Day 142

After an hour in bed doing Minions I got up and had breakfast.  Then I took the control panel out to the garage to drill on it.  I drilled holes in the 5 small circuit boards with the wire connectors.  Then I drilled matching holes in the panel.  I also installed the hinges on the panel.  Finally I labeled the power inputs and the power connector circuit board.

I also sorted out two baby food jars full of screws that I got at the last estate sale.  That took a lot of time.

After a late lunch (and a little more Minions) we went to the post office, HEB, the park, and Tomlinson's.  Lucy did 22 very long retrieves.  She seems OK tonight.  There's a package I need to sign for at the post office.  I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what it is.

When we got home I boxed up the Hot Wheels for Dan.  Then I read the newspaper.  I only got about halfway through before I decided to leave the rest for tomorrow.  The rest of the afternoon and evening was TV and Minions.  I just can't put that game down.

Day 141

After a little Minions in bed before breakfast I got up, ate and went out to continue work on the car shelter.  I couldn't do much because I was out of screws.  I just drilled 24 holes in the poles for screws.  Then we left for McCoys to get some screws.

Next to McCoys was a coffee/pastry place I'd read about.  So we stopped and Ellen had a $5 tea and I had a $3.50 hot chocolate, along with two $5 pastries.  That's as much as a good lunch.

When we got back I went back to work on the shelter.  Ellen helped me position the roof and then went in the house.  I put screws in the holes I'd drilled and then put two of the poles in the roof.  Then Ellen had to come out to help me put in the other four.  She went back into the house while I put in the last 12 screws.  Then she came back out to help with the cover.  It was large, fairly heavy, and a pain in the ass because a gusty wind had come out.  It took us some effort, but we got it up.

Ellen went inside while I finished installing the cover, doing the tie downs, and putting everything away.  I was tired and a little sore by the time it was all done.

A squirrel showed up just before 5.  I shot it, but because there was sun flare on the scope I hit it in the stomach.  I had to go inside to get another pellet.  While I was there the squirrel climbed a broken off, hollow, tree just on the other side of our boundary fence.  Lucy found it.  It was at the top and when I shot it it fell into the tree.  Lucy went crazy trying to figure out how to get on the other side of the fence.

I took Lucy to get the mail.  When we got back she ran to the tree instead of into the house to eat.  Who would have thought - squirrel trumps food bowl.

The evening was a little surfing, TV and Minions.

Day 140

Work on the control panel has been suspended in favor of putting up the car shelter.  We got up at 7:30, stayed in bed with the tablets for awhile, and then got up.  I ate breakfast and then went out to assemble the shelter.

The assembly wasn't hard, but the instructions left something to be desired.  I managed to get the roof sections (everything but the legs) assembled relatively easily.  It's madr of 3 and 4 foot sections of tubing that press fit together.  The result was really rickety (that's what the web reviews said).  So after that was done we went out to buy some screws and go to an estate sale.

We got the screws at Lowes.  The estate sale was OK.  We bought some glassware and I got a couple of baby food jars full of screws.  It was off Congress, so I drove down to Slaughter to go home.  On the way we stopped at a park and Lucy did 20 medium retrieves.  She stopped when I wanted to.  I wanted to stop at the new Thai place, but it wasn't open yet.  So we did some shopping at Randall's.  There was a forty or fifty person line waiting to vote the whole time we were there.

When we got home we had lunch and then I went out to install the screws.  I put in 80 screws.  It made a big difference in how sturdy the frame was.   I'll need to buy more before I can finish.  It took two and a half hours and I was tired when I got done. My legs really hurt from all the bending over.  Lucy was tired too, but we went to the mailbox anyway.

The last thing I did was pack up the Hot Wheels stuff we bought awhile back.  It took two boxes.  I'll probably mail it tomorrow.

There was no paper today, so I wrote an email to the Austin Statesman to complain.

The evening was Minions, surfing, and Gold Derp.

Day 139

This was the first day without the doctor  We got up at 7:30 any way.  I'm hoping to do that from now on.  Of course we did stay in bed with the tablets for awhile.

After breakfast I worked on the panel.  I made up the 4 circuit boards that will have the connectors for the track power and switch wires.  That would have been simple, except I had to use the pin vise to drill out all of the holes (80+) to mount the connectors.  I quit after that because the next step is to take everything out to the garage to drill mounting holes.

We left about noon to go to Harbor Freight.  I wanted to get a car shelter for the truck.  I don't want it out in the Texas sun for a year.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the car.  I'll see how the first one works out.  We stopped at Red's for lunch.  Lucy was happy to have lunch with us.

While we were there Traditions called to say the M&P was in.  So after the post office we went there.  We had a great conversation with a couple of hangers on who were there.  Apparently they "work" there for free.

After that we went home.  It was too late to start the car shelter, so I went inside.  I was going to continue working on the panel.  However, I sat down to play a little Minions first, fell asleep, and the next thing I knew it was 5:30.

After dinner it was a little Minions and some reading.  I also looked for estate sales.  There's one good one, and I might go Sunday to another to get a "last day" price.

Day 138

Ellen's last day at the doctor was today.  It was kind of long because she had to see the doctor and he was backed up.  The doctor (radiologist) basically said that there's nothing further to be done for 2-4 weeks.  That jibs with having an appointment with the cancer doctor in 9 days.  Ellen is REALLY happy that this part is over.  I hope the rest is easier.

After the doctor it was time for lunch.  We decided to go to Red's, but changed at the last minute to the place across from Harbor Freight.  When we turned in, we decided to explore the west side of the complex.  We'd never been over to that part.  There was a Toys-R-Us there, so we stopped for a birthday present for the niece.  We texted Martha from there, and she replied get calligraphy stuff.  So we left there (I bought some Minions toys) and went to Hobby Lobby.

Hobby Lobby had a really cool calligraphy set.  So we bought it.  The clerk told us how to get a 40% off online coupon, so it didn't cost a lot.  After that we went to lunch.  They have a porch where the dog can eat.  It was cold and windy, so we left the dog in the car.  We went out on the porch and found it was enclosed with plastic and heated with ceiling heaters.  It was really warm.  So I went back out and got the dog.  She loved it.

After lunch we went to the post office (the package was there) and ran the dog in the field nearby.  She did 25 retrieves before I called a stop.  That might have been too much, she's a little stove up tonight.

I did some work on the control panel.  I wired up the power connectors and the fuse holder.  Of course I had to redo some stuff when I did it wrong the first time.  It looks good now though.

The evening was TV, surfing, and Minions.  I'm spending too much time on that game.

Day 137

Today was another day with not much accomplished.  The time before the doctor was taken up by surfing and Minions.  I did manage to get a squirrel also.  I haven't been mentioning it, but once or twice a week I've been getting shots on squirrels.  I've been missing every one.  Today I didn't miss.  I had a chance at another this afternoon, but the birds spooked it before I got a shot.

The doctor was a long one, due to blood tests and the nurse.  The nurse noticed my hand and was really interested, so we talked about that for awhile.  We didn't get out until 11:30.

After that we went to the post office.  There was supposed to be a package there, but it didn't show up.  If it isn't there tomorrow I'll have to ask about it.  We stopped at the field nearby for Lucy.  The wind was blowing really hard, so she had very long retrieves.  She had a great time and quit exactly when we were going to make her quit.

We had lunch at Cheddar's.  It was really good. Then we stopped at Costco for water.

When we got home I didn't feel like working on the control panel.  So instead it was surfing and Minions.  The evening was watching movies.

Day 136

It was the beginning of the last week of Ellen's doctor appointments.  I did Minions for just about all of the time before breakfast.  After the doctor we went to the dog cookie store.  Lucy loved it.  We also made a short stop at the yuppie grocery store.  Ellen had a hamburger craving, so we had an early lunch at In-n-Out.  After that it was the post office.  I was going to go to Costco, but I timed out.  So the last stop was the park so Lucy could run.  I let her run for as long as she wanted because she had the last two days off.

When we got home I surfed and played Minions for awhile.  Then I decided to work on the control panel using some new parts I got today.  I took everything to the garage an installed the fuse block.  I also cut out a window for the power connector.  I cut a piece of plastic, installed the connectors in it, and installed it in the window.   After that I felt like quitting, so I did.

The evening was TV, Minions, and surfing.  Lucy was full of energy.  I ended up making her happy by playing on the floor with her.

Day 135

Today was a triumph of wasted time.  We didn't leave the house.  We woke up at :30, but I didn't get out of bed until almost 10 (I played Minions).  Ellen stayed in bed until later.

I fed the dog and had a late breakfast.  Then I read the newspaper and surfed.  In both cases I found articles that pissed me off.  I should learn to avoid them.  I did some Minions in between sessions.

We whiled away the afternoon mainly reading with a little TV.  It was pretty silent.  In the evening Ellen watched a couple of movies that she had me record.  I sat there reading and doing Minions.

That was the whole day.

Day 134

After staying in bed playing Minions, I got up and went to the gun show.  I left Ellen at home because she's not feeling really well.

The show was OK.  I actually got somewhat of a bargain on an assembled upper.  It was interesting.  One guy had good prices and he was doing a land office business.  Others near him with so-so prices had no one buying.  You think they'd learn.  For the second show in a row I overheard salesman giving people good advice.  That doesn't always happen.

After the show I ate lunch and stopped by the Thai place on 290.  It's just a roach coach and it was closed.  Then I stopped at the post office.  I also stopped at the bank to replenish my funds.  The last stop was HEB to get Ellen some cookies.

When I got home I just vegetated surfing and playing Minions.  The amount of points needed to earn a party is now so high that it takes continuous effort even at 2X.

In the evening we had a zombie movie marathon.  We watched three, including a Dutch one with subtitles.

Day 133

Today was the end of the last full week of Ellen's treatments.  She has three left.  Also, she won't be taking the chemo over the weekend. That's good.  She is very week and feels like crap.

I did Minions and surfed in the morning.  I'm still recovering in the game for the screw up I did yesterday.  I didn't learn though.  I did a similar screw up today.  Fortunately I've basically recovered from it by tonight.

After the doctor we went to an estate sale really near our house.  The place was huge and rich.  The man living there was obviously into firearms.  I got a nice Boyt sporting clays vest for $8.  The guy had boxes of high end shooting and hunting clothes, I just didn't need any.  I missed what would have been my biggest estate sale score.  There was an apparatus (I'm not sure what - it looked a little like and upper) with a Sig red dot and laser on it.  The sale people didn't know what they had.  Unfortunately they checked with the seller and he decided to keep it.

After that sale we went to one a little south of Belterra.  I'm not sure why anyone would live in a residential development like that out in the sticks.  It was a bust.  They whole place was women's clothes.  The garage was filled with jammed racks of women's clothes.  The office was filled with shoes.  I don't now why anyone would buy that much.

We stopped at Trudy's for lunch.  It was great as usual.  There was even shade for Lucy, which was important since it was 80 degrees.

After lunch we went to the HEB in Dripping Springs.  Then we ran the dog at the park behind it.  Ellen was too tired to get out of the car.  She barely made it through the grocery store.  Lucy did 23 fairly long retrieves.  I counted down the last three, and when I said "last one" she went to the car instead of returning to me.

When we got home I did some Minions, some surfing, some reading, and watched a movie (Monuments Men).  Ellen vegged out in the chair except for very frequent trips to the bathroom.

Day 132

I didn't work on the control panel today.  I'm still trying to figure out how to connect the external wires.  Instead I surfed and did Minions until time for the doctor.

The doctor was relatively quick.  Afterwards we went to an estate sale that was relatively close.  The place was crammed with stuff, but none of it was very good quality.  I did get a really cool Coca-Cola bear cookie jar.  After that we drove back towards William Cannon.  On the way we saw a self service dog wash.  Lucy was kind of stinky, so we stopped and gave her a bath.  We also got the people there to clip her nails.  She was not amused.

After that we ate lunch at an "Asian fusion" place nearby.  I had Pad Thai.  It was really good.  Then it was off to the post office.  We stopped at the field nearby so that Lucy could run.  She really wanted to.  She did a lot of long retrieves.  I didn't count.  Instead I just let her run until she said she was tired.

When we got home I spent a lot of time fixing the mistake I made in the morning playing Minions.  I also did a lot of surfing.

In the evening Ellen watched TV while I played Minions and shopped on Amazon.  I found some parts that will allow me to do a good job at fabricating the control panel's external wires.  It will be a few days before the parts are here.  At least I know what I'm going to do.  It's actually going to be an improvement over my initial plan.

Day 131

I did more work on the control panel before the doctor.  I finished connecting all of the power switches to the direction switches.  That puts me at a decision point.  I can't do any more until I decide how I'm going to connect all of the remaining wires to some kind of external connection.  There are 40 switch control wires, 11 siding wires, and 14 block power wires that have to be connected to the layout.  There's also 4 wires that control the round table.  That's a lot of connections.  It also means I still have 69 connections to solder.

After the doctor I went to get a haircut.  Ellen stayed in the car with the dog.  The haircut was kind of normal for here - a little too short, but not bad.  There was a pizza/pasta place next door that wasn't there last time we were there.  We stopped in.  They have really good pizza and inexpensive beer.

After that it was a stop at the post office and then on to Dripping Springs to vote.  I stopped at the gun store on 290 along the way.  It's much changed from when we first went there.  They have a really good selection, and an amazing selection of powder.  I decided to buy a M&P there, chiefly to support them.

We stopped at Tractor Supply after voting to get some bird seed.  Then we took the dog to the park behind HEB.  She did 17 long retrieves before she called it quits.  That's pretty good considering it was in the high 70's and sunny.

When we got home I put the bird seed in the cans and took out the recycling and garbage.  After that it was reading, surfing, and Minions until dinner time.  Ellen spent the whole afternoon and evening watching her detective and fantasy shows.  I didn't object because anything that makes her feel good it OK right now.  I read and played Minions.  I made a big tactical error that I'm trying to recover from.  It will probably take me all of tomorrow to do so.

Day 130

I did a little work this morning on the control panel before we went to the doctor.  It was a long appointment, we didn't get out until 11:45.  So we went to the post office and ran the dog at the field nearby.  Then we went to the pharmacy so she could pick up some drugs.  The last stop was the beer place on Slaughter for lunch.  They've changed their menu and it now has several things that I like.  It's back on the list of places to go, especially since they like the dog.

I did more work on the control panel when I got home.  I finished up connecting the rotary switches to the direction switches.  Then I connected three siding switches to their direction switch.  I started connecting another three and got about halfway done before I ran out of interest.

After that I just messed around for the rest of the afternoon, surfing and a little Minions.

Ellen has been moping around all day complaining.  Lots of sighing and groaning.  She deserves to, and I hope it makes her feel better.

In the evening Ellen watched TV while I read and did Minions.

Day 129

It was back to the doctors today.  Ellen is counting the days until it's over.  I am too.  The side effects are getting worse and worse.  She spends a lot of time on the can in pain.  She's there right now almost crying.

They took us early at the doctor, so we were out at 10:30 which is the time of her appointment.  That gave us enough time for the dog to go to the park before noon.  We had to be back at noon for the Directv guy.  Lucy did a whole lot of very long retrieves.  I didn't count, but I think she did at least 20.

I worked on the control panel while we waited.  I connected two of the rotary switches with 5 of the direction switches.  I got another one started and then I ran out of ambition.  The really good thing was that I figured out a good way to connect the direction switches with the siding power switches.  I think it will work well.

The Directv guy got here a little before 5.  I expected him to be at the end of the day.  It took him less than half an hour to align the dish.  I watched him and he showed me how to use the bird dog.  I'm going to have to get one of those for the trailer.

The evening was Minions, reading, and TV.  I've gotten a plan in place now with Minions.  I set it up so I go into 2x mode in the morning, spend a little time managing it during the day, set up another party in the afternoon, and then let it run all night.  I'm not sure what the point is, but I seem to be addicted.

Day 128

Even though it was Sunday, we got up at the usual (7:30) time.  It was cloudy, windy, and looked like rain.  So as soon as I was through with breakfast I went out to fix the dish mount.  It went really well except for a lot of trips back to the garage for things I forgot.  The wood I removed was completely rotten.  It fell apart in my hands.

That went so well that I decided to finally enclose the stove vent in the kitchen.  I cut the wood for it 2 or three year ago.  I was going to use the ladder since it was there, but it's too big for the kitchen.  I thought I had a smaller one, but after checking the back building and the well house I found out I didn't.  So I had to use the step stool.  It was barely tall enough.  That project went well except for pounding in the nails.  One broke off, and another went in crooked.

I was done by 11:00.  It was great to have those two things done.

I surfed for about an hour and then Ellen wanted to go to the grocery store.  We considered eating out, but it's Valentine's day and every place was packed.  We just went to HEB.  I decided the dog needed a day off.

When we got back we had lunch at home.  I felt I'd accomplished enough for the day, so the rest of the day was some surfing and reading, and a lot of TV.

Day 127

It's Saturday, so no doctor.  We got up at the normal time (7:30) though.  I've found that I can stay up as late as always, get up then, and not be sleepy during the day.  In fact, I feel better than if I had slept in.

I spent the morning working on the panel.  I got the rotary switches wired.  I looked at starting the power switches, but I just didn't feel like it.  I also put a second coat of paint on the satellite repair board.

By then it was noon.  I felt like eating outdoors (it was the mid 70's).  First I boxed up the wood to send to Lawrence.  Ellen insisted that I didn't need to address it.  When we got to the post office, she spent forever fucking with the mailing machine.  She couldn't get it to work.  I said we could come back Monday after addressing the package and stand in the line (it was quicker than the time she spent at the machine).  Again she insisted that they would address it at the counter.  So we stood in line there.  They wouldn't address it.  Instead we would have had to stand there addressing the package while holding up the line.

I HATE people that do stupid things like that at the post office.  I didn't want to be the dumbass old guy holding things up because he's an idiot.  I took the package back to the car.  We drove to the field so Lucy could run.

While I was throwing the bumper Ellen left in the car.  Lucy did an incredible number of retrieves.  I finally called a halt.  Lucy looked for the car and was really confused when she couldn't find it.  We walked back to the post office with Lucy in desert mode - walking from shady spot to shady spot.  We got back just as Ellen was leaving.  She had done what I wanted to do in the beginning - addressed the package, took it to the counter, and mailed it.

After that we went back to the hamburger place we went to on Monday.  They had given us a half off coupon that was good for a week.  I promised Lucy that we would go for ice cream and then to Tomlinson's.  So we did.

When we got home I still didn't feel like working on the control panel.  So I surfed a little, read a lot, and watched Blacklist in the evening.

Day126

This could have been a short doctor day, but apparently they were busy.  Ellen got in at the regular time instead of early.

After the doctor it was over to Home Depot to get some wood to repair the satellite dish mount.  I bought pressure treated wood.  Hopefully it won't rot.  The next stop was the post office to mail my bracelet to Tom.  We ran the dog first at the nearby field.  Lucy only did 18 retrieves, probably because they were long and it was warm.  It cost $50 to mail it because of the insurance charge.  It took awhile to do, because I had to cover the entire box with post office approved tape.  At least they supplied it.

By then it was lunch time, so we went to the restaurant across from Tomlinson's.  It was really good.  Too bad it's not open more often.  They like dogs, so Lucy ate with us.  She even got her own water bowl.  Of course we went to Tomlinson's after lunch.

When we got home I located the can of trim paint, cut the wood we'd bought, and painted it.  I'll give it another coat tomorrow.  I'll put it up on Sunday afternoon.  After that we probably won't have TV until the repair guy comes.

The rest of the day was TV, reading, Minions and surfing.  I just didn't have the desire to work on the control panel.

Day126

I did Minions and worked on the control panel before the doctor today.  It turns out the rotary controls need 24, not 30 wires.  I finished 4 of them.  Then I cut the other 20 wires and stripped them.  Then it was doctor time. 

We were out of the doctor at the normal time.  We went to the dog cookie store and then to the yuppie grocery store.  The grocery was having a special chocolate celebration, but we weren't impressed.

After that we went to the post office and then to the park.  Lucy acted like she really wanted to go to the park, but when we got there she only did three retrieves.  I think she really needed a day off.

We went home and ate there.  Ellen tried to watch the TV, but it was worse off than yesterday.  She called Directv and scheduled them to come out on Monday.  I took a look at the antenna.  One of the boards I put up to mount it on is totally rotted out.  I pushed up the antenna a little bit and it improved the signal.  So I got a washer and shimmed the mount until they come out.  It works OK for now.  Tomorrow I'll get stuff to replace the rotted board, but I won't put it up until Sunday.

It was warm today, almost 80.  So I went out and caulked the new water inlet on the trailer.  I've been wanting to do that, but it's been too cold.

After that I just didn't feel like doing anything else.  So I did Minions, read, and surfed the rest of the day away.  The evening was TV.

Day 125

I finally got the balls to test the control panel today.  Everything worked except for ONE LED.  The fix was easy.  I'd forgotten to wire a switch connection.  It's so cool to have all of that working.

I decided to tackle wiring the power leads on the rotary switches next.  There are 30 little wires that need to be soldered between the contacts on the switches.  I spent awhile figuring out how to do it.  The wires are too thick to go through the contacts, so they have to be wrapped around.  It's a pain in the ass, but doable.  I got 1 1/2 wires done before I decided to do it some other day.

It was another long day at the doctor's.  We got in at the regular time, but we didn't get out until noon.  I got a lot of Minions done.

After the doctor we stopped at Wally World for my drugs and the post office.  Then we went to lunch at the Italian place.  Lucy was really disappointed that we didn't got to Tomlinson's.  It got better for her when we stopped at Circle C.  I limited her to 20 retrieves.  She would have done more, but didn't argue when we quit.  That seemed to work.  She wasn't wiped out tonight.

I spent the afternoon and evening surfing and playing Minions while Ellen watched some of her fantasy shows.

Day 124

I finished wiring the roundtable relay board before we went to the doctor.  We had to get there early and had to stay late.  We were there from 10 until almost noon.

We stopped at the post office and then ran the dog at the field nearby.  She did 25 really long retrieves and then I called a halt.  She didn't want to stop, but wasn't too disappointed when we did.

We stopped at the Oak Hill breakfast place for lunch.  It was really crowded, but we didn't have to wait.  Then we went home after a short stop at the grocery store.

I tested the relay board when I got back.  It worked perfectly except I'd labeled the inputs wrong.  I went out to the garage and mounted the relay board to the control panel.  Of course there were a couple of problems, but nothing major.  Then I took it back inside and hooked up all of the wires.  The next step will be testing the panel.

The rest of the day was reading, Minions, and TV.

Day 123

I surfed and played Minions until it was time to go to the doctor.  The stay there was short.  They called Ellen as soon as we got there.

Afterwards we went to the post office and ran the dog in the field nearby.  She did 20 really long retrieves.  She wanted to do more, but we've decided to ration her.

The last stop was Costco.  We got water, some frozen food (I'm tired of TV dinners), and a thumb drive to use to store a backup of my computer.

When we got home I did the backup.  I also started work on the relay board that will control the roundtable polarity warning lights.  I got everything (connectors and relays) on the board.  I also wired the 12V and 12V gnd connections.  At that time I was tired of it, so I quit.  It will be there tomorrow.

I called Jackie, but she wasn't answering and I left a message.

The rest of the day was Minions and TV.  I didn't get much done on Minions because the whole party board was filled up with requirements for items that take 6 hours to make.  I think I needed 6 or 8 of them.  I finally ended up buying some of them.

Day 122

I reached a cool milestone today.  I completed wiring the 12V connections on the control panel.  I wasn't brave enough to test (and possibly debug) it.  I wanted to do a little more, so I designed the relay circuit for the roundtable.  I spent a whole lot more time drawing it in paint than I did designing it.

We went to the grocery store to get a few items.  We took the dog to the park and she ran 15 or so long retrieves.  She also took a ling run around the park "looking" for a bumper that I threw in a weird direction.

The rest of the day was reading and some Minions.  I'm getting bored with Minions.  There doesn't seem to be anything new and interesting to discover or do.  I detect a loss of interest n the near future.

It's halftime at the super bowl.  Denver is ahead, but not by much.

Day 121

I was thinking about going to the San Antonio gun show, but Ellen said she was too sick.  So we stayed home all day.

I spent the morning on the control panel.  I wired the last of the -12V strings.  I also fixed a +12V wire that I miswired to a direction switch.  I just can't seem to get over having to redo things.  All of the rotary switches are now wired to the +12V inputs of the direction switches.  I've got two direction LEDs and two flashing LEDs left to wire.

I also noticed that I forgot to wire an output from one of the direction switches.  I'm going to have to come up with something to connect the switch to another one.  Also, all of the remaining LED connections need to be coupled with diodes.  All of that caused me to leave that work for another day.

I found a couple of disk drives in the bookcase.  I plugged them in to see what was on them.  One had a music archive and the other had a book archive.  I copied them both over to other drives.

That was the sum total of the useful stuff I accomplished today.  The rest of the day was surfing, Minions, reading, and TV.

Day 120

we had to be at the doctor's early today - that's the bad news  The good news was that we were out of there by 10:30.  We stopped at the post office after that and amazingly the mail was out.  Then we picked up the cushions (more on that later).

The next stop was a estate sale.  They didn't have anything we wanted except for a box of hot wheels track that I bought for Dan.

We stopped at a roach coach place I'd read about to eat.  Unfortunately only one trailer was open.  So we gave it a pass and went to a Chinese place instead.  It was OK, and not very expensive.

We stopped at a park on the way home because the dog really wanted to run.  I limited her to 20 short retrieves.  That was a good thing.  She's kind of wiped out tonight.  I think she's too old to do what she wants to do each day.

After that it was on to home.  I did a little Minions, some surfing, and some reading.  I just didn't feel like doing any work on the control panel.

We did try the cushions in the trailer.  They make the couch a lot better.  It will never be really comfortable, but you can actually sit on it now.

I did get the archive hard drives out of the trailer.  I copied a couple of GB of pictures off them.  I started labeling them, but after more than an hour I wasn't even halfway through.

Tonight is Minions and Gold Derp.

Day 119

I started out the day with a little Minions.  I basically just set things up and corrected the stuff that didn't get done because it ran out of battery last night.  Then it was breakfast and some surfing until time for the doctor.

I was playing Minions at the doctor's and screwed up.  I chose the wrong party mode and didn't have the double time feature.  The rest of the day was frustrating because everything was so slow to build.

After the doctor we went to Home Depot so I could get some caulk for the trailer.  It's too cold to put it on though.  The next stop was the drug store to pick up yet another prescription for Ellen. After that was the park for the dog.  She did a good quantity of retrieves.  She's been getting kind of laid up at night, so we're going to quit running her every day.  We'll probably go to 2 days out of three.

Ellen needed checks so we stopped at the bank.  We had to wait quite awhile for a banker, so it was over an hour before we got out.  That meant Lucy got to go to Tomlinson's.  She loved it of course.  We stopped at the restaurant by the ice cream place for lunch.  Ellen liked her salad.  My nachos were stone cold.  The next stop was the post office.  The last stop was for gas.  It was selling for $1.39.  If you take into account inflation that's about the price it was in 1975.

The slow response in Minions got me away from the tablet.  Instead I worked most of the day on the control panel.  I got quite a bit done.  I completed wiring all but one -12V string.  I also completed one direction switch and fully wired another.  The big thing was installing the last direction switch and its LEDs.  All the holes in the control panel are now filled.

The evening was TV, surfing, and some Minions.  I'm about to set up Minions for the night.  I won't have to wait up tonight.

Day 118

Today was pretty unproductive unless you were a Minion.

I woke up and played Minions.  We went to the doctor and I played Minions.  We got the truck's oil changed and I played Minions.  We got home and I played Minions.  We watched a zombie movie in the evening and I played Minions.  I even went to bed and stayed up late playing Minions.  The last was a waste of time.  The battery on the tablet died 10 minutes before I would have had everything set up.

One interesting thing.  We paid $1.75/gal for diesel.  That's $.23 cheaper than we've ever paid in the entire time we've owned the current diesel truck (since 2008).

The only thing I accomplished was hanging the new bird feeder.

Day 117

I went to town on the control panel today.  I worked before the doctor, after the doctor, and after dinner.  I installed all of the LEDs except two.  I completed one ground wire series and started another.  I completed the 12V wiring on two direction switches.  I also figured out how to mount the diodes on a direction switch and completed one of them.  I had to construct two more flashing LEDs (I miscounted) and put pigtails on 6 direction LEDs.  It was quite a bit of work.  If I did one more day like that I'd have most of the 12V stuff done.  I'm just not sure I'm up to it right now.

After the doctor we went to the grocery store and ran the dog.  She did a normal amount of retrieves.  She was kind of down tonight.  She's older and I think she's running too much.  She's getting tomorrow off.

I made quite a bit of progress on Minions.  I kind of expect one or two 2X periods a day.  When I got to level 30 the party favor requirements went to 3 item groups instead of two.  That makes it hard to keep space in the store house.  You get much more money and party points though.  I bought my first duplicate factory.  I'll probably build more.

I did do two things outside.  I put back all of the rocks lining the yard.  It sure looks a lot better.  I also put the cap on the trailer hub (it came yesterday).  It just pushed in, almost by hand.  That was really great.  I thought I'd have to remove the wheel.

Day 116

This is the start of the third week of Ellen's treatments.  We are settling into the routine.  Today we woke up before 8.  Ellen took drugs and I did a little Minions.  Then it was breakfast and off to the doctor.  After the doctor we went to the yuppie grocery.  Of course we stopped at the dog cookie store also.  That killed enough time that it made sense to go to the post office (they never get the mail out before noon).  The last stop was the park.  By that time it was sunny and getting warm.  Lucy did her usual amount of retrieves.

When we got home I continued the work on the control panel.  I did a lot of work before dinner, and a little after.  I connected up the positive LED connections for all of the power switches.  The only connections left are to the direction switches.  I'm having a little trouble figuring out how I want to connect the diodes and wires.

I also finished wiring the ground side of a sequence of power and flashing LEDs.  I started another sequence of grounds, but didn't finish because I ran out of interest.

I did watch the Tarheels play tonight.  They lost.  Idiots.

The part for the trailer wheel came today.  It looks like it just presses in.  That's good news, I won't have to jack the trailer up.