Day 2500

 I woke up at 7:30, played games for a while, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  It was cold, so we started out by doing errands.  We stopped at both Wally World and Safeway for groceries.  Then we stopped to fuel up the truck.  With a 20 cent per gallon discount it still cost $150.  FUCK BIDEN

When we got home I washed the car.  When that was done I handed it off to Ellen to wax.  I started moving things from the shed to the basement of the trailer.  When I was finished with that I loade up the back of the truck with DEF and drinks.

The truck was covered in crap from them working the fields the last three days, so I rinsed and wiped it down.  Ellen put mothballs in the Audi.  Unfortunately when I connected the trickle charger the battery read 60%.  I put on the big charger and we went inside for lunch.

After lunch we went back out.  The battery was at 90%, so I took off the charger, connected the trickle charger, and we covered the car.  That' when I noticed that the truck was covered with water spots.  I should have dried it off, but I hadn't had to do that before.  Getting the spots off required completely rewaxing the truck.  While I was doing that I fell off the ladder, landing on my right hip.  That's right, the one that's been hurting for weeks.

I barely managed to finish the waxing, put everything away, and go back inside.  I collapsed in the recliner.  Eventually I had to pee.  I couldn't walk to the bathroom.  I had to support my weight by grabbing onto chairs and counters.

I got back in the recliner and went to sleep.  When I woke up I felt better.  At least I could walk, but it hurt.

Ellen fixed tacos for dinner.  After dinner it was videos and a little TV.

I'm not sure if I'll shoot tomorrow.  It depends on how my hip feels in the morning.

Day 2499

 I woke up at 7:30 and played games for about an hour.  Then it was up for pet stuff.  After that we left for the windshield place to see about getting the Audi's windshield wiper fixed.  We took both vehicles in case we had to leave the Audi.

When we got to Safelite they looked at the car right away.  The head mechanic knew exactly what was wrong.  He got a wrench, adjusted the position of the wiper arm, and we were done in 5 minutes.  After that I had Ellen put 4 gallons of gas in the car while I went to Bi-Mart for Stabil.  I put the Stabil in the car and then we went to a cafe for breakfast.  When that was done we went home.

It had been raining on and off since we got up.  It continued to do so until mid afternoon.  Ellen cleaned the inside of the Audi, but there was no point in giving it a bath.  It would have gotten wet again before we could wax it.  Besides, the weather is supposed to be much drier tomorrow.

That meant that we spent the rest of the day surfing and watching videos.  I literally spent hours watching videos on the TV, never getting bored.  That's another nail in DirecTV's coffin.

Dr. Cox's office called.  They wanted to set up a video appointment about the CPAP to satisfy the insurance company.  Because of traveling the call will be done in Utah in a couple of weeks.  I'll have to set up the StarLink to make sure that there's a good connection.

Delaying washing the car means that there will be more to do tomorrow.  In addition to washing, waxing, and putting the car away I have to load up the trailer.  That shouldn't be undo-able.  That way we can shoot on Saturday.  When I bought ammo today the price had gone up from $80 to $95.  I think that's about the level where we start limiting our shooting.

Day 2498

 I woke up about 8.  Last night was a pleasant change from the night before.  My hip/leg woke me up once, but the pain wasn't as much.  Other than that I had a completely pain free night.  I played games for an hour and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.

After breakfast I went outside and set up the hose to flush the black tank.  Then I went inside and settled down to wait for the sewer guy.  Apparently he called and said he'd be here about 1.  That allowed me to go to the post office and get the vinyl patches for the chairs.

When I got home I applied the patches.  Of course they were the wrong color.  I knew they would be, but I didn't fight it when Ellen overrode me on the color choice.  I also spent some time reorganizing the spare parts drawer.  It's now a lot easier to access and doesn't have extraneous stuff inn it.  

The sewer guy showed up after lunch, about 1:30.  The process went as usual.  He did manage to spill some more.  When it was done I put everything away.  Then I rearranged the basement contents in preparation for filling it up with the stuff we're taking back.  I think everything is going to fit.

After that I went back to watching videos and TV.  Ellen fixed BLT's for dinner.  After a couple of recordings there wasn't anything I wanted to watch on TV, so the rest of the evening was more videos.  I'm not going to miss DirecTV at all.

Day 2497

 I woke up before 8, played games for a bit,and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that it was load up the car and head to the laundromat.

Doing the wash was as boring as usual.  We bought groceries before heading home.  On the way home I stopped and put 2 gallons of gas in the car.  That should have been enough until we park the car, but famous last words.

We stopped at Baumann's.  While there I noticed that the driver's side wiper wasn't going down all of the way.  I looked at it, but couldn't figure out what was wrong.   I wasn't even sure that anything was wrong.  I drove back to Woodburn and drove all around it trying to find an Audi.  I couldn't.  Then I had to hurry back to put away the groceries before going to see John and Patty.

Between the two activities I burnt over a gallon of gas.

We did get John and Patty's on time.  We had a good time talking.  She fixed pork chops for dinner.  After dinner we watched a video and baseball along with more talking.

The drive home was a pain.  We got stuck in a glut of traffic doing 60.  There was no way to get through it.  I tried to take Butteville, but they had it blocked off for construction.  Finally, I missed a turn going through Woodburn.  That caused me to have to drive a mile the wrong way, back track, and end up going over to 99 and home.

When we got home we still had to make the bed.  Crap.

Day 2496

 I woke up at 8 this morning, played games for a while, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  Last night was brutal.  My leg hurt so much I got up and took some acetaminophen.  After that I went outside to do more work preparing to leave.

The first job was washing the truck windows, inside and out.  It's so big that that's a chore.  I even needed the step stool.  After that I washed the indie windows of the Audi and added Stabil to it's gas.

I wanted to get all of the RC stuff packed up and ready to leave.  Then meant dealing with the batteries I charged for yesterday.  First they had to be discharged, then they had to be charged back to a storage level.  It took at leas 5 hours for the charger to do the three batteries.  I spent part of that time packing away the cars.  I spent the rest finishing the RC truck.

I painted the bed using the oil I got yesterday.  When it was dry I modified it so that the gas tank would fit.  Then I attached the gas tank to the bed, and the bed to the frame.  When that was done I surfed until the battery charger was done.  The final steps were packing away the cars in a bin, the batteries in the battery box, and the RC truck stuff in a bedroom cabinet.  I did that so I'd have something to do during the trip up if I wanted to.

All of that took most of the afternoon.  I went back into the trailer and started watching videos.  That morphed into a nap.  I also set up going to John and Patty's tomorrow.

Ellen fixed steak and potatoes for dinner.  It was really good.  After dinner it was more videos.  I even found some that Ellen wanted to watch.

Day 2495

 I woke up at 8 and played games or an hour before getting up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast I killed time until it was time to leave to see Hooch.

We stopped by the club on the way to buy ammo.  They are out of the RIO.  Crap.

The truck started to regen just after we got on the freeway at Woodburn.  It was still doing a regen when we got to 217, so I continued up I5 to Portland.  Then we took 26 to Hooch's place.

Unfortunately the RC place was having a race today.  That meant that all of the work that I did to get the cars ready was for naught.

Hooch was replacing the furniture in Sophia's room.  I helped him load the old stuff into the truck and van.  Then we took them both to ReStore to donate.  We walked through the store and I bought a couple of small items.

When we got back we started assembling the new IKEA furniture.  We stopped midway to have dinner and talk for a while.  Then we went back at it until 8:30.  The only thing left to do was one step in the bed assembly.  Everything else was done.

The ride back was uneventful and pretty fast.  After a little surfing we went to bed.

Day 2494

 I slept in to 8.  Then it was an hour of games.  After that I got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  When that was done I texted Hooch to find out if we were still on for tomorrow.  He said we were.

That meant that I had to get the RC cars ready.  I charged up batteries for the two mini-b's and the B6.4.  I also got out the second transmitter and bound it to the B6.4.  That's when I ran into trouble.  At first the throttle wouldn't work.  I messed with it for quite a while.  I finally reset the ESC.  Then it worked.  Unfortunately the reset turned off reverse.  I got out the blutooth receiver and tried to use it to program the ESC.  After many tries and a check of the manual it still didn't work.  I finally ended up setting it by using the set button.  All of this took a long time.

The only good part was that I found out that using the set button wasn't that hard.  I used it to change the mini-b's drag setting.There's only 8 days until we leave.  During that time we need to see Hooch, see John and Patty, do the wash, wash the car, do the sewer, and do the final packing.  I decided to get a start on everything today by loading up the truck.

I put the ammo we'll need for the trip in the truck.  I also put in the Casoron.  I put a couple of boxes of miscellaneous stuff in and the bicycle batteries (to remove weight in the trailer).  Everything got wrapped in plastic bags.  I'm taking the truck tomorrow, so I put the cars and the cans in it also.  Finally I rearranged the stuff in the basement a little.

By then it was past lunch time.  I went inside and made a sandwich.  There wasn't much else I could do concerning trip preparation, so I did a little surfing.  Then it was videos interspersed with short naps.

Ellen fixed frozen fish for dinner.  After that we watched the new Minions movie followed by the original one.

Day 2493

 I woke up a little after 7 and played games until 8.  Unlike yesterday last night was very restful.  There was no waking up because of pain.  I hope that continues.  I got up and did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  Then it was a little surfing before taking the car to Joe's.

We stopped at the post office on the way back.  The shampoo for my head was there.  I've been using the sample they gave me.  It's disgusting.

When we got home I went out to the shed to work in the bed for the RC truck.  I cut out the rear panel and installed it.  I also installed three of the bed sides.  I had to wait until the glue dried to do that.

I got out the hose and a bucket and washed the truck.  It was truly filthy.  It took a lot of scrubbing.  I even had to use two buckets of soap.  With all the climbing up and down the ladder I was really tired when I was done.  I went back inside to wait for the truck to dry.  Some places needed to be washed twice, but I needed it to dry to see where they were.

I had a sandwich and surfed while I waited for the truck to dry.  Then I went out and rewashed the roof, hood, and a couple of doors.  Then I put things away while Ellen waxed.  I went inside, sat in the recliner, and went to sleep.  The next 3 hours were interleaving sleep and videos on the TV.

Joe called about 4 and we went back to pick up the call.  It was a little early, but we had dinner at the hamburger place.

When we got home it was videos for the rest of the night.  The farmer was plowing the field next to us and raising a huge amount of dust.  So much for the clean truck.

Day 2492

 I woke up at 7, turned over and went back to sleep until 7:30.  I had a bad night.  I've been having leg pains lately, day and night.  Last night I woke up several times in various levels of pain.  Once, it was so bad I was thinking about pills.  Eventually the pain would diminish and I would go back to sleep.  I hope this isn't a frequent thing.

I got up and had breakfast.  After a little surfing it was time to go get the Audi windshield fixed.  We took both vehicles because they said not to wait.

After dropping the car we went to Safeway because we were out of bananas and low on orange juice.  We also got flu shots there.  Then we deposited some checks at the bank.  It was relatively cold, mid 60's, so then we stopped at Dutch Brothers.  We sat in their parking lot until the Audi was done.

We stopped at Arby's for lunch.  I got 2 sandwiches so I had one for dinner.  We also stopped at Roth's and got a cherry pie for Martha.

When we got home I went to the shed to work on the RC truck bed.  After a lot of fine tuning I got the bed to fit.  Then I cut out the plastic for the back end.  I also cut out the template for it.  I didn't finish it because I got tired of working on it.  Instead I built the sides of the truck bed.  By then I was tired of working on it and went inside.

It was dinner time so I had the Arby's.  Then I sat in the chair and watched videos and movies for the rest of the night.

Day 2491

 I woke up at 7:30, played games for a while, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  It was cold this morning, so after that I surfed for a while.

Eventually it warmed up enough for me to go to the shed.  I continued work on the wooden bed for the RC truck.  I glued some more reinforcing to the back.  Then I marked out the cutout using the template.  Finally I used the Dremel to cut out the cutouts.  I had to stop halfway through to add some more glue.

I went back to the trailer and got out the shooting stuff.  By then it was a nice sunny day, but not too warm.  We had a good time shooting with both of shooting about normal.  We had lunch when we were done.

After lunch we sat down and worked out the trip plan for returning to Texas.  We'll end up going to Washington, Las Vegas, Mesa, and Tucson.  It will be a leisurely trip.  We're even going to take three days to get from Tucson to San Antonio.  I hope everything goes well.  When that was done Ellen started making reservations.

I went back to the shed to work on the truck bed.  I finished the gross cutting.  There's still some fine tuning to do, but I needed to do some more gluing.  I also prototyped the side rails.  They are going to look neat.

Dinner was frozen dinners.  After dinner I watched videos on the TV.  Ellen watched chick flicks on her computer.

Day 2490

 I woke up a little before 8 and played games for a while.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast we left to do the wash.

Before we went to the laundromat we stopped and bought a dozen donuts for the trailer guys.  Although it was late, there weren't many people at the laundromat.  I spent part of the time there sorting sticks for the RC truck bed.  The rest of the time was spent playing games.  We finished the wash with no issues.

I stopped at Coastal for Casoron.  They didn't have any.  The we stopped at Bi-Mart where I got a plastic scraper to make into the back end for the RC truck.  The last stops were NAPA (for truck wiper blades), AC Greasy, Baumann's, and the post office.

When we got home I was really tired.  I unloaded everything and then went into the trailer to sit and surf.  I did that for hours.  About 3:30 I went out and drained the tanks and installed the new wiper blades.  Then I used the sticks I sorted at the laundromat to make the bottom of the RC truck bed.  That was the sum total of my accomplishments for the day.

Ellen fixed thin steak and corn for dinner.

After dinner was videos on the TV.

I felt run down for most of the day.  My chest has been hurting on and off all day.  I think it's because I'm forgetting to breathe.

Day 2489

 I woke up a little before 8, got up and did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  After that I surfed for a little while before it was time to leave for the doctor.

We arrived at the doctor early, but I got in fairly quickly.  I described the problems with my face and showed him the things on my ear and scalp.  He actually found one on my other ear that I hadn't known about.

He told me to quite using the cream.  He froze the areas that were giving me the problem.  He also froze the spots on my ears and scalp, except for the biggest.  He said that was too big.  He gave me some shampoo.  He said to wash my hair with it every day and to let it sit for 3 to 5 minutes.  Oh joy.  I left with my head hurting and itching from the freezing.

We stopped at the cat store to get another 6 cans of cat food.  That will take us all the way home.  Then we stopped at Safeway to buy bread.  It's $1.60 there vs $5 at Freddies.  I didn't feel like going home, so we went to the Salem farm store.  Then we went to Michael's and got some wood sticks to make a bed for the RC truck.  We also stopped at Staples for ink.  They didn't have any, but they had a desk chair I was interested in.  It was on sale for $60 off.  Ellen's asshole was giving her trouble, so then we went home.

I measured the area around the kitchen table to see if the Staple's chairs would fit.  They would.  Ellen's asshole kept us at home for quite a while, but eventually we got back to Staples.  I bought two of the chairs.  It was happy hour at Hops and Drops, so we went there for an early dinner.

When we got home I went to the shed and assembled the chairs.  Ellen's side of the table is bigger than mine.  The chair fits nicely on her side.  It's pretty tight on my side, but it's still a vast improvement over the crummy chairs that came with the trailer.  I'll use it for a while before deciding if I'll keep it.

The rest of the evening was watching a movie and some videos.

Day 2488

 I got up before 8 and played games for a while.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  It was cold this morning, low 50's.  I surfed until it warmed up some.

When the temperature got up to the mid 60's I went outside to the shed.  I got out the Casoron and proceeded to distribute all over the gravel area.  It took a little over a bag to do it.  It wasn't fun, but it represents the last unpleasant thing to do before we leave (at least if you don't count washing the vehicles).

I went back inside and took a shower.  I was covered with Casoron dust.  Ellen put my clothes in a pastic bag to wash separately.  By then it was lunch time, a sandwich.

After lunch I surfed and watched videos.  Eventually that got boring, so I went out to the shed to work on the new truck.  I put some decals on it.  I also determined that the axle extensions couldn't be modified to work on it.

I decided to make a wooden bed for the truck.  I spent quite a while making up a cardboard template.  It was complicated because the shock towers and the axle "hump" need to protrude through it.  Once I had the template complete I took it inside.  I wanted Ellen to help decide its length and how hid the box side should be.  I got it all finished just about dinner time.  The next step will be getting some balsa.

Dinner was leftovers.  After dinner was various videos on the TV.  It's sure nice not to have to stress about the axles.

Day 2487

 I woke up a little before 8 and played games for an hour.  It was 50 degrees when I woke up.  Fall is definitely coming.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.

After breakfast I went out to do some tasks.  I drained the tanks and put tarp holders on the new bicycle cover.  They work really well.  I also packed away the stuff we won yesterday.  Then I went to the shed and added some new parts to the B74.  I wanted to add new tires to the new truck, but they didn't fit.  By then I didn't feel like doing anything else, so I didn't do the shocks.

There was an email from Hooch.  He wants to get together a week from tomorrow.  That will be the last available time before we leave.  I did a little work on trip planning.  I need to talk to Ellen about what she wants to do.  I want to take a leisurely pace this year.

It was almost 1 when that was over.  We needed cat food and CVS had drugs for me.  We left and picked up the drugs first.  We had lunch at the teriyaki place.  Then we went to the pet store.  I kind of miscalculated and didn't buy enough canned stuff.  The final stop was Freddies for bread milk, and bananas.

When we got home I did a little surfing and then sat in the recliner to watch videos.  I fell asleep.  When I woke up Ellen was watching a movie.  When that was over she fixed pork chops for dinner.  After dinner was more movie, Ron White, and a couple of animated shows.

Ellen spent most of the day fixing the clothes hamper.  The supporting rods keep coming out.  I cut them a little shorter and then she sewed them in with some reinforcing.  I hope it works.

Day 2486

 I woke up at 7:30, played games for a while, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After a little surfing we went to the club.

We signed up for the shoot and then socialized while we waited for the shoot to start.  I asked Mark how his wife was holding up.  He said she was doing fine.  They managed to get permission to bring her parents here.  They arrive in 3 days.  Her father raises bees and didn't want to leave until the harvest.  Apparently the Russians don't bomb bees.

I didn't shoot particularly well, 91.  Ellen didn't either.  However, some of the normal good shooter didn't attend.  We ended up being HOA and HOA lady.  Our team also won high team.  We ended up with three belt buckles.  We also won a nice print we'll give to Dan and Patsy.  We also won a nice Leupold scope and a set of throwing axes.  The high point of the whole thing was that we got to shoot two flurries.

By the time it was tone I was really tired and sore.  We were shooting 1 1/8 at 1200 shells.  The flurries were grueling.  When we got back to the trailer I collapsed in the recliner.  I hurt all over - legs, arms, back, etc.  It took hours before the pain went away.

Before dinner was YouTube on the TV.  Dinner was leftover pizza.  After that it was movies.

Day 2485

 

It was a long day.  Up at 5:30, hook up and go to the axle place.  I had to back the trailer into a car parking place next to a fence and a building.  It took me 15 minutes.  Luckily it was too early for anyone else to be there.  Went to breakfast, came back at 8 when they opened.  Dropped the trailer and went back to sit in the shed with the cats for a while.

Axle place called a little after noon - the trailer was ready.  Returned there after stopping for lunch, hooked up, and drove back to the club.  Set up the trailer again.  By then I was really tired.  Went inside, had a beer, and then a long nap.

The new axles were custom built by the Dexter factory to match the trailer's VIN number.  The tubing has thicker walls than the originals.  Apparently Grand Design changed the spec due to other people having the same problem we did.  The brakes are also slightly upgraded.  No alignment was required because the axles are a straight bolt on.  The mounting hardware supplied by the factory was also upgraded from the original.  Finally they did a complete grease job, "flushing out" all of the shipping grease with a higher quality grease.

I think I'll have to reset the trailer brake gain, but I'm going to wait until the brakes have broken in a little.

 

I didn't wake up until 6:30.  Ellen fixed frozen pizza for dinner.  I watched a little TV and then went to bed early.

Day 2484

 I woke up at 7:30 and got up to do the pet stuff and have breakfast.  When that was done I started doing anything I could think of that would make taking the trailer to Woodburn tomorrow easier and quicker.

I cleaned off the kitchen table.  It was knee deep in paper.  I also got out the Surface and updated it (I'll want to use it tomorrow).  I had Ellen come out and help me put DEF in the truck.  I also did a couple of other short things.

Those efforts took a couple of hours.  I needed something to do to take my mind off the trailer repair.  I took almost everything out of the basement and repacked it.  There's a lot of empty space in it right now, but there won't be when we leave.  I also found a high flow pressure reducer that I'd never used.  I installed it.  We'll have to see how it works.

By then it was after noon.  I had a sandwich for lunch.  By then I was getting worried that the sewer guy wouldn't show up.  I surfed because there wasn't anything else to do.  I called the trailer place, but no one answered.  I wrote up detailed dumping instructions for Ellen and took her outside to go through them in case I had to leave before the sewer guy got there.  

It got to be 3:00.  I was about to leave for Woodburn when the sewer guy showed up.  We got the tank dumped in a pretty short amount of time.  The sewer guy managed to dump shit twice.  It smells bad there right now.  I put everything away and we went to Woodburn.

I met Rich there.  We talked about what needs to be done.  There was lots of good news.  First, the new axles are heavier built than the old ones (they had a lot of problems with the old ones).  Second, the axles are custom made, so there isn't any alignment to worry about.  Third, he'll grease the bearings, that was part of the service.  Finally, it looks like it won't be too hard to park the trailer where he wants it.  It will take backing up though.  I plan on being there at 6, an hour before they start.  That means we'll have to get up at 5:30.

We stopped at AC Greasy for ice cream and french fries on the way back.   When we got back I started to do the rest of the prep for leaving.  I disconnected the DirecTV and the StarLink.  I removed the tripod and backed up the truck to the hitch.

Ellen fixed sausage and the fries for dinner.  After that I surfed (on Verizon) until time for bed.

Day 2483

 I woke up at 8 and got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  Then it was off to wash the clothes.

Washing the clothes was uneventful.  On the way home we picked up a packages and some letters at the post office.  When we got home I put the stuff away and then got started on the packages.

The first package contained a new bike cover.  The old one was toast.  I took it off.  In unfolded the new one and put it on the bikes.  It's big enough to fit the two bikes, but the opening at the bottom is too small to fit all the way over the tires.  Also, it only has holes for tie downs at one end.  When I was finished i went back inside and ordered some tarp clips on Amazon.  I didn't feel like driving to Harbor Freight to get some.

The second package had a set of connected containers.  I transferred the two current containers of my RC car parts to it.  The result is almost as compact and much easier to handle.  I'm pretty much through packing all of that up now.

That was all that I had to do outside.  I went back to the trailer for a little surfing and lunch.  Then new outside hook on the screen door is great.  It's really nice not having to mess with the sliding door.

After lunch I put the 20 ga guns in their case.  I left the 12 ga out in case we wanted to shoot.  It turns out we didn't.  I ended up surfing and watching videos instead.  There was a little nap in there, too.

Dinner was leftovers.  After dinner was more videos on the TV.

I am getting more and more anxious about taking the trailer to the trailer place.  Hopefully I can go there tomorrow and talk to the guy about parking it.

Day 2482

 I woke up a little before 8 and played games for a while.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that it was out to the shed.

I put together John and Patty's dog crate, put a pad in it, and a cat box.  It's ready for the cats on Thursday.  I also brought out the new RC truck (henceforth called the FCX24) to work on it.  There was good news and bad.  The $25 I spent on hop up parts was in vain.  They don't fit the truck because I misread the description when I ordered them.  They might fit the SCX24 though.  The good news was that the truck shipped with metal gears.  This means that they won't need upgrading.

I had a $15 store credit with Amain.  I decided to use it to improve the FCX24.  Unfortunately the steering link is out of stock.  It's what I need the most.  Instead I got shock oil and tires for it.  I also got some bling for the BS74. 

I went back to the trailer for lunch.  After lunch I decided to improve the screen door latching.  Right now opening the screen door from outside requires opening the sliding door and then unlatching the door on the inside.  This is a pain.  Also, Cooper got out a few nights ago when I forgot to close the sliding door.  I used a small hook and some small chain to make a latch for the outside of the door.  That way the only time that the sliding door is needed is if the screen door is lathed from the opposite side.

That was pretty much the end of work in the shed.  I went back inside and surfed.  Ellen spent the WHOLE DAY watching chick flicks.  It was mind numbing.  Eventually I started watching YouTube on the TV.  I found some really interesting stuff.  I also had a nap.

Ellen fixed orange chicken for dinner.  After dinner she ended up listening to the stuff I was watching.  It was all quite interesting and covered a wide range of topics.

Day 2481

 We got up at 8, did the pet stuff, and had breakfast.  After a little surfing it was time to shoot again.

The weather was a little warmer and the sky was a little brighter today.  I shot a lot better, ending up in the mid 80's.  I would have shot better if I'd tried a little harder.  There wasn't any point in it though because I'd done so poorly yesterday.  Ellen shot very well.

We were done by 11:30.  Dave had set a lot of true pair stations which really moved things along.  The squad in front of us was pretty fast.  We rarely had to wait for them.  When we did it was for a short time.

There was no way we were eating at the roach course.  We went back to the trailer and put things away.  Then we went to AC Greasy for lunch.  After that it was Safeway for orange juice and bananas.

When we got home I surfed for a little while and then moved to the recliner.  It wasn't long before I was napping until dinner.  Ellen fixed stir fry for dinner.  After dinner I did a little surfing and then turned on the TV.

I spent quite a while looking for something to watch.  I settled on a movie. After about 15 minutes I decided it sucked.  I started another one.  About half way through I realized I'd seen it before.  It was a good movie, so I watched it anyway.  I didn't feel like doing another search.

It was late when the movies ended, so it was off to bed.

Day 2480

 We got up at 7:30, had breakfast and did the pet stuff.  After a little surfing it was time to go shoot.  The weather was nice because there was thick smoke from the fires to the north and east.  It ddin't haper visibility, but it kept the temperature down.

Both of us shot like shit.  I was having real trouble with my eyes.  When I mounted the gun my eyesight would flicker a little as each eye fought for dominance.  It wasn't a recipe for a good score.  Our squad mates were fun though.  There was a couple.  The husband was a really gung ho type.  There was also a older shooter who made lots of funny comments.

We were done about noon.  We ate at the roach coach.  I had a polish dog.  It sucked.  The dog had almost no taste.  It was literally one of the worst I have ever tasted.  I ate the bun and chili and left the dog.

We were both really tired when we were done.  We went back to the trailer and unpacked.  I spent a little time messing with some parts I'd bought for the new RC car.  It was due sometime today.  When that was done I went inside to surf.

Dinner was a frozen dinner.  A little after dinner they delivered the car to Dave and Vandy's house.  I went over and got it off the porch.  I unboxed it, but it was too late to do anything with it.

I surfed the rest of the evening.

Day 2479

 We woke up about 8, played games for a short while, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast we surfed for a while before going out to shoot the 20 ga.

I shot fairly well, mid 40's, and won my class.  Big deal, it was B class.  I was in spitting distance of winning the whole thing.  I shot with the gun against my shoulder, but not fully mounted.  I have to do that because the gun is a little too long.

The temperature wasn't bad, but there was a strong north wind.  It blew dust from the plowed field all over the course.  At times it looked like a dense fog.  It wasn't fun.

After that we went back to the trailer.  I ttok the gun out to the shed and cleaned it.  There was dust all over it.  Then we went to Baumann's to get John and Patty some onions.  We also made stops for fuel and Mickey D's for lunch.

We got to John and Patty's about 2.  I was tired.  I sat out on the deck with John and Patty.  We talked for a long time.  Eventually it was time for dinner - hamburgers.  After that we watched baseball for a while.  I got bored and sat outside with John.

John had the gas fire going, so it was really pleasant.  We talked a lot more, perhaps for a little more time than we should have.  It was almost 9 when we quit.  I got the dog crate we came for and we left.

We got home a little before 10.  There was a little surfing and then bed.

Day 2478

 We woke up at 7:30.  I played games for about an hour  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  Then I went out to the shed.

My intention was to straighten up the shed and get ready to build an enclosure to put the cats in while the trailer is being worked on.  I started by working on one corner.  I rearranged some stuff and found some stuff that could either be thrown away or put in the carport.  The result was more accessible stuff and some more floor space.

I found a plastic bin that was empty.  I put 4 RC cars in it.  It will go in the trailer when we leave.  Then I cleaned up one of the work benches.  I had a box with cleaning supplies in it.  One of the bottles had leaked and ruined all of the brushes.  I cleaned everything up and put it back in the box.

The result of all that work is a much better shed.  While I was doing that Ellen did what I think is the last painting on the B74.  I'll see tomorrow.

I went back inside and emailed Patty to see if we could borrow one of their dog crates.  That way I don't have to build an enclosure.  She said yes.  We'll go get it tomorrow.

After lunch we went to the club.  We talked for a while waiting for Vandy to show up.  Then we signed up for the shoot.  We start tomorrow with the 20 gauge at 10.  Dave offered me a 10% discount on a knife.  I'll probably buy it.

It was getting hot by then.  It eventually got near 90.  We stayed in the trailer.  I surfed and Ellen watched movies.

Ellen fixed coconut shrimp for dinner.  After that I took over the TV and watched a couple of movies.

Day 2477

 We woke up at 7:30 and got up to do the pet stuff and have breakfast.  Then it was off to leave the truck at Joe's for an oil change.

We talked with Joe for a while and then left to go to Aumsville to look at trailers.  I saw one there that I really liked.  However I wanted to wait two more weeks to buy it.  From there we drove to a place in Salem.  We saw one or two acceptable ones, but nothing I was overly thrilled with.

After that we stopped at Domino's for sandwiches and ate them at a nearby park.  While we were eating Joe called to say that the trailer axles had come in.  It was great to get that news.  I mean it was a magnificent load off my shoulders.

As we were driving home Rick at the trailer place called.  We set next Thursday at the day to get the axles replaced.  Yeah.

When we got home it was getting hot.  Ellen watched chick flicks and I surfed.  Joe called about 4:15 to say the truck was done, so we went to pick it up.  We got in some more conversation.

The cats got fed late when we got back.  Ellen fixed pork cops for dinner.  After dinner I surfed while Ellen watched more chick flicks.  Eventually I took a nap.  When I woke up I went to bed.  For once I didn't have to think about the trailer axles.

Day 2476

 I woke up about 7:30 and played games until after 8.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast we left for the laundromat.  Washing the clothes was boring as usual.

I called Joe and rescheduled the oil change for tomorrow morning.  Ellen called State Farm and got the Audi window replacement scheduled.  It won't be for two weeks.

After the wash was done we drove to Roberson RV.  We looked at several pull behinds.  Only one used one was appropriate, $25K.  The new ones were $40K or so.  We thought about trading in the 5th wheel on a new one, but I don't think that pencils out.

After that we stopped to buy cat food.  We had about an hour to kill before picking up Julia's pictures, so we ate at Keizer station.  After getting the pictures we went home.  It was hot, low 90's.  We hid out in the trailer, surfed and watched TV.

Dinner as frozen food.  After dinner I surfed some more while watching a streaming movie.

Day 2475

 I got up a little after 7 and played games for a short while.  Then it was up for pet stuff.  I was still sleepy, so I went back to bed and slept for about an hour.  Then it was up for breakfast.

After breakfast I went out to the shed and got the B74 wing.  I put the rest of the masking on it.  Then Ellen painted it the next color.  There's one more color before it's done.  She removed the last masking from the body.  It's not really good.  She screwed up some of the detail and the main color isn't bronze, it's a pale pink.  Oh well.  I put the velcro on it and put it on the car anyway.

By that time it was almost noon.  We got in the car, took the garbage to the dumpster, and drove to hwy 99.  I parked and we walked over to where the trailer for sale was in the field.  There was no way I was going to park on 99.

The trailer looked in OK shape.  It's 5 years old and 34 feet long.  The real problem is the guy is dreaming on the price.  He wants $30K.  A real good price for him would be $22K.  Because it's out in a field and I can't test any of the functions I wouldn't give him over $18K.  It's not worth calling him.

Ellen's been looking at brand new Grand Designs.  They are $80K and no one has what we want.  We're now looking at dealerships for something in the $20K range.

We drove to Best Buy to buy a DVD I wanted with the $20 coupon she got for buying the computer.  The DVD was $13.  We walked all around the store and couldn't find anything else we wanted, just like Cabela's.  

After that we went home for a late lunch.  I sat down to surf and fell asleep.  I woke up as Ellen was fixing chicken tenders for dinner.

After dinner I surfed for a while and then watched the DVD.  It was well worth the price.

Day 2474

 I woke up at 7:30 and played games for an hour.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that I surfed for a while because we weren't due at John and Patty's until about 1.

Surfing got boring, so I went out to the shed.  I rearranged some stuff and put a single Kraton battery on the charger.  Then I helped Ellen a little with painting the B74 body.

When the battery was charged I put it in the Kraton and ran it around the lawn in back of the shed.  Even though it was at half power it was really fast.  It didn't run for as long as I thought it might.  When I took it back to the shed the inside was filled with grass clippings.  They had clogged both the motor and ESC fans.  I suspect that there was a thermal shutdown.  The motor temp was 120 degrees.

I had to pick out some of the junk with pliers and blew out the rest with the compressor.  There was a lot.  As soon as that was done we left for John and Patty's.

Traffic was going fast on the way up.  Unfortunately a car in front of us threw up a rock that broke the windshield.  Crap.

We got to John and Patty's on time.  It was a nice sunny day, but not hot.  We sat outside and talked for hours.  We ordered dinner from Nona Amelia's.  I insisted we pay.  During dinner we remembered that today was our wedding anniversary.  It's number 45.

After that there was more talk.  We also watched the last inning of the Dodgers game.  They won.

We left about 8:30.  Traffic was moving well.  The bullseye break n the windshield had expanded into three large cracks.

When we got home I did a bunch of investigating and then bought another RC vehicle - a 1/24 truck.  It was highly rated.

While talking with John I decided to look a little more intently at buying a pull behind trailer to get us to Texas.  We'll see.

Day 2473

 I woke up about 7:30 and played games for about half an hour.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that I just surfed for a while.

I really wanted to see if the Kraton part was in the mailbox, so about 10 we left.  It was there, great!  I didn't want to go home, so we went to the company stores.

There were A LOT of people there.  The overflow lots were still empty when we got there, but they were full when we left.  We walked around shopping, but the only things we bought were a pair of pants for Ellen and a Swarovski cat for the house.  Virtually every store had things on large markdowns.  When we'd covered the whole place we ate lunch at the Thai place and then left.

I needed milk, so we stopped at Wally World.  They didn't have any 1%.  Fuck Biden.  I got 2% instead.  Then we went home.

When we got home I went out to install the part in the Kraton.  It would have been simple except that I dropped a screw into the body.  I ended up taking off the motor, ESC, and battery box but still didn't find it.  Finally I just gave up, replaced the parts, and installed the part.  I also put on the chassis protector.  The Kraton is now officially ready to run.  As I was putting the tools away I saw the screw on the floor.  I don't know if it was always there, or if it fell there when I put the Kraton on the floor.  That was a relief.

I went back inside and did a little surfing.  I also set up going to John and Patty's tomorrow.  Then I sat down and watched streaming on the TV.  Eventually I switched to DirecTV.

Dinner was leftovers. 

Day 2472

 We woke up at 7:30, did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  After that we left for Mt. Angel to get the truck's oil changed.

Unfortunately when we got there the gate was closed  I left Joe a message, but there wasn't anything else I could do.  We just went back home.

We got out the shooting stuff and went around the course.  It was fairly pleasant, but a little warm by the end.  I did not shoot well.  I didn't do badly, but I didn't do well.

When that was done we went to Best Buy and bought a new printer.  The old one is 11 years old and Canon isn't going to update it with a Win 11 driver.  Additionally Canon's replacement is on back order.  We bought an Epson instead.  It's smaller and lighter.  It seems to work pretty well.

The next stop was the RC shop.  We both ran the mini b's.  It was fun.  Another guy showed up with a couple of high powered 1/10 cars.  They run REALLY fast.  I actually got to the point where I was beginning to get the hang of running the car.  I still have a long way to go.

It was happy hour at Hops and Drops so we went there for drinks and a snack.  We had to sit inside because they didn't have a person to serve on the patio.  Fuck Biden.

We got home about 4.  I sat down to watch TV and eventually fell asleep.  When I woke up I continued to watch TV, mainly documentaries.  I didn't have dinner, only a snack.

Day 2471

 I woke up at 7:30 today, played games for 30 minutes, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After a little surfing it became apparent that the sewer guy wasn't coming in the morning.  It didn't take long to get bored surfing, so I went out to the shed.

I didn't really have anything in mind to do, but I found stuff.  I collected all of the instruction manuals I'd collected and put them in the "documentation" box.  I also repacked it so it contained more.  In the process I found more tools and parts to put away in the new container.  I even cleaned up the tool bench a little.

When that effort ran down I got out my shotgun.  I cleaned the stock and then put linseed oil on it.  Then I gave it a thorough cleaning.  I noticed that it's time to get it rebuilt again.  I hope I can do it at nationals.  I also called the dermatologist that called me about a referral.  They didn't call back.

By then it was lunch time.  I was about halfway through lunch when the sewer guy came.  I thought he'd improved.  He managed to drain the tank without spilling anything.  Unfortunately he did spill things when I flushed it.  Oh well.

When that was done I surfed for a little while before getting too bored to sit in the trailer.  We went to the club to buy ammo and talk to Vandy about their dog's broken leg.  Apparently Dave ran over the dog.  Fortunately it will be all right, but the healing process will be long and expensive.  Then we went to the post office, Safeway, and the gas station.

When we got home it was time for TV.  I watched documentaries for the rest of the evening and night.  Dinner was leftovers.