Day 84

This was the last day of 2015.  I woke up early (7:30), but just surfed in bed for about an hour.  I had every intention of working on the control panel, but somehow it didn't happen.  First, I couldn't shoot for crap  I had 4 \shots at squirrels and only got one.  That one sucked, too.  I thought I'd cleanly killed the squirrel, but I'd just paralyzed it.  I left it outside for half an hour at least before I went outside, saw it was still alive, and killed it.  I HATE that.  I was bummed the whole day.

I ran across a cool video on the web.  It was a house thief describing how he decided what houses to rob and how he did it.  It was 45 minutes long and both Ellen and I found it interesting.  We're going to change a couple of things because of it. 

Ellen had a doctor's appointment at 2, so that blew the whole afternoon.  After the appointment we had lunch at Dan's and then went to yuppie grocery store.  We also stopped at the dog cookie store for Lucy.  It was good we did, because we didn't run the dog.  She didn't seem to mind.  I think 6 straight days of running were enough for her.

After dinner we went out and set off the mortars I bought.  They were really cool.  There's fireworks going off all over.  I expect it to last for hours.

The evening is just TV and a little surfing.  I'm not sure we'll make it to midnight.

Day 83

We didn't get out of bed until 10 today (woke up at 8).  There just didn't seem to be any reason to.  When we did get up I felt guilty.  It was too cold to work, so I finally got around to filling out the passport application.  Renewing a passport cost $110.  That sucks.  The for was kind of a pain in the ass also.

I had two shots at squirrels at the bird feeder.  I missed both of them badly.  I shoot like crap.

Ellen did get hold of the doctor.  The insurance company has approved the MRI. Somehow she also got approved for another CAT scan, even though they now have the info from the first one.

I also did a lot of surfing.  I was tired of eating out, so I waited around until about 1 to make some lunch.  Frozen chicken sandwiches from Costco.  They're pretty good.  After that it was over to the post office to mail off the application.  It was pretty crowded, and we had to wait in line to mail the application.  Fortunately there wasn't anything else to do.

On the way back we stopped at HEB for milk, bananas, and a couple of other things.  The dog really wanted to go to the park, so we stopped there, too.  She ran a whole lot once again.  It was 4 before we got home.

I was still feeling guilty.  I sat down and worked out how to do a circuit board to complete wiring the rotary switches.  I also brought the control board into the house.  That way I don't have an excuse for not working on it.

Ellen called the cable company because the internet was really slow.  They checked everything out and proved that the problem was the wireless.  Ellen changed some setting on it to make it better.  I think the house alarm is causing the problem.

The evening was all TV.  There's a lot of fireworks going off outside.

Day 82

Ellen had an appointment this morning.  I wanted to see Chandra anyway, since his office didn't respond after we asked about the insurance turning down the MRI.  This doctor was the radiologist.  He's great.  He explained what was going to happen very clearly.  He also talked to us for as long as necessary.  The other two we've seen wanted to get out ASAP.

We got more action from him and his staff than we've gotten from the other two.  They got the CAT scan info from Amarillo while we were there.  They are also going to re-request the MRI and talk to Chandra's staff about it.  So we didn't go over there.

We went over to Harbor Freight afterwards to pick up a couple of items, a free DVM and a parts box to replaced the one I used yesterday.  I went to In-N-Out, but only got a t-shirt.  Ellen doesn't want to eat anything there.  So we went to the Chinese place instead.  The food didn't seem to be as good as in the past but the service was really quick.

We stopped at the yuppie store there and Tuesday Morning.  We got a throw blanket there.

After the post office the last stop was the park.  It was still in the mid-40's, so Lucy liked the weather.  She didn't do as many retrieves as yesterday, but she did more than usual.

When we got home I could have done some work.  The problem was that it was cold and everything I need to do is either in the garage or the well house.  So I surfed instead.

The evening was TV and surfing.

Day 81

It was in the low 40's and windy today, so I decided to find something train related to do in the house.  We had a plastic parts box sitting in the corner, so I put all of the components that I'd piled into a cardboard box into it.  It took some time, but it was worth the effort.  I now have a much better idea of what I have and it's a lot easier to find what I wanted.

After that I used the breadboard to mock up the circuit I'm using for the power supply selection switches.  It works exactly like I thought it would.  That's gratifying.

It was after noon when I got finished with all of that so we went to the post office.  One of the things there was a check for $2,600 from the lawsuit.  So we went to the bank and deposited it.  We stopped at a pizza place for lunch that we'd never been to before.  It was OK, but nothing to write home about.

Even though the weather sucked, we went to the park to run the dog.  She thought the weather was great.  She hasn't run that much in a very long time.  I thought she'd never stop.

We got home about 4 o'clock.  I thought that was too late to do anything else, so it was surfing and football for the rest of the night.

Day 80

There was a small thunderstorm last night, but it wasn't enough to wake us up.  When we woke up we let the dog up on the bed to make up for it.  It was about 43 degrees, so we were in no hurry to get up.

When I did get up there was a squirrel on the bird feeder.  It was blowing and raining so hard that I could open the back door without him noticing.  I took a shot, but he ran away.  I probably missed.

At least the paper came today.

The only useful things I did were look for a present for John and gluing the supports on the ATX connectors.  The F1 stuff I want to buy John won't be available until the end of next month.  I won't know if the connectors worked until tomorrow when the epoxy dries.

Three thunderstorms went through during the day.  One was strong enough to shut down the satellite TV and leave about 3/4 inch of hail on the ground.

The rest of the day was surfing and football.  The Packers suck this year, and the Seahawks lost.

Day 79

I actually got something accomplished today.  As usual we surfed in bed until about 9:30.  Then I took a bunch of wrapping paper and boxes to the garbage.  The paper wasn't there, which kind of pissed me off.  This time of year it probably had nothing but "looking back at 2015" articles in it anyway.

I spent the west of the morning pricing 300 blk uppers.  I can't build one for what some places are selling them for.  Unfortunately many of those paces were either sold out or didn't use the right gas system.  I'm going to wait on it.

Yesterday we thought that one of the things that Melissa bought hadn't made it here.  It did, but because it came directly from Best Buy with no card we didn't recognize it as a present.  The other thing is Nikon scope rings.  They are back ordered everywhere.  I'm not sure I'll ever see them.

We went to the post office.  We had a whole lot of mail, and a metal model I ordered for Ellen.  After that we tried Torchy's for lunch again.  The line was out the door again.  So we went to Jimmy John's instead.  It was good.  After a stop at the grocery store for more juicing material we went home.

That's when I really got something done.  I went out to the well house and worked on the ATX cables.  I cut in half and stripped the wires (all 48 of them).  Then I separated all of the layout's power cables into two groups, one for each connector.  There are still two power cables to run.  I would have done that except that I'd been working for over two hours and it was getting close to dinner time.

The evening was watching football.  Finally it was a good game with both teams needing to win to make the playoffs.  Unfortunately it was over after about 1/3 of the fourth quarter.

There's supposed to be a big thunderstorm tonight, so we washed the dog so she could sleep with us.  It's going to be cold (low 40's) tomorrow, so it may be time to start looking into "kitchen table" projects.

Day 78

So today was Christmas.  We spent the day mainly just sitting around.  There was absolutely nothing on the TV and no football at all, not even college.We didn't get around to opening the presents until about noon.  We really made out well.  I got the new lens I wanted and a Magpul buttstock.  John and Patty gave me a really cool old Leavenworth newspaper from 1881 and a military manual from 1820.  Imagine, a book that's 195 years old.  It's water damaged and the pages don't stick to the binding, but it's cool.  I'm going to try to read it.  The nieces got me a whole bunch of minions stuff.  Apparently they had a great time shopping for it.

Ellen got some pots and pans she really wanted and a bunch of expensive archery stuff.  She got a sweater from Pat that she's going to return because she doesn't like the color.  It's nice, though.

I called Hooch about 4:00 their time.  Ellen and I both talked to various people for quite awhile.  It was fun.

I mentioned that there wasn't crap on TV.  So we watched some more episodes of Blacklist.  We still have half a dozen to go for the first season and then a whole second season.  It's interesting.  Each episode is 37 minutes long.  That means they waste 23 minutes of your life when they broadcast it.  Even worse, they're showing you annoying commercials that you REALLY don't want to see.

Day 77

We don't have a lot to do right now, so we've gotten into the habit of waking up about 8 and then surfing until after 9.  That happened again today.  By the time I got dressed it was almost 10.  I decided not to have breakfast.  Instead I finished labeling the wires on the ATX cables.  Then I figured out what the shorting block was actually trying to accomplish.  It took awhile, but I finally did.  I wrote a complete description in my wiring notes so I wouldn't have to figure it out ever again.

About 12:30 we took the dog to the park.  She did an amazing number of retrieves.  She probably won't feel like doing anything tomorrow because Ellen gave her her medicine today.  After that it was off to the post office.  It was closed, there was no one there, but there was still only 3 or 4 spaces in the parking lot.  That proves to me that the temps are taking up all of the parking spaces.

We were going to Torchy's for lunch.  It was after 1:30, but the line was out the door.  So we went to Fireman's instead.  Of course we went to the pet store afterwards and got Lucy a treat and some frosted cookies.  The last stop was Lowe's where I bought some brackets for mounting the ATX cables.

When we got home Ellen went out to do some archery.  I was planning on working on the cables, but ended up surfing instead.  The evening was surfing and watching TV.  There was a football game on, but it sucked.

Day 76

We surfed in bed for a little while today.  When we got up I decided to complete a few things that have been hanging around.  I cleaned up the kitchen table, it was covered with paper.  The result was a whole pile of garbage.  Then I went outside and finished painting the flamingo.  Finally I put the latch on the door of the far storage building.  I'm not sure it was really needed.  I suspect someone opened it and didn't close it.

After that we went to the post office.  There were a whole lot of packages, no mail.  Then we stopped for lunch and then off to HEB.  Ellen bought a whole bunch of stuff for her new juicer.  Then we went to the park.  Lucy ran while we talked to a guy who brought a long hair Pudelpointer.

When we got home I did a little more work on how to wire the control board.  I got the ATX cables today (they mailed each one separately).  I started labeling two of them so I can keep the leads straight when I connect them.

We're watching Blacklist again tonight.

Day 75

We didn't have much to do today, so we stayed in bed and surfed.  That's one of the great things about being retired.

When we did get up we just did some more surfing.  I did sand down the flamingo we bought Sunday and repainted it.  It looks really nice.

After noon we took Lucy to the park.  She did a good number of retrieves considering it was sunny and in the mid 70's.  She was a hot doggy when she finished.  Then we went to the post office.  It was jammed, but I managed to get a space in the parking lot.  That's the first time I've done that in over a week.  We were expecting some packages, but there wasn't any mail at all.

We had a coupon for Red's Back Porch, but we ended up going to the new restaurant across the street form Harbor Freight.  I'd been meaning to go there since they built it last year.  They allowed dogs on the patio, so Lucy ate with us.  They brought her water, and gave her a couple of dog cookies.

There's a yuppie grocery store in the same strip mall.  We went over there to get some Chinese mustard.  We ended up getting a pineapple and some Belgian chocolate also.

We stopped at Staples on the way home so I could get a refill for the labeler I use for the train.  Of course we had to go to the pet store next door.  Lucy scored a z-bone, plus a couple of frosted cookies for later.

When we got home I was going to start wiring part of the control panel.  That's when I realized I couldn't remember much about the plan.  Unfortunately some of my notes didn't seem as clear as when I wrote them last spring.  So I spent some time figuring it out and making a diagram in MS Paint.  I still have some more work to do there.

The evening was binge watching the Blacklist.  We actually might do more of that tomorrow.

Day 74

Today was see the doctor day.  The first one was the surgeon.  He was just off loop one at the Parmer exit.  He explained a lot about what was likely to happen.  He did a short exam and concluded that the cancer is on the border line between stage 1 and stage  2.  Not really good news, but it could be worse.  The real info won't be in until she has a CAT scan and a MRI.  Apparently they don't want to deal with the CAT scan done 2 months ago.  And that's why medical is so expensive.

After that we went to the next block over so Ellen could get a blood test.  It worked out really well.  We had the time, they were in network, and it took less than half an hour even though we were walk ins.  Then it was off to Fry's.  I wanted to pick up some more circuit board standoffs.  We didn't stay long because it was sunny and we had Lucy.

The next stop was the restaurant in the Fry's parking lot.  They allowed dogs on the deck.  They also have a doggy menu.  Both Lucy and I had sliders.  They were good.  This place is now high on our list of places to eat.  After lunch it was time to head south.  The second doctor was across from the hospital.  We had some extra time, so we stopped at the post office first.  There were letters, bills, magazines, and two packages.  They have two people working the package line now, so I didn't have to wait long.

The second doctor kind of sucked.  Our appointment was at three.  They didn't call us in until about 3:15.  A PA took some info and blood pressure.  Then we waited in the little room for an hour with no one coming in at all.  The doctor came in about 4:30.  He gave us a lot more info about what was going to happen.  The good news is the chemo won't trash Ellen's hair.   The bad news is that treatment will take 9 to 10 months.  That mean's we'll be here all summer.  The radiation is coming in every day for 5 weeks.

With the doctor's delay we had to fight early rush hour traffic to get home.  It was really slow from William Cannon to Davis, and then it was relatively OK, even by Slaughter.

The evening was surfing and football.  The football game was lousy.  Both teams were out of the running, and the game sucked.  I turned it off in the third quarter.

Day 73

There was a gun show in Fredericksburg today, so we drove over to see it.  It was a pretty good size show.  The exhibitors had a real interesting supply of older guns.  Some of them were really interesting.  There were several vendors with large collections of old ammunition. Unfortunately the prices on everything were really high.  One guy had .22 jet for $100 a box.  Another guy had a .22 jet pistol for $1,850.

The final show activity was to run the dog.  She did an incredible number of really long retrieves. She also crapped twice.  We attributed the energy to the half cup of coffee that she ate when I left it in the car when we went to the show.

After the show we went to the trade days.  I hadn't planned it that way, but they were going on.  We walked around the whole place with the dog.  She pulled hard for the entire time.  I thought she would be tired, but she wasn't.  We ate lunch at a roach coach.  It was really good.  The only things we bought were some soap for Ellen and this cool wire frame flamingo for the yard.

On the way home we gassed up in Johnson City.  Its was $1.63/gal.  That's the cheapest gas I've bought in many years.

When we got to Dripping Springs we stopped at Tractor Supply for bird seed and HEB for groceries.  It was so nice not to have to bring in sacks for the groceries.

The evening was surfing and football.

Day 72

We didn't go anywhere today.  In the morning Ellen was busy cooking stuff for the party.  I went out to the garage and put together a lower.  I think I spent over three hours on it.  That wasn't because I needed to.  It was because I did everything at the slow pace of the instructional DVD.  Everything went together well, and I'm happy with the result.

I got done with the lower just as it was time to go to the party.  We left the dog at home.  We had fun at the party.  The food was good and we both had a good time talking to different people.  Ellen talked to Dola some about alternative health stuff and gave her a couple of books to read.

We left the party a little after 6.  We surfed and watched TV for the evening.  Actually the TV was on for noise value more than anything else. 

Day 71

Today ranks as the worst day of our lives.  We went to the doctor in the morning and he told us that Ellen as cancer.  He's set us up two doctor's appointments on Monday.  He was singularly uninformative about how bad it might be.  I suspect it isn't good since she's being seen by doctors immediately.  I'm really having a hard time dealing with Ellen's diagnosis.  They say that we won't know how bad it is until after surgery.  She has to do chemo and radiation before that.

Afterwards we kind of killed time because it was so early.  We went to Walmart for drugs and then ran the dog.  Lucy did an amazing amount of retrieves.  It may have been because it was only 40 degrees.  After that we bought Lucy some treats at Tomlinson's and then went to breakfast at the Icehouse.  After breakfast it was late enough that Lucy got some good treats.  Bacon and eggs and ham and eggs.

After that we went home.  Ellen was looking over the papers they gave her and found out that they had given us someone else's papers.  So it was back to the doctor's to get it sorted out.

On the way back Ellen wanted to stop at Lowe's.  It was 12:45.  Traffic was backed up onto the freeway at both Brodie and William Cannon.  So we drove to Davis and made a u-turn.  I have no idea why.  On the way home from Lowe's we stopped at the yougurt place because I had a craving.  It was pretty good.

When we got home I went out to work on the train.  I finished all of the power wiring for the base layout.  All I have left to do is connect the ATX connectors if I ever get around to ordering them.  That's quite a milestone.

Ellen is cooking stuff for the party tomorrow.  I'm going to read the paper and then watch Gold Derp and zombies. 

Day 70

The doctor called us early this morning.  The test results weren't back.  We're supposed to come in tomorrow at 8.

When I got up there was a squirrel raiding the bird feeder again.  When I went out to get him he was hanging off the far side of the feeder.  That gave me time to set up.  When he got back on top of the feeder I nailed him.  Keeping the barrel off the fence did the trick.  Afterwards I let the dog out.  She totally ignored the squirrel even though at one point she was within 2 feet of it.

A little later three deer showed up.  I let Lucy out.  She didn't really even chase them.  She just ran out to the feeders as they ran away.  About 15 minutes later it happened again.  I guess the deer were hungry.

I saw an estate sale ad with an interesting item in it, so we went t see it.  It was on 2222, so we planned to go home on 360 to see the tree decorations.  Unfortunately the things I wanted were sold when we got there.  The trip back on 360 was cool though.  There were a whole lot of decorated trees.  Some of them were really elaborate.  One had been changed into a Santa.

We ate lunch at the Northwest bar so Lucy could eat with us.  It was OK.  The beer was cheap because they declared it was happy hour.  After that we went to the park.  I didn't think Lucy would want to go after all her work yesterday, but she did.  She did an impressive number of retrieves, but pooped out before usual.

When we got home I worked on the train.  I got the last four sets of track switch wires connected.  I also sorted out how I'm going to connect the main line wires.  That's the next step.  The final step will be connecting all of the other power wires to ATX connectors.  Then the wiring for the layout will be done.  Of course i still have to do the control panel wiring.

The evening is going to be football.

Day 69

When I got up there as a squirrel raiding the bird feeder.  I went out to get him, but he saw me and ran away before I could get off a shot.  I'll get him yet.

We went to Capitol today.  It was cloudy and windy, but not enough to be uncomfortable.  It looked like the targets were mainly those left over from the tournament.  The people in Oregon would have bitched about a fair number of them.  We did the pro course also.  It wasn't as interesting because they had used it for super sporting.  There was one long teal target that I couldn't hit for the life of me.  I went back later and shot it some more.  I finally figured out that I was giving it too much lead to the left.

I shot the CG pretty well.  It's a little long, perhaps half an inch.  Since it had been so long since we shot, much less shot Texas targets, it was hard to determine whether some of the misses were the gun or me.  I'm going with me.  After the shooting I threw the bumper for the dog.  She had been on the leash for a lot of the time because she wouldn't behave.  We let her off when we did the pro course and she did better.  She did a lot of retrieves, probably because she hasn't run in two days.

It was 2:00 by the time we finished.  So we just drove back towards home.  We stopped at Verizon to turn off the old Tab tablet.  You can't do that on their website.  We didn't replace it because they weren't having sales on anything.  By then we were really hungry, so we stopped at a burger place in the shopping center.  It was OK.

There was a Petsmart in the shopping center.  Lucy went nuts when we drove by.  So after lunch we stopped there to buy her a treat.  People there and at the gun club were saying what a good looking dog she was.

We skipped the post office because it was late.  We didn't get home until after 4:00.  We surfed and watched TV for the rest of the day.

Day 68

We didn't get out of bed until about 11:30 today.  We woke up at 8 though.  I spent a lot of time updating the software on two of the tablets.  They each had about 30 apps that needed updating.  It took a long time.  When it was done I did a little surfing.

Ellen found out that the Tab 2 is now eligible for an upgrade.  We'll have to go into Verizon and see about it.  Maybe we'll just turn it off.  Apparently you can't do that from their website (surprise, surprise).

After a really late breakfast we went to Barton Creek Mall.  We left the dog at home again.  She's going to think we hate her.  We walked around the whole mall.  The only thing we bought was a new watchband for my watch.  That's what we had come there for.  The place wasn't very crowded, but then it was a Tuesday.  We ate a late lunch at the Cheesecake factory.  It was OK.  We left about 3:30.  By then the parking lot had a lot more cars in it.

Ellen got a call that the guns were in, so we went over there.  Dave hadn't sent any documentation with the CG, so they didn't know what to do with it.  I'm glad we went there as soon as they called.  Dave included the check with the lowers, so we took it over to Wells Fargo and deposited it.  Then we went over to HEB to buy the groceries that we forgot to buy yesterday.

We got home just about 5.  So after unpacking I took the dog to the mailbox.  She was really happy.

Tonight will probably be TV and surfing.

Day 67

We went to the doctor so Ellen could have her colonoscopy today.  It took a surprisingly short amount of time, about an hour and a half.  The bad news is that they found a mass in her rectum.  They are doing a biopsy and we are supposed to see the doctor about the results on Thursday.  At first I was a little concerned about the speed of the appointment.  Then I decided that maybe that's how it's always handled.  Of course it's no use asking the doctor to speculate.

After that Ellen wanted to eat since she hadn't eaten in almost two days.  We stopped at this place on Manchaca that we hadn't been to before because the parking lot was crowded.  It turned out to be a pace that served coffee and beer.  That's all, just coffee and beer.  Only in Austin (or maybe Portland).  There was a Dan's hamburgers next door, so we went there.

We really needed groceries, so we stopped at the yuppie grocery store.  It was just a few blocks away.  We also stopped at the dog cookie store and got Lucy a couple of gourmet dog cookies (the dog wasn't with us).  Then it was the post office and home.

The dog was sure glad to see us when we got home.  She got one of the cookies and she really liked it.  It was frosted and she ate it on the carpet.  After it was done she licked the carpet to make sure she'd gotten every bit of frosting.

That was pretty much it for the day.  A little surfing and TV in the evening along with football.

Day 66

It rained lightly all of today, which kind of put a damper on things.  We had planned on going to a tournament at Capitol.  I'm glad we didn't.  Mid-morning it was raining hard enough that it would have been a pain in the ass.  Plus it cost $70 - too much if you ask me.

We hung around the house surfing until about noon.  Then we went to the post office.  There were supposed to be two packages there.  One was small and was in the box.  The other was larger and there was no slip for it.  The larger one was supposed to be delivered several days ago.  So we stood in line with a whole lot of other people.  We finally got to the front and another guy, not the useless lady that was working there also, found our package.  I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have been able to.

Lucy had really wanted to go somewhere when we left the house.  She was woofing with joy when we put the cats away.  The rain had mainly stopped, so we went to Circle C.  It was dry enough that she could run.  She did a whole bunch of long retrieves. You could tell she was having a great time.  We lucked out and the rain didn't start up while we were finished.

When we got home I started searching Amazon in earnest for connectors for the train power leads.  Nothing looked good until I stumbled onto ATX power connectors.  They're perfect.  They are 24 pin and already have wires crimped in.  Plus, they're cheap.  Two should do the trick.  I didn't order them because I wanted to order something else at the same time.  The problem is I can't find anything that I want.  I'm waiting until tomorrow to order.

The evening was just watching TV.  We both seem to be in a slothful mode.

Day 65

We kind of stayed in bed a little late today.  When I got up there was a squirrel at the feeder.  I went outside and had a perfect shot at him.  Only I missed.  There has to be something wrong with the rifle's sights.

After breakfast the first thing I did was call the insurance company.  The guy said he'll call Camping World and try to get the ball rolling.  I hope he does.  A little after that I saw two squirrels out at the feeder.  They ran off before I could get the gun.

After that it was more surfing.  I looked on the web and found one nearby estate sale that looked interesting.  I was basically killing time until it was reasonable to go to the post office.

We went to the estate sale first.  There wasn't anything there we wanted.  That may be because the sale started yesterday.  The house itself was a mess.  It would need all of the flooring redone and a complete coat of paint to make it even halfway livable.  They had already ripped up the carpet in one room.  The place stunk, literally.

After that we went to the post office.  The parking lot was filled again, but there wasn't a lot of people in the place.  I'm not sure what was going on.  There was one package waiting, but there should have been three.  After that I didn't want to go home, so we went to Costco.  The excuse was to buy some water.  We had Costco dogs for lunch there.  That's the last time I'll do that.  I guess Costco dogs are like pepperoni, permanently off my list of foods.

I didn't stop at the park because Lucy did so much yesterday.  She didn't seem to mind.

When we got home I put a target up on the fence to check the rifle zero.  It was fine.  It shot a little high, but every shot would have hit a squirrel sized target easily.  Then I had an idea.  I had been steadying the plastic end of the rifle on the fence when I took my shots.  When I tried shooting with the plastic end on the rest the shots wouldn't even hit the paper.  Problem solved.  Next time I won't do that.

That was pretty much all I accomplished today.  It was warm, almost 80.  So I didn't want to work on the train.  I just surfed instead.  I watched Gold Derp and the zombies in the evening.

Day 64

We got up early again this morning and went to the Chevy place to get the tire replaced.  It took them two hours to do it.  Lucy was really good.  She just laid on the floor and slept.  She even let a couple of rugrats pet her.

I called the insurance company and left a message.  They didn't call back.

After that we went to the IHOP on loop 1 for a late breakfast.  It was OK, standard IHOP.

The place is close to Zilker, so we went there.  We haven't been there since last spring, but Lucy started to get excited while we were still blocks away.  Lucy had a great time. She did retrieves, socialized, and looked for squirrels.  She's a tired doggy tonight.

After the post office we stopped at the bank to get checks for Dave.  Ellen went into full bitch mode, so I just walked out without any checks. I tried to write a check when we got home, but she wouldn't let me.  Instead she did some sort of EFT that fucked up my balance.  I hope Dave at least gets his money.

I went out and worked a little while on the train.  I connected three wires for one of the upper levels.  I started to do the last four, but decided I'd done enough.

The evening was football.

Day 63

Yesterday I had plans to get something accomplished today.  That didn't happen.

We got up at a normal time, but after breakfast I just surfed the morning away.  I kept thinking about working on the train, but didn't.  I did get a shot at a squirrel.  I think I hit him, but he ran away.

About 12:30 we went to the Italian place for lunch.  Of course we stopped at Tomlinson's for treats for the dog first.  After that we went to the post office.  It was a pain in the ass.  We had two packages.  The package line only had 5 people in it, but it took 45 minutes to get the packages.  The regular line went through dozens of people in that time.

After that we went to the barber so I could get a hair cut.  Then we went to Best Buy.  We just looked around and didn't buy anything.

When we got home one of the packages had the Minions lights in it.  So I replaced the palm tree lights with them.  Hopefully they'll last longer.

The evening is all TV.  There was one reality show about drugs in Austin.  It was neat to see the shots of the town.

Day 62

We got up early and drove to the Chevy dealership to get the pressure sensor fixed on the truck.  After two hours they come back and declare the tire bad.  They wanted to sell me two more "because they had to match".  I told them one of the tires only had 3,000 miles on it.  Match it with the new one.  They're supposed to have the new tire tomorrow.

The dealership is huge.  We walked the lot.  There was only one diesel truck on the lot.  It was white with a black interior.

We stopped at Jack in the Box for a late breakfast and then the post office.  The package still wasn't there.  Tomorrow I'll ask about it.

I called Camping World and the guy called back.  He said he called the insurance and left a message.  Apparently he's waiting for some stuff from them.  I asked him to call if they didn't respond and he didn't call back, so maybe they returned his call.

The last stop was the park.  Rather than throw the bumper we walked over to the garbage cans.  That way Lucy got some unstructured time.  She liked it, but by the time we got to the cans she wanted the bumper.  We turned aroiund and she retrieved about half the way back.  Then she wanted to explore again.  It was sunny in the mid 70's, so she may have just gotten hot.

When we got home Ellen went out to do archery.  I went to work on the train.  I built up the connection boards for the upper level switches.  I also installed some connection blocks for the power wires on the upper level.  After that I felt like quitting, so I did.  Lucy spent most of the time out there with me.  She lays in the bed in the well house.

There's no football tonight, so Ellen will probably watch chick shows.  I got a new gun magazine today, so I'll read it.

Day 61

It's finished!  I sprayed for weeds today.  That officially ends all of the stuff I have to do each time we get back here.  It feels really good not to have that as an "incomplete". 

The bad news is that the guy from Camping World called to say they are still waiting on the insurance company.  I called the insurance company, they say they're waiting on Camping World.  Hopefully they will get together tomorrow.

We went over to the post office because I thought there was a package there for me.  There wasn't.  Maybe tomorrow.  We also stopped at Home Depot to pick up some hardware I've been meaning to get for weeks.  Lucy was disappointed - no magic aprons.

We stopped at Fireman's because I was dying of thirst.  Then we went to the pet store next door because Lucy was disappointed at Home Depot.  The last stop was the park so Lucy could run.  She had a great time as usual.

When we got home I was still tired and feeling yucky from the spray.  So I read and surfed until it was time for football.

Day 60

Two months away from Salem.  It was a nice day, sunny and almost 70.  So after breakfast I went out to work on the train.  I hooked up all of the rest of the bottom switches.  It took about an hour and a half.  For some reason my heart wasn't in it, so I quit after that.

Lucy was really cute.  She came out and laid down on the doggy bed I have in the well house.  She really wanted to do something.

After lunch I watched the Seahawks for awhile and then we took Lucy to the park.  She was very happy.  After that we made a short stop at HEB we stopped at Tomlinson's.  They gave Lucy a lot of treats, so she didn't get any of the hamburgers we bought her.

When we got home I sat down and read the Sunday paper.  I'll watch football while Ellen goes to archery tonight.

Day 59

This was a stay at home day.  We spent some of the morning surfing and building toys.  Ellen did a model airplane and I did a miniature ball maze thing.  It's really entertaining to watch.

After that I went out to work on the train.  It didn't start out well.  I had to replace some of the mounting screws because the standoffs were to big.  Once that was done the connection board mounted really nice. 

Then I started connecting the track switch wires.  There are 20 switches, 40 wires.  Only three switches are close enough to the connection board to reach it without needing a wire extension.  I did a total of 8 switches.  It took until 4:30.  I've got a system down now though, so the rest should go faster.  There are 5 more switches on the bottom board.  The rest are on the two plateaus.  I'll have to run wires from the connection board to the area below the plateaus.  I'll wire in connectors there so that the switch wires can be disconnected if I want to remove the plateaus.

It feels kind of good to get some of the wiring done.  I might finish the power wiring when I'm finished with the track switches.

That was about it for the day.  It's either TV or surfing tonight.

Day 58

Nothing really useful was accomplished today.  We did go all the way up to Loop 1 and Parmer for an estate sale.  It was a good one.  We picked up some wood for Lawrence.  I also got a some balsa for train scenery.  It was worth the trip.

After that we stopped at Fry's.  We got some phone screens and Bluetooth mice.  It was about $80 for stuff we really didn't need.

On the way back we stopped at the Chinese for lunch.  It was crowded, but the food came quickly and it was great.  Then we stopped at the yuppie grocery.  It's the only place that still has pears.  We also got a couple of presents at the store next door.  It always has interesting stuff.  After the post office the last stop was the park so Lucy could run.  She did a fair number of retrieves, but not as many as the last few days.  She probably needs a day off.

This whoe adventure took all of the day.  We traveled over 70 miles total.  Tonight will be TV and surfing.

Day 57

There's just days I don't feel like writing stuff, so it gets put off.  Today was one of those days.

I did get one thing accomplished.  I put up the outside lights and then put the decoration box back in the apartment.  It didn't take long, and the light looked great tonight.

The thing is, after that I didn't really feel the necessity to do anything else.  So, when all else fails, surf for awhile and then go to the post office.

For some reason we didn't eat lunch.  So after stops at the post office and the park we went to Fireman's for lunch.  It was 3:00.  The day was nice though, so setting outside with the dog was comfortable.  After lunch we took the dog to the pet store next door for a treat.  Of course she loved it.

When we got home it was more surfing and then football.  The Packers seemed determined to lose the game to a lousy team (Detroit).  Then, on the last play of the game, Rodgers threw a 70 yard hail Mary pass that was caught in the endzone for the win.  Amazing.

Day 56

We got up, had breakfast, surfed, and then went to the car dealership.  They were really busy, so we were there for an hour and a half.  The place was empty when we left.  They said there wasn't anything to test about the gas mileage, so they did a little checking of obvious things.  They were really trying to make sure I was satisfied.  I am.

After that we went to the gun store on Manchaca.  They really didn't have anything too special except for an Enfield pistol dated 1938.  That means that it was certainly used in WWII.  The gun is worn, but appears to be mechanically sound.  I bought it.

On the way back we stopped a Steak n Shake because I had a hamburger craving.  It was good.  Lucy got a trip to the pet store and ac couple of treats.  We stopped by the post office and picked up a package.  Then we stopped at the bank to replenish my cash stash.  The teller made an appoint for us to talk to the banker about reducing our rates.

The last stop was the park.  Lucy did a wonderful job retrieving.  She did plenty even though she ran yesterday.  The weather was great - 70 degrees and sunny.

When we got home Ellen did archery.  I unpacked the package.  It had some UTG stuff in it.  All of it looked well designed and finished.  I actually installed a sling attachment.  The rest will wait until the next build.  I also cleaned the Enfield.  The barrel was a little dirty and the cylinder was a lot dirty.

I put out the garbage and got the mail while Ellen packed up.  She's going to archery after dinner and I'm going to watch TV.  Maybe I'll get to the lights tomorrow.

Day 55

This being sick thing is getting old.  I'm at about 80% and don't seem to be getting any better.  I get tired easily during the day, and the body temperature control is all out of whack during the night.

After breakfast the first order of business was to call up and make an appointment to get the car's oil change.  I'll ask them about the gas mileage also.  Then it's Dec 1 and time to put up the tree.  I hauled everything over from the apartment and set up the tree.  It took awhile to figure out the weird cable connections, I'd forgotten them and the instructions have vanished.

By the time I was finished with that, I was pooped.  I just don't have much stamina.  So I collapsed in the chair while Ellen hung the ornaments.  I was going to do the outdoor lights, but I was too tired.

After lunch at home we went to get the mail and run the dog.  We waited until 2 to leave so there wouldn't be a repeat of yesterday's post office parking problem.  The day was cloudy and cool, perfect for the dog.  She was really happy to run after so many days on the couch.  She had a great time.

I was still tired when we got home.  I was looking forward to some inclined surfing when the living room ligt bulb blew when I turned it on.  Crap.  Out to the garage for the ladder, replace the bulb, put the ladder back.

After dinnrer it was TV.  We watched two episodes of Blacklist.  I am purposely limiting it to two a night in order to keep from getting burnt out.

Day 54

I'm improving, but not back to 100%.  I managed to sleep pretty well last night, but my body's temp control is still out of whack both night and day.  At least the swings aren't as bad as they have been. 

We did have to get more water, so off to Costco and the post office.  Both places were packed.  The lot was full at the post office.  We did score one of the Costco dog beds that we've been looking for for the club.

We didn't stay out long, but I was kind of tired when we got home.  That meant no putting up the Christmas tree, I don't want to push it.

The rest of the day was surfing, reading, TV, and football.

Day 53

I had a rough night.  The fever gave me fits.  I was alternating between soaking in sweat and freezing to death.  Somewhere around 2 or 3 I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep.  I laid awake for hours.

I finally just gave up and surfed in bed.  Eventually I got up.  Breakfast was a banana, I'm still not really hungry.

The whole day was spent surfing and watching football.  I've been feeling better all day though, so maybe tonight and tomorrow will be better.

Day 52

For once I'm going to post on the correct day.  Last night kind of sucked, but I am beginning to feel a little better.  I was beginning to think I'd never be well again.  I'm at that point where I'm in real danger of overdoing it.

I did sleep in and didn't eat breakfast.  About 11 we drove to the post office and the grocery store.  I stayed in the car both times.  The fever struck again and I didn't feel good.

When we got home the bluetooth on my computer wouldn't work anymore.  Great.  I tried all sorts of things including several reboots,  uninstalling and reinstalling the driver.  Nothing worked.  The internet was no help except to confirm that this wasn't a unique problem.  I was about to give up when I decided to once again try disabling and reenabling the hardware.  The first time I had done this it was a simple two step operation that accomplished nothing.  This time reenabling caused a whole new window to appear asking if I really wanted to do it.  I said yes.  After that bluetooth worked.  I give up.

I'm still not well enough to try doing anything.  I am going to have some turkey and potatoes for dinner.

Day 51

The nights are bad.  The fever has me freezing to death at times and sweating like a pig at other times.  I wake up many times during the night.  While I breathe alright during the day, at night my nose is plugged up so I breathe through my mouth.  Then I wake up with dry mouth.  I don't get much rest.

I stayed in bed until noon, got up and moved to the chair.  I tried to eat, but only managed to eat a third of a bowl of cereal and a banana.  It was weird.  The local channels were showing both the WSU/Washington game and the Oregon/OSU games.  Who whould have thought.

The Solo came.  They replaced some parts and said I had it put together wrong.  I'm going to take some pictures of it before I cleean it again.  The pictures in the manual don't show how it should go together.

In the evening there was a big noise on the porch.  I turned on the light and there was a possum in the recycle.  By the time I got ammo out of the safe he was gone.  I hope he comes back.

Day 50

Today sucked.  I'm really sick.  The fever alternates between cooking me and freezing me.  I don't want to eat anything, and when I do it tastes like shit.  I felt sorry for Ellen.  She worked hard on dinner and then all I could eat was a little turkey and some mashed potatoes.  I spent the whole day in the chair.  I didn't get up very often, because it took a lot of effort just to stand up.

To top it off, all of the football games sucked.

Day 49

There isn't much to report today.  I spent the whole day in bed or in the recliner.  I'm really sick.  I didn't eat anything after breakfast.  The worst parts are the fever chills and the pain in my legs.  The only way to keep my legs from hurting is to continually move them.  So I'm doing a lot of twitching.

Day 48

We stayed in bed late, until after 10. When we did get up, I actually started out to do something.  I went to the well house and cleaned off the layout.  Then I  tied it up so I could work underneath it.  Unfortunately I couldn't mount the connection board without standoffs.  So it was off to the post office and radio shack.

Radio shack had what I needed (surprise, surprise).  We had a late (3:00) lunch at Cheddars.  It was surprising how many people were doing the same thing.

I had a drink at Cheddars.  That may have been a mistake.  By the time I got home I was feeling a little sick.  The later in the day, the sicker I felt.

One good thing.  I got an email saying that the Solo is to arrive back on Friday.

Day 47

We got up late today - blame the web. After breakfast I dragged Ellen off to Red's to try out the new pistols.  She had fun while we were there, though.  The XDM is great - it's going to be one of my favorite guns.  The 290 took some getting used to.  It has a really long trigger pull, just like a double action revolver.  We both did pretty good with it once we adapted.

After a stop at the post office we went to lunch at the Italian place.  I told you we got a late start.  We walked over to Tomlinsons first, so Lucy could get some hamburgers.  She also scored several treats.

It was a nice day, sunny and about 70.  So after lunch we took Lucy over to the park.  She had a great time doing retrieves.  She did quite a few.

After that we went home.  I didn't feel like doing anything, so I didn't.  I just surfed the rest of the day away and watched football in the evening.

The last thing I did was put the sprayer battery on the charger.  I'm hoping to spray tomorrow if it isn't going to rain.

Day 46

I decided that I couldn't have two lazy days in a row.  So after a late breakfast (we slept in) I went out to the garage to clean the XDM and 290.  I also put away the stuff from Cabela's and took out all of the garbage.

That took a little longer than it might of because the 290 turned out to be a bear to disassemble and assemble again.  In comparison the XDM is a dream.

After that I went into lunch.  I had every intention in going back outside to work on the train.  Unfortunately I got sucked into surfing the afternoon away.  Then I turned on football and that was it.

Ellen went to archery.  My evening will be all football.

Day 45

I didn't post this yesterday because I didn't want to do it all on the touchpad keyboard.  Using it to type a lot of text is a pain in the ass.

First, the trip to Cabela's.  It was very successful.  I found a pistol I really liked - a Sig 290.  And I got 10% off.  I also bought some odds and ends and reloading components for 6.8 SPC.  I still need to get the dies.  They had a band and were serving dinner.  We ate even though it was late, after 9.  We were back home by about 11.

When I woke up this morning I decided it was going to be a do nothing day.  So the morning was surfing - in bed and at breakfast.  I felt guilty about the lousy day Lucy had yesterday.  We left twice and she was locked in the house both times.  So we took her to the park for retrieves.  She did an amazing number.

Then we did some much needed grocery shopping.  By the time we finished it had been an hour, so we took Lucy to Tomlinson's so she could get some hamburgers.  Then it was home, I didn't feel like eating out and it was too windy to sit outside anyway.

In keeping with the do nothing day the rest of the day was surfing, reading, and TV.  The only useful thing I did was install the new blu-ray player in the living room and move the old one to the bedroom.

Day 44

We got up this morning, had breakfast, and went to Costco so that Ellen could by a new laptop.  There were about 50 people waiting for it to open.  They all seemed to be interested in TV's, not computers.  Ellen took her pre-filled out slip to the cash register and we were the first purchase of the day.  After that we shopped around and bought a few other things that were on sale including a new blu-ray player and a weather station.  We really didn't need them, but they were bargains.

After that we made short stops at the bank and post office and then went home.  I wanted to look at Cabela's website for things to buy tonight.  That took quite awhile - its a big site. 

About half way through that process I got bored.  So I decided to put up the new weather station and take down the old one.  I turned out to be one of those things that seemed to fight me at every turn.  I think I wore out a path between the house and garage getting tools and stuff to make everything work.  The end result looks nice, but the indoor temperature readout seems a little high.

Ellen spent a lot of time in the afternoon messing with her new laptop.  I told her it would be days before it's set up and she agrees.

I finished with Cabela's just before dinner.  I'm surfing until it's time to go to Cabela's.  I report on that tomorrow because we probably won't be home until near midnight.

Day 43

After breakfast I worked on the track switch board for the train.  I finished the soldering and then mounted the components toa base board.  I would have done more, but it was getting hot in the well house so I quit.  I probably won't get anything done tomorrow, but it's going to be a lot cooler on Saturday.

I went back into the house and tried to come up with a Christmas list.  The trouble is, with the Social Security money I pretty much buy whatever I want.  I even bought $75 worth of stuff this evening.

I decided to go to the Post Office and a late lunch.  Before lunch we stopped at a pet store to get Lucy some lunch time treats.  We were going to eat at Doc's back yard, but they don't like dogs anymore.  So we went to the Thai place instead (they do).  After lunch we took Lucy to another pet store just because it was near restaurant.

On the way home Central Texas called to say my XDM was in.  So we turned around and picked it up.  We also had them send an FFL copy to Dave.  When I got home I had to email Dave several times to work out details on the girl's Christmas present.

The evening has been more Christmas list and football.  Ellen's phoning into a board meeting.

Day 42

I finally got ahold of the Camping World guy today.  I gave him the insurance info.  I hope that will get him started.

After a little surfing I went out to work on the train.  I did a little bit, and then discovered I didn't have the right size screws.  So off to Lowe's.  On the way there we stopped at the park so Lucy could do some retrieves.  She did a whole lot of retrieves, a real energizer doggy.

After that we went home.  I went to work on the train and Ellen did archery.  I got the track switch boards mounted and 8 of the 25 wires soldered.  Then I got tired of soldering, so I quit.  There's always tomorrow.

The evening was surfing and TV.

Day 41

I called Camping World again, the guy "won't be in until tomorrow".  Crap, time is getting short.

We were just finishing breakfast when the water guy called.  He was at the gate.  They told me "2 to 6".  That was all right with me.  He fixed the softener (a wire had fallen off) and serviced it and the reverse osmosis.  

When he was finished we went to Wally World to pick up some Zantac.  Last night I felt a few twinges of acid in the back of my throat.  We got the (junk) mail and then went to Jack Allen for lunch.  It was just as good as it always is.

After we got home I decided to start working on the train.  I spent most of my time reconstructing what I had done.  Basically I couldn't remember where anything was, or what some of the things I had built were for.  Once I sort of refreshed my memory I planned out how to connect up the wires for the track switches.  I started doing a little wire prep.  By then it was five, so I quit for the day.

The evening was watching movies on Netflix.

Day 40

It rained all day today.  It didn't rain hard, more like Oregon - just enough to make you not want to do anything outside.  It was warm, too - mid 70's.

The first thing I did was call Camping World.  The guy I needed to talk to wasn't in today.  I left a message and will call again tomorrow if he doesn't call by noon.

I spent some time on the web looking at cameras.  They're expensive.  So I decided to go get the mail and take another look at the one Costco has.  Unfortunately that one has the wrong lenses.  Crap.  Ellen found out that they will have 25 of the computers she wants on Friday.  So it should be no problem to get one for her.


We went to lunch at a new pizza place by P. Terry's.  It was really good and cheap - $10 for four large pieces of pizza and two cans of pop.  We'll be back I'm sure. 

When we got home I did a lot more camera shopping on the web.  I finally proved that Nikon prices from authorized dealers are fair traded.  Some vendors add some freebees instead of a discount.  I can't really bring myself to spend as much as they want.

After that I just surfed until it was time for football.

Day 38

We went to a gun show in New Braunfels today.  It was pretty good.  I actually bought something, an 870 .410.  Ellen found it.  I'll use it on starlings next summer.  I got an OK price on it.

After the show we went to the farmer's market.  It had quite a few stalls, but nothing that interested us.

The next stop was lunch in the restaurant of a hotel near the courthouse.  They even had Guinness on tap, and for only $4.  It was really good.  We'll be back because there are some other things on the menu that I want to try.

While we were walking to the hotel I noticed a leather shop across the street.  So after lunch we went there.  It's a custom leather place with great stuff and good prices.  We bought a couple of western style purses for the nieces.

The next stop was the bakery on the square.  We got a couple of things for dinner.

We decided to walk the two blocks of downtown.  There was a railroad museum at one end.  It had some cool displays as well as a steam switcher, box car, dining car, and caboose.  You could walk through all of them, including the locomotive cab.  It was neat.

On the way home we stopped at Wells Fargo to replenish my cash.  Traffic on the way up sucked.  We suffered through at least 3 traffic jams.  The last was a half mile jam caused by some shithead waling on the side of the freeway.

The last stop was Target to get a timer for the new tree.  I also got an alligator LEGO.  Then it was home.  When I got the mail there was a bill for $450 for the blood test I got at the doctor.  The insurance won't pay for it because I got one in the spring.  Crap.

There's a gun show in Dripping Springs this weekend also.  I think I'll go tomorrow.

Day 37

In honor of finishing the yard yesterday, I took the day off (mostly).  After sleeping in a little, breakfast, and a little surfing we went to an estate sale.  I knew it wasn't going to be a good one, and it wasn't.  I went there because it was a short drive in Circle C.

Then we went to the park.  We walked over to the bridge.  We let the dog have unstructured time over there.  Of course when we got to the bridge she swam, a lot.  She also did retrieves all the way back to dry off.  After that it was too early for lunch, so we went to Costco. I wanted to have Ellen get a flu shot, but it's not clear she should until after the test.  So we settled for some water and playing with their laptops.  They are having a Thanksgiving sale and she might buy one.

After that we got the mail and made a short trip to Tomlinson's to get a dog treat.  Then we went to the Italian place.  We had lunch and Lucy had the treats.

When we got home we surfed and Lucy hit the couch.  After about an hour I felt guilty for doing nothing.  So I opened up the new weather station and set it up.  Then I cleaned up the kitchen table and took out a  whole lot of garbage.  I was going to set up the LED tree we got yesterday, but the timer I was going to use didn't work.  I'll have to get one.

The rest of the day was spent on surfing, Gold Derp, and zombies.

There's a gun show in New Braunfels tomorrow.  I think I'll go.

Day 36

First things first - the new light bulb worked.  In fact, it's a lot brighter than the old one.  I love it when a plan comes together.

The weather was a lot nicer than yesterday, cloudy in the low 70's.  So I finished the mowing.  There were no more problems with the belt because I was careful to slowly engage and disengage the blades.  After that I aired up the tires on the truck.  It was giving me an error for the right back (it was low).  I'll have to keep watch on it.

I decided that I'd get the rest of the yard work done.  I got out the pole saw and trimmed back all of the trees that were threatening the trailer.  Unfortunately the saw broke.  I tried to fix it, but it didn't work.  I'll need a new one.

When mowing the back 40 I noticed that the door to the storage shed was open.  Everything looked alright, so  just closed it.  After the tree trimming I used the tractor and the cart to haul the mower lift to the storage shed.  It was taking up too much room in the garage.  I couldn't open the door, it acted locked.  I went and got the key box, but couldn't get any keys into the lock because it was too corroded.  So I spray a bunch of Kroil in it.  The door knob turned then.  It had just been too corroded to turn.

The water guy was supposed to come between 10 and 2 today.  He didn't show.  They called at 2:30 to say they weren't coming.  They rescheduled for next Tuesday, 2 to 6.  We'll see.

After the garbage men came by I cut up the two big boxes we had and put them in the can.  It's now at least half full.

Lucy had been a good dog all day.  So we went to the post office and Walmart to pick up more drugs.  I also got a lighted tree and a lighted blue ball.  On the way home we started at the park.  It was cloudy and 74, so it was perfect for Lucy.  She had a good time doing retrieves.

When we got home I hung up the blue ball.  It looks great.  I haven't looked at the tree yet.  We're having the typical Castle marathon while I wait for football.

Day 35

The good news was that the new garage light works great.  The bad news was that the yard light burnt out last night.  So the first thing this morning was to get out the ladder and remove the bulb.  It's this really weird fluorescent one.  I could have just gone straight to Home Depot or Lowe's for a new one, but I decided to do some mowing instead.  The day was cloudy but humid.  A breeze was making it tolerable.

Things started out OK, until I shut off the blades to back up.  When I tried to reengage, the belt had slipped off.  This happened three or four time despite my trying to adjust a pulley to tighten the belt.  Each time it happened I had to drive back to the garage, jack the mower up, take off a guard, and then put the belt back on.  I tried to use the "backup button" so I wouldn't have to shut down the blades when backing, but it didn't work.  I finally figured out that if I engaged and disengaged the blades really slowly the belt stayed on.

It took me  over 2.5 hours to mow the front yards, the side yard and the back yard.  By the time I was finished it was more humid, the temperature was 86, and the wind had died.  I would have had to move vehicles to finish the rest, so I called it quits, took a shower, and had lunch.

After lunch we went out to get a light bulb.  We stopped at the Post Office (it's shut today) and then Home Depot.  Home Depot didn't have the right bulb.  That didn't bother us too much since the guy that lived her before was a Lowe's fan.  Sure enough Lowe's had the right bulb.  It only cost $10.  On the way home we stopped at HEB for a much needed grocery trip.  They had a special where we bought a ham and got a free turkey.  Sweet.

When we got home I put in the new bulb.  We'll have to see if it works tonight.

It's 5 o'clock now and the temperature is 84 with 60% humidity.  Outside is miserable.  I'm surfing and watching TV tonight.

Day 34

The day started off early because Een had an 8:15 doctor's appointment across from Freescale.  It was my first experience with local morning traffic.  I stayed off 290 and took Escarpment to William Cannon.  I had to wait some cycles of the light at 290, but that was expected.  All in all it wasn't bad.

While she was doctoring I looked up batteries for the gate.  Interstate carried them, so I looked up where they were.  They are just south of 290 and a mile or so east of I35.  So we went there.  They had exactly what we needed at a good price.  I'll remember the place next time I need a battery.

On the way home I stopped at Harbor Freight to get some crimp connectors.  The ones on the gate were so corroded that they broke when I tried to remove the battery.  We also stopped at Home Depot to buy a motion light for the garage.  I've wanted one for years, but I've always forgotten to buy one.

When we got back I replaced the connectors on the gate and plugged in the battery.  It worked fine (more on that later).  Then I installed the new light.  It went pretty smoothly.  There was one surprising thing.  I needed to caulk the new light, so I looked in the drawer where I keep that stuff.  There was an old partially used tube.  It was really old, it had a G. I. Joe's sticker on it.  That means it was at least 8 years old.  It worked!  Normally those tubes are one shot affairs.  It worked really well, too.  I wish I had more of the stuff.

I had to unhook the gate opener from the gate when we went out and came back because the battery was dead.  When I closed the gate when we got back, it latched (or so I thought).  When I put in the new battery the gate opened normally.  I thought "Cool, the latch works".  I had never seen it work because the gate never fully closed.  So I got out the manual.

After reading the manual I decided to reset the gate stop position so that it would always latch - and the circus begins.  I missed the part that said I had to reset the stop position.  So Ellen and I spent a lot of time trying to set the opener connection to the gate at the right place to open and close as desired.  It was no dice.  After going back to the manual, I reset the stop position.  Then we couldn't set a new one because the gate pad no longer stopped the gate.  More time was wasted until we realized this.  Finally I got the remote from the truck and used it to set the new stop position.  The thing works nice now.

Of course the gate opener was filled with fire ants.  They even had several queens.  I filled the opener with ant poison before I closed it up.  I even put some in the cable guide.  Hopefully that will do some good.

Since today seemed to be gate day, I decided to take a crack at programming the truck remote.  After reading the manual I decided that it wasn't too hard, so I did what the manual said to do.  We'll see if it works next time I drive the truck.

The doctor's office called with my blood test results.  My cholesterol is high, and the PSA indicates a prostate infection.  The doctor wants me to take antibiotics and see him in two months.  Cigna says they'll cover Cologuard with a prior authorization.  The nurse at the doctor's office says Cologuard doesn't do prior authorizations.  I'm confused.  I thought doctors did that.  I'll probably fight with them in two months.

It was after 4 when I got done with everything.  So I called it quits for the day.  Mowing will have to wait. 

Day 33

Today was a nice day - about 75 and sunny.  I started out wanting to mow the lawn, but first I had to mail the Solo.  We drove over to the Fedex place (25 miles away) and sent it off.  Then Ellen suggested we go to Hopdoddy.  It was a little early, so we ran the dog in a grassy area across from Fedex.  From her point of view it was a park.  Then we drove over to Hopdoddy.

We got there a little before 11:30.  It was great timing.  We ordered and before we got our food the hordes started arriving.  By the time we left a little after 12 the place was packed and there was a line out the door.  I had a beer while we were there, so when we left I was no longer interested in mowing lawns.

We stopped at the toy store in the same mall, but there wasn't anything we wanted.  Then we went to the camera shop.  I saw both the Nikon and the Canon.  They are really similar.  I probably choose based on whether or not my flash works with the new Nikon.

After that we stopped by McBride's.  We had a good talk with one of the guys there that runs the reloading room.  He was fun.  I saw a couple of used guns that I might have bought except Ellen was acting bitchy about it.

The gate had given us problems on the way out, but worked OK when we returned.  It wouldn't work at all when I went out to get the mail.  I spent some time in the dark debugging it.  It looks like it needs a new battery.  Of course it's a weird one, so I'll be searching for it tomorrow.

While I was on batteries I replaced the batteries in the two dead clocks in the shop.  Neither one worked.  Oh well.

Now it's time for football.

Day 32

It was a pretty productive day.  The sun was shining, but it wasn't too hot, about 70.

I started the day by trying to get our wireless printer to talk to my computer.  It wasn't going to happen.  The driver can see the printer, but the OS can't.  Let's hear it for Microsoft.  After wasting a lot of time on that I decided to just connect to the printer with USB.  Tha works.

I printed out a passport application.  I need to get a picture.  I also wrote a cover letter and boxed up the Solo.  We're going to have to drive most of the way to Capitol to ship it.  All this took until about 11:30.

Because it was such a nice day I decided to finish the edging.  I also straightened out all of the yard ornaments and cut the tree branches that were interfering with them.

The second battery charger declared the mower battery dead, so I decided to replace it.  But first it was time for a doggy day.  So far Texas has sucked as far as Lucy is concerned.  We took her to Circle C and let her swim.  She had a great time.  It left her damp for when we left her in the car (it was sunny).

It took three places (Costco, Wally World, and Batteries Plus) before I found an appropriate replacement battery.  I settled for one that was almost the same as the one I had.  It was a little taller, which worried me aboiut whether or not it would fit.

When  got the battery home I put it in the mower.  It fits and cranks the motor (I didn't try to start it).  I put it on the charger to top off it's charge.

That's it for today.  I plan on watching football while Ellen goes to archery.

Day 31

It's oficially a month since we left Salem.  We've hunted. traveled to Texas, weathered a blowout and got the trailer in to be fixed, done a bunch of doctoring stuff, dealt with the consequences of Ellen's lost keys, and got a start on taming the lawn.  And don't forget some power shopping both online and in stores.  It's been a full month.

It was raining hard in the morning today.  So I backed the truck into the garage and did a complete cleanup/lubricate of the trailer hitch.  I took the top off of it and looked it over carefully.  There doesn't seem to be any mechanical reason for it refusing to release.  It's obvious though that if there's any front or back pressure on the pin it's going to be hard to release.

After that it was raining too hard to fix the well house door, so I glued the horn back on the cow skull.  Together with the flamingos Ellen repainted a couple of days ago that fixes up the front yard decorations.  I then spent a little time cleaning up and putting stuff away.  Now I have a little space to work in.

The battery charger was showing an error this morning, so I restarted it.  After a few hours it was showing it again.  I tried to start the tractor and the battery was dead.  I'm trying the other charger tonight.  If that doesn't work it's going to be new battery time.

By that time the rain had abated, so I put another cable on the well house door to try to make it fit.  The cable went in fine, but it didn't fix the problem.  I decided it was time for a belt sander. I also cleaned up all the dirt the ants had piled on the inside of the building.  I thought the poison I put down yesterday had killed them all, but when I swept everything up they started coming out of the wall.  So I put down more poison.

After lunch I loaded Ellen's old office chair and a bunch of other stuff into the truck and took it to Goodwill.  At first the key worked fine in the ignition, but as we went different places it started to get hard to work again.

After that we went to Home Depot and got a belt sander.  Lucy didn't score any dog cookies, but she did get to eat some popcorn that people had spilled on the floor.  We also stopped at Lowe's just to look at their Christmas decorations.  We didn't see anything interesting.

When we got home I used the belt sander and a chisel to remove enough wood from the door to make it fit.  The door's crooked (that's how it was made), but at least now it shuts.

When I came back inside Ellen was watching a movie on the chick flick channel.  Crap.  Maybe I can watch something more interesting later.

Day 30

We went to the bank this morning to get the safe deposit box drilled.  The banker told us they'd give us another box instead.  that was good, $20 instead of $145. 

We took the truck this morning.  It immediately presented me with two new problems.  First, the key wouldn't turn in the ignition.  Then the tire monitor went off.  It turned out that the ignition switch is just getting worn.  It still works good if you insert the key "just right".  By the end of the day I pretty much had it knocked.  The tires were fine, I guess the sensors are getting inaccurate.

The day was rainy, so the was no point in going home to work.  So we stopped in at Office Depot to pick up an office chair Ellen saw yesterday.  Then we stopped at Spec's to get some prickly pear juice.  We went to the Donut and Taco Palace for lunch and then stopped in at the hobby shop behind it.

My real goal today was to go to the DMV in Dripping Springs to find out about the trailer license.  When we got there they were closed for lunch.  So we went to the Deep Eddy distillery to sample the lemon vodka. It was good, so we bought a bottle for Martha.

We went back to the DMV where we found out that they won't give us a license until we have a safety certificate.  So no tags until it's fixed.

When we got home I put Ellen's chair together.  Then I put the blades back on the mower, gassed it up, and put it on the charger.  It should be ready to go tomorrow.  Of course it's raining this evening, so I won't be able to mow.  Maybe I'll fix the door on the well house.

Day 29

The weather sucked today.  The temperature was never less than 75 and got up into the high 80's.  The humidity was close to 90%.  Going outside was like getting into a steam bath.  So I didn't do much.  I did go to the garage to get the second blade off the mower.  I verified which way to loosen the bolt.  Then I got a two foot breaker bar.  I pulled hard on it and nothing happened.  I decided to pull on it until something broke.  I put all my weight into it and finally the bolt came free.

I took the blade off and sharpened it on the grinder.  It's not perfect, but at least now it has an edge.  I also put some parts away in a cabinet and then called it a day.  It was just too muggy.

About an hour later we took Lucy for her blood test.  We'll get the results later.  We had lunch at Arby's and then went to the yuppie grocery store.  On the way home we stopped at Walmart for my drugs and the gas station for gas for the mower.

Tomorrow I'll put the mower back together and get it on the battery charger.  That will make it ready to mow.  If the weather remains shitty I'll mow what I've edged and finish the edging when the weather improves.

Did I mention the weather is shitty?  We spent the rest of the day inside hiding from it.

This evening I found a small scorpion in the living room.  Of course I had to show it to Ellen before I killed it.

Day 28

Today was yard work and doctor day.  I started out by removing one of the blades from the mower.  It was totally trashed.  It came off easily, but the other wouldn't come off at all.  I'd like to get it off so I can sharpen it.  Then I spent about 4 hours doing edging.  I got all of the front and side yard done.  I also got a start on the berm on the other side.  I have to finish it and the back yard.  Unfortunately it's supposed to rain tomorrow.

I also noticed that we'd won the lottery and didn't even know it.  Apparently a fire started in some brush near where we park the trailer.  I suspect that it was caused by lightning.  It burnt up some brush I had piled there and scorched a couple of trees.  I guess there must have been enough rain to put it out.  We were very, very, lucky.

I finished up edging just in time to have lunch and go to the doctor.  He's a nice enough guy.  He wants to change my meds a little, which is fine with me.  He didn't give me a cholesterol test though.

On the way home I got a new mower blade.  I lucked out and got the last one they had.

When we got home I decided to rip the big stack of CD's that has been sitting around for quite awhile.  I think I did at least a dozen of them.  It took quite awhile.  After dinner I watched a movie on Netflix, the first one in 6 months.

Day 27

I called Kimber today to get an RMA for the Solo.  They said they'd mail me one.  That got me started on a multi-hour search for the original grips.  I went through the whole house and every likely place in the garage.  I finally found them in the safe.  I'd looked there to begin with, but had missed them.

After that it was errand time.  I had to get a prescription filled and get a new case to ship the Solo in.  We also stopped by Bed, Bath, and Beyond and picked up a new toaster oven for the house.  We'll take the current one back to Oregon with us to put in the trailer.  The one that's there now sucks.

After that we went to Cheddar's for lunch.  It was good food that didn't cost very much.  Then we stopped at Costco for water ane more tooth brushes.  We also stopped at their liquor store.  The store had the rum Ellen uses for mojitos on sale for $10 a big bottle. We bought two - one for here and one for Oregon.

After that we went home.  I hadn't done anything on the house today due to the great grip search.  So I spent a little more than an hour cutting back the bush on the deck.  Then I cleared the leaves off the deck and the front entry.

Ellen went to archery in the evening.  I surfed and called Mom.  I talked to her just as she was returning from dinner downstairs.  She couldn't remember what she had.  She's liking the cat though.

Day 26

We continue to get stuff done at a pretty good rate.  Today we took the trailer in to get fixed.  It's afairly long drive down there and back, so that pretty much killed the morning.

We ate lunch at the Chinese place at Slaughter and I35.  It was really good, and only cost $8.75 a piece.  Then we went over to Wells Fargo to try to get a replacement safe deposit box key.  It turns out we can't.  We're going to have to pay $125 to get the box rekeyed.

The last stop was the post office where we picked up a huge box containing some stuff I ordered a couple of days ago from Amazon.

When we got home I wrestled the mower lift out of the truck.  I had to be careful because the water had destroyed one end of the box.  Then I spent some time cramming the boxes in the recycle.  It will be pretty full by the time it's picked up.

Then I put the lift together.  It took some time, but it wasn't difficult.  I couldn't resist trying it out.  It works great.  I was surprised to find out that only one of the two blades is destroyed.  It shouldn't be too hard to replace.

After that we chilled and ate dinner before going the homeowner's meeting.  I got stupid and allowed them to make me a board member.  Oh well.  We also met some people that we might get to go shooting with us.

We got home in time to watch half of Monday night football.

Day 25

We hung around the house today.  I was going to take advantage of the cloudy weather to do some edging, but Ellen decided to pull one of her "I don't want to do it, so I'll do a half-assed job" deals.  We had bought a spice holder in Oregon to organize her 20 bottle spice collection.  She sort of did it, but only half was and left the holder on the counter.  I was disgusted and decided to finish the job.

I put more bottles in the holder and made room for it in the cupboard by organizing the contents and getting rid of stuff that hasn't been used in years.  Then for some reason I decided to tackle the pantry.  Ellen had just piled things in there at random and there was literally no room to put in anything else.

So I spent well over an hour organizing food, cleaning shelves that had had crap spilled on them, and throwing away expired food.  When I was finished you could see everything we had and there's several feet of empty shelf.  While I did all of this Ellen played with Scooter.

After lunch the sun had come out and it was getting warm.  So much for yard work.  Instead I went to the garage to handle some of the work that needed to be done there.  I cleaned up some stuff and put it away.  Then I built a hanger for the halogen work light and hung it over the work bench.  I also sharpened both of my work knives.

Then it was time for the neighborhood party.  There was quite a turn out.  Ellen fixed some BBQ chicken legs that went over well.  I had some great conversations with several neighbors.  It was fun, but ended a little early because we're now on daylight losing time.

After that it was back home for football.  The Seahawks barely won, and the Packers are busy losing.

Day 24

We went to Cabela's today.  We wanted to get a hand held GPS, and they had a super price on a highly rated one.  We want to use it on the trails in Moab.  The book we have describes each trail in terms of GPS coordinates.  We also got a $50 gift card (it expires in three weeks) for buying it.

I looked through their guns, but didn't see anything that I wanted.

We spent quite a bit of time at Cabela's, and then drove to the train show in New Braunfels.  It was quite a disappointment.  There were only two n-scale dealers.  I did get one car I've wanted for awhile at a good price.

On the way hoe I stopped at Camping World to get a replacement for the sewer pipe holder that broke on Wednesday (it seems like a long time ago).

After that we went home.  We drove more than 110 miles.  When we got home I replaced the sewer pipe holder.  It was one of those jobs that took longer and was more of a pain in the ass than it should have been.

The evening was surfing and doing some shopping on Amazon.  Hopefully the GPS will be charged up tomorrow so we can play with it.

Day 23

This was a pretty good day.  It started off early.  The thunderstorms woke us up about five.  The thunder was loud enough to shake the house.  We went back to sleep, but the storms continued.  We woke up at 8, but there was no reason to get up.  So we surfed in bed for awhile.

When we did get up we went to Dripping Springs to vote and get the tags for the car.  After that we stopped at Home Depot and had keys made to replace the ones Ellen lost.  We had some time to kill before her doctor's appointment, so we went to Trudy's for lunch.  The food was good as usual.

We were early for her appointment, but it had been raining hard all morning and 1826 was closed where it crosses Slaughter Creek.  So we went early and Ellen got right in.  That's probably because of the rain.  I also lucked out and got an appointment next week with the doctor.  Otherwise he was booked until next May.  Wow.

After that we went to the back to see if that was the safe deposit key that Ellen lost.  It was.  Luckily we had the spare in the safe.  That saves us a $125 "drill fee".  The next stop was Tomlinson's for a dog treat.  Lucy really wanted to go.  The last stop was HEB, because I really wanted to go.

We had to use Escarpment to get home because 1826 was closed.  We stopped where it crossed Slaughter Creek.  It was amazing.  That whole part of the park was flooded.  There was so much water going through that all of the big tubes under the road were full.  All sorts of things were flowing in the water and ending up against the bridge.  There were marks on the trees that showed that the water had been 2 feet higher earlier.  We also drove to Bear Creek to watch it flowing over the road.  The high water mark showed that it also had been 2-3 feet higher earlier.

When we got home it was still raining, but it stopped for awhile soon after.  So I put all the boxes in the recycle can and took both cans to the gate.  I also pulled a lot of weeds in the driveway.  The ground was so soaked that it was easy to do.  Then I unloaded the back of the truck.  The temp was about 75, with 100% humidity.  I was sweating like a pig.

After that I was tired and it started raining hard again.  I had to watch a recorded movie because Directv crapped out.  However, the chair put me to sleep, so I didn't see the movie.

The rain let up in the evening, but didn't stop.  At least I got to see Gold Derp and Zombies.

Day 22

We go up at the regular time and were at the tire store at eight when they opened.  I had decided to replace all four tires.  Unfortunately they didn't have four tires.  Fortunately they got two from another store.  Unfortunately they cost more.  Oh well.  Replacing all four cost me $500, but the peace of mind is worth it.  We were on our was by 8:30 or so.

The trip home was short and uneventful. We were there by about 10.  The car started with no problem and we parked the trailer without much trouble except for moving a lot of rocks.  I left the truck hooked up because we'll be taking the trailer to Camping World next week.

The house seems in good shape.  The pump started up without a problem.  The door to the well house was open and won't close.  The porch motion light is burnt out and the outside temp and humidity sensors aren't working.  Of course everything is overgrown and there's a depressing amount of weeds in the gravel areas.

The next three hours were spent unloading the trailer.  It was in the sun, which we're not used to.  I did a lot of sweating.  We did get the whole thing unloaded, but there's still some stiff in the truck bed.

We went for lunch at 1:30.  Our first stop was the post office.  We had a whole box of mail and two packages.  We separated out the important stuff and went to Fireman's for lunch.  We went through he mail while we at.  Lucy had a Merrick sausage.  One of the things in the mail was a 10% off coupon for Best Buy.  That was good, because I killed my keyboard last night trying to clean out all the Mike's Fletcher spilled on it.

I got a nice keyboard that's an improvement over the old one.  It was only $20 more than a straight replacement.

We went home and started working on the mail and putting away all of the stuff from the trailer.  We made a dent, but there's a lot to go.  Ellen's laptop screen got cracked.  That gives it a one inch black spot at the upper right.  Fortunately the monitor we bought works great, so it's not a big problem.  I see a new laptop in her future.

We're watching TV right now, the rest can wait until tomorrow.

Day 21

Today was sure a lot less fatiguing/stressful than yesterday. We started out with sleeping in a little bit and then having a leisurely breakfast. 

The first thing we did was get the blown tire replaced.  When I put it back on the trailer I noticed it was load range E.  So I went back to the store to make arrangements to have them replace another tomorrow.  The whole cost was cheap - about $120.

After that I called up the insurance agency.  They were great.  They took the info and then gave me a couple of places to get it fixed.  One is Camping World.  All I have to do is bring it in and they'll fix it.  Late in the day someone from Camping World called.  I told them I'd call them after we got home and had time to unpack.

After the call we went to town.  There was no parking on the street, we had to park at the park on the north end of town. We took the dog because she had a boring day yesterday.  We walked up and down the whole town going into all the stores that interested us.  We bought a few things for ourselves and Lucy at Dogology.  That was about it for buying.  We had lunch at the outdoor place with the live music.  They had a great blues singer and the food was good. Lucy got a Merrick sausage.

On the way home we stopped at the high school so that Lucy could do some retrieves.  She did a good job, but quit a little early, probably because she was hot.

When we got home we just watched TV and surfed.  Tomorrow we'll go home.

Day 20

The last 24 hours have been the worst since we started traveling 10 years ago.  It started about 7 last night when Ellen announced that she was bleeding out her ass.  The next 3 or 4 hours were spent in the emergency room.  The verdict is that they don't know what's wrong with her, but she's in no immediate danger.  She does need to get a colonoscopy ASAP.  So they sent us home with the name of a local gastroenterologist and instructions to call her doctor in the morning.

She called her doctor about 8 this morning.  The doctor said come home immediately and see her on Friday.  That meant a late start to a 443 mile trip.  To add insult to injury the place in San Angelo insisted on charging us for one night because we cancelled our reservation.

We got on the road a little after 9.  Most of the first 2/3 of the trip was boring.  However, at the first gas station I noticed that the sewer hose was hanging out of one of the storage tubes.  Both of the tube ends were broken off.  I have no idea how.

I put the hose in the basement and we continued.  We were going through flat Texas.  The only thing of interest were the hundreds of windmills around and south of Lubbock.  My tax dollars at play.

It looked like we'd get in a a semi-reasonable time.  Then about 70 miles out of Fredericksburg one of the tires blew.  It took out the whole side of the trailer.  It also chewed up a cable support and the trailer bottom above the wheels.

We were incredibly lucky about where it happened.  First, the tire didn't lose air.  That meant the other tire on that side wasn't killed by having to hold double weight.  Second, that part of Texas is deserted.  The road is narrow.  I pulled off the side of the road when I saw the damage.  I took off the damaged skirt and ducktaped the cable up (I couldn't believe I didn't have any cable ties).  I drove about a quarter mile up the road and there was a large parking area with some sort of small bar that was open.  It was the only sign of civilization for 20 or 30 miles in either direction.

Our luck continued.  The proprietor came out and offered to help.  I thanked him and said I had it under control.  I put the trailer up on blocks and got out the spare.  That's when I found out that the spare only had l48 PSI in it.  Luckily the bar had an outside plug that I used to pump up the tire.  I don't know how long it would have taken with that little 12V pump.

We got back on the road and made it to Fredericksburg without further mishap.  We got there about 7 or 8 minutes after they closed.  Fortunately they left instructions.  I unhooked the truck - of course the release stuck and I had to pound it open.  I didn't want to open the damaged slide, so we went to Walmart for cable ties.

When we got back I used the cable ties to repair the power cable hanger as well as I could.  It actually looks like it will work pretty well.  Ellen went and did the wash while I finished up hooking up the trailer and feeding the animals.

There's one last gotcha.  When I opened the off door slide I pinched Ellen's computer case and the file case.  The file case was destroyed.  I don't know about her computer yet.