Day 3543

 I woke up about 7, played games, and then got up to feed the cats and take Abby for a walk.  Abby had a good run even though I took a shorter route then usual.  I was still feeling a little sick.

This is the last day of August.  I can't believe that the year is 3/4 over.  Time is running way to quickly and it isn't kind to old people. 

When I got back I had breakfast.  Then I did all of the final investigations before ordering another RC kit.  I ended up saving $54 (plus the tax).  I'll be taking it to Texas, probably unopened.

After that I started watching videos and having lunch (leftover sandwich from yesterday). I kept expecting to start feeling sicker, but I didn't.  In fact it might have improved my stomach a little.  Abby crawled up on my lap and after a while we both fell asleep.  I had a pretty long nap.

When I woke up I did a little surfing, fed the cats, and went back to videos.  I fixed Ramen for dinner.  I screwed up.  I left the foil flavor packet in the package when I put it in the microwave.  In 2 minutes the trailer was filled with the smell of burning.  I thought it was the AC.  I got Ellen and had her help me get up on the roof.  I couldn't see anything wrong, so I had her go inside to turn the AC on.  She found the smoking Ramen.

I put everything away and tried to eat the Ramen.  I ended up throwing it away.

The rest of the evening was videos. 

Day 3542

 I woke up for good about 8.  I had another terrible night.  My gut kept waking me up with pain and the feeling that I had to puke.  I must have woken up a dozen times.  I played games for a while and then got up for breakfast.  Ellen took Abby for a walk.  There was no way I would, I felt like shit.

That feeling kept on for the whole morning while I surfed.  A little after noon we left for John and Patty's.  I still felt lousy, but I wanted to see them.  Traffic was fine, but there was a traffic jam on I5 southbound from Tualitan to past Wilsonville.  There were two football games down south today.

We stopped at Mud Bay on the way to their house and bought all of the cat food we'll need for the trip except for the dried stuff.  We got to their place in good time though.  I still felt like crap, but I could manage sitting on the sofa pretty well.  I didn't risk having anything to drink.

We ordered dinner at Nonna Emilia's.  It was really good.  Then we continued to talk and watch a couple of videos.

We left a little after 8.  I was still feeling rocky.  The drive home was OK.  This time there was a lot of heavy traffic Northbound. 

When we got home I did some more Amain shopping.  I've pretty much decided on what I'm going to get.  I'll order it tomorrow. 

Day 3541

 I woke up at 7, played games, and then got up to run Abby.  I think I've figured out what makes me feel bad in the morning.  I take the Metformin before we walk, but I don't eat until we're back.  That's about an hour later.  Today I took a banana with me and I felt better. 

When we got back I had breakfast and then surfed for a little while.  Then I did a bunch of little tasks.  I drained the shower tank and sorted through the stuff in the cabinets above the sofa.  Some of it is going to Goodwill and some is staying in the shed.  The result is one of the cabinets is now empty.  I also cleaned up the garbage and put the 30 cans of cat food that we bought yesterday in the basement.

I got Ellen to finish the 6x6 body, so I put the rally car in the shed.  I'll probably not work on it until we get back to Texas.

I had to go pick up drugs and we need more cat food, so we went to Keizer.  We got the drugs and some of the cat food we need.  We also ate at Hop and Drops during happy hour.

We went home and I spent some time looking over the Amain Labor Day sale.  Then I watched a couple of movies.  Videos are getting old.

The movies lasted until after dinner.  I watched a few videos and then called it a day.

The nausea that I experienced yesterday came back after dinner.  It was accompanied by the pain in my right side that I've been experiencing on and off for days now.  The pain can get fairly bad, but it's nor consistent.  Some days there's no pain, some days it lasts for part of the day, and once or twice it has lasted for almost a full day.  I'm actually getting a little worried 

Day 3540

 I woke up at 7, played games, and then got up to take Abby for a walk.  Ellen stayed at the trailer to feed the cats.  I wasn't feeling particularly well, but I wanted to make sure that Abby was tired when we got to Hooch's.

When we got back I ate breakfast and then did some surfing and video watching.  I was just killing time until it was time to leave. 

Northbound traffic was fine on the way up.  Southbound was clogged up.  There were long traffic jams on I5 and 217.  We stopped briefly at Mud Bay on the way up to buy cat food.  We still need more cans and some dried food before we leave.

Hooch was waiting for us in the driveway.  His dogs were already in the truck.  We drove to the park and they had a great time with Abby.  It was in the 80's, so we dumped water on both of them to keep them cool.  Abby wasn't fond of the process, but she liked the result.

We went to the Mad Greek's at 2for happy hour.  We had a lot of  good food.  I only had a hamburger because my stomach was still complaining.  Ellen and Martha went home while Hooch and I took the dogs back to the park.  They didn't run a lot, but at least it was a little bit more work.

When we got home Hooch and I sat on the deck and talked.  Martha and Ellen stayed inside with the AC.  We still had to run the dogs in the yard 3 times to actually get them to act tired. 

About 7:30 they started to decide what to order for dinner.  I had a weird bout of nausea which caused me to spit up a little in the toilet.  Ellen wasn't feeling well, so we decided to skip dinner and go home.

The ride home was fine, very light traffic.  When we got home I tried to watch Gutfeld, but fell asleep.  Ellen woke me up when it was over and I went to bed. 

Day 3539

 Thunder woke me up about 7.  I played games for a little while and then got up to take Abby for a walk.  The storm was to the SW of us, but it was cloudy all over.

Abby had a great time.  It was cloudy and cool, so she ran hard the whole way.  Rain (not from the thunderstorm) started just as we got back.  I put Abby inside and took the garbage to the dumpster.  When I got back I had breakfast.

The rain stopped while I had breakfast, but it was still cold and damp.  I decided to construct the differentials for the rally car.  It was a long, messy, process.  It always is.  Each differential had 25 or so pieces.  When I got done I packed everything away and started surfing.

I surfed for most of the afternoon.  I also set up a meet with John and Patty on Sat. and I'm trying to get something set up with Hooch. 

I switched from surfing to shopping on Aliexpress.  I didn't find anything that I wanted to buy.

Ellen was more active than normal today.  She did some painting on the 6x6 body and fixed tuna on the BBQ for dinner.  It was really good

After dinner was mainly videos 

Day 3538

 I woke up a little after 7 and got up to take Abby for a walk.  I loaded the wash supplies into the car and told Ellen that she could leave without me or wait until I got back.  I could see that traffic was stopped on I5 while we were walking towards it.  The was a crash almost even with the NW corner of the course.  By the time we got there it was cleaned up enough that traffic was running at rubbernecker speed.

Ellen was still at the trailer when we got back.  She decided to leave rather than wait for me to have breakfast.  I ate and surfed for a while.  I decided to work on the rally car I got out the stuff I needed to do the tires and shocks.  I started on the shocks because I needed to get some foam for the tires.

Ellen came home while I was working on the shocks.  I helped put everything away and then went back to the shocks until I reached a stopping point.  I had a lot of problems with the C clips and some problem with unclear Tamiya instructions.  I stopped at the add oil point. 

We needed cat food for tomorrow.  Ellen didn't want to go, so I took Abby to get it and some tire foams.  I got the foams at the RC store.  After the pet store I got lunch at the Dairy Queen.  Abby got a hamburger from the pet store.

When we got home I went back to finish the shocks.  I also cut foams for the tires.  I finished just in time to see SpaceX do its first entirely successful launch.  It was great to see.  After that it was videos until after dinner (clam chowder).

Eventually I quit videos and glued the tires.  By then it was time for bed.

Day 3537

 I woke up a little after 7 and played games.  I got up a little after 8.  Just then my phone droided.  It was a text from Mike saying he was at the bird house.  It was dated at 7.  The phone doesn't turn on until 8, so I missed it.  I hurriedly got dressed and drove over there, but he was gone.  Crap.

I went back to the trailer and took Abby for a walk.  When we got back I had breakfast.  I surfed for a little while and then we went to the fair.

The day was a typical day at the fair.  We looked at all of the animals and walked through the crafts displays.  We also went through the seller's hall, but we didn't buy anything.  There didn't seem to be as many sellers this year.  We ate lunch and the watched some dressage at the horse pavilion.

We stopped at Roth's for milk on the way home.  We also stopped at the post office where I picked up all three packages for the new rally car.  I won't get the body for almost 2 more weeks.  

I sat down to kill time watching videos until the SpaceX launch was supposed to happen at 5.  It was scrubbed again because of weather.  After that I switched to a movie.

Dinner was a snack.  After that was the typical video/surfing mix. 

 

Day 3536

 I woke up a little after 6 because I'd gone to sleep at 9.  I played games for a while and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  I was feeling much better, but I was still about 80%.  I decided not to take Abby for a walk or do anything else today.  I didn't want to overdo it and end up getting sick again.

Unfortunately that meant that Abby hadn't had a run in two days.  She was very antsy.  Mid-afternoon I took pity on her and went outside to throw the frisbee.  She really liked that, but didn't do it for a long tie because it was in the 90's. 

I still didn't feel up to a lot of eating.  Lunch was a snack and dinner was noodles and an apple.

The day was spent on a little surfing and a lot of videos.  I feel like I'll probably back to normal by tomorrow.

Ellen had what I had yesterday today.  I wonder what it is. 

Day 3535

 I woke up before 7, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  I felt like crap.  I had a pain in my side as well as a very upset intestinal tract.  I still loaded up the car and we went to TCGC.

It was a really unpleasant trip to the club.  It didn't take long for me to decide that I was too sick to shoot, so we withdrew.  I didn't feel well enough to drive home, so we spent about an hour sitting outside Jimmy John''s in Sherwood.  I began to feel a little better, so we left.

When we got home I put the guns inside and immediately went to bed.  I stayed in bed playing games and reading for the rest of the day.  Eventually the pain in my side subsided, but the ill feeling in my gut remained.  I was afraid to eat anything.

Eventually I got bored enough to go watch some videos.  That only lasted a while before I took a shower and went to bed. 

This is the sickest I've been in quite a while. 

Day 3534

 I woke up before 8, played games for a while, and then got up to take Abby for a walk.  They opened at 8 this morning, so there were people shooting before I left the trailer.  It was still comfortable while we were walking, but you could tell it was going to get hot soon.  Eventually it got up to 103.

When we got back I had breakfast and did a little surfing.  ESP had sent me an email saying my discount was set up.  I went to their website and ordered the ear plugs.  After the discount they cost $2,015.00.  We put it on Ellen's card because she has the highest rebate.

I made up a mailing label and we took the ear casts and hearing info to the post office.  I put them in a flat rate box and mailed it off.  After that we went to Bauman's for lunch because we could sit there with the dog.  Also they serve something other than hamburgers.  It was hot, but tolerable in the shade with a breeze.

When we got home I switched between surfing and videos for the rest of the day.  I'd get bored with one and switch to the other.

Cooper is not a happy cat.  He spent the whole day moping around.  Whenever possible he would sit with me.  I think it makes him feel better.

Dinner was leftover pizza.  Then it was more of the video/surfing merry-go-round. 

Day 3533

 I woke up before 8, played games for a while, and then got up for breakfast.  After that we packed up the animals and went to the vet.  Traffic was in our favor and we got there almost half an hour early.  We waited for a little while and then they started the exams.

We were doing both cats.  Abby was just along for the ride.  The exams were the standard stuff - "are they OK", some poking and prodding.  Cooper was different though.  He got taken to a different room where they shave his sores and put medication on them.  They gave us some more medication as well as a cone of shame for him.

Before we headed south we stopped at the Japanese grocery.  I went inside and bought noodles, sushi, general Tso's, chicken, raisin bread, and pork.  I made sure to buy one of their grocery bags.  The next stop was the Freddie's in Wilsonville for apples, bananas, and pop.  Lunch was at the Sonic across the street.  The last stops were the gas station in Woodburn and the post office.

We got home just as Gerry was finishing shooting.  We talked with him for a little while and then went inside.  It was getting hot, eventually over 100.  The AC is spewing ammonia again.  I'm afraid it's not long for this world.

We spent the rest of the day hiding out in the trailer.  I tried again to get a discount code for the ESP ear plugs.  I also had one task.  The temperature sensor for the back temp display needed batteries.  It was lots of fun laying on the gravel taking it off and putting it back on.  The only way to get the receiver to talk to the sensor again is to remove all power from the receiver.  That meant setting up the time, date, etc. again using it's crummy programming interface.

Dan called me to say that he'd picked up the Bronco.  He was really disgusted with how dirty it was from sitting outside in Baker City for so long. 

Dinner was general Tso's chicken.  After that was the usual video/surfing combination.

Day 3532

 I woke up at 8:15 and got up to feed the cats.  Then I took Abby for a walk.  Once again Ellen stayed in the trailer.

When I got back Ellen had cleaned the shower and put a coat of paint on the 6x6 body.  I had breakfast and then went out to finish up the work in the shed.

I screwed down the third patch.  Then I put away all of the tools and swept out the shed floor.  There was a lot of sawdust and dirt.  Then I took all of the old shed floor to the burn pile.  Probably the hardest thing was putting the 4x4 panels against the shed wall with all of the other scrap wood.  By the time I was finished I was once again sweaty and tired.

Ellen had kind of set me a challenge yesterday  She'd found a video of a Traxxas rally car that she found entertaining.  I looked it up.  It's overpriced.  I decided to come up with a better car using kits and optional parts for less.  I spent much of the rest of the day looking up possibilities.  It was quite enjoyable.

Dan called me.  He's going to pick up the Bronco tomorrow.  Mike said that that was fine.

I texted Pat.  We'll see them on Sat. after the silver buckle. 

For some reason Devon really hates Cooper at the moment.  I might have to take two cat carriers tomorrow. 

Mid-afternoon I got tired of researching car parts and watched videos.

Dinner was frozen pizza.  After that I watched videos before switching back to car parts.  I think I've figured out what I'm going to need. 

Day 3531

 I woke up a little after 8.  That's the latest I've slept in a long time.  I played games and then got up to feed the cats and take Abby for a walk.  Ellen put the clothes in the car and left to do laundry.

I had breakfast when we came back from the walk and then went out to the shed.  It was nice outside, but hot in the shed.  I screwed the second patch to the supports and then started on cutting the opening for the third patch.  That was a pain. It was resting on a metal support.  I cut part of it out with the saw.  Then I ripped out what I could by hand.  I ended up using a chisel and a coping saw to get the final parts out.

I was hot and tired by that point, but I kept going.  I cut supports from the 2x4.  Then I measured out and cut the patch.  I positioned the supports and then fit the patch.  With that done I sprayed the patch with Flexseal.  All of that sounds easy, but it was hot and miserable in the shed.

I had enough.  After putting some of the tools away I went inside and had a shower.  I'd forgotten two things.  I didn't have a towel and I left my hearing aids in.  Fortunately the hearing aids weren't damaged. 

Ellen came home a little after I got out of the shower.  I had her bring hamburgers for lunch.  She also brought several Aliexpress packages.  I was too tired to opened them right away.  I ate hamburgers and then watched videos.

Dan called.  He wants to pick up the Bronco on Thursday.  I called Mike and left a message.  Then I started opening Aliexpress packages.  It took over half an hour just to open them all up.  Then I got on Aliexpress and logged them all as delivered.  Of course I ended up ordering some more stuff.

Dinner was frozen pizza.  After dinner I noticed that Cooper has a second spot of some sort of skin rash.  I'm a little worried.  We're taking him on on Thursday.

After dinner was a little video and more surfing.  I' thinking of shooting tomorrow and of course finishing the work in the shed.

I forgot to call the hunting place again today. 

 

 

Day 3530

 I woke up about 7:30, played games, and then got up to feed the cats and take Abby for a walk.  Ellen didn't want to get out of bed.

Abby and I had a fine long walk.  No one is here or shooting.  It was in the 60's, so Abby didn't get hot.  When we got back I had breakfast.  By that time Ellen was up.

I showed Ellen what had to be done to caulk the shower fixture.  I went outside to the shed to fix its floor.  Once I got it uncovered it was clear that I'd need more materials.  I took the truck to Lowe's to get them. 

I bought a 4x8 sheet of plywood sheathing, 2 treated 2x4's, and a can of Flexseal.  It was $70.  Most of that was $49.50 for a single sheet of plywood.  When I got back I went to work.  I cut out one rotten piece of flooring and cut 2x4's to support it.  I cut out a new piece of flooring and used Flexseal on one side of it.

While that was drying I cut out another piece of bad flooring, cut 2x4's, and set them.  In the middle of that I coated the other side of the first patch.  Then I cut the second patch.  I had to wait for paint to dry so I went inside to have lunch and watch some videos.

Eventually I went back outside and screwed the first patch in place.  I also coated one side of the second patch with Flexseal.  The third patch is going to be hard to do and I was feeling tired so I called it a day.  I went back inside for some videos and a nap.

That took the rest of the afternoon.  I had something frozen for dinner and then started surfing.  I did go out and paint the other side of the second patch.

I forgot to call the hunting place.  I'll have to do that tomorrow for sure.  

Day 3529

 I woke up a little before 7, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  After breakfast I did some surfing and then put the shooting stuff in the car.  After that we went to the club.

We shot a round of practice and then sat round until they started.  It was about 10:15.  There were perhaps 30 or so shooters.  With only one person shooting at a time it was incredibly slow even with everyone shooting 10 shots at a time (30 rounds total).  The first rotation took well over an hour.  They started serving lunch before the end of the second rotation.

We ate lunch and then waited around for everyone else to finish.  I had time to walk Abby to I5 and back.  Eventually they started the third round, which took as long as the other two.  When that shooting was over they spent some time figuring out the people who qualified for the side games.  We didn't.

Ellen shot really well in the first rotation and not too well in the other two.  I sucked in the first rotation and improved somewhat in the other two.  We didn't get done until after 4.  I won't be shooting any more of their tournaments.  It's just too damn long and boring.

When it was done we went back to the trailer.  We started watching videos which turned into a long nap for me.  Ellen's sister called while I was asleep.  They plan on spending time with us the winter.  Yeah.

When I woke up I fed the animals a late dinner.  I had a snack.  After that it was some videos and a movie.  It was one I'd seen before, but I liked it.

Tomorrow I' call the hearing protection place, the hunting place, and start work on the shed floor.

The AC seems to be working fine. 

Day 3528

 I woke up a little after 7, played games, and then got up.  Ellen got up earlier and took Abby for a walk, so I fed the cats.  Then I had breakfast.

The weather was good today, middle 60's and partly cloudy.  I got out all of the stuff that I thought I needed to work on the AC.  I also got Ellen to help.  We took down the Starlink and I put the step ladder where I could climb the back ladder.  It was no easier than it ever is.  Then Ellen handed me up a ropes tied to a bucket with the tools.

It took some effort to get the top off the back AC.  I cleaned the radiator and put it back together.  Then I did the same thing with the front one.  That's when I discovered that I needed to remove a shroud on the back one.  I completed the front one and took the back one apart again.  It's shroud was a pain to remove and reinstall.  Eventually I was done.  I was also tired and soaked in sweat.  It wasn't that hot, but taking the AC's apart and putting them back together was a pain. 

I put everything away and went back inside to rest and watch videos.  After half an hour we loaded the car with shooting stuff and went to the club to practice whirlybird.  We each shot 25 targets.  The price was reduced, but it was still expensive.  It was also fun.

It was 1 when we got back.  We decided to go to Hop's and Drops happy hour at 2.  That ave me enough time to disassemble the old dog wash stand.  I'll use its parts to fix the shed floor.

We had lunch at Hop's and Drops and then went to Lowes to get some paint to paint the future shed floor patch.  Then we went to Dutch Bros., mainly so Abby could have a pup cup.  After that was home.

I started watching videos, but that turned into a nap.  When I woke up I fed the animals and then went back to videos.  Eventually I had a snack for a late dinner.

I tried to watch a movie, but only made it about 1/2 way before I got bored.  Then it was surfing until bed time. 

Day 3527

 I woke up a little after 7, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  There was no point in working on the AC.  The temperature was low 60's, the wind was blowing, and it was raining.

I decided to go out to the garage and finish up the RC stuff.  I soldered the connectors on the 2 Flysky receivers that I'd ordered from Aliexpress.  They look pretty nice after being encased in the heat shrink.  The heat gun was the only way to do it.  Then I started to program the 6x6.

After pouring through the documentation for the motor/ESC and my programmer I thought I figured out a way to program it.  However I had to go inside and hook the programmer to the computer to do it.  After that it didn't work.  More document examination showed that my fancy programmer wouldn't work.  I needed the cheap one that I left in Texas.  Crap.  I'm also not happy that the the expensive one isn't universal.

Fortunately I only wanted to change one parameter, so I decided to complete the programming.  The resulting vehicle looks like it runs pretty well.  Ellen actually did some work on the body for the first time in weeks.  Maybe I'll get it finished by Sept. 

I noticed a new hole in the shed floor while I was working.  Just what I want, another project.

At 2:30 I went to the audio place to get ear impressions done.  It was a little painful because my right ear had wax in it again.  The technician gave me a shipping container for the impressions.  When I got home I started to put together an order for new earplugs.  Ellen had to make a copy of the hearing aid test because my computer didn't have the driver and it was on a CD.

While looking on the website I found that they have a 20% off offer for old customers.  You needed the serial numbers fro the old ones though.  By some sort of miracle I had my old ones in my shooting bag.  That will save me $500.  I have to wait until they send me the coupon before ordering though.   

That was it for the day.  I reverted to videos and surfing.

Ellen fixed fish and corn on the cob for dinner.

After dinner we watched episodes of Wednesday and Gutfeld.  Then it was surfing. 

Day 3526

 I woke up at 7:45 and got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  When that was done we left for Wilsonville.  The appointment was for 9 and we got there about 10 minutes early.

We spent about half an hour with the saleswoman.  The car is really nice.  Contrary to the video I saw all the important controls are still buttons.  The new display is larger and really nice.  So is the interior.  We were really impressed.  We want to see the BMW though.

The next stop was Camping World.  I got AC cleaner and a brush. 

After that we went to Costco.  It was a little before 10, so I got in before the rush.  I got two cases of water and some much needed socks.  A lot of the ones I have now have holes in them.

We had a little extra time, so we stopped at Mud Bay on the way to Hooch.  They didn't have what we wanted.  We still got to his place by 10:45.  We immediately went to the dog park to run the dogs.  They had a good time, but Abby really didn't get a full workout.  She was just bored.   

We went to the Mad Greek's for lunch.  We were joined by Martha and Alicia.  The food was great.  We waited 15 minutes for happy hour and got reduced price drinks.  Then we went back to Hooch's place.

The dogs still had a lot of energy, so we ran then in the lawn several times.  Martha didn't want them scratching up the newly painted deck.  We talked a lot and also held a mass phone surf.  It's sort of the same thing that we do at John and Patty's.

We went to a pizza place for dinner.  After that we drove home. 

 

Day 3525

 I woke up about 7 and got up to feed the cats and got out the shooting stuff.  Then we left to shoot the course.  We took Abby, but not her earmuffs.  

We just tied her up away from the stations when we shot.  She got to run between the stations.  She was a tired doggy by the time we were finished.  A couple of the stations were not working - dead batteries.  There wee some challenging stations and some dead easy ones.  I shot OK.  At least I did a lot better than when we shot with Hooch at TCGC.

When we got back I made an appointment for 9 tomorrow at Wilsonville Audi.  I predict a disappointed saleswoman.  We also went to the whirly bird people to sign up for their tournament.  We watched them practice today.  We don't stand a chance, but it will be fun.

We got back about noon.  We settled down for lunch, videos, and waiting for the sewer guy.  I wasn't going to work in the hot shed  today.  He came somewhere between 2 and 3.  By then it was pretty warm, but at least it wasn't over 100.

The living room AC started spewing ammonia gas.  I called John.  He said it was probably on its way out.  Later he texted to say that it needs cleaning.  I'll have to do that on Friday. 

Joe called at 4:30 to say that the truck was done.  We rushed over to get it before they closed at 5.  I bought hamburgers on the way home for dinner.

After dinner was more videos and a little surfing. 

 

 

Day 3524

 I woke up a little after 7 and got up to take Abby for a walk.  Ellen stayed to feed the cats and get the laundry stuff loaded.  It was early enough that I got to do a full walk.

When I got back I had breakfast and then we went to the laundromat.  It was a little after 8 when we got there, but there was only one chair available.  I ended up sitting outside in the car.  It was warm even that early in the morning.

When the laundry was done we stopped at Coastal to get dog food.  I also got some threaded rod.  I'm just not happy with my attempt to make the dog wash sturdier.  Then we went to Safeway and bought a lot of groceries.

The last stop was Woodburn Auto.  The truck isn't done.  They are waiting on parts.  I'm not sure what.  We did get the water though.

When we got home I had some lunch and then did some surfing and video watching.  The guilt finally got the better of me and I went out to the shed even though the temperature was in the high 90's.  I cut the rod I'd purchased and installed two cross members on the dog wash stand.  They helped quite a bit, but it's not completely solid.  That's because it's just lightly built.

After that I stayed in the shed and soldered a charging cable for the micro-b.  I also used John's heat gun to put shrink wrap on the receiver.  That allowed me to mount the receiver a lot more securely.  Then final result looks and fits really well.

It was so hot in the shed that any tool I picked up felt uncomfortably warm.  I was also sweating profusely.  When I was finished I stepped outside into what felt like cool air.  It was 99 degrees. 

I went back inside and watched surfed while Ellen watched a chick flick.  I drank 3 bottles of water.  Later on I drank another.  I'll be getting up in the middle of the night to piss tonight.

Dinner was some Chinese food that I got at Safeway.  It was pretty good.  After dinner was the normal video/surfing mix. 

Day 3523

 I woke up about 7, played games, and then got up to walk Abby.  It was a quick walk because we needed to take in the truck.  When we got back we fed the cats, had breakfast, and took the truck to Woodburn.

We had a good talk with Joe.  He seems to be enjoying working at the shop.  Then we stopped at the post office on the way home.  It was already getting hot.  Eventually it got to 101 in the afternoon. 

There isn't much to say about today.  I spent it all either surfing or watching videos.  I felt guilty about not accomplishing anything, but not guilty enough to do any thing about it. 

We hadn't gotten a call about the truck and they weren't answering their phone.  We went back to Woodburn to find the place closed. I suspect that they closed early because of the heat.  Oh well. We'll find out the story tomorrow. 

One bad thing.  We're out of water in the refrigerator and it's all in the truck.  I don't want to buy more because we'll be going to Costco later this week.

Day 3522

 I woke up a little before 8, played games, and then got up to take Abby for a walk.  Ellen stayed at home to feed the cats.  Abby had a lot of energy today and ran full speed almost everywhere.  We got a chance to walk a little farther today because the shooting stands had been changed.

I ate breakfast when we got back and then went out to the shed to work on the dog wash.  After measuring everything I cut the metal strip I'd purchased to fit.  Then I drilled holes in the two pieces.  Finally I screwed the pieces on and put the rubber feet on the end of the legs.  The result is more stable than before, but might not be sufficient.  I'll have to wait until the next we wash the dog.  

It was getting warm by the time I was finished.  Ellen left to shoot and I went inside to surf.  Eventually it got to 103 degrees in the afternoon.  That meant I spent the rest of the day inside surfing and watching videos.

There isn't much more to record. 

Day 3521

 I woke up at 7:45, played games and then got up to take Abby for a walk.  Ellen didn't go, so she fed the cats.  The walk wasn't as far as usual because they are having a FITASC tournament.   

When we went through the path at the corner of the property Abby disappeared.  I had to call, whistle three tweets, and call "come" before she showed up.  When she did she was covered with black stuff.  When we got back to the trailer she got an immediate bath.

I had breakfast after the bath was done.  Ellen left to shoot and I started surfing.  I surfed for quite a while.  Eventually I went outside to plan out what I needed to make the dog was stand sturdier.  I'd hadn't been able to come up with a plan in my head for two days.  It took a while, but with the stand in front of me I figured something out.  I took measurements and watched videos until Ellen was done shooting.

She got done about 2:30.  She was hungry, so I suggested In-n-Out.  It's close to Roths and Lowe's that I needed to go to.  We got there about three.  The outside seating was all used and you couldn't get in the door.  Screw that.  We went to McDonald's.  Then I went to Lowe's while Ellen ate in the car.  

We stopped at Roths for bread and milk.  We also stopped for gas and at the post office.  Then it was home.  I went back to videos, which turned into a nap that lasted until 5:30.  I fed the pets and then went back to videos and Ramen for dinner.

The rest of the night was videos.

I'll fix the dog wash tomorrow while Ellen is shooting. 

Day 3520

 I junk phone call woke me up a little before 8.  I played games and then got up to walk Abby.  Ellen fed the cats and joined me.  When we got back I had breakfast and surfed for a little bit.  Then I went out to the shed to finish up the last few things on the 6x6.

I bagged up all of the spare parts and put them away to take home.  Then I replace all 6 wheel hexes.  I'd put the wrong ones on.  The correct ones are definitely better.  Then I cut down the body mounting posts to the correct height.  I also mounted magnets to the top of them.  Finally I marked the body so that I'll know where to attach the magnets to it once it's painted.  Just as I was putting the last stuff away I came across a addendum to the instructions correcting how the front body mounts were supposed to be attached.  I was so pissed I just went to lunch instead of correcting things.

Tony had left me a voicemail.  I spent a lot of time worrying about what he might want.  I delayed calling him back until after dinner.

I ate a sandwich for lunch and did some surfing.  Then I watched a full movie.  It was entertainingly bad.  When it was done I decided to go back out to the shed and correct the front body mounts.  That was a pain in the ass.  I had to remove the current ones.  Locate a three new parts, assemble the new mounts, and then cut them to the right length.  It was a pain.  The good part is that except for programming I can't do anything more until the body is painted.  I went back inside to make Ellen guilty.  I don't thing it worked.

I started another movie while Ellen cooked steak and corn on the BBQ.  It was really good.  After dinner I called Tony.  He wants to come down to see me.  I told him that August is booked (it kind of is) and to call back in a couple of weeks and we'll set up a Sept. date.

After that I switched from the movie to videos.  I'll probably go back to the movie tomorrow.  Eventually that turned into surfing. 

Day 3519

 I woke up a little after 7, played games, and then got up to take Abby for a walk.  Ellen stayed in bed.  When I got back I had to feed the cats, Ellen hadn't bothered to.  With that done I ate breakfast and then surfed.  I was basically waiting until it was time to order the pizza for John and Patty.

When it was time I called and ordered the pizza - $43.  It's certainly the most expensive I've every purchased.  We stopped at the post office (my vest was there) and then picked up the pizza.  We also stopped at Dutch Bros. on the way to the freeway.  It was great.  We drove up, ordered and drove forward to pick stuff up.  No waiting.  Abby went nuts s soon as she saw the person come to our window.  She really liked her pup cup.

The trip up was unremarkable until we got to the short traffic jam at Wilsonville.  I didn't expect one when it was only noon.  We made it to their place at 12:45.

It was a typical visit - lots of talk, some surfing, some drinking, and a great pizza.  Once again we solved the world's problems.  Actually John wanted to bounce some Ideas about a water leak he has in the lawn watering system.  We came up with a couple of new ideas for him to try.

Abby was a great dog all the time we were there.  She even managed to interact some with their dogs without cause strife. 

We left a little after 8.  The trip home was marred by a traffic jam on 217 in Tigard.  They were doing road work and had traffic down to one lane.  It was maybe a 10 minute delay.

When we got home I fed the cats and then we sat down for some videos.  Following that we went to bed. 

Day 3518

 I woke up at 6:45, played games, and then got up for pet stuff and breakfast.  It was raining, so no walk for Abby.  It rained off and on for all of the day.

After breakfast I went outside to finish up the 6x6.  I attached the electronics as well as a few last parts such as body mounts and bumpers.  Once again there was an error in the instructions that cost me some time.  When that was done I started a big cleanup.  I threw away all of the extra parts that weren't used.  I also put all of the unused bearings into my bearing stash.  I also put away the tools.  I still have to deal with the extra hardware and extra parts that I want to keep.

I went back into the house and watched videos for a while.  Then we went to Elmer's for lunch.  I was tired of sandwiches.  We also stopped at See's to get another box of candy.  The last one lasted for a long time.

When we got back I watched a little bit of videos and then fell asleep.  I kept watching them when I woke up.  I also called Joe and set up getting the truck worked on on Monday. 

Ellen spent a large amount of the day on and off the can.  She was really having problems.  If I were her I'd be seeing someone.  She won't hear of it.

Diner was grazing things in the refrigerator.  I had leftovers from Elmer's, but once a day for the same food is enough. 

I watched a movie after dinner.  It was one that I'd seen before, but I liked it.  After that was a few videos followed by surfing. 

Day 3517

 I woke up at 6 by choice.  I played games and then got up to feed the cats and load the laundry into the car.  Then I took Abby for a walk while Ellen went to the laundromat.  I wanted to stay home and work on the 6x6.

When I got back to the trailer I had breakfast and then headed out to the shed.  I installed the front and rear steering links.  Then I installed the two steering servos.  I also routed the wiring for the motor.  That doesn't sound like much, but it involved a lot of parts.  Locating them in all of the small parts bags and parts sprus is time consuming.  It didn't help that some of the instructions weren't clear.  In one place they referenced parts that weren't supplied.  That was OK, there wasn't any place to attach them anyway.

I put away the clothes stuff when Ellen got back and continued to work until lunch time.  It was a sandwich again.  I went back to shopping on Aliexpress again.  I spent another $20 on various small items that were on sale.  I also spent a lot of time.

Eventually I transitioned to surfing.  When that got old I couldn't watch videos because Ellen was watching a chick flick.  It took her along time to watch it because every few minutes she was setting on the can.  I think she spent longer on the can than the movie was.

I had a text conversation with Pat.  We'll visit them on Thursday.  I said we'll buy an Abby's pizza. 

Eventually the movie was over and we tried to watch videos.  The abbreviated format that YouTube has imposed on people who aren't signed in was too annoying.  Ellen broke down and signed on.  It was nice to go back to the original one.

Dinner was a frozen thing.  After dinner was a video/surfing mix.

Day 3516

 I woke up a little before 7, played games, and the got up to feed the cats.  After that Ellen and I took Abby for a walk.  It was a little cool, 60, but comfortable.  Abby loved it.  When we got back I had breakfast and went out to the shed to work on the 6x6.

I accomplished a lot today.  I put together the last two portal gear assemblies.  Then I attached all 6 assemblies to the frame.  Finally I attached the 6 shocks.  At that point I was getting tired and the shed was warming up.

I had a sandwich for lunch while I surfed.  Ellen was watching videos and found a new dead Russians show.  I watched that and some other videos before taking a nap.  I woke up from that and went outside with Ellen and Abby.

I got out the big ball for Abby and she had a great time chasing it around in front of the trailer.  I called a halt after a while because it was getting soft and I didn't want her to destroy it.

Lee called because he wanted to use the trailer.  Luckily he already had the key. 

When we went back inside I did a little surfing and then had a frozen thing for dinner.  Apparently Ellen isn't going to be cooking anymore.

After dinner was a surfing session and a video session. 

Day 3515

 I woke up a little before 7, played games, and then got up to feed the cats.  After that Ellen and I took Abby for a walk.  When that was done it was breakfast.

After breakfast I went out to the shed to work on the 6x6.  I started by putting together the shocks.  They aren't oil filled, so I'm not sure how they will work.  It they're really bad, I buy some oil filled ones.  Then I moved onto the portal gears.  I made the two for the center tires and two of the steerable wheels.  They are pretty complex - lots of bearings, gears, and screws.  There were also 2 C clips per housing.  Fortunately I got them attached without a lot of trouble.

I quit then for lunch.  Lunch was the leftover pad Thai.  It was still very good.  I intended to go out later, but I never did.  I watched videos for a while and then went back to Aliexpress.  I ordered all of the stuff that I failed to order yesterday.  Then I did some surfing. 

Dinner was another "pick stuff out of the refrigerator".  I finished it off with strawberry shortcake. 

After dinner I combined more Aliexpress and surfing.

Day 3514

 I woke up a little after 7 and played games.  After that I got up to take Abby for a walk.  Ellen stayed at the trailer and fed the cats.  When I got back I had breakfast and then started to program the micro-b.

The phone app that Furitek has made the programming a little easier.  It was still a pain.  It isn't hard, just time consuming.  When I was done I put the body on.  Then result fits well, runs well, and looks good.

We left for the Salem farmer's market.  We ended up stopping at the pet store first to get dog food enhancer.  We weighed Abby and she weighs 35 pounds.  I'm not sure if we should feed her less or what.  I'm going to cut her food 1/4 cup.  We also bought a couple of t-shirts from a pet charity that had an exhibit at the store. 

With that done we went to Salem to the farmer's market.  We just walked around and looked at things.  The high point was the collection of liberal idiots a block away protesting Trump at the capitol.  It's amazing that they have enough brainpower to walk, breath, and complain at the same time. 

From there we went to the Asian grocery for a few items and the caramel corn place for a refill.  The last stop was the roach coach place for lunch.  We both had pad Thai.  We stopped at the post office on the way home to pick up a Chinese package.

When we got home I sat down for videos.  That changed into a nap.  When I woke up I decided to unpack the Chinese package and put everything away.  I also cleaned up some of the mess left over from building the micro-b.  That makes me ready to resume work on the 6x6.

I ended up looking at a sale on Aliexpress while I had dinner.  I spent quite a while looking at stuff and came up with four cheap items that I wanted.  Unfortunately when I ordered them I had the wrong delivery address.  Aliexpress wouldn't let me change it, so I cancelled the order.  Then it wouldn't let me do a new order at the same prices.  Crap. 

I went back to videos for the rest of the evening. 

Day 3513

 I woke up at 7, played games, then got up to take Abby for a walk.  Ellen stayed home and fed the cats.

When I got back I ate breakfast and then started to learn about the new watch.  I watched some videos and found out how to start and stop the odometer app.  I also went through the resident built in functions to see if there was anything I wanted to enable.  I'm going to look at the battery level tonight to see if I need to turn off some of the things that I don't use.  According to a video, the battery is kind of small on this watch.

I was planning on progrmming the micro-b, but after working with the watch I didn't feel like it.  I had a leftover sandwich for lunch and then watched videos.  That turned into a 1+ hour nap. 

Ellen made several trips to the shed over the day to finish painting the micro-b body.  It came out nice.  I suppose that means that I'd better program the thing soon.

About 2 we went over to the FedEx place in Keizer to send off my old watch.  Then we stopped at Roth's for bananas.  I also went to the post office.  A package from China was supposed to be there yesterday.  It wasn't there, and wasn't there today either.  I suspect that I'll never see it. 

Ellen's asshole was giving her problems all day.  That meant my dinner was random things from the refrigerator.  I couldn't face another frozen thing. 

After dinner was the customary videos followed by surfing.