Day 4710

What a way to start the day. The Artemis-1 launch was spectacular. The launch team must have learned a lot from their previous attempts because the entire countdown went very smoothly this time. There was some drama along the way, but it was clear that NASA was determined to launch Artemis today if at all possible. At one point everyone thought the launch might get scrubbed when a small hydrogen leak was discovered with only about twenty minutes left in the count. 

They didn't stop though. A special red team trained to work under hazardous conditions was sent to the launch pad to fix the leak. Evidently this is very dangerous because when a rocket like this is fully fueled, a spark near a hydrogen leak could cause the whole thing to explode. The red team fixed the leak like it was all in a days work. A little later a tracking radar down range wasn't sending data and stopped the count again because of a faulty ethernet switch. This was quickly fixed and the count resumed. There was still some caulking on the Orion capsule that came loose during Hurricane Nicole, but the launch team didn't seem to think this was a problem.

It's weird to think that the launch was almost stopped by a few loose bolts and a faulty ethernet switch. I guess low tech can trump high tech on just about any launch. The thousands of people who have worked on the Artemis program must have felt vindicated today. The rocket has received a lot of criticism lately, but almost everything worked perfectly this morning. The Orion capsule is on the way to the moon right now. 

This was the most spectacular launch I've ever witnessed. The huge rocket turned night into day during liftoff. The exhaust flame was so bright that it literally looked like the sun has risen. Artemis was also extremely loud. I'm sure this launch could be seen and heard for miles. I was hesitant about going to this launch because there was a good chance it wouldn't succeed. There were literally thousands of things that could go wrong. I'm glad I went though. It isn't everyday you get to see the most powerful rocket in the world heading toward the moon. The next Artemis will have people on board. Hopefully I'll be around to see that one too.

I didn't get back to the hotel after the launch until almost 4 AM. I immediately began to wonder why I was staying another day in Titusville and changed all my reservations again. I was lucky to get the last seat on an afternoon flight back to Dallas and I'm home again now. Brr. It's cold here. The weather was a lot nicer in Titusville. I saved some money by cutting a day off my stay, but unfortunately not enough to pay for the furnace repairs. Yikes. The special variable speed motor the furnace required was four times as expensive as an ordinary electric appliance motor. 

Tomorrow I'll unpack and write my article for SpaceFlight magazine. For now, it's time to get some sleep. I doubt if there will be any more launch trips this year. Hopefully there won't be any more broken appliances either. 

Alvin is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4709

I'm back at Kennedy Space Center for another Artemis launch attempt. The launch is technically tomorrow morning, but it's going to seem like late tonight to me. If all goes well, liftoff will be a little after 1 AM. Everything looks good so far. The countdown is proceeding and there doesn't seem to be any weather problems.

The day got off to a very early start. My flight departed at 6 AM, so I had to be at the airport a lot earlier for all the TSA stuff. I must be getting slower because I cut it pretty close this time, arriving at the gate just fifteen minutes before boarding. I've been to Kennedy Space Center so many time by now that this trip is getting to seem very routine. I don't even need a car with GPS anymore. Titusville is a small town and it's starting to feel very familiar. 

I had to pick up my credentials before noon today, so that left me with a lot of free time. I went out to the Press Site to see what was going on and was surprised that the place seemed relatively empty. There were definitely a lot fewer people than were at the first launch attempt. I'm sure there will be a more folks arriving later tonight, but so far this launch seems a little subdued. All the scrubbed launches probably just wore everyone out. 

I got my Fitbit steps walking around the Press Site parking lot and then went to the space center Sonny's BBQ for a smoked pork sandwich. Sonny's has some great bartbecue and I always enjoy eating there. Before I left the Press Site to check in at my hotel I heard that the Artemis launch team had completed their final pre-launch meeting and had given the go ahead to begin fueling the rocket. 

My hotel isn't as bad as I thought. It's not the place I would have picked, but it's clean and relatively convenient. There must be a lot of people who are planning to show up at the Press Site later tonight because all the hotels in town are completely booked. I was actually lucky to get a room here. 

I've been told that the journalists covering the launch should plan to arrive that the Press Site by 7 PM tonight. That leaves a lot of time to sit around doing nothing. I guess I could go later, but there's no point in staying at the hotel. There's not a lot of point in going our for dinner either. After my big lunch, I couldn't eat another thing. I didn't run into anyone I knew this afternoon, but I'll probably see a few familiar faces tonight. I hope my camera works. I've been having problems with this camera lately. Actually the problems are mostly with me. It's hard for me to adjust the camera and focus properly in the dark. I always forget something on these trips. This time it was a flashlight.

I hope the furnace is getting fixed back in Dallas. Janet said the repairman was coming back this afternoon with the new blower motor. There will still be problems when this is fixed, but at least I'll be warm. One one the problems reoccured last night while I was finishing packing. Another roof leak. I was surprised. We haven't had to deal with a leak in months. Oh, well. It's always something.

I really hope that Artemis is successful this time. I'm sure the launch team learned some things from the first two attempts. It probably didn't hurt to have a chance to completely inspect the rocket while it was inside the VAB as well. So far, people seem optimistic. There's only a few hours left until launch time. I'll let you know what happens tomorrow.

Honey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4708

We found out what was wrong with the furnace today. Unfortunately it needs a special order part to fix the problem. The furnace is still not working, although it does come on occasionally. The technician tried to explain why the fan motor was making strange clunking noises and wouldn't always engage the fan, but I didn't really understand. I bet if the furnace has a simple single speed electric motor instead of this sophisticated variable speed gizmo, it would still be working. 

 I keep waiting for someone to call off the Artemis launch at the last minute. With my luck they won't postpone the launch until after I get down there. The countdown has already started, but some engineers are still worried about a piece of insulation that got blown off by Hurricane Nicole. Time is running out, but I don't think everyone is in agreement yet. Oh, well. At least the weather looks favorable. I'm going to go ahead and go to the launch, but if this thing gets scrubbed one more time I'm about ready to give up on Artemis. It's already too late to cancel reservations without a penalty. I guess we'll just see what happens. This is a historic launch, but it could also be a huge waste of money. I don't even know what the furnace repairs are going to cost yet. One way or the other, I'm pretty sure that this will be my last launch trip of the year.

It rained most of the day and the HVAC technician took a while to diagnose the furnace problem, so I didn't end up taking my long walk until late in the afternoon. As soon as I got my 10,000 steps I headed home. It was a miserable day and I felt cold and wet after only two miles. Dawn had a good walk this morning though. We managed to take our sunrise walk before the rain started.

I haven't packed yet, but there's nothing new about that. I always seem to wait until the last possible minute. The cameras and computers are charged though, so all is good. It probably won't take me very long to finish things up. I wish there were more direct flights to Orlando. I usually have to leave very early in the morning because this is the only flight that works. I hope the flight isn't late. I have only a few hours to pick up my credentials. For some unexplained reason, the Press Accreditation Office isn't open all day tomorrow.

I hope that the furnace is an easy fix and that the weather stays warmer until the part arrives. I hope the Artemis launch succeeds. Third time's the charm, or so they say. I'm already tired and I haven't even left Dallas yet. It would be embarrassing if I fell asleep at the Press Site waiting for the rocket to get off the ground. It could happen. I'm not much of a night owl anymore.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4707

The house was very cold this morning. Luckily we had lots of blankets on the bed. I wish the furnace didn't decide to break on a weekend, but it is what it is. It actually got below freezing last night, so after we got finished taking Dawn on a chilly sunrise walk, our cold house seemed a lot warmer. 

I tried without much success to get the furnace running again. At one point the blower kicked in for a few minutes and warm air was flowing through the vents but it didn't last long. Something is seriously wrong with the fan and it doesn't take long for a circuit breaker to shut the furnace down. I really hope that I can get someone out here to fix this tomorrow morning. I hate being cold.

After breakfast I went walking at the mall. The car started easier this morning, so that was encouraging. I'm still a little nervous that it won't start when I need to go to the airport. The mall is already in full Christmas mode. Christmas trees are everywhere. The house where people bring their kids to see Santa is up. And most of the stores already have Christmas themed window displays. It's almost like Thanksgiving has been completely forgotten.

I walked my 2.5 miles and came home. Dawn was waiting for her Sunday outing, so off we went again for another walk. I kept falling behind on this third walk of the day. I was tired and my feet hurt. It was a nice day for walking though. The temperature rose quickly once the sun came up and it felt like a brisk Fall day. By the time we finished our ice cream cones, I was ready for a nap.

I tried without any success to find a better hotel for my Artemis trip. I finally gave up and confirmed my reservations at the hotel I've been trying to avoid. So far, it appears that the launch will take place on schedule. I still wonder why I am doing this. I don't really like night launches. If I stayed home and the launch was successful, I'd be kicking myself though. I guess I'm still going because I can. Press credentials for this thing were hard to get.

I should have started packing today, but I couldn't get motivated. It will be a busy day tomorrow. I hope the furnace repairs aren't too expensive. Who am I kidding. Of course they will be expensive. On a more positive note, I don't think there is anything left in the house to break. Maybe it will be smooth sailing for a while after this. One can always hope.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4706

Good grief. Our furnace went out on the coldest night of the year. It wasn't the flame sensor this time so I couldn't fix it myself. The gas was coming on, but the fan wasn't working so no air was reaching the vents. Since there was no air circulating through the furnace, it would quickly overheat and shut down. 

As luck would have it, the HVAC guy I've been using for over twenty years retired a few months ago. I didn't know who to call until I remembered that the plumbing company I've been using has a HVAC division. I called their emergency number and about a half hour later one of their on-call technicians called me back. He said he could come over, but advised against it, telling me that the company's overtime and weekend rates were ridiculously high. He said that if we were cold, we could stay in a nice hotel for the weekend for a lot less than their emergency rates and asked if I could wait until Monday. The rates definitely were ridiculously high and I asked who would pay this kind of money. Hospitals, commercial companies, and others who absolutely could not afford to have their heating and cooling interrupted evidently. This company is good but they don't do much residential work. I decided to wait until Monday.

We bundled up for our sunrise walk this morning. Dawn, like all of our Dalmatians, seemed to like the cold. I was warm enough because I was wearing two down coats. Winter arrived rather suddenly this year. Only a few weeks ago I was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. A hot breakfast warmed me up a bit, but the house has stayed cold all day. I have resisted the urge to monkey around with the furnace because I would probably only make things worse. The technician I talked to this morning said that I probably need a new fan motor and capacitors. I wished the guy could have come out today but I wasn't about to pay $700 extra for a weekend service call. 

I had a hard time starting the car when I went to get groceries this morning. WTF? I have a brand new battery. The battery is still under warranty, but I'll have to find time to go to the repair shop that sold me the battery on Monday. At any rate, the saga of broken stuff continues and I can't seem to catch a break. Once the car was warm it started fine, but I don't want an unreliable car if I've got to get up early to go to the airport.

I probably will need to go to the airport soon. I got a message from NASA today saying the the Causeway bridge has been repaired and that the Titusville entrance to Kennedy Space Center is usable again. Damn. This took away my best excuse to scrap the trip and stay home. I guess I should just go through with the trip. I've already committed to write an article for SpaceFlight Magazine and I'm a bit worried that if I skipped this launch it might affect my ability to get a press pass in the future. Oh, well. Like it or not, I'm headed back to Florida.

It never did get warm today but I took my walk in the park anyway. This was a winter walk with a sweater and a warm coat. There are a lot fewer cyclists and joggers in the winter. The weather was nice this afternoon, but I was still a bit chilly. Tomorrow I'll go mall walking and start to pack for the Artemis launch. I'd better get some warm blankets out for tonight. I't s going to be very cold in the house.

Jada is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4705 - Veteran's Day

Today was disappointing. The carpenter came over right when he promised he would. He was a nice guy. Unfortunately, when he looked at the damage, he told me that the repairs looked too complicated for him and he didn't want to bid on the job. After several days of searching, this was the best carpenter I could find, so I don't know what I'm going to do now. Carpenters seem to fall into two categories. There are framers who build new houses and cabinetmakers who remodel kitchens and make custom bookshelves. I need one of those carpenters like you see on that "This Old House" show on PBS. I think a restoration carpenter is going to be very hard to find in Dallas. This city doesn't value anything old. Scrape it and replace it is the motto here.

After my failure with the carpenter, I went back inside and checked my e-mail. There was a message from NASA saying that the NASA Causeway bridge between Titusville and Kennedy Space Center had been damaged by Hurricane Nicole and was closed until further notice. They said that journalists would have to take an alternate route to the Press Site for the Artemis-1 launch. Bummer. This new route adds an extra hour of driving time each way between the hotel and the space center. A big section of this road is under construction as well. Since the launch is scheduled to take place at 1 AM, the last thing I want to be doing is driving at night on roads that have those concrete construction barriers on either side of a narrow lane. I've been on this road before and it's a pain during the day. I'm really not looking forward to driving two hours every time I want to go to the Press Site. There will probably be horrible traffic jams as well, since this alternate route is now the only entrance to the space center. A lot of people work at this facility. Add all these employees to the visiting Artemis press and you've potentially got a real mess. I find it difficult to believe that a hurricane that could seriously damage a major bridge would leave the Artemis rocket unscathed, but that's what they say. NASA is apparently still planning to launch this thing on November 16th.

I'll think about this over the weekend, but I'm really tempted to cancel my plans and just stay here in Dallas. None of this seems very fun anymore. I'm staying in a bad hotel. The launch is in the middle of the night now, so you won't be able to see much. Worst of all, the main bridge connecting Titusville to the space center is out, forcing everyone to take a very long detour to reach the press site. Is it worth it? I seriously doubt it. There will be other launches in the future. It might be time to get realistic and cut my losses.

Not only was it a dismal rainy day, it was also very cold. When we took our sunrise walk this morning, it didn't feel like Fall, it felt like Winter. I think it will be even colder tomorrow with temperatures approaching freezing. This all seems rather sudden, but that's Texas weather for you. We're going to have to find Dawn's sweater for tomorrow's walk.

It rained for most of the day but I still had to get my steps. The fact that I drove to the gym in heavy rain shows how committed I've become to getting my steps. Maybe the cold weather improved my metabolism because I was pretty good on the basketball court this afternoon and made surprisingly good time walking on the indoor track. I may end up going back to the gym tomorrow. It's grocery day for me and I often don't have time to take a walk in the park.

I don't have much of a connection to Veteran's Day anymore. Both my parents were Navy veterans but they've been gone a long time. I don't actually know many people who've served. I think our veterans deserve a lot of respect, but we really need to stop sending them to needless, pointless wars. We never should have gone to Iraq and Afghanistan. We probably should have never gone to Vietnam either. 

Dolly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4704

Another slow day. I ate, I walked, I did all the usual things. The carpenter who was supposed to come over and give me an estimate couldn't make it and said he'd stop by tomorrow. I signed up for another patient portal so I could view the lab results from Tuesday's exam. Medical websites seem a lot more concerned about security than banks. Thats always seemed strange to me. Doctors never share information either. I've bookmarked half a dozen patient portals and they all have basically the same information. 

When I took my long walk today, I saw the bald eagles again. When I returned home I searched the Internet for news about whether the Artemis rocket survived the hurricane. I didn't learn much. For a significant part of the day I thought it was Friday. It was that kind of day.

Something scared Dawn this morning and she wouldn't come back to the bedroom. The power didn't go out and I didn't hear anything, but Dawn was definitely alarmed. I delayed my walk until she calmed down a bit. I wonder what was bothering her? She's very alert and is a good little watchdog. I kept looking for the source of the problem but couldn't find anything. Dawn certainly wasn't talking. Eventually I noticed that she was asleep on the bed again and I took my walk.

Janet and I spent some time today looking for a new photo backdrop for this year's Santa Paws pictures. We couldn't find anything as nice as the backdrops we've used before. Maybe we'll just use a previous backdrop for this years pictures. Since we've been doing these Christmas pictures since 2012, I've got quite a collection of backdrops by now.

The November issue of SpaceFlight with my first Artemis article came in the mail today. The article and pictures looked good. I'd already seen the issue in PDF form, but I still like a real magazine you can see and touch. I keep telling my accountant that these articles constitute a real business for me, but his answer is always "show me the money." For practical purposes, there isn't any. You're not going to get rich writing about astronomy and space. I still feel like a journalist though. I get to hang out with other journalists at Kennedy Space Center and I've amassed quite a collection of press credentials by now. As hobbies go, this certainly beats collecting model trains.

I hope that the carpentry work I need isn't too expensive. The repairs need to be made, but I've still got another trip to Florida to pay for. It's a shame that old web designers aren't in demand. One or two websites a month would make a big difference in my income. The kids working at ad agencies don't want to hire someone older than their grandfather though. I've come to the conclusion that it's better to just accept this graciously. I manage to stay busy and I'm not broke. It's probably better that I don't have young clients driving me crazy.

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4703

Not a lot was accomplished today. After the time change, we're taking our sunrise walks in daylight again. The ground was soggy, but it looks like the rain is over for a while. I think Dawn is still running on Daylight Savings Time. She's ready to get up earlier in the morning and wants her dinner earlier as well. I'm fine with the time change. I didn't really like walking in the dark.

I took my long walk right after breakfast this morning because I wanted to take advantage of the cooler weather. I didn't see the eagles today, but the muscovy ducks and our resident geese were waiting for me. I probably should have gone back to the gym. These walks are starting to get boring again.

After I returned to the house, I wrote a letter to my sister and took it to the post office on my way to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy. I needed to reschedule a doctor's appointment because of the changing Artemis launch schedule and I checked with the urologist about my test results. I stayed busy, but it didn't really feel like I was accomplishing anything. The elephant in the room is still Hurricane Nicole. Am I going to have to change my travel plans again?

I've been watching the weather and it's still uncertain whether Hurricane Nicole is going to do any damage at Kennedy Space Center. It still doesn't seem like a good idea to leave the rocket out on the pad during a hurricane, but what do I know? I hope everything gets resolved soon. I really hate continually changing my hotel and airline reservations.

Tomorrow a carpenter is coming over to the house to take a look at the rotted wood on the fascia of our flat roof. Hopefully he will tell me that this is an easy fix and I can tell him to go ahead with the repairs. This is one of the things I really need to get done soon. You can't have your house falling down around you. Maybe when I get this repair completed, I can finally start thinking about cameras and lenses again. I've had a lot of unexpected expenses this Fall. It's much more enjoyable to spend your money on things you don't really need.

Janet said that Dawn did well in training class tonight. She didn't win any ribbons this week, but she's in the advanced class now. This dog has more regular activities than I do. That's OK though. I'm not trying to win any ribbons.

Dot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4702

I didn't see the lunar eclipse this morning. We would have had a good view on our early walk with Dawn, but it was quite foggy outside. It did see something interesting much closer to earth though. On my long walk right after breakfast, I saw Nick and Nora, our two resident bald eagles, arriving at their nest. The nest has already survived two storms, so maybe the eagles will be luckier this year.

I walked earlier this morning than usual, because I had a doctor's appointment later in the day. I made good time and my feet held up pretty well. It would have been easier to just skip today's walk, but I can't do that. I'm closing in on a full year of getting more than 10,000 steps a day. You've got to have goals. It doesn't really matter if the goals are stupid.

My yearly visit to the urologist was uneventful. The drive to the clinic took a lot longer than the exam. I'm still in pretty good shape for my age. I have an appointment to see the eye doctor later this month, but my mandatory exams for 2022 are just about finished. I'm a little nervous about the eye exam. I'm still hoping to postpone my cataract surgery a bit longer. Any type of surgery makes me very nervous.

Janet and I finally found a place to have our Thanksgiving Brunch. It wasn't the place we wanted, but it sounds interesting and the restaurant has great reviews. We've never had Thanksgiving dinner in a Mexican restaurant before. The Thanksgiving menu is quite a bit different, but it actually sounds delicious.

The date for the Artemis launch has changed. What a mess. I just got finished changing all my reservations. I couldn't get a better hotel, but luckily I was able to keep my room at the first hotel I reserved. My airfare costs more now. This always happens when I change a reservation on Southwest Airlines. I still wonder why I'm going to this launch. The launch happens in the middle of the night and there's a good chance that something will go wrong and it won't get off the ground anyway. I still don't know why NASA decided to leave the rocket on the pad with a hurricane approaching. Maybe they secretly want the rocket to be damaged in the storm so they won't have to take responsibility for a failure. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly. I still wouldn't be terribly surprised if the launch date changes again. A lot could change as Nicole gets closer to shore.

Sometimes I wish that people still used travel agents. It's a lot of trouble to change travel plans yourself. I knew I had to act fast this afternoon because as soon as NASA changed the launch date, the entire press corps would be changing their hotel reservations as well. Half the time my attempts to make or change reservations on my computer fail. Maybe it's my older computer, or maybe people don't bother to update their websites anymore. I usually end up having to make reservations on my phone. The phone works, but I still prefer using the computer. I like a real keyboard and a large monitor. I guess I'd better get used to using my phone. Even though I rarely use mine, the rest of the world is glued to their phones.

I can't say that I'm all that interested in today's election. Despite what some say, the world isn't going to end no matter who wins. Politicians are all hat and no cattle. I don't believe any of them. If you have to put a label on me, I guess you'd call me a libertarian. As far as I'm concerned, the less government the better. The best outcome in an election is a divided government where nothing gets done. If one party controls everything, they usually end up making a mess of things. I do think we ought to have an age limit on our elected officials though. The folks who pull the strings now are way too old.

I don't think much is going to happen tomorrow. I got everything done today. We'll see what happens. I find that life is still full of surprises.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4701

The day started out normally enough. It was already light outside when we took Dawn on her sunrise walk. It was also very warm and muggy, but I didn't give that any thought. I ate my breakfast and took my long walk in the park. There was no wind and I thought it was just going to be another overcast day, but about five minutes after I returned home the skies opened up and it started pouring rain. What was this about?. I'm usually right on top of changing weather, but this downpour caught me completely by surprise.  

Actually the entire day caught me by surprise. I finally got hold of the restaurant where Janet and I wanted to have Thanksgiving Brunch and they told me that the event was already completely sold out. I must have acted surprised because the person I talked to on the phone said that some people had made their reservations two to three months ago. What has changed? I have made reservations several weeks ahead of time at this restaurant many times before and never had any problems.

I tried to remember other places we've gone on Thanksgiving and our second choice wasn't even doing a Thanksgiving Brunch this year. I did a Google search and found a couple of other places, but when I called I just got a voicemail message. We may have to come up with a plan B.

I have a feeling that the November 14th Artemis launch isn't going to happen. Nicole is a named storm now and is headed toward Kennedy Space Center. I got a message from NASA this morning saying that all media activities are subject to change. A lunar eclipse photo opportunity has already been canceled and remote camera activities have been postponed. If the storm strengthens and becomes a hurricane, I suspect that Artemis will be rolled back to the VAB again. Things are changing quickly though. There may not even be time to roll the rocket back to the VAB. This launch appears to be cursed. I hope they don't wait until the last minute to make a decision about the launch date. I need time so that I can cancel my reservations without penalties if necessary. Right now it appears that they are just going to leave the rocket on the pad during the storm and hope for the best. I have a bad feeling about this. If they just cancel the attempt on the 14th and push everything back to the 16th at the last minute I doubt that I'll be able to find a hotel. At any rate, I'll be checking the weather in Florida very carefully as the week continues.

I was surprised at how heavy today's rain was. I just got lucky that I wasn't caught out in it. At this time of year I need to remember to always check the weather before I do anything. Storms can appear out of nowhere during the rainy season. Oh, well. At least I don't have to worry about an approaching hurricane. The pumps are still working on the roof and so far we have had no water leaks.

I hope our weather improves tomorrow. I have a doctor's appointment and it looks like it will be a busy day. I hope I can still find someplace nice to go out for dinner on Thanksgiving. We weren't really planning to stay home and cook. I'm still disappointed that our favorite restaurant is completely booked. They stopped doing their Thanksgiving Brunch during the Covid years and Janet and I were both looking forward to a return to normalcy. This should probably be a lesson for me. There's a good chance that nothing will ever be normal again.

At least all the annoying campaign ads and commentary on TV will be gone after tomorrow. I'm sick of all the hysteria. The world isn't going to end no matter who wins. It will just slowly continue to deteriorate.

Spot is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4700

Only 300 days left. That's less than a year. I think I'll be glad to finish this quest, but maybe I'll feel differently when the day arrives. I don't really have a lot to say anymore, but I still think writing is good for you. There are times when I wish I'd decided to write a new blog post for 4000 consecutive days instead, but I think I can do this now. I wonder if anyone's been reading from the very beginning?

Dawn is not happy with the time change. She's been acting like we've forgotten to feed her all day. You don't need an alarm clock if you have a Dalmatian. They always seem to know exactly what time it is. I ended up feeding Dawn early tonight because she wasn't having any part of waiting another hour for her dinner. Maybe she'll get used to Standard Time in a few weeks.

It was a beautiful day. We probably won't need to put lights on our jackets for a while since the extra hour of daylight made a big difference on our morning walk with Dawn. It would have been a good day for me to take a longer walk in the park as well, but I've done that a lot this week. I went mall walking instead. Mostly I was just bored and needed to do something different.

Christmas has already arrived at Northpark. Christmas trees and decorations were already up and many stores were already putting up Christmas themed window displays. It seems a little early to me. What about Thanksgiving? I guess people don't buy many clothes for Thanksgiving. I never realized what a busy place the mall was until I started walking there on Sunday mornings. Almost every time I visit I notice that a new store has opened. Stores open, close and change locations with regularity.

When I returned home, Dawn was ready to go on her Sunday outing. She is always excited to get in the car, and then immediately becomes frightened as soon as the car starts. It would probably be impossible to take a long car trip with this dog. She just doesn't ride well in the car. Luckily, she's fine once we arrive at our destination. We had a nice walk and then we went to get ice cream cones. The ice cream seems to calm Dawn down. She's always pretty quiet on the way back home.

When we were out today we noticed that the sign had come down where our neighborhood Chinese restaurant used to be. The place is gone for good. What a shame. We loved their food and the young owners were really nice. They probably just picked a really bad time to open a new restaurant.

I wasn't feeling very energetic today, but whenever I went to take a nap, Dawn would go to the kitchen. When I went to the kitchen, Dawn would go back to the bedroom. She's super friendly with me when Janet is in the house. When I'm alone with her, she always acts nervous though. I'm sure there's a reason for this behavior, but Dawn's not talking. Dawn had a hard life before we adopted her. Maybe she will never completely trust me, but I'm still hoping.

I'm still having second thoughts about my next trip to Florida. I really wish the next Artemis attempt wasn't a night launch. There won't be nearly as much to see or photograph at night. I guess the main reason I'm still going is that I'm already credentialed. It's not easy to get press credentials and I don't want to get on anyone's bad side by not showing up. If the Artemis rocket doesn't launch this time I think I'm going to give up on it. I can't afford to keep traveling to launches that get scrubbed.

There is rain in the forecast again for tomorrow. Haven't we had enough rain this Fall? I'm hoping the forecast is wrong. It often is.

Chase is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 4699

It was chilly this morning. We got up a little later today, so we actually saw the sunrise on our sunrise walk with Dawn. Dawn likes the cooler weather, but I was ready to get back to the house where it was warmer. I never seem to be happy with the temperature. When it's hot, I wish it was cooler. When it's cold I wish it was warmer. I was happy with the skies though. It was a crystal clear morning with no pollen in the air.

After our weekend breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast, I did my weekly grocery shopping. Prices continue to rise. A case of bottled water was a dollar more than it was two weeks ago. My favorite beer has gone up in price as well. I wonder how long this will continue? These weekly price changes aren't dramatic, but they've been going on for months. Virtually everything costs considerably more than it did a year ago. Some prices have doubled.

I had been planning on going to the gym today, but changed my mind because the weather was so nice. By noon the temperature had warmed up enough so I could wear shorts again. My feet didn't bother me as much today, but I was pretty slow. I think I'm faster when I walk early. I didn't get on the road this afternoon until well after lunch. People are stopping me on my walk again to ask where the eagles are. I don't know why they think I would know, but I get asked about Nick and Nora, our two resident eagles, almost every day now. They are definitely in the area, but I've only seen them once so far.

I was paying some online bills this afternoon and discovered that my cable bill has disappeared. U-verse isn't even on the AT&T menu anymore. It looks like they are discontinuing the service and I am grandfathered in somehow. I finally found where my bill was hidden but it wasn't even labeled as U-verse. There was only a cryptic account number and an insanely high price. I could get AT&T's best streaming service for half the price of U-verse. I'll have to go to the store and ask about this next week. Websites just don't answer my questions anymore.

I tried to make a reservation for the Thanksgiving Brunch Janet and I like, but the hotel website didn't work and they never answered their phone. There was just a voicemail message saying that they'd return my call. Of course they never did. This seems to be a trend. Customer service is abysmal these days. You can never get anyone on the phone. Real people are rapidly being replaced by mobile apps. Hotels want you to use their app to make reservations. My doctors all use apps and patient portals these days. If you do manage to get someone on the phone, it's usually a call center in India. I hate all this. I have simple questions. I'd like to just pick up the phone and get a simple answer.

I'm beginning to sound like my Dad. He was always frustrated by the advent of computers and refused to learn how to use one. He said his old manual Royal typewriter was all he needed. He never got a cell phone and seemed happy playing vinyl records of his favorite symphonies on an old turntable. Maybe this is natural. I found change exciting when I was in my 20's. Now I wish things would stay the same, or preferably reverse direction so I could go back in time a bit. There was a time when everything seemed just right. That time has passed.

Daylight Saving Time ends tonight. We probably won't need lights on our morning walks for a while. I've always preferred Standard Time. I tend to get all my chores and activities done in the morning, so extra daylight at the end of the day has never mattered much. The days are still getting shorter, so we might need the lights again, but it will be nice walking in daylight for a while.

I'll probably go mall walking tomorrow. We'll definitely take Dawn on her Sunday outing and get ice cream cones. I like the continuity of a regular routine. There is far too much randomness and chaos in today's world.

Coach is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4698

We got a lot of rain today, but all is well. The storm did produce tornados, but there were none in our area. No trees fell in the yard, the roof hasn't leaked, and the day wasn't totally disrupted. We were able to give Dawn her regular sunrise walk and I even had time to take a long walk in the park after breakfast before the weather got bad. The entire storm system moved through town very quickly, leaving much cooler temperatures in its wake. I was really surprised at how cold it feels now.

I walked earlier than usual this morning in an effort to beat the rain. Although I've only seen the eagles once since their return to the park, I did find their new nest today. Eagles don't appear to be that smart about picking a nest location. Once again they've built their nest at the top of a dead tree. Hopefully, the tree won't blow over in a storm and destroy the nest like it did last year. Everyone seems to assume that these are the same two eagles that made their home in the park last year. You couldn't prove it by me. Every eagle I've ever seen looks exactly the same.

My feet certainly aren't improving. I'm starting to have a lot of foot pain again. For a while I thought this might be because my walking shoes are starting to wear out. That's not it. I wore some new Hokas on my last trip to Florida and my feet felt exactly the same. The pain isn't bad enough to stop me from walking, but it is irritating. It's just another aspect of growing old I suspect.

The media logistics e-mail for the next Artemis launch attempt came out today. I now know when and where to go throughout the entire launch window. I'm glad everything meshed well with the plans I've already made, because it's way too late for me to change anything. I really hope the next launch attempt is successful. I can't afford many more trips to see launches that get scrubbed.

I'll continue to look for a better hotel, but I doubt that I'll find anything. Even if a room does open up, I'm sure that someone pushier or with a lot more clout than I have will grab it first. Oh, well. You win some and you lose some. I've usually found very nice places to stay while I'm in Titusville. I guess my luck had to run out sometime.

I'm glad we didn't get any damage from today's storms. Storms are not my friend. After years of downed trees and roof leaks, I always expect the worst. I don't know what I'd do without the weather apps on my phone. They are really pretty accurate. I know when the rain is going to start and stop, as well as how bad it is going to be. Without these apps, I probably wouldn't have had the nerve to take a long walk today. You don't want to be out alone in the woods when tornados are in the forecast.

The weather will be a lot better tomorrow. We'll have to dress warmly for Dawn's sunrise walk though. The temperature will be in the low 40's. I haven't made a grocery list yet, but that's on the agenda. It looks we're going to have a fairly normal weekend. As far as I'm concerned, normal is good.

Ginger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4697

I spent several hours trying to find a better hotel for my next trip to Titusville. No luck at all. Everything is completely booked. Even the place where I'm currently staying is completely booked now. I'll be OK, but I hate it when the reviews start with "smells like pee." I guess I'm a little surprised that the Artemis-1 launch is still such an attraction. After two failures, the chance of a third failure is still fairly high. Maybe others are going back for the same reason I am. If I stayed home this time it would almost guarantee that there would be a flawless, trouble free launch. I guess I still want to see this thing, even if the launch now takes place at midnight.

I don't know why I thought it was Friday for most of the day. I guess I'm just ready for this week to be over. The day started like any other weekday. We walked Dawn in the dark. I ate my breakfast of shredded wheat and fruit, checked my messages, and then contemplated taking another long walk in the park. 

Before leaving on my walk, I made some final edits on my Falcon Heavy article and selected a few pictures to accompany it. I summited the article and a few hours later received a thumbs up from my editor. I'm disappointed that I didn't have better pictures, but the article itself was pretty good. I hope the magazine will be interested in another article about Artemis. I'm not sure though. SpaceFlight devoted much of their November issue to the Artemis-1 mission and the rocket didn't even launch. Hey, I've still got my credentials though. I might as well see this thing through to the end.

I had a nice walk this morning even though I got rained on a bit. The weather will be much worse tomorrow. There are tornado warnings with a chance of quarter sized hail. There's only a 10% chance of a tornado in our location, but any chance at all is always unsettling. I'm really glad I got the tree removed from the roof before the bad weather starts. Any significant wind could have caused the large branch to fall and break something. I don't think any rain is expected until tomorrow afternoon, so we'll still be able to take Dawn on her early morning walk.

I finally found a carpenter to fix the rotted fascia on the side of our house. I found the guy on the Internet. I guess that's just how you do things these days. This guy had good reviews, but I still prefer a recommendation from friends. Since most of my friends are closer to going into assisted living than they are to remodeling their houses these days, we don't trade home improvement recommendations very often. I certainly don't know who to recommend anymore. Most of the people I've used in the past have either retired or died.

My Fitbit isn't recording my steps correctly anymore. This is irritating since I've become addicted to counting steps. I checked on the user group and saw that several other people were having the same problem. I suspect that my iPhone has become too old for Fitbit to bother with. This has happened to me before with other apps and software. When companies update software and apps so they are compatible with new hardware, older stuff like I use often gets left in the dust. One more reason to get a new phone I guess.

I hope the weather reports are wrong about tomorrow's storms. I really hate dealing with bad weather.

Wolfgang is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4696

Today was a busy catch up day. I unpacked my bags, did my laundry, and wrote my article about the Falcon Heavy launch for SpaceFlight Magazine. I haven't submitted the article yet. I'll check it tomorrow morning for typos and errors. There's still time. I hope the magazine isn't expecting great pictures. I have nothing. This was the first launch I've ever witnessed where the fog was so heavy that it obscured everything. Hopefully, I'll have better luck when I return for the Artemis launch later this month.

We're back to walking in the dark again. We clipped lights to our jackets, put on Dawn's green LED collar, and off we went this morning. These dark early morning walks won't last much longer because the time is going to change soon. When Daylight Savings Time ends we'll trade a late sunrise for an early sunset. I still can't decide which is worse. It surprised me that it was foggy in Dallas this morning. Our fog was nothing compared to yesterday's monster fog bank at Kennedy Space Center. The fog was already lifting by the time we returned from our sunrise walk.

The weather was nice and I was planning to take my long walk in the park right after breakfast until I learned that the tree guy could come over today. I've been eager to get the large branch removed from the roof before it rains again. The broken limb has been precariously perched between the edge of the roof and a nearby tree for almost a week. With rain in the forecast again, I was afraid that the position of the branch might shift causing the whole thing to come crashing down on our back porch. 

The tree is gone now. That's one more thing I can cross off my list. As expected, the cost of tree removal has gotten higher. It cost the same to remove this limb as it used to cost to remove an entire tree. I hope I don't have any more tree problems for the rest of the. year. There is a large Red Oak in the back yard that isn't going to last much longer, but I hope it survives for a few more years. I like the trees. I just don't want them to fall on us. About ten years ago a big limb came crashing down less than ten feet from me. With very old trees, this can happen at any time. Trees can be dangerous. You can be seriously injured or even killed if a tree falls on you.

I did manage to take a short walk later in the day after a quick trip to the bank and my pharmacy. This walk was just to get my steps. I walked a lot longer at the Orlando airport yesterday. I don't think I could have walked my usual six miles anyway. My feet were protesting today. I suspect that I spent too much time walking yesterday.

I hope that tomorrow is a slow day. I've been feeling tired all day and need some rest. Sadly, I just don't have as much energy as I used to have. 

Puppies are today's Dalmatians of the Day

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Day 4695

What a weird day. When I left the hotel this morning to go to the launch, it was so foggy outside that I could barely see the car. What a surprise. I kept thinking that the fog would lift quickly, but the closer I got to the ocean, the thicker the fog got. Visability was terrible on the roads and by the time I arrived at the KSC Press Site, you couldn't see anything. Nobody knew where to point their cameras because you couldn't even see the launch pads. Fog was quickly enveloping the 45 story tall Vertical Assembly Building and as it got closer to launch time, you couldn't even see the sun. Instead of burning off as the sun rose, the fog was blowing in from offshore and it just kept getting thicker.

None of this seemed to bother Space X. The countdown proceeded right on schedule and at 9:41 AM the Falcon Heavy lifted off. We could hear the launch, but we couldn't see a thing. This seemed impossible to me. The Falcon Heavy is a huge rocket with 27 Merlin engines. I was expecting an immense flame from this thing. I didn't even see an orange glow through the fog. If it wasn't for the roar the rocket made, you wouldn't have known there was a launch at all. 

Since we couldn't see the launch, we couldn't see the return of the two side boosters either. Once again it was the sound that reminded us that this launch was actually taking place. As the side boosters began their landing burns, we heard a double sonic boom from each booster. The sonic booms were so loud that we also heard a strange high pitched sound as the sonic booms ricocheted off the VAB. The sound pressure levels had caused the entire building to vibrate. As cool as these sounds were, it was still a huge disappointment not to see the launch. 

I initially thought I might have picked the wrong location. I decided to go to the NASA Press Site at the last minute when I remembered that I got eaten alive by mosquitos the last time I was at the ITL Causeway. It wouldn't have made any difference where I went today. The Causeway was completely fogged in as well. Even though they were closer to the landing site, they still couldn't see anything either.

The launch was a success even though it was a total bust for all the launch photographers. I wasn't the only one who'd been waiting a long time to see the Falcon Heavy's twin side boosters return to land at Cape Canaveral. I was lucky to see the Falcon Heavy SPT-2 Mission launch in 2019. It was spectacular and I really wanted to see another one. Oh, well. You win some and you lose some.

Since the launch was over by 10 AM and my flight home didn't leave Orlando until 6 PM, I had a lot of time to kill. I stayed at the hotel until noon and then went into Titusville and had lunch at Sonny's. I didn't get any good pictures today, but I did have some good barbecue. 

Even though I tried my best to kill time in Titusville, I still arrived at the airport hours before my flight was scheduled to leave. This proved to be a good time to get my steps and I walked back and forth on the concourse until I met my goals. 

The flight home was late getting started because people were so slow getting on the plane. The flight was completely full of little kids returning from a trip to Disneyworld, overweight people who were having trouble navigating the narrow aisle, and way too much carry-on luggage. We were so late getting off the ground in Orlando that we lost our gate when we arrived in Dallas. We had to wait on the plane until they found a new gate for us. All in all it was a long and somewhat frustrating day.

Dawn seemed glad to see me when I got home though. At least the day ended well.

Jeda is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 4694 - Halloween

It was a long hot day in the sun. I'm glad it's the end of October instead of the middle of July though. I think I'm just getting old. I found myself growing tired more quickly than I used to on these trips out to the launch pad. That being said, it was a beautiful day and it doesn't look like there will be any weather problems tomorrow. I enjoyed talking with the other launch photographers, although I didn't get the pictures I had hoped for. There were two busses and the first bus I was on was a little too early for the roll out to the pad. I got a few shots of the Falcon Heavy emerging from the hanger but that was about it. I hope I do better tomorrow.

I asked everyone whether they were going to the Press Site or the ITL Causeway tomorrow. There was no clear consensus about which location was best. The Press Site has a slightly better view of the launch, while the ITL Causeway has a better view of the side boosters return. I still can't decide where to go. I guess I'll sleep on it and decide in the morning.

I'm always amazed at the launch photographers who regularly set remote cameras. They will take a $4000 camera and tie a plastic garbage bag around it to protect it. Sometimes the cameras sit out near the pad for days before they can be retrieved. We even saw an alligator near one of the remote camera sites today. There is no danger of theft at the space center, but there is plenty of danger from the weather or rocket fuel. There are lots of stories about cameras and lenses being damaged or destroyed. Lots of folks buy used lenses on eBay and some don't even put a protective glass filter in front of the lens. They think it will cause reflections. I doubt that I will ever set remote cameras myself. I'm very risk adverse and fabricating a protective cage for the camera makes flying from Dallas a lot more difficult. I still like to travel light.

Although I've been down here quite a few times, I'm definitely not one of the regulars. Some of these folks cover every single launch. There are a few launch photographers from major news outlets, but many just have their own podcast or take pictures for a website. A lot have full time jobs outside the space industry. I have no idea how they have the time or money to do this. If I lived nearby, I"d probably come to every launch as well. There's something mesmerizing about chasing rockets.

I'm really hoping for a successful launch tomorrow morning. I don't really want to extend my stay this time. The hotel said there are vacancies tomorrow night, but the flight back home will definitely be more expensive. I will get an article published about this launch, but I'm not sure what to say at this point. The mission is classified and just about everything about the payload is secret.

It doesn't seem much like Halloween. One of the bartenders was in costume where I ate dinner, but there certainly aren't any trick-or-treaters at the hotel.

Roxy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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