Day 3514

Today was not your typical day. We went downtown to see the Dior show this afternoon. It's been a long time since either of us has been downtown. The retrospective exhibit was enormous, taking over the entire Dallas Museum of Art with over 500 items on display. I guess fashion exhibits are popular with art museums now. This one has been sold out for months. The show is closing soon which is why we went to see what all the fuss was about. I'll have to admit that the show was very interesting. A lot has changed since the House of Dior was established in 1946, but a lot has stayed the same. Was this art or a cultural history? Probably both.

There was a big crowd this afternoon, but I only saw three other men. There were a lot of well dressed older women, including many using canes and walkers. This is probably why one of the docents kept telling people to be careful not to fall. Sure enough, within fifteen minutes one of the ladies tripped and fell into one of the exhibits. I remember that the museum had another exhibit featuring the work of Jean Paul Gaultier a few years ago. We went to that show too. Janet likes fashion and I used to be a fashion photographer, so it was an enjoyable afternoon.

When we got home I took my morning walk late in the afternoon. I just couldn't bring myself to skip walking altogether. I had to get at least 10,000 steps. After dinner we got an emergency call saying that Hank had been throwing up blood at the boarding kennel. Since Janet and I don't have other dogs now, it was decided that we would be best to watch him overnight and then take him to our vet first thing in the morning. Hank seemed perfectly normal when we arrived at the kennel, but it definitely looked like blood he'd thrown up earlier.

Hank has already been to the vet earlier this month with vomiting issues. It looks like we'll need to do more tests to see what is going on. On the ride home we quickly discovered that Hank doesn't like to ride in the car. He barked the entire way home. Once we got back to the house he calmed down quickly though. He's definitely a Dalmatian. It didn't take him five minutes to decide he wanted to sleep on the bed. That's fine with us. All our dogs have slept on the bed.

Hopefully, there's nothing seriously wrong with Hank. He is a very sweet dog. I think he's tired now because he's resting calmly on the bed with Janet. We'll keep an eye on him this evening and take him up to the Dalmatian Rescue vet in the morning. If something happens tonight, there a very good emergency vet nearby. We've been there often.

Neither of us expected to have a dog in the house again so soon. We're good with sick dogs though and know what to do. So far Hank seems fine. He probably enjoys being out of the kennel. If he throws up tonight it won't be the first time. We've had every type of dog mishap in this house that you can imagine.

Maybe this is our role for now. To just be there when a dog needs us. Hank is definitely a keeper, but we won't be keeping him. We just want to make sure he gets healthy and finds a good home. If he stays with us for a while, that's fine too.

Lilly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3513

I got my car safety inspected for another year. There is no window sticker anymore, but you still need to have the inspection done before you can buy the annual registration sticker at your local grocery store. Why do I need the registration sticker? Rules. There used to be a little sticker you put on your license plate as well. Those disappeared a long time ago. I'm old enough to remember having to go downtown to the department of motor vehicles for a new plate every year. You rarely get a new plate anymore. All these physical ways of identifying you are gradually going away. I used to have a Toll Tag in my front window but you don't need the tag anymore. Sensors just know when you are driving on a toll road. It probably won't be long before there aren't any stickers or tags on your car at all. The car will just broadcast everything about you to the state as soon as you turn on the ignition.

For now these annual safety inspections are still part of my routine. I could get everything done a lot quicker at a local garage, but I continue to drive up to the dealership and waste half the morning. The time goes quickly. I had a long conversation about cars with a sales guy I know. He shared some new information with me about the new Land Rover Defender that is being introduced this Fall and we traded stories about various exotic cars we'd seen about town. I looked at all the new cars on the show room floor and lamented the high prices for Range Rovers these days. Pretty soon my car was done. My day hadn't really changed at all. I still had a morning smoothie and I still had a morning walk. My trip to the dealership just made my morning walk even hotter because I got a late start.

I thought that an AT&T technician would come back today and hook up the cable that was buried in my yard yesterday. I guess I'll have to call about this tomorrow. I can't remember whether I need to be here or not when this happens. I've finally figured out why AT&T installs these temporary cables. If you had to wait and wait without any service at all until the technicians eventually showed up, customers would be pretty mad. They probably figured out quickly that throwing away a lot of fiber optic wire was easier than dealing with irate customers.

Even though I complain about sweating a lot, I still like walking outside better than walking at the gym. There is more visual stimulus outside. I certainly wouldn't see many Great Egrets at the gym. If I just wanted to avoid the heat, I could go to the gym every day. I'd have to drive to my gym though and I don't like driving. I do like talking about cars however. It's complicated. I don't really mind the heat, but my skin is taking a beating. I don't remember my skin looking this bad during previous summers. Do I need to use sunblock? It would be so much easier if I just stayed home and got fat watching Netflix.

I've been hearing cars running through water all evening. I thought it had started raining for a while. When I went outside to investigate I discovered that the neighbor's sprinkler system had broken. There were big fountains of water spewing out into the street. What a waste. I wish one of those nozzles was pointed over at my yard. I could use the water. I guess everyone has problems during the summer. I just hope my air conditioner keeps working.

Lou is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3512

I guess we're making progress. I got a bid on repairing the greenhouse today. The price seems reasonable, so we'll move ahead with this project. The carpenter doesn't want to begin work until the weather gets cooler. Makes sense to me. It's too damn hot to do anything. The heat didn't stop the AT&T crew from burying my fiber optic cable though. The "crew" was really just a man and his wife who spoke no English. When I asked a question, the wife got out her iPhone and pointed for me to speak into it. She had a translation app that worked surprisingly well. It answered all my questions anyway. The young couple was very nice and I kind of felt sorry that AT&T was making them work in this heat. The technician that diagnosed my problem a few weeks ago told me that the company always hires the lowest bidders to bury the lines. They probably get no benefits.

Right now I've got two lines. A nicely buried line that isn't hooked up to anything and the temporary line that is still providing my connection. Another technician will have to come back and connect the new buried line. This procedure of installing temporary lines and then coming back later with a second buried line line that needs to be installed all over again seems terribly inefficient. So, far I've had six lines pulled to my house from the street since I signed up for U-verse. Half of this fiber optic cable was temporary and was eventually just thrown away. There are probably several buried lines still under my lawn as well. Nobody bothers to pull up the old cable when they install a new one.

Coincidently, I paid my cable bill today. All these service calls explain why my bill is so high. I should call AT&T and demand that they deduct a week's service from my bill for the time the Internet was out while Janet was away. I probably won't bother though. It's like pulling teeth to make a complaint to customer service.

I'm still walking, but the weather is pretty brutal. There aren't as many joggers now, but the cyclists are still out in force. Maybe it's cooler when you are moving faster, but I suspect that the cyclists just love punishment. I keep walking because I've learned that sweating is actually good for you. Sweating can strengthen your immune system, improve circulation, lower the risk of kidney stones, unclog pores, and help fight viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Walking is also one of the best ways to keep bones strong and prevent osteoporosis too. I guess I'll keep walking. It's a slow summer and there isn't much better to do anyway.

The next thing on my list is getting my car safety inspected. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. I could go anywhere but I usually just go to the dealership. They have free snacks and I like to look at new cars I'll never be able to afford. I've been waiting for years for the new Land Rover Defenders to arrive, but there are very few reasons to drive a rugged go anywhere vehicle anymore. Those new mid-engine Corvettes are looking pretty nice.

Janet is making me another Peach Cobbler tonight. I've been eating a lot of peaches lately. It's going to be rough when they go out of season again. Fresh peaches are one of the few good things about Summer.

Margo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3511

We went and met the new boy today. Rolly is a sweet four year old male who seemed like he'd been living on the streets for a while. He was skinny and has heartworms. If you made any sudden movements he flinched and moved away from you. Once he decided that we were OK and didn't want to hurt him, he was extremely gentle and friendly. Rolly wasn't interested in chasing a ball, but he loves treats. As soon as he puts on a few pounds and we treat his heartworms, this dog is going to make a wonderful companion for some lucky family.

The rest of the crew was in fine form. Treasure has perfected her roll over trick. Charlie can now catch his treats in mid air. And Hank wanted to make sure we knew he was the fastest. The kennel staff treats our dogs really well. They are all more relaxed than when they initially arrived. You can tell with each passing week that they are becoming well socialized canine citizens.

It's still extremely hot and humid. With the exception of Rolly who actually seemed to enjoy being outdoors, all the Dalmatians wanted to stay inside. Who could blame them. I should have stayed inside myself today. I probably keep walking because I can't think of anything better to do. I'm hooked on getting as many steps as I can too. It's weird that a little band on my wrist controls my day.

My memory is better than I thought it was. I've been trying to memorize things I see on my daily walks and I'm surprised at the level of detail I've been able to retain. I know what signs say now before I approach them. I remember the street numbers on people's houses. When little things change, I notice now. It's just a silly game, but maybe it will prevent me from getting Alzheimer's someday.

The AT&T crew still hasn't showed up to bury my fiber optic cable. The roofer hasn't showed up with his long promised bucket of silicon material either. For the moment I don't feel like adding to this list of suppliers who are ignoring me by calling the electrician. I may have to though. The security light in the back yard still won't stay on all night. All these things are irritating, but none of them really matter. Maybe things don't get done because I seldom get mad. It's a waste of energy to get mad about most things.

Tomorrow I'll update the Dalmatian Rescue website, adding Rolly and marking several other dogs as adopted. I guess I could do this tonight, but it's getting late and I'm ready for bed. I need something to do tomorrow anyway. I don't think I'll be watching the business channel during breakfast. I'd rather enjoy my meal. Something tells me that today's nasty selloff is going to continue. It's probably best not to turn on the TV at all. There's no good news anywhere these days.

Morgan is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3510

24,000 steps today. Part of this total was spent up on the roof unclogging the pumps and clearing the water away. July was dry, but so far August has been pretty wet. I was surprised at how much higher the lake was this morning. Just two decent rains and the water level had risen over a foot. As always, the rain is a giant nuisance for me, but we certainly needed it. The grass in the back yard is already looking greener.

After all this activity I am pretty tired. I don't think I could have done this two months ago though. Walking is good for you. I'm starting to feel stronger and my legs definitely feel firmer. My average resting heart rate has decreased as well. I wish I enjoyed exercising since it occupies a lot of my day now. Walking is not really a joyful experience but it's not depressing either. All in all, it's probably a much better way to spend time than sitting at the computer.

I went back and got strawberries today. A shipment must have just arrived because the berries looked really fresh. The fruit always seems to look better on Sunday. Of course if I switched shopping days, the fruit would look better on Saturday. At any rate, I'm all set for another week of smoothies.

AT&T was supposed to come out and bury the new fiber optic cable this morning, but nobody showed up. Am I surprised? Not really. Since there is no easy way to check on scheduling, I will have to call the irritating offshore customer service line again and spend a long time on the phone with someone who doesn't have a clue about what is going on. Maybe I'll just do nothing. Everything works fine with the cable laying on top of the ground.

I'm starting to think about renting a car for the trip to McDonald Observatory. This isn't really rational thinking because I've already got a perfectly nice car that has just been serviced. I just got new tires too. The problem is that I don't really trust the car. Things have gone wrong for no reason at all when I least expected it. I hate surprises. Memories never fade either. Once on a road trip I threw a rod in rural Oklahoma and had to have an earlier car towed all the way back to Fort Smith, Arkansas. It was there over a month getting the engine completely rebuilt. When the repairs were finally finished I had to drive up from Dallas during an ice storm to retrieve it. Of course rental cars aren't free from problems. When I went out to Vandenberg Air Force Base to watch a launch a few years ago somebody hit the rental car and it took months to get all the insurance issues resolved.

There's a new Dalmatian up at the boarding kennels so Janet and I are going up for a visit tomorrow. I'll take some pictures of this liver spotted boy for the website and we'll spend time playing with all the dogs. Visiting the dogs on Mondays has become a regular part of our week. Truthfully, these visits are just as important as my daily walks.

I can't figure out what is wrong with the security light. It comes on every evening around sunset, but shuts off again around 10 PM. This doesn't make sense because the photo cell is obviously working. The light will come back on again tomorrow evening. The bulb is fine too. I could turn it on again right now by going out and flipping the breaker switch. It isn't worth the trouble to go outside and do this but I'm still wondering about this very odd behavior.

It looks like another hot and humid day tomorrow. At least the rain is over for a while. I'm done with Summer. Bring on the cooler weather.

Pebbles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3509

I predicted this would happen. We had a brief heavy rain this morning and the roof is wet again. After weeks of pleading, the roofer still hasn't brought over the special silicon product I need to make repairs. It's been so dry in July that almost any day would have been a good time to patch the tears in the elastomer material. Now I need to clear the water off the roof, dry everything off and start all over again. The main problem is that commonly available patch materials available at Home Depot and Lowes won't stick to the silicon that's already on the roof and the commercial product I need is only available to the trade in very large drums. It's quite expensive too. Jeez. I don't need much of this stuff. I'm sure the roofer is waiting till he has a small amount of silicon left over from another job, but this isn't helping me any.

The rain cooled the temperature a bit, but it's still as muggy as ever outside. I thought I'd have a pleasant walk this morning, but I might as well have just walked the rain. I was still drenched in sweat by the time I returned. While I was in the park, I saw a guy pick one of the yellow berries on a Horse Nettle plant and eat it. Dude, don't you know these plants are poisonous? Apparently he thought it was a wild cherry tomato. Close but not close enough. Horse Nettle and Tomatoes are both members of the Nightshade family. Tomatoes happen to be one of a very few Nightshade varieties that are edible. I don't think Horse Nettle is nearly as dangerous as Belladonna, commonly called the Deadly Nightshade, but I'm not going to try eating any Nightshade berries. I don't even like tomatoes that much.

There are still a lot of Herons and Egrets at the lake. I finally got close enough to photograph one of the Great Egrets today. What a strange looking bird. With a long yellow bill and an even longer neck, you'd think this bird would have trouble eating. Nope. They seem to be designed to catch small fish. I see Egrets catching and eating fish all the time.

The security light in the back yard came on normally this evening. Maybe the problem was temperature related. It is cooler today. Maybe the rain washed spider webs off the light sensor. Actually, I have no idea what is going on. I suspect that just when I begin to think that the problem has fixed itself, the light will go dark again. I spend way too much time thinking about obscure problems like this and not enough time dealing with problems I can actually solve.

There were no strawberries at the store today. I asked the produce guy when a new shipment would arrive. "Maybe tomorrow, maybe Monday, or maybe Tuesday," he said. I guess that means he didn't know. I'll go check again on my way home from the gym tomorrow. I need strawberries for my smoothie.

Am I ready for another 20,000 step day tomorrow? I'm not sure. Surely there is a better way to spend my time. I keep thinking that all this activity is keeping me healthy, but maybe I'm wrong. I'm wrong about a lot of things.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3508

The September issue of Spaceflight Magazine has finally arrived. Since I doubt if many of you subscribe to this British publication, I thought I'd just upload a PDF copy of my article to Facebook. Oops. You can't upload PDF files to Facebook. Weird. Why didn't I know this already? I guess I never tried to post a PDF file. There's always a solution though. I just put the file on my website and made a link. If anyone's interested in reading the article, just click here or on the picture to your left.

The good news about all this is that the magazine is interested in having me cover future launches for them and can even get me a press pass. I might have found my calling. I doubt if I can do this sort of thing all that often because it can get expensive. Nevertheless, the road ahead is something to look forward to.

When I went to the new neighborhood restaurant for breakfast this morning, I was surprised to see that it was completely full. There was even a small line out front. How did this happen? I've been going to this place fairly frequently on Friday mornings and it's never been full before. Oh, well. I'm not big on standing in line, so I got back in my car and drove to the hotel instead. The restaurant at the hotel never seems to be full. I ordered the French Toast like I always do at the hotel and daydreamed about traveling to rocket launches. The hotel reminds me of the old days when I used to do a lot of business travel. How did I transition from a road warrior to a person who rarely leaves the house? Life is strange. I don't even question a lot of things like this. We all go through stages.

I'm starting to see more birds at the lake. I wonder what this means? August doesn't seem like a time for migrations. I've seen a lot of Great Egrets lately as well as a few Great Blue Herons. I've seen smaller Cattle Egrets as well. I need to get some pictures of these birds because I don't know how long they will stay. This might be a project for the weekend. It will probably be easier to find the birds than to carry the camera on hot days like this. I sure wish Apple would invent an iPhone with a telephoto lens. Putting a phone in your pocket is a lot easier than carrying a big camera on long walks.

Janet has convinced me to try wearing ankle socks on my walks. The combination of long shorts and equally long wool socks has given me a very weird tan. Basically, it's just a dark stripe on my legs. I tried the shorter socks that everybody else seems to be wearing but I didn't like them. I came home with a blister on my heel. The Nike Air shoes I'm wearing now are fairly comfortable, but I guess I need the extra cushion of the thick wool socks as well. Who cares if I look ridiculous. Most old men look ridiculous anyway.

The security light in the back yard has started acting up again. It will come on around sunset but will go off again a few hours later. The lamp hasn't burned out or anything, but I have to go behind the greenhouse and flip a switch on the breaker box to get the light to tun on again. This involves walking through spider webs in the dark and getting bitten by chiggers. It's irritating. When this used to happen I had the electrician come out several times and they could never find anything wrong. They replaced the photocell twice and it didn't make any difference. Even though the dogs are gone and we don't really need the light anymore, this flaky fixture still bothers me. Why do things break so often? I want a world where everything is dependable.

One thing I can depend on is more hot weather tomorrow. I'm ready for winter.

Scout is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3507

The carpenter came over again to look at the greenhouse this morning. He asked me what I was trying to accomplish. Did I want a second office? A tiny guest house? A man cave? A woodworking shop? It didn't take long to come to the conclusion that I didn't have an objective. I just wanted to get rid of the eyesore the demolished greenhouse had become. It turns out that it would be a lot easier and less expensive to just make the place a nice greenhouse again. Glass was broken and the roof was gone, but most of the basic structure was intact. I guess thats what we're going to do. Neither Janet or I have much interest in gardening, but if we ever move, having a greenhouse in the back yard could be a selling point.

There were a lot of things I never considered when I was thinking of turning the greenhouse into something else. The first big hurdle would be putting in a concrete floor. Right now the place has a thick gravel floor covered with loose fitting bricks you can walk on. This is great for drainage in a greenhouse, but terrible for any kind of a living space. Due to the location of the greenhouse you'd have to use one of those giant concrete pump trucks to pour a concrete floor. I'm not even sure a concrete pump would work because of the location of several large Oak trees. Occasionally the greenhouse floods after heavy rains as well. Mostly this is because the place is right in the path of runoff from the flat roof of our house. Making the place cozy and watertight wouldn't be easy. It's just not worth the trouble. It looks like we are just going to repair the greenhouse and make it like it was before.

I sent off a few query letters to see if any magazines would be interested in an article about my upcoming trip to McDonald Observatory. I felt I needed to make the effort. I'm so lazy that I could easily go another year without writing anything at all. Who knows. It might make an interesting story. Or maybe not. I have no interest in writing a travel guide. Basically everything I write is all about me. Reading about my low key adventures is definitely an acquired taste. Not everyone is interested.

Is a trip to Alpine, Texas inherently any more interesting than a walk in the park? I'm not sure. Either way, you observe things and think about them. My daily walks take two hours and the road trip will take seven hours. Most of my travel west of Fort Worth has been in an airplane. From what I've seen out the window, West Texas is pretty flat and uneventful. If there is a story at all it will probably be found at the observatory itself. We'll see what happens.

It is hard to believe that it is already August. Where has this year gone? Time seems to speed by so fast now that you hate to waste it. Maybe that's why I'm thinking about travel and new experiences more than I have in prior years. In the grand scheme of things, there isn't that much time left. Maybe becoming a space journalist is kind of a worthy goal after all. There are lots of places to visit and things to do. When I was a kid I loved astronomy and read a lot of science fiction. Now, I've come full circle.

I skipped going out to breakfast last week. A restaurant breakfast is starting to sound appealing again. Pancakes, waffles, omelets, or Eggs Benedict? So many choices. It's odd that not a single restaurant I've even been to offers a fruit smoothie for breakfast. It's a shame. I've got a good recipe.

Snoopy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3506

We're going to McDonald Observatory. I finally became confident enough about the weather to make a reservation to spend the night on the top of Mt. Locke looking through one of the observatory's big research telescopes. Only very small groups are allowed on these special viewing nights, so you have to plan well in advance. This is where weather becomes a problem. Luckily, I discovered a website called dryday.com that specializes in providing long range forecasts for construction, agriculture, wedding planners, and anyone else who needs to know when the weather is going to be nice. You have to pay for this service, but for someone as obsessed with weather as I am, the subscription price seemed like a bargain. I know there is no way to absolutely guarantee clear skies months in advance, but I feel better now. This company's track record for predicting the weather is pretty impressive.

This will be the first road trip we've taken in quite a while. I was thinking about taking the train since Amtrak has a stop in Alpine, Texas. The devil is in the details though. Although Amtrak has daily service to Alpine on the westbound run, the train only runs three days a week returning to Dallas. The worst thing about the return trip was that the return train arrives in Alpine at night and only stays at the station for a few minutes. That's bad enough, but the train has a history of being up to three hours late as well. Riding Amtrak isn't cheap anymore either. When you add up the price of two round trip tickets and a rental car in Alpine, the 500 mile drive starts looking better and better.

I spent quite a while travel planning today, but there was still time to punish myself in the sun. It's really hot on my walks these days. I'm basically walking five miles a day and a little more on Sunday's. My effort to stay fit must be working because I've noticed that my average resting heart rate is gradually getting lower. I'm not really adding a lot of muscle, but my legs do feel firmer. I wonder how the runners who pass me on the trails every day do it. I can barely walk in this weather. I wouldn't even consider running.

I've finally run out of the Cadence Kitchen meals I was eating while Janet was away. These meals were delicious and very easy to fix, but they contain too much salt. What now? Maybe I'll try Nature's Plate again. Their kitchen is right in the neighborhood. I used to like these heat and serve vegan meals a lot until their chef became fascinated with sweet potatoes. I'm fine with lentils and chickpeas, but I was never fond of sweet potatoes. I'm not fond of faux meat either. Don't try to trick me with tofu barbecue. If you crave the taste of meat, just eat meat.

I wonder if Sky and Telescope would be interested in an article about my trip to the observatory? Maybe I'll write them tomorrow and see. I'm not going to let my Spaceflight Magazine article go to my head, but I do like writing. I should be writing more. The nice thing about being retired is that I don't have to worry about being rejected. Getting accepted is just a bonus.

Shelby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3505

I see some strange things when I'm walking in the park. Today I saw a guy riding a bicycle with his arm in a cast. You might not need both hands to steer, but don't you need both hands to operate the brakes? Hmm. I wonder how he broke that arm? The guy was riding like he was competing in the Tour de France too. It made no sense to me. The animals make no more sense than the humans. At this time of year birds like to congregate on electric wires. Sometimes you'll see hundreds of birds on a wire. At one of these locations I always see a big pile of dead birds directly under the wire. The birds are getting electrocuted. Don't they know what is happening? You'd think that at least one of these birds would be saying "Has anyone seen Bob lately," he was here just a minute ago." Getting zapped doesn't seem to deter the birds though. They come back to the same wire every day.

We had our first triple digit day of the Summer. It was well over a hundred degrees this afternoon. Coincidently, this was the day I paid the electric bill. The electric bills in July and August are always horrendous. It doesn't really matter where you set the thermostat, the air conditioner is always running. There's no point in wishing for cooler weather now. It's going to be pretty warm from now through the end of September.

I'm still trying to figure out the weather in West, Texas. I had a day all picked out to go to McDonald Observatory and just before I was going to make my reservation I checked the long range weather again. The day I wanted was clear yesterday and today there was a 40% chance of thunderstorms. The alternate day I was looking at had an even higher chance of thunderstorms. I looked at Yelp reviews of people who had visited the observatory and almost half of them said they had experienced cloudy skies. Almost all of them said it was much colder than they expected. I did a little research and discovered that July and August are considered the "monsoon" season in West Texas. Evidently during this time of year a stationary low pressure system typically sets up over Arizona and New Mexico drawing moisture into the area. It may not rain every day, but it is not the best time for astronomy. Despite all this, I think the area around the observatory is supposed to have clear skies for 2/3 of the year. People say there are better chances of clear skies in the Spring, but it can also get very cold in the mountains. Snow and ice are common. I wish the place wasn't so remote. It's a very long drive if you are just going to wind up with cloudy skies. On a clear night there is no place better for dark skies in the country though. Do I take a gamble or not?

These hot summer days are long and uneventful. No wonder Janet likes to travel. I'm not much of a traveler myself but almost everything I'm interested in doing seems to be outside of Dallas. That must mean something. If I was more of a free spirit, I'd probably be on the road right now. Since I'm not a free spirit at all, I'll be thinking about what to have for dinner tomorrow while I take my morning walk.

Penny is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3504

It's nice to have Janet back again. Nine days is a long time to to go without talking to anyone. Actually I did talk to a few people during the week. I talked to the couple who adopted Jenga. I talked to my friend who fixed the sculpture that the falling tree demolished. And I talked to the AT&T repairman. It still seemed like a pretty silent week though. Janet enjoyed her trip. I guess nine days in the Caribbean is more relaxing than nine days in Dallas.

I received the press proofs for my article in Spaceflight Magazine today. The article looked great and the editor told me that they liked my writing style and hoped that I will work with them again. He even told me that the magazine would help me get a press pass if I want to cover future launches. That was an easy question to answer. Yes I do. The magazine has already gone to press but I can't share the article until the issue is available to subscribers late next week. I'm sure you'll see it eventually. I can't resist sharing stuff like this.

I'm already thinking about what to do next. I'm wondering if an article about a 71 year old guy going to Space Camp would be interesting. It probably could be humorous as well. I'm no spring chicken. I need to check with my doctor first to see if being put in a centrifuge or a multi-axis trainer might kill me. Part of the training involves assembling things underwater using scuba gear in a neutral buoyancy tank as well. All of this is way outside my comfort zone, but if I stay in this zone indefinitely I'll never leave the house.

I actually did leave the house today. I went to Central Market to pick up the things that Janet always eats for breakfast and of course I went on my morning and evening walks. It's probably too late for sunblock, but I need to do something to save my skin. This sun is brutal. I probably should start walking much earlier, but if I don't eat breakfast early, I usually don't feel like eating at all. It's a tough choice. What I need at this point are more cloudy days.

I'm really striking out with the repair people. The tree guy told me that he'd hurt his back and wouldn't be able to cut trees again until September. The carpenter made an appointment to come over at 4:30 this afternoon, but he never showed up. True to form, it rained before the roofer showed up with the silicon coating he'd promised me. It wasn't a heavy rain this afternoon, but it would have been so much better if I'd been able to make the repairs last week.

Tomorrow we go back to our regular routines. No sandy beaches for Janet but I'll still have my smoothie.

Tink is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3503

The Internet is working again. I wasn't imagining things. There really was a problem. It turns out that the last time the fiber optic cable was attached to the box on my house, they did a sloppy job and the end of the glass fiber was a little dirty. There was also a splice in the cable that made the situation worse. Evidently, there are always small errors in the data coming through the fiber, but the second box on the wall inside the house is designed to compensate for the errors. If the end of the cable isn't perfectly clean, it can cause reflections in the light coming through the cable and confuse the box that is trying to correct the data errors. This is why my system had to be constantly reset. The technician told me that the cable was too short to cut the end off and make a better connection, so he installed a completely new cable out to the street.

This is the third time AT&T has had to do this. Like all the other installations, today's new above ground cable is only temporary. Another crew will come out next week and bury the cable. You'd think they'd just bury the cable the technician installed today, but typically they just throw this cable away and bury an all new cable instead which also needs a special technician to hook it up. "Is this why my bill is so high," I asked the technician? He just laughed. These fiber optic technicians are the first to admit that the crews who bury the cables underground usually screw up all their work. "Why don't the guys who bury the cable come out with you, so you can do everything at the same time," I asked. "That would make too much sense," the technician told me. AT&T hires third party contractors to bury the cables because they want to do this process as cheaply as they can. The people who dig the holes know nothing about fiber optics and how fragile the cables are. Most of the time they are putting in sprinkler systems. I don't think they are saving any money at all. This is the third time I've had to have the fiber optic line installed and they still can't get it right. Everything is working now though. Janet probably picked a good week to be away.

I still had time to go to the gym after the technician completed his work. I basically spent the rest of the day exercising and walking and might have set a new Fitbit record. 22,000 steps today. Needless to say, it was very hot outside. One of the many indicators on my new watch is a daily UV Index. Along with the air quality reading, this basically tells me whether I should just stay inside. The Ultraviolet Index is usually very high toward the middle of the day when the sky is clear. I guess I should be wearing sunblock even when I'm walking. No wonder my skin is starting to look like a lizard.

I got some pictures of Jenga and Pongo in their new homes this afternoon. They looked happy. It was amazing how relaxed they both seemed. You could tell that they had settled in to their new surroundings very quickly. Dogs know when they have found a home. I predict that they'll be sleeping on the bed in a matter of days.

The carpenter told me he needed to come back to the house and look at the greenhouse again before he could give me a firm estimate. The tree guy forgot where I live. The roofer told me that he would bring me some of the silicon product "soon." I don't know whether this means tomorrow or next month. The fact that I'm still communicating with these people is progress though. Eventually everything will get done.

I have no idea what will get done tomorrow. It's hard to get motivated in this heat.

Patch is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3502

I did more grocery shopping than usual today. First I got the things I usually get on Saturdays and then I went to the stores where Janet shops and got the things she usually gets. I think I have the easier job, since I typically only go to one store. Janet always goes to several different stores. It's weird to me that with so many things on grocery store shelves, you still can't get the same things in all stores. Some stores have better produce. Other stores have better meat. I don't even bother to look for bargains, but they are out there if you want to take the time to look. It's amazing how much price and variety actually vary.

I had breakfast and all my shopping done by 10 AM, but my efficiency wasn't rewarded with cooler weather. Apparently yesterday was an anomaly. By the time I started my first walk of the day, it was already too hot. I didn't bother to carry an extra camera today. The animals were all in hiding anyway.

Since I finished my chores earlier than expected, I decided to watch a movie on Netflix. The first thing I noticed when I logged on was a notice saying that the price was going up next month. Weren't higher subscription prices one of the reasons their stock took a big hit last week? People don't like higher prices.

I watched a Chinese science fiction movie called The Wandering Earth. I was expecting to hear the actors speaking Chinese with English subtitles, but they had dubbed the entire movie in English. I generally don't like overdubs, but since weren't a lot of close up scenes, you really didn't notice any lip-sync problems. This movie has gotten good reviews and was a big hit in China. It was interesting how the Chinese see an apocalyptic future. There were no aliens popping out of people's chests. There was no breakdown of civil society. Instead, humanity managed to pull itself together to save the planet from being swallowed up by an exploding sun. The premise of the movie was that to escape the sun turning into a red giant, we could stop the earth's rotation, attach 10,000 giant fusion rockets to one side of the planet and propel it out of the solar system on a 2,500 year journey to another star. The movie was well done with special effects equal to anything Ridley Scott or James Cameron could come up with. I'll admit I've been intrigued with stories of the Earth leaving the solar system ever since I read A Pail of Air by Fritz Lieber when I was a kid. I don't think the sun is going to blow up in 2061 though. A little too soon.

I've been eating Cadence Kitchen flash frozen meals all week. These flash frozen dinners are delicious and I've had no heartburn problems at all. I think these meals contain too much salt though. That's probably one reason they taste so good. Restaurant chefs always use too much salt as well. I've been on a low sodium diet for a long time and can really feel the effects of too much salt. I guess it's back to a more bland diet when Janet returns.

The AT&T service technician is supposed to come out to the house tomorrow morning. Coincidently, the Internet has been working fine today. There was one little glitch early this morning, but mostly it's been smooth sailing. I hope this guy can find a problem even when it's not very evident. I hate dealing with intermittent problems. This is like when you hear a funny noise in your car and the noise goes away as soon as you take it in for repairs. We'll see how the service call goes. Hopefully, I'll still be able to go to the gym.

Deuce is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3501

Maybe I'm getting too much sleep. I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep. Since I wasn't tired, I took this as a sign that I should walk early. Not that it made any difference but it was surprisingly cool outside. The air quality was terrible though. My new watch told me so.

I had thought the water level at the lake was so low because of the Summer heat. I guess I was wrong. I saw something on the news today that said a piece of the dam that regulated water level had broken. The dam had sprung a leak. This wasn't a piece of high-tech equipment that broke. It was just a big piece of wood. That doesn't seem hard to replace. Maybe I'll see the water level rising again soon.

I didn't see much on my walk today. I took a better camera with me to photograph Egrets but they were too far away. Yesterday they were close to shore. Birds are unpredictable. Today the only thing I could find to photograph was a small lizard.

Instead of going out for breakfast this morning I stayed home and finished off the fresh fruit. I should have gone out. I think the breakfast restaurant tradition started in the first place because four smoothies in a row was all I could handle. While I was eating I tried to figure out some of the new functions of my watch. In addition to providing air quality warnings and electrocardiograms, it also did a lot of other cool stuff. Maybe it wasn't such a bad purchase after all.

I noticed that some new viewing dates have opened up at McDonald Observatory, so I started investigating a trip out there in more detail. Planning a trip was more complicated than I anticipated. Special viewing nights at the big telescopes are limited to eight people and even thought viewing dates for the Fall were just announced a few days ago, they were already filling up fast. Since astronomy trips are fairly worthless unless you have clear skies, I tried to see if there were special long range weather forecasts for astronomers. Surprise. Actually there are. I looked at several potential observing dates in September at the 82" telescope and there was a high probability of thunderstorms. Not good. It looked like there was going to be a clear day in August when there was an opportunity to visit the smaller 36" telescope, but there was only one opening left. I think Janet wants to go on this trip, so that wasn't good.

Were all these forecasts event even remotely realistic? Usually the weather forecasts for tomorrow are wrong in Dallas. How can you accurately predict the weather for September? It's a mystery to me. Every day in September had a specific prediction though. Forecasts for August were even more specific. Can I trust these forecasts? I'd hate to drive all the way out to Alpine, Texas and have it rain on my viewing night.

Planing the trip was so complicated that I decided to think about it for a while. Do I drive or take Amtrak? Oddly, you can take the train to this small Texas town. Which telescope is the best? There are three to choose from: the 102", the 82", and the 36". At first glance you'd think that the biggest one would be the best, but that isn't always the case. Viewing nights for the 102" inch telescope are only offered when there is a full moon. The smaller 36" telescope is available on a few select nights where there are dark skies. Also, tickets are not refundable if it rains at the last minute. You just go listen to an astronomer talk instead of looking through the telescope. It's all kind of a crap shoot. You just have to pick a day and hope you get lucky.

So far, I haven't been very lucky with my U-Verse service. The fiber optic line still goes down periodically throughout the day. A technician is coming over on Sunday, but I bet he isn't going to have the patience to diagnose an intermittent problem like this. I bet he just replaces all the equipment instead.

Smokey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3500

The Internet keeps going out. It's on for a while and then it's off for a while. After spending an hour on the phone with tech support last night, the best they could come up with was "turn it off and then turn it on again." I had a hard time explaining to then that resetting the router and fiber optic box might restore things for a little while but it wasn't really fixing anything. I'm pretty sure I know what the problem is. A couple of days ago the U-Verse guys were installing new service for one of my neighbors. I'm pretty sure that when they attached the neighbor's fiber optic cable to the junction box at the end of the street they screwed up my cable. Hard to explain this to a guy halfway around the world who is just trying to run a diagnostic program. Intermittent connections caused by loose wires can be very difficult to diagnose remotely.

I replaced my Apple Watch with a new model today. I'll be the first to admit that this was a ridiculous way to use my gift card from the electric company since it basically only covered the sales tax. What can I say. I was bored and I hadn't bought anything form the Apple Store in a long time. Did I need a new watch? The old Apple Watch worked fine. You couldn't update the system anymore and it didn't do fancy things like create electrocardiograms, but it did everything I needed. I doubt that I'll even activate the built in phone on the new watch. My phone bill is high enough as it is.

It took me a while to figure out how to pair the watch with my phone. I'd done this before but it seemed easier last time. I finally learned after a few Google searches that it is best to pair a new watch in a dark room. Who knew? There was certainly no mention of a dark room on the minuscule piece of paper that served as instructions. I finally got the watch paired and it works fine. It's basically just like my old watch.

I don't know if I have the patience to call AT&T tech support again tonight. They're going to need to send a technician out to the house but I know I'll have to do all the same stupid diagnostic tests I did last night before they'll schedule a visit. I hope they don't have to install a new router because then I'll have to reprogram every single WiFi device in the house. Been there, done that.

My walks are starting to get boring. I'm getting tired of counting Egrets and memorizing silly objects I see along the way. I am starting to feel like I'm in better shape, but walking takes up a lot of time. So far, this isn't really a problem because I have more time than I know what to do with. I just need to find a better way to waste my time. Before you suggest taking a class, binge watching movies on Netflix, traveling, or volunteering, I've already considered those things. I'm looking for something else.

There wasn't much trash in the bin when I took it out to the curb tonight. Janet must generate more trash than I do. I don't think I'll go out for breakfast tomorrow. I bought too much fruit this week. Actually, I bought exactly the same amount that I bought last week but forgot that Janet wasn't here to eat hers. I am such a creature of habit. I guess I'll make one more smoothie before the fruit goes bad.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3499

It's weird to go this long without talking to anyone. I don't spend a huge amount of time talking with Janet but I rarely talk to anyone else. Usually there isn't a need. After I finish the blog each evening there is nothing more to say. I guess I must have talked to the dogs in the past when Janet was traveling. The house is strangely silent now.

It is particularly quiet right now because U-Verse is down again. Usually this is our most expensive utility bill but the service is not particularly reliable. I'd switch to another provider, but Spectrum is even worse. The worst thing about U-Verse is that when you do have a problem you have to talk with an offshore customer service representative who can barely speak English. It's very frustrating to talk with someone on the other side of the world when you know there's probably just a problem with the line a few blocks away. I try to avoid calling these people because the problem sometimes fixes itself in a couple of hours. I always have an alternate way to get on the Internet. AT&T disappoints me frequently but my trusty little T-Mobile WiFi hotspot hasn't failed me yet.

The water level in the lake has been slowly dropping all month. It's been very dry. Today I noticed that one of the shallow bays had completely dried up. Like the age spot on my arm, this also seemed to happen overnight. I haven't seen the water level this low in many years. I guess we need some rain.  The odd thing was that it wasn't particularly hot today. On the news they even said we were having a cold wave. It's strange to think of 80 degree temperatures as a cold wave, but this is Texas.

I was happy to see the cooler temperatures. I knew they wouldn't last long so I made a point to mow the grass this afternoon. There is still a big dead spot where the huge pile of brush used to be but maybe it will fill in if we ever get some rain. This is the perfect time to make repairs to the roof, but I haven't received any of the silicon coating the roofer promised yet. Probably there will be a can of the stuff on my doorstep on the day it rains.

It's hard to find anything to photograph in the middle of July. The meadows in the park are becoming brown and dry. Most of the wildflowers are gone now except for the Firewheel plants and a few Morning Glories. I did find a Buttonbush that had seen better days. The spherical flowers would have been much more impressive if I'd found them a month ago.

I hate how clumsy I've become. I cut my finger with a kitchen knife while I was slicing a watermelon this afternoon. I rarely even eat watermelon but I had to go slicing one today. I guess I learned my lesson. This wasn't a bad cut but it feels like a paper cut right on the tip of my index finger. Irritating. I'm feeling this thing every time I type.

Every year I get this small gift card from the electric company. It's some kind of rebate for being a good customer. I wish they would just lower my bill a little instead. I almost always buy stuff online now, so I never know what to do with this card. To make matters worse, the card always expires a few months after the electric company sends it out. It's about to expire now so I need to go out and buy something I don't need before it becomes useless like it did last year. Maybe I'll do this tomorrow. Hey, I already mowed the grass. I need something to do.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3498

I noticed a big brown blotch on my arm today that wasn't there yesterday. It didn't hurt and it didn't look like a bite or infection. At first I thought the blotch was just grease but it didn't wash off. Was this an age spot? I recall that my Dad had blotches like this all over his arms and face when he got old. Was it melanoma? I doubt it, but melanoma is very common. Was it just some minor internal bleeding? Maybe I shouldn't be taking low-dose aspirin anymore. The weird thing is that this just happened overnight. I swear the blotch wasn't there yesterday. Getting old is full of surprises.

I kept switching between the morning news and an old rerun of Independence Day on TV as I was eating breakfast this morning. It became apparent after just a few minutes that just about the only thing that could ever unite humanity would be aliens. Humans have been fighting each other over ridiculous differences for centuries. It's impossible to turn on the TV these days without being bombarded with news about some sort of conflict. If only aliens would invade us. That would probably be the only thing that might actually bring people together.

To be fair, I don't think animals are much nicer than we are. Mockingbirds are horrible. They are always fighting with other birds. I've been dive bombed by angry Mockingbirds several times and poor Dash suffered a direct hit once. Raptors and Owls look magnificent but whenever I see them they always seem to be grabbing smaller animals with their talons and eating them. Don't even get me started about ducks. I've seen ducks do things during nesting season that should land them in jail.

Today was pretty uneventful. I paid a few bills and wrote a letter to my sister. While I was at the post office I asked the postmaster if they had any of the new Apollo 11 commemorative stamps. He said that local post offices didn't sell commemorative stamps anymore. You had to buy them online. This kind of sucks. I'm not a stamp collector, but I always liked to pick up some interesting new stamps while I was at the post office.

I sent friendly reminder messages to several of the repair people who have been ignoring me. So far none of them have replied. I don't know why this always has to be a battle. The first battle is finding someone good in the first place. The second battle is getting them to show up. And the third battle is getting them to come back when you discover that they didn't do the job properly.

I'll bug a few more people tomorrow but I don't really expect anything dramatic to happen. These are the dog days of summer. Nobody wants to deal with problems. I don't want to deal with problems either but I sure would like to get the torn spots in the roof fixed before it rains again.

Jewel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day