Day 3458

Janet and I temperament tested a dog this afternoon. I think I've already told you about Xander. He's got a good home if he gets along with other dogs. With the help of the kennel staff we introduced him to a variety of different dogs and he passed his test with flying colors. Some dogs tolerate other animals. Xander really seems to like them. He was curious, playful, and gentle with everyone we introduced him to. Now we just need to see if his potential companion is equally friendly. Xander is not dog aggressive. He doesn't appear to be food aggressive either. Somebody is going to get a wonderful companion and friend.

I went ahead and ordered tires today. The good news is that they will be here tomorrow. The bad news is that since they were a special order, I had to pay for them in advance. At least these tires weren't as expensive as the OEM tires that came with the car. I was glad to hear that they'd been discontinued and replaced with a more reasonably priced tire. Keep in mind that 'reasonably priced' is a relative term when it comes to Land Rover parts. In my experience absolutely nothing has been reasonably priced.

It was weird to be working again. I finished my client's website updates this morning and uploaded the changes to the server. Amazingly, I remembered the client's old passwords and remembered most of the HTML code I needed. It takes a little longer to do this stuff if you don't do it every day, but I guess I passed my temperament test as well. Could it be that coding is like riding a bicycle? I might remember some of what I know forever. At any rate, I think I did a good job. Hopefully, the client will agree.

I took the money I made selling the guitars to the bank. It won't stay there long. My homeowner's insurance is due, I just had a large tree removed, and then there are those pesky Land Rover tires. Everything is so expensive now. I still have prices in my head from the 1970's. Unfortunately those days are gone. I think my favorite year was 1969. It definitely isn't 2019.

I saw a Purple Passionflower today. I haven't seen one of these bloom in years because they grow in a section of the park that wasn't accessible to Dot and Dash after they became sick. As the dogs became older and less mobile, we had to limit our walks to safe, relatively flat areas where they wouldn't fall. Walking was more difficult for me as well, since I was holding up their rear legs using the Help 'Em Up Harness. I've started walking the old trails again. They bring back memories. We'll see how long this lasts. My feet are telling me that I'm going to need a Help 'Em Up Harness myself some day.

This week went amazingly fast, considering that we spent most of it without electricity. Janet and I stayed surprisingly busy during the power outage. Even though we both seem to have good survival skills, I'm glad the power is back. I'm certainly sleeping better now. Everything is more or less back on schedule. I just finished taking the week's trash out to the curb. I hope the trash truck can find everybody's cans. They look insignificant next to the huge piles of tree branches and logs stacked along the street.

Marcie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3457

Life is good. We finally got power restored early this afternoon. Most of the traffic lights are functioning again and people have stopped driving like maniacs. The gas company even fixed a gas leak in the neighborhood that nobody even knew existed. There's nothing like a four day power outage to make you appreciate the little things. Janet and I actually did pretty well without electricity, but there are so many things we take for granted.

Before the power was restored today, I took a walk through the neighborhood to see how everybody else fared. I was amazed at the devastation. We lost a tree, but it didn't wreck our house. Some people had serious roof damage. A few people still had trees on top of their cars. I was sad to see that Erykah Badu's Porsche had been demolished. It was one of the prettiest cars in the neighborhood. The sound of chain saws was everywhere. Almost everyone had a big pile of logs and tree limbs in their front yard. It's going to take months for the city to clear all the debris away. Who knows. Maybe the city won't need to clean up all that much. I've already started seeing people scavenging the log piles for Winter firewood. One guy I talked to today said he had a wood burning stove and he was specifically looking for pecan logs because he liked the smell when they burned. I think this guy might have hit the jackpot. The park is full of old growth pecan trees and these trees seemed particularly vulnerable to being uprooted by the high winds. Mesquite trees seemed to survive pretty well but a lot of pecan trees bit the dust. Our two large Oak trees survived the storm intact. It was our Elm tree that got toppled.

It took a while to reset the clocks, put all the food in the ice chests back in the refrigerator again, and reconnect everything on the network. During the outage I kept wishing I had a larger generator. As soon as the power returned the urge for a huge generator quickly faded. Big generators are heavy, noisy, expensive, and I've really got no place to keep one. My little generator actually did just fine. We just had to learn to do stuff one thing at a time. You could use the hair dryer and brew coffee. You just couldn't use two high wattage gizmos at the same time. I discovered that everything ran smoother if I plugged the big UPS backup battery I use for the computers into the generator and then plugged all the other things into the back up battery. This seemed to filter out the power spikes that gave the generator problems. Starting an electric motor takes a lot more power than keeping the same motor running. I could always tell when the compressor kicked in on the little refrigerator. That was the only thing that temporarily overloaded the generator.

I was shocked that I actually have some website work to do tomorrow. One of my few remaining clients wants to update his site. I'm usually very responsive, but I told him he'd have to wait until the power returned. Tomorrow would have been a busy day even without the website work, but I'm always happy to have the work. There's still tons of laundry to do. I need to get new tires for the car before the trip to Kennedy Space Center. It's been a while since we've seen the rescue Dalmatians too. No problem. It will all get done now that we have electricity again.

Lucky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3456

This is our third day without power. There is still no estimate for power restoration in our neighborhood, but we're starting to see power company trucks, so that's a good sign. I talked to a crew from Alabama this morning who were looking for downed lines behind our house. I've seen repair crews from Mississippi, Alabama, and Oklahoma so far. This is a major effort. Lots of people in the Northern part of town already have power again, but our neighborhood is almost always the last to get electricity. We have the most trees and consequentially the most downed lines. The repair crews need to be really careful with all these downed lines. I heard that they missed one yesterday and started a house fire when they tried to turn the power back on.

One of the guys from Alabama told me that they may get our power restored later tonight. I hope so. We've almost run out of clean towels and I may need to go to the laundromat tomorrow. My little generator definitely won't run the washing machine. Actually, I've been very pleased with the little generator. Technically it's called an inverter and delivers much cleaner electricity than a traditional generator. When I bought it I just wanted something to run the computers. I'm discovering that it will power quite a few other things as well. The small refrigerator runs fine using the generator. Janet was able to use her hair dryer as well. I was even able to fire up the Keurig machine this morning and make myself some coffee. The generator will run all day on two gallons of gas. That's pretty good if you ask me.

I discovered that my solar powered generator doesn't do so well on cloudy days. There wasn't enough sunlight today to use the solar panels to recharge the batteries. Gasoline came to the rescue though. I used my gas powered generator to recharge the solar generator. A lot of people drive Teslas in Dallas. I wonder how those people feel now. They are dead in the water for the time being. Their car batteries have run down and most of the charging stations in Dallas are dead. I haven't seen a single Tesla on the road for the past three days.

The best thing that happened today was that my tree guy came over and removed all the dangerous dangling limbs from the elm tree that got damaged. I was one of the lucky ones who got tree service in two days. A lot of people are still waiting. We discovered that a more of our tree had fallen in our neighbor's yard than we initially thought. Luckily neither of us had much damage to our houses. I did lose the greenhouse though. The tree crew will have to come back later to remove what's left of the elm tree. They are only doing emergency service right now and had two more jobs today after they finished with my tree. For now, everyone in the city is just dragging their downed tree limbs to the curb. I have no idea how long it's going to take the city to clean this mess up. There are huge piles of ruined trees everywhere. It's a shame to see so many mature trees destroyed in the neighborhood. These old growth trees were one of the things that made this part of town special.

Apparently yard work is better exercise than going to the gym. I haven't taken a long walk since the storm roared through town, and I'm still burning more calories and taking more steps than I was before. When you spend most of the day hauling logs and big tree limbs out to the street, you end up doing a lot of walking. By the end of the day, I'm tired. I thought this would help me sleep, but so far it isn't working. It feels stuffy in the house without the air conditioner running. It's also too quiet. I'm used to the sound of the dehumidifier running constantly and usually we keep the fan running on the HVAC system so there is some air circulating in the house.

I'm still sitting in the dark, but I saw a large power company truck one street over from ours just before sunset. That's a good sign. Hopefully, when you hear from me tomorrow, we'll have electricity again.

Willa is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3455

We still don't have power. Basically, we're camping now. The power company now says that we might not get electricity restored until late Thursday. It's a mess all over town. Traffic lights aren't working. There are still trees in the road. In our part of town businesses that don't have generator power are closed.

As I expected, the tree trimmer never made it over here today. He promised to come tomorrow. We'll see. There are still people ahead of me in line. I don't have a chain saw, but I was able to remove some of the downed tree using a reciprocal saw powered by a generator. Janet helps me haul the limbs out to the tree and by the end of the day we had a huge pile. Most of the neighbors had huge piles of their own.

We filled three large coolers with ice and were able to salvage most of the food in the refrigerator. The ice cream and a few perishable items went bad, but all in all we did pretty well. I discovered that I can run the small refrigerator off one of the generators, but the gas tank isn't very large and I don't think the generator will run continuously overnight. I ned to go buy some more gas tomorrow morning.

The solar powered generator can be completely recharged using solar panels in less than five hours. This works out pretty well since we only use this generator at night so we can run the network and get on the Internet. Some little LED camping lights provide all the lighting we need. I do miss the air conditioner though. It was pretty hot today. Neither of us slept well last night because it was too hot inside. I don't think we're going to start in a hotel though unless it gets really bad. I could buy a pretty capable generator for the price of three nights in a decent hotel. At least we've still got hot water. I definitely needed a shower after spending most of the day hauling logs out to the street.

The Falcon Heavy launch got postponed a week. This is just as well. I'd like to get all the power outage problems resolved before we start planning a trip. This is the first multi-day power outage we've had for a long time. I remember the bad one well though. Living without electricity takes a lot on ingenuity. I wish I had a really large generator that could run off natural gas. Some whole house generators do this. They're pretty expensive though. That's the thing with power outages. If you go buy a big expensive generator, it's almost guaranteed that you won't have another outage for five years. I haven't even gotten much use out of my little gas generator.

I hope I sleep better tonight. It probably helps that I'm really tired this evening. Sawing and hauling heavy logs is a lot more strenuous than walks in the park. I missy morning smoothie. One more reason to go out and get five gallons of gas for the generator tomorrow morning. Janet needs the generator for her hair dryer too. I'm not sure the generator can handle the hair dryer, but we'll see.

Escher is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3454

We had a terrible storm today. Our power is out. Our large elm tree got blown over and is sitting in our yard. The roof got blown off the greenhouse and I don't even know where some of it is. The worst thing is that the power company doesn't expect to have electricity restored before 8:30 PM tomorrow evening. We don't even have good cell phone service now because a lot of cell towers got knocked down during the storm.

This storm caught almost everybody by surprise. It certainly caught me by surprise. I had returned from the gym and was taking my three mile walk when the storm arrived. Luckily, I was near a shelter at the time, so I didn't get too wet. I'm so glad the shelter was nearby. The straight line winds were so strong that dozens of large trees were blown over. We kept hearing them come crashing down all around us. The wind was blowing sheets of rain horizontally through the gazebo. At one point there was a lot of nickel sized hail and I saw several power lines come down nearby. Even though I was wearing waterproof boots, my feet were soaked. The water was coming in through the top of my shoes.

A small group of cyclists, joggers, picnickers, and myself were trapped in the gazebo for over an hour as the storm passed through. We saw a large tree land on somebody's truck in a nearby parking lot. We kept hearing fire trucks and emergency vehicles off in the distance. This was a very bad storm. When the storm finally moved off to the East, I started heading for home. I knew the power would be out, but I was hoping that I wouldn't find a tree on our roof. I passed dozens of uprooted trees on the way home. They looked like they had just been ripped out of the ground by a giant hand.

The yard looked terrible when I arrived home, but when I went up on the roof I didn't see any serious damage. Luckily the tree appeared to have missed hitting the house when it fell. I tried to call my tree guy right away but the phones weren't working. I couldn't send or receive calls until Janet and I went out for dinner later this evening. Large sections of Dallas are still without power. We had to drive quite a way to find a restaurant that still had electricity. We'll see what tomorrow brings. I may need to fill a cooler full of ice to save the food that is in the refrigerator. We still have WiFi using backup battery power, but I don't know how long that will last.

I'm hoping that the power will come back on during the night, but I'm not very optimistic. The Oncor website says that over 300,000 people were affected by the outage. It's troubling to be so dependent on electricity. Everything grinds to a halt without it. Thank goodness the gas works. We can still take hot showers.

I was worried that I might not be able to upload tonight's post since cell service is so spotty. Luckily the fiber optic line doesn't seems to be dependent on electricity. All I need to do is use a backup battery to power the router and we're in business. If the power is still out tomorrow I might be in trouble. All the backup power is being depleted fast. We're both charging our phones now.

I'd almost forgotten how bad severe straight line winds can be in Texas. Today was a good reminder that the weather always has the upper hand.

Liberty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3453

Things are looking up. Yesterday I found out that three more of my model trains had sold. Today I found out that I'd sold two of my guitars. Someone seems interested in buying one of the keyboards too. Slowly but surely, the collections are starting to unwind. It's weird that the money from one of my favorite guitars will just go to buy a new set of tires for my car, Hey, that's life. Right now I need tires more than I need guitars.

I discovered today that I can't use the app that lets me bypass the checkout line at the grocery store to buy beer and wine. The self checkout lane won't work either. You have to stand in line and checkout with a real person. Jeez. Why are stores still carding a guy who's going to be seventy one years old this month? The app has all my information anyway. Don't they already know I'm old enough to be the checkout clerk's grandfather? They could probably just add a couple of lines of code to the app that would allow me to take a picture of myself holding the beer. That would definitely prove that they're selling to an old man. At any rate I had to leave my buggy at the door while I took my six pack of beer to a young checkout clerk to verify my ID. It all seemed kind of silly.

Janet has no interest in skipping the checkout line. She likes a different app that lets her use digital coupons at the grocery store. She'll look at my groceries and say "You could have saved a dollar on this if you'd used my coupon app. "But you could have skipped the checkout line entirely if you'd used mine," I say. I guess technology has something for everybody.

It's definitely Summer. We haven't had a triple digit day yet, but temperatures are in the ninety's now. I have to remember to take my walks before I take a shower because it's so hot and humid that I'd just have to take another shower when I returned. I guess I could start walking before sunrise again. I used to do this with the dogs. Maybe I'll be forced to do this later this summer, but it's hard to get up early now. I'm finally getting enough sleep. A little app on my watch that tracks my sleep finally shows a sleep surplus after years and years of showing a deficit. I miss having a dog to walk but sleep is good. Sleep is very good.

I keep trying different shoes, hoping to find a pair that will let me walk indefinitely without foot pain. Some shoes make my toes hurt. Others make the ball of my foot hurt. Still others don't support my ankles well. All of these shoes fit pretty well and were comfortable before I started taking long walks. Most of them already have a good orthotic inside. I think my feet must swell when I walk. The shoes are generally fine at distances under three miles. If I walk much longer I feel like I've made a big mistake.

I haven't been up on the roof in quite a while. I think the water is just evaporating now. It's just as well. There are plenty of things on the ground that need attention. Janet and I are going to try to clean up the yard ourselves. This is probably a mistake, but things like this happen when you've got too much time on your hands.

Lacey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3452

I decided to get my car serviced today. This was a minor service, so I just stayed at the dealership while the work was being done. As I wandered around looking at cars, it became painfully obvious that I can't really afford to be a Land Rover customer anymore. Prices have really increased since I got my first Land Rover in the early 1990's. I've bought houses for less than the sticker price on some of these cars. Maintenance costs a lot more too. Truthfully, the cost of an oil change seems to double every time I visit the dealership. It's a shame because I've always liked Land Rovers. I still think the British build the best looking cars.

I had breakfast on the way to the dealership and was disappointed that my Shrimp and Grits weren't as good today. The grits were terrible and I think they just used Jimmy Dean sausage in the sauce instead of Andouille sausage. It seemed clear that there was a new chef today. I don't know why turnover is so high in the restaurant business. Nobody stays for very long anywhere. Even the restaurants themselves don't stay around very long. Three or four years is a good run for some. I need to find a family restaurant where the entire staff has been around for decades. You find those places in little towns, but they're few and far between in a big city.

I got a message from my dealer that some of my model trains had sold. He seemed excited by the sale. I was too until I noticed that one of the items had been mispriced. It's hard to complain though. A sale is a sale and at this point I'd just like to sell the entire collection while I'm still alive. I started consigning things over a year ago and there is still a ton of stuff that hasn't sold. My friend selling the trains told me that it could take three years to sell the entire collection. Lord knows how long it will take to sell the guitars. I guess I've just got to be patient.

It looks I'm going to have to be patient with the Falcon Heavy launch as well. I got a letter from NASA today. I thought this was going to be the letter with a firm itinerary for the launch and instructions for picking up my press credentials. Nope. It was a letter explaining the complexities of scheduling a launch with a promise of more information next week. There was a reminder again to be sure to make flexible travel arrangements. I've definitely been warned.

Hey, I'll be ready to go when they are. I feel more confident about my car now. I still need new tires but I probably won't buy them from the dealership. There are too many tire dealers where you can get get exactly the same tires for considerably less. The dealership doesn't even try to be competitive. Most of their customers are rich and don't even care what things cost.

All in all, it wasn't a bad day. The weather was mild. It didn't rain. Even the stock market continued to rally. My feet still hurt after my longer walks, but you can't have everything.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3451

I saw a woman pulling up Queen Anne's Lace in one of the meadows this morning. I'd seen small groups of people doing this before, so I asked what she was doing. She said she was trying to remove the invasive species from the native prairie. Lots of luck with that. The lady had about a dozen Queen Anne's Lace plants in her hand. She and I were literally surrounded by millions more of these plants as far as the eye could see. I had to admire the effort, but this was the best example of a quixotic quest that I had ever seen. I think the invasive plants are winning this battle. As I was leaving to continue my walk I asked what she planned to do about the Johnson Grass. The lady had no answer. Johnson Grass is almost impossible to eradicate.

I wonder what motivates people to do impossible things? I see people trying to do the impossible almost every day. The last remains of the Blackland Prairie were definitely a lot prettier when Janet and I first moved here, but I don't know if pulling up Queen Anne's Lace one plant at a time can save it. Buffalo and antelope used to graze here. Early settlers replaced most of the prairie grasses with crops and trees. They began to extinguish the naturally occurring prairie fires that allowed the prairie to flourish. As a result most of the 12 million acre prairie is gone. Ironically, the only reason the 250 acres of native prairie in the park survived is that the place used to be a dairy farm before it was a park. The cattle loved the prairie grasses just as much as the buffalo did. Grazing cattle saved the prairie. The cows are long gone now and the city won't mow the area, so invasive species are taking over. Every year I see fewer flowers and more Johnson Grass. It's a shame.

My solution to situations like this is always fewer people. Humans are the worst invasive species of all. We are much worse than Queen Anne's Lace or Johnson Grass. We are rapidly eating all the fish in the sea, sawing down the rainforests to make houses, and continuing to reproduce at an exponential rate. This is simply not sustainable. Solar panels and windmills aren't going to fix this. Somebody needs to convince the human race to quit having babies for a while.

I kept thinking about impossible things as I continued my walk but I didn't have any answers. I don't even know how to save the city's exploding population of stray dogs. The dogs aren't the problem. It's the irresponsible people who own them. Every time there is a big rain and the tributaries overflow their banks, an avalanche of plastic bottles, Startbucks cups, and other trash float into the lake carried by the rising water. This is all people's trash from Northern suburbs. More irresponsible people. In the ensuing weeks an army of Park and Recreation workers clean up the trash that has accumulated on the shoreline and haul it away. Then it rains again and the whole process starts all over again. It's hopeless.

Maybe things like this are why my feet are getting more activity than my brain these days. I've got no answers. Everything I see people doing to fix things seems wrong. Probably my solutions are wrong too. I'm as human as the next guy.

For the moment, I'll just keep walking and try to stay active. Since today was a nice day and I had little to do, it was almost impossible to avoid mowing the grass. I mowed both the front and back yards. Mr. Fitbit will be happy today. I got in a lot of steps for a weekday.

Wendy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3450

I didn't plan well today. I knew that there was rain in the forecast, but thought I'd go from gazebo to gazebo on my morning walk like I had done on earlier rainy days. It didn't work. When I arrived at the shelters it wasn't raining. I impatiently thought I could make it to the next shelter before the rain started again, but I almost always got wet. Strangely, it didn't even seem to matter. It was a gentle rain and being wet seemed better than being hot and sweaty.

I tried to make an appointment to take my car in for service when I got home, but my service adviser said I'd driven the car so little since my last service that it was unnecessary. I should have been glad to hear this, but it left me a little uneasy. I basically wanted the guy to bless the car and promise that nothing expensive would fall off or break during a trip to Florida. No Land Rover dealer in their right mind would ever promise anything like that. Stuff always breaks on these cars. "Don't I even need an oil change," I asked? The guy basically said that I could bring the car in if it made me feel better. I still can't get used to the longer oil change intervals with modern synthetic engine oil. I'm still used to getting the oil changed every 3,000 miles. I always did this with the Defender. Apparently nobody does this with modern cars.

I finally got in touch with my contact at the auction house and made arrangements to re-offer my last piece of unsold art at a lower price. At this point I just want all the things I've consigned to sell. If this stuff comes back to me, I'll have to get a bigger storage warehouse. That would defeat the whole purpose of moving to a smaller storage warehouse. I guess I'm in no hurry, but it would be nice to put this chapter behind me. The guitars still haven't sold and I haven't sold anything from the model train collection in several months. Maybe things will pick up this summer.

I noticed a new flower this morning. I've seen this one before, but I don't see it every year. I'm having trouble identifying this one. It kind of looks like a Blazing Star, but I'm not sure. Ironweed looks a bit like this as well. The weird looking plant seems like a cross between a Dahlia and a Texas Thistle. I'll figure out what it is eventually.

Space X still hasn't finalized a launch date for the Falcon Heavy rocket. I knew this would happen, but I still wish I could start making travel plans. Basically at this point, the launch could be any time this summer. I guess I've just got to be patient. Alternately, I could get so involved with something else that I forget about the launch. That's not going to happen. I'll just be patient.

It looks like there is no rain in the forecast for the rest of the week. I may be forced to mow the grass after all. As the weather grows warmer, I prefer little tasks I can do indoors. I took some satisfaction that the repairs I made to my boots worked. I wore them this morning and the soles are still firmly attached. Maybe I can find something equally insignificant to do tomorrow.

Scooby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3449

I noticed that the sole was coming off one of my most comfortable boots this morning. This eventually happens to all boots where the sole is just cemented on instead of stitched. I got the tube of Shoe Goo that I'd been using to repair Dash's protective boots and attempted to reattach the sole but I doubt if the repair will last very long. I wish all work boots had a proper stitched Goodyear Welt, but I guess it's more expensive to make shoes this way. Everything is just glued together these days.

When I talk about repairing things with Shoe Goo, you know it's been an uneventful day. Everything I did today I've done many times before. My morning walk has become so familiar that I'm able to preview the entire route in my mind down to the last detail. I know where the pelican lives, where to look for raptors, egrets, and ducks, and when most of the flowers will bloom. Often I will test my memory to see if I've remembered details I've seen previously. Was there a turtle on that log yesterday? Is that a scissor-tailed flycatcher? I know when I pass a a certain tree, I'm halfway home. Observing little details helps to pass the time. I rarely have deep thoughts when I walk.

When I was going to the bank this morning, I noticed that someone had put one of those big political signs in my front yard. I hate those giant political signs but my neighbors seem to love them. I have a feeling that whoever delivered the sign meant to place it in my neighbor's yard but just got it on the wrong side of the lot line. When I got home I tried to remove the sign, but the poles were too deep in the ground. Oh, well. This election is over soon. It's no big deal. I voted for this guy anyway.

I wonder what it's going to take to start fixing things around the house. I'm just not motivated anymore. Taking long walks is a very effective way to kill time. After fixing my meals, taking several walks, and running an errand or two, the day is gone. I really wonder how I was ever able to accomplish so much when I was younger? When Dot and Dash were young, I took them on long walks almost every day. I also drove all over town going to meetings, took business trips, and spent a lot of time writing and building websites. It's a different world now. It doesn't really feel like I've slowed down, but I guess I have.

I need to mow the grass pretty soon. At least I've got an excuse now. I definitely can't mow with that awful sign in my front yard. There is no excuse for not making a service appointment for my car today. If I don't do this soon, I might not be able to get an appointment before I need to go to Florida. I bet there's still water on the roof too. I haven't even checked this week. We'll see if I can be more productive tomorrow. The odds aren't good

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3448

Janet and I picked up Xander at the vet today and took him back to the rescue kennel. He wasn't very enthusiastic about wearing a cone, but it couldn't be helped. We took the cone off briefly to take a picture, but he's going to have to wear it for a while. Xander has just been neutered. I think this was the largest dog I've ever had in my car. It was hard to believe he was only one year old. He's a good looking boy who is very strong. I'm glad there weren't any squirrels nearby.

While we were at the kennel, we spent some quality time with each of the other dogs in the program. They are all getting to know us now. Some like to chase a ball. Others are like velcro and follow you everywhere. A few seem very receptive to training and we've already taught them to sit and stay. We even taught one dog to roll over. Nobody is shy anymore. They all look forward to seeing us.

I'm glad the kennel has large air conditioned play rooms. It was too hot to be outside for very long. The dogs would go outside to pee, but quickly returned to the cooler inside rooms to play and beg for treats. The dogs were a lot smarter than I was today, since I continued to ignore the weather and took my regular walks anyway. When I returned this morning, I was drenched in sweat and had to change my clothes. Even my hat was wet today. The weird thing is that summer is just getting started. There are going to be many days where the temperature is much hotter than this.

I did manage to go to the bank and take a few letters to the post office, but most of the day was consumed with walking in the park and visiting the rescue Dalmatians. I still find it strange that doing so little can take up the entire day. I guess this is what retirement is all about. Whatever you are doing expands to fill the time you have available.

I got a check from one of the auction houses today. I think this means that all the auctions are over. Everything sold with the exception of one piece of art that I'll need to get returned. The whole process was surprisingly easy and I don't miss anything. It was time to say goodbye to these things. I wish old electronic gear was as easy to sell as artwork and antiques. There's not much of a market for old, obsolete gear. Even the vintage guitars are taking a long time to sell. I have a feeling that not as many kids want to be rock stars anymore. Maybe they want to be DJ's or rappers, but not many seem to want to form a band like The Eagles or Pink Floyd.

The next thing on my list is to get the car serviced and buy new tires. NASA still hasn't set a firm launch date for the Falcon Heavy mission, but it can't be that far away. I'm still thinking that it makes more sense to drive. I have no schedule and can take as long as I want to make the trip. I can't say that I enjoy driving, but I don't really enjoy flying either. We'll see how this goes. I definitely would like to become a space blogger and get invited to more launches like this in the future.

There's nothing exotic planned for tomorrow. I'll drink my smoothie, take my walk, and probably turn off the TV in disgust after watching the morning news. I'm never happy with the weather. It won't take many more hot days before I'll be begging for rain.

Freckles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3447

Weird. I didn't realize it at the time, but at exactly the same time I was walking around one end of the lake yesterday evening, police were fishing a body out of the other end. Sadly, this is not an uncommon occurrence. Most of the deaths are by drowning. People go boating without wearing a life jacket. They even go boating when they are unable to swim. Accidents happen.

I haven't been boating in the lake in a long time. It used to be fairly easy to take my kayak down a little hill from the backyard to the lake. I attached a pair of wheels to one end and pulled the boat behind me. Unfortunately, the path I used to take has become overgrown with brush and it is virtually impassible now. The small sandy beach where I used to launch the kayak has eroded, making it difficult to get the boat in and out of the water. I'm so close, but I'd need to put the kayak in the car now and drive to a public boat dock. I'm not even sure that the kayak would fit in the car. I no longer own the Defender with its convenient roof rack. I doubt that any of this even matters. The last time I went kayaking I saw a huge water moccasin swimming along beside me. Kayaking has never seemed the same since then.

Kayaking provides a great upper body workout, but I get my exercise by walking now. I had another 20,000 step day today. I hope all this additional activity makes a difference. I don't feel that much stronger but I am able to go the distance. I've started wearing a hat now and hopefully sunburn will no longer be a problem as the days grow warmer. I don't know what to do about the chiggers though. There seem to be a lot of them this year. People say to dust your clothes with sulfur or spray them with distilled vinegar. Others believe that eating a glove of garlic a day will do the trick. None of these methods seems very appealing to me.

I've started going to the gym earlier on Sundays. This leaves more of the day for other things. Today, I went back to the store and got strawberries for my smoothie. There were none yesterday and a huge supply today. I guess I need to find out when the produce truck arrives. I need to mow the grass again but it's still too damp. Grass is much easier to mow when it's dry. Actually, I didn't feel like mowing anyway. I'm not even sure how much time I have left for household chores. Several walks a day takes a long time.

If I drive to Florida for the Space X launch, I noticed that the route I was planning to take passes right through several flooded areas. There is some major flooding along the Mississippi River right now. I wonder if any of the roads are under water. I probably should check this out. I imagine that the water will recede before it's time for me to go, but you never know. Weather is so weird now. Maybe when all the flood water from the Arkansas River joins the Mississippi, the flooding will actually get worse.

I doubt that there will be many surprises tomorrow. If the weather is nice, Janet and I may go up and visit the Dalmatians again. Visiting the rescue dogs is always enjoyable.

Abby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3446

June 1st will always be the day that Dot died. It was two years ago today. What a long journey. It was initially difficult for Dash to adjust to being the only dog. He was just starting to regain his confidence when he began getting sick as well. It seemed like everything we went through with Dot toward the end of her life, we repeated with Dash. At least both dogs had long, healthy lives before they began to decline. Weekends were fun for the dogs. They both loved to go to dog parks and we visited them all. Our cars were basically just dog taxis. There were rescue events to attend, indoor and outdoor dog parks to visit, evenings at dog friendly restaurants, and a weekly training class that we attended regularly for many years. For every sad memory there is a corresponding happy memory. I hope that over time, only the happy memories remain.

It was almost 90 degrees when I woke up this morning and is only 70 degrees now. Today's weather has been a roller coaster. It was hot and sunny on my morning walk and by the time I was ready to take my evening walk there were storm clouds on the horizon and I could hear distant thunder. I probably put too much faith in the weather radar, because I almost got drenched. It was weird to see the storm approaching and people still renting kayaks on the lake. Some folks began paddling for shore as soon as they saw lightning, but others seemed oblivious. I was almost home before the rain started to fall, but when I looked back toward the lake, I could still see half a dozen kayaks and stand up paddle boards out in the water. There were still a few families barbecuing on the shoreline as well. What were they thinking.

Earlier today I was wondering what a lot of dog walkers were thinking. Don't they know the dangers of heat stroke? I could tell that some of the dogs were too hot. Joggers are the worst. Most of them just don't want to stop to give their dog a rest. If you've got to walk your dog in hot weather, be sure to take some water along. If the dog wants to rest, let them. Heat stroke is very real.

This evening was much better dog walking weather. All you had to worry about was getting struck by lightning. I never walked Dot and Dash on a day like today. Neither dog did well in the heat and both were storm phobic. Dot was terrified of storms and once managed to rip out a nail while trying to run back inside after hearing a particularly loud thunderclap. We were one of the first customers for Thundershirts. Strangely, these garments actually seemed to work. Dot wore hers often.

Peaches are finally available almost everywhere now. Have I mentioned that I like peaches? I bought a dozen nice looking ones today. Unlike a lot of produce, peaches still seem to be seasonal and most of them are grown in the United States. Strawberries and blueberries are imported from all over the place, but I've still got to wait for summer to find peaches.

It's still raining, but the pumps on the roof are working. I just need to remember to turn them off before I go to bed tonight. I wonder if the storms will continue tomorrow? The thermostat says no but my phone says yes. It's silly to speculate at this point. It's all going to change by morning anyway.

Charlie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3445

I voted today in a local run-off election. The candidates in the run-off weren't the ones I voted for in the general election, but I cast my vote anyway. After years of not voting at all, I've finally become a responsible citizen. My candidates seldom win. Voting these days is mostly about picking the lesser of two evils. Whoever wins, I hope our new mayor is better than the old mayor. I've been saying this for a long time. They all sound pretty good in the campaign brochures, but after several years on the job even people I've voted for usually seem worthless.

I tried somebody else's French Toast this morning. What was I thinking? It wasn't nearly as good as the French Toast I get at my favorite hotel. I don't know why I feel compelled to experiment. I should enjoy the things I like while I can. Sooner or later every restaurant will go either out of business or the chef will move on to greener pastures. I've seen menus go downhill almost overnight. The absolute limit for consistency appears to be around two years. I don't know how much time I've got left, but for now I already know where to find perfect French Toast. I've got Shrimp and Grits covered too. All I need now are some fabulous Eggs Benedict.  I'm never going to find the kind of Migas I like. That ship has already sailed.

I had to wait a while to walk today. It rained off and on all morning. It was too complicated to walk between covered gazebos this time. I just stayed home and balanced my checkbook until the rain was over. Our wet Spring has been good for wildflowers. I'm starting to see late blooming flowers like Purple Horsemint now. This unusual plant has several names as well. Some people call it Beebalm. I'm lucky to remember either of these names.

I do remember that some of the open meadows in the park used to be a sea of reds and yellows at this time of year. Now the fields are mostly white. Invasive species like Queen Anne's Lace have crowded all the other flowers out. The city doesn't mow these native prairie areas anymore. This was supposed to keep the meadows as pristine and beautiful as they were 100 years ago. Somehow I don't think these fields were filled with Johnson Grass and invasive weeds back then. Plenty of beauty remains. You just have to look a little harder. I guess you could say the same thing for life in general.

After I cast my vote for mayor today, I went across the street and bought a new leaf rake at Home Depot. I guess this means that Janet and I are going to clean up the yard ourselves this year. I keep hoping that the leaves will just blow away on their own but they stubbornly persist. We'll see how long it takes before the rake actually gets used.

Amy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3444

We picked up Little Penny from the Veterinary Surgical Center today and took her to the rescue group's regular vet so she could rest and recuperate. We call her Little Penny because there is a much larger Penny in the rescue program as well. Earlier this Spring Penny had a tumor removed that nobody thought was cancerous and then when the pathology report came back showing mast cells, she had to return to have a second surgery since the surgeon didn't get good margins when the initial growth was removed. Penny seemed in good spirits when we picked her up today and hopefully she will make a full recovery with no further need for chemo or radiation.

It's sad how familiar Janet and I have become with cancer in dogs. Everything the surgeon was telling us today seemed very familiar. Dash had thyroid cancer. Spot and Dot both had abdominal cancer. Greta had liver cancer and I've lost count of how many rescue dogs have been diagnosed with cancer over the years. Luckily, treatment has gotten very good in recent years. We discovered Greta's cancer too late, but Dot, Dash and Spot all recovered from their treatment and went on to live very normal lives.

It's hard to believe that I used to go backpacking for days at a time when I lived in Colorado right after college. A four day trip between Aspen and Crested Butte carrying a heavy pack was not a big deal. It seems pathetic now that a small three to five mile walk can cause every joint in my body to cry out in protest. What has happened to me? My shoulders are shot. One of my knees feels loose. And I've still got tennis elbow from years of using the Help 'Em Up Harness to hold up Dash's rear legs. Hopefully, things will improve if I keep moving. I'm not doing anything foolish like jogging. I'm just trying to stay active.

It's strange that a lot of common plants go by several different names. I discovered today that Angel’s Trumpet and Devil's Weed are actually the same thing. The botanical name for this plant is Datura and it is commonly called Jimson Weed. Confused? A lot of people call these Moonflowers as well. Maybe this is why I have trouble identifying a lot of flowers I see in the park. I'll find something that looks familiar on the Internet and then later a neighbor will tell me that the plant is something else entirely. A lot of Texas plants seems to go by four or five different names.

This week has gone quickly. I've taken this week's trash out to the curb and am trying to decide where to go for breakfast tomorrow. My daily routine is simple and perhaps a little boring, but it is certainly effective at eating up the time.  I get up, do some stuff, and all of the sudden it's time for bed again.

Ollie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3443

It rained a lot today. I thought I was pretty clever though. I know how long it takes me to walk specific distances and I know there are a lot of little gazebo like structures scattered throughout the park so picnickers can get out of the sun. I looked at the weather radar and plotted a path that would hopefully have me arriving at one of of these covered structures every time a storm cloud was overhead. Amazingly, the plan worked. When a rain cloud arrived I was sitting under a gazebo and staying dry. One of these covered structures was up on a hill where I could see the storm approaching from a distance. You could clearly see streaks of rain falling from a big dark cloud that was getting closer and closer. As the rain approached I could hear the raindrops falling on the water in the lake while the meadow in front of me was still dry. Then thirty seconds later, the rain was overhead. Each storm cell was small and there was lots of space in-between each downpour. I still managed to cover three miles and I didn't get wet. My walk took a little longer this morning, but I wasn't in a hurry. Actually watching the rain from a dry vantage point was quite enjoyable. While I was out today I encountered a beautiful Canada Goose. I wanted a picture, but unfortunately didn't have a telephoto lens with me. I thought about trying to get close to the goose with my phone, but geese can be nasty. I wasn't really in the mood to get attacked by a goose.

I got a welcome letter from the NASA folks today and now I finally feel comfortable that my acceptance of their invitation was received. NASA is a very bureaucratic organization and there will be further correspondence and forms to fill out before I can actually set foot inside their secure facilities. The trip is officially confirmed though and I'm definitely going. Hopefully, this will be the start of a very interesting summer.

I went with Janet this afternoon to help transport one of our rescue dogs from the veterinary surgery center to another vet where she will recuperate. While we were on our way we got a call saying that there were complications and the dog needed to stay at the hospital under observation for an additional day. Actually, this was good news to me. I always worry about taking a dog home that has just had surgery. Dogs aren't always good patients and there are so many things that can go wrong. Hopefully when we do pick this girl up, her condition will be stable and she'll already be on the mend.

Not a lot happened today but it still felt like a good day. I'm getting a lot of sleep now and am slowly becoming comfortable with the idea of living without deadlines or responsibilities. Janet has always been more involved with rescue than me, but there is nothing wrong with helping her out when I can. Hey, I may become a space and astronomy blogger yet. It must mean something that NASA has invited me to three different events. Things can change quickly, but at least for today, life is good.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3442

We went and visited the rescue kennel again today. One of the many good things about being retired is that it's easy to do things like this. Neither of us has a schedule anymore. The dogs seem to enjoy the extra attention and the kennel staff is always glad to see us. We're gradually getting to know each dog's personality. All the dogs are very friendly and some could definitely use a little training. Young Dalmatians are full of energy. We let them race around and blow off steam for a while and sooner or later they calm down and want to sit in your lap. We met a new girl in the program today. She was a little timid at first but warmed up quickly when she saw we had a red rubber ball to throw. We'll probably go back to the kennel next week. It's a good way to spend the afternoon.

Not surprisingly, I spent my morning the same way I always do. I made the bed and slowly drank my huge fruit smoothie while I watched TV. Sadly, there are no old Westerns or episodes of Jay Leno's Garage to watch on weekdays. I'm stuck with watching the news.

When I started taking long walks, I initially noticed improvements almost every week. I had more stamina and began walking longer distances. Unfortunately, I've reached some sort of a plateau. When I hit three miles my feet start to hurt and I can feel each step in my hip joints and knees. Maybe it's my shoes, but I suspect that my joints aren't what they used to be. Glucosamine can't fix everything. I'll have to ask for an x-ray the next time I go to the doctor. I'd hate to ruin my knees. I'm not very eager to get a knee replacement.

I'll be glad when my Florida trip has a more definite schedule. It's hard to plan when you have no idea when you're going. I keep waiting for an e-mail with my itinerary, but I don't really expect a launch schedule to be finalized for a while. It is quite common for Space X launches to get delayed. Hurricane season begins on June 1. I certainly hope that doesn't throw a wrench in the works. At least the peak of the hurricane season isn't until August. With a little luck, everything should be fine.

I still haven't called the landscaper. Having a nice yard used to seem so important when the dogs were with us, but now it hardly seems to matter. The yard looks OK. A lot of things are this way. I need to fix the sliding glass door, but I rarely have a need to open it. This can probably wait as well. The plumbing got fixed quickly because we actually need the plumbing. I have a feeling that the next thing I actually need will be new tires. If I drive to Florida, I will definitely need new tires.

I didn't see many animals while I was walking today but I did learn the name of a new flower. For a long time I thought that Zexmenia was just another yellow daisy, but I guess it isn't. Maybe I'll learn something new tomorrow.

Sam is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day