Day 1863

 I got up about 8.  It was raining hard.  It rained hard until the afternoon.  I did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  Then I surfed.  It was 35 degrees, so to cold to try to fix the Traeger.

About 11 we went to Central market to by a bunch of stuff.  I also got Melissa bother cake.  This time it was the correct one.  We also stopped by the post office.  There were two ladies, a 60 yr old and her mother standing near our box.  Neither had a mask.  I told them "thank you for not wearing a mask" as I went by.  Not everyone is an idiot.

We stopped at Mickey D's for lunch.  It wasn't as good as a couple of days ago.  Then we went home.  When we got there it was time to take John to turn in the rental car.  As we were coming back the dealership called to say that Isaac's car was ready.  So I took John there.

When I got home I played games and surfed.  John and Melissa came for dinner.  We had left overs.  Melissa liked the new cake.  After dinner we talked until the appointed 8 curfew.

I didn't bother to stay up until midnight.

Day 1862

 I woke up about 8 and played games for almost an hour.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  I did a very little surfing and then went out to work on the Ranger.

I started by fixing the right side door.  It got bent when the Ranger was shipped here.  I took it off and stood on it to bend it back.  The result seems to be successful.  I also lubed the door latches.  They work a lot better now.

I got out the manual and started through the maintenance stuff.  The oil looks really good, so I don't think I'll change it.  I was going to check the side filters.  I tried to remove one.  After loosening one panel I discovered that the whole back panel has to be removed.  I'll leave that for when I have the tool to remove the fasteners.  It should be here today.

I went on to check the rear end fluid.  The inspection plug is supposed to be torqued to 12 foot pounds.  It wouldn't budge with a breaker bar and I broke the socket.  I gave up on that.

I did have success greasing the 12 suspension zerks.  Even that went bad when I dumped the contents of a grease tube when I was reloading the grease gun.  After that I was hot, greasy, and covered in sweat.  It was also lunch time, so I quit.

I went inside for a quick shower.  Then we all had lunch.  It started raining really hard while we were eating.  The temperature dropped 15 degrees in about 10 minutes.  We sat around talking and surfing until the rain stopped.  Then we went to the post office and the jewelry store.  Melissa got the battery changed in her watch in about 10 minutes.  Then it was back home.

Melissa went to the apartment to surf.  I did some online shopping anf ouidn a tool that should let me get the inspection plug out.  We'll see.

Dinner was hamburgers.  The cover broke on the Traeger.  A screw holding it came out.  I think the screw went under the deck.  I won't know until tomorrow.

We talked until 8, the new quitting time.  I surfed and played games for the rest of the evening.

Day 1861

 I got up about 8 today, did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  Ellen had a doctor's appointment at 10:30, so we couldn't really do anything,  Instead I surfed.  I also did a little bit of shopping at Amazon's bargain page.  I found a couple of things I wanted.

We took Lucy with us when we went to the doctor.  She was really bored.  Apparently Ellen is doing really well.  After the doctor it was Costco for water and dinner stuff.  Then it was the post office and Mickey D's for lunch.  When we got home I went to the garage and did a couple of things.  I put away the battery charger and labelled the new torque wrench and screwdriver bit cases.

I went back to the house and surfed some more.  John and Melissa came over and we talked the afternoon away.  Dinner was the stuff from Costco - chicken Alfredo, Caesar salad, and rolls.  After dinner it was a lot more talking. All of us are appalled at how fake the whole Covid thing is.

They left at 8 again.  It's become tradition.  Our animals get their 8 o'clock snack and so does Reggie.  I spent the rest of the evening playing games.  Ellen watched chick flicks.  One of them she'd seen before.

Day 1860

 We got up at 7:15 and did the pet stuff.  We were on our way to the doctor by 7:43.  It only took us 40 minutes to get to Far West blvd.  There was almost no traffic in either direction the whole way.  

I left Ellen at the doctor and went to a coffee place and a donut shop.  Then I sat in the HEB parking lot and played games while Ellen was in surgery.  There happened to be a pet store there, so I bought dog and cat food.

Ellen was done about 10.  Of course she was out of it when I picked her up.  There was actually a lot more traffic going home than there was coming up.  When we got home I put her to bed.  Then I surfed and played games.  I couldn't do anything else, I had to baby sit her.

John and Melissa came over at 2.  I took John to an Enterprise rental place near Dripping Springs.  This time he got a car.  When we got home I went out and put the new battery cable and dis-connect on the Ranger.  Then I put the battery on the charger.  It only had a 45% charge.

I went back into the house and continued surfing and talking with John.  Melissa came over and started fixing dinner.  It was good.  

After dinner we all talked for hours.  I gave Lucy and Reggie yogurt.  Reggie seemed to like his, but only ate half of it.  Lucy ate cleanup.

When John and Melissa left Ellen watched chick flicks and I surfed.

Day 1859

 I got up about 8, did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  Then I did some cleaning up.  There were bottles to pick up, garbage to take out, the table needed cleaning, and I even straightened out the table and the cowhides underneath it.  Finally, I put away some of the presents that I got.

I went out to the garage and got out my old mountain bike.  I wanted to see how it fit me.  The short answer is that it doesn't.  I'm too old to comfortably lift my leg over the top bar.  That settled whether I'd get a regular e-bike frame or a step through.  I need to get Ellen out to check her.  I'd like her to get a step through rather than a scooter type.

That was pretty much all I actually accomplished today.  I went inside and watched a bunch of e-bike videos.  I found a different vendor that has a bike I like a lot better than the one I found yesterday.  The problem is they aren't shipping them until sometime in January.  l may wait.

John and Melissa came over.  Melissa found a rental car at the airport.  We went out lunch at Torchy's and then went to pick up the car.  We left them at the airport and started home.  We were at Central Market when they called.  The rental place didn't have a car even though the website has taken money for the rental.

We went back and got them.  Melissa felt better because we'd bought her a birthday cake.  John and I surfed, Melissa painted, and Ellen cooked until dinner.  She fixed chicken thighs on the Traeger.  The also cooked some roast for me.  I consider the stuff she fixed for Christmas raw.  So she put some on with the chicken.  It was good.

The cake wasn't Melissa's favorite kind, but it was the only one they had.  It was good though.  After dinner we talked and then everyone surfed.  They went back to the apartment at 8 when I fed the dog her treat.

I watched e-bike videos for the rest of the evening.

Day 1858

 I woke up about 7:30, did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  Daniel wasn't up yet, so I just took all of the stuff out to the truck.  By the time I was done he was up and over at the apartment getting coffee.  I went over there and fetched him.  Ellen didn't come, she said she was sick.

We got in the truck and went to Marble Falls.  Daniel signed up to get his driver's license and car license changed to Colorado while we were traveling.  Because of the backup caused by the Chinese flu he won't be able to do it until about two weeks before they expire.  Then we talked about stuff.

The weather was great - 60 degrees and sunny.  I took him around to several stations.  I would shoot half a dozen shells and then let him shoot.  He did really well.  We got about half way through the course when Ellen called and said to come home.  Isaac and Bella wanted to drive back to Dallas and he needed to go with them.  They are taking his parent's car.  Their car is at the dealership and won't be looked at until Monday.

Melissa was not happy about the car.  She wasn't happy about the new phone she got today either.  The salesman at Costco screwed up the initialization feature.  John spent quite a while screwing with it.  He finally called Verizon, sat on hold, and eventually got a tech that more or less fixed it.  It still has some rough edges though.

We sat around all evening talking.  Melissa did sewing, John worked on her phone, I started the Lego Yoda John and Melissa bought me, and Ellen played scooter.  It was fun.

They left about 8:30.  I spent until 11:30 listening to song covers from a list that I found on the web.  Some of them were really good.  I stopped to go to bed.  There are more to listen to tomorrow.

Day 1857

 I got up about 8, did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  Daniel wasn't up, so I just surfed.  He got up after 9.  We talked for a little while and then he went to the apartment for coffee.

I continued looking for e-bikes.  It turns out that adding a kit to my bike will leave me with a less than optimal solution.  It would be workable, but it wouldn't have some important features or the quality components that a production bike had.  I ended up being pretty sure I'd of the one I wanted to buy.  It's between 50 and 100% more than a kit.  I'm rich.

Later on Ellen found out that Cliffy has an e-bike by the manufacturer that I picked.  He really likes it.  That pretty much cements my decision.

John and Melissa came over with Daniel.  We talked for a while.  John called Isaac, the car was still sick.  John went to look at it.  Melissa started working on dinner.  Ellen was cooking the roast.

Eventually John bought Isaac and his girlfriend.  We spent hours sitting around the kitchen table talking and surfing.  Daniel had all of the NBA games on.  Apparently he'd bet on all of them.  Of course we opened presents.  Everyone got cool stuff.  I think Isaac and Bella liked all of the stuff we'd put aside for them to sell.

Dinner was a production again.  We had roast beef, loaded baked potatoes, and grilled asparagus.  After dinner was more surfing, NBA watching, and talking.  Isaac started playing online poker with his dad.  They won a little.

Melissa wasn't finished.  She fixed bread and cheese about 2 hours after dinner.

John took Issac and his girlfriend home about 8:30.  Daniel went with them.  I spent some time cleaning up.  I made two trips to the garbage and one to the recycle.  The recycle is getting pretty full.  After that we just waited for Daniel to get back.

Daniel wants to go shooting tomorrow, so we'll get up early to go to Marble Falls.  We have to go early because everyone wants to get together to have lunch to celebrate Melissa's birthday.

Day 1856

 I woke up after 8 and played some games before getting up.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast I went to the HEB in Dripping Springs for some last minute food items.  I went there because I thought it would be faster and less crowded.  The problem was the trip was slow due to jerks who couldn't drive the speed limit and construction on RR12.  I took 290 back.  The store was fairly empty, especially the 10 item line, which is what I used.

The order of the day was waiting for the kids to show up.  They didn't show up until 5.  Most of the day was spent talking with John and Melissa, watching car shows, and surfing.  I did go out to put the battery shutoff on the Ranger.  I couldn't because it didn't fit the battery cable.  I ordered one from Amazon.  I also spent quite a bit of time looking at e-bikes.

Melissa spent a lot of time preparing dinner.  Ellen helped a little when I chided her.  We had the brisket Ellen fixed.  It was good.  The rest of the dinner was salad, bread, lobster bisque, and crab legs.  It was quite a meal.  After dinner was a lot of talking.

Isaac and his girlfriend left about 9.  They are staying in Bee Cave.  We got a call a little later.  Their check engine light was on and the engine was making funny noises.  John told them to drive it to the hotel.

After that John and Melissa left.  I sat in the living room and talked with Daniel for a couple of hours.  He and I agree on just about everything.  Then we went to bed.

Day 1855

 I woke up before 9, but played games until 10.  Then I got up and had breakfast.  After about an hour John and Melissa came over.  I left with them and we went over to Circle C for a walk.

When we got back I went out to the garage to put one of the new batteries on the charger.  That devolved into trying to securely fasten the charger to the peg board.  That turned into a comedy of errors involving several different types of peg board hooks and a lot of wasted zip ties.  I finally got what I wanted done.

I went back to the house, had lunch (leftovers) and did some more surfing.  Eventually I went outside and talked with John on the deck for a while.  It was 80 degrees and Melissa came too.  We didn't spend a lot of time out there before the mosquitoes drove us inside.

We did a little more surfing and then ordered dinner from the Italian place.  John and I ad pizza.  Ellen and Melissa had spaghetti and meatballs.  John and I went to pick it up.  He got the food while I made a quick stop at HEB for stuff for tomorrow.

After dinner we all sat around playing games and surfing.  There was very little talking,  It was actually very comfortable.

Day 1854

 I woke up a little after 8.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  I surfed a while and then it was time to go with John and Melissa to Costco.

Because we were early it wasn't too crowded.  We bought $150 worth of groceries.  Then we went to HEB and bought a whole lot more stuff. After that we went home and unloaded everything.

I did a little more surfing and then John and I went to the Texas state surplus place.  It was interesting.  There were bins of knives and hand tools that had been confiscated at airports.  There was also a lot of old office furniture and office stuff like staplers.  John bought some tools and I bought another 5/8 wrench.  We stopped at the post office on the way home.

When we got home it was surfing.  Melissa was knocking herself out cleaning.  She was even scrubbing the floor by hand.  I let her bee, she likes doing it.  She also fixed ham steaks and potatoes for dinner.

After dinner we watched the greatest Christmas movie ever filmed - Diehard.  When it was finished they went home and we went to bed.

Day 1853

 We got up at 5:30, did the pet stuff, and left for the doctor.  We got there in plenty of time, there was almost no cars on the road.  I dropped Ellen off and then went back home.

All I could do today was wait for phone calls, so I just surfed.  They finally called for me to come get Ellen about 1.  I got her, put gas in the car, went to the post office, and bought some lunch.  We were home about 2.

Ellen was completely out of it.  I put her to bed and went back to surfing.  John and Melissa came over about an hour later.  We sat around, talked, and surfed while Ellen snored.

Dinner was sandwiches made up of leftovers.  After dinner we watched the last two Mandalorian episodes.  Apparently there won't be a 3rd season.  That means we'll be cancelling Disney.

We went to bed after the show was done.

Day 1852

 We got up about 8.  After pet stuff and breakfast I did some internet shipping.  I wanted to get brighter lightbulbs for the truck's fog lights.  No  luck.  I went outside to look at access to the lights.  That lead me to looking under the hood for the first time.  It was pretty impressive.

I ended up getting out the step stool from the garage.  John came out and we talked for quite a while.  Then we both went into the house.  Melissa followed shortly.

We all sat around surfing and talking for a while.  Then we went to the Cajun place for lunch.  After that we went to Central Market.  We bought shrimp for dinner and a roast for Christmas dinner.  From there it was back home.

We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting at the table talking and surfing.  Ellen fixed the shrimp on the Traeger for dinner.  After dinner we watched the Mandalorian on the TV.

It was early to bed.  Ellen needs to be at the doctor for surgery at 6:30 tomorrow.

Day 1851

 I got up about 8 and played games until after 9.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast it was surfing.  I also did a few little things in preparation for John and Melissa.  I took some stuff to the apartment and garage.  I also finished preparing the guest bedroom.

We went out to get the mail and a few things at the grocery store.  Then we came home for lunch.  While we were out the alarm company called saying that the alarm wasn't responding to queries.  I called them and was on hold for half an hour.  When they finally answered the tech ran a query.  The alarm worked fine.  Oh well.

After that it was surfing until John and Melissa showed up around 4.  We talked for awhile and then they went to the apartment to unpack.  Then they came over and we had dinner.  Ellen fixed steaks on the Traeger.

After dinner was hours of talking.  About 10:30 we called it quits and went to bed.

Day 1850

 I woke up about 8.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  After that I did a little internet shopping.  When that was done we went to an estate sale.  I scored a couple of small items.

We were completely out of bird seed, so we went to Tractor Supply.  We bought 105 lbs of it.  Then we stopped in Dripping Springs for lunch.  The last stop was Home Depot for some stainless steel cleaner and water softener salt.

When we got home I put away the salt and put the bird seed in the containers.  I also mounted the two battery powered lights in the shed.  They were my estate sale score.

After that was a little surfing.  Then there was a lot of TV.  I watched half a dozen episodes of Roadkill.  Ellen fixed sausage in the middle of it.  About 9 I got tired and surfed for the rest of the evening.

These last few days have been quite a change from the heavy pace I had for the first5 or six weeks we were here.

Day 1849

 I woke up at 7 today, but played games until almost 9.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.

John and Melissa are coming tomorrow, so today was cleaning day.  I started out by clearing off the table and cleaning it.  Then I started on the kitchen counters and sink.  That took quite a while.  When that was done I took out the garbage.  I also took some stuff out to the garage and put it away.  I plugged in the refrigerator and the air freshener.  That makes the place fairly livable.

It was cold last night - mid 20's.  It warmed up to 70 though.  I had to change from a heavy shirt to a t-shirt.  After lunch we went to the post office.  Ellen filled out a whole bunch of Christmas cards yesterday and they needed to be mailed.  Then we stopped at HEB for a couple of things.  We also stopped at Tomlinson's to buy Lucy a treat.

We cut Lucy's toe nails when we got home.  She really didn't enjoy the process.  She did enjoy the after dogacure treat though.

The rest of the afternoon was surfing.  Dinner was BLT's.  After dinner was more surfing while Ellen watched chick flicks.

Day 1848

 We got up at 8, did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  Then we left to go to Ellen's eye appointment.  It was up at Far West Blvd, but we were there in about half an hour.  I sat in the car while she went in.

After she was finished the last thing I wanted to do was go home.  So we went to Harbor Freight instead.  I needed a 5/8 wrench to put in the truck.  It's the only way to remove the trailer hitch now.  They had what I wanted, but they were sold out.  I tried both Lowe's and Home Depot also, neither had what I wanted.

It was only 40 degrees, so I stopped for coffee.  When that was open we went to lunch at a place we hadn't been to in a long time.  It was OK, but a little expensive  Did I mention I didn't want to go home.  After lunch though there wasn't much else to do.

When I got home I surfed for awhile until the temp warmed up to 55 or so.  Then I got out the new leaf blower and blew the leaves off the parking area and the deck.  The new blower isn't as powerful as the 110 one, but it does the job.

When that was finished I had Ellen cut my hair on the deck.  It was warm enough and I really needed a haircut.  Then it was TV followed by TV.  Dinner was leftovers.

After dinner we watched a movie and then more TV shows.

Day 1847

 I woke up a little after 8.  It was cold, but I still just got up and did the pet stuff and breakfast.  When that was done I went to work on the surplus computer.

My original intent was to delete all of the applications on it since I couldn't reset it.  I started with Firefox.  Just getting the history stuff off it was a nightmare because it was so slow.  After a couple of hours I decided that no one is going to want this thing.  I wiped all of the identifying info, changed the password, and put it in the closet.

I really wanted to tie up loose ends, so I went into the guest bedroom and finished cleaning it up.  It's ready if the nephew comes for Christmas.

After that it was a little surfing and lunch.  Then we went to the post office and the grocery store.  We went to Randall's because they have some stuff I wanted that HEB doesn't have.

When we got home I went out to the garage and drilled out a hole for a model Ellen is putting together.  It was the last useful thing I did today.

The rest of the day was a little surfing followed by a lot of TV.  I'm getting really tired of surfing.

Day 1846

 I didn't get up until almost 10 today.  I actually woke up at 7, again at 8, and then 10.  Finally I got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that I took out the garbage - it was 33 degrees out.

I decided to start to acquire stuff for an electric bike.  Finding a kit was easy, and they are not very expensive.  The problem is finding a battery that will match.  All of the batteries are right at the limit of what will fit on the bike.  I'm really not sure if the ones that are available will fit at all.

After looking at kits and batteries for hours I decided to quit and try more some other day.  Instead I went back to the computer we want to give away.  Ellen found a way she thought would do a factory reset.  It took a lot of time to find out it didn't work.  That's because the computer is so slow.  It takes several minutes just to boot.  I gave up on that, too.  I'll have to delete all of the applications by hand.

After a little surfing it was time for dinner - leftovers.  After dinner I did some more surfing and then switched to TV for the rest of the night.

Day 1845

 I woke up about 8:15 and lay in bed for a little while.  then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that it was take out a lot of garbage.  I also switched the container in the apartment that had the nephew's stuff for another one.  That was about all the chores for today.

I spent hours today cleaning off files from the computer we're going to give away.  I finally got everything I wanted on a hard drive.  I used a "shredder" program to kill all of the files that don't want anyone to be able to recover.  Then I did a de fragment, which makes recovery more difficult.

The final jog will be a factory reset.  I'll do that tomorrow if what Ellen found works.

After that it was lunch and surfing.  Eventually we left to go to a pet store for cat food.  We also stopped at the post office.  There was a package there.  There was another at the gate.

When we got home I did a little more surfing and then started watching TV.  That's what I felt like doing, and I was sick of listening to chick flicks.  I watched TV for the rest of the night.

Ellen fixed meatloaf for dinner.  It was really good.

Day 1844

 I didn't get up until 9.  I purposely slept in because it felt good.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast it was outside.

I installed the new hitch pin lock on the truck.  It was easy and didn't take much time.  Then I put away all of the stuff form the guest bedroom that belonged in the garage.  That took quite a bit longer.  That pretty much completed the tasks I had for today.  I went back inside and surfed for awhile while Ellen worked on her model.  I also plugged in the two tablets and computer that we want to give away.

Just before noon we left for the grocery store.  We needed quite a few groceries.  We stopped at Dominos and the coffee place for lunch first.  We sat outside with the dog.  We had a Hawaiian pizza, so she got some pineapple.

When we got back home I started to clean off the two tablets that we want to give away.  After checking everything that was stored on them I used the "set to factory default" function to clear both.

The computer was a lot harder.  First of all, it's dog slow.  It can take 30 seconds for File Explorer to come up.  I really can't see how I lived with it.  It also had some sort of problem that kept it from recognizing a USB drive.  That took quite awhile to fix.  I'm still not sure how I managed to do it.

Then I started examining and moving files.  After several hour's work I managed to go through the Download and Document directories.  I still have to go through Music, Pictures, and a few others.  Ellen said there's a way to do a factory reset.  I hope so, otherwise it's going to be a long hard process removing the apps.

Ellen fixed bacon wrapped quail on the Traeger for dinner.  It was really good.

I quit about 9.  I'm going to see if I can pry Ellen away from chick flicks so I can watch something else before bedtime.

Day 1843

 I got up about 8:15 this morning.  After pet stuff and breakfast I had very little to do.  There was a little more stuff to do in the guest bedroom, but I didn't feel like it.  So I surfed.  Ellen retrieved an airbrush and a couple of half finished models from the back storage building.  They've been there for 10 years.

One model is a Model T that she was building.  The other was a self propelled canon that I was building.  She started working on the Model T.  I kept surfing.  I'll probably finish the model when I get some adhesive.

About 11 it was time to go to the post office.  We had a package that needed to be mailed.  I also wanted to got to an estate sale and Rudy's.  I actually got what I wanted at the sale.  I bought two plastic storage boxes for $2.25 a piece.  I filled them up with the stuff for the nephew when we got home.

The rest of the day was surfing - did I mention it was raining?  Ellen switched to chick flicks around dinner time.  Dinner was mac and cheese with ham.

After dinner was more surfing until I got bored and did some reading.

Day 1842

 I woke up at 9, I didn't sleep well last night.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  After that I did a little surfing.  Then I attacked the next items on the todo list - put on the new trailer hitch and clean up the guest room.

The trailer hitch was easy and didn't take long.  The guest room took hours.  I cleaned out the closet.  A little bit of the stuff stayed, but most went either to the nephew or Goodwill.  I also had a bunch of old Legs that I set aside for the nephew.  I even found a few knives.  I also found a cool multi-tool which I put in the Ranger.  There's also a box of other stuff for the garage that I took out, but didn't put away.

While I was doing that Ellen was cleaning out the files.  There was a whole bunch of Medicare stuff from years past.  I sure seem to spend a lot of expensive time in the hospital.  By the time we were finished it was after 2.

We got in the car and took all of the stuff to Goodwill.  Then we had a really late lunch at Sonic.  There was just enough time to stop at CVS before Ellen had to go teach the kids.  Just after she left the Dewalt blower and trimmer came.  I opened the box and put both of them together.  Then I surfed until dinner - leftovers.

After dinner was TV until 9.  That got boring, so I surfed for the rest of the evening.

Day 1841

 I woke up at 8, but played games for awhile before getting up.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  I did a little surfing and then went out to take out the garbage.

When I got to the garbage can the package with the diodes was out by the gate opener.  It wasn't there last night.  Hurray.  I could finish the Ranger.  I went back to the garage and started work.

It wasn't hard.  All I had to do was solder the diode to a lead and connect the lead to the timer.  That went well.  The most work was getting out the stuff I put away when I finished the earlier work.  The new soldering iron and heat gun made it easy.  I also shortened to the radio.  It was almost a foot longer than it needed to be.  The last step was cleaning the windshield inside and out.  We could barely see through it when the sun shined on it.

It's really great to have the Ranger done.  Now all that remains is to wait and see if the battery still dies.

While I was out the hitch people called.  The hitch was in.  So we went out to get it.  I also wanted to buy Ellen lunch since she spent the morning shortening and patching my pants.

We ended up eating at Central Market because the place we liked to go to on 290 died due to the Chinese flu.  We actually saw the owner at the store.  Then we went home.

I unloaded things and then surfed for the rest of the afternoon.  Dinner was leftovers from lunch.

After dinner was TV and some game playing.

Day 1840

 We got up about a quarter to 8, did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  Then we went to Ellen's eye doctor appointment.  She was there for quite awhile.  The doctor said he could justify the surgery to Medicare.

While that was going on I made an appointment for a yearly checkup.  I also did some internet shopping.  When she was done we went over to a place that had the trailer hitch I wanted.  They didn't have it in stock, but said they would have it tomorrow.  By then it was about noon, so we went to the post office.

There was a lot of stuff in the mailbox, including a couple of letters from Medicare about my surgery in August.  If we are reading it right, they sure don't pay much for the services.  We went to the Italian place for lunch.  Of course Lucy got a treat at Tomlinson's.  The last stop was HEB.

When we got home I surfed and Ellen went to teach the kids.  I had a frozen dinner for dinner.

After dinner was TV.

It felt good to have a day not working.  I won't be doing anything tomorrow, someone stole the package with the diode.

Day 1839

 I got up a little after 8, did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  Then it was back out to the garage.

I started out by looking through all of my train stuff for a diode.  The only ones I found were electronics ones which wouldn't handle the power.  So I made a quick trip back into the house and ordered some from Amazon.  My only alternative was driving to Fry's.  They should be here tomorrow.

Then it was back to the garage.  I started to work out how the switch for the dash worked.  I needed a 12V supply, so I got one out of the well house.  It didn't have clips on the leads, so I got out the new soldering iron and installed some.  That took linger than it should have because I kept doing things wrong.  The new soldering iron was great though.

I used the supply to identify the switch leads.  Then I went to look at the leads in the Ranger that I removed from the old switch.  I found something puzzling.  Both were ground wires.  It turns out that I'd marked a +12 wire as a ground when I was doing rewiring a few days ago.  It's good I did, it would have caused a short to ground.  I fixed the wiring and removed the extraneous wires.  By then it was after 1 and time for lunch.

After lunch and some surfing I went back out.  I finished the wiring harness for the dash switch.  Then I installed the switch and the harness.  That actually completed the wiring except for one wire that I can't do until the diode gets here.  I tightened down all of the terminals and tested everything.  To my delight everything worked.  The phantom leak in the interior light is still there though.  I have no idea why.

After the successful test I put the Ranger back together.  I can finish the last wire under the hood.  Then I put away all the tools and cleaned up.  There was quite a mass of wire that I removed.  It all went in the garbage.

When I was finished I got Ellen and Lucy and we took a ride around the development in the Ranger.  Lucy really enjoyed the smells.  The rig really needs a tune up.  I put it back in the garage with a battery charger on it.

Ellen fixed BLT's for dinner.  After dinner I surfed and watched some TV.  It's great to have the Ranger back together.  I hope the battery drain issue is fixed.  It will  be awhile before I know.

Day 1838

 I woke up at 8 and got out of bed about 9.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  After that it was back out to the garage.

The first task wasn't on the todo list.  I had to put new heat shrink on the interior light wire, tape it up, and put it back in the wire protector.  I also got the first thing on the list done, connecting the clock.  Then it was on to figuring out the timer box.  That took the rest of the day.

It turned out that the schematic that I'd put in the box had an error in it.  I finally figured that out.  I decided to trace every wire and make a new schematic.  That took awhile.  Then I got out the multi-meter and started measuring things.  I wanted to make sure that my schematic matched what was really happening.  That's when I ran into Chinese engineering.

The IN input on the timer relay is connected to +12 on the battery.  For some reason when the relay is off there is 12V between it and the NO relay output.  If I try to measure the current flow (.1A), the timer turns on.  If I Ohm between the NO terminal and the GND input there is no connection.  I'm not sure how that could happen.  I do think that that potential is what drains the battery.  

I didn't get any lunch and it was about 4, so I decided to quit for the day.  Also I was being attacked by mosquitoes.  After some time I went back out to run a couple of tests that proved that the circuit works the way I want it to.  

All this accomplished three things.  I have a correct schematic.  I discovered a design error - I need a diode in one of the connections.  Finally, I located how to put the dash switch to insure that there is no leakage from the circuit.

All in all the effort was successful, I'm just unhappy that it took most of the day.  Hopefully I have a diode in the railroad stuff so I can finish up tomorrow.

Ellen fixed bacon wrapped chicken for dinner.  After that it was TV and a little reading.

Day 1837

 I woke up at 8, but didn't get up until almost 10.  I had a cool game going.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  Then it was out to the garage.

I started by making a couple of connections that I'l left from yesterday.  Then I started investigating how the radio control box worked.  Fortunately I'd left a schematic in the box.  Unfortunately there were parts I couldn't under stand.  I started with one of the box inputs.  I traced out one of the inputs.  Things didn't make sense.  After a lot of work I removed one of the switches in the circuit.  It was broken.  That cost me a lot of time.

The next step was a wire pair the disappeared under the body.  I had to take some of the flooring out to trace it.  It turned out to be an unused wire.  By then it was 1:30 and time for lunch.

After lunch I put the flooring together and started on some other wiring.  I decided to change the way the battery and clock maintenance were wired.  Then I tore out the top button wiring.  I'm going to need to use that switch to replace the broken one.

By then it was almost 5.  I wrote a todo list for tomorrow and went inside.  After some surfing Ellen fixed sausage and pancakes for dinner.

After dinner I surfed the whole evening.  I'm hoping that I get the whole rig together tomorrow.

Day 1836

I woke up about 8:30.  After pet stuff and breakfast we left to get the car a safety certificate.  I had Ellen drop me off at Lowe's while she got the certificate.

I walked around Lowe's looking for a terminal block.  No luck.  I tried several combinations of things before settling on the simple - two bolts in an electrical box.  By then Ellen was finished and picked me up.  We stopped at the post office and then went home.

I went out and started work in the garage.  Finding the right combination of bolts and lock nuts for the box took quit awhile.  Then I installed the box.  Somewhere along the way I tore a label off a wire - that's tomorrow's problem.  I ignored the label and started reconnecting everything that I took off yesterday,

I stopped for lunch about 1, did a little surfing, and went back out.  I got rid of a lot of unnecessary wire.  It took time though because I had to make a lot of new connections.  I worked until after 5.  I had two connections left to do, but they were fighting me, so I just quit.

Ellen fixed ham and cheese omelets for dinner.  After dinner I watched some TV and a movie.  Ellen is taping every damn Christmas chick flick that's broadcast.  She'll be watching them until the fourth of July.

Day 1835

 I woke up about 8 and got out of bed about 9.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  After that I took out the garbage and put the ranger in the garage.

I spent a lot of time figuring out the wiring I'd installed.  I'd done it over time, one device at a time.  Nothing was labelled.

The backup camera was hosed, so I removed it.  Just tracing those wires was a chore.  Then I started tracing power and ground leads.  I labelled every one I found and removed the connections from the terminal block.  Eventually I'll install a secondary terminal block under the dash.  Unfortunately I will have to go buy one.

I managed to identify all of the wiring except for the wiring of the power delay.  I use that to make the radio and interior light turn off after the key is turned off.  I spent a lot of time trying to find out why the interior light is half on with the switch off.  I didn't come up with anything.

I didn't come up with anything as a cause for the battery dying.  The only wire connected to the non-switched terminal is a factory wire.  At least I think it is.

I quit at that point since I'd been working more than 5 hours on it.  Tomorrow I'll get a terminal block and install it.  I'll reconnect everything and see what happens.

I had a phone call from Grant.  He's going to get the set up paperwork to me.  He says the government is likely to keep the estate from being closed for at least 6 months.

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening surfing.  Ellen fixed me a mojito and ham for dinner.

I'm getting really tired of Christmas chick flicks.  Adding Christmas to an already crappy genre should be considered criminal.

Day 1834

 We woke up at 8, but played games until 9.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  It was a lot warmer than yesterday.

When that was done there was a little surfing.  The it was time to get some stuff accomplished.  I took the rest of the Christmas stuff back to the apartment.  then I took the recycling and the garbage to the cans.  That took three trips.  Then the cans went out to the street.

Ellen had to go to the doctor, so that was the next activity.  It turns out that her thyroid nodes are bigger.  She's going to have it removed just before Christmas.  Then we went to HEB for some much needed groceries.  After that it was back home and leftovers for lunch.

There was a package at the gate that contained some lights for the playhouse.  I took them out and installed them.  I also took off the door latch and modified it to make it work better.  After that I'd run out of things to do.

It was warm, so I wanted to drive Lucy around the neighborhood in the Ranger.  Unfortunately the battery was dead.  I put a charger on it.  I also have a project for tomorrow - find the battery drain.

I did some reading and then watched TV until dinner.  Ellen fixed ham.  After dinner I watched a movie and some more TV.

Day 1833

 We woke up at 7, but didn't get out of bed until 9.  It was another cold morning, a little below freezing.  After breakfast and pet stuff it was time to get out the Christmas tree.

The latch on the tree container broke while I was hauling it into the house.  The container was expensive, around $100.  I assembled the tree and then took the container back to the garage to try to fix it.  I tried several ideas to fix it, but I couldn't assemble the parts I needed.  I finally decided on quick and dirty - two bolts with wing nuts.  It looks like it will work fine.

The I went out and put the lights up at the gate and on the back deck.  Untangling them took some time, maybe more than the actual installation.  

After that it was lunch and some surfing.  I was tired of accomplishing things.  Ellen went to teach the kids.  A little after she left Hooch called.  He wanted to talk about Mom's estate.  Apparently there's some complications due to Oregon law.  He really just wanted to discuss it with someone.  We decided to hire a lawyer.  The whole call took almost 2 hours.

I called Ellen and told her to bring home some food.  She brought hamburgers.  They were OK, but really big.

After dinner was TV.

Devon has been acting strange all day.  It's like he's really disoriented.  I hope that polyp isn't growing back.