I arrived, I couldn't shoot baskets because there was a game in progress on the court. I got my steps on the indoor track, making fairly decent time. There were more people on the floor today than a typical Saturday. Probably most of them decided like I did that it was just too cold to do anything outside.

The pick up game on the court concluded as I reached the two mile mark on the track, so I got to shoot some baskets anyway. I was terrible today. I guess I should shoot baskets before I walk. It usually takes me about fifteen minutes to reach my goal. Today it took over thirty. Eventually I completed thirty free throws and headed home. I wanted to take a nap, but Dawn looked peaceful on the bed and I didn't want to disturb her. I've been tired ever since I returned from Florida. I'm not sick; just tired.

I started the car and warmed up the engine after dinner tonight to make sure it will start tomorrow. It is supposed to get below freezing tonight. I'll go mall walking in the morning and then we'll take Dawn on her Sunday outing. Dawn seems to like the cooler weather, so a cold day tomorrow isn't going to stop her. I'm sure I'll get used to the colder weather. I'm just not there yet.

I've dozed off twice writing this post. I wish I'd gotten more done today, but some days are like this. Maybe I'll have more energy tomorrow. I've got a doctor's appointment for a physical exam on Tuesday and I'm still trying to decide whether to get a flu shot and Covid booster. I don't think I need either, but I'm sure my doctor will try to insist on both. I still think too many meds and you begin to lose your natural immunity to things.  I'm not a fool though. I already take meds to control blood pressure, cholesterol, and a few other things. I didn't initially think I needed this stuff either. I'll probably end up listening to the doctor and then being mad at myself for not following my instincts. I still think the best way to avoid Covid is to just stay away from other people.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4705 - Veteran's Day

Today was disappointing. The carpenter came over right when he promised he would. He was a nice guy. Unfortunately, when he looked at the damage, he told me that the repairs looked too complicated for him and he didn't want to bid on the job. After several days of searching, this was the best carpenter I could find, so I don't know what I'm going to do now. Carpenters seem to fall into two categories. There are framers who build new houses and cabinetmakers who remodel kitchens and make custom bookshelves. I need one of those carpenters like you see on that "This Old House" show on PBS. I think a restoration carpenter is going to be very hard to find in Dallas. This city doesn't value anything old. Scrape it and replace it is the motto here.

After my failure with the carpenter, I went back inside and checked my e-mail. There was a message from NASA saying that the NASA Causeway bridge between Titusville and Kennedy Space Center had been damaged by Hurricane Nicole and was closed until further notice. They said that journalists would have to take an alternate route to the Press Site for the Artemis-1 launch. Bummer. This new route adds an extra hour of driving time each way between the hotel and the space center. A big section of this road is under construction as well. Since the launch is scheduled to take place at 1 AM, the last thing I want to be doing is driving at night on roads that have those concrete construction barriers on either side of a narrow lane. I've been on this road before and it's a pain during the day. I'm really not looking forward to driving two hours every time I want to go to the Press Site. There will probably be horrible traffic jams as well, since this alternate route is now the only entrance to the space center. A lot of people work at this facility. Add all these employees to the visiting Artemis press and you've potentially got a real mess. I find it difficult to believe that a hurricane that could seriously damage a major bridge would leave the Artemis rocket unscathed, but that's what they say. NASA is apparently still planning to launch this thing on November 16th.

I'll think about this over the weekend, but I'm really tempted to cancel my plans and just stay here in Dallas. None of this seems very fun anymore. I'm staying in a bad hotel. The launch is in the middle of the night now, so you won't be able to see much. Worst of all, the main bridge connecting Titusville to the space center is out, forcing everyone to take a very long detour to reach the press site. Is it worth it? I seriously doubt it. There will be other launches in the future. It might be time to get realistic and cut my losses.

Not only was it a dismal rainy day, it was also very cold. When we took our sunrise walk this morning, it didn't feel like Fall, it felt like Winter. I think it will be even colder tomorrow with temperatures approaching freezing. This all seems rather sudden, but that's Texas weather for you. We're going to have to find Dawn's sweater for tomorrow's walk.

It rained for most of the day but I still had to get my steps. The fact that I drove to the gym in heavy rain shows how committed I've become to getting my steps. Maybe the cold weather improved my metabolism because I was pretty good on the basketball court this afternoon and made surprisingly good time walking on the indoor track. I may end up going back to the gym tomorrow. It's grocery day for me and I often don't have time to take a walk in the park.

I don't have much of a connection to Veteran's Day anymore. Both my parents were Navy veterans but they've been gone a long time. I don't actually know many people who've served. I think our veterans deserve a lot of respect, but we really need to stop sending them to needless, pointless wars. We never should have gone to Iraq and Afghanistan. We probably should have never gone to Vietnam either. 

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4409

Yay. We've got heat again. Our gas was shut off for most of the day while a work crew repaired a gas leak in the alley behind our house. I didn't give the outage much thought at first because the repair people had already told me that they would be finished before the end of the day and that service would be restored. As the day progressed and the cold front got closer and closer I started to get nervous. The house was starting to get cold and the two things you need the most during freezing weather are a working furnace and hot water.

Toward the end of the day a gas company technician arrived and hooked up our gas meter again. I asked if he could come in the house and start the water heater and furnace again. He said he wasn't allowed to come inside. What? "But that's where the gas appliances are," I said. He said it was gas company policy and he could get fired for violating it. He did call me a plumber though and said I wouldn't be charged. Very weird. Why was it OK for a plumber to come inside, but not a gas company technician. I'm pretty sure that I could have restarted everything myself, but I didn't want to screw up and burn down the house. I've always had a healthy respect for flames. 

Surprisingly, the plumber arrived quickly and restarted the old and cranky water heater. I actually restarted the furnace myself because I was cold and impatient. I was a lot more familiar with the furnace as well. I've had to restart it numerous times to clean the flame sensor. The furnace has sophisticated shut-off features as well. I wasn't so sure about the water heater. Oddly, the water heater flame has never gone out before. The water heater has been one of the few totally reliable things in the house. 

I still don't know what was wrong with the gas line. Whatever they fixed was buried at least four feet underground. How did they even know the pipe was leaking that far underground? I don't know why they replaced my gas meter either. I suspect that the new meter allows them to read the meter remotely and I was due for a replacement anyway. All is well though. We are headed for one of the coldest nights of the year and the house is nice and warm again.

I really didn't get a lot done today. I took my long walk in a light mist, but didn't get very wet. My feet were terrible today, so maybe the foot pain does have something to do with the humidity. The weather is definitely getting nasty. Janet and Dawn didn't even go to training class tonight. I'm tired of winter already although I know that the worst is yet to come. Often February is our coldest month. At least we haven't gotten snow yet. I hope we don't. A winter without snow would be a blessing.

I was going to resume testing the star tracker today since there has been another update to the software. I decided to wait however, because I didn't want to be aggravated by two things at the same time. Dealing with the natural gas outage was enough for one day. I have absolutely no faith that things will go as planned anymore, so I was actually expecting to be sleeping under a big pile of blankets in a very cold house. The gas company actually did pretty well today. Much better than I expected.

I hope tomorrow goes smoothly.  I don't like surprises and I've grown weary of dealing with problems. A boring day is a good day as far as I'm concerned. Dawn is a good role model for me. All she does is eat, sleep and walk. Basically, that's all I do as well.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4377

The temperature keeps bouncing back and forth between Winter and Summer. Today it felt a lot like Winter. We took Dawn on a chilly sunrise walk, came home and ate a hearty breakfast, and then I did my grocery shopping. The traffic seems to get worse every time I leave the house. I don't know where all these new people are coming from, but it appears they are here to stay. Parking lots are even more hazardous than roads at this time of year. Cars are always racing around looking for that last available parking spot. I almost got hit while I was at the grocery store this morning.

I finally saw one of the new Broncos on my shopping run this morning. I was kind of disappointed. After all I've read about this new 4x4, I was expecting something amazing. This particular Bronco looked pretty ordinary to me. The new Land Rover Defender looks a lot better to my eye, but of course it's more expensive too. Bronco vs Defender certainly isn't something I need to fret about at the moment. I'm not planning on a new car any time soon.

I didn't even bother to call Fedex today. What's the point. It's pretty clear by now that my calls are not accomplishing anything. Maybe I'll eventually get the package. Maybe I won't. There's a support group for the Polaris Astro Edition on Facebook and I've noticed that I'm not the only one with delivery problems. Several other Kickstarter backers currently have their shipments in Fedex limbo as well. It is apparently not uncommon to see delays of ten days or more. Delivery problems are becoming national news, so I suspect that it is not just me or this particular product. If your Christmas gifts are being delivered by Fedex, there's a good chance they might arrive late. I do wish that Benro hadn't decided to launch their highly anticipated automated tripod head during the Christmas rush. That's just asking for trouble.

It's hard to believe that I wore shorts on my long walk yesterday. Today I needed a down jacket and a wool hat. The wind was blowing so hard near the lake that I felt chilly even though I dressed warmly. I shouldn't complain though. Our weather still seems a lot better than the rest of the country. The severe storms all seem to be to the East of us. I hope we have a mild winter. I don't look forward to snow at all. Snow is just a nuisance when you live down South. Nobody knows how to drive in the snow and most houses aren't insulated well.

I wish I could get excited about something. I've been away from the observatory too long and my interest in astronomy is starting to fade. I didn't even try to look for Comet Leonard this month. Even though the launch schedule is picking up at Kennedy Space Center again, I don't have any trips planned. It's complicated and expensive to follow launches. I'm not sure if my NASA contacts even remember me anymore. Maybe I should have picked an easier activity. The birders at the lake looking for the eagles look happy enough. So do the people at my gym for that matter. We'll see what happens next year. Maybe all it will take is one good launch to get me excited again. 

I guess we'll still take Dawn on her Sunday outing tomorrow. It's going to be very cold, but Dawn doesn't seem to mind the cold. She has a lot more energy than I do on days like these. I'm not so sure about the ice cream though. A cup of hot chocolate sounds a little better right now. 

Alvin is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4332

What a cold, rainy day. I didn't even want to get out of bed this morning. Neither did Dawn. It was 10 AM before I could even get her to go outside and pee. It rained quite a bit during the night and continued raining for most of the day. There was a small leak in the office, but the main trouble spot in the living room stayed dry. I really wish I had liked at least one of the roofers I interviewed earlier in the year. Now that the rainy season is here, it would be nice to have a new roof.

I resumed eating normally today. I still have a bit of a stomach ache, but that is to be expected when you've had tubes and cameras inside of you. I have one more scheduled doctor's appointment tomorrow and I still need to make an appointment with the dermatologist, but this Fall's medical marathon is about to come to a close. Hopefully I've been checked enough so that I'm good to go for another year. I guess I still need to reschedule a trip to the dentist too. I think they're forgotten that I still have a cavity that needs to be filled.

The rain finally stopped early this afternoon and Dawn was eager to walk. This was the first day it really felt like Winter. I wore a warmer coat and put some leggings on under my jeans. We thought about putting a sweater on Dawn, but she seemed to enjoy the colder weather. The only bad thing about the new Hoka shoes I'm wearing now is that my feet get wet almost immediately when Dawn decides she wants to walk in the grass. I was hoping that she'd stay on the trails today, but she likes to smell things. 

After we'd made our one mile loop, Janet and Dawn went home and I continued walking. I had the park to myself today. There were no bicycles and very few joggers. I like days like this. It's very peaceful, but I do need to find some waterproof boots that don't make my feet hurt. I can't wear the heavy boots I've worn for years any more. After the first mile or so, my feet start to say no. Somebody needs to make a tough, waterproof leather boot with a sole like the Hoka shoes.

I kind of wished that I'd gone to see the Rolling Stones last night. I saw both previous shows at the Cotton Bowl, but this time it was way too wet and cold for me. I didn't have tickets either. Tickets for big concerts have gotten way too expensive. Tickets to the Steel Wheels tour were only $17.50 back in 1981. A little more expensive these days. I was well connected back in the day and got free tickets to the Steel Wheels Cotton Bowl Show. I think I still have a couple of unused tickets in a box somewhere. Janet and I both had good jobs when we went to the Voodoo Lounge show thirteen years later and the price of concert tickets wasn't a big deal. I probably should have gone. There might not be an opportunity to see the Rolling Stones again. These guys are even older than I am. The Stones are currently missing a drummer and a bass player. All that's left of the Beatles is a drummer and a bass player. They ought to get together for one last tour.

I think it is supposed to be even colder tomorrow. I'm glad our furnace is still working well. Furnace problems and cold, rainy weather always seems to go together at our house. Winter is not my favorite season. I still walk and maintain my regular routine, but I'd prefer that the temperature was 72 degrees all year round. Oh, well. Like the Rolling Stones say, "You can't always get what you want."

Wolfgang is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4009

Dawn did very well at the vet today. There was a lot of shivering and shaking while we were waiting in the lobby, but when the vet took her back to the exam room, she told us that Dawn almost immediatelly calmed down and was well behaved during her entire exam. Maybe we are being played. We still can't join Dawn in the exam room due to Covid restrictions, but maybe that is for the best. It's nice to know how she reacts when we are out of sight.

There is still no clear consensus about what caused Dawn's seizure and high fever earlier this year, but she certainly appears to be in good health now. Our vet says she is less inclined to think that the seizure had anything to do with brain cancer because the type of cancer associated with the symptoms Dawn showed during her seizure progresses rapidly and Dawn actually seems much better now than she did at the time. I guess we'll just keep monitoring her health and hope for the best. Everyone seems to think that the seizure will appear again at some point in the future. We are not inclined to do an MRI or elaborate imaging at this point. If there is a tumor or lesion in her brain it is likely to be inoperable anyway.

There were no doubts that it was Winter today. It felt like it was about to snow for most of the day. We waited until early afternoon to walk Dawn in hopes that it would warm up a bit. It didn't. The house thermometer said it was 40 degrees, but it felt like it was below freezing. This didn't stop us of course. We added a sweater under Dawn's Winter coat, dressed warmly ourselves, and off we went.

After our walk, all I wanted to do was stay in the house and keep warm. I made a quick trip to the bank at some point but that was about it. It's hard to get motivated on a cold, grey day. It's not surprising that I remembered these lyrics today. "All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey. I'd been for a walk, on a winter's day." I don't spend a lot of time California Dreaming, but it would be nice if it was a little warmer.

Tomorrow I go to the foot doctor. I hope he can come up with a solution for me that doesn't involve surgery. I can't imagine that surgery would be involved, but the guy is a surgeon. For some reason, my regular doctor didn't really want to refer me to a podiatrist. I imagine the guy will take an x-ray, tell me that nothing is really wrong, and prescribe some sort of expensive orthotic. That's what's always happened in the past anyway.

I"m trying to organize my thoughts about a second Sky & telescope article. I've got several ideas, but am not sure whether any of them would be all that interesting. I'm not really an academic writer or a teacher. I think I'm more of a travel writer who just happens to be interested in rockets and space. Since I don't have clear skies, a good telescope, or an extensive knowledge of astronomy, I'll have to think of something else. 

I hope it warms up a bit. Janet says we need to walk early tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. Dawn and I might just want to stay under the covers. 

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3343

Winter is just a process of continually adding layer after layer of clothing so I won't be too cold when I go outside and then removing layer after layer of clothing as soon as I come back inside so I won't get too hot. I'm always trying to shortcut this lengthy process, so I'm usually too hot or too cold. Maybe some of you find all these seasonal changes invigorating, but I wish mother nature would make up her mind. 72 degrees all the time would be nice.

I thought that Dash might want a later walk this morning because he was still sound asleep when I woke up. This was just wishful thinking on my part. Dash was waiting at the door and ready to go before I finished getting dressed. I'm always amazed at how empty the park is on cold windy days. There are all these young, healthy dogs in the neighborhood and it's always the old dog who can barely move who is still out there. I admire Dash's tenacity, even though on days like today I'd rather just stay inside myself.

Dash's vision has been getting worse for some time. Occasionally, I think he navigates entirely by his sense of smell. To a casual observer he seems to meander all over the place, but maybe he is just smelling his way from one familiar landmark to the next. Every once in a while he will stop and smell the air for a long time and then turn around. It's frustrating when he does this when we're almost home. "Don't do this to me buddy," I think. "We're almost home and I'm getting cold." I've learned that if something doesn't smell right to Dash, it's better to just change our route and forget about it. Getting Dash to change his mind is not an easy task.

I guess today was a holiday. President's Day never seems like a real holiday to me. Today was just a day when I couldn't go to the post office or listen to the market news on the business channel. I don't buy or sell very often anymore, but I still like following the market. When I hear politicians talk it all just sounds like blah, blah, blah to me. Market moves are easier to understand. The market operates almost entirely on fear and greed. When investors are scared, the market goes down. When they are confident, the market goes up. If you follow these sentiments, you can get a pretty accurate picture of what is going on in the world. It's certainly a more accurate picture than listening to politicians.

Without any market news to follow, I watched Jay Leno's Garage instead. I'd love to have a huge collection of cars like Jay Leno or Jerry Seinfeld. I don't think either of these guys are trying to impress anyone. They are just rich and really like cars. I've had some interesting cars in my time, but I can't imagine being a collector. Cars take up a lot of space and they can be quite expensive to keep running. One at a time is plenty for me.

I tried going without antihistamines this morning. It didn't work. Within an hour or two I was blowing my nose again. I wonder if I'm going to need to take the antihistamines all Winter. I have seasonal allergies every year, but they've never lasted this long. Is something weird going on with the pollen count this year, or am I just becoming more sensitive? Of course there are always the conspiracy theories. Maybe the Chemtrails are starting to get to me.

I haven't used my laptop or iPad in so long that the batteries in both were completely dead. When business travel was a part of my life, I used to depend on the laptop. Not anymore. The only time I use it now is during power outages. Be prepared is my motto, so I charged the batteries and updated software on both devices. Hey, you never know. I may need an old laptop someday.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2916

Today was kind of dull compared with the drama of yesterday's power outage. Minor disasters always get my adrenaline pumping. That being said, I'm glad the power has returned. It was another damp, grey day, but at least the lights were on and the furnace was working. My tolerance for cold weather seems to decrease with each passing year. I remember much colder Winters when I first moved to Dallas, but I complain a lot more now. It would be fine with me if I never see snow again.

I tried to get started on my new website project today. I looked at sites the client liked. I looked at their existing site. The longer I looked, the more I began to realize that there was nothing wrong with the existing site. Hmm. This might be a problem. It's hard to fix something that isn't broken.

I got another e-mail from Avid saying that my Pro Tools subscription was about to expire. I renewed the subscription again even though I can't remember using Pro Tools at all last year. It's really hard to turn loose of things that used to be the foundation of my business. Realistically, I may never use Pro Tools again because nobody hires me to write jingles or produce commercial music anymore. Oh, well. I'm ready if the need arises. I feel the same way about my large production printer. I keep buying ink for the monster, even though it is much more cost effective to get large posters printed online. Keeping these memories alive is getting expensive.

A friend in the neighborhood told me that he and his wife still remembered a Christmas card I'd sent them years ago. It had to be many years ago, because I haven't mailed out cards for over ten years. Times have certainly changed. Janet still gets a few cards from friends and relatives, but I just get those cards that your dentist and insurance agent send out. When we got our first Dalmatian, I used to make photo cards featuring Spot. Everybody liked Spot. Over the years the mailing list got smaller and eventually disappeared. Christmas is pretty low-key these days. We'll get Dash some fancy dog treats and have a nice Christmas dinner. Then I'll put the tree away until next year.

I hope it warms up soon. During cold spells, I feel like hibernating until Spring like a bear. I used to want to move to Wyoming, but I'm convinced that I could never handle the Winters. I went to high school in Alaska, so I'm familiar with cold weather. I just don't like it anymore. I always use to wonder why so many old people moved to Florida when they retired. Now I know.

I'm not sure what I'll do tomorrow. I'll probably stare at the computer for a while, hoping to come up with an idea for my new website project. The weather app on my phone says it's going to rain. That's not welcome news. I'm not going to even bother to go up on the roof again until the sun comes out. I may be stupid, but I'm not that stupid.

Alvin is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2174

I think Dot is back to normal. Of course, normal is a very old dog who can barely walk and poops all over the place, but we can live with that. I'm grateful that we dodged a bullet one more time. We are all learning to live with age and infirmity, but adding something new to the mix might have been too much. I don't know how Dot got so sick or recovered so quickly, but I'd like to find out. I don't want this to happen again.

I need to be more careful with the little ceramic heater I use to keep warm on cold days. Yesterday I almost melted the vinyl slats on some mini-blinds covering the window next to my desk. I put the heater too close to the window hoping to evaporate the condensation that was starting to return. Ceramic heaters are generally pretty safe. There is no flame and the case doesn't even get hot to the touch. What I forgot was that the air itself coming out of the heater is very hot. I have seven partially melted slats in the blinds to remind me of that.

I seemed to remember that I had some more mini-blinds in the storage warehouse so I thought I'd replace the one I'd singed. I took the old mini-blinds down, found the new ones and then realized they weren't the same size. They almost fit, but not quite. It was a wasted effort. While I was looking at the aluminum window frames, I realized that there was mold in the track where the window slid open. I got some Clorox wipes from the kitchen and cleaned all the frames in the office. They were filthy. Now I have a burnt shade covering much cleaner windows. I guess that's progress.

I'm learning more about humidity. When it's really cold outside and the furnace runs all the time, the humidity goes down. When the indoor and outdoor temperatures are closer together and the furnace or air conditioner only runs sporadically, the humidity goes up. I think this must mean that the house isn't insulated very well. Hot air does dry things out, but moisture creeps back in quickly when the furnace is off. The air conditioner does a good job of lowering the humidity too, but it's Winter now. We won't be using the air conditioner again for a while. We certainly won't be using it this weekend. The temperature might go down to freezing tonight.

Since several forecasts were predicting freezing weather, I didn't want to deal with ice on the roof. Ice on the roof is even worse than water on the roof. Even though it was nasty outside, I braved the elements and got all the water off the roof while I still had a chance. We've had thick ice on the roof before and I still think this is what caused some of the Sheetrock in the living room ceiling to crack.

I think some people will be confused by this week's Heaven Sent episode of Dr. Who. Was the whole thing a weird dream sequence, or did the Doctor really spend millions of years trying to break out of this strange Rubik's Cube castle? The entire episode was just a very convoluted set up for next week's season finale. I think I liked the series better when each show was a self-contained little adventure. This new series is a single very long show that is meant to be binge watched from beginning to end.

The rain is supposed to continue through Monday. The challenge for me will be to do something useful around the house without breaking anything. The brown melted spot on the mini blinds and the continuing leak in the shower stall are graphic reminders that I'm not exactly off to a good start. Maybe I should just go to the gym tomorrow and wait until Summer to deal with the house.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1794

We are still in the grip of an arctic cold front that has sent temperatures tumbling to the mid 30's. Surprisingly, the dogs seem to find this cold weather invigorating. They walk along briskly with their noses in the air and their tails straight behind them while I attempt to keep up, bundled in layers of warm clothing. Dot is too unsteady on her feet now to walk in snow anymore, but when she was younger, she would love our occasional snow days. I'm just the opposite. I do my best to avoid extremes and would prefer a year that has only two seasons: Spring and Fall. Seattle was kind of like this, but it rained all the time when I lived there. Occasionally, I have visited places that seem ideal, but unfortunately living in Santorini or Hawaii isn't entirely practical.

Every Summer I fantasize about living in Wyoming or Montana and then on the first day of Winter, I remember how cold those places can get. I spent a Winter in Idaho once and it was far too cold for me. Is there a place where the scenery is beautiful, the cost of living is low, and the temperature is always 70 degrees? Oh, there shouldn't be any bugs or snakes either. Maybe I'm being too picky.

It's hard to believe that we've been doing Dot's physical therapy for well over a year now. I've been a lot more faithful about getting Dot to her weekly water therapy and acupuncture sessions than I've been about going to the gym myself. There is no way of knowing how well she'd be doing without all this extra attention, but I remain convinced that the physical therapy is working. For a dog as old as she is, Dot is still remarkably active. Today was a good day. She did very well in the underwater treadmill this afternoon and still had plenty of energy during her evening walk.

Although the week got off to a slow start, I have plenty of work to do now. I wish the jobs had come in earlier in the week, since I've started thinking of Friday as a vacation day. I can't really complain though. Work keeps the mind agile and pays the vet bills. When I get caught up with the current batch of assignments, I might go see Interstellar at an IMAX theater. They say since Christopher Nolan shot the film using IMAX cameras, it looks spectacular when seen in one of these immersive theaters. Knowing me however, I might just wait until next March when the DVD comes out. It's a long movie and I still hate to leave the dogs this long.

The HVAC guys have rescheduled their appointment to install my new thermostat for tomorrow, but I think I'll still have time to go out for breakfast anyway. The trip to the grocery store may have to wait. The way things are shaping up now, tomorrow looks like a very busy day.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1048

I need a new car. The old Defender is getting a little long in the tooth and it would be nice to be driving something reliable again. Unfortunately the only car I'd really like is another Defender. For reasons that remain a mystery to me, Land Rover will not be bringing the Defender back to America until at least 2015. I wonder if my car will last that long?

Today, Janet wanted me to take the Defender up to the dog park and I had to run through a NASA style checklist just to make sure the car was roadworthy. After 100,000 miles, things start to fall off these Defenders. I still drive the car almost everyday, but not with other people inside. My schedule is so amorphous that it is no big deal for me to wait two hours for the AAA tow truck.  Other people have places to go.

At any rate, I pumped up the tires, checked for leaking hoses and off we went. I have to double clutch now, since the synchronizers are gone, but I'm getting pretty good at it. The trip was uneventful and the dogs loved the park today. The weather was absolutely perfect. All the bad weather in the Northeast is bringing good weather to the Southwest. Dash was full of himself today. He repeatedly raced from one end of the park to the other and was faster than any of the other dogs. If you've never seen a Dalmatian run, it's a beautiful sight. They are really quite graceful.

When we returned to the house, I had work to do. I wonder when people stopped respecting weekends as a time of rest and relaxation? I get as many requests on the weekends now as on any other day of the week. I would just as soon do nothing on the weekends, but I usually try to get the weekend assignments completed, so that they don't bog me down when Monday arrives. I got two major website updates completed this afternoon. I would have rather watched a movie, but I'll have to admit that last minute website updates still beat mowing the grass.

I saw my first Kestrel of the season while I was taking the dogs on their evening walk. These small falcons are all over the place during the Winter, but I've never seen one during the Summer months. One by one, all the Winter birds and animals are returning. Redbirds have taken up residence in our yard again and one bold Cardinal apparently wants to build a nest in my office. He pecks on my office window every morning and when I won't let him in, he goes and poops on my car. What is it with these destructive animals? I think this bird has been talking to a certain armadillo.

Abi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 951

I started work on another website project today. Even though designing and maintaining websites is an important part of my business, I'm starting to wonder if they even matter anymore. A lot of people I know think that Facebook is the Internet and never go anywhere else. I've found that I've been able to reach more people in a single year using Twitter than I have during the previous ten years using my own company website. There is nothing remarkable about websites anymore. They have become just the same as the boatloads of printed brochures and collateral material I used to write before the Internet became popular. I wonder what the next big thing is going to be? I've made my living for many years by becoming an early adopter of whatever was new and fabulous. Unfortunately, I don't have a good feel for what is coming next anymore. Even worse, I'm starting to long for simpler times.

I'm starting to long for Winter as well. The heat has become relentless. The air conditioner never stops now. Even at night, the AC can't seem to manage to cool the house down to a comfortable 75 degrees. This Spring, I really thought we might have a mild Summer. Hey, we actually did have a mild Winter. It seemed perfectly plausible that an equally mild Summer would follow. Somehow, I don't think that's going to happen. Summer is half over now, and it is very, very hot.

I'm not taking nearly as many photographs anymore. The vegetation in the park is dry and brown. The animals are all in hiding under the nearest shady bush. Even the lighting is too harsh for pretty pictures. I guess I could still wait until sunset, but I prefer Spring and Fall when the sun is running on my schedule. When the last of the Spring wildflowers die, I don't know what I'm going to photograph on our daily walks.

Dash threw up again last night. I have no idea why he does this periodically. I've taken him to the vet several times and they can't find anything wrong. He eats exactly the same food as Dot, who never throws up. He doesn't get into the garbage or eat dead things either. It's all a mystery to me. When he does throw up, it's always on the carpet too. There are plenty of easy-to-clean brick floors nearby, but he seems to prefer the carpet. As soon as he's made a mess of things, he goes right back to sleep and everything's fine. It's enough to make me want to throw up.

Jewel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 740 - Christmas

Dot woke up this morning limping on her left front leg. I'm not sure what's wrong, since she seemed fine when she went to bed last night. I think she just over exerted herself at our gift wrapping event yesterday. It's easy to forget she's getting older now. She spent most of the afternoon standing, instead of sleeping like she usually does. Maybe it was too much for her.

The furnace didn't come on this morning either, but by the end of the day we had heat again and Dot seemed to be walking more normally. It was a simple, but satisfying Christmas. I often feel lonely on Christmas. I don't have a lot of friends and am more or less estranged from family. I probably don't show my appreciation often enough, but I'm very grateful to have Janet and the dogs. They keep life normal.

It didn't snow this Christmas, but it certainly felt like Winter. I couldn't walk the dogs together this evening because of Dot's limp, but as Dash and I tramped through the woods, it was easy to imagine a coating of snow on everything. We returned to the smell of holiday cooking and an hour or so later everyone sat down to enjoy a delicious Christmas dinner. We had ham, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes and a spicy stuffing. There weren't a lot of presents under the tree, but we don't need much at this point in our lives. I'm content.

I even managed to complete a few watch articles today. The month long writing marathon is almost over and it's not going to seem the same in January. I'll have to admit that I've learned a few things about watches and about writing this month. If I could only be this disciplined about personal projects. If I could work at the same pace on personal projects, I could have easily completed a novel by now. Personal projects are tough though. There just isn't a strong enough sense of desire pushing me onward. Maybe that's what I should have asked Santa for this year: a stronger sense of desire.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 719

The power is back on. It's nice to have electricity again. It's not so nice to have another leak in the roof however. The rain that started yesterday afternoon continued through the night, and sometime before morning I awoke to hear the sound of dripping water in the living room. I put a bucket under the drip and went back to sleep.

When daylight arrived, I went up on the roof to assess the situation and spent quite a while sweeping water off the roof, even though it was still raining. By the time I was finished, I was already so wet that I figured I wouldn't get any wetter if I walked down to the lake and photographed the White Rock Marathon that was taking place behind my house.

Earlier, during breakfast, I watched the leaders in the race go by on television. Two Kenyans covered five miles in the time it took me to eat my Krispy Kreme donut. By the time I got down to the lake with my camera, the really fast runners were already close to the finish line. There were still plenty of runners however. 25,000 of them to be exact. I've never understood runners. It is raining cats and dogs outside. It is getting colder by the minute. Does that dissuade any of the runners? Not a bit. They all just put big black plastic garbage bags over their heads and continue running 26 miles in the freezing rain.

Just knowing that 25,000 intensely competitive type-a people were running a race behind my house was a bit unnerving to me. That's a lot of competitive people. I'm not a competitive person at all. I work hard and I think I'm good at what I do, but I've never spent much time trying to convince people that I'm better than anyone else. I avoid contests and competitions like the plague. Sure, I understand that there are winners and losers in life, but it's still frustrating to run into someone who thinks that in order for them to win, I have to lose. Hey guys, game over. I still prefer to think I passed the finish line at birth and have always been a winner.

When the rain finally quit toward the end of the day, I went up on the roof again and swept away the remaining water. I rarely get up on the roof twice in one day, but it's supposed to freeze this week, and I'm determined not to have ice on the roof again this year.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 686

The days are getting visibly shorter. I wish this meant something philosophically, but I think it just means I will be walking the dogs in the dark soon. I'm not looking forward to Winter. I don't mind the cold, because I have lots of warm jackets. I do mind the darkness though. Darkness usually makes me feel even more melancholy than usual.

The new muslin backdrop for the Dalmatian Rescue Christmas photos arrived today. We must have a new FedEx delivery guy in the neighborhood, because for the past few weeks I've been playing a game of "find the package" every time a shipment arrives. Today's parcel was left at the side of the house, instead of near the front door where the regular Fedex guy leaves things. I probably never would have found the box if I hadn't stumbled over it while taking the dogs on their evening walk. Front door next time guys!

In hopes that their inventory might have improved, I went to Home Depot this afternoon looking for a new utility pump for the roof. They still had the same inferior pumps they had last year. The service guy working the plumbing aisle confirmed that these pumps were junk, and then told that he once owned a real good pump himself. He said it was blue and made of metal, unlike the plastic pumps on the shelves. I asked where I could get this pump, because this was exactly what I wanted. I had one like this myself once. It was made in the USA and it lasted ten years. The company that made it probably doesn't even exist anymore.

Last week I got a frantic note asking me to add some information to a client's website. Oops! Somehow, I never got around to this task. This morning I got an equally frantic note asking me to take the information down again. Wow! That was an easy job. I just sent a quick e-mail that said "done." Sometimes procrastination works in your favor.

Did I tell you that I was disgusted with the stock market? Oh that's right, I did that yesterday.

Jeda is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day