Day 4137

I got a real letter in the mail today. This is increasingly rare. Most of our mail is junk. There is always lots of political mail whenever there is an election. There are weekly grocery store circulars and various home services send flyers advertising lawn care and tree removal. I used to get lots of trade magazines, but most of them have gone out of business. I still get bills in the mail, but I don't even open them. They are just reminders that it's time to pay online again. Whenever I'm waiting for something specific, it never comes. I've been waiting for author copies of a SpaceFlight Magazine article for several months now and of course there are those computer memory chips that seem to have disappeared. I still wait for the mail every day though. It's just something old people do.

I still watch TV while I'm eating breakfast as well, but I'm constantly changing channels because there's nothing I like. I don't know what kind of audience the network morning shows are targeting, but it definitely isn't me. Cable news is like a broken record. It seems like we are always in the middle of the same crisis. The financial channels increasingly talk about Bitcoin, SPACs and other things I don't understand. Sometimes the only thing left are old TV Westerns, Perry Mason, and The Andy Griffith Show.

I've just about given up on NASA. I write polite letters asking about accreditation, but never get a response. Actually I don't get a response to many of my questions these days. When I retired and my business slowed, I kind of dropped off the radar. When you no longer have something other people want, you gradually become invisible. Generally, I don't mind being invisible, but I hate being totally out of the loop. I wish I had some kind of card I could flash whenever I wanted to participate in something. Sadly, life doesn't work that way. You have to stay involved if you want to participate.

I've come to the conclusion that I'm never going to be a regular part of the launch photography community because I can't afford to visit Florida that often. I'm not going to write frequently for astronomy magazines either because I don't actually know that much about astronomy. It's easy to get discouraged, but there are always opportunities. I guess my job now is to always keep an eye out for new opportunities.

Dawn has decided that she likes walking through open fields instead of staying on the trails. This would have been good in the Winter, but now the prairie grass is growing tall and I worry about chiggers, ticks, and especially snakes. I don't see many snakes but I know they are out there. I'm already fretting about what shoes to wear out at the observatory. Do I wear lightweight, comfortable sneakers, or heavy snake proof boots? I always take the boots, even though they are uncomfortable after I've been wearing them for hours. That's one thing I liked about growing up in Alaska. There were no snakes.

There are severe weather warnings for tomorrow again. Most of these warnings don't amount to anything, but you've got to take them seriously. One way or another it does look like it's going to rain. Right now there is a 100% chance of rain. How am I going to take my long walk if it rains all day? Oh, well. I can't worry about that now. It's time to take out the trash and call an end to this week.

Mindy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4136

I voted this morning. Like most local elections, the polling place was practically empty. There were only a few old people voting and most of them looked even older than I was. If you had a couple hundred good friends, you could probably win one of these low turnout elections. There were several initiatives on the ballot that were worded so ambiguously that it was hard to tell what you were voting for. When I see a lot of double neatives in the language of these initiatives, I am convinced that someone is trying to confuse me and make me vote the opposite of the way I intended. I seldom voted when I was younger, but my Mom finally convinced me that it was my civic duty. I still wonder though. I don't care who you support. There's just not a lot of honesty in politics.

As expected, it was really cold when we woke up this morning. It's pretty late in the year to experience near freezing weather. All is well though. The furnace is still working like a charm. I really should have brought the lawn mower battery inside last night. Forgetting to do this during a surprise cold spell is usually how I ruin these batteries. We'll see how it goes the next time I try to mow the grass. With my bad back and gimpy shoulder, I haven't had the nerve to try this yet.

My lost package still hasn't arrived. I've generally had pretty good luck with shipments so I thought that lost packages were just for other people. Several Christmas presents Janet mailed this year got lost and I keep hearing that unreliable mail is becoming a big problem. Maybe my luck has finally run out. The post office can't seem to find my package and neither can the shipper. Since I already paid for the memory chips, I'm sure that I'll eventually receive them. If the company has to send a duplicate shipment, I'm going to request UPS this time. I've lost faith in the post ofice.

Several of my photographer friends are already in Florida covering the upcoming Crew-2 launch. When I see their pictures on Facebook I can't help being a little envious. Most of the regulars live in the area and have gotten to know the folks that approve credentials. Even though I have gotten credentials to cover a number of launches, I still feel like an outsider. There's a big difference between going to Kennedy Space Center twenty times a year and going two times a year. This year, I'll be lucky if I can make it down there once. I wish getting press accreditation was easier, but then I wish everything was easier. Life just seems to be an uphill battle these days.

Janet took Dawn to the vet today to get her anal glands expressed and her nails trimmed. Dawn is healthy and I hope things like this are the only reasons she needs to go to the vet for a long time. I have so many bad memories of serious medical problems. Dealing with very sick dogs was one reason that Janet and I thought that we weren't going to get another dog after Dot and Dash died. Life is full of surprises though. I'm really glad we have Dawn in our life, even though she doesn't appear to like me.

I really do need to find another place to walk. My route has become so familiar that I think I could complete it with a blindfold on. I see a lot of the same people day after day, so I guess I'm not the only one leading a repetitive life. Even though it was chilly today, this is a great time of year to be outside. Everything is so green and new wildflowers appear every day. Perhaps I could make better use of my time, but I don't think so. Being outside is good. It certainly beats staring at this screen.

We'll see what tomorrow brings. I don't really have high expectations at this point. Maybe my package will arrive. Maybe I'll hear good news from NASA about the next launch I applied for. Maybe Dawn will stay in the kitchen with me while I eat breakfast. Naw. That will never happen.

Joe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4135

I slept well last night and my back is feeling better. This should have been enough to motivate me to get out of the house, but the car never left the driveway. Hey, I can always go vote and run my errands later. Oddly, my daily walks don't seem to count as "getting out of the house" anymore. These walks have become as firmly entrenched in an inflexible daily routine as the morning smoothie and the nightly blog post.

Don't think I wasn't busy however. Today was a day to pay bills. There were lots of them. I paid the bills online and then entered all the information in Quickbooks. Credit card bills take the longest, because I enter all the individual transactions as well. I don't know what it proves, but I think I've always been meticulous about keeping records. The Quickbooks files, the blog, the Fitbit statistics: they are all just records.

I also reserved a rent car for my trip to McDonald Observatory. The trip isn't that soon, but I keep reading articles about how rental cars are in short supply now. Even the rental car website urged me to make my reservation immediately, so I wouldn't be disappointed. I guess new cars at dealerships are in short supply as well. Blame the pandemic. Our supply chain apparently doesn't deal well with disruptions. Toilet paper, computer chips, my favorite cheese, Clorox wipes, and rental cars: it appears we are running out of everything.

I thought I'd take advantage of a free upgrade offer when I was reserving my car. Nope. The car I wanted doesn't qualify for an upgrade. The same thing happened a few weeks ago when I saw my running shoes on sale. Nope again. The brand was on sale, but not the particular shoe I wear for foot pain. This always happens. The things I like are never on sale. There's always some kind of camera equipment on sale, but I think I've paid full price for every lens I own.

Dawn was in a good mood today. We walked her early because Janet had things to do in the afternoon. She took the change of schedule well and didn't balk or freeze at all. I even thought she was going to walk longer for a while, but at the very end of her one mile loop, she turned and headed for home. Later in the day, Dawn sat out in the back yard with me for at least thirty minutes with no fear or hesitation whatsoever. She still won't eat her dinner if I'm out in the kitchen with her, but it's easy enough to go back to the office until she's finished. Whatever works is my motto. We all have issues and I really don't want to make life difficult for Dawn.

I spend enough time making life difficult for myself. Lately, I've been bothered that nobody is replying to my e-mails. NASA has never responded to my questions about accreditation. The magazines I write for haven't responded to queries about new articles. I haven't heard from my sister in several months. The computer memory I ordered is still lost as well. I probably just have too much time on my hands. Busy people don't spend nearly as much time writing as I do.

I'm glad I fixed the furnace. It's supposed to get down to near freezing tonight. What's that all about? All the plants that have been trying to recover from our big Winter freeze are now going to be hit with a late Spring frost. I could tell that a front was moving in when I took my long walk this afternoon. It was chilly, even thought the sky was clear and blue. With a light jacket, it was still an enjoyable walk. I picked up the pace quite a bit today and had very little foot pain. Not a bad day. Theres nothing big going on at the moment, but sometimes the little things are enough.

Wilson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4134

How did it get to be Monday again? These weeks go so fast. Whenever we visit the Dalmatians at the kennel, I realize that Dawn is the perfect dogs for us. She is older and pretty subdued for a Dalmatian. Younger Dalmatians have so much energy. Charlie and Cooper are fun to play with, but I don't think I could keep up with these two for very long. Hopefully they will find homes with someone who has as much energy as they do.

I tried to find my lost memory chips today and was told that the post office doesn't consider anything lost until they've had it for at least fourteen days. OK. I'll wait a little longer. Since it only takes two days for mail to travel from the shipper's location to my house, I wonder what's going on for those other twelve days. Amazon Prime has spoiled me. Somehow I think that everything should arrive the next day now.

I also wrote NASA and politely asked why I was being rejected for certain launches. I get accepted for some launches and rejected for others, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the process. If I'm doing something wrong on my end, I'd like to know what it is. I think the articles I've written have been very good. What do I know though. If I can't consistently get press credentials, it is going to be very difficult for me to become a space journalist.

Maybe it would be easier for me to become a HVAC technician. The furnace repairs I made the other day are working well. This is a weird time of year. It's very cold around sunrise and when I hear the furnace running I know it's time to get up. The furnace continues running while I'm eating breakfast, but by mid-afternoon it is warm enough outside for the air conditioner to kick in. Every day for the past week we have had the furnace and the air conditioner running on the same day.

My back is still bothering me. I'm comfortable when I wake up, but the process of becoming upright changes everything. Yikes. Those "I've fallen and I can't get up" commercials are starting to make sense now. Am I going to need a cane soon? I hope not, but it might be a good idea to have a few stashed around, just in case. My Dad had a ton of canes and I gave them all to the Goodwill when I cleared out his house. I should have kept a few.

At least I can still walk. Walking doesn't bother my back like it does my feet. It's bending over that bothers my back. If I stay on level ground and don't do anything stupid, a long walk still feels good. I've managed to convince myself that this type of exercise is the best thing for aging, tired bones. I hope nobody proves me wrong. I don't think I'm cut out for yoga, pilates, or lifting weights. You don't need a class or a gym or a trainer to take a walk. All you need is some free time. I've got plenty of that.

We'll see what happens tomorrow. Early voting has started for a local election. Maybe I'll go vote. I need to pick up some more duct tape at Home Depot as well. You can't ever run out of duct tape. Maybe Dawn will wake up and decide to be my best friend. That's a long shot, but it could happen.

Marley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4133

It was cold when I woke up this morning. I got up and looked at the furnace. Just as I expected, a red light was flashing. The furnace wouldn't ignite. I thought I was going to be able to avoid fixing the furnace this Spring, but I guess my luck ran out. If the furnace won't light, the problem is almost always a dirty flame sensor. It's not hard to fix. It's just a nuisance. I shut the furnace off, unscrewed several access panels so I could reach the sensor and got out my sandpaper. Sanding the flame sensor cleans it so that it will turn on the gas whenever the pilot light comes on. I've done this many times, but I wish someone had told me how to fix this earlier. When I first bought the house, the HVAC guys would come out, tinker around for a while, and then charge me a lot of money. I didn't know that all they were doing was cleaning the flame sensor.

An hour later I had everything put back together and we had heat again. This fix ought to last until next winter. There can't possibly be too many more cold mornings left. I was actually surprised that it was 40 degrees this morning because later in the day I was wearing shorts. That's what happens this time of year. The furnace comes on in the morning and the air conditioner comes on in the afternoon.

After breakfast we took Dawn to her alternate park for a walk and then got ice cream cones on the way home. This is getting to be a Sunday ritual. Dawn gets excited to do something different and seems to really enjoy these outings. We had one minor problem when she appeared lost at one point and refused to move. We thought the new park was familiar to her by now, but apparently not. To get Dawn started again, Janet sits about ten feet in front of Dawn and calls her. Dawn starts moving forward in small, jerky steps and finally she starts walking normally again. By the time we were eating ice cream cones, she had probably totally forgotten about the incident.

Since bulky trash day is tomorrow, I thought I'd spend a little more time cleaning up the yard. Anything I couldn't take care of today will have to wait until next month. I cleared weeds and brush from an area in front of the house and quickly discovered that weeding is not a good activity for someone with a bad back.    I have a lot more sympathy now for people with back problems. A bad back and almost any type of yard work isn't a good combination. I do feel a little better than I did yesterday, so hopefully this problem is just temporary.

After a short nap, I took my daily walk. I never was all that fast, but now I'm walking slower than ever. I'll have to forget about Fitbit goals for a while, but at least I'm still moving. The park was really crowded today. There were Little League games on the baseball diamonds and lots of people having picnics. There are always people feeding bread to the ducks despite signs saying that bread is bad for ducks and that you should feed them dry corn or peas instead. I see messages on the Internet all the time about bread being bad for ducks, but apparently nobody listens.

The extra memory I ordered for my laptop is apparently lost in the mail. I'll have to check on that tomorrow. I also need to reserve a car for my trip to the observatory next month. I keep reading articles that say rental cars are in short supply now. Apparently most of the rental companies sold off excess inventory during the pandemic and now that people are traveling again, they don't have enough cars. I won't have to worry about getting a rent car in Florida for a while. I can't figure out how to get NASA to reinstate my press credentials.

All in all it was a very nice day. Nothing exciting happened, but the yard looks a little nicer and we had a delicious dinner. They say that the Mars helicopter will fly tomorrow. The next Starship prototype and the Space X Crew-2 mission will launch later in the week. I feel out of the loop now, but maybe I can get back to attending some of these launches later in the year. 

Mattie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4132

We watched Prince Phillip's funeral while we were eating breakfast this morning. It felt like the end of an era. Phillip was the last of my Dad's generation. He was one of the very last World War II vets. He certainly was among the last to place any value on dignity and tradition. It was nice to see a nation that still reveres its history and traditions rather than try to tear them down and erase them. The monarchy may be a relic of a bygone era, but so am I. God save the Queen.

Phillip certainly had good taste in cars. This is the first and probably last time I will ever see a Land Rover Defender used as a hearse. They say Phillip chose the Defender because it was practical and unassuming. Of course he had the vehicle custom made to his own specifications and it was probably much more expensive than any ordinary hearse. Royal prerogative I guess. I was amused that at one point during a solemn and silent part of the ceremony all I could hear was the noisy motor of the Defender. I miss my old Defender and I miss the bygone era it represents. What comes next is anybody's guess, but I suspect that it is going to be a dystopian horror show.

It took me several stores to find my favorite beer while I was grocery shopping this morning. I've gotten hooked on small batch craft beers, but unfortunately some of them don't stay on the shelves with any regularity. I hope they are still brewing this beer. I went for years with having any alcohol at all when I had Hepatitis-C, but now having a single beer with dinner each night has become one of my daily pleasures. 

My back is still giving me problems. Janet has had back problems for years and tells me that I have to be patient and continue doing stretching exercises. It's hell getting old. You are supposed to lift things using your knees instead of bending over and lifting with your back. Easier said than done for a person with bad knees. One of my knees is so bad that I can't put much weight on it at all. There is definitely not a spring in my step anymore. If you see an old man shuffling slowly through the park, it is probably me.

I'm not going to let a few aches and pains stop me from walking. I've noticed that the walks don't actually make anything worse, so I'm assuming that staying active is helpful. There are dozens of commercials on TV for products that eliminate the aches and pains of aging. Many of them seem to have terrible side effects. I manage my blood pressure and control my cholesterol and A1C, but that's where the pills stop. If your joints are wearing out, there is going to be some discomfort. I'd rather live with it than get a knee or hip replacement. Eating healthy food and staying active still seems like a good plan to me.

I went and got Chinese take out for dinner again tonight. Why are there so many cars on the road at 6PM? Every time I go out it seems like rush hour. I suspect that this is only going to get worse. I've never seen so many out of state plates on cars. People are moving here in droves from failing cities in other parts of the country. I hate to see all the congestion, but it's still better to live in a successful, vibrant city than in a failing, crumbling one. 

Bella is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4131

I'm falling apart. I threw out my back last night when I was emptying the dehumidifier water bucket. I thought I'd feel better in the morning, but I woke up with one more in a long list of aches and pains. I'm sure many people have a lot more serious back problems, but this was a new one for me. Hopefully, this isn't a sign of things to come. 

It was raining hard when I woke up this morning. I turned on the pumps and nothing happened. I could hear the pumps running on the roof, but no water was coming out of the hose. This was unfortunate because it meant I needed to climb up on the roof and investigate. I finished my breakfast and waited for the rain to subside a bit before attempting to fix the pumps. I already knew what had happened. Every Spring, tons of catkins fall from our Oak trees and cover the roof. These catkins get sucked into the pumps and clog them. It's an easy fix, but you have to go up on the roof first. 

For the first time I can remember I had a difficult time scaling the rock wall leading to the roof. My back hurt. My arms felt weak. I got the distinct feeling that my roof climbing days were coming to a close. I unclogged both pumps, got the water running again, and went back inside. There was no point in doing anything further until the rain completely subsided. Maybe it will get hot again and the standing water will just evaporate. At any rate, I have no desire to go up on the roof anymore. The water can wait.

There isn't much to do on a rainy day. I don't like watching television and I don't like driving in the rain. Work used to keep me busy on rainy days, but work projects are few and far between these days. I have mixed feelings about getting shut out of the Crew-2 launch. Planning for a launch would definitely give me something to do, but I can't really afford a trip right now anyway. Realistically, I should be glad that I didn't get credentialed this time. I have time to work on getting back to Kennedy Space Center and hopefully the next time I get approved, travel won't be an issue.

I was glad when the rain finally stopped because Dawn clearly didn't want to take a nap with me. When Janet returned home we took Dawn on her short daily walk and then I continued onward. I knew today was going to be slow and didn't even bother to track my time. I don't know why I even bothered walking today. The weather was chilly and I felt stiff and painful. Right or wrong, it's important for me to keep moving. I eventually completed my route and returned home. This time I did take a nap.

We didn't get any mail today. Somehow this always seems to happen when the weather is nasty. The Postal Service Creed doesn't seem to mean much anymore. "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" Nope. I don't think that's the creed anymore. I do a better job of completing my appointed rounds than our mail carrier.

We had chili and cornbread for dinner. Chili gives me heartburn but it seemed like the perfect meal for a cold, rainy day. It's a shame that the body refuses to cooperate as you get older. I used to have an iron stomach and could walk for days. I guess I should be glad that anything still works at all. By any objective standards, I'm still pretty healthy. It just doesn't feel that way sometimes.

Becker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4130

I took my long walk right after breakfast this morning because the forecast predicted rain in the afternoon. The forecast wasn't totally wrong, because it is raining now. The pumps on the roof aren't working well, but I'll worry about that later. For now I'm hoping that the rain will help rejuvenate all the dead plants in our backyard.

The replacement for the video component I inadvertently threw away arrived this afternoon. I have no idea whether I will actually use this since my video production days are effectively over, but I feel like I have rectified my mistake. This thing has been out off production for years and I might have found one of the last remaining examples. Janet tells me not to store it in a box on a shelf. I'll start throwing away boxes again some day and that's how the last one met its demise.

I discovered that you can now watch your UPS truck on a map as it slowly makes it's way toward your house. This is mesmerizing if you haven't got anything better to do, but it is frustrating as well. I watched the truck drive in circles around my neighborhood several times, always turning away just before it reached my house. Somehow I am always at the very end of the delivery run. I'm not sure why UPS put GPS trackers in all their trucks. Probably just because they can.

Dallas has a glut of vaccine now. There are more shots available than there are people wanting to take them. Just a few weeks ago people were clamoring for appointments and now there are big banners in grocery stores advertising "free shots, no appointments necessary." Things change quickly in the modern world. I don't think life will ever return to normal however. There will be more Zoom calls and fewer people working in offices. Curbside pickup will be permanent for some people just because it is easier. A lot of businesses will never return, including some of my favorite restaurants. I'll probably never go to the post office like I used to. Even UPS delivery has changed. I used to drive to the main distribution center to get my packages. It was easy and I got my items one day earlier. Now you don't have a choice. The truck comes to your house whether you like it or not. You can reroute your delivery to one of those little UPS stores scattered around town, but it costs extra and adds another day to your delivery time.

I got a notice that Feedburner is going to discontinue sending the blog to e-mail subscribers on July1. I'm not certain how many read the blog this way, but I'm sure there are still some. Little by little a lot of tools bloggers used to use are going away. My fear is that one day Google will decide to discontinue hosting blogs entirely and blogspot.com will just disappear. It could happen. Google pulled the plug on Google+ and it abruptly disappeared. Blogs just aren't popular now. I hope Google keeps blogspot alive. It would be just my luck that they would pull the plug on Day 4995 and I would never reach my goal.

I paid a bunch of online bills this afternoon and managed to get everything entered into Quickbooks without making a mistake. I wish I didn't feel compelled to keep track of everything. It takes a lot of time. I've been entering information into Quickbooks for fifteen to twenty years and I'm not even sure how to access the early years. Is the information even still there? There are mountains of paper records in the storage warehouse. It would take me weeks to find anything specific, if I could find it at all. This blog is a pretty detailed record of my daily life. Why do I record and document everything? I'll probably never know.

I used to envy dogs because I thought they lived in the moment. Dawn is haunted by memories though. There is no other way to explain her behavior. Maybe I record things because I don't have many memories. Sometimes the past floats by as I'm going to sleep, but it seems like a dream. Did it even really happen?

Krissy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4129

I'm still puzzled that I didn't get credentialed to attend the Space X Crew-2 launch. I wrote my editor to see if NASA had even bothered to contact the magazine. Before getting press credentials NASA has to verify that you actually have an assignment from your media outlet. The whole process is way too complicated. Maybe I'm doing something wrong when I submit my applications. Hopefully my editor can help me sort this all out. It just makes no sense that I'm accepted sometimes and rejected at other times for no apparent reason.

I wrote a few more letters while I was still in a letter writing mood and then I went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription they've been calling me about. Somehow my prescription refills have gotten totally out of sync with the rate I am actually taking the pills. I now have an 180 day supply of three different pills. I hadn't even started using the last 90 day refills before this latest refill kicked in. Everything is so automated now that it is hard to change anything. My pharmacist and I both agreed that it would be easier for me to just take the refills and save them until needed than to put in a change order. We tried that once and a prescription I need got accidentally discontinued. 

This is why I always do my best to learn how to fix things myself. Unfortunately, fixing a furnace is easier than fixing a medical record. We live in a world where cashiers don't even know how to make change. People go to a website and click a few buttons to make something happen without having any idea how the whole process works. I'm pretty sure that I'm taking the correct prescriptions but some of them have been listed incorrectly in my medical records for years. I predict that in a few years from now, some of your doctors will have no idea whether you took the Covid vaccine or not. The only record you have is that little card they gave you when you got your shot. How long is it going to take you to lose that?

Tomorrow I am supposed to get a package that the UPS website says was delivered before it was shipped. I'm curious whether I'll actually get the package. We'll see. I've given up on trying to sort this out. Nobody has been able to explain why the tracking number tells me that the package was delivered last month to someone in New Jersey. This whole situation seems very similar to my incorrect medical records. UPS tells me that everything is fine and just to ignore the website. My doctor never even looks at my online medical records. He just asks me over and over again what pills I am taking every time I visit.

Today was uneventful, but what else is new. As always, I drank my morning smoothie while catching up on the dismal state of the world on cable news. I can't stand to watch anything for more than thirty seconds, so I'm constantly switching channels. I check my e-mail and the mailbox outside after breakfast. The electronic world is nothing but junk and so is the physical world. I'll usually block a few telemarketers on my phone and then I'm done. No wonder I like walking so much.

It's getting pretty warm. I don't think I'll be wearing jackets on my walks for quite a while. Hopefully Dawn will be OK with the heat. She doesn't walk far now, so I think she'll be fine. I'm not so sure about myself. I was sweating when I returned home today and it's only April. I don't even want to think about what it's going to feel like in July. The Summer heat may be what ends up getting me back to the gym. There is a nice indoor running track at the gym and the building is air conditioned. Sounds pretty good right now.

Flash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4128

Well, it doesn't look like I'll be going to Florida any time soon. NASA rejected my application to attend the Crew-2 launch later this month. I was getting accepted for a while and then Covid hit and everything changed. It's discouraging that it's so hard to get press credentials even when I've got a magazine supporting me. Jeez. I've written some nice articles about space. NASA ought to be eager to have me attend their launches. Oh, well. I ought to look on the bright side. I really can't afford many of these trips anyway.

I got an e-mail from UPS today saying that I was getting a delivery later this week. When I clicked on the tracking number, it said that the item had been delivered last month to someone in New Jersey. How could something be delivered before I ordered it? The e-mail said the item was shipped on 4/12 and delivered on 3/24. Weird. I called UPS to explain the mix-up and the first thing the automated message system asked for was my tracking number. I wanted to talk to a real person so I could tell then they'd given me the wrong tracking number, but the automated system kept telling me "your package has been delivered." Very frustrating. I called the shipper who assured me that the package was addressed correctly and was on its way. "Just ignore the tracking number," the guy told me. "We're having issues with duplicate numbers." Will I ever get this package, or have I entered the Twilight Zone? I guess we'll see.

The weather has been beautiful lately, but I'm not really taking advantage of it. I take my daily walk and then I return to the house. The car gets used once a week for grocery shopping and that's about it. I have no desire to go to a movie or visit a nearby town. Whenever I do go out, the traffic is so terrible that I wish I was home again. Maybe it's important that I go to West Texas periodically. I'm always a little apprehensive about these trips, but they keep me from becoming a shut in.

I was tempted to enter a photo contest today, but when I read the fine print on the contest rules, it said that a contest entry gave the company the right to use the photo for whatever they wanted in perpetuity with no additional compensation. That sounded pretty harsh. It's not that I was planning on selling the photo anyway, but I hate weasel words in contracts. Why do people have to be this way? The contest is legit with a well respected company, but I think I'll pass.

The water level is dropping in the lake again. There must be a leak in the dam. You'd think the city would be right on top of this, but maybe they haven't noticed. I probably wouldn't have noticed myself if I didn't walk the same route along the shoreline day after day. I could tell you when certain flowers were going to bloom several years ago, but now I'm starting to recognize individual ducks. This walk is getting very familiar. It won't be long before I start naming the ducks.

Dawn seems more relaxed now that I've decided to stay out of the kitchen while she's eating. Dawn's a noisy eater so it's easy to tell when she's finished. I still fix her meals and then go back to the office. It seems to work. Oddly, Janet doesn't like me in the kitchen either. Oh, well. It is a small kitchen and I seldom cook anyway.

I'm still irritated that NASA rejected my press pass application. I need something more exciting to write about than UPS tracking numbers.

Valli is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4127

It's Monday again. We got another Kong football for Charlie and Cooper to replace the one that got destroyed. Both dogs love to fetch and catch things and have boundless energy. They were delighted with their new toy. Charlie and Cooper are smart, very athletic, and I keep thinking that they would respond well to agility training. I keep hoping that one of these days when we visit the kennel, we'll discover that at least one of them has found their forever home.

I was expecting rain today. We were under a severe weather forecast for a while but nothing materialized. I'm glad when that happens. At this time of year storms can pop up out of nowhere. Sometimes they disappear quickly as well. By the time I took my long walk, I wasn't worried about rain at all. I was more worried about getting a sunburn. Today was very hot for early April.

I decided to upgrade my laptop and install an operating system that will run the astrophotography processing software I need. Step one is to replace the current 4 GB of memory with 16 GB of memory. This is an easy upgrade and I wish I'd done it earlier. Every time I remove the tiny screws that secure the back of the computer in place, I'm afraid I'm going to strip the threads. Apple won't sell you replacement screws. If I am successful at adding the additional memory, I'll create two partitions on the hard drive with a separate system on each. In theory these dual boot systems are easy to create and quite safe to use. I still worry that I'll, screw something up though. I've certainly done that before.

After I ordered two 8 GB memory sticks, I found a replacement for the video component that I accidentally threw away a few months ago and ordered that as well. I may never use this gear, but I hate not having it. I also feel stupid for throwing something away in what I thought was an empty box. The New York audio shop where I found the part told me that had only one left. Everybody tells you that they only have one left these days. The star tracker people told me that they only had one unit left as well. I guess these guys know what they are doing. This psychology certainly works with me. I'm usually the first to buy the last available widget.

I seem to feel perpetually tired these days. Sometimes I wonder if I might have had Covid and never even realized it. Since literally everything under the sun is a potential side effect from Covid, it's pretty easy to attribute anything abnormal to the disease. Probably, I'm just getting old. Trust me, 70 is a lot different than 40. My joints are toast, but I'm going to continue walking and probably even return to the gym. I'm convinced that you start to go downhill the minute you stop being active.

I have a feeling that I may be able to postpone any further furnace repairs until next Fall. This morning when I woke up I heard the air conditioner instead of the furnace. The temperature was in the high eighties today. Our gas bill will go down for a while, but our electric bill will go through the ceiling this Summer. We have a very small house and I can only imagine what all the people in the huge houses that are popping up all over the neighborhood pay for electricity.

Dawn doesn't like me to be in the kitchen with her so I've started going back to the office after I fix her meals. This seems to work and it is much easier than trying to figure out what is going through her head. Dawn is my buddy when we are hanging out on the bed together. She's scared of me in the kitchen though and won't come in the office at all. Go figure. All is fine when we're outdoors. Dawn loves being outdoors when the weather is nice. Dogs are just as complicated as people. Luckily they are nicer than most people.

Nellie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4126

We took Dawn in the car to another park today. She seems to like these outings. Dawn is still nervous about riding in the car, but now that she knows where we are going, there is visible excitement as well. It was a perfect day for a walk. The temperature was in the low 70's with a clear blue sky and little to no allergies. For some reason Dawn walks faster and eats less grass when we walk her at the alternate park. At any rate, everyone had a good time and we celebrated by having an ice cream cone on the way home. We're not expert dog trainers, but this is our way of introducing Dawn to new experiences. It seems to be working.

I should have mowed the grass today, but maybe it can wait one more week. I still feel compelled to take my daily long walk and this typically doesn't leave me with enough energy to do yard work as well. I'm probably just making excuses. I'll do almost anything to avoid yard work. Usually in the Spring I'm up on the roof every other day, but this year it's been over a month since I've climbed up to inspect things. At some point I'll need to remove the remaining leaves and make sure there will be no leaks over the Summer, but I'm basically done with the roof for a while. My knees are bad, my shoulder is unstable, and I'm getting too old for this kind of foolishness.

The irises in the park are finally blooming. Most of the flowers are late this year, but the big freeze didn't seem to hurt anything. Actually it seems like it is going to be a very good year for wildflowers. The only things the big freeze decimated appear to be Azaleas, Rhododendrons and our Asian Jasmine ground cover. I'm still hoping that the ground cover returns to life, but things don't look good at the moment.

I had a good long walk this afternoon. Counting our earlier short walk with Dawn, I managed to complete over six miles today. I didn't set any records, but my feet didn't give me a lot of problems either. I've found that the best way to alleviate foot pain is to avoid uneven surfaces and never walk on my toes or the balls of my feet. This slow, flat footed walking style probably makes me appear even older than I am, but on a good day it appears to work.

After my walk I resumed my quest to transform my laptop into an astrophotography processing machine. Every time I come up with a plan, there is a snag that renders the plan worthless. Hardware limitations on the 2011 machine make it impossible to run the latest operating systems. I am currently running a 32 bit operating system and almost all modern software is 64 bit. I may be able to run some 64 bit software by installing the last operating system supported by my laptop. Unfortunately, if I attempt the upgrade I may lose all my currently installed software. It's a problem. My latest plan is to add a new partition on my hard drive and create a dual boot system. On one partition I'll keep all my faithful old software and on the new partition I'll install a newer operating system that hopefully will run some of the astrophotography software I need. My laptop doesn't have enough memory to run the newer operating system, but that can be fixed. I really should have replaced the memory when I upgraded the hard drive and installed a new battery several months ago. Oh, well. I probably thought that attempting to upgrade too many things at once was pushing my luck.

Have I turned into a hopeless geek who has lost all contact with thee rest of the world? Maybe. These things need to be done however and I don't think anyone else is going to help me. Eventually I'll get my computer problems solved and move on to other things like fixing the sliding glass door.

Tyson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4125

Every time I go shopping, I'm amazed at the amount of traffic on the roads. It didn't used to be this way as recently as a few years ago. I see a lot more out of state plates now. People are moving here from all over the country. I can't blame them for moving. I moved here from Seattle many years ago and never regretted the decision. I kind of wish I lived in a smaller town though. This traffic is getting ridiculous.

I found everything on my grocery list fairly easily today. There are no shortages anymore. I see big end aisle displays of Clorox wipes now and masks are on sale at many stores. They were even offering Covid shots at the grocery store today. The pandemic isn't over yet, but clearly we are moving on to a new phase. 

Lots of plants are starting to turn green in the yard, but the Asian Jasmine still looks dead. I don't think it is going to come back at all. This is a shame because this supposedly hardy ground cover was the one thing that would grow where it was too shady for grass. Asian Jasmine takes a long time to get established as well. I don't know if I have the energy to replace this stuff.

I knew that today wasn't going to be a good day for walking because my foot was hurting before I even got started. I still managed to complete over four miles though. Janet thinks I ought to forget walking for a while and return to the gym. She's probably right. Walking is such a good way to kill time though. Nothing else even comes close.

I had planned to upload a bunch of new photos to my stock photo site today but I never got around to it. I know a few people who make a reasonable income by selling stock photos. They all have thousands of photos to choose from however. I've uploaded less than twenty over a period of four years. It's hard for me to get interested in money making schemes like this anymore. I've been around long enough to know that if you just dabble at something, you're not going to make money at it. If I were serious about selling stock photos, I'd be uploading stuff every day.

I got a letter from a friend out at the observatory today with some suggestions about what to bring to the astrophotography workshop. I'm looking forward to this trip. The food is great at Indian Lodge and The Blue Mountain Grill in Fort Davis. The roads are practically empty. It's quiet and peaceful and of course the night skies are spectacular. The only downside is the long drive it takes to get there. I wish Southwest Airlines flew to Fort Davis. There isn't an airport, but one can dream.

I spent some quality time with Dawn this afternoon while Janet was away. What's it going to take for this dog to warm up to me? Something about me must remind her of her former life. She a completely different dog around Janet. Dawn is an older dog and I don't expect her to change much. We may never be best buddies, but I would like for her to trust me. We're working on it. There may come a time when she really needs to trust me.

I mailed the birthday card I bought yesterday. I'm terrible at keeping up with people, but every once in a while I try.

Apollo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4124

We got lucky again. The severe weather I've been hearing about all day appears to have missed us. I can see lightning and ocassionally hear thunder, but I don't even think we got any rain. Hopefully, all the storms have moved to the East by now. You've got to take the weather seriously in this part of the world. I'm always glad when the skies clear and the thunder fades away in the distance.

I went out and looked for a birthday card today. There used to be a nice little card shop in the neighborhood, but it went out of business years ago. Now there's just a partial aisle of cards at the grocery store. I don't send many cards and letters these days, but I still know a few people who aren't on Facebook. I still think writing is a great way to communicate, but it's becoming a lost art. It's a rare day that I get a real letter in the mail. 99% of our mail is just advertising flyers and junk. It's a shame that the writing tradition has died. It used to be the main way I kept up with friends.

I read an article today about the growing group of people who spend weeks or even months down on South Padre Island waiting for something to happen at the Space X Boca Chica facility. Some of these people have their own YouTube channels and report on Starship developments daily. A few have a large audience of Space X fans and have made enough money off their YouTube broadcasts to turn their quest into a full time job. All this kind of makes me feel like a slacker. I write a few articles a year for print magazines and these guys are out there making videos about space every single day. Even though my company made a lot of TV commercials and corporate videos back in the day, I have no desire to become a YouTuber. I like the process of slowly writing, editing, and refining an article or story. I don't even understand why someone would want to livestream something. I guess I'm getting old.

I don't know if I'll last as long as Prince Philip, but hopefully I've got a few good years left. I think it takes a lot of luck and some good genes to live to 99. I don't know anybody personally who's been able to do it. I'm sure staying active helps. That's a big reason why I walk everyday. There are lots of ways you can stay active, but walking is unique. There is no stress involved in walking. It's actually very relaxing. You just put one foot in front of the other and let your mind wander. 

I walk the same route every day, but there is always something new. The White Pelicans are gone now. I think they spend the Summer in North Dakota and Southern Canada. It doesn't appear that last year's straggler stayed at the lake this year. I looked carefully today and didn't see a single Pelican. 

There are some construction workers renovating one of the old WPA buildings at the park. It's interesting to see how much progress they make in a day. Since this is a restoration, they are using old construction methods as well. This is quite different than watching a new house go up in the neighborhood. It's makes you appreciate how much craftsmanship used to go into building something.

Dawn acted pretty normal today. I'm getting used to her weird ways. She's friendly with me when I'm sitting on the bed with her, but she's uncomfortable when I'm in the kitchen. I just go to the back of the house while she's eating now. As with most things in life, it's easier to just go with the flow. 

Livy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4123

I tried to catch up on some correspondence today. I've never felt a huge compulsion to communicate with others, but occasionally I feel a need to see if I still exist. I write people like a castaway throwing notes in a bottle out in the ocean. I got one answer to my e-mails today, so that was a good sign. I think I'll give it a rest for a while.

I'm still frustrated that there appears to be no way I can add old software to my old computers. Auto manufacturers are required to have parts available for any model they sell for a minimum of ten years. Most manufacturers keep parts in stock for much longer than this. Software publishers don't seem to follow these rules. As soon as they develop a new version of their software, they pull the old versions off the shelves. Old versions of popular software are seldom supported and after a while  you can't even find them to download. Old software just disappears. Hardware manufacturers are pretty much the same. If you want to install an older operating system on your computer, you are out of luck. 

All this makes life difficult for a person like me who wants to keep things frozen in time. I remember a time when everything worked perfectly and I want to keep it that way. I like old cars because you could fix them yourself. I can't remember my parents refrigerator ever breaking. Appliances used to last forever back in the day. There was a golden age for computers and electronics, but I think we are long past it now. I had a lot more interesting software to choose from back in the ancient days of Apple's System Nine than I do now. The little niche players have all disappeared. If you can't find what you want in the App Store, you are out of luck. 

It's not really worth fretting about things you can't change, so I just drink my smoothie and walk. There were times when I was much, much busier, but maybe there is no longer a need for that. Before I took my long walk today I continued experimenting with the images I took out at the observatory last October. There's an art to squeezing every last bit on information out of astro photos. I'm learning a lot more about image processing and I've discovered that the photos I used to be pleased with can look much better after I align the red, green, and blue layers and stretch the histogram. I'm starting to understand why a lot of astrophotographers call their individual images data. There is a lot of information hidden in every photo. Processing is just learning how to extract it.

Dawn really looks forward to her walks now. She knows when we are getting ready to go and her tail starts wagging. I think she expects these walks now. Occasionally we are late and she starts barking at the door. I hope she continues to enjoy walking as the weather become warmer. We were near the limits for an enjoyable walk today. The temperature was in the low 80's and as we neared the end of Dawn's short one mile loop, I noticed that her tongue was hanging out. We'll need to start taking water with us soon. Summer can be brutal in Texas.

At this time of year the furnace comes on early in the morning and then the air conditioner comes on around mid afternoon. This morning the furnace refused to light again while I was eating breakfast. I got out my tools and was prepared to disassemble things so I could clean the flame sensor. Just as I was getting ready to turn the unit off and take the cover off, the furnace lit and everything was fine again. The flame sensor must be dirty, but not hopelessly dirty. Maybe I'll still have to fix it this Spring, or maybe I can wait until next Fall. I'm in no hurry to fix this thing. Working in the tiny utility room is hard on my wrists and knees.

I've taken this week's trash out to the curb and am ready to declare the week officially over. I slept better last night and my Fitbit actually worked. Go figure.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4122

Well, at least I tried. Today I spent way too much time trying to figure out how to add a Windows partition to my laptop and when that didn't work, trying to get my Fitbit to track sleep stages again. I've known for years that Apple computers with Intel chips can run Windows, but I never tried to install it. Having a Windows partition on the laptop would let me easily run the astrophotography software I need for this May's workshop.

I should have known that nothing is easy. I quickly learned that my laptop and its Sierra operating system were too old to run Windows 10. No problem. Windows 7 would be fine for my needs. Not so fast. Microsoft doesn't let you download Windows 7 anymore. The Apple Boot Camp Assistant that is used to install Windows on a Mac no longer accepts older versions either. 

Basically, all the old software that used to work perfectly on all my computers has been erased from the earth. Nobody wants to deal with 32 bit software anymore, so they have just eliminated it. Backwards compatibility doesn't exist anymore. Apple, Microsoft, Dell, HP, and everyone else have been been relentless in their efforts to make sure that everyone upgrades to their current models. This is very frustrating to someone like me. I'm not interested in anything new. All I want is to retain the ability to do the things I could easily do twenty years ago. Quite literally, I could do a lot more useful work with computers twenty years ago than I can now.

My Fitbit isn't old at all, but I'm sure that the problems I'm having measuring sleep stages is related to software upgrades as well. Apps on your phone seem to automatically upgrade every week or so. There are so many minor upgrades that you quickly lose track of them. Somewhere along the line my Fitbit gained the ability to measure blood glucose levels and lost the ability to track sleep. Sadly, I'd probably sleep a lot better if I just quit trying to measure everything. I actually thought I slept pretty well last night, but the sleep app on my Apple Watch said I was only asleep for 2 hours and 37 minutes. 

I watched the Space X Starlink launch livestream while I was getting ready to walk this afternoon. This was a rare daytime launch and the weather looked beautiful. It would have been nice to see this in person, but it was all over in six minutes. The launch basically looked identical to all the other Falcon 9 launches as well. I'm beginning to question my desire to attend these launches. Covid restrictions have made attending launches in Florida much harder and it's getting a lot easier for me to say "been there, done that."

My daily walks are pretty routine as well, but at least they're easy and free. All I have to do is put on my shoes and walk out the back door. Today's walks were actually pretty enjoyable. Dawn did well on her short one mile walk and I did pretty well on my longer walk as well. No foot pain today. I have no idea why today's walk went so smoothly, but I'll take a good day when I can get it. When my foot doesn't hurt, I tend to walk a bit faster. I didn't embarrass myself today and kept up a pretty respectable pace for a septuagenarian.

While we were walking Dawn this afternoon, we ran into a neighbor who warned us about places where cars were getting broken into during the day. Apparently there is an epidemic of car break-ins in the city. I'm not surprised. Everywhere you look it seems like the fabric of society is breaking apart. Some call it progress, but it looks like chaos to me. I'm starting to envy my parents. I don't think they realized how good they had it back in the day.

I have no idea what is going to frustrate me tomorrow, but I'm sure something will crop up. For now, I'm just hoping that I won't have weird dreams tonight. I've been having a lot of weird dreams lately. Maybe my Fitbit doesn't count them as sleep.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4121

I can't figure out why my Fitbit has stopped tracking my sleep stages. Everything else seems fine. It just doesn't measure sleep anymore. As I am prone to do, I went looking for solutions on the Internet and discovered that lots of people seem to have this problem, but nobody seems to know how to fix it. I'm always amazed that so many people are eager to offer solutions that clearly don't work. There are other people who will spent hours or even days making a YouTube video explaining in great detail how to fix something that would probably be better to just replace. While I was looking for answers to my missing sleep function I got sucked into watching a video about how to replace a Fitbit Alta HR battery. Most of the video consisted of the guy saying "be very careful because this is easy to break."

Today was even more uneventful than usual. I watched the news while I drank my morning smoothie. I made the bed. I tried to get Dawn to go outside with me. I watched a few more videos explaining how to process astrophotography photos in Photoshop. I think I actually learned something. When Janet came home we took Dawn on her one mile walk and then I continued walking further. For a minute I thought that Dawn was going to follow a new path again, but she changed her mind at the last minute and continued following her familiar loop.

My long walk is a familiar loop as well. I guess I could go somewhere new, but I continue walking the same paths over and over again. The lake level continues to fall. What's going on here? The water level falling way too fast for this time of year, so there must be a leak in the dam. This has happened before. Eventually the city will fix the problem, but sometimes it takes months. 

While I was walking today I watched several Muscovy ducks chase away a group of Mallards from a grassy spot where they were feeding. From what I have been able to observe, animals spend almost as much time arguing and fighting as we do. The resident geese seem especially argumentative. I don't even want to get near them at times. 

There's a Space X launch tomorrow morning that some people I know are attending. I wish it was easier for me to watch these events in person without a long and expensive trip to Florida. Most of the people who attend launches regularly live in the area. I'll probably return to Kennedy Space Center sometime this year, but I've got to pick my launches carefully. The magazine I write for isn't interested in covering everything and I don't end up getting approved for all the launches anyway. I've applied to attend two launches so far this year. It's kind of like buying a lottery ticket. You just wait and see what happens.

I spoke too soon about allergy season being over. My allergies were terrible today. Maybe it was the wind. It was so windy today that I almost got blown off the trail several times. At least it was warm. Warm and windy is a lot better than cold and windy. The wind didn't contribute to my foot pain, but today wasn't a good day for the feet. I probably should have stayed home and taken a nap with Dawn. Never mind. Whenever I try to take a nap with Dawn, she gets up and moves to a different room.

I never did get around to looking for the cell phone extender thing that Janet wanted. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. Right now, all I want to do tomorrow is sleep.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day