Day 104

I couldn't do an update yesterday because Verizon wouldn't let us connect to the internet.

It was a standard "contractor day". We got up in the morning and hung around all day while they worked on the shower. It looks like it will take at least another two weeks to complete. Then we have to get to work and paint the place.

Absolutely nothing else of interest happened except that it rained some in the late afternoon and early evening. For awhile it was coming down pretty hard.

Day 103

This was another pretty good day. I was sort of planning to go shooting today. However, the bed grabbed a hold of us, and we didn't get up until 11:00. When we did get up, we read the paper and then went to Fry's to return the helicopter. I didn't bother to get another one. Ellen got a new bluetooth transmitter that might help her printer connection.

On the way back we went to Zilker park. It was packed. We were lucky though and found a parking place right where we wanted one. The place was filled with people and dogs. Lucy did a whole lot of retrieves, and some socializing too. We walked all over the park and she had a great time.

On the way home we stopped at IHOP. We were going to go next door, but that place only had steaks and we didn't feel like eating that sort of meal.

Day 102

We got up today and went to some garage sales. I didn't expect much, since they weren't estate sales. I did get a toy for the nieces and a book. That was it.

Two of the sales were near a big park that we'd never been to before. We took the dog there and had her do retrieves. She didn't last long, I think she might still be a little tired from New Braunfels.

That's all that we did. After the park we went home and spent the rest of the day reading and surfing. All in all it was an OK day.

Day 101

We didn't have to get up as early today, because the contractor had to pick up the tile. When he got here he put down the second layer of cement on the floor. The tile hadn't been ready in the morning, so then he went back to pick it up.

While he was gone we went out to get the mail and pick up a towel bar and a new sprayer for the guest bath. We also made a quick stop at the grocery store. We got back to the house about two minutes before the contractor did.

He had to drive all the way north to get the tile and then all the way back here. When he got here, all he could do was unload the tile and go home. That sucked.

I tried to get the helicopter I bought to work. It won't charge up. So the whole thing will have to go all the way back to Fry's. That sucked, too.

I installed the towel bar and the new sprayer. I'll try out the sprayer tonight, At least it looks cool.

We had a conference call with Jerry. He ran through the investments and we talked to him about how we want to change our goals some. I think we're on the right page. He's going to send us some info before we make the moves.

Day 100

We spent the day hanging around the house while the contractor worked. The plumber got the rough in plumbing in. The other guy got the walls up. He said that he'll be picking up the tile tomorrow. The only thing that I got accomplished was finally getting that big can of screws I bought sorted out.

Ted Saposnick called. He was in San Antonio and wanted to meet us for dinner. We decided to meet in Gruene. We left early so that we could go to the park in New Braunfels and let the dog swim. The water was really muddy because of yesterday's rain, but Lucy didn't mind. She did retrieves for half an hour straight - one after another. I stopped because it was getting darker and she was showing signs of fatigue. She didn't want to stop, though.

When we were walking back to the car, there was a herd of deer across the street at the golf course. The must have been at least 20, with one buck. After leaving the park we stopped at the feed store and bought Lucy some hamburgers. It was too soon after swimming to give them to her though.

Parking at Gruene was a mess. There was some sort of concert going on at the hall. We had to park way back in the event parking area.

We had a nice dinner with Ted and a long conversation about lots of things including the club. We left with a better feeling about him being president. Time will tell.

We didn't get home until 11:00, but I think all three of us rated it a pretty good day.

Day 99

I went out to the trailer and discovered that the AC power wasn't working. There was a big thunderstorm last night, so I suspected the failure had something to do with that. I checked the AC cord to the garage. It was OK. I checked the circuit breakers in the trailer. They were OK. All of the lights and outlets are on a single GFI, so I checked it. It's hidden, so this takes a little effort. The GFI was tripped, but wouldn't reset when I tried to reset it. I unplugged the only appliance plugged into an outlet, but the GFI still wouldn't reset.

Crap.

I decided to start where the power cable enters the trailer. I opened up the junction box inside the trailer to check the wiring. There's plenty of strain relief, but who knows. Maybe the cord got stepped on or driven over. I also suspected fire ants. For some reason they love electrical wiring. I've had them screw up the well pump switch, an air conditioner relay, and the gate opener at the house. So it wasn't a stretch to think they might be inside the box in the trailer.

Everything inside the box is connected with wire nuts just like normal home wiring. The connections all looked fine and no sign of fire ants. I was just about to start checking other things when I noticed something behind the wires in the back of the box. It was a Texas bug of some sort. It was about an inch long and looked a little like an over grown June bug. It was sitting across two of the wires. I removed it.

I went back into the trailer and tried the GFI. It reset like it should. End of the debugging session.

I should mount the bug on a plaque.

The contractor's work continues. We settled on where all of the plumbing parts will go. They framed in the seat and wall, and put in the drain. The plumber came and did a little work. I think he needs to buy a few parts. The tile is on the way.

I'm a little disappointed that the end result won't be any wider than the original space was.

Day 98

We got up early (8) in order to be ready for the contractor. He showed up at 9. I didn't really pay attention to what he was doing, but there was a lot of loud banging going on.

It started to rain really hard about 10:00. So we left early to go to the tile place. We made really good time in spite of the rain. So we got there before 11:30 for a 12:00 appointment. That was OK. They just looked around while the lady helped someone else.

It turns out that our tile allowance was plenty for the main tile. It wasn't enough to cover the floor tile or any kind of accent strip. We'll have to see if we over spent any. We also looked at materials for the counter. They are all super expensive. We'll have to wait on doing that.

On the way home we stopped at Fry's and I bought a helicopter. I'll have to try it out tomorrow. I'm just not interested in doing it right now.

I'm a little disappointed. The lawyer was supposed to call today, but he didn't. He's supposed to be traveling until the end of the month, so I guess I'll have to call again in a couple of weeks.

Day 97

I actually got something accomplished today. I took the ladder and implements of destruction out to the entrance and trimmed all of the trees that might impede the trailer. I had a choice of burning the branches or putting them in the garbage can. Since the garbage was closer than the burn barrel, i put them in the garbage.

The contractor started work today. He and his son took down all of the tile, removed the bathtub, and took out the old plumbing. The dumbshits that built the place had done something really screwy with the shower plumbing. When they removed the wall they found all of these stubbed off pipes. One of the supply pipes was copper, and the other is PEX.

As near as we can figure, the hard water must have clogged up the original pipes (they're only 1/2 inch) and the had to replumb it. That makes sense, since there's a big portion of the wall next to the hot water heater that has been cut out and then replaced. I know that because the dumbshits did such a poor job of repairing the wall when they replaced it.

We're going way north tomorrow to look for tile.

Day 96

I was half thinking of going shooting today, but we didn't get out of bed until about 11:30. That sort of put an end to that idea.

So we ended up doing nothing today except read the Sunday paper. I mainly just watched the football games.

The contractor is supposed to show up tomorrow to start work on the bathroom. That means we'll have to get up in the morning.

Day 95

This was another one of those do nothing days. The closest thing to accomplishing anything that I did was sort some of the screws I bought yesterday. I've now spent several hours sorting them and I still have more to go. It is kind of a mindless task that makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something.

The only other thing we did was walk to the mailbox. The dog pissed me off. She ran into the neighbor's yard and wouldn't come back. When she did come back, she ran off in another direction and I had to yell at her again. She was happy with herself though.

Day 94

This was a pretty good day. We got up in the morning, had breakfast, and headed out to some estate sales. We went to three. They all were authentic estate sales with a lot of stuff. The first was a little over priced, but the other two had reasonable prices.

Of course we don't have need for much any more. I needed some more screws. I bought a large coffee can full for $2. I also bought some CD's and a DVD. They were a little expensive, but I wanted them.

We also stopped at the yuppie grocery store and bought bread and pears. It's bread is the best around and none of the other grocery stores seem to have any pears.

On the way home we stopped at Zilker park so the dog could run. She actually spent some time socializing with other dogs. She didn't play with them, though.

When we got home the dog's new collar was here. It's not exactly what I wanted, but it's better than what she had before.

Day 93

This was another do nothing day. We spent most of the day surfing. I took Lucy out to throw the bumper in the yard. It was 80 degrees and she only did three retrieves before heading for the shade.

Even though she didn't do many retrieves, the dog looked bored all day. So late in the day we took pity on the dog. We walked out to the mailbox. Then we got in the car and stopped at the Post Office and grocery store. We also ran the dog in the park. She did a lot better than she did at home.

Day 92

I didn't do an entry yesterday because Mozilla was on strike because of SOPA. We didn't do much anyway.

I spent the late part of yesterday evening with a splitting headache. I guess I over did it at the park. So today I decided to just chill and not do much. That seemed to pay off, because I felt pretty good in the evening.

Of course the dog was disappointed. The only thing that she got to do today was go out and get the mail.

I do need to install the vent, but I'm waiting for some day when I feel like it.

I called Dean in the evening to talk about the land. He's in agreement, so I'll be calling the lawyer soon. We had an hour long talk about a lot of things. He's planning on retiring in a couple of years and doing the same thing we did - get out of Oregon.

Day 91

It was a pretty good day. We got up at 8:30 because the contractor was coming. When I went out to get the paper, a guy was fixing the street light. I had a talk with him about the union. He said the stuff in the newspaper was strictly the union side. He also said that while the union can campaign with the workers, the feds won't let the company do anything. I blame it on Obama.

Then we met with the contractor. He seemed like a nice guy. He'll be getting back to us with an estimate.

We then started to leave for the dog park. When we got out of the gate the pole checkers were coming up the street. So we washed the car windows (they were scummy) while they checked the pole. Then we left.

We hadn't gone to that dog park before. It didn't have any parking. So we went back to Zilker and ran the dog there. Then we walked down to the other park. The dog store that we wanted to go to was just across the river. It was neat, but didn't have what we wanted.

The dog store was just by City Hall where the Occupuds are. There were a bunch of sleeping bags, some bums, and four bored cops. I bet the cops were being paid overtime to sit there in the sun looking at the losers.

On the way back we found a place in the new park for Lucy to swim. I didn't have the bumper, so we used a stick. That worked until she swam by it and took off across the river. We managed to get her back, and that was the end of the swimming.

All in all we walked about 4 miles. Both the dog and us were tired when we got home.

Day 90

Last night was better, but not perfect. It was a definite improvement from the night before. The weird thing was that I didn't wake up until 11:00. With surfing time, that meant that we didn't get out of bed until almost 1:00. That's getting a little ridiculous. We're going to have to stop this.

Once we got going, we went out to run the dog and get some more cat food. The wind was blowing, so Lucy got in some much longer than normal retrieves.

A contractor called today. They are coming by tomorrow to see about the bathroom.

Other than that we just sat around and read and watched TV. We're going to have to stop that, too.

Day 89

Last night was another lousy night. I had sweaty episodes all night. At one point I woke up soaked in sweat on wet sheets. This really sucks. I'm always tired, too.

I spent 2 hours in bed surfing. When I got up and got the paper, most of the main articles were verbatim copies of what I had read on the web. The only interesting things were the the local items. Of course, that's what newspapers are good for nowadays.

I spent the rest of the day watching football teams that I wanted to win, lose. I saw a good movie, Hudson Hawk, though.

Day 88

I had another partially sweating night. Since there didn't seem to be anything going on in Austin today we just stayed in bed with the cats and the dog. There was some interesting stuff on the web, so it was entertaining.

When we got up I found a hospital bill "lost" on the desk that needed to be paid. So we went over to the post office. I also wanted to get a helicopter, but neither Target or Wally World had one. I can't think of anywhere else to find toys now days.

On the way home we got some groceries and ran the dog. I bought her a toy to replace those Chinese ones we bought that stunk so bad we wouldn't give them to her. She loves it.

I also bought some headache medicine (we didn't have any in the house). I took it as soon as I got home to kill the headache that I've had since I got up.

Day 87

I was disappointed. I went to bed last night feeling pretty good. That lasted until about 6 this morning when I woke up sweating with a headache. I stayed in bed until 11 feeling just as bad.

I has a head ache, or a neck ache, or both for the whole day. So we just sat around surfing, reading and watching TV. I was so drained that I couldn't even muster the energy to log on and update this.

When is this sickness, whatever it is, going to end.

Day 86

I thought I was done with paperwork bullshit yesterday, but that wasn't so. We had to go to the insurance agent down here and sign some paperwork. While we were there she said that we'll have to transfer the liability policy. In order to do that she needed to have some info about the farm land.

I called Hooch in the evening and he told me that liability wise things couldn't be much worse. It turns out that the five of us own it jointly. That sort of ties us together liability wise. Everybody shares liability for everyone else's actions. I hate lawyers.

It looks like I'll have to fix this. I'll probably start making phone calls about it soon.

It's cold today and supposed to be colder tomorrow. That's OK, I'm still not feeling up to par.

Day 85

We went and got our Texas driver's licenses today. We also got the Hyundai licensed in Texas. We even registered for voting.

I was going to get an early start on this, but somehow that didn't happen. Instead we ended up getting to San Marcos about 11:30. Google couldn't figure out where the place was, so we had to call for directions.

We mad one stop at the car license place and found out that we had to get the safety check first. We drove around San Marcos and found a place. They took about half an hour and $15 to check the lights and wipers. Then back to the car license place and $182 later we had new plates.

Then off to the driver's license place about 4 miles away. I got my license relatively painlessly, but Ellen needed a SS card. The website failed to mention that. Luckily there was a SS office about two miles away. A trip over there, and the longest wait of the day, got her a card. Then back to the license place so she could get her license.

It was after four when this was all done and we hadn't had lunch. We stopped at HEB on the way home and got a pizza because it was Wednesday. We also stopped at Sonic and got a snack.

When we got back we were tired. There was a notice for a ladies neighborhood party that Ellen is going to go two. We also talked to Beaver and his wife for awhile. They pointed out that the light in the culdesac is out. I'll have to call PEC about it.

I felt about 80% today and last night was an improvement also. I've got a headache right now though, so I'm going to bed.

Day 84

Another bad night. I thought that it would be better, since I felt a little better yesterday evening. It wasn't. Not as many chills, but plenty of fever.

I did feel better today. I had lunch and dinner. I even walked out to get the mail. I made it OK, but I didn't want do much else.

Maybe I'll be feeling better tomorrow.

Day 83

I had a bad night. Alternating fever and chills. Mainly chills. I woke up many times with the sheets soaked. Obviously I didn't sleep well. When I got out of bed at noon, I was sick.

I spent the whole day in the chair watching TV. Ellen went to the grocery store, and the dog got bored. This wasn't all that bad because it was raining today. It also rained hard for awhile last night.

Day 82

I had a bad day. I was pretty sick last night. A crashing headache, alternating fever and chills, my neck ached, even my teeth hurt. I didn't get any quality rest. I would wake up every half hour or so from one ache or another.

I stayed in bed for most of the morning. I still had fever/chills sessions. So I spent all day in the chair watching TV. I didn't feel like eating until about 4:00.

I watched Tebow win. That was kind of fun. I still don't like Elway.

I'm going to bed early today. I'm feeling a little better and maybe things will be better tomorrow.

Day 81

My head is killing me. We watched a 3D movie this evening and it gave me a splitting headache. I also missed the Texans game.

We really didn't do anything this morning except surf and read the paper. I wanted to go do something, but there doesn't seem to be anything going on in Austin this week.

By early afternoon the dog was driving us crazy. So we went out to get the mail and take the dog to the park. I had her do retrieves first. She didn't do a whole lot because it was a little warm. Then we walked around the park. When we got finished Lucy did a couple of more retrieves, but she was pretty much done.

When we got home she got a bath and then her monthly meds.

Day 80

Since there weren't any good estate sales this week, we stayed in bed for awhile and surfed. When we got up I was bored. I decided to cut the hole in the roof. That's when I found out that the new shingles are glued together rather than laid on top of each other. I'll have to get some replacement shingles to nail over the top of the vent skirting.

I still wanted something to do, so I installed the lighted house numbers on the gate. They look pretty good. Unfortunately you can't read them when the gate is open. There wasn't any other place to put them that was in the sun.

After lunch I played pinball for awhile. I beat the previous high score by 600,000. I quit after that and went out to get the mail and some more catnip cigars (the dog ate the other one last night). One of the letters was from the insurance company. It said that they weren't going to pay for $14,000 in tests. Ellen was freaked out and said "you deal with it".

I kind of stressed out over it a little as we finished our shopping and ran the dog. We met a couple of people at the park and had some nice conversation.

When I got home, I looked over the insurance letter. It said that we were not liable for the $14,000 and not to pay any of it. Apparently the hospital didn't get the preauthorization that they should of. I detect a future hassle, but it shouldn't be a big one.

Day 79

We got up at 8 this morning and took the car to the dealer to fix the recall stuff and have the oil changed. It was supposed to take three days to fix, but they called at 4:30 to say it was done. Apparently it didn't have the problem that takes three days to fix. I'm glad. I didn't really want them taking the transmission out.

We went to IHOP for breakfast. After breakfast we went over to Zilker park. We spent a couple of hours throwing the bumper for the dog and letting her interact with other dogs. She ran and ran and wouldn't stop. We finally took her to the truck. She didn't argue.

The weather was wonderful, and it was only noon. So we drove over to the other end of the park and walked across the loop 1 bridge. We stopped at the American Legion hall and looked at some WWI cannon and a French railroad car that were set up outside.

Then we walked about 1/2 a mile around the lake. We saw herons, egrets, and a couple of tame swans that would come up to you. The dog barked at them a little. She also found a couple of squirrels. She was on a leash though, so she couldn't do much.

On the way home we stopped at Tomlinson's to get some anti-hark medicine for Taiko. He was barfing all over yesterday.

We were home by 2:00 or so. That's about the time we've been getting started lately. I started to watch TV, and ended up taking a nap.

Day 78

We got up late again. This is becoming a habit. After lunch I made up a list of things I needed and we went shopping. I got one bargain. It was a lighted house number that we'd seen earlier. It was originally $34. It was on sale for $15. I got an extra 20% off because I'm old and it was Tuesday (go figure). We'd seen this thing before Christmas, but didn't buy it because we thought it was too expensive.

I've been disappointed in the deck lights I got for Christmas. Only one of the four worked for more than an hour after dark. I took one of the dead ones apart today and found out that the battery had an expiration date of 2011. So I bought 4 high quality ones and replaced the batteries in the dead lights. We'll see what happens tonight.

I called to set an appointment to get the car fixed. They said that it would take three days. I'm taking it in tomorrow. I guess I'll be using the truck until the weekend.

Day 77

We got up relatively early today. I didn't really have anything to do, so I got bored.

That's bad, so I decided to hang up the outside speakers. It was warmer than expected, about 65. It took some time to do, but there weren't any problems.

I also decided to hang up Ellen's bird feeder. I was going to use some chain to do it. I thought I had some somewhere, but I searched the garage and well house in vain. It turned out all right though. I found 60 cents in pennies that Useless left in the well house. It turns out that Ellen wanted to hang the feeder on a tree branch that Useless had hung one. He left the wire hanger, so I just reused that.

It was warm enough that I ate lunch and read for a while outside. The wind came up though, so I went inside to watch movies and football.

Right now Oregon is busy loosing the Rose Bowl.

Day 76

We took down the Christmas tree today. I kind of miss it, but I'm happy to have the furniture back where it belongs.

We celebrated new year's the same way we did new year's eve. That is, we did nothing. We've been watching a Rawhide marathon. I sure appreciate the problems Gil Favor has a lot more than I did when I was 5 or 6.

The only other thing of not is that we gave the dog a dogacure. It's supposed to get cold for the next few days, so we wanted to do it before then.