Day 3480

 I woke up at 7:30 and played games for a while.  Then it was up for pet stuff and breakfast.  Ellen left to shoot and I took the dog for a walk.  When we got back I sat down to take care of something that I've been meaning to do since we got here.

I got on the Barepelt page and started designing my vest.  There's 361 variations, plus you can make up your own.  I went through the all and picked out ones I liked.  Then I decided to wait until Ellen got back to make a decision.

The next task was cleaning the 20 ga.  It turned out not to be that dirty, but the choke tube were getting hard to remove.  I gave it a thorough bath any way.  

I spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon surfing.  When Ellen got back we switched to videos.  I kept falling asleep and having to repeat things.

Ellen isn't cooking anymore and there's no leftovers.  That meant frozen stuff for dinner.  We'll have to go shopping tomorrow, we're out of those now. 

After dinner and some more videos I sat down with Ellen and made up the vest order.

At least I got a couple of things accomplished today. 

Day 3479

 I woke up at 8 and got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that I got up and prepped for going to the shoot.  When that was finished we walked to the club to pick up our score sheets.  From there we walked to station 8.

We got to the station about 20 minutes early.  It was good we did.  My gut was giving me real problems.  I had to go to the can at station 9 twice before we shot.  I got back the second time just in time to shoot.  Luckily I was the last shooter. 

I didn't shoot particularly well, 41.  I had fun though.  The CG 20 ga is a joy to shoot.  When the shoot was over we took everything to the trailer and put it away.  Then we took the dog back to the club.  I wanted to look at CG's new women's gun.  It's great, but it has an adjustable comb, so it can't be shortened to Ellen's length.  Oh well. 

We ate lunch at the roach coach to support them.  Then we found an ice cream shop on the web.  I had a craving.  The shop was across the river from downtown Salem.  It was a cool place.  I had something called an ice cream lasagna.  It was great.  The shop had a little Lucky Kitty solar powered statue.  I needed one.  The shop owner told us of the Chinese grocery that sells them.  It is across town.  We drove there and I bought 2 along with some groceries.  We also picked up some more caramel corn at the caramel corn store before going home.

When we got home it was videos and a short nap.  Dinner was Ramen from the Chinese grocery.

After dinner was videos followed by surfing. 

Day 3478

 I woke up a little before 8, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that it was some surfing followed by taking Abby for her walk.

When the walk was done I went back to surfing and a little shopping.  Amazon had a sale on a windshield camera, so I bought one.  The one we have now doesn't work well and the mount is broken. 

It was a nice day out, so Ellen cut my hair.  It was getting long enough over my ears that the hearing aids didn't fit any more.

The afternoon was surfing and a fairly long nap.

Dinner was frozen.  Afterwards I got out the ammo for tomorrow's shoot. 

I kind of feel like today was a wasted day. 

Day 3477

 I woke up at 7:30, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  Once it warmed up we took Abby for a walk.  She got in a good run and also got to run with a couple of shooter's dogs.  When we got back we watched videos for a while.

We decided to go to Hops and Drops for lunch.  It wasn't happy hour.  We ordered the low price fish and chips instead.  It was plenty of food.  Ellen wanted dessert, so we went to the yogurt place.  I ate way too much sugar.

When we got home it was time for videos and a nap. 

Dinner was leftover pizza and sausage.

After dinner was videos and surfing. 

Day 3476

 I woke up a little after 7, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  It was cold and dismal out, so I just surfed for quite a while.  I also installed a new hand guard on the trailer hand rail and did a little Amazon shopping.

The surfing took most of the morning, but eventually I got cabin fever.  I decided that I had a need for coffee, so we went to Dutch Brothers.  After that we went to Baumann's.  We didn't need anything, I just wanted to delay going home.  The last stop was the post office. 

The weather was much better when we got home.  At least it was in the low 70's.  We took Abby for her normal walk.  She did very well, obeying every time. 

When we got back it was videos, and maybe a short nap.

Ellen fixed sausage land hash browns for dinner.  It was really good.

 After dinner was what's become something of a pattern -videos followed by surfing.

Day 3475

 I woke up about7 played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that we loaded the laundry into the car and went to the laundromat.  When that was done we went to Wally world to get TP.  Then it was CVS to get my drugs.  We also stopped briefly at REI to look for hiking poles.  They didn't have what we wanted.  I wouldn't pay $100+for a pair anyway.

By then it was after noon.  We decided to eat at DQ before going to Safeway.  We needed quite a few of the usual grocery items.  That was the last stop.  When we got home it took a while to put everything away.  

Ellen somehow broke the shampoo rack off the shower wall.  I spent some time reattaching it using the super strong hanging hooks that I used on the kitchen basket.  It looks like they will work well.  After that was some surfing followed by videos.  For once I didn't take a nap.

I felt particularly lazy today.  I didn't even take Abby for a walk.  Instead I threw the Frisbee for her after dinner.  She did an amazing number of retrieves.

The evening was another combination of videos and surfing.  I'm falling into the pattern where after we're finished with Gutfeld at 8 or so I switch to videos. 

Day 3474

 I woke up a little before 8, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that I found a nasty thing that needed doing.

The cat litter mat in the kitchen had a lot of litter in it.  When I lifted it up to take it outside there was a pool of cat piss and soaked litter underneath it.  The mat was soaked, too.  It dripped cat piss as I took it outside.  I spent quite a while scrubbing the kitchen floor.  Then I went outside, got out a hose, and sprayed the mat down.  It was filthy.  Then I put the mat out to dry in the sun.  At least today was a sunny and warm day.

After that I got out all of the shooting stuff and we went shooting.  Abby went along wearing her ear protection.  I shot like shit at first, but I got better as we went along.  There are 16 stations right now and we were tired by the time we finished.

When we got back we put everything away and went to do errands.  I picked up the mail.  Then we stopped at AC Greasy.  The next stop was the bank to put the Bronco title in the safe deposit box.  After that it was down to Keizer to see why I didn't get my drugs.  I'd spent half an hour or more looking for the last night before I remembered that I hadn't got them yet.  I'd confused them with some other drugs I got about a week before.

CVS said that the doctor hadn't replied yet.  That may be BS, but I got a text 10 minutes after I left saying that they'd received an approval from the doctor.  Any way, I can pick them up tomorrow.

When we got back I sat down to videos.  I didn't last 5 minutes before I took a long nap.  I woke up in time to feed the animals.

Dinner was leftover steak.  It was a good as yesterday's.  After that it was videos and surfing for the rest of the evening. 

Day 3473

 I woke up at 6 and couldn't get back to sleep.  I dozed for a while and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  I took out the garbage and drained the shower tank.  That's all I accomplished today.

After some surfing we took Abby for a walk.  They were having a Helice tournament at the club and we stopped to watch for a while.  I was proud of Abby.  I told her to stay at the fence with me and she did.  Then we finished the walk and went home.  We finished up with some Frisbee.

When we got home I started watching videos.  That turned into a 1.5 hour nap to make up for my lost sleep.  When I woke up it was videos for the rest of the afternoon.

Ellen fixed steaks for dinner.  After that was more videos and some surfing.

I'm a little worried about Cooper.  We changed the dehydrated food two days ago and he won't eat the new stuff.  Hopefully he'll come around. 

If the weather's good tomorrow we'll probably go shooting.  Ellen cleaned her gun today.  That means we both ave clean guns to shoot. 

Day 3472

 I woke up a little before 7 and got up to do the pet stuff.  I wanted Abby to be able to run when we got up.  Then I played games for a while before finally getting up.  After breakfast we took Abby for a walk.  It was 53, the wind was blowing, and there was a real light rain.  We walked about a mile.  When we got back to the trailer I threw the Frisbee for her so that she would be as tired as possible.  Then we left for Hooch's place.

I rained all the way up.  The rain started light and got heavier the closer we got to Beaverton.  We made good time though. 

When we got there we let the dogs play in the family room.  That didn't work out well.  We put the in the dog run.  That didn't work well either.  Abby kept howling.  Finally we gave in and I made her sit with me in the house.  

Eventually we went to lunch at an Asian fusion pizza place.  It was really good.  When we got back Dan got the idea to let the dogs play in the garage.  That worked really well.  Abby and Rico played for hours.  Eventually Dan gave them all chews.  That kept them busy for more time. 

Hooch and I talked while the dogs played.  Ellen was in the house on her phone.

We took the dogs back into the house when they got tired.  A little later I put Abby in the car.  We went with Dan and Martha to a Thai place for dinner.  It was very good.  After that we went back to their place for about an hour before we left.

The drive home didn't involve rain.  It did involve some pretty high speeds.  We made good time.  When we got home I fed the cats and did a couple of chores.  Then it was off to bed. 

Day 3471

 I woke up at 7:45 today, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast. It was 52 degrees and raining.  It didn't get above 63 the whole day.  It also rained off and on all day.

We hid out in the trailer for the whole day surfing and watching videos.   

Lunch was leftover pizza and dinner was noodles.

I did text Hooch.  We'll go see him tomorrow.

After dinner it had quit raining.  We took Abby for a 1.5 mile walk.  She was pretty tired when we got done. 

Day 3470

 I woke up at 7:45, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that I surfed for a while and then took Abby for a walk.

There were people shooting again so the walk was quite as long as usual.  After we went back inside the trailer Abby still had the zoomies.  We took her back outside and threw the frisbee until she was tired.  She wouldn't play with the ball.

After that I played games for a while.  When it got to be lunch time I decided to eat out.  We stopped by the post office and then went to Jone's Farm for more strawberries.  We ate lunch at the teriyaki place in Keizer.  The chicken and the rice was good, but the beef was inedible.  After that we went home.

I started watching videos, but again that turned into a nap.

Ellen had planned to BBQ steaks, but the weather turned very windy.  Also her asshole was giving her trouble.  I got a pizza from Abby's instead.  They were still having the sale that they were having before.

After dinner was a relatively short video session.  Then I surfed for the rest of the evening. 

Day 3469

 I woke up at 7:30, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  The sewer guy is coming today, so we are stuck at the trailer.

I started to fix the floor.  I didn't get very far when I read the instructions.  The adhesive hast to be 68 degrees or warmer for two days.  It hasn't been.

I switched to surfing, but I didn't want to waste the day that way.  I got out the micro-b and started to work on it.  I spent almost 4 hours on it.  When I was finished the suspension, axles, servo mount, and the shock mounts had been replaced.  The only thing left to do is install the new motor and electronics.  I'll leave that for another time. 

I switched to watching movies.  The sewer guy came about 3.  Everything went well and I had him on his way relatively quickly.  Then I went back to videos and a nap until dinner.

Ellen fixed hot dogs for dinner.  After dinner I took Abby for a walk.  I think we went abot a mile and a half.

When I got back I watched videos for a short time and then switched to surfing. 

Day 3468

 I woke up about 7:30, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that we loaded up the laundry and went to the laundromat.

It was a typical laundry day.  We washed the clothes, bought a few groceries, stopped at the post office, and then went home.

When we got back we discovered that Abby had totally destroyed the case of ammo that I'd used to weight down the floor.  The case itself was in little pieces.  7 of the boxes were damaged.  I managed to repair 6 of them, but I had to get a box out of the garbage for the last one.  The shells were scattered all around the floor.  Some were under the couch.

After the cleanup we took Abby for a walk.  We had to be careful because there was a big corporate shoot.  So much for us shooting today. 

I probably should have found something to do today, but I didn't.  Instead I spent the day switching between surfing and videos.  I'd get bored with one and switch to the other.

Ellen fixed BLT's for dinner.  It was the highlight of the day.

Diane called and we talked about going to the reunion.  I'm on the edge right now about going. 

Day 3467

 I woke up about 7:30, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  I called the doctor about renewing my prescription and they said call the pharmacy.  I decided to run the dog before then.

I surfed until it had been a hour since Abby ate.  Then I put the GPS on her.  The GPS doesn't do what I really want.  It only measures between stops.  Then it resets.  That means that I if she goes on point I lose the data.  I ended up doing "speed runs" at the RV area.  Her top speed was 26.  I'm pretty sure that that's close to her max.  After that we continued with a normal 1.5 mile walk.

When we were done I put Abby in the car and we went to CVS.  It only took a few minutes to explain the issue.  They sent a fax to the doctor and I should have the pills in a couple of days.  Then we went to the pet store to get Abby a treat.  It was lunch time so we stopped at In-n-Out for lunch.

When we got home I surfed some more.  Eventually Ellen turned on the TV and we watched videos.  I feel a little guilty that we didn't go shooting.

The videos lasted the whole afternoon.  Dinner was left over quiche. 

After dinner was a combination of videos and surfing. 

Day 3466

 I woke up a little before 8 and played games before getting up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that it was time to do a few chores.

I took out the garbage and some cardboard to the burn pile.  I also drained the shower tank and brought in the clothes from the shed.  Finally I got dog food and more cereal out of the basement.

I did a little surfing and then activated a credit card that had come in the mail.  The activation was a quick phone call.  Destroying the mailing and the old card took more time. 

Ellen was camped out in the toilet so I went to Costco on my own to get my glasses.  I also stopped at Freddie's for some OJ and bread.  The last stop was the pet store for food, treats, and kitty litter.

When I got home I had a sandwich for lunch.  I read a magazine, surfed for a while, and then watched videos.  I had a hard time staying awake and had to repeat parts of a couple of videos. 

It wasn't all that hot today, but I just didn't feel like going outside.  Unfortunately that meant Abby didn't get to run. 

Ellen fixed hot dogs for dinner.  After dinner was more videos until I got bored and switched to surfing. 

Day 3465

 We got up about 7 again, played games, and then went down to breakfast.  It was much better today.  They had bacon.  I didn't try the waffles or the potatoes.  The OJ was OK, and the toaster worked.  Abby got some take home bacon.

We went back to the beach again.  We walked for 2 miles.  Of course Abby went a lot farther.  She was a little tired when we got back.  She repeated her great performance of running out and returning.  She also pointed anything that came in range.

We left the beach about 9:15.  I'd planned on walking around Lincoln City, but nothing opened before 10.  I didn't want to wait, so we decided to drive to Tillamok.  On the way we stopped at the Neskowin farmer's market.  We bought some baked goods and strawberry jam.  After that we went to this cool coffee shop, grocery and tourist shop.  We didn't buy anything, but we enjoyed going through it.

After that we decided there was no need to go to Tillamok.  Instead we decided to head to Amity.  When we went buy the casino they were having a big car show.  There were well over 100 high back custom cars.  They dated from the 40's all the way to this year.  The weather was great and we got to see a lot of cool vehicles.

Traffic was really light and no one was going less than 65.  Some were going faster.  We made good time the whole way.  When we got to Amity we discovered that the pies that we buy in the grocery stores are made there.  We bought a small pie and drinks there.  We also got a ham and cheese quiche to fix for dinner.

We stopped at the post office on the way home.  When we got home I unloaded the car while Ellen sat on the can.  Then I took the truck to CVS to pick up my drugs.  One the way home I stopped at Roth's.  They had the bacon chip dip that I'd been looking for.

When I got home I put away all of the stuff that I'd taken to the coast.  Then I wrote up bog entries for the last two days.  With that done I sat down for videos and a nap.  Ellen woke me up with uiche for dinner.  It was pretty good.

After dinner I watched videos until about 9.  Then it was surfing until time for bed. 

Day 3464

 We got up about 7 again, played games, and then went down to breakfast.  It was very good.  The waffles were under cooked, the potatoes were awful, the OJ was empty, and the toaster didn't work.  Oh well.

After breakfast we took Abby to the beach.  This time she got to run free.  Overall we walked a mile and a half while Abby did 3 or 4 times that.  I was an idiot though and didn't bring the GPS.  Abby did great.  She always came back, didn't try to eat or drink anything, pointed lots of birds, and immediately obeyed the few commands I gave her.

When we were done at the beach I texted Patty.  She said to come over between noon and 1.  That gave us time to go back to the factory stores and do some some shopping on our own.  I bought a new pair of shoes.  Last night John pointed out that mine were past worn out.  Ellen bought two pairs.  I also got a new raincoat while Ellen got a shirt.  I looked for light shorts, but didn't find any I liked.  Abby behaved much better.  She had her collar and I zapped her once.

We showed up at John and Patty's about 1.  Eric and family were at their hotel with the kids having a nap.  The four of us continued our talking.  Abby and their dogs had made peace yesterday.  It was nice to have them all in the same room with no barking.

About 4 Eric called to say that they wanted to have dinner at McMinnamen's.  We all met there and had a fine time.  It was made finer by the happy hour priced drinks.  After that everyone went back to the beach house for more talk.  Eric's kids provided entertainment.

Eventually Eric and family left.  We continued talking until after 9.  Then we said our goodbyes.  John and Patty were returning to Beaverton early in them morning.  We went home and payed games for a short while before going to bed.

Day 3463

 We woke up at 7, fed the cats, had breakfast, loaded up the car, and left for the coast.  The cats got a full day of wet food as well as an additional bowl of dry food.

The trip to the coast went well.  We didn't have to wait for the ferry and even got a front row seat on it.  Traffic was very light and no one was going the speed limit except for one guy that I had to follow for a few miles through the coast range.  We got to Lincoln City before 10.  We stopped at Mickey D's to text Patty and wait. 

Patty replied that they'd would meet us at the factory stores.  Eric and family wanted to shop.  We shopped with them for a couple of hours.  The only thing that we bought was a small coin purse at Coach for Ellen.  Abby was being a bad dog.  She wouldn't stop pulling.  I was very unhappy.  After the shopping Eric and family went to their hotel room and we went to the beach house.

We drank and talked with John and Patty for quite a while.  Abby got a really late lunch.  Eric and family showed up after a couple of hours.  John grilled hamburgers for everyone.  After dinner, more talk, and some drinking Eric and family left for the evening.  We continued with John and Patty until about 7.  Then we left to check in.  When that was done we took Abby to the beach.  I forgot a whistle, so I kept her on a lead.  She was frustrated.

When we got back to the hotel we just played games until bed time. 

Day 3462

 I got up at 7:30, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that I surfed until it was time to go to Costco.

There were a whole lot of things that we wanted at Costco- gas, new prescription glasses, Pataday, Polish dogs, and water.  I wanted rolls too, but they didn't have any.  When we were done we went to Jone's Farm to get strawberries to take to the coast.

When we got home Patty emailed to say that she didn't think it would be a good idea for us to stay over.  I really wanted more than a partial day at the coast.  It's been years since we were there.  Ellen made reservations at a Comfort Inn for 2 nights.

We took Abby for a walk.  I hooked up the GPS to her.  The top speed was 25 mph.  However, I didn't get good data.  I had the phone in my pocket and apparently that kept turning the measurement on and off.  Also, Abby didn't seem to be running full speed even though it wasn't overly warm. 

After that I sat down for videos and along nap.  I mean hours long.  When I woke up it was almost time to feed the animals.  These naps are getting out of hand.  After feeding the animals I started packing for the trip.  It's all warm clothes.  The temperature at the coast is in the 50's.

Dinner was leftover noodles.  After dinner was a short video session followed by surfing.  I was tired of videos. 

 

Day 3461

 I woke up at 7:30, played games for a while and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that we loaded up the laundry and went to the laundromat.

I dropped Ellen and the laundry off and went to DMV.  It took 5 minutes to check in and about 2 minutes to get a representative.  He was really good and filled out the title with no problems.  He didn't even ask to see the sewer bill or the insurance.  I was out of there in 15 minutes at most.

I went back to the laundromat and sat with Ellen until the laundry was done.  Then we went to Wells Cargo for cash and quarters.  We also got some groceries at Safeway.  The last stop was Goodwill to drop off some stuff. 

It was significantly cooler than yesterday.  When everything was put away we took Abby for a walk.  People were shooting, so we could only walk to I5 and back.  After that I went in search of the dog GPS.  It wasn't where I thought it was and it wasn't in the next two places I looked.  I did find it in one of the RC boxes in the basement.  I charged it up and will try to use it tomorrow.

After that it was lunch, videos, and a nap.  I'd only gotten halfway through the movie that I was watching last night.  I found it on YouTube and finished watching it there.  There were less commercials than on the broadcast channel.

Ellen fixed stir fry for dinner.  It was really good, lots of chicken.  After that was some more videos followed by surfing.

I'm a little disappointed in the dinosaur.  It's been in the sunlight for hours now and hasn't moved. 

Day 3460

 I woke up at 7:30, played games for a while, and got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  Then I surfed until it was time to take Abby for her walk.

We walked to I5, then pigeon town, then home.  It was getting pretty warm by then.  Eventually it got into the high 90's.

I surfed a little and then finished the dinosaur.  I won't know if it works or not until its solar panel charges it.  There's no on/off switch, so apparently it just starts working when it has enough charge.

Surfing turned into videos.  I didn't want to have another sandwich for lunch, so we ordered a pizza at Abby's.  When we went to pick it up they had 99 blocked south of town.  We had to take a detour around it and through Woodburn.  There was traffic everywhere.  When we detoured on the way back there were school busses everywhere.  It took 45 minutes to pick up the pizza and return. 

After that we hid out in the trailer watching videos and old TV shows on broadcast.

Dinner was frozen.  After dinner was more broadcast TV.  This time it was a movie. 

Day 3459

 I woke up about 8, played games for a while, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that I did a little surfing.  Before tackling some outdoor tasks.

I drained the shower tank, took out the garbage, and got more water and pop from the truck.  The I replaced the flickering light in the bathroom.  That wasn't particularly difficult, but I did have a little trouble hooking up new light's wires.  Now each of the three bathroom ceiling lights have a different color.

It was approaching 80 by then.  We took Abby for a walk over to I5.  We couldn't go to pigeon town because there were a lot of people shooting.

When we got back we literally vegetated in the trailer for the rest of the day.  It was hot, up to 99 in the afternoon.  We just watched hours of videos.  I also set up the on air antenna and we watched half of an broadcast movie.

After I fed the animals I took the dog food container out to the basement to refill it.  There was a dead mouse in the mouse trap.  I hope it was the one that destroyed two bags of our chips.  Ellen rebaited the trap and I put it back where it was.

The evening was noodles.  It was too hot to eat anything more.  After dinner was more videos until time to got to bed.

All in all except for the light it was a spectacularly unproductive day. 

Day 3458

 I woke up at 7:30, played aes, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  It was supposed to get up to 90 today (it did) so we took Abby out to play with the ball.

At first she was scared of it and wouldn't go near it.  I planned on putting it away for another time.  As I was putting it away I started bouncing it like a basketball.  That got her interested.  She spent almost half an hour chasing it around.  It's too big for her to bite though.  She spent a lot of energy chasing it.  Eventually I put it away so she wouldn't get bored with it.

After that we took Abby for a walk.  We went over to pigeon town and then to I5.  She was a pretty tired doggy by the time we got back.  We looked on the web and found a farmer's market in Salem.  We went there and walked around.  There wasn't anything there that we were interested in.  The food prices were as expensive as a sit down restaurant.  

We decided to go to the roach coaches on Lancaster instead.  The food was cheaper and there were nice places to sit.  On the way back home we stopped to get some caramel corn and Dutch Bros.

When we got home it was videos and a nap.  We woke up about 3.  Abby was getting gray.  Also she was very stinky.  We gave her a bath.  Afterwards I fixed her bathtub.  One of the screws had come loose. 

From there we hid out in the trailer for the rest of the day.  It was 80 at 9:30.  I switched to surfing and a little work on the T Rex. 

Day 3457

 I woke up at 6:30 and couldn't get back to sleep. I played games for a long while and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that I went outside to do small tasks.

I opened the drain on the shower tanks while I did a bunch of other stuff.  I started by putting some stuff in the shed away.  Then I cleaned the Perazzi.  It was dirty and took a while to do.  I deflated Abby's new ball and then reinflated it.  It's a lot bigger now.  

I took most of the stuff out of the basement so that I could rearrange it.  I decided to sweep the basement out because it had a bunch of dirt and mouse shit in it.  Then I reattached a hook to the wall so that I could hang the spare water hose where it belongs.  Finally I put everything back in.  The result is a basement with a lot more usable space. 

All of that took most of the morning.  We took Abby to the club because I needed to get some more choke cleaner.  They were having a benefit shoot for a conservation organization.  We bought a couple of lottery tickets (we didn't win).  After that we put Abby in the trailer and left for errands.

We stopped at Jones Farm for more strawberries.  Then we stopped at a Thai pace for lunch.  The final stop was Freddies for groceries. 

When we got home it was videos and a nap.  It was hot today, 88.  That meant that we didn't want to go outside.

Dinner was a BLT made from left overs.  Then more videos until I got bored.  The rest of the evening was working on the mechanical dinosaur I bought at the atomic museum.

Day 3456

 I woke up at 7:30, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that it was time to deal with the kitchen lights.

Ellen helped the process by holding up the light whenever I needed it.  I started by removing the light I'd already installed.  Luckily it was easy to remove the wire clamps.  I took the top to the shed and reinstalled the pole mount.  It will be a little sturdier and won't rotate now.  Then I installed the light again.

I'd already modified the other light's pole mount, so all I needed from the light that came yesterday was the glass.  I installed the glass and then installed the second light.  It went fairly smoothly.  Everything worked when I was done.  The lights are a little wobbly, but I think that they will be fine.  We'll see.

We surfed until Gerry showed up.  Then we shot the course with him.  He'd brought his daughter and her dog alone.  Abby played with the dog while we talked before shooting.  We left her at the trailer when we shot though.

We had a good time shooting.  Gerry is dealing with eye problems and had some problems.  Ellen and I shot about normal.  The targets were good.  Each station had an easy pair and a hard pair.

We went on errands when we got done.  We took Abby with us because one stop was the pet store for cat food.  We also stopped at Hops and Drops for a late lunch.  It was happy hour.  We also stopped at the Sale farm store for some of their strawberries.  We're still doing taste testing to determine who we'll buy more from.

 When we got home it was videos and another long nap.  I'd walked the whole course, so I was tired.

Ellen fixed BLT's on the Traeger.  After dinner we watched a movie and a few more videos. 

Day 3455

 I woke up at 7:30, played games and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  It was sewer day, so I decided to do a bunch of small tasks.  In no particular order I:

Put away a bunch of stuff in the shed.

Spot sprayed a bunch of grass patches in the gravel.

Unloaded some stuff from the basement (there's more to go).  There's mice there, so Ellen set traps.

Put together a "no twist" connection for the pole on the second kitchen light (more below).

Used the air compressor to fill up Abby's new exercise ball.  Apparently it needs to be deflated and inflated again before being used. 

Hooch showed up mid morning with a friend to shoot.  Of course we couldn't go.  We did spend quite a bit of time talking and watching Abby and Rico play.  I let then use the gun cart because for some reason they wouldn't rent one.  When they left I went back to the above activities.

Hooch and friend didn't return for several hours.  I thought that they might have gotten lost.  His friend didn't have a case for his gun, so I dug one out for him.  I also showed him how to clean his gun.  Our talk was cut short when the sewer guy showed up.

The sewer draining was as usual.  When it was finished i put everything away and went to club to pick up a package.  It had the new kitchen light and a couple of other things.  It was after 4 at that point, so I decided to wait until tomorrow to install it.  Part of the reason is that I'll have to take down the one that's up now so that I can reinforce the pole connection.  It turns right now and would never survive a trip.

After that it was videos and a nap.  When I woke up it was more videos until I fixed pizza for dessert.  Ellen said that she was going to make BLT's, but it turned out that Scooter was more important. 

After dinner we watched Gutfeld and then I surfed while Ellen watched a chick flick. 

 

Day 3454

 I woke up at 7:30, played games for a short while, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After that it was load the laundry into the car and off to the laundromat.

I dropped off Ellen at the laundromat and went to DMV.  That's when I discovered that the Audi didn't have an up to date insurance card.  Without that I couldn't register the Bronco.  I went back to the laundromat and call State Farm.

I had a good talk with the agent about insurance options.  We settled on some and got the insurance started.  Then I sat with Ellen until the laundry was done. 

With the laundry done we went to Coastal.  We got a big bag of dog food and some liquid herbicide.  Unfortunately they didn't have Casoron. We did same $27 dollars because it was Tuesday.

It was 11:30, so we decided to go to the factory stores for some shopping and lunch.  There were very few people there.  We bought a coat for me and a shirt for Ellen at Columbia. Then we had lunch at the Thai place.  It was good, but not Martha friendly.  After that I got a baby Yoda at the Disney store.  The Swarvoski store had a cool Cheshire cat.  I bought it for $330 after both of us decided there wasn't anything better to spend money on.  The last stop was See's candy where we built our own box of candy.

I took a while to unload everything from the car.  Than I replaced the seal on the sewer pipe and strung the hose for the sewer spray.  The sewer guy is coming tomorrow.  Hooch is supposed to be coming with a friend, but I'm pretty sure that I won't be able to shoot with them.

After that we sat down for videos.  That turned into a long nap for me.  When I woke up it was more videos until dinner.  Ellen fixed hot dogs on the Traeger.  After that I took Abby for a walk.  I went 1.4 miles, she went a lot farther.  I didn't even have to use the whistle once. 

I was bored with videos when I got back so I finished the Lego pink flamingo.  It looks cool and I had a good time building it.  I even found a cat proof place to put it until we get home.

Day 3453

 I woke up at 7:30, played games for a while,and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  Then I got out the necessary tools and started to install the light that didn't have broken glass.

The process wasn't difficult, but everything that might have had to be redone did.  I had to take off both ceiling mounts and install longer mounting screws.  Then I discovered that the pole ends actually are designed for sloping ceilings.  I had to go out to the shed, drill out the holes in the mounts a little, and use washers to shim the pole ends.  Now they won't bend.  I also had to connect a power supply so I could determine the polarity of the light's wire.

After that it was a matter of assembling the lights (with thread locker), connecting the wires, and bolting the lamp to the ceiling.  Ellen helped by holding the light while I connected the wires.  The result is one installed light (it works).  Unfortunately one of the bulbs was damaged when it fell, so Ellen ordered more.

After that we left for errands.  Ellen needed to go to Walgreen's.  After that we went to the golf course for lunch (Abby didn't come with us).  The next stop was Wally World for a whole list of stuff, mostly groceries.  The last stop was the post office where I picked up the sewer seals.

We didn't get home until after 2.  We sat down for videos, which turned into a nap for me.  When I woke up it was almost time to feed the animals.

Ellen fixed steak on the Traeger for dinner.  It was really good.  After dinner I took Abby for a walk around the course.  I didn't put on the collar.  She did great keeping track of me and checking in.  I only had to use the whistle a couple of times.

When we got back it was videos for a while, but I got bored.  I turned off the TV and starting building a pink flamingo Lego that we got at Wally World.  I got it about half done before it was time for bed. 

Day 3452

 I woke up at 7:30, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After a little surfing I went out to the shed to finish repairing the floor.

I used half a bag of rock to fill in the space below the floor.  Then I put the flooring sections in place and screwed them down.  I rearranged all of the stuff that had been moved and I was done.

By then the club was open so I went over there and picked up three Amazon packages.  One was for Ellen, another contained new entry stair treads, and the third was the new lights.  I gave Ellen her package and opened the treads.  I went outside and installed them.  Ellen helped by holding up the stairs.  It made things a lot faster. 

The packaging for the lights was quite extensive.  Each part was individually boxed inside a bigger box.  It took a while to unwrap them.  I figured out how long we wanted them and put one together without difficulty.  The old light bulbs even fit.  Putting the second one together didn't go so well.  The glass broke when I tightened the retainer.  Crap.

By then it was time to leave for John and Patty's.  Ellen emailed the light vendor on the way.  Perhaps we can get new glass. 

The trip up was fast, everyone was going above 70.

The weather was great, but we can't sit on their porch because there's a dove nesting there.  John and I sat with Abby in the yard talking for a while.  Eventually we went back inside.  We continued talking and telling stories for the rest of the afternoon and evening.  The high class bourbon I'd brought was a hit.

Patty fixed tacos for dinner.  After dinner was more talking until we left about 8:30.  The trip back was very fast.  I don't think anyone was going the speed limit. 

Abby was a very good dog today.  John and Patty were impressed.