Day 3696

I made it to Titusville. Kennedy Space Center is only a few miles away. Travel days are always tiring. It's windy and raining now, but the forecast looks a lot better tomorrow. By launch day it should be clear again. I hope I can depend on this somewhat optimistic forecast. It's a long way to come to get rained out.

I don't think I forgot anything. At least I remembered the important stuff. I've got my cameras, clean socks and underwear, my reading glasses, and directions to the Space Center. I took better cameras this time. Foolish pride mostly. My little pocket camera takes great pictures, but I certainly don't look like a journalist when I'm using it. We'll see if the pictures are better this time. It probably doesn't even matter if I can't manage to get access to the launch pad for close ups.

Only one person on the plane was wearing a mask today. Actually, I only saw three people in the entire Dallas airport wearing masks. Lots of old people were coughing though. Old people always cough. Luckily, I managed to get through the flight without having a coughing fit myself. Usually I'm the one who coughs and sneezes.

I even managed to get my 10,000 steps today. Instead of having a burger while I waited for my flight, I just walked around the terminal until it was time to board. I hope I can always fly Southwest. They always seem to be on time. The TSA folks are pretty fast, and if you pay a little extra you can board first and always get a good seat. Even though I changed my reservation over and over again, I was still the fifth person on the plane.

My rent car was so high-tech that it was kind of freaky. The steering wheel became very stiff if you got too close to the center line and it tried to nudge me back to the center of my lane. What kind of black magic is this? At first I thought the power steering was broken, but eventually I figured out that this was a feature, not a fault. The GPS was pretty complicated too. I'll get up early and figure it out in the morning.

This trip should be interesting. I'm a member of the press this time. It's still hard to think of myself as a journalist, but maybe it will be a little easier in the future if this trip goes well. I have a feeling that I'm a pretty junior journalist, but it's still a big step. Truthfully, I have no idea what to expect. I've never done this sort of thing before. I probably shouldn't be so apprehensive. I've been writing and taking pictures for a long, long time. How could working for a magazine be that much different?

It's been a long day. I'm going to try to get some sleep before the big adventure begins.

Landry is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3695

We escaped the ice and snow forecasters were warning us about. We must have gotten some rain overnight though because there was water on the roof again when I woke up. I decided to act quickly this time. For the second time in two days I went up on the roof and swept the water away. I guess I did the right thing because the leak hasn't reappeared.

It was definitely cold enough for snow today. A strong wind made things even worse. Even though I dressed warmly, I was freezing on the roof. It was not the best day to be getting wet. When the roof was dry, I went inside to get dry myself. We've got a lot of winter left, but I'm definitely ready for summer.

After breakfast this morning I continued to get organized for my trip to the Space Center. I'm always torn between a need to plan for contingencies and a desire to travel light. It's easier to travel in the summer when you don't have to consider whether to take sweaters and coats. An extra coat takes up a lot of space. I can't decide which cameras to take either. Usually a little pocket camera is fine, but I don't want to humiliate myself if I do manage to make it on the press bus to the launch pad.

Basically, I'm a terrible traveler. I continue to go back and forth about what to take and usually just end up throwing a bunch of stuff in a bag at the last minute so I won't miss my flight. I'm fine when I arrive, but getting there is like pulling teeth.

Taking my long walk today seemed like pulling teeth as well. It was very cold. The wind was so strong that the windchill made me wish that I'd gotten my old Alaska coat out of the storage warehouse. The coat is very heavy and probably needs to be dry cleaned, but it does a great job of protecting you from the wind.

I've pretty well decided not to view the launch rollout from a boat. It wasn't even that hard of a decision. All I needed to do was remember all the times I've gotten seasick on ships in the past. I'm usually OK on a calm lake, but the ocean is not my friend. Don't ever invite me to go deep sea fishing with you. Hey, I'm going to stay optimistic though. I'm still on the waitlist for the press bus to the launch site. Maybe if I just hang around where the bus is boarding, they'll be able to squeeze one more person onboard.

Sometimes I wish social media didn't exist. If it weren't for all the alarmists on my Facebook feed, I probably wouldn't even be thinking about the coronavirus. Jeez, the common cold is a type of coronavirus. Tons of people die from the flu every year. Is this really something to panic about or not?   You just don't know what to believe anymore. I'm generally really healthy, but I sneeze a lot because of seasonal allergies. I don't want to get thrown off the plane just because I sneezed.

Maybe everything will be fine. Usually I think "maybe everything will be fine" each morning when I wake up. My day is filled with irritating small problems but almost all of them get resolved. Life goes on. At the end of the day, I feel foolish for making a mountain out of a molehill.

Zorro is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3694

This weather is nuts. Every day is different. Today it was very cold and forecasters are still predicting snow and sleet tomorrow. It must have rained quite a bit last night because the roof leak in the kitchen has returned. Even though I knew that it was going to continue raining tomorrow, I was forced to go up on the roof and remove as much water as I could to stop the leak. Was I really wearing shorts and a t-shirt just a few days ago? Today, two warm coats and compression pants under my jeans didn't seem enough.

I did manage to stop the leak but this morning's success is only temporary. I still don't know where the water is getting in and as soon as the rain returns, I'm sure the leak will reappear. It's going to be a while before I can even think about doing some more patching. It's all very frustrating.

I had to run some errands this morning and while I was out I stopped at a few drug stores to see if I could find a pack of disposable face masks. The pharmacists just laughed. They told me they had completely sold out of the masks quite a while ago. This seemed a bit weird to me. I haven't seen a single person wearing a mask here in Dallas. People must be hoarding these things. I guess this makes sense. We'll all been watching apocalyptic pandemic movies since The Andromeda Strain appeared in 1971. There are a ton of these movies: The Stand. 12 Monkeys. 28 Days Later. Outbreak. Contagion. I am Legend. The list could go on and on. When something real happens like this, it's easy to let your imagination run wild.

I can't say that I enjoyed my walk today. I was already tired from removing the water from the roof, but went ahead and walked anyway. The combination of rapidly falling temperatures, a light mist, and a stiff wind made walking fairly miserable. I was warm enough though. Two coats, heavy gloves, and compression pants under my jeans does the trick. I guess if I can survive this, I'll be fine up on Mount Lock later this Spring.

I still can't decide whether to view the rollout of the Atlas 5 rocket from a fishing boat near the pad. The view should be spectacular but I don't do well on boats. I've even gotten sick on large cruise ships. A photographer friend has watched a launch from this same boat and said he got seasick. Would dramamine do the trick? I'd really like to get a close up view of the pad before the launch, but it would be so much easier to catch a ride on the press bus. It's too bad they are only allowing thirty people on this bus. Will I get off the waitlist? I doubt it. There will always be thirty journalists more senior than me.

I don't think I'll be going anywhere tomorrow. I'm hoping the forecast is wrong. Snow and sleet in Dallas is never a good thing. Whatever happens, it looks like this is just a one day event. Thursday, Friday in Saturday are supposed to be clear. I don't know why I spend so much time fretting about weather forecasts. They're mostly wrong anyway.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3693

We had a lot of fun with the Dalmatians today. They know us now and are all eager for their play time. Each of them wants to be first. The big news this week is that Sock has gone to a home. The rescue program has taken in a large number of dogs recently and currently only five of them are still waiting for homes. It's really encouraging to see these dogs find their forever homes so quickly. The dogs we visited with today are all delightful. I can't imagine that they will be here long.

So much for working on the roof today. It rained again. This came as a total surprise to me. There was blue sky when I woke up, but by the time we arrived at the Dalmatian kennel, it was raining again. I sure wish the roof was dry yesterday. Now I don't have any idea how long I'll need to wait for dry conditions again. I know in the short tern, the weather is only expected to get worse. There is still a chance of snow or sleet on Wednesday.

Today was full of surprises. I got a long awaited letter from Sky and Telescope and they are apparently still interested in an article about my visit to McDonald Observatory this Spring. It has been so long since I've heard anything from the magazine that I'd almost given up on them. I just assumed that they weren't interested anymore. Maybe I just need to learn to be patient.

Due to the many changes in the Solar Orbiter launch schedule the social media mavens have lost access to the launch pad on the day the rocket is rolled out. This apparently hasn't deterred some in our group. I found out today that someone is going to charter a boat to get close to the pad by water. This sounds interesting. It would be even more interesting if I didn't tend to get seasick. I'm still on the waitlist for the press bus, but so far my chances of getting on the bus don't look promising. I'd really like some good pictures. I may throw caution to the wind and join the group on the boat. We'll see. I keep waiting for an e-mail saying that NASA has found one more seat on the bus.

Do I need to go buy a box of surgical masks? I don't think so, but I'd hate to be the only person on the plane not wearing a mask. Social pressure can be quite powerful at times. Southwest doesn't even fly internationally so there shouldn't be a problem. I lived through the ebola scare and there were ebola patients at a hospital only a few miles away from me. My gut feeling is that there is a much higher risk from the ordinary flu here in Dallas than from the coronavirus. That could change overnight though. All it would take is a single case of the coronavirus and the whole town would be in a panic.

I'm so hooked on filling all three activity rings on my Apple Watch and getting at least 10,000 steps on the Fitbit that I went on a walk today even though it was raining. Hey, it wasn't raining that hard. Weird, I never would have done this before I started wearing the Fitbit tracker. I guess being a slave to an activity tracker isn't inherently a bad thing. I do feel like I'm in better shape than I was last year.

I got a little good news today. Maybe I'll get some more tomorrow. I don't need a lot of encouragement, but it's always nice to know you're headed in the right direction.

Casey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3692 - Superbowl Sunday

It looks like the Ground Hog was right. Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early Spring this year and I think it started today. The temperature was near 80 degrees this afternoon. This was enough to get the air conditioner running again. It was also a perfect day for shorts and a t-shirt. It's still hard to believe that there is still a chance of snow by Wednesday. Texas weather never fails to amaze.

Today was a great day for a walk, but I also took advantage of the nice weather to wash the car and go up on the roof. I thought this would be an ideal day to make some more repairs, but much to my surprise there was still water on the roof. Where did this come from? I don't even think it rained recently. I swept away the water and left the bucket of silicon up on the roof. I'll try again to make the repairs tomorrow.

21,000 steps today. The gym wasn't very crowded, but the park was packed. Everybody was out today. You just don't ignore an eighty degree day in February. Lots of people were walking their dogs this afternoon. I see hundreds of dogs in the park, but I've only seen one Dalmatian on a walk since Dash died. I forget how rare these dogs are since I see quite a few every Monday. They must be hard to find though, since most of the people who adopt our rescue dogs are from out of town. Quite a few even come from out of state. I enjoyed seeing all the happy dogs this afternoon, but I think I'll enjoy seeing my favorite Dalmatians even more tomorrow.

I reluctantly added another day to my Florida trip. I hope these are the last reservation changes I'll need to make. I think I've already set a new record for schedule changes. The closer it gets to the launch, the harder it is to make changes. I'm glad I didn't wait any longer. When I changed my flight this morning there was only one seat left. Things were pretty tight at the hotel as well. Please, no more changes guys. This is wearing me out.

I enjoyed the game this evening. I thought Kansas CIty was going to lose, but with only 8 minutes remaining, Patrick Mahomes managed to turn a double digit loss into a double digit win. Mahomes seems to specialize in turning things around at the last minute. It certainly makes for an exciting game.

The commercials with a few notable exceptions weren't exciting at all. I loved the Jeep commercial with Bill Murray reprising his role in Ground Hog Day. Very clever, expecially since today was Ground Hog Day. I also liked the Quicken Loans commercial where Jason Momoa pokes fun at himself by revealing that he is really a skinny balding man. Most of the other commercials were either far too serious or just totally incomprehensible. I'm not wild about today's half time shows either. Pole dancing is just no substitute for real musicianship. I don't think anyone's going to top Prince singing Purple Rain in a driving rainstorm.

It was a good day. Blue sky. An early Spring. An exciting game. Burgers and beer. And 21,000 steps. It's hard to complain about that.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3691

How can it be February already? It seems like I was trying to stay awake until midnight on New Year's Eve just a few days ago. Time flies. Tomorrow, we'll be watching the Superbowl again. I guess I'm for Kansas City although I don't know why. I haven't really followed either team this season. I hope the ads are better this year. I think Superbowl advertising has been going downhill for quite some time. I'm pretty old school. I still want to see a Budweiser ad with Clydesdales and a Dalmatian. I used to always go to a special game day Superbowl Sale at a clothing store that was once a client of mine. They had some great bargains, but I think the sale has been discontinued. Like almost everything else in life, Superbowl Sunday doesn't seem as familiar anymore.

When I was running errands this morning, I noticed that a little neighborhood watch repair shop I used for many years had gone out of business. The building was empty. Even the sign was gone. This made me a little sad. The owner was a nice guy but he was in poor health. The last time I saw him, he told me that he had to go in for dialysis three times a week. I wouldn't be surprised if he died. I wish I'd gone in to visit a few more times while the store was still open. I'm not all that interested in watches anymore, but I still could have stopped to say hello. Now the store is empty and I'll never know what happened. I can't even remember the guy's name.

I guess the press office folks at Kennedy Space Center don't work on weekends. I still had some questions on Friday but haven't received any answers yet. The schedule has changed so much that I'm not sure what to do now. Some of the most interesting parts of the event have been canceled and now there is a down day with nothing to do between all the briefings and the actual launch. I'd like to find out if I have the option to go to some of the events, but not all. Maybe I'll find out something on Monday. I'm reluctant to add another day to this already lengthy  trip, but I might have to.

This has been one weird winter. For now, I'm not complaining though. Today was beautiful. The sky was clear and it felt like an early spring day. I should have gone up on the roof this afternoon and maybe even washed my car, but I'm too slow for this many activities in a single day. After I ran my usual Saturday errands and took my walk, the day was essentially over. I'll probably regret not getting more done today because I just noticed that it might snow next Wednesday.

The building where Dot and Dash got cancer treatments was badly damaged by the tornado we had several months ago. I just learned that they decided not to rebuild and permanently closed the office instead. Now dogs will have to go to the clinic's Fort Worth office for treatment. I can't help but think how bad this would be if your dog was in the middle of treatment when the tornado hit. Dot and Dash had to go to the cancer center several times a week for radiation and chemotherapy treatments. It was hard enough to transport them to the nearby clinic when they were sick. Taking them to an entirely different city three times a week would have been a full time job.

No more Superbowl Sale. No more neighborhood watch repairman. No more convenient cancer center. And a whole new schedule for the Solar Orbiter launch. Why does everything have to keep changing?

Myles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3690

I've changed my reservations so many times that it will make your head spin. The two day event at Kennedy Space Center is now a three day event. I guessed wrong on this new turn of events and will have to change my reservations again. Hopefully, I can add a day to my hotel stay. Currently, I have a choice of attending events for the press or events for social media influencers. I'd like to attend both, but they overlap. I've got to choose one or the other. I'm not complaining though. I'm definitely invited to this launch.

I had to run some errands this morning and was wondering why the traffic was so heavy on a weekend. Then I realized that it was Friday. It's getting harder and harder to tell the difference between Friday and Saturday. I'll probably make the same mistake tomorrow since I forgot to get everything I needed at the store and will need to run the same errands all over again.

I have an opportunity to place a remote camera near the launch site for close up pictures as the rocket lifts off while I'm at Kennedy Space Center. You attach a special sound trigger to the camera and the noise of the launch starts the picture sequence. I don't know if I have the nerve to do this though. Sometimes these remote cameras have been ruined by heat or moisture. I guess alligators might be a problem too. Losing a camera might not be a big deal to a commercial magazine photographer with a production budget, but it would be a big deal to me. I don't have many cameras.

Today was beautiful. It was still a little chilly, but I would prefer to describe the weather as brisk. There was plenty of blue sky and the wind wasn't bad. I only needed my lighter coat. Basically, it was a great day for a walk. I wasn't surprised that I saw a lot of people in the park today. You've got to take advantage of days like these.  It might be completely different tomorrow.

The clear skies reminded me of my plan to visit the little observatory north of town. I wrote the owner and made tentative plans for a visit around the middle of February. The plans will have to remain tentative until a few days ahead of time because you just can't depend on Texas weather. If I booked a day now, there could be ice, snow, or even tornados when the day arrives. Hopefully, we'll have clear skies though.

I wrote a letter to my sister today. I wish she'd just read the blog. I always end up repeating myself in these letters. I still believe it is a good idea to write letters though. It is quickly becoming a lost art. Everyone needs a few Luddite friends just to keep them in practice.

I made myself a delicious omelet instead of going to a restaurant this morning. I'm actually a pretty decent cook, but I've become hooked on drinking smoothies. I'm a bit apprehensive about going without my smoothies for an entire week while I'm out at McDonald Observatory. It really isn't practical to take the Vitamix and a week's worth of fresh fruit and bananas to the mountain though. They'll probably think I'm weird enough as it is.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3689

Sometimes it's the little things. I got the toilet to stop running today. I took everything apart again and soaked all the parts in vinegar for an hour to remove the built up scale. Then I bought a new ballcock membrane at a plumbing supply store. This tiny little piece of rubber was seventeen dollars, but apparently it is vital. After I carefully put everything back together again, the toilet worked normally. As I have mentioned many times, I will never buy a French toilet again.

It looks like the launch date for the Solar Orbiter has changed again. A new launch hazard warning has been issued, but so far I have received no confirmation from NASA about the new date. This makes changing reservations difficult. I was able to book another hotel for the revised date, but will have to cancel one of my reservations by tomorrow night to avoid a penalty. I can change my flight right up until the day of departure, but hotels are more difficult. When things are busy at the Space Center a last minute change in the launch schedule can leave you without a room. Hopefully, this will all be resolved tomorrow. I hate uncertainty.

The weather was even colder today than it was yesterday. It didn't seem to bother the birds though. The Egrets and Herons seemed at ease wading in the icy water. I was warm enough on my walk, but I needed two coats today. I'm beginning to think that dressing in layers like this will be better out at the observatory than my bulky Alaska coat. There was a stiff wind when I walked along the shoreline and I was still reasonably warm. A lot of people might think that a down jacket on top of another down jacket is overkill, but it seems to work great. Hey, I get cold easily. The inner down jacket is very light and the outer jacket is a larger size so it fits perfectly. Now I need to find some comfortable shoes that keep my feet warm.

My plan to get some astronomy lessons at the little observatory north of town hasn't worked out very well. There haven't been many clear days in January. I guess January has always been like this, but it sure seems gray and dismal this year. Maybe February will be better. I've still got some time. I'd really like to be more knowledgable when I arrive at the observatory.

I have no idea what I'll be doing tomorrow. I'm sure I'll check my e-mail a lot to see if there is any news from the Space Center. I need to answer the latest letter my sister sent. Maybe there'll be bills to pay as well. It's still not warm enough to make roof repairs, but that's probably useless anyway. I guess I should just concentrate on breakfast. Should I go out for French Toast or make an omelet at home? Oddly, little decisions like these seem just as difficult to make as the larger ones.

Malcolm is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3688

Facebook is supposed to know everything about us, but it still routinely reminds me to say Happy Birthday to people who are already dead. The older I get, the more frequently this happens. If they can figure out what I'm going to buy when I go to the grocery store, you'd think they could figure out when a friend has died. I hate to admit that I don't even know if you're dead or alive half the time, but that's the way it is. I guess I should pay more attention.

Without dogs to take care of and client deadlines to meet, I'm often at a loss for things to do. These two activities filled my days for years at a time. I guess my renewed interest in astronomy and my new fascination with space travel is some sort of search for a replacement activity. I've always stayed busy. Until recently I never realized how much time I used to spend collecting things. When I collected art, I used to go to museums and gallery openings a lot. When I collected watches I wanted to know everything about them. I even tried to teach myself how to repair watches and bought an assortment of watch repair tools. Being a collector is kind of a world unto itself. It's hard to say exactly when I lost interest in collecting, but one morning I woke up and realized that I just wasn't interested anymore. Jeez. How many watches do you really need? I will say that acquiring stuff is more interesting than getting rid of stuff.

I'm trying to convince myself that acquiring experiences is the next journey for me to take but it's an uphill battle. I'm not a terribly adventurous person and new experiences often fill me with dread. Familiar things are still my comfort zone. I'm hoping that following space launches will eventually become familiar enough that hopping on a plane to Kennedy Space Center won't be a big deal. Spending weeks on a remote mountaintop to look at the stars is more of a stretch. When I took the trash out tonight and realized that it was even colder in the Davis Mountains, I thought I must be crazy to even consider something like this. We'll see how it goes though. I may end up loving the long, dark nights.

Until these new adventures take place, roof leaks and plumbing problems will continue to be the things that fill me with dread. Luckily, it was dry today but it wasn't warm enough to pour some of the remaining silicon material over the spot where the leak occurred. It probably isn't worth bleaching the sheetrock ceiling again either. The rust colored stains are back and I definitely haven't found the leak yet.

I hope it is warmer tomorrow. I had a hard time even getting out of bed this morning. Cold gray days just aren't very inspiring. Luckily, I don't need to be inspired to take a walk. I'll walk tomorrow, just like I did today. I'll make a blog post too. I can always write a few paragraphs even if nothing happens.

Spirit is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3687

It rained again last night. It looked like the roof was going to leak again, so I set some buckets out in the kitchen and went outside to turn the pumps on. Water is not my friend this year. One of the toilets keeps running. It's hard to shut off the kitchen sink. Water is getting underneath the tiles in the shower. The water heater is starting to show its age as well.

There's not an easy fix for any of these things. When I first became a homeowner it seemed much easier to find repair people who could fix anything. I can't find these people anymore. The ones I really liked have all either died or retired. I can fix a lot of things myself, but it's hard to even find the proper parts these days. Basically, your typical mid-century modern house is 70 years old. Nothing lasts that long.

I waited for the roof to start leaking while I was eating breakfast, but it never did. I could tell the sheetrock was getting damp though, so there is definitely still a problem. I decided not to tempt fate and went up on the roof to sweep the water away. How is this water getting in? The silicon coating looks solid and I don't see any obvious problems. When I got all the water removed, it started raining again. It's too bad that the rainy season isn't even close to being over. I won't be able to examine things more closely until we get a few weeks of really dry weather. Even though it was a nasty day, I still found some time to take my walk. There was a light drizzle while I was walking, but I managed to stay reasonably dry by dressing in layers. When I returned home, I threw my damp clothes in the dryer and got some rags and a ladder to try to dry out the damp spot in the kitchen ceiling. I guess things could be worse. There was no need for buckets today. I can stop the toilet from running by taking the lid off the tank and jiggling things a bit. The kitchen faucet will probably last a few more years if we are gentle with it. I still with I could find really talented repair people who were interested in fixing things instead of just replacing them. I keep thinking that repair people should all be like those guys you see on that "This Old House" TV show. Unfortunately, real life is a little different.

Since water seemed to be the theme for the day, I looked at the long range weather for my trip to Florida. Jeez. There is a high probability of rain on launch day. I bet this launch is going to get postponed again. The forecast looks a lot more promising for the trip to McDonald Observatory later this Spring. It's going to be cold though. It looks like nighttime temperatures will still be below freezing the entire time I'm there. Maybe I ought to get my old Alaska coat out of the storage warehouse after all.

Hopefully, I'll see a little blue sky tomorrow. I'm definitely not at my best on a rainy day. We'll see how it goes. I have a feeling that I'll be battling water for a long, long time.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3686

It's easy to spend the entire afternoon with the Dalmatians. They enjoy the attention and we enjoy having the opportunity to get to know them better. Everyone has their own personality. Some like to race around and chase after red rubber Kongs. Others like to play with soft plush toys. Sock and Lord like to stay together, while Charlie and Hank seem to do better on their own. Dawn always gives us one of those big Dalmatian smiles when we arrive. She isn't very playful but is probably the most relaxed of the bunch. She was content to just sit quietly with us today.

Something bit me last night. I woke up with a big welt on my back and have no idea how it got there. It's not the season for mosquitos and chiggers, so maybe it was a spider. There are tons of spiders in our yard, but luckily most of them are outside. There definitely shouldn't be spiders in the bed, but you never know. I'd probably hate to know how many critters come out of the woodwork after the lights go out.

Tax documents are starting to arrive in the mail. Jeez. Is it already that time of the year again? Time passes so quickly now. I feel like I just finished with last year's taxes. It doesn't seem fair that Social Security is taxed. This doesn't really feel like income. It doesn't seem like those mandatory IRA distributions should be taxed as income either. Oh, well. Those are the rules. I just collect all the documents and give them to my accountant.

Since we're spending more time with the dogs now. I'm getting a really late start on my Monday walk. I started well before sunset, but arrived home in the dark again. As the sky grew darker I looked for familiar stars. All I really saw was Venus next to a thin crescent moon. I should have been able to see Mercury on the Western horizon about thirty minutes after sunset, but there were too many clouds. It's too bad I'm a little nervous about being in the park after dark. You get a lot better view of the sky away from all the city lights.

The toilet in the bathroom is running again so I spent some time cleaning the complex mechanical parts. Plumbers won't even fix this weird French toilet anymore. They just tell me to get a Toto. I was convinced that the toilet would work perfectly after I put everything back together. Cleaning the little hydraulic parts inside the tank usually works. This time it didn't. The toilet still runs. All of today's efforts were for nothing.

One of these days I'm going to have to try to clean the large format printer again. This probably won't work either. I have waited too long. I just got tired of spending hundreds of dollars on ink cartridges when I didn't really have anything to print. Epson is really just an ink company. The printer is just there to make you buy ink. I have no desire to make large Giclée prints anymore. A rational person would just throw this printer away. I never claimed to be a rational person though.

I hope this coronavirus scare doesn't get worse. I'm going to get nervous about airports soon if they don't stop flights to and from China. Right now there are still daily flights to and from major Chinese cities. I guess I could drive to Florida for the Solar Orbiter launch, but it would take a full scale plague to make me drive that far. Lets hope it doesn't come to that.

Sophie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3685

I changed all my reservations this morning. The Solar Orbiter launch has been postponed. I was kind of expecting that this might happen, but I hope it doesn't happen again. Just because you managed to make reservations for one date doesn't guarantee you can make them for another. Luckily, I was successful this time although hotels seem unusually full for this time of year. At any rate, I hope this new date sticks. Last minute changes are a lot of trouble.

It was an uphill battle to get my 20,000 steps today. I did my usual workout at the gym but it felt like someone had changed all the settings on the machines. I looked and nothing had changed. The only thing that had changed was me. I was terrible on the basketball court as well. Oh, well. We all have good days and bad days. At least I finished everything.

The sluggish feeling continued when I began my walk a few hours later. I blamed this on the wind. It was warmer today, but it was very windy. It looked like a good day for sailing. Not so good for picnics though. By the time I returned home I was finally starting to feel normal. It was odd that I felt sluggish today because I actually got a good night's sleep.

I thought about putting some more silicon on the roof, since it was so warm today. Then I remembered how windy it was and decided to wait until the weather was calmer. This stuff is messy on a windless day. I'd probably end up with liquid silicon all over myself on a day like today. I'm not even sure there is a point to continuing these repairs. I still don't know where the leak is.

I guess I missed my chance to go up to the little observatory north of town. There just weren't enough clear nights in January. Now the moon is back and nights will be getting brighter for the next several weeks. I read that tonight was a good night to see Mercury just below a very thin crescent moon right after sunset. There were clouds on the horizon though and I'd have to walk quite a ways to find an unobstructed view anyway.  It wasn't worth the trouble.

It's easy to talk me out of going outside at night, but it would be difficult to talk me out of visiting the Dalmatians. I'm already looking forward to our weekly trip to the kennel tomorrow. I hope everyone is doing well. We will continue our efforts to socialize the dogs and spoil them with treats. I haven't heard anything recently, but it would be nice to learn that a few more are on their way to their forever homes.

I listened to a little bit of the Grammy Awards this evening. Once again I didn't know who most of the artists were. I did know who Usher was, but was he really the right guy for a Prince tribute? Who am I to say? I'm still listening to Hotel California in the elevator.

Jazz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3684

Whenever something bad happens these days it almost always reminds me of a movie I've already seen. Reality and fiction have become hopelessly blurred together in ways I never would have thought possible a decade ago. When I first started hearing about the coronavirus scare it seemed so much like the movie Contagion that it would be impossible for me to tell which story was real if I didn't already know that Contagion was a movie. In many ways the idea that there is a city in China that is larger than New York City where people routinely eat bat soup and snakes on a stick seems more like fantasy than any movie I've seen. I guess I'm not as well informed as I thought I was. Until a few weeks ago, I didn't even know that the city of Wuhan existed. Sure, I knew about Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, but Wuhan? Never heard of it.

A pandemic like ebola, bird flu or the coronavirus has to make you wonder about globalism. When anything becomes too big to fail, what happens when it inevitably does fail? When engineers want a failsafe system, they build in a lot of redundancy. When a single system fails, the machine continues to run. We ought to think of the world this way. A lot of independent, self-sufficient economies is a lot safer than a single global economy. We were a lot more resilient as a country when every city had a factory and we were able to make everything we needed ourselves. I think a world where it is not so easy to travel from one country to another is better as well. What is so bad about applying for a visa and planning ahead? The reason we all know about Wuhan today is that it is super easy to just hop on a plane and be anywhere else in the world in a matter of hours.

A guess you can't have it both ways. I'd like to see flying cars and cities on Mars, but I'm still more comfortable in the simpleminded black and white worlds of Have Gun Will Travel and Perry Mason. Old TV westerns make more sense to me than today's news.

Our world may be falling apart, but I find that my own little world usually gets better as soon as I turn off the TV. There is something to be said for concentrating on your immediate surroundings. There is usually plenty there to keep you busy. I ran my usual Saturday errands in the morning and took my walk in the afternoon. Not a lot happened today, but that was fine. An uneventful afternoon is much better than a roof leak.

As my trip to the Davis Mountains draws closer, I'm starting to realize that my knowledge of astronomy is woefully inadequate for conducting star parties at the observatory. I'm reading a lot online these days and spending time looking at star charts. This is no substitute for actually going outside at night, but we haven't had many clear nights lately. The more I read about contemporary astronomy, the more I remember why I chose advertising as a profession. A clear, dark night fills me with wonder, but I don't think I'd have the patience to spend years studying the rotation of galaxies or exploring stellar mass and luminosity.

I hope tomorrow is uneventful as well. A good breakfast and a trip to the gym are all that is on the agenda. That's enough for me.

Bones is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3683

Everybody seems to hate paper these days. When I went to breakfast this morning, I didn't get a bill like I normally do. The waitress brought a little portable terminal to the table and asked me to insert my card. When the total came up on the screen, the tip was already included. I think I tip fairly, but I'd like to have a choice. I guess this must be the future. When I got a haircut recently, they had the same type of arrangement. Call me old school, but were those old paper bills really all that bad? I didn't even get a receipt because I declined to leave my e-mail address. Been there, done that. If you leave your e-mail address when you are buying something, you will get spam messages from the company until the end of time.

I picked up some things for dinner tonight on my way home from breakfast and was surprised at how expensive my small purchase turned out to be. It was the crab cakes. They were double what they usually cost. I asked Janet whether the price of crab cakes had gone up and she immediately told me that these weren't what we usually buy. "These crab cakes are huge," she told me. "Of course they're going to cost more." OK. I'll admit that I'm not very observant when I shop. I usually get the right category of thing, but nuances like this often escape me.

This was the first completely cloudless day we've had in a while. It would have been a good day to do yard work, but it was too cold. I got some bleach and a ladder and cleaned away the ugly stains in the sheetrock caused by the recent roof leak instead. The ceiling looks much better now. This would also be a good day to get the telescope out. There's a new moon tonight and the sky is as dark as it's going to get. Maybe I'll still do this, but usually I'm tired and ready for bed as soon as I finish the blog. Like I mentioned earlier, it's cold outside as well. Will I be a wimp or will I start getting in shape for my trip to Mount Locke? I'm not sure yet. The night is young.

The Atlas V rocket passed it's dress rehearsal test today for the upcoming Solar Orbiter launch. So far, it's looks like the launch is still on schedule. That's a good thing since I've already made all my reservations. I'm always afraid that something will change at the last minute and I'll have to rebook everything. I still need to decide what equipment to take. I always like to travel light, but since I will be taking pictures for a magazine, I might need to abandon this strategy.

It was a nice day for a walk. I dressed warmly and enjoyed my time outside. A clear, sunny day always seems to make a big difference. It looks like I'm going to need some new walking shoes soon. The Nike Air shoes I've been wearing are pretty comfortable, but they sure don't last long. I don't know what to wear anymore. The sturdy hiking boots I used to wear seem too heavy now and running shoes are too flimsy. There's a store in town that specialized in walking shoes. Maybe it's time to pay them a visit.

I need to remember that tomorrow is Saturday and I've got a lot of errands to run. For a few hours this morning I thought today was Saturday.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3682

I saw a little blue sky today. Things are looking up. I guess the big news is that I got my press pass. NASA sent me a notice today that my application has been approved. I'm a space journalist now. I'll be covering the Solar Orbiter launch for a little British magazine few people have even heard of, but it's still a big deal to me.

The good news about getting real press credentials inspired me to get my butt in gear and make my reservations for the trip. Since I've started traveling more, I've joined several airline, hotel, and rental car loyalty programs in hopes of getting a better deal. All I've gotten so far is a lot more spam e-mail. It's not so easy to get a great deal. What I've discovered is that when you tell an airline or hotel when you want to travel, there are seldom any deals. You get the bargains when you let them tell you when to travel. Discounts aren't really meant to help you. They exist to fill empty seats and rent rooms on slow days. Needless to say, I'm not getting any deals this trip, but I do have my reservations now.

I spent a lot of time up on the roof today. Truthfully, I still have no idea where the leak is coming from. After I removed all the standing water, I took a tape measure and found the spot on the roof directly above where the leak occurred. Everything looked good to me. I couldn't find any holes or tears in the silicon coating at all. The water is getting in somewhere though. I just don't know if I'll ever find the source. The problem is that once that water manages to get under the protective coating, it can travel almost anywhere. The leak might be nowhere near where it is actually entering the house. Luckily, this was a very small leak after a very heavy rain. Maybe if I'm more careful about using the pumps, it won't happen again.

Since the rain has moved on to the East, I was able to take my walk today. It was definitely easier walking on an indoor track, but time seems to pass much more quickly when you are outdoors. It's easy to let your mind wander and daydream when there are interesting things to look at. Walking the same distance on a small indoor track is mind numbing. I totally lost track of time yesterday and was just waiting for my Fitbit to tell me that I'd gone the distance. I'll admit it was warmer though. There's definitely something to be said for staying warm. It was nice to see blue sky this afternoon, but I was still cold.

This week has gone quickly. I even managed to get a few things done. Now it's time to take this week's trash out to the curb and start thinking about where I want to go for breakfast tomorrow. Shrimp grits sounds pretty good. If the weather stays nice, I might start thinking about visiting the little observatory north of town as well. I still need to do this before leaving for the Davis Mountains. Did I mention that the weird rattling noise in the washing machine has disappeared. The machine sounds normal again. All in all, it's been a pretty good day.

Chloe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3681

All day rain. Ordinarily, that's all you'd need to say about a day like this. Today, I'll add two more words. Roof leak. Yes, the roof is leaking again. It's been so long since we've had a leak that I didn't initially recognize the ominous dripping sound I heard early this morning. The leak didn't last long, but it destroyed any notions I might have had that the roof had been fixed.

This leak was in a new location that I'd thought was pretty safe. I'll have to check when things are dry again, but I can't remember any questionable areas above the kitchen. I guess I should have turned on the pumps last night, but I was asleep. It's unfortunate that it rained so hard while we were sleeping. You can't turn the pumps on ahead of time because they get hot if they run dry and it's easy to burn out the motor. By the time I woke up, it was too late.

Things didn't really get better as the day progressed. I was going to make my reservations for the Florida trip and discovered that the hotel where I wanted to stay was completely full. I wasn't expecting this either. I still thought I had plenty of time. I looked for other hotels in the vicinity, but they were either twice as expensive or had terrible reviews. You really don't want to stay at a place where reviewers say "If you like threadbare towels and roaches in the shower, this is your place."

I'll have to find some place acceptable tomorrow and wrap this up. If I wait much longer to make my reservations, I'm afraid that the most convenient flights might be booked as well. I guess the days of traveling without a plan are long gone. When I was young, I remember driving until I felt like stopping and there were never any problems finding a room. I've gone to the airport without reservations too, but I'll admit that was a long time ago.

I kept waiting for the rain to stop so I could take my walk, but it never did. Finally, I gave up and went to the gym. As much as I hate driving in the rain, I hated having a day without 10,000 steps even more. At least it was warm and dry at the gym. I was going to enroll in my healthcare plan's new  free membership program, but I discovered that my current membership was automatically upgraded to the new plan at the first of the year. No more gym membership bills. At least there was some good news today.

I hope this rain moves out of the area by tomorrow. I need to go up on the roof and see if I can find where this new leak is coming from. I am not optimistic. I have a feeling of hopelessness about this whole situation. I have gotten bids from reputable companies and they all say that because of the way the house has settled over the years, there will still be standing water even after a new roof is installed. Give me a break. I don't want to spend a ton of money on a roof and still have to climb up and sweep the water away after every rain.

This day needs a do-over. I'll see if I can get a fresh start on things tomorrow. If I look up and see a little blue sky, I can almost guarantee that the day will end better.

Raider is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3680

I'm glad I decided to trim trees and rake leaves this morning. Less than an hour after I bagged up the leaves and hauled the branches I'd cut out to the curb, the bulky trash trucks arrived and hauled everything away. I thought the trucks were coming tomorrow, but I guess I got lucky.

About three months ago I heard something about a new free gym membership plan that was going to be added to my health insurance coverage. I've been waiting for a letter explaining the program ever since. I never heard anything, so I finally went on the healthcare website to see if there was any informations there. The plan has already been in place for several months. Hmm. I wonder when they were going to tell me about it? Since my current gym supports the plan, all I have to do is sign up. This will be the third gym membership plan I've joined since turning 65. Hey, even the government wants me to keep moving. All these plans for seniors have been pretty good. I just wonder why they keep changing.

I got an e-mail today saying that my social media press accreditation for Kennedy Space Center has been officially approved for the Solar Orbiter launch. I can make my reservations now. A few hours later I got another e-mail saying that my traditional media press accreditation for Kennedy Space Center has been verified and submitted for approval. Hmm. I wonder if I will ultimately get both of these applications approved? I'm still hoping to get a real press pass. I suspect that both types of media accreditation provide pretty much the same access. Often when I go to these events, the social media folks are on the same bus with the magazine and television journalists. In my own mind, a real press pass is better because it makes me a working journalist. Instead of having an expensive hobby, I would be embarking on a second career. Here's hoping anyway. There's no real money to be made following space launches, but there's no money to be made sitting at home watching Netflix either.

Another cold front must have rolled through town last night. This is probably why I have a continually runny nose. We keep going back and forth between warm and cold weather on a 48 hour basis. There's no time to get used to anything. Now it looks like it's going to start raining again around midnight. I'm tired of this, but I guess it has always been this way. When I look back at old January posts, it is always a story of cold, wet weather. Last January it was much worse because I was still trying to keep Dash walking. His rear legs were weak and he dragged them while walking, so he needed three layers of protective socks and boots to keep his paws from bleeding. On cold days it took forever to get Dash dressed. He has a sweater under his Help 'Em Up harness, a leg brace, and the protective socks and booties. It was worth the effort though because Dash still loved to walk. It was his favorite time of the day.

I was surprised to see a patch of Pink Phlox blooming in the park today. Aren't these plants supposed to bloom in the Spring? They were definitely the only wildflowers to be seen. I was glad to have something to photograph. The park can look pretty bleak during these cold winter months. There are always birds to photograph, but I would need to bring a better camera. On a cold day, these walks are purely for exercise. I just want to get back to the house so I can get warm again.

Maybe tomorrow I can finish all the things I meant to do today. I did manage to get some leaves raked, but it's hard to get motivated on a cold winter day.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day