Day 4417

My teeth are in good shape. My dental hygienist always complements me on how well I take care of my teeth and gums. I try. The last thing I want at this stage of my life are implants or more crowns. I kind of wish that I'd had braces when I was younger, but that ship has sailed. My teeth are a little crooked but I have very few fillings. I still have three of my four wisdom teeth, with none of the dental problems that both of my parents endured. Hopefully I'm done with medical and dental appointments for a while. I think I've had more than my share this Winter.

When I returned from the dentist, I went to the good plumbing supply store and got the parts I needed to repair both toilets. I got high quality parts with brass fittings instead of the plastic stuff you find at Home Depot. I hate masquerading as a plumber so maybe this will help minimize future repairs. You never know though. Something else may break tomorrow. 

I'd never make a good plumber. The work is way too messy for me. I'm always very methodical and careful, but somehow I always end up making a mess. It's almost impossible to disconnect the supply lines to a toilet and remove all the internal parts without spilling a little water. At least I didn't try to remove the supply line without turning off the water to the house at the meter. I think I learned that lesson on a previous repair. The shut off valve on one of the toilets doesn't completely close and water sprays everywhere if you don't shut off water to the house first. The good news is that my first repair worked perfectly. The bad news is that I got tired of being a plumber and I still have to fix the other toilet. At least Janet's toilet is fixed. I'll deal with mine later.

I could tell on our sunrise walk with Dawn that this wasn't going to be a good day for my feet. I still can't figure out why some days are relatively pain free and other days are terrible. It doesn't seem to be the humidity because I've had good and bad days when the weather was exactly the same. It doesn't seem to be the result of too much exercise either. I've been able to go on long walks multiple days in a row without a problem. On a bad day I have trouble just walking around the house. I probably need to make another appointment with the orthopedic surgeon. I need to make sure that I'm not inadvertently damaging my feet. If walking doesn't really make things any worse, I can probably live with the pain.

The park has been virtually empty for the past several days. There hasn't been as much traffic on the roads either. Is something going on that I don't know about? I don't have a clue. Maybe it's just the weather. It has been cold and nasty lately. Maybe it's Covid. There are a ton of people who've gotten the virus recently. I can't says that I don't know anyone who's caught Covid anymore. I know quite a few people who've come down with it. It's kind of amazing that Janet and I haven't caught the virus. The test Janet had to take to see her doctor was negative and I've had several negative tests recently. So far, so good anyway.

There is new firmware available for the Polaris star tracker. I'm kind of nervous to install it though. It's always a mixed bag whenever there's an upgrade. Some people on the user forum report better results after an upgrade while others report that their tracker doesn't work anymore. I'm tempted not to bother with every upgrade and just keep watching the user forum until everyone seems happy. I think that day is still a long way away. I'm not sure I would have backed this project if I knew I was going to be a Beta tester. I just want things to work when I turn them on. Finding bugs and solving problems isn't exactly my cup of tea. Being a Beta tester isn't as messy as being a plumber, but it's almost as bad.

It seemed really cold when I took the trash out to the curb this evening. That means it will be even colder in the morning. If Dawn could overcome her fears and learn to walk with me without Janet nearby, we could do her morning walk a lot later. I have no schedule and actually like to sleep in. Dawn doesn't know what she's missing.

Sophie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4416

Another slow day. I had been planning on practicing with the star tracker again but got bogged down with a variety of irritating little tasks. Now we've got two running toilets. Both should be easy to fix, but I hesitate to mess with either of them. The last time I tried to install a new toilet kit, the fit was poor and I ended up with a leak at the base of the tank. At least the second toilet uses commonly available parts you can find at any Home Depot. The weird French toilet uses hard to find, expensive parts that are only available at one plumbing supply store in town. What do you do? I can buy a ten dollar toilet kit at Home Depot or pay a plumber a hundred dollars to install the same thing. Plumbers won't even touch the French toilet. I have to handle that myself anyway. I hate things that break all the time, but that doesn't stop them from breaking.

I had trouble getting my accounts to balance in Quickbooks today as well. This is irritating because the problem is always a data entry mistake I've made and never noticed. It's surprisingly hard to find a small mistake you made over a month ago. I eventually found the error and everything balances again but it took a while. It would be a lot easier to just make a journal entry and adjust the Quickbooks files to match what the bank says is correct. Mistakes always bother me though and in the long run it is always easier to take the time to find them.

I was surprised to learn that two more pieces of my model train collection have sold. Sales dropped off dramatically when Covid started and my dealer friend hasn't sold anything in over a year. I'm glad he's still in business. Maybe things are starting to look up again. Over half the collection has already sold, but a lot still remains. I may need to put this collection in my will. How did I ever acquire so many electric trains and construction models?

Today was a nice day for walking. I managed to get 20,000 steps without a lot of foot pain. Walking slower seems to help. I didn't see the eagles today but someone asked me about them. The word had gotten out about these birds and it appears like the entire city is out looking for them. I've heard that the park department might build a fence around their nesting area to keep people away. This is probably a good idea. Keeping the nesting area a secret didn't seem to work. You can't really keep anything a secret these days.

Janet said that Dawn did really well in training class tonight. She is much less fearful now and is a quick learner. I guess patience pays off. Dawn is even a lot friendlier with me now. I don't think she completely trusts me but we are definitely making progress. It's important that she learns to trust me because Janet wants to travel again. One of these days it's just going to be me and Dawn in the house for a while. I really don't want her to feel afraid while Janet is away.

I need to remember I've got a dental appointment tomorrow. It's just a cleaning but I've finally realized that dental hygiene is important. This cleaning was originally scheduled for weeks ago, but someone in the dentist's office got Covid and they had to close down for a while. Everyone seems to be catching Covid now. It's kind of amazing that Janet and I have managed to avoid it this long.

Jazz is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4415

Some days are eventful. Other days nothing happens at all. One of the downsides of writing a daily blog is that you have to account for all the days. I wouldn't be offended if you just skipped today's post. The big event of the day was driving a few miles to the pharmacy to pick up some prescriptions. Some days I wonder how the days go so quickly even when nothing happens. You'd think I'd feel bored or fidgety when nothing happens, but it just seemed like a normal day to me.

Time goes by quickly when you are naturally slow. I spend a lot of time eating breakfast, switching back and forth between the news and business channels on TV as I sip my coffee. I spent more time with breakfast when I drank my enormous smoothie, but it still shouldn't take hours to eat a bowl of shredded wheat. I've grown to depend on our sunrise walk with Dawn to wake up in the morning. When I hear Janet say "we're leaving in ten minutes," I get out of bed and get dressed. Janet and Dawn are faster than me and the brisk morning walk ensures that I'm wide awake when we return and I don't just go back to bed again.

I used to spend a lot of time answering work related e-mail after breakfast, but now I just wade through a mountain of spam. It's rare that anything in my inbox even needs a response. Old habits die hard though. Without a lot of writing and editing jobs to keep me busy, I just waste time on Facebook and bookmark various camera and astronomy sites for future reading. I'm so used to sitting in front of a computer that I don't know what I'd do without it.

The weather was beautiful today. Yesterday's dismal drizzle turned into clear blue skies and nice moderate temperatures. One of the reasons I take my long walk every day is that it is an excellent way to kill time. I purposely walked slower than usual today and it seemed to help my foot pain. I think I saw one of the eagles sitting atop a distant tree but it was too far aways to be certain. Usually I know the eagle is around when I see a bunch of photographers with long telephoto lenses all pointed in a specific direction. I did see all the resident ducks and geese. There are way too many White Pelicans, Mallards, Coots, and Double Crested Cormorants to count, but I always look for the ten Domestic Geese, the two Canadian Geese, and the two Muscovy Ducks.

I've temporarily lost interest in the star tracker. I've already determined that the product kind of works and I don't think there are going to be any improvements until the next firmware upgrade. It seems pointless to take the Polaris out in our yard. The front yard isn't level and I'm always scared that a speeding car or truck is going to come careening through the yard again. It's happened before. There is a slight bend in the road just before it reaches our house and people, especially drunk people, have been known to miss the turn. The back yard is safe from traffic, but it is too hard to turn off all the security lights. There are nearby streetlights as well. Basically the neighborhood isn't very conducive to astronomy.

I paid the rest of the January bills today and noticed that these recurring expenses keep going up as well. It's a shame that the stock market us headed down again. I was feeling good for a while. Hey, at least I didn't succumb to buying Bitcoin. Crypto is taking a tumble as well. When I was working I was never concerned about fluctuations in the market. I always knew it was easy enough to earn more money. Retirement is a bit different. No matter what you've managed to save, it never seems like enough. 

Bones is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4414

Oliver and Charlie were playful today. We had plenty of time to spend with each of them because they are currently the only Dalmatians at the kennel. We've decided that Oliver should have been named Goofy because he acts like a giant clumsy puppy. He can't catch anything, but he sure has fun trying. He loves tug toys though. Playing tug is his favorite game. Charlie seems to be mellowing out a bit. He was content to just sit with us and let us pet him for a while this afternoon. You can't really relax with Charile though. He's not a lap dog. He can go from calm to chaotic in less than a second.

On the way home from the kennel we missed one of our regular turns and ended up getting lost in Richardson. It's weird to think that we have lived here over forty years and there are still many parts of the city and its surrounding suburbs that we have never even driven through. We had to set the GPS in the car for home to find our way out of the suburban maze.

I am continuing to do little chores around the house that I should have taken care of years ago. This morning I bought several hundred pounds of river rock and filled in a big rut in the driveway that was causing the suspension on my car to scrape against the pavement when I was backing out of the driveway. I have been able to avoid fixing the hole for quite a while because my car has a hydraulic suspension and I can raise the car up while I drive over the obstacle. Since I was doing this every time I left the house I began to worry that I might get a leak in the hydraulic system that would cost a lot more to repair than a load of river gravel. The rocks were heavy and kind of a mess to transport, but my repair was a success and I can now get the car into the carport without scraping anything.

On the way to get the river gravel, I stopped at an AT&T store and asked about the iPhone Mini for a dollar a month promotion I'd been getting notices about. "Oh, that promotion ended two days ago," the sales guy told me. Snooze, you lose I guess. I asked why they had been practically giving these phones away. "This was an iPhone 12 and we're practically up to 14 already," he told me. He also added that no one wanted this model because it was too small. "But I wanted one," I said. Too late. The promotion was over.

It was a rainy day today so I didn't even attempt to walk very far. We did manage to get Dawn walked this morning before the drizzle started but the rest of the day was a mess. I found a little dry spell on the weather radar after we got back from the kennel, but it didn't seem like it would stay dry for long. I only walked two miles today and my feet are probably thanking the weather gods. The weather was dismal, but I did see the eagle again. I didn't have my camera with me and didn't particularly care. Hey, I've already got a picture of the bird.

Janet has to get a Covid test before she can go see her doctor. It's weird. When we went out for Thanksgiving Dinner last November I was convinced that the pandemic was just about over. Now it's back  with a vengeance and everyone is scared of Omicron. You have to wonder if we will be stuck with this mess for the rest of our lives. So many things have been done wrong fighting the pandemic and now the disease has become completely politicized. Common sense certainly doesn't prevail anymore. Do you take the red pill or the blue pill. It's a tough choice sometimes.

I have no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow. I'm sure I'll come up with something. The weather forecast says it will be sunny. I'll take that with a grain of salt. It was supposed to be sunny today.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4413

Life is full of surprises. I had to take Janet to the ER this evening because she had unusually high blood pressure. A systolic reading of over 200 seems alarming to me. The ER doctors did a lot of tests but didn't seem nearly as alarmed as we were. Something is wrong though. It doesn't seem right for blood pressure to dramatically spike overnight. We quickly discovered that Sunday night is not the best time to have a medical problem. Doctors rarely give you their personal cell phone number and a lot of the little neighborhood ER clinics that have sprung up all over town aren't even open. The first place we went to had a sign on the door saying that they closed at 5 PM. Too bad it was 6:15. 

We ended up going to a small hospital that rarely gets trauma patients. If we had gone to one of the large hospitals we would have been waiting for hours. Gunshot wounds and car accidents take priority over high blood pressure. I'm really glad now that my gallbladder problem happened during regular working hours. My doctor helped me bypass all the red tape and get admitted to the hospital very quickly. On the weekend, you are on your own. Janet is home now and seems fine. She'll go see her regular doctor in the morning. I've always thought it was a lot easier to find an emergency vet for your dog at night than to deal with your own after hours emergencies. Tonight's experience did nothing to change my mind.

The rest of our day was pretty normal. The weather was pleasant and Dawn got a nice Sunday outing. I had trouble keeping up with Dawn and Janet because this wasn't a good foot day for me. Janet tried a new "Calming Collar" on Dawn during the ride to the park. I didn't think it would work, and sure enough it didn't. They probably just infused the collar with Lavender Oil or other new age gimmick. Lets face it. Dawn is always going to freak out in the car. She's fine when we get to our destination and I guess that's all that counts. Ice cream actually works a lot better than the Calming Collar with Dawn. Ice cream cones do a great job of calming her down.

When I took my long walk later in the afternoon my feet hurt so bad that I wasn't able to complete my regular route. This hasn't happened in a long time. It's just as well that I took a shorter walk today. The park was so crowded that it wasn't even enjoyable. A Springlike day in the middle of Winter brings the people out in droves. I enjoy walking in inclement weather more because I have the place to myself. I think the eagles had the same idea. They were nowhere to be found this afternoon.

I made a feeble effort to clean out the office today. I threw away a bunch of empty boxes and old mail. I need to continue throwing away empty boxes in the storage warehouse as well. I always used to save these things in case we moved. We're not going to move though. I should have realized that years ago.  I also tried to dust a few shelves that held the remains of my model train collection. Most of the trains went to my dealer friend who's been trying to sell them for several years, but a few slipped through the cracks. There was a thick layer of dust on the models and they were surprisingly difficult to clean. I spent several hours on this futile effort and only managed to clean a single shelf. Unfortunately, dozens of dusty shelves still remain.

When Janet was checking her blood pressure at home, I got out my wireless blood pressure monitor to compare with Janet's monitor to see if hers might be faulty. It turns out that mine was the faulty one. The cuff wouldn't pump up anymore. I changed the batteries, but the cuff still wouldn't inflate properly. One more broken thing to fix now. I think the old fashioned mechanical blood pressure monitors were much more reliable. You just can't depend on batteries or devices that require a cell phone app to work.

I'm not sure if we'll be visiting the Dalmatians tomorrow. I guess it depends on when Janet can get a doctor's appointment. I'm not sure if I'll be doing much walking either. Today's walk wasn't very auspicious. Maybe I need to rest for a few days. Maybe we all need to rest for a few days.

Chloe is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4412

It's kind of amazing that prices at the grocery store keep going up every single week. I essentially buy the same things week after week and my bill keeps getting higher. Gas prices are higher as well. I kind of think that stores kept prices artificially low during the holiday season and now they're trying to make up for lost time. I'm not really alarmed by the price increases yet, but it makes you wonder what things will be like this summer.

We took a sunrise walk again this morning and Dawn didn't seem to mind the cold. I thought getting an early start would help me get my shopping done before the stores got crowded, but it didn't make any difference. I got a slow start and didn't leave the house until 11 AM. I'm glad I only do this once a week. The traffic in Dallas has really gotten irritating.

We took Dawn on another walk later in the day and then I continued on my regular long walk. I carried a small camera with me again in hope of seeing the eagles. No eagles today, but I did see a nice Red Shouldered Hawk. I guess I'll continue taking the camera with me for a while. I'm not as dedicated as the serious birders, but I am out in the park a lot. Maybe I'll get some good eagle pictures in the weeks ahead. The little camera I'm taking with me leaves a lot to be desired, but you don't need high resolution pictures for the blog. The camera is so small that it's easy to forget that I have it with me.

We heard that Jack got adopted today, so now it's just Charlie and Oliver again. The two puppies must have gotten adopted immediately because we never saw them at the kennel at all. I have a feeling that Oliver will get adopted soon as well. He's young, smart, and good looking. He's also very strong. Hopefully someone young will adopt him who can give him the exercise he needs.

My walk took longer than usual today because I stopped to talk with some of the birders. Most of these guys use full frame Nikon or Canon cameras with huge telephoto lenses. They remind me of the rocket photographers at Kennedy Space Center. The equipment is certainly the same. I still like my smaller micro 4/3 cameras. They are much smaller and lighter and still take great pictures. Maybe I'm just lazy. The birders drag these huge cameras out in the woods every day and all I can manage is a little point-and-shoot camera I can put in my pocket.

I got an e-mail from AT&T today saying that I could get an iPhone 12 for only a dollar a month. There must be a catch. I usually keep a phone around three years before it becomes obsolete. That would only be $36 for the phone. I may need to go check this out. I don't really need a new phone, but if it only added a dollar a month to my bill, why not. The newer phone camera would certainly be better than the one I've got now.

My foot pain was worse today. I slathered my foot with Voltaren before I took my walk, but it didn't help much. I don't think it actually helped at all. The fact that I can still walk makes me think that I've just got a garden variety case of arthritis. I've been to the doctor and I definitely don't want to get hooked on pain killers. I guess I'll just continue doing nothing for a while.

The weather is supposed to be warmer tomorrow, so Dawn should have a nice Sunday outing. We do the same things week after week, but that's not a bad thing. Everyone needs a little continuity in their life.

Raider is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4411

I'm getting better at finding the eagles. It helps to look for them late in the day. You almost never see them in the morning. Today I took a little point-and-shoot camers with a zoom lens with me on my walk. The picture still wasn't great, but it was better than yesterday's iPhone attempt. Too bad I didn't have the little camera with me yesterday. I was much closer then. This time the eagle was in a distant tree on the other side of a swampy area. I couldn't get any closer. I have better cameras, but this pocket sized one will have to do for now. The larger cameras are too cumbersome to hike with and driving to the woods where the eagles live isn't practical. Traffic is so bad on our street that I can't even get out of the driveway during the evening rush hour.

The temperature was even colder than yesterday when we woke up this morning. There was no point in making Dawn miserable, so we skipped the sunrise walk and took her on another walk after lunch. I waited until later to take my long walk as well, which is probably why I saw the eagle again. It was a clear day with no wind, so it got warmer fairly quickly. Twenty-three degrees seemed way too cold. Forty-three degrees seemed just about right. 

I didn't do a lot this morning. There was a ULA Space Force launch to watch on my computer that a lot of my Florida friends got to see in person. I got invited, but it's much too expensive to make a trip down to Titusville every time there's a rocket launch. I didn't set up the star tracker today, but I did try to trouble shoot my camera in case there were settings enabled that would cause the camera to shut off automatically when it was under control by the tracker. Another Kickstarter backer suggested that maybe there was an auto shutdown feature enabled on the camera. I actually found several settings that would automatically shut down the camera or put it to sleep if it was idle for a certain amount of time. Maybe this was the problem I was having the other day. I'll test everything again in a few days.

My editor at Sky & Telescope wrote and told me that he didn't think readers of the magazine would be interested in an article about my troubles with the star tracker. He seemed to indicate that they were more interested in products that actually worked. I beg to differ, but what do I know. This strange saga seems much more interesting than an ordinary product review.

I ordered our free Covid test kits from the post office today. Maybe Janet will need them when she goes on a cruise with her sisters later this Spring. It seems a little late for the free test kits and masks. If you haven't caught the virus after all this time, you are probably pretty safe. I still think the simplest and best way to avoid the virus is to stay away from other people. Works for me anyway. I don't want to be smug though. I'm a very superstitious person. If I ever bragged about being immune from the virus, I'd probably catch it the next day.

Dawn is slowly getting friendlier with me. When I returned from my long walk today, she started barking and came out in the back yard to greet me wagging her tail. She also comes out to supervise when I'm making her dinner now. We've still got a ways to go though. She still doesn't like to share the bed with me. If I take a nap during the day, she will usually get up and go to her dog bed in the kitchen. I don't think we're buddies yet, but she has decided that I'm a pretty good kennel attendant.

Is it already time to make a grocery list again? Where did this week go? I think it's supposed to be warmer tomorrow. That's something to look forward to.

Molly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4410

I saw both eagles together for the first time today. They were perched high in a tree that was very close to the trail. Of course I didn't have my camera with me. I did have my phone though, so I got as close to the tree as I could and took a fairly terrible picture. One of the eagles flew away as I approached the tree, but you can still see the other if you look carefully. The eagle that flew away had something long and thin in its talons. Maybe it was building material for the nest, or perhaps it was a snake. I'm pretty sure that eagles would eat a snake. They appear to eat just about anything. I know they like fish. That's why they hang out at the lake. Several of the birders have seen them catch fish at Sunset Bay. 

The fact that the eagles were so close to the trail this afternoon makes me want to figure out how to carry a camera with me. I'm bound to see these eagles again. I do have a light weight pocket camera with a telephoto lens that collapses into the camera body when the camera is off. It's not an ideal solution, but it would be a lot better than a phone with no telephoto lens at all. Today's picture is probably the worst that I have ever uploaded to the blog. Hey, maybe it will inspire me to do better.

It was bitterly cold this morning and didn't really warm up much throughout the day. We waited until later to take Dawn on her morning walk, but the wait didn't help much. It was still 25 degrees. I didn't attempt my long walk until after lunch in hopes that things would warm up. Nope. The temperature never got above freezing. The wind wasn't terrible today, but there was enough of a wind chill to make me feel like an arctic explorer again. I didn't get 20,000 steps today, but who's counting. At least my feet didn't hurt much today. It was a pretty good walk and I did see the eagles.

I made some progress with the star tracker this morning. While I was waiting for the temperature to warm up, I upgraded the app on my phone and downloaded the new firmware to the Polaris tracker. The two upgrades made some things better and other things worse. This is still a work in progress. For the first time I was able to calibrate the unit accurately so that when I asked it to go to a star or planet, it was at least pointing in the general direction. The tracking seems to work smoothly now. It's hard to tell how accurate the tracking is since I'm doing all this during the day inside my office. I have Stellarium on my computer and I use this powerful planetarium software to confirm that the Polaris is pointing in the right direction. The tracker actually seems to work as promised. At least it works for a while. Inevitably the Polaris will crash if I use it long enough. Once it starts crashing, I have trouble getting it to work again. As I said, this is still a work in progress.

I'm really glad the gas company was able to get the leak fixed yesterday. It would have been dangerously cold last night without the furnace running. This cold weather makes me wonder if we're going to have another power generation fiasco like we did last winter. There has been a lot of talk, but I don't think the state has actually done much to ensure that an extended freeze won't curtail natural gas deliveries to power plants again. Last winter was a huge mess and some people were without power for days.

It was very cold when I took the trash out to the curb this evening. The freezing weather made me think of one of my favorite stories from childhood. If you've never read "A Pail of Air" by Fritz Lieber you ought to look it up. The story was published in Galaxy Science Fiction magazine in December 1951 and I still remember it after all these years. It is a young boy's recollection of living on a world that was pulled out of the solar system by a passing dark star and is now lost in deep space with a frozen atmosphere and a small handful of people who survive by melting the frozen oxygen over a constantly burning fire in a small room insulated by many layers of blankets. Not sure how plausible this scenario is, but it made an impression on me.

April is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4409

Yay. We've got heat again. Our gas was shut off for most of the day while a work crew repaired a gas leak in the alley behind our house. I didn't give the outage much thought at first because the repair people had already told me that they would be finished before the end of the day and that service would be restored. As the day progressed and the cold front got closer and closer I started to get nervous. The house was starting to get cold and the two things you need the most during freezing weather are a working furnace and hot water.

Toward the end of the day a gas company technician arrived and hooked up our gas meter again. I asked if he could come in the house and start the water heater and furnace again. He said he wasn't allowed to come inside. What? "But that's where the gas appliances are," I said. He said it was gas company policy and he could get fired for violating it. He did call me a plumber though and said I wouldn't be charged. Very weird. Why was it OK for a plumber to come inside, but not a gas company technician. I'm pretty sure that I could have restarted everything myself, but I didn't want to screw up and burn down the house. I've always had a healthy respect for flames. 

Surprisingly, the plumber arrived quickly and restarted the old and cranky water heater. I actually restarted the furnace myself because I was cold and impatient. I was a lot more familiar with the furnace as well. I've had to restart it numerous times to clean the flame sensor. The furnace has sophisticated shut-off features as well. I wasn't so sure about the water heater. Oddly, the water heater flame has never gone out before. The water heater has been one of the few totally reliable things in the house. 

I still don't know what was wrong with the gas line. Whatever they fixed was buried at least four feet underground. How did they even know the pipe was leaking that far underground? I don't know why they replaced my gas meter either. I suspect that the new meter allows them to read the meter remotely and I was due for a replacement anyway. All is well though. We are headed for one of the coldest nights of the year and the house is nice and warm again.

I really didn't get a lot done today. I took my long walk in a light mist, but didn't get very wet. My feet were terrible today, so maybe the foot pain does have something to do with the humidity. The weather is definitely getting nasty. Janet and Dawn didn't even go to training class tonight. I'm tired of winter already although I know that the worst is yet to come. Often February is our coldest month. At least we haven't gotten snow yet. I hope we don't. A winter without snow would be a blessing.

I was going to resume testing the star tracker today since there has been another update to the software. I decided to wait however, because I didn't want to be aggravated by two things at the same time. Dealing with the natural gas outage was enough for one day. I have absolutely no faith that things will go as planned anymore, so I was actually expecting to be sleeping under a big pile of blankets in a very cold house. The gas company actually did pretty well today. Much better than I expected.

I hope tomorrow goes smoothly.  I don't like surprises and I've grown weary of dealing with problems. A boring day is a good day as far as I'm concerned. Dawn is a good role model for me. All she does is eat, sleep and walk. Basically, that's all I do as well.

Daisy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4408

Today was a mess. I had to go to the bank this morning and on the way home I had a flat tire. Luckily, there was a tire store nearby and they were able to fix the tire. The place only took cash though. Who uses cash anymore? They said I should go across the street and use the ATM machine at the 7-11 store. That didn't work. The machine would only accept debit cards. I've never used a debit card and generally just shred them as soon as a bank sends me one. I asked the tire guys if they'd mind if I drove back to my bank to get some cash. 

The ATM machine at the bank didn't work either. I guess all ATM machines expect a debit card. I didn't think the bank would let me in the lobby because I didn't have a mask with me. The drive-thru teller said they'd give me one and eventually I got the $30 the tire guys wanted for fixing two nails in my rear tire. This seemed a little expensive, but I wasn't in a position to argue. I was actually amazed that the tire guys didn't seem at all concerned that I was wandering around town for forty-five minutes looking for cash. I didn't try to stiff the guys though. I came back and gave them their money. It sure beat trying to change the tire myself.

When I returned to the house, there was a work crew digging up the alley again. They asked if this was my house and told me that there was a gas leak they had to repair. Evidently the faulty pipe was right near where they had discovered a leak at my neighbor's house several months ago. I wouldn't be surprised if they had caused this leak when they were trying to repair the other one. At any rate, they told me that they would have to shut off our gas tomorrow. "How long is it going to be off," I asked? Another cold wave is on the way and I wasn't looking forward to spending a night without heat. I'm not even sure I know how to shut off the gas to the house. We've lost electricity many times, but we've never lost natural gas.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. My phone works great with the new battery. It's nice to not have to put the phone on the charger every few hours. I don't think I'd ever get an electric car. I'm plagued with battery problems. Something I own always seems to be having a battery issue. Probably as soon as I figure out how to use the star tracker, I'll start having battery problems with it.

I waited until later in the day to take my long walk. It was cold this morning when we walked with Dawn, but I knew that it would warm up quickly. It would have been an enjoyable walk if it wasn't for my feet. When all this started, I was only having problems with my left foot. Now, both feet hurt. The Hoka shoes help, but I don't know what else I can do. Over-the-counter pain medications do nothing. 

I got the invitation to apply for press credentials for the Artemis 1 launch today. The launch is supposed to take place sometime in March now, although insiders tell me that it probably won't take place until this Summer. I'll go ahead an apply, but it doesn't guarantee that I'll be accepted. We'll see. I'd really like to attend this launch, but the bloom is off the rose as far as travel is concerned. Who knows what new Covid variant will be around when the launch takes place. Covid had made travel such a hassle that I'm tempted to just stay home and do nothing until this whole thing is ancient history.

I hope the gas company people don't throw me any surprises tomorrow. I really don't want to be without heat on Thursday when the cold weather arrives. I'm going to have to be really careful about taking Dawn outside as well. Work crews are notorious about leaving gates open. 

Dovey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4407

It was a busy day. We visited Charlie, Oliver and Jack at the kennel and they were all in a playful mood. Jack doesn't like to play with toys like Charlie and Oliver, but is extremely friendly and seems to have settled in well to kennel life. I think someone will be looking at the dogs soon, so one of them might not be there when we visit next week. The kennel was pretty quiet today since all the holiday boarding dogs have gone back home.

It was my turn to drive to the kennel today and I was amazed at the terrible gas mileage my gas was getting. Maybe it always got terrible gas mileage, but I'm more aware of things since the price of gas has gone up so much. Traffic was terrible today as well. It's a good thing we are always going in the opposite direction of the inevitable rush hour traffic when we visit the kennel.

I replaced the battery in my phone this morning and the phone seems to be working a lot better now. I'm glad I found the little neighborhood phone repair store. The battery replacement only cost about half of what the Apple Store currently charges and was done on less than thirty minutes. The only weird thing was the technician didn't want me in the store while he was working. He seemed unusually worried about Covid and said I was welcome to wait in the car. I went to a nearby CVS and picked up a few things instead. 

The day started out cold but warmed up quickly again. I'm getting used to wearing different clothes depending on the time of day. It was below freezing when we took our sunrise walk with Dawn but when I took my long walk after we returned from the kennel, I didn't even need a jacket. Unfortunately, I think these warm afternoons might be over soon. I think another arctic cold front is headed our way.

I saw the eagle for the second day in a row. Another bird watcher told me that if I had arrived five minutes earlier I would have seen both eagles together. Judging by the bird's behavior, most of the local birders don't think there are any eggs in the nest yet. Apparently, late in the day is the best time to view the birds. I should probably drive over to the area where they are often seen near sunset one of these day and try to get a picture. I've seen people photographing the birds for several months now and I still don't have a single picture. I do have good pictures of owls and hawks though. There are plenty of owls and hawks in the park. There are only two eagles.

I didn't think I'd be walking far today, but my feet held up better than I expected. I ended up getting 23,000 steps. My pace has really slowed unfortunately. If I walk slower my feet don't hurt as much. It's kind of embarrassing though. The other day an old guy walking with a cane passed me on the trail. 

My toilet repair didn't last very long. It's only been a few days and the toilet is already running again. I guess I'm going to have to go to the plumbing supply store and buy the expensive little pneumatic valve after all. The little plastic valve always seen to do the trick. It gets tiring to be constantly fixing things. I wish I lived in a house where nothing broke.

I should have raked leaves this afternoon, but there just wasn't time. I think the bulky trash trucks are coming tomorrow and it would have been a good time to bag up as many leaves as we could. Oh, well. There's always next month. We've got to get rid of the leaves because Dawn is way too interested in something that is hidden underneath. There are lots of feral cats in the neighborhood and that probably means there are a few dead birds and mice in the yard. You can't tell a dog not to eat nasty stuff. I think they live to eat nasty stuff.

Chief is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4406

It was still really cold this morning, but there was no wind. It made a world of difference. We still had to dress warmly for our sunrise walk with Dawn but as the sun got higher in the sky it gradually turned into a very nice day. It was a good day for walking. Dawn got her Sunday outing and I had enough energy left to take my long walk later in the day.

When we went to the ice cream store today we thought the place was closed. We were about to drive away when one employee finally came to the window. It turned out she was the only employee in the building and had to do double duty as cashier and ice cream maker. I don't know if there was a staff shortage or if the management just thought that no one would want ice cream on such a cold morning. Usually there's a line at this place, but we were the only customers today. The ice cream was good though. It made Dawn very happy.

I saw the eagle again today on my long walk. People have told me that you are more likely to see the eagle in the afternoon. Maybe that's true. I've almost always seen the bird when I end up walking later for some reason. I was really glad that it wasn't windy today. Yesterday was miserable. I had a moderate amount of foot pain, but I still managed to get over 20,000 steps. 10,000 steps used to be my goal. Now I try for 20,000. I don't think I'll ever walk 30,000 steps in a day. My body just isn't up to the challenge. For now, I'm lucky to be able to keep walking at all. One step at a time.

I was finally ready to order the Hoka boots today. I didn't expect to find the boots locally, but I never dreamed that every single web site I visited would be out of stock. These shoes must be made in China or Vietnam. Most places indicated that they didn't expect a new shipment until March. This is bad news for me. My current shoes are wearing out and I wanted to replace them with the boots. I may have to buy another pair of regular Hoka running shoes instead. My feet depend on these things now.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to depend on the Polaris star tracker. The last time I tried it, the thing worked pretty well. Today was a disaster. I can't tell whether the problem is caused by bugs in the software, bad connecting cables, or a fundamental flaw in the tracker itself. Inconsistency is a common theme among members of the Kickstarter user group. The unit will work one day and then go haywire the next. Today when I tried to track something it pointed straight down toward the ground when I told it to go find the sun. If this thing can't even find the sun, it's worthless. I don't think I have the patience to be a Beta tester. Maybe I'll just leave the unit in the box for a while until Benro completes a few more software updates. Another firmware update for the hardware itself might be a good idea as well.

I'm pretty sure now that the new Fitbit wasn't draining my phone's battery. I just have a bad battery on my phone. I guess it's time for a new one. I still am using the original battery that came with my iPhone SE. I don't want to deal with the Apple Store again, but I found a little fix-it shop in the neighborhood that can replace iPhone batteries. I'll try to get a new battery installed tomorrow.

I think it's supposed to be a little warmer tomorrow. A nice day would be welcome. I'm already tired of Winter and we've got several more months to go. At least we aren't getting snow like a lot of the Eastern states. Tomorrow it's time to visit the rescue Dalmatians again. I think we'll go, but I'm never sure anymore. Charlie would certainly be glad to see us. He doesn't get as much attention during the holidays.

Shelby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4405

It was so cold today. I practically had the park to myself on my long walk. It was just me and a couple of idiots jogging in shorts. I certainly couldn't blame people for staying inside. It was thirty degrees with a forty mile an hour wind. I dressed warmly, but it still felt like I was on an expedition to the South Pole. I don't know why I felt compelled to walk today. A sane person would have just stayed home and watched a movie on Netflix.

Maybe nobody was down at the lake because they were all at the grocery store. The stores were packed when I did my shopping this morning. I think the threat of bad weather brings out an instinct to stock up on food. Prices are still going up, although that wasn't stopping people from filling up their buggies. The weekly price increases aren't dramatic, but they've been going on for a long time. I haven't seen anything come down in price.

I'm glad I got the new battery for my car a few months ago. It never would have started this morning without it. I vaguely remember living up north, but I don't think I could handle it anymore. I have memories of scraping ice off of windshields and navigating snow covered roads. No thank you. On days like today I'd like to live even further south.

Dawn likes colder weather but I think she draws the line at freezing weather. She was certainly eager to get back in the house on our sunrise walk this morning. She wore her new sweater this morning, but maybe we should have introduced her to the hat. We got a hat for Dash that actually fits a dog pretty well. It kept his ears a lot warmer on days like this.

Whenever the temperature dips below freezing I always think I am experiencing the coldest winter ever. It's easy to forget that it has been much colder in the past. One winter the entire lake froze over. I didn't even see any ice on the lake today. We've had thick snowfalls in the past as well. In recent years it's been rare to get snow at all. I saw a few flakes fall this afternoon, but there was no accumulation.

The furnace is working fine, but it's still cold in the office. Every winter this is always the coldest room in the house. I had to break out the little ceramic heater this afternoon. I'm pretty sure that this house was designed in the summer. It's a lot easier to cool than to heat. The main problem is that there is way too much single pane glass. Insulation doesn't do a lot of good when you have a lot of floor-to-ceiling glass.

I was going to play around with the star tracker this afternoon, but the cold weather put a damper on things. All I really felt like doing after my walk was getting warm again. I probably should have waited until today to watch the last episode of The Expanse. All I did instead was nibble on snacks.

It remains to be seen whether we'll take Dawn on a Sunday outing tomorrow. These little outings are supposed to be fun for her and walking in freezing, windy weather is the exact opposite of fun. I think Dawn's idea of fun would be to share a little bacon with us at our Sunday breakfast. We'll see what happens though. Maybe tomorrow will be warmer.

Betty is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4404

Dawn got a bath today. I hate to say that this was the big event of the day, but it probably was. None of our dogs have liked getting a bath. They seem so disappointed when we arrive at the self bathing place instead of a park or the ice cream store. Dawn acted like we were torturing her but seemed happy enough as soon as she was dry again. I guess if a bath is the worst thing Dawn has to look forward to, she's doing pretty well.

My long walks keep getting slower and slower. On a good day it takes me about nineteen minutes to walk a mile. Today it took thirty. My feet were terrible today, but I kept plodding along. I just can't bring myself to stop walking. It has become an integral part of my day. If I went to the gym and did other exercises, my shoulders would hurt instead. I'm not even sure these slow walks do me any good. It still beats staying in the house or driving somewhere though.

I think I was wrong about the Fitbit draining my phone's battery. I've disconnected both Fitbit trackers and the battery still doesn't last very long. It's probably time for a new phone, but I like my small iPhone SE. There used to be several nearby stores where I could get the battery replaced, but they have either gone out of business or quit offering the service. I liked it when the local Interstate Battery store used to change phone batteries while you wait. It was quick and much less expensive than the Apple Store. It's too bad I can't change the battery myself but you need special tools to remove the glass. Fixing a computer is much easier. I'm clumsy with small things.

I watched the last episode of The Expanse this afternoon. I never would have guessed that this was the end of the series if I hadn't already read about it online. I'm pretty sure that Amazon is finished with this series, but the final episode was certainly inconclusive. I want to know more about those strange dog like creatures on one of the ring worlds that can bring people back from the dead.

I continued my efforts to fix small things around the house. Today I took apart the shower nozzle and cleaned out all the scale and calcium deposits. Maybe now I can adjust the shower spray again. Our city water leaves a lot to be desired. I wish we could just get distilled water from the tap. I always use distilled water for the coffee maker and I've never had to clean it.

I was going to practice using the star tracker again today but the day got away from me. I really didn't anticipate my walk taking such a long time. Today's walk should have been enjoyable because the weather was so nice. Tomorrow it's supposed to get much colder again. I need to order the Hoka boots even though I suspect they won't make any difference. I suspect that a new battery won't really improve my phone's performance either. Apple doesn't support their old products anymore. Actually nobody supports old products. They just want you to buy new stuff.

I got an invitation to attend an upcoming Space Force launch at Kennedy Space Center at the end of the month. I'm not going though. Covid restrictions have kind of ruined travel for me. I don't feel like going anywhere until this whole mess is over with. If I can't get a handle on my foot pain, I might not feel like going anywhere period. The whole idea of volunteering for a week out at the observatory seems a lot less appealing than it did this time last year.

At least I've got my routine. Tomorrow is grocery day again. Maybe I can finally find my favorite ginger ale. Sunday is Dawn's outing and Monday we visit the rescue Dalmatians. One little event each day is plenty. I just need to stay busy enough to avoid raking leaves.

Kasey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4403

Today I tried to solve small problems. I fixed the problematic French toilet in one of the bathrooms. This is always a bigger job than you might expect because this toilet doesn't use any of the parts you would normally find inside a standard toilet. Some of these parts are impossible to find, so I have to take everything apart and carefully clean it. I was actually able to salvage the expensive plastic valve, so I didn't have to make a trip to the plumbing supply store. The toilet is still on its last legs, but it doesn't run anymore.

With one loathsome task out of the way, I embarked on an even more loathsome task. I cleaned out the atrium. The atrium is almost impossible to access because the huge sliding glass door that provides entry to this space had been jammed for several years. The original idea was to have a pleasant indoor/outdoor space where the atrium actually becomes part of the living room on nice days. I don't know what the architect was thinking. There aren't many nice days here in Texas.

I'm always apprehensive about trying to pry the jammed door open enough for me to squeeze through a small 12 inch opening. What if the door becomes even more jammed and I can't get it closed again. That would be really bad news. Today I had to open the sliding glass door a little wider than usual because I had to squeeze a ladder through the opening so I could knock down some mud dauber nests. The wasps had made the nests right on the glass during the Summer and they've been an eyesore ever since.

The atrium looks great now. I removed all the wasp nests. Swept the flagstone floor. And attached some string hanging from the roof beams to the Japanese Black Bamboo growing in the garden area to train the plants to grow vertical again. I even cleaned the glass windows and removed all the leaves that had gotten inside. I still don't know how leaves get inside this space. There is a roof and all the sides are enclosed.

I unpaired my new Fitbit from my phone to see if that was what was draining the phone's battery. So far, so good. The battery seems to be lasting a lot longer. I'm using the old Fitbit again and starting to wonder why I even bought the new fancier model. The phone's battery had been going dead overnight with the new Fitbit, so we'll see what happens tonight. If the problem has been solved, I may take the new Fitbit back to the store tomorrow and try to get a refund. It seems pretty clear to me that it is defective.

The weather was beautiful today but it was hard to enjoy my walks because of the foot pain. I don't know why I'm even attempting to get steps anymore. My Fitbit doesn't even work. I took my time today and somehow still managed to get 20,000 steps. I didn't see the eagle today, but the park did look pretty. The sky was so clear that I momentarily thought about getting a telescope out and watching the stars tonight. That never materialized. Here I am writing the blog instead. It's a shame the skies aren't darker here. Winter skies are fabulous and there is a wealth of interesting stuff to see just in the constellation Orion. 

The trash has been taken to the curb and I actually feel like I accomplished something today. If I had the energy to do this ten days in a row, the house might actually start looking a little better. 

Taylor is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4402

I saw the bald eagle again today. I'm always surprised at how large these birds are. Hey, I may become a birder yet. I enjoy watching birds on my walk. I don't see the eagle very often, but looking for it helps to pass the time. I probably shouldn't have walked as far as I did today. My feet were really bothering me. I'd hate to give up walking, but I may have to for a while. The foot pain keeps getting worse.

The weather was really nice today, but I had no desire to rake leaves or clean up the yard. I really had no desire to do anything. I sent out another query letter with vague hopes of getting a writing job. I read some of the new comments about the Polaris star tracker on the user group, but didn't get mine out of the box. My project for today was trying to figure out why my new Fitbit was draining my phone's battery so quickly. Lots of people seem to be having this problem, but it didn't appear that the company has a fix. Maybe I'll just go back to using my old Fitbit. I think it still works.

The problematic French toilet is starting to run again. There is a little plastic valve that I have to replace a lot and I suspect that this is the problem again. Why does this tiny piece of flexible plastic cost over $20 at a plumbing supply store? I should probably just replace the entire toilet with a Toto, which all the plumbers seem to like. I really get tired of fixing things, but stuff always breaks. I would be willing to pay much more for something if it was guaranteed to last forever.

Even on days with nothing to do, there is always vacuuming. I vacuumed the carpets this afternoon and kept wondering why we got the Dyson. These things are so hard to clean properly. I liked our old Hoover better. All the dust just went into a paper bag that you threw away when it got full. I think seeing all the dust spinning around in the Dyson's clear plastic cylinder is just a marketing gimmick to convince you that your house is filthy and needs frequent vacuuming.

I've had a runny nose for so long that I occasionally wonder if I've got Covid. It's easy to forget that I always have seasonal allergies at this time of year with all the hype about Covid. Pretty soon, everything will just turn into Covid. Broken arm? Nope, you've got Covid. Indigestion? That's got to be a new Covid variant. I'm getting tired of the whole thing. 

Janet said that Dawn did well at training class tonight. I don't go to these classes anymore, but I'm glad that Dawn is starting to enjoy them. Inch by inch she is slowly becoming less fearful and starting to act like a normal dog. Give her another year or so and she might even start to like me. Actually, Dawn has warmed up to me quite a bit, but she still doesn't completely trust me. Dawn is a smart dog. Maybe I'm just not trustworthy.

Hopefully, I'll find something interesting to write about tomorrow. Today's post was just a bunch of blather.

Suzie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4401

The days just blur together lately. Is it Sunday or Tuesday? Often it's hard to tell. I get up at the same time and do the same things day after day. I'm not complaining, because nothing is preventing me from doing something different. What would I do differently though? That is the big question.

Today I wrote a letter to my sister and sent a couple of query letters off to editors. I kind of wish my sister would get on the Internet. This is the only physical letter I write anymore and the only reason I have to go to the post office. It does save on stamps though. A roll of stamps lasts me a really long time now.

Now that I've figured out how to use the star tracker, it just sits in the box. I really should take this thing outside and put it to the test. Too bad that West Texas is so far away. I miss my time at the observatory. Astrophotography in Dallas certainly has its limitations. Our back yard is way too bright with streetlights in the alley plus our own bright security lights. Exposures in the front yard would be ruined by the headlights of passing cars on our busy street. 

I always worry that a drunk driver will come crashing through our front yard as well. It has happened before. Would you believe it has happened three times before. If the world was a nicer place the obvious solution would be to just drive to a nice dark area and set everything up. I've lost my nerve for that sort of activity though. The local news provides plenty of valid reasons to just stay home at night.

Luckily, I still feel safe when the sun is up. Long walks give a nice structure to my life. It's hard to fault walking. It's great exercise and provides plenty of time for reflective thinking. I often do my best thinking on my daily walks. Only a small percentage of my ideas ever turn into anything tangible, but I can tell that my mind is still working. It's hard to tell if your mind is working when you're home and the television is on.

I'm thinking that my experiences with the star tracker would make a nice, humorous article for Sky and Telescope. There aren't many humorous articles in the magazine though and anything I'd write would probably just make me look stupid. All I'm saying is that some of the other Kickstarter backers figured this thing out a lot faster than I did. Hey, I gave the idea a try though. We'll see what my editor thinks.

I really need to order the Hoka boots. They might not cure my foot pain, but they probably won't make it any worse. I've pretty much concluded that these boots aren't going to be available in local stores. I probably haven't done anything yet because I'm irritated at the Hoka company. Now that I've visited their website and looked at shoes they send me mail every day trying to get me to buy something else. Why won't companies just leave you alone?  They are never satisfied and are relentless about trying to sell you more. I get mail from Samsung now after we bought the new TV. Hey guys, I'm never going to buy an Android phone. Every new purchase adds to the continual barrage of promotional mail you get every day. How did we get here? I've spent most of my working life in advertising and I was never this relentless.

I used to look forward to the future, but now I'm nostalgic about the past. I'm convinced that we are headed in the wrong direction. Maybe I should write a book about how civilization is going to end in 300 years. It would never get published though. I'm not a historian. I'm not an economist. I'm not even a pundit. You've got to have credentials these days.

Pepper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day