Day 2682

 I finally got enough sleep.  I didn't wake up until 8.  Then it was a long game playing session before getting up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that I surfed for a short while and then went out to work.

It was a good day for working.  It was 71 degrees and humid.  However, there was lots of cloud cover and a pretty stiff wind.  That kept things comfortable.  I started off with a hand weed digger in search of thistles.  I dug the three I'd found in the back yard and then went over all of the rest of the lawn.  I found about 10 to 15 total.

Then I got out the implements of destruction and started cutting all of the foliage that was impinging on the driveway.  Eventually I had the hedge trimmer, loppers, pole saw, three extension cords, and ladder out.  I cut stuff out of several trees along the driveway all the way up to the height of the trailer.  I even cut up and hauled away a large branch that had fallen on the other side of the front fence.  It took well over two hours, but the driveway is probably clearer than it has ever been.

I put everything away and went hack into the house.  I was hot and tired.  The cloud cover had become much thinner so the temperature had gone up.  It took me almost 2 hours before I'd recovered enough to have lunch and a shower.

After that I played for the dog for a while and then sat down in the recliner.  That resulted in a 1.5 hour nap.  I didn't wake up until 6.

Ellen fixed Kung Pao chicken for dinner.  After dinner I sat with the cats and watched videos.  Ellen had doggy duty.

I was just too tired to work on either the clock mechanism or the new digital frame.  That will have to be tomorrow.  I am happy at how much I got accomplished today.

Day 2681

 I woke up at 5:30 - the dog was crying.  Ellen took her out, but she continued to cry for at least another hour.  Both Ellen and I managed to get back to sleep, but it wasn't easy.  I eventually woke up about 7:30 and played games for an hour (Abby was still crying).  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.

It was raining for most of the day.  Abby doesn't like the rain.  We took her out religiously anyway.  Unfortunately I missed one cue and she ended up pissing in the kitchen.  Damn.

I'd planned on working outside today, but the rain killed that.  I ended up spending the day much like yesterday - surfing and interacting with the dog.  We couldn't take her outside to tire her out, so she had a lot of energy.  I think she got put in the bin three times just because both of us were tired of dealing with her.  It didn't help that at times she was very bad.

Waterloo had it's cheap hamburgers deal on again so we went there for lunch.  After that we went to HEB  and the post office.  Then it was back home.  I ended up taking an hour Plus long nap.  Abby had just ruined my rest this morning.

I checked the apartment light, it works fin now.  I do think I'll turn down the brightness.

The new digital frame and clock movement came in.  That's something to do tomorrow, but the yard work has priority.

Day 2680

 I woke up at 7, because Ellen got up and woke up the dog.  Then it was pet stuff and breakfast.  Yesterday was productive, today was not.  I really didn't have anything to do, and that's exactly what I did.

The morning was all surfing, videos, and dog interactions.  Ellen fixed a BLT for lunch.  She usually doesn't fix lunch.

After lunch was a little surfing and a lot of dog stuff.  Ellen left, so I had doggy duty by myself.

Dinner was frozen pizza.  After dinner was more videos.  There wasn't much dog stuff because we put her in the bin.

Day 2679

 I woke up a little before 8 and got up to do pet stuff and breakfast.  It was low 50's when I got up, so I just surfed for a while.  When it warmed up a little bit I went outside to put the Beretta clock back together.

I had a productive day today and did several things.  I'm just going to list them.  First I fixed the Beretta clock.  Putting the movement in was pretty easy.  Sealing the the glass with duct tape went really easy.  Unfortunately screwing the case back together didn't go as well as it could have.  Two of the plastic mounts broke as soon as I inserted the screws.  There were enough other screws to hold things together.  The clock works great.

The next job was adjusting the new apartment light.  Unfortunately I forgot to test them in the evening, so I don't know if the new settings are what I want.

Next up was putting the rope lights I bought weeks ago up.  I'd planned on putting them on the entrance gate, but decided they were too gaudy.  I put them on the deck railing instead.  They look really cool.

The final job was fixing the apartment stairs.  I found enough wood in the spare pile to repair three boards.  I cut the boards and then removed the old ones.  That too some effort because some of the screws were rusted and broke when I tried to remove them.  With the board out I could see where the vertical pieces needed repair.  I did that with scrap wood.  Finally I screwed down the new boards.  The result is a vast improvement.

All that work was interspersed with time inside.  Most of that was either surfing or playing with the dog.  She demands complete attention when she's awake and not in her bin.  There was one cool thing.  I switched from using stuffed squirrels for fetching to using a bumper.  She retrieved the bumpers as well as she had done the squirrels.

One other thing.  I really like those Crocs I bought when I'm not wearing socks.  They make running around with the dog in the back yard a lot better.

Day 2678

 I woke up at 7 and got up to do the pet stuff and have breakfast.  When that was done I went out to the garage to install the new apartment light.

The install went fairly well.  Of course it was all done halfway up a ladder.  The old light came off fairly easily.  I threw it away.  Putting the new one on involved a little hassle connecting the wires.  I really needed three hands.  Once I got everything put together the light worked well.  I didn't want to seal it though until I tested it at night.

I went back into the house and did a little surfing.  Then we left for errands.  We stopped at Academy.  We both brought Crocs shoes for use when going out with the dog.  They were more expensive than I thought, but I like them.  I also got some light shorts and sweats that were on sale.

We stopped at Home Depot to get lumber to fix the apartment steps.  They didn't have what I wanted.  We stopped at Lowe's, they didn't either.  I decided to wait on that project.  We went to Doc's for lunch, probably the last time until fall.  The last stops were HEB and Tomlinson's.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was dog stuff and surfing.  The dog is turning into a little bit of a pain in the ass.  If you aren't looking at her 100% of the time she will start doing something destructive.  That earned her a couple of timeouts in the bin.

I took her out twice and just sat on the deck while she entertained herself.  That worked out really well.  We do need to spend time training her, too.

Day 2677

 I woke up at 7, played games for a while, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  I didn't have anything scheduled for today, so it started out with surfing.

The morning was nice, but a little cool.  We went out several time with the dog just to let her go around.  We've pretty much got the bathroom thing down - take her out every hour to hour and a half.

I decided to get a little bit of a start on packing to go.  I went to the garage to select the RC stuff that's coming with us.  I put some of it in a plastic bin for transport.  I also got side tracked.  I decided to repair the Beretta clock that's been sitting in a corner for years because it doesn't run.  I disassembled it and removed the movement.

I took the movement inside and hit Amazon looking for a replacement.  There were a lot of options, but only a few fit the measurements of the clock.  I finally found one and ordered it.

A little in the afternoon the stuff I ordered yesterday showed up.  I installed the new trailer door rail.  It was a really easy installation.  I removed the old one, four screws, and installed the new one, four screws.  I didn't even have to drill any holes.

I also got a new light for the apartment door.  Unfortunately it was in the 80's by then.  I needed to open the apartment door to fit the ladder close enough to install the new light.  I didn't want to let all the hot air into the apartment, so I'll wait until tomorrow morning to do the install.

I went back into the house and did a little more work on RC packing.  Then it was surfing and videos for the rest of the day.  There was a lot of playing with the dog also.  She's getting really good at "retrieving" stuffed rabbits in the house.  I'm going to switch to the puppy bumpers.  If that goes well I'll take her outside with them.

Day 2676

 I woke up at 7 when the dog did.  I played games for a while, Ellen did the pet stuff.  After breakfast there wasn't a lot to do.  We surfed and played with the dog.

When we took the dog out she heard them dumping garbage in the cul-de-sac.   We put a leash on her and took her out to the gate.  We watched them load stuff for a while and so did she.  One lady came by with a bike.  I got it from her to donate.

We went back to the house, closed it up, and put the bike in the truck.  We put a harness on Abby just like we used to have on Lucy.  About halfway into the trip Abby barfed.  Apparently she gets car sick.  Overall she didn't like riding in the truck at all.  After that she started drooling.  Eventually she had a good portion of the car cover soaked.

We left the bike and drove back home.  We stopped at Fireman's on the way to get lunch.  We brought it home because of the dog.

After lunch I worked on the Power Wagon some more.  I got most of the fender wells cut down, but I still have some fine tuning to do.  The body sure does look nice.

After that it was more mixing of surfing and playing with the dog.  I did go out and take the bike rack off the trailer.  It's a lot heavier than I remember.  I had to put it in the garden cart to move it.  Even then I hurt my back.  

I also ordered a larger door rail for the trailer and an outside light for the apartment.  I'll install them tomorrow if they come early enough.

Ellen fixed orange chicken for dinner.  After dinner it was more dog play and surfing.  I'm beginning to train her to do retrieves.  Ellen works on the leash.

Day 2675

 I woke up at 8, played games for a while, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that I did something stupid.

One of the lights in the bathroom had burnt out.  I got a new one, but couldn't unscrew the old one.  I ended up partially breaking the socket.  A little later I realized I should have let the fixture cool.  I went back and replaced the bulb easily.  Luckily the fixture still works.

Lee texted to say he wanted to meet at Torchy's at 11:30.  I surfed and played with the dog until it was time to leave.  The dog is definitely back to 100%.

I had a great time at lunch with Lee.  I did most of the talking.  Lee is a pretty private guy.  It was really fun though.  I told him to text when he wanted to come over to see the dog.

When I got home I decided to get some work done even though it was over 80.  I loaded up a could of loads of gravel and used it to patch some bare spots in the driveway.  Then I got to work on the dead branches at the end of the side yard.  They bugged me because they looked so bad.

I did all of the cutting with the chainsaw.  I worked great.  The only problem I had was a six inch in diameter branch almost hitting me.  When I was finished there was a brand new big pile of brush in the trees at the end of the side yard.  It took a little over an hour to do and the place looks a lot better.

I went back inside very hot, tired, and sweaty.  I had a beer and surfed to recover.  Then I took a shower.  After that I sat in the recliner to watch videos.  That turned into a nap.  Eventually I woke up a little before dinner.

Ellen fixed pork chops for dinner.  They were really good.  After dinner I did a little retrieving training with Abby.  I discovered that a treat was a great way to get her to bring the squirrel back to me.  Hopefully I'll be using a bumper outside soon.

We took Abby out in the yard to get her YaYa's out.  We had her running around for a half hour or more.  We got tired before she did, so they weren't all removed.  She started playing with Devon.  It's a work in progress, but I think Devon is getting to like her.  Cooper never will.

I watched videos for the rest of the evening.

Day 2674

 I woke up at 8, played games for a while and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  Then I went outside to do a little work.

I cut off a dead branch on a tree in the back.  It was making it hard to walk near the deck.  Then I cut up a small fallen dead tree and threw it over the fence.  That makes it easier to follow the dog.  Finally I got out tools and materials.  I ran a wire across two wooden fence posts in the back fence so that it could support a metal post in the middle.  The jerks that owned the place hadn't pounded the metal post into the ground.

I had doggy duty while she was gone.  Abby is feeling better.  She's maybe not 100%, but she's close enough that you have to watch her all of the time.

Ellen brought back a sandwich for lunch.  After lunch it was more surfing and do interaction.  About 2 we left to go see the lawyer.  We got the new wills all signed and made official.  We stopped for smoothies on the way home.

When we got home we picked up the dog and went to Tomlinson's.  We needed cat food and I wanted to show her off.  Unfortunately the lady we liked wasn't there.  Abby doesn't like riding in the car.  She whines.  She also doesn't like walking on a lead.  We'll start that training tomorrow.

We got home just in time for pet dinner.  After that was interleaved dog stuff and surfing.  That included a couple of back yard sessions with Abby.  She's almost back to normal.  We also watched the latest baby Yoda.

Day 2673

 Today we were back to getting up about 7 for pet stuff and breakfast.  Then it was surfing.  Ellen had a doctor's appointment up north at 10, so there wasn't really anything else to do.

The office was up past Palmer.  Traffic was a little heavy, but it was moving pretty fast.  We got there just in time.  The appointment was really quick.  we were on the road again in about 40 minutes.  According to the doctor everything is fine.

We took the express lane back home.  It was moving at 80, but then so was the non-pay lanes.  I didn't mind though, it only cost $1.

We picked up the mail and then stopped at the HEB on 1826.  We only wanted cheese and crackers, but we ended up with a lot more.  The last stop was CVS.

It was warming up when we got home, so was the dog.  She started off slow today, but was back to at least 75% by the end of the day.  She also lasted 2.5 hours in the crate while we went to the doctor.

Tony called.  We had another rambling conversation with him.  I guess he's lost some weight, which he is really proud of.  His cat is getting old and just cost him $4K for surgery.  He was clearly in one of his "up" phases.

Ellen left for the club.  That left me with doggy duty.  Abby was feeling pretty good by then, so the afternoon and early evening were play with the dog, take the dog out, and keep the dog from getting in trouble.

Dinner was a frozen meal.  After dinner was some surfing and videos along with a little reading.

Day 2672

 I got up a little after 8.  For some reason the dog slept in today.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  As usual Ellen did training during breakfast.  After breakfast I did some retrieves with Abby using one of her toy squirrels.  She did 5 nice retrieves before she got bored.

It rained all day today, so there was no question of going outside to do things.  About an hour after lunch Abby went outside and had diarrhea.  When she came back in she was very subdued.  I got out her pink bed for the first time.  She jumped into it immediately and went to sleep.  She slept from then until dinner.

Ellen went to her therapy appointment.  I surfed.  When she got back we both surfed.  I'm thinking about building up another car.  I spent most of the day researching about the one I want to build.  I won't buy anything until we're back in Oregon.

I also tried to find something to buy on Ebay with the gift cards.  I couldn't find anything I wanted.

We fed the pets at 5 as usual.  Abby got up and had a good appetite.  Unfortunately eating gave her the runs.  She went out at least three times in fairly rapid succession.  In between she slept in the pink bed.  I was really happy about one session.  She suddenly got out of the bed and went to the cat room door.  She quickly turned around and ran over to me.  I picked her up and put her outside while I put on my shoes.  She was out taking a dump by the time I got outside.

I had frozen pizza for dinner (by choice) and Ellen had leftovers.  After dinner was a little more RC investigation and then videos.

Day 2671

 I woke up at 7 this morning.  Apparently this is when the dog likes to get up.  I got up for pet stuff and to have breakfast.

After breakfast we played with the dog and did a little surfing.  Then idea was to tire out the dog so that we could leave.  I cleaned out the desk in the kitchen.  It had gotten to the point that I couldn't close the desk anymore.  I threw some old stuff away and organized a lot of stuff.  In the process I found $200 in Cabelas cards and $100 in ebay cards that I didn't know I had.

When the desk cleaning was finished I went down a rabbit hole looking for a dog collar for Abby.  It looks like it will cost $1049.  That's a lot more than the first one.  The Cabelas cards and the $150 debit card I have will help with the cost though.

We accomplished doggy tiring out about 11:30.  We had lunch at Cheddar's.  There was enough in my lunch for dinner.  Then we stopped at the pet store for another dog lead, a little cat food, and of course another dog toy.  I also stopped at the coffee place for coffee on the way to HEB.  It only got to about 52 today.

We bought a whole lot of needed groceries at HEB along with a birthday cake.  Then it was home to rescue the dog.  We ran her in the back yard a little and then Ellen went to the club.  I continued to play with the dog until she pissed me off.  She decided to start eating the carpet and there wasn't anything I could do to stop her.  I'd give her a toy, she'd immediately drop it and go back to the carpet.  That earned her a trip to the crate.

I had leftovers for dinner.  Ellen came home a little later.  We took the dog out for a while.  She was much better behaved when we came back in.  Ellen had dinner and then we had cake.

After dinner was more dog playing and another trip outside.  She ran out of gas a little after 8.  That allowed us to go back to the computers.  I'm considering buying another rig, so I spent time on research.  If I buy it it won't be until we get to Oregon.

Then end of the evening was videos.

Abby has had a lot of close encounters with the cats.  Of course Cooper hates her.  I think Devon would play with her.  Unfortunately Abby wants to play like a puppy.  Devon has no use for the barking and jumping up and down.

Day 2670

 I woke up at 7 today and got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast it was pretty much play with the dog.  It was cold in the morning, so it was all inside play.

Eventually the dog timed out and we just surfed.  The weather was cold all morning, so the dog wakes up, dog goes out, dog gets played with, dog sleeps repeated.

A little before lunch I decided to do more work on the computer wiring.  I replaced the big surge protector with the small one I'd bought.  Then I put it in a plastic box instead of a cardboard one.  Then I attached the box and wires to the table leg with Velcro.

It got substantially warmer in the afternoon.  We sat out on the deck with the dog for a while.  She's a little subdued today, so there wasn't as much running in the yard as usual.  I also took the opportunity to do some small tasks.  I replaced the rotten cable ties on the back porch lighted flamingo.  I also rearranged some Dremel accessories in the garage.  I had a assortment from 2005 in a big box.  Most of it was empty.  I put the remainder in another box and threw the big one away.  I've been meaning to do that for years.

2005.  Kids born that year are now 18.  I'm old.

There was more dog playing, dog sleeping, and surfing.  I decided to walk to the mailbox.  On the way back I brought in the new dog crate.  It's huge.  I put it together.  Then I had a nap.

Ellen fixed stir fry for dinner.  The dog went to sleep afterwards.  We had another "accident when she woke up.  We didn't take her out immediately.  She made a short trip around the kitchen and then pissed.  I took her out and she shit.  Oh well.

That was pretty much the day.

Day 2669

 I woke up a little before 8 and played games until 8:30.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  The only thing on the agenda for today was the dog.

Ellen trains the dog with part of it's breakfast every morning.  When the dog finished eating we played with it for a while before taking it outside.  I think we took it out at leas 7 or 8 times today.  It pissed every time ans shit 4 times.  I never got above 51 today.  The dog got really good at going out, pissing, and coming back inside almost immediately.

Training is going pretty good, too.  She's beginning to recognize her name, although I think she might think it means "come".

The whole day was play with dog, surf, take dog out, repeat.  The only thing I accomplished was going outside twice to pick up Amazon packages.  One contained two new dog toys.  They were both hits.

Ellen fixed BLT's for dinner.  After dinner we watched the latest Baby Yoda installment.  Unfortunately most of it was some stupid sub plot that didn't involve him.

Day 2668

 I woke up at 8, played games for a while, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast I decided to try to reduce Abby's attacks on the computer power cords.

I went out to the garage and got some Velcro and some stick on cable holders.  I crawled under the table and attached the power supplies to the table legs.  Then I routed the cables on the underside of the table using the cable holders.  There were no longer any cables on the floor except for very short ones to the power box.

I ordered some stuff from Amazon - a new dog crate, dog toys, and Velcro and cable holders to replace the ones I'd used.  Some things came today, the rest will be here tomorrow, most in the morning.  It's nice to be in the same day shipping area.

That seemed to work as we played with the dog during the morning.  It was cold, so most of the play was outside.  She did a great job at going to the can though.

Cooper is extremely pissed off when I play with the dog rather than holding him.  Both he and Devon are getting more comfortable with the dog.  The problem is Abby wants to play like they were puppies.  She wants to jump and run, they don't.  She actually got face to face with Devon and licked his nose.  he was not amused.

Abby had her first "accident" after lunch.  It was really our fault.  She started walking all around the kitchen, which she had been doing a lot today.  Eventually she pissed next to the cat room gate.  I think she thought it was the living room gate.  We really should have noticed what she was trying to tell us.

I'm the designated dog bed.  Every time Abby gets tired she wants up on my lap so she can sleep.  She goes to sleep and I put her in the box.  She complains a little and then goes back to sleep.

Things warmed up in the afternoon.  Ellen and I took Abby out for two romps in the backyard - have to get the yah-yahs out.  Then I went for a walk.  That way I don't feel guilty.

Ellen fixed thin steaks for dinner - one of my favorites.  I spent a lot of the evening in the recliner with the cats.  I want to make sure that they don't feel left out.  I know Cooper does.  Tere was one more dog play session though.

Day 2667

 I woke up at 8, got up and did the pet stuff.  It was a rainy day, so no question of doing something outside.  Instead we stayed inside and played with the dog.  We did take her out successfully a couple of times.

We both mainly surfed when not interacting with the dog.  She and the cats are slowly becoming more comfortable with each other.  That said, Cooper does not like the dog at all.  Abby tried to play with him today.  That resulted in some hissing before Cooper stalked off.  Devon on the other hand is still trying to get a good sniff of her butt.  Abby is trying to return the favor.

About 11:30 I got an email from Waterloo Ice House saying that they are selling low price hamburgers and fries today.  We decided to go.  We stopped at the post office and Costco first.  The food at Waterloo was really good.  The whole bill was $13, only a little more than half of the bill at Wendy's the other day.  It only happens on Thursdays.  We'll probably go next Thursday.

The last stop was HEB.  We bought a lot of food including some chicken that Ellen can cook for Abby.

It was drying out and getting warm when we got home.  We took Abby outside and let her run around.  She didn't seem to suffer any ill effects from being left alone.  When we went back inside she crashed.

Dinner was leftovers.  After dinner we played a little with Abby and then put her in the bin.  She didn't like it, but she needs to learn that she's not the center of our lives.  She went back to sleep and has been sleeping most of the evening.

There's a huge, loud, thunderstorm to the east of us.  I'm hoping it will calm down before we have to take the dog out before bed time.

Day 2666

 I woke up at 7.  Apparently that's going to be the do's wakeup time.  I played games for quite a while and then got up for breakfast.  Ellen gets up with the dog, so she's doing the feeding now.

It was fairly warm, so after the dog ate we took it out to the yard to play and got to the can.  She peed and shit.  Then we spent some time walking around with her and letting her explore the yard.  Eventually we could see she was getting a little tired, so we went back inside.  After a little bit more play Abby ran out of gas.  I put her in the bin and she went to sleep.

Ellen went to her therapy and I surfed.  When she got back it Abby woke up and we took her back outside.  So far the "don't let her have an accident" has been going well.  

We surfed and had lunch.  At 1 we left for the vet.  The vet checked her over, gave her a shot, installed a chip, and gave us meds for the fleas.  We stopped at Tomlinson's on the way home for some waterless dog cleaner.  Abby smells like a dog, but it's too early to introduce her to water.  We also got a couple of chews.

When we got home Abby really went to town on one of the new chews.  She likes to make noise when she's chewing it.  I hope she doesn't turn out to be a really noisy dog.

I feel better than yesterday, but I still lack energy.  I spent most of the rest of the afternoon and evening in the recliner with the cats.  That left Ellen on doggy duty.  Dinner was leftovers.

One note.  There's been progress on the dog/cat front.  Cooper has gotten close several times.  He even banged on the bin while Abby was inside.  That won't happen again.  At one point Cooper was briefly on my lap while Abby was.  Devon is showing interest, too.  He and Abby met under the table at close range.  There was some hissing, but that was all.  Abby just seems to be interested in both cats.  She does understand that hissing means stand your distance.

Day 2665

 I woke up at 7.  Actually I woke up several times during the night due to the dog.  Ellen decided it only needed to go out once though.  I played games for a while and then got up.  Ellen was dealing with pet feeding, so I got dressed and then got the wash set up.  After that it was breakfast.

After breakfast it was dog stuff.  Ellen did some training and then we both played with the dog.  Eventually it crashed in it's box.  The dog has ADD.  It only does things for 90 seconds or less before going on to something else.  After that I went on errands while Ellen watched the dog.

We needed to block the area under the stairs to the upper deck.  The dog was using it as a toilet.  I decided to use a wooden trellis.  I could use the rest on the gate.  I also needed to replace the furnace air filters and get the toy at Walmart that the breeder recommended.

I stopped at Lowe's first for the trellis and filters.  The filters were over $20 a piece, highway robbery.  There appears to be only one company making them.  Then it was Wally World.  I got the toy, bananas and OJ, and some glasses cleaning wipes.  Then it was home.

I was really wiped out when I got home.  I had lunch and did some surfing.  I also did some training with the dog and then played with it.  It's really latching onto Ellen and I need to get some time in with it.  That really pisses off the cats though.  After that I went out to work with the trellis.

I cut the piece for the gate first.  It took some time to get it cut correctly.  I basically had to cut three sides of it.  Then I cut out the two pieces to block off the sides of the steps.  After that was the fun part.  I got out the air nailer and nailed the trellis pieces on.  I like that thing.  The result looks good, too.

By the time I got done it was almost 5.  I had something to drink and played with the dog.  Then I fed the cats.

Ellen fixed mac and cheese with ham for dinner.  After dinner I went to the HOA meeting.  It was kind of boring even though there was at least 20 people there.  Apparently the city has tried to block connecting a road to the development.  Unfortunately the developer has bought a couple of county commissioners and they might use eminent domain to get the road completed.

When I got home I sat in the recliner and watched videos.  I did it so the cats could sit with me.  I don't want them in competition with the dog for attention.

Day 2664

 I woke up and did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  Then I surfed for a while because it was a little too early to leave for Hondo.  After that it was load up the truck and go.

I took the truck because yesterday it went into regen about 10 miles from home.  When I started it up it showed 100% soot.  It warmed up and then went into regen again.  However, it only stayed in regen fro a short time, no more than 5 miles.  When it quite it read 4% soot (the lowest ever).  Fuel mileage was great, too.  The trip to Hutto, through San Antonio, was 21.9 mpg.  That's going 70 to 80 all of the way (yeah, light traffic).

Unfortunately both the donut shop and BBQ place in Hutto were shut on Mondays.  We ended up at Mickey D's.  We got to the breeder about 12:30.

We had a great talk with the breeder while she let Abby's (that's her name) litter run wild.  We actually had our choice of two dogs.  We went with one because I liked the marking better and the breeder recommended it.  I think we did OK.  Minnie looked great though.  I'm going to always wonder if she was better.

I'm not sure when we got back on the road, probably about 2.  We went back through Bandera.  We did take a short cut through Boerne and a back road around Bulverde.  MPG for the whole trip was 19.4.

Abby and her mates had been eating horse shit while they were out.  She barfed up her share while we were going home.  We stopped at Tomlinson's for some shampoo.  When we got home Ellen took Abby out back while I unloaded everything and cleaned the truck and the kennel.

It was after 5 when we got back.  We played with the dog and did a little training.  The dog catches on VERY quickly.  We've got a start at sit, down, off, and come.  Potty training went well.  We followed the instructions and the dog went outside several times to do it's thing.  It didn't have any accidents.

Dinner was leftovers.  After dinner Abby spent a little time playing and a lot of time sacked out.  We'll see how the night goes.  Apparently a 4 AM call might be in store.

Day 2663

 I woke up at 8, played games for a while, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  I surfed for a while and put up the gate for the cat room.  I think that's all that's necessary to prepare for the dog and I wanted the cats to get used to it.  They adapted quickly.  Then I decided to work on RC stuff.

I went outside to get the Power Wagon body from the garage.  I got distracted though.  I ended up getting out the pole saw and cutting all of the dead limbs off the tree in the parking area.  Doing so makes it look better, but it also emphasizes the damage the storm did to it.  Eventually I returned to the house with the Power Wagon body.

I didn't work on it immediately.  Instead I decided to repair the roof on the Ryft.  It got knocked off when Hooch and I were playing with it.  I ended up having to redo the attachment scheme.  I got it done though and I think it will work a lot better.

I had a hard time getting the two halves of the Power Wagon body to go together.  I eventually had to do a little trimming.  Then I punched 4 holes for attachment and screwed it together.  The result looks really good.

After that I got out the frame for the Power wagon and started fitting the body.  That involve a lot of cutting of the existing fender wells.  I ended up removing about half of each one.  I got two almost done before I ran out of desire to work on them.

After that it was videos and a nap.  I was a bad boy, I didn't take a walk.

Ellen spent a long time on dinner, making both chili and cornbread. We put the chili on chili dogs.

After dinner was videos.  I really wonder what tomorrow evening will look like.

I've always wanted to name a dog Penelope.  However, the more i think about it the more I like Abby.

Day 2662

 I woke up about 8 and played games for a while.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  When breakfast was over I started to finish my picture sorting work.

It took a while, but I finally got all the pictures I wanted selected.  All in all I selected 133 pictures from 489 candidates.  Whew.  I loaded them onto a SD card and set up the "new" picture frame.  I say new because we bought it years ago.

After that I tackled the kitchen table.  It was a total mess.  I got my half cleared off.  Ellen's is covered with crap.  Then I did some outside things.  I took out the garbage.  Then I used the pole saw cut off a broken branch that was threatening to plug up the driveway drainage ditch.  Finally I took the repaired flamingo back out to the deck and nailed it down.  We'll see if JB Weld is as good as they say.  Then I escaped back inside.  It was 90 degrees and 60+ percent humidity.

I had lunch and the started work on a dog name.  I went through a couple of websites, one had 500 names.  I also went through a couple of German name sites.  I finally came up with a list of 15 finalists.  Ellen added a few and then we started iterating on paring the list.  We finally got it down to four names:Abby, Cassie, Maddie, and Penny.  We sent them to Hooch's family.  He replied the they chose either Abby or Penny.  We'll select a finalist tomorrow.

I went out to put a couple of things in the truck.  I noticed that there was a large branch in front brick patio.  It wasn't there before.  It was windy today, so it must have blown down.  I got out the pole saw again, cut it up, and hauled it away.  I noticed there was another broken branch still stuck in the tree.  I used the pole saw to cut it up and hauled it away, too.

After that we went to CVS to get my drugs.  It was 5:30, so we went to Circle C for dinner.  The only place without a wait was the Italian place.  After that we did a little grocery shopping and then went home.

The rest of the evening was videos and the latest Baby Yoda episode.  They are coning out once a week now.

Day 2661

 I got up at 7:30 and immediately did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  Then we put the stuff in the truck and left for the shoot.

It was held at a club SE of San Marcos.  Using the toll road to get to 35 made for a quick trip.  So did driving on 35 at 80 mph.  The trouble was once we left the freeway.  The secondary road we took was under construction.  traffic was one lane.  We must have waited 15 minutes or more for the pilot car, which then drove under 20 mph through the two mile construction zone.

Despite the delay we got to the club at 9:30, half an hour ahead of time. Tat gave us plenty of time to sign up and get ready.  The person we were shooting with showed up and we went to the course.  There were 12 stations all set around a flat field.  Fortunately there weren't many people because the stations were so close together that the targets kind of interfered with each other's sight lines.

It was a fun course though.  All of the stations were interesting and fairly challenging.  I shot fairly well (not really good) event though I hadn't shot in 4 months and the floaters are back.  It was worth the trip.

We got back to I35 before 1.  It was Friday though and the traffic in both directions was pretty slow, especially through San Marcos.  It wasn't too bad though.

When we got home I put everything away.  Ellen went out to clean her gun.  I watched videos for a while and did some more picture selection.  Then I moved to the recliner.  That caused a nap.

Ellen fixed frozen shrimp for dinner.  After dinner I watched videos.  I found some really interesting ones that we both liked.

Day 2660

 I woke up a little after 8 and played games for quite a while.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that it was chore time.

The first chore was replacing the light bulb in the deck light.  I had to get out the ladder to do it.  Then I used JB Weld to hopefully repair the damaged pink flamingo.  I used a file and the Dremel tool to prep the surfaces.  I hope it works.

Ellen went outside to paint the Power Wagon.  I went inside and started loading pictures for the new digital frame.  I spent over an hour on the task before I got tired of it.  I may be halfway through the picture collection.

After a little surfing I had a salad for lunch.  Then it was back to surfing.  When Ellen went back to painting I went for a walk.  I was just about home when Lee went by.  He stopped and we had a long conversation on the side of the road.  We agreed to have lunch together in about 10 days.

I didn't get home until almost dinner time.  Ellen fixed seasoned chicken.  After dinner I started to watch videos.  Ellen reminded me that we're going shooting tomorrow, so I went outside and loaded up the truck.

After that we watched videos together.  I found an amusing Russian video maker that tells about historical Russian screwups. 

Day 2659

 I got up a little before 8, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After a little bit of surfing it was time to do errands.

After the post office we went to Costco to get water, a couple of food items, and some shorts that they had on sale.  Then it was the pet store for $94 of cat food.  From there it was Home Depot to get some JB Weld.  After that was HEB for milk and bananas and Goodwill to drop off some stuff.  The last stop was Wendy's.  A hamburger combo was $10.50.  FUCK BIDEN.

All of the ambition drained out of me when we got home.  Eventually I did the last dog related item on my list.  I got out the crate and put a small box in it.  That is supposed to deter the puppy from pissing in the crate.  I put the crate in the kitchen so maybe it will smell a little like a kitchen when she come home.

I went for a walk when Ellen left for the club.  I walked for about an hour.  It was 81 with 66% humidity, so I was hot and tired when I got back.  There were a couple of times during the walk where I really wanted to sit down and rest.

I took a shower and then checked the back porch light.  It's burnt out like I suspected.  I'll need to get the big ladder to fix it though.

I surfed before and after dinner (frozen spaghetti).

I'll have a todo list for tomorrow - deck light, JB Weld, and setting up the new digital photo frame.

Day 2658

 I woke up a little after 8, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After a little surfing Ellen left for therapy and I went outside.

I decided to work on pink flamingos.  I picked up the wreckage of the ones that had been crushed by trees and repaired the legs of the ones that weren't.  Then I installed them in the lawn.  Then I removed the nails holding the one on the deck and took it to the garage.  I set it up with a clamp.  I'll need JB Weld to repair it.  I left a message for Ellen to get some, but of course she didn't.

After that I did a little of the laundry and then waited for Ellen to get home.  When she did we started to get the kitchen ready for a dog.  That meant cleaning out everything under and on the table.  Some of the stuff went into a Goodwill bag.  Some went to the trailer for Hooch and family.  The remainder went to the apartment and garage.  Ellen vacuumed the floors while I did that.

There were two of my old computers.  Unfortunately I don't remember their password.  I've been using a PIN for years.  I'm still trying to remember it so I can wipe the machines.  I also got out the second digital picture frame.  I'd get it started, but we don't have an extra SD card.  I ordered one.

Somewhere in the middle of that we had leftovers for lunch.

The dog front was weird.  Ellen did some research.  Parvo can show up years later in a dog and do real damage, so Minnie is out.  The breeder said the other female was reserved for us.  Hooch called to cheer me up.  He said that there was a trainer in Spokane he's taking his dog to.  I'm hoping we can, too.  The timing looks good.  The breeder said coming on Monday is OK, that there's another couple coming in on Saturday.  I had Ellen find out if we should come before them to make sure we get the other female.  The breeder said no, the other couple has priority.  I'm really confused.  The dog is supposed to be "reserved for us", but what does that mean?  Oh well, this whole thing is turning into a cluster fuck.

We did have fun with names.  The front runner is Abby (for Abby Normal).  I want Poochy.

The rest of the day was mainly videos.  Ellen fixed pork chops for dinner.

Tomorrow will involve errands - Costco, Home Depot, post office, pet food, and HEB.

Day 2657

 I woke up at 7:30 and played games until 8:15.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  I'd woken up with an idea on how to solve my problem anchoring the dog fence, so I went out to the garage to implement it.  Ellen followed me to continue painting the 1/10 Power Wagon.

While Ellen painted I cut four pieces of 1x2.  I drilled holes in both ends, one for the threaded rod and the other for the end post in the fence.  I got lucky with the hardware.  I had the 8 nuts and 8 washers I needed to mount them.  I took them into the house and used them to connect the fence to the threaded rods on the supports I'd built.  They worked perfectly.

I was celebrating my work when the do breeder texted us.  They want to keep Minnie.  They offered us the other female from the litter.  It was time to go to the doctor, we just went.

The doctor burned some more stuff off the top of my head.  My blood pressure was good and I've lost several pounds.  I was happy with the visit.  When I was done we stopped at the post office and Torchy's for lunch.  The last stop was HEB.  I spent the whole time mad at the breeder.  I had Ellen get pictures of the other dog.  We'll go see it on Monday.

When we got home I did a little surfing and then went on a walk.  It's not fun, but it's tolerable when listening to podcasts.  I'm listening to Mike Rowe tell 5 or 6 minute stories about various people.

It was 80 degrees with 62% humidity while I was walking.  I hot back hot, tired, and sweaty.  I surfed for a little while to rest.  After Ellen left for the club I took a shower, did some surfing, and then had leftover pizza for dinner.

When Ellen got back I was surfing again.  I found a neat streaming site that does YouTube like videos without censorship.  It costs $30/year, so I signed up.  I watched a video and then watched the Mandalorian.  It's good to see baby Yoda again.

Day 2656

 I woke up at 7:30, played games for a while, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that it was time to do doggy homework.

I read over what Ellen had come up with for doggy training yesterday.  Then I went over some of the videos and wrote out a "first training topics/methods" plan.  Finally I wrote out a daily schedule.  We talked about it and agreed on a final version.

After that I went outside and stapled the rest of the chicken wire onto the deck.  Then I took the tools back to the garage.  I also put everything that was still laying out away.  The garage is now ready for the next project.

I went back to the house and got Ellen to continue the painting of the 1/10 scale Power Wagon body.  While she was setting things up I masked off the pink flamingo we'd bought in Bandera.  It was a little rusty and I wanted to get it painted before i set it out.  Then I went back into the house and surfed for a little while.

Surfing got boring, so I went back to work on the Lego.  I did that until Ellen got back and we ate lunch.  Then I finished the Lego.  It's kind of cool.  I tested it and then put everything away.  I'll probably never do anything with it again.  I really enjoyed putting it together though.  The people who design those things are amazing.

That was it for accomplishments today.  The rest of the day was videos and surfing.  Dinner was a frozen pizza.

Tomorrow dog oriented activities are to set up the crate.  I think it needs to be smaller.  We also need to dog proof the kitchen area.  I'd like to improve the dog fence anchors, but I'm not sure how to do it right now.

Day 2655

 I woke up about 8, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  I really didn't have anything scheduled for today, so I got out the LEGO to continue on the material handler.

I worked on step 2 (of 3).  It was pretty complex and took almost all of the morning.  When I was finished I had about half the cab attached to the frame.  The rest of the cab and the crane remain to be done.

After that I did my one accomplishment for the day.  I went out to the trailer and collected all of the batteries and their holders.  I took everything back to the house and transferred the batteries to the new holder I just got.  I also filled up the holder in the bathroom closet with a package of batteries we bought a while back.  Then the new battery holder went out to the trailer.  It doesn't sound like much, but it was all that I could think to do.

Lunch was a sandwich.  After lunch I put on some earbuds and went for a walk.  I probably walked about a mile and a half.  I was tired when I got back.  I sat down to watch videos and fell asleep (surprise, surprise). 

Ellen spent most of the day working out a training plan for the dog.  I'll look it over tomorrow.  She also fixed orange chicken for dinner.

After dinner I watched videos until I got bored.  Then I just surfed.  All in all it was a nice relaxing day.

Day 2654

 I woke up about 7:30, played games for a while, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that it was surfing and videos until about 9:30.  That's because the places we wanted to go to didn't open until 10.

The first stop was the Goodwill at the Y.  I was looking for lifting weights.  They didn't have any.  We continued onto the post office and then went to the Lego store at Barton creek Mall.  I had a $32 discount there.  I bought the only kit that moved that they had.  It's a material loader that powered pneumatically. 

Our next stop was a used sporting goods store near Harbor Freight.  They had used weights, but they were way too expensive.  We stopped at the Goodwill next to Harbor Freight and hit the jackpot.  They had a set of 25, 10, and 5 pound weights (two each) for $16.  The used place wanted that much for one 10 pound weight.

The next two stops were harbor Freight for gloves and Inn-n-Out for lunch.  The last stop was Central Market and the outdoor store next door.  We got orange juice and halibut at Central Market and a couple of shirts at the outdoor store.

When we got home I set up the baby wall.  Then I went out to the garage and built a couple of anchors out of 10 pound weights and some threaded rod I had left over from some project.  They seem to work OK, but I may need to do some fine tuning.

After that it was videos until dinner - Ellen fixed the halibut.  It was great.  After dinner I started to put together the Lego set.  I doubt I'll get a chance once the dog comes.

I worked through step one (of 3) on the Lego and then quit.  The rest of the evening was videos.

All in all I think it was a good "low impact" day.

Day 2653

 The weather alarm woke me up at 3:30.  It called for large hail here, so I went outside, moved the Ranger out of the garage and put the Audi in.  I was soaked when I got back inside.

I tried to go back to sleep, but that wasn't happening.  I ended up playing games until about 6.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that it was surfing.  That got boring fairly quickly, so I got out the Ryft tires and rims.

Putting the rims on the first tire was a challenging.  Of course the instructions offered no real help.  I got better though, and by the 4th one the process was going quickly.  I put the tires on the Ryft and called it a day for RC stuff.

Ellen left for therapy while I was working on tires.  I surfed until she came back and then we had leftover sandwiches from yesterday for lunch.  I'd planned on going somewhere after that, but my motivation faded completely out.

Ellen left early for a lesson before coaching.  I decided to get something accomplished.  I went to the garage and got out the leaf blower.  I cleared off all the garbage on the deck and the parking area.  I'd been meaning to do that for a long time, but I was just too tired after all of the work we've been doing.  I also took out the recycle and put some stuff in the trailer.  It wasn't much, but it made me feel I'd accomplished something.

The thunderstorm alarms started going off before Ellen got home.  It sounded like it was going to be serious - heavy rain and 70 mph winds.  I once again replaced the Ranger in the garage with the Audi.  At least I didn't get wet this time.  The storm itself turned out to be mild.  1/3 inch of rain and maybe a 25 mph wind.

Dinner was leftovers.  After dinner was videos.  A lot of them were dog videos.

Day 2652

 I woke up at 7:30, got up and did the pet stuff and had breakfast.  Then I went out to start cutting down the dead branches I'd noticed yesterday.

Things didn't start out well.  The battery in the Ranger was dead, so I put the charger on it.  Then I took the ladder and the pole saw to the deck.  I cut down the dead branch we'd missed and cut it into pieces.  Ellen helped me throw the pieces over the fence.

After that everything went back to the trees by the well head.  Three trees all had overlooked dead branches.  Two were relatively easy to cut down.  The third was not.  I had to climb up high on the ladder to reach it.  When I cut it down it stuck in the middle of the tree.  I had to cut pieces off of it and pull them out one by one.  There was a higher branch that I couldn't get to at all.

The final tree was on the other side of the trailer.  Two of it's branches had broken and were covering other trees.  I cut it out piecemeal.

The Ranger battery still wasn't charged and we had at least four loads of branches to haul away.  Ellen decided to haul one into the woods by the trailer.  I decided to take the chainsaw and walk the perimeter fence.  I started by cutting down the one tree in front that I knew needed it.

I got about halfway down the side by Lee before I found a couple of branches that needed to be cut.  I continued down that side and found a couple of more small branches.  As usual getting to the fence near the far corner was hard because of the growth.  It was good I worked through it, because there was another branch down there.

The back fence was pretty clear except for two large dead branches that were hanging over the fence.  The chain came off while I was cutting the second.  I had to take the saw back to the garage to fix it.  I finished the dead branch and cut a small tree that had fallen on the fence.  That's when things got worse.

A large double tree had come uprooted and fallen on the fence.  The fence wasn't damaged, but it too a while to cut everything away.  I was thinking I was pretty much done when I got to a tree whose broken branches had fallen on the fence by the power lines and crushed it.  I spent quite a while cutting branches and throwing them over the fence into the easement.

By then it was 1 and I was hot, tired, and a little bloody from branch scratches.  I put the saw in the garage and went inside to eat lunch.  The Ranger still wasn't charged.

About 2 I went back outside.  The Ranger was charged enough to start, so Ellen and I started loading it up.  It took three trips to take everything back to the pile by the back storage building.  The pile had shrunk a little, which was good.  It made piling new stuff on a lot easier.

After that I put everything away and went inside for a shower.  It felt really good.  After that shower I did a little reading and had a nap.

Ellen fixed meatloaf for dinner.  After dinner we watched videos together.

I think I can finally accurately say that the big work activities for this Spring are over.  I sure hope so.