Day 3865

I wrote some letters today and took them to the post office. I still like the slower pace of letter writing. Too bad other people don't feel the same way. Very few people I know will actually reply to a letter with another letter. I keep thinking that the world would be a better place if we all just slowed down a bit. Writing letters is a good way to slow down. I initially thought that the pandemic might be the reset button we all needed and life would resume at slower pace. Nope. I was wrong about that. The minute that businesses started to reopen, everyone rushed to get back to their old ways. Traffic is back to normal here in Dallas and shopping center parking lots are full. This is one reason why we are seeing a spike in new coronavirus cases now. I don't get it, but then I don't get a lot of things about modern life.

We got started on our walk so early this morning that I was able to see several planets in the morning sky. In addition to Venus to the East, Mars was directly overhead. I should have been able to see Jupiter and Saturn as well, but they were hidden my clouds along the Western horizon. There always seem to be clouds along the Western horizon these days. I wish they would go away. They've certainly spoiled my chances for getting a good view of the rapidly fading comet.

Wildflower season is over for the year, but there are still a few surprises. After Halloween there are people in the neighborhood who dump their old pumpkins in the park for animals to eat. Many of these discarded pumpkins have taken root and started to grow. About this time of year, the vines start to flower. I spotted my first pumpkin vine this morning. It wasn't that exciting, but it was something new.

I was supposed to get a haircut today, but my appointment got canceled. Scheduling things in the coronavirus era is complicated. No great loss. I've gotten used to looking scruffy. I'm sure I'll get a haircut eventually, but it's probably best to wait a little while anyway. Dallas needs to get its act together again. We were doing so well and now we've become a hotspot.

I was missing a few ingredients for my smoothie this morning, but it still tasted the same. Sometimes I think it doesn't even matter what I dump in the blender. These smoothies always taste pretty much the same. The news on the TV while I'm eating breakfast is always the same as well. Life really is starting to feel like that Ground Hog Day movie.

Hard to believe it's already time to venture out for groceries again. Time flies when you are doing nothing. I'll be glad when the supply chain completely returns to normal. Every time I go to the store there are always one or two very common items that have completely disappeared. I hope my favorite coffee is there tomorrow. I'm set in my ways. I don't know if I can handle a new type of coffee.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3864

I'm a firm believer that there should be something interesting in every day, but it's been slim pickings lately. I kind of wish I'd chosen to write the blog once a week instead of every day. I've never liked the summer heat and the hotter it gets, the more I just feel like sleeping all day. The pandemic doesn't help either. After a while you just get tired of looking at stuff on the computer.

I miss the days when there were lots of odd little shops that catered to my eclectic interests. There used to be three stores in Dallas that just sold model trains. There were two stores that just sold telescopes. There used to be half a dozen interesting little camera stores. All these stores are gone. They just couldn't survive in a world of online commerce. On days where nothing was happening, I used to like to hang out at my favorite little shops. I would talk to people and get ideas. I would usually buy stuff as well. That's why my office is so full of crap.

I guess walking has become a substitute for many of the things I used to do. We've been taking our morning walks for long enough now that we're starting to recognize the other people on the trails. The same people seem to be out there every day. We wave or sometimes say hi as we pass each other. It's amazing how predictable everyone is. We pass some of the same people at almost exactly the same locations every day. Most people, including ourselves, even wear the same clothes every day.

The animals in the park actually seem less predicable than the people. There is a large flock of geese that move to a new location every day. Some days they will be on the left hand side of the road and other days they will be on the right. The only time I've seen the cyclists stop is when the geese decide to cross the road. Today they was all in the water. Most of the ducks are back in the water as well. During the nesting season, a lot of ducks move onshore. Probably the animals are just as predictable as the people. I just haven't figured out all their habits yet.

I haven't completely given up on the comet. I'm continuing to look through the office for suitable equipment to photograph it better. I opened an old aluminum camera case this afternoon and discovered that all the foam inserts had gone bad. I hate when that happens. I hadn't looked at these old Nikon lenses in a long time, but I must have anticipated that the foam would eventually disintegrate because I had carefully wrapped each lens in paper towels. I'll add replacing the foam inserts to my growing list of broken stuff to fix. If there were still little camera stores in town, I could have run out this afternoon and got some replacement foam inserts. Nope. I'll have to buy the stuff online instead.

Dawn seems to be warming up to me. She comes when I call most of the time now and even curls up next to me on the bed. She doesn't like people to stare at her directly and still occasionally gets frightened when we make sudden movements. Gaining Dawn's trust is still a work in progress, but I'm starting to see big improvements. Hopefully, when the pandemic is over and Janet starts traveling again, Dawn and I will be best buddies.

Jewel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3863

Dawn is getting better at riding in the car, but she definitely doesn't like going to the vet. She was shivering and shaking during our entire visit this morning. There was certainly nothing to be afraid of. She just got a Bordetella shot and we took in a urine sample for analysis. We were in and out in fifteen minutes. Dawn certainly has some bad memories about going to the vet. We'll never know what they are unfortunately. Some things about a rescue dog's past are never known.

Since Dawn had a traumatic morning, we stopped and got ice cream cones on the way home. That seemed to do the trick. Like most dogs, she loves ice cream. By the time we returned home, our little prima donna was completely back to normal.

There was rain in the forecast again today, but for the second day in a row it never appeared. There was a lot of cloud cover, which helped keep things bearable on our walk this morning. It also helped that we got an early start. We were able to complete our full five miles and even finish breakfast before our vet appointment.

For a while this afternoon I thought the skies might clear. I began making plans to search for the comet again tonight, but before I could even decide on what gear to take, the clouds returned. Time is running out to photograph this comet. It's getting a little dimmer every day. If I was braver, I would have planned a camping trip to an area with dark skies. Unfortunately, I don't like to camp and I'm wary about spending the night alone in the middle of nowhere. I have a real fear of snakes. Under normal circumstances a lot of local astronomy groups would have planned star parties to view the comet under favorable dark sky conditions. Star parties appear to be out for the rest of the year however. They are being canceled left and right.

I just applied for press credentials to attend the second crewed mission to the International Space Station in September. I don't think my chances are good however. The application form stated that Covid-19 rules were still in effect at Kennedy Space Center and that press participation would be extremely limited. I don't think the little British magazine I write for is even on NASA's radar these days. You've got to keep trying though. I keep applying for every launch opportunity. Who knows. Maybe the virus will have started to die out by September.

I'm trying to think of something interesting to do tomorrow. My options appear to be limited. I don't feel like cleaning and straightening things around the house. It's too hot for yard work. There seems to be little point in making travel plans. I don't even feel like buying new gear. Maybe I'm just making excuses, but I think the pandemic is wearing me down. If an antisocial person like me is starting to feel hemmed in, I can only imagine what social people are feeling. This is not the way the world is supposed to work.

Maybe if I go to bed early, it will be easier to get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow. Got to keep walking. I think I'll go outside one last time tonight and see if the clouds have cleared. Oddly, I still believe that things can change.

Pongo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3862

One of my credit cards got updated recently with a new contactless version that you don't need to insert in a terminal. For some reason the bank decided to change the number on the card, so I thought I would have to update all my online accounts. Much to my surprise, most of the websites where I had an account on file already had the new credit card number before I even had a chance to tell them about the changes. Weird. I've long suspected that privacy is just an illusion and that all our secrets are out there in the cloud already. I was initially surprised when I started using online banking services to pay bills. The whole process was so easy. It's all starting to make sense now. The banks and financial institutions already know everything about you.

It was supposed to rain today, but it never did. All we got was a lot of humidity. We took a shorter walk this morning just to get back inside where it was air conditioned. Our clothes were so damp from the humidity that it might as well have rained. At least rain would have been cooler.

I don't think I did anything productive today. I continued to sort thorough old photo gear, looking for the perfect lens to take a picture of the comet. I was looking for a fast manual telephoto with clear distance markings on the lens so I could focus easily in the dark. All my new digital cameras have lenses that focus electronically. You can set them to manual mode, but the focusing is still done electronically. This makes it hard to focus when you turn autofocus off and can't see anything through the viewfinder. Some of my best comet pictures the other day were ruined because the lens wasn't exactly set on infinity. If I want to use these new lenses for astrophotography, I guess I need to focus on a distant object in the daytime and then tape the lens barrel in place. It probably doesn't matter anyway. There are lots of clouds on the horizon tonight. Time is running out. I might not see the comet ever again.

Dawn has another vet appointment in the morning to recheck for crystals in her urine. Hopefully, she will cooperate and give us a sample before we go to the vet. I think Janet has perfected a method of getting a urine sample from Dawn, but it still doesn't work every time. If you don't place the ladle just right when she starts to pee, you are out of luck. I think the vet is still under Covid protocol. You can't actually go in the exam room with the vet. A vet tech just takes your dog to the back and then you wait for the results. It's weird that everyone seems to have different rules for dealing with the virus. I haven't gone out much, but the dermatologist, dentist, and hair salon all clearly had very different rules. The restaurant where we went for my birthday dinner didn't seem to have any rules at all.

The longer this pandemic goes on, the more envious I am of my friends out at McDonald Observatory. They were socially distanced before the pandemic even began. When the observatory closed to the public, they didn't have to worry about people at all. This sounds perfect to me. What could be better than getting paid for doing something interesting without any of the craziness that the rest of us are dealing with. I worry that they might start to like the isolation and never open the observatory again.

I hope Dawn's exam goes well tomorrow. I'm not ready for any sort of doggie medical problems. Been there and done that way too many times.

Katie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3861

Time flies. It's already Dalmatian Day again. There are still only three dogs at the kennel. Luckie, Hank, and Charlie are all doing well. Luckie is still very sky and apprehensive, but she seems to be relaxing a little. Someone came and looked at Hank during the week, but thought he was too active for them. Hmm. All Dalmatians are pretty active. I'd be more worried if a Dalmatian wasn't active. At any rate, we had a good time playing ball with Hank and Charlie and Luckie came over to us and let us pet her this week. We're making progress. Charlie is amazing. He knows how to sit, stay, lie down, and come on command now. I think he would enjoy doing agility work.

We got an early start on our walk this morning, but there wasn't much of a breeze today. Monday mornings are very quiet. We had the park to ourselves for a while. More people must be returning to work now. I'm starting to see a difference between weekends and weekdays again. It started to get hot as soon as the sun came up, so we had to cut the walk short a bit to keep Dawn from overheating. She almost always picks the best route home now on her own, depending on the weather.

Fifty one years ago today Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. A little over one year ago I was standing on the same launch pad the astronauts used, getting ready to watch a Falcon Heavy launch. I had no idea back then then that just one year later the entire world would have changed. Who knew? I keep wondering how long it's going to be before I can return to Kennedy Space Center and start covering launches again? It certainly doesn't look good this week. Florida and Texas have both become virus hotspots.

I went ahead and made an appointment to get a haircut. I'm perfectly OK with looking shabby, but I want to help my stylist stay in business. She said that if I made an early appointment, I'd be the only one in the salon. Sounds good to me. The last time I got a haircut was just before I went out to McDonald Observatory for a week. Early March was when all this mess with the virus started. I remember the discussions we had about whether the observatory was going to shut down. Nobody would have believed that we would still be talking about the same thing in late July.

I'm glad I got to see the comet again last night. No comet tonight. The last time I looked, there were thick clouds building toward the Northwest. I think it is going to rain tomorrow. Hopefully we will get at least one more clear night before the comet disappears from view. I think I know how to take a better picture now. It's not going to look like those fabulous pictures I keep seeing on social media, but I'm learning. Some of these people are just showing off with their pictures. I've seen the comet and the International Space Station flying overhead in the same picture. I've seen the comet in the same frame with an aurora, with meteors, with noctilucent clouds, and even a picture of the comet with red sprites in the background. Most of the good pictures were taken in remote areas with very dark skies. I'm lucky if I can see the comet at all through our light pollution and perpetually hazy skies.

Hopefully we can get Dawn walked tomorrow before the rain starts. I'd welcome a little rain at this point. It might cool things down a bit.

Lady Jane is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3860

I've got a lot to learn about taking comet pictures. I went back to the same hill where I went last night, but this time I took a telephoto lens. This was probably a mistake. The comet was still lost in the haze around the horizon and you couldn't see it with the naked eye. I found it easily enough with binoculars, but I couldn't see it with the camera viewfinder. You had to point the camera in the general direction of the comet, take an exposure, and see what you got.

The lens I took didn't have a hard stop at infinity either. You could focus past infinity which made it even harder to focus on something you couldn't see. I finally found the comet but it didn't look like those pretty pictures I've been seeing on the internet. There was too much light pollution from the city and too much haze along the horizon. If the comet would stick around for another month or so, I might finally get this right.

My hilltop vantage point seemed kind of weird tonight as well. There were lots of kids milling around in the dark. Several hundred yards away from me, there was a group having a DJ party in the dark with a portable sound system and a lot of people were dancing around waving glow sticks. Cars would drive by from time to time and their headlights would ruin my long time exposure shot. I wonder if this goes on every night? You certainly wouldn't know there was a pandemic going on. Have I mentioned that I miss the quiet solitude of the David Mountains.

We got an early start on our walk this morning. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and as soon as the sun came up you could feel the heat. All the early morning exercisers must start at 7 AM. When we leave the house a little before 6, we have the park to ourselves. By 7 the trails start to fill with joggers and dog walkers. Sundays aren't as busy as Saturdays, but I'm still surprised at how many people are out this early. We saw the green parrots again this morning. All the baby ducks we began noticing last month are growing up fast. I enjoy watching the birds and animals on our walks. I think Dawn does too, but she didn't see any rabbits today.

I thought about taking a telescope when I went looking for the comet tonight, but decided against it. I got out the telescope during the afternoon and reviewed putting it together and aligning it. I think I'm missing a few parts. I have so many things that I have forgotten how to use and the telescope is one of them. It's a shame that there are so many lights in our neighborhood at night. The telescope is virtually useless in the back yard unless I wanted to look at the moon. I didn't know what to expect at my hilltop location tonight, so I wanted to be able to hop in the car and leave quickly if I had too. The telescope was just too cumbersome. Oh, well. I did get to see the comet again and take some mediocre pictures.

This weekend has gone quickly. The monotony of pandemic life is starting to get to me. I don't miss talking to people all that much, but I do miss being able to make plans. You really can't go anywhere now. Janet and I talk about taking a car trip, but where would you go? Neither of us like camping. Flying is out of the question now and even staying in a hotel seems questionable. I don't think anyone wants visitors from Texas or Florida anyway. I may try to get a better picture of the comet tomorrow. Who knows when I'll get a chance to see another one.

Jade is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3859

I found most of the items on my grocery list this morning. It remains to be seen whether I'll find the comet tonight. While I was out grocery shopping and running errands today, I scouted some more promising locations. Everyone says you have to be at least ten miles away from the city to see this thing with the naked eye. I'm not going that far, but I did find a little hill that might be better than down by the lake. We'll see. I hate driving at night. I might not even have the nerve to leave the house tonight.

We got a late start on our morning walk, but at least we had a breeze this morning. Saturday morning is always busier than other days of the week. We see the same people in the park day after day. At first I thought it was curious that everyone seemed to always wear the same clothes when they walk or jog. Then I realized that Janet and I do the same thing. I guess there is no sense in changing outfits on pre-dawn walks. We know the names of a few other dogs now. People are always curious about Dawn. We trade names and ages of our dogs as we pass on the trails. We keep our distance, but early morning walkers seem like a nice group of people.

I found blueberries again at the store, but I don't think I'll ever find Clorox Wipes. Now that conditions are getting worse in Texas, I hope people don't go back in hoarding mode. Shopping was just starting to feel normal again with most items back on the shelves. People do seem a bit nervous now. I know I am. When I was getting gas this morning I noticed two ladies sitting in their car at the next pump. They were both wearing gas masks that covered their entire face and purple rubber gloves inside their car. I haven't seen that before. I still wear the old drywall masks I bought at a hardware store a long time ago. I'm not sure how good they are, but they seem to last a long time.

Days are still extremely uneventful. I easily got my 20,000 steps today after two walks and a little grocery shopping. I'm working on getting Dawn to trust me more. She's still more comfortable around women, since the breeders who mistreated her were both men. I've learned never to make any sudden moves when I'm around her. She walks well on a leash with me and relaxes when we are both on the bed together. She's still a little wary when I'm doing something unfamiliar though. I'm fairly predictable. Eventually everything will become familiar. You just have to be patient with rescue dogs.

I think I'm going to go ahead and get a haircut. My stylist really needs the work. Since I'm retired, it's easy for me to forget how hard the pandemic has been on people who have a small business. Gig workers have it the worst I think. My stylist is very careful and I have an N-95 mask. I don't think I can wait until this is over anyway. Covid is going to be with us for a very long time.

You didn't know I was gone, but I took a break from writing for a couple of hours and went looking for the comet. Found it. I went to the only hill I could find in Dallas and discovered that there were other people looking as well. One couple I spoke with had even been out to a special observing night at McDonald Observatory. The comet was almost impossible to see with the naked eye, but looked spectacular in my image stabilized binoculars. I took some pictures but they didn't turn out very well. The sky just wasn't dark enough. I did see a pretty bright meteor though. Too bad my camera was pointed in the other direction at the comet. It was surprising to meet random astronomy people on a hill in the dark in the middle of a pandemic. They were nice people though. Maybe a comet brings out the best in us.

Beemer is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3858

I can't decide whether to go looking for the comet again tonight. The sky is relatively clear. I know exactly where to look now. I also know that the perpetual haze on the horizon will prevent me from seeing anything. I still have some mosquito bites from my previous comet search as well. It's a tough choice. I'd like to see this thing, but I also like staying inside where it is air conditioned and bug free. Why don't I live in the mountains where I could just walk out on the front porch and enjoy a cool breeze and a beautiful dark sky?

Today was exceptionally uneventful. I got out some older digital cameras and tried to relearn the menu structure. I discovered the other day that my best camera doesn't have a camera raw profile in Photoshop. This is because I refuse to buy a new copy of Adobe Creative Suite. My old Photoshop works best with my older cameras. Usually this isn't a problem, but I'm going to need the camera raw format to get a decent picture of the comet.

I typically spend my days learning new things on the Internet and then promptly forgetting them again. Today I tried to relearn everything about my old Olympus cameras. I feel sorry for kids if they don't get to go back to school this Fall. Online learning has its limits. I learn best by actually doing something  wrong and then doing it again and again until I finally get it right. Somehow, watching a YouTube video just doesn't do the trick for me. If we have enough clear days I'll eventually get a good picture of the comet. I'm sure there will be a lot of trial and error involved.

We had a nice walk this morning, but had to cut things short on the way home. The skies were clear  and as soon as the sun rose, the temperature began to climb immediately. I wasn't surprised that Dawn chose the short route home. Starting these walks before sunrise is the only way to go. I still take an afternoon walk without Dawn, but it is only because I'm a creature of habit. There is no joy in the afternoon sun.

Tomorrow it's time to get groceries again. Who ever thought that getting groceries would feel like a dangerous activity. I"m more aware of other people now and not in a good way. You have to wonder if some of our "new normal" behavior will become permanent? It probably will. Nothing is casual anymore. Did I remember to bring several masks and some cleaning wipes. I usually need a spare mask because I'm always breaking the elastic straps on the cheap paper kind. I try to remember to bring a doggie poop bag as well in case I need to pump gas. I used to bring some Clorox Wipes with me but we used those up a long time ago. My sense of smell is still good and I've become aware of how far away you can smell someone's perfume or cologne. I keep thinking that if virus droplets travel that far, we're all doomed.

Maybe I'll find blueberries tomorrow. My smoothie always tastes better with blueberries. The little things matter when you can't do the big things. Hmm. I think it's time to get gas again. I used to do this once a week. Now once a month is plenty. I doubt that I'll go to the gym this weekend. I haven't even gotten a haircut yet. Basically, the "new normal" means doing nothing at all.

Riley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3857

After I processed some of the pictures I took last night in Photoshop, I discovered that the comet was there after all. It was exactly where I had been looking, but was too dim to see even with binoculars. So much for astronomy in the city. It's hard to see anything through the perpetual haze. I was a little surprised that my camera captured something I couldn't see with my own eyes, but my eyes can't seem to manage an eight second exposure. This comet is pretty dim. It makes me miss those dark skies of West Texas.

I looked for the comet again tonight but the sky was cloudy toward the Northwest. No luck today.  I did manage to see the ISS as it flew overhead around 9 PM. Unlike comet Neowise, the space station is bright enough to cut through patchy clouds. Every time I see the station it is coming from a different direction. I still have this simpleminded notion that the space station should travel in a predictable path like the planets. Nope. The ISS definitely is predictable because I have an app on my phone that shows where it is at any given time. I just can't wrap my head around orbital mechanics. Maybe that's why I went into advertising.

We got started on our morning walk before daylight again. Today there was no breeze though. Even though it was cloudy, we all got hot fairly quickly. Dawn got excited when she spotted a rabbit, but after that she let us know that she wanted to take the short route home and we were happy to comply. I'll be glad when Summer is over. Every day seems like Ground Hog Day. We just do the same things over and over again.

I think I missed my chance to finish the roof repairs. It's way too hot to go up on the roof these days. I hope my expensive bucket of silicon material stays good until the weather cools down again. I hate to waste this stuff. There are so many things that need attention around the house, but it's almost impossible to get motivated. Covid life is basically just walking and fixing meals.

I find myself looking at telescopes on the Internet a lot now. Buying a nice telescope is tempting, but somewhat foolish at this point. Where would I use it? Light pollution in Dallas is terrible and I hate the idea of a long drive out to the country every time I want to look at the stars. An astronomy club here in Dallas owns some land up in Oklahoma where there are dark skies. Members can use the site for observing, but that's a really long drive. Probably going to Mcdonald Observatory several times a year is a better plan. Oops, I forgot. The observatory is closed.

Clearly I'm not the only person interested in the new Ford Bronco. My newsfeed is filled with articles now. It's weird that Ford seemed to get this retro 4x4 thing right, while Land Rover missed with their new Defender. I waited for years for the new Defender to arrive and now I don't want one. It's too expensive for a utility vehicle and I don't like the styling. So far I like almost everything about the Bronco.

When New York was having a lot of problems with the virus, I kept thinking that Texas had dodged a bullet. Apparently it just wasn't our turn yet. Florida is even in worse shape than we are. I wonder if I'm ever going to get to return to Kennedy Space Center. It's a waiting game now. Janet and I sit here and make plans for things that just aren't going to happen for quite a while.

Laura is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3856

I received a notice this morning that NASA rejected my request for media accreditation for the July 30th Mars 2020 launch. The language in the notice was exactly the same as it was for the DM-2 launch last month.  "Due to the continued COVID-19 pandemic, we had to limit the number of media permitted on site, etc..." I wasn't going to go to Florida anyway, since it has become one of the world's leading virus hotspots, but this was still sad news. How long is this going to go on? I'm sure there are many people who have had more important plans interrupted, but this is very frustrating. I haven't heard from the Air Force yet, but I doubt that they are credentialing out of state visitors right now either. Florida is struggling. So is Texas for that matter. Maybe 2021 will be better.

The skies have been clearing this afternoon and I decided to try and find the comet this evening. I scouted out a few locations on my afternoon walk and thought if the skies remained clear, I might finally be able to see it. The best location I found still has some trees on the horizon, so wasn't sure if the comet would clear them. I wasn't sure if sunset haze would obscure things either. Hey, what did I have to lose.

It was another hot day. Getting started on our morning walk before 6 AM really helps. It is noticeably cooler before the sun rises. Today we had a nice breeze and lots of cloud cover too. We had a nice walk and were able to complete our full five miles. Dawn seems to be an early bird. She likes these early walks as long as she gets her breakfast first. Dogs have their priorities. I'm content to wait for breakfast until we finish our walk, but Dawn wants to eat as soon as she gets out of bed in the morning.

If I'm able to find the comet tonight, I'll want to take a picture of it as well. Hmm. How do I take long time exposures with my good camera? Seems like I've done this before, but it's been a while. I looked up directions on the Internet and the procedure was a little more complicated than I anticipated. With old mechanical cameras you just set the shutter on bulb and used a locking cable release to activate the shutter. With modern digital cameras you have to disable a lot of automatic functions before you can use the camera manually.

After spending an hour looking for the comet, I finally had to admit defeat. I saw nothing. The sky was pretty clear, but there was haze on the horizon. Actually, there is always a thin haze on the horizon down by the lake. If I really want to see this comet, I'm going to have to get in the car and look for a higher elevation. It's possible that I was just looking in the wrong place, but I don't think so. There were many maps on the Internet showing just where to look.

I've never been wild about venturing into the park at night. It's dark, there are coyotes, and there are always the voices. I can always hear people off in the distance that I can't see. What are these people doing? Every time I've gone into the park to look at stars at night, I hear these hidden voices. It's kind of creepy.

When I returned to the house from my futile comet hunting excursion Dawn didn't initially recognize me and started barking like crazy. She's a good little watch dog. I wish she'd watch things a little more carefully though and realize that it's me coming in the house. Don't bite me girl. I'm friendly.

Lizzy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3855

We got up early enough this morning to see the comet if it hadn't been cloudy again. Cloudy was good though. It kept our morning walk nice and cool. We keep leaving earlier and earlier in an attempt to avoid the heat. I used to think 7 AM was early. Now our goal is to be out of the house before 6 AM. The extra hour makes a big difference. There are fewer people on the trails and the weather is noticeably cooler.

Dawn did well today, but it is still the middle of July. It's going to be a long march to September. Dawn has the right idea about surviving summer. She went back to sleep on the bed while I had my breakfast. I usually watch TV while I'm eating breakfast. The news is still dismal, but the stock market was having a good day. It's kind of a mystery to me why the stock market has made such a dramatic recovery in recent weeks. What do other investors know that I don't. People are even starting to buy cruise line stocks again. I wouldn't feel comfortable taking a cruise for a long, long time.

I got Luckie up on the Dalmatian Rescue website after breakfast. I'm glad the rescue websites I work on are fairly simple. I've lost some of my skills. I haven't created a complex website in quite a while now and it shows. Use it or lose it has been my motto for many years. When it comes to web design, I think I've lost it.

I mowed the grass in the front yard this afternoon. It was too hot to be outside, but if I keep waiting for cooler weather, the yard is going to look like a jungle. Since I survived this task, I decided to go ahead and take my afternoon walk to get my 20,000 steps. It's a simple and at times mindless life, but I do have goals.

I went out and looked for the comet again a few minutes ago, but there were thick clouds on the horizon to the Northwest. I'm still not sure how the comet can be visible in both the morning and evening skies for the next several days, but that's what I keep hearing. Pretty soon it will be evening skies only. I think the best viewing opportunities will last for about a week. I'm hoping that we'll get clear skies on at least one of these days. I keep seeing cool pictures of the comet all over the Internet and I haven't been able to see it at all.

It looks like the new Ford Bronco is going to be incredibly popular. They are taking reservations online like Elon Musk now, and one model sold out in a single day. They say dealers are going to be charging a premium for the Bronco for at least a year. I don't know why I'm even interested. My car is running fine. It still looks almost new. I guess planning to buy a new car is just so much easier than planning to move to a new state.

I've already decided that it would be stupid to travel to Florida right now but I'm still wondering why I haven't heard anything about media accreditation for the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover launch. Usually when a launch is only several weeks away, all these details have been worked out. You'd think I would have at least received a rejection notice by now. Who knows. Maybe I'll hear something tomorrow. Otherwise, the big event of the day might be looking for blueberries.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3854

Today was Dalmatian day. We got to know our newest member of the rescue program a little better this afternoon. Lucky is a shy girl who is still getting used to life at the kennel. She was a little nervous around us at first and didn't want to play, but was very comfortable riding in the car when we took her to the vet later for an exam. This beautiful dog is going to make a wonderful companion for some lucky person. Hank and Charlie are still doing well. We think someone is coming to look at Hank later this week. Maybe he will find his forever home soon.

We had to cut our walk short this morning because of the heat. Even though we got an early start, we could tell that today wasn't the time to do our full five miles. Dawn lets us know how far she wants to go and when she selects the shorter route home, we know she's had enough. I'm not looking forward to another two months of this heat. The air conditioner never stopped running today. It's nice and cool inside, but you quickly realize you are at the mercy of these machines in the summer.

When I took my afternoon walk after we returned from the kennel, it was well over one hundred degrees. I should have stayed inside, but I was bored. These walks provide a structure to the day and save me from starting household projects that I will regret later.

I got a message from my editor at SpaceFlight Magazine saying that the article I wrote about my Artemis Day visit to the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans last December is still going to be published in the magazine's upcoming September issue. It was supposed to be published months ago, but things change. That trip to the NASA facility seems like a lifetime ago now. I hadn't even heard of the coronavirus yet. I wonder when I'm going to get an opportunity to write about space and rockets again? The editor told me that the Air Force hasn't even contacted him yet about covering the Mars 2020 launch for the magazine. In a way, that's probably for the best. I don't even want to be tempted to fly to Florida right now. Until we can get a handle on this virus, I'd better hunker down and stay home. I'm not an optimistic person by nature, but I do hope that when the Artemis 1 rocket that I went to see in New Orleans has completed its tests at the Stennis Space Center and is ready to fly, I'll be attending the launch.

I missed my chance to see the comet Neowise in the morning skies. The comet appears in the evening skies right after sunset very soon. Maybe my luck will be better at night after sunset. We never did get clear skies on the horizon before sunrise. We'll see. I was going to go look tonight, but it was cloudy again.

I'm trying not to talk about the coronavirus or social unrest anymore. I've got my opinions, but opinions just start arguments these days. It's sad we have become so divided. What I will do tomorrow is get Lucky's new picture up on the Dalmatian Rescue website. I think she's a good looking dog. Website updates don't take that long, so I'll need to think of something else to do. I might finish mowing the grass, but I have a feeling that it will already be too hot by the time we finish walking Dawn and eating breakfast. Hey, that new Ford Bronco looks pretty nice. It's much cheaper than the new Defender too. Something to think about.

Watson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3853

I didn't need an alarm to wake up in time to see the comet. About the time I had planned to get up I awoke to the sound of a violent wind storm. Where did this come from? There was no rain, but the straight line winds were fierce. Lawn furniture was blowing around in the yard and the tree branches were swaying so much that I was afraid that one of our remaining large trees was going to fall. A few minutes after the wind woke me up, our power went out.

Losing power in July is something all Texans fear. We are lost without air conditioning. I immediately called in an outage report and then looked at the outage map on the Oncor web site to see if power outages in the city were extensive. Yikes. There were thousands of outages all over the city. Despite the widespread outages, we got an estimate of around four hours to restore power.

Four hours isn't bad at all, but sometimes these estimates are way off. We could feel the temperature slowly start to rise in the house, but there wasn't much we could do. The weather radar indicated that some heavy rain would be following the brief wind storm. Janet and I went back to bed and waited for the rain, thankful that Dawn wasn't afraid of storms like some of our other dogs.

Oddly, the storm never arrived. Somebody got a lot of rain, but the storm seemed to be moving to the east of us. When morning arrived, we thought we could take Dawn on a short walk before it started raining. One of my weather apps said we had about a thirty minute window. As we walked, the window kept increasing. When we reached the point where we were going to turn around, it looked like we had another hour before the rain would arrive. This was enough time to complete the entire five mile walk, so off we went. I love these weather apps on my phone. The make life so much easier and predictable. It never did rain.

As we were returning home, I got a message on my Apple watch that our power had been restored. This all worked out almost perfectly. The house was cool again when we returned home and I didn't have to hook up the generator at all. The heavy overcast skies made the walk a lot cooler as well. I didn't get to see the comet, but we did end up having a nice breakfast.

Later in the day the skies cleared and the temperature rose rapidly. It was over 100 degrees when I took my afternoon walk. I had to run a couple of errands during the day and was surprised at how crowded the stores were. Even though Dallas is currently experiencing a record number of new coronavirus cases, everyone is shopping normally again. Go figure.

I mowed the grass in the back yard this afternoon, but it was just too hot to mow the front. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. I really need to find someone to remove the large Oak tree in the back yard. I was really afraid that this tree was going to fall last night. Since the tree is very near power lines, I'm going to have to find a tree service that is certified to do work near electric power. I'll probably need a bucket truck too. This tree is very large and in an awkward place. Did I tell you how much I hate expensive repairs? It needs to be done though. I don't want Janet telling me "I told you so" after the tree falls.

Hard to believe that the year is half over and we've basically done nothing since March. Hey, Ford will be revealing the new Bronco tomorrow. That will be something to watch. We'll be going up to the Dalmatian kennels to photograph Lucky, our newest member of the rescue program as well. Our trees are still standing and the air conditioner is working fine. All is well.

Winston is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3852

Saturday is my day to venture out of the house and see if the world is still there. This isn't a big change from my life before the pandemic, but I'm still making an effort to stay isolated. Dallas is officially a hotspot now. You wonder what made things suddenly spike? Everyone I know is still acting responsibly. We don't have a beach, so it wasn't that. We did have some protests, but ours weren't nearly as bad as some other cities. The few things Janet and I have done after the city opened up again have all seemed quite safe. Nevertheless, there has been a huge surge in new virus cases.

A lot of things just don't make sense about this virus. You'd think that African countries would be hit the hardest since they always are during any type of pandemic. Medical care isn't good in Africa and people in many countries are packed together in unsanitary conditions. So far, there have been very few deaths in Africa. China, which started this whole thing, isn't even on the list of affected countries anymore. If you believe all the charts and graphs, little countries like Peru are apparently doing much worse than China. The United States seems to be doing worse than Sweden, which didn't do anything at all to flatten the curve. It all makes you wonder.

They say that someone has invented a new heated air filter that kills the virus instantly. If heat does the trick, why are we still having all these problems in Texas? It has definitely been a hot summer. We got started a little late on our walk this morning and had to cut things short as a result. It was already getting too hot for Dawn around 8 AM. Later in the day when I took my afternoon solo walk, it was miserable outside. I guess this is to be expected. It is almost the middle of July.

The skies look clear tonight, so I think I'm going to set an alarm and go look for that comet tomorrow morning. I'm seeing so many cool pictures on the Internet that I'd like to see the comet for myself. Some of the best pictures have been taken by my friends out at McDonald Observatory. I'd like to trade places with those guys. They are so remote that since the observatory closed, they have become almost completely insulated from the problems we are seeing in the cities. This is extreme social distancing and it works for me.

I'm going to skip going to the gym again tomorrow. If I went, I'd probably change my mind because the gym is air conditioned. Of course they now say that building air conditioning systems spread the virus, so there's that. You really don't know who to believe anymore. I have a feeling that the governor is going to close gyms again pretty soon anyway. Texas isn't doing very well these days.

I brought a pizza home for dinner, even though pizza gives me heartburn. Actually the Cowboy Burgers we had for dinner last night gave me heartburn as well. I may be good at social distancing, but I'm not very good at staying on a bland diet.

Sophia is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3851

Life has settled into a predictable routine. We get up early and walk for two hours. I make the bed when we return home. I watch TV while slowly eating breakfast for another two hours. I turn the computer on and check my mail and watch a few YouTube videos. Then I wonder what I'm going to do for the rest of the day.

The coronavirus has changed everything. There's not much point in making travel plans. Where would you go? I'm not sure when I'll ever feel comfortable getting on a plane again. Living in a world where you have to act like everything is radioactive has taken the fun out of the simplest things like going to an afternoon movie or eating in a neighborhood restaurant. The issue isn't about masks or no masks. It's more basic than that. We're living in a world where everyone is waiting for the other shoe to drop. Politics has spoiled a lot of old friendships as well. It's getting ugly out there. Why even bother talking with someone if you are just going to end up getting in an argument? Let's face it. You're not going to convert anyone these days. The lines have already been drawn in the sand.

I was pleased last year that I had managed to find two things that I really enjoyed doing. I liked spending time at large observatories and attending launches at Kennedy Space Center. My favorite observatory is closed for the foreseeable future and you'd have to be crazy to go to Florida right now. I'm not even comfortable taking my telescope down into the park at night because Dallas has become a dangerous place after dark. The longer the pandemic continues the more trapped you begin to feel.

There is no rain in the immediate future, so I guess it's time for me to go up on the roof again. It's probably time to mow the grass again as well. It's amazing how quickly the grass grows when it rains in the Summer. I've got to do outdoor chores early these days and it's usually already too hot by the time I've finished breakfast. The heat provides a good excuse for waiting until tomorrow, but eventually all these things need to be done. I'm not sure I'll get much done tomorrow because Saturday is always grocery day. One chore a day is plenty.

I watched an interesting tutorial video on astrophotography this afternoon. I learned a lot, including the fact that it is virtually impossible to take these kind of photos in a city. The guy who put the video together lives on a small remote island. No wonder his pictures looked so good. I've been thinking about getting up early to take pictures of the comet Neowise, but I can't even find a place nearby with a clear view of the eastern horizon. Maybe I'll have better luck when the comet begins appearing in the evening sky.

It's going to be a long Summer. Fall is probably a lost cause as well. Let's just hope that when Winter eventually arrives, the world will be a better place.

Keller is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3850

When we were walking with Dawn this morning we passed this large warning sign that said "Raptors Ahead." I didn't see any dinosaurs, but maybe they're out there. It's definitely been that kind of year. It's pretty warm at sunrise now, but at least we had a nice breeze. We were able to complete our full five miles today before returning home to fix breakfast.

I don't know why I was worried about my dental appointment. Everything went smoothly. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, my dental hygienist always wore a mask and face shield when cleaning my teeth. I told the dentist that I now know why I can never find Clorox Wipes at the grocery store. They were wiping things down every five seconds. Unlike the folks at Home Depot, doctors and dentists know how to keep things sterile.

The folks at the dental office told me that they hoped the governor wouldn't shut them down again. They've had a difficult couple of months and are just starting to get the practice running smoothly again. I was impressed with these guys. They took all the chairs out of the lobby so nobody could sit down. You called when you arrived, and then they called you back when it was OK to enter the office. Only one patient was ever in the practice at a time. At soon as you arrived you went straight to the dental chair. It was all very efficient. In addition to getting my teeth cleaned, the dentist also smoothed out a rough spot on a crown that had been bothering me. It was a good visit and I'm glad I kept the appointment. Now I've got to decide whether to get a haircut before they start shutting down salons again.

The longer this pandemic goes on, the more I realize that the problem isn't which businesses are open or closed. The problem is human nature. A lot of people seem compelled to congregate and talk to each other. Why? If more people acted like me, this pandemic would be over by now. I'm comfortable walking alone, shopping alone, and eating at a restaurant alone. If I feel like drinking, I would never go to a bar.  It's so much easier to just get a cold beer out of the fridge, sit on the back porch, and let my mind wander.

All the news channels today were talking about today's Supreme Court decisions regarding the president's taxes. Almost nobody mentioned that the Supreme Court also decided today to give half of Oklahoma back to the Indians. What? I would think that this would be huge news. From what I can tell, government and business leaders in Oklahoma seem comfortable with the idea of living under tribal law because they think it will mean a ton of new Indian Casinos and lots of tourist dollars for the state.

I've been wanting to see Comet C/2020 F3 Neowise in the morning sky, but so far its been cloudy or raining when the comet is above the horizon. I've got one of two more day to hope for clear skies before the comet disappears behind the sun. It will reappear in the evening sky later in July. Maybe I'll have better luck then.

I doubt that I'll see anything exciting tomorrow. It is Friday though and I still have enough fruit left to make one more smoothie. I've taken this week's trash to the curb and am ready to start looking for Raptors in the morning.

Greta is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3849

I had to run some errands today and when I came home I noticed that there were blood stains all over the sidewalk next to the driveway. What the hell was this? When I got out of the car, I noticed a large dead rabbit underneath the car. The rabbit wasn't there when I left a little earlier, so whatever killed it must have done so recently. To make matters worse, I'd run over the rabbit and squashed it while I was parking the car. Yuk. I cleaned up the mess and asked Janet if she'd seen or heard anything strange while I was gone. "Well, there was a really large cat running away when I checked the mail," she said. "Did it look anything like a Bobcat," I asked? Yep. It probably was a Bobcat. We've seen Bobcats in the park before. They've been spotted in a dense grove of trees behind our house frequently. This was the first time they'd killed anything in our yard though. Hey, it's 2020.

It was cool enough to take our regular long walk this morning. Every once in a while there would be a breeze and we'd feel OK and then the breeze would stop and it was instantly humid and felt ten degrees warmer. The forecast says that it is going to be even warmer in the days ahead. I'm not looking forward to this.

I vacuumed the house today, mostly because Janet was cleaning everything else. I've more or less given up on household chores, but can still be shamed into action. I kind of wish we still had our old vacuum. The Dyson cleans great but it is such a pain to clean. Once I empty the canister it is still so dusty that I have to take it outside and use a leaf blower to get rid of all the dust. Old fashioned vacuum cleaner bags were so much easier.

I've got a dental appointment tomorrow. I'm a little apprehensive about going since Dallas has become a virus hotspot in recent days, but I'll go ahead and keep the appointment. Janet has already gone to this same dentist recently and says they are incredibly careful. They've eliminated certain procedures and do a simplified cleaning now. It's pretty safe sitting in the chair, but I still wouldn't want to be a dental hygienist. Even with a mask, gloves, and face shield, some of the patients are still going to cough on you. It's a simple rule of dentistry that you can't be sitting in the dentist's chair with a mask covering your face. They took my temperature when I went to the dermatologist and I'm sure they will here as well. What does this prove though? If it is the asymptomatic person with no fever and no symptoms that everyone is worried about, how are you ever going to effectively screen your patients?

I'm sure everybody has seen the charts that show the United States has plateaued with a high rate of infections, while all the other countries have reduced their infection rates to zero. How can this be? It seems to me like everyone did a good job of isolating for at least two or three months. I don't think Italy or South Korea isolated for longer than this. The current spike couldn't have just come from Memorial Day weekend. Even all the big city protests don't explain why the virus is now surging in places as remote as Wyoming and Montana. All I can think of is that the United States is a very large country and individual states didn't seal their borders the way most of the European countries did. Maybe it just took a long time for the virus to slowly travel from the coast to the heartland. It's just weird when the wild conspiracy theories actually make more sense than what passes for science these days. The scientists don't have many answers yet and seem to change their minds every week. I'm glad I don't have to make the decision of school or no school in the Fall.  It could turn out bad either way.

I'm also glad I'm retired and have been able to enjoy a lot of good years when the world was a much different place. When I was a kid I always thought that 2020 would be kind of like the Jetsons. Nope. Not even close.

Trevor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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