Day 523

When the alarm went off I turned over and went to sleep for half an hour.  When I woke up I turned over and went back to sleep for another 45 minutes.  I really like being retired.

When I got up the second time I did some surfing and then got up to do the pet stuff and have breakfast.  Then it was outside to change out the yard light.  I got the extension ladder propped up against the post and carefully climbed the ladder.  I had Ellen step on the bottom to keep it from sliding.  Getting it off wasn't really difficult except for the fact that I had to reach around to put a wrench on the bolts without being able to see them.

When I got it off we put it in the car and went to Lowe's.  They sell a similar light, but they were out.  The online reviews said that this similar light was a piece of crap.  So we bought a LED one instead.  The next stop was the pet store to buy cat litter.  Lucy was really disappointed that she didn't get a cookie.  After that it was the post office and Circle C so Lucy could run.  She did 21 fairly long retrieves.  It was very sunny and I think she got hot.

We stopped at the Italian place for lunch.  After lunch we tool Lucy to Tomlinson's.  She hadn't got a treat at the first store, and it was too soon after running to give her anything during lunch.

When we got home I found that we had lucked out.  The bolt pattern for the new light was exactly the same as that for the old one.  No new holes were required.  It was still quite a pain in the ass to get it installed.  I had to hold the light on the other side of the pole with one hand while I tried to get the bolts lined up with the other.  The end result looked fine though.

The doctor called while I was working.  My blood test showed that I'm on my way to being diabetic.  I'm going to have to step up the exercise and quit eating everything that tastes good.

After the light was up I put in about 45 minutes moving gravel.  I've gotten so far down the driveway that it takes a long time to spread any out.  I did manage to get within about 10 feet of the end of the driveway.  Then I took the dog to the mailbox before taking a shower.

I did some surfing and then had dinner.  After dinner we watched a little TV and then a movie.  Ellen is busy getting everything together for her trip tomorrow.

When it got dark I looked out to see if the light works.  It does.  It's brighter than the old light, but its beam is more directional.  That means that the area isn't lit as brightly, but it's OK.