Day 4313

I recorded my slowest walk ever today. My pace was a full six minutes per mile slower than a normal day. Sadly, I was never that fast to begin with. The main reason I was so slow was that my feet hurt, but my terrible seasonal allergies certainly didn't help. I walked over four miles, but by the time I returned home I could barely move. I don't know whether I need to quit walking for a while, or just start wearing the new Hoka shoes I bought a month ago. I'll try the new shoes first. I'd really hate to give up walking.

One year ago at this time I was out at McDonald Observatory for an astrophotography workshop. I was definitely feeling my age then, but things have gone downhill since that little adventure. The way I feel today, I'm wondering if I can even make another of these long trips out to West Texas. Astrophotography involves a lot of standing and even worse, kneeling in the dark. The terrain is uneven and you need good balance. It's very cold at night too. The drive itself is a nightmare. The past two trips to the observatory were during the height of the pandemic when traffic was lighter. Now that Texans have decided that the pandemic is over, freeway traffic is as bad as it ever was. I've heard horror stories from some of the West Texas locals about I-20. Evidently, there's a lot of road construction now, which makes the long drive even worse.

My motto is to always keep moving, so hopefully I will rebound from my current foot pain setback quickly. If the new shoes don't work, I may have to scale back walking for a while. I can't imagine quitting though. Walking defines my day now. I feel the same way about trips to McDonald Observatory and Kennedy Space Center. There are so few things I really enjoy these days that it would be a crime to give up any of them.

I think the cold wave that everyone's been talking about has finally arrived. The skies cleared today, but the temperatures kept getting cooler. Actually, the only pleasant thing about my long walk this morning was the temperature. It was a little chilly, but not quite jacket weather yet. If my feet didn't hurt so much, it would have been perfect walking weather. I think it's going to be even colder tomorrow. Luckily, there is no more rain in the forecast. I'm glad I cleared the roof of standing water when I did. I doubt that I could even make it up on the roof today.

Janet is trying to help me with my heartburn. She brought home a vegetarian pizza tonight for dinner. It was basically just artichokes, fetta cheese and a few olives on a pizza crust without any of the normal sauce. This isn't going to give me heartburn, but it isn't a pizza either. I told Janet that she ought to keep eating what makes her happy and if I need to fix something else for myself that's fine. We both agreed that an artichoke and fetta pizza wasn't a good idea.

We haven't seen any of the empty store shelves they keep talking about on TV. Gas is more expensive but everything else seems pretty normal. I'm wondering if I should stock up on a few things when I'm grocery shopping tomorrow though. This is probably how panic buying starts. Everyone is just trying to get ahead of the curve. We'll see how the stores look tomorrow. I basically think panic buying is stupid, but I'd hate to run out of toilet paper.

I still keep hoping that Dawn will warm up to me. She adores Janet, but still thinks I'm a kennel attendant.  She's fine when I'm feeding her or walking her on a leash. The rest of the time she gives me the stink eye.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4312

The rain appears to be over for a while. I'm glad because we did get a small roof leak last night. This wasn't in the living room where it usually leaks. It was in the office. Water was dripping around the edge of one of the can lights in the ceiling. There have been leaks in this location before, but they are rare. I've never found the source. Since there was a leak, I decided I couldn't postpone going up on the roof any longer. I had to remove the standing water.

Since the drip in the office stopped after about an hour,  I was in no hurry. I had breakfast and took my long walk first. Dawn got her sunrise walk as well. The standing water refused to go away on its own, so I eventually climbed up on the roof and dealt with it.

I really hate this job. It's fairly strenuous and it's getting harder and harder for me to climb up on the roof. The neighbor's pecan tree is no friend of mine. It drops tons of pecans on the roof every Fall and the squirrels break them open and make a mess. The pecans turn the standing water into a brackish brown mess which stains the roof and makes it harder to find any tears in the elastomer. I really need to bring the power sprayer up on the roof and clean up this mess, but the sprayer is heavy and I'm afraid that power washing the roof might cause even more leaks. I still push all the standing water over the edge with a big push broom which resides on the roof permanently. Even on a good day it takes me well over an hour to remove the water. Today, since I was removing a ton of broken pecan shells as well, it took me even longer. I've said this many times, but never buy a house with a flat roof.

It would be nice to live in a new house with no problems, but I've never seriously considered moving. The house was paid for years ago and we live in a great neighborhood. I like living by the lake. There isn't a better place in the entire city to have a dog. Things will continue to break and I will continue to fix them. It's too bad that all the repair people I used to use have either retired or died. This new generation of repair people aren't nearly as talented as those older guys. Back in the day I always felt like the guys from "This Old House" were coming over to fix things. Not anymore. That's why I try to do as much as I can myself.

The launch photographers I know are all getting ready for the Lucy launch this weekend. Somehow major science missions always seem a little more interesting than your routine communication satellites. I can't help being a little envious of these Florida photographers. Photographing rockets is one of the few things I actually enjoy, but traveling to the space center for every launch is way too expensive for me. I probably won't return until the Artemis 1 launch in early 2022.

The city finally mowed the meadow behind our house. This will make it much easier to return home after Dawn's sunrise walk. When the grass was tall, our shoes and socks would get wet for several days after a rain and Dawn's paws and legs would always get sticky from the grass pollen. Every morning we'd have to clean Dawn with a wet rag before we went back in the house. Maybe since it is so late in the year, the grass won't start growing again until Spring.

The week's trash has been taken out to the curb and Dawn is sitting alert on the bed, waiting for Janet to return from a meeting. I'm happy to say that this day is just about over.

Abby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4311

It's been raining off and on all day. It's actually raining right now. Not my favorite kind of day, but what are you going to do? I guess we need the rain. I just don't like it. The showers stopped and started often enough that I was still able to walk. I just had to take several short walks instead of one long one. Luckily, we were able to get Dawn walked before the bad weather started. She hates to get her paws wet and won't even leave the house when it's raining.

Like most rainy days, today was fairly uneventful. I did find out from SpaceFlight Magazine that they want me to cover the Artemis 1 launch. I still have to get press accreditation on my own though. I guess I have plenty of time. The launch isn't taking place until early 2022 now. There will be other interesting launches before then, but I don't think I can afford to go to Florida that often. It's been an expensive year.

It was kind of neat to see William Shatner go to space this morning on Blue Origin's rocket out in West Texas. The guy is 90 years old. I guess there's still hope for folks in their mid 70's. I'd never have the nerve to go into orbit like the Inspiration 4 crew did recently, but riding in Jeff Bezos little rocket seems pretty safe. That rocket is probably safer than riding a rickety old roller coaster at the state fair. I've ridden in a small helicopter without doors and once in an open cockpit biplane, but that was when I was much younger and didn't have any sense. These days driving to the grocery store is about all the danger I can handle.

My allergies were terrible today. It's weird how the symptoms come and go. Just two days ago I had no problems whatsoever. I guess it just depends on what is blowing around in the air. The combination of a dripping nose, watering eyes,  and extremely high humidity made today's walks less than idyllic. I kept walking though. I've convinced myself that's I've got to keep moving.

I keep getting distracted by the sounds of rain on the roof. About every ten minutes I go check for signs of roof leaks and then go out on the back porch to see if the pumps are still working. So far, so good. It would be nice to live in a fancy high rise where I wouldn't have to worry about things like this. I'd probably just worry about something else though. It's just my nature. Unlike some of our other dogs, Dawn doesn't worry about thunder and lightning at all. She's sound asleep on the bed right now.

The only thing on my calendar are doctor's appointments. I need to see the dermatologist, the urologist, the eye doctor, my primary care physician, and the guys who are going to do my colonoscopy. There's nothing wrong. It's just that all my annual exams seem to happen in the Fall. The eye doctor appointment is usually my easiest exam, but I'm not looking forward to this one. I'm almost sure the doctor is going to tell me it's time for cataract surgery.

The rain keeps getting heavier. This would probably be a good time to curl up with a book. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get interested in reading anymore. The shelves in my office are filled with hundreds of books and I've read every one of them. Oddly I have no desire to add to this little library. I should just re-read the books I already have. I can't remember what half of them are about anyway.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4310

I spent the day trying to stay ahead of the rain which still hasn't arrived. They say it's supposed to rain later this evening. I don't know why I put so much faith in weather forecasts because they are seldom right. At least getting an early start allowed me to get some things done today. I wasn't really trying to get things done, but I had so much time on my hands that boredom set in and I actually did some vacuuming and house cleaning.

I'm not going to be able to wear shorts much longer. It was a little chilly on our morning walks. Dawn reverted to her short one mile loop and I took my regular long walk high after I finished breakfast. There was a light mist in the air, but I didn't really get wet. This was a far cry from the hundred degree walks I was taking earlier this summer. It's pleasant to walk without getting hot and sweaty, but my feet are starting to hurt again. Probably my special running shoes are starting to wear out and it's time to break in a new pair. I keep thinking that I just got these shoes but the soles tell another story. I've put a lot of miles on these puppies.

Tuesday is cleaning day at our house. Personally, I don't mind a little dust. It's easy to convince myself that dust protects things. Janet sees things differently. I'm sure she'd rather I'd just get out of the way, but I'd already taken my walk and I thought it was going to rain. I did the vacuuming today. I'm no better at vacuuming than anybody else but I am better at cleaning the vacuum cleaner. I don't know why we got a Dyson. Our old vacuum was so much easier to use. All the dust just went in a bag that you threw away when it got full. The Dyson has no bag and you practically have to take the thing apart to get it clean. I have to take the canister outside and use the leaf blower to get the leftover dust out of the canister after I have emptied it. You shouldn't have to use a leaf blower to clean your vacuum. This is typical of me. I'm more worried about dust in the vacuum cleaner than dust in the house.

I got a letter from Medicare today detailing the charges for my hospital visit. Some things were more expensive than I thought they'd be and other things were less. I was a little surprised that the anesthesiologist seem to make more money than the surgeon. A lot of labs test seemed relatively cheap. Medical billing is a complete mystery to me. The initial charges are always quite high. Medicare seems to pay surprisingly little. Always at the end of the day the whole thing just goes away. Maybe my supplemental insurance picks up the rest. Maybe all these numbers are just imaginary. Hospitals seem to know how it all works. Most patients don't.

I wish dogs had health insurance. The only time I get a true picture of what things actually cost is when one of our dogs has become seriously ill. Our dogs have had MRI's, CAT scans, ultrasound imaging, neurosurgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and much more, all using the same machinery and medications that humans use. It can get expensive.

There is a crew behind the house tearing up the alley again. They are destroying the work they did just a few weeks ago. These guys dig a big hole with a backhoe, no pipes of leaks seem to be uncovered, then they fill the hole in again. Today they ripped out the concrete they poured  earlier, dug an even bigger hole, and then filled it in with new concrete. They seem to make a lot of phone calls to their supervisor. I may be wrong, but I don't think these guys know what they are doing. Luckily we don't use this alley for anything. Our neighbors who use it as a driveway are probably pretty mad.

The weather app on my phone says we will have all day rain tomorrow. I don't know whether to believe this or not.

Kuuipo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4309

Last night's big storm didn't really amount to much. We got a lot of rain, but it was all over in less than an hour. It was pretty quiet at our house even though some people might have experienced a lot of wind. The roof didn't leak, there were no downed trees, and the pumps on the roof were still working in the morning.

I got all my walking in early today, so we could go visit the rescue dogs at the kennel. Dawn is definitely more adventurous now. At least every other day she's been walking longer and exploring some new territory. Today was a good day and we ended up walking almost two miles. I hit the trails again right after breakfast and had a nice long walk while the temperature was still pleasantly cool. I always count the resident geese and the Muscovy ducks when I walk and nobody was missing today. It's a simple thing, but I feel better when everything is in it's proper place.

Janet says I'm not doing my share of the driving, so I drove to the kennels today. We learned that the new girl who just entered the program wasn't going to be arriving until this evening. I guess I'll take her picture next week, assuming that she isn't already adopted by then. We were greeted by Charlie and Oliver. Although Oliver is a very young dog, he's large like Cooper was so I got the two mixed up for a while. I should have known the difference right away. Cooper could catch a ball like a champ. Oliver is a big, clumsy puppy who can't seem to catch anything. He has lots of fun trying though and makes us both laugh. We've finally gotten to know Charlie well enough that we can spend a few quiet moments with him.  He's usually like a coiled spring when we first see him and literally bounces off the walls chasing and catching things. After a while though he will sit on a bench with us and let us pet him. This is progress. I still think Charlie would make a great pet for the right person. You wouldn't want him sleeping in bed with you though.

I've never been a political person, but I hate what is happening in this country right now. I don't think any administration could make this many horrible blunders accidentally. Someone is doing this on purpose. These are people who hate this country so much that they are willing to tear the entire institution down in hopes that they can impose their own social order on the rubble and ashes that remain. The country was established as a republic instead of a pure democracy because the founders wisely valued individual freedom and didn't want to give the central government too much power. The battles we are seeing now are not really between Democrats and Republicans. I am neither. I see this as an epic struggle between people who think their own tribe or group matters more than the individual and people who still believe that the individual matters most. This country was built on the idea of individualism and it will be destroyed by tribalism. If tribalism and government mandates are what you want that's fine; but don't expect me to be on your side. I still believe in individual excellence. I basically just want to be left alone to talk about dogs, but if you keep poking me with a stick, I can be your worst nightmare. I don't think I am alone in this. Just look at all the Southwest Airlines pilots and staff who walked off the job recently in a massive "sick out" to protest their airline's vaccine mandates. I'm fully vaccinated, but that was my choice. Everybody should be able to make their own choices. 

I have no idea why anyone still reads this blog. I'd be the first to admit that it's pretty boring. I do know a small handful of progressives who read everyday and probably think I'm on their side. Nope. You got that wrong, just like everything else.

Katy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4308

Sunday is all about walking and eating. Janet fixes a big dinner and I spend most of the day walking. I should be fixing things around the house but almost everything that needs attention is way out of my league. I like walking because it's easy to convince myself that I'm doing something healthful and beneficial while I'm really just killing time.

Dawn went back to taking the short way home on her sunrise walk this morning. Maybe she was just saving her energy for the Sunday outing that came later. Dawn seems to love walking in this other park, although she whines in the car the entire way there. She's never been big on riding in the car.

There was a light mist when I took my long walk after breakfast. It cleared up a bit later in the morning and I was hoping that the forecast had changed. Nope. Severe weather is still headed our way and probably should arrive within an hour or so. Most of the really bad weather is to the North of us, but we are still under a tornado warning. I'm always apprehensive about bad weather. Power outages are common and too many things can go wrong. I keep wondering if there is a place where the weather is always perfect, but nothing comes to mind. We have the occasional tornado, but other places have floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and terrible winters. I shouldn't complain. Actually, Dallas weather has been better than most of the country this year.

Dawn is getting really bold. She even comes out in the kitchen when I'm fixing her dinner now. We're not best buddies yet, but we are making progress. She's real friendly early in the morning, but as the day progresses she remembers that I'm a man and not to be trusted. I wonder what those two guys who used her for breeding did to her. She clearly has some bad memories.

I should hurry up and finish this post because the storm keeps getting closer. I can hear thunder off in the distance now. If the power does go out, I can usually keep writing using the laptop. I've had to do that a few times before. I've even got an alternate way to get on the Internet using my little mobile hotspot. I still don't like storms though. We've got too many big trees in our yard that could come crashing down on the roof.

Tomorrow we'll visit the Dalmatian Rescue kennel again. There's a new girl entering the program, but I think she might still be at the vet getting her initial checkup. I'll take my camera anyway, just in case. We always enjoy meeting the new dogs, but we enjoy seeing Charlie too. He's been at the kennel so long that I'm sure he thinks it is his home.

Dawn enjoyed her ice cream cone today. I enjoyed our dinner tonight. It was a very nice day, even though very little happened. I guess I should say that very little has happened yet. The big storm is still not arrived.

Neo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4307

It's unreal how quickly prices are going up. I essentially get the same things week after week and the price of everything I buy is higher than it was even a few weeks ago. I can understand why something like coffee might be more expensive, but why is water more expensive? I have a feeling that this will continue for quite some time. The global supply chain is broken and nobody appears to know how to fix it.

I felt like seafood today, so I picked up some fresh crab cakes and scallops for dinner. This is clearly not a great way to save money, but dinner was delicious. I wish fish were easier to cook. I could probably eat any fish I wanted without much danger of heartburn. It's almost always red meat that gives me problems.

Dawn felt adventurous again this morning, so we walked further than we usually do. I can never predict what Dawn is going to do next. She has probably just learned to live in the moment better than I do. Dawn was very confident about where she was going this morning, even though it was a completely new direction. I think she knows her way around the neighborhood now. 

There's only time to do one thing on Saturday before the weather gets too hot and the stores get too crowded. Today I chose to get my shopping done first. It's amazing how much easier grocery shopping is if you go before 10 AM. There wasn't even a line at the meat counter in Central Market this morning. Of course, early shopping meant that I missed the nice cool weather on my long walk. The temperature climbs from the mid sixties to the mid nineties very quickly. It still felt like Fall, but things were much nicer on Dawn's sunrise walk.

My task for the day was defrosting the little refrigerator. This small dorm room refrigerator was meant to be a temporary solution while we were waiting for repairs to our kitchen refrigerator, but somehow it has become permanent and essential. Both refrigerators are always full now. I had completely forgotten that refrigerators needed to be defrosted until we got this thing. Every couple of months I put all the perishables in the big refrigerator, open the door and unplug it. I stuff the inside with old bath towels and let the ice melt. Two of three hours later, we're back in business.

I didn't see any more dead ants today. Maybe they're gone. First it was the spiders and now it's the ants. I wonder what other critters are going to try to invade the house? I forget when the Crane Flies arrive, but they're a nuisance too. I still haven't made it up on the roof to check and see if there's a place where the ants are getting in. I may have missed my chance. It's still supposed to rain tomorrow. 

I need to make an appointment with my eye doctor. For the past several years he's been telling me that I have cataracts and it's only a matter of time before I'll need surgery. The time may have come. One eye is definitely fuzzier than the other now. I've made my income as a visual person for many years, so I've always dreaded having anyone messing with my eyes. I guess cataract surgery is very safe. I wonder how you focus with an artificial lens though. I don't even like the idea of wearing glasses.

These weeks go so quickly now. It's already time for Dawn's Sunday outing again. Hopefully we'll be able to take our walk and have ice cream cones before the weather turns bad.

Maverick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4306

I discovered more dead ants this morning. It's not strange to see ants, but I can't recall seeing large piles of dead ones before. Luckily, most of the ants are outside, but they do seem to be coming from inside the roof. Is the one foot space between the surface of the roof and the sheetrock ceiling full of ants? Who knows. I need to crawl up on the roof and see if there is an entry point for these critters, but it's always too hot by the time I've completed my long walk. I know ants stay together in colonies in the ground. Maybe they do the same thing if they find themselves inside a roof. I don't know why they are all dying now, but I wish they'd stop. It's a disgusting mess to clean up.

We were hoping that Dawn would be adventurous on her walk again this morning, but she reverted to her old ways and just wanted to do the short one mile loop. She loves to smell things on these morning walks, so maybe when she leads us on a new path, she is just following a particularly attractive scent.

We didn't get an early start this morning, but it didn't really matter. It was still nice and cool for Dawn's sunrise walk and my own long walk that came later. It's been so nice for the past week or so that it's hard to believe there are severe weather warnings for this weekend. Forecasts change frequently around here, so I'm hoping that the severe weather threat doesn't amount to anything. I hate worrying about roof leaks, power outages, and downed trees.

I wish I hadn't upgrade my phone to IOS 15. Now the battery life is terrible. It won't even last an entire day anymore. I kind of knew this would happen, but the geek in me wanted to know what was so special about this new operating system. Curiosity killed the cat, I guess. I should have known better. New systems with lots of bells and whistles generally don't perform well on old phones.

I did better on my long walk this morning, but I'm still moving slower than I should be. The weather is beautiful and I'm feeling pretty good. Why am I so slow and what gave me that little burst of energy last week? I may be wrong, but I think my seasonal allergies are causing all this. When you are constantly sneezing and blowing your nose, it can be tiring. I guess I could take antihistamines, but I usually have a bad reaction to them. Who knows. Maybe if a storm rolls in this weekend, it will blow all the allergies away.

The dietary changes I made after my hospitalization appear to be permanent. I wasn't really expecting this and certainly haven't made much of an effort to change my lifestyle. Nevertheless, I'm drinking less coffee, have no desire to make my smoothies anymore, and am eating less for dinner. I'm having a small green salad with dinner now, but I started doing this before I went to the hospital. The salad was just an effort to eat more like Janet because she seems really healthy. It will be interesting to see if I actually am any healthier when I go in for my annual physical at the end of the month. Maybe I am, but this all might just be in my mind.

Dawn certainly seems healthier now. Getting rid of her bladder stones seems to have made a world of difference. She's on a special diet that is supposed to prevent new stones from forming. Janet and I have never liked those Hills Prescription Diets though. Finding the right food for your dog is a long, slow process. Everybody has strong opinions and if you ask ten people you'll get ten different answers. Too bad you can't ask the dog. I'm sure that Dawn has an opinion on this. She actually seems to love the food we're feeding her now, so maybe we'll stick with this for a while.

Time to make a grocery list again. I'm going to try to go early again tomorrow. It worked last week. If you can get your shopping done before 10 AM the stores are almost empty.

Madison is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4305

Dawn surprised us this morning. She walked twice as far as she usually does on her sunrise walk and had lots of energy the entire way. Of course she slept for the rest of the day, but you never know with this dog. Maybe she knows like I do that this beautiful Fall weather isn't going to last forever. We might as well take advantage of it while we can.

I don't spent nearly as much time at breakfast now since I'm just having a bowl of shredded wheat instead of making my elaborate and very large smoothie. You'd think I'd find something productive to do with this extra time, but I still seem to do exactly the same things in the same order.

Maybe Dawn's energetic early walk wore me out. I felt good this morning, but my pace on my long walk was a lot slower than usual. After a while, my foot started to hurt again too. By the time I returned home I was beat. It seemed weird that Dawn had more energy today and I had less. I certainly had plenty of time to recover. There was nothing at all on the agenda.

I got a second bill from the plumber this morning. I already paid the bill, but this makes me wonder whether they ever received it. The business reply envelope they sent with the bill was much smaller than usual and I remember thinking "this is going to get lost in the mail." I have no faith in the post office anymore. Of course, I don't have much faith in anything else either, but just adds one more thing to my list of things to sort out later.

The hospital is already sending me instructions for my upcoming endoscopy/colonoscopy. It's a little early guys. Why don't you wait until a few day ahead of time so I won't forget. My brain is like a sieve now. If you tell me something I need to know a month from now I will have totally forgotten about it when the time comes. 

The new editor at SpaceFlight sent me a style guide for writing for the magazine. It was just your ordinary run-of-the-mill style guide, but I felt a bit disappointed receiving it. The old editor would never have done something like this. He never tried to box me in with a pedantic set of rules. If anything, I always felt like he was encouraging me to be expansive and break the rules if possible. Maybe I'll still have a good relationship with the magazine, but this style guide wasn't a good omen. Why take the fun out of things. Maybe the editor doesn't realize that "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!" is still my favorite line of dialogue from any movie ever made.

I wonder how long Fall allergy season will last this year? My allergies were terrible today. It seemed like I was blowing my nose all day. The ants are back too. The weird thing is that most of them appear to be dying. There were a ton of dead ants in the atrium this morning and we keep seeing them from time to time in both our bathrooms. I wonder where these guys are coming from? At least they aren't termites. 

Cupcake is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4304

Not a lot happened today. I slowly and methodically went through my daily routine, but I was still left with a lot of time on my hands. I should use days like these to do something significant, but I seldom do. Sometimes I think of things to do around the house while eating breakfast. If I don't immediately talk myself out of the task because it is too messy or too hard, the desire is usually gone by the time I finish my long walk. Even on a nice day, walking six miles can be a little tiring.

I paid some bills and answered a few e-mails this morning, but that didn't take up as much time as I'd hoped. The weather was nice and I really had no excuse not to finish the weeding I'd started in the backyard. I'm still not finished, but the white gravel pathways are looking much nicer now. Since I'm having trouble with my knees, I did most of the weeding bending over at the waist. I'm sure this wasn't good for my back. From time to time I'd sit down and rest, wondering why I had even started doing something like this. I guess it's better than being up on the roof. The yard does look better now, although you wouldn't notice anything special unless you'd seen how bad it was before.

The November issue of SpaceFlight Magazine must have gone to press because I got a message this morning asking if I wanted author copies. Sure. I always want author copies. Without a physical copy of the magazine to hold in my hands, it's easy to forget that I've written anything. I hope this issue doesn't take eight months to get here like the February issue. It might though. Covid might be waning in the UK, but now nobody seems to be able to get gas for their cars.

I wonder if there is a limit to how many callers I can block on my phone. I seem to add a few more to the blocked list every single day. Don't spammers and telemarketers know that almost nobody answers their phone anymore unless they recognize the number. Somebody is putting a whole lot of energy into this. Why don't they just get a real job? I don't understand people at all. Way too many will put more time and energy into cheating someone than they ever would into doing something decent. People are terrible. I almost feel sorry for Mark Zuckerberg. It's easy to criticize Facebook when the real problem is the people who use it.

If the weather stays nice I really need to get up on the roof and clean away the leaves and debris so I can look for torn spots in the elastomer. I need to do my best to get the roof sealed again before Winter arrives. In the Summer water will evaporate after a rain. In the Winter it just stays there forever. One thing I've learned about water is that if it sits long enough, it will eventually find a way in the house. I wish there was a way to even out the low spots where water collects. In my mind there ought to be a product that you could pour into the low spots where it would harden to level the roof out so it would drain properly. I ask every roofer I talk to about this imaginary product, but it apparently doesn't exist. 

The storage warehouse raised my rent again. They do this every year. I could probably save money by going back to the old storage warehouse as a new customer. It's so much trouble to move everything though. A better solution would be to just get rid of all the stuff I'm storing. What am I storing it for? At some point "too nice to throw away" doesn't make sense anymore. 80% of the stuff  I'm storing will never be used again. Oh, well. One more thing to worry about in the future. 

I hope that tomorrow is more interesting than today. I guess that's up to me though.

Cassie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4303

It's always interesting to go to a new doctor. I think this one is a keeper. The doctor I talked with today was the same one who removed the stones from my bile duct while I was hospitalized. and discovered that I had Barrett's esophagus. She did a good job of explaining why a second endoscopy and a biopsy of the esophagus was necessary. Evidently Barrett's esophagus is considered a pre-cancerous condition, even though the chances of it turning into cancer are very low. This inflammation of the lower part of the esophagus is caused by years of repeated acid reflux.  I've certainly experienced heartburn for a long time. Chances are the damage was done decades ago.

The upshot is that I go back to the hospital in a few weeks for an upper GI tract endoscopy. As a dubious bonus I am going to have a colonoscopy done at the same time. I knew that my primary care physician would never stop bugging me about the colonoscopy, so I thought this might be a good idea. Hey, I'm always up for killing two birds with one stone. I was somewhat surprised that the doctor agreed and said that doing both procedures at the same time would be no problem.

I don't look forward to being anesthetized again and having tubes shoved up both ends, but I'm a practical person and agree that this is necessary. No matter how healthy you think you are, seeing the doctor more often is just part of growing older. This is the time of year when I'm due for most of my annual exams anyway. I still need to make appointments to see the dermatologist, the urologist, and the eye doctor.

My doctor's appointment didn't stop me from taking my long walk. My new routine is to start the day with our sunrise walk with Dawn, eat a quick breakfast, and then immediately return to the trails for my long six mile walk before it gets too hot. This seems like a good plan even though it doesn't really get too hot anymore. The weather is just much nicer before 11 AM. 

People continue to send me surveys to fill out on an almost daily basis. What is the deal with all these surveys? I get them from the Land Rover dealer, the hospital, various doctors, elected representatives, the electric company, and just about anyone else I've crossed paths with. This is a recent phenomenon. Five years ago nobody asked me to take a survey. I wonder what has changed? Probably everything is driven by big data now and surveys determine what products and services we will get in the future. That's a shame if this is true. The world would be a much better place if people just used common sense to make decisions.

I finally figured out how to get the new medical features on my Apple Watch to work. The good news is that I have a few more graphs to look at in the morning. The bad news is that the batteries on both my phone and watch don't seem to last as long anymore. I've been trying to disable the background app refresh settings on my phone whenever I can find them. These seems to be on by default when you upgrade your operating system. Apple doesn't really care how long your battery lasts. They'd rather just sell you a new phone or computer every couple of years.

I think I'm more or less caught up on things for a while. I haven't heard from the observatory lately, so I'll probably just postpone my next visit until the Spring. I doubt that I'll be returning to Kennedy Space Center this year either. The launches I want to see have all been postponed until 2022. Maybe this is all for the best. It's been an expensive year and I don't have much money left for travel anyway. There's always plenty of walking to do. I'll just walk my way into 2022 and then pick up where I left off.

Lightning is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4302

Charlie and Oliver were in good spirits today. These two have so much energy. Our own dogs never played with toys that much, but Charlie and Oliver will chase a ball all day. You can tell that they enjoy the time we spend with them. We should probably spend more time with the rescue dogs but it's a long drive up to the kennel.  

Janet had a meeting this morning so we got up earlier than usual today. There were still a few stars in the sky and a very thin crescent moon when we left the house. I like it when the park is empty and quiet. It's much more peaceful to listen to bird sounds than the music from the miniature boomboxes people attach to their bicycles. Even worse are all the leaf blowers you hear later in the morning when the yard crews arrive in the neighborhood. It's no surprise that I like spending time on Mount Locke where all I hear is the wind and the occasional hawk overhead.

We're having an exceptionally nice Fall this year. We had a little rain last week, but mostly it's been clear skies and cool temperatures every day. It's nice to be able to walk without needing to change clothes when you return. I've found that my pace is faster on these cool mornings. Maybe I'm just feeling better these days, but I'm enjoying my walks again.

It was kind of weird having Facebook down all day. It's easy to forget that none of this even existed until very recently. You actually had to sit down over lunch to catch up on things with friends. Now you just like a few posts every morning and everyone knows you're still alive and well. I still think the world would be a better place without social media, but I'm as guilty as the next guy for wasting time scrolling through mountains of nothing every day.

I have to see a new doctor tomorrow. This means I'll have to fill out the same information I've filled out dozens of times before. Why don't doctors share information? They all seem to have their own forms. It seems like you should only have to fill out this information once. I thought I'd already made a list of all my prescriptions, so I could just print it out and take it with me tomorrow. I couldn't find the list anywhere.  I guess I'll make a new list tomorrow after breakfast. This is impossible to do in a doctors waiting room. I can never remember the names of the pills I take, and even if I could remember I could never spell them correctly.

We can't decide whether to go to the fair. Parking is too expensive. We don't particularly like fair food.  And we never go on any of the rides. Usually we just watch the agility dogs perform, walk through the auto buildings and look at new cars, and look for the sidewalk bricks we bought in memory of Spot decades ago. We'll probably go and then wonder why we bothered later.

One of my watch winders broke today. I guess it was about time. It's been faithfully winding watches I never wear anymore for dozens of years now. Hard to believe that I was so interested in watches at one time. I just wear the Apple Watch now. 

Jersey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4301

Today was beautiful. It's hard to complain about clear blue skies and cooler temperatures. Dawn was ready for a walk as soon as we woke up this morning. She doesn't really approve of sleeping in on weekends. One of the many nice things about cooler weather is that we don't really need to walk before sunrise anymore. It's cool enough now to walk a dog any time of day.

After a breakfast of pancakes and sausages, I took my long walk. I wanted to be finished in time for Dawn's Sunday outing. The park was full of people this morning and the roads were crowded. I think everyone with a convertible had their top down today. I saw a beautifully restored Porsche 356 Speedster and a Shelby Cobra on my way to the park. There were lots of convertible Mustangs and Cameros as well. I've never understood the appeal of a convertible. I've never even opened the sunroof on my car. I prefer as much insulation from road noise and exhaust fumes as I can get.

I'm surprised that the lake level is still way down after the big rain we got the other day. The little bay where all the ducks and geese used to gather is still mostly dry. I see lots of photographers with long telephoto lenses in the park on weekends. I don't think they were very successful today. There were lots of people taking advantage of the nice day, but the animals were elsewhere.

When we took Dawn on her Sunday outing, there were crews taking down lots of tents. I think there was a big Octoberfest event yesterday. As you might expect, there was trash everywhere. People don't seem to be able to throw their trash in a trash can even if there are receptacles every ten feet. I have no desire to attend festivals like this. I'm not even sure I want to go to the fair. There are way too many people for me. 

Dawn doesn't know how to pace herself. She gets too excited on these Sunday outings and it wasn't long before her tongue was hanging out and we needed to rest under some shade trees. The weather was cool and we weren't walking fast. Dawn couldn't relax though. She seems to really like these outings, but she is still a very anxious dog. The ice cream cone at the end of our walk did calm her down. We all love ice cream.

After three walks I was done for the day. Since the weather was nice I thought I'd try to clear some weeds out of the gravel pathways in the back yard. That didn't last long. My knees are terrible now and weeding is no longer something my body seems to approve of. Never mind. I convinced myself that the weeds were going to die soon anyway and went back into the house.

I can't get the new sleep tracking features on my watch to work, but the watch talks to me now. Who thought that was a good idea? I've got to figure out how to turn this off. There is too much noise in the park already. I don't need to listen to my watch telling me how slow I'm going.

Tomorrow we'll visit the Dalmatian kennels. We always do this on Mondays. I'm not sure if Oliver is back from the vet yet, but Charlie will be there to greet us. 

Hobbs is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4300

I like big round numbers. Only 700 days to go. Writing something for 5000 days in a row has turned out to be a harder challenge than I originally imagined. A lot has changed over the past ten years. I'm still determined to make it to Day 5000 though, even though I don't really have much to say.

I certainly don't have any great insights today. It was a typical Saturday. We got up a little later than we do on weekdays and took Dawn on her early walk. Dawn wasn't adventurous today and just wanted to take her short one mile loop. We had bacon and eggs for breakfast and then I left to do my grocery shopping.

I have to go to three stores now to find the things I need. The supply chain in America still seems broken. A lot of common, ordinary things seem harder to find now. At least I'm having trouble finding the things I like. Stores are not shy about discontinuing brands that don't sell well. Everything is so computerized now that larger stores only restock items that customers are buying the most. They know exactly what you are buying because everything on your register tape is entered into their master database. This doesn't help me, because I'm not always buying what everyone else is. The shopping app I often use to bypass the register line always shows me a list of basic items I commonly buy and asks if I'd like to purchase them again. Sure, but where is that cheese that was on here last week? The list is convenient though. Maybe I don't need a shopping list. It's already in my phone.

I'm not wild about being held hostage to the latest buying trends. Things go in and out of fashion, even though my personal tastes rarely change. You used to be able to find local craft beers everywhere. Now the selections are more limited. I'm having a lot of trouble finding my favorite brew these days. The same thing is happening with cheese. I got hooked on some very sharp imported cheddar and now I can't find it anywhere. What you can find are store brands. All grocery stores have their own private labels now. These items are usually less expensive, because stores have learned that most customers will buy the cheapest thing available.

The temperature was fairly cool today but the humidity was extremely high. I'll take hot and dry over cool and damp any day. When I returned home from my long walk my clothes were drenched even though the temperature was only in the mid-eighties. I spent the rest of the day inside. At least the rain is over with for a while. The forecast shows clear skies for the next week. I probably need to get up on the roof and clean things up while the weather is nice. I'm not looking forward to this, but I've already proved that I can get up on the roof and down again.

I finally decided to install IOS 15 on my phone. This huge download seemed to take twice as long as most phone updates. The companion update to the Apple Watch took even longer. When the watch update began, it said it would take 4 hours. This estimate was pretty accurate. I think the update actually took about three hours. This pair of new updates is supposed to unlock a ton of new features. I wonder if I'll use any of them. There are several new apps on the phone that are supposed to help you achieve peace and serenity. I'm pretty serene anyway, so I doubt that I'll use those. I am interested in the new sleep tracking capabilities of the watch. I'm always interested in what happens while I'm asleep. Too bad I can't remember my dreams.

It looks like our nice Fall weather will return tomorrow, so we ought to have a good Sunday outing with Dawn. She really likes this change of pace from her normal routine even though a ride in the car still scares her. It's hard to tell the difference between fear and excitement with Dawn. She's certainly happy when we get to our destination. We all love the ice cream. We've even started taking home a pint of our favorite flavor when we get the cones. Life is good when there's long walks and ice cream.

Bailey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4299

The goal for the day was to get everything done before the rain started. This turned out to be pretty easy because it didn't start raining until almost dinner time. We got a lot of rain in a short amount of time. I finally had to crawl up on the roof and restart the pumps. What a mess up there. Lots of twigs, leaves and rotting pecan shells. I didn't even bother to remove all the standing water because it is supposed to rain again tomorrow. It's been dry for so long that I'd almost forgotten how much I hate this job. My bad knee gave me a few problems today, but at least I can still make it up on the roof.

I had to go back to the Land Rover dealer today. After all the expensive repairs, they forgot to reset the 'service required' message on the dash. This was irritating because seeing that stupid message every time I started the car was what caused me to get the repairs in the first place. I found instructions on the Internet for how to remove the message myself but they didn't work. Why make this so complicated? The instructions said to open the hood and the driver's side door, press the ignition without starting the car, and then press the gas and the brake simultaneously for thirty seconds. I thought this was a joke, but a number of people said it worked. It turned out to be easier to just go to the dealership again.

I thought it was Saturday several times today. There isn't much to differentiate one day from another anymore. I paid some bills and then went to the post office and the bank. The bank still hasn't reopened its lobby after all this time. Maybe it never will. I've gotten used to using the drive thru window though. 

When I returned home I took my long walk. Since it was a cloudy day the temperature hadn't changed much from when we took Dawn on her sunrise walk. It's nice when you can walk a few miles without getting drenched in sweat. This is kind of the sweet spot as far as the weather goes. It's not too hot, but I don't need to wear a coat or jacket yet.

I think my Fitbit is on its last legs. It's getting harder and harder to recharge the thing and the battery only lasts for about two days. Today I thought the Fitbit had finally died, but I eventually got it to recharge by using the more powerful charger that came with the iPad. I guess I'll have to get a new Fitbit soon. I've become hooked on tracking things. My watch has added some new tracking features too, but I have to upgrade to IOS 15 on my phone to use them. I think I'll wait a while. IOS 15 is still full of bugs.

Dawn seems so much happier now. She isn't licking her paws anymore. She likes the new food we've been feeding her. And she's even friendlier toward me. I think the bladder stones she had must have been really bothering her. Hopefully the change in her diet will keep the stones from reforming. I might have to change my own diet as well. I'll find out more when I see the digestive specialists this coming Tuesday. I don't think I have to worry about gallstones anymore though. I don't have a gallbladder.

Time to make a grocery list again. Time passes so quickly now. Halloween isn't a big holiday for us, but I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. I wonder if our favorite Thanksgiving buffet will be back this year? Maybe not. Covid restrictions seem to go on forever.

Tori is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4298

I got the car back. It runs fine, but it seemed to run fine before I took it in for the scheduled service. I assume that the mechanics did everything on the lengthy receipt I received, but when I leave the dealership it always feels like I just paid for the world's most expensive carwash. The car never seems any different than it did before. I won't be going back to the dealership any time soon. The prices they charge are ridiculous and they don't even try to be competitive.

As I was leaving, the young service advisor implored me to give him a good rating on the survey I knew would be coming. "My job depends on this," he told me. "I know," I told him. "All your predecessors have told me the same thing." I didn't tell him that none of his predecessors were still working at the dealership. I'll give the guy a good score, even though he basically knew nothing. It wasn't his fault that the dealership charged insanely high prices. It's too bad that the survey doesn't rank the dealership itself instead of a low level employee who had no control over anything.

When I returned home, there was a bill from the plumber in the mailbox. This bill was quite high as well but I didn't feel quite as bad about it. The two plumbers had spent the better part of a day trying to retrofit a 2021 restaurant faucet to a quirky 1950's mid-century modern GE kitchen unit. These two large bills pretty much insure that I won't be going anywhere in October. I'm tapped out and the month hasn't even started yet.

I took my long walk early today because I thought I was supposed to pick my car up at 10 AM. As it turned out, the car wasn't ready until very late in the day, but it was still nice to be walking while the weather was cool. While I was walking I saw park department mowers approaching the meadow behind our house. This was good news. The grass has grown very tall in the meadow and it's full of sticky pollen. Every time we return home from Dawn's sunrise walk we have to get wet rags and clean Dawn's legs and paws. They always let the grass grow longer in the Fall so that it has time to re-seed. I'm pretty sure that this native grass will be back next Spring.

I forgot to mark Cooper as adopted on the Dalmatian Rescue website when I was updating things yesterday. I took care of that this afternoon while I was waiting for the call to pick up my car. It still surprises me that my website development skills have seemingly evaporated. I used to be so good at this stuff. I guess the old adage "use it or lose it" still applies. When you do something every day you're going to be a lot better at it than when you do the same thing once a month.

My Fall allergies are back with a vengeance. I'm always blowing my nose and wiping my watering eyes while I walk. It seems like every year the space between when the Spring allergies end and the Fall allergies begin grows shorter and shorter. I'll be so glad when all the Covid fears are over. I'm always checking Google to make sure my allergy symptoms aren't a sign of Covid instead. I've had seasonal allergies for so long that I ought to know the difference. Unfortunately you don't hear much about seasonal allergies in the news and we are constantly bombarded with Covid news. 

It looks like we are finally going to get some rain tonight. All three weather apps on my phone show a band of rain headed towards us. The yard is dry and we really do need the rain, but all I can think of is roof leaks.

Thelma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4297

As expected, they didn't finish working on my car today. I knew they wouldn't and it's not even a big deal. I think I am finished with the dealership. This whole experience was the last straw. I looked on the Internet and discovered two places in the Dallas area that exclusively work on Land Rovers. Both had excellent reviews along with much lower prices than the dealership. I don't know why I haven't looked for something like this earlier. I just got in the habit of going to the dealership. I liked the free loaner cars and the place wasn't far from my house. Now that the loaners cars aren't a sure thing and prices have gone through the roof, it looks like my loyalty to the dealership was a bad decision. It would be smarter to just pay for a rent car myself and take advantages of the lower prices at other repair shops.

The rain I was expecting last night never arrived. It was still dry this morning when we took our sunrise walk with Dawn. We have to leave later now because the days are getting shorter. I wish they would make the change back to Standard Time a little sooner. I don't care when it gets dark at night because I do almost everything in the morning now. It would be nice to wake up to sunlight again though.

My pace is improving on my long walks. I've lost weight, but I feel like I'm back to normal now. I'm probably ready to start lifting weights again. Truthfully, I was probably ready a week ago, but I just haven't felt like going to the gym. Something needs to be done about muscle atrophy, so I can't avoid the gym forever. I'll probably return as soon as the weather turns bad. Our beautiful Fall weather isn't going to last forever, so I might as well take advantage of it while it's here.

I still haven't heard anything from the observatory, but it might be best if I postponed any travel plans for a while. October is going to be an expensive month with car repairs, plumbing bills, along with various doctor and dental bills all coming due at the same time. Living on a fixed income is fine when nothing goes wrong, but you can start to feel poor pretty quickly when you are hit with surprises. I never liked surprises even when I was younger. Now I hate them.

I finally found something to enter in the Olympus photo contest. The theme for the contest was "Into the forest" and I had to go all the way back to 2004 to find a wildlife photo shot with an Olympus camera. This certainly wan't one of my best, but it will have to do. I'm glad the rules didn't stipulate a new Olympus camera. My photo of a male and female Mallard duck sitting on a log together was shot with one of the first serious digital cameras available. It took pictures natively in tiff format at 300 DPI. Even my current cameras don't do that anymore.

Janet said that Dawn did really well in training class tonight. Apparently, she's ready to graduate to a more advanced class starting next week. Progress with Dawn has been slow, but she is definitely becoming more comfortable with her new life. Dawn seems confident now and a lot of the fear she had initially is gone. When I fixed her dinner tonight, she was right there beside me and eager to eat. Six months ago this would have seemed impossible.

Sweetpea is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day