Day 3891 - Janet's Birthday

Janet is two months younger than me. Neither of us can believe that the world considers us senior citizens now. It doesn't seem possible that the years have gone by so quickly. We went back to our favorite restaurant for dinner. It was the same place we went to dinner for my birthday two months ago. The place still seemed safe and the food was still delicious. I don't know how the restaurant can make money now with so few tables though. I hope the restaurant is still around when our birthday's roll around next year.

A lot of places we like just haven't been able to make it. The pandemic hasn't been kind to bars and restaurants. We wondered what we were going to do for Thanksgiving this year. For at least five years we've been going to a hotel that has an amazing Thanksgiving buffet. Buffets were one of the first casualties of the pandemic unfortunately. Nobody wants you serving your own food anymore. That was the very first thing they eliminated at the Astronomer's Lodge last March.

We keep hoping for normalcy to return, but the opposite seems to be happening. All the weirdness is just starting to seem normal. When we were walking this morning we saw an older lady and her dog that we haven't seen for quite a while. Evidently she lives in a nearby senior center and she told us that they had all been quarantined for several weeks. Today was the first day the residents could go outside again. Probably someone had gotten sick in the building. All this is going on right around us and yet on the surface everything still seems pretty normal.

I heard today that McDonald Observatory is going to start opening up again at the end of the month. They are not inviting visitors indoors yet, but they are going to have their first star party a few weeks from now. You have to make reservations well ahead of time and they will be operating at 25% of normal capacity. I doubt that the place will need any volunteers for quite a while with so few people visiting. I'm a little surprised that the observatory is opening up at all since the place is very remote and none of the staff can afford to get sick. I hope it all works out well for them. I'm still looking forward to returning to the Davis Mountains sometime in the foreseeable future.

Truthfully, I'm looking forward to doing anything in the foreseeable future. In the beginning I thought the pandemic wouldn't affect me at all since I'm a bit of a loner. You realize quickly though that everything is connected to everything else and when one thing starts to crumble, it doesn't take long for other things to fall. So many things I used to take for granted just aren't working properly anymore.

When we started on our walk this morning the temperature was in the low seventies. Dawn loved it. She had a spring in her step and we were able to complete our full five miles. It warmed up quickly later in the day, but for a while early this morning it was easy to imagine that it was already Fall. Fall is going to seem a little weird without the State Fair of Texas or the Dalmatian Rescue Golf Tournament. I'm still looking forward to the cooler weather though.

We got a late start this morning but we're going to try to do better tomorrow. I really enjoy these pre-dawn walks. I'm not so sure about the rest of the day though. Basically, the pandemic still sucks.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3890

I think watching the sunrise on our early morning walks is the favorite part of my day. You could still see quite a few stars when we left the house this morning. Orion was rising in the East and below it near the horizon was the constellation of Sirius. Historically, the phrase "Dog Days of Summer" refers to the time of year that Canis Major begins to appear again in the morning sky. The Greeks thought that when the dog star appeared, it signaled heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, mad dogs, and bad luck. Sounds about right.

It was another slow day today. It's usually a bad sign when the only thing I can think of to do is get the water off the roof. This is a terrible chore in the summer. It's very hot on the roof and you have to be careful what you touch. Before I could sweep the water away, I had to remove a few low hanging limbs from a nearby Pecan tree. One branch was drooping so low that it was touching the roof. There was still quite a bit of water on the roof from our recent thunderstorm, but luckily I'm still not seeing any signs of leaks. Hopefully, it won't rain again until the weather gets cooler. Clearing today's water away was tiring. Something is wrong with one of the pumps too. I'll have to deal with that later.

The highway department has been building a new bridge near us for a long time. The bridge was supposed to be finished in March. Now that we are halfway through August, the bridge is finally nearing completion. I think it will be finished before the end of the month. Oddly, nobody in the neighborhood was very surprised by the delays. Things always take longer than expected. I have a feeling that the same sort of thing is going to happen with the virus vaccine. Everyone is talking about having a vaccine ready before the end of the year. Somehow, next August seems a little more realistic.

I wrote a letter to my sister today and took it to the post office. I bought a new roll of stamps a few weeks ago and I bet this roll of first class stamps will last me the rest of my life. These periodic letters to my sister are the only reason I have to go to the post office anymore. Now that I've gone paperless and made the transition to paying all my bills online, there aren't many reasons to mail anything. I find the current controversy about the post office kind of strange. The post office has actually been removing those blue mail boxes and decommissioning sorting machines for years. There was a good reason. Nobody sends letters anymore. Even the greeting card stores are going out of business. The next time you go to the post office look at what people are doing. They are all mailing packages. eBay and Etsy sellers depend on those low cost flat rate boxes. Actually, I think the post office has improved their package handling capabilities in recent years.

I've been hearing rumors that the Dalmatian Rescue golf tournament is going to be canceled this year. I thought that golf was going to be one of the few survivors of the pandemic, but this doesn't really surprise me. Absolutely everything is being canceled this year. I don't have much hope of returning to Kennedy Space Center or McDonald Observatory in the foreseeable future. If I'm going to go anywhere, I'm going to have to come up with a plan on my own. Jeez. Where do you go when so many things are closed and people are becoming increasingly suspicious of strangers? It's a strange new world. Who would have thought that you'd wake up one morning and discover that everyday life and Black Mirror had merged.

Lucy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3889

Last night's rain really cooled things down. It was genuinely pleasant outside when we left the house this morning. It warmed up quickly, but for a little while we could convince ourselves that this was the beginning of Fall. These walks have become so predictable that we aren't far away from giving the ducks names. When things become so familiar that you start to recognize individual ducks in a park that's full of them, it might be time to change your route. I imagine that we'll keep walking this way though. We've finally found a route that's just the right distance and seems to maximize the possibility of finding a breeze. A little breeze can make all the difference in the summer.

It was a slow day. We didn't visit the dogs for a variety of reasons. I occupied myself paying online bills and looking for interesting stuff on the Internet. I should have gone up on the roof and cleared away the standing water from last night's rain, but I've learned that water evaporates quickly in the summer. If I wait until tomorrow, there will be much less water to deal with. I still enjoy my morning smoothie, but I've got to find a substitute for watching the news while I eat breakfast. The news is just too depressing.

I've just about given up on hearing from NASA or the Air Force. My various applications for media access to Kennedy Space Center all seem to have fallen into a black hole. I'm not sure if NASA will ever reinstate the social media programs I used to like so much. They've switched to doing virtual events instead, which have turned out to be very popular and reach a much wider audience. I imagine that virtual events are much less expensive as well. With media credentials at KSC becoming harder and harder to obtain, this leaves me with Boca Chica and the Starship. Maybe this is just a pipe dream too, but it's worth exploring.

Janet and I still talk about moving but we can't think of any place to go. Small towns that would have seemed ideal ten or fifteen years ago have already been overrun by people fleeing the cities. The pandemic has accelerated this exodus and even less popular places are seeing their population grow dramatically. Home prices are soaring in many small towns. I don't see this changing any time soon. Why would you want to live in a big city these days? There are still small towns that have remained small, but often there's a good reason. Terrible weather, no jobs, and lack of access to health care are usually at the top of the list.

The older you get, the more important it becomes to have a good hospital nearby. We have friends who have moved to the country who have to travel over a hundred miles if they have a serious medical problem. You get spoiled when there are world class doctors and hospitals just a few minutes away. Even taking your dog to the vet can be a problem in many small towns. The Dallas area has amazing veterinary specialty centers. They've saved our dogs lives more than once. You have to think seriously before giving all this up.

Yesterday's rain has already made our grass look a little greener. I think the weather is going to be cooler for a few more days as well. In mid-August little things like this can make a big difference.

Toby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3888

The last thing I expected was a thunderstorm today, but here we are. The rain is pouring down and the wind is picking up. As always, I'm worried about a power outage. Thunderstorms and power outages go hand-in-hand in our neighborhood. It hasn't rained for so long that I'm not really prepared. The laptop isn't fully charged and the backup batteries aren't either. Oh, well. It is what it is. Actually, we do need the rain.

It certainly wasn't raining when we took our early walk this morning. The skies were clear with a nice view of Venus and a waning crescent moon to the east. The Muscovy ducks were waiting for us at the bridge and we were kind of mad to see a passing skateboarder try to scare them away. Dawn seemed more tired than usual this morning, but was was very humid. Maybe that should have been our first warning that the weather was about to change.

I noticed that I was about out of collagen powder, so I went to get some more after breakfast. I'm not a huge fan of nutritional supplements, but I've been taking this stuff to help with arthritis and aching joints and it seems to work. Too bad that collagen has become popular recently. It sure seems expensive to me. I also looked for rubbing alcohol again. This is another one of those things that has inexplicably disappeared from grocery and drugstore shelves. Who knows. Maybe all the alcohol is being used to make hand sanitizer now. I finally found a small bottle of the stuff but the store said there was a limit of one to a customer. Jeez. It was just a bottle of rubbing alcohol.

I watched the Boca Chica live feed for a while this afternoon. Space X was doing a cryo test of the next Starship prototype. Basically, watching these pressurization tests is like watching nothing at all. Occasionally you will see some white smoke or a little ice forming on the surface of the rocket, but nothing moves. Probably the most interesting thing is reading all the YouTube comments from other people watching. Everyone is speculating about what is going on, but it is clear that nobody knows for sure. These live feeds are just Boca Chica neighbors pointing their cameras over the Space X fence. Nothing is authorized by Space X at all. This is the exact opposite of how NASA would handle something like this. I like it that a small group of South Texas amateurs is providing the most accurate and up to date information about what Space X is doing.

We're getting lots of thunder and lightning now. Dawn doesn't seem to be bothered at all. She is the first dog we've had that isn't scared of storms. Of course, she is scared of everything else, but she's fine in a thunderstorm. I worry a lot more about storms than she does. A tree may fall. The roof may start leaking again. The power may go out. A lot of things can go wrong. Look what happened in Iowa recently. I can't believe there isn't more on the news about this derecho storm. It was devastating. They say over one third of the state's corn crop is gone. Lots of farms have been destroyed. This is all going to show up in grocery stores later. One more legacy of 2020.

I hope the weather improves tomorrow. There are walks to take and so much more. Just kidding. It's just the walks.

Pogo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3887

We're getting better at leaving the house early. The main reason for our pre-dawn walk today was to see if we could avoid the Saturday crowds in the park. It worked. There are much fewer joggers and cyclists before 7 AM. Janet got Dawn a little red light to put on her collar, but it quit working before we finished our first mile. There was a nice conjunction of the Moon and Venus in the morning sky, but no sunrise clouds today. We did see the Muscovy ducks sitting on the bridge rail again though.

I found almost everything on my shopping list today. Another benefit of getting an early start on Saturday morning is that there are fewer people in the grocery stores. Almost all the stores seem to offer curbside pickup now. Most have reserved spaces in their parking lots for this sort of thing and I always see people waiting in their cars. It seems so much easier to just go in the store though. The waiting time is still less if you do the shopping yourself.

There seems to be no end in sight for our hot weather. I think the high today was 104 degrees. I guess I need to start watering again. The grass is turning yellow and two of the Photinia bushes appear to be dying. I'm bad about watering because a wet yard always leads to a muddy dog.

I'm thinking about going down to Boca Chica to see the Space X facility. I got as far as checking airfare to Brownsville or South Padre Island and surveying the general area using Google Earth. I continue to look at the LabPadre remote cameras every day and there is a lot going on down there. I think this would make a good story for SpaceFlight Magazine, but there isn't much point in going unless I can obtain some kind of access. Evidently you can drive very close to the Starship launch site on public roads, but the roads are always closed when there is activity. I'll have to do some research and find out who to write about getting a tour. It couldn't be any harder to gain access to the Space X site than it is to get press credentials at Kennedy Space Center. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself though. I'm not even sure if the magazine is interested in an article about Boca Chica.

I thought I might be able to fix the sliding glass door today, but failed miserably. A few weeks ago I noticed that there was a little piece of metal blocking one of the tracks for the door. I got a small metal file and filed the gouged area smooth. Logically, this should have worked, but it made no difference whatsoever. If anything, the door was even harder to move than the last time I tried.

I got Chinese take out for dinner again. Every time I go to pick up a take out meal at a restaurant, I see more and more people dining in. I guess I shouldn't find this strange. Janet and I went out for dinner ourselves on my birthday. We'll probably go out again on her birthday. It's still hard to strike a balance between being ultra careful and getting on with your life. I have a feeling that this virus is going to be with us for a long time. I got a haircut. I've been to the dermatologist and the dentist. I certainly don't do much though. I really wonder how long a large group of people can live this way without going insane? Almost anybody can handle a lockdown of a few weeks. I'm not so sure about two years though. We've got to find a way out of this mess.

I'm still not comfortable going back to the gym. It was a nice thing to do on Sunday though. Even though I consider myself Mr. Isolation, I'm getting tired of days that consist entirely of long walks and staring at a computer. I haven't planned a launch trip in a long time. Maybe I need to be connected to something too.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3886

By my somewhat low standards, it was a busy day. The sky was pretty when we started our early morning walk, so we thought we'd try the "Dawn at dawn" picture we'd been thinking about. We found a location that provided a good view of the sunrise clouds and tried to get Dawn to pose. I had to lighten the foreground a bit and wished that Dawn would have closed her mouth, but all-in-all the concept worked. Maybe I can fine tune the idea a bit the next time we see a pretty runrise.

After breakfast I put the new registration sticker on my windshield. It seems easier to remove the old stickers now, but it is still difficult for me to position these things properly. When you get these stickers anywhere near the windshield, they stick to the glass and usually they are crooked. I had to carefully peel the sticker away several times before I could achieve anything resembling a ninety degree angle. I like to place the sticker as low as I can so it doesn't obstruct my vision, but it still has to be parallel to the bottom ow the glass. This is surprisingly difficult to achieve.

I've known for several weeks that it was time to defrost the little refrigerator again. Today seemed like a good day to get this messy chore over with. I moved everything to the big refrigerator, unplugged the little fridge, opened the door, and let the thawing begin. I usually fill the interior with a couple of towels to soak up the water and just wait until all the ice has melted. After I mop the interior with a dry towel, I'm usually good to go for another three or four months.

When I was looking for my keys this morning I accidentally knocked over a huge pile of old mail on top of a dresser. Maybe it was finally time to get rid of this mail. In many ways my whole life is like a big cardboard box filled with things I plan to deal with later. I postpone as much as I can, including reading and dealing with my mail. A lot of the envelopes already had little notes saying that the letter needed to be shredded or that it needed to go in the safe deposit box. These piles of mail can sit for years.

I went through the pile of letters one by one and saved a few and shredded the rest. I should have done this a long time ago. There are other piles scattered around the office, but at least I've made a start. I think I'm going to finally contact my bank and several utilities and agree to go paperless. There is no reason for me to hang on to all this paper. I think there is a free shredding event at a local church a few weeks from now. Maybe if I put my mind to it, I can finally clean out this office. If I succeed at this, there is a much bigger pile of outdated and useless documents waiting for me at the storage warehouse.

I finally resolved a billing issue with my web hosting company before I took my afternoon walk. I really need to rethink these afternoon walks. It got up to 103 degrees today. My long walks still provide a peaceful opportunity to daydream and think, but Fall can't come soon enough. I seriously considered going back to the gym today and walking around their air conditioned track.

Tomorrow will probably be busy as well. It's time for the dreaded grocery run again. I wonder how long it is going to be before I can go to a store without a wearing mask and following a bunch of one way arrows and distancing stickers on the floor? Sadly, this aspect of the new normal is probably going to be around for a long time.

Elliott is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3885

I saw a meteor this morning. It was just a brief streak in the pre-dawn sky, but now I can say I saw the Perseid meteor shower without having to stay up all night. Even though we started our morning walk early enough to see meteors, it was still pretty hot. There wasn't much of a breeze this morning and it makes a big difference. The Muscovy ducks startled us today. They were sitting on the railing of a bridge we cross every morning and we almost bumped into them in the dark. Dawn didn't even seem to notice the ducks. Apparently she is only interested in rabbits. Once again we had to shorten our walk because of the heat. I'm not getting 20,000 steps anymore, but I guess it doesn't matter.

When I watch the news while I'm having my breakfast smoothie, I couldn't tell you whether I was watching something live or a tape from last month. It's all the same. Surely there must be other things going on in the world than Covid and the election. Nobody is even spending much time talking about that big explosion in Lebanon. Even the business channels are mostly about Covid and the election these days. No wonder I've started watching the live feed from the Space X facility in Boca Chica.

I went out after breakfast and got a new vehicle registration sticker to put on my windshield. The computers were down at the first place I went, so I had to search for a new location that sold the stickers. At least you can get these things in grocery stores now. It's much easier than driving downtown to the county records building. Hopefully my car related chores are done for the year. I'll just fill my tank once a month and wait until there is someplace to go again.

We see lots of runners and cyclists on our early morning walks, but the park is virtually empty in the afternoon. I enjoy the solitude, but I don't enjoy the heat. It was well over one hundred degrees when I took my afternoon walk. You'd think I could find something worthwhile to do indoors where it's cool, but I continue walking. Walking is a lot like blogging. Both are a way to reflect on life while using up a lot of time. I'll be glad when it starts getting cooler. These afternoon walks are murder. We've got another month or two of Summer, but I'm almost certain that the heat will subside before the virus does.

When I was taking the week's trash out to the curb this evening I noticed that a large lizard was along for the ride. I don't know how he got in the can but I helped him get back on the ground before leaving the can on the street. I don't think I would have done the same thing for a spider. We have lots of lizards in our yard. Maybe they'll eat the spiders.

I wonder when I'll start going back to restaurants for breakfast? It seems kind of pointless now. Oh, well. I've still got enough fruit left for another smoothie.

Emma is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3884

Another starlit start to our morning walk. You can tell what kind of day it's going to be the moment you step out the back door. When the air is stifling and you can smell the humidity, you know it's not a good sign. It was a pretty morning though. I could still see the constellation Orion just below Venus. I kept hoping to see a few meteors, since the Perseid meteor shower was supposed to peak this morning. No such luck. The sky wasn't dark enough.

We've decided that the ducks and geese stay on the water at night to stay safe from the coyotes. They are always out in the lake on the outbound leg of our walk and have returned to the shore when we see them again on the way home. All the animals we see are very predictable. I guess they probably think the same thing about us.

After breakfast I went to the Land Rover dealer so I could get my car safety inspected for another year. The state sets the price for these inspections, so this is just about the only time I can escape a huge bill when I take my car to the dealership. Safety inspections are a bargain at Land Rover. One of the sales guys I know keeps trying to get me interested in buying a new Defender. I have to admit that I like the car, but I bet I could get a pretty nice Bronco for half the price. There is going to be lots to choose from in the next year or two. A Bronco with the Sasquatch package sounds intriguing. If I really want my old Defender back, there's the new INEOS Grenadier. This new 4x4 is almost a direct copy of the Defender design with a BMW engine. There's always the Tesla Cybertruck too. For someone who doesn't really like to drive and seldom ventures off of paved roads, I'm way too interested in rugged four wheel drive vehicles. Maybe I just want to get ready for the apocalypse.

I don't know how I got started watching the 24/7 Boca Chica cam, but I look at it every day now. It's amazing how quickly things change at this Space X facility in South Texas. They've already got a new Starship prototype on the launch pad and are are preparing for another hop test. These guys are working 24 hours a day. I still have a feeling that they are going to beat NASA to Mars. At the rate they are going, they might even beat them back to the moon. I keep wondering how hard it would be to get access to this facility? This would make a good story for SpaceFlight Magazine. Unfortunately, Covid is spreading like wildfire near the border in South Texas. Maybe I ought to wait a while.

Now that I've gotten my car inspected, I can go get the new window sticker. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. You used to need two stickers on your windshield, but the state scrapped the inspection sticker a few years ago. When you go to get your registration sticker, they already know whether you've had the car inspected. There is no need to take care of this immediately, but I do need something to do.

I'm sure we'll get up early again tomorrow. The temperature is supposed to reach 103 degrees. We've already shortened Dawn's walks. I have a feeling that we'll need to shorten them even further. I don't know about you, but I'm ready for Fall.

Ellis is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3883

I made an appointment to get my car safety inspected today. I didn't used to need an appointment for this sort of thing. I just drove up to the dealership and was in and out in a few minutes. A lot has changed. I used to have the same service adviser for five or six years at a time. Everyone knew me and was familiar with my car. Now staff turnover is much higher and there seems to be an entirely new crew every time I visit the dealership. The dealership seems to have replaced people with technology. Any time I contact these guys, I immediately start receiving a barrage of text messages, e-mails, and reminders on my Apple calendar. As soon as I finish with my appointment tomorrow, I will get multiple requests to take a survey. Employees seem desperate to get good marks on these surveys. Some have specifically asked me to give them high satisfaction scores because their salary or bonus depends on it. Oddly, there is never a question on these surveys that allows me to tell the dealership how much I hate surveys.

Changes like these are happening in every industry. It would be so much nicer if companies would just forget the technology and hire more people. Back in the day when there were lots of employees, the phones were answered on the first ring. You didn't need online surveys to tell you what was going on. Companies knew their customers. There used to be so many companies where someone knew me personally. They didn't need a survey to know what I liked or needed. It didn't matter whether it was a car dealer, a clothing store, or a camera shop, the sales people who waited on me looked at their jobs as a career. I often dealt with the same people for decades. It's hard to even explain how different things used to be to younger people. They don't believe me when I tell them that life was better with less technology. I guess you had to be there.

We got another early start this morning. There were still stars in the sky when we left the house, but I've learned not to look up too often while I'm walking Dawn. She has not learned to heal and is constantly crisscrossing from my left side to my right. She also speeds up and slows down rather abruptly. If I'm not watching her carefully, it's easy to trip over her. I also need to make sure that she stays well out of the way of bicycles and other dogs we encounter while walking. Maybe she'll learn to heal one of these days, but until then I can't be daydreaming and looking up at the stars.

I still have a hard time dealing with how much the temperature changes on an average August day. Sometimes there is a forty degree difference between the pre-dawn hours when we take our walks and late afternoons when things are hottest. Mornings are pleasant. Afternoons are torture. I still do both walks because there isn't much else to do, but I definitely prefer pre-dawn mornings.

I got some embroidered mission patches from the Mars 2020 and DM-2 missions in the mail today. I always made sure to get a mission patch for every launch that I attended. It was nice to have something tangible to remember. Now I've started collecting these patches from launches I haven't been to at all. Yikes. This is getting dangerously close to being a collector again. I guess it's a harmless activity. The patches are small and don't take up much space.

I hope they don't keep me waiting around at the dealership forever tomorrow. A safety inspection shouldn't take any longer than fifteen minutes. Maybe I'll tell them that if they can get me in and out in a hurry, I'll take their silly survey.

Hannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3882

These weeks go quickly. How did it get to be Dalmatian day again? We still only have three dogs at the kennel. Luckie seems to be adjusting to kennel life. She didn't seem frightened this week and even appeared glad to see us. Charlie was full of energy and got a good workout chasing after a big red Kong. Hank evidently caught a rat in one of the outdoor play areas this week and ate it. Yuk. Dogs will be dogs I guess.

My new walking shoes fit well but my feet still hurt after a long walk. I doubt that there is much that can be done. It's just a combination of arthritis and old age. I've worn all types of shoes, including some very supportive ones. There is no magic bullet. I doubt that I could walk all day anymore no matter what I was wearing.

I'll be glad when Fall arrives. Getting up early helps, but it's still pretty hot. To keep Dawn from getting overheated, we have to make sure we're back at the house by at least 8:30 AM. We did manage to get an early start this morning and are going to try to get up even earlier tomorrow. Walking before sunrise is really the only thing that works.

I need to go get my car safety inspected sometime this week. It really doesn't seem like a year since I've done this. Last August seemed so much busier. I'd recently returned from a trip to Kennedy Space Center to attend a Falcon Heavy launch and was getting ready to make my first trip out to McDonald Observatory. No plans this year at all. Everything is still in limbo.

Some of my friends in the space and astronomy world have started doing podcasts and Zoom meetings. Makes sense, I guess. What else can you do these days? As far as I can tell, these virtual events are similar to the conversations you would have over a few beers at lunch, except that everyone is in a little window on your computer screen. I listen to these things occasionally, but never join in the conversation. Writing seems natural, but talking still seems weird. I don't like to hear my own voice. I skipped an online reunion of my architecture school class because I don't want to be in a little window on someone's screen. I should have been born a hundred years ago. It still seems more natural to write a letter and then wait two months for a reply.

I haven't used my large production printer in so long that it has become hopelessly clogged. I don't even think the Epson repair shop I used to use is even in business anymore. I haven't used my video editing equipment in ages either. I assume this gear still works, but I don't even have any blank Betacam tapes to test it with. Logically, I should just get rid of all this stuff. I'll never use it again. It's so much trouble though. What do you do with high quality, obsolete equipment? My solution is to let the stuff gather dust, but I don't think Janet likes this plan. So far, I'm finding it impossible to clean out the office.

Maybe I'll do something useful tomorrow. Who knows. I'm still hoping to get media accreditation to return to Kennedy Space Center. There are some interesting launches this Fall. I check my e-mail every morning, but so far no response. I've been waiting for months. They say patience is a virtue, but this is getting ridiculous.

J-Lo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3881

We managed to get an early start this morning. The pre-dawn skies were clear, there was a nice breeze, and as an added bonus, there was a conjunction of the Moon and Mars overhead. Mars is nearing opposition and gets brighter every day. I still find it hard to believe that three spacecraft are currently on their way to this little orange dot in the sky.

The female Muscovy duck has returned and the trio living by the bridge is back together again. The hello guy has returned on his bicycle as well. The guy who walks his cat on a leash is still gone, as are a few regular dog walkers, but I appreciate continuity wherever I can find it. I have counted the local gaggle of geese and I always make sure that there are still ten. Four of the geese are white and the rest are brown. I'm still not sure what that means.

The Mexican plums are getting ripe. It would be tempting to pick some and make jam, but my plant identification skills leave a lot to be desired. I just think these are plums. They might be something pretty and poisonous instead. They say the white powder on the surface of this fruit is actually a natural yeast and can be used for making a sourdough starter. That seems a lot more complicated than making jam.

I finally acknowledged that my walking shoes have worn out, so I went out and got some new ones after breakfast. I still think Nike Air shoes are ugly and don't last very long, but they seem to provide the best cushioning for my tired feet. Another pair of Nike Air Max shoes it is. Since I was already out, I stopped and got some more ink for my printer and a tub of ice cream on the way home. There is no further need to use the car for the rest of the week.

This afternoon I made sure that all my video gear still worked. I doubt that I'll have a need for any of this stuff soon, but I don't want to forget how to use it. Actually, I did forget how to pair the wireless microphone transmitter and receiver. I had to download a manual online and review the procedure. At any rate, batteries are charged, everything works properly, and I'm ready to make a video again if the urge ever strikes me.

I don't know why I still take afternoon walks. Mornings are fine, but afternoons are way too hot. A lot of people must actually seem to like the heat because the park is full of people renting kayaks, having picnics, sitting in hammocks, and slacklining on Sunday afternoons. Young people have no problem gathering in large groups. I'm convinced that they are the ones spreading the virus.  It couldn't be us old people.

I guess I'll try out my new walking shoes tomorrow morning. This is when I usually discover that I've gotten the wrong size. My feet must be an odd size because nothing seems to fit perfectly. Shoes improve with wear however. By the time you've worn them out, they usually fit perfectly

Nautica is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3880

One of the worst things about the pandemic is that every little ache and pain makes you think that your luck has finally run out. I woke up with a sore throat this morning. "This is how it begins," I thought. Never mind. I forgot that this is a common occurrence. When I don't sleep on my back, I get nasal congestion and start breathing through my mouth. Instant morning sore throat. As soon as I was up and had some coffee the sore throat disappeared.

Maybe I'm just a hypochondriac, but this has happened before. Occasionally I'm winded after a long uphill walk and I start to wonder about my lungs. I'm always checking my temperature with the forehead thermometer. If it even varies by a tenth of a degree I wonder if this could be the start of something. Every time I hear someone cough, I wonder how far the virus can travel through the air. None of this is good, but there is a certain logic to this sort of thinking. The virus is relentless and people aren't all that careful. I find it easy to believe that the longer you stay healthy, the more likely it is that your luck will eventually run out.

This is probably why I'm never wild about shopping day. Half the people in the grocery store had their mask below their nose this morning. I forgot the doggie poop bag I usually put over my hand when I pump gas. People are always picking through the produce to find the freshest items. There are so many opportunities for things to go wrong.

Oddly, I never worry about walking in the park even though I don't wear a mask outdoors. Joggers and cyclists pass us on the trails, but nobody lingers and nobody gets close. Fresh outdoor air is much different than a building's air conditioning system. I'm sure that if sports eventually returns, watching football in an outdoor stadium would be safer than watching basketball in an indoor arena. It's not good to think this way. Once you become convinced that every stranger is a potential danger, it's going to be hard to trust anyone again. No hugs please. Ever.

Every time I go shopping, I'm more and more convinced that our country's supply chain and distribution system has become seriously damaged. Stores just aren't as well stocked anymore. I'm still seeing an overreaction to the toilet paper shortage. There is an abundance of toilet paper and bleach now, but not enough cheese. Every week I find common, everyday items that just aren't on the shelves anymore. Some aisles are half empty and I can't even remember what used to be there. This inconsistency often forces you to go to several stores when one used to be enough. If the whole idea is to get in and out of the store as quickly and efficiently as possible, it would be nice if the store had what you need.

We got a late start on our walk again this morning. Saturday should be the day we start extra early. The park is always crowded on Saturday, but few people get up before sunrise. Old habits die hard though. We always used to sleep in on Saturdays. One of these mornings we need to take a picture of Dawn right at dawn. At least once a week we see a beautiful sunrise. This would make a nice backdrop for a portrait of Dawn.

I hope I don't wake up with any aches and pains tomorrow. I'm tired of waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's about time to wake up and feel like going to the gym.

Lilly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3879

I look presentable again. It's hard to believe I haven't had a haircut since early March. My stylist's new salon was a bit of a drive. I kept thinking that I'd been on this road before, but I couldn't remember why. Somewhere out here was a store where I bought my kayak. I think I passed a machine shop where I had some parts fabricated once. I know I used to pull dogs from a small community dog pound in the area. The details are all kind of fuzzy. I think I've lived in Dallas too long.

The salon was surprisingly busy for a place out in the middle of nowhere. I guess I wasn't the only one who needed a haircut. It seemed like everyone was playing it safe. Customers and employees all wore masks. A few people wore those clear face shields as well. There was a long list of rules on the front door but a lot of them appeared to have been forgotten. Nobody took my temperature or asked me to wash my hands when I entered the building. Hopefully, the next time I need a haircut the world will seem a little more normal.

We got started on our walk a little later this morning. A half hour makes a big difference around sunrise. I wish it were easier to get up early enough to start walking a full hour before sunrise. The air is much cooler at this time of day and the trails are mostly empty. Mornings are pleasant, but afternoons feel like I'm walking on a different planet. Sometimes there is a thirty degree temperature difference between sunrise and sunset.

I didn't stay up late enough to watch the Space X launch last night, but I watched the replay after breakfast this morning. I'm amazed at the dedication of my Florida photographer friends. They are always out there. Whenever there is a launch, they will post pictures of it on Facebook within a matter of hours. Even though last night's launch was in the middle of the night, there were still plenty of pictures. I'm still a little jealous. These local guys still seem to be the only ones getting access to the Space Center.

I'm seeing a lot of Egrets lately. These birds migrate, but I think ours hang around all year. I see lots of Great Egrets on our morning walks, along with the occasional Great Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, and Black-Crowned Night Heron. I'll never be a birder, but I'm slowly learning to identify all the local wildlife. We've got quite a variety down at the lake.

It's been a year since we had Hank over to the house for a few days following a medical emergency. It doesn't seem that long ago. I thought he would have found a home by now, but he's still up at the kennel. Dogs with special needs often take longer to place, but hopefully Hank will find his forever home soon. We also went to the Dior show at the Dallas Museum of Art about a year ago and I was starting to plan my first trip out to McDonald Observatory. What a weird year it's been. One year ago I would never have predicted that we'd have a new dog now and that I'd be wearing a mask to get my hair cut.

Tomorrow it's time to get groceries and fill the car with gas again. The precautions are all starting to feel normal now. I hope we don't get used to this. The old normal was a lot better than the new normal.

Lou is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3878

I got asked to join a Zoom reunion with some old classmates today. Hmm. I've never used Zoom. I've heard about Zoom meetings on the news, but I don't even have the application on my computer. I have no desire to install it either. I guess I'm officially a Luddite. I have no interest whatsoever in this sort of thing. I'm glad I retired well before Zoom meetings became mandatory in a post-pandemic world. Jeez. I didn't even like conference calls years ago. Why would you want to add a camera to a conference call?

We got started on our morning walk in the dark again. It's weird walking this early. There aren't many people out, but we certainly aren't alone in the park. Cyclists seem to get an earlier start than joggers. The main reason we take a flashlight is so these guys won't mow us down in the dark. Cyclists are relentless and don't slow down for anything. Before the sky started to lighten, we saw what looked like an odd, very slow bicycle moving in the distance. As we got closer, we realized that what looked like bicycle wheels were actually two dogs with red lights on their collars and the third light we thought was a rider was a lighted bracelet on the wrist of the woman walking the dogs. When joggers started to appear on the trails, many of them had little LED lights on their arms and legs as well. Some of the lights were red and green as if the joggers were trying to emulate the port and starboard lights on boats. Maybe Janet and I are even Luddites about walking in the dark. All we had was a flashlight.

My days continue to be slow and uneventful. Maybe this is why blog readership has gone down. Nothing to see here. Very few people read blogs anyway. They're all out doing podcasts and having Zoom meetings. Even some of my space and astronomy friends have their own podcasts now. When did things change? I remember when blogs were very popular. Lots of people used to write blogs. Of course I remember when everything on the Internet was just text because it took too much bandwidth to send a picture. I wonder if Usenet news groups still exist? There were thousands of groups and not a single picture among them. Those were the days. Luddites tend to be nostalgic. We long for manual typewriters, film cameras, and those old brick cell phones.

When we walk really early, we've noticed that the ducks and geese are typically on the water. Later, when the sun comes up they return to the shore. This makes me wonder what the ducks do at night. Do they swim around all night? Are they nocturnal like the coyotes? I guess this will always be a mystery. I'm certainly not going down to the park at midnight to investigate.

Tomorrow I get a haircut. It's about time. I haven't had a haircut since last March. If this goes well I might start going to the gym again. I'm still very careful and tend to avoid people altogether, but this virus is going to be with us for a long time. We've all got to figure out what kind of risk we can tolerate. I'll take one of the good masks with me tomorrow. The masks I wear to the grocery store and get gas are basically worthless.

I've taken the trash out to the curb and am ready for another early morning walk. There are no Friday morning breakfast restaurant outings anymore. Such is life in the new normal.

Margo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3877

Wednesday has turned into house cleaning day. Don't look at me. I have lost all interest in cleaning, but I don't want to be a slacker. I still try to do my part. Today I vacuumed the house. I used to think the Dyson was amazing because it appeared to pick up so much dust. Now I suspect that the clear plastic cylinder is just a marketing gimmick to make you notice the dirt. The house doesn't seem any cleaner than it did with our old fashioned vacuum. It certainly was easier to empty a paper vacuum cleaner bag than it is to clean the Dyson. I have to go outside and use a leaf blower to get all the residual dust out of the canister after I empty it. Oh, well. The carpets and the Dyson are clean again until I have to repeat this exercise next Wednesday.

We got a later start on our morning walk today, but we got lucky with the weather. There was heavy overcast and a nice breeze that kept things cool. It didn't seem as humid today either. If you can manage to avoid the sun and the humidity, even August isn't quite so bad. We must be having a hot summer though. Our August electric bill hit an all time high. Something was fishy about that bill though. I know we have had hotter summers. I think the electric company just raised our rates.

At first it was baffling to me why the stock market was doing so well at the same time there was record unemployment and well known companies were going bankrupt every day. Now the answer is becoming clearer. The economy didn't shut down at all. It just changed. Some companies lost, but other companies were big winners and are doing better than ever. It seems like the pandemic just accelerated the rate of change that was happening anyway. Even Luddites like me have gone digital now. A wide varieties of companies have been urging me to use their mobile app, go paperless, and try online payments for years. All it took was a global pandemic to get me to change my ways.

I'm always curious about long-term trends. I think it will be five years before we realize how much has changed. I used to think everyone would revert to their old ways as soon as the lockdown was lifted. New habits are emerging though. We aren't going to be comfortable around strangers for a long time. Nobody even wants to ride in an elevator with me anymore. Handshakes are no longer going to be a common ritual. Ghost kitchens will become more popular than restaurants. Sports fans are going to have problems with the new normal, but ticket prices were becoming exorbitant anyway. Fewer and fewer people could even afford to go to a professional football game. Maybe fans will learn to love players in empty stadiums. I guess the big question is whether schools can safely reopen. If the kids have to stay home indefinitely, we are in for a world of hurt.

I guess we're just going to have to learn to live with the changes. Some of these changes were going to happen anyway. Just not as fast. Change is never easy and it is seldom fair. I'm certainly having problems dealing with all this. I need to remember the importance of staying flexible. Youth was all about staying flexible and seizing opportunities. It was only when I became older that I became set in my ways. We'll see how it goes. There will be winners and losers in the days and months ahead. It would be nice to be a winner.

Tomorrow we're going to try to get up early again. The flashlights are ready. I don't know how ready I'll be. I was never a morning person and it's not easy to change old habits. I'm convinced that the future will be all about changing old habits. I might as well get good at it.

Morgan is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3876

We got such an early start this morning that we had to take a flashlight with us. Venus, Mars and a full Moon were still bright in the sky and there was a cool breeze. We kept an eye out for coyotes. They are often on the move at this time of day. I'm not typically an early riser, but the hour before sunrise is definitely the best part of the day. The sky changes from darkness to daylight remarkably quickly and if there are clouds in the East, you often get to enjoy a beautiful sunrise. I just need to go to bed a little earlier to fully enjoy the experience.

Our walks were the main event of the day. Our morning walk is for Dawn and the afternoon walk I take by myself is basically just a substitute for going to the gym. Eating, sleeping, and walking. That's pandemic life for you. I paid some bills after breakfast and did a little bookkeeping, but spent most of my time watching the Space X Starship's first test hop down at Boca Chica. Coverage of events at Boca Chica is strictly a volunteer affair. A couple of Space X fans have set up cameras outside the perimeter of the Space X compound and provide a running commentary whenever something is going on. Often hours go by and nothing happens at all. If there is a puff of smoke or even a bird flying by, there will be a lot of speculation about what it all means.

Boca Chica is the exact opposite of Kennedy Space Center. There are lots of tents and temporary buildings. The place is a mess. Rocket parts and construction equipment are strewn around everywhere. After seeing all the high tech equipment and precision engineering at Michoud Assembly Facility, this place seems more like a bunch of oil field workers decided to weld together a rocket out of scrap steel. The SN5 prototype that was being tested today looked exactly like a huge grain silo. It certainly didn't look like it could fly. The first attempt today got scrubbed, but everything went perfectly the second time. The flying grain silo slowly rose over 150 feet in the air and then descended again to land safely at a nearby landing pad. Probably in less than a year, a more refined version of this rocket will be launched into into orbit from this same Boca Chica site. It doesn't look like much now, but if Elon Musk has his way, this barren strip of land on the Gulf Coast will be where we depart for Mars. Hope I'm still around to see the journey begin.

I wish people could make up their minds about the virus. In less than ten minutes this morning I heard that things are getting better, that conditions are getting worse, that the virus will be with us forever, and that we are getting ourselves in a panic for nothing. Wait a few minutes or flip the channel and you will hear something completely different. Who do you trust these days? Even the scientists don't seem to agree on this one. I have no doubts that this is a serious disease, but I'm equally convinced that the media is stirring the pot.

I think we're going to try to get up real early again tomorrow. It's a little strange walking in the dark but it's the only way to beat the heat. The only downside to these early walks is that too much of the day remains after you return. What do you do next? Tomorrow I'll attempt to answer this seemingly eternal question again.

Pebbles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3875

Dalmatian day is here again. We didn't get to meet Marshall after all. Some dogs get lucky. We found out today that Marshall was only at the kennel for a few days and has already gone to his forever home. Charlie, Hank, and Luckie were still waiting for us however. Luckie seems more relaxed this week. She still had little interest in playing, but would come when we called and wasn't nearly as fearful. She definitely likes treats. Charlie and Hank were still happy and playful. One of these days, these three will find their forever homes as well.

It was hard getting up this morning. Another day where everything seems the same. I always thought I was well suited for monotony, but enough is enough. Janet and I are both having trouble remembering what day it is when we wake up. It's definitely time for something different.

I hope Dawn still enjoys her morning walk. The landscape is getting pretty familiar by now. I think I have memorized the entire route. When everything is the same, you start to notice the smallest changes. There was a guy who used to walk his cat on a leash who we haven't seen in a while. There were three Muscovy ducks who always used to hang out next to a small creek we always cross. The female has been gone for several weeks. Where did she go? I'm still trying to identify some of the trees we see everyday. I'm fairly certain that the fruit tree we have been speculating about is a Mexican Plum, but I'm not sure. The fruit is edible, but I'm not going to try it.

I still don't have a publication date for my Sky and Telescope article. The closest I've been able to get to a commitment from the editors was a mention of "early next year." I hate to bother these guys. I'm afraid they might get irritated at my impatience and not publish the article after all. It has been a long time though. It's been almost a year since I got the idea for the article and made my first trip to the Davis Mountains. I got rained out on the August 2019 trip and it took a second visit to McDonald Observatory the next March before I finally had an opportunity to look through the large telescopes. I never dreamed the whole process would take this long when I initially contacted the magazine over a year ago.

Life seems to be a waiting game these days. I'm still waiting for the Artemis Day article I wrote about my visit to the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to be published. I wrote that article last December. I think this piece is going to appear next month though. We'll see. I'm also still waiting for the Air Force to process my application for media credentials at Kennedy Space Center. How long ago did I send that application in? I'm waiting for the new Bronco to appear at Ford dealers. I'm waiting for star parties to resume. Most of all, I'm waiting for the pandemic to be over. In many ways, this has been a wasted year.

It's weird that all the things we used to worry about are still here. There is a hurricane on the East Coast and wildfires in the West Coast. The virus just adds another layer of bad news. It makes you wonder what we'll be dealing with this time next year. Sure would be a nice surprise if something good happened.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day