Day 4003 - Dawn's Birthday

Most of our dog's birthdays have been celebrated on the day we adopted them. It is rare to know a rescue dog's actual age. We know that Dawn is eight years old today because she was used as a breeding dog at the same kennel where she was born as a puppy. The dogs might not have been cared for well, but they did have records. I don't know if she ever had a birthday celebration before. We do know that she loves cake though. I think she had a good day today.

I went back to the dermatologist for a followup visit this afternoon. I think this visit was largely unnecessary, but the doctor did find two new patches of keratosis that he zapped with his handy bottle of liquid nitrogen. It's interesting that the solution to many minor skin problems is to freeze the offending area or burn it away. It seems pretty crude and basic to me, but it seems to work.

Going to the doctor still doesn't seem normal yet. All the new Covid protocols make it seem like you are in some kind of dystopian novel. You can tell that people don't want to ride in an elevator with anyone else in a hospital. They wait until they can get a car for themselves and then try to push the button before anyone else can get in. Half the chairs have been removed in most waiting rooms so that patients are spaced out. Everyone wears a mask of course and you always have to fill out a form saying that you don't have a cough, a fever, or have had any exposure to someone with Covid. Whoever is making those infrared forehead thermometers is making a ton of money. Everyone takes your temperature these days. Sometimes your temperature is taken several times before you actually see a doctor.

Apparently some of my friends out at McDonald Observatory have already received their copies of the February issue of Sky & Telescope. I got tagged on Facebook this evening with a congratulatory message about the article that included a picture of the February cover. My editor didn't even tell me that my article made the cover! I was surprised and elated. I didn't expect that I would be the magazine's feature article and I certainly didn't expect to be on the cover. Now I am stoked to write more astronomy articles. I'd like to go out to Mount Wilson in California and spend some time in Big Bend where the skies are even darker than they are on Mount Locke. All I need now is for Covid to go away. It's really put a damper on everything.

I watched the high altitude Starship test at Boca Chica on the Internet this afternoon. Everything went extremely well until the very end when the Starship exploded on landing. This was pretty good for a first test though. There are already two more Starship prototypes ready to go and I have a feeling that one of them will make a successful landing. SpaceFlight Magazine is interested in doing a feature on the Boca Chica facility, but I need to figure out if there is a story for me to tell. It is almost impossible to get access to the facility from Space X and if you go down on your own you can end up waiting weeks for a launch. Schedules change frequently and nobody on the outside really knows what is going on. There will be lots of Starship launches in the future, so maybe I can make some connections. I don't even know where I would stay right now.

I still can't figure out this weather we've been having lately. I had to wear a heavy coat on our morning walk with Dawn, but when I took my afternoon walk later in the day it was warm enough to wear shorts. I end up changing several times a day just to keep up with the weather. We've got another nice day in store for us tomorrow, but there's a 90% chance of rain on Friday. I don't know why I even look at these weather forecasts. They're always wrong.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4002

Today was full of pleasant little surprises. The weather was much warmer. I was even able to wear shorts on my afternoon walk. My warranty replacement dehumidifier is already on its way. The machine may not have preformed as promised, but the company definitely provides great service. I'm not sure that Janet will want two dehumidifiers running constantly in the house, but having a second machine will definitely keep the place dry.

The best surprise was a preview of my Sky & Telescope article. I was sternly admonished not to share this pre-publication preview with anyone, so even my astronomy friends will have to wait until the magazine appears on newsstands to see it. This is "for your eyes only" my editor said. The article really looked good. There were lots of pictures and it appears like the article will be a major feature. I'm really starting to feel like a journalist now. I've managed to get five articles published in a little over a year. If Covid doesn't spoil all my upcoming trips, I may be able to do even better next year.

Dawn's birthday is tomorrow. I wonder if she's ever had a birthday celebration before? I'll have to go out tomorrow morning any get some dog cupcakes for her. I'll pick up a few cupcakes for Janet and I as well. We used to bake special cakes for our dogs birthdays. I even took a cake decorating class a long time ago. I don't think either of us have the patience for that sort of thing anymore, but we still try to celebrate.

I watched the high altitude test of the Space X Starship this afternoon on YouTube. The launch was scrubbed with one second left on the count. Nobody seems to know what went wrong yet. They may try to launch again tomorrow, or it could takes weeks to resolve the problem. It's amazing how complicated it can be to get a new rocket off the ground. I'm glad I didn't try to go down to Boca Chica for this launch. It has already been postponed several times and I would probably have needed to return home without seeing anything. Maybe I should wait until they have worked some of the bugs out of the Starship before attempting a visit.  I'm not really sure where I'd stay anyway. There aren't that many hotels on South Padre Island. 

Sadly, Covid appears to be getting worse everywhere. SpaceFlight Magazine is interested in having me do an article about the Perseverance landing next February, but I'm not sure a trip out to JPL would be wise. I'm not sure I can get myself invited either. Hey, it's something to think about. I've always wanted to visit the Jet Propulsion Lab. I'm just not sure I want to visit California right now. Maybe life will be better in February. Who am I kidding. It will probably be worse.

I've got another doctor's appointment tomorrow. This is a follow up visit with my dermatologist. I had some small seborrheic keratosis growths removed earlier in the year and now the dermatologist will probably want to see me forever. Doctors never seem to forget about you. If you see them once, you will definitely see them again. I guess this is a good thing. The older you get, the more important it is to be proactive about your health.

I still haven't taken any pictures with my new camera. I'm thinking about it though. I'm terribly slow about everything these days. I guess there's no need to hurry. Sooner or later the camera will get used.

Willow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4001

We went back to the kennel today to visit Charlie. Even though we were at the same boarding facility most of the day yesterday for our Santa Paws event, we were far too busy to visit Charlie. He didn't even get his picture taken with Santa because he is not good with other dogs. Yesterday's oversight certainly didn't seem to bother him. He was his typical unpredictable, happy self today. Charlie loves to destroy toys, so we only let him play with the most indestructible red Kongs we can find. He almost always has a ball in his mouth unless he is waiting for a treat. Charlie is smart and very food motivated. We've learned that we can teach him almost anything if there is a food reward involved. At any rate, he was glad to see us today. I think he expects to see us on Mondays now.

The props and photo gear we used at yesterday's photo shoot are back in the storage warehouse again. The house looks a little neater now, but not by much. We've still got way too much pandemic related stuff stacked up in the front hallway. I don't think there's much of a chance that we'll ever run out of toilet paper. I wish my storage warehouse was a lot bigger. If I had more room I could clear out the hallway and then start moving all the books in my office to storage as well. It would be much easier for me to put everything in the office in storage instead of just throwing it away. A storage warehouse is a great way to postpone making a decision. You always have the option of retrieving something if you change your mind.  It's an expensive luxury though. Storage warehouse companies keep raising your rent year after year until you are paying a ridiculous amount for a room full of worthless junk. They should be rewarding loyal customers, but they do exactly the opposite. I have a love/hate relationship with my storage warehouse. I like having a halfway house for my stuff, but I'm convinced that I'm being cheated by the warehouse company.

Today was definitely a nice day for a walk. It was still chilly outside, but the temperature was much warmer than yesterday. It is still hard to decide what to wear on these walks with Dawn. If you are comfortable at the beginning of the walk, you will be way too hot on your journey back home. If you are comfortable after you've been walking a few miles, you are going to be pretty chilly when you begin. I underdressed today and by the time I returned home, I felt just about right.

One of these days I'm going to need to learn to use my new camera. The instruction manual is over two hundred pages long and the menu in the camera itself offers a labyrinth of confusing choices. Most of the features I want to use are buried deep inside this menu. I guess there is plenty of time to experiment. I have absolutely nothing on my agenda now.

I wish people were better at answering my e-mails. I always answer messages almost immediately. The mask distributor has been silent about replacing my defective N-95 masks. The dehumidifier company hasn't told me whether they received the warranty information I sent them. Even my editor at Sky & Telescope failed to respond to a question I had about my upcoming article. When people do respond they usually tell me that they get hundreds of messages a day and don't have time to respond to everything. This is hard for me to comprehend, since I seldom get five messages a week. Spam doesn't count as a message obviously. I get plenty of spam.

I think Space X is going to do the big high altitude Starship test down in Boca Chica tomorrow. I need to remember to watch this. It ought to be interesting.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4000

Today was a milestone. Yay. I've only got 1000 days left to reach my goal. It's hard to believe that I've been blogging now for 4000 consecutive days. I've never missed a single day. Tornados, illness, travel, and numerous power outages never stopped me. The lack of anything to say never stopped me either. Blogging is not very popular anymore and readers have dwindled, but I soldier on toward an arbitrary and somewhat meaningless goal. 5000 days actually seems within reach. I can do this. If you continue reading, I'm sure something interesting will happen within the next three years.

Today's interesting event was our annual Santa Paws photo shoot. In previous years Dalmatian Rescue has organized multiple Santa Paws events in early December. I don't know why, but people love to have a picture of their pets with Santa. These holiday events have always been popular and are a reliable fundraiser for Dalmatian Rescue. Covid has made holding events like this much more difficult, but we pulled it off. Even Santa wore a mask this year. We only scheduled a single event and reservations were spaced out a bit more, but I think we were successful. 

I think we did a great job keeping everybody safe and people loved their pictures. Everyone was polite and followed the rules. Compared to grocery shopping or going to a hardware store, I don't think having your dog's picture taken with Santa was risky at all. Once I got used to it, wearing a mask all day wasn't that bad either. I wore my good N-95 mask, but just about anything would have sufficed. Nobody was really that close together.

There were no equipment failures today and no dogs peed on the backdrop either. If we do this again next year I'm going to have to replace a few things. One of the stands that holds up the backdrop is on its last legs. The softbox I use as a key light has seen better days as well. My Norman strobes and power packs seem indestructible though. I've used these things for so many years and they still function flawlessly. The aging equipment seemed expensive at the time, but it turned out to be a good investment.

Dawn has absolutely no separation anxiety. She didn't seem to mind that we were gone all day at all. We checked on her with the webcam from time to time and I think she just slept on the bed all day. It would have been nice to get a Santa picture with her, but Dawn hates riding in the car and the kennel can be stressful as well. I think she enjoyed a long, peaceful nap.

Tomorrow, a lot of the photo gear goes back in the storage warehouse for another year. I've already washed the backdrop and it came out looking like new. Maybe when I dig this stuff out again, the world will be back to normal. I certainly hope so anyway.

Ellis is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3999

We walked a little later this morning and it made a big difference. I only needed one coat and Dawn didn't need a coat at all. It's amazing how quickly the temperature rises as soon as the sun comes up. We see a lot fewer people now that Winter has arrived. Often it seems like we have the park to ourselves. It's still not easy for me to get up in the morning, but I really need the exercise. Whenever I hear Janet say "thirty minutes" I always get out of bed and get ready to walk. The older I get the more I realize that staying healthy is my responsibility.

There wasn't much on my grocery list this week, so shopping didn't take long at all. People still seem to be hoarding toilet paper and bottled water, but we have plenty. All I really needed this week was fresh fruit. I wish peaches weren't a seasonal product. I always think my smoothies taste better with peaches in them.

I think I've got all my equipment ready to load in the car early tomorrow morning. Janet says that we've been doing these Christmas pictures since 2004 and I've been using the same equipment the entire time. I'm amazed that it still works. I have upgraded cameras over the years, but the strobe lights, the power packs, and all the umbrellas and stands have been used every year. We have quite a collection of Christmas themed backdrops by now, but I can't even find some of the older ones. I like the new, lighter washable backdrops better anyway.

Hopefully, everything will work well for one more year. We only have a single venue this year. Covid has changed everything, including the ways that Dalmatian Rescue is able to raise money for the dogs. I'm kind of dreading wearing a mask all day, but if people working in grocery stores can do it, so can I. I've already discovered that photographers have some of the same problems with masks as people wearing glasses. Your viewfinder tends to get fogged up when you breathe. I was thinking of using my new camera tomorrow, but I decided to stick with something I'm more familiar with. Maybe I'll use the new camera next year.

It's a shame that the virus is spiking again. I never thought that the pandemic would last this long. I think the real problem is human nature. I'm a loner, but a lot of people really like to mingle and socialize. Masks won't help if help the people continue to wear them below their nose. I still see a lot of people pull their mask down whenever they talk to someone. Jeez. That defeats the whole purpose. Lockdowns don't work if people are still having weddings, going out to dinner with friends, and planning holiday celebrations. I never got the regular flu because I always stayed away from children in the Winter. It's probably that simple. Just stay away from other people and you are safe.

I'm mostly just going to be around dogs tomorrow. It's much more likely that my knee or shoulder will go out than I'll catch the virus. Photography isn't really kind to old people. Pretty soon I'll have to just sit in a chair like Santa when I take these pictures. Since dogs come in all shapes and sizes I do a lot of kneeling and even lying on my belly to get the best angles. Hey, staying active keeps you young. I guess I've got to practice what I preach.

I think it's supposed to rain tonight. I hope it's all over with before morning. The last thing we need tomorrow is a bunch of wet dogs.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3998

We debated about waiting until later to walk this morning. It was really cold. We decided it was better to wear warmer clothes than to change our plans. This meant that Dawn would have to wear two coats today. Janet and I wore two coats as well. Dot and Dash often wore two coats on cold days, but this was a first for Dawn. A black sweater goes on first. Then the red Ruffwear harness goes on top. Finally an insulated outer coat goes on top of the harness. Since Dawn is about the same size at Dot, everything fit well and she could still move freely. It took Dawn a little while to get used to the new gear, but it definitely kept her warmer. Northerners would think this was overkill, but like I've said many times, we're not Northerners.

It was a clear, sunny day and although the temperature was near freezing while we walked, it warmed up quickly as the day progressed. I think we had a high of around fifty-five degrees. I always turn the furnace up and change back to shorts and a t-shirt when we return home. There is a lot of glass in the house and we used to have problems with condensation in the Winter. The dehumidifier has taken care of that. As long as the dehumidifier and the furnace are running, Winter is banished from the house.

Today was uneventful. I made a quick trip to the bank after breakfast and spent the rest of the day puttering around on the computer. I'm still trying to improve my skills at processing the astrophotography pictures I took out at McDonald Observatory last October. There are lots of techniques you can use to improve the quality of the images while still keeping them looking natural. I know how to stack images now, but I still need to take dark, flat, and bias calibration frames to reduce noise and artifacts even further.   When you add these calibration frames to your stack and run the processing software, the images noticeably improve. I should have taken the calibration frames out at the observatory because your camera needs to be at the same temperature as when you are taking star images. Darks are taken with the lens cap on. Flats are taken with the camera pointed at an evenly lit white background or a blank patch of sky. Bias frames also have the lens cap on and are taken at the fastest shutter speed your camera has. Mix all this together with the right software and you reduce a lot of the noise that digital cameras can create. Since all this is technical and tedious, I just played around with Photoshop today.

I'm sure that the next time I go out to West Texas, my photos will be a lot better. I have no idea when that is going to happen though. Covid has gotten really bad in Marfa, Alpine and Fort Davis and the observatory has shut down again as a precaution. They say the primary reason for the surge in cases is the huge increase in traffic to the Big Bend area. When people couldn't fly or take cruise ships, they began to take road trips. Campgrounds and National Parks are full all over the country and a lot of rural areas have been overrun by city people. It's ironic and kind of sad that my friends at the observatory thought they were safe because they were so remote. The remoteness and beauty of places like Big Bend attracted all the city folks with cabin fever though and now the Davis Mountains have become one of the worst Covid hotspots in the country.

It's time to make a grocery list again. I also need to make sure that all my camera batteries are fully charged and that I have spare batteries and bulbs for my strobe equipment. The Santa Paws event is Sunday. We looked at the backdrop today and it appears that we already washed it last year after we were finished with our events. It least that's one thing I won't need to do. It looks like it is going to be very cold again tomorrow morning. We know what to do.

Camp is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3997

I took my paperwork for the dehumidifier warranty replacement to the post office today. I was going to pay extra for delivery notification, but there was a long line of grumpy old people waiting to mail Christmas stuff. It seemed a little early to mail Christmas stuff, but what do I know. Several of the people were complaining that other people were standing too close to them. I wasn't going to stand in that line, so I just dropped my letter in a letter box and headed home again. I hope the mail doesn't get lost because I had to peel a label off the back of the dehumidifier and send it in to start my warranty claim. I have no faith in the mail anymore and don't have any extra labels either.

I've been wondering why Sky & Telescope hasn't paid me yet, so curiosity finally got the better of me and I wrote their billing department. The magazine initially told me that they paid on acceptance and that was almost two months ago. I guess it was a good thing I contacted the magazine. My invoice had gotten lost somehow and they had no record of it. They asked me to resubmit the invoice and this time I asked them to acknowledge that they had received it. I sent the invoice to exactly the same place I did several months ago, but this time it worked. When I asked what could have happened to the first invoice, the woman in the billing department just said "Hey, it happens."

It seemed really cold this morning. I wore two coats, a wool hat, and heavy gloves on our walk with Dawn. Dawn wore her winter coat, but she let us know that she wasn't having anything to do with that hat again. I don't know how Northerners can stand this kind of weather. It wasn't even snowing or anything, but I couldn't wait to get back inside again. Janet and I occasionally think about moving, but we quickly come face to face with Winter. Texas has its faults, but our Winters are definitely much milder than what you'd find in Wyoming or Idaho. Maybe I'm just getting old and soft. I went to high school in Alaska and I don't remember feeling as cold as I did this morning.

I had to go looking for a lower dose of vitamin D this afternoon. For years I thought it was impossible to get too much vitamin D. I took 5000 units a day for quite a while. Then I backed off to 2000 units a day. My doctor now wants me to take 1000 units a day. These lower doses are actually harder to find. The most common bottles on the shelves seem to contain 5000 IU pills. We'll see if this change makes a difference when I take my next physical six months from now. 

It was cold last night so I put a fuzzy blanket on the bed that Dawn seems to like. Usually she sleeps at the foot of the bed, but this morning when I woke up she was curled up right next to me. Interesting. Dawn's love of fuzzy blankets is much stronger than her fear of me. Maybe we'll eventually bond over a shared blanket.

I almost forgot that it was time to take out the trash again. This entire week has gone really fast. Our Santa Paws photo shoot will be here before you know it. After that, I've got a few more doctor's appointments and the year is over. We're thinking of having a Crown Roast for Christmas Dinner. Hey, that's something to look forward too. I love a Crown Roast.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3996

I received the press proofs of my article about the Crew 1 launch today. The article will appear in the February 2021 issue of SpaceFlight Magazine and it looks pretty good. I got six full pages in the magazine this time and they used quite a few of my photos. I'm pleased with how everything turned out. February is looking good for me. That's when my Sky & telescope article will appear as well. My editor wondered if I'd be interested in covering the upcoming Perseverance landing at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in February. Sure. Why not. I'll have to get credentials approved though. I kind of wanted to go out to JPL when the Curiosity rover landed, but I wasn't able to get approved. Maybe it will be easier now that I've gotten a few more articles published. Who knows. I may become a legit space and astronomy journalist yet.

An HVAC technician came over to the house this morning to diagnose what was wrong with my old dehumidifier so I could submit a warranty claim. I thought the guy would just do a quick write up saying that the unit wasn't working anymore. Nope. He tore the unit apart and was determined to find the problem. It turned out that the compressor wasn't leaking after all. Something inside the sealed system was restricting the flow of refrigerant to the evaporator coil and causing it to freeze almost instantly as soon as you turned the dehumidifier on. The good news is that this is something that definitely would be covered by the warranty. I have to send all my paperwork to the manufacturer and they'll open a claim. Hopefully, sometime in the foreseeable future I will get a free replacement for this defective unit. I've already got another dehumidifier running that seems to be working well, but you can't have too many dehumidifiers in this house. 

I was completely wrong about the weather yesterday. The two forecasting services I use both predicted an almost 100% chance of rain, but it stayed dry all day. We took our morning walk at the regular time and then I took another walk later in the day. It's weird how often the weather forecasts on my phone are wrong. They are pretty good about telling you what is going to happen thirty minutes from now. Not so good about telling you what is going to happen thirty hours from now. Right now it looks like we won't have any rain for the next ten days. The forecast could be completely different tomorrow morning though. We'll have to see what happens.

I penned Dawn in the back of the house while the repair technician was here. She slept through most of the service call, but finally noticed what was going on and started barking like crazy. Luckily, the repairman was just finishing up and taking his tools back to the truck. Dawn sounded like a good watchdog, but I think she was scared. She doesn't like new situations. Janet was home at the time, so Dawn calmed down quickly. Later in the day when Janet was gone, Dawn became fearful again. I think she might have gotten me mixed up with the repairman. At any rate, I knew to leave her alone and I went on my afternoon walk. She was back to normal when I returned.

The radiology department at Baylor called to schedule me for a swallow test. I'm not looking forward to drinking the Barium liquid they use during the test, but the whole thing is painless and doesn't take long. I'll be glad when all my medical appointments are over with. They all seem to happen in November and December. I've still got a follow-up visit with the dermatologist, this swallow test x-ray, and maybe a visit to see a foot doctor. Then I probably won't see anyone else for another year. 

I need to start gathering my gear together for this weekend's Santa Paws photo shoot. It would probably be a good idea to test my strobe lights and wash the backdrop as well. Most of this studio gear I only use one a year. It's all getting pretty old by now and I'm never certain whether everything will work. Fingers crossed. I'm not even certain that I'm working properly anymore.

Gretta is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3995

It was below freezing when we woke up this morning, so we revised our schedule a bit. I ate breakfast while Janet went to the gym and then we walked Dawn later in the morning after it had warmed up a bit. The temperature went from 30 degrees to 50 degrees fairly quickly, but that's where it stayed. There was a brisk wind today and it felt chilly all day.

I went to the storage warehouse and retrieved the rest of my photo gear this afternoon. I need to remember to avoid the storage facility on the first of the month. It was crowded with apartment people today either moving their stuff in or out of storage. Every time I go to my storage space I realize that there's not much of value there anymore. I really need to clean the place out. It's just so much trouble though. It's almost worth the rental fee just to be able to temporarily forget about this stuff.

I made an appointment with my HVAC guy to have them come out and give me a diagnostic report on my old dehumidifier. It will be interesting to see what they do tomorrow. The little portable unit is almost impossible to disassemble and they'd have to sit and watch the unit all day to see the problems I've observed. The filters are clean. The dehumidifier doesn't operate in a cold environment. I'm hoping that the HVAC guys will decide that a low refrigerant level is the only logical explanation for the defrost cycle coming on all the time. If there's something wrong with the compressor I get a new dehumidifier. If it's something else, I'm stuck with the repair bill. 

I renewed the domain registration for sealander.tv today. Back when my company was doing corporate videos and commercials I thought that this would be a good domain name for me. I've never ever used the domain, but I keep paying for it every year. I've registered several other domains that I'll probably never use as well. I not only have physical clutter piling up in the storage warehouse, I have virtual clutter piling up off in the cloud somewhere. It's hard to turn loose of this stuff. I was a very early adopter of the Internet. Why didn't I register names like cars.com or hotels.com back when nobody was interested in these things? Oh, well. It's a little late now.

Dawn seemed to enjoy walking later in the day. It took us forever to walk four miles because she wanted to stop and smell everything. We always let Dawn take all the time she needs to smell and investigate things. Hey, it's her walk. If she's feeling adventurous, she can even choose the route we take. I'm not that adventurous myself. When I take my afternoon walk, I always follow exactly the same trail. I often try to remember specific details on certain rocks and trees to keep my memory sharp. Somehow, although I do the same thing day after day, it always seems different. The clouds are different every day. I see different birds and animals each day. Today, there was a fierce wind. That was certainly different.

It's supposed to start raining again tonight. This means that I'll have to deal with water on the roof again and Dawn probably won't get her morning walk. Unfortunately, there's not much I can do about the weather. The probability of rain is quite high tomorrow, but things look pretty good after that. I definitely don't want a White Christmas. I'd rather have a gentle breeze, temperatures in the 70's, and clear sunny skies.

Jada is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3994

Brrr. It was 34 degrees when we woke up this morning. We didn't let the cold deter us. We bundled up and took our walk anyway. I'm not sure that Dawn liked her hat, but it had to keep her head warmer and everybody we passed said she looked cute. We actually didn't pass many people at all on the trails. The park was virtually empty. You have to be dedicated or a little crazy to leave the house on a day like this.

I had my appointment with the eye doctor today.  This is basically just a yearly check up to make sure that I don't show any signs of diabetic retinopathy. I still think my eyes are fine because I have 20/20 distance vision. There are problems though. Too many years of staring at a computer screen have ruined my close up vision and  according to my doctor, I am developing cataracts. I still can't detect any obvious signs of the developing cataracts, but they are apparently getting worse. "When will I have to start thinking about surgery," I asked the doctor. "Probably next year," he replied. Yikes. I was hoping he'd say ten years from now, or something else in the distant future. " How can these cataracts be getting worse," I asked. "I don't notice any changes in my vision at all." "You will by next year," the doctor replied.

I really don't like going to the doctor during a pandemic. Even though half the chairs in most medical waiting rooms have been removed to keep people apart, I still keep looking at all the other people with suspicion. "All these other people have got to be sick," I think. "Get me out of here."

The worst thing about going to the eye doctor is driving home after your eyes have been dilated. Everything seems so bright and even sunglasses don't help that much. Dilation doesn't just make things brighter, it also makes it harder to focus on anything. I squinted to reduce the glare and tried to avoid all the fuzzy cars in front of me. When I made it home safely, I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in a darkened room waiting for my eyes to readjust.

If it was thirty degrees warmer, today would have been perfect. The sky was clear and seemed to be completely free of pollen. I had no allergy problems today at all. Since it may freeze tonight, I remembered to set some of the outside faucets to drip. Some of the faucets are insulated, but others freeze almost instantly when the temperature dips below freezing. Tonight would have been a good night to take the telescope out, but I really don't like the cold. The stars will still be there tomorrow. It isn't that surprising that I am a little more familiar with the Summer skies.

I guess I'll go back to the storage warehouse and get the rest of the photo gear tomorrow. I need to wash the backdrop as well. Maybe I washed it after the last of 2019's events but I can't remember. One of the main reasons I got this new 10' x 20' backdrop is that it is machine washable. You couldn't wash my older hand painted muslin backdrops and after a few years they all began to smell of dog pee.

Hard to believe it's going to be December tomorrow. This has been one of the weirdest years I can remember. Everybody I know can't wait to get back to normal, but I think what constitutes normal is changing. The world is never going to be the way is used to be. The virus will eventually disappear, but a lot of our new habits and routines will remain. I'm pretty adaptable, but I'm not really looking forward to what lies ahead.

Belle is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3993

I thought I had gotten everything we needed for next week's Santa Paws pictures from the storage warehouse a few day ago. Not so fast. I was looking at my gear today and it felt like something was missing. What was it? Jeez. I had forgotten the two large steel stands and aluminum crossbar that holds up the backdrop. How could I forget this? These three items are the largest, heaviest parts of the entire setup. I'll go back to the storage warehouse tomorrow and retrieve these items. I'll also take a good look around to see if I've forgotten anything else. I need to make a checklist when I get up in the morning. I forget everything these days.

I wish I could forget about all the water on the roof. Since it looks like the weather has cleared up for a few days, it was time to remove all the standing water from yesterday's rain. I've grown to hate this job, but it needs to be done. It must have rained a lot last night, because there was a ton of water on the roof. The water never evaporates in the Winter and falling leaves from the large Oak and Pecan trees form little duck ponds that hold the water in place. It took me almost two hours to remove all the leaves and standing water. While I was working, I found a few new areas that need to be repaired. Why can't I find these things in the Summer when it much easier to patch the roof? If there's ever a warm, dry day in the next month or so, I know what I'll be doing.

We slept in a little later than usual this morning and by the time we were ready to walk, all the rain had stopped. It was still wet and muddy however, so we tried to stick to paved roads. Dawn enjoyed the chilly morning, but I wished I had dressed a little warmer. It's hard to decide what to wear on days like these. When it's windy down by the water it can seem ten degrees cooler. When the sun comes out on a cloudy day, it almost instantly seems ten degrees warmer.

When we were taking inventory of our props for next week's photoshoot, we tried a few hats on Dawn. She was a good sport, but I don't think she likes wearing hats any more than our other dogs. We seldom get Santa pictures of our own dogs because Janet and I are both working at these events. I'm sure that Dawn would much rather stay home and take a long nap on our big bed than be in a kennel run while we were taking pictures. We did take Dot and Dash to a Santa Paws event once and you could tell that they almost immediately wanted to go back home again.

I attached a strap to the new camera and charged the batteries. That's as far as I got. I'm in no particular hurry. I still haven't even finished unpacking from my trip to Florida. It's taking me longer and longer to accomplish anything these days but I keep plodding along. Eventually, everything gets done. I'm going to use an older, more familiar camera for the Santa Paws photoshoot anyway. I learned long ago that the worst time to try something new is when you need everything to go right.

When I was taking my afternoon walk, I watched the sky change from heavily overcast to completely clear in less than an hour. It was really quite beautiful. I enjoy being outdoors. When I was looking up at the sky, I could imagine I was anywhere. The recurring sounds of police sirens and fire trucks quickly reminded me of where I actually was though. I miss the solitude of the Davis Mountains.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3992

Did I need toilet paper today? Not really. Did I grab a package when I saw the small supply at my grocery store dissapearing in front of my eyes? Absolutely. This is how hoarding starts. Nobody wants to be that person who just found out what everybody else was doing yesterday. Everything else on my grocery list we actually needed. I definitely don't want to wind up with a huge pile of food and supplies blocking the front hallway again.

Today was another day when the rain arrived much later than expected. It was supposed to start raining this morning, so we made sure to take our walk with Dawn earlier than usual. I went to the grocery store earlier than usual and took my afternoon walk at noon for the same reason. Since it is just starting to rain now, I guess all this activity was unnecessary. I don't know why rain bothers me so much. It probably has a lot to do with all the problems I've had with the roof. The roof isn't leaking now though and rain still bothers me. Maybe I just don't like surprises.

I found everything on my grocery list and scored a huge package of toilet paper as a bonus, but I didn't accomplish much after I returned home. It took forever to break down the large box the dehumidifier came in so it would fit in our trash can. It took even longer to clean all the scum out of the collection bucket on the old dehumidifier. After I got the machine looking sparkling new again, it occurred to me that maybe I should have left the oily scum inside the bucket alone. Oil was leaking somewhere and it might have helped the HVAC guy diagnose the problem. 

I was thinking about taking a few pictures with the new camera today, but the thought of rain put a damper on things. There is no urgency anyway. I often leave new things untouched for weeks before I actually begin to use them. One day I will feel a genuine need for this thing and will learn everything I need to know in a matter of hours. Since I bought the camera mainly for launch photography, it might be a while before I need it.

Dawn follows Janet around like glue when she's home. Whenever Janet leaves, Dawn retreats to the bedroom and seldom gets off the bed until Janet returns. Sometimes Dawn will come out to the kitchen when I am fixing her dinner, but even that is not consistent. I keep hoping that Dawn will bond with me, but I think she decided that men weren't to be trusted long ago. She's friendly with me when Janet is around, but when we're alone together Dawn is definitely wary. We'll never know what happened in Dawn's past, but it definitely wasn't good. It's a shame that she doesn't trust me. She's missing out on an afternoon walk that she could have every day.

I wanted to see if the automatic shut-off worked on the new dehumidifier so I let the bucket fill with water all the way to the top. I was apprehensive as the bucket filled, thinking that the living room would soon be filled with water. Everything worked properly though, so I can now leave the machine running all night without worries. This bucket must hold a little more water than the old dehumidifier because it was quite heavy when I eventually emptied it. I see a spill waiting to happen.

If the weather forecast holds, it will be raining when we wake up tomorrow. This means no early morning walk with Dawn. It also means another day of fretting about whether my roof patches will hold up. Did I mention that I don't like rain?

Scooter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3991

The new dehumidifier arrived today. Amazon Prime is still kind of amazing to me. Things really arrive fast. This new machine looks and feels basically just like the old one. It's the same size. There's an air intake vent, an exhaust vent, and a bucket that fills with water that the compressor extracts from the air. The controls on the top let you control the fan speed and set a target humidity level you'd like to reach. For some reason the instructions said to leave the machine in an upright position for two hours before turning it on. I'd never turn a dehumidifier on its side anyway, but I followed the instructions. The new dehumidifier was pretty noisy when I finally turned it on, but so was the old one. You get used to the noise. Hopefully this new dehumidifier will remove a lot more water from the house than the old machine. I'm hoping to get the old dehumidifier replaced under the warranty program as well. The house is big enough that two dehumidifiers would be useful.

Yesterday was cold. Today was much warmer. Texas weather makes no sense to me. It all seems so random. I always go out in the backyard after I wake up to see what type of jacket I need on our walk. There are days in November when I need two warm coats. There are other days when I can wear a t-shirt. Occasionally, our air conditioner still comes on in November. Some of the Spring flowers seem to re-bloom in the Fall when everything else is dying. That's a little confusing too. When we got the weather and the clothing sorted out, we had a nice walk. Dawn still has lots of energy and seems to feel a lot better than she did in the weeks before her seizure.

I didn't accomplish much today. I did get the new dehumidifier running, but that was about it. I tried to call my HVAC guy to see if he could do the diagnostic report that the manufacturer wanted before they would replace my old dehumidifier. No luck there. The place was closed for the holidays. I watched a couple of YouTube videos about how to set up the menus on my new camera. This camera offer a a lot of flexibility, but that means there are a lot of buttons and menu items to remember. I should probably watch some YouTube videos on my old cameras as well. I still haven't completely mastered any of them.

I'm wondering when I'll hear whether I've been accepted to attend that Artemis-1 static fire test at Stennis Space Center in late December. If I'm going to go I need to start planning. It seems kind of weird to want to go all the way to Mississippi to watch four rocket engines fire for eight minutes when the rocket isn't even going anywhere. This test is important though. The next stop for the rocket after the static fire is the moon. Hopefully Covid outbreaks won't continue to get worse. I think Southwest Airlines is going to start filling center seats again in December.

We had Thanksgiving dinner all over again tonight. Probably everybody else did too. There are always so many leftovers after a big meal like this. The meal was just as good the second time. I imagine there is enough left for a third time as well. I do love a really good smoked ham. I see lots of ham and cheese sandwiches in my future.

It looks like it is going to rain tomorrow. I'm hoping that we can get Dawn walked and I can take care of the grocery shopping before the rain begins. I'm never fond of rain. When it rains the roof may leak. A sudden storm may knock over one of the Oak trees in the back yard. Roads become slippery when it rains and Dallas drivers never slow down. Dawn refuses to go outside and pee when it rains as well. If it absolutely has to rain, I prefer that it happens at night when I can sleep through the whole thing. 

Spots is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3990 - Thanksgiving

I've got a lot to be thankful for. Janet and I are still together after all these years. We have a wonderful dog even though we both swore we wouldn't get another dog after Dot and Dash died. I'm still healthy. This grows more important with each passing year. Too many classmates have already passed away. I've found several things that I really enjoy doing during my retirement years. Since one of those things is writing about astronomy and space travel and I'm actually getting published, I've managed to convince myself that I'm really still working. It's important to feel like you are still necessary. I don't know how many years I've got left, but I'd be happy to continue living like this for a while longer. Life is good when your expectations are low.

Life was certainly good today. The weather continued to be nice and we had a great walk with Dawn this morning. There was very little traffic on the roads and the park was quiet. I like it this way. After breakfast, I started reading the instruction manual for my new camera and Janet began preparing our Thanksgiving meal. Later in the day I put up the Christmas tree.

Dinner was delicious. We had smoked ham, bacon wrapped asparagus, candied yams, Italian sausage dressing, and cranberry sauce. I seldom drink wine, but a nice glass of Cabernet Sauvignon seemed to go perfectly with this meal. This was Dawn's first Thanksgiving with us. She got some tasty treats, but we made sure not to feed her anything that wasn't safe for dogs. We use to watch the Cowboys game on Thanksgiving, but lately that would spoil the day. The Cowboys are terrible this year.

I used to dread Thanksgiving when it involved going home to visit with family. Now that it's just Janet, myself and a dog, Thanksgiving has become one of my favorite holidays. What could be better than a lazy day, a delicious meal, and a chance to reflect on things. I really prefer Thanksgiving to Christmas now. Christmas has become far too commercialized. Birthdays should just be forgotten. I don't need to be reminded that I'm even older than I was last year.

Even though it was a holiday, it was still trash day. As I took the trash out to the curb this evening I looked up at the sky and wondered if there was any point in being interested in astronomy in Dallas. You can't see anything. It was a clear night but basically all I could see were Mars and the Moon. Light pollution is terrible here and I don't feel comfortable driving at night to a rural location where the sky is darker. I think my stargazing is going to be limited to periodic trips to the Davis Mountains.

I think our new dehumidifier might arrive tomorrow. I've still got to figure out what to do with the old one. In theory, I can get this unit replaced by the manufacturer if I can find an HVAC company who will write a diagnostic report that details what is wrong with the unit. Since the little dehumidifier is almost impossible to disassemble, this might be difficult. Oh, well. One more thing on my to-do list.

I hope that all of you had a nice Thanksgiving. Covid or not, there is still plenty to be thankful for.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3989

I think Dallas has decided the coronavirus is over. People cetainly weren't sheltering in place today. There were traffic jams everywhere and the stores were packed. I had to pick up some last minute items for tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner and it seemed like the entire town had the same idea. The grocery store that I went to was so crowded that I had trouble moving from one aisle to the next. I got what I needed though. Janet and I will have a nice Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.

The storm last night was intense, but it was over very quickly. The thin line of storms passed through town at about 50 miles and hour and within fifteen minutes it was all over. We got a lot of rain within a short amount of time and there were some momentary high winds, but we didn't have any damage. One thing we learned was that Dawn does very well during a storm. We all sat together in our pitiful little hallway "safe space" during the worst of the storm and Dawn was completely calm. She just lay down between us and waited until the coast was clear. Petey and Dash would have totally lost it and Dot wouldn't have done that well either. A lot of our former dogs have had severe storm phobias, but Dawn just takes the weather in stride. I think she's more fearful of men than she is of tornadoes.

I succumbed to temptation and got the camera. There was no real justification for this purchase, but I knew that six months from now when the camera was full price again, I would be kicking myself for not getting it when it was on sale. I have plenty of cameras, but this is something I will definitely use. There are several innovative features that will be very useful the next time I find myself at Kennedy Space Center. My next attempt at astrophotography might benefit from this camera as well. At any rate, the deed is done. Now I have to read the instruction manual and learn how to use this thing.

I got a reminder call about my eye exam on Monday. Once you see a doctor about anything, they make sure that you'll continue seeing them forever. My vision is still good, although I need readers now for close up work. My vision would probably be even better if I hadn't spent so many years staring at a computer screen. The eye doctor says that I am slowly developing cataracts, but I can't notice any changes yet. Eventually, I'll have to deal with this, but cataract surgery is still way off in the future as far as I'm concerned. My distance vision is still 20/20 and I want to keep it that way. Good vision is important to almost everything I do. Hopefully the eye doctor won't throw me a curve on Monday.

We had a really nice walk this morning. Last night's storm seemed to have cleared the air and I didn't have any allergy problems at all. Lately it's been a little chilly when we leave the house, but we warm up quickly. Dawn loves the cool Fall weather and has been eager to walk these days. There are days when it's hard to get her out of bed, but today she was waiting at the door for us. It's nice to see her back to her old self. That seizure last month really had us worried.

I hope that tomorrow's celebrations don't cause a big virus spike. I'm tired of listening to pundits attempt to pin the blame for all this on somebody. If there is a huge spike, we'll never hear the end of it. Have a nice Thanksgiving. Eat too much and watch footfall afterwards. Just don't sit grandma right next to your college age kids at the table.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3988

Today was an exercise in futility. I attempted to follow the instructions from the manufacturer for getting a warranty replacement for my dehumidifier. I called the list of service providers the manufacturer provided and asked about bringing the dehumidifier in so I could get the diagnostic report that was required for warranty replacement. All the repair shops I called said they didn't even work on dehumidifiers and none of them had heard of the warranty replacement program. One of the companies on the approved vendor list had already gone out of business. This was going nowhere, so I called the manufacturer again for some clarification. It appears that the replacement program is real and that my dehumidifier qualifies, but this isn't going to be easy. I think I have a Plan-B now that I'll work on after the holidays.

I also wrote the company that I bought my N-95 masks from and told them that the elastic bands on the masks I had purchased were so dry and brittle that the elastic straps were breaking when I tried to slip the elastic over my head. The only way I've been able to use these masks is to make holes on either side using a hole punch and attach new elastic. The company asked me to send pictures to back up my claim, which I did. They said they'd get back to me. These masks are genuine but I have a feeling that they've been sitting on a warehouse shelf for ten years. Rubber does not become dry and brittle overnight. Will my dehumidifier get replaced under the company's warranty replacement policy? Will the mask distributor send me a replacement for the bad batch of masks I received? Who knows. I don't have high hopes for either of these issues. It is 2020 after all and few things go according to plan. 

The weather forecast said it was going to rain today, so we got started on our morning walk earlier than usual in an effort to avoid getting wet. It never did rain, but it was damp all day. It felt like we were walking in a light mist. By the time we returned home our clothes were wet and we had to throw them in the dryer. Dawn didn't seem to mind the weather. For the most part, dog seem to like damp days. The moisture must make the smells more intense.

I'm still very tempted by the Black Friday camera deal I received a few days ago. I don't really need another camera body, but I'm spending way too much time trying to convince myself that this purchase is actually necessary. Trust me. It isn't. I still may get the camera although it would make more sense to save the money for something essential. I know my weaknesses. I tend to buy gear when I'm bored or have too much time on my hands.

Maybe I'll accomplish something tomorrow. I certainly didn't today. Jeez. I just looked at the radar and discovered that we're under a tornado warning. What else is next. I'd better post this now before the power goes out.

Maggie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3987

No big problems or revelations at today's doctor visit. Apparently my Vitamin-D levels are too high and I need to start taking a smaller dose. All my other lab results were right in line. My A1C levels keep decreasing, so diabetes continues to be less of a worry. All in all, I'm feeling pretty good for a senior citizen with all the usual aches and pains. 

I finally remembered to ask the doctor about my foot pain and my tendency to have coughing spells while I eat. I have referrals now to see a podiatrist and have some imaging done on my esophagus. The doctor wants me to take part in a swallowing study where I swallow a variety of liquids and solids while x-ray imaging is being filmed. The procedure is called fluoroscopy and it reminds me of of those machines they had at shoe stores when I was a kid where you could look through a viewing window and see the bones of your feet in real time. I asked the doctor what would happen if they found a problem. "Well, a speech pathologist will probably show you how to eat your food properly," he said.

We had time to walk Dawn before my doctor's appointment, but I didn't have time for breakfast.  This was a good thing because I wasn't supposed to eat anyway. Surprisingly, I wasn't even hungry when I returned home. I had a piece of toast and a cup of coffee and I was good for the rest of the day. I probably still eat too much, but I'm not gaining weight, so I'm not going to worry about it.

I called the manufacturer of our dehumidifier today and talked to their tech support guy. He told me that my problem was most likely a low refrigerant level in the compressor and encouraged me to take advantage of the company's five year warranty. He said that small portable dehumidifiers were hard to service and the even their own dealers didn't like to work on them. I told him when I bought the machine and he said all I need to do is get a diagnostic report from one of their authorized service centers and the company would send me a new dehumidifier. The only problem is that the closest service center is fifty miles away. The whole process takes a while, so Janet and I just ordered a new dehumidifier on Amazon Prime. I'll probably still do the warranty replacement procedure eventually. You can't have too many dehumidifiers.

Since it was Monday, we went and visited Charlie at the kennel this afternoon. He is always glad to see us and we enjoy playing with him and teaching him new tricks. Charlie is definitely not a calm dog. He's not very predictable either. This is probably why he's been at the kennel so long. Charlie is extremely smart and probably would excel at agility. He does have issues with other dogs however and would require a patient and careful owner. I'm convinced that the right person is out there. Charlie will make a great companion for the right person.

We will be doing Santa Paws pictures at the kennel in early December and I was surprised at how many people has already made reservations. It looks like we'll have a busy day. This wasn't what I expected. I thought traffic would be light because of Covid. Apparently few people are concerned about the virus in Texas even though infection rates keep rising. Oh, well. I've got my new N-95 masks. The chances are higher that I will get bitten by a dog than catch the virus at one of these photoshoots anyway.

Petey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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