Day 4060

I backed a Kickstarter project today. Either I'm getting very bored, or my tolerance for risk is improving. I backed another Kickstarter project a long time ago and if memory serves, the project got funded and the product was eventually produced. I hope this project gets funded too. The product is very cool and will help me with my astrophotography efforts if it ever gets produced. You have to be patient with Kickstarter. A lot of ideas die on the vine and even successful projects can take a long, long time to go into production.

I received a package from the dehumidifier company this afternoon. Inside was a small piece of styrofoam. That's all. There were no instructions or anything. This wasn't what I was expecting at all. The styrofoam piece is the wrong size to fit into the bottom of the shut off float so it will actually float. Even if the small part did fit, the float would still not be able to shut off anything. I was expecting some sort of electrical switch that would turn the unit off when the tank became full. No luck there. This is very frustrating to say the least. I think the solution is just to never buy this brand of dehumidifier again.

Janet and I finally made our appointments to get vaccinated. We'll be getting our first shot early next week.   We opted for a hospital connected with our primary care physicians instead of one of those drive-thru mega sites. I've heard that this hospital has things running very smoothly and that you are in and out in less than twenty minutes. I hope that this is the case. I wasn't really anticipating such a demand for this vaccine. We decided that it would be a good idea to make our reservations now, before they opened the floodgates and let everyone get the vaccine. Right now the vaccine is only available to first responders, health care workers, and old people. Janet and I would be in the old people category.

It remains to be seen whether I'm going to feel comfortable traveling again after I get vaccinated. I hope so, because I don't think I'm going to get published again until I have a story to tell. There are going to be a lot of interesting launches this year and hopefully some star parties as well. I need to get on the road again, because it's hard to write about doing nothing. Years ago I had a regular column in a little magazine called The Dalmatian Quarterly. I just wrote about my dogs and the stories were well received. I guess I could write stories about Dawn, but the magazine is gone. It died, along with a lot of other interesting little magazines. I'm lucky that specialty publications like SpaceFlight Magazine still exist. I'm such a Luddite. Magazines are still much more satisfying to me than social media.

Dawn is still enjoying her two short walks each day. I'm not sure I'm enjoying my own walks though. My feet are starting to hurt again. The easy solution would be to just stop walking for a while until the foot pain subsides. That's hard to do though. I think I've become addicted to these long walks. They provide a structure to my day. Walking takes up so much time that I don't fret much about being idle. It's weird how walking really does occupy the mind. I decided to support the Kickstarter campaign on my walk today. I also came up with a different slant on my new Sky & Telescope article. There was a very unusual cloud formation overhead as I walked. It felt like I was looking up at an enormous quilt with an entire sky full of puffy little rectangular squares. These weird clouds were actually a transition to clear skies. By the time I returned home, the sky was completely clear.

I guess I'll have to contact the dehumidifier people again tomorrow. It's hardly worth the effort though. I really don't think anything will be resolved. I should probably just rake leaves and work on my astrophotography article. After I get that shot next week, my arm will probably be too sore to rake leaves anyway.

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4059

I went to see the foot doctor again today. The visit was largely unnecessary since the guy is a surgeon and we've already decided that I wasn't a candidate for surgery. The doctor did approve of my shoes though and said I was doing all the right things. I asked him about my shoulder and he referred me to a different orthepedic surgeon. It's weird that doctors are so specialized now. Every doctor in this practice is an orthopedic surgeon, but they all seem to specialize in a different bone.

Dawn surprised us today. On her afternoon walk, she kept on walking after she finished her perfunctory mile. She ended up walking over two miles, making it a total of three miles for the day. Janet and I weren't expecting this, but we'll take what we can get. Dawn still seems to be enjoying her walks. I guess we'll just let her choose how far to go and see what happens.

The weather continues to be exceptionally nice for the middle of Winter. When I took my own longer walk after I returned from the doctor's office, I didn't need a jacket at all. I was able to walk wearing a t-shirt again. I hope this weather continues. I'll take a seventy degree day over six inches of snow any time I can get it. 

I still haven't started raking leaves, but my doctor's appointment and various walks with and without Dawn gave me an excuse. I don't have much of an excuse tomorrow, so I'd better get to work. Hmm. Maybe I do have an excuse.  I didn't watch the new episode of The Expanse today because I was too busy with other things. I think watching The Expanse sounds a lot better than raking leaves.

People are reading my Sky & Telescope article. My editor sent me a question he'd received from a planetarium director in Australia. Of course I didn't know the answer to this question since I'm not really an astronomer, but maybe my friends at the observatory can help me out. I think the magazine wants to feature the question in a future "letters to the editor" column.  I may need help with the new article I'm writing for the magazine as well. I'm struggling with this one. It's hard to write about the night sky when you aren't actually looking at the night sky. Nothing to see here in Dallas.

I'm discovering that quite a few people I know went down to Boca Chica for yesterday's SN9 Starship launch. It makes me feel like a slacker for not going myself. I still kind of feel like I am living on borrowed time and don't feel like going anywhere until I get vaccinated. I've actually traveled quite a bit during the pandemic and I feel like my luck will run out eventually. With vaccinations right around the corner for old coots like me, it just seems prudent to wait a while. There will be plenty of rockets to see next year. Who knows. I might even feel comfortable traveling again later this year.

I got a notice from UPS that a shipment of parts for my dehumidifier will be arriving tomorrow. This will be interesting. Did I bite off more than I can chew? I was hoping that the company would just exchange my unit for a brand new dehumidifier, but I guess the company already did that last month. My noisy dehumidifier with the missing shut off float supposedly is the brand new model. Oh, well. I guess I get to play Mr. Fix-it again.

I wonder where Dawn will want to go tomorrow. This dog continues to be a mystery. Who would have thought that I would fall for a dog that didn't even like me.

Casey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4058

I went to the bank and paid some bills today, but that was the only deviation from my eat, walk, sleep schedule. If I wanted to punish myself I guess I could go stand in line at one of the drive-thru vaccine mega-sites that are popping up around town. Never mind. I think I'll wait. I had so many bad experiences with my engine overheating in heavy traffic when I owned the old Land Rover Defender that I just can't bring myself to sit in a car inching through a line with the engine idling for hours at a time. I heard that the vaccine is coming to neighborhood pharmacies soon anyway. Truthfully, I'm in no hurry. I'll wait for a while and see if all you people posting about your vaccination on Facebook develop side effects.

The big event of the day was watching another Starship explode on the Boca Chica live feed. I guess it helps to be the world's richest man if you're doing this sort of thing. These huge rockets look pretty expensive. It's easy to forget that the same thing happened with Falcon 9. A lot of those rockets exploded in the beginning as well. This time next year I imagine that things will look a lot different. Practice makes perfect, or so they say.

The lens I bought recently just went on sale. Jeez. If only I'd waited a week. Oh, well. I seldom get lucky with bargains. It's a good lens and I know that I'll use it. The amount that I would have saved would have probably gotten wasted on something else anyway. Maybe I'll use this lens to photograph a Starship in Boca Chica someday. More and more of the launch photographers I know are starting to head down there. There is a growing feeling that this is where the real future is. I'll have to admit that it is pretty exciting to see Elon Musk cranking out gigantic rockets in a bunch of tents down on the Mexican border. This is the Wild West of space travel. You keep wondering what is going to happen next.

Dawn continues to enjoy taking two short one mile walks a day. We've wondered if she might take three one mile walks a day, but we really don't have time to try this experiment. Several short walks seem to take a lot longer than a single long one. Dawn seems happy walking the same predictable path over and over again. Who am I to question this? For the most part, I walk a very predictable path over and over again as well. My path is much longer, but that's about the only difference. 

I have an appointment for a follow up visit with the foot doctor tomorrow. I was ready to tell him that he'd completely solved my problem, but this week my foot has started to hurt again. What a disappointment. I don't know whether the recurring pain is because I'm walking faster now, or because my new shoes are already starting to show some wear. I guess I should be happy that the shoes have made a difference. At my age, there are going to be aches and pains no matter what I do.

I haven't been up on the roof in a long time. I suspect that there is still standing water up there, but I don't feel like climbing up to inspect things. We have a bird bath in the back yard and when the water evaporates in the bird bath I like to imagine that it has evaporated on the roof as well. Actually birds probably splash most of the water out of the bird bath, but that destroys my theory. The roof still isn't leaking and my shoulder still hurts, so I guess we'll just leave things as they are for the moment. 

It's getting dry enough to rake leaves again. That's the last thing I want to do, but we've got to get rid of all these leaves before Spring. I'm sure that raking leaves is actually pretty good exercise, but I'd much rather just daydream while I'm walking along the shoreline counting ducks.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4057

We brought Charlie a new octopus toy today. It took him about two seconds to abandon all his other toys and focus his attention on removing the squeaker from this one. Most dogs like to play tug with these type of toys. Charlie likes to thrash the toy around like he's killing a squirrel. It took about twenty minutes for him to wear himself out, but he saved just enough energy to catch treats in the air, which is one of his favorite things. Cooper liked the new toy too, but he played more conventionally and wanted us to play tug with him. Toys still scare Clyde, but he did take treats from us, so we're making progress.

Cooper is really making progress. He seems like a normal dog now. Charlie will never be a normal dog, but he is a lot of fun and smart as a whip. Clyde seems a lot like Dawn. He's scared of everything, but is gentle and sweet. I'd like to think that our weekly efforts to socialize these dogs is doing some good. I suspect that it is. Truthfully, these visits probably do more good for Janet and I than for the dogs. It's hard to beat playing with a bunch of Dalmatians.

Today was a pretty nice day. The weather was beautiful and a lot of little odds and ends seemed to finally come together. The dehumidifier manufacturer told me that they were sending me the missing parts on my replacement unit. I hope this will solve my problem, but there could be other missing parts inside the machine that I can't see. If they send the right parts, I'm pretty sure I can fix the auto shutoff mechanism. It seems like it might have been easier to just exchange the unit, but I'm not going to complain at this point. We'll see how this repair attempt goes.

I got my new 3M N95 masks today. These masks are supposed to be even better than the N95 masks I ordered last time. Janet and I will save them for when we have doctor's appointments. Judging from the people I see in the waiting room, I'd hazard a guess that visiting the doctor is a little more iffy than going to the grocery store. I've always been suspicious of hospitals. That's where the sick people are.

I got a notice from NASA that I could reapply to attend the Artemis-1 static fire test in February. Should I apply for press credentials again? I guess it all depends on whether I can get vaccinated before the test. This makes the static fire a real long shot at this point. Vaccine distribution isn't working very well yet. None of the neighborhood pharmacies that were originally supposed to be the primary distribution points have gotten their supplies of the vaccine. The huge mega sites are plagued with long lines and often turn people away after they have waited in line for hours. My primary care physician managed to get authorized as a distribution center, but they have only been sent 80 doses of the vaccine. That didn't go very far after all the doctors and staff vaccinated themselves. In theory, I'm in one of those high priority groups, but it certainly doesn't seem that way. Stay tuned. We'll see how long this takes.

I continue to be amazed at how quickly the temperature changes on a sunny day. It was near freezing when we woke up this morning, but by the time I took my long walk after we returned from the Dalmatian kennel, it was warm enough to go walking in a t-shirt. I didn't need a jacket at all. Dawn continues to take two short walks: one in the morning and another in the afternoon. It appears that this is what she has been wanting to do all along. All's well that ends well I guess.

Myles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4056

Today was quiet and uneventful. We had a leisurely breakfast before taking Dawn on her morning walk. Walks are not a problem now. Dawn really seems to enjoy things now that she's getting her own way. Janet continued walking with me after we took Dawn back to the house. I thought we were walking faster than usual, but my Fitbit said I was burning fewer calories than when I walked alone. Maybe you walk a little slower when you are talking. At any rate, it was a very pleasant walk even though it was still very windy today.

I need to find something to do. Now that following rocket launches and volunteering at the observatory have been curtailed for a while, I don't know what to do with myself. My office is littered with the debris from former interests and obsessions, but very little intrigues me anymore. 

When I was cleaning the other day, I found some old lenses I'd completely forgotten about. I knew that I'd used these lenses with digital cameras before, but I'd forgotten how to connect them. Where were the special adapters I'd purchased many years ago? My office is a black hole that just swallows stuff up. Looking for the adapters kept me occupied for hours. I finally found a fitting that seemed like it would allow a 500mm mirror lens from the 1980's to be connected to one of my older digital cameras. This was a start. If I could get the big telephoto lens to work with this camera, I knew where there was another adapter that I could add that would let it work with my newer mirrorless cameras. I have no idea why I spent so much time doing this because none of these older lenses are nearly as good as modern digital lenses. Sometimes I think I'm more interested in the cameras themselves than in the pictures they take.

There are two Starships sitting on the pad at Boca Chica right now. When I see the images of these monster rocket sitting right next to each other, it is very tempting to make a trip down to South Texas. Several of the launch photographers I've met in Florida have already made the trek. So what's stopping me? I already live in Texas. Lots of things actually. Space X has no real schedule. You could go down to Boca Chica and end up waiting for weeks before there was a launch attempt. There aren't a lot of places to stay either. Whenever there is a launch or hop planned, the few hotels on South Padre Island get booked very quickly. Sadly, the real reason I'm hesitant is snakes. I hate snakes and the dunes around Boca Chica are full of them. Rattlesnakes, Copperheads, Desert Massasauga, Cottonmouth, Corral Snakes, and more. They are all down there.

There are snakes here too, but I've learned how to avoid them. I certainly don't anticipate encountering a snake tomorrow when we go visit the rescue Dalmatians at the kennel. I think the same three dogs are there, but every once in a while we are surprised to meet a new one. I walk much later in the day on Mondays because we spend quite a while at the kennel. Last Monday the sun was setting by the time I returned to the house. Better late than never I guess. I still think walking is one of the best ways to stay healthy.

Cooper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4055

It was hard to tell if today was a busy day or not. I did my grocery shopping, filled the car with gas, walked Dawn with Janet, walked six more miles by myself, and picked up some Chinese food for dinner. It still seemed like nothing happened. It was really windy today. There were whitecaps on the lake and I almost got blown over a couple of times. It must have been windy to the west of us as well. By sunset the sky started looking strange and you could tell that a dust storm was rolling in.

It's weird to listen to all the gloom and doom on television and then look around me when I leave the house. The park was full of people today and I had a hard time finding a parking place when I went to pick up dinner at PF Changs. There may be parts of the country that are still shut down, but Dallas isn't one of them. They say that local hospitals are full but you'd never know it. Everything looks completely normal in this town.

Leaves were blowing everywhere today and I was hoping that ours would blow away. No such luck. The thick mat of Oak leaves covering the back yard seems glued to the grass underneath. Maybe the leaves are still damp, but I think they are just being difficult. This was the perfect chance for them to blow away and save me a lot of work. It looks like I'll still have to spend an entire weekend raking leaves sometime before the next bulky trash day. We've decided that it isn't worth hiring a lawn service anymore, but when I look at all these leaves, I wonder if this was the right decision.

It's flu season again, but there have been almost no cases of the flu reported this year. Could it be that the best way to prevent the flu is just wearing masks and staying away from other people? Who would have thought. Maybe staying away from other people is the way to prevent most diseases. I keep waiting for isolation to start trending, but it's just not happening. People love to congregate. I wonder why. There are many hidden benefits to keeping to yourself and minding your own business, but I don't think I'm going to become a trend setter. Even I'm going to need the help of other people to return to Kennedy Space Center.

I should have continued yesterday's cleaning efforts, but my heart wasn't in it. It's discouraging to spend hours cleaning up the office and have the place look exactly the same when I'm finished. I started my company in 1990 and stuff has been accumulating in the office ever since. I was amazed yesterday at how many things I found that I had never even used. I'll get interested in something, buy the gear I need, and then my interests will turn elsewhere. I am well prepared though. Well prepared to be living in the 1980's anyway.

Janet said that Dawn waited at the door for me the entire time I went out to pick up dinner tonight. Was she waiting for me or the food? I suspect the latter. I think she's warming up to me, but we've got a ways to go. Sometimes this dog is just rude. Often when I want to take a nap on the bed, she will get up and go to her other bed in the kitchen. I keep telling her that she's supposed to be man's best friend.

I have no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow. Maybe I'll work on my article about astrophotography. It sure beats raking leaves.

Malcolm is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4054

I made another effort to declutter the office today. I gathered up a bunch of stuff to take to the storage warehouse and at the last minute decided to throw half of the pile away. Was this a breakthrough? I certainly hope so. The storage warehouse isn't big enough to hold all this stuff. Much of what I tossed today were portfolio samples. Back when my companuy was busy, I was meticulous about saving samples. I must have saved at least twenty copies of everything I did. Sometimes I would mail samples to prospective clients, but mostly I just hung on to them. As my company's reputation grew over the years, the samples became less and less important. Most of the jobs I got were by word of mouth. I don't even think I've looked at the samples I threw away today in over ten years. It's finally time for this stuff to go.

I got another invitation to schedule a vaccination from a major hospital today. These guys seemed a little more organized than my pharmacy. I made it to the end of the online application form and there were real dates and locations for me to choose. Before making my appointment, I went and asked Janet if I should go ahead and get the shot now. The first available appointment was actually tomorrow. I'm still a little uncertain about this whole process, but Janet said to go ahead and do it and started looking to see if she'd gotten an e-mail too. I went back to the computer and clicked on the date I wanted and got a message saying that this time slot was no longer available. I refreshed my screen and discovered that none of the time slots were available anymore. Snooze you lose I guess. I'll have to be quicker next time. There must have been tons of people who immediately jumped on this invitation right after getting their e-mail message.

Dawn seems like such a happy dog now. Maybe all she wanted was for us to do things her way. She loves her shorter walk and if Janet has time, she is often eager to take another short walk later in the day. We always knew that Dawn didn't like riding in the car. What we didn't know is that she didn't want to go anywhere that seemed unfamiliar. Dawn loves her new home with its big soft bed. Her life has been full of twists and turns. I think she's afraid that if she leaves this place, she might never come back. It's all good now. We'll take her on little walks where she always knows the way home and do everything we can to assure her that this place is hers forever.

I find it interesting that the one thing that had managed to bring this horribly divided country together is a hatred of Wall Street. Everyone is cheering on the band of young Robinhood investors who got together and brought down the powerful hedge funds and short sellers. Democrats, Republicans, and even loners like myself are applauding this democratization of Wall Street. I've been an investor for years and have never liked hedge funds and short sellers. I'd like to see the whole practice of shorting stocks banned forever. To me, investing remains simple. Buy shares of a company you believe in, hang on to the stock, and watch the company grow.

I've been waiting all week for the SN9 Starship to launch in Boca Chica. It appears now that the FAA thinks that Elon's rockets are dangerous and doesn't want to give him clearance to launch. Jeez. Give the guy a break. All rockets are dangerous. Somehow this same FAA thought that the 737 Max was safe enough to fly before they stated crashing. Let Elon pursue his dream of going to Mars. If the bureaucratic web becomes too tangled, he will just take his rockets elsewhere and Texas will lose a lot of high paying jobs.

It's time to make a grocery list again. These weeks really go quickly now. Time slows down a bit when the week is filled with activities. An empty week is exactly the opposite. Blink twice, and it's grocery day again.

Spirit is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4053

Last year at this time I had plans. I was getting ready to go to Florida for the ESA Solar Orbiter launch while simultaneously planning to spend several weeks out at McDonald Observatory. I had no idea that the world was about to change. NASA still had the welcome mat out. One of the last in person NASA Socials was taking place and there didn't appear to be any press restrictions. The Solar Orbiter launch would be my first with full press credentials and I remember enjoying riding on the press bus and sharing war stories with an interesting group of seasoned professionals. There wasn't a mask in sight.

The observatory needed my help for their annual Spring Break festivities when hundreds of people would converge on the visitor center every evening for the largest star parties of the year. I did see several Asians wearing masks when they visited my telescope at these star parties, but I didn't think anything of it at the time. Covid still seemed to be something happening a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

It's amazing how much has changed in a year. The observatory has been closed to visitors for months and it is very difficult to get press accreditation at Kennedy Space Center these days. I'm not even making plans anymore. Every time the world seems to try to return to normal, the virus says "not so fast" and introduces a whole new set of problems. My daily routine hasn't changed much at all, but I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. When I turn on the TV in the morning I always expect a surprise and often wonder how long this madness can continue.

One good thing about having dogs is that it gets you used to a fixed routine. Dog expect consistency. They like to be fed at a certain time, walked at a certain time, and even go to bed at a certain time. Add this to my own desire for consistency and you've got a day that is very regimented. I get up. Dawn eats her breakfast while I make the bed. I fix and slowly drink my humongous fruit smoothie. I check my e-mail and pay bills. We walk Dawn and then I continue on a much longer walk that can take two or three hours. When I return there's usually time for a few chores before dinner and then I write my blog post. Repeat this routine day after day and you can see why I'm ready for a trip.

There was an injured bird in the yard today. It didn't appear that the bird had been attacked by another animal, so we decided that it had probably flown into one of our large glass windows and was just dazed and confused. This has happened before and I've learned that it is best to just leave the bird alone for a while. The bird must have knocked itself silly, because it stayed in the same place for over three hours. Eventually it hopped up on a nearby ledge, looked around, and then flew away completely normally. I'm glad we didn't try to intervene. Trying to move the bird would have just made the situation worse.

Maybe I'm imagining things, but Dawn seems more relaxed with me lately. She followed me out to the kitchen when I was fixing her dinner this evening and she even hung around for a while when I was having breakfast. She's still pretty jumpy, but I think we are making progress. People occasionally ask me what happened to Dawn while I'm taking my long walk. I tell them that she's getting older and just doesn't like to walk as far any more. I imagine that's pretty close to the truth.

Thursday evening still seems like the end of the week to me. I've taken this week's trash to the curb and was very happy that it didn't include a dead bird.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4052

I used to own GameStop. I can't even remember how I acquired this stock, but I always thought it was a total dog and eventually sold it at a loss. Jeez. Who buys video games at a store anymore? Imagine my surprise when the stock went from 3 to over 300 in just a few days. Some kids on Reddit, cheered on by the likes of Elon Musk, decided to take down the short sellers and hedge funds and that's exactly what they did. Do I wish I'd held on to my shares a little longer? Maybe. It's a strange world we live in now. It's a little unsettling to see investing and sports betting converge, but I'll have to give these kids credit. I never liked the whole idea of short selling myself and always wondered why it was legal.

It was chilly today, but the skies were still blue and it was hard to complain about the weather. We walked Dawn earlier than usual because Janet had some things to do in the afternoon. I tried to give Dawn her second walk by myself later in the day, but Dawn was having no part of it. If Janet wasn't going, she wasn't either. I still follow the same trails where we used to take Dawn on a long walk. It's a nice walk and I still don't understand why Dawn doesn't like to do this anymore.

Wednesday has become the day I watch The Expanse. This won't last long because Series 5 is almost over, but for now it gives me something to do. I've watched Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, Farscape, Lexx, Firefly, and Dr. Who in the past. All these shows are kind of mindless and predictable, but so are Hallmark Movies. For now, The Expanse will have to do. I can't watch Dr. Who anymore. The writing is terrible.

I got a notice from my pharmacy today inviting me to schedule a vaccination. I went to the website and started filling out the application. I let them know I was over 65. I found a convenient location. I did all the steps until I got to the page where I was supposed to pick a date and time for my appointment. The entire months of January and February were greyed out and a note said there was no vaccine available yet. There wasn't even a place to leave your name. The page just said to try again later. Wouldn't it have been easier to just tell us this at the beginning? Why ask people to make an appointment when there is no opportunity to actually make an appointment? I don't think this appointment system is ready for prime time.

There were a bunch of small projects I was going to start today, but I didn't begin any of them. It's so easy to convince yourself that something can wait until tomorrow when it actually can wait until tomorrow. Last year I had some goals. It took me a year to get my story published in Sky & Telescope and almost as long to get press credentials at Kennedy Space Center. I had built up some some momentum but Covid has taken the wind out of my sails. What now? I've convinced myself that it would be stupid to travel at the moment. The virus is worse now than it was last April and with all these new variants cropping up, who's to say that the vaccine will even work on them? This is a time to find something that you really enjoy doing at home. Damn. I'm out of luck there.

Maybe I"ll start some of my small projects tomorrow. Maybe not though. Most of these projects are really just chores in disguise.

Sophie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4051

I haven't taken any pictures yet, but I did get the new lens. There was actually some method to my madness. A 24-200 zoom is perfect for travel and will allow me to get the shots I need with less gear. I always like to travel light. Of course there are no trips planned. Covid is still raging and there is no place to go. Hey, you've got to start somewhere. I imagine by this summer Janet and I will both have been vaccinated and there will be plenty of safe places to go. Who knows, the observatory might even be needing volunteers again later this year.

If Facebook posts are any indication, everyone I know has already been vaccinated. How can this be? I keep reading that the vaccine is still in short supply and that it is hard to get an appointment. I know that my own pharmacy and doctors haven't gotten their supply yet. Maybe your chances of getting vaccinated depend on how badly you want the shot. Most of my friends who have gotten vaccinated are much more social than I am. They were probably willing to stand in line for hours. I imagine that many of them really, really want to return to their former lives. I'm still walking alone in the woods and happy enough to stay isolated. If I could go back to the observatory and Kennedy Space Center whenever I wanted, I could stay socially distanced forever. Masks are no problem. I'm starting to like masks.

Dawn took another afternoon walk today. Two short walks seem just fine to her. It's still a mystery why she lost interest in taking long walks in the morning, but many things are a mystery to me. If two shorter walks work for her, it's fine by me. My ongoing foot pain is equally mysterious. Yesterday, I could barely move. Today I was fine. I wore the same shoes, walked the same route, and enjoyed the same pleasant weather as I did yesterday, but what a difference. I had very little pain in my left foot today.

I finally heard from the dehumidifier folks. They said that they didn't receive my earlier messages and that the pictures I sent did indicate that there was a missing part. They suggested that I take the machine to a repair shop. I had to write them again and tell them that these pictures were of the supposedly brand new dehumidifier that they sent me just a few weeks ago. This machine should not have had missing parts in the first place. This situation is still not resolved, but I've got plenty of time. That's one good thing about being retired. I can keep writing these guys forever until I get results.

While I was at the camera store I got a new Lithium Ion battery for my audio recorder. Hopefully, this battery will hold a charge a little longer. I'm getting tired of reentering the time and date every time I turn the machine on. I've been faithfully keeping this machine ready to go for years but have only used it twice. I think the last time I used it was on a corporate video I was shooting in Las Vegas quite a few years ago. I'm always all dressed up with no place to go. Maybe I'll take this machine with me on my next rocket launch. The sound of a launch is really pretty awesome.

I need to get started on my Sky & Telescope idea again. I guess I was shocked when I started doing research and discovered that so many people were already writing about this stuff. The article I was planning has already been written dozens of times. Jeez. Amateur astrophotography is a much more popular hobby than I ever imagined. Some of these people are really excellent photographers. It's a bit intimidating. I need to remember that I have a secret weapon. My pictures of distant galaxies may not be that great, but I'm a pretty decent writer. I can describe my lousy pictures well and maybe even make you laugh.

Jazz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4050

These weeks go quickly. It's Dalmatian day at the kennel again. Cooper was much more relaxed this week. He has started playing with toys and we discovered that he already knows several commands. If you have a treat in your hand he will sit, lie down, stay, and come. Clyde is still pretty shy, but he will sit and extend a paw for a treat. Charlie is still a crazy nut. He loves the new toy we bought him last week. It is shaped like an octopus with tough webbing tentacles and a head made of a rope that has been knotted into a ball. The toy is virtually indestructible, but give Charlie enough time and he will figure out a way to "kill" it. He loves to take the toy and vigorously shake it back and forth. I'm surprised he hasn't knocked himself out. 

Dawn walked two miles today. We discovered that after she walks her mile in the morning, she will walk the same route all over again later in the day. She might not do this every day, but she seemed to enjoy a double walk today. The weather was so nice this afternoon that we all enjoyed a second walk.

I continued walking again after Dawn and Janet returned to the house. I probably should have gone home with them. For some reason my foot pain returned with a vengeance this afternoon. I was still wearing the special shoes the foot doctor recommended, but there was no magic today. My left foot hurt so bad after I had gone five miles that I could barely make it home. Oddly, my wrist hurt more than usual today as well. Maybe my aches and pains are weather related. The weather was really nice this afternoon, but there were severe thunderstorms and a lot of rain overnight. Truthfully, I have no idea why my joint pain varies from day to day. I understand what is going on with the loss of cartilage, but logically it seems like the discomfort would be constant.

I bought some more N-95 masks today. I have a feeling that we're going to be wearing these things for a while. It's odd that N-95 masks are still hard to find. I have to order them from a specialty medical supply company in New York. You'd think that after companies have had almost a full year to ramp up production, these things would be everywhere.

I'm still thinking about buying a new lens for my camera. I probably will. There's nothing like a new lens to get me photographing things again. I don't have a lot of natural curiosity about the world around me, but I do like to test equipment. I"m much better at preparing for things than I am at actually doing them. Hey, what's to lose? If I ever get to attend rocket launches again or spend time at observatories, I'll be ready.

Janet and I are still trying to figure out Dawn's odd reaction to me. She is very friendly when we are resting on the bed together. She is very nervous when I'm out in the kitchen. She loves to eat, but sometimes she won't even leave the bedroom when I'm fixing her meals. I've learned to never make sudden moves. If I move suddenly, she panics and runs away. She likes me to walk her though and is very good on a leash with me. This inconsistent behavior doesn't make a lot of sense. Dawn has spent her entire life in a kennel. Maybe she just thinks I'm a kennel attendant.

I hope my foot feels better tomorrow. I don't think I'm walking too much, but maybe I am. If I had to give up walking, I'm not sure what I'd do. So much is on hold until the pandemic is over that walking has become the perfect placeholder for meaningful activity. Nobody questions walking. If I sat in my room for months and did nothing, people might become alarmed. If I say I'm going on a walk, everything is fine. 

Bones is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4049

I'm getting tired of all this rain. I keep forgetting that this happens every year, but the gloomy days are still irritating. It will be a while before we can rake the leaves. The yard is a soggy mess rtight now. We did manage to get Dawn walked before the rain started. That was a good thing. There are no problems with walks now that Dawn gets her own way. I'm not surprised that Dawn is stubborn. Most of our Dalmatians were stubborn. I'm just surprised that she doesn't like to walk. I thought all dogs loved a walk.

After we took Dawn back to the house, Janet continued walking with me. We generally walk along the same trails where we used to take Dawn and wonder what the problem is. We see lots of other people walking their dogs and most of the dogs seem to be having a great time. Oh, well. Dawn still walks a mile a day and maybe that's all the exercise she needs right now.

I need to find a project that doesn't involve cleaning or yard work. I'm kind of envious of my Florida photographer friends who still manage to show up at Kennedy Space Center for every single launch. It's just too expensive to do this unless you are a local. I'm a little less envious of my friends in West Texas. It's snowing out there and very cold. I have a feeling that I won't be returning to until the weather is warmer. West Texas is still a virus hot spot. 

It's weird that there is almost nothing I'm interested in doing in Dallas. Was there ever anything I was interested in doing in Dallas? It's hard to remember. Most of my time here has been spent behind this computer. If your occupation involves writing and web design, you end up spending an enormous amount of time staring at a computer screen. There's really no reason to continue doing this, but old habits die hard.

I spent some time this afternoon configuring my new camera. Every time I buy a camera, the menu list keeps getting longer and longer. New digital cameras are complicated. You can configure this one to do almost anything, but I doubt that I will ever use most of the settings. I still take pictures exactly the same way I did years ago with my old Nikon-F.

I've found a lens that I'd like to use with the new camera. Maybe I'll go out and look for this sometime next week. I used to buy almost all my equipment for the business online, but Covid has given me a new respect for local businesses. There aren't a lot of camera stores left in Dallas and I'd like to support them. I think retirement hit me at about the right time. This definitely isn't the best time to be running a small business. It doesn't seem fair that Amazon keeps getting richer while small businesses of all types are being decimated by the pandemic. Life never was fair though. Even the ducks in the park know that.

Something tripped a breaker while we were eating dinner tonight and the kitchen and utility room went dark. Strangely, the television and the microwave in the kitchen were still on. These appliances must have been on a different circuit. Nothing was turned on in the kitchen when the breaker got tripped, so the whole thing is a big mystery. Our new sensor that is supposed to monitor the electric wiring didn't detect anything either. Ghosts? It could be. This is a pretty old house.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4048

Today was busier than usual. I can't say that I accomplished a lot though. When I woke up, Janet had gone running and Dawn was nervously peering around the corner of the bedroom door at me. As soon as I got up, she hopped on the bed and reclaimed it for herself. It's unfortunate that she still doesn't feel comfortable being alone in the house with me, because that's how we spend most of our time together. Janet has always spent more time away from the house than I do. Eventually, I made the bed with Dawn sitting right in the middle. I've actually gotten pretty good at this. Dawn is often on the bed when I'm trying to make it.

Before getting started on my Saturday errands, I wrote a letter to my sister and took it to the post office. This periodic letter to a Luddite relative is the only reason I have to go to the post office anymore. It's the end of an era. I've spent a lot of time at the post office over the years. On my way to the grocery store, I stopped at my pharmacy to ask when they were going to get the vaccine. My pharmacist had no idea. He said that the website I'd signed up on was only to receive information about when the vaccine might become available. It was not a sign-up sheet to get vaccinated.

I found everything except for raspberries on my grocery list. I had to go to a second store to get the berries and ended up buying some tasty looking items at the deli counter for dinner. I also stopped at Fry's to get a nickel metal hydride backup battery for an audio recorder. I thought that this hard to replace battery was the reason that the time and date settings wouldn't stay in the recorder's memory. I had to disassemble the recorder to access the rechargeable battery, but it turned out that this wasn't the problem after all. The recorder's main battery had gone bad.  

After lunch we took Dawn on her one mile walk. She loves the one mile walk but definitely doesn't want to go any further. I continued to walk after Dawn and Janet returned to the house. That's what I do these days. I thought it might rain, so I wore the new raincoat I got for the last launch I attended in Florida.  The raincoat was a tight fit over my winter coat. I guess I should have gotten a larger size. Maybe it will just be a summer raincoat. It fits perfectly over a t-shirt.

I seldom get over 20,000 steps on a single walk, but I did today. With Dawn's new schedule it's more convenient to take one longer walk than the morning and evening walks I used to take. Hey, I'm flexible, even if I continue to do the same things over and over again. My new shoes are still comfortable, but they are already starting to show some wear. Expensive running shoes are a new thing for me, but they are much more comfortable than the longer lasting leather hiking boots I used to wear outdoors. I guess since all I do these days is walk, the cost of these shoes isn't exorbitant at all. It makes more sense to spend money on something I use every day than on audio recorders that sit on a shelf until all the batteries go bad.

There are severe thunderstorms in the forecast for tomorrow. I'm never happy about the prospect of thunderstorms. I have too many memories of leaking roofs and falling trees in the backyard to appreciate this type of weather. I don't think the bad weather is going to start until sometime in the afternoon. Tomorrow's project for the day is to convince Dawn to walk in the morning.

Chloe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4047

Another gray, dismal day. At least it wasn't raining. It's hard to get motivated on days like this. I impatiently channel surf while I'm eating breakfast, never finding anything worth watching. I check the pumps on the roof and then forget to turn them off. I turn on my computer and mindlessly scroll through my Facebook timeline. I keep thinking I ought to be doing something useful and usually just end up charging camera batteries.

Janet goes grocery shopping on Friday now, so we didn't walk Dawn until she returned home. Dawn acts listless and seldom leaves the bed when I'm puttering around the house by myself. As soon as she hears Janet's car in the driveway, she hops us and races to the door to greet her. Lets face it. This dog just doesn't like me. I guess I can live with this. She's a very sweet dog and I'm sure she has her reasons.

As long as we take the short one mile route that Dawn likes, we have no problems walking her anymore. I'm beginning to think that she never liked our longer walks, but just went along with us because she was afraid something bad would happen if she resisted. Dawn is much more confident and assertive now. Maybe we're finally starting to see her real personality. There are any number of reasons why Dawn could be acting this way, but maybe she's just a lazy dog.

When Dawn returns to the house with Janet, I continue walking. I sometimes think that Dawn has the right idea, but I'm more disciplined than she is. I know that I'm getting older and my contemporaries are dropping like flies. If I want to stay healthy, I'm going to have to work at it. I have no interest in taking a class at the gym or doing anything competitive. Walking is the best way I can think of for staying active. 

When I leave the house, I can go West or I can go East. There is a well developed path that goes all the way around the lake and smaller trails that branch off in different directions. I've tried them all. The park is interesting and is a great place for bird watching, but after ten or fifteen years there aren't many surprises anymore. I probably should find someplace new just for a little variety, but I can't bring myself to get in a car just to go walking. Some days are boring, but I'm content with learning the habits of animals and watching the seasons change.

I'm reading more and more about astrophotography and realizing that the premise of the article I'm planning to write isn't original at all. People have been writing about this subject for decades and what's new to me is already old hat to scores of others. It's a good thing that I'm discovering this now. I'm a good writer, but I need to learn more before I attempt to teach. I'm still going to submit an article to Sky & Telescope, but it will take a little longer and will probably be much different than what I originally envisioned.

It's time to make a grocery list again. I continue to be amazed at how quickly time flies when you're doing nothing. I would have thought that the days would just drag on in slow motion, but this entire year has gone by in a flash. For a while I was frustrated that Covid has seriously curtailed my efforts to become a space and astronomy journalist. Now I'm realizing that there's a reason for everything. I couldn't really afford to be traveling all the time anyway. I'll attend launches and see dark skies again, but taking a break gives me time to rebuild my finances. My big project now is getting Dawn to like me.

Raider is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4046

Another rainy day. Even Dawn got bored today. By the time the rain finally stopped around 4 PM, she was eager for a walk. Cabin fever didn't make her walk any longer, but she enjoyed all the new smells in the wet ground. When she reached her one mile limit and headed back toward the house with Janet, I continued walking. A long walk was about all I was going to accomplish today and I wanted to accomplish something. I was able to walk four miles before I noticed that it was getting dark. Even though the days are slowly getting longer, the sun still sets pretty early. By the time I returned home it was completely dark.

There wasn't much to do today. I decided to inventory a bunch of old camera gear and discovered a lot of things I'd completely forgotten about. Why did I buy this stuff? Did I ever use it? The answers to these questions are lost in the mists of time. On thing is certain. I've spent as long, long time photographing things.

I'm getting tired of watching static fire tests on the Boca Chica live feed. The SN9 Starship has had multiple static fires this week. The rocket sits there for hours doing nothing and then the actual test lasts about one second. Space X must be learning something because they keep doing these tests over and over again. Next week SN9 will do another high altitude hop. That will be worth watching.

I'm seeing more and more people posting pictures on Facebook when they get vaccinated. Is this the thing to do now? They even have stickers that say they got vaccinated, just like those stickers you get when you vote. Most of these people I see are younger than me and have nothing to do with the health care industry. I wonder how they got the vaccine? I thought this first round of shots was only for first responders and old people. I'm still in no hurry. I'm happy to let these eager beavers be the guinea pigs.

We had a short power outage today, but the new detector I installed that is supposed to monitor our household wiring and power lines didn't detect anything. Hmm. This gadget probably doesn't work any better than the noisy dehumidifier that keeps rattling in the bathroom. One of my watch winders quit working today as well. I guess that's not a big deal, since I don't wear mechanical watches anymore anyway. A lot of new stuff just isn't made very well. When I was cataloging camera gear this afternoon, I kept noticing that the older something was, the better it appeared to be made.

I decided to go paperless with a few more bills today. I'm getting tired of wondering whether something got lost in the mail. Pretty soon everything will be paperless. I never thought I'd get to this point, but our mail service isn't what it used to be. Most of the mail we get these days is junk anyway. Maybe my goal is to just be able to throw all the mail away without even looking at it.

The trash has been taken out to the curb and Dawn is waiting for her late night snack. This day is done. I don't expect anything exciting to happen tomorrow, but you never know.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4045

It's dental week at our house. Yesterday, Dawn got her teeth cleaned and today I did the same. My proceedure was a lot simpler than Dawn's. There was no anesthesia involved and I was in and out in less than an hour. I think it took me longer to drive back and forth to the dentist's office than it did to get my teeth cleaned. My dental hygienist always seems pleased with how I care for my teeth. I do try. I think I'm doing penance for all those years when I wouldn't see a dentist for decades at a time. Now I get new x-rays once a year and have my teeth cleaned every six months.

I'm always surprised that my dental hygienist wants to talk. How can you talk with a bunch of dental implements in your mouth? There's an art to having a conversation during a dental cleaning. There are lots of long silences. We mostly talk about dogs, but I did learn that dentists and hygienists aren't on the vaccine list yet. This surprised me. My doctor and most nurses I know have already been vaccinated. You'd think that dentists would be at the top of the list since they are right in your face when they are working on your teeth.

Dawn didn't get a walk today. It was a cold, rainy day and she was much happier just taking a long nap on the bed. I insisted on getting my steps and kept checking the weather radar until a found a little gap in the weather pattern that would allow me to walk a few miles. I'm not very good at gauging these intervals anymore. I did pretty well for the first three miles, but on the last mile back home I got soaked. Oh, well. It wasn't much of a walk, but I got 10,000 steps and closed all three activity rings on my Apple watch.

There's a new episode of The Expanse every Wednesday, so this gave me something to do after I returned from the dentist's office. Episode Eight wasn't that good, but I watched it anyway. By next week I will have totally forgotten what happened. This type of episodic television isn't very memorable. There is always a cliffhanger at the end of the show and nothing gets resolved. I could probably watch the same episode over and over again and never realize that I'd seen it before.

I've been reading a lot of articles on beginning astrophotography and I'm starting to realize that the premise of my own article isn't that unique. I'm going to have to rethink the article I'm planning to send to Sky & Telescope or it will never get published. No magazine is going to publish something that they have already published several times before. I'm not sure I even have anything interesting to share, since everything I know about astrophotography is based on a few clear nights in West Texas last October. Nothing ventured, nothing gained though. I know that I need to write about any interesting experiences I have since I really don't do that much. You can't let a good experience go to waste. We'll see what I can come up with. I'll start reworking my outline next week.

I hope the weather clears up tomorrow. I tend to get cabin fever on rainy days, but don't like to drive in the rain. Since I don't like watching television either, it leaves me with very little to do. I'm glad I got a short walk in this afternoon after my dental appointment. The rest of the day was spent doing laundry and paying online bills. Exciting stuff. I'm still researching telescopes and astrophotography gear, but there's definitely no hurry to buy anything. I might not see the stars again for months.

April is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4044

Dawn has clean, white teeth again. She had quite a bit of tartar build-up and really needed a cleaning. Dawn of course had other ideas. She always goes into panic mode when we take her to the vet. She was so upset this morning that she had an irregular heart beat when they tried to sedate her. The vet took things slowly and gave her a mild sedative and waited for her to calm down before giving her anesthesia for the cleaning procedure. 

We were afraid that she might need some teeth extracted because she'd spent so many years biting at the bars of her crate when she was used as a breeding dog. Her front teeth have been worn down, but luckily what remains is still strong and she has no cavities. No teeth needed to be removed today and her gums are in good condition too. Dawn didn't enjoy her day at the vet, but we feel better knowing that her teeth are healthy and in good condition.

The forecast called for rain today, but predictably it was wrong again. I was able to take my long walk after all. I haven't gone anywhere new for a while and continue to follow the same well-worn paths. I feel like I should name the ducks I see along the way because most of them have become quite familiar by now. Apparently ducks are no more adventurous than I am. My walks may be boring, but I still occasionally see something new and I'm definitely getting more exercise than I'd get staring at this computer for an additional two hours every day.

The replacement dehumidifier has started rattling again and it's driving me nuts. I know the manufacturer sent me a refurbished model even though I can't get them to admit it. The customer support folks won't even answer my questions now. This is a bit baffling to me, since they were so responsive when I was initially trying to get a warranty replacement. It kind of feels like they have a policy that if the manufacturer sends you a replacement, they can never talk to you again.

As I continue to learn more about astrophotography, I'm becoming increasingly tempted to buy a tracking mount. This is the only way I'll be able to take longer exposures of the stars. There is no need to rush things though. A tracker would be a total waste of money until I can start visiting dark sky sites again. Even the best tracking mount wouldn't help me much out in my back yard. I keep hoping that eventually Covid will be over and I can pick up where I left off at the astrophotography workshop last October. It would be nice to start visiting Kennedy Space Center again too. When is this all going to happen? I have no earthly idea.

I keep getting messages from my doctor encouraging me to get vaccinated at one of those mega-sites where you have to stand in line all day. Don't think I'm going to do that. I'd rather just stay away from other people for a while longer. Apparently my doctor's office gets a small supply of the vaccine every month, but so far it's being used on patients who are in a lot worse shape than I am. I'm in the 1B priority group, but so are millions of other people. I'm sure I'll get a call one of these days telling me that it's my turn. Take your time guys. I still have lingering fears that this vaccine will turn out to be a horrible mistake like Thalidomide and other drugs where the side effects weren't discovered until years later.

Dawn is unusually quiet tonight. I don't think the drugs have worn off yet. When she came home, she immediately drank a ton of water and then threw up on the bed. We're still washing all the bedding. Hopefully, life will be back to normal in the morning. 

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day