Day 4743

It's definitely Winter. It's cold. It's damp. I want to sleep with an extra blanket on the bed. Winter is not my favorite season, but luckily it's not as bad here as it is further north. The problem with Winter is that I continue to do exactly the same things I do in the summer even though the experience is not as pleasant.

I dressed warmly for our early walk with Dawn. Actually I dressed a little too warmly, but I didn't want to take chances. As temperatures drop, there are fewer people on the trails. We're dedicated though. If it's not raining, we'll be out walking.

I waited a while before taking my long walk today because I was hoping that it would either warm up or the wind would die down. Neither happened but I went walking anyway. I must really hate driving because in many ways it would be so much easier to go to the gym on days like this. Sadly, the weather was nice today compared to what it is going to be like later in the week. Single digit temperatures are still in the forecast.

I found a really nice sweater under a pile of clothes when I was getting dressed for my walk. Where did this come from? I must have had the sweater for years. It looked like it had never been worn. I wonder what else I have. I accumulated a lot of clothes during the time I traded design services for clothing and shoes. Looking back, this was a pretty good deal. The money I made during the early years of my company disappeared a long time ago. I still have a lot of the clothes though.

I didn't see the eagles today on my walk. I wonder where they go when they aren't near their nest? I cover a lot of ground in the park and you'd think I'd see them somewhere. They're either near the nest or gone completely. People speculate that since the pair returned this year to build a second nest that they might have made the lake their permanent home. I don't think anyone really knows however. I hope they didn't scare the pelicans away. I think I enjoyed watching the pelicans more than the eagles. 

Since the ground has dried out and bulky trash pickup is later this week, it was a good day to start raking leaves. Since we have large Oak trees in our back yard, there are a ton of leaves on the ground every fall. I'm not a fan of raking and bagging leaves, but it needs to be done. When we first moved here I just let the leaves blow away during the Winter. It worked pretty well until all the neighbors built tall privacy fences. Now we don't get the same kind of breeze we used to get and the leaves just stay on the ground. 

I bagged a lot of leaves this afternoon and took them out to the curb. There are still a lot of leaves on one of the Oak trees, but it's a start. Maybe I'll rake a little more tomorrow. The leaves are dry now and it is supposed to rain later in the week. For a while, Janet and I were both out working on the leaves and Dawn got excited, thinking that we were out there to play with her. She had great fun racing through the big piles of leaves. It was nice to see her enjoying herself. Dawn is not usually a very playful dog.

I made an appointment to get a haircut later in the week. I have an appointment to see the eye doctor the same day. Doing two different things in one day is rare for me. I think I'll manage though. I'll probably find time to take a walk as well.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4742

I didn't do much today. I should feel guilty for being so lethargic, but it doesn't seem to bother me. We took our morning walk a little later this morning. After all these years we still have a weekend schedule even though we are both retired. I'd probably sleep in late every day, but Janet and Dawn have other ideas. It's probably good that they get me up. I'm lazy enough already.

After breakfast I went mall walking again. I thought the mall would be packed this morning, but it was strangely empty. I'm sure the place was busy after the stores opened, but there were definitely fewer walkers today. I still can't figure out why I walk slower indoors. It seems counterintuitive. The terrain is flat, The temperature is comfortable. I don't have to worry about tripping over anything. You'd think I'd be really fast in this type of environment.

I'm probably slower because I glance at all the store windows. I don't linger, but I'm definitely aware of what's on display. I wonder who buys this stuff. These clothes don't look anything like what I see at the grocery store or walking in the park. I guess people still go to parties. There are a lot of party clothes on display. There are a lot of Winter coats on display as well. Some of these coats will probably get sold next week when we are expecting a record cold spell. The mall does feel festive at this time of year. I'm not a very festive person, but I do enjoy the Christmas season. I may be imagining things, but people seem a little nicer in December.

Every time I go mall walking I notice that a new store has opened and another one has closed. I didn't realize that things were so fluid in the world of retail. You wouldn't think anyone would have the nerve to open a new store in an environment where people buy everything on Amazon, but I guess hope springs eternal. Since Northpark is a very high-end mall, I'm probably getting a distorted view of reality. It suits me though. I'd never go walking at a Walmart Supercenter.

As soon as I returned home Dawn was ready to go on her Sunday outing. She always seems super excited to go on these little Sunday road trips, but instantly reverts to panic mode as soon as Janet starts the car. She walks fairly normally when we arrive at our destination, but is always a little wilder than she is at the park near our house. Since we do this every Sunday, you'd think this would all be routine by now. I'm not a dog though. I really have no idea what is going through her mind.

Ice cream definitely calms Dawn down. I think she enjoys the ice cream even more than we do. We order the same thing every week, but sometimes the cones are larger and other times they are smaller. It just depends on who is serving that day. There is always a help wanted sign at the ice cream store. It's probably not a hard job but I don't think I'd want to work there. I don't think I'd want to work at a restaurant either. OK, if I'm being honest, I don't really want to work at all. 

I'm a little apprehensive about next week's weather. Single digit temperatures are rare in Dallas. I'm always worried that the pipes will freeze or the car won't start. Hopefully the furnace is in good shape. It just got repaired a few weeks ago. I'm sure we'll be just fine but Florida is looking better and better.

Alvin is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4741

Today was busy. There was lots of walking, grocery shopping, and household chores. It was in the mid-30's when we took our early walk with Dawn. That's warm compared to what it's going to be like next week though. An arctic cold front is headed our way with predictions for single digit temperatures. I hope the power grid holds up this year. You definitely don't want a power outage when you are experiencing sub-freezing temperatures.

I got a box of large leaf bags when I was out shopping this morning. This doesn't mean that we are going to rake leaves right away, but it does mean this odious chore is officially on the radar. The stores were crowded today and so were the roads. I think it's going to be this way until Christmas. You can tell that Hanukkah and Christmas are almost here. The stores were filled with holiday food favorites. It's tempting to buy more than you need, but I've finally learned that two people can only eat so much.

Yesterday I was pretty sure I was going to the gym today, but the heavy traffic made me change my mind. When I finished my shopping all I wanted to do was go home. Actually, walking in the park is better exercise than I typically get at the gym. I walk faster for some reason and I definitely walk longer. The weather was definitely brisk this morning but I dressed warmly and I was fine. 

I saw the eagles again today but there are still no White Pelicans. The pelicans started disappearing around the same time the eagles arrived. My theory now is that the eagles drove the pelicans away. Both birds use Sunset Bay to catch fish. You wouldn't think that two eagles could scare one hundred pelicans, but the eagles are fairly ruthless. Most of the local waterfowl seem nervous around them. Truthfully, I know nothing about birds, but this does seem like a plausible theory to me. The White Pelicans have always been here in December before.

I vacuumed, did laundry, and finished a few other small chores this afternoon. Every dog we have had before Dawn was scared of the vacuum cleaner. Dawn could care less. She just sits on the bed and looks at me when I'm vacuuming in the bedroom. Today she even fell asleep. Apparently the noise doesn't bother her at all. Dawn is definitely a weird dog. She ignores things that frighten most dogs and is frightened of things that a normal dog would ignore.

Since it is going to be at or near freezing tomorrow morning I started my car in the driveway and ran it until the engine was warm. I did this last year during freezing weather and it seemed to work. I've had car batteries fail during cold weather before and I don't want to deal with that again. Janet brought home a down comforter for the bed from her storage warehouse. We don't want to deal with a cold weather power outage either. Every time winter weather is headed our way I'm envious of my Florida friends. It was seventy degrees in Titusville this afternoon. There was a rocket launch this evening too.

I'll probably go mall walking tomorrow morning but it all depends on the weather. I'm not even sure my car will start at this point. At least there is no rain or snow in the forecast. One day at a time I guess. Eventually it will be Spring again.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4740

I often have trouble remembering what day it is. It's understandable. I do the same things every day. I get up when Janets says "We'll be walking in twenty minutes." I dress warmly for these early walks and then change back into indoor clothes as soon as we return. I make the bed and then eat my breakfast when Janet and Dawn are finished in the kitchen. I fix my coffee and have a bowl of shredded wheat with fruit. Lately the fruit of choice is strawberries, but I enjoy peaches in the summer. I've tried blackberries, blueberries and raspberries, but didn't like those as much. I've gone through periods when I've fixed myself an omlette, made french toast, or eaten a grapefruit. I even got my special omlette recipe featured in a cookbook once. Now shredded wheat seems to do the trick. They have to be mini-wheats without a sugar coating though. I don't like the old fashioned full sized shredded wheat either.

I usually watch television while I'm eating breakfast. This does little to remind me what day it is. I'm a channel surfer and find all the channels equally bad. Fox is the pillow guy every five minutes. MSNBC is non-stop January 6. CNN is the Ukraine channel. Business is looking up on CNBC. A recession is just around the corner on Fox Business. I only watch the local channels if there is a tornado warning. It's all basically worthless, but it's better than eating in silence.

I try to wait until it warms up a bit before I take my long walk, but usually I get bored and leave right after I check my e-mail for messages. When I was working there were a lot of messages. Now my inbox is mostly spam. Walking is even more boring than watching cable news during breakfast, but I've convinced myself that I'm doing this for my health. I'm sure the long walks do some good, but I'm a long way from becoming a gym rat. I still walk pretty slow and occasionally fat people pass me on the trails. 

To amuse myself I try to keep track of what the local birds and waterfowl are doing. There is a lot of activity. We've got a colony of very noisy green monk parakeets. There are tons of mallards, coots, and ruddy ducks. Occasionally I will see some very colorful wood ducks. A large group of American White Pelicans spend the Winter at the lake along with an even larger group of Double Crested Cormorants. I frequently hear owls but rarely see them. I do see lots of Great Egrets, Cattle Egrets, and Blue Herons. Hawks are pretty common too. I always see the five domestic geese and the three Muscovy ducks near Sunset Bay because they are always looking for handouts from the people who feed them. Of course, now we've got two Bald Eagles as well. Everyone is interested in the eagles.

Monday is Dawn's favorite day because that's when Janet does her grocery shopping. Grocery day is a big deal for  Dawn. She's waiting at the front door at least an hour before Janet returns. For some reason Dawn seems to get great pleasure watching all the groceries being put away. She certainly knows what food is. I think her favorite words are turkey and bacon.

On slow days I recharge batteries. That's what I did today. Phones, laptops, recorders, cameras and much more all rely on batteries. These batteries go dead whether you use the equipment or not. It seems like I'm always recharging or replacing batteries. This is probably why I will never buy an electric car. Batteries are a giant pain. They're expensive, they don't last long enough, and they perform poorly in cold weather. I've had to replace the lawn mower batteries several times because I forgot to bring the battery pack inside during cold weather. These batteries are inside now because the temperature will dip below freezing soon.

Hannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4739

It was clear and cold this morning. I made sure to dress warmly this time for our early walk with Dawn. Even Dawn wore a sweater today. There aren't nearly as many people out on cold mornings but we did encounter a few hardy souls. I was just glad to see the sun again.

The leaks have finally stopped at the house. I put the buckets aways again and tried not to look up at the ugly stained ceiling. I still haven't found anyone who can fix everything but it's not for lack of trying. The world has changed and the suppliers I have relied on for years are no longer around. I'm not a big fan of online resources. Recommendations from friends are much better. Of course you have to have friends with similar problems for that to work.

I think I continue taking my long walk every day because it's a great way to kill time. I'm usually out for over two hours and that's two hours that would be totally wasted if I was sitting around the house. These walks are hard on my feet but are probably great for my heart. I've been doing this for so long that people wave at me as I go by. I don't know who they are, but I suppose I've become a fixture in the neighborhood. We've lived here for thirty years and I've always walked in the park. Spot, Petey, Greta, Dot, Dash, and now Dawn have all gotten daily walks in the park. People often stop me to ask about the dogs but often I find that they are thinking about the wrong dog. I guess if you don't own one, all Dalmatians look alike.

I still wonder where the eagles go when they are not near their nest. Sometimes I will go weeks without seeing them, but I know they are around here somewhere. I don't know where the White Pelicans go when they aren't at Sunset Bay either. It's hard to hide a hundred pelicans. The only birds I see consistently are the five domestic geese and three Muscovy ducks that live near Sunset Bay.

I paid a few more December bills today but that was about it. I wonder if something has happened to the price of natural gas? Our gas bill went up dramatically this month. It has been colder than usual but there have been plenty of cold months in the past where our bill was much lower. I guess this is to be expected. The prices for everything are becoming ridiculous.

It's hard to believe that it's already the middle of December. Where has this year gone? I did get to see Artemis launch and spent several days out at McDonald Observatory last Spring, but all in all it's been an uneventful year. I kind of miss working. A steady stream of writing jobs provided a structure to my life that is missing these days. There just isn't that much that interests me.

I've taken this weeks trash out to the curb and am already wondering what I'm going to do tomorrow. I keep thinking about restarting my Friday breakfast restaurant tradition but I'm not as hungry as I used to be. Some of my favorite restaurants have closed too. Maybe I'll get in the car and try something new one of these days, but for now a bowl of shredded wheat and fruit is just fine.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4738

I totally misjudged the weather today. I put away the buckets because the rain has stopped and then one of the leaks started again. What a mess. I need to start looking at the wind chill index instead of the temperature. I glanced at the temperature before we took Dawn on her early walk and thought it was pretty warm. There was a brisk wind though and I was freezing by the time we returned home. I didn't learn my lesson either. Later in the day when I took my long walk the temperature was even warmer so I only wore a light jacket. Wrong again. The same cold wind was blowing and I ended up freezing all over again. I did learn one thing. Being cold makes me walk faster. I completed my long walk in record time today.

I took the letter I wrote yesterday to the post office after breakfast, but came right home again. I have no interest in shopping or doing things around town these days. Everything is too expensive and I don't really need anything anyway. I hope this new sense of frugality continues. Property taxes are due and I need to start saving for my next trip to Kennedy Space Center.

I've been trying to avoid mowing the grass, but the front yard looks terrible to I decided to get it over with this afternoon. Unfortunately the lawn mower battery won't hold a full charge anymore and the mower died before I finished the job. The yard does look better, but it looks like I've got to mow at least one more time I can call it quits for the year. Now that the weather is cold I have to remove the heavy 24 volt battery pack from the mower and bring it inside when I'm finished. What a pain. No wonder all the other neighbors use a lawn care service.

The stains in the ceiling from the latest series of leaks are really looking bad. I'm not even sure I can bleach them out this time. I've contacted a contractor who came highly recommended to give me a bid on fixing everything in the house. Restoration work will be expensive but something needs to be done. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm very high on anybody's list these days. We've been trying to get together for over a month now and nothing has happened yet. I have a feeling that I'm not demanding enough. Thats not going to change though. I'm not a pushy person.

I wish I was down at Kennedy Space Center this Friday. Space X is launching two rockets on the same day. The launches are only a few hours apart. I can't recall that ever happening before. It ought to be interesting. I'm still a bit envious of the launch photographers who seem to never miss a launch. They all live in the area though. I don't know how they find the time because most of them have other jobs. It's probably good that I can only afford to go to Florida several times a year. If I was trying to cover every launch I'm sure I would have lost interest by now. I get bored quickly.

Dawn and Janet did well at training class tonight. I was surprised that they went to class because it was pretty cold outside. I was reluctant to even take out the garbage. I guess we'll have to deal with this cold weather for quite a while. Winter Solstice is almost here and it will be officially Winter soon. I don't know about you but I'm ready for Spring.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4737

We woke up this morning under a tornado warning. Several tornados did touch down in the area, but luckily none were near us. We managed to get Dawn walked before the bad weather arrived. Somehow Dawn always seems to get her walks. I watched the storm arriving on the weather radar as I was eating breakfast. Typically bad storms pass to the North or South of us, but this one looked like it was going to pass directly overhead.

The storm didn't last long, but the rain was quite heavy. It wasn't long before the roof started leaking again. I can't seem to catch a break this year. Every time things are starting to dry out it rains again. It's been too wet to rake leaves or mow the grass for weeks. As soon as the leaks in the roof stop dripping, it rains again and the leaks start all over again. I know this is the rainy season, but this year has been over the top. The continual wet weather is wearing me out. I'm ready to move to the desert. Of course I'm kidding. I'm not ready for any type of big life change. I'm tired and those days are behind me.

The rain was over before noon. I paid some bills while I was waiting for the weather to improve and then I took my long walk. We got lucky here in Dallas. Even though high winds were predicted, I saw no downed trees in the park. Everything looked normal. It was actually a nice day for a walk. The temperature was in the low seventies and the fast moving storm had cleared away some of yesterday's humidity.

I saw both bald eagles today along with a gaggle of geese and all three of the Muscovy ducks. The White Pelicans were gone however. Where did they go? The pelicans always seem to do everything together. I'm sure they'll be back. It's not time to migrate North again. Maybe they just needed a break from all the gawkers watching the eagles.

My feet were bothering me today but I still made pretty good time. All the walking I'm doing is great for my heart but it is doing nothing for building muscle mass. It's a shame because I enjoy walking and don't really enjoy lifting weights at the gym. There's really no substitute for weight training for building muscle mass. I hate that muscle atrophy is a natural part of the aging process. I've been in reasonably good shape my entire life, but age is starting to catch up with me. I've got to work harder now and it's not easy with bad knees and shoulders.

I wrote a letter to my sister this afternoon. I'll take it to the post office tomorrow. I always answer whenever she writes. We've been communicating this way for decades. We never call or visit. We're not a close family and I think we know our limits. 

Dawn was mad that Janet was out doing volunteer work today. My companionship wasn't good enough for her. When I was in the back of the house, she would go out to her dog bed in the kitchen. When I went out to the kitchen to fix myself some lunch, she went back to the bedroom. There are days when I think Dawn is warming up to me. Today wasn't one of them.

Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow. All this rain is really getting me down. Just a reminder: if you read the real blog at https://john-sealander.blogspot.com instead of the Facebook JPEG facsimile, you can click on the Dalmatian of the Day link and learn more about each dog. You can also click on the picture of the day and enlarge it quite a bit. There is also an index of all the old blog posts. It's a better experience. Oh, well. Just dreaming. If I could train you guys to read the real blog, I wouldn't have to be on Facebook at all.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4736

Today was uneventful. When I woke up this morning there was a new leak in the living room. The leak was small and this area has leaked before. Since the rain is over now I thought I had dodged a bullet. No such luck. Water is slow and relentless. Eventually I will find someeone to fix everything, but it won't be easy. I have no problem finding a good plumber. Finding a good HVAC technician is fairly easy too. Good electricians are a little harder to find, but the most ellusive of all are competent carpenters and roofers. I read an article recently about a nationwide carpenter shortage. I believe it is true. Most roofers can't or don't want to deal with damage to the structure underneath the roof. Many don't even want to deal with a flat roof. It's frustrating. I still want to find a group of people like the oncs I see on that "This Old House" show on PBS. I know they're out there but I haven't found them yet.

Today was mostly just walking. We had a nice early morning walk with Dawn and then I took another walk after I ate breakfast and made the bed. The days keep getting shorter. We had to wear our warning lights again this morning. Other dogs in the neighborhood wear lighted LED collars too. I'm learning to recognize the dogs from the colored lights I see in the distance. So far, Dawn is the only dog that wears a green collar.

I saw one of the bald eagles again on my longer walk this morning. I should start bring a camera with me, but I don't really have that much interest. I already took some good pictures of these eagles last year. I definitely don't have the dedication of the photographers who seemingly sit out and wait for them all day. The eagles are just birds. I've taken hundreds of pictures of birds in the park over the years. Pelicans are the most interesting, but I've grown tired of them as well. These day I'd rather take pictures of rockets.

I'm still having problems with my web hosting account. These guys have the world's worst customer service. I'll spend twenty minutes talking with someone I can barely understand and end up accomplishing nothing. I'd move my websites somewhere else, but it is just too much trouble. I really don't even know why I maintain the company website anymore. I'm retired and all it does is serve as a magnet for people trying to sell me something.

I miss seeing the rescue Dalmatians on Mondays. It was always a nice way to spend the afternoon. The temporary kennel the dogs are in now is too far away and I don't think we'd be welcome anyway. We were just lucky with the last kennel. We knew everybody and they had a nice big empty room where we could play with the dogs. In most kennels if there is a big room it is either filled with dogs or used for training.

I don't have any plans for tomorrow. Actually, I don't have any plans for the rest of the year. When my bank account improves I'll start planning another trip to Kennedy Space Center. For now I'm just hoping that the house doesn't fall down around me.

Savannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4735

Sundays are all about walking. I don't think I did anything constructive today, but I sure did a lot of walking. Luckily the rain has stopped. Unfortunately the roof is still leaking. I discovered a few new leaks when I woke up this morning, but all have stopped dripping except for the original leak in the office. Lord knows when this leak will dry out. It's fairly persistant.

Dawn got a nice early walk this morning. The weather was cool and there was lots to smell. We didn't encounter a single bicycle this morning and we only saw two joggers. Maybe everyone was getting ready for the big BMW Dallas Marathon. This used to be called Run the Rock, but now they have a corporate sponsor. It seems to rain almost every time this race takes place.

I went mall walking again after breakfast. I was surprised at how full the mall seemed a full two hours before the stores opened. There were lots of parents with little kids. Taking your kids to the mall must be kind of like taking them to the zoo. It's a very popular activity. Most importantly, it's free. A lot of stores seems to have staff meeting on Sunday morning. It's not uncommon to see groups of employees gathered around a manager in these closed stores listening to some kind of pep talk or instructions. Are these meetings mandatory? What if someone wanted to go to church instead. The Apple store seemed to be having a Christmas party this morning. There were a huge number of employees milling around inside the locked store.

Everyone seems to have a holiday window display now. There is certainly nothing new in the word of fashion. I saw double breasted men's suits on display that looked exactly like what I used to wear in the 1970's. Leather motorcycle jackets seem popular too. At least they seem popular for women. I used to wear jackets like these back in my college days. Basically all fashion just gets recycled. Few people who are interested in clothes are old enough to remember that we've seen all this before.

Dawn got her Sunday outing today. The ground was a little wet, but it was a pleasant day for walking. We walk about the same distance as we do on our early morning walks, but somehow we always seems to go a little faster. Probably Dawn doesn't spend as much time smelling things when we take her to the Sunday park. The park near our house is Dawn's territory now. She has to investigate and keep up with what all the other dogs are doing.

I passed a horrible multi-car wreck on my way to the mall this morning. I think people forgot how to drive during the pandemic. Drivers seem much worse lately. People routinely cut in front of you, make unannounced u-turns, and run through traffic signals. Dallas has never been a haven for safe drivers, but I've never seen it this bad before. It feels like a demolition derby and you can't help but wonder when your luck is going to wear out.

I continue to have problems with websites and passwords. After I have changed all my online passwords to more secure versions, some of the websites I use have reverted to the old passwords. I find it impossible to change any information on my web hosting account. When I try to call customer service, I get an offshore call center and end up talking with someone I can barely understand. I'm beginning to wonder why I'm still on the Internet. I think I'd be just fine if I wasn't online at all.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4734

Another wet day. The roof is leaking again and I've had to dry out my shoes several times. Today's heavy rain kind of surprised me, since the day started out normally enough. We had a nice early morning walk with Dawn, ate a big weekend breakfast, and then I did my grocery shopping. I stayed dry the entire time. I even had time to take a long walk in the park before the rain started. I walked pretty slow today and my feet hurt towards the end, but I did manage to see both of our resident bald eagles. All in all it was a pretty good morning even though grocery prices continue to creep upwards.

Everything changed around mid-afternoon when the rain started. It was a heavy driving rain, so I knew the roof was going to leak. I pre-positioned buckets, but I guessed wrong and the leak started in a place where I didn't have a bucket. No problem. That's what towels are for. These leaks are frustrating because there's not much I can do about them at the moment. This is the worst time of year to replace a flat roof. At least the pumps are working today. I need a few more pumps, but they are high wattage gizmos and even two of them running at the same time tends to throw circuit breakers. 

Dawn is really starting to relax. When I took an afternoon nap today, she stayed on the bed with me and didn't appear nervous or alarmed. She still has good day and bad days, but I'm starting to see a real improvement. This is happening just in the nick of time, because Janet will be visiting her family over Christmas and Dawn and I will be alone together for a while. That's always interesting, but somehow we manage.

This evening Janet and I went to the annual Christmas party for Dawn's weekly training class. I haven't been to one of these events since we used to take Dot and Dash to training class quite a few years ago. The party was held in a park event building just down the hill from our house. I offered to drive, but Janet said we should just walk since it was so close. We got a little wet, but there was plenty of time to dry out once we arrived.

It was an enjoyable evening. We had a great dinner with some exceptionally good brisket and then there was a gift exchange. Everyone had a number and when your number was called you could pick from a large pile of wrapped gifts on a table or steal a gift from someone who had picked out a gift previously. After a gift had been stolen twice, it was retired and couldn't be stolen again. The most popular gifts always seems to be dog beds, but dog blankets seem desirable as well. Gift cards are very desirable, but don't turn up all that often. I've you happen to pick a package containing a gift card, you can expect that it will be stolen. There is a name for this kind of humorous gift exchange, but I've forgotten what it is.

Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow. There is no rain in the forecast anyway. I don't know how I managed to get 23,000 steps today with all the nasty weather. I must have been pretty busy this morning. Tomorrow I'll go mall walking and weather permitting, we'll take Dawn on her Sunday outing. If this sounds like exactly what I did last week, you'd be wrong. Last week I was taking Santa Paws pictures.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4733 - Dawn's Birthday

Good grief. I forgot my appointment with the eye doctor today. It wasn't their fault. They've been sending me reminders for the past two weeks. I got distracted by a roof leak this morning and just forgot. I remember thinking yesterday that maybe I ought to leave a note out on the kitchen table to remind me while I was eating breakfast. No, I'll remember I thought. I rescheduled the appointment, but I feel kind of foolish. I can't remember anything anymore.

Today's roof leak was minor, but it was annoying. This is what happens in the Winter. It never gets hot enough for the water to evaporate, so it just sits up there. I used to get on the roof and sweep the water away after every rain, but I try to avoid that now. I'm getting clumsy and I don't want to fall off the roof.

The park was empty when we walked Dawn this morning. You don't see many bicycles or runners on days like this. People still walk their dogs though. No matter what the weather looks like, we always see several other people walking their dogs. 

I keep telling myself that I don't feel like walking in the park, but somehow I end up doing it anyway. It's just easier to go out the back door and start walking than it is to go to the gym. I completed my entire walk this morning without thinking that I should have been at the eye doctor instead. It never even occurred to me that I'd missed my appointment until later this afternoon. Next time I will make myself a note and place it on the kitchen table. 

I upgraded the star tracker this afternoon. I don't know why I bothered because it doesn't seem any different than the last version. The unit still works, but it takes me a while to get it going. There is a specific start-up sequence that needs to be followed and I never remember to do everything in the right order. I wouldn't be surprised if I wear the star tracker out testing it and never get around to doing any actual astrophotography.

Today is Dawn's birthday. She is now ten years old. Coincidentally, December 9th is also my Dad's birthday.  He would have been 102 year old if he hadn't died 19 years ago. Dawn is getting older, but she still seems very healthy. I think she enjoys her life with us and is finally starting to relax. I took a short nap on the bed earlier this evening and she didn't leave. She actually seemed fairly content. One of these days she's going to realize that I mean no harm and we'll be buddies. We'll have a little birthday party for Dawn when Janet gets home this evening. We don't make elaborate dog cakes anymore, but we do get pupcakes from Sprinkles. Janet and I will have a little champagne as well. It's just a birthday tradition.

There's more rain in the forecast for tomorrow. I wish the rain would wait until I finish my grocery shopping, but it probably won't. I'm resigned to getting wet tomorrow. Dawn might get a morning walk though. I don't think the rain is supposed to start until around 10 AM. If it keeps raining I'll go to the gym in the afternoon. It's time for me to go back to the gym anyway.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4732

We've been having a lot of nasty weather lately. I guess it's like this every year. I feel like I'm spending most of my time looking at the weather radar and trying to find time to squeeze in walks between rain showers. I was successful today, but you never know. I could get drenched tomorrow.

I ordered Christmas gifts on Amazon this morning. The web site said that they will be delivered on time, so I guess I'm done for another year. I used to send out Christmas cards, but I haven't done that for a long time. We used to get a ton of Christmas cards, but now we just get a few. Most of them are business cards from insurance agents and doctor's offices. I don't even know if sending Christmas cards is a tradition anymore. 

I hope the roof doesn't leak tonight. It rained enough today that it probably will. I usually go to bed thinking that everything's fine and then wake up in the middle of the night when I hear the ominous drip, drip, drip of another leak. I never know where to put the buckets ahead of time. The leaks usually originate near ceiling light fixtures or small cracks in the sheetrock, but you never know. Water is creative and can always seems to find someplace new to get into the house.

I've just about finished changing all my online passwords. I don't know if this is a futile gesture, but you've got to make an effort. So many people I know have gotten hacked recently that it would be foolish to think I'm immune. I really wonder if staying online is even worth the effort. Online shopping is really convenient, but I got along just fine without it for decades. I have a feeling that once I reach my 5000 day blogging goal, I'll be on the Internet a lot less. Now that I'm retired and the Internet is no longer an integral part of my business, it just doesn't give me much joy.

I did get to see Mars for a few minutes last night as it emerged from the other side of the moon. I missed the actual exit point of the occultation by a few minutes because I couldn't find any accurate times for the occultation in Dallas and I didn't feel like staying outside all night. The beginning and end times were different for every city. I did manage to see Mars very close to the Moon when there was a brief break in the clouds, so my efforts were at least semi-successful.

It's hard for me to resist the urge to buy things I don't need at this time of year. Almost every day I receive notices about big sales on astronomy and photographic gear. It's tempting, but I don't really need anything. How many cameras do you really need? When I feel like buying something I should go to the storage warehouse instead and take a look at where the stuff will wind up in a few years.

I find it interesting that Goblin Mode is this year's Oxford English Dictionary word of the year. I had to look up what the term means because I had never heard of it before. Maybe this term never resonated with me because I am never in goblin mode myself. My life is very regimented. I don't binge watch television. I don't eat snacks in bed. I actually make the bed every morning and always pick up my clothes. It just seems strange to me to celebrate self-indulgent, slovenly behavior. I find a structured life comforting, so I guess I'll continue methodically writing a blog post every evening and trying to walk six miles every day. 

Willow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4731

I have a hard time getting used to Winter in Texas. A few weeks ago it was below freezing. Today the temperature was in the mid-70's. No goose down coats today. I wore shorts and a t-shirt on my walks. It would have been nice if the sun was shining today, but at least it wasn't raining. The sky was grey and looked like it was on the verge of raining all day, but luckily it never did.

We had a nice quiet walk with Dawn this morning. There were very few bicycles to avoid because the roads were wet. There weren't many joggers either which was surprising. It seemed like a good day for a run. One problem with days like this is that our shoes get muddy. We have a system for cleaning them but Dawn gets impatient with us. She's ready to go inside and eat some more as soon as we return home.

I continued changing old passwords today. Some of my oldest passwords were so simple that anyone could figure them out. I discovered that I'd reused many of these passwords as well. You can't do that these days. Implementing more secure passwords made me nostalgic for the days when the Internet was innocent and simple. These days it seems more of an adversary than a friend.

I continue walking in the park because I don't like fighting all the Christmas traffic on the way to the gym. At least a walk in the park creates an illusion of peace and tranquility. I saw both eagles today. They were sitting in their nest. I wonder why eagles love to build nests in dead trees. The eagles I see in Florida do the same thing. A rotten dead tree got Nick and Nora in trouble last year and they lost their nest. Hopefully they will have better luck this year.

I keep wondering why five of the domestic geese that live near Sunset Bay have disappeared. I keep thinking that someone captured them and took them home to eat. Something like this wouldn't really surprise me at all. There has to be a reason for all the "no trapping or poaching" signs I see along the shoreline. 

There is a rare occultation of Mars and the Moon happening right now. I'd been hoping to see this, but it's quite cloudy outside. I keep going out in the back yard, hoping for a break in the clouds. No such luck. Occasionally I'll see a faint glow through the clouds where the moon is supposed to be, but mostly I see nothing. The sky is really overcast tonight. My luck with astronomical events isn't very good. This definitely isn't the first time that bad weather has prevented me from seeing something interesting in the night sky.

There is another firmware update available for the star tracker but I didn't feel like bothering with it today. The day was dismal and I didn't feel like doing much of anything. Dawn was in a better mood than me and  actually did pretty well in her training class this evening. Maybe we'll see the sun tomorrow. I certainly hope so.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4730

Today was busy. We got up early and gave Dawn her morning walk before I took Janet to the dentist for dental surgery. I took my own long walk right after breakfast so I would be home in time to pick Janet up again after she was finished with her procedure. I was pretty fast this morning. This was the first time I finished a mile in less than 20 minutes in quite a while. While I was out walking I passed an older gentleman who I frequently see on the trails. I told him that he was doing a better job of staying in shape than I was. The guy smiled and said "I'm 85 years old. I'm just trying to stay alive." I found this strangely encouraging. The guy was ten years older than me and still going strong.

I went to pick Janet up around noon. The traffic was much lighter than it was at 8:30 AM. I don't experience morning rush hour very often anymore. I don't know how people can stand to do this day after day. It would drive me nuts. I started my own company in 1990 and have worked out of my house ever since. It's definitely a different world than when I used to drive to work everyday. Life was a lot less hectic in the 1980's.

Janet and I have been inundated with e-mail spam lately. She changed all her passwords recently and I decided to do the same today. When I logged into my web hosting account it didn't look familiar. Now that I don't build websites for a living anymore, I don't have a need to visit this place very often. I wondered if the company had been sold. I eventually found the spam filter section of the site and much to my chagrin, all my filters were turned off by default. This would explain the surge in spam I've been receiving lately. The spam filter tool used by the hosting company was different than the one they used before. It would have been nice if my web host had told me about this. In fairness, maybe they did tell me and the message went to my own e-mail spam filter. At any rate, I configured the site-wide spam filter and turned it on. We'll see if it makes any difference.

Next, I changed a bunch of old passwords to modern more secure versions. I should have done this long ago, but spam and hacking attempts haven't been a problem for me until recently. In the process of changing passwords, I inadvertently locked myself out of my e-mail account. I called tech support and was connected to a call center in India. Does everybody outsource their tech support these days? It certainly appears that way. The guy I was talking to had trouble understanding my problem and I had trouble understanding his English. Calling tech support is an exercise in frustration these days. Eventually, I figured out what I was doing wrong on my own and reconnected to my e-mail account. I thanked the guy for his help, even though he hadn't helped me at all.

I took a shower and was grateful that I didn't have to used the wet-dry vac to suck the water out from under the shower tiles today. The vacuum is noisy and I didn't want to wake Janet up. If it's not one kind of water problem in this house it's another. There is rain in the forecast for the rest of the week and I'm worried that the roof leaks will start again. There aren't any leaks currently, but I know that the roof hasn't had enough time to completely dry out after our last heavy rains. I guess we'll see what happens. The rain is supposed to start later tonight.

I'm not sure what is on the schedule for tomorrow. The next thing on my calendar is an appointment with the eye doctor on Friday. I hope the weather allows us to give Dawn her walks. Dogs definitely need a daily walk. So do people.

Ellis is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4729

All the Santa Paws gear has been stored away for another year. I literally only use this stuff once a year, but I'm glad I never threw it away. This year's backdrop has been washed and folded. The poles and crossbar have seen better days, but will survive to be used again. The boxes of bandanas and bows for the dogs have been washed and cleaned. My Norman strobe lights still work and all my camera batteries have been recharged. Next year I will probably start complaining again that I'm too old to be doing this, while secretly being pleased that I still can. Back in my studio days I never thought of photography as a physical activity, but it definitely is.

I try not to visit my storage warehouse very often. It's depressing. There are too many things that have memories attached to them that I don't really need. Do I really think I'm going to use a wind sailer again? The fiberglass board and sail take up a lot of space. I have several shelves filled with old Macintosh computers that are worth absolutely nothing. Maybe I should save one as an emergency backup, but do I really need seven? I still have a lot of my Dad's fishing gear, including an almost new outboard motor. I don't even like to fish. For the time being, it's easier to just forget about this stuff.

It was much warmer today. I overdressed for our sunrise walk with Dawn, but that's better than being too cold. Janet had plans so we walked in the dark again. I'll be glad when the days start getting longer. I'm not a big fan of Winter. Since I wasn't able to do my grocery shopping this weekend, there was no fruit to go with this morning's shredded wheat. That won't be a problem tomorrow. I went and did this week's grocery shopping right after breakfast.

I buy the same things over and over again. Almost everything keeps getting more expensive. The weekly price increases aren't dramatic but they are relentless. Maybe they think I won't notice. Over time the increases are getting ridiculous though. Some things I buy regularly have literally doubled in price. Is all this really necessary? The stores definitely aren't spending as much on labor anymore. Self checkout is the norm these days. I don't even use self checkout since I have an app on my phone that lets me bypass the checkout line. Even with all these high-tech innovations, I still miss the way life was in the 70's and 80's. You'd have a hard time convincing me that anything has actually improved over the years.

I should have gone to the gym today, but took another long walk in the park instead. I need to do something different because these walks are getting boring. I used to walk on the other side of the lake when things started to seem monotonous, but I can't be bothered anymore. It's still the same lake. The best incentive I have to keep walking is my Facebook feed. I'm amazed at the number of people I know who have already died. I don't think of 75 as old, but it's definitely not young. Oh, well. I guess I'll keep walking.

Tomorrow I need to take Janet to the dentist for dental surgery. On Friday I go to the eye doctor, who will probably want to schedule me for cataract surgery. It seems like there is always something medical on our calendar these days. Dawn has a birthday coming up soon. At least Dawn is still healthy.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4728

Santa has left the building. We are done with Santa Paws for another year. Today I set a new record for number of dogs photographed in a single day. Over a 100 dogs had their picture taken with Santa and I wound up with over 1600 exposures on my camera. We had to be very efficient today and the kennel staff we worked with were great. They were so efficient and had all the dogs staged and ready to go for us.

None of us really thought that this type of event would work, but we were pleasantly surprised. We saved a lot of time by not having the dog's owners present. All the dogs were already at the kennel and boarding for the day, so we didn't have to wait for anyone who was running late or got lost on their way to their appointment. We usually have a big box of costumes that people could sort through and find something for their dog. We abandoned that today and just photographed the dogs without any Christmas apparel. If an owner really wanted their dog to wear something, they supplied it themselves. 

We didn't take as many photos of each dog either. Typically we spend about twenty minutes with each dog or group and take a huge amount of pictures. Today's customers still got about 25 pictures to choose from and I think everyone was happy. The big change today was that we didn't make prints on the spot. This saved a huge amount of time. We just burned a flash drive with all the pictures for each customer and they could print whatever they wanted later.

It's hard to believe that we used to do five or six of these events every year. We even did photo events for Easter and Mother's Day. We're all getting older and two events wore us out. I kind of liked the way we did things this year. We did one invitation only low volume event for Dalmatian Rescue volunteers and people who have adopted dogs from us and then a second high volume event partnering with a local boarding facility. We pre-screened the dogs at the first event and the kennel pre-screened the dogs at today's event. There were no walk-ins with aggressive or psychotic dogs. One really bad dog at an event like this can screw up everything.

I'll unpack everything and put it away tomorrow. All I want to do now is finish this blog post and go to bed. Dinner tonight was a left over slice of pizza from lunch. Dawn was really good about being left alone in the house for so long. We got up extra early to give her a walk before we left and then gave her another short walk after we returned home. I got home first this afternoon and Dawn actually seemed glad to see me. I don't know how I managed to get home a half hour ahead of Janet because she left the event first. I guess I picked the better road today.

Tomorrow I'll do my grocery shopping, take the photo gear back to the storage warehouse, and return to my regular uneventful schedule. I may be a bit biased, but I think we have the best Santa photos in town. People always seem to love the pictures they get. Who knows how long we can keep this up, but hopefully we'll be around next year. I have Santa Paws photos in my files from 2010, so we've been doing these events for over twelve years now.  I think we've helped a lot of dogs along the way.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4727

One down, one to go. Our first Santa Paws event for 2022 went smoothly. We did things a little differently this year. Instead of setting up the backdrop in a boarding kennel or veterinary clinic, we were inside a nice home where we used the homes Christmas tree and fireplace as a backdrop. This was an invitation only event for volunteers and people who had adopted a dog from Dalmatian Rescue, so it was much less stressful than our typical Christmas photoshoots. Santa was happy because he got to watch football on a big screen TV while we were taking pictures and I was happy because I didn't have to set up the backdrop.

Not surprisingly, most of the dogs we photographed today were Dalmatians. Many of the dogs were Dalmatian Rescue alumni and a few of them have been featured as Dog of the Day on this blog at some point in the past. The dogs were well behaved and fun to be around. There was no pooping in the house and no Christmas trees were destroyed.

Since we photographed very few little dogs today, I didn't have to get down on my knees. I sat on a comfortable ottoman in the living room and took pictures while Santa was watching the Big 12 Championship Game between TCU and Kansas State. There wasn't a madhouse of barking dogs because we scheduled things so that there was only one set of dogs inside the house at any given time. We probably didn't make as much money doing things this way, but I hope we can do this again. The whole atmosphere was very relaxed and the event was easier on everyone.

Tomorrow will be the exact opposite of today. We will be doing Santa Paws pictures for a large boarding kennel that they will provide for their customers. The dogs owners will not be there for the event, but we will be photographing a huge number of dogs. I have heard that there might be as many as 100 dogs at tomorrow's event. The kennel will be bringing in extra staff to coordinate things, but there is still only one Santa and one photographer. I imagine that we will both be very tired tomorrow.

We didn't take Dawn with us today because it would have been very stressful for her. I doubt that she'll ever have any Santa pictures of her own. Dawn did get her morning walk before we left though. It wasn't that cold this morning, but it was dark. Dawn had her green LED collar, Janet and I had warning lights on our jackets, and off we went. By the time we returned it was almost sunrise. I don't think Dawn minded being alone in the house at all. She's very comfortable on our big bed. Occasionally we check in on her using the wifi petcam and she's usually just sleeping.

I even managed to get my steps today. I didn't start walking until I'd taken Dawn out to pee after I returned home. The sun was low in the sky, but I managed to get home again before dark. After walking in the park after dark earlier this month, I decided that I wasn't going to do that again. The park is kind of spooky after dark. 

I didn't have time to do my grocery shopping today and won't have time tomorrow either. I guess Monday will be grocery day this week. i'm going to try to get to bed earlier tonight because we have a longer drive to our location tomorrow morning. Hopefully Dawn will still be able to get her morning walk. I'll be glad when this year's Santa Paws events are over. It's a great fund raiser for our rescue dogs, but it's tiring for me. I'm still not sure if my equipment or my old bones are going to give out first.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day