Day 3535

We're home. Texas has a little bit of everything. We traveled from some of the most congested areas of the country to some of the most remote. While we were in Fort Davis I kept wondering why people keep retiring there. The entire population seems to be retirees. As we navigated lunch hour traffic in Austin and a little later the evening rush hour on our return to Dallas, I had my answer. West Texas offers the antithesis of city life. People willingly deal with wells that occasionally run dry, problematic septic tanks, bears, forest fires, 40 mile drives to the supermarket, and a dearth of entertainment just to get some peace and quiet. The Davis Mountains were one of the most peaceful places I've been in my life. I'm sure the people who live there have plenty of problems, but they aren't city problems.

Fredericksburg is charming, but it definitely is not remote. The place is almost a suburb of Austin. We couldn't figure out whether the place was growing or shrinking. A lot of businesses were boarded up and we saw plenty of vacant buildings, but there was also a lot of new construction going on. The place reminded me of Gatlinburg without the Smokey Mountains. The main reason to return would be the museum. If you are a history buff, The National Museum of the Pacific War is like going to The Louvre. Before leaving town this morning, we returned to see some of the areas we failed to see yesterday. Someday we might return to see the rest.

I doubt that we'll return to Luckenbach any time soon. You almost have to go there though. If you live here you've heard the song a million times. It's one of those earworm songs. Willie, Waylon, and Kenny Chesney all sang it. I think Alvin and the Chipmunks did too. We wandered around the general store looking at tourist junk, thought about having a beer, but didn't, and then headed for home. We also stopped in West, Texas to pick up some Kolaches at one of the town's many Czech bakeries. That's also something you do if you live in Texas.

While we were in West, I used my phone to turn on the air conditioning at our house. We usually leave it off while we are away. By the time we got home, the place was nice and cool again. Even though I'm an old school analog kind of guy, I'll be the first to admit that today's technology is kind of amazing. I'm hooked. I would never travel without GPS anymore. I can write the blog from anywhere in the world. Having a watch that can take an electrocardiogram is pretty cool. So is being able to control your appliances from your phone.

Life is complex. Everything involves some sort of a trade off. I'd like to have all my advanced gadgets, but still live in an isolated place like Fort Davis that is so remote that some of these gadgets won't even work. One thing about a long road trip through Texas is that you realize you have a lot of options. Texas is huge and if there is something you like, I suspect you can find it here. I've found my place walking around a little lake in Dallas. I might start spending a little more time seeing other places though. Why not?

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3534

I've decided that I like the hilly parts of Texas a lot more than the flat parts. The Davis Mountains were beautiful. We had breakfast this morning at Indian Lodge. This adobe hotel was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930's in the most scenic part of Davis Mountain State Park. It has been well maintained over the years and has the look and feel of those grand old lodges you see in some western national parks. The Big Bear Restaurant was superb. A hearty breakfast at this place was a great way to start the day.

The Texas Hill Country is pretty nice too. We are in Fredericksburg now. This picturesque little town is noted for it's German heritage and the many wineries that surround it. I hope more people learn about the National Museum of the Pacific War as well. I guess I'd heard of this museum, but I didn't know much about it. Since the museum was near our hotel we decided to visit. Janet and I were blown away. This is a world class museum worthy of anything you'd see at the Smithsonian. Why is it here?. I guess this location was picked because Fredericksburg was the boyhood home of Admiral Chester Nimitz. If you are interested in history you've got to put this amazing museum on your bucket list. One of the docents told us that it can take up to six hours to view the entire exhibit, but that we were welcome to come back tomorrow if we ran out of time. Maybe we will go back tomorrow.

I wish my Dad had a chance to see this place. He served in the Navy during World War II and was stationed in the Pacific for most of the war. Although he seldom talked about the war,  I'm sure he would have seen this museum as a tribute to the men he served with. The weird thing to me was how much of this history was new to me. Like anyone my age, I took American History and World History classes in school. We knew about Pearl Harbor, Iwo Jima, and the atom bomb but there was so much we never learned. What an awful, brutal war.

I don't think most of us realize how lucky we are today. I have lived my life in relative peace. My parents didn't have that luxury. World War II was so massive and all encompassing that it affected everyone. It's sad that the history of civilization is basically a history of war. I wonder if we will ever get beyond this?

The trip continues. If you have to drive across Texas I would try to take I-10 instead of I-20. Today's drive was much more peaceful without all the huge oilfield equipment on the road. I still wonder why anyone would want to live in Midland or Odessa. I had reservations about taking a long road trip, but the experience has been a lot more enjoyable than I expected. Even though I rarely travel further than the post office, the drive hasn't been that bad. I'm actually a pretty good long distance driver.

Our only plan for tomorrow is to avoid Austin at all costs. Janet and I have enjoyed the serenity of driving on empty roads. You're not going to find that in Austin. I imagine I'll return to Fort Davis someday. I like wide open spaces. If I return, Indian Lodge seems like a nice place to stay. Especially when the skies are clear.

Mandy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3533

Tonight was an adventure. We saw lots of Javelina pigs. Some of them were very close but we didn't get attacked. We saw enough deer crossing the road to make us drive very carefully. Before it got dark were saw an enormous number of hummingbirds. When we got to the top of Mount Locke around 9 PM, we were treated to a spectacular lightning show. We saw no stars tonight. An unexpected thunderstorm rolled through the area and we were right in the middle of it.

All was not lost though. Since the astronomers were not able to see anything tonight either, we got a behind the scenes look at some areas at the 107" Harlan J. Smith telescope that are normally off limits on tours. During an earlier daytime tour of this same telescope I was even able to operate the controls that made the telescope move. Getting to experience these huge telescopes up close was pretty amazing, but it would have been nice to see stars. I asked one of the astronomers what was the best time of year to visit and he said you could get bad weather at any time of year. He told me that some visitors were lucky to experience a spectacular night on their first visit, while others had bad weather three or four times in a row. "You just have to get lucky," he said.

At least the skies were clear last night. Before we went to sleep yesterday Janet and I went outside and looked at the sky for a while. The night sky was amazing. I saw more stars than I'd even seen in my life. It's too bad that the Special Observing Night wasn't yesterday. Evidently Sunday night was even better, but we were still in Dallas then. All this just goes to show that nature is full of surprises. The fancy long-term weather forecasting service I subscribed to predicted an 87% chance of clear skies tonight. Unfortunately, tonight was part of that remaining 13%.

As you might imagine, I was disappointed not to see stars. It was a long drive to get caught in a storm. We could have stayed home and had a rainy day. I think it rained in Dallas today too. At least we made it back to the hotel before the severe weather arrived. I wouldn't want to be driving on those mountain roads at night an a bad thunderstorm.

Even though we got rained out tonight, this has still been a very enjoyable trip. The Davis Mountains are beautiful. McDonald Observatory is fascinating even on a cloudy day. The three large telescopes are amazing. The largest, the 433 inch Hobby-Eberly Telescope is still one of the largest in the world. It is currently one of the telescopes being used to find exoplanets around distant stars and is also involved in a study about dark matter.

It's too bad this place is so remote. I'd like to return when the weather is better. Fort Davis is a charming little town. Most of the residents are retired. Evidently local businesses have a hard time finding help because all the young people can't wait to leave the area and go to a city where there is more action. When we returned from the observatory tonight there was not a single car on the city streets. The place looked like a ghost town. Actually the observatory looked pretty ghostly tonight too with the observatory towers bathed in flashes of light from nearby lightning strikes. Janet said it felt like we were watching an old Frankenstein movie.

The rain is pounding outside our hotel window and I hear a lot of thunder at the moment. The weather might clear up tomorrow, or it might continue raining. Weather is unpredictable, Either way we will be leaving town after breakfast in the morning. Maybe I'll come back someday.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3532

We made it to Fort Davis. Texas is a very big state. The drive was a little over seven hours and covered a lot of flat open land. Around Amarillo we started seeing thousands of huge wind generator towers. They stretched from horizon to horizon on both sides of the road. A little later around Midland and Odessa we entered oil country. This must have been the Permian Basin, because there was a lot of fracking going on. The freeway was filled with huge oilfield trucks, but the traffic still wasn't nearly as bad as Dallas. For the first time in a long time I saw speed limit signs that said it was OK to go 80 miles an hour. Most people were going faster.

Eventually we saw the Davis Mountains on the horizon but it took a long time to reach them. As we got off the freeway and made our way toward Fort Davis, the roads became pretty lonely. I realized that this wouldn't be a great place to break down or have a flat tire. The closer we got to the mountains, the prettier the scenery became. At one point we traveled through a canyon that reminded me of Utah. This was where the cell phone service disappeared.

Janet and I have lived in cities for a long time. We both wondered what we'd do in a place like this. Fort Davis is a very small picturesque western town. Less than 2,000 people live here. The place got its name from a fort that used to be a Confederate outpost during the civil war. Apparently we just missed the annual Hummingbird festival which ended yesterday. We still saw lots of Hummingbirds though. They were everywhere.

The long drive wasn't as bad as I expected. We had a very nice car. The rental car place couldn't find the car I reserved and the guy checking me in didn't want to waste a lot of time looking for something similar. He upgraded me to a Cadillac for the same price as a basic Ford Fusion. This was fine by me. I was surprised that I enjoyed driving this car. It handled well, was very quiet, and we averaged 30 miles a gallon. This is a lot better than I normally get in the Land Rover. I was glad I rented a car. We were under an excessive heat advisory for most of our trip. The temperature was over 114 degrees in some places. I would have spent the whole trip worrying that my car would overheat if I drove the Land Rover.

Fort Davis is very small but it happens to have a wonderful restaurant. We were lucky that it happened to be open this evening. Very few Dallas restaurants could top the meal we had tonight. It was a nice way to end a very long day. I even had wine with my meal which is very rare for me. After dinner we watched the hummingbirds for a while and called it a day. The skies are clear tonight. I hope they stay this way tomorrow. The forecast has deteriorated a little bit but I still think that there a good chance everything will work out fine at the observatory. Before I go to bed, I'm going to go outside and take a look at these fabled dark skies I've been hearing so much about.

Cammy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3531

I got off to a slow start this morning. I was planning to go to the gym early, but that didn't happen. All my little errands took twice as long as I'd planned. I was lucky that I made it out of the house before noon. Before I even finished my routine this morning, I knew it wasn't going to be a 20,000 step day.

Maybe I was tired because I'm still not sleeping well. I think we need a new mattress. Janet and I both need a very firm mattress and after years of big dogs hopping on the bed, ours has seen better days. Maybe there's another reason why I'm waking up too early, but this is the best I can come up with.

I found out today that one of our friends dogs has cancer. It's sad that so many dogs have to deal with this. It's rare for a dog to reach old age these days without being treated for some form of cancer. Spot, Gretta, Dot, and Dash all had different forms of cancer. It's terrible when the lab results come back and you find out the the growth that was removed by the surgeons a few weeks ago is malignant. You feel helpless. The only silver lining is that treatment options are so much better than they used to be. Spot, Dot and Dash all survived their treatment and went on to lead normal lives. Gretta was the only one that didn't make it.

I've decided that I'm a terrible travel planner. Every day I think of something else I've forgotten. When I went to Florida to view the Falcon Heavy launch I forgot a lot of things. When we go to the observatory, I'm sure I'll forget a lot of things too. I usually remember to bring the right computers, cables, and cameras, but I often forget to bring enough clothes. If I were rich, I'd travel with no luggage whatsoever and just buy what I need when I got there.

I'm trying to decide whether to see if I can interview astronomers at the observatory, or just let my article be a personal recollection of the evening. These are two different types of articles. It's hard to say what the magazine would be looking for. I'm inclined to just tell a personal story. The magazine had probably interviewed hundreds of astronomers over the years. It's unlikely that they've encountered someone like me. I'm likely to submit an article that has more about wild pigs than telescopes.

I didn't get my 20,000 steps today. I did manage to accumulate 17,000 steps with only a single walk. I guess that's good enough. I was tempted to go out after dinner and take a second walk, but it was already getting dark. I don't think I'll be doing much walking after dark in Dallas. All it takes is a couple of days of listening to the local news and it's easy to become convinced that doing anything after dark isn't such a good idea.

We'll see if I can get a good night's sleep this evening. I'm tired and I didn't take any naps today. Maybe that will help.

Pinkey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3530

I was looking for a key this afternoon and realized that I didn't know what half the keys on my key ring even went to anymore. These keys were just the tip of the iceberg. My search uncovered keys to cars I no longer owned, keys to rental property I sold years ago, and a lot of mystery keys that didn't seem to unlock anything. How did I accumulate all these keys? I hate to throw them away because they must have a purpose. I'm sure this is why my office is so cluttered. Everything in here must have a purpose. I did eventually find the key I needed. I'm glad I never threw it away. Now I have an excuse to hang on to other old things of dubious value.

Janet and I went to the Rich-Tones concert tonight. Janet knows some of the singers in this chorus and we have been going to their Fall concerts for many years. I was completely unfamiliar with a cappella barbershop harmony before we started going to these concerts, but I've grown to like the music. This group competes all over the world and have been international champions several times. A hundred people singing four part harmony can sound pretty amazing. I can't handle rock concerts anymore, but the audiences for these events are more my speed. Lots of old people and families. I enjoyed the evening.

I can't say I enjoyed the weather today. It was a little cooler, but the temperature and humidity were still well outside the comfort zone. I only took one walk today, but that was plenty. I hope this outdoor activity is doing me some good. I'd hate to think I was doing all this for nothing. At least the day are getting shorter now. These walks will be a lot more enjoyable this Fall.

I watched a couple of episodes of Have Gun Will Travel and Maverick while we were eating breakfast this morning. I like these old TV westerns. Most of these shows aren't remotely politically correct by today's standards, but the scripts are surprisingly good. I think I like old Hollywood better than new Hollywood. You can have the Coen brothers, Quentin Tarantino and Black Mirror. I'll take the simple  black and white morality of Have Gun Will Travel and The Twilight Zone.

I'll definitely go to the gym tomorrow, but maybe I don't need a 20,000 step day. I've got some other stuff to do and it just takes too long to take all these steps. If I'm ambitious I'll just walk a little longer while I'm at the gym. If I'm not feeling ambitious I might do nothing. We'll just see how the day goes.

Hero is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3529

Every time I go to the bank I wonder what has happened to jobs in this country. There are lots of empty offices and very few employees. All I needed this morning was to go to my safe deposit box, but I had to wait forever because there was only a single banker helping everyone. Next to his office were six identical vacant offices. The tellers cages were equally empty. There was only a single teller on duty.

This is happening everywhere. There are fewer cashiers at the grocery store. There are fewer employees selling stamps at the post office. Even my new breakfast restaurant seems to be doing more with less. I noticed this morning that there is no full time cashier. When you are ready to pay your bill you walk over to the empty cash register stand and after a while a waiter will notice you and come over to take your money. Unemployment is supposed to be at an all time low. I wonder where everyone is working? I don't think they are working at ad agencies. There are significantly fewer agencies in Dallas than there were when I moved here in the 1970's.

I thought it was going to rain for a while this afternoon, but all we got were a few ominous looking clouds. No rain hit the ground. The clouds didn't even cool things down very much. It was still a hot and very humid day. When I start hoping for rain you know something is wrong. It has been dry way too long and the grass in the front yard is looking pitiful. I'll take my chances with the roof. We need some rain.

I lost another friend to cancer today. The list keeps growing. It's amazing to me how many former classmates and coworkers are gone. It's alarming how many of these people were actually younger than I am. I guess I should focus on the equally amazing number of people I know who have survived something serious. Life is never entirely fair, but I try to remember to enjoy the time I have left on this earth. It's not going to last forever.

I wonder why there's not more concern about all the fires in the Amazon rain forests? Jeez. This is where our oxygen comes from. You can't get more basic than that. The sad thing is that these fires weren't caused by drought or lightning strikes. They were set by humans who want more farmland and cattle ranches. With all the talk about climate change these days you still don't hear much serious discussion about the real cause of all our problems. The problem is overpopulation. There are simply too many people on this planet. It is not sustainable. We have become an invasive species who are rapidly destroying everything. We all need to quit having babies for a while.

I'm still concerned about the weather in West Texas. Two of the three long range forecasts I'm following predict clear skies. Unfortunately the third says there's a 50% chance of rain. Why can't you weather experts agree on these things? I want clear skies when I go to the observatory. I should be concerned about the wild gyrations in the stock market, but I've given up on stability in the market. The market overreacts to everything these days. I try not to overreact to anything, but it's getting harder.

Mickey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3528

Sometimes simple things can take forever. I was trying to add some software to my laptop that was already on my desktop computer. I've had the software for a while so it was hard to find the disk image I'd downloaded years ago. When I eventually found this, I discovered I needed the authorization code that came with it as well. Where was that? I still prefer the old days when your software was on a CD. The codes you needed were usually printed right on the box. Downloaded software and more complex licenses are a pain. I finally had to call customer support and sit on hold for quite a while to get the information I needed. Everything works now, but something that should have taken ten minutes ended up taking two hours instead.

I was planning to take some pictures of the Milky Way while we are out in West Texas but it has been so long since I've attempted night sky photos that I'd forgotten the procedure. There's no point to doing this in Dallas. You can't see many stars at night anyway due to light pollution. I see these spectacular night sky pictures on the Internet and wonder how they're done. Basically you need a fast wide angle lens, a tripod, and a fifteen to thirty second exposure using a self timer. I imagine you need a certain amount of luck as well. I'll give it a try and see what happens.

The Sweet Autumn Clematis has started to bloom along the shoreline. I always thought these vines were a wetland weed, but apparently they originated in Japan and escaped into the wild a long time ago. They are more or less a native plant now. At this time of year I see them everywhere near the lake. Hey, something new to photograph. Even the hardy Texas Thistle flowers have gone to seed by now.

The only useful thing I did today was cut apart the big cardboard boxes for the toaster oven and dehumidifier that have been sitting on the back porch for over a week. After the boxes were broken down, I added them to the trash and took the can out to the curb for tomorrow's trash pickup. I don't save boxes anymore after finally realizing how much space they were taking up in the storage warehouse. I used to save boxes in case we moved. I doubt that this is going to happen anymore. Moving is way too much trouble and Texas is a good place to live anyway.

This heat is relentless. It's hard to believe that the observatory told us to bring some light jackets for our visit. I can't imagine wearing a jacket in August in Texas, but apparently the weather is much cooler in the Davis Mountains. The thought of temperatures in the 70's in the evening sounds very appealing right now.

A good night's sleep sounds appealing too. I still wish I was sleeping longer at night. Maybe I shouldn't take so many naps during the day.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3527

I got a letter from the Editor at Sky & Telescope today saying that the magazine was interested in my proposal for an article about the McDonald Observatory Special Viewing Night program. The Editor didn't promise to publish anything, but did encourage me to write an article about my trip to the observatory and submit it to the magazine on completion. This was encouraging. A personal letter from the Editor saying "your proposed article sounds interesting" is definitely a step above those little "thank you for your submission" postcards I used to get from magazines when my articles were rejected.

It was another slow, very hot Summer day. I only took one walk today, but that was enough. Instead of an afternoon walk, I went to Northpark and got a haircut. The mall was having their annual auto show and it was amazing how many cars on display were over $100K. I wasn't surprised that prices for the Rolls Royce Wraith and the McLaren 720S Spider were in the stratosphere, but a lot of ordinary cars were out of reach as well. When I bought my first car, you could get a nice Ford Mustang for under $2500 and a VW Beetle for $1800. Jeez, a new Porsche 911 only cost around $6000. This would be one of those out of reach 100K+ cars today. And they say inflation isn't a problem.

Of course haircuts, food, clothing, and just about everything else are more expensive as well. You notice these things when you're living on a fixed income. Hopefully the economy stays strong. I'm too old for another financial crisis like we had in 2008.

My stylist asked me about the new breakfast restaurant I've been going to lately. Several other people have asked me about this place as well. Probably as soon as I tell everyone how much I like this place, they'll get a new chef and everything will fall apart. Nothing seems to last very long in the restaurant business. Hopefully this restaurant will continue to do well. I like having good food in the neighborhood.

I always feel better after a good haircut. Anything that makes you think you've got your act together is a plus. I didn't feel like shopping after my haircut was finished. I just returned home and did nothing. Apparently I don't have my act together after all. Basically it's too hot to embark on any sort of a major project. Sometimes just getting through these hot days is a major project in itself.

I don't think there'll be any major projects tomorrow. I need to clean out the greenhouse before repairs can start, but I think I've already missed this month's big trash day. I guess this task can wait another month. I don't want to attempt to take the old dehumidifier apart unless I've got a lot of time. I'm bound to encounter some surprises and the job will probably take three times as long as I expected. I can always think about what type of article I'm going to write. That's something I can do indoors. I can even think about writing lying on the bed. I might fall asleep, but it's worth the risk.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3526

Today was busy. I changed our destination in West Texas from Alpine to Fort Davis. Fort Davis is much closer to the observatory and I wasn't looking forward to a long drive back to the hotel in the middle of the night on very dark mountain roads. Since the Davis Mountains are a designated Dark Sky area, there are no lights along the roads. The entire area is extremely dark at night. Evidently you need to drive slowly and take care not to hit the Javelinas that are often seen on the roads at night. I don't think hitting a wild pig in the dark on a lonely mountain road is something I'd want to experience.

Janet wants to go to Fredericksburg, so we added this Hill Country town to our itinerary on the way home. Even before we extended our trip a bit, I had already lost faith in the Land Rover, so I have reserved a rent car for the journey. It's kind of ironic to have a car that can go anywhere that you hate to take very far from the dealership. If the rent car breaks down, it's not my problem. If my own car breaks down, I could be faced with a 400 mile towing bill. Truthfully, it's a lot easier to hop on a plane and take an Uber from the airport to your final destination. Road trips can take you places that aren't very accessible otherwise though. We'd like to see some of these places. Hopefully our little adventure will be a lot of fun. If this trip is a success we can basically go anywhere. There's a lot to see out West.

I resumed my long walks today. I don't think it matters what time of day I walk anymore. It's even too hot in the middle of the night these days. I hope the articles I read about the benefits of walking while sweating a lot are true. I should be in great shape after a long hot Summer of this punishment. I could always walk around the track at the gym, but that's so boring. For now I still prefer being outdoors where I can count Egrets and Herons.

I started cleaning the old dehumidifier this afternoon. This will take a while. Some components are readily accessible and others aren't. I still haven't figured out how to take the unit completely apart. Maybe this is why the instruction manual says "No user serviceable parts." I wish I didn't feel compelled to fix things. Just buying a brand new dehumidifier every five years is so much easier.

I made an appointment to get a haircut tomorrow. Didn't I just do this a little while ago? My hair is getting thinner, but it seems to be growing faster. I'm probably just getting a haircut because we're taking a trip. I always used to get a haircut before I took a business trip and old habits die hard.

Rolly starts his heartworm treatment tomorrow. I hope he does well and there are no complications. Heartworm treatment can be rough for some dogs.

Blackjack is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3525

This was the first day I haven't walked in quite a while. There just wasn't time. I had quite a few things I needed to do before we headed up to the Dalmatian Rescue kennels, so I decided to skip my morning walk. By the time I ran a few errands and went to the post office it was time to go. I can't say that I missed walking today. It was way too hot to be outside for any length of time.

The dogs were all doing well. Since there aren't a lot of dogs in the program at the moment, we were able to spend quite a bit of time with each one. Dalmatians love attention. I think they were all glad to see us. It's fun to see their personalities develop as they become more relaxed. Rolly still needs to finish his heartworm treatment before he can go to his forever home, but other than that, these dogs are ready. I hope that they all find great homes.

As we were driving back from the kennel it became apparent that school was back in session. Traffic seemed to double overnight and there were school zones everywhere. When school is out, mid-afternoon is often the best time to avoid bad traffic. The lunch crowd is back at work and rush hour hasn't started yet. Those days are over. This afternoon it seemed like the entire city was starting to queue up to pick up their kids from school.

Janet likes watches and loves going to the gym, so I thought she might be able to use my old Apple Watch while she was working out. I figured out how to restore the watch to its factory settings and gave it to her. She reminded me that she had given me the watch in the first place, but I think she was still glad to have it. The Apple Watch workout app is much better than Fitbit. At least the watch will get used. I don't need to wear two of these things.

Janet and I both try to eat healthy, but we love a good burger. In recent years we've been exploring new burger places on our birthdays. This evening we went to a place that has gotten great reviews for several years but that neither of us had ever tried. It was surprisingly close to home, but we don't go out much anymore. Eating healthy is almost impossible if you spend too much time in restaurants. It's OK to indulge every once in a while though. We got lucky tonight. The reviews were accurate and the burgers were delicious. I'm very full. I don't think I'll be eating much tomorrow.

We're both 71 now. All things considered, we're doing pretty well. Two years ago at this time, Janet was getting ready for a second round of cancer surgery. Five years ago, I was being treated for Hepatitis C. We're both healthy now and reasonably happy. I hope this continues. The older you get, the more you realize that having your health is a blessing. All the things you worried about when you were young just don't seem that important.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3524

I saw three fire trucks, an ambulance, and the fire department rescue boat converge on the lake as I was walking today. Someone must have drowned again. This never used to happen, but now it's almost a weekly occurrence. There are too many people out on the water who can't swim. The weird thing was that without all the emergency vehicles, you never would have known anything was wrong. The sailing club was having a regatta and no boats were attempting a rescue. All the people in kayaks and stand up paddle boards were acting normally. Nobody even seemed aware that something was wrong. I watched as the rescue boat sped off in the distance and disappeared. I still don't know what was going on. Whatever happened didn't make the evening news. Just another Sunday in the park.

I'm glad they fixed the air conditioning at the gym. It was nice and cool inside this week. Maybe this is why I was more accurate on the basketball court today. Probably it was just random luck. I couldn't think of a reason why my shots were connecting. Some days I'm good and other days I'm terrible. I'll have to accept the fact that there isn't always a logical explanation for everything. I'm a model of consistency, yet I never know how long I'm going to sleep. My appetite varies from day to day. Some days I wake up tired and other days I'm ready to go. There has to be a reason, but the only answer I can think of is that life is complicated.

On my way home from the gym I stopped at a neighborhood hardware store to get an extension cord and some plug adapters so we could use Janet's new toaster oven. I appeared to be the only person in the store who wasn't buying something for a chicken. I guess backyard chickens are still a thing in Dallas. I see them in people's yards occasionally while I walk and when Dash was alive I used to see people bring roosters to the vet. I like cage-free eggs from pasture raised chickens as much as the next guy, but it is so much easier to just buy them at the grocery store. I probably wouldn't make a very good farmer.

Now that peaches are in season, Janet has been making peach cobbler a lot. I love peach cobbler for dessert. This week she tried cutting the amount of sugar in the recipe in half. The cobbler tastes even better. Who knew. I suspect that almost all recipes contain way too much salt and sugar. Chefs seem to love salt and sugar. It should be easier to avoid sugar, but the stuff is everywhere. If you eat processed food at all, you're probably consuming a lot more sugar than you should.

I was going to try to disassemble the old dehumidifier today, but not surprisingly making sure that I got my requisite 20,000 steps seemed more important. I'll eventually tackle this project, but there's no need to hurry. The new dehumidifier is working great. It is extracting three time as much water from the air as the old machine. Performance on the old machine probably deteriorated so slowly that I never even noticed. The two machines are absolutely identical with the exception of six small horizontal slots on the back of the new dehumidifier. There must be a reason for those additional slots. They aren't mentioned in the instruction manual at all.

Tomorrow we visit the rescue Dalmatians again. It is also Janet's birthday. Birthday's are pretty low key these days. They only remind us of how old we've become.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3523

All the grocery stores seem to be replacing cashiers with self-checkout stations. When I was shopping this morning there were only two cashiers and a long row of brand new automated stations. I've read that people don't like these things, but why not? Self-checkout is faster and you don't have to interact with anyone. I've already gone one step beyond self-checkout. Whenever I can, I buy things using an app on my phone. I scan the items as I find them and when I'm finished I just walk out of the store and leave. Like it or not, this is the future. Cashiers, bank tellers, and even waiters at restaurants are going away. Probably a lot of manufacturing jobs I don't see are going away too. Many already have. The simple truth is that companies prefer robots. Robots don't complain. They don't need health insurance. And they never go on strike. The little kids who are growing up now playing games on their iPads instead of going to a playground with their friends will probably prefer robots as well. Why not. They grew up with them.

I'm glad I grew up before all this happened. I did well in an old fashioned analog world. I'm not sure how well I'd thrive in a world where the best jobs went to the people who design and program the robots. Maybe I could repair them though. There will always be a need for people who can fix machines.

I was going to try and fix the old dehumidifier today, but I never got around to it. By the time I finished my Saturday shopping and took my long walks the day was almost over. There are YouTube videos that show you how to fix almost anything, but I can't find one about my particular brand of dehumidifier. I won't let this deter me though. Eventually I'll figure out how to take the thing apart, clean it, and put it back together again. There's no hurry though. We've got a new dehumidifier now that seems to work perfectly.

We've also got a new toaster oven. Janet bought one while she was doing her shopping today. She said she was tired of using the big oven just to make cinnamon toast. Works for me. The little oven is probably great for cooking a pizza too. We ran out of space for new appliances long ago, so we just set the toaster oven on top of the little emergency refrigerator. It's not actually in the kitchen, but it's close.

When I was walking this afternoon, I saw a guy with a guitar and a microphone on a stand singing to no one at all. He had a little battery powered amplifier and his voice was quite nice. Nobody was listening though. Not even the ducks were listening. I wondered what this was all about. Was he trying to attract an audience, or did he prefer putting on a little concert for himself? It was very hot outside too. There are certainly better places to practice on an August afternoon. I'll probably never know what the guy was doing. I see a lot of strange things in the park.

I slept better last night. I have no idea why. All the variables are always the same. I go to bed at the same time. The temperature in the house is the same. There is very little stress in my life. My sleep should be very consistent, but it's not. One of life's mysteries I guess. I go to sleep quickly, but I wake up too soon. Maybe this means that I'm actually getting all the sleep I need. Old people always seem to wake up early.

Toby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3522

I see a lot of families at the new neighborhood restaurant. I'm amazed that even little babies seem to know how to use iPhones and tablets. It appears that they become familiar with these devices even before they can talk. When a kid starts to act up in public, Mom just pulls a phone out of her purse and the kid become mesmerized. It's going to be a different world when these children grow up. I forget the first thing I learned when I was small, but it certainly wasn't to swipe right.

I made a point to get an early start this morning because I wanted to mow the grass before the heat became unbearable. I was back from the restaurant before 9 AM, but there was no avoiding the heat today. This was going to be another triple digit day. By the time I finished the front yard, I was drenched in sweat. I had thought that the dead patch caused by the June brush pile was filling in nicely, but on closer examination, the new green areas were just weeds. Oh, well. The weeds are nicely trimmed now.

I'm impressed at how much more water the new dehumidifier is collecting. The bucket was almost full when I woke up this morning. I have to empty the bucket several time a day now. It makes me wonder what it is that makes performance gradually deteriorate on these things. Probably the condenser coils that aren't readily accessible get really dirty. It could be something else though. I doubt that it's worth the trouble to find out. You can buy a new dehumidifier for less than it would cost to repair one.

I rested for a while and changed my clothes after I finished mowing the grass and then I got started on my first walk of the day. The long walks are starting to become boring, but I still think the effort is worth it. The changes to my body have been gradual, but I can tell that I am in better shape than when I started these forced marches. I'm surprised that so many people run because walking provides most of the same benefits with a lot less wear and tear on the knees.

I'm still not sleeping as well as I was last month. There must be a reason. Is the temperature too warm? Has our mattress become too soft? Maybe I need the glow from the security light coming through the bedroom window? I wonder a lot about any inconsistency in life. Why is the stock market so volatile? Why aren't cars more reliable? Why does the Internet go down for no reason at all?

Actually the Internet was down when I woke up to drink some water last night. I only noticed because I saw a message on the thermostat on my way to the refrigerator. I reset the router and brought everything back online before I returned to bed. This is probably why I had trouble getting back to sleep. I knew that if I ignored the problem until morning I would just lie in bed thinking about it. It's better for me to take care of these things immediately.

Maybe I'll sleep well tonight. I've had lots of activity today. I can't say that I accomplished much, but I'm certainly tired.

Pogo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3521

The new dehumidifier arrived today. It seems to be working fine although the humidity is about the same as it was before. We'll see how much water is in the bucket tonight. The defrost function isn't coming on, so that's a good sign. I'd feel stupid if the new dehumidifier was exactly the same as the old one. Instead of immediately throwing the old machine away, I'm going to make more of an effort to disassemble and fix it. What have I got to lose? If I fail, it will just go out to the curb in pieces. Hey, if I succeed we've got two dehumidifiers. In my world, two is always better than one.

It must have rained a lot harder than I thought a few days ago. When I went up on the roof to check on things there was a lot more water than I expected. It took almost an hour to clear the standing water away. I was hot and sweaty before I even began my morning walk. I sent the roofer another e-mail explaining how some of the damaged areas appeared to be getting worse. It seems like I was doing exactly the same thing last year at the time. Probably the year before as well.

As I was finishing breakfast this morning the tree guy arrived and wanted to look at what remained of the Elm tree again. He gave me a bid on removing the tree and hauling it away. I can get on his schedule in early September so it won't be that long before I can check this item off my to-do list. The stump will be too close to the house to use a stump grinder, but that is the least of my worries now.

If you look closely at the yellow coreopsis flower I photographed today you can see one of the milkweed assassin bugs that bit me. They're quite common and feed mostly on other insects. I'm adding these critters to a long list of things I avoid. The bite appears to be getting better, but it is still quite noticeable. I wonder now why one of these thing has never bit me before? They're everywhere in Dallas.

I'm encountering fewer people on my walks these days. People are finally getting the message that it is hot outside. The joggers are gone, but the cyclists remain. Many of these people I see everyday. They are probably just as locked into their routines as I am. There is one group of men who ride recumbent bicycles together every morning. They are all older and most have little white goatees. They all wear long pants and long sleeve shirts too. Must be hot. I wonder why younger people never ride recumbent bicycles? I've never seen anyone under fifty on one of these things.

I saw a ton of Egrets and Blue Herons today but I haven't seen an owl in months. The lone White Pelican is still there though. The bird never ventures far from the small bay where it calls home. Counting and trying to identify birds helps me pass the time. I can't wait for cooler weather to arrive. I enjoy walking, but I hate this heat.

The trash has been taken to the curb and I'm already thinking about where to eat breakfast tomorrow. These weeks go surprisingly fast considering that nothing really happens.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3520

It rained this morning. The temperature was noticeably cooler and I should have taken my morning walk as soon as I got up, but of course I didn't. I slowly drank my smoothie as I always do while watching the morning news. The news was pretty dismal. The stock market was crashing. Police were in the streets in Hong Kong. And there were predictions that a recession was on the way. None of this was all that surprising, but it would be nice to have some good news for a change.

There was a light rain when I started my walk. It was actually kind of pleasant. Instead of being drenched in sweat, I was covered in rainwater. The morning shower didn't last long. As soon as the sun peeked from behind a cloud the water turned to steam. For the rest of the day it was extremely humid.

There were a ton of things I needed to do today, but I had an excuse for most of them. It was too wet to mow the grass. There wasn't much point in going up on the roof, since there was still rain in the forecast. I finally ended up vacuuming the house because I felt guilty for doing nothing. The carpets were certainly dirty. I haven't vacuumed in a while.

I'll be glad when the new dehumidifier arrives. For a while last night I thought that the old dehumidifier had turned into a humidifier. I turned it off for a few hours and watched the humidity in the house actually become lower. The only thing that I can think of is since the defrost circuit is coming on frequently now, the dehumidifier must be blowing moist air back into the room.

I took another bill to the post office today. Seems like I just did this yesterday. I could easily save these bills and pay them once a week, but going to the post office gives me something to do between my walks. I've lost interest in shopping and I don't eat lunch anymore. I guess this is all the reason I need to go to the post office.

I should be getting more sleep. In theory I could sleep till noon, but I keep waking up early. Maybe it's the weird dreams. I woke up last night when I found myself being chased by the neighbor's dog. I went back to sleep and woke up again when I found myself lost in a huge hotel again. When I eventually found my room, it was filled with strangers. Somehow in a dream this all seems normal.

I was hoping for some cooler weather for tomorrow, but it looks like we're going to have triple digit temperatures for the foreseeable future. Oh, well. At least the water on the roof will evaporate.

Elliott is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3519

When I was walking this morning an old guy on a bicycle pulled over and started giving me advice on being out in the sun. His advice basically consisted of putting your head under the water every time you passed a water fountain or a hose and sitting under a tree frequently. As he was talking, two older woman passed us on the trail and he wondered if I should accompany them home in case they might fall. "They just live around the corner," I told him. As we parted ways, I kept thinking that those who think they are invulnerable are usually the first to fall. This dude was older than me, wasn't wearing a hat or a bicycle helmet, and has a badly sunburned head. I suspect that he had been out in the sun a little too long himself.

There is rain in the forecast again and the roofer still hasn't delivered the can of silicon material he promised. I'm not terribly worried because it is so hot outside that the water on the roof evaporates quickly. Who knows, maybe it just boils away. If I run the pumps, the residual water shouldn't be a problem. I'll send the roofer another e-mail. Eventually, he'll drop off the product. I definitely don't feel like buying an industrial sized drum of this stuff myself.

Truthfully, I haven't been thinking about the roof much lately. I've totally forgotten about keeping my big printer unclogged. I haven't bought ink in months and the printer is probably ruined. I can only think about a few broken things at a time. Now I wonder why the security light in the back yard comes on normally every evening at sundown, but shuts off again at 10 PM. The bulb is good and the photocell works. What is wrong with this thing? The dehumidifier isn't working properly either, but we've already ordered a new one. There's no sense wondering about the machine's inability to bring the humidity below 45%.

A word of warning. Don't ever let an assassin bug bite you. These things are nasty. I thought I was out of the woods when the pain of the sting and the hard welt the bite produced started to subside. I guess that was just stage one. This morning my arm was itching like crazy and there was a large soft swelling where the bug had bitten me. Nothing serious, but an itch that won't go away is irritating. I tried some Hydrocortisone Cream but it didn't do anything. The weird thing about these bugs is that I've seen them outside on our window screens for ages. I always thought they were harmless.

The big event of the day was taking a phone bill to the post office. Every time I get in the car I debate whether to take it to McDonald Observatory or not. The car runs well and I haven't had any problems in quite a while, but I don't trust it. The problem is that I don't really trust anything. Would a rental car really be any better? Maybe my initial idea of taking the train wasn't such a bad plan anyway. I've got some time to think about this but there doesn't appear to be an easy answer.

I can't believe that I still see people letting their dogs swim in the lake. Don't these people listen to the news? Dogs are dying all over the country because of blue-green algae in lakes. There have already been problems in other Texas lakes and our lake isn't looking all that clean. I wouldn't go near the water right now. If it isn't blue-green algae, it's flesh eating bacteria, rotting seaweed, or sharks. When I was a kid in Colorado, rivers were so clean you could drink out of them. I'm afraid those days are gone forever.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day