Day 3774

We walked Dawn before breakfast this morning. The weather was cool and the walk was enjoyable. As we begin to enter the Summer months, I think our walks are going to get earlier and earlier. It's the only way to beat the heat. The walks will probably get shorter too. You got to be careful with dogs during Texas summers. Dogs can't sweat and can easily succumb to heatstroke. Dawn does pretty well now, but she's not a young dog. We don't want to push her too hard.

My computer upgrade went perfectly. All the data transferred to the new drive overnight and my applications seem to work. I did have to register Microsoft Office again, but I've done that so many times that it wasn't a big deal. Everything works now and I don't have to subscribe to Office 365. It's weird that the computer is silent. I've gotten used to the noise over the years. There is no whirring noise from the hard drive anymore and since the computer runs cooler with the solid state drive, I rarely hear the fan. I was pleased that I was able to complete this complicated repair. I saved over $200 as well. Replacing a hard drive is no big deal, but taking the entire computer apart to get to the hard drive is. Since I was able to do all this without breaking anything, I might try putting a solid state drive in my laptop too. These SSD drives are really fast.

The city is running behind on picking up bulky trash in our neighborhood, so I thought I'd add a little more to our pile on the curb while I had the chance. I resumed cleaning out the tool shed this afternoon and managed to find quite a few things I didn't need. I seem to have a terrible habit of buying supplies for repairs I never end up making. I found a lot of tile grout and sheetrock mud today along with about a dozen tubes of various kinds of caulking. All this stuff had gone bad from sitting on a shelf in the damp tool shed for many years. I must have been much more ambitious about fixing things back in the day. I wouldn't even bother buying this stuff today.

I found a canister of helium for blowing up party balloons and wondered why I bought it. We never have parties. It must have been for some Dalmatian adoption event. I thought about keeping the helium because it is a rare commodity these days. In the spirit of practicality, I threw it away. I have no need for helium.

I still haven't gotten my stimulus money. It's not a big deal, but I wonder who decides when the payments get made. 80 million people got their money on the first day, but it's crickets for a lot of the rest of us. I've heard that some people who are eligible might have to wait months. With my luck, the country will be up and running again before my turn comes and they'll just cancel the program. I'm never very optimistic about getting anything from the government.

It's time to get supplies again. I basically use the car just once a week now. The grocery trips aren't long now. We've basically got plenty of everything. I go to the store mostly for fresh fruits and vegetables now. We've got enough paper towels, toilet paper, bottled water, and soap to last us until next winter. I don't think I'll need gas this week either. A tank of gas lasts a long time now.

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3773

I did it. I successfully installed a new solid state drive in my main work computer. Not surprisingly, the upgrade process was a lot harder than I expected. I had practically memorized the install video, but when I removed the glass in front of the screen and started to remove the eight T-10 screws that held it in place, I could only find five. Did the last guy who serviced this computer lose three of the screws? Probably. They are pretty small and hard to reach. After I removed the remaining screws, I put on gloves and carefully extracted the delicate 27" screen from the case. That's when things really got strange. The computer logic board I was looking at was different from the pictures I"d been seeing on the install video. Where were the wires I was supposed to detach from the screen? Nothing looked familiar. I had a real sinking feeling at a this point. I got a bright light and a magnifying glass and finally found what looked like the appropriate connections. Here goes nothing, I thought.

The damaged hard drive wasn't attached to the logic board with the proper screws, so it was difficult to reattach the new solid state drive. This was supposed to be a plug and play installation, but nothing was fitting correctly. Why did I trust that install video? Luckily, after rummaging around in the office for a while I managed to find some longer Torx screws with the same pitch as the new drive adapter.

I was apprehensive when I put everything back together. Did I attach all the loose wires to the right connectors on the logic board? It was hard to tell. To get the wires to reach their connection points, I had to partially reinstall the screen and then reach my hand behind it to push each cord into its socket. I couldn't see what I was doing, but eventually I managed to get each cord connected. I was hoping that I didn't manage to attach any of the cords upside down. Some of the connectors were easy to install backwards.

I was actually amazed when I reassembled the computer and plugged it in that it still worked. I had to boot from an external drive and format the new solid state drive before I could begin restoring everything, but everything seemed to be working normally. The new drive showed up on the desktop and appeared ready to go. I just had to figure out how to add a system. I wanted to install a fresh copy of Sierra but Apple wouldn't let me download anything that old. My only other option was to chain my Time Machine drive to the external boot drive and restore everything that way. Restoring everything from two external Firewire drives to a blank internal drive is very slow. It looks like I've only got twelve hours to go.

I guess I'll find out in the morning if this marathon upgrade session worked. Since the computer is out of commission until the restore process is finished, I'm writing the blog on a laptop tonight. I don't think I"d want to do this again. Several times this afternoon I was convinced that I'd destroyed the computer. Everything ended well, but there were some stressful moments. I see a few dog hairs sandwiched between the screen and the protective cover glass. The dog hairs will have to stay. I'm not taking this thing apart again.

Basically, this extended exercise was my entire day. We did take Dawn on a nice walk early this morning before it got hot. The weather has turned warm again. That's fine by me. We managed to escape the storms that caused a lot of damage south of us. The roof has had a chance to dry again. All is well. I don't think Dawn is going to like Texas summers. Even today seemed a little hot for her.

Wyatt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3772

We walked really early this morning to avoid the rain. Although there were all sorts of severe weather warnings, it never rained. It's hard to predict anything these days. There was virtually nobody in the park this morning. I don't think overcrowding is going to be a problem until we get a warm, sunny weekend. Personally, I like the overcast days. Everything looks greener and it's easier to photograph things without hard shadows. I never understood sitting out in the sun anyway. It's terrible on your skin.

Another box of disposable masks arrived today. We're going to have plenty of masks. I'm learning not to sneeze in public. It's not an easy thing to do when you have terrible Spring allergies. Maybe mind over matter actually works. I still have hay fever and sneeze a lot in the house, but almost never do when I'm away. If things get much worse, I'm afraid they're going to start arresting people who sneeze. Definitely don't want that.

I read an interesting article today where a leading pulmonologist said that if everybody started measuring their oxygen saturation levels using one of those inexpensive Fingertip Pulse Oximeters at home, a lot of coronavirus complications could be avoided. Evidently blood oxygen levels start going down way before you develop pneumonia and he thought that a reduction in blood oxygen might be a reliable early sign that you have the virus. Sounds good to me. It makes sense that if you began treatment before you became deathly ill, you would have a lot better chance of recovering. Maybe I'll get one of these little things that fits on your fingertip. My doctor always uses one whenever I get an exam and they aren't expensive. Actually my Apple Watch is supposed to have this capability after the next system upgrade. Might not be a good idea to wait that long though. By the time this is over, I'll probably have a closet full of high-tech devices to keep me healthy.

I reviewed the installation video for the solid state drive this afternoon and I'm a little more confident that I can do the complicated computer upgrade myself. I pre-assembled a few of the components today and will be ready to take the computer apart tomorrow. I wish this computer was a traditional tower where it was easy to access the internal components directly. I've replace processors, hard drives, DVD drives, memory, and other things in computers many times before. This is different though. I've got to remove the glass front protecting the screen and then remove the entire screen itself to gain access to the broken hard drive inside. There are lots of tiny wires that have to be removed and replaced without breaking them. In theory, this repair should be easy if I'm slow and methodical. I'm kind of clumsy though. It's a miracle I haven't fallen off the roof yet.

I keep checking my e-mail to see if there is any news about media accreditation for the Crew Dragon launch at Kennedy Space Center or about the status of my McDonald Observatory article at Sky and Telescope. In my own little world these things are still important. I don't want to bother people because I know they have more important things on their mind. It's still hard to be patient though. Maybe I'll hear something soon.

Until then, I'll continue drinking my morning smoothie, taking Dawn on long walks, patching the roof, photographing Spring flowers, and writing the blog. It's amazing how quickly little things like this can fill up a day. I could write a book about sheltering in place. I doubt that you'd read it though. Most of you want to get back to normal. For me, this is normal.

Mindy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3771

I think I'm living in Bizarro World. High tech electronic suppliers who I've worked with for years are now sending me e-mails saying that they've got masks. What the hell. These guys sell computer networking equipment. I went ahead and bought some masks though. These guys are reliable and maybe they know something I don't.

Everybody is wearing a mask now, but nobody is wearing it right. When I went to the post office today I saw a guy pull a dirty mask out of his back pocket, put it on as he went inside and then put it back in his pocket again as soon as he left the building. I've seen people take their masks off to sneeze and then put them back on again. I saw two guys in a bass boat wearing masks while they were fishing alone out in the middle of the lake. WTF? Were the fish going to give them the virus? I don't think anyone's even heard of a sterile field. Does all this even matter? We probably won't know for another two years.

I always wear a mask when I'm out in public. I don't really think the Home Depot sanding masks I wear protect me or others from anything, but they help me blend in and be inconspicuous. Who ever thought that wearing a mask in broad daylight would make you look inconspicuous? These days you want to blend in and become invisible. Like I said, it's a Bizarro World out there. I've always been much more worried about social unrest than about the virus itself. The last thing I want is some stressed out mom rolling down the window of her Mercedes and accusing me of putting her grandma at risk.

I think it's OK to go without a mask when you're walking your dog in a huge wooded park. We don't wear masks when we walk Dawn. Don't you dare leave your mask behind when you go to the grocery store though. You're asking for trouble. I think the people I see who are wearing masks out in the park when they are at least three hundred yards away from another person are missing the point. Fresh air isn't going to kill you. Going to the grocery store every day because you keep running out of cookies might not be so smart though.

I'm not sure if I ever want to get in a crowded elevator again. A completely full Southwest Airlines flight might make me a little nervous too. If I make the cut and end up getting a press pass for the Crew Dragon launch at the end of May I won't worry about flying though. I imagine the planes that are still in the air will be pretty empty.

The parts to upgrade my computer came today. Usually this would be a signature required delivery but the FedEx guy didn't want to get anywhere near me. The package just appeared on my doorstep sometime during the day. Usually I don't like to leave packages out on the doorstep, but this was the only option. The FedEx offices are closed to the public now. It might take me several days to work up my nerve to take the computer apart and make the repairs. I think I need to watch the YouTube upgrade video again.

Janet walked Dawn by herself this morning because I had to stay home and wait for the FedEx guy. Of course, I could have gone anywhere today. The delivery didn't arrive until 7 PM. Dawn continues to do great. There is no real need to train her. If anything, she is training us. So far, Dawn is one of the few good things that has happened during the pandemic. You need a good dog nearby when the world is falling apart

Joe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3770

It's a shame that it took a plague to get me to clean out the house. Janet likes to clean and I have absolutely no excuse not to help her now. We continued our efforts to clean out the tool shed today. There were so many things we had completely forgotten about. Most of the stuff was worthless. There were a few keepers though. I found a strange looking brass humidor that looked like it was made from an artillery shell. When I looked at the engraving on the side I realized it was my grandfather's. He was the commander of a tank company in Northern Africa during World War II and the humidor was presented to him by his men in 1943. It was made from a tank shell and hand engraved with an eagle on one side and my grandfather's name, rank and presentation date on the other. Pretty cool piece of history.

I decided it was finally time to throw away my original advertising portfolio from the 1970's. I've carried the big black art case around with me since I started my career, but I haven't taken good care of it in recent years. Actually, I completely forgot that I still had it. It's a shame I didn't put this in the storage warehouse decades ago. When I unzipped the case to take a look inside, the smell of mold and mildew was overwhelming. All the paper ad samples were ruined by moisture. I didn't even bother to sort through the mess. It was time for this part of my past to go.

Actually, throwing away the portfolio was a bit of a breakthrough. There is no need to hang on to this stuff. Nothing is permanent anyway. During the entire time I operated my own company, I never showed those samples to anyone. They were already old and obsolete when I started the company in 1990. Maybe now it will be a little easier for me to throw away a lot of other obsolete things that are gathering dust in my office. I need to start looking ahead instead of backwards. Hey, I'm not an ad guy anymore. I'm a space journalist.

The weather forecast looked good when I cleared the water off the roof again this morning. Unfortunately, later in the day the forecast changed and now it looks like rain tomorrow. Keeping the roof clear of water is an endless battle. I'm really thinking now that I need to find a contractor who can build a completely new roof with a pitch so water will drain quickly. This is beyond the scope of most roofing companies. They all just want to recover the flat roof. The only way to get rid of this problem forever is to totally eliminate the flat roof. Maybe if I can get rid of this troublesome roof along with the damaged, aging trees in the back yard, I can cover the new roof with solar panels and get rid of the power company as well.

Janet bought Dawn a big piece of astroturf so she can lie in the backyard and sun herself without getting muddy. Dawn loves to sit out in the back yard. Unfortunately, she also loves to roll on her back in the dirt and the run back into the house and hop on the bed. The experiment seemed to work. Dot likes the big astroturf rug and didn't get muddy at all today. I was surprised that Janet was able to get this big outdoor rug delivered. I guess you can get anything on Amazon these days.

I wish people would just admit that they know nothing about this virus yet. Opinions change wildly from day to day. Millions are going to die. Nevermind, we meant to say thousands are going to die. We desperately need ventilators. Everybody needs to make ventilators. Oops. Now we have too many ventilators. Maybe we can give them to Italy. You remain infectious for 14 days. No, that's 27 days or 35 days. Maybe you stay infectious forever. On and on it goes. Could everybody just shut up for a few days.

Life goes on. I certainly haven't changed much. If anything, I'm more optimistic and productive than I used to be. Go figure.

Wilson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3769

It's bulky trash removal time again. I've never seen such huge piles of trash in front of our neighbor's houses. Everyone appears to be using the lockdown to clean out their garage and tidy up their yards. We added our own pile on the curb today by cleaning out the tool shed next to our carport.

As the pile became larger I kept thinking "What is this stuff and why did I buy it in the first place?" I have a habit of buying supplies for repair projects and then never getting around to doing the project. When I finally get motivated to start working, I can't find the supplies I bought and go to Home Depot and buy them all over again. I found unopened boxes of tile grout that had become solid bricks after years of sitting on a shelf. There were dozens of tubes of caulk, glue, and paint that had turned solid as well. Some sheetrock I'd bought for repairs had turned into a crumbling, soggy mess after sitting in the leaky shed for way too many years. I found four large and very heavy steel bars that I had bought for something but couldn't remember why. Such a lot of unfinished projects! There were rusty tools that had to be thrown away because they simply didn't work anymore. I found two large boxes full of gimme caps with different corporate logos on them. Lord knows where I accumulated those. We made quite a pile for the trash truck to haul away, but we're far from finished. The other half of the tool shed remains untouched. Sorting through thirty years of accumulated junk felt a lot like clearing out my Dad's house after he died. We weren't trying to save this stuff. It just seemed to grow and multiply.

After today's initial cleanup effort, I'm really dreading cleaning out my office. Nothing is rusty or ruined in here, but a lot of things will never be used again. In my line of work, equipment become obsolete fairly quickly. It's hard to throw the stuff away though. I'll remember how something saved the day twenty five years ago and fool myself into thinking that maybe I'll use it again. Truthfully. I'll probably never use a film camera again. Modern digital cameras are so much better. I'll probably never use most of my audio gear either. I don't play in a band or produce commercials anymore and the equipment is woefully out of date anyway. All this stuff is hard to throw away because there are memories attached to everything. Eventually, the stuff in the office will be just like the stuff in the tool shed. I'll forget what it is and then it will be easy to throw away.

We miscalculated on our walk this morning and ended up getting caught in a thunderstorm. Luckily, we were close to a picnic pavilion when the heavy rain started so we didn't get very wet. It was nice to discover that Dawn wasn't scared of storms at all. She just sat calmly at our side until the storm passed. It's amazing what a calm, well behaved dog Dawn is. She still doesn't like to ride in a car, but other than that, very few things seem to bother her.

We got a lot of rain today but the roof still hasn't leaked. I'm not about to declare victory yet, but things are looking good. When normalcy returns to the world it might be time to make some serious improvements to the house. We need a lot more than a new roof. I think it's time to find a good general contractor who can fix everything. It's probably better to spend the money and have a nice place to live rather than watch it disappear in an investment account when the next pandemic arrives.

One hidden benefit of these crazy times is that we are eating very well. Janet is quite a good cook. I imagine we'll go back to take out meals when things get busy again, but for now life is good. Long walks and great meals are hard to beat.

Marley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3768

And just like that, everybody was wearing a mask. I'm amazed at how quickly we're all adapting to this new world. Life goes on. I made my weekly supply run today. Doggie poop bags are an easy way to avoid touching the pump handle when you get gas. It's been almost a month since I filled my tank. I still only added three gallons. I always bring a few Clorox wipes with me to wipe down the steering wheel and door handle after I finish touching grocery cart handles and all the packages I put into my cart. I'm adapting. So is everyone else.

I like the Sam's Club where I shop. The customers are mostly Hispanic small business owners. I'm a business member myself. There are no lines and almost 100% of the shoppers wear a mask. The store does a good job of resupplying all the essential things and customers do an equally good job of staying out of each other's way. If you use the shopping app on your phone like I do, you don't even have to stand in a check out line. You just quickly pick up your stuff and go home. Unlike some of the affluent suburbs where people are standing in long lines at trendy grocery stores and freaking out, things seem more or less normal here. It's almost as if everyone realizes that it's just another fucked-up day.

I got a letter from NASA today. It was addressed to members of the press and said that they were still working out the details for press coverage of the Crew Dragon launch on May 27. A limited number of photographers and reporters will be allowed at the launch site, but they will have to follow a strict set of social distancing rules that are still being developed. There were hundreds of reporters at the Solar Orbiter launch. I imagine that the list will be much smaller for this one. I probably won't know if I make the cut for several weeks but was very happy that NASA officially considers me a member of the press now. I'm just guessing but I actually might have a better chance of covering the launch than I think. The London magazine I represent probably won't be able to send anyone from the UK this time. I'm hoping they like my writing enough to assign me the lead story.

Believe it or not, I managed to sell one of my trains in the middle of a plague. My dealer in Kentucky said his store is closed like most small business and he is trying to sell his inventory on eBay now. He hoped I wasn't mad that the collectible train model sold for less than he thought it was worth. I'm just happy that the guy is still managing to stay in business. I told him that this wasn't the time to complain about prices and that I hoped his store will reopen soon. It's really a cool little store. I've been a small business owner for a long, long time and I really feel sorry for those who are trying everything they can to keep their dreams alive. The nationwide lockdown has decimated small business.

As many of you know, I could care less about politics. It makes me sad though that not even a plague of biblical proportions could bring our country together. The divide is bigger than it ever was. My Democratic friends would probably be dancing in the streets if the pandemic only killed Republicans. My Republican friends are all out buying guns and ammo. I'd like to think I'm more pragmatic. When this is all over I might go take an EMT course and get certified. It would be nice to be able to handle minor medical emergencies myself. When the trees in the backyard come down, I might consider putting solar panels on the roof. I need to build up my stock photo library to provide some sort of a passive income. You can't trust the stock market. I've always been resourceful and self-reliant but probably this experience will make me even more so in the future. I've seen nothing so far that increases my faith in government or makes me want to open the window and start singing "We are the World..."

Stay strong my friends. This is one fucked up mess, but at least we've still got dogs. Dogs rule.

Mattie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3767

I woke up early this morning. The last thing I needed was an extra two hours in an already eventless day. I remembered that Jupiter, Saturn and Mars were all located very close to the moon this morning. and went outside to take a look. Sadly, it was cloudy and I saw nothing. I did notice a surprising amount of early morning traffic though. I think the natives are getting restless.

I was even more surprised to learn today that NASA has set a launch date of May 27 for the Crew Dragon mission. I was almost certain that this would get postponed because of the virus. I wonder if my press credentials will get approved. I've already passed the security verification stage of the approval process, but that's only half the battle. I bet that NASA is still trying to decide how many members of the press corps to invite since everything is still so restricted at Kennedy Space Center. Hopefully, I'll hear something soon. I'm definitely going to go to the launch if I get media accreditation.

I bit the bullet and ordered everything I need to upgrade my computer with a super fast two terabyte solid state drive. I've watched the installation video three times now and think I can do this upgrade myself. I'm a bit clumsy, but I'm also slow and methodical and follow directions well. At any rate, doing this myself seems a lot easier than dealing with a computer repair shop during the lockdown. I've called several repair shops and I got the impression that my computer might sit there for weeks. Things aren't running very smoothly in the retail world right now.

We have a new rule in Dallas that everyone must wear a mask when they are out in public. It was cold today, so when I went to the post office with a stack of bills and letters, I wore a black wool skull cap and leather gloves with my new black mask. I looked exactly like a bank robber. I think the city finally realized that if they were demanding us to wear masks when none were available, they would have to open the fabric stores they closed last week. I heard on the news this afternoon that fabric stores are back open again. Janet has some nice Dalmatian print fabric she was going to use to make dog scarves. All we need is some Pellon from the fabric store for the middle layer of the mask and we'll be sporting some spiffy Dalmatian themed masks next week.

I think seniors aren't getting their stimulus money until May. I guess that makes sense. There are a lot of people who need the money a lot faster than we do. I still really feel sorry for the restaurant owners. The really got screwed. All the yard maintenance crews, tree trimmers, and roofers in our part of town seem busier than ever. Restaurant are dead in the water though. They all have signs saying they still do take-out, but they aren't very busy. A lot of local restaurants aren't going to survive. I wonder who decides what is essential and what isn't. I'm still amazed at how many new television commercials I'm seeing. Advertising agencies must be adding a third shift.

I'm glad that Dawn enjoys our long walks. Walking is the high point in our day. There certainly isn't much else to do. Walking is healthy and is usually a solitary experience. I can't believe a number of states have banned taking walks outside. Some states won't even let you walk your dog. As far as I'm concerned this is a good time to be a Texan. We're doing a good job of containing the virus without going batshit crazy. I never realized all those years ago what a smart move it was to leave Seattle.

Bella is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3766

It really is becoming difficult to remember what day it is. Every day is exactly the same. I'm finally getting enough sleep, but oddly it doesn't leave me feeling refreshed. I'm just as tired as I ever was. This would be the perfect time to embark on major projects, but it's hard to get motivated. I could use the time to finally clean out my office. I could clean up the back yard and put in some new grass. I could redesign my website or make a real effort to build my stock photo library. There are literally dozens of worthwhile home improvement projects that could use my attention. How to you get motivated when you know there is no urgency? I don't work well without a deadline. When time is suspended, everything can wait until tomorrow, or next week, or even next month.

Somewhere people are under tremendous pressure to save the world. It seems weird when the role you have been assigned in this effort is to stay home and do nothing. I'm actually very good at doing nothing. Should I give lessons? I could make a YouTube video but it would never get finished. When you are an expert at doing nothing, you rarely finish anything.

The fact that my daily routine hasn't changed one bit makes the pandemic seem like it's off in another universe somewhere. My own little neighborhood seems pretty normal. I'm glad that Texas hasn't imposed draconian rules like some other states. Stores are closed but the parks are still open. We walk Dawn every day and and wave at the neighbors who are out gardening in their yards or walking their own dogs. Until I turn on the television it's easy to forget than anything is wrong.

Today was beautiful. The sky was blue and the temperature was in the mid-sixties. Dalmatians love this type of weather. Janet and I walked Dawn five miles today and she didn't even seem that tired when we returned home. I was a little tired though. I need some new walking shoes. Shoes are one thing I hate to order online. I really need to try them on.

Since the weather was nice, I resumed my roof repairs. I think I've found all the bad areas, but the next time it rains, I'll find some more. There hasn't been a leak for quite a while now. I'm slowly working up my nerve to repair the sheetrock on the inside of the house. I'm superstitious though. As soon as I fix the ceiling, I'm convinced that the leak will appear again.

I'm also working up my nerve to repair my desktop computer myself. I watched some more YouTube repair videos today. The first video made the repair process look extraordinarily difficult. After watching for twenty minutes, I realized that I was looking at the wrong computer. This wasn't even the one I owned. When I found the correct video, the repair still seemed hard enough that I could easily screw things up. I still might give it a try. I learned today that it is possible to replace my hard drive with a super fast solid state drive. A customized computer always sounds appealing.

When I was exploring other repair options I learned that FedEx and UPS aren't delivering to non-essential companies. Apparently they are only delivering to residences during the pandemic. A repair shop told me that they could do the repairs but that I would have to get the parts myself and bring them with me. When the repair technician started coughing badly on the phone, I decided that it might be better to just do the repair myself.

The trash has been taken to the curb. Garbage pickup is still considered essential. There won't be any Friday morning breakfast outings for a while though. Some of my favorite restaurants will probably never reopen.

Becker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3765

This is an amazing time to be alive. I don't even think we realize the magnitude of the changes we are going through right now. I may be wrong, but I think the history books will record this moment kind of like the start of the Industrial Revolution, or the end of the Middle Ages. When was the last time the entire world was experiencing the same threat at the same time? I don't think it has ever happened before.

In an odd way I feel vindicated. I was aloof and kept my distance long before social distancing became a thing. I was way ahead of the curve in running a business out of my home as well. Ditto for bringing manufacturing home and not depending on China. I've been wary of globalism for as long as I can remember. My reluctance to embrace a global society had nothing to do with avoiding a plague. It just seemed to make sense. I watched the computer industry make the shift from centralized mainframes to distributed computing and the birth of the cloud. Having a multitude of nodes made systems failsafe.

Why didn't the entire world operate like the Internet? It is almost impossible to break the Internet. Nothing is centralized and nobody is in charge. If a server goes down, data is automatically rerouted on a different path. The network fixes itself. Having manufacturing countries like China send goods on a one way path to consuming countries like the United States seemed a lot like the old fashioned mainframe computing model to me. What we really needed was a lot of little countries, all making their own stuff and following their own rules. If one country fails, the others just keep chugging along.

So here we are. Everyone is clamoring to bring back essential industries to the United States. Virtually every country in the world is shutting their borders. Nobody feels comfortable getting too close to strangers. What is going to happen when none of this feels strange anymore? I think society has fundamentally changed. The longer the world remains in lockdown, the more permanent the changes will become.

I wouldn't want to be in the commercial real estate business right now. A lot of people aren't going to want to return to an office and a lot of companies aren't going to want the expense of a large office if they don't need it. I read recently that NASA is now operating the Curiosity Rover from team member's homes. Jeez. If you can drive a Mars rover from your bedroom, I'd say you don't really need to go to to the office for a status meeting.

Do you ever look down when you are flying across the United States? It's mostly empty. Why are we still living in cities? Cities are obsolete. The virus is proving that it's not that good to live all bunched together. We could spread out and all have nice homes with several acres of land. There's plenty of room. Little factories and research labs could provide jobs almost anywhere. Amazon drones could bring your stuff directly to your front door. Telemedicine could provide access to good doctors even if you lived in the middle of nowhere. Crime would diminish when there are no victims nearby. It all sounds pretty good to me. Some of you might be lonely, but not me.

Our new forehead thermometer arrived today. Now that taking your temperature has become a thing, we couldn't remember which of our thermometers had been up a dog's butt. This new toy will take care of that. Janet and I weeded a messy front garden this afternoon. Some of the weeds were the size of small trees. Oh, well. Better late than never. The cleanup effort was a lot of work but it was oddly satisfying. The area looks great now. I may add a layer of smooth river rocks to make the garden look a little more polished.

I'm not sure what we'll do tomorrow. Whatever it is, it's a safe bet that there'll be plenty of time.

Krissy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3764

I'm seeing more and more pictures of people baking bread, fixing elaborate meals, and even sewing from friends who used to spend most of their time in meetings. I guess we are part of this trend. Janet baked a pineapple upside-down cake in a large cast iron skillet today and it was delicious. It was much better than the pineapple upside-down cakes we used to get at Central Market. Actually everything we've been eating lately is much better that the take out meals that used to be our standard fare. I wonder how long we all need to remain quarantined before these newly acquired habits become permanent? Healthy, home-cooked meals are actually a good thing. Having the time to cook them is even better.

My life still hasn't changed much. Janet never used to spend much time at home, but it's been enjoyable having her around. We do more things together now. I have a feeling she'll be running marathons soon. She runs three miles every morning before coming home to take a long walk with Dawn and I. I'm still spending a lot of time puttering around on the computer, but I think I need a project. I enjoy writing, but don't really enjoy chronicling the spread of the coronavirus. I'm tired of talking about it. I'd much rather be writing about astronomy and space. I feel like I submitted my story to Sky and Telescope at the worst possible time. Boston, the home of the magazine is becoming a hotspot and I doubt that my story is the first thing on the editors minds these days. There's still a story in the works at SpaceFlight Magazine too, but I don't even want to ask about that one. London is in a world of hurt these days.

Dawn really enjoys her long daily walks, especially on cold mornings like we've had for the past several days. She enjoys the outdoors and often suns herself on a big rug we've placed in the back yard for her. She'd probably enjoy lying in the grass too if we actually had any grass in the back yard. Now there's a big project. I could re-sod the back yard without the help of the landscape guys. I've done it before when I was younger and had more energy. If I got the tree guy to come over and cut down the remaining damaged Oak tree, our grass would probably get enough sun to finally grow on its own. When I talk about mowing the grass, I'm only talking about the front yard. Until the trees started falling, the back yard was always covered by a thick tree canopy and the grass never got enough sun to grow.

I'm surprised that nobody noticed that my picture of a Buttonbush flower on Sunday's Easter post looked exactly like a coronavirus. I thought it was kind of clever. I have no idea what all the black moths were doing on the Queen Anne's Lace plants today, but they looked ominous. There were hundreds of them and they reminded me of tiny little vultures.

I not only forgot to mention the resemblance of Buttonbush plants to coronavirus illustrations, I also forgot to mention that the watch of the day on Saturday's post used to belong to Alice Cooper. Actually, every watch has a story but I can't be bothered to explain it. I've completely forgotten the backstory to many of the watches I used to collect. It seems so long ago. Collecting things was a waste of time and money. Of course if I had put that money in the stock market, it would all be gone by now anyway. Who knew the apocalypse was coming.

What day is it? Time has lost all meaning. We go to bed later and get up a lot later. When you turn on the television it feels a lot like Ground Hog Day. It's the same news over and over again. There are still chores to do, but it's easy to put them off until tomorrow. What's the rush.

Flash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3763

Dash died one year ago today. Janet and I were devastated. We were also very tired after tending to sick dogs for almost five years. Neither of us thought we would ever have a dog again. Here we are one year later with another Dalmatian sleeping in our bed. Life is full of surprises and Dawn was one of the good ones. It just goes to show that it doesn't pay to predict the future.

I don't think any one of us could have predicted that we would be living in Chapter Two of a Steven King novel right now. I certainly wasn't thinking that a plague was coming on the day Dash died. Sure there were those who told us that a pandemic was likely many years ago. They wrote books about the coming storm. There were also people telling us that aliens were living among us and that the Illuminati were secretly controlling the world. We ignored the threat of a pandemic the same way we've been ignoring the threat of nuclear war. If you want to lead a normal life, you tend to believe things that let you continue living normally.

I have a friend who has recovered from the coronavirus. He said that fighting the disease was horrible but that when he came out the other end, he felt like he had acquired a superpower. I found this interesting and somewhat prophetic. Universal testing is coming. It will take a while, but it is the only way for society to get a handle on the pandemic. Eventually we will know who is safe and who is a carrier. The people who have developed an immunity and are safe will have a superpower. They can resume normal life. The carriers who can still transmit the disease may not be sick themselves, but nobody will want to get anywhere near them. They will become social pariahs. Nobody will be able to hide because when this day arrives, the detection software Apple and Google are developing now will have been perfected and built into the operating systems of our phones. You know how addicted we are to are to our phones. When your phone starts to beep you will run the other way.

I find myself thinking more about the societal changes to come in the days ahead than about the people dying today. Maybe I'm not compassionate enough. People die everyday, but society only dies once. I don't want to go back to the Stone Age or live in a world that resembles a Bladerunner movie. I don't particularly want to die either. This is the Sophie's choice we are facing as a society.

I called a repair shop about fixing my computer and found myself wishing that my nonchalent electricians could fix computers. These computer repair guys seemed freaked out about seeing me in person and had a complex procedure that involved filling out a bunch on Internet forms and leaving the damaged computer on their front door step. They definitely didn't want me inside their store. Maybe I'll watch a few more YouTube videos and work up my nerve to fix the computer myself. How hard could it be to replace an iMac hard drive?

Today was beautiful and we decided to walk in a more remote section of the park. Dawn loved the new smells and the longer walk certainly didn't interrupt any plans. Who has plans anymore? I did have to remove the water from the roof all over again later in the day. I miscalculated yesterday and should have waited a while before removing the standing water. We ended up getting a lot more rain. At least we didn't get a tornado. You've got to be thankful for things like that.

Valli is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3762 - Easter

You know something, I don't want to go back to normal. Normal wasn't that good. I'm not typically an optimistic person, but I see a unique opportunity in the days ahead. The world has been given a once in a lifetime chance to wipe the slate clean and start over. Everything has been so fundamentally disrupted that there is no reason to go back to what we were doing before.

Personally, I like the fact that everything has slowed down a bit. Streets are much quieter now. It's rare to hear an airplane overhead. They say crime is down in many cities. Maybe I'm imagining things but people even seem more polite. Who knows. Maybe we should have been staying six feet apart all along.

Easter is a time of rebirth. Why not give it a try. I'll be the first to admit that it won't be easy. If we continue our political bickering here in the United States it will be impossible. Don't the Democrats and the Republicans seem almost irrelevant now? They don't have the answer. It's time to stop blaming each other. The virus isn't Trump's fault or Pelosi's fault. It's a plague. I'd like to see a third person unaffiliated with any party come out of nowhere and capture the country's imagination. Neither party deserves to win at this point.

The problem with starting over is that your idea of a brighter future might be a lot different than mine. What would I do? Probably the same things I've been doing for years. I certainly don't find the answer in government. It's time to start taking personal responsibility for our own lives. Nobody owes you anything. Start eating healthy food. Get outside more. Quit smoking, vaping, and putting anything other than air into your lungs. So many of of our problems are caused by bad lifestyle choices. If we were a healthy nation both physically and mentally, the next few months would be a lot easier.

We need to realize that global pandemics are a consequence of a global economy. We need to think small again. A bunch of small economies, each making what they need for themselves ensures that nobody can bring the entire house of cards tumbling down. I hear people wondering why we don't have enough masks and gowns for doctors when we're the richest country in the world. Duh. We don't make anything anymore. The countries that actually make the masks and gowns have people dying too and are keeping their production for themselves.

It doesn't really matter what things cost if people have secure jobs and there is food on the table. When I was growing up every little town had a factory. We made everything here. Wouldn't you like to have those factories back now? Sure, your TV and sneakers would cost more, but who cares. The world is telling us, "you can pay me now or you can pay me later."

Back in the day it use to cost a lot more to fly, but was your last trip to a business meeting really even necessary? People used to fly me to Germany just to go to meetings. I didn't even speak German. It was silly. Lets get back to basics. Make the things you need. Use the things you need. Develop self-sufficiency as a person and as a country.

I like analogies. It is Easter. Maybe people are dying for our collective sins. We have an opportunity to start over as a society. Call it a resurrection if you will. We got so many things wrong, but there's no reason we can't get it right this time.

Nellie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3761

Fifty years ago today Apollo 13 started it's journey to the moon. We all know what happened a few days later. An explosion ripped the service module apart and the astronauts were rapidly losing oxygen and electrical power. The world held its breath as an amazing team of scientists and engineers did the impossible and brought the astronauts back alive. Even now, what they were able to accomplish with so few resources to work with is impressive. Hopefully, somewhere tonight there are other teams of doctors and scientists trying to unravel the mystery of the coronavirus against equally daunting odds.

I don't know if it is fair to compare the Apollo Program to medical research. During the Apollo 13 crisis, three lives were in jeopardy instead of millions. The three astronauts were part of the problem but there were also part of the solution. They were all extremely smart and resourceful. If they weren't, none of the solutions mission control proposed would have worked.

How do you eradicate something you know nothing about? The virus might as well be a species of tiny aliens. Here's how little we know. Everyone has been begging for mechanical ventilators for weeks. Now it turns out that 80% of the people who get put on a ventilator die. Doctors are starting to say that being on a ventilator might actually make the situation worse. There is anecdotal evidence that Germany has had far fewer deaths than other European countries because German doctors didn't think that high pressure mechanical ventilation worked. Along with increased testing, they tried other therapies.

It's kind of sad that most learning is accomplished through failure. That's how it works though. NASA learned an enormous amount after the Apollo 1 fire and Apollo 13 explosion. I imagine that doctors are learning more about how the virus behaves every day. I hope they get the ventilator situation sorted out soon. Ventilators work well for bacterial pneumonia. A ventilator is only used until the antibiotics kick in and the inflammation in the lungs begins to subside. Usually this is less than two days. This virus acts much differently and antibiotics don't work at all. A ventilator was never meant to be used for weeks at a time.

I know virtually nothing about medicine, but if I were writing a sci-fi thriller here's how all this would go down. Chinese scientists create the perfect bioweapon. It is extremely infectious and virtually undetectable until the damage is done. Since there are billions of people in China, the leadership decides that losing a million is a small price to pay for total world domination. They infect a large city and then let several hundred thousand scared residents escape to other parts of the world before making the rest of us aware that the virus even exists. Then they make a good show of stamping the virus out so the world won't blame them for anything. China emerges strong and the rest of the world is descimated without a shot being fired. It probably didn't happen this way, but it sure seems plausible. It still seems odd to me that there were no huge outbreaks in other Chinese cities. Somebody was very well prepared for this.

The United States wasn't prepared at all. Apparently we learned nothing from the anthrax scare right after 9/11. I'm convinced that we need to get back to the kind of country we were during the Apollo program. We were smart and resourceful then. Every single nut and bolt in the Apollo rockets was made right here in the United States. A huge percentage of what what we used everyday was made here as well. We didn't need China. Wouldn't you have rather have paid a little more for your flat screen TV than see the country go trillions of dollars in debt because of this debacle. I would have gladly paid 30% more for everything to avoid this mess.

I did find some toilet paper today. I guess that's a good thing. Janet will be watching Easter services on her iPad instead of going to church, but we'll still be having a smoked ham for Easter dinner. I love a smoked ham. I hope Easter and Passover is still a joyful time for those of you who believe. It's important to believe in something.

Tyson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3760

I saw something interesting today. Google and Apple are teaming up to create a new app that can monitor up to three billion people and warn them if someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus is nearby. This is the death of privacy as we know it. Three billion people is one third of the entire world's population. The app is real and will very likely be available on your phone quite soon. I predict that this app will be very popular. I'll probably use it myself. Safety, or even the illusion of safety, almost always trumps civil liberties. Privacy actually disappeared quite a while ago. Google and Facebook know everything about us already. This new app just lets us eagerly opt in to a surveillance state that is already up and running in China.

It won't be long before people realize that others can easily be added to the master database. Sex offenders will be added first. Then will come a long list of people that everyone will argue about for years. Should people with a history of domestic violence be on the list? How about anyone who has committed a felony. There will be all sorts of lawsuits but nobody will be able to put the genie back in the bottle. Eventually commercial interests will want to get in on the action. If bad things can be tracked, why not good things. Match.com will introduce an app where your phone beeps when a suitable match walks nearby. Parents will be able to monitor their children and see if they are hanging around with the wrong crowd.

I'm convinced that the deaths from the coronavirus are only the tip of the iceberg. The big experiment we are undertaking now will fundamentally change society. We won't know for years whether we actually did the right thing. When you begin to suspect that anybody walking past you on the street could kill you just by breathing, I doubt that we will go back to trusting people very soon. Are you going to flinch when the first person who isn't a trusted friend tries to give you a hug? Our own country might fare worse than other countries because we are so politically divided. Jeez. We already don't trust anyone who doesn't agree with us. This virus will only make things worse.

I'm so glad I grew up when the world was comparatively normal. The duck and cover drills and backyard fallout shelters that were common when I was in grade school were nothing compared to this. I don't think that there had been a time in human history when we collectively decided to shut the entire world down. Even during the worst of both World Wars, society was still moving full speed ahead. This is new. It will be interesting to see what happens.

I can't wait to return to McDonald Observatory or get another chance to walk around on the pad at Launch Complex 41. Neither of these activities involve interacting with a lot of other people. Astronomy has always been a lonely profession and launch access at Kennedy Space Center is extremely restricted. I'm not looking forward to Happy Hour drinks or a night of clubbing, but I would like life to return to normal. Everyone has their own version of normal. A functioning society wasn't meant to live like this and at some point the cure will be worse than the disease.

I hope that all of you are staying safe. I'm enjoying getting to know Dawn better and am glad that she is completely unaware of how much the world has changed. I don't do much, but I'm going to continue as many of my normal habits and routines as I possible can. A sense of normalcy is important in uncertain times. I hope my phone doesn't start beeping the next time I see some of you.

Apollo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3759

There is very little to talk about these days unless you want to argue with someone. There is plenty to argue about because nobody really knows anything. Projections change daily. Strategies change daily. We are told to listen to the scientists, but so far they have surprisingly few answers. What seems strange about this virus is that we've been talking about biological warfare since I was a kid and yet we were completely blindsided by this pandemic. Didn't we know this would happen someday? I'm not saying that the coronavirus was a bioweapon, but at this point does it really make any difference? The simple truth is that we weren't ready for this. The preppers must feel a sense of vindication now. They were right all along.

When this is all over, the first thing I'm going to do is buy a case of N-95 masks, investigate solar power a bit more, drill a well, and maybe learn how to grow strawberries. Self reliance will be worth it's weight in gold in the future. My self reliant friends who always understood the importance of staying healthy, learned how to fix things at an early age, and appreciate the sound of silence seem to be the most sane right now. Most of them are doing fine. The ones who are totally freaking out still want to blame someone.

You can't blame a virus. It isn't even alive. I was as surprised as the next person that something like this happened, but I shouldn't have been. The signs were all there. Every major country has had secret labs where they've been concocting deadly pathogens for decades. The United States is no better than any other country. If you haven't heard about Plum Island you ought to read about it. It will frighten you. At least this bioweapons lab is an island. The government has been wanting to build another lab like this in Manhattan, Kansas within a few miles of the Kansas State football stadium. What could possibly go wrong?

After Chernobyl, the Union Carbide Cyanide gas leak, the Exxon Valdez, Fukushima, and the Deepwater Horizon fire did we really think we were up to the challenge of containing a deadly virus? Humans always overestimate their abilities. The virus will eventually run out of victims and burn itself out. Then everyone will congratulate each other on defeating it. We won't be ready for the next disaster though. We never are.

Honestly, I'm tired of talking about the virus. I'd rather talk about my roof or the next rocket launch I'm planning on attending. You get sucked into these conversations though because nobody is talking about anything else. I try to maintain a sense of normalcy. I still drink my morning smoothie. Janet and I still take Dawn for long morning walks. I'm still optimistic enough to think I'll still reach Day 5000 with this blog. Eventually I run out of toilet paper though and I realize that the world has gone  terribly wrong.

Livy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3758

I'm always curious about what is going on in my own industry. Have you noticed the enormous number of new commercials on TV lately? Everybody seems to have a brand new commercial about how their pizza is untouched by human hands after it leaves the oven or a message that you can still buy all your favorite things online. We're all in the together, these commercials say. How are these commercials even getting made? The last time I looked, most of my friends in the business were considered non-essential and are currently unemployed. It takes a lot more than ten people to produce most commercials and a lot of these new ones look pretty sophisticated. Is there an exemption I don't know about, or are a ton of people just ignoring the rules?

I've also wondered with all the news about infected cruise ships and aircraft carriers why anyone would think that it would be a good idea to send a ship to the rescue in New York City. What could possibly go wrong? At first the Navy said the hospital ship would only be used to relieve the pressure on other hospitals by taking non-coronavirus overflow patients. There were good reasons for this. I remember seeing an interview with the captain of the ship saying that it was next to impossible to disinfect a ship. Now, here we are only a few days later and the ship is taking Covid-19 patients. Go figure.

Who decides what is essential? I see roofers, lawn care services, and tree trimming companies continuing to work normally in my neighborhood. If anything, they are even busier than usual. If I owned a small neighborhood business, this would seem terribly unfair. Most of these little shops were struggling to stay in business on a good day and usually had only a few customers at a time. When you leave Walmart open and shut down all the little neighborhood businesses, it is going to destroy them. Personally, I'm glad that I am retired. I would be so mad if I were still trying to keep a business alive.

My big activity of the day was mowing the grass. I should have done this several weeks ago, but it has been too wet and rainy this Spring. The grass was tall and the mower really wasn't up to the job, but I got it done. Sometimes I like having an electric mower, but when the grass is tall I wish I still had a gas powered mower. At least my battery is still good. I've been keeping it inside all winter and it seemed to help.

Janet and I knew it was going to be hot today so we took Dawn on a very early walk. Like all our Dalmatians, she doesn't like the heat. The sunrise walk was actually very nice and Dawn loved the cool morning air, but the new schedule made eating breakfast even later than usual. Janet was already fixing her lunch by the time I finished drinking my smoothie. I should make a smaller smoothie, but I  like the recipe and can't be bothered to change the ingredients. Two eggs is easy. So is a whole banana. What would I do with a left over half of a banana?

It's pretty clear that this virus isn't going to bring us all together. It's a shame that our country is just as hopelessly divided as it ever was. I'm glad I'm not making the decisions. You'd probably hate them. I'm not going to argue with you though. If you like dogs, you're OK with me.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day