Day 59

I took down the solar light in the front because it wasn't working.  I thought it might be the battery.  I opened it up.  It uses a pack of C cells.  I won't be fixing that.  So it was off to Harbor Freight for another.

We stopped at Hobby Lobby first.  They had a lot of cool scientific toys.  Unfortunately I don't think the nieces would be interested in any of them.  I bought a model of Da Vinci's catapult, though.  It was 25% off.

I bought a new light at Harbor Freight.  I also got a torque wrench and some rope.  I actually spent way less than 50% of the list price for everything. 

After that we went to HEB's yuppie grocery store.  We bought a lot of produce and nothing else.  On the way back we bought a bottle of Bailey's that was on sale at the liquor store.

The final stop was Circle C.  First to pur the trailer title in the safe deposit box and then to run the dog.  She had a good time.  The wind was behind me so she did some long retrieves.  It was too muggy to walk around the park.

When I got home I decided to test the old light with the new solar cell in case that what's wrong.  The old light is a lot higher quality than the new one.  After that I built the catapult.  I'll wait until tomorrow when the glue is dry to try it out.

The guy from the website emailed me saying he won't give me the password.  I replied asking him what ESP I might sign up for that would satisfy me.  I'm pretty frustrated.  The whole thing seems stupid.

Day 58

I restacked the wood that fell down today.   It wasn't hard, just a pain in the ass and somewhat time consuming.  I made a whole new second stack so nothing would fall down again.

Then I went to the garage to make a fixture for my build.  I took a 1 1/2 by three and used the router to shape it.  I did the final work with a rasp.  I think it will work fine. The clean up took a significant portion of the time it took me to build it.

When I was finished I brought the Christmas stuff back to the house.  We put up the tree and I put up some lights on the deck.  It all looks pretty cool.

The website guy emailed me back.  Instead of giving me the password, he asked me why I had the mail sent to the phone.  So I told him the website wouldn't let me sign up any other way.  I don't understand why he didn't just send the password.

Day 57

We did something out of the ordinary today.  We spent the whole morning, til noon, in bed surfing and playing games.  It just seemed the thing to do.

When we did get up the order of business was to fill out the forms from Gerry.  I had to sign in 8 or so places.  It took quite awhile to copy them, there were 15 pages.

It turned out to be a pain in the ass to send it back.  Gerry had included a FedEx envelope.  Unfortunately the FedEx website isn't very specific about dropbox locations.  We drove all around Sunset Valley looking for one.  Ellen said there was one at the Post Office, so we went there.  There wasn't.  Finally Ellen found a map that showed where the one in Sunset Valley really was.  So we drove back there.

I also stopped at Verizon to see if I could get a real email address.  The guy there said he didn't think so.  Actually he was too lazy or ignorant to look it up.  I left in disgust.

We also stopped at the Credit Union to see about a refinance.  They told us to apply online.  Crap.

On the way home we stopped at Circle C.  Lucy was funny.  At first she didn't run very fast.  I think she was stove up from yesterday.  She got faster as she warmed up.  After the retrieves we walked around the park.  I didn't take the bumper and she did do a lot of running.

In the evening I emailed the website that texted me.  Their message was truncated.  Hopefully they will resend to my real address.

Day 56

We wrapped up all of the presents today and boxed them up for shipping.  There were a lot of them and it took a lot of time.  Ellen had quite a pain in the ass printing out the mailing slips.  Apparently the Post Ofice doesn't make it easy.  She gave up on the biggest of them.

After lunch we to the packages to the Post Office.  We didn't have to stand in line because the big package just barely fit in the bin. 

Somewhere along the way we misplaced the dog's chew toy.  So we went to the pet store to get another.  On the way we stopped at the bank to deposit some checks.  That took awhile because we asked about keeping the account open w/out a lot of activity.  They ended up setting up a savings account with automatic transfers between the two.  They gave us three books of legal disclaimers with the new savings account.  I blame Obama.

After the pet store (Lucy got a treat).  We went to Whole Foods next door just to see it.  It lived up to it's nickname.  Everything was very expensive.  We bought some salmon, a can opener, some chips and some eggnog.  $50 for a half bag of food.

Lucy had been bugging me all day about doing something.  So we stopped at Circle-C on the way back.  The dog did a whole lot of retrieves, and then we decided to walk.  We walked over to Escarpment and back.  She did more retrieves all along the way.

We didn't get home until 5:30.  It's time to surf.

Day 55

I finished doing something that's been bugging me since we got here.  I had brought down 3 bags of clothing that had been stored in Salem.  It was a whole lot of stuff, mainly colder weather stuff and shooting clothes.  I went through all of the things in my closet.  When I finished I had one bag of "too small" clothes, and two bags of "heavy clothes I don't need".  I also had a lot of clothes to go to Goodwill.  All of the clothes I wanted from the bags are in the closet.  The closet is a lot less crowded than it was.

After that we did a little bit of running around.  We got the mail, bought a Christmas present for the niece, some grocery shopping and lunch at Taco Bell.  We also stopped at Walmart so Ellen could get a new sewing machine.  They didn't have one in stock.  We also stopped at Goodwill to leave off a trunk full of stuff.  The clothes, a box of electronics and toys, and some indoor/outdoor speakers.

When we got home Ellen ordered the sewing machine online.  She ended up paying less than she would have at Walmart even after shipping.  She also ordered some Christmas presents.  I had her order some stuff for the Nexus 7 at the same time.

It was hot and muggy when we got home, so I didn't try to do anything outside.  It's supposed to be cooler tomorrow.  If it is I'll work in the garage.

Day 54

We just vegged out today.  All we did was surf, read the paper, and watch TV.  I didn't leave the house except to get the paper.

Day 53

We decided to go over to Sears to look at a couple of "Black Friday" deals that were only available on Saturday morning.  Go figure.  We stopped at the post office on the way there.  The package with our October mail was there.  A lot of bills, a $400 refund check, and some magazines.

When we got to the mall, there weren't a lot of people there.  Apparently a lot of people were tired out from yesterday.  Unfortunately enough people got there before us to sell out of the items that we were looking for.  So we decided to walk around the mall.  We ended up getting a present for my brother and a couple of things for mother.  We also got a really nice toaster oven for us.  It was expensive, but really nice.

By the time we were finished a lot more people had showed up.  I guess people were recharged by the afternoon.

When we got home I fixed the house number light by putting a new battery in it.  It will be several days before I know if the problem was the battery or the solar cells.  I also added another stick light to the gate, just because I had it.  I finished up by unpacking the train stuff that was in the garage and putting it away in the storage thing I bought at last week's estate sale.

After some surfing and some dinner we went to a neighborhood party.  We'd met the people at the last party, so at least we knew someone.  We had a great time talking.  It was a little cold outside, so everyone would spend some time on the patio and then some time inside to warm up.  We stayed until almost 10:30, probably longer than we should have.  I hope they do it again.

Day 52

I got up very late, 11:00, today.  I was asleep, not surfing.  The paper had a few more ads in it, but not much.  We sat around awhile because we couldn't think of anything we'd seen that we wanted to go out and buy. I got out my new pedometer and set it up.

I decided to do a little much needed cleanup.  I cleaned up the corner table in the kitchen and moved my train stuff to it.  That stuff had been on the kitchen table since last spring.  Then I cleaned the kitchen table.  I also went out and used the black spray pain we bought awhile ago on the stumps and branches in the back yard.  I used paint because Home Depot was out of sealant and the guy there said black paint works as well.

We finally decided to take the dog to Circle-C.  We did some retrieves until she stopped.  Then we walked around the park.  When we got to the end I threw some more retrieves until she wouldn't do any more.  When we got home we had a tired doggy.

Because it was cloudy we did a little shopping.  HEB for some groceries and Costco for some cookies.

We just surfed and watched TV the whole evening.  I watched two whole movies, Open Range and John Carter.  Of course I surfed at times, too.

Day 51

We started the day by reading all of the Black Friday ads in the newspaper.  It took quite awhile.  I didn't see anything that justified getting up early and/or waiting in line.  This year there were a lot of online Black Friday ads.  Some were online only.  I still didn't see anything I thought we needed.

I spent most of the rest of the day watching football.  The Texans won and the Cowboys lost.  Perfect.  I also looked up some stuff for my Nexus 7.  I didn't buy anything though.

Ellen fixed a really good dinner.  She cooked the turkey with mashed potatoes and asparagus.  We had key lime pie for dessert.

Lucy got a bunch of the giblets with her dinner.  She must have had turkey before.  She was antsy the whole afternoon while it was cooking.

Day 50

Today was a dog day.  On the way to the park I stopped at Wally World and bought a Nexus.  I threw it in the trunk and we continued to Auditorium shores.  The dog started getting excited while we were still on Barton Creek.

It was just before noon when we got there.  I think the dog has parking karma.  There was a parking spot for us right in front.  That's the way it's been every time we've gone there.

We spent about an hour and a half in the park throwing the bumper for the dog.  Most of the first hour was in the water.  I threw it until she was almost too tired to get out of the water.  We walked for a while and she recharged.  So then I threw it on the grass until she was finally too tired to retrieve it.

We stopped for a late lunch before going home.  We also stopped at a toy store and bought a Christmas present for a niece. 

The dog has been on the couch since we got home.  She only got up to eat.  She even wouldn't go out with me when I took out the garbage.  I had to do that tonight because Ellen cooked the ham.  It was really good.  However, the remains had to go out immediately.  We wouldn't be able to trust any animals with them overnight.

Day 49

It was the normal wash the clothes and go run errands day.  We went around looking for a pedometer to replace the one that I had that broke.  I got one at Wally World.  We also got a whole lot of mail that had piled up in the PO box.

I tried to buy a Nexus 7 at Wally World.  That's because Google will charge me sales tax.  Unfortunately they decided not to staff the electronics department while we were there, so I couldn't get one.  Maybe I'll try again later.

It was hot today, 88 degrees.  That meant that the dog couldn't come along.  She was very disappointed.  I hope we can take her for a run or something tomorrow.

On the way home we did some grocery shopping.  We wanted to make sure that we wouldn't have to go to the store until a couple of days after Thanksgiving.  HEB was having a special.  If we bought a ham (which I like), we got a turkey for free.  So we have both.  We also got a key lime pie for Thanksgiving.

When we got home it was time to meet w/Gerry and Jacque.  They convinced us that we wouldn't have any problem covering expenses if we invested in the other annuity.  Actually we had several misconceptions that they cleared up that made things make a lot more sense.

Day 48

Tree #18 got cut down today.  It was the last one.  It was the biggest tree we cut down and it took me over 3 hours to do it.  I think I hurt the saw at the end.  I was cutting through several pieces of the 10" trunk and didn't give the motor time to cool down.  It wasn't running well at all by the time I was finished.

We started cutting trees a week ago last Friday.  It seems like it took a lot more than 10 days to cut them all down.  I miss the trees we took down, but the place does look better without all the dead trees.

We've been listening to the neighbors cut down trees, too.  They're higher tech.  They're using a chain saw and a wood chipper.  At least that's what it sounds like.

The tree cutting sort of wiped us out.  So we aren't doing anything for the rest of the day.  Tomorrow will be get the mail, do the wash, and maybe run the dog day.

Day 47

We went out shopping today.  We started out by reading the ads in the paper.  Then we went out to take advantage of the pre-Thanksgiving sales.  We bought stuff at several stores.  Along the way we stopped at Golden Corral for lunch.

We got home about an hour before it was time to go to the neighborhood party.  It was sure convenient to have it just outside our gate.  We had a fine time talking with some of the neighbors.  The party broke up just in time for the start of the football game.  Good planning.

Day 46

17 trees done.  It took four hours, but we finished up the trees in the back yard.  We left up part of the trunks of two of the smaller trees to hang stuff from.  It feels very good to have them all down.  The only question now is whether or not we cut down the other tree by the trailer.  It's pretty big and will take a lot of work.  I think I'll wait until next week to decide.

I amazed at how well that little saw worked.  I sure did abuse it.  I'm pretty sure that it needs a new chain, or at least sharpening of the current one.

I was a little worried about how the yard would look without the trees.  The front looks OK, but I sure miss having something (even dead trees) surrounding the bench.  The back actually looks better than I thought it would.  We may have to buy a sun shade to hang from the end of the porch overhang.

We were both tired, dirty, and sore when we got finished.  So we spent the rest of the day watching TV and surfing.

Day 45

We spent the morning going to a couple of estate sales.  We picked up a bird feeder and a really old, nice table saw fence.  The second sale was full of tools.  There was a garage, spare room, and two sheds full of stuff.  I bought a nice tool cabinet for $15 and a box of western paperbacks for $5.  I consider that a successful shopping trip.

On the way home we ate lunch at Rudy's.  We needed more lunch meat.  We also did some grocery shopping.  We bought a box of twinkies because there won't be any more.  I blame Obama.

When we got home I unloaded the car and did some surfing.  After the election it's really hard finding parts for my build.  I went outside about 4:00 to put some stuff in the new cabinet.  The weather had cooled off, so I decided to cut trees instead.  I used my "cut it off the tree" strategy.  It worked pretty well.  I cut the largest tree down to a 10' stump.  I cut one of the others down to a 6' stump.  I do have a lot of branches to cut up.  I got that done in about an hour.

Day 44

We woke up pretty early this morning, but we didn't get up.  Instead we surfed.  When we did get up we ate breakfast and went out to do battle with the trees.  After a little over 4 hours of branch cutting, branch hauling, trunk cutting, and burning the front was done.  Ellen managed to get all of the branches burned, so the barrel area is clean.  We're both very sore.

That makes 12 trees that we've cut down and disposed of.  There are 5 trees in the back yard and one by the trailer to go.  We may stop when the trees in the back are done.  I'm going to try a new approach.  I'm going to cut all of the branches from the trunks before cutting the trunks down.  I'm also going to cut the larger branches to length while they are still on the tree.  It's going to take extra time because I can't drive the mower up to the trees.

The rest of the afternoon was a nap, surfing, and football.

Day 43

When I woke up this morning I was still sore from yesterday's work.  That told me that we needed a day off.  So we went to the club.  The weather was perfect - sunny but not too hot.  The dog had a great time.  There weren't any other shooters, so we could let her off lead.  We had to tie her up at the rabbit stations though.

I decided that in honor of the election I'd buy a receiver.  I got the cheapest one they had.  I also got a parts kit.  I'll need to buy some tools before I can put it together.

On the way home from the club we stopped to get gas for the car and the mower.  When we got home I filled up the mower.  There was just enough gas to fill up the tank completely.  Now it will be ready for use tomorrow.

Day 42

We spent over 5 hours today on the trees.  I moved the stuff that I cut yesterday to the burn pile while Ellen started burning things.  She's getting more efficient at burning.  The rate at which the pile goes down is faster than it used to be.

While she burned I cut.  I cut down the last tree in the side yard, cut up the debris, and hauled them off.  Then I started on the trees in front.  I put the pole back on the saw and started cutting branches on all of the trees.   By the time I was finished most of them were just trunks.  That was good.  If I hadn't cut all of the top off of the tree nearest the house it would have hit the house when I cut it down. 

I cut the tree nearest the house completely down, cut up the debris, and hauled them off.  I figured that was enough for the day.  Ellen still had to finish up burning, so I decided to work until she was done.  I managed to cut down two more trunks as well as cutting up a couple of large branches that I had felled earlier.  This way I can haul up a couple of loads of branches tomorrow so Ellen can start burning while I'm cutting up trunks.

We're both really tired right now.  I wouldn't be surprised if we took tomorrow off.

Day 41

We had a bunch of errands to do so we left after breakfast.  We made stops at the mail, Wally World, Bed, Bath and Beyond, and JoAnn's.  Nothing special.  We just needed some stuff.  The last two stops were the grocery store and Circle C to run the dog.  She'd been bored the whole time we were driving around, so she was very happy when we stopped to do retrieves.

After we got home I was guilty about not working again.  So I went out and spent about an hour on the trees.  I cut down and cut up two of them.  Tomorrow Ellen can burn them while I do more cutting.

Day 40

We were up by 8 today because I wanted to get going on that tree by the apartment early.  It was warm so I went out to look at the tree wearing shorts and a t-shirt.  I spent about 5 minutes planning things.  During that time I was bit by at least 4 mosquitoes.  So I went back into the house and changed into long pants and a long sleeved shirt.

I started by cutting some low hanging branches and moving them to the front of the trailer out of the way.  Then I had Ellen use a cord to put tension on some of the higher branches as I cut them.  That way I was sure where they would fall.  I had to get out the ladder to reach a couple of them.  Even with that the tallest one just missed the sewer when it fell.  The lowest part of the trunk still has some live branches on it.  So I left the bottom 8 feet of the tree and sprayed sealant on the cut.  Hopefully it will survive.

I showed Ellen how to drive the tractor and she hauled the branches that I cut off from the tree to the burn pile while I did the cutting.  That made things go a lot faster.  When they were all cut up she started burning while I hauled up the branches that I cut yesterday.  Then I cut down another tree in the side yard and cut it up.  I also finished cutting up the big trunk of the first tree.  When I finished hauling the entire area was clean.  Three trees have been taken care of.  By the time that was done I was too tired to do anything else.

That makes 4 of 16 or 17 trees that need to be cut down.  I figure that someone would charge $100/tree to cut them down and haul them off.  That means that we've already made back the $100 that the pole saw cost.

I spent the rest of the day watching football and surfing.  Tomorrow we'll have to deal with the investments.

Day 39

I was tired from yesterday's tree cutting, so I decided not to do a lot today.  The day started off a little rocky.  The switch to my toothbrush broke.  Sigh.  That meant we were going to need to go to Costco.

We started off by going to Lowe's to get a new hose so Ellen would have a better branch burning experience.  I also got a cord plug so that I could repair the power cord that I cut yesterday.  Then we stopped at Costco and picked up a new toothbrush and some more drinks.  It's Costco, so we had to by a package of two toothbrushes - $99.  Oh well.

On the way home we stopped at a pizza place where Lucy could sit outside with us.  Then we took her to the park to do retrieves.  I threw them until she was tired.

After we got back I replaced the hose and fixed the cord.  I still felt guilty about not working.  So I spent some time sorting the clothes in my closet.  I packed away some that I'm too fat to wear and unpacked some I bought from Oregon.  When I got finished with that it had cooled down, so I spent an hour cutting up the branches and trunk from the second tree.

Just as it was getting dark I went over to the apartment.  I noticed that the dead tree by the trailer is actually being held up by a live tree it's leaning against.  If the live tree wasn't there, the dead tree would fall hitting the apartment and the apartment's sewer system.  I'm going to have to deal with that tomorrow.  It won't be easy.  The tree is big, 10 to 12 inches.  It's also high, probably close to 20 feet.  I think I have a plant to deal with it though.

Day 38

I am tired tonight.  We got up fairly early.  It was semi cloudy and the wind was blowing.  That made it a fairly good day to work outside.  So after breakfast I put the pole saw together.  I couldn't use it though because I hadn't bought oil for it.  So it was off to Lowe's for oil. 

When we got back I used the saw to cut a few limbs off the trees in the back.  I also cut down a tree/bush in the area by the parking area.  I hauled up all the results to the burn barrel by hand.  That taught me I didn't want to do that anymore.

I decided to start on the trees on the side of the house.  I also got out the lawn mower and trailer to haul the stuff up to the burn barrel.  I worked for a couple of hours and got a good pile up to the burn barrel.  After lunch I had Ellen go out and start burning while I continued to cut.

By 4:30 I was literally too tired to stand.  I managed to get one tree taken down and another about half done.  Ellen burned about 2/3 of the stuff I produced.  The hose she was using leaked all over, so she was wet and dirty by the time she was done.

I went in and took a shower.  It took the rest of the evening to recover enough to go to bed.  I was even too tired to log on.

Tomorrow we have to respond to Gerry.  I might try to do a little more, but probably not much.  It's going to tak awhile to cut up the 14 trees that are left.  We need to get another hose, too.

Day 37

Today was a doggy day.  We didn't get up until late.  That's because I stayed up late last night.  I just couldn't go to sleep.  I think it was depression.

Anyway, we didn't get started until 11:00.  We stopped by the post office and then went to Auditorium shores.  Since it was around noon there were a fair number of people jogging.  Lucy had only one thing on her mind - swimming.  I threw the bumper for her for at least 45 minutes.  She wasn't tired, but we wanted to do something else.  So we walked across the river and went to the dog store. 

That suited Lucy fine.  She got a couple of dog treats.  We bought her a treat for later and a bag of Zukes.

We walked a few blocks of downtown Austin.  They are really tearing up some of the streets that make it hard to get around to some places.  We walked by the building that houses Austin City Limits.  We also walked by some impressive apartment towers.  They even had doormen.   We also walked by a couple of restaurants with outdoor patios.  They were filled with yuppies from hell.  I'm sure glad I'll never have to live that life again.

We walked back across the river and back upriver past some boats.  Some were rentals and some were tour boats.  We need to take Lucy out on a rental some day.

When we got back to the park Lucy wanted to swim some more.  I threw the bumper for at least another 45 minutes.  Finally the dog was tired enough not to object much to quitting.  That lasted until we got near the car.  Then we stopped and I did about 15 land retrieves with her.  She still wanted to keep going when we left.

We stopped at Sandy's on the way home for a late lunch.  Lucy got to sit with us while we ate.  She also got a few french fries.  On the way home we stopped at Tomlinson's to pick up some dog food.  Lucy got some dog treats there, too.

She's on the couch now, and seems totally contented to stay there.  All in all it was a pretty good doggy day.

Day 36

I've decided that if I need to work outside, I need to do it early.  So I got up early (8), ate breakfast, and went out to finish weedeating the yard.  It didn't take a whole lot of time, but it was a little painful.  That's because I wore shorts.  Big mistake.  I was pulling those round sticker things off my leg when I was finished.

Then I got the user manual and the cabinet door out of the trailer and we went to do battle with the license people.  Luckily this time we got a lady who knew her ass from a hole in the ground.  The bad news is that it turns out to cost more to license the trailer in Texas than in Oregon.

We decided to put the title in the safe deposit box and do some grocery shopping.  So we did.  That took the rest of the afternoon.  The total mileage covered was over 80 miles.

When we got back I put the trailer back together and put the new plate on the trailer.  Then I finished the train inventory and then started looking up prices for the stuff I want to sell.  I'm not going to get much.  It seems the only things going for appreciable money is the stuff I want, not what I want to sell.  Sigh.

One final note:  I'm very depressed.  The country is truly fucked and it's only going to get worse.

Day 35

Today was wash day, so we stayed home.  While Ellen did the wash I went out and unloaded the basement of the trailer.  I took all of the stuff and moved it to wherever it needed to go - garage, apartment, house, and well house.  I also put away a lot of stuff that I just piled up in the garage since we've gotten back.  The whole effort took several hours.

One cool thing that I found while I was unpacking was some camera supplies including some compressed air.  I was going to buy some to clean the camera after the Moab trip.  Now I don't have to.

After that I decided to continue with messing around with the train inventory.  I brought in everything from the garage and entered it into the inventory.  I also sorted out all of the little pieces I had stuffed away in car boxes and put the result in a parts case.  Then I got all of the miscellaneous cars that I plan to sell.  I fixed up the ones that needed fixing and entered them in the inventory.  There's going to be a lot I need to sell.

I spent the evening killing time looking at train stuff on ebay.  I don't want to know how the election is going until I see it tomorrow in the paper.

Lucy's ready for another trip to the river.  She spent about half an hour tonight running around the place trying to find a deer that she scented.  At least I think that's what it was.  I scared what ever it was off when I whistled for her to come in.  It was dark, so I didn't get a good look at it.

Day 34

We spent the morning on an unpleasant task - investments.  I started writing up a e-mail for Gerry on what we want/need.  Ellen spent a lot of time figuring out how much we spent this year.  We spent a lot more than we earned.  I finished the letter based on that info, but I didn't send it.  I want to wait and send it tomorrow after having some time to reflect.

In the afternoon we took the dog to the park.  She was really excited.  As soon as we got there she ran down to the river and started barking.  When I started to throw the bumper she didn't want to talk.  We threw it for awhile at one place, then walked to another and did it some more.  Then we walked back to the first place.  Lucy wanted to go in so I threw it for her.  She barely dragged herself out of the water, so after three retrieves I called it good.  She didn't seem disappointed.

After that we walked around the auditorium park and looked at the turtles and the fountain.  Then it was time to go home.  We stopped at Rudy's on the way back and got some take out.

I spent the rest of the afternoon working on the train inventory.  I got a lot done, but I have a lot left to do.

In the evening I went to the neighborhood association meeting.  There were 6 people there including me.  They spent all their time talking about whether or not they should elect one person to the board.  Apparently he's been a board member for a long time, but he's a jerk.  They decided to appoint him later after they've talked to him about his behavior.

Day 33

We slept in a lot.  Even with the change in time, we didn't get up until 10.  The Sunday paper was huge.  There were lots of ads as well as a lot of editorial content.  It took until after noon to read it all.

We went over to Lowe's, ostensibly to get some Christmas lights.  I had a 10% off coupon.  I decided to get an electric pole saw.  That way maybe I won't fall off any more ladders.

We also stopped at Academy and I finally got a pair of sandals.  We also stopped at Michael's, primarily because Ellen had a coupon.  She got some art supplies.

When we got home I assuaged my guilt over not accomplishing anything by putting out the pink flamingos that we bought in Tucson.  I also hung up the flamingo lights that we bought somewhere.  By then the mosquitoes were out and I got bit several times.  I was going to try out the pole saw, but the bugs and the heat made me decide not to.

 Instead I went inside and started to inventory the train stuff.  That's going to take some time.

Day 32

We stayed in bed until almost 10 today surfing.  When we did get up, we ate breakfast and surfed some more until noon. Then we went shopping.  We went to Barton Creek Square.  I wanted to get some slip on sandals.  No one had any good ones.  We got a lot of miles in walking around the mall, though.

We got home at 4:00.  I decided I had to mow the lawn.  I told myself that I'd only do about half the yard.  It was hot and very dusty.  The heavy growth was some pretty slow going.  The whole thing was so unpleasant that I was afraid I wouldn't finish it another day if I stopped.  So I kept going until I was finished.  It took 2 hours.  I was covered with dust when I was finished.  I could barely see through my glasses.

I immediately went inside and took a shower.  I left the clothes in the laundry room because they were too dirty to put in the hamper.

That leaves only two more pain in the ass yard jobs.  One is to weed eat the area by the trailer.  The other is to spray all the weeds.

Daylight losing time starts tonight.  I hate it.

Day 31

I hate the government.  We drove to San Marco today to license the trailer.  They wouldn't do it because we didn't have the weight of the trailer.  Dumb fucks.  The stupid broad at the window said we needed a weigh slip.  Give me a break.  I'm going to bring the advertising brochure, the door the weight label is on, and the user manual if it lists capacities (I doubt it does).

At least we got one thing accomplished.  Early voting was in the same building, so I did my part to rid us of the socialist, racist, piece of shit in the White House.

On the way back we stopped at Cabelas.  They had a very cool Kimber, but it was in 9mm instead of .40.  They didn't have a Sig and sent us to a little gun store on Manchaca.  They didn't have one either, but I bought an AR-15 book so that they would make a sale.

That pretty much burned the day.  I decided to unpack the n scale cars I bought over the summer.  I put some of them in the display cases, but there wasn't room for all of the cars I have.  I started to sort out what I'm going to sell on eBay.  I also repaired the little switcher engine that the kids wrecked years ago.  I wonder if it will run.

Day 30

The grass was wet again this morning, so I bagged mowing.  Instead I started tying up loose ends in the house.  I put up a picture that had been sitting since last spring.  I also hung up a metal heron that we bought this summer.  I put out a pink flamingo windmill we got this summer also.  Finally, I hung the train display cases on the wall and fixed up the trains in the one.  This took quite awhile because I had to fix damage on one of the engines.

Since there was no mowing, I decided to bite the bullet and take the trailer to get safety inspected.  This would have gone smoothly except Ellen forgot the insurance card.  For some reason State Farm couldn't seem to fax us the right thing.  After and hour or so of waiting at the inspection place we managed to get "proof" emailed to a phone so that we could get the sticker.

Parking the trailer when we got home was a pain, but it wasn't a major pain.  I must be getting better at doing it.  I even moved a couple of things out of the basement.  There's a lot left though.

There aren't any good estate sales tomorrow, so I think we'll go get the trailer plates.  Apparently we can vote early at the same place.

This makes one month on the road.  Time flies.