Day 2227

 I woke up after 8 and played games until 9:30.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  This was the last day of 2021, so it was time to put away the Christmas stuff.

I brought the boxes from the garage so Ellen could start dismantling the tree.  Then I took out some garbage and brought in some paper towels.  I also took down the lights on the gate and the lights on the deck.  I tested the expensive lights I'd bought when we put up the lights.  They are truly dead.  I threw them away.

I went back into the house and packed up the gift shirt I got to send to L. L. Bean.  Then I helped pack the tree away.  When everything was boxed I took the boxes back to the apartment.  It was too early for lunch, so I did some more searching for safes.  Then lunch was a sandwich.

We had errands to do, so after lunch we loaded the old TV stand from the guest bedroom into the truck.  We also loaded some other stuff that had been sitting around for Goodwill.  The trip was efficient.  Goodwill, post office, UPS store, Academy, pet store, and Doc's.  The last was because I developed a need for a Guinness.  We sat outside (it was high 70's) and had an appetizer.  I got to watch WSU lose it's bowl game.  At least they made it close.

We got home about 4.  I surfed and Ellen worked on another Metal Earth model.  Dinner was a frozen pizza.  I was sick of leftovers.

After dinner Ellen continued work on the model.  I surfed.  The fireworks were really excessive.  I even went outside to look, but couldn't see much.  We went to bed before 12.

Day 2226

 I woke up at 7:30 and played games until a little after 8.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  Ellen had a haircut appointment in the morning, so I surfed until she left.  Then It was time to get some stuff done.

I made a couple of trips to the garage, and one to the trailer, moving stuff from the house.  Then I looked at the sink drain n the apartment.  It does look like it leaks a little, but I couldn't get it to.  I'm going to wait until John comes back to ask for advice.

After that I went back into the house and called Home Depot.  I told them I wanted a firm delivery date.  The lady I was talking to put me on hold.  After about 15 minutes she hung up.  I gave a bad review on the phone review.  I called again and actually got someone who spoke English as a native language.  He put me on hold for a short time and came back to say that the safe was lost.  Better yet, it's now out of stock.  At last he immediately issued a refund.

I spent then next hour+ looking for an alternative.  I couldn't find any I like.  I'm going to call a safe place in Buda tomorrow.  They're expensive though.

Ellen came home about then.  She'd been to HEB and brought home some cold cuts.  I made a sandwich for lunch.  After that it was surfing.

Eventually I got sick of that and switched to TV.  We watched three movies from the web (Disney+ and Prime).  We stopped for dinner - leftovers.

After that it was more surfing until bedtime.

Day 2225

 I woke up at 8 and played games until 8:30.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast, followed by some surfing.  John and Melissa came by a little after 9 to say goodbye.

After they left I started working on the Star Wars LEGO.  I finished it and put it in the guest bedroom.  Then I went out to do errands.  I took the recycle to the can.  then I took the ice chest Ellen used for the turkey back to the storage building.  I also turned on a heater in the apartment bathroom where they said there was some water on the floor.

Finally I started cleaning out the TV packing material in the garage.  I took the pile of Styrofoam to the garbage.  It just barely fit.  Then I cut up unused cardboard and put it in the recycle.  When I was finished both cans were full and I put them out on the street.

By then it was 78 with 85% humidity.  I was hot, sweaty, and tired (it got up to 83 later).  I went back inside and surfed until lunch.  I had a HEB salad that was nearing being "too old".  I continued to surf for several hours.  Melissa texted to say they thought the water in the apartment was from a leak in the sink drain.  I decided it was a tomorrow problem.

I finally got guilty about not doing thing and started to look into starting work on the RC truck again.  I put batteries in the transmitter and got out the battery and charger.  The charger is quite complex and I took quite a while reading the instructions.  Then I tried to figure out to wire in lights.  I think I can use an output of the speed controller, but hours of searching didn't uncover any documentation on the output.  I sent an email to Traxxas asking about it.

The end result is I'm ready to start work on the truck whenever I want.

By then it was time for dinner.  It was leftovers again, but still good.  After dinner was TV.  First it was a movie, and then it was some old comedy shows.  I'd forgotten how funny they are.

Day 2224

 I woke up at 7:30, turned over, and went back to sleep until 9:30.  I was making up for yesterday's 6 AM wakeup.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.

After a little surfing I started working on the LEGO Star Wars thing.  I ran into a problem when I couldn't find one of the parts.  It turns out that it's the first kit I've had where the parts bag didn't contain all of the parts.  The part I was looking for was in another, unmarked, bag.

I didn't get much done before John and Melissa came over.  I continued for a while while the women sewed and John surfed.  Then we decided to go to see the Tesla gigafactory.  We drove buy it on the freeway.  I wanted to go on the service road, but couldn't find the entrance.  I drove up and down the freeway looking for it.

By then it was past lunch time so we went to the Cajun place.  It was crowded event though it was past 1:30.  After lunch we made short stops at the post office, bank, pet store, and Costco.  Then it was home.

When we got home the women went back to sewing.  John and I embarked on a Roadkill marathon.  We watched until dinner (leftovers), and then until about 8:30.  By then we were Roadkilled out.  John and Melissa went home.  They are going back to Dallas tomorrow.  I'm not sure they'll be coming back.

Ellen surfed and I did LEGO for the rest of the evening.

Day 2223

 We got up at 6 and did the pet stuff.  Daniel got up and packed.  We said our good byes and saw him off.  Then we had breakfast.

After a little surfing we left to go to Tomlinson's.  We needed more cat food.  We also stopped at the Dunkin Donuts and bought half a dozen sugar donuts for John.  We gave them to him and then went back to the house.

I called Home Depot.  They had closed my complaint, I don't know why.  They promised to have it delivered by Home Depot rather than a contractor.  We'll see.

I worked some moe on the Star Wars LEGO I got for Christmas.  I completed step 3 (of 6) and sorted the parts for step 4.  At that point I was tired of working on it.  I switched to a little game playing followed by  TV.

John and Melissa came over and we talked for a little bit.  Then the women sewed while John and I watched car shows.  Eventually we ate lunch.  There is an amazing amount of food in the refrigerator, so it was easy to fix a good lunch.

After lunch we continued with TV and sewing for a while.  Then John and Melissa took the dog for a walk.  I continued watching TV, and might have napped.  Eventually John and Melissa came back and it was a replay of women sewing while John and I watched car shows.

Dinner was also a replay.  We had a good selection of leftovers to choose from.  After dinner was more sewing/TV.  A package came and John and I walked out to the mailbox to get it.  John brought the dog.  The dog was very tired by the time we got back.

The rest of the evening was TV until the in-laws left.  Then it was surfing.

Day 2222

 We got up at 7:30 and did the pet stuff and I had breakfast.  Ellen prepped some bacon and pancakes for everyone, but she didn't tell me about her plans until after I'd eaten.

Eventually John and Melissa showed up.  Daniel was still in bed, but he got up a little later.  Everyone had breakfast and talked.  When breakfast was over Daniel, John, and Melissa went over to the apartment.  I surfed for a while and then got out the LEGO that Isaac had given me.    I didn't get very far before Isaac and his girlfriend showed up.

Shortly after that we all left for Wimberley.  We stopped at "Bald Peak", a hill outside of Wimberley.  After climbing a long steep set of stairs we were rewarded with a fantastic 360 degree view of the area.  We got back in the cars and went to Jacob's Pool.  We'd never been there.  It's a really deep water filled hole.  I'm not sure why anyone would scuba dive in it.

From there we went to a winery outside of Wimberley.  We did some wine tasting.  Ellen and I found two we liked enough to buy bottles of.  There was a food truck there and we had pizza.  The weather was nice - mid 70's.

After that we went home for talk and birthday cake.  As always the Central Market cakes are great.  When the cake was done we talked for a while, then the kids played games and everyone else hit electronic devices.

I fixed mojitos.  They were actually pretty good.  At least that's what Melissa and Isaac's girlfriend said.  Maybe they were just being polite.

That was pretty much it for the rest of the evening.  There really wasn't any dinner.  Eventually the kids got tired of games so the TV was turned onto football.  Everyone turned in a little early because we all have to get up at 6 tomorrow.

Day 2221

 We got up at 7:30 and did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  After breakfast we played with the TV until John and Melissa came over.  We added a couple of apps and looked at all of the free channels that came from LG.  There's about 150 of them.  Between them and the app channels there's no real reason to have DirecTV if you are connected to the internet all of the time.

Eventually John and Melissa came over.  Ellen and Melissa worked on dinner while John and I watched car related shows.  The nephews and the nephew's girlfriend showed up about 2.  We had dinner almost immediately.  There was smoked turkey (really good), Traegerized shrimp (OK), stuffing, mashed, potatoes, etc.  It was all really good.

After dinner we were all in a food coma.  John and I watched TV for a while and then we hooked up the kid's XBox so they could play.  Apparently it's a great game TV.  After a couple of hours everyone was ready for dessert - peach pie.  It was great.  After that it was more games until Isaac and his girlfriend went to their hotel room.  Daniel stayed with us.

John and I reclaimed the TV and watched motorcycles shows until about 10.  Then he went home and I did some cleanup.  Then I went to bed.  I was tired.  I was too tired to opened the presents (six of them) from Hooch's family.  I texted him and said I'd call tomorrow.

Day 2220

 I woke up a little after 6.  I couldn't get back to sleep, probably because last night I fell asleep at 9.  I played games until about 7 and then got up.  After breakfast and pet stuff I went out to the garage.  Ellen went to HEB for some more last minute grocery shopping.

The first thing I did was take all of the packing material for the new TV to the garage.  It was way too big and bulky to keep in the house.  Then I got out the ladder and used it to bring down an old TV box.  By old I mean it was the first flat panel LCD TV we bought back about 2006 or 2006.  I wanted to use it to help build a box for the old LG TV.  John and Melissa want it.

After that I went back to the house.  There wasn't anything else to do until John and Melissa came over, so I surfed.

Eventually they came over.  We planned out how we were going to connect the TV and commenced to do it.  Overall things went well.  John and I lifted the TV without much problem while Melissa connected the cables.  The only problem was we forgot to tighten the lag bolts on the mount.  We lifted the TV off the wall while Melissa tightened them.  Then we hung it back on.  The initialization of the TV took a while, but when it was done everything worked perfectly.

The next step was to pack up the old TV.  John and I carried it out to the garage.  Then all four of us worked on constructing a box for it.  We used pieces of the new TV box to build the base and sides.  Then we built the cover using the old LCD box.  The result works really well.

About halfway through that project I left to go back to the house.  There were plenty of hands to build the box.  I got to work putting the living room back together.  It took quite a while to move furniture and reconnect wires.  I finished that about the time the others finished the box.

Everyone came back to the house and had lunch.  After lunch we sort of broke up into surfing ans sewing.  About 4:30 the new wi-fi antenna showed up.  We took it outside and I held the ladder and John replaced the antenna.  Then Ellen configured everything.  They now have good wi-fi in the apartment again.

John and Melissa came back to the house.  He and I watched TV while Ellen and Melissa fixed dinner.  The new TV is amazing.

Brad called just as we were sitting down to dinner.  I went out to the deck and talked to him for quite a while.  He's doing well.

I went back inside for dinner.  Afterwards we talked for a while and then everyone watched the greatest Christmas movie ever - Die Hard.  Did I mention the new TV is amazing.

John and Melissa went home after the movie.  I did a little surfing and then went to bed.

Day 2219

 We woke up at 8 and got up to do pet stuff and have breakfast.  When that was done I went over to the garage to check on the wifi extender and the phone amplifier.  It turned out that the extender had died.  Ellen ordered another one.  I moved the amplifier to the inside of the apartment.  That improved things somewhat, but the basic problem is that the hardware is flaky.

After that Ellen, Melissa, and I went to Central Market.  It was packed.  There was no where to park.  We ended up parking in the boot store's parking lot.  Of course that meant there were a lot of people inside.  That made getting around inside a chore.  We bought fish, bread, and bakery goods.  Then we left and went home.

By then it was almost noon.  John and Melissa came over and we had lunch and talked.  After surfing John said he was up for working on the TV.  I told him to keep surfing and I went to work clearing the area in front of the TV.  I moved furniture, disconnected and untangled wires, and vacuumed up all of the dust.  It took quite a while.

After that John helped me take down the TV.  I was going to do the wire work myself, but he wanted to help.  We removed all of the old and unused wires from the wall.  Then we disconnected the unused wires from the preamp and connected the new cable to the blu-ray.  Finally we strung the three new HDMI cables in the wall.

That process took hours.  We were both tired when it was done.  The last thing we did was partially unpack the new TV and move the wall mounts from the old TV to the new one.  John went back to surfing and drinking wine.  I spent some time installing the new bottom wire cover.  Then I joined everyone for dinner after making a milk punch.

After dinner we talked and surfed together for an hour or so.  Then John and Melissa went back to the apartment.  We surfed for the rest of the evening.  TV was not an options.

Day 2218

 I woke up a little after 8 and played games until 9:30.  Then Ellen did the pet stuff and I had breakfast.  After that I surfed for a while while Ellen dealt with asshole issues.

Ellen's sister texted to say that they'd be here at 2.  We finished with Devon's ear drops so Ellen made a vet appointment at 5.

When Ellen was finished we left to go to a Christmas craft sale in north Austin.  It was actually fairly neat.  We ended up buying a couple of small items for gifts.  On the way back we stopped at a Japanese market for some soy sauce and sesame seeds.  We also stopped at the gift shop next door and I bought Patty a metal lawn rabbit.

Traffic on Mopac sucked.  There was a truck stopped in the toll lane.  The other three lanes were stop and go because everyone had to look at it.  Assholes.  We stopped at the post office and then went home.  Traffic sucked at the Y, too.

We did some cleanup when we got home, mainly putting things away.  Then we had a late lunch and surfed.  John and Melissa were over an hour late due to traffic.  Surprise, surprise.

I took Devon to the vet while Ellen stayed home to smoke the ham.  The vet said his ears were fine.  The vet said he wasn't too thin, but don't let him get any thinner.

We had dinner when I got home and then talked until about 9.  John is going to deliver some books for Isaac in the morning.  Then we're going to debug the wi-fi in the apartment.  Apparently it's stopped working.

Day 2217

 I woke up a little after 8 and got up after playing games for a while.  After pet stuff and breakfast it was surfing.  I really had nothing of importance to do.  So I helped Ellen with the wash.

I didn't want to work on the RC truck because I wasn't interested in testing and possibly debugging electronics.  Instead I went through version 2 of a search for the TV stand.  I made a careful search of the garage, apartment, the apartment attic, and both storage areas.  I also went through every cabinet and closet in the house.  I couldn't find the stand anywhere.  I give up.

After that disappointing effort I surfed until lunch time.  After lunch I took a walk.  I was a nice warm day with a breeze - perfect for a walk.  When I got back I wasn't overly tired.

I was tired of surfing, so I sat down and watched TV.  That was a lot more enjoyable.  I did have a hard time staying awake at times.

Ellen tried to fix waffles for dinner, but the waffle iron wouldn't work.  So dinner morphed into sausage and hash browns.  After dinner it was more TV and listening to an hour long interview with Elon Musk on YouTube.  It was very interesting.

Day 2216

 I woke up a little after 8 and got up.  I didn't feel like games.  After pet stuff and breakfast it was time for a couple of needed activities.  I called Home Depot while Ellen called her lawyer friend.

After a short fight with the Home Depot phone tree I got a real person.  She was really helpful.  She said that it was very unusual for the delay in delivery.  She opened a "ticket" on the problem and promised resolution within 72 hours.  I hope she's right.

Ellen got the FFL info from the lawyer and I forwarded it to the CG guy.  I also wrote out a check for payment.  Ellen was filling out a huge number of Christmas cards while I was doing this.  When she was done I took everything to the post office.  I had to park on the lawn because the parking lot was completely full.

When I was done there I went to Wally World.  It was packed.  Unfortunately they didn't have the shampoo I came for.  I wouldn't have bought it anyway.  They have completely replaced their checkers with self checkout.  The lines for the two checkout areas had at least 30 people in each.

After that I went home.  Ellen was watching chick flicks and smoking a brisket.  I didn't feel like working on the RC truck, so I watched videos and surfed.

A little before dinner Ellen gave up on the movies and I watched some recorded shows.  I may have napped a little.

Dinner was a couple of snacks.  After dinner Ellen went back to chick flicks and I went back to videos.

Day 2215

 I woke up about 8, played games, and then got up.  It was pretty cold - 41.  I surfed for a while when pet stuff and breakfast was done.  That got old, so I got out the RC truck.

The next part of the assembly was installing the electronics - servos, receiver, motor, and controller.  It was kind of a pain in the ass, especially dealing with routing the wires.  The instructions didn't help any.  I got everything installed, but the next step is testing it.  I stopped there because it all seemed to be turning into work.

I took out the garbage.  While I was doing that I looked for diesel in the driveway.  There definitely was some.  It was spotty though.  I'm not sure the delivery truck got damaged when they ran over the rock or maybe it just had an existing leak.

After that we went to the grocery store.  I wanted to get some cream so I could make a milk punch.  The HEB at Circle C was out of it.  We ended up at the one on 290.  They had only a limited supply.  We ended up buying a few more food items also for the holidays.

When we got home I surfed for a while and then started watching TV.  I watched it for the rest of the day except for the times I was napping.

The shotgun guy called.  He says he needs the name of an FFL.  Then he wants me to send him a check.  I'll try to locate one tomorrow.

Dinner was only a sandwich due to the really late lunch we had.

Day 2214

 I woke up about 6:30 because of a loud thunderstorm.  I couldn't go back to sleep, so I played games until about 8.  Then it was get up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast I moved the car to behind the truck.  I also looked in the apartment for the TV stand, but didn't find it.

The delivery guys from Costco got here a little after 9.  It didn't take them long at all to move the TV next to the pinball machines.  The TV is huge and heavy.  I didn't bother to open it up because there's mo way the two of us are going to unbox the thing.  Instead we left.

Our first stop was the post office.  The second stop was a nearby estate sale.  There was something there I wanted to buy, but it was already sold.  We did get some spare wine glasses and a couple of wine books for presents.  The next stop was the new HEB.  We bought a little less than $200 of groceries including a ham and a turkey.  When we got back outside it was raining cats and dogs.

After that we went to the Belterra Tomlinson's.  We got some cat food and treats.  They had some people wrapping presents there for donations, so we had them wrap the books.  The final stops were ACE for BBQ rub and Torchy's for lunch.

When we got back I called the gun dealer.  I'd pretty much decided to buy the gun.  What sealed the deal was that they gave me 10% off MSRP and no sales tax.  That saves over $2,000.  I asked for pictures of the gun.  Later that day after I'd seen the pictures I texted them saying I'd take the gun.

The rest of the day was surfing, a few videos, and lots of TV.  Ellen fixed a frozen chicken dish we got at Trader Joe's.  It was pretty good.

Day 2213

 I woke up a little after 8 today and played games for a half hour.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast it was surfing for a little while.  Of course the Home Depot site said the delivery was delayed until Monday.

We left to go to an estate sale about 10.  The sale opened at 9 and I wanted to let the line go down.  That strategy didn't work.  There was a line of 10 or so people outside when we got there.  It took half an hour or more before we got in.

The sale had a lot of good stuff.  Most of it was priced well.  We'd come for a book case for the guest bedroom.  They still had it.  It is all wood and priced at $75.  We bought it.  It was just small enough to fit in the car when the seats were folded down.  We also bought a couple of other small items.

After loading everything in the car we went to the Armadillo Christmas sale.  It was held outside at the Parmer Auditorium.  It was 78 today, but fortunately it was cloudy.

There were an amazing number of booths, at least 50.  The guy who makes lights out of old electronics was there, but he didn't have anything I liked.  We did find a few small items we liked.  The best was a wooden remote control holder that actually holds remote controls.  When we were finished we ate lunch at Sandy's drive-in.

I left there a little sad.  We spent a lot of time with Lucy in that area - the dog park, the drive-in, the dog stores, the park areas, etc.  I really miss that dog.

After lunch we stopped at Trader Joe's.  We liked some of the stuff we bought there last week, so we bought more of the same.  The Caesar Guerini guys called to say the Revenant was in.  I put them off saying I was driving.  I'll have to call them with a decision tomorrow.  I don't really need the gun, and it's really expensive.  On the other hand I have literally no other use for the money.  It just feels like I'll be wasting a lot of money if I buy it.

When we got home I packed up all the train stuff in the guest bedroom cabinet.  Then I moved it out and put the new bookcase in its place.  All of the Lego vehicles I've built fit on it nicely.  Unfortunately there isn't room for any more.

We watched TV for the rest of the evening.  Dinner was a sandwich.

Day 2212

I woke up at 8:30 and spent an hour playing games.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  Just like yesterday, they have postponed the safe delivery until tomorrow.

I did a little bit of surfing, but I really wanted to build the RC truck.  It was a lot of fun yesterday.  I got out the stuff about 11:30.

The next step was building the front axle.  It was essentially the same as the rear axle except for some extra parts like CV joints.  It did have another tiny C clip just like the rear.  I managed to install it without a lot of difficulty.

With the axle done the next step was building up the chassis.  You start with two frame rails and attach fenders, bumpers, and cross members.  I got finished with that step about 3.  It was time to do something else.

Ellen left about 1:30 to go coaching again.

I went to the garage and spent a few minutes modifying the new cable wall cover that I got yesterday.  It's the brush type and I cut some of the interior away to make it easier to string cables.  After that I walked around the place a little bit.  It was warm - high 70's.  I got bit on the ass by two mosquitoes.

When I got back inside I continued prep for redoing the TV cables.  I labeled both ends of each of the three new cables.  That will make connections easier.

Ellen got home a little after I finished doing the labeling.  She ate leftovers.  I wasn't hungry because I didn't eat lunch until 3.  I surfed while she watched chick flicks.  Eventually I fixed frozen lasagna for dinner.

After dinner Ellen continued with the chick flicks and I watched videos.

Day 2211

 I woke up about 8, played games for an hour, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  I checked the safe delivery website.  Sure enough, they delayed it another day.

That left me with pretty much nothing to do.  I put out the garbage and took some stuff to the trailer,  Then I surfed.

Surfing got old pretty quickly, so I decided to start on the RC truck.  I opened up the box and unpacked all oft the tools I'd purchased.  It took a while just to get everything set up on the kitchen table to start work on the truck.

I got off to a rocky start.  The first step was the transmission.  I couldn't get it to quite work right.  After a lot of time and effort I got it assembled.  I moved on to the front axle.  That's when I discovered that one of the gears I'd put in the transmission was the wrong one.  I had to take it all apart to replace the gear.  The good news was that it went back together a lot easier and worked a lot better.

The next step was the differentials.  They went together pretty easily.  The last step was the rear axle.  It wasn't hard except for the installation of a tiny C clip.  By the time I was finished I'd spent all of the afternoon working on the truck.  It was time to quit.

Ellen had gone to coach and returned while I was working.  She'd picked up packages at both the post office and the front gate.  One package was the trailer lock membrane switches.   The others were the cables to redo the TV cables.  I'm sick of that TV.  It didn't work again tonight.

Ellen fixed orange chicken for dinner.  There was no TV, so I spent the evening watching videos.  Fuck that TV.

Day 2210

 I woke up at 8 and turned over and went back to sleep until 8:30.  Then it was some games followed by pet stuff and breakfast.  It was warm and lightly raining, so I decided to just finish up some small todo items.

I rearranged some of the stuff in the guest bedroom.  That made room for me to move the D11 off the bed.  I took three big empty Lego boxes to the apartment and put them in the attic.  I also took a bunch of gifts to the trailer.  The final result is that the guest bedroom is ready for guests.

After that I got out the D11 to test it.  Everything worked correctly except for one of the tracks.  It didn't work because I assembled a bogie wrong.  I had to get out the instructions to figure out how to fix it.  Luckily it wasn't hard.  I also need the instructions to remember where the on/off switch was.  After running it for a while I put it away.  I wonder if I'll ever run it again.

The web tracking said that they've delayed delivery of the safe until tomorrow.  We'll see.

By then it was lunch.  I had a sandwich.  Then it was videos for the rest of the day.  I'd intended to start the RC truck, but I lacked the ambition.

Ellen went to coach.  I fixed a frozen chicken parmigiana for dinner.  It was pretty good.

This is another day where I didn't accomplish much.  I'm OK with that.

Day 2209

I woke up at 8, turned over, and went back to sleep until 8:30.  Then it was some games before getting up for pet stuff and breakfast.

It was cold again this morning.  I surfed for a little while and then took out a bunch of stuff that needed to go to the garage.  I got some wrapping paper from there and used it to wrap the book we bought yesterday for Patty.  Ellen was smoking some salmon we bought, so I took the book to the post office myself.

The wait at the post office wasn't bad.  After that I went to Costco to look for a TV.  They didn't have the one we wanted in stock.  I called Ellen and told her to order one from either Costco or Best Buy.  She chose Costco.

I messed around a little.  I went to Whole Paycheck and bought some rolls.  Then I went to Spec's to look for flavored bourbon.  They didn't have what I wanted.  That discouraged me, so after that I just went home.

I fixed a turkey sandwich for lunch.  There's a couple of things I could do - work on the gate bearings or test the D11.  I just didn't feel like doing either, so after lunch I surfed instead.  After a while that turned into watching TV.

Ellen fixed me a fish burger and hash browns for dinner.  I really like the Louisiana hot sauce I put on it.

The rest of the evening was TV.

I looked for a delivery time for the safe tomorrow.  There was none, so I'm pretty sure it's not coming tomorrow.  If it doesn't, I'm going to call up and complain.

Day 2208

 I woke up about 8 and played games for a long time.  It was 31 degrees when I wok up.  Eventually it was get up for pet stuff and breakfast.

It was still just 50 when we were finished.  I decided to drive to the estate sale with all of the lighthouse stuff.  It was 30 miles away.  Getting there involved driving on the toll portions of 71 and 130.  I decided to do it just to see the road.  I'm glad I did.  Driving on the freeway at 80 is a lot nicer than driving on the frontage roads with all the stoplights.

We passed the Tesla Gigafactory on the way.  The thing really is huge.  Take one of the huge Wally World distribution centers and triple it or more.

Today was the last day of a four day sale at the estate sale.  Things were really picked over.  What was left was 75% off.  I bought a couple of pieces of yard art.  We also got Patty a book on lighthouses and a nice framed picture of the lighthouse at Yaquina Head.  It was $4 for everything.

We drove back on the Toll road.  It was fun.  We went to Trader Joe's "just to look".  We ended up buying $60 of stuff.  All of it was stuff you don't see at other stores.  We also stopped at the pet store near Fireman's to get cat food.  The new cat food types are successful.  Both cats are starting to clean their bowls again.

The last stop was Cheddars for a late lunch.

When we got home I decided to do some research about buying a new TV.  Ellen reprogrammed the remote to see if it would fix the TV start up problem.  I learned a lot about the new HDMI cables.  Identifying working cables is difficult, maybe impossible.  We measured out how the new TV would look.  I'm actually not sure I want one that big.

Dinner was cold cut sandwiches.  After dinner was TV.  Elle will test out the new remote program when she goes to bed.

Day 2207

 I woke up a little after 8 and played games for quite a while.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  I looked at the state sale website and there were a couple of interesting sales.  One was in Dripping Springs.

After breakfast we left for the Dripping Springs sale.  It was actually 5 miles north on RR12.  There was some interesting things there, but the pricing was weird.  Some things were a good price, others were priced at several times what they were worth.  Unfortunately the things I was interested in fell into the second category.

We went back to Dripping Springs to Tractor supply.  We bought some bird seed and I got a coule of brackets that I may be able to use to put bearings on the gate.

I looked on the web.  Home Depot now says that the safe will be here Tuesday.  We'll see.

We stopped a Tomlinson's on the way home.  We wanted to get cat food, but they didn't have the right kind  We did get kitty litter and another cat toy.  We ate lunch at Legends and stopped at Spec's for simple sugar.  Then it was home.

I was really tired when we got home.  I surfed for a little while and then sat in the recliner and watched TV.  I did that until it was bed time.  Dinner was leftover sausage

Day 2206

 I woke up a little after 8 and played games until a little before 9.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast it was back to surfing for a while.  I checked the delivery of the safe and it was back to sometime today, no details.

We needed groceries, so we left to get them.  As I was leaving I got a text that CVS had drugs for me.  We stopped there first.  Unfortunately they weren't ready yet.  We continued on to the new HEB.  After that it was on to the post office.  There was a package there from Hooch.  Traffic at the Y was a mess, so we took the back way from the post office.

I was hungry, so we stopped at the Cajun place.  We hadn't stopped there since we got back.  It was really good as usual.  After lunch Ellen wanted to stop at the pet store.  We bough some diatomaceous earth for the ants and an electric squeaky mouse for the cats.  I don't think I've mentioned that the cold nights have driven the ants inside like it does every year.  We stopped at CVS on the way home to pick up the drugs.

When we got hoe I gave the cats their toy and opened the package from Hooch.  It had about a dozen small packages inside, each with a bow.  When I put the under the tree the cats left the toy and started attaching the bows.

I got out the Legos and finished the D11.  There was quite a bit of work left to do.  I decided I'd wait a day to test it out.  It will be very difficult to fix if it doesn't work.

Dinner was a turkey sandwich.  After dinner I turned on the TV.  We no longer use the programmable remote.  We turn on the TV with its remote, and then turn the amplifier and DirecTV by hand.

We spent the evening watching recorded shows.  There wasn't anything worth watching on the broadcast channels.

Day 2205

 I woke up a little after 8, played games for a short time, and then got up for breakfast and pet stuff.  I played games last night until after 1, so it was a short sleep.

When breakfast was finished I loaded up the truck with the shooting stuff.  Then Ellen came out and helped me hitch up the trailer.  It actually went really well.  I manage to use the combination of the mirrors and the backup camera to make an almost perfect approach to the hitch.

After hitching up I pulled the trailer up the driveway to a flat spot and loaded the Ranger.  Of course there was plenty of room on the trailer.  Then we left for the club.  The interchange of 183 and 71 is finally done.  I took the old exit.  It turns out that I could have taken the new exit and gotten off before the toll started.

We got there with no problems.  I stopped after we got off 185 to buy gas for the Ranger.  It was $4/gal for premium.  Fuck Biden.

Unfortunately the main course was being set for a tournament.  We could only shoot a few stations, and they were easy.  We shot the hard course, but it was only 6 stations.  Overall we shot OK.  I used the CG instead of the Perazzi.  I miss not having a recoil reducer.  Ellen is getting better.  I think the lessons are helping.

When we got home I put everything away, including parking the Ranger by the well house and covering it.  Now the truck can go pack in the carport where it belongs.  I was sweaty when I was done.  It was humid and high 70's.  I had lunch and then started watching TV.  At least it turned on.

Dinner was leftover stirfry.  After dinner was more TV.  I got bored about 10 and started too surf instead.  I checked the delivery of the safe.  It's changed from tomorrow to "we have no idea".  Great.

Day 2204

I woke up at 8, played some games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast I went out to see if I could get the Ranger to start.

The reason was pretty simple.  The weather is still really nice - it was mid 70's today.  The Ranger has been sitting since I parked it before we left last Spring.  It just won't do to have it sitting unused so long.  I decided to get it running and, if I could, take it to the club tomorrow.  The first job was to find the trailer keys.  That took a while.  I finally found the trailer box keys in the trailer box.  It turns out I never locked it last Spring.

I took the cover up and looked at the battery.  There was some corrosion on top, but it was in the middle of the battery, not near the terminals.  I'm not sure what it was from.  I checked the battery voltage and it was 12.5V.  I turned on the battery switch and tried to start the Ranger.  It cranked a little and then started right up.

I let the engine warm up while I put some stuff away and added a little water to the battery.  Then I got Ellen and we went for a ride around the development.  We drove all the way to the North Madrone entrance and back.  At first the engine ran a little rough, but is smoothed out by the time we got back.

I parked the truck and got the truck keys.  I backed the truck up to the trailer and hooked it up.  The combination of the camera and the practice I been doing backing the truck with the mirrors mad it fairly easy to do.  Unfortunately there was no room to load the Ranger on the trailer without moving the truck and trailer.  I didn't want to do that, so we'll load it tomorrow.

By then it was almost time for Ellen to leave for a lesson followed by coaching, followed by a Christmas party.  I stayed at home.  After lunch and some surfing I went for a walk.  I walked a little less than 3 miles.  Listening to music makes the walk a little nicer.

When I got back I sat on the deck and read a bunch of magazines.  It was too nice to go inside.  Eventually it got a little chilly and I went inside to feed the cats and have dinner - leftover stirfry.

After dinner I wanted to watch TV, but the damn TV wouldn't turn on.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to replace it.  I need to find high quality HDMI cables first.

I ended up spending the rest of the evening watching YouTube videos.  It was actually as interesting as the TV.  Ellen didn't get home until after 7.  She brought some cookies from the party with her.  They were excellent.

Day 2203

 I woke up at 8, but spent hours playing games.  It was after 10 before I was done with pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast I went out to put the bearings on the gate.

I took one of the mounts off and took it to the garage to drill.  That's when i discovered that both brackets are too small.  Oh well.

Ellen had to get drugs and mail off her passport application.  So we left and did that.  I also stopped at Home Depot and Lowe's, but they didn't have anything I could use for brackets.  We stopped for lunch at Torchy's on the way home.  I'm disappointed.  They don't have pink stuff anymore.

When we got home I went looking on Amazon for brackets.  They have something I can use, but it's very expensive.  I decided to wait.

After that it was videos for the rest of the day.  Ellen went to coach the kids, so I had leftover meatloaf for dinner.

Day 2202

 I woke up about 8 and played games for a while.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After a little while it was time to take Ellen to get a passport photo.  

After the photo session we went to an oil change place to get a safety certificate for the Audi.  Then it was a stop at Central Market.  I needed bananas.  We also got some other stuff that is better there.  Prices were notably higher, especially meat.  Ellen found a cut of meat that was $50/lb.  I hate Biden.

The last two stops were a gas station and the post office.  When we got home there was a package with Christmas presents from John and Patty inside the gate.

I got out the Lego after we put everything away.  I want to finish it before John and Melissa come.  Later on I found that they aren't going to be here until the 22nd.  I didn't think they'd spend much time here this year.

I forgot to work on the gate today.  Instead I spent the rest of the afternoon watching videos.  Ellen fixed stir fry for dinner.  The flat beans were especially good.

After dinner we watched TV.

Day 2201

 I woke up about 8, played games for a short while, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  John and Melissa have made it to Dallas.  That means we need to get things ready for them.

The first activity was cleaning off the kitchen table, the guest bedroom, and the kitchen counter.  Some stuff go put away and some stuff got thrown away.  When that was done I took out the resulting garbage and went to the garage.

I was determined to finish the rifle.  I cleaned off the receiver and the barrel.  I used Flitz to finish it.  That made the cosmetics as good as I could make them.  Then I started to clean the magazine.  When I took off the magazine cap the screw holding it on went flying.  I found it almost immediately, EXCEPT I DIDN'T RECOGNIZE IT.  It's not a regular screw.  It's more a pin than a screw.

I spent a lot of time on my hands and knees looking for the screw.  I put what I'd found in the gunsmith box for later examination.  Eventually I decided to continue cleaning the magazine.  The follower was rusted in.  I damaged it a little getting it out.  I don't think it will compromise function.  It took a lot of time to remove the rust form the follower and the inside of the magazine.

With the magazine finished I cleaned the barrel.  It was really easy.  I put the rifle in the safe along with the spring and follower.  By then it was after 1 and I went in for lunch VERY disgusted.

I logged on to Numrich to look for a new screw.  It took some searching, but I discovered that the mystery part I'd found was the screw.  Oh well.  After lunch I went back out, assembled the magazine, and put the rifle away again.  I now considered the work on it complete.  It's ugly, but it should shoot safely.

I went inside and wrapped presents - the motorcycle lift and two books from an estate sale.  Wrapping a 50 lb lift in an almost destroyed box isn't easy.  After that I called it quits for the day.

I watched videos until dinner.  Ellen fixed steak on the Traeger.  It was  good.  It should be, it cost $10 pound.  One of the videos I watched showed that diesel in Hurricane is $4/gal.  FUCK BIDEN.

After dinner I wanted to watch TV, but it wouldn't turn on again.  I might replace it when John gets here.  I ended up surfing and playing games.

Day 2200

 We got up at 7 today.  After pet stuff and breakfast we left for Hog Heaven.  When we got there we endured about half an hour on "how to pull targets".  Then we went to one of the trap/skeet fields.

Over the day we pulled several 50 rd trap competitions and several 50 round skeet competitions.  It was fun, but pretty tiring and a little boring.  It did help that most of the day was cloudy and 70.

We had lunch at the roach coach that came in.  Two hamburgers, a fry, and two lemonades were $40.  Fuck Biden.

We were done about 3.  I'd wanted to go to Dripping Springs to sit and drink. Unfortunately CVS had some drugs for me.  They send two texts about it today, so we went to pick them up instead.

When we got home I was tired.  I did some surfing.  The TV wasn't working again.  Dinner was leftover pizza.

After dinner was videos (no TV, remember).  I went to bed a little early.

Day 2199

 I woke up at 8, mainly because Ellen did.  She got up and did the pet stuff.  I got up a little later and had breakfast.

Ellen had gotten up because she had a lesson this morning.  It was raining a little in Dripping Springs, so she delayed it an hour.  I surfed for a while because I felt lazy.  I went ouot to the garage about the time she left.

I went back to work on the rifle.  I cleaned off the remainder of the receiver.  Then I cleaned the loading gate.  That pretty much completes making the rifle functional.  It won't be pretty, but it should shoot.  The only problem is that the action isn't as smooth as it should be.  I might try operating it some more to smooth it out.

I started to clean the rust off the barrel.  I didn't get very fa before the battery on the Dremel died.  I plugged it in and called it quits for the day.  I wasn't done accomplishing things though.  I replaced the plastic box in the truck bed.  It broke on the way from Oregon.  I'd gotten another at an estate sale, so I transferred the contents and threw away the old box.  Then I went inside, took out the garbage, and cleaned the kitchen counters.

I fixed myself some lunch and then started surfing and watching videos.  Eventually I got bored, so I got out the Lego.  I finished step 7 and sorted the parts for step 8 (the last step).  The D11 is complete now except for the blade.  Step 8 is nothing except building and attaching the blade.  There's an amazing number of pieces involved.

Dr. Cox's office called while I was building.  They say I need a CPAP machine.  They're going to set me up with an appointment.

Ellen fixed sausage and pancakes for dinner.  I used prickly pear syrup.  It was OK.

After dinner I started watching TV.  Sort of.  I ended up surfing at the same time.  It's the only way I can stand watching something with commercials.

We're supposed to be at Dripping Springs at 8 tomorrow to work a shoot.  Apparently I need to be there to be instructed on how to pull targets.

Day 2198

 I woke up at 8 and played games for a while before getting up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast it was surfing.  I was waiting for an Estate sale to open.

We left for the sale about 11.  The sale was about 4 miles west of Bee Cave.  We went up a back way that started with Trautlein road and headed north.  We stopped at Tomlinson's first to get some crazy ant killer.  They've been attacking the cat food.

The sale was fun.  There was a big garage and a big house.  I bought some yard art and three sockets at the garage.  Ellen bought a couple of small things at the house.  We went to Bee Cave next, but didn't stop.  There just wasn't any place we wanted to stop.

We drove to the post office to pick up mail.  I had to stand in line for 20 or 30 minutes to get a package.  Then we went to Jack Allen's for lunch.  It was great as usual.  After a stop at the new HEB we went to Walgreen's to pick up Ellen's drugs.  By then it was almost time for Ellen to go coach the kids.

I spent until dinner time surfing.  I had frozen pizza for dinner.  After dinner it was TV and videos.

One note.  I forgot to mention yesterday that the eye doctor called.  I have an appointment for Jan 6.  I hope there's time to fix my eyes before we leave.

Day 2197

 We woke up, did the pet stuff, loaded Devon into a carrier, and left for the vet.  We got a little bit of a late start and were about 10 minutes late.  

We told the vet about Devon's weird behavior.  It's a little worrying that he's lost a pound since he was last there.  He definitely has an ear infection.  She gave us two drugs to give him.  He's going to love it.

When that was done we went to the cafe in Dripping Springs for breakfast.  It was good as usual.  They now have a heated case for their pastries.  I had a warm cinnamon roll that was great.

The next stop was ACE.  We bought 40 lbs of bird seed - it was on sale.  I also spent $5 to replace the lost hardware on John's Christmas present.  After that it was home.

I wanted to install the bearings that I got yesterday on the gate.  Unfortunately I didn't have a big enough drill bit.  I ordered one.  It will be there tomorrow.

I decided to do more work on the rifle.  I cleaned off all of the Blu I'd put on yesterday.  Then I gave the action another 50 cranks.  When I was done the action didn't stick anymore and the trigger safety worked.  I'm becoming a fun of that Blu stuff.

I used the Dremel to remove a bunch of the rust on the receiver.  It's gone from everywhere except the left side where it was heaviest.  I soaked it in Blu and left it for the day.

That was the end of the work for the day.  I spent most of the rest of the afternoon surfing and watching videos.  I should have taken a walk, it was a nice day, but I didn't.

Dinner was coconut shrimp.  We spent the rest of the evening watching TV.

A package came at 7.  Ellen didn't tell me until 9.  When I got out there someone had stolen it.  Then dumbass who delivered it had stood the package on a fence post outside the fence rather than putting it inside the fence.  It was easy to see and steal.

Day 2196

 I woke up about 8, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast I surfed for a little while while I waited for it to warm up.

When it got up to about 60 I went to the garage.  I had a good day working on the rifle.  I got the action to work by thoroughly cleaning things, filing rust off some of the inside parts, and rapidly working the action 50 times.  I used a glove for that.  It still sticks, but not much. 

I got the hammer working by hammering it open and closed a few times.  Then I used the Dremel to remove the rust scale from the sides.  The hammer looks ugly, but it works fine.  The only non-functional things left were the trigger safety and the loading gate.  I decided to use the Blu cleaning solution.  It got the safety loosened up some, but it still wasn't 100% reliable.  I decided to soak the safety and receiver in Blu and leave it.  I'll work on the loading gate later, it mainly needs rust removal.

I went inside and had lunch.  Then I surfed for a while.  About 3 I went out for a walk.  I used my Sony ear buds listening to music from my phone.  It worked really well.  I was tired when I got back.  The watch said I'd walked 2.5 miles.

Ellen left to coach the kids.  I surfed until dinner - left over meat loaf.  I wanted to watch TV, but it wasn't working.  I unhooked it and spent the rest of the evening watching YouTube videos.

When Ellen came home she said there were packages at the gate.  I went out and got two small ones and the motorcycle lift for John.  It was so heavy I only got it half way to the house before had to get the cart.

When I got the lift inside the box had a hole in it. Sure enough there were hardware parts missing.  We'll be going to ACE tomorrow.