Day 4008

With temperatures hovering around 32 degrees when we woke up this morning, we decided that it was too cold for an early walk. I ate my breakfast and waited for the sun to warm things up. It didn't take long. By the time Janet returned from the gym, it was pretty nice outside. Dawn was eager to walk and I had trouble keeping up with her. My feet were bothering me this morning and I eventually handed the leash to Janet. I think they arrived home a good fifteen minutes ahead of me. Oh, well. I see the foot doctor on Wednesday. We'll see what he has to say.

Since it was Monday, we spent the afternoon visiting Charlie and a new dog named Clyde at the Dalmatian Rescue kennel. I think Charlie expects to see us on Monday's now. When we arrive he races around like a maniac tossing toys in the air and catching them. We throw balls for him and play for a while and then take him outside to pee. After he has calmed down a bit we sit on a bench with him while he chews on a red Kong. Charlie is always chewing on something. Eventually Charlie gets tired and we bring out the treats. This dog will do anything for a treat and we've managed to teach him quite a few tricks.

Charlie and Clyde have completely different personalities. Clyde is kind of shy and seemed a little nervous around us today. He really likes one of the kennel attendants though so she stayed with us while we visited. I have a feeling that Clyde will be more relaxed the next time we visit. The kennel is still very new to him.

I got a check from Sky & Telescope today. The adventure that started well over a year ago has finally come full circle. I have been to the observatory three times since my initial visit in August of 2019. I have made some lasting friends. And I have gotten published in a magazine I have enjoyed since childhood. It's a good start. I'm already thinking of a second article to submit to the magazine.

Tomorrow Dot goes to the vet for her annual physical. She has recovered so well from her seizure incident that it's hard to believe the event even happened. We've got a list of questions for the vet, but there is nothing alarming at the moment. Dawn seems pretty healthy. She is going to need her teeth cleaned pretty soon, but hopefully there is nothing else on the horizon that would require her to be anesthetized. I hope that Dawn stays healthy for a long. long time. I have too many memories of serious illnesses with earlier dogs.

I don't know why it is so hard for me to throw away the two damaged dehumidifiers. My HVAC guy has explained to me how expensive is would be to get these things fixed. I have two perfectly good working dehumidifiers, including one that is still in the box. In my head I still think these things should be easy to fix. I guess that's why my storage warehouse is filled with junk. My large production printer is nonfunctional now, but I still remember the beautiful prints I used to make. I can't seem to throw this away either. I went to great lengths to fix three vintage synthesizers last year and I still haven't bothered to play any of them. It's a sickness.

Hopefully Dawn will get a clean bill of health from the vet tomorrow. Then it's my turn to go to the doctor on Wednesday and Thursday.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4007

Today was dismal. I woke up to the sounds of thunder and rain pounding on the roof. The temperature was only 39 degrees. Clearly we weren't going on a walk with Dawn this morning. This wasn't a case of waiting an hour for the skies to clear. It looked like it was going to be an all day rain. Dawn didn't want to go outside anyway. We couldn't even get her to go out in the back yard and pee.

I turned on the pumps, which actually worked for a change, and we ate breakfast. There were all sorts of things I could have done today, but it was hard to get motivated. I could have gotten more familiar with my new camera. I could have installed the new electrical wiring monitoring device. I could have explored a new article idea I have for Sky & Telescope. I did none of these things. I decide to stop a toilet from running instead.

I should have known from the start that this would be a thankless experience. I can no longer get the parts I need for the aging French toilet and have been forced to clean and repair the existing parts in the flush mechanism instead. Unlike American toilets that use a simple float mechanism to stop the flow of water when the tank is full, this Rube Goldberg device uses a complex system of tiny rubber membranes to accomplish the same thing. When the membranes being to leak, the toilet runs. I've cleaned and reassembled these part so many times, but each time it gets a little harder to achieve a perfect seal. I think I made things a little better today, but I still hear an annoying drip, drip, drip sound. I get so tired of fixing broken things, but there is really no alternative.

The rain started to subside around mid-afternoon and I was getting cabin fever, so I decided to take a walk. I dressed warmly because it was still very cold. I should have worn a raincoat. Although the weather radar showed that the rain was moving away from us, there was still a fine, wind driven mist down by the lake. Even though it wasn't raining hard, it didn't take long to get wet. I just kept walking. I was wearing two warm coats and the inner coat didn't appear to be getting wet. Needless to say, I didn't encounter many other people on my walk. It was cold and nasty outside but I enjoyed the solitude. Long, quiet walks are a good time to think. By the time I returned home I had walked over five miles. 

I've got an idea for a second Sky & Telescope article and I'm going to start writing an initial draft tomorrow. What have I got to lose? If the rain clears up, I'll definitely have to go up on the roof. We got a lot of rain today and even with the pumps running most of the day, there will still be a lot of standing water. I might write my one contact at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as well to see if I can get myself invited to the Perseverance rover landing in February.

It was a miserable day, but oddly a cold walk in the rain helped to get me motivated. Who knows how long this will last. I might not even want to get out of bed in the morning. I noticed today that some of my very old blog posts have reappeared on Facebook. When were these posts reinstated and why is everything earlier than 2015 OK now? The newer blog posts are still gone. I've given up trying to figure Facebook out. My blog should never have been banned for violating community standards in the first place. Oh, well. I think robot algorithms control the whole thing anyway. 

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4006

It's weird how quickly the weather changes around here. The sky was completely clear when we started our walk this morning, but became overcast by the time we returned home. I thought it would warm up quickly because that's what happened yesterday, but it seemed to actually become colder as the day progressed. For the first time in quite a while I skipped my afternoon walk because I just didn't feel like dressing up in warm clothes again.

I received my author copies of Sky & Telescope in the mail today. I'd already received a PDF file of my article in the February issue, but I'm old school and like to hold a magazine in my hand. I've read this well known astronomy magazine off and on since I was in high school and it felt good to be included as one of the magazine's contributors. It felt even better to be the February issue's featured cover story. I think I'm on my way. I don't know what I'll write about in the future, but I definitely feel that there is a future.

Janet was gone this afternoon and when it was time for her dinner, Dawn followed me right out to the kitchen and watched as I prepared her evening meal. You'd think that any dog would do this naturally, but with Dawn this was progress. Inch by inch, she is slowly learning to trust me. I can join her on the bed now and she doesn't run away. I've learned to never make sudden movements and not to expect too much, but things are definitely changing for the better. Hopefully, by the time Covid restrictions are over and Janet starts to travel again, Dawn and I will be best buddies.

I need to find a place to observe the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on December 21st. Both planets will be low in the Western sky and I don't have a good view of the Western horizon. I had the same problem when I was searching for comet Neowise earlier this year. Neowise was a little higher in the sky though. Hopefully, I'll find a good place close to home. I really don't like driving around in Dallas after dark anymore. It's a shame that cities don't feel safe these days. When I was younger I thought nothing of packing up my gear in front of a club at 2 AM after our band had finished a gig. Not anymore. Even an astronomical event that happens only once every 800 years, leaves me a little apprehensive. I'll find a good location, but this would be so much easier if I were out in the Davis Mountains.

I signed up for this pilot program with my insurance company to use a special device to continuously monitor my electrical wiring for signs that could potentially cause a fire. Since we live in an old house with dubious wiring, this sounds like a good idea. On the other hand since we live in an old house, the device will probably find problems and cause our insurance rates to increase. There's always a catch to everything. I've always been worried about electrical fires though, so on balance this still seems like a good idea. I just hope that every time it rains and the pump on the roof shorts out, the device doesn't send a warning to the monitoring company. This is going to happen and the outdoor outlet that the pump is plugged into is already protected by a breaker that I reset frequently. I guess we'll see what happens.

The weather forecast says that there's a 100% chance of rain tomorrow morning. What are the chances that we'll go on our morning walk anyway. Apple needs to do some work on it's iPhone weather app. It's almost always wrong.

Savannah is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4005

The rain arrived later than expected this morning, so we had time to walk Dawn after all. Our timing was pretty good because we were able to complete four miles and were almost home again before the first drops began to fall. It didn't take long to realize that the pumps weren't working correctly. I had to climb up on the roof and unclog one of them before I could eat my breakfast.

Rainy days are usually uneventful. I seldom leave the house and have no desire to start any major projects.  I puttered around the house and forgot what day it was several times. I still haven't taken the new dehumidifier out of the box but I did finally do a basic setup on my new camera. I wonder how long it will take me to start taking some pictures?

Janet was gone a lot today, so I worked on getting Dawn to learn how to do some basic things with me. The bedroom is her safe space and when Janet is gone, that's where she wants to stay. I had to put her on a leash to get her to go out in the back yard to pee. As soon as she was finished she ran to the back door and waited until I let her in so she could run to the bedroom again. She didn't even want to come out to the kitchen for lunch even though this is one of her favorite things when Janet is home. I do think we are making progress, but it is going very slowly.

The light rain stopped around mid-afternoon and I took my afternoon walk. Basically all I did today was walk. There were a few light sprinkles and I got a little wet, but it was fine. I enjoy watching the weather as long as there is not thunder and lightning. The clouds were moving swiftly today. By the time I returned home, the sky was starting to clear and I saw several large patches of blue among the clouds.

I got my editor's permission to share my new SpaceFlight Magazine article with my contacts at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. I'm going to try to get myself invited out there to attend the Perseverance Rover Landing in February. I have no idea if they are even interested in having a little British magazine do an article about them, but it's worth a try. I have no idea what the Covid situation will be in February either. If things get worse, I might not even be allowed to travel to California.

A year ago at this time I was in New Orleans visiting the Michoud Assembly Facility. The first Artemis rocket had just been completed and would soon be on its way to the Stennis Space Center for testing. It was supposed to be on its way to the moon by now, but it is still sitting at Stennis. People in the space business must have a lot of patience. Delays and setbacks seem inevitable. Down in Boca Chica the next Starship prototype Space X was planning to test fell over inside the assembly building today. I don't think they were expecting that. I guess there is still plenty of time to see both of these rockets get off the ground. They're not going anywhere soon.

I doubt that I'll be going anywhere soon either. It's frustrating that Covid is still such a problem. You have to wonder how long it is going to take for this thing to die out and disappear. Even countries that were being held up as examples of how to do things right are having huge virus surges now. So far, the virus seems to be winning. We're definitely not going anywhere for Christmas. Janet ordered a Crown Roast from the butcher and we'll just have a nice Christmas dinner right here at home.

It's time to make my grocery list again. This week has gone quickly even though nothing happened. Next week I have two doctor's appointments and Dawn has a checkup at the vet. Such excitement on a wet December day.

Emmitt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4004

It was a slow day. The big event today was gving Dawn a bath. I didn't really think Dawn was dirty, but Janet likes a clean dog. We took her to the self bathe place in my car this time to see if a different vehicle made any difference. Nope. She still doesn't like to ride in a car. Considering all the whining and shivering during the car ride, she was surprisingly good about the bath itself. At any rate we have a clean dog. She smells good. And she got her nails trimmed as well.

The warranty replacement dehumidifier arrived today. Now I have more dehumidifiers than I know what to do with. There are two brand new dehumidifiers and two broken ones. I need to get rid of the damaged machines. My HVAC guy said it would cost me more to repair each of them than it would to buy a new dehumidifier. I wish I didn't have this strong desire to fix everything. Some things just aren't worth fixing. I wish I knew about the warranty program when the first dehumidifier broke. It's out of warranty now, but I probably could have gotten that one replaced as well.

I watched the Delta IV Heavy launch I really wanted to go to a few months ago on a ULA live stream this evening. The launch has been delayed over and over again, but this time everything went perfectly. I wish I could have been there. It looked like a beautiful evening and I started seeing some spectacular pictures from my photographer friends a few hours later on Facebook. I'm never going to be able to attend as many launches as I'd like. It's just too expensive.

The resurgence of Covid cases has gotten me nervous about traveling again. I don't want to push my luck. I made it safely to West Texas in October just before there was a huge surge in cases out in that remote region. My trip to Florida to attend the Crew-1 launch went well too. I'm not so sure about going to Mississippi for the Artemis 1 static fire or to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory out in California for the Mars rover landing in February. Maybe I should just wait. I hate to turn down a magazine assignment though. We'll see what happens. I'm overly cautious about almost everything, so I'll probably do the right thing.

I made an appointment to see the foot doctor today, so all my medical visits should be complete before the end of the year. Hopefully there won't be any more doctor's appointments for a long time. My face looks terrible today after yesterday's liquid nitrogen treatment at the dermatologist. This will pass though. I've done this before. 

Janet and I were going to go to the Dallas Arboretum this afternoon because it was such a nice day. Not so fast. Apparently in a post-Covid environment you can't do anything spontaneous anymore. Now you have to make a reservation online at least 48 hours in advance. Good grief. This is Texas. You never know what the weather is going to look like 48 hours in advance. I don't even know what the weather is going to look like tomorrow. It is supposed to rain, but we won't know whether we'll be able to walk Dawn until we wake up in the morning.

Princess is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

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