Day 4529

I had my semi-annual physical today. It seemed exactly the same as every other physical exam I've ever had. What medications are you taking? Same as always. Do you have any questions or concerns? Not really. My doctor wants me to continue to take baby aspirin despite the negative press it has received lately. He asked if I wanted a second Covid booster. I told him I didn't think I needed one. A nurse gave me an EKG. Another nurse took my blood. I gave them a urine sample and I was done. It looks like I'm still in pretty good shape. The doctor probably made some notes about cognitive decline though. I couldn't remember the names some of the specialists I've been seeing. I couldn't even remember the names of most of the medications I'm corrently taking. In fairness, how can anyone remember these long incomprehensible names? I did remember the color and shape of each pill though.

Medical exams are one of many things that make me think of the Ground Hog Day movie. So many things in life are exactly the same no matter how many times we experience them. We repeat these things over and over again. Whenever I brush my teeth, load the dishwasher, go to the post office, or even take my daily walks, I feel a sense of déjà vu. I've been here before.

I had to fast before my medical exam this morning, but that didn't prevent me from having breakfast when I returned. It was almost lunch time, but I still had a big glass of orange juice and a bowl of shredded wheat topped with fresh fruit. My doctor seems to approve of my long walks, so I took another one after I finished my late breakfast. I completed my full six mile route, but it took me a while. There just isn't much joy in walking in hot weather. I should start going back to the gym, but it's so much easier to head out the back door and start walking instead of driving all the way to the gym. Even when I'm exercising, I'm basically lazy.

The batteries have gone bad again in the backup UPS for my computers. I'll have to take the heavy UPS to the battery store and get the batteries replaced this weekend. I might as well have the lawn mower batteries replaced while I'm there. I think all these people buying electric cars are forgetting some very basic things about batteries. They don't really last that long and they can be quite expensive to replace. If you forget to remove the batteries from an unused item, they can leak and ruin your expensive gear. Batteries have always been my nemesis.

I watched the livestream of the Boeing Starliner launch this afternoon. I kind of wish I'd been down there. United Launch Alliance lets you get a lot closer to the pad to place remote cameras than Space X does. This was a daytime launch too, so the bugs aren't so bad. I always get eaten alive by mosquitos on night launches. Don't think I'll be traveling any time soon though. I paid my remaining travel bills today. Ouch. This is getting ridiculous.

I took the trash out to the curb this evening. This always marks the end of the week for me. Tomorrow I'll think about going out for breakfast, but will probably just stay home and have another bowl of shredded wheat. It's time to mow the grass again. I should call a lawn service, but I'll probably just continue doing it myself. Hey, it's good exercise. My doctor would probably approve.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4528

Yay. The star tracker is working again. I'm not sure what the Benro people did, but apparently their third try was the charm. The first two patches they sent me to fix the connectcion problem didn't work, but the one they sent me yesterday worked perfectly. I'm still curious how a routine firmware upgrade rendered my camera useless and what the Benro engineers did to fix the problem. I'll probably never know the whole story though. Communication with my Chinese contacts has been rudimentary at best.

Now that the star tracker is working again, I'll have to turn my attention elsewhere. There are a ton of things that need attention around the house, but most of them are beyond my ability. I can't put on a new roof by myself. I'm not a good carpenter. And I'm certainly not a plumber. Sadly, I'm not very good at delegating things either. It would be easier if I could do everything myself, because I don't tend to trust people.

I went out and voted after breakfast this morning. When I arrived at the polling place, I was greeted by a poll watcher who told me that the power was out and asked if I was scared of the dark. Hey, no problem. I actually kind of like the dark. The room where the voting machines were was completely dark. All I could see were the glowing screens of the machines. I was surprised that the place was even open, but they said the voting machines were running on backup power. I was led to a machine by a lady with a flashlight and I cast my ballot. If there was even a time to be suspicious about whether your vote counted, this might be it. There must have been some people scared of the dark, because it appeared that I was the only one in the room voting. Voting in a dark room was certainly easier than getting the star tracker to take pictures on a dark sky.

It looked like it was going to rain this morning when we took Dawn on her sunrise walk. The rain never came, but it did stay overcast for most of the day. The cloudy weather made it easier to take my long walk. I was able to complete my full six mile route, but it wasn't easy. My feet seem to be getting worse. The Hoka shoes help, but walking is still painful on some days. It's time for my physical exam tomorrow, so I'll ask my doctor if I'm doing anything stupid. My gut feeling is still that a little discomfort is better than becoming idle. I need to keep moving and walking is still a lot easier on my joints than most other forms of exercise.

I've got to remember not to eat breakfast tomorrow. I need to fast because they will be doing routine blood work again. At least I was able to get an early morning appointment. I hate going without food for very long. I got a call from the clinic while I was out walking reminding me to wear a mask. I have a feeling that my doctor's office will keep requiring masks forever. Not a problem. Whatever keeps you happy is my motto. I don't wear a mask very often these days, but I've got plenty of them. Most are unused. I just wear the same one over and over again.

Dawn won a ribbon at training class again tonight. She's got quite a collection now. Janet says Dawn really enjoys the training class. Like most Dalmatians, she forgets everything she's learned on our morning walks, but that's OK. I've forgotten almost everything I learned in school as well.

Skippy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4527

I had to pick up a prescription this morning and I asked the pharmacist if there would be any difference in price if I used GoodRx instead of my Part-D prescription drug plan. I was surprised. The pills cost $37 using my drug plan and only $10 using GoodRx. Jeez. Why do I even have this prescription drug plan? I would just drop it, except that I suspect that GoodRx only covers certain widely used drugs. Some medications for cancer and other diseases are insanely expensive. You wouldn't want to be without coverage if you needed them. 

When I had hepatitis C, the Solvaldi I needed to cure the disease cost $1000 a pill. I had to take the pills daily for 12 weeks. I've had a healthy respect for medical insurance ever since. When I was working, medical insurance was my largest single expense. Often it made the difference between a profit or a loss for the year. It's hard to even get medical insurance if you own a small business and aren't part of a group. I had friends who were freelancers or owned small businesses like mine who went without medical insurance because of the expense. I always thought this was insane. The quickest way to get wiped out financially is to get sick without insurance. I'll use GoodRx when I can, but I'll keep my prescription drug plan. You never know when you might need it.

I got another update from the Benro people who said it would fix my camera connection problem with the star tracker. I didn't bother trying to install it because I knew it would just cause further aggravation. Why the hesitation? On the same day I received this special patch, there was also a general update to the iPhone app that controls everything. Do I upgrade the iPhone app first and then apply the patch, or the other way around? The Benro folks never said and it could make a big difference. I'm sure I'd have a lot better luck with the star tracker if I spoke Mandarin. I had the same problem when I worked for Seimens in Germany. Language barriers can create huge problems. I tried to learn German when I was doing a lot of work in Europe, but whatever I learned never stuck with me. I'm back to a single language now.

The weather was a little cooler today. We had a nice early walk with Dawn and I was even able to complete my full six mile route on my long walk later in the day. It was still hot outside, but somehow it seemed a lot better than yesterday. I really need to start going back to the gym. They have a nice indoor track and they keep the place very cold. It's boring walking six miles around a small indoor track. but it beats having a heat stroke. I have a feeling that we are going to have a very hot summer. It's only mid-May and it already feels like July.

I'm automatically cleared to attend certain launches and I get lots of messages about when and where to meet to set up cameras or attend press briefings. It kind of makes me sad that I can't attend most of these launches. Some of my Florida photographer friends go to all of them. It's just too expensive if you live out of state and don't have a big media outlet covering your expenses. I think airlines lead the list for price hikes in 2022. Flying has gotten very expensive. Driving isn't so cheap either. Gasoline expenses for my trip out to McDonald Observatory recently were a lot more than they were last year. When I was in college gas was 25 cents a gallon. In the early 70's when I was starting out in advertising, you could buy a Porsche for $8000 and rent a great apartment for $200 a month. I never dreamed then that we would end up where we are today.

I wonder if I'll have the nerve to upgrade the star tracker tomorrow. It depends on how bored I am. I usually make a mess of things when I get bored.

Susie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4526

I thought we were going to get a bad storm last night, but it passed slightly to the East of us. We experienced a few minutes of strong straight line winds, but got very little rain. Needless to say, I didn't see last night's lunar eclipse. I expect the rain. What I didn't expect was a power outage. The power went out several hours after the storm had passed. I probably wouldn't have noticed but Dawn woke us up. This strange dog isn't bothered by thunder and lightning, but power outages freak her out. I called in the outage to the power company and tried to get back to sleep. Dawn wasn't about to go back to sleep. She sat on the middle of the bed in high alert mode for what seemed like hours.

It seemed a bit ironic that just after we had fixed the air conditioner and bought some new fans, we didn't have any electricity. Both the AC and the fans were useless. We could feel the temperature rising in the house almost immediately, but at least the outage happened during the middle of the night when things were cooler. If we lived in a safe place, I would have opened the doors and windows so we could get some air circulation. That's not going to happen in the city though. Eventually I went back to sleep and hopefully so did Dawn.

The power was back on in the morning, but it must have been off for about four hours because that's how far the clocks were off. I reset everything, turned off the washer and dryer which somehow come on automatically after an outage, and got ready for our early morning walk with Dawn. Everything is back to normal again. Last night wasn't what I expected though. I was hoping to view an eclipse.

When we went up to the kennel to visit the rescue Dalmatians today, we discovered that Willie was back. This was disappointing, but sometimes things just don't work out. Willie is a very sweet dog who is going to find a great home, but it looks like he will need to be the only dog in the family. It was hot today and everyone wanted to stay inside except for Jo Jo. This dog definitely prefers playing outdoors. We continue to be impressed at how well Rocket is adjusting to his new life. He seems like a normal dog now. After everyone had their play time and lots of treats, we headed back home. It was my turn to drive today and I kept thinking how much nicer it was out in the Davis Mountains. I like a road with no cars on it.

There was plenty of time to take a long walk this afternoon, but I wasn't feeling up to the task. It was just too hot outside. After walking a a little more than a mile I headed for home again. Since Dawn walked a little longer this morning, I managed to eek out a total of four miles today. It wasn't much, but it kept my Fitbit happy. I don't think we're going to see cool weather for quite a while. This strange May heat wave will eventually end, but it's Summer now. Summers in Texas are always hot.

As usual, I have no plans for tomorrow. I'll probably think of something, but I hope it doesn't involve the star tracker. I'm getting sick of that thing. I anticipate more power outages this summer, but lets hope there isn't another one tonight. I need to catch up on my sleep.

Liberty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4525

The weather was still hot, but it didn't affect our plans. We still had a nice early walk with Dawn and were able to take our Sunday outing a little later in the day after the ice cream store opened. It was getting a little hot by the time we took our second walk, but there was a nice breeze and Dawn did OK. We may have to stop these daytime walks later this summer though. Dawn doesn't do well in the heat.

I tried to be industrious today with mixed results. I really felt my age when I tried to fix the greenhouse door this morning. The door was heavy and I had trouble holding the pieces together without breaking the glass window in the center. I've repaired this door before, but it seemed much easier ten years ago. I thought I might need to go to Home Depot for parts, but I found everything I needed in the tool shed. The amount of stuff in the shed would indicate that I used to spend a lot more time fixing things than I do now. I didn't do a great job, but the old door is back together again. I don't know what the two hours I spent prove. The greenhouse still doesn't have a roof.

Since bulky trash day is this week, I tried to clean out the yard a bit. I noticed a lot of brush and fallen tree branches in the side yard where the air conditioner is the other day. I had to cut a path through the brush so the repairman could get to the compressor. I cleared the mess away today and hauled the brush to the curb. I cut down some giant weeds in the other side yard and hauled them to the curb as well. The yard looks a little better, but most of the time I forget the side yards even exist. Most of what I cleaned up today never gets seen by anybody.

I didn't take a long walk today. It was just too hot. I figured that between Dawn's two walks and my carpentry and clean up tasks that I already had all the exercise I needed. The worst part about being outside today wasn't the heat. It was the bugs. While I was fixing the greenhouse door, I must have been bitten twenty times. I think they were mosquitos, although I never saw any. Chiggers and other tiny critters bite as well, so it could have been anything.

There's an eclipse of the moon later this evening. I can't decide whether it's worth the effort to stay up late and try to watch it. The weather isn't cooperating. It was clear around sunset, but it is partly cloudy now and the weather radar shows a line of thunderstorms headed south toward us from Oklahoma. I'll take a look outside and see how things look after we take Dawn out to pee for the night. No great loss if I can't see the moon. I've seen lunar eclipses many times before. They all look pretty much the same.

It's been a nice weekend even though it is way too hot. I think we are setting record temperatures for May. Hopefully it will be cooler tomorrow when we go visit the rescue Dalmatians. I've never met a Dalmatian that enjoys the heat. 

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4524

It's nice to have a livable house again. It's hot outside, but the air conditioner is working fine and keeping it nice and cool inside. Hopefully, nothing else will go wrong this summer. I'm sure we've got a lot more hot days to come. 

If I didn't get to bed so late, I'd probably enjoy getting up early. Now that the weather has gotten warmer, it's definitely the nicest part of the day. We all enjoy our early walks with Dawn. The temperature is still in the low seventies before sunrise and there is usually a nice breeze when we get near the lake. Dawn has been very enthusiastic about these early walks lately. I can't blame her. Later in the day it is fairly miserable outside.

Today was grocery shopping day. I found everything on my list fairly quickly, but I don't enjoy this activity any more. I think a ton of new people have moved to Dallas recently. The stores are always crowded and the traffic is terrible. There really isn't a good time to avoid the traffic anymore. It is always bad.

I was finally able to download the new firmware that the Benro folks wanted me to install in the star tracker. I didn't have high expectations, but I did have a lot of time this morning. I gave it a try. I installed everything exactly as instructed and absolutely nothing changed. The firmware seemed exactly the same as the previous firmware I installed. The star tracker still won't connect to my camera.  I wish I'd never bothered to upgrade things after I returned from the observatory. When I was testing the Polaris on Mount Locke at the end of last month, it was the last time it worked.

I really can't handle the heat anymore. I took a walk after lunch today, but I wouldn't call it long. Two miles and I was done. I even wet down my hat and shirt, but it didn't help much. Why was this so much easier in previous years? I guess I'm just getting older. I hate to think what the weather is going to be like in July. Who knows. The weather has been so strange lately that it might actually be cooler in July. I doubt this will happen, but I can always hope.

There's a ton of stuff I need to do around the house, but this heat has taken away my motivation. It's just not supposed to be this hot in May. If I'm going to do anything in the yard, I need to do it early. Afternoons are way too hot. I don't know why I feel like I need to fix the greenhouse door. The greenhouse doesn't even have a roof anymore. A bad storm blew most of the roof off last year. We really need to tear the greenhouse down, build a carport and move our cars to the back. Traffic has gotten so bad that it's hard to get out of the driveway now.

Hopefully it won't be too hot for Dawn's Sunday outing tomorrow. She enjoys exploring a different park on Sunday. If it is too hot, we'll still go get ice cream though. Ice cream is good in any type of weather.

Lady is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4523

After another long, hot day we finally have a working air conditioner again. The house was so hot that I think it's going to take all night for it to cool down. We've making progress though; one degree at a time. I don't know how people lived here before air conditioning. I guess you get used to it. I grew up in a house without central air conditioning. We had an attic fan, but no AC. I don't remember life being particularly bad, although I doubt I could live this way now. We would open our windows at night and the attic fan would pull in cool air from outside. When I first moved to Texas I knew someone who didn't believe in air conditioning. They had a large swimming pool in their back yard and would just jump in the pool when they got hot. To each his own I guess.

The HVAC technician was very nice. I tried not to waste his time by asking a bunch of stupid questions about how air conditioners work. I'm always very curious about mechanical things. The HVAC company used to be a client of mine. We don't talk about that now. At some point just about everyone decides they need someone young and hip to do their web site. It's not true of course, but try telling that to the kids who are running ad agencies these days.

At some point Janet bought a fan because the house has been so hot for the past several days. We discovered that Dawn loves sitting by the fan. She really doesn't like hot weather. We were uncomfortable, but we were more worried about Dawn than us. She's not a young dog and excessive heat can be hard on dogs. I ended up cleaning windows today because every time I tried to open windows to get a breeze blowing through the house, I discovered lots of spider webs on the other side. We have quite a few frosted glass windows in our house. They let light in, but block ugly views of the neighbor's house. You never really know what's on the other side of these windows until you open them.

The only way I was able to complete my long walk today was by walking early. I started right after breakfast, just like I did yesterday. No wonder Dawn likes her sunrise walks. This is the only time of the day when it is actually pleasant outside. It really wasn't bad at 10 AM though. I soaked my hat in water before I left the house and that helped a lot. I don't think I'd like to be an air conditioner technician in the summer. By the time the guy arrived late in the afternoon it was pretty miserable outside.

I'm getting messages almost every day now from the star tracker people in China telling me to do exactly the same thing that I've already explained to them doesn't work. The messages are so similar that I don't know whether we're having communication problems, or if I'm just being answered by some sort of automated system. The star tracker still doesn't work but I'm not giving it a lot of thought right now. It's going to be a while before I can get out to the observatory again.

This week has gone quickly. I hope nothing else goes wrong. Actually, the refrigerator seems to be working again. I don't really have an explanation for why it warmed up so quickly yesterday, but I suspect that we might have accidentally left the door open. We'll see how it runs during the weekend. I can always call the appliance repairman on Monday.

It's time to make another grocery list. I wonder how expensive things are going to be this week.

Haley is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4522

Not a great day. I waited most of the day for the air conditioner repairman to arrive. I was hoping that the problem was minor and that all I would need was a new capacitor or something equally trivial. Nope. When the repairman finally arrived at the end of the day he said the capacitor was fine. I need a new compressor motor. As luck would have it, he didn't have the proper motor on the truck and will have to order it. Yikes. How could this motor cost over $600? I guess that's still a lot less than replacing the entire unit. The parts warehouse was already closed when the repairman discovered the problem, so he won't be able to order the part until tomorrow morning. Oh, well. It looks like another very hot night. He said it is a bad idea to try to run the AC without the motor running too. I tried that last night and eventually the fan started turning. "That's a good way to burn out the compressor and that's when things get a lot more expensive," he said. Did I mention that the temperature was almost 95 degrees this afternoon?

A broken air conditioner is bad enough, but now I think the refrigerator is broken again as well. Late this afternoon I noticed that the temperature inside the fridge was a lot higher. For the past week I've noticed that a metal strip around the edge of the door seemed unnaturally hot. The refrigerator was still cooling fine, but this didn't seem right. I probably should have called the appliance repairman two days ago. Now it appears that the refrigerator is broken. We shifted some critical food to the little refrigerator but it won't hold that much. Hopefully I can get this fixed tomorrow before food starts to go to waste.

The only good thing about today was that I was able to complete my six mile walk. I started after breakfast so it wouldn't be too hot. It was a lot cooler than it was later in the day, but it still seemed way too hot for me. I don't know why it seems so important for me to walk everyday. On some days it's a real struggle. I think it's about time for me to start wetting down my hat and t-shirt before I start these walks. Last summer this really seemed to help.

I got a message from the Benro folks that they had another firmware package for me to install. Instead of just attaching the file I needed to the e-mail message, they provided a link to one of their servers in China. Of course, this link didn't work. Both my Firefox and Safari browsers said they couldn't establish a secure connection to the server and refused to open the link. This has happened to me before with Chinese servers. I have a feeling that it's going to take me a long time to get this star tracker working.

The temperature has gone down eight degrees outside, but only one degree inside. What's that all about? I can't really open the windows to let a breeze in because I took off the window screens years ago for aesthetic reasons and if I open the windows at night, tons of bugs will fly in the house. Ordinarily I wouldn't even want to open the windows at night, but ordinarily we have an air conditioner that works.

I kind of worry about Dawn. She hates hot weather and is currently the only one wearing a fur coat inside the house. Hopefully, it will start cooling down soon. It's supposed to get down to 70 degrees by tomorrow morning, but that still a long way away. I sure hope that compressor motor comes in tomorrow.

Dixie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4521

Good grief. It's the hottest day of the year so far and our air conditioner broke. It got uncomfortably hot inside very quickly. Hopefully things will cool off tonight. I called our HVAC guy, but the soonest they can get over here is tomorow afternoon. It's easy to forget how much we depend on air conditioning in the South. A day without a working AC serves as a pretty good reminder. I'm not sure what is wrong, but I hope it's an easy fix. An entirely new system could be pretty expensive.

At least the day started out nice. We didn't notice that the air conditioner wasn't working until around noon. It was still nice outside when we took our sunrise walk with Dawn. I should have just kept walking after Dawn finished her one mile loop. As soon as the sun got higher in the sky, the temperature warmed up quickly. Instead of walking when it was cooler, I started monkeying around with the star tracker again right after I finished breakfast. I think I'm obsessed with getting this thing to work. I installed the custom firmware the company provided a second time in hopes that it would work properly this time. Nope. I got exactly the same results as I did yesterday. I realize that the star tracker is still under development, but it's frustrating to go backwards. This thing was working fine when I was out at the observatory and now it isn't. The only thing that has changed is an app and firmware upgrade.

By the time I was ready to take my long walk, it was already too hot. I didn't do well at all and was only able to complete half my normal distance. This isn't good. We've got a long summer ahead of us. It's always hot in the summer, but I don't think I can handle the heat as well as I used to. I know we're having record temperatures for early May, but this is nothing compared to what it's going to be like in July and August. I need to get used to this.

I wonder what is going to break next? Broken toilets. Broken air conditioner. Fire ants in the back yard. I'm really tired of dealing with bugs and broken stuff. Living in a hotel room while I'm watching rocket launches seems really appealing at this point. Even the simplest task always seems to turn into something more difficult. I went into the greenhouse this afternoon to turn off a faucet that had been on drip all winter. The door to the greenhouse fell apart when I tried to open it. Now I've got to find some special fasteners to put the door back together when I go to Home Depot to get fire ant killer. Yes, I was supposed to do that today, but I got sidetracked by the star tracker again.

Growing old is weird. When I had the money to travel, I didn't have the time. Now that I have the time, I don't have the money. Rampant inflation is especially irritating when you're living on a fixed income. Everything seems so much more expensive than it did two years ago. The cost of my recent trips to Kennedy Space Center and McDonald Observatory were almost double what they were several years ago. I don't really notice the price of gas because I don't drive much, but airfares have gotten ridiculous. Hopefully the price of air conditioner repairs hasn't gone up that much. This is another expense I wasn't expecting.

Sometimes I envy Dawn. All she does is eat and sleep. I'd be OK with just eating and sleeping as long as nothing went wrong. I hate it when things go wrong. That's life, I guess. Things always go wrong.

Dodger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4520

Not a lot on the agenda today. We got up early because of the unseasonably warm weather. It's still nice outside before the sun comes up. Dawn has decided that she likes walking again. She's really enthusiastic on her early walks now. She hasn't balked or frozen in place for a long time now. This is all good. I hate to get up myself, but the walks are good for me too. After walking a mile or two with Dawn, I'm usually ready to start the day.

My contact at Benro told me to go ahead and apply the patch they sent me to fix my star tracker. Somewhat cryptically he said that it wouldn't hurt anything. Against my better judgement, I carefully followed the instructions exactly and installed the custom firmware the company provided. The tracker worked, but the camera still wouldn't connect. Actually, nothing seemed different at all. The last step in the instructions said to remove the SD card from the tracker and erase the custom patch file when I was done. Oddly, the file I had installed an hour earlier was already gone. Did the Polaris erase the file itself after the upgrade? Did anything happen at all? I'm sure this saga will continue. At some point they'll probably just tell me to use a different camera. My camera is on the approved list, but it never seemed to work well with the tracker. 

I only waste time with things like this because I've got plenty of time. Actually, I've got way too much time on my hands. There are no work deadlines anymore and thankfully Dawn is still pretty healthy. I write several articles a year for obscure magazines and halfheartedly try to fix things around the house. That's about it. I'd probably travel more if it weren't so expensive. I think I actually enjoy living in hotel rooms.

I was able to complete my full six mile route today. When the sun was behind a cloud it was actually fairly pleasant. Summer is coming though. I can feel it. I usually have to change clothes when I return home because I am hot and sweaty. My pace isn't what it used to be either. Even on a good day I'm slower. I distinctly remember walking a lot faster last year. Oh, well. This is one of the downsides of wearing a Fitbit all the time. You get a detailed record of your decline.

I'm seeing fire ant mounds in the yard again. They are all over the place in the park. Fire ants are nasty and I guess I'll have to go get some Amdro granules to kill them. I always worry about this kind of stuff with dogs though. Dogs get into everything. One of the reasons our yard doesn't look great is that I never use fertilizer. Our dogs have always liked to roll around in the grass. There is no sense in using something that could irritate their skin or even poison them if they ate it. At least fire ant mounds are small. I can block them off after I treat them.

There's a pretty moon out tonight. I should go out and photograph it with one of my telescopes. Why though? It's the same moon I've seen all my life. I've photographed the moon plenty of times before. That's my dilemma. I'm bored with things I've done before and apprehensive about trying new things. It kind of leaves me with writing a blog every night.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4519

It's starting to feel a lot like Summer. When you feel a little warm on the pre-dawn sunrise walk, you know it's going to be a hot day. It looks like the temperature is going to be in the 90's all week snd that's definitely too warm for me. Jeez. How did I handle this last year? It looks like I'm going to have to get used to Summer all over again.

There are only four Dalmatians at the kennel now. The others have all been adopted. Charlie, Oliver, Rocket, and Jo Jo were all glad to see us. We were really impressed with the progress Rocket has made. When he first arrived at the kennel, he was scared of everything and completely unsocialized. Now, he wags his tail and comes over to greet us. He's a smart dog and it didn't take long to teach him to sit. We're going to work on teaching him to lie down and a few other commands next week. 

I'm surprised that Oliver and Jo Jo haven't been adopted yet. They are good looking, have great personalities and are definitely ready to go to their forever homes. It's going to take a little longer for Charlie to find a home, but he's turned over a new leaf. I think his biting days are over. One of these days Charlie is going to find a wonderful home with someone who understands his unique personality. Charlie always makes us laugh. He's really a great little dog.

By the time we returned from the kennel it was almost too hot to take another walk. I tried, but ended up walking just enough to satisfy my Fitbit with a minimum of 10,000 steps. I'm not sure what I'm going to do the rest of the week. I may have to start going back to the gym. I don't really like walking on an indoor track, but they keep the place nice and cool. I have a feeling that I started going to the gym in the first place because of the air conditioning.

I got a reply from the Polaris folks about my star tracker. It's hard to communicate with these guys, The instructions they sent this time seemed strange and unlike anything I've tried before. I'm suspicious. The file I am supposed to upload to the tracker is in Chinese too and I'm not entirely sure what it is. I haven't done anything yet because I don't want to brick the thing. I wrote the guy I usually talk to and explained the situation. Maybe he can help me make sense of things. I don't know why I'm still convinced that I'll eventually get this thing to work. It's been a long, slow process so far.

My latest toilet repair didn't last long. The toilet is already running again. I'm not sure I can fix this thing anymore. Plumbers are no help either. They won't work on the strange toilet. The problem with an old house is when you fix one thing, something else breaks. I'm tired of fixing things. I'd like to live someplace where everything was guaranteed to work perfectly for at least ten years.

I hope I don't succumb to temptation and try to apply the weird patch to my star tracker tomorrow. I have a strong feeling that it will only make things worse.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4518 - Mother's Day

Well, Dawn is certainly a mother. I bet she was a good mom. Lord know how many litters of puppies she had when she was a breeding dog at the puppy mill. I don't think those were pleasant days because she is still very fearful. She loves her new life now, but I think she's always waiting for the other shoe to drop. We suspect that one of the reasons that she's fearful of riding in the car is that she's worried she might be going back to her old life in Marshall, Texas. Dawn enjoys her walks and likes her Sunday outing, but is always relieved to be back at home in her safe spot, sitting on our big bed.

She must have known that today was a special day. She was full of energy this morning and ended up walking twice her normal distance on our sunrise walk. We always led her lead the way and are curious to see where she'll go. Usually she just follows her familiar one mile loop, but occasionally she gets adventurous.

After our walk we had breakfast and then did some household chores while waiting to take Dawn on her Sunday outing. We always wait until the ice cream store is open because getting ice cream is a big part of this Sunday adventure. I thought Dawn might be tired because she already walked quite a bit. Nope. She enjoyed this second walk too. She loves smelling new things. We have to steer her away from the poison ivy though. Lots of poison ivy in this park.

The ice cream store seemed short staffed this morning. Probably because it was Mother's Day. The staff seems too young to be moms, but thats just an old guy's perspective. Everybody seems young to me. Probably most of the staff are in their mid twenties. We all enjoyed our cones today. Dawn always seems calmer after having ice cream. She is always remarkably calm on the ride home.

I decided to mow the grass today. It was a little hot for my taste, but the traffic is much lighter on a Sunday. I don't enjoy mowing down by the street when everyone is in a hurry. I'm not close to the road very long, but even a few minutes seems too long when cars are racing by just inches away at fifty miles an hour. I'm not sure how much longer the electric mower is going to last. At the very least it needs new batteries. There used to be enough charge in the battery to mow the back yard after I finished the front. Now I have to let the mower recharge for a while before I can tackle the back yard. I could buy a new mower, but I really ought to just start paying the guy who is willing to mow my yard for me.

I felt industrious today, so I tried to fix the running toilet again. It's a shame that the parts I really need aren't available anymore. I've tried, but even the best plumbing supply store in Dallas can't find them for me. I do what I can and usually my repairs last about a week. My last attempt only lasted two days though. It's probably time to break down and get a Toto.

I didn't take a long walk today. After two walks with Dawn and mowing the grass I had all the steps I needed. It was hot this afternoon and I was tired. There is no need to punish myself just to keep my Fitbit happy. I"ll probably go back to taking a long walk tomorrow. Hey, what else is there to do?

I wish I'd get some feedback from the Benro people in China. I'm in no particular hurry to use the star tracker for astrophotography, but it's driving me crazy that I can't get it to work correctly. Since I had at least a partial success with the tracker out at McDonald Observatory, I can see it's potential. It's a pretty cool little piece of machinery. I'd like it a lot better if it worked though.

I like weekends because they inject a little variety into my life. Tomorrow it's back to shredded wheat for breakfast, long walks, and looking up random information on Google. 

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4517

The stores were really crowded today. Maybe it was because Mother's Day is tomorrow. Maybe it was because stores are always crowded these days. Who knows? I keep saying that I should do my grocery shopping during the week when people are at work. I never do though. I'm a creature of habit. I've always done this on Saturday morning and I probably always will.

Taking an early walk with Dawn is another thing we will probably always do as long as Dawn is healthy. I like these early morning walks. The city is still relatively quiet, although we still hear police and fire sirens occasionally. We see joggers, but the park generally doesn't get crowded until later in the day. Dawn enjoys the walks too unless it is wet. Today was dry and everyone had a good time.

Once I finished my shopping I didn't do much for the rest of the day. There are chores around the house that need attention but they can wait. The star tracker can wait too. I just don't have the energy to figure out why it stopped working yesterday. Maybe the Chinese manufacturer will have a suggestion for me. Until then the frustrating machine can just sit in its box.

My foot pain returned today. When I took my long walk later this afternoon it was a struggle to complete four miles. The weather wasn't great either. I had hoped that it would stay cool since it was overcast all day, but by mid-afternoon it was hot and muggy. It's starting to feel a lot like summer. The city was having an educational event in the park about native plants and prairies. Maybe I should have stopped and learned a little more about the plants I see everyday. I kept walking though. Too many people.

I should contact the guy who said he would mow my grass. With all the rain we've had lately, it's getting pretty thick. I'll probably just mow it myself though. It's hard for me to make changes. By the time I made arrangements with someone else, I could have the grass mowed. I do need to quit doing this pretty soon, because it's become too tiring. I'm sure I can keep mowing the lawn a few more times though. I'm such a procrastinator that I even procrastinate about making my own life easier.

I took a couple of short naps today and every time I got on the bed, Dawn got up and went to her dog bed in the kitchen. When I got up and left the room, Dawn immediately went back to the bedroom again. That dog is just rude sometime. I keep telling Dawn that she needs to get used to me because Janet will be going on another vacation this summer. I wonder if we will ever be buddies?

It's almost time for Dawn's Sunday outing again. We won't be celebrating Mother's Day because both our moms passed away a long time ago and neither of us have ever had children. We've had a lot of dogs though. We can always celebrate dogs.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4516

The star tracker is driving me crazy. It kind of worked out at the observatory, but there were a few serious problems. I had high hopes that the latest upgrades would resolve these issues and I would be good-to-go. I installed the new app on my phone and downloaded the latest firmware to the Polaris after breakfast this morning. Did this help? Nope. Now my camera won't connect to the tracker at all. I wasted an inordinate amount of time trying to get the camera to connect, but it was all for nothing. I'm going backwards now. The camera would never stay connected for long, but it always worked before. Now what? I sent my Chinese contact a message. Maybe they'll come up with another update that can turn this brick back into a star tracker.

The weather was great today. No threat of rain at all. Dawn seemed to approve. She was so eager to walk this morning that she added another half mile to her regular route. I never know what to expect when we leave the house in the morning. Sometimes she isn't interested in walking at all and other times she acts like a young pup. Today she really enjoyed her walk and just kept walking.

After I gave up on the star tracker this morning, I decided to defrost the little refrigerator. We got this thing years ago during a major power outage but we still use it today. It's small enough to be powered by a small generator and serves as an overflow fridge when the big one gets full. I wish I'd looked around for self-defrosting mini-fridge now. This one needs to be defrosted every few months. It's easy to forget that all refrigerators needed to be defrosted not that long ago. At any rate, I'm good-to-go for another few months and I didn't make too big of a mess.

My long walk wasn't so long today. My feet weren't the problem this time. It was the heat. It really felt like Summer today. I'm not ready for this yet. With the temperature near 90 degrees, I just didn't feel like walking my full six mile route. I'd better get used to warmer days because they're coming soon. Last Summer I used to soak my hat and shirt in water before I left the house and they would be completely dry before I returned. Maybe the heat will drive me back to the gym again. I prefer walking outside, but the gym is air conditioned.

I keep getting messages that it's time to apply for credentials for a variety of upcoming launches. Things are hopping down at Kennedy Space Center. It's a shame that I can't get down there more often, but it's just too expensive. I wonder if prices will ever go down again? I doubt it. I'll have to choose my launches wisely. I can probably afford one more trip to Florida this year and maybe one more trip out to the observatory as well. It's a shame that there's nothing I like to do in Dallas.

Time to make a grocery list again. The stuff I buy every week isn't a huge expense, but a trip to the grocery store certainly makes inflation seem real. Certain things seem to go up in price every single week. If this is the future I may need to think about working again.

Patches is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4515

Evidently Dawn thought that the weather was back to normal because she was eager to walk this morning. I was a little reluctant because my feet hurt but we all had a nice walk. My feet remain a mystery. Later in the day they felt fine and I ended up with a total of 23,000 steps.

After breakfast I wrote a letter to my sister and took it to the post office. I used to write tons of letters to people all over the world, but this one to my luddite sister is the end of the line. Nobody writes letters anymore. Few people can even send a decent e-mail message. All you get is a cryptic bare bones text these days. I write one of these letters every month and I kind of enjoy the process. It connects me with an earlier, simpler world filled with typewriters, postage stamps, and the delayed gratification of waiting two to four weeks for a reply.

On the way back from the post office I stopped at the pharmacy because I'd received a message that a prescription was ready. I wasn't low on anything, but I was curious which prescription got automatically filled this time. The pharmacist told me that no prescription had been refilled and that the automated message system must have gotten scrambled again. There were no pills to pick up. Jeez. Is it really that hard to keep track of these meds?  I don't know why they even need an automated refill system. The old way worked fine for decades. When I had about five pills left in the bottle, I would just call a refill in. Worked like a charm.

We got a little rain today, but it didn't really affect anything. Dawn got her morning walk before the rain started and I took my long walk after everything cleared up again. I haven't been up on the roof in a long time. I'm just depending on the pumps to keep the standing water level reasonably low after a rain. Pretty soon the summer heat will just evaporate the water. I'd like to think my roof climbing days are over, but lots can go wrong with a flat roof. One of these day I'm going to have to get up there again.

I finally got the nerve to look at my brokerage account today. Not a pretty sight. It seems like we are in a perfect storm of bad news. Inflation is surging. The stock market is crashing. The country is divided and increasingly polarized. And we seem to have reignited a cold war with Russia. A lot of this pain is self inflicted. In my opinion we never should have locked down the world for two years. You simply can't turn off the global economy and expect it to start up smoothly again. Apparently China still hasn't gotten this message. 

I was surprised at how far I was able to walk today. It probably helped that the temperature was cool, but my feet did hurt this morning. I wonder what happened?  I really need to think of something else to do during the day. I don't know if I'd have the time though. I'm hooked on getting my steps and I'm pretty slow anyway. There really isn't much time for anything else. It's remains a mystery how I managed to get so much done during my working years.

I did manage to get the trash out to the curb this evening. This week has gone really quickly. It still seems like I returned from the observatory yesterday.

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4514

I made sure I got up in time to walk with Janet and Dawn this morning. It was extremely foggy and a little wet. Naturally, Dawn wasn't in a mood to walk. She hates getting wet, but it really was just a little damp. As soon as we got to dry ground, Dawn was fine.

It was definitely a slow day today. Did I do anything at all? I'm not really sure. I thought my Space Force press credentials were already approved for 2022, but I got an e-mail this morning asking for more information. I probably forgot to fill out something on the application form. No problem. I can't afford to go back to Kennedy Space Center anytime soon anyway. Two major trips in a single month have pretty much tapped me out.

I thought about updating the star tracker software again, but I wasn't really in the mood. There's plenty of time for that. I have a feeling that it's going to be a while before I'm taking pictures of the night sky again. Now that I've unpacked my bags, done my laundry, and put everything back in it's proper place, I'm left with my old standby activities. I ate my breakfast and I took a long walk.

The air is much more pleasant in the Davis Mountains. I didn't have any allergy problems while I was out at the observatory. As soon as I returned the allergies came back. Now my eyes are watering and I'm constantly sneezing and blowing my nose again. Allergies don't stop me from walking though. What else is there to do? I walked my full six mile route this morning, but my feet were killing me on the last half mile. I still can't figure out why my feet are extremely painful one day and then just fine the next. I was really slow today in  hopes that a slower pace would help. It didn't make any difference. I probably should have stayed home and read a book.

I'm already wishing I was back on the road again. Life is simple when I'm at a launch or helping at the observatory. There are specific tasks to do and I build my day around them. Living in a hotel is super simple. There is no grass to mow and if something breaks, it's not your responsibility to fix it. I don't do much anyway, so having a desk where I can write and a bed to sleep in is all I need. I love the food out at the observatory and always look forward to meals. The barbecue is pretty good at the NASA commissary too.

Since I won't be going anywhere for a while, I need to find something to do. Theres a kayak sitting in the back yard. Using it would help build upper body strength, but the last time I was out on the lake I saw a bunch of snakes swimming next to me and that was that. I hate snakes. There's a guitar and some keyboards in the office, along with the remains of a small recording studio, but I haven't felt like writing songs in ages. I definitely don't want to start collecting things again. I'm glad I finally kicked that habit. I guess I should be happy that I still have two things left that I enjoy doing. Rockets and astronomy are still oddly satisfying.

I hope the weather is better tomorrow. It was hot and very humid today. It feels like our short Spring is already over and we are sliding headlong into Summer. Let's just hope that the air conditioner in both the house and the car keep working.

Crosby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4513

It was surprisingly cold this morning. The temperature stayed in the 50's all day. I hope this is a sign of things to come. I'd like to see a mild Summer for a change. I overslept this morning and Dawn and Janet took their morning walk without me. I was surprised that Dawn walked at all since it rained again last night and the ground was still wet.

I really didn't do much of anything today. I eventually got up, made the bed and fixed my breakfast. I paid some bills and updated the Dalmatian Rescue website. Quite a few dogs have been adopted recently and it's important to keep the site up to date. When I finished I realized that I had forgotten to mark Willie as adopted. I marked Willie as adopted and then realized that Sammy had been adopted as well. Oops. I opened Dreamweaver again and added her too. Lets just say I'm not as sharp as I used to be.

I didn't think I'd be wearing a winter coat this late in the year, but it was chilly outside so I took a coat with me on my daily walk. The skies were grey, but it was pleasant outside. I like this kind of weather. Cloudy bright skies are best for photography and 50 degree temperatures are certainly a lot better than 90 degree temperatures. There weren't a lot of animals to look at today, but the construction in the park was interesting. I'm surprised at how much progress has been made on the new trail going through the park. The city ought to hire these guys to fix the roads in Dallas. The are much more efficient than your average road crew. Personally, I'd rather have fewer of these concrete superhighway trails, but I'll have to admit that the new trail looks pretty nice.

After spending a considerable amount of time testing the Polaris star tracker out at McDonald Observatory, I come home to discover that there are already new software and firmware updates to install. What this means is that some things that have finally started for feel familiar to me will probably change. This has happened before and I feel like I've had to learn how to use this thing all over again several times already. The software does keep getting better though, so that's a good sign. Maybe by the next time I get out to the observatory, the tracker will finally have been perfected.

I have no idea what I'll be doing tomorrow. I should start reading more books. I should start lining up contractors to fix the house. I should be doing a lot of things. If the economy gets any worse, I should probably start looking for a few paying jobs. I probably won't do any of these things and will just start planning my next trip to Kennedy Space Center instead. 

Milo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day