Day 4216

I wish it wasn't so hard for me to get up in the morning. Our sunrise walks really are the nicest part of the day. When the temperature is in the 70's and there is a nice breeze, it's hard to believe that just a few hours later it will be in the high 90's and genuinely miserable outside. If I were smart, I would just continue walking after Dawn completes her one mile loop, but I have my priorities. I like to eat breakfast and today is grocery shopping day.

It's still hard to believe how empty the roads were just a few days ago during the holiday weekend. I wish everyone had stayed wherever they went on their vacations. Now that the population has returned, the stores are crowded again and the traffic is terrible. 

I don't wear a mask when I go shopping anymore, but I'll have to admit that I do have a few misgivings about returning to a pre-pandemic lifestyle. There are all these people in the stores and some of them are probably sick. I went for an entire year without even having a runny nose. I think it was almost entirely because I had very little contact with other people. Stay away from other people and you won't get sick. It's that simple.

I think the pandemic amplified feelings and tendencies that all of us have always had. Introverts like me are even less trusting of people than we were before, while extroverts are already trying to make up for lost time. It seems so strange to me that large segments of the population are really eager to sit shoulder to shoulder with total strangers at concerts and sporting events again. That's the way it is though. I know several people who can't wait to go to a concert. 

I had to go to several stores to find blueberries today. I'm fairly inflexible about my smoothie ingredients. Blueberries are essential. I eventually found everything on my list and picked up some take-out for dinner as well. Not surprisingly, by the time I got home and put everything away, it was pretty hot outside. Of course I had to take my long walk anyway. I wish my gym was open on Saturday afternoon. They keep saying that they don't have enough staff to stay open during the weekend. This doesn't make sense though. The gym is open on Saturday morning. Why can't those people just stay for the rest of the day. Maybe working at the gym was never a good job to begin with. After having an entire year to contemplate how shitty their old jobs were, a lot of people have found something better. There are a lot of ways to work from home now. I've been working from home for almost thirty years. It's not a bad life. It certainly beats working for tips in a restaurant. I doubt that I would like working for minimum wage in a gym either.

Dawn really likes her new food. She's even started following me out to the kitchen when I fix her meals again. Finding something she likes to eat seems to have changed Dawn's whole personality. She genuinely seems like a happier dog now. How were we to know that she didn't like her food? She seemed to enjoy her meals for over a year and was always eager for breakfast and dinner. Something changed rather abruptly, but Janet and I still can't figure out what it was. It seems strange to go from liking something to refusing to eat it in a matter of weeks unless there is a medical problem. The vet assures us that Dawn is fine. She's eating fine again too. I guess we'll just consider the problem solved.

I think we'll just repeat what we did last week for Dawn's special outing. It worked pretty well to take her to the Sunday park right after breakfast. We'll still do the sunrise walk as well. Taking two walks in a row doesn't seem to bother Dawn at all. I won't have to walk as far later in the day as well. The only thing that might throw a wrench in the works is the weather forecast. The weather forecast is seldom correct, but it is supposed to rain again tomorrow.

Keller is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4215

It was a little cooler today. That made it easier to do some things I've been avoiding. I finally got around to mowing the grass. It grows quickly since we've had a wet Spring. I don't like mowing the front yard now, since traffic has gotten heavy on our street. When I've got the mower down by the curb, cars and big trucks will barrel past me at forty miles an hour. This constant traffic makes it hard to get out of the driveway too. Things have changed a lot in thirty years.

I was tired when I finished mowing both the front and back yards, but the weather wasn't bad today so I decided that I'd go ahead and take my long walk after a short nap. Dawn got the best part of the day when we took our sunrise walk early this morning, although the rest of the day was much better than I expected. It was overcast with a pleasant breeze. There was a chance of rain in the forecast, but all we got were a few light sprinkles. Actually the light showers helped keep me cool while I was walking. It felt more like a mist than an actual rain shower.

Mowing the grass and taking a long walk seemed to eat up my entire day. I didn't do much else today. We heard from the vet and Dawn does have bacteria in her urine. The second sample we took to be analyzed looked exactly the same as the first. Janet picked up the antibiotics the vet prescribed and we'll see if we can get her back to normal. At least Dawn still loves her new food. I guess you solve one problem and another one takes its place.

I'm having a hard time staying motivated. My days consist of deciding what to eat and when to walk. I probably won't even try to go back to Kennedy Space Center until Artemis-1 is ready to launch toward the end of the year. Rental cars are almost impossible to find in Florida now and hotels have gotten quite expensive. There are a lot of Starlink launches this Summer, but nothing that really captures my interest. I hope I don't lose the contacts I've worked so hard to build down at the space center, but it is what it is. It's a lot easier to go out to McDonald Observatory when I feel a need to get out of town. It's a lot more peaceful as well. I have no real desire to visit a big city again.

I should be working hard to master PixInsight and the other astrophotography software I was introduced to at the last workshop I attended. I have these application on my computer, but seldom open them. Truthfully, taking pictures of dogs is more fun than taking pictures of stars. I love staring up at the sky on a clear, dark night but I think I enjoy visual astronomy more than astrophotography. Astrophotography is very technical in nature. I think I enjoy the spontaneous side of photography more. I loved shooting fashion back in the day. I'll continue to work on becoming a better astrophotographer though. It's definitely something I haven't mastered yet.

Time passes so quickly now. It will be the middle of July soon and 2021 still just feels like an addendum to 2020. Has anything actually happened this year? It's time to make a grocery list again. I bet the stores will be more crowded tomorrow. I'm not sure where everyone went over the holiday, but they're definitely all back now.

Greta is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4214

Everyone must be back from their vacation. The traffic is terrible again. It's weird that so many people do evereything at the same time. One day the streets are empty and the next day it's back to traffic jams. I think I'm going to look back at 2020 as a very peaceful year. I liked the slower pace of life under Covid restrictions. Now that life is getting back to normal, it's just the usual chaos of life in a big city.

Dawn had to go back to the vet today for another urine test. The first sample was contaminated and bacteria was found in the urine. The vet wanted to get a clean sample and do another urinalysis before he put Dawn on antibiotics. This was probably a good idea. Now that Dawn is eating again, a strong antibiotic could upset her stomach and make her lose her appetite again. We should find out the results soon and hope that everything is OK.

It's getting harder and harder for me to get up early for our morning walk. All I want to do is sleep these days. Luckily I can get dressed in a few minutes. Dawn and Janet are usually ready to go by the time I get out of bed. It's still really nice outside just before sunrise. It's a shame that the temperature rises so quickly.  The day starts in the 70's and usually ends up near 100 degrees.

It was too hot for me to take my walk in the park again today. It was too hot to go up on the roof or mow the grass as well. I wonder if it's going to be this way all summer? Except for that one week where everything was frozen, we had a pretty mild winter. Now it just looks like a typical hot Texas summer.

I went to the gym again this afternoon. I'm putting a few more miles on the car since I'm going to the gym almost every day. I guess I really do need to make a service appointment. The car runs fine, but that 'service required' light is going to win in the end. I always end up doing what my mechanical masters want.

I don't walk as far at the gym as I do outdoors, but I always feel like I've had a good workout. The place is so cold that I often feel like wearing a jacket. If you stay active you warm up quickly though. I guess that is the whole idea. I mostly just use the treadmill to get my steps for the day and then do a little work with free weights to improve my upper body strength. I think I did a lot more before Covid, but who's counting.  My plan to stay healthy is simple. Keep moving and eat healthy meals. That should be enough. I probably should add getting enough sleep to the mix, but that isn't as easy as it sounds.

I ordered some replacement foam inserts for a camera case last week and got a notice today that the post office had destroyed my package accidentally in transit. I got a refund from the company, but now what do I do? Should I try again and see if I have better luck next time. It really shouldn't be that hard to ship open cell foam. 

Dawn still likes her new food. Just our luck that she has taken a liking to something that is twice as expensive as her old food. Oh, well. Life goes on. I've taken this week's trash out to the curb and am waiting for another uneventful week to begin.

Trevor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4213

Dawn and Janet were ready to walk when I woke up this morning. I could have slept for several hours longer, but I quickly got dressed and off we went. No matter how hot it was the previous day, it always seems nice before sunrise. Today, the sky was blue and there was no wind at all. I knew that this was as good as it was going to get. This was going to be a very hot day.

When we returned home I made the bed and fixed my breakfast. I was in no hurry because there was absolutely nothing on my agenda today. I kind of hoped we would get a short afternoon shower to cool things down, but that didn't happen. When I took Dawn outside to pee around mid-morning I could already tell that it was going to be way too hot for a long walk in the park.

Dawn still loves the new food we got for her. There's probably no going back to kibble now. We are able to mix a little of her old dry food in with her tasty new stew. Eventually, we'll be able to use this food up, but it will take a while. We still have no idea what her long term diet will be, since we haven't gotten the lab results from the vet yet. I hope we can find a solution that is healthy for Dawn, won't cause crystals or bladder stones to form, and most importantly that she will continue to eat. 

The more comfortable Dawn becomes at our house, the bossier she gets. I'm not really surprised since she's an old mama dog who has raised many puppies. The first thing she let us know was where she wanted to sleep. Next, she let us know how long she wanted to walk. Now, she's trying to tell us what she wants for dinner. In the beginning I think she was fearful that we might punish or hurt her if she didn't do exactly what we wanted. Now, she's pretty confident that she has a safe place to live and that we are both pretty nice people. Dawn is still a little scared of me, but even that is getting better. We probably should be a little more firm with her, but we just like to see her happy. This dog has had a very rough life. She deserves a little happiness.

I deserve a little happiness too, but usually I just settle for exercise. I went to the gym this afternoon mainly because I knew it was going to be cool inside. I can't even imagine what the electric bill is for this gym because they keep the place really cold. I did a little work with free weights today, but mostly I just walked around and around the indoor track. I don't know why it seems to take longer to walk a mile indoors than it does outdoors. I walked three miles around the small track and it seemed to take forever. When I looked at my Fitbit my pace was almost the same as it was outdoors. Maybe it's just boring to walk around and around in a circle. Time goes a lot quicker when you're outdoors counting ducks.

I'm getting tired of seeing the "service required" light come on every time I start the car, but I still haven't made an appointment to take it to the Land Rover dealer. I haven't made the doctor's appointments I keep getting e-mail reminders about either. At a certain point you realize that you are just a source of revenue for other people. There is a routine checkup for everything now. The HVAC guy wants to check your furnace. The car dealer wants to check your car. Every doctor you have ever seen in your life wants you to come in every six months for a check-up. Nine times out of ten there is nothing wrong. Maybe this is why it is so irritating to see the "service required" light in my car when I know there is nothing wrong.

Janet said that Dawn did well in training class tonight. I hope this class is good for her. It would be nice if she finally realized that life isn't so bad and that there is nothing to be fearful of. I'm one to talk though. I'm fearful of all sorts of things. 

Delaney is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4212

We took Dawn to the vet today. She had some lab tests done and we came home with some new dog food. We didn't learn anything today, but hopefully when the lab results come back we might find the answer to why Dawn is not eating normally and continues to lick her feet. I'm still thinking that we have a smart and very stubborn dog. She was certainly eager to eat the new wet food we brought home today. Dawn might just be training us. Why are we even worried about a temporary loss of appetite? Well, when our other dogs stopped eating, they usually died. It is not unusual for a dog to get tired of what they are eating. We've had to change a dog's diet many times for a variety of reasons. You've got to take loss of appetite seriously though. Dogs love to eat and when they stop, it could mean that something is seriously wrong.

We got some scattered showers today, but if you blinked you probably missed it. I noticed that the grass was wet several times, but I never actually saw any rain fall. We were able to take Dawn on her morning walk without getting wet and there was no rain while we were at the vet either. I could see a lot of dark clouds when I went to the gym later in the afternoon, but the rain always seemed to be somewhere else. This was all fine by me. I didn't feel like washing the car and I certainly didn't feel like dealing with the roof leak again.

My gym must be offering a special deal on personal trainers because almost everyone seemed to have one today. Maybe it just seemed that way because the gym was fairly empty. I think the city is still on vacation. Everything is open again, but the roads are still surprisingly empty. I wasn't even planning on going to the gym today, but the humidity was oppressively high. This didn't seem like a day to be walking six miles outdoors. As I circled around and around on the small indoor track, I kept watching the trainers pushing the people they were working with to go a little faster or work a little harder. I don't think I could work with a trainer. I can't deal with people telling me what to do, even if it might be in my best interest. It's hard enough for me to go to the gym as it is. If somebody was there pushing me to test my limits and improve myself, I'd probably stop going altogether.

Improving myself is not very high on my agenda these days. I still read articles about astrophotography, but I probably forget most of what I learn because you can't really see stars in Dallas. Setting up my gear and actually taking photographs several times a year out in West Texas probably isn't enough. In theory I could probably find some reasonably dark skies within easy driving distance, but I don't feel comfortable being out at night in the city anymore. Whenever I turn on the local news, the lead story is always about someone being shot late at night. Dallas isn't as bad as Chicago or Philadelphia, but it's a lot, lot worse than Fort Davis or Marfa.

I think that future historians will write about this period of time the same way we currently think about the fall of Rome. We're definitely on a downhill slope and the barbarians are already at the gates. It's such a shame because it didn't have to be this way. When I was growing up there wasn't a single murder in my town during my entire childhood. Parents let their kids roam around town on Halloween without any supervision. Nothing bad happened. It was kind of like growing up in Mayberry on that old Andy Griffith Show. 

Luckily, I'm still pretty confident when the sun is up. If the weather stays cool I'll take my long walk. If it gets hot, I'll go to the gym. Either way, tomorrow will be pretty much the same as today. I'm sure the telescopes will stay inside.

Cisco is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4211

I guess the holiday continued into today. The markets and banks were closed. There wasn't any mail delivery. The Dalmatian's kennel was still open though, so we were still able to visit Charlie and Cooper. I took my camera because there were supposed to be two new Dalmatian puppies at the kennel. They were both at the vet for their check ups when we arrived though, so maybe we'll see them next week.

The day started normally enough. We got up early and took Dawn on her sunrise walk. I can already tell that the days are starting to get shorter. Sunrise seems a few minutes later each day. Dawn is now reluctant to eat the new food we got for her, so we made an appointment to see the vet. We need to know if she's just being a picky eater or if there is a medical problem. We are a little worried about her kidneys since we've known that they are a potential problem for some time. We'll get some new blood work done and a urinalysis, along with anything else the vet suggests. Hopefully, Dawn is just being stubborn. She has no problems eating people food.

The traffic was still pretty light when we went up to the kennel. I guess that holiday travelers aren't visiting Dallas. There were a lot of boarding dogs at the kennel, but we were still able to secure a room where we could play with Charlie and Cooper. Charlie was still very gentle with his new possum toy. This is the only toy that he doesn't toss in the air and get rough with. He just carries it around like he's looking for a safe place to hide it. We've never seen Charlie act this way before. It's actually encouraging to know that he has a softer side.

I was planning to go to the gym when we returned from the kennel, but I decided to take a walk at the last minute. I don't know why I thought it would be cool enough for a long walk in the park. Maybe the sun was behind a cloud. I managed to complete my six miles, but I was hot and tired by the time I returned home. I would have been tired at the gym as well, but I wouldn't have been as hot and sweaty. It's too bad I don't enjoy exercise more. It's very necessary, but I'd rather just sleep.

I paid some bills today and noticed that the electric bill has take a sharp rise upward. It's summer in Texas. Next month's bill will be even worse. The water bill will be a lot higher next month as well, now that we are trying to keep our new grass alive. I was never as aware of prices when I was working. Living on a fixed income puts a whole new perspective on things. 

I didn't sleep well last night. I've been having weird dreams again. For some reason my dreams frequently involve choosing food in buffet lines, being lost inside buildings, or being back in college. Last night I was dealing with all three of these things. At some point a professor asked me to come up with an equation that would generate an outline in the shape of Africa. I kept trying to convince the class that you could accomplish the same thing with a much easier equation that gave you the area of a circle. Just pack a whole bunch of little circles together and you'll have your map of Africa, I told the class. Hey, I was never very good at math. Maybe I was distracted by the fact that right after I had chosen a pathetic looking roast beef sandwich for my lunch, service workers bought out huge stacks of much better looking meat and replaced the entire buffet table. The flying dreams I had as a kid were much more enjoyable.

Hopefully the vet can tell us why Dawn keeps licking her feet and has lost her appetite. It might be nothing at all, but you never know with a dog. It's too bad dogs can't talk and just tell you what's wrong.

Isabella is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4210 - Independence Day

It was unusually quiet for a major holiday. The streets were empty. Neighborhood cafes didn't seem busy. Even the park wasn't very full. It really felt like the entire city had left and gone to the beach. Bad weather or the pandemic certainly weren't keeping people indoors this year. They were just someplace else. I have a feeling that every lake, sandy beach, and National Park was pretty crowded today.

The weather was actually very nice this morning and we tried to take advantage of it. Dawn got a nice early walk after we got up. We slept in a bit this morning, but it was still cloudy and cool when we left the house. I'm glad that Dawn is eating normally again. It makes life a little less stressful. When we returned from our walk, Janet and I had a holiday breakfast of pancakes and bacon and then took Dawn for her Sunday outing. Dawn expects this trip now and gets really excited as we get ready to go. Janet works on Dawn's training exercises while we are walking and I can already tell that Dawn is getting better. We both think the training class has been good for her. She is becoming much more confident now. 

When we took Dawn for her ice cream cone on the way home, we were the only customer. This was really strange because the place is usually packed on weekends. As we ate our cones in the car, we didn't see a single car go through Andy's drive through. Today was perfect ice cream weather too. Where did all the people go this year? It felt more like last year's lockdown Fourth of July than a normal Independence Day.

I still think Independence Day is worth celebrating. If you read the Declaration of Independence and think about what it says, it is a remarkable document. The founding fathers were brilliant and thoughtful men who were able to create something that has lasted for over two hundred years by recognizing that individuals should control the state rather than the state controlling the individual. If these leaders were alive today they would seem more like libertarians than democrats or republicans. They believed in very limited government and created a republic rather than a representative democracy specifically to prevent the federal government from becoming too powerful.

The United States has grown and evolved over the years, but the goal has largely remained the same. There has been a strong desire to provide equal opportunities that would allow individual exceptionalism to flourish. Individualism is what made this country great. Individual states and individual communities were free to chart their own path as long as they operated under the umbrella of a rule of laws that were outlined in the constitution. It's a shame that all this is in jeopardy now. There are those who want to diminish the importance of individualism and substitute the collective will of the state. There are those who think equal outcomes are more appropriate than equal opportunities. I find this very sad. When you destroy the individual and reduce everything to the lowest common denominator you basically destroy civilization itself.

It isn't surprising that people like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are almost desperate to get off the planet and start over. They know what's coming. There are too many people in the world and globalization, along with a benign world government run by the United Nations will only makes things worse. Global corporations would love to turn the entire world into affluent consumers. The more we consume the quicker we all become extinct. The planet simply cannot support a world full of affluent people cutting down all the trees for homes and eating all the fish in the sea. Why don't people understand this? If your spirit animal is a unicorn, you're doomed. Humanity's goal should be reducing the population rather than increasing opportunities so everyone can consume more. Ahh, but maybe somebody does understand. Maybe the pandemic was just a practice run. Maybe the next one will wipe out everyone except the Chinese. The Chinese win the long game you know. They don't have to deal with this messy little moment in time that the founding fathers created. Have a happy Independence Day.

Matao is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4209

When I woke up this morning I was surprised at how cool it was outside. The temperature was in the 70's when we took Dawn on her early walk and I don't think it got above 84 degrees all day. There was a pleasant breeze as well. I complain about the weather a lot, but we have some of the best weather in the country right now. We're not in the middle of a drought. There are no wildfires. There are no hurricanes. The temperatures tend to be high, but they're still lower than people in the Pacific Northwest are experiencing. Maybe I shouldn't complain so much.

My grocery list was small this week, so shopping didn't take as long as it usually does. I was surprised that the stores didn't seem full for a holiday weekend. The roads weren't crowded either. Did the entire town go to the beach or something? I'm still getting used to a post-pandemic world. Very few people wear masks in stores anymore. The signs on the doors are gone and everything has more or less returned to normal. There are fewer shortages as well. Shelves that were empty a few months ago are fully stocked again. The only thing weird about this July is that everyone seems to want to take a vacation at the same time. I'm glad that I don't have a terrible urge to travel right now. Maybe by Fall the vacation surge will have run its course and I can think about going somewhere.

I wanted to take advantage of the cooler weather, so I took my long walk as soon as I put the groceries away. It was quite pleasant outside. There was a nice breeze and it was mostly overcast so there was no direct sun. It's too bad I still felt sore from yesterday's workout at the gym. I use a completely different set of muscles at the gym and these muscles didn't really feel like walking today. I took it slow and finished my six miles, realizing that staying in shape would probably be an uphill battle for the rest of my life.

Janet found some food that Dawn will eat. It's not a long term solution, but hopefully it will keep her eating normally until we find something better. Finding the perfect food for your dog is never an easy task.  If you ask ten people what they feed their dog you will get ten different answers. We stopped asking our vet years ago because all they recommend are Hills Science Diet products. Probably the best thing is to cook fresh chicken and rice. We've done this before and dogs seem to love it. If you start cooking for your dog, there is no turning back though. Its hard to get them to eat dog food again. We always wondered if we were leaving out essential nutrients and vitamins. Most premium dog foods claim to be a complete, balanced meal for your pet and have a long list of ingredients. Chicken and rice is just chicken and rice. I'm sure we'll be able to find something that is both good for Dalmatians in general and tastes good to our own somewhat picky Dalmatian. There certainly is plenty to choose from. I'm always amazed at how many varieties of food there are when you go to a pet store.

I noticed a lot of signs in the park saying that fireworks were illegal in the city of Dallas and that you could face up to a $3000 fine for setting them off. I wonder if that will take care of the problem. Usually it sounds like a war zone on the Fourth of July. It's certainly quiet now. In pervious years, we'd be hearing fireworks right now. Some of our dogs have been terrified of fireworks. We're not sure how Dawn will react, but I suspect that they won't bother her since she doesn't react to thunder and lightning at all. 

I hope our cooler weather continues. I'd like the roof to dry out so I can inspect it again. I'd also like to take a long walk since my gym is still closed on Sunday. It remains to be seen whether we watch the fireworks displays tomorrow evening. There's a good viewing spot just up the street from us, but it's not a high priority now.

Bob Hope is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4208

The power has been going on and off all evening. It's been that kind of day. There have been no storms that might explain the intermittent power outages. It's probably just one of those things that happens when a large city is getting ready for a long weekend. Hopefully, the power will stay on for a while because I'm not sure I have charged the laptop.

Power outages weren't today's only frustration. Dawn is not eating her food anymore. We don't think she is sick because she is more than happy to eat people food. She just decided rather abruptly that she doesn't like her dog food. This is frustrating because we carefully researched this brand and felt it would be good for her. You have to be careful with Dalmatians because a lot of diets will cause crystals to develop in their urine and they can develop bladder stones. Dawn seemed to love this food several weeks ago. Now she won't touch it. 

We've got to find a new healthy, low protein diet that Dawn will actually eat. We've been through this with other dogs and it's not an easy process. I wish dog food was available in variety packs like those breakfast cereals we used to eat as kids. There used to be a pet store that had sample packs of all the food they sold. Now it's hard to find any size smaller than a five pound bag. Hopefully we can find something that works this weekend. Janet ended up cooking fresh meals for Dot and Dash when they became old and sick. Dawn is pretty young to go this route though. According to the lab reports, she is very healthy too. We think she is just being stubborn.

I'm amazed that the roof didn't leak today. We certainly got a lot of rain. It rained during the night, but we got lucky and were able to walk Dawn before it started again this morning. Although there was no dripping water this morning, it appears that water is still getting in. The area around the leak in the ceiling is dark and stained now. All this has happened before. I painstakingly bleached most of the stained areas about six months ago, but now I'm going to have to do it all over again. These water leaks really test my patience. What else is new though. Almost everything tests my patience these days.

I thought about taking a long walk today but it was oppressively humid and I was never sure when the rain was going to start again. I went back to the gym instead and tried a few new machines. My Fitbit says I get more exercise on a long walk than I do at the gym. It doesn't feel that way though. I'm really tired after a workout at the gym. I still like the long walks better, but it looks like I'm going to have to wait until Fall before the walks are enjoyable again.

I'm not spending as much time thinking about astronomy or rocket launches lately. This is another sign that the dog days of summer have arrived. When I wake up, all I want to do is get through the day without sweating excessively or having something break around the house. I envy Dawn's ability to sleep most of the day. Sleeping seems like a better way to spend the summer than doing yard work or fixing leaks.

It's time to make a grocery list again. I guess I'd better get another big bag of ice because I still haven't gotten the ice maker in the refrigerator fixed. We don't have any plans for the Fourth of July. Usually we fix burgers of barbecue, but lately we haven't even bothered to watch the fireworks. There are too many mosquitos out at night. 

Bud is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4207

I think the dog days of summer are here. When we take our early walk with Dawn, it's easy to see what lies ahead. The humidity is high and as soon as the sun clears the horizon you can feel the temperature start to climb. Our sunrise walks are still the nicest part of the day. Dawn enjoys them and so do I.

I did make an attempt to find the source of the roof leak after I finished breakfast, but I didn't accomplish much. There was still standing water from the last time it rained, so I had to clear that away and let the roof dry before I could even attempt to do any patching with the silicon material. I measured the leak's location from a different corner of the house and came up with pretty much the same spot on the roof as I did yesterday. There is a seam under the silicon coating near this spot, so I think the seam has gone bad and water is finding its way in this way. When the roof is completely dry I will examine the entire seam from one end of the roof to the other and see if I can find anything.

An hour up on the roof showed me that it was way too hot for my long walk in the park. I decided to go to the gym again. The gym is making a real effort to return to their pre-pandemic hours. They have a lot of nice new equipment but they are having problems hiring staff. Nobody seems to want to work anymore.  I got a notice from the city the other day saying that they have temporarily stopped picking up the recycled trash because they don't have enough sanitation workers. Luckily, they are still picking up the regular garbage though. Everything seems to be this way. Our mail delivery has been spotty because there has been a lot of absenteeism at the post office. Restaurants and small retailers are having a terrible time finding workers. There are plenty of shitty jobs out there, but nobody wants them. I guess this just proves that when you disrupt everyone's lives for a year, there are consequences.

I've been trying to spend more time on the treadmill and other machines I use frequently at the gym . I actually did increase my heart rate and was sweating in the cold, air conditioned building today. Hey, I'm making an effort. A lot of the upper body exercises are giving me trouble because of my bad shoulder. I still don't want to consider shoulder surgery though. The recovery period is long and arduous. I've known people who have had the surgery and never regained the mobility they wanted either. As you grow older, there are certain things you just decide you can live with.

There's been rain in the forecast all day and it finally arrived this evening. The rain will be great for our new grass, but not so good for the roof. I remember going through this on previous leaks. It's hard to fix anything when the roof is continuously wet. All I can do at this point is keep the pumps running and strategically place a few buckets in the living room and kitchen. The leak is not bad at this point, but I know from experience that it can get much worse. Architects love flat roof houses, but they are nothing but trouble. Put a slope on a roof and the water drains away naturally.

I'm really glad that Dawn isn't afraid of storms.  We're getting a lot of thunder and lightning now, but Dawn is still sleeping peacefully on the bed. Any of our other dogs would have been in a total panic by now. It's weird. Dawn isn't scared of thunder and lightning, but she's scared of me. I'm glad she trusts Janet completely or life would be difficult.

The rain has been heavy this evening. I'm pretty sure I'll be listening to a drip from the ceiling as I try to go to sleep tonight. It is what it is. A new roof is inevitable even though there will probably still be standing water after it is installed. Don't ever buy a house with a flat roof.

Bentley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4206

No rain today. There was an abundance of heat and humidity though. Even though the sky was pretty with lots of big puffy clouds, it wasn't a great day to be outside. That didn't stop us from walking of course. We got up early and walked Dawn before the heat became opressive and then I ate my breakfast. I didn't really feel like going to the gym again, so I convinced myself that it was still cool enough for a walk in the park.

It's too bad that sweating isn't as beneficial as elevating your heart rate when you exercise. If sweating was the goal, I'd be in great shape. Today would have been better if there was a breeze, but the air was pretty still. I completed my six miles, but by the time I returned home I was beat. Maybe I should have gone to the gym after all. I've finally learned the importance of hydration and drink a lot of water while I cool down. As I was returning to normal I watched a repeat of yesterday's Space X Transporter 2 launch on the streaming channel. This time the rocket got off the pad without incident and everything worked like clockwork. The booster landed back at Kennedy Space Center which doesn't happen very often. Seeing the booster return is pretty exciting if you are watching the launch in person. Maybe someday. I definitely don't have any plans to travel this summer. It's going to be a while before travel seems normal again. Hotels and air fares still seem way too high to me. 

I watered the new grass this afternoon. It's hard to tell if I'm watering too much or too little. When it's hot, the water seems to disappear pretty fast. I hope I can keep this grass alive. It was a lot of trouble to put it in. While I had the hose out, I watered the plants in the atrium. There's an outlet inside the atrium, but I haven't used it since there was a severe plumbing problem years ago and we almost flooded the house. Now I just use an outside hose and water the plants through the screen wire wall that forms one side of the atrium area.

On days like these I wish I could sleep soundly during the day. I take short naps, but I don't really go to sleep. If I could get the sleep I need during the day, I wouldn't feel bad about staying up late at night. I've always been able to get more done at night. It's quiet and peaceful. When I was working, I did a lot of my writing jobs at night. It's unfortunate that writing at night and stargazing aren't really compatible with each other. One activity is inside and the other is outside and both require a certain amount on concentration. Oh, well. At least I'm wide awake if there is a good opportunity for stargazing. I do pretty well out at the observatory.

I really need to make another attempt to find the source of the roof leak tomorrow. All the forecasts say that it's going to start raining again later in the week. I'm probably going to end up just pouring some of the silicon material over random spots as a futile gesture. I really did look carefully when I was up on the roof the other day and couldn't find any obvious place where the water might be getting in.

Janet and Dawn went to training class again tonight. Dawn certainly seems excited as they are getting ready to leave the house. I'm not sure that Dawn is wild about being trained, but she sure seems to like to go places in the car. Hopefully she will learn to heel eventually. She still pulls pretty bad when she is on a leash. Pulling on the leash is a lot better than panicking and freezing in place though. I think we are making progress. 

Tucker is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4205

Every once in a while I do something unpleasant just because it needs to be done. Today I bought a bunch of St. Augustine sod and covered all the bare areas in the back yard. Today seemed like a good day to put in new sod because the ground was still very wet and made it easier to prepare the soil for the new grass. I haven't put in sod for a while and had forgotten that this is a tiring, messy job. I used to put in a new turf almost every year. Then we started using a landscape company for a while. Lately we have done nothing and I just mow the weeds. Wet, muddy sod is messy stuff to carry around in a car. The old Land Rover Defender was certainly easier to clean up afterwards. It was probably good that the sod was wet though bacause it won't dry out as fast when we are trying to get it established. Wet sod is very heavy. Each square seemed to weigh twice as much as I remember.

I think I did a good job. The yard looks presentable now and Dawn will be a lot less likely to roll around in the dirt. Like other outdoor chores I've attempted recently, installing the sod reminded me that I'm well past my prime. My hands still hurt from carrying each piece or the heavy, slippery sod from the car to the back yard. I thought it would be easy to carry a square of sod in each hand while I was moving the stuff to the back yard. I must have been dreaming. I had to carry one square at a time. I definitely have some arthritis in my fingers now. The old joints don't move like they used to. I got the job done though and now there is one fewer item on my to do list.

By the time I was finished with the yard work it was way too hot to take my long walk in the park. I did a load of laundry, took a short nap, and then went to the gym. I got a notice the other day that my gym no longer has a mask requirement. Nobody was wearing masks today. This was quite a change from a few days ago and seemed to prove that everybody had just been following the rules without any strong feelings about whether masks actually worked. One old fool was wearing a loose fitting cloth bandana while he was running around the track but that was about it. Now that the mask mandate is history, I hope that the gym brings back the basketballs soon. I really used to enjoy shooting baskets on the court. They said I could bring my own basketball, but it would be a lot easier to just use one of theirs.

Dawn had a day of beauty at the vet while I was putting in the new sod this morning. Janet discovered that the price included a nail trim and getting Dawn's anal glands expressed, so the deluxe bath was actually less expensive than taking Dawn to one of those self-bathe places and then having a vet do the nails and anal glands as separate items. We still need to figure out why Dawn is obsessively licking her feet, but that's going to be a lot more complicated than getting a bath.

I watched the Space X Transporter 2 launch this afternoon on the streaming channel. The launch got scrubbed with ten seconds on the clock. There was a range violation and apparently there was a boat or an airplane in the restricted zone. Every time a launch is scrubbed it reminds me that a trip to Florida is never a sure thing. When a launch gets delayed, suddenly your trip becomes much more expensive. This has happened to me several times already and I haven't even been to that many launches. I guess nothing is a sure thing. There's been a lot of rain out at McDonald Observatory recently, so this wouldn't have been a good time for a visit out there either. The Davis Mountains really needed the rain though. It has been very dry this year.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow. I'm definitely not going to do any more yard work. Hopefully I won't be dealing with roof leaks either. A day with absolutely nothing on the agenda is perfectly fine with me.

Sparky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4204

I knew it was going to rain today. It was just a matter of when. There was plenty to do while I was waiting for the leak to reappear. We took Dawn for an early walk before I dropped Janet off at the dentist for dental surgery. I went home and ate breakfast while waiting until it was time to go pick her up again. When Janet was back home and resting with Dawn at her side, I started checking my weather radar apps to see if I still had time to take my long walk. Maybe. The rain was on the way, but I might have time to take a shorter walk. I walked about half my usual distance and arrived home again about two minutes before the downpour started. I don't know if I'm getting better at calculating how fast storms move or if I just got lucky. I'm glad I didn't get soaked though because it was a pretty heavy rain.

Janet slept through the storm and Dawn never left her side. I thought for a while that the roof wasn't going to leak after all, but it was only a matter of time before I started hearing the inevitable sound of dripping water hitting the brick floor. I mopped up the water with a towel and placed a bucket under the drip. How am I going to stop this leak? I looked carefully yesterday when I was up on the roof and couldn't find anything that looked suspicious. I can't complain to the roofer anymore. He stopped returning my calls over a year ago. I can't really blame him. The silicon elastomer roof is no longer under warranty and has had so many problems over the years that the roofer has basically replaced the entire roof already. The silicon material turned out to be a very bad solution. It's definitely waterproof, but it is fragile and is easily damaged by falling branches from our large Oak trees.

While I was waiting for the rain to stop I looked on the Internet for some replacement foam inserts for an old Zero Halliburton aluminum camera case. I discovered by my case was considered a vintage model and was more valuable than I thought. I also found a company that still makes foam inserts for this case. I think the foam inserts cost more than the case did many years ago. I couldn't find any pre-cut inserts for my old Nikon F2 system, so I will have to cut them myself. You'd think that someone would have come up with a better way to protect equipment by now. Polyurethane foam turns into a messy goo after five or ten years and can ruin your equipment if you don't change the foam at regular intervals. The foam in my case has already turned into a messy goo, but luckily I had the forethought at some point to wrap the camera and all the lenses in blue Scott shop towels. Why do I even keep the old Nikon camera when I know I'll never use it again? It's just the way I am. I keep a lot of old stuff and the F2 was one of my favorite cameras.

The roof leak is in an awkward place because the water is dripping right in front of Dawn's dog bowls. It's hard enough to get her to eat already and I'm sure that getting wet wouldn't improve things. I've moved her bowls to a new location and this seems to work for now. The dripping water is clear, so this probably means that the source of the leak is located directly above where it is entering the house. If it was traveling down a beam from another location it would be probably be stained brown. As soon as things dry out I'll go look for the source of the leak again. That may be a while. It is supposed to rain all week.

I hope Charlie and Cooper didn't miss up today. We'll be back to visit them next week. Penny has already gone to her forever home. She lives with horses now and appears very happy from the pictures we've seen. Dawn gets a bath at the vet and her nails trimmed tomorrow. Maybe this will keep her from biting at her nails in the middle of the night and waking me up. The leak has stopped for now, but I'll leave the bucket out tonight just in case. 

Patch is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4203

We did a lot of walking today. We took Dawn on her short one mile loop before sunrise like we usually do. Then we came home and ate a quick breakfast before getting in the car and taking Dawn on her Sunday outing. The whole point of doing everything so early was to beat the heat. It worked. It was only 8:30 AM when we arrived at Dawn's Sunday park and it was still quite cool. The sun was up, but it was cloudy and there was a nice breeze. We were wondering if Dawn would want two walks in quick succession and the answer was an emphatic yes. Dawn loved the extra attention and walked briskly through the park. Janet worked on some of her training exercises and I worked with her a little as well. She actually did surprisingly well healing with me. We weren't able to get ice cream cones on the way home because it was too early and the ice cream place wasn't even open yet. We didn't forget about the cones though. Dawn got a second car ride later in the morning for her ice cream cone. 

Between the first set of walks and the trip for ice cream cones, there was time for me to take my long walk. I wanted to do this as early as I could because the temperature was starting to rise. It was pretty pleasant for the first couple of miles and then the sun came out and it quickly started to get hot. The surprising thing is that even though this is a normal Texas summer, it is still a lot cooler here than many other parts of the country. We're getting a lot more rain here as well and are not experiencing the drought conditions that many of the Western states are dealing with. Who knows. Maybe Texas summers aren't so bad after all.

The park was filled with cyclists and runners when I was taking my long walk. I think everyone who is trying to stay active has gotten the message by now. If you want to do something outside, do it early. You don't see nearly as many animals in the summer. Animals are smart. They instinctively know to avoid the heat.

I was beginning to get tired by the time I finished my long walk, but I still needed to go up on the roof and look for the source of our recent roof leak. I measured everything carefully inside and then took a tape measure up on the roof so I could find the spot where water was leaking. It was pretty hot at this point and I had to wear gloves because parts of the roof were too hot to touch. I was disappointed, but not terribly surprised when I couldn't find any damage where the leak was supposed to be. Sometimes is it next to impossible to find the source of a leak. If water manages to get under the silicon elastomer coating it can travel a long distance before it finds a weak spot where it can enter the house. It's hard to defeat water and gravity. Somehow, water always wins.

I cleaned up all the loose paint and spackling material on the ceiling where the water had been leaking in the living room and kitchen. I'm hoping that if the leak reappears I might get a better idea where it is actually coming from. I've been avoiding doing this because it is a messy job. The job is done though and I've cleaned up all the mess that fell on the floor. There is still a big stain in the ceiling and there will need to be sheet rock repairs if we ever get a new roof, but the house does look a little better now. It's supposed to rain again tomorrow, so we'll see what happens. I really didn't fix anything, so I won't be terribly surprised if the leak reappears.

Janet has dental surgery tomorrow, so we probably won't be visiting the rescue Dalmatians. I'll be driving her to and from the dentist and I suspect that she'll want to sleep when she returns home. Dawn will still get her morning walk though. We'll do that before leaving for the dentist.

Rascal is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4202

I've had to switch to a different grocery store because the store has become too efficient in measuring its customer's buying habits. All stores do this. Your purchases are scanned at checkout and the information is used to determine what items will be restocked. Basically stores want to sell what people are buying. This often leaves me on the short end of the stick. For weeks I haven't been able to find my favorite cheeses, beers, spices, or even bottled waters. I switched stores today and found an abundance of everything I like. I have to drive a little further, but that's better than being continually frustrated.

Inflation is real. Everything I buy has gone up in price. Sometimes the price increases are small, but they add up. Prices for fresh fruit and vegetables still go down when the produce is in season. Paper products and processed food always go up though. It's amazing how expensive those blue Scott shop towels have gotten. Gas is pretty high too. I'm glad I don't drive a lot.

Dawn enjoyed her early morning walk. I'd easily sleep an hour longer if we didn't walk Dawn so early. I guess it's worth it though. The weather is very nice just before sunrise. Today we had the added benefit of a pleasant breeze. We definitely aren't the only people who have discovered the benefits of walking early. You see a lot of people walking their dogs at this hour. I thought that Dawn might like to walk a little longer this morning because it was so nice outside. Nope. One mile is still plenty for her.

I knew the gym was going to close early today so I decided to take my long walk right after breakfast and then do my weekly grocery shopping later. This turned out to be a good plan. It had warmed up quite a bit by 9 AM, but the temperature was still in the low 80's. When the sun was behind a cloud, I was quite comfortable. Some group was having a charity race in the park this morning. You don't see many of those in the summer. It must have been a short race, because it was all over by the time I returned home. 

I probably should have started looking for the source of the leak on the roof this afternoon, but by the time I took my walk and finished all my Saturday errands it was way too hot. I've slowed down so much that there is never enough time to finish everything I need to do anymore. If I accomplish anything at all it's a plus. Things never seem to get easier either. Now my Saturday errands will take a little longer because I have to drive further to go to the grocery store. Roof leaks don't disappear on their own unfortunately, so I will have to make an effort to find the source of the leak and patch things very soon.

We'll probably have to combine Dawn's Sunday outing and early morning walk tomorrow. I'm sure that will be fine with Dawn, but it may be too early for ice cream on our way home. I wish my gym would reopen on Sunday, but it might be a while. They seem quite happy with reduced hours and a smaller staff. There still aren't as many people using the gym as there were in pre-pandemic days, so they probably won't go back to their old schedule until demand increases significantly. It is what it is. I'm beginning to think that life will never return to normal. Normal has changed.

I wouldn't want to own a condo on the beach right now. You'd have to wonder if your building is going to fall next. Nature is relentless. If it only took forty years for salt air and shifting sand to destroy this building, imagine what Miami is going to look like in 200 years. You might think that moving inland to a remote corner of Wyoming will keep you safe, but then there's that huge super volcano under Yellowstone waiting to explode. If you look at the world through the eyes of a geologist, it's kind of amazing that we're here at all.

Derrick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4201

I knew it was going to be a hot day when we walked Dawn this morning. I also knew that if I used this as an excuse, I wouldn't get anything done for the rest of the summer. As soon as I finished breakfast, I reluctantly mowed the grass. We have a small yard, but this still seems like a big job. Things have changed a lot over the years. There's a tree in the front yard that seems to have doubled in size. The street is much busier now. I hate mowing down by the curb because cars are wizzing by me at 40 miles an hour. I got the job done though. Both the front and back yard look a lot better now. I even weeded a little garden area near the front porch. I guess I could have done more, but I was hot and tired. I came inside, changed my clothes, and took a nap while I tried to decide what to do next.

By the time I finished the yard it was way too hot to go up on the roof. It's still supposed to rain on Monday, so if I'm going to find what is causing the current leak, I've got to do it this weekend. Maybe the weather will be a little cooler tomorrow. I wish I could think of some more interesting magazine ideas, but I'm coming up with nothing. It's becoming clear that I'm more of a travel writer than a science writer. That's OK, but it's not a good time to go to Florida and I doubt I'll be returning to the observatory until at least October. I did propose a few astrophotography ideas to Sky & Telescope recently, but all I did was embarrass myself. I still know next to nothing about the subject.

Since I didn't feel like cleaning the house, this left me with another trip to the gym. You'd think a gym would be filled with young athletic people, but mine is filled with people even older than me. I guess it's encouraging to see these people still moving around, but it's discouraging to realize that I'm going to become even slower than I already am in the years ahead. I like my gym though. It's large, well equipped, and very cold. You have to work really hard to break into a sweat at this place. I'm more likely to feel like I need a jacket. I'll be glad when cooler weather returns. It's much more enjoyable to walk outdoors than to  work on resistance training and endlessly travel in circles around a small oval running track. 

I'm getting a "service required" message in my car again. It's irritating because I know nothing is wrong. This happens every year around this time if I haven't made an appointment for scheduled maintenance. Last year I convinced the dealership to turn the warning off if I came in for an oil and filter change. I don't think I'll get away with that this year. After two years they're going to want an opportunity to charge me thousands of dollars for things that probably aren't that bad to begin with. If I drove more, I'd make maintenance a higher priority. I don't drive much at all these days and if I am taking a trip I'll almost always rent a car. 

It's time to make a grocery list again. Now, a bag of ice is regularly on my Saturday list. I just can't bring myself to call the appliance repairman yet. Ice is cheap and refrigerator repairs are expensive. We don't use much ice, so a bag of party ice will usually last me two or three weeks. I didn't used to be such a cheapskate, but retirement and living on a fixed income will do that to you.

A friend proposed that I extend my 5000 post goal to 7500 days. Nope. Not going to happen. I'm running out of things to say already.

Shiner is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4200

I like big even numbers. I'm only 800 days away from my goal. That's less than three years. I can do this. I don't know what I could do for an encore after posting something for 5000 consecutive days. Probably nothing. Truthfully, this was a silly idea to begin with.

It looks like I've got two or three days to find the crack in the roof before it rains again. I thought about beginning the search today, but it was already too hot by the time I finished breakfast. It will probably be too hot tomorrow as well. I'm hoping for a cloudy day. I'm not even sure that the silicon patch material will stick to the roof unless I can get the surface really clean. I'm not sure I can get the power washer up on the roof either. Actually, I'm not even sure if the power washer still works. I haven't used it in a year and a half.

Dawn had a nice early morning walk, but even before sunrise I could tell it was going to be too hot to walk six miles in the park. I didn't really feel like going to the gym either. It's too bad I feel compelled to get a minimum of 10,000 steps daily and fill all three activity rings on the Apple watch. When you don't have big goals, little goals will have to do.

I wrote a letter to my sister and took it to the post office on my way to the gym. She lives on the beach in Florida, but luckily not in an old sixteen story building. Seeing the stories about that building collapse makes you realize that nothing is certain in life. You wouldn't think going to sleep in a big concrete high rise would be dangerous, but a lot of people in that building went to bed last night and never woke up.

There are so many things to worry about in today's world that you just have to pick something and forget about the rest. I worry about snakes and large trees falling on my roof. I probably really ought to worry about crazy road rage drivers on my way to the grocery store. I do think the world would be a happier place if we weren't constantly bombarded with bad news. Did I really need to know about that building in Florida or the shootings that occur almost every night in Dallas? One of the nicest things about staying out at the observatory is that there are no radios or televisions at the Astronomer's Lodge. I am usually blissfully unaware of what is going on in the world for the length of my stay.

I'm getting back to where I was a year ago at the gym. It doesn't feel like much of an accomplishment though. I wasn't much of an athlete then and I'm still not much of an athlete. I keep moving though. You've got to keep moving. I saw a guy on the basketball court today. I guess you can use the court if you bring your own basketball. I have a basketball somewhere. I'll have to look for it. Maybe it's in the storage warehouse. Dick Vitale gave it to me when I was making a commercial with him years ago.

I went to bed an hour earlier yesterday in hopes of getting more sleep. What happens? I wake up an hour earlier as well. Maybe I'm only meant to get five hours of sleep. It's hard to tell if I'm tired, bored, or just too hot. I have a feeling that it's going to be a very long Summer. It's not even July yet and I'm already ready for Winter. 

Rio is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day