Day 4104 - Vernal Equinox

It definitely felt like the first day of Spring. The weather was beautiful and that meant the park was incredibly crowded. It seemed weird to see so many people out and about when the commentators on television are still talking about social distancing and Covid spikes. People aren't listening anymore. I think they've had enough. It also seems weird that only a little more than twelve percent of the population has been vaccinated when every single person I know has had at least one shot. Even younger people seem to be getting vaccinated now. Apparently it is still hard to get an appointment in some parts of the country, but the whole process is relatively easy in Dallas. I'm still glad I live in Texas.

My grocery list was longer than usual this week, but I managed to find everything. When I was getting blueberries, the ink was smudged on all the bar code labels and I had to learn to enter the information by hand in my handy shopping app. I kept getting the SKU wrong because there is one number way to the left of all the other numbers. The produce guy finally showed me how to enter the information correctly. I bought some LED bulbs for a burned out lamp in the bedroom, forgetting that we already had plenty of spare bulbs at home. I also bought some more Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, forgetting that I'd already gotten some two weeks ago. I'm not really a very good shopper.

We slept in late this morning, but I'm still not getting enough sleep. I need to get to bed earlier. It's taking me longer and longer to write the blog each night, even though I have less and less to say. Sometimes I seriously wonder if I'm going to be able to complete my 5000 day goal. I keep plodding along one day at a time, but a little voice in my head keeps telling me that this strange journey doesn't even matter anymore. I'm certainly not writing for an audience. I think only about ten of you are regular readers.

Dawn seems to like being outside more than our other dogs. We leave the back door open for her on these nice Spring days, but that's not going to last long. It won't be long until the air conditioner starts running continually and all the windows and doors will be sealed shut again. It's a shame that Spring doesn't last longer in Texas. It's easy to forget how nice it can be when the temperature is reasonable.

I keep bookmarking articles and videos about astrophotography. I'm learning a lot, but still feel like a beginner. It's amazing to me how many people around the world have chosen this complicated activity as their hobby. There must be thousands and thousands of them. I took a telescope out occasionally over the years to look at the planets and the moon, but never really got serious about astronomy until I started spending time out at McDonald Observatory. It's fascinating to look at the sky at night and realize how truly insignificant we really are. It's a shame that so much of the night sky is invisible to Dallas residents. Maybe all the light pollution is for the best though. I don't feel safe going out at night in this city anyway. Somebody seems to get shot every night.

My feet weren't my friend today. By the time I finished my long walk, every bone in my body seemed to ache. I'm not very fast. On a good day it takes me about 19 minutes to walk a mile. On a bad day it can take me up to 24 minutes. People pass me all the time. I don't really care. Most of these people are in their 30's and 40's. Let's see how fast they move when they're 72.

Baxter is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4103

Today I found out that the electrician I've used for many years has died. I'm getting older. Many of the best service people I've used over the years have passed away. Nobody seems to replace these people. Their skills and expertise just seems to disappear forever. It's kind of sad to see a generation of people who could fix everything be replaced by a new crop of folks who can only replace disposable components. Looks like I'm going to have to find a new electrician. I just hope that nothing breaks for a while.

I have so many unanswered questions that I'm beginning to feel like I'm invisible. I write people, fully expecting a prompt reply and then I never hear anything back. I still don't know whether my press credentials have been approved by the Air Force. I never received a confirmation about my stay in West Texas in May. I've been waiting for months for author copies of some of my articles. Questions about my new camera have gone unanswered and the dehumidifier company hated my continual questions so much that they wrote me a check for the machine instead of fixing it and told me to throw it away.

I got Dawn to go down to the park with me this morning while Janet was away. We didn't go very far, but it was a start. After she peed in a field immediately behind our house, she quickly turned and immediately headed for home. I didn't try to make her walk further. I want her to learn to trust me, so this will be a very slow process. Janet wants me to work with her every day, even if I don't make much progress. Right now, Dawn won't even eat when Janet is away. This makes it very hard for Janet to make any travel plans. It's all very weird. I'm used to being the one who takes care of the dogs during the day because I'm always here. If Dawn could just learn to trust me, she would have so much more fun.

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring. It's certainly starting to look like Spring has arrived. Wildflower season is still a few weeks away, but I see a few new blooms every day. The trees are definitely looking greener. I've even started seeing turtles sunning themselves on logs at the lake. Pretty soon I'll start seeing baby ducks again. I enjoy seeing this seasonal rebirth. It's especially nice this year after the big freeze where everything appeared to have died. It's amazing how predictable this cycle of life is. I've seen wildflowers reappear in exactly the same spot year after year. There are winter animals and summer animals and they never seem to get the seasons mixed up. I guess there is that one Pelican that always refused to fly north with the others in the Spring. I wonder what the Pelican will do this year?

My foot still hurts when I walk, but there are plenty of reasons to keep walking. I don't want to wind up like my electrician. He was younger than I am when he died. I really should start going back to the gym. I'm fully vaccinated now, but I'm still a bit reluctant to spend time around a bunch of sweaty people. My gym reopened their pool recently, so they're clearly not worried about much anymore. I don't know why they're still closed on Sundays though. Janet has been going to her gym for weeks now. Maybe I'm just lazy.

It's time to make a grocery list again. It's amazing how quickly these weeks go by. It will be Summer soon and I will be wishing for cooler weather again. Hopefully 2021 will be a little more interesting than 2020. I applied with NASA to attend the Space X Crew-2 launch today. Who knows if I'll get approved, but eventually things will start clicking together.

Pringles is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4102

I trimmed all the dead leaves off the hedge at the back of the yard. There isn't much hedge left. This year's big freeze really did a number on our backyard plants. I have a feeling that some of them just aren't going to recover. At least the hedge trimmer works well. I probably should have bought one of these a long time ago.

Today was slow and the highlight of my day was watching the Artemis-1 live fire test. The test went well and it looks like the rocket will be heading to Kennedy Space Center soon. The eight minute test was surprisingly interesting, considering that the rocket was bolted to a test stand and didn't go anywhere. The cloud of steam the rocket produced was so large that it showed up on weather radar. Stennis Space Center was created during the Apollo era and is pretty impressive. I'm glad I got a chance to tour the place before Covid hit. I'm sure it would be much harder to get access to the facilities now.

Dawn is eating normally again and didn't show any hesitation on her daily walk. Who knows what happened yesterday. We'll probably never know. She probably ate some disgusting dead animal in the yard. There are lots of feral cats in the area and we frequently find dead birds and mice in the yard. I've never seen Dawn eat anything bad, but dogs can be sneaky. Dot killed a squirrel once and Dash was obsessed with eating cicadas. The one good thing about all the feral cats is that we seldom find rats in the yard anymore.

I really need to find a new place to walk. I have a high tolerance for boredom and even I'm starting to get bored. I've memorized every inch of my journey now. I keep walking the same familiar paths because the distance is just about right. Even with my painful foot, I know I can complete the walk. On a good day, the foot doesn't even hurt very much. I watch the trees start to bud and keep track of where the resident ducks and geese are located. The ducks move around quite a bit. There are several old buildings in the park that were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps that the city is restoring now. Every day there is a little more progress and I've been impressed at how faithfully the crews have been recreating the 1930's era buildings. There's a lot of stone masonry involved that you seldom see anymore.

I'm still debating whether to get a star tracker for my trip back to the observatory. I keep looking at these things online, but I can't decide. The device would definitely improve my pictures of the night sky, but it is awkward and bulky to carry around. I like to travel light and I know I would never use this thing in Dallas. I really need to stop getting things I only use a few times a year. I have a bad habit of doing this. Even the hedge trimmer I used today probably won't get used again for a long, long time.

Janet and I were just about to put our winter coats away for another season, but today we needed them again. How did it get so cold overnight? I kept waiting for things to warm up, but I still ended up wearing a down ski jacket on my long walk. It probably would have felt warmer if it wasn't so windy. It's hard to decide what to wear at this time of year. When the sun goes behind a cloud, I'm cold and when the wind stops and the sun comes out, I'm hot.

When I took the trash out to the curb tonight, I looked up and saw the Moon, Mars and the Pleiades very close together in the sky. I went back in the house and got my binoculars. When I looked again I saw a satellite cross through my field of view. That was my five minutes of astronomy for the night. Now, I'm ready for bed.

Nick is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4101

We had quite a storm last night. A strong wind and the sound of thunder woke me up and I had trouble getting back to sleep. I checked my phone to make sure that we weren't under a tornado watch and then I checked on Dawn. For a dog that is scared of everything, she is remarkably unaffected by storms. Severe weather doesn't seem to bother her at all. Eventually I dozed off and when I woke up this morning, the sound of thunder had been replaced with the sounds of the bulky trash trucks picking up all the junk that had been piled at the curb.

It was too wet to use the hedge trimmers I bought yesterday. I made sure that the pumps on the roof were working and then slowly drank my morning smoothie as I looked for something interesting to watch on TV. Dawn wouldn't eat her breakfast this morning which kind of worried me. Whenever a Dalmatian won't eat, something has to be wrong. I remembered hearing her stomach rumble when I woke up in the middle of the night, so I suspect that she got into something bad in the yard. Janet and I decided to wait and see if her appetite returned for dinner before becoming too alarmed.

The sky looked unusually dusty this morning, but the wind was blowing so hard that all the dust disappeared by mid afternoon. When I went on my long walk, I almost got blown over a few times. With the wind in my face, today's walk was quite a workout. I saw five large trees that had gotten blown over in the park and was extremely thankful that none of our own trees were damaged. Over the years we have lost about half of our mature Oak and Elm trees to storm damage. The trees are old and nearing the end of their natural life. Sadly, I think the rest of them need to be removed to insure that they won't fall on the house during a future storm. Violent storms are just a fact of life in Texas. Luckily, the worst of last night's storm went to the North of us.

I've got to think of something interesting to augment my daily walks. The walks eat up a lot of time, but they aren't like the many projects that used to occupy me for months at a time. I've lost interest in so many things. When I look around the office, it feels like a stranger put a lot of the stuff here. I'm no longer interested in making large Giclée prints or having gallery shows. I don't think my large production printer even works anymore. It's been decades since I've played in a band. I don't even write songs or play musical instruments these days. I don't collect things either. In fact, the last several years have been devoted to getting rid of many of my collections. I don't even find these waning interests strange. It's been this way my entire life. I don't expect my current interest in space and astronomy to last forever, but I'm sure I'll always be interested in something. I wonder what comes next.

Luckily, Dawn's appetite returned in time for dinner. She was eager to eat the same things she refused to touch for breakfast. Who knows what was wrong earlier today, but I suspect that it was an upset stomach. Dawn seemed kind of moody today as well. She gets that way when Janet is gone for any length of time. It's a shame that Dawn has decided to be a one person dog, especially since I spend a lot more time around the house than Janet does. We're working on becoming friends, but it is a very slow process.

I guess I'll watch the Artemis-1 static fire on NASA TV tomorrow. At one point I was planning to go down to Stennis Space Center to watch this in person, but I'm glad I never pursued it. With Covid restrictions still in place, I probably wouldn't have been approved anyway. Maybe by the time this gigantic rocket makes its way down to Kennedy Space Center things will be back to normal. This is one launch I'd really like to see. Until then, I'll continue walking, keep learning more about astrophotography, and keep trying to win Dawn's favor with cheese.

Alison is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4100

It's been two full weeks since Janet and I received our second dose of the vaccine. In theory, we should have acquired immunity to the virus by now. Do we really have immunity? I don't think anyone knows for sure. I do feel safer now, but not a lot has changed. Until a lot more people get vaccinated, we're still going to be dealing with masks, dire warnings from Dr. Fauci, and a tendency to avoid people who cough and sneeze. I guess I'll feel more comfortable about traveling now, but I never really stopped traveling. I went out to McDonald Observatory last October for an astrophotography workshop and then to Florida in November for the Space X Crew-1 launch. At any rate, I'm ready to put this weird chapter in my life behind me. I'm going to miss the airlines flying with the middle seats empty. That was nice while it lasted.

I changed the sheets on the bed today and finished washing the bedding that Dawn got dirty the other day. When did changing a fitted sheet on a low platform bed become an athletic event? This used to be an easy, somewhat routine minor chore. Now, the combination of a bad shoulder and weak unstable knees have turned changing the sheets into a nightmare. When old people get down on the floor, you have to think carefully about how you are going to get up again. Stand up chores like mowing the grass seem much easier by comparison. I guess I shouldn't complain. I'm still moving.

The bulky trash trucks didn't come today, so we raked a few more leaves and I cut down some small trees that actually died last year. I went to Home Depot and got a hedge trimmer to cut the dead growth off a hedge that runs along the back of our yard. I think this hedge will come back later this Spring, but the dead growth definitely needs to be removed.  Next up is replacing the grass. The dead grass has nothing to do with the big freeze. We always have a lot of dead grass in the Spring. I think Dawn will appreciate the new turf and it should keep her from rolling in the dirt so often.

I saw some Periwinkles blooming on my walk today. One by one, the Spring wildflowers are starting to appear. The Redbud and Dogwood trees are in full flower now. It won't be long before the Bluebonnets start to appear and in less than a month the meadows behind our house should be covered in colorful flowers. This spectacle doesn't last long, but I always enjoy it.

I was glad to see the Muscovy Ducks again on today's walk. The last time I saw them, they were being chased by a large dog that had gotten loose from its owner. The dog almost caught the female duck and all three ducks disappeared for several weeks. All is well now, but two of the ten geese I see everyday have disappeared. The two missing geese disappeared during the big freeze. I wonder if they died? I ponder things like this while I walk the familiar trails. Keeping track of animals and looking for flowers keeps me from getting bored. 

Dawn took a normal walk today. She didn't hesitate at all. Maybe I overthink her behavior. Janet and I wonder if she has brain damage after a vet raised this possibility, but it's entirely possible that she's just another stubborn Dalmatian. It would be nice if she enjoyed her walk everyday, but I certainly don't enjoy things everyday. Why should she?

They say we'll be getting our stimulus money tomorrow. I won't be buying Bitcoin or Gamestock shares with mine. It will just gradually disappear paying routine bills. I can't even remember what the last two stimulus checks got used for, but they're gone now. I'll take the money, but I think a lot of this stimulus has been wasted. We should have kept it simple and just helped the restaurant owners, out of work musicians, bartenders, flight attendants, gym instructors, and others who actually lost their jobs during the pandemic. 

Ruthie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4099

What a weird day. We were getting ready to go visit the rescue Dalmatians when Janet discovered that she had a flat tire. Neither of us could remember how to change a tire, so we called AAA. A guy came out to the house and put on the strange little skinny tire that a lot of cars have nowdays so Janet could go to a garage and get the flat fixed. On the way to the garage, all the warning lights lit up on her dash and she had to have the car towed to the dealership. This all took a long time, so we didn't go visit the Dalmatians at all today.

It was a nice day, but I knew that Dawn wouldn't walk with me if Janet wasn't around. I left the back door open so she could go in and out and sun herself in the backyard when she felt like it. Unfortunately, what she really felt like doing was rolling in the dirt. When my back was turned, she managed to get absolutely filthy. She also came back inside and hopped on the bed. I had to get her cleaned up, but I knew it wasn't going to be an easy task. When Janet isn't around Dawn becomes very wary of me. I got some wet towels and gently began to clean her off. Not surprisingly, this frightened Dawn and she began to whine and cry. It's sad to see how easily Dawn can get herself in a panic. I managed to get Dawn reasonably clean, but I still have to wash the bedding. I don't know why Dawn is so fearful, but I don't think it is going to change. I'm learning to live with her weird ways.

I called Janet and asked if I could come pick her up, but she said that the dealership was going to look at her car soon and she was going to stay until it was finished. I didn't understand why all the warning lights came on at once, but apparently they just needed to be reset. I left Dawn to chill out in the bedroom and went on my long walk. It was a windy day, but very warm. I think the temperature got up to eighty degrees today.

I hope that we don't get any more freezing weather because the trees are definitely starting to bud. Every day I walk, the park looks a little more green. Our own trees are starting to bud as well, so I think that everything with the exception of a few shrubs survived the freeze. The yard could definitely use some sprucing up though. The house could use even more. I don't know if I have the energy to do anything substantial, but I'll give it a try. 

By the time Janet returned with her car it was almost dinnertime. We took Dawn on a short walk and called it a day. Dawn is starting to freeze on her short walks now. We got her going again and completed our short one mile loop, but it is frustrating to realize that we haven't really solved anything. Janet did manage to get Dawn clean again though. She doesn't seem to mind Janet cleaning her with wet rags. We should have just hosed her down, but that would have brought on a major panic attack. 

Very little was accomplished today, but there's always tomorrow. I need to make one more sweep of the yard and see if there is anything else that I can take to the curb for the bulky trash trucks. The trucks might actually come tomorrow. At least the washing machine is working well again. I'd better go wash the bedspread while I've got a chance.

Carmine is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4098

I thought I'd slept in longer than usual this morning and then I realized that the time had changed. Why do we do this every year. I don't care if we go with standard time or daylight saving time. Let's just pick one and stick with it. Dogs don't understand time changes at all. They keep wanting to be fed at their usual time.

Our phones and computers update automatically, but there are still a lot of clocks in the house to change. I was changing the time on a wall clock in the office this morning when I accidentally dropped and broke it. What a shame. This clock has been faithfully reminding me that I'm always late for many, many years.

The nasty weather that all the news media kept warning us about never materialized. I don't think it even rained last night. I'm beginning to think that the media just likes to alarm people. Maybe it's good for ratings. Everything seems to be a crisis these days, even if it doesn't feel like a crisis in real life. At any rate, I was glad that there were no tornados nearby when I woke up this morning. Tornado warnings still get my attention.

When Janet and I were out walking today I got a message on my watch saying that we'd had a power outage at the house. Hmm. Who sent me this message and why? I finally figured out that the message was generated by the new little gizmo that monitors our electric lines. We tried looking at the petcam in the bedroom to see if the power was really out. The petcam still worked and everything seemed fine. When we returned home, the power was on and there were no signs that there had been an outage. Did the power  really fail or did the little line monitor fail? I guess I'll never really know.

My assorted aches and pains seem to be getting worse. A few days ago I tripped on a rock while I was walking and stumbled around trying to regain my balance. I never actually fell, but now my hip hurts when I walk. I'm getting clumsy as I grow older. I never would have tripped on that rock when I was younger and I wouldn't have dropped the office clock either. It might be time to end my trips up on the roof. Tripping on a rock is one thing. Falling off the roof would be a lot more serious.

I find myself spending a lot of time on Facebook astrophotography groups lately. Who would have thought that there were so many people interested in this strange and difficult to master hobby. Some of these people's photographs are amazingly good. They look like they were taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. I don't think I will ever get this good. I just don't have the patience. I like astronomy but I also like to go to bed early. This doesn't bode well for any future endeavors. I have a feeling that a couple of trips out to McDonald Observatory every year will be enough for me. The rest of the time I'll just watch old Perry Mason episodes on TV at night.

Dawn froze in place briefly on her short walk today. We got her going again, but this was troubling. She's been doing so well lately. I'd really hate to see her become fearful of walking. She likes to sit out in the sun in the yard, so you'd think that she would like walking as well. She always seems eager to walk when we get out her leash and harness. Occasionally, something makes her fearful though and we still don't know what it is.

I'm torn between wanting something interesting to happen next week and wanting things to remain calm and uneventful. I'll probably get uneventful and that's OK with me.

Humphrey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4097

I think Dallas has decided that the pandemic is over. Every week the roads and stores become more and more crowded. People are definitely eating out and restaurants seem to be operating at full capacity. Most businesses still require masks, but you see a lot more people without them now. It's hard to tell what's going on. You hear one thing on the news and see another thing in the streets.

There seems to be two parallel worlds now. I still see a lot of people wearing masks when they are walking alone outdoors in the park. Some folks still wear them when they are driving alone in their cars as well. On the other hand, I'm seeing a lot more large groups socializing together without masks now. People are planning weddings again. There are several event venues for rent in the park and I frequently see the party planning trucks out front, hauling in tables and chairs for another reception. I guess this is all to be expected. It is weird that everyone seems to have their own reality though. I wonder if this will ever change. I suspect that I will always be a bit more cautious around other people now. Why not. I was fairly cautious around other people before all this happened. Strangers have always been an unknown quantity. I've always worried about drunk drivers and crazy people wandering around on the streets. Now there is the added worry that someone might kill you by sneezing. 

I finished my shopping quickly today. I didn't need to get gas because I didn't go anywhere this week. This left plenty of time for a long walk. I was hoping to repeat yesterday's success, but it wasn't meant to be. I tried to walk faster, but my pace was considerably slower today. Did my feet hurt because I overdid things yesterday? I don't think so, but who knows. I was able to complete five miles, but I think I enjoyed the very slow walk that Janet and I took with Dawn a lot more. 

We've moved all our bags of leaves out to the curb now. All the other neighbors appear to have done the same thing. I think the city is going to have to add some extra trucks for this month's bulky trash day. There are a lot of Live Oak trees in our neighborhood, and the fact that the freeze caused all the Live Oaks to lose their leaves increased the number of bagged leaves considerably. Our yard is looking a lot better now. All we need is some new grass for Dawn.

The Kickstarter project I backed appears to have reached it's funding goal. Now we wait. Will this product deliver everything it promised? Will it even be produced? When will I receive it? You never know about these things. There appears to be a growing amount of skepticism about the ambitious product, but I'm still hopeful. I hope I haven't wasted my money, but I can recall wasting money on products that were actually sitting on store shelves. You wouldn't think a somewhat cynical ad guy could be fooled so easily, but we all can be fooled if we want to believe.

Dawn is still eating a lot of grass on her walks. Does this mean anything? She's still got a good appetite and her poop looks normal. Maybe I worry too much. The grass does look green and fresh. Maybe she just likes the taste. I wish dogs could talk so they could tell you if they were having problems. A talking dog would probably just gripe a lot and quickly become just as irritating as I am though. I guess barking is better.

I picked up some Chinese take-out for dinner and I've already got heartburn. I guess I'll never learn.

Wyatt is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4096

The washing machine is working again. The repair technician arrived right on time with a brown box containing the expensive new circuit board. The board must have been located in an inaccessible place because he had to practically disassemble the entire machine to install it. I wonder where appliance repairmen get their training? This guy seemed very familiar with my machine even though it was never a popular brand and hasn't been manufactured for quite some time. I was pleased when the technician put the washing machine back together and turned it on to test it. It worked. There was always a chance that the new motor controller board wouldn't solve the problem. The motor itself might have been faulty. All is good now until the next thing breaks on this machine. Replacing the aging machine piece by piece is still easier than trying to squeeze a new machine into our tiny utility room.

The washing machine wasn't the only thing that I got working again today. Part of my new company website has been non-functional ever since I redesigned it several months ago. It always looked nice on my desktop computer, but never really worked when I looked at it on my phone. I finally found a tech support person who could help me this afternoon and was able to repair the broken code. The solution was fairly obvious in retrospect. I felt a bit foolish for not being able to figure this out myself. Apparently, one of the many hazards of growing older is the inability to understand complex problems on your own. I used to be a lot better at website design when I did this stuff every day.

I got my reservations confirmed at the Prude Ranch for my trip out to McDonald Observatory, so it appears that I'm good to go. The astrophotography workshop isn't being held until mid-May, but it never hurts to plan ahead. Oddly, there is a big regional star party out at the ranch a few weeks before my arrival. If the two events had been closer together it might have been fun to attend both. Never mind. I just read the Covid rules for the WesTex Star Party. They are pretty restrictive. Since only ten people will be attending the astrophotography workshop, dealing with Covid restrictions at the observatory will be a lot easier. I'm already familiar with McDonald observatory rules anyway. I was out there last October.

I think I've figured out why my Apple Watch activity stats have been so dismal this month. It all has to do with how the watch measures things. Really the only things it is able to measure are the speed you are walking and your heart rate. Everything else is extrapolated using some sort of algorithm. Today, I was feeling pretty good so I thought I'd see what would happen if I just walked a little faster. Speed is apparently a lot more important to the algorithm than heart rate. I managed to cut four minutes per mile off my recent times and it made a huge difference. My activity scores look just like they used to. Oddly, my feet didn't hurt any more walking fast than walking slow. I was a lot more tired when I returned home though. I think I'll go back to walking slow tomorrow.

I wish Dawn didn't frighten so easily. Predictably, the repair technician scared her again, even though he was working in the other end of the house. The guy was only here about an hour, but it took Dawn the rest of the day to chill out again. She still enjoyed her walk, but ate more grass than usual. She always eats grass when she's nervous.

I keep reading that we might have hazardous weather this weekend. There are two storms headed our way. The first one is supposed to bring massive amounts of snow to Colorado. The second one might bring tornados to Texas. I hope the forecasts are wrong. We've already had enough bad weather for one year. I'm ready for a nice warm Spring.

Lance is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4095

I made reservations to go out to McDonald Observatory in May. It's a long drive but it will be worth it when I get there. Ostensibly this trip is to learn more about astrophotography, but the real reason is I just like the place. The combination of dark skies, clean air, and wide open spaces is hard to beat. It looks like I will be staying at the Prude Ranch again. The Astronomer's Lodge is still closed because of Covid. I'd much rather stay on the mountain so I don't have to drive at night, but the Prude Ranch is pretty close.

I'm not sure what I'll do if I get approved to attend one of the April launches out at Kennedy Space Center. It's doubtful that I could afford two trips this close together. Oh, well. We'll see what happens. I probably won't get approved anyway. Florida may be open, but NASA isn't. They still have a lot of Covid restrictions in place. It might be better to wait until the Fall to return to Kennedy Space Center anyway. I think the more interesting launches will take place later in the year.

I"d been thinking about getting a star tracker before my next trip to the observatory, but everyone is out of stock. Telescopes, eyepieces, mounts, and almost anything related to astronomy are impossible to find these days. They say that Covid lockdowns caused a huge upsurge in interest in backyard astronomy. This is probably true of other solitary hobbies like backpacking and fishing as well. I have a feeling that we'll be learning about the unintended consequences of the pandemic for years to come.

Dawn expects her shorter daily walks now. She's usually waiting by the back door as soon as we finish lunch. It's amazing what a transformation there's been. As soon as we started doing things her way, all the freezing in place and weird behavior stopped. She's a smart little dog. We haven't done very well training her, but she's done an excellent job training us.

My foot felt better today. I wish I could figure out why the pain comes and goes. This couldn't be random, but it sure seems that way. If I knew what was causing the problem, I could change my behavior. Today's walk was exactly the same as yesterdays. Same route. Same shoes. Same everything. It sure didn't feel the same though. Yesterday I limped home. Today I was fine. I have no idea what will happen tomorrow.

I do know what I'd like to happen tomorrow. I'd like to get the washing machine running again. Hopefully, the part I need arrived today and the repairman will be out in the morning. I probably spend way too much time doing laundry, but it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. I won't feel comfortable until I can do a load of laundry every day again.

They say that you should never kill dandelions in the Spring because they are the only food that bees have until the other flowers start to grow. I'm not sure if this is true, but it sounds good. I guess I'm a sceptic. What to bees do for food during the winter when there are no flowers at all. At any rate, the bees shouldn't have long to wait. The Redbud and Dogwood trees in the park are starting to bloom. This means that wildflower season is only a few weeks away.

This week has gone quickly. This week's trash is already out by the curb and tomorrow we'll haul the bags of leaves out for next week's bulky trash pickup. By next Tuesday Janet and I should have acquired immunity to Covid. Does this mean that the world has returned to normal. I doubt it. Appliances will continue to break. We'll probably have masks in our cars forever. Dawn will continue to treat me like a kennel attendant and I'll continue inching along toward my 5000 day goal.

Tyson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4094

The washing machine is still not working. The technician says that the motor is not communicating with the motor controller logic board. I asked if there might just be a lose wire. Nope. I need a new logic board. Will this solve my problem? Maybe. Once the machine can talk to the motor we'll be able to see if there is anything wrong with the motor itself. Life was a lot simpler when major appliances were simple mechanical beasts. Now, everything is basically a computer. The part is supposed to arrive on Friday and I hope it works. I definitely don't want to go to the laundromat again.

Dawn didn't bark at the repair technician, but I could tell she was scared. She retreated to the bedroom as soon as she heard the knock on the door and didn't come out until long after the technician had left. It doesn't take much to frighten Dawn. I wish I could explain to her that being without a washing machine for an extended length of time is a lot more frightening than having a repair technician in the house.

I learned that there will be another astrophotography workshop out at McDonald Observatory in May. This will be an advanced workshop that picks up where the first one I attended left off. Do I go? I probably will, but it's hard to decide. I love the dark skies of the Davis Mountains, but I hate the long drive out there. Driving is surprisingly tiring when you've got a bad shoulder. Travel can get expensive too. I guess I should continue to do things while I still can though. One of these days in the not too distant future, it will be too late.

It still bothers me that my Fitbit says I'm not as active as I was last year. How can this be? I feel like I'm more active than I ever was. It probably just takes more effort to do things that used to be easy. I've definitely slowed down, but I'm moving as fast as I can. It's discouraging to see overweight people pass me in the park, but what can you do? Arthritis is real and I still don't believe in strong pain medication unless it is absolutely necessary. I'm going to keep moving, but in a few years my nickname will probably be turtle.

Bulky trash pick up is next week, so we've only got a few more days to clean up the yard and get everything out to the curb before the trucks arrive. The freeze really made a mess of things. I haven't seen so much dead vegetation in years. Hopefully a lot of the plants and vegetation will come back when things get warmer. It took years for most of these shrubs to grow and I just don't have the energy to replace them all at this point. We will get new grass though. Dawn loves to lie in the grass and sun herself on nice days. The dog deserves some decent grass.

I hope I have more energy tomorrow. I've felt lethargic all day. It's hard to get motivated when your feet hurt and you are constantly blowing your nose. This is no time to nap though. I need to get familiar with my new camera if I'm going to take it out to the observatory in May. I need to decide whether I can still afford to go to a launch in Florida this Spring. I've applied to go to the Starliner and Crew-2 launches, but haven't heard whether I've been accepted. The yard needs a lot of work and I haven't been up on the roof in weeks. There's an abundance of things to do, but I still just want to take a long nap.

Ely is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4093

It was not an auspicious day. Right after breakfast I did a load of laundry and halfway through the wash cycle the washing machine broke. The drum was full of soapy water and just quit turning. I watched the timer count down to zero, but nothine else was working at all. I had to fish all the wet clothes out of the water, put them in a big plastic tub and take them to the laundromat. I called an appliance repair shop I've used in the past, but they can't get a technician out until tomorrow. I asked for the same repair guy who had come out to the house before, but he didn't work there anymore. This always happens. It's almost impossible to get the same plumber, HVAC tech, or appliance repairman. These guys move around a lot. I suspect this is because their employers don't pay them enough. At any rate, I'll meet someone new tomorrow. I hope he's good.

Laundromats are strange places. It's easy to forget that lots of people still don't have washer/dryers in their homes. They fill their cars with large piles of laundry and come to the laundromat. I used to use a laundromat when I was young and lived in an apartment building. Often it was just easier to go to a laundromat than to try to use the small and inadequate laundry room provided by the building. Maybe a lot of the people I saw today live in these types of apartments. Maybe they live in rent houses where the landlord doesn't provide washer/dryer hookups. Laundromats are always pretty full and they are universally depressing.

As I was getting ready to put my load of clothes in one of the laundromat dryers, I remembered that there was nothing wrong with our dryer at home. I put the wet clothes back in the plastic tub and returned home.  While the clothes were drying I got the electric lawn mower working and cut back all the dead Asian Jasmine in the back yard. This was a harder job than I anticipated because I haven't trimmed the ground cover for several years and it has become very overgrown. Actually, I think you are supposed to cut back Asian Jasmine at the end of every winter. The landscape people used to do this when they took care of the yard. I think trimming these bushes encourages new growth. There are lots of other decorative plants that look like they got killed by the freeze. I'm going to leave them alone for a while and hope that they start to grow again.

I don't think I'll have long to wait. When I took my long walk today, I noticed that there were Daffodils and Grape Hyacinth blooming in the park. These are usually the first flowers to bloom every Spring, but it won't be long before the fields behind our house are covered in wildflowers. I enjoy photographing wildflowers because they don't move or fly away. At various times I've tried to learn the names of the hundreds of different wildflowers I see in the park. I've probably forgotten more names than I can currently identify.

Today wasn't a good day for my feet. Both feet hurt today. I'm walking slower now, which makes my Fitbit and Apple Watch think that I'm not getting as much exercise as I should. This is frustrating to me because these slow painful walks are much more strenuous and tiring than the old days when I wasn't even aware of my feet. My Fitbit doesn't seem to know what I'm going through. It keeps urging me to go faster.

I hope the repairman can fix the washing machine tomorrow. Sometimes you get lucky and they have the part you need on the truck. Other times they have to order parts from a warehouse and you can end up waiting days or even weeks to get up and running again. I wish major appliances were more reliable. We have a microwave that has worked flawlessly for 30 years. Our television has never broken. I can't say the same for the washing machine. I think this will be the fourth service call for this machine.

Val is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4092

I took my tax files over to the accountant today. It's weird walking around in a large office building these days. This building seemed empty as a tomb. A lot of people must still be working from home, because only about one in four offices even seemed open. My accountant's office was open though. This is his busiest time of the year. I'm glad that tax preparation is behind me now. It's never a pleasant task.

It was a nice day, so we resumed raking leaves. I wish I could convince Janet that the leaves will eventually just blow away, but she likes a nice looking yard. Dawn probably does too. We made good progress today, but there is probably another day of work ahead before the leaves are all gone. The freeze killed more plants than I initially thought. I'm going to have to cut back all of our Asian Jasmine and hope that it starts to grow again in the Spring. For the first time ever, the Live Oak trees in the back yard have lost all their leaves. I'm pretty sure these trees are fine, but it's odd to see a Live Oak without any leaves.

My feet weren't kind to me today. I still can't figure out why some days are worse than others. I started out pretty well, but after the fourth mile I was practically limping. Maybe I should give it a rest, but I don't think it would make any difference. I walk slowly anyway and if I didn't spend so much time walking, I would just be faced with more household chores.

I received a residual value refund for my dehumidifier from the manufacturer today. This was basically a nice way of saying "please don't bother us any more about this thing." The dehumidifier still works. It just doesn't have an automatic shut-off switch. As long as I use it in a small room and remember to turn it off before I go to bed at night, it works fine. It's hard to tell if I came out ahead on this deal or not. I got a refund on a machine that I didn't buy in the first place. The free dehumidifier was a warranty replacement for a dehumidifier that I actually did buy however. I won't purchase this brand again. I've had three identical dehumidifiers now, and two out of three were faulty.

I'm trying to decide whether to apply to attend the Crew-2 launch in late April. This one will probably exactly the same as the Crew-1 launch which I did attend, but I'd like to be doing something. Applying for press credentials for these launches is kind of like buying a lottery ticket. A lot of applications doesn't really improve your chances that much, but you can fool yourself into thinking it does. I'm beginning to wonder why I like watching these launches so much. It takes a lot of planning and then you end up standing in a field and getting eaten alive by mosquitos while the rocket you've been chasing quickly disappears overhead. It's all over in less than five minutes.

We missed seeing Charlie and Cooper today, but I'm sure they are fine. We'll be back as soon as Spring Break is over. The fact that Spring Break trips are still happening at the same time we continue to receive daily warnings about Covid seems very strange to me. There won't be any Spring Break activities out at the observatory this year, so my services might not be needed again until 2022. I don't think cancellations are going to stop people from traveling this Summer though. Everyone seems to have a bad case of cabin fever and there is a lot of pent up demand. This might be a good time to invest in airlines and cruise lines.

I have no idea what I'm going to be doing tomorrow. I hope it isn't raking leaves though.

Bacardi is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4091

I'm still fighting these allergies. The Flonase works pretty well at clearing my nasal passages, but I've still got the runny nose. I did sleep better last night because I didn't wake up several times completely congested and breathing through my mouth. I guess this is progress, but I still feel like I've got pepper up my nose.

I vacuumed and did some small chores around the house, but it was hard to get motivated. I successfully repaired Dawn's collar although I still don't know how it became damaged. When a dog gets used to wearing a collar, they become very nervous when you take it off. All our dogs have been this way. Dawn didn't look pleased when I took the collar off to glue it back together and seemed quite relieved when I put it back around her neck a few hours later.

Janet joined me on my long walk today. I've noticed that I walk a little faster when we walk together. Usually each mile I walk is little slower than the last, but we kept a pretty steady pace today. Neither of us is setting the world on fire, but I think we're doing pretty well for 72. We're both in better shape than a lot of 40 year olds.

I never did have any reaction to the Covid shots. Even the minor soreness at the injection site is gone now. It still seems strange that people react so differently to this disease. Some people get infected and die. Other people get infected and aren't even aware they have the disease. So far, I've only known two people who have gotten sick and both recovered quickly. Nobody in my immediate circle of friends has gotten sick. It pays to be careful though. Our house has never been struck by a tornado either, but I know it could happen at any time.

The Starliner launch I've been hoping to go to in Florida has been postponed again. This is probably a good thing. I'm hoping that the closer we get to Summer, the more relaxed that current Covid restrictions are going to get. It's going to be a lot easier for me to get press accreditation for my small, obscure magazine when the world returns to normal. I'm pretty confident that I'll be going somewhere this year. I just don't know when or where.

Maybe by the time I start traveling again my seasonal allergies will be over for the year. That alone would make any trip a lot more enjoyable. Last March when I went out to McDonald Observatory I thought I would leave my allergies behind. Nope. They followed me out there and I ran through two rolls of blue Scott shop towels blowing my nose. Every single year this happens. You can look back through the blog archives and see for yourself.

This weekend really went quickly. We had a wonderful dinner tonight, but tomorrow it's back to fruit smoothies and leftovers. I guess I'll take my tax files over to the accountant tomorrow. You never get a refund when nothing has been withheld, but hopefully I won't get hit too bad this year. I wouldn't mind paying taxes if I could choose where the money went. As it stands now, I'm convinced that anything I give to the government will just be wasted.

We won't be going up to visit the Dalmatians tomorrow because the kennel is too busy with Spring Break boarders. Spring Break is still a mystery to me. I don't ever remember getting off for Spring Break when I was in school.

Connor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4090

Was today some sort of a holiday? I couldn't believe all the traffic on the roads this morning. The stores were crowded. There was even a line at the gas station. I still can't figure out why today was so different. Even the park was crowded this afternoon. Crowded stores often mean empty shelves and I had to go to three different grocery stores and three different drug stores to find everything on my list. Is this what happens during Spring Break? And why is Spring Break even a thing this year? Haven't most of the schools been closed? 

I managed to get everything done despite the unusual crowds. A few delays rarely have any impact on me at all. It's not like I'm exactly busy. When I got the groceries put away, the only thing on the agenda was my daily long walk. It was a nice day for walking. I wore a light jacket that I can take off and tie around my waist when I get hot. The jacket goes on when I'm walking along the shoreline and the wind is blowing. The jacket comes off when I'm away from the water and the sun is shining. Usually the trees are starting to bud around this time of year, but our freezing weather a few weeks ago changed all that. I don't see any signs of growth yet. The Live Oak trees in the neighborhood have lost all their leaves. All the Asian Jasmine in our yard looks dead and probably needs to be cut back. I hope everything starts to grow soon. We have enough dead stuff in our yard already.

At the suggestion of a friend, I'm going to try Flonase for my allergies. This stuff seems like a high tech version of the old nasal sprays I used to use as a kid. I had to resist the urge to spray the stuff in my nose every few hours. You are only supposed to use two squirts a day. I put one measured squirt in each nostril when I got home from the drug store and we'll do this again just before bedtime. The spray seemed to have some effect, but I wonder how much of the stuff is still in my nose. I blow my nose so frequently and often violently during allergy season that I imagine that my first dose is largely gone by now. We'll see what happens after I've been taking the spray for a few days. I hope it works.

I keep reading stories about people having terrible problems getting the Covid vaccine. Even here in Texas  a lot of people seem to be having problems. This seems so weird because Janet and I had no problems at all. It was easy to get an appointment. It was easy to find a convenient location near the house. Everything worked smoothly, just like it should. Maybe rural areas are a lot different than a major city like Dallas. That's why I don't live in a rural area. It's nice and peaceful out in the country, but when you get older you need to be surrounded by good doctors.

I think I'm making progress with Dawn. When I take a nap on the bed now, she stays with me. It wasn't that long ago that she would hop off the bed and go to her dog bed in the kitchen every time I came in the bedroom. She also waits for me to make the bed in the morning now. She waits patiently at the foot of the bed while I straighten the covers and then she hop up and reclaims her place. This is an improvement. Dawn and Janet get up earlier than me and often she would already be finished with her breakfast and back in bed by the time I woke up. It's hard to make a bed with a big dog right in the middle of it.

I'm still disappointed that The Texas Star Party has been canceled for 2021. How long is this going to go on? The world seems divided into two camps. One side want to open things up right now and the other side is still terrified that they're going to catch Covid and wants even more restrictions. At some point we're going to have to realize that Covid is going to be with us forever. No society can stay locked down forever, so lets all get vaccinated and move on.

Anne is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4089

I didn't accomplish much today. I'm still fighting my allergies and blowing my nose constantly. I finished getting my tax materials organized, but wasn't organized enough myself to get them over to the accountant. I wrote Webflow about some issues I've been haveing with their software, but never received an answer. I learned that The Texas Star Party has been canceled for 2021, which is a shame because I was thinking about attending. Nothing seemed quite right today. Maybe I just didn't get enough sleep.

The weather was strange today. It was nice outside when we walked Dawn, but when I continued walking after Janet and Dawn returned home it kept getting colder and colder. I kept going as the temperature dropped and the wind kept increasing. By the time I reached the halfway point I was really wishing I had a hat and a warmer coat. I still don't know what is going on. It was supposed to be nice today.

Janet and I have both been vaccinated, but it is becoming clear that not much is going to change until everyone else gets vaccinated too. Very little has returned to normal so far.  There's a lot of talk and lots of disagreement, but it's still hard to plan ahead. It's too bad that I don't enjoy taking pictures of birds in the backyard, because it doesn't look like I'm going anywhere soon.

It's hard to believe that we adopted Dawn a year ago this March. She still seems like a new dog. It's taken her a lot longer than we expected to adjust to her new life. I can tell she enjoys living here with us, but trust doesn't come easy to her. I guess this is to be expected. Before she became part of our family, she'd spent her entire life as a puppy mill breeding dog. She may never completely trust me because I think I remind her of the men who mistreated her. Dawn definitely prefers women. We continue to make progress, but this is going to take a long time.

I'm beginning to realize that making any sort of progress is going to take a long time. Exercise doesn't produce quick results anymore. Mostly I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle. It's going to be a while before I'm published again. A lot of magazines are struggling and it's hard to come up with story ideas that are actually feasible. Maybe some of this will change as the world slowly opens up again. I hope so anyway. I guess I'm glad that I'm retired. It would be really frustrating to look for new clients in today's Covid environment.

The only thing I'm going to look for tomorrow are groceries. I need some more Parmesan cheese. It has to be a good Parmigiano-Reggiano. I'm not particular about a lot of things, but I am particular about cheese. I guess I'll go look for another decongestant too. I'll probably end up with four or five different kinds before I find something I feel comfortable taking. I hate having a runny nose, but I hate the way most decongestants make me feel as well. It's a problem. It's time for a new batch of fresh fruit. I see these commercials on TV for Balance of Nature pills that are supposed to contain all the nutrients found in fresh fruits and vegetables. Why wouldn't you just eat the real fruits and vegetables instead? Fresh fruit is delicious.

Excuse me if I'm rambling. I tend to do that on days where nothing happens.

Rory is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4088

Dawn got a bath today. The fact that this was the big event of the day will tell you how exciting today was. None of our dogs have enjoyed getting a bath, but they put up with it. We abandoned bathing dogs at home years ago and always take them to one of those do it yourself dog bath places that have sprung up all over town. We all got wet. Dawn got clean. And she did very well with the other dogs at the facility.

Today was tax preparation day. I think I've got everything ready to send to the accountant, but I'm never sure. Taxes seem to get more complicated every year. My big problem this year was that I keep accidentally putting things in the wrong category in Quickbooks. It took quite a while to look for missing items and move them to the proper class files. At least I'm pretty good about entering transactions in Quickbooks now. Doing a search in a software program is a lot easier than sifting through mountains of receipts in an accordion folder. I was pleased that I actually made money writing for magazines this year. It wasn't a lot of money, but it was a start.

I never did take the Allegra-D that I bought yesterday. I guess all the dire warnings on the box scared me away. Now I've got to go find something else. I should quit reading the fine print on pill bottles. I shouldn't even watch the TV commercials. Just about every pharmaceutical product on the market warns of some sort of horrible side effect. I seldom have an adverse reaction to medication. My problem is that I often have no reaction at all. A lot of pills just don't seem to work on me. It's just as well. I hate to depend on pills and still think that staying active and eating healthy food is the best way to avoid getting sick.

It was so warm today that I not only washed the car, I cleaned the dirty wheels as well. Land Rover wheels seem to get coated with oil and dirt unusually quickly. I hate cleaning them because I have to get down on my knees and scrub all the gunk away. The older I get, the harder it is to get back up off the ground. I'm going to need a cane one of these days. I guess the effort was worth it. The car looks great now. I don't drive much, so I probably won't have to do this again for a month or so. Dawn probably hopes she won't need a bath again for another month or so as well.

I talked to my editor at SpaceFlight Magazine today. He said he'd leave it up to me what to cover next. This is good and bad. I'm not really sure what I want to do next. It will probably just depend on how hard it is to get clearance and the proper credentials. I think that Kennedy Space Center has discovered that severely restricting access makes life a lot easier. Life will probably never go back to the pre-covid days when NASA created special events for social media influencers and it was easy to get a press pass.

Last year at this time I was getting ready to spend several weeks out at McDonald Observatory. Every March they hosted a special series of Spring Break star parties that would often attract up to 500 people a night. When I became an on-site volunteer I kind of thought that I'd be going back to the observatory every March. Not this year. I have no idea when the observatory is going to open up again, but I don't think it is going to be soon. Hard to believe that it's been a full year since the Covid madness started.

I've learned a lot this year. I'm not a people person and do pretty well on my own. I've discovered that it is very hard to do anything in isolation however. Getting invited to view launches at Kennedy Space Center involves a lot of interaction with other people. So does looking through big telescopes out at the observatory. I'd like to resume these activities but I'm not sure that life will ever go back to the way it was before. I'm just sitting her like everyone else, waiting to see what happens next.

Orion is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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