January 01, 2011 Finance --------------- Didn't get up until 7 am after going to bed at 12:30 last night after the New Years party. Reviewed finances this morning. Total divvys for 2010 were 18806. compared with 14787 in 2009 and 6337 the year before(2008). Wow!!! We went out for a walk this morning then came back and there was a message from Lorraine confirming our visit. We left at 2:15 for her house taking Tamiami and arrived about 5 after 3. We heard about Ted's spleen removal surgery in Tampa. Tommy drove her there and stayed with her. This was in August and September. We went to dinner at 5:30 to a restaurant in Punta Gorda. Very nice, inexpensive. I had butterfish with crab stuffing on top. Stopped at Lorraines for a little afterwards then went home. Got back to the condo around 8:30. ~ January 02, 2011 Open House --------------- Watched GMA this morning then went out for a paper and Dunkin Donuts at the Dunkin shop on Tamiami. Got back in time to watch CBS Sunday Morning which I really like. We went to Publix for mildew remover then stopped at an open house in the estates. It was an 1800 square foot house for 259. not bad price but the back yard backs up to McIntosh. We had a sandwich and beer at the club for a late lunch. Mine was a BLT. There was a lot of football going on in the grill room. I still don't understand it but I never will. We watched some of the Oprah network on TV today. For dinner we had cheese and crackers and soup. ~ January 03, 2011 packing --------------- This is packing day. We took a walk around one of the streets in the Estates and also explored a few houses for sale over by Walmsrt which were fixer uppers. On the way back we stopped at the clubhouse for lunch. I had a Yuengling draft and a classic hamburger with a side of fruit. At 2:30 we helped take the decorations down from our building. Packed it all in tubs which are stored in our shed. The ground lights which are light nets were wet. We layed them out on top of the boxes in the shed to dry. I'll probably have to put them away on my next trip. Later in the evening we had eggnog with rum, cheese and crackers and beef barley soup. Libbie vacuumed and cleaned the countertops. I touched up some of the paint where there were marks on the walls. We'r enow ready to travel home! ~ January 04, 2011 drive to Apex --------------- Got up at 5 am, took a shower and loaded the car. Got going by 5:50 am. Traffic was light, had to stop for gas just after Lakeland for 3.10 per gal. Orlando was a little congested but moving along about 35 mph. Once we cleared downtown we were doing 70 again. Stopped for biscuits at McDonald's in Ormond Beach around 8:50. I-95 was surprisingly empty, went straight through Jax as I usually do, stopped at the SC welcome center then got gas at 2.97 at the first exit just beyond the welcome center. We debated about lunch and had cheese and crackers in the car instead. I topped off the tank in Florence at 2.89. We got home at 4:40 PM. Libbie went out to get the mail from the Post Office and then we went together to Krogers for groceries. We picked up a rotisserie chicken for dinner which we had with Steamfresh Southwestern rice and veggies. ~ January 05, 2011 Back home --------------- Back home this morning. It's a little chilly compared to the past week, 29 this morning. I went outside and worked at cutting up the maple tree and moved one of the logs to the creek. I may have to investigate splitting these logs to move them. Came inside and studied how to implement packet environmental monitoring of the greenhouse. I also discovered some software for one wire devices that may be useful for monitoring Stoneybrook with the NSLU2. I would like to resurrect this thing and utilize it since it has a built-in web server. Dinner was the leftover rotisserie chicken which we had with Steamfresh rice and veggies. This was the 88 cent trial pack I picked up before Christmas. It's good. Tonight UNC ran Don Pasquale from the HD performance. I watched the first act before going to bed. ~ January 06, 2011 Fred 6 --------------- Stayed inside all day today studying the packet radio controller for the greenhouse. We are supposed to get snow Monday night so I want to have something ready before then. For now I will use Mars with an old 8515 based Fred6 AVR that I have laying around. Printed schematics for Fred 6. I also took a look at the Gesneriad registration which is now available. There is one trip, Chanticleer gardens which I nor Libbie never heard of. I may also sign up for judging school, mainly to learn about Gesneriad growth habits. I also took a look at the design category. Dinner tonight was whole wheat spaghetti with tomato sauce and a little bit of Parmesan. After dinner I tried working on the Art Server on Traviata. I crashed the system making thumbnails. When it was time to go to bed I noticed a flood on the kitchen floor. The dishwasher pump is not working, the tub overflowed all over the place. I left it all after mopping the floor and went to bed. Boo. ~ January 07, 2011 Dishwashers and packet radio --------------- Took apart the dishwasher. The problem appears to be a kinked drain hose. The black plastic hose from Home Depot has 3 kinks in it. I went to Home Depot and got the white corrugated hose that is similar to the one that came with the dishwasher. This seems to have fixed the problem. While in Home Depot I came across a Philips 40 watt equivalent LED bulb that screws into a normal 110 vac socket. I tried it in the back hall and it works just fine!!!! My other purchase was an electrical box for the 2 meter Handi Talkie and TinyTrak 4. I'll mount them along with a terminal strip and toggle switch in the box. Power is a concern. The Talkie needs 12 VDC and the TinyTrak needs 5 volts (I think). Correction: the tiny trak will work on anything up to 15 volts. It has a built in regulator. Dinner tonight was bean burger with mixed Steamfresh vegetables. I started building a cable to go from the tiny trak serial port to the radio but didn't finish. ~ January 08, 2011 La Fanciulla --------------- The snow never happened last night, there's about 1/2 inch at the Virginia border. Today we have La Fanciulla at 1 PM in North hills. Left home at 11:40 and about the time we got on US 1 it started snowing and getting colder. The temp dropped 10 degrees on our journey to North hills. It was snowing pretty hard when we entered the theater. Fanciulla was lovely. I enjoyed it although some Opera L devotees didn't csre for Deborah Voight. Great opera!!! Very detailed sets, the behind the scenes work looked complicated. On the way home we had a brief slowdown between Western Blvd and Crossroads. Got off at Crossroads and picked up Salmon in BJ's which we had with leftover rice and veggies. We started our Dr Oz weight loss challenge this weekend. This morning I went to Lowes and got an electrical box to contain the TinyTrak4 and Radio. The box is roomier. Before I got dressed for the Opera I spent some time in the garage drilling holes and mounting the terminal strip and other misc screws. ~ January 09, 2011 Dr Oz --------------- Went early for the paper, watched the CBS Early Show then worked on the packet hardware some more. I got it to the point where I was able to apply power but not much further. We took a walk in Seagroves this afternoon as part of the weigth loss challenge. cliff Mitchell, our neighbor, had done a nice job cutting up and splitting the beech tree on our property line. It was pretty cold so we just walked the loop before going home for soup. Talked to Anne this afternoon about kids, albums and violets. Dinner was Libbie's nice pizza again, She started a crust fresh froms cratch this afternoon. Amazing. ~ January 10, 2011 No snow --------------- Waiting for the snow and then ice to start this afternoon. It never happened. We got almost no snow but are supposed to get ice tonight. I struggled today getting the TinyTrak programmed with the USB to serial adapter cables. They don't work very well. I tried Traviata and had much success. It has a normal serial port. I used Traviata over the LAN using the remote terminal login and it worked pretty good. I finally got both TT4's updated with new firmware. Now I have to figure out how to utilize them for communications. Dinner was chicken curry and spaghetti. It was spicy and very good. The Dr Oz program continues with success. I've been food logging everything I eat which is a good way to track weight loss or more accurately, why I'm still fat. We listened to Tosca tonight live from the Met. ~ January 11, 2011 ice --------------- We got a nice coating of ice last night but it wasn't bad enough to take down trees. We had extra gas on hand just in case. Libbie stayed inside and worked on cleaning kitchen cabinets. I worked on the packet radio. In the afternoon I did a grocery run then we both went back to pick up additional items. Dinner was beanburger and mixed veggies. ~ January 12, 2011 Cold --------------- A cold day. I moved one of the logs from our downed Maple tree then came inside to work on building a Kahlo card to re-purpose for the packet system. I moved another Maple log, boy was it cold out. Dinner was bean burger again with onion, tomato, ketchup and rice-spinach steamfresh veggies. ~ January 13, 2011 Finance --------------- I thought this was weigh in day for the Dr Oz challenge. It's tomorrow. I was disappointed with my total, only 238 which means I was much heavier than 240 that I put down. Have to cut that shit out!!! Finances continue to do well except we're spending more than my pension provides. I got the Kahlo card working for the packet. Now I have to modify it for 4 bit LCD and a serial interface. Much to do. Just discovered I have been editing the wrong file. Fortunately I believe MARS is backed up on the external drive. I'll have to check when I'm upstairs. Gave up and decided to read the Sandra Brown book "Switched" while Carmen was live on Sirius. Listened to the end at 11:10. I really got into the Sandra Brown book. It's becoming a page turner. Dinner was chicken Pad Thai which Libbie made from a Whole Foods box of Thai rice. Yummy. ~ January 14, 2011 weigh in --------------- I weighed in this morning at 237.5. I don't know my start weight a week ago but I put down 240 on the Sharecare weight loss web site a week ago. I worked some more getting Phobos code with an 8 bit LCD ready before modifying the LCD to 4 bits. This will free up 2 pins for the 232 interface to the packet. Much to do. Went in the backyard and sliced up the maple logs in half so they could be moved. The remaining logs are too heavy to move over to the log pile. I spent a lot of time and only got 2 of them cut in half. Will move the 4 halves of 2 logs tomorrow. A Little bit at a time! Lib and I left for Tigerdirect and Whole Foods. I decided at the last minute to not go to Tigerdirect because it was 3 PM on a Fri afternoon. I ordered a USB to 232 adapter when I got home instead. We went to whole foods for Tilapia on sale but they were sold out. Instead we bought Parmesan crusted Tilapia. Dinner was the Tilapia with broccoli. I feel lighter which is good. After dinner I listened to Walkure on Sirius while reading Switched by Sandra Brown. I have really gotten into the story in this 550 page book. ~ January 15, 2011 lower --------------- Tried a weigh in this morning, I was down another pound. Libbie attributed this to Tilapia and Broccoli, both of which were low calorie. I added the fact that I worked on moving logs as an exercise aid. I worked on getting Phobos working in 8 bit LCD mode. Finally when I disabled the UART the thing worked. The UART shares a pin with the LCD which is why the next step is to reduce the LCD bus to 4 bits. Spent the day rewriting the LCD routines but haven't tested them. Went to Lowes and Home Depot looking for a small gas heater. Bought a clearance model from Lowes for $104 marked down from $139. This is for my shop. Traviata was live from the Met this afternoon. Enjoyed the broadcast while Libbie got many calls from her siblings regarding her Mother who is in the hospital after a fall. The LCD came from Byonics. It was a kit I put together and got working on the TinyTrak. It works well displaying what is received by TinyTrak. Dinner was salmon and peas with mushrooms. I finished reading Sandra Brown "The Switch" after dinner. Libbie gave me a boook from Jack Shannon, "Four Corners of the Sky" which i started reading. ~ January 16, 2011 4 bits --------------- I put a long days effort into Phobos getting the 4 bit LCD to work. The CPU was fuse programmed for a 1/8 clock. Fixed that. Next I worked out which nibble gets sent first and what nibbles are used to initialize the display. Through trial and error and dumb luck I also worked out the delays needed after each mode data and command. I went outside and worked a little on moving some more logs. Now there are two big logs and one half log left. It looks like I'll be going down to Sarasota this Wednesday. In preparation, Libbie and I bought a frame with glass at Michael s in Crossroads. On the way back from Crossroads we stopped at Trader Joes which was very crowded. I enjoyed two shapely ladies in form fitting leggings with just a sweater over. Very nice! Libbie made a yummy pizza, I was very hungry since I'm on a calorie deficit. We watched the Golden Globes red carpet then the Golden Globes. Natalie Portman won best actress for Black Swan, a movie we saw in Apex. That was the night we went to Lonestar afterward. ~ January 17, 2011 converter --------------- Worked on getting a 232 level converter wired tot he Phobos card. dinner was pad from a whole foods box with Libbie's checken. ~ January 18, 2011 packing --------------- I finished debugging the packet to Phobos interface. Found a wiring error, finally verified that the data is getting to the UART pin. The break didn't trip so somehting's not working. started packing instead then Lib came home so we went to find her a coat that I promised. Went to Kohls, then to the Cary mall to Macy's, Belk and dillards. The coats are kind of light. got the packing done early so layed down and read some more. For dinner we had wheat spaghetti and a slice of wheat bread. ~ January 19, 2011 travel --------------- Got up at 6 and was out the door at 6:44. Stopped in Florence for a biscuit and to pee. Gas was 2.89. Topped off again in St Mary, GA exit 2. Gas there was 3.03. stopped at McDonald's for a single hamburger, medium fries and medium drink. Very nice drive, the weather stated out misty but cleared off nicely. It was warm and clear in Florida. Even Orlando was trouble free. I sailed through there at 3:30. I was in Lakeland at 4:09. There were a lot of speed cops on I-4. I saw the usual motorcycle enforcement in Lake Mary andd several State troopers West of Orlando. I reached the condo at 5:40. After talking with Lib went out to Publix for milk and bourbon chicken for dinner. I really blew the diet today!!!! Will get back in track this week. ~ January 20, 2011 Sarasota --------------- Slept a little late today. Didn't wake up until 7:10. Tried the backup drive power supply on the boom box. It works fine. Now I need something for the backup drive. The boom box will run on batteries if necessary. After GMA this morning I worked on the program for the packet some more. Using the simulator and simulated data, I've been stepping through the telemetry routine. All seems well. Started writing the functions to display packet telemetry formatted for the LCD. Went over to the clubhouse at 6:50 to pick up an order of ribs. They weren't ready until 7:15. The clubhouse was incredibly busy. Spent the rest of the evening listening to Simon Boccanegra live on Sirius. I really like Dmitri Hvortovsky. Such a nice baritone. Went to bed at midnight. ~ January 21, 2011 picture hanging --------------- Didn't get out of bed until 8 AM. What a shocker. The ribs didn't sit well with me during the night. I had to take an antacid in the middle of the night. Will tone that down in the future. Hung the picture of the boating party on the wall. I ended up using some wall anchors from above the TV to hold the picture. Now I need to patch the wall over the TV. The TV needs something in the corner. It doesn't look too great, actually it's kind of junky. Made some BP calls but no results. Verizon charged my account $4 for no activity. I ended up adding $15 to the account even though the credit card is straining this month. I'm having a little shortness of breath today, I think it's from the overly huge dinner last night. I won't ever do that again. Today I had just an Orange besides breakfast so far. Went to Publix and picked up some single serving veggies, broccoli and carrots with Italian seasoning. Only 40 calories per serving! I had the leftover ribs with the veggie. Finished up the Phobos software. I'm happy with the display. I used simulated data and then watch variables to see how the data would be formatted, Went out to North Sarasota in the evening. Tamiami is not crowded at night like it is in the day. I spent some time this afternoon scrubbing the baseboards in the condo. Still need to dust and clean the chandelier and table top. ~ January 22, 2011 better today --------------- Got up early for a change. Didn't feel so hot yesterday, shortness of breath and generally weak. I don't know what's going on. I felt better after eating the ribs and veggies but not 100%. I was suspecting some kind of coronary problem although i hope not. I feel normal today, thank goodness. It's only going to be 60 today so I'll wear jeans on my bike ride. Tried a bike ride late in the morning but turned around down the street since it was so cold. Listened to Rigoletto live from the met on Sirius, then I worked some more on Mars, the program that sits at the greenhouse. I can't find the source code so I'm reconstructing it from other sources. I dusted the condo today and patched the holes in the wall above the TV. Went out for dinner food to Whole Foods and came back with Birayani, GG Bran and Oolong tea. I cruised the buffet bar but nothing appealed to me. Earlier in the day I went out to Yoders and picked up some honey-belles and an onion then went to Publix for buns for a beanburger which I had for lunch. dinner was the Biryani, not as good as Libbie's from TJ's but passable. It was flavorful but dry. ~ January 23, 2011 spackle and paint --------------- Got up early today, 6 AM. Went out to Publix for the paper and also some Jelly donuts. Bad me. Read the paper while watching the Sunday morning shows. Tried putting some more spackle in the holes. Hope to paint it today. Got the holes spackled and painted in the morning. After talking with Lib about her flights I decided to speed up my return. Reluctantly I'll leave tomorrow. We decided on Tuesday but rain is predicted through the Southeast so I'll do it tomorrow. The snow for Raleigh is now projected to be a rain event. I went to Yoders but they are closed on Sunday. Came back and started cleaning in earnest for a Monday takeoff. Installed a Zumo drive on my PC thanks to Yahoo. This is a drive that remains in the cloud and synchs automatically with your PC. I put my bookmarks there as well as the Firefox scrapbook. Hopefully multiple PC's will share the scrapbook. Took a bike ride into the estates side of Stoneybrook. I sure like Stoneybrook. Maybe housing prices will continue the decline and we'll pick something up but I won't count on it. Tried calling jack Wilson about an interview for my series but he declined! I feel bad about this and I don't know why. Oh well, need to move on. If there was no greenhouse i would be able to stay here longer but I would lose a tax deduction. Not sure of the financial impact but I'll figure it out. If MLP's were cheaper I could switch over and gain some lowered tax income but I would be very afraid to sell preferreds and go to MLP's at these levels. Everything is almost set for a Monday takeoff. I may go out for dinner tonight since I don't feel like having a beanburger. There's Panera, Subway and Publix takeout. ~ January 24, 2011 travel home --------------- Last night I went to Publix for Lo Mein for dinner and also a slice of cheesecake. This morning I got up and packed the car and took off at 5:22 AM. The trip was great, traffic was lighter than normal. A little slowdown at Orlando but never stopped. Once I cleared downtown it was back to the speed limit. Stopped at Ormond Beach for a biscuit at McDonald's, gas at exit 1 Hess in Georgia for 3.02. Next stop was a rest area before Florence for bathroom and a banana. Got gas in Florence for 2.87 and got my apple out. Spilled some gas on my hand during fueling. Used the banana peel to wash my hand and a Mickey D napkin to dry it. It worked well. Got home at 4:00. Listened to Norma, Eugene Onegin and Meistersinger today from the Met on Sirius. I really like the satellite radio. For dinner Libbie and I went to LaCocina for a quesadilla and Margarita. ~ January 25, 2011 Oscar downloads --------------- Did some catchup on mail and finances. Sent Nancy Hayes descriptions of the pics for the AVSA calendar. The pictures are the Raleigh convention pictures. Did a grocery store run but only picked up bananas and OJ. Nothing else needed since Libbie leaves tomorrow and I want to cut back. Moved another Maple tree log to the brush pile. There are 2 logs left plus the piece attached to the stump which needs shoveling to cut out. Watched the Oscar nominations and was motivated to look for True Grit and Toy Story 3 online. Found both and downloaded them. Dinner was beanburger with mixed vegetable medley. ~ January 26, 2011 airports and stuff --------------- Left the house at 6 AM for Libbie's trip to Providence. dropped her at the airport, stopped in Brueggers on the way back for a bagel and coffee. She later called at 8 AM that her plane was in hold on the roadway because of snow in BWI. She was supposed to take off at 7:45 AM. She finally landed around 3:"30 in light snow in PVD. For dinner I went over to Krogers for French Bread pizza. ~ January 27, 2011 bills --------------- Spent some more time on the packet without much luck. Played online with various road scholar courses, reading and looking. Dinner was Progresso Soup. Looked around at BP for locals. Did some catchup on accounting and documenting of bills. ~ January 28, 2011 success --------------- Spent the day trying to get the avr to receive serial data from the TT4. I did find a wiring error in the TT4 to AVR. I also decided to get rid of the intervening conversion chip and put the jumpers on the TT4 to use the aux serial port in TTL mode. Still no luck. I crawled through the uart setup and single stepped various scenarios putting in lots of modifications to look at received frames. It was always corrupt and unrecognizable. Finally I changed the fuse bits for the crystal oscillator from an RC setting to the external 8 Mhz crystal setting and everything worked as expected. The AVR is correctly decoding TT4 data and displaying it on the LCD. Next step is to get the data on the web. I need something with a serial interface to receive data and an ethernet to either serve web pages or else send data to a server application somewhere. Dinner was fried chicken from Krogers. ~ January 29, 2011 Pachube --------------- This morning I paid the comcast bill, stoneybrook cc bill and paid for the watercolor course on St Simon. The course iis $1046 for 5 nights including meals and instruction for 2. I think it's a good deal. Worked outside on the Maple log and the downed tree doing basic chain saw cleanup. I got a lot done. My milk was sour this morning so I didn't have breakfast. I had fried chicken for dinner with chips. I spent some time learning about mbed, arduino and Pachube. Pachube is a web site that collects data from everybody for dissemination. Went upstairs after watching a little of Giganto Sabado and filed the AVSA sakes tax statement. Before dinner I filled out the Form 943 for FICA taxes, wrote a check and carried it to the Post Office. It needs a postmark before Jan 31. Stripped down a Frame thrower card to salvage the MagJack and the board itself. I'll mount the jack along with Mbed and TT4 into a case. With luck once I get the data onto an ethernet connection I can send frames to Pachube and Traviata. ~ January 30, 2011 Mbed --------------- Up nice and early today, went to the machine at Mickey d D's for a newspaper. Came back and looked some more at mbed while GMA is on. It's almost 40 out now, to go to 60's later. More snow in the NorthEast while it should be 65 here on Wednesday when Libbie arrives. worked more on woods cleanup then went to BB and checked everything out. Took garbage home and tested the generator. went to Trader joes for pizza for dinner, also some desert - chocolate cake. not good since it tastes so great. I also bought a bag of salad. Wrote the pachube interface for Mbed. It needs an Mjack to connect to ethernet which has to be hand wired. I'll probably build a board for this. In the evening worked some more on mbed code. ~ January 31, 2011 Mbed some more --------------- Talked to Libbie in RI. She's thinking of changing her Wednesday flight because of a snow storm scheduled for the northeast. Worked in the woods clearing a new path in the back. It's only 50 today which is chilly compared to yesterday. Dinner was leftover piece of chicken and a chicken leg. ~ February 01, 2011 --------------- Lots of Feb 1 stuff this morning. Changed the Vonage phone from Vonage lite for Stoneybrook. Reconciled the stock accounts to get end of month totals for performance tracking. Went to Krogers for groceries and stuff. Libbie is not going to fly tomorrow because of the huge winter storm approaching the Northeast. I continued my woods cleanup in the back. The pathway is now clear from the creek to the Bluebird house at the top of the hill. There were a pair of Bluebirds checking out the house while I was piling up sticks and twigs. I worked on the Mbed this afternoon and surprisingly I successfully got the Mbed to attach to the home LAN and monitor packets, printing them out using printf's which direct to a terminal program on the attached laptop. I picked up some nice salad ingredients today including olives, raisin, sunflower seeds and Asian Sesame dressing. Wow, was it a good salad. I need to add up the calories of this treat. Listened to Simon Boccanegra live with Dmitri in the evening and loved it. Earlier I watched a movie, The Collectress which was a psychological thriller from Lithuania. I had the salad for dinner but I had two chicken tacos for lunch, 250 calories each. ~ February 02, 2011 Perfect Day --------------- It's a warm day, 75 degrees. I worked in the woods, dry cleaned my jacket and did the W2's for the greenhouse. Busy day. I had a beanburger with salad for dinner. ~ February 03, 2011 Working! --------------- I got the Pechube interface working on Phobos as well as the serial interface. The big issue was the serial interrupt handler needs to be attached with the attach function. Dinner was a Chile Rejano. ~ February 04, 2011 cold wet --------------- It's a crappy day, cold and wet outside. Worked on Phobos some more. this time I implemented the time function so that it doesn't update more frequently than every 3 minutes. This is a requirement of a free account at Pechube. Went to the airport at 3 and picked Libbie up at 3:30. We wnet for dinner to La Cocina. I had the Pollo Chipotle which was outstanding with a Margarita. ~ February 05, 2011 Heat exchanger --------------- Went over to the greenhouse to look at the Hot Dawg in House 1. The heat exchanger is blown. will call on Monday for a new one. Prior to this I went to Home Depot and got 2 new thermostats for the house. The upstairs one failed and needed replacing. I did them both. We went to Fresh Market and got Tilapia which we had for dinner along with purple sweet potatos and Melbac wine. Nice. ~ February 06, 2011 Silly Bowl sunday --------------- Picked up some more plumbing parts at Lowes for the BioFilter as well as two 50 foot rolls of poly rope for use as filter media. Did some gluingof the pipes and cutting of the plastic grids. The new thermostats are performing well in the house. Watched the Black Eyed Peas halftime show and was disappointed. I so awanted ot like them! Dinner was Libbie's wonderful pizza. Marinara instead of tomato sauce today. Not as good. ~ February 07, 2011 Heat exchanger --------------- Not a great day. Spent the whole day trying to get a heat exchanger for the Modine Hot Dawg. Gorrell no longer handles Modine, they referred me to a company in SC. That company referred me to VanWingerden. The warranty was supposed to be 10 years but I had to send $350 because they didn't know about coverage. In the meantime, the heat exchanger is not in stock and must be custom built. This is going to take a while. Uggh. I'm depressed. We also had to clean the place for a Violet meeting tomorrow. Dinner was the leftover Tilapia from Saturday. ~ February 08, 2011 TAVS --------------- Bought opera tickets from Fandango for 4 more Met Hd operas. These are pretty expensive, $200 spent in one morning. The Visa signature gives a 20% discount so I spent $160 for $200 worth of tickets. Violet meeting included a lunch of my Broccoli salad and small sandwiches of chicken salad and egg salad. Topic was planning the June violet show. Dinner was leftover salad and sandwiches from the meeting. ~ February 09, 2011 pumps --------------- Not too bad of a day, it's in the 40's and sunny but supposed to snow tonight. I researched filter pumps and surveyed them at Lowes. The rental check for $2800 came so I went to the Cu and did Lowes again with pencil and paper writing down models, price and power consumption. I would like a single pump for both the waterfalls and the filter. I updated the MAAVS website but screwed up the joomla so that the front page is now incorrect. Dinner was pasta before Libbie had to go out to give a violet talk in Holly Springs. ~ February 10, 2011 shopping --------------- Made a material list for the pump today. Went to Jerrys for paint for our class then looked at the pond at Logans. They don't have a pump for me. I'll probably use my coupon and get it at Lowes. Dinner was chicken breast with veggies. Glued together the pipes for the biofilter after dinner. Spent most of today trying to recover from a front page error in the website. the introduction is formatting into a very narrow column. Worse, the column setting doesn't seem to work. Lots of hair pulling until I discovered that a <div> tag got inserted into the intro text from a copy/paste. the tag wasn't visible and was reformatting the article into a skinny column regardless of page column settings. I spent two days looking for this but I learned a heck of a lot. Website fixed!!! ~ February 11, 2011 Good Day --------------- Had a nice day. Measured the base for the biofilter but accidentally dumped the fish feeder into the pond. Hope it still works. I left it out drying. Cut some of the filter wood. Need another 2x4. Worked on the "Winners Circle" category of the MAAVS web site. This is a new category with winners of the past. ~ February 12, 2011 Nixon in China --------------- Started out int the garage early. Used the nail gun and assembled the support box. This went well. Had to cut a few scraps of plywood for the surrounding walls. Tried sanding but I only have one sanding disk for my drill. Need to buy some sandpaper, possibly with the trip for a pump and media. Left at 11:36 for the Opera. The theater, auditorium 8, was very empty. Supposedly Aud. 4 was full. Saw Jim outside, he said he needs a Peter Sellar haircut after seeing the interview with the guy wearing beads, a flower shirt and spiked red hair!!! After the opera we went to BJ's and got Lloyds ribs and dishwashing soap. Dinner was ribs, garden veggies and shiraz wine. I've been reading Four Corners of the Sky and really enjoying it. It's about Annie who is a navy pilot and her estranged father who is a con artist but dying in Miami Beach. We don't know what mystery secret he's keeping down there on his deathbed. All Annie wants to know is who is her Mother. ~ February 13, 2011 paint --------------- Did not get a newspaper. Woke early and read my book some more before going to Lowes and reviewing pumps and plumbing. chose not to buy one but got the sandpaper instead. Sanded the box and then painted it black. It's another nice day outside. Didn't do too much else today. Libbie made some excellent mozzarella only pizza then we watched the Grammys. I enjoyed the completely musical show. It went quite well, lots of musical acts. Didn't get to bed until midnight. ~ February 14, 2011 Valentines Day --------------- Gave Libbie my box of candy and homemade valentines card (birds with love poem). She said she'll take the candy to the greenhouse as giveaways. Reviewed some of the Grammy stuff on Tivo today and also assembled the biofilter. Was thinking of hooking it up to the existing pump temporarily. Talked to Arbor Landscaping about the tire tracks. They took the message (again). We worked on the TAVS Show Schedule because Sheila needed this to turn in for approval. Dinner was pasta from Trader Joes. ~ February 15, 2011 Woods --------------- Did the groceries then worked in the back woods picking up logs, a hopeless endeavor. Hooked up the boombox upstairs and started on the MagJack footprint again. Finished the footprint, printed it out and held it to the window with a real magjack. Alignment seems good. Finished the schematic and then did a PCB layout. Worked on this all day until I uploaded the gerbers to AP Circuits. The PCB is now done. I made the MARS and PHOBOS PCB common. I really want the Phobos board since the article is based on Phobos but I decided to make it universal for MARS and PHOBOS. I'll order a second mbed from digikey. Dinner was Briyani with fresh cooked chicken pieces. ~ February 16, 2011 Heat exchanger --------------- Jennifer called from the greenhouse that Avery tried to deliver the Modine heat exchanger. I called Avery and said I would do a pick up. Hooked up the trailer and went to Morrisville and got the heat exchanger then took it to the greenhouse. It's huge. Lots of packing all around it. Carried it down the aisle to where the heater is but did not work on it. The greenhouse was busy with JoAnne Raymer, Joann Hoover, Jack Shannon and Jennifer. Libbie stayed home to do book keeping. I went to Home Depot and got one inch fittings and built a new water distribution system inside the bio filter. Since the pump is 1800 GPH into 1 inch tubing I didn't think restricting the flow in a 1/2 inch pipe was a good idea. The plan is to use 1 inch distribution pipe inside the bio filter. The one inch feed to the biofilter will have a 3/4 inch tap for the waterfalls which will allow me to use one pump. I'll put the existing bioballs into the new biofilter. Today I finished painting the output pipes of the biofilter black. Dinner was a bean burger and salad. ~ February 17, 2011 Good Day --------------- I went over to the greenhouse at 10 and worked the rest of the morning until 1 PM on the heat exchanger for Hot Dawg 1. The job went pretty well but I was sore from bending in odd positions while crawling around on the ground. the outdoor temperature is nice as well. It's 65 out today. Ran out to Trader joes for fruit and supplies then came home to wait for my pump. UPs brought the pond pump. I measured the outlet and went to Lowes to get the correct size tubing as well as a diverter. dinner was bean burger with Lima beans. Listened to Traviata on the met Sirius channel while studying preferreds. I need a $10 preferred for my Roth since I only have $1000 and dividends into this account are very slow. My other choice would be something like 25 shares of an MLP such as EPD. ~ February 18, 2011 AP --------------- Busy day today. FedEx came with the AP boards for Phobos. Good new, bad news. The Magjack fits perfectly. The mbed spacing missed by 0.100 inches. I think I can make this up by utilizing wirewrap sockets with long leads and bending the leads at an angle to fit. Went to the greenhouse and struggled putting the modine back together. It's hard work bent over like that and making sheet metal pieces meet correctly so they can be screwed down. I'm almost done with this project. Need to put the louvers back on and screw the end panel back down and the job should be complete. Back at home i worked on getting the BioFilter ready. When Libbie came home we switched the BioBalls to the new filter and hooked up the new pump. The filter output looks marginal, water is covering the openings of both drains, something I did not expect. I inhibited the flow a little with the diverter control but I think I need a third drain, this one should be lower than the original two. We took a trip to whole Foods for shrimp and Bran crackers, went to the Post Office for Rebel's violets coming from Sharon Blose then to Krogers for gas, milk and cocktail sauce. I'm really tired but need to work on one of the Phobos cards. Dinner was shrimp, Basti rice and broccoli with shiraz. ~ February 19, 2011 more mbed --------------- Got Phobos working with the mbed CPU after building it this morning. By the end of the day I was able to serve pages from the device using some of the test programs. Still have a lot of learning to do. We had shrimp salad sandwiches for lunch made from the leftover shrimp from last night. This was the best shrimp salad I ever had. Listened to Don Pasquale live from the Met this afternoon. Dinner this evening was left over ribs from last week along with peas and broccoli. We took a trip to Krogers and picked up a bottle of Rodney Strong merlot, my favorite red next to Ravenwood Zinfandel. ~ February 20, 2011 book sale --------------- No newspaper this morning, too busy. Worked on Phobos trying to embed my data into a web page. I found you can read and write the local file system which is a 2 Mbyte flash where the web pages can be stored. We left to go to the Wake county library sale at the flea market. The crowds were huge, the line doubled n front of the building and then went down the side. People were wheeling away boxes of books using hand carts. We chose to walk around in the sun visiting the flea market which was entertaining, then went home. I spent the rest of the afternoon on the mbed software, finally understanding the web stuff a little better. Late in the afternoon Libbie and i picked up a library book. I finished "four Corners of the Sky" which I really loved and found another Michael Malone book, "Sin". Dinner was Libbie's whole wheat pizza with Kroger pizza cheese. It was great. The oven is falling apart, pieces of the lower oven seal are breaking off. ~ February 21, 2011 http --------------- I worked all day on understanding http better on the mbed. I decided the best approach may be to use an old fashioned web server to more easily implement a dynamic web page. Worked in the garden and mowed the dead lilies and trimmed the rose bushes back for spring. Libbie and I adjusted the waterfall in the koi pond since it was leaking. I also lowered the volume of water going into the falls. Went to Home Depot for a pipe make the third drain in the biofilter. Glued it together and painted it black. Will probably install it tomorrow. Dinner was bean burgers, salad and lima beans. ~ February 22, 2011 RPC --------------- This morning I studied the RPC variable class for mbed and implemented it. Went to the grocery store for Tuesday groceries before testing it. Wow, everything has gone up. My coffee is 10.99, it regularly was 6.99. Cereal is now 2.49 instead of $2, OJ is 2.69 instead of 1.79 and bean burgers are 4.19 a box. They were 2.99 on sale before. It's noticeably colder today. It was 46 when I went to the grocery store, compared to 76 yesterday. Dinner was whole wheat spaghetti with a salad. ~ February 23, 2011 terrible mbed --------------- I worked on the mbed variables then started building a cable to attach the TT4 and an amplified speaker. Once I got everything hooked up and working I was really disappointed in the http performance. The web page hangs almost all the time. Serial data doesn't always make it either. Not sure what's wrong. I suspect the device is underpowered for the amount of software. I'm wondering if I strip it all down and use my own software if it will be better. In any event, I drew a diagram and will photograph the system for the contest entry. I have seriously been looking at an atmega128 with an attached wiznet. The development system is $100 at Saelig and the device is $35 which seem reasonable. Dinner was salad and BBQ sandwiches. ~ February 24, 2011 mbed continues --------------- Still trying to get the mbed running. I went out to Lowes in the afternoon and bought a floor lamp for the Family Room using a $10 off coupon. I'm not sure I like it but I'm giving it a fair trial. The fish pond third drain is now painted and ready to go on. I did an experiment where I blocked 1 of the 2 drains and the water didn't go too high, still within the container. I'll work on the mbed till complete before messing with the fish pond anymore. Dinner was stuffed flounder with broccoli. I got an eMail in the afternoon with a 2 for one offer from the Symphony. Looked around at Ticketmaster tickets but decided to call the box office. The nice young lady sold me the 2 for 1 tickets over the phone. We just watched a Meymandi Hall story on the WRAL news. It's the 10th anniversary of the hall and we've never been there. ~ February 25, 2011 mbed success --------------- I kept at the mbed web server today. Studied some other server implementations and did a one for one compare of the classes on the working versions and my version. I didn't uncover any appreciable differences. I had a breakthrough when I discovered that the webserver needed to be constantly polled. The other routines I put in a ticker poll which is sort of like an interrupt. The web now works but not that great. It seems to hang up now and then and freeze. I picked up a new Ethernet driver from the mbed guys but that didn't help much. After a BBQ sandwich we left for the NC symphony at 6:45. Sat in on a pre concert lecture which was pretty good. We enjoyed the symphony, especially the guest conductor from Mexico. He was animated, crisp and lively. Program consisted of Argentinian contemporary piece, Copland Billy the kid and Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances. This was our first time in Meymandi Hall. The hall is lovely, the symphony sounds great. What a treat. We left Meymandi at 10 but had to stop by Krogers for milk on the way home. Lots of people at the self checkout at night! Unbelievable. Once home I continued to work on the article part of the mbed project. ~ February 26, 2011 Iphigenie --------------- I wrote a few more paragraphs before we had to leave for the Opera at 11:15. Libbie talked to Jim Fatata and he agreed to buy our one Lucia ticket that we won't use because Libbie is going to PVD. The Opera seemed to be sparsely attended and short. Both Placido and Susan Graham had colds, Peter Gelb came out before the opera to ask our indulgence. The Gluck music was fantastic. We could tell Susan had a cold. The performance was magnificent. We stopped at BJ's and picked up ribs. Lib got a swimsuit. Next stop was Trader Joes for Shiraz. Dinner was Ribs, peas, Shiraz and a salad. After dinner I continued writing even though we finished a bottle of wine. ~ February 27, 2011 Oscars and mbed --------------- We slept until 7 this morning, a little late. I got right up and started working on the article. I had to take the photos of the Phobos and the system photos, then modify the schematic and create a schematic for the relay. I updated the documents and finished writing the complete documentation. We had mushroom soup then I got ready for the play. We left at 2:15 and got there with enough time to walk through the rose garden. since this is February, there wasn't much in bloom except the daffodils and a cherry tree. The play, "The Man Who Came to Dinner" was quite funny. About a grouch who fakes his recovery after falling on ice Christmas 1939. We kept laughing throughout it was so good. Got out at 6 and home by 6:15 after dropping a squirrel off at Krogers that was below the feed in the trap when we got home. Changed back to jeans and finished up the contest entry. Finally, at around 7:00 I submitted the entry to Circuit Cellar. Done!!!! Libbie managed to pull off a wonderful pizza despite the fact that we got home after 6. Now I can relax and watch the Oscars. The Red Carpet so far seems to be conservative. Stayed up until the end at 11:30. It wasn't a bad Oscars. Anne Hathaway was a co-host, she's pretty, but there was no controversy and no surprises. ~ February 28, 2011 Oven order --------------- I went over to Home Depot with my 12 months no interest coupon. I ordered the GE Oven and got it for $200 less thanks to a price match. I had to hang around a while waiting for a manager to approve what they call a competitive price match. When I got home I started disassembling the old oven and sliding it out. I ended up putting a speaker in front of the oven and sliding it out onto the old speaker cabinet. We got some pretty good rain tonight which we so desperately need. Lib and I took a walk around the back. There's a baby swing in our backyard now thanks to Bonnie and Oliver. We also met the Realtor that worked with Joe on lot 67. There are a lot of house starts going on, a lot of them are sold which is surprising. There are houses standing there that weren't there a few weeks ago. Dinner was chicken pad Thai which came out of a package we picked up in Whole Foods a few weeks ago. ~ March 01, 2011 Getting Ready --------------- Checked the status of my promo photobook on Ritz and they said it was done. Went to Walmart for fish food and oil then stopped inot Ritz. It wasn't done. They said 15 more minutes. I left and went to Krogers for some groceries for the trip to Sarasota tomorrow. Bought some Lily of the Valley bulbs in Krogers on impulse. Went back to Ritz and picked up my photo book. Only two errors - I didn't want a cover cutout and the label on the last pic is missing but not a bad book for $5. I'm not sure if I'll use their service again (unless the price is right). Dinner was Curry chicken. Spent the rest of the evening packing a suitcase for our trip to Sarasota tomorrow. ~ March 02, 2011 Travel --------------- Thanks to Libbie we decided not to lie in bed anymore and jumped up at 5 am with a goal of hitting the road by 6. We were out the door at 6:12 am which was excellent. Traffic was incredibly light. Gas is very expensive, we paid 3.39 in Florence and 3.49 in Kingsland, GA. Arrived in Sarasota at 5 pm. I told Libbie that the Sarasota Opera was having an open house at 6 and if we could leave at 5:30 we would make it. We were out the door at 5:30 and found a parking spot in front of the Methodist Church on Pineapple. The Open House was wonderful. They gave us a cloth shopping bag when we arrived, we went to the backstage area for the tour. The backstage area was excellent. Compared to the Met it was sparse but more than adequate. They were serving garlic shrimp appetizers on trays. We listened to the apprentices in the courtyard. I really enjoyed the duet from Lakme by a Soprana and a Mezzo. One of the girls was an opera babe, the other was a Mother of a small child who was in the courtyard. We bought buy one get one free tickets for Don Giovanni at the box office. The bottom line was $100 for Friday evening at 7:30. We already had I Lombardi tickets for Sunday afternoon. Our last stop was a very nice concert in the Opera house. My favorite of this grouping was the trio from I Lombardi as well as the Soprano who did Muzettas waltz. Next we drove to Bangkok Thai on the corner of Swift and Proctor. We had a glass of Shiraz before dinner. I order chicken Pad Thai and brought half of it home. IT was the end of a perfect day and I wasn't even tired by the end of it all. ~ March 03, 2011 Saarasota --------------- Slept a little late today. Didn't get up till 6:50 am. Bought some Fandango Bucks online then bought Comte d'Ory tickets. There is a problem with one of my Fandango Bucks, it didn't arrive. After GMA we went to Target next to Publix and looked at a bike for Libbie. They had a weird green and white one. I suggested additional stores. Next stop was Selby where we thoroughly enjoyed the tropical gardens and the beautiful day. We shared a cranberry bread turkey and cream cheese sandwich. I had a birch beer soda and Libbie had an iced strawberry green tea with lunch. Next stop was Whole Foods where we got our GG Bran bread. Drove to Tzrget on Fruitville. It was not a Super Target but they had a 7 speed bike which seemed perfect for Libbie with 7 speeds and both front and rear handbrakes but no fenders. We also bought a 36 inch bungee cord to hold the trunk lid down. It worked perfectly. When we got home we went for a test ride of about 3 miles around Stoneybrook and through some of the streets with homes. Very nice but windy day. Before our big adventure today we called the Dining Room for a 7:15 dinner reservation. Life is Good. Our table was ready at the clubhouse when we got there at 7:10. We had a predinner Shiraz then another with dinner. I had the Prime Rib with salad, veggies and baked potato. The warm rolls were especially good. I took half of the prime rib home but still it was a lot of food. ~ March 04, 2011 accounting --------------- A nice early wakeup today then breakfast while we watched GMA. I spent some computer time juggling money to pay the $3600 credit card bill. Fish ponds, Road Scholar, Florida trip and Stoneybrook club bill pushed the cc bill over the top. I sent $1300 from checking yesterday but have to scramble to get the other funds. There were two dividends this morning which helped - HLMp and AEP enriched me with about $800 to help fund the payment. We had leftover dinner from yesterday. I had the Prime rib with baked potato. We got dressed and left at 6:15 for the 7:30 Don Giovanni. There was no parking on Pineapple around the church so we used the new Palm Ave parking deck. This was very nice and convenient. We ended up on level 3. The Opera singing was fantastic. They do a nice job. We had very good seats in row K on the aisle, orchestra right. I really liked this Opera!!!! We got home at 11 PM pleasantly exhausted. ~ March 05, 2011 Art Festival --------------- This was a nice day. We had a leisurely breakfast and coffee while watching the news. Then we headed to Venice for the Art Festival which opened at 10. It was pretty crowded but enjoyable. Libbie found a violet colored leather butt pack for $48 which we bought. I really liked the art of two watercolor artists. Very nice stuff, especially the rendering of Palm Trees, my favorite. I colelcted their websites and visited when we got back. Worked on cropping and labeling photos on the website before we went over to dinner. There was a wedding with very pretty women in slinky short dresses. What a sexy show. We waited 30 minutes for a table in the grill, then service was very slow but we didn't mind. We had 2 Shiraz's and I had the salmon with Louisiana spices. Libbie had the Tilapia fish basket. We got back to the condo at 8:30 pleasantly fed an inebriated. ~ March 06, 2011 opera --------------- I finished up the pictures for Bluebird then went out to the machine on Honore and bought a newspaper. When CBS Sunday Morning was finished we got on our bikes and went North on the Legacy Trail and back on McIntosh. It's about a 5 mile trip. We left at 12:15 for the 1:30 performance of I Lombardi. I didn't have time for lunch. Picked up our ticks at Will Call. We had perfect seats in row H seats 112,113 in the center of the theater. What a spectacular opera. Lots of choruses, trios, duets and Verdi music. It was over the top musically and the Sarasota Opera pulled it off with 12 scene changes. This was an achievement in itself. After the Opera we went across the street and had dinner at the American Cafe. I had the special which was fish stuffed ravioli and little clams surrounding the ravioli. We had a glass of house Cabernet with dinner. Maestro Rienzi came in while we were waiting for dinner. The food was excellent. When we got back we watched 60 minutes then the movie Forest Gump. It was fun seeing it again. ~ March 07, 2011 party --------------- We took a ride to the Amish Village by Yoder since they had an article in the paper. It wasn't much. On the way home we stopped at the clubhouse for lunch. I had a BLT with a Yuengling draft. It was yummy. For the party tonight we picked up some crackers, cheese and wine. Took a bike ride down the trail to the Oscar Scherer park. We got cleaned up and then went to the pool party at 4:30. Anita and Joe hosted the party. We brought our wine and cheese and met a lot of nice people, mostly from Ohio and Michigan. I was able to dispose of the huge Rubbermaid tub that we emptied, Mike downstairs took it. Somebody made nice hamburger and beans that were a little spicy on a hard bran cracker. They were a big hit. Earlier we stopped by Peter and Christa's and admired their nice double oven with smooth cooktop by LG. It truly makes their condo look great. Dinner was the rest of the BLT plus all the appetizers we ate at the party. ~ March 08, 2011 nice day --------------- Picked up a 2x4 this morning in HD as well as a box of nails and 2 hooks. They were nice enough to cut 2 feet off the thing. Mounted the 2x4 in the shed, screwed the hooks in and hung up Libbie's bike. Next stop was to Walmart for a lock and a bike carrier. My credit card was declined at Walmart. Had to use another card then called the credit card company when I got home. They had a hold on my card because I was charging stuff out of town. Fixed that then spent quite a bit of time assembling a bike carrier with many parts and only a limited amount of instructions, no text whatsoever. We finally got it all hooked up and drove to the Venice Rail Station. Had quite a time finding the place, eventually we stumbled upon it. Rode to the end of the Venetian Waterpark. My pedal broke down there. With extra effort I was able to bike with only one peddle. Picked up a new peddle on the way home at Walmart but I was unable to get it mounted cause the threads are stripped in the crank too badly. I'll bring a tap with me next time to fix this. We went out to dinner at the Club. I had a Texas beef BBQ sandwich with onion and cheese. We also had 2 glasses of Shiraz and Libbie had a Key Lime Pie while I had coffee. A very satisfying evening. We ate on the high top tables and while eating we were able to see Bingo going on in the Dining Room. They had quite a crowd. ~ March 09, 2011 travel --------------- We cleaned up the house this morning. Our Feb tenant was a disappointment. They stained the brand new bath mat, broke the coffee carafe, burned the brand new ironing board cover and took all the outdoor mats and threw them in the water heater closet. We got going at 8:28 am. While taking things to the car I talked a long time with Noney and Vern we met from Michigan and also Joe from upstairs. We filled up last night in Venice at 3.59. Stopped at first exit off I-4 for biscuits then first gas stop was exit 29 in Georgia for 3.45. Florence gas was 3.35. On the way we also had half of the leftover sandwich half from last night. It was a texas BBQ beef on flat bun with onion, peppers and cheese. Yummy. We also had half each of one banana and half each of an Orange. Got home at 7 PM in a nice rain bathing the car starting on the Raleigh beltline. We went out to dinner at La Cocina and had a Quesadilla and Margarita with tortilla chips and salsa. Home Depot called on our journey home, delivery will be between 9:30 and 1:30 tomorrow of our new stainless double oven. ~ March 10, 2011 recall --------------- Disappointing new this morning. TCB-A fell 1.41 yesterday to 25.77. It may be recalled in May for $25. It will be break even for me. I paid 27.75 a year ago, call date isn;t supposed to be until 2013 but they received permission to call this for a "financial event". They floated a new common which is to be used to pay of the preferred. The fish look healthy, ammonia levels are down a little but not great. I added some more pond clarifier to the pond. This is bacteria that's supposed to charge the biofilter. The Oven arrived as planned. The new oven was bigger by 3/8 inch all around so I had to cut the cabinet with my jigsaw all the way around which was a messy and hard job. I did not want to chip the laminate and the jigsaw had to be held straight for a long time so as not to get wavy cuts. Ran out to HD for cable clamps which the original hookup did not have. Put it all together then used the hydraulic jack to lift the oven to the correct height and slid it in. Evey thing worked. Dinner was rotisserie chicken with Steamfresh mixed veggies. ~ March 11, 2011 Violet database --------------- Worked on the violet catalog today, getting everything into the database. It's a cold day but I didn't do anything else. Researched stainless hoods but won't do that until I finish Bluebird and the Nicaragua project. Dinner was leftover rotisserie chicken with steamfresh peas. ~ March 12, 2011 picture update --------------- I worked on the computer managing finances and organizing files, doing backups, etc. At noon today we listened to Boris Godunov on the Met sat afternoon broadcasts. A nice musical opera but not a favorite. For dinner we had leftover ribs with steamfresh veggies and Shiraz wine. We had all the dinner fixings in the house so no grocery store trips needed. I continued to work on the Bluebird website adding the new pictures to the database and changing some plastics prices. ~ March 13, 2011 website updates --------------- I did not get a newspaper this morning. I'm still interested in getting the website done this weekend then I have to do taxes and the Nicaragua project. Libbie had some problems with the new oven - mostly user error. She thought she turned the lower oven on but the control was in between broil and highest temp so no heat. Instead we played with the electronice control on the upper oven. The highest it would go was 500. We watched the temp climb. When it got to 500 it beeped. The oven smelled terrible but Libbie cooked the pizza anyway. It was very good but the kitchen did not smell like pizza due to the manufacturing oils coating the oven. ~ March 14, 2011 busy --------------- This was a busy day. I blew off the driveway, cut up the cardboard box from the oven for the recycling pickup tomorrow. I managed to get it all in the green rolling bucket. Cleaned out the garage with the blower and also the vacuum then changed the oil in the car. The oil change was 800 miles overdue. When Libbie came home she vacuumed the house and mopped floors while I went to the grocery store for rolls and ingredients for tomorrow's violet meeting lunch. All in all it was a busy day. Dinner was Pasta from Trader joes. Libbie made lemon squares in the new oven. It didn't smell as bad this time since all the oils are burned off in the upper oven. We still need to fire up the lower oven to burn off manufacturing oils. ~ March 15, 2011 TAVS --------------- I made the bean salad for the meeting and also made the tuna sandwiches. Libbie made the egg salad sandwiches yesterday. Everybody came around 12:30. We had a well organized meeting making lollipops and covering what we had to do for the show. The meeting was over about 3 PM. We went to the airport at 5 PM. Traffic on the Cary Parkway was heavy in the other direction. Got to the airport at 5:35 for Libbie's 6:30 flight. On the way home I stopped at Krogers for OJ and cereal. I noticed gas was 3.44 with the 10 cent discount. Dinner was leftover sandwiches from this afternoon with a side of beans. Desert was the lemon squares. Earlier in the day I logged into Colts and got the mortgage payment money back that they always take out on the 15th. I give them Libbie's FICA check at the end of the month. I listened to all of Queen of Spades live tonight on Sirius. It was wonderful but didn't end until midnight. ~ March 16, 2011 things --------------- It turned out to be a nice day. I took a shower after breakfast to wash my hair then went to the CU to deposit the rent check from Prudential and stopped by Krogers to cruise the Great Clips store. They weren't busy so I got a haircut. Pretty nice. Went home and took another shower to hose off the hair clippings then lined up the PCB's and their respective parts for Nicaragua. Took a trip to Wake Forest Rd, there was an accident at the beltline. Took a trip North then turned around at the Homestead parking lot. Didn't even know this facility was there, right next to the Hilton where we had the convention. Came home and had a leftover eggsalad sandwich, some beans and chips and an orange. I'm feeling tired. ~ March 17, 2011 heartburn --------------- I had a rough night. Woke several times with severe heartburn. I'm worried cause I didn't have spicy foods. Thoughts of Mario 10 years ago who had artery blockage. He said the symptom was heartburn. I'll monitor it closely. Dinner and Lunch was the leftover tuna sandwiches from the TAVS meeting. I also had a nice serving of bean salad. ~ March 18, 2011 Kahlo --------------- My heart and heartburn is remarkably better this morning. I think yesterday was an anomoly self caused by the tablet I should not have taken Wednesday for my trip to Old Wake Forest Rd Raleigh. Fired up each of the 4 cards for Kahlo. All programmed OK. I appear to have a problem with one LCD and at least one card has a heartbeat problem. I need to add a buzzer test routine somehow to the software to also test that function. There is so much more I would rather do now that it's Spring and nice outside. Dinner was a bean burger on thin sandwich round. ~ March 19, 2011 Lucia --------------- After breakfast I worked outside on the fence posts around the azalea patch in the backyard. Came back inside, got cleaned up and left at 11:30 for Lucia at North Hills. Loved the performance. The music is the best, the chorus and staging are a treat. Some folks on Opera L don't like Natalie Dessay but I think she's the best. Libbie called afterward. She was listening to it on her computer in RI. Dinner was Krogers fried chicken and an Edwards single serving pie. I'm not very proud of this. Need to get back on track. Maybe a hunger diet is what I need. ~ March 20, 2011 ge credit --------------- Worked on the Kahlo stuff a little. All 4 PC boards seem to be working. I also spent some time juggling funds and bought some Double Eagle in the IRA and RGNC in the individual account. Logged in to make a payment to GE Credit for the Havertys furniture. They finally seem to have their act together. I got a statement with account number which means I;m on my way. The brass rods and the power supplies came today. Power supply connector is wrong. Brass rods seem perfect. Need to build a batch for the microwave. Need at least 5. Dinner was a Chile Relano. ~ March 21, 2011 greenhouse --------------- Raked some pinestraw and took it to the mound at the greenhouse. Spread it around. Jennifer said David Ward was looking for me. I went down to his house and knocked. He let me in where we chatted in his kitchen. What a filthy dump but an interesting person. He is interested in the greenhouse land. I went home and made a list of equipment in the greenhouse. Dinner was bean burger. ~ March 22, 2011 Kahlo cases --------------- Did a Trader joes run for thai salad which i enjoyed and pizza which i had for dinner. Walked outside and photographed Spring. It got up to 85 today. Watched a movie, Last Night, which I sort of liked. The people in it are beautiful. Dinner was the previously mentioned pizza. Today I assembled the 4 cases with all their spacers, bezel, etc. The project is moving forward. ~ March 23, 2011 Wake Forest Rd --------------- Did some surfing and investment analysis in the morning, drove up to Wake Forest Rd at 3. There is a bunch of hotels across from Trader joes that I never knew about including a Hampton, Studio Plus and Extended stay. Wow. Built some probes which included soldering the ends shut on 4 brass tubes, installing brass plugs that I made from a solid rod. Put connectors on 2 other probes and plugged them into the microwave with a controller attached. They worked!!!! Big step. dinner was Tika Masala, an Indian dish that I never had before. Very flavorful but it wasn't filling. Listened to Luisa Miller on sirius. Very nice. ~ March 24, 2011 culture --------------- It rained during the night. Sky was blue this morning so I took some dogwood pics and posted to Facebook. Worked on assembling plastic cases to PC Boards. All went together well. I had a bean burger for lunch then went to Home Depot for bark and a water pitcher. I broke the back porch watering can today watering all the plants. The spout broke when I was taking it up from the fish pond and it hit the floor cracking it. Home Depot doesn't have an acceptable replacement. symphony sent a buy one get one coupon today so I ordered tix for Sat. I also found a credit union coupon online for 20% off Carolina Ballet so I bought Carmen ballet tickets. Monday there is a live from paris ballet, so we will have a weekend full of culture. ~ March 25, 2011 Pick up libbie --------------- Once again worked on Kahlo. Put one power plug on the power supplies. It went well, now there are 3 more. Also building the rest of the probes. The project is moving along at a glacial pace. Deposited a bunch of checks in the CU that Jennifer gave me this morning. After the CU I went to Lowes and picked up 2 more fence posts for the azalea electric fence wire. I broke the water can on the back porch so went to Walmart and found a substitute watering can. Dinner was salad and a bean burger. i love those things. Heard from Libbie at the airport in Providence. She leaves at 7:30 landing in RDU at 10:30. While on Facebook I had chats with Ann-Marie about population in Apex and Andrea about her upbringing in Kissimmee. I noticed the time and it was 10:30 so I jumped into the car and took I-40 to the airport. got there at 10:50 but Libbie's plane had got there at 10:25. We didn't return on I-40 because they were paving the other direction so it was down to a single lane. ~ March 26, 2011 Opera, Symphony --------------- I went right to work on Kahlo after Saturday GMA. Three out of 4 of the cards work. I also built the last probe and finished the power supplies. The LCD display is sitting too high so I need to shorten the two spacers under the PCB by the display. Hopefully this will correct the situation. Sitting on the back porch on this cold day (temp 46) and listening to Queen of Spades by Tchaikovsky live from the Met. Dinner was a Trader Joes Beef Bourginon which we had early because we had to leave for the symphony. Symphony parking was crowded - all three theaters had stuff going on. We found an illegal spot in one of the drives of the lobbyist's parking lot. Symphony was a little different. I didn't care for our seats way in the back in row CC under the balcony. For the second half we moved up several rows into some vacant seats. It was cold and windy going and coming. It's hard to believe it's Spring it's so cold. ~ March 27, 2011 Carmen ballet --------------- I did a little more work on the Kahlo cards cutting the spacers down so they would fit into the case. We had a quick bowl of soup and then went on our way to the ballet. Carmen was fabulous. We had balcony seats which I was thinking while in the balcony that we probably would be better served by being in the orchestra where we would have beter sight lines to the dancers and their wonderful movements. It was incredibly enjoyable although our Carmen was a bit skinny and flat chested to be a Carmen. When we got back Libbie used the lower oven for the first time of the new oven to make our pizza. The crust didn't cook thoroughly which means the stone wasn't hot. We need to investigate further. ~ March 28, 2011 Coppelia --------------- Didn't do too much this morning. Went to Trader joes for some supplies, looked for fence wire in Norther Supply but none. In the afternoon we went to the HD theater in Morrisville and thoroughly enjoyed a performance of Coppellia like we have never seen before. it was the best ballet performance ever live from Paris by the Paris Opera Ballet. Lunch today was a thai salad from Trader joes. Dinner was parmesan tilapia with two buck chuck. We did Fresh Market on the way home from the ballet to get the Tilapia. We also found some Dr Cracker crackers which Libbie likes because it has many seeds and lots of fiber. ~ March 29, 2011 done --------------- Worked all day on a short in the card for #4. Removed the buzzer which was the source of the short then the buzzer wasn't loud enough. Found 2 pins on the microprocessor with a solder bridge. Fixed them and all was well. Buttoned upp the 4th card, took it all to the Post Office and sent it on it's way to Maine. Woo Hoo! Dinner was spinach tortelloni. ~ March 30, 2011 Nederlands Dance --------------- Today was a day of freedom. The cards were mailed last night!!!! When Libbie came home at 2 we went to Home Depot and used my 10% off coupon to order stainless steel hood and cooktop. We brought the hood home but have to get the cooktop delivered. We'll get it the Tuesday after we get back from St Simon island. I started working on our taxes. It's not looking so good this year. We may have to pay money. We left at 6 after a crab cake dinner for Memorial hall in Chapel Hill. We saw a performance of the Nederlands Dance Co which was spectacular. The first piece was called Looking back and started with a doll then a girl talking about herself when she was little. The company then moved into the gray humdrum of everyday life before breaking out in a male - female pas de deux. Just before that there was the innocent flirting of youth. When the piece ended the doll was replaced by a semi nude female dancer in a see through flesh leotard. Spectacular!!!! The second piece after the intermission was a phillip glass music composition whihc fit very well with the movement. They used a video screen with a man walking away in the surf while 2 dancer s stayed behind and went through a lot of emotional dance. The piece and movie screen moved through the woods, through being a little girl, then a man going past a window before opening into the firmanent. This all played in reverse as once again the dancers went through many emotions. All in all it was a superb performance by 30 dancers. I want to see them again. It was raining when we exited and had to do the 10 minute walk to Cobb parking garage. It was a slow wet ride home trying to see the road. Had to stop for a little gas in chapel Hill to be safe. ~ March 31, 2011 Ductwork --------------- I finished up the taxes today but no need to file yet since we have no tax liability. I want to review the BB entries since the accounting system is a mess. I took the old cooktop hood down today as well as the ductwork. The old ducts were a mess so I went to Home Depot and bought new ducts as well as a duct crimping tool that costs $25. I have always lusted after these things but never got one. It works incredibly well converting a femal duct end into a male. It also helps crimp existing males so they insert better which is what i had to do to get the elbow plugged into the ceiling. The AC line had to be rerouted and the holes patched. I bought a metal plaster patch at HD and put it on in anticipation of palster. Dinner was curried chicken with Broccoli. Very yummy. ~ April 01, 2011 First Friday --------------- I plastered the holes behind the hood and painted the cabinet sides because they will be exposed below the cabinet. After it all dried I struggled to get the new hood installed. the new lights are much brighter than the old single 60 watt bul in the old hood. The Stainless makes it look high end. In the afternoon Libbie and I climbed onto the greenhouse and pulled the shade cloth on. I almost didn't make it, I was so exhausted. Came home and layed on the bed nude until i was rested enough for a shower. After the shower i finished the book "Best Laid Plans". It was so so. We left at 6 for First Friday. Met Jim Fatata at Visual Arts where he had a sculpture entered. Went to the annex and talked to a glass blower from North of Asheville. Enjoyed walking around Artspace before we walked over to Cafe Luna. The two cute gymnasts were doing their show on the corner. We had an enjoyable Cafe Luna dinner and a glass of wine. They were pretty busy as usual, my favorite was a pretty blonde in plunging neckline of a little black dress. She had a very nice natural breast showing for cleavage. I like this much better than the pushups and plastic ones. Got home at 9:30 and there was an email with picture list from Jessica. There also was another request for board reports by Sue Ramseur for last years report. ~ April 02, 2011 Packing --------------- Did last minute stuff today. Cleaned the pump screen in the Koi pond and refilled the fish feeder. While I listened to the opera which was Rheingold on the Sat broadcast I searched for Jessica's pictures on her list. After the Opera we went to BJ's for garbage bags, ribs and wine. Dinner tonight was the ribs with a bottle of Ravenwswood Zin and broccoli. After dinner I finsihed packing for our trip tomorrow. ~ April 03, 2011 St Simon --------------- Had a leisurely breakfast then when it was time to leave at 8:30 I discovered the outlet hose came off the fish pump. Put a clamp on temporarily as a fix then put the pump back and turned it on. Need a better clamp. Our ride down was interesting. There was a lot of cars on I-95 and an accident at MM 176 in SC. We got off at 182 and took some back roads before getting back on at exit 162, Florence. the detour was worth it since the scenery was so beautiful. Got into St Simon at 3 PM. Checked into our room then did a walk around the grounds. It was beautiful, the temp is 78 degrees and the azaleas are all in bloom on this waterfront. We had a buffet dinner of pork loin and all the trimmings. I even had an eclair for desert. After dinner we started our painting class by preparing the paper. ~ April 04, 2011 Watercolor --------------- Went to an incredible breakfast of eggs, bacon grits and biscuits. Sat with some of the watercolorists we met yesterday. Started our class at 8:30 by gathering around the front desk and watching Majid put down some wash. Next we traced some daisies on our paper and masked them then put the wash over it. This didn't go too bad. Next step was to put lines and splatters over the paper. This was a lot of fun. Went to lunch and had Flounder which was a little much for us for just lunch. It was yummy. After lunch we scraped the masking off the daisies and colored them in with watercolor. Placing a mask over the painting made it look pretty good. I thoroughly enjoyed today. In the afternoon we had a tour of the Tabby cabins and the Epworth gorunds by Jean, our assigned coordinator. What a lovely place. Went back for dinner at 5:30 which was Prime Rib with salad and baked potato. We're eating too much. Walked around the grounds some more after dinner. ~ April 05, 2011 Tree Painting --------------- After breakfast at 7 am we went to the classroom for our 8:30 class. We had quite a bit of success yesterday. Today was not so successful. We tried painting a tree which was difficult. I learned a lot despite the frustration. I couldn't get the paint to flow, probably because the paper was dry. I had not gotten the technique of smooshing yet either. It was a frustrating day. We went for lunch and had some kind of pita bread with mushrooms inside as well some black beans, rice beef rollups. After lunch we got on a bus and had an island tour. We went to Fort Fredericka, watched a movie on the history then walked the grounds of the Fort. I loved the big live oaks draped with Spanish moss. We stopped at Christ church and got a little bit of history about the church from Jean, our coordinator. We got back after the 3 hour tour and rested a little before dinner. Went over to the dining hall and had stuffed flounder and veggies for dinner. We're eating very well. Desert was banana cream pie which was very good. In the evening at 7 pm we had a demonstration of watercolor pouring which involves pouring the colors on the paper, swirling and blowing them around, then finding out what it made. It was a full day. ~ April 06, 2011 Dr Magid's House --------------- After the frustration of yesterday we combined sky, water, beach and the trees to make a landscape scene with two trees, a dead one and one with foliage. This went a little better but still was pretty hard. After lunch we went in a caravan to Dr Magid and Gail's house. We enjoyed all the paintings on the wall and everywhere elae. I got the story on his "wife" and Sweety from Gail. First wife died but he calls Gail his wife. She lives with him and also has a house in Atlanta. We toured the outdoor studio which is a screened in porch and also toured the studio over the garage where he cuts mats and has many more paintings covering the walls. The garage studio has a complete bedroom and kitchen. After we were done visiting we went outside and photographed the prof and his fiance before getting in the car to drive back. We stopped at Darien on the way back and walked the historic District, walked along the docks, saw the shrimping fleet and the warehouse tabby ruins. All in all it was a nice afternoon. Tonight was free and it was suggested we could go out somewhere for dinner but we stayed. Several of our classmates also stayed behind. We had dinner with them which was fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Desert was a cherry cobbler. We tried staying out on the marsh front but the bugs were terrible so we abandoned ship and went back to our room. ~ April 07, 2011 Last Painting --------------- Breakfast at 7, bacon and eggs with a very nice biscuit. I started a "highwayman" watercolor. This had a blue and red sky with water in the foreground and a group of Palm Trees in the center. Had some trouble with the sky running then the water needs a little softening. I tried for a darker shade of blue water but it came out contrasty. Came back after a lunch of chicken Caesar wrap sandwich and add the Palm trees and cleaned up our workspace. Drove down to the village and walked around the lighthouse. Libbie bought a Neptune book after we met one of our co watercolorists on the Jetty who had one. I saw 2 girls ride by on bicycles. I thought one of them was a guy because she was wearing a white shirt totally unbuttoned in front. When I peeked I was delightfully astounded that she was totally exposed. In the evening we got dressed up somewhat for dinner and had a low country boil which was shrimp, potatoes, sausage, cabbage and corn in a stew. It was very good. Desert was red velvet cake. At 7 we had entertainment, Tony Baker, who had a wonderful voice singing some original compositions while strumming his guitar. We bought his CD "Saint Simons Song". After the entertainment we took a walk to the waterfront and watched the remnants of sunset. I tried to grab a few pics. We've been doing Watercolor too much since I kept seeing red and blue washes across the sky with the Palm Trees in the foreground. What a place. Stopped by the front desk for quarters for the drink machine and treated myself to a Pepsi back in the room. ~ April 08, 2011 Drive Home --------------- We were at breakfast at 7 this morning. We had cleaned up everything last night so it was just a matter of gathering our paintings. first we had an art show where everyone had their paintings taped to the wall for critique. He had very favorable things to say about mine and Libbie's comparing it to the work Tony van Hasselt who was conducting an advanced seminar next door. Lots of good vibes and we had lots of interest in carrying it further. We checked out at 10, picked up our box lunch which was a turkey sandwich, apple, chips and cookies. Very nice. Traffic on I-95 was horrible. All the Canadians in their giant RV's are going home. The traffic finally lets up when we reach I-26. I-95 from that point onward thins out and is lighter. We stopped at Lake Santee rest area for bathroom break and Florence for gas. When we got to Dillon I wanted to look for fence wire so we stopped at Harbor Freight Tools. It wasn't worth the stop. Got home at 4 pm. The trip wasn't too bad, more RV's and campers than normal because of the snowbird migration. We went out to LaCocina for dinner tonight then picked up milk, OJ and fruit at Krogers afterward. I had a margarita and Quesadilla La Cocina. ~ April 09, 2011 Comte Ory --------------- I spent the morning getting caught up with documents and backups on the computer. I also tried some smooshing with my watercolor brush. It was not a success. I hurried up at 11:25 to get ready for the opera. We left the house at 11:30 for a 1 pm showing. The Rossini opera was a delight with lots of fast singing, sextets, quartets, the chorus. It was also campy. We started late since Juan Diego Florez was attending the birth of his baby at 12:25. Wow. We had two girls behind us who liked to have loud guffaws. During the intermission we moved to the end of the row. These seats were much better for our enjoyment. On the way home we stopped at Trader Joes for wine to have with our ribs. We also had some skinny minty for desert. I stayed up almost to midnight studying BP since my TER id is active again. I submitted some fake reviews to activate it for 2 weeks. ~ April 10, 2011 Smooshing --------------- I practiced smooshing and found out that how wet the brush is makes a difference. The violet ladies showed up here at 8 am for the trip to New Bern for a meeting at Barb Odgers house. I went out to Fresh Market looking for pizza dough. They kept telling me the freezer case but I came up empty handed and bought a prepared pizza instead. Spent some more time looking at BP. When Libbie came back from New Bern she heated the stone and made the pizza. Our lower oven doesn't seem to get as hot as the old one did. ~ April 11, 2011 prep --------------- Spent some time this morning removing the cooktop. Ran to Home Depot for a cable clamp and caulk. I wanted to clamp the cable where it comes out of the wall and put some caulking around the opening to keep bugs from going into the wall. This was a success. I'm dealing with lots of car dealers calling after I filled out a car appraisal sheet and also went to Consumer Reports to try their build and buy service. Finally Leith called, I set up an appointment with the fleet sales manager for a replacement Corolla. Now the fun began. I unbolted the trailer hitch, cut the cable for the trailer lights, removed the satellite radio bracket, emptied the trunk and gloveboxes. The hard part was removing the radio and putting the factory radio back into the dash. I did a pretty good job. Unfortunately, Home Depot called with an 11:30 slot which means I postponed my 11 am Tuesday car meeting. Libbie and I went to China Chef for 3 meat Szechuan and picked up dinner which included egg rolls. We had a bottle of Shiraz with dinner. ~ April 12, 2011 cooktop install --------------- Went to Jerry's as well as Trader Joes before I had to be back at 11 for a potential Home Depot phone call. The call came exactly at 11 saying delivery would be within 30 minutes. At 11:25 am the new cooktop arrived and they took the old cooktop as well as the hood. The new top dropped right into the slot after I made the electrical connections. Bolted it down and proceeded to clean the Stainless Steel surface. I looked for Stainless cleaner in Krogers but found nothing. will check online. Did some more looking at BP then payed the Visa bill which was over $2400. Had to transfer $1000 from Scottrade to cover. Later in the pm I climbed on the roof of the greenhouse garage building to nail down the fiberglass sheet which had come loose. It was bent backwards and completely off the opening. I nailed it down pretty good. It's a breezy day today. Dinner tonight was spinach ravioli with tomato sauce sprinkled with cheese. ~ April 13, 2011 2011 Corolla --------------- I had an appointment with the Toyota dealer at 11 today. I left home at 9:30 to go to AgriSupply to get fence wire and to use some of the half tank of gas I had left. I got to Leith Toyota at 10:50 am. My salesman, Mark, was pretty nice. We test drove a white Corolla, then they appraised my car. They didn't like the cracked windshield and gave we 1,000 dollars less than the guaranteed value. They eventually raised the value by $500 making the payment $256 per month. Had some trouble getting an Experian Credit report. They said they would try another method and eventually I drove out of there with a new Corolla. They called later telling me that I needed to get Experian to unfreeze my account since Southeast Toyota won't finance the deal without the credit report. Amica soon called saying that Leith called them. I verified the info with them. It will cost $92 more per year insurance. I went outside and mounted the old trailer hitch which fortunately fit right into the mounting holes. Next step was to run the Sirius satellite antenna wire and mount the radio. Did a test drive but did not care for the radio hitting my knee. This needs more work in addition to getting a more permanent electrical connection. I temporarily plugged the Sirius radio into the cigarette lighter. Will fix tomorrow or some other time. I also still need to wire up the trailer lights. This is a difficult job. Last time I wired up the brake lights only. Dinner tonight was Briyani. I saw tonight on Entertainment Tonight that Karina from Dancing with the Stars is going to appear nude in Playboy. I'll have to keep an eye out for that issue. ~ April 14, 2011 Radios, riding to Cary --------------- After breakfast I went into the garage and disassembled the console. Installed a power jack for the Sirius radio that sits on the floor under the shifter. Drilled a hole in the back of the iPod door to run an audio cable to the aux jack. Put everything back together and ran a cable bundle from next to the steering column over to the radio. Everything worked out neater than expected. I'm happy with the installation. Took a ride to the old Sams area on Weston Pkwy. The flowering plants are done. Too bad but it was a good joy ride for me and my new Corolla. In the afternoon Libbie and I went to the greenhouse in the Corolla. She walked the aisles talking to some woman on the phone giving her inventory while I walked around outside taking pictures. Dinner was frozen pad thai froom Trader Joes. ~ April 15, 2011 credit --------------- Leith called that they couldn't verify my credit. I spent time on the phone with Experian and then they did. This went on all day until we found the problem was the Jessie Rd address vs Downing Place. I need to go back to sign the loan papers. Dinner was parmesan Tilapia with mixed veggies (Steamfresh) and a bottle of Shiraz. ~ April 16, 2011 Watercolor and tornadoes --------------- I started and finished painting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in Watercolor. This was a good practice experience for me. Tried listening to Wozzceck on the radio but i didn't care for it. A really bad storm with tornadoes came through at 4 PM. We waited and watched while tuned in to WRAL watching the Doppler radar. It missed us and hit downtown Raleigh. We went out a little after the storm to check the greenhouse. That was a mistake. Traffic lights are out and tree branches are everywhere. We stopped in to Krogers and picked up some store deli counter ribs. Not great but we didn't want to go anywhere else except home. We had Lima beans and Shiraz with the dinner. I studied my painting some more to figure out how to improve the next version. ~ April 17, 2011 Monet Ballet --------------- Hooked up my laptop to watch GMA from Sarasota since storm coverage dominated the local programming. Went outside afterward and blew the driveway off, planted the Lily of the Valleys and also the Dahlias. Spread 2 bags of mulch around the bed in the back. The ballet is on according to the web site. Downtown was a disaster. Traffic lights out, streets blocked by trees, wires down everywhere, broken glass and twisted metal scattered about. The glass doors on the Progress Energy Center are missing, part of the roof was on the sidewalk and Oak Trees are snapped off everywhere. Saw an accident at one of the intersections without traffic lights. Monet impressions was totally enjoyable. We had a little trouble coming home since we had to zigzag around some closed streets that had power lines and downed trees on them. For dinner Libbie made her yummy pizza which was excellent again. The crust came out nice and crispy. ~ April 18, 2011 gardening --------------- Went out to do some gardening. Weeded the flower bed then spread one bag of mulch on the Pyracantha. They have buds this year! When I turned the second bag over, there were termites everywhere. Took this bag to the Camelias and spread it around then hooked up the electric fence wire on the new posts around the azaleas. Still need new posts on the front of the azaleas. It's time to get some Marigolds from the Farmers Market. Worked on my watercolor of Hiroshima some more. Started over, still not happy. It takes practice. Talked to Jessica about her wedding album. She wants to still go through with it even though it will cost $500. Dinner was Chicken Pad Thai. Replaced the toner cartridge in Libbie's Laser printer today. I'll order a new one from NewEgg for myself. She got the one I was going to use. ~ April 19, 2011 Keys --------------- Libbie took the Corolla and I took the Prius to Leith for a 10:45 am appointment. They said they didn't have a key blank for the Prius. I complained and got a $25 gas card for the trouble. When I was checking out the service guy came in with a new key. He didn't know they didn't have any!!! I chose not to get the laser key since it was another $125 and we didn't need it on the spare electronic key anyway. The electronic one is the keystone since without any left they would have to tow the car and replace the engine computer. On the way home I stopped at Tigerdirect for a GPS mount to rig up my satellite radio, Trader Joe's for Tuesday groceries and Kroger for old geezer day (Tuesday) groceries. Afterward Libbie and I went to the Farmers Market for veggies and trays of annuals. I started working on Jessica's album by transferring her choices to my desktop machine. Dinner was chicken with beets and asparagus. Very nice dinner. Libbie made a shortcake which we had with the Farmers market Strawberries and whip cream. ~ April 20, 2011 gardening --------------- Worked outside today.Picked up some bark in home Depot and spread it where the Marigolds will go. Did some more light weeding then walked around the yard and picked up branches and sticks. When Libbie came home we had lunch then went to Payless shoes for a new pair of sneakers for me with the coupon that came in the mail. We also went to Kohls for underwear for Libbie. she had a gift card for that purchase. Dinner was the Easter ham with beets and asparagus. We had strawberry shortcake for desert. ~ April 21, 2011 Wedding Album --------------- I worked on Jessica's album this morning and got 12 pages done. I also did a little on my watercolor painting but not nearly as much as I wanted to do. Helped Libbie a little with removing the fan from the window for her playroom painting. We went to Home Depot for more paint and I picked up a roll of 12/2 for adding more power to this room. $82 for a roll of wire! Ouch. It should be worth it since the bedrooms are woefully inadequate in power. Dinner tonight was the Easter Ham with yam, apple sauce and broccoli. It's nice to see all the veggie options we have been having. Yum. ~ April 22, 2011 wiring --------------- I worked on the window in the playroom, sanding and repairing. Need a handle for the upper window and a splice plate for the lower. It's cool and raining today. Took advantage of the cooler weather to snake a roll of 12/2 from my shop into the attic and then down into the wall adjacent to the stairs going into the playroom. I cut a hole for a double wall outlet in the playroom wall. Next step will be a run from the knee wall to this hole which means another trip into the attic. Watched some web videos from Jerrys Artarama on colorful watercolor painting of a building. Tried it on my Hiroshima Peace memorial building but it doesn't look as vibrant or good. Will keep trying. Listened to Walkure live on Sierra which started while we were having a dinner of ham, yam, mixed veggies, Apple Sauce and Shiraz. Started reading the "Burn" novel by Linda Howard. After a slow start I started really getting into it. I want to read Libbie's Neptune book next which is about a St Simon island slave. ~ April 23, 2011 Capriccio --------------- Worked on Jessica's wedding album in the morning until it was time to go to the Opera. We left a little after 11:30 for Capriccio at North Hills. Libbie made sandwiches which we had in the theater. There was no intermission so it was a long 2 1/2 hour opera. The best part of course is the last 20 minutes which features Rene Fleming's solo aria. Very good. On the way home we stopped in Trader Joes and got some Shiraz for our dinner. Dinner was Ham, Apple Sauce, mixed veggies. ~ April 24, 2011 Ballyhoo --------------- This was a busy morning. Pulled the wire from the knee wall to the stairwell outlet. Cleaned up and left at 2:00 for the RLT play. The play was Last Night at Ballyhoo which was about Jewish segregation and was wonderful as usual. Today is Easter Sunday. Enjoyed the bikini's in the Rose Garden on coeds. Very colorful. Libbie mastered her pizza in the new oven tonight. Previously she had been having temperature control issues with the lower oven. I now have 20 pages of Jessica's album complete. I also volunteered to implement the AVSA website using Plone. Wrote an eMail to Richard and Winston. ~ April 25, 2011 Outdoor --------------- Played some more with Plone then went outside to do some work. Drained the oil from the lawn mower and cleaned the pine needles off the shed roof. When Libbie came home we set the ladder up in front of the house and I raked the pine needles off the roof. Also hooked up the pressure washer and washed the garage door and corner wall. This really was a pressure washer test for doing the windows. Upstairs I picked up some screws and outlets to wire the playroom. I also went to the greenhouse where a bench in house 3 collapsed. I repaired the plumbing. Not sure how to repair the bench which is flat on the ground. I didn't think this could happen. Dinner was pasta. Earlier I managed to send the first 20 pages of Jessica's album to her. ~ April 26, 2011 Nook --------------- Went to Barnes Noble in Cary looking for a Plone book. Saw a demo of the Nook color. I really like the toy but it would be just that, a toy. Maybe we can buy one passing through Delaware next month to avoid the sales tax. I figure we would save $20. Came home and found a used Plone book on Barnes and Noble website for 1.99 which I ordered. When Libbie came home we had a nice ham sandwich for lunch then with her help we pulled another wire from the attic into the knee wall. The attic wasn't too bad, mostly becauuse it was rainy and cloudy outside. We have the house A/C on since the window fan is out of commission until the window is painted. I washed the fan in the garage today, it was pretty greasy. Dinner tonight was a rotisserie chicken with potato salad and macaroni salad for the trimmings. Krogers had the salads on a 10 for $10 sale ($1 each). Listened to Rigoletto live tonight while studying Plone themes. ~ April 27, 2011 Busy day --------------- I did a lot today. Moved the pinestraw pile from the front of the house to the azaleas in back. Put the oil in the mower too conclude yesterdays oil change and mowed the back yard. Spackled and sanded playroom wall for further painting. Moved the ladder to the front window and to the side window and power washed both window frames then bought new screws for the window fan and re-installed it. It's now properly hung. Libbie cleaned the windows prior to me installing the fan and I used the power washer from far away to clean the screen before putting it back. Still need to paint the windows on the outside but first i'll have to hook up the trailer and fetch the ladder. I played with Plone some more and then sent an eMail to the entire EC saying that I could port the AVSA website over to PLONE inless than 90 days. Dinner tonight was the leftover Rotisserie chicken and potato salad and macaroni salad. Listened to Trovatore tonight live on Sirius. It's pretty nice, can't wait to see it on Saturday. ~ April 28, 2011 PLONE --------------- I heard from Joyce Stork today supporting my offer to convert the AVSA website to PLONE. She said she and some AVSA ladies were praying for the AVSA website and she thinks I am the answer to their prayers. I don't thinks so. Changed the toner in my printer since it stopped printing while trying to get a few pages of the Plone theme manual printed. After lunch I planted the Marigolds we bought last week. They looked pretty dried up. Hope they make it. Libbie brought my tomatoes home from the greenhouse today that Jennifer started. Dinner tonight was 15 bean soup with the leftover Easter ham. We had Libbie made corn bread with the soup. ~ April 29, 2011 art and painting --------------- When I turned GMA on this morning the Royal Wedding had just finished and they were in the registry signing the book. Saw the procession and drive to Buckingham Palace as well as the replay put together by ABC called 4 hours in 40 minutes. Enjoyed it all, especially the funky hats. I started the Hiroshima Peace Memorial painting again. It's going better this time, I decided to use a wash for the building and then add weather effects. The sponge worked especially well. I hooked up the wire snake and pulled the last wire into the knee wall for the Playroom rebuilding project. When Libbie came home we opened the new paint I bought in Home Depot this morning and started rollering. Made it all the way around the room to the front window. I have some serious plaster repair to do for the other half of the room. Got cleaned up and drove to the Chapel Hill Town hall for Kim's Art show of her sculpture. We had some nibbles and stayed around a little looking at her artwork and chatting. We next went to Thai Palace on Raleigh Rd where we had Spring Rolls, Chicken Pad Thai and house burgundy wine. The bill with tip was $44 which was excellent. We got home about 9:30 and watched a little of the replay of the Royal Wedding between Will and Kate which was today. ~ April 30, 2011 Trovatore --------------- I'm not feeling too sore today after doing the paint roller yesterday. The Met Facebook page is requesting pictures from inside the HD theater today so they can post it on their site. Took a few pictures outside the theater of the line and also a few inside but didn't use them. We loved Trovatore!!!! it was perfect. The HD camera also focused on a group of ladies waving panties to Hvortovsky. Unfortunately those 2 annoying ladies from last week sat down next to me. I moved to the other side of Libbie to get away from them. i could still hear them but it was better. After the theater we stopped at BJ's for ribs and sundry other groceries. Dinner was ribs with broccoli and Shiraz. Very nice. I worked a little more on the Hiroshima Peace building then sent it to the virtual paintout. I'm going to redo it but first i want to participate in the May painting. ~ May 01, 2011 Mayday --------------- I started working on the plaster job in the playroom. When Libbie came home started putting the green paint on. Made it all the way around the room in 2 coats except for the wall that needs repair. For dinner we had Libbie's wonderful pizza. It was great that she was able to do this despite the fact she worked all day painting trim in the playroom! I ordered a fruit basket for Arlene's 60th birthday this week from edible arrangements. Luckily i used Google and found a coupon code to get 10% off. Getting ready to go to Sarasota this week. It's one of the few weeks i can do this! ~ May 02, 2011 Gardening --------------- Watched some news this morning that Osama Bin Laden was killed yesterday. After breakfast news went outside and tilled the garden. The tiller started right up. Planted the tomatoes then prepared the grow boxes for planting. Put two tomatoes in there as well but they need an electrical fence for protection. Next i mowed the front lawn for the first time this year. Also picked up the outlet covers and plaster for the playroom job. Much going on!!!! For dinner we had crabcakes with tomatoes Libbie picked up at a vegetable stand on Kildaire Farm Rd. Managed to get all new outlets installed on the South wall of the playroom and under the fan window (3 outlets). ~ May 03, 2011 more gardening --------------- Did the grocery store run this morning then visited Ace Hardware looking for a 9/16-20 tap. No luck but I did buy pepper plants and zucchini seeds. Put the electric fence around the grow boxes after planting 6 peppers and the squash seeds. I'm ready for the trip. I also hooked up the watering to the box and ran out to Krogers for a new 9v backup battery for the watering timer. Took a drive up 55 to the bicycle chain bike store looking for my tap. They have a huge selection of bikes, all of which were very expensive. Libbie came home in tears today with INSV issues reported to her from a different ag department. That Georgina is a pain in the ass. Our ag inspector insisted we did not have INSV. ~ May 04, 2011 drive --------------- It was raining this morning. Checked the radar and decided that it was OK to travel at 10 am. I canceled the room I had reserved in JAX since even though I may get in late I still cam make it to Stoneybrrok at a reasonable hour. Had rain on the beltline and some of 40 but I-95 was celar and by the time I got to Fayetteville there was blue sky. Stopped for gas in Florence, used my $25 gift card and paid for the rest of the gas with my Visa. $3.73 per gallon. Next gas stop was Kingsland/St Mary where it was $3.88 per gallon. These were my only two stops. I had an apple on the way down. Bought milk and OJ at Publix but the Subway was closed when I got back outside. It was just after 9. Instead I went to Checkers and had a Big Rufus combo for 7.06. It was way too fattening. A Big Mac like burger, tasty fries and a huge coke. I should not have done it besides it cost $7.06. At the condo I talked to Lib who was still getting over this Georgine thing. It's a shame, she works so hard and gets dumped on like this. ~ May 05, 2011 ribs --------------- Talked to Nancy today when I called the greenhouse. I thanked her for being Libbie's therapist. Went out later in the morning and looked at bikes in both Target and Walmart. I liked the Walmart Next model with 7 speeds. hooked up the bike rack back at Stoneybrook and bought the bike at Walamrt as well as a very nice straw hat. Since it was an XL it fits much nicer than my other one. Pumped the tires up to 40. They came with 20 psi. Used the factory seat and took a ride to the back corner by the junk yard, a total of 4 miles round trip. Talked to John Carter when I returned. He was out mentoring elementary school kids. His assigned child has a Mother in jail and is being raised by a grandmother. He had the child make a Mothers Day card anyway for the grandmother to give to the Mother if she see her. I relayed to John the long sad story of Georgina and INSV. Unknown to me he sent out an eMail to AVSA EC members and Anne telling what the "AVSA INSV Expert" did to Libbie. Anne sent out a note and I replied with the story. Libbie called her. At 6 PM I called over to the clubhouse for an order of a rack of ribs to go. They were delicious. Unfortunately I went to Publix later in the evening and picked up some frozen yogurt which I don't need. Listened to the Met on Sirius for both Trovatore and Walkure in the evening. Set the radio to auto sleep and went to bed with Walkure playing. It shuts off in 90 minutes. ~ May 06, 2011 Rain --------------- I wanted to go for a bike ride but the sky looked too threatening. Went to Selby gardens instead and then stopped by Home Depot on the way home. It started thundering and lightning inside the store but I was able to get door sizes and prices anyway. I also looked at door handles for home. I want to change our doorknobs to levers in the Playroom as a start. I may defer this project until I'm able to raise the funds to pay the Stoneybrook fees. Found a good watercolor book in Books a Million. It's called Watercolor: The Spirit of Spontaneity. It was $25 in the store but is $15 on Amazon. I ordered it from Amazon for around $18 with shipping. Dinner was the leftover ribs, potato and rolls. Very nice. Libbie is doing much better today. Ron Davidson called and told her he was going to call the ag department and apologize for Georgine's behavior. ~ May 07, 2011 Saturday entertainment --------------- Went out this morning to Lockridge Rd. Interesting. When I came back i listened to the Met saturday broadcast of Ariadne. It was incredibly good. While the opera was on I built a St Simons photo book on lulu and ordered it using a graduation coupon for 30% off. Lulu's tools are better than Kodaks. Libbie called later in the afternoon relaying all the travails with the Guenther trip. They got off to a a late start, having to switch rental cars in Richmond which also meant driving 2 cars to Richmond and leaving one there while they switched the van with the wrong child restraint mounts and picked up one with the correct mounts for their Florida trip. It seems like much ado about nothing. For lunch and dinner today I had a bean burger on flat bread with a slice of Vidalia and ketchup. Desert was chocolate Moose Tracks frozen yogurt. I'm watching my favorite variety show on Spanish TV, Sabado Gigante. ~ May 08, 2011 bike ride --------------- Bought a newspaper this morning. I'm not sure it was worth it. Hopped on the bicycle and rode to Oscar Scherer. This almost killed me I was so tired. That's what I get for eating donuts after breakfast. I was also concerned about tire pressure on the rear tire. When I got back I checked it and it was low at 35 but that's not too bad. Dinner was a beanburger with Vidalia on flat bread. ~ May 09, 2011 Hanging a door --------------- Got up early this morning and started quietly cutting away the carpet where the new door frame has to go. When it got to be 9 am I got to work seriously on the effort. Cut a 2x4 and a 1x4 for use as shims and nailed them to the sides. Cut a 1/2 inch off the new frame and installed it but the door was too tight against the carpet. I decided to pull the door out and remove the sheetrock on the header. It was a messy job but necessary. The door fits much better. After getting the door secured I went to Home Depot and bought a door handle with lock and shims. Using the shims I was able to get the door straight and then spackle all the nail holes. For lunch and dinner I ordered 2 sandwiches from the club house, a hamburger and a BLT, both with side orders of sweet potato fries. Both were excellent. I listened to Walkure live on Sirius but dozed off several times. I worked hard, did not go out on the bicycle at all which was too bad. ~ May 10, 2011 no door paint --------------- I decided not to paint the door this trip. I'll bring a sanding sponge next time and maybe blue tape and a good paint brush. I want to start a painting but I'm not sure if it should be a simple tree or the complicated building I was going to paint. Took the old cruiser bike to Goodwill and dropped it off then hooked up my bike and drove to the Venice Train Depot. Rode the Venice waterways all the way to Casperian Beach. It was great. Very scenic and I love the Casperian Beach park. Came back and had Thai Curry chicken for dinner along with some Ravenswood Zinfindel and Key Lime Cheesecake. I treated myself nicely. I also called Comcast today and turned off the Internet. I'm also going to try getting rid of Vonage and switching to an Ooma. I took out a 941 area code google number for use in the condo, specifically with the Ooma device. I have mixed feelings about driving home tomorrow. I want to stay another day. ~ May 11, 2011 travel --------------- Well, I woke up this morning and made the decision to leave today. I'll pack the apartment up this morning then get going by 8:30 which will allow me to miss rush hours in Tampa, Orland and JAX. I managed to get everything buttoned up but later realized I left my water bottle in the bike handlebar bag, partially filled with water. Sirius XM has Florida traffic on one of their channels. I programmed preset A0 to access this easily. It gives Miami on the 1's, Orlando on the 4's and Tampa on the 8's, both traffic and weather for each of those cities. It was pretty handy for the traffic. I left at 8:28 and had a pretty easy drive with no congestion or slowdowns anywhere. First stop was in Brunswick where gas was an outrageous 3.99. I used exit 29, should have waited for exit 36 or so where they were advertising 3.89. Next stop was Florence but instead of my normal exit 164 I drove further to hwy 38, the Hess station where gas was 3.65. I chose this because there are no lights getting on or off the highway and it's less congested for the same price. There also is no food here and since I had my cut up cup of fruit from Publix all was fine. I arrived home at 7:15 where Libbie greeted me with BLT's and strawberry shortcake. ~ May 12, 2011 catch up --------------- This was catch up day. Sorted stuff, unpacked the suitcases, dealt with some finances, etc. Resurrected the Chumby from Best Buy and programmed it to display pics from Traviata as well as Facebook, Picasa and Flickr. Dinner was La Cocina where we had Margaritas and our standard Quesadilla La Cocina. There was an accident on Old Raleigh Rd where we couldn't get buy so we came home through buckingham. It's been a while since we went that way - the back entrance. ~ May 13, 2011 Album --------------- Worked on Jessica's album and finished it today. Now I still have the last minute tweaks such as adjusting borders and choosing backgrounds. This was a big relief. Looked at the AVSA budget. What a mess. Revenue is still going down while expenses remain level. Libbie and I went to Trader Joes this afternoon for wine and sundry items. We had wine, Lima Beans and ribs for dinner. The Guenthers spent this morning at Disneyworld then they were going to drive here. We heard they got into the car at 2 PM which means a midnight arrival if we're lucky. ~ May 14, 2011 Walkure --------------- The Guenthers arrived around 1 am this morning. Libbie went down to greet them. In the morning they went to the greenhouse at 9:30 but we had to leave for the opera at 10:30. Libbie managed to get away and get home in time to get dressed and make tuna sandwiches. We got to the theater on time and even took some pics for the Met Facebook page. The performance was delayed 40 minutes by troubles with "the Machine" which stages the opera. When it went on the Opera was spectacular. Bryn Terfel and Jonas Kaufman are part of a stellar cast. The music, singing and staging were a complete experience. We got home around 6:30. We ordered Chinese takeout which we had with shiraz. Yummy. I finished up Jessica's 40 page album today as well. What a relief. ~ May 15, 2011 Gardening --------------- Got up and started organizing files as well as I did a few touch ups to Jessica's album. Watched an Indy film this afternoon, Endure and briefly went outside to stake the Dahlias and tomatoes. Couldn't find the string so that job is incomplete. Printed labels for the Violet Convention sales this week. Libbie had to go to OfficeMax for Avery 8162 labels. WE had a yummy pizza this evening with real tomatoes. After dinner I watched spanish TV for a while, Nuestra Belleza Latina. I started gathering my journals for the past 15 years by running the program "egret" against the phpblog. This VB program I wrote gathers the individual daily entries and compiles them into a yearly journal. I may compile the 2000-1010 into a decade journal and put it on Google for archiving. ~ May 16, 2011 packing --------------- Did some last minute work outside today. Put stakes in for the tomatoes and the one renegade Dahlia that appeared by itself. Tied the plants as appropriate. Went back inside and prepared the cameras and lights for the trip to AVSA. Packed up my suitcase. For lunch I had the leftover Chinese and also a BLT. For dinner Libbie made the Trader Joe's pasta. We watched about 20 minutes of Dancing with The Stars before turning it off and going back upstairs to fine tune our suitcases for the AVSA trip. ~ May 17, 2011 AVSA --------------- After breakfast this morning we got into the car and left home at 8 am. It's supposed to rain but so far we drove in NC under blue skies and little to no traffic. We stopped on I-95 around Roanoke for more coffee and a McDonalds biscuit. We hit rain from Richmond to Fredericksburg. Bought gas in Fredericksburg at 3.92 and also had a ranch wrap in McDonalds. This was also a good bathroom break. This time going North I wanted to avoid the DE-MD toll so we did the drive around. It took 7 minutes. If we had not gone around, the toll and 2 exits would probably be 5 minutes so I estimate this added 2 minutes to our trip. We had a very good trip, we arrived at 3:30. I briefly had a chat with Winston about the website. Nothing has changed. After settling into our room and unpacking the plant boxes we called the Nicholas's and also Marjorie and went out to Bahama Breeze with them for dinner. I had the Jerk painted salmon with sweet potatoes. We each had a glass of Shiraz with dinner. Bahama Breeze was next to the Cherry hill Mall. After getting back at 8:30 we went to our room and to bed. ~ May 18, 2011 board meeting --------------- We had the hotel continental breakfast for $11 each. We sat with Anne and Richard then Libbie made calls to visit Stephanie and Slim chicks while I went to the 9 am board meeting. Not much happened at the meeting. I tried to press the issue about schedule and timing of the website but got nowhere except the answer was that it's a legal issue and the resolution date is open ended. The meeting ended surprisingly before noon or shortly after the break. Wow. This freed me up for the rest of the day. Libbie came back in the rain shortly after lunch after sitting in a McDonalds during a downpour talking on the phone to Sue about Sue's problems which are many and varied. We went to the Presidents reception but just as we got there the phone rang and Jennifer arrived with our plants which we went downstairs to help unload. Went back to the reception and had finger foods and wine. I talked to Janet about the archivist duties and will assist her which involves a trip to Beaumont. This evening we went out and had pizza down the street for dinner. ~ May 19, 2011 photos --------------- This morning I hung around while judging was going on. At noon we had the library meeting planning our strategy for the year then started the photography shortly after. The show was very nice. I met a photographer who really knew what he was doing, Neil something or other. We both worked until we were dead tired. Went out to dinner to Bahama Breeze again by the Cherry Hill Mall. I had almond crusted tilapia with mashed sweet potatoes and a glass of shiraz. ~ May 20, 2011 Friday --------------- We did breakfast in McDonalds for $8 which was much better than the $35 breakfast at the hotel. I ran the booth this morning while Libbie attended the Virus talk. We had a starbucks wrap sandwich for lunch which was good. After a long day we went out to dinner at Bahama Breeze again but this time we had to wait for 45 minutes. About 10 of the Texas gang showed up while we were waiting and they got seated before we did. There was a pretty good rain storm gooing on when we arrived. Had a lovely dinner then dragged ourselves back to the hotel where I crashed. It was probably the 2 galsses of wine that did it! ~ May 21, 2011 Up early --------------- We went to Mickey D's for breakfast again and also topped off our gas tank for the trip back tomorrow. Gas was 3.69. Looked up Patty brunkers phone number on Spokeo which Libbie used to call her and chat. She lives nearby the hotel but she was going to the art museum today as a volunteer. I went to John Carters talk today about creating an educational exhibit. It was a nicely done presentation. I left near the end and retrieved my camera to get pictures of the nice exhibits he brought with him. After packing up the booth, Stephie showed up with her two kids. We had a nice visit but we were tired and wanted to lay down. Cocktail hour started at 5 which was when we were still loading the car. I really wanted to lay down for a while. We went down and had a glass of wine then went to our table. There was a Fife and Drum which was nice but they stayed and played during dinner which was head pounding drums. This was not dinner music. Too make matters worse, we had a long boring George Washington talk for 45 minutes. Yuck. I received a society award this wevening. dinner was roast pork and mashed new potatoes with ice cream and a fruit turnover. Too much food and not enough wine. We dragged ourselves to bed where I passed out for the evening. ~ May 22, 2011 Drive home --------------- We couldn't find Kitty's card that I assembled. Searched everywhere. We got going at 7:30 and stopped down the street on NJ70 at McDonalds for breakfast. Had a nice trip through Delaware where i avoided the $4 toll once again. Stopped an a dunkin donuts in Aberdeen for more coffee and 2 donuts each. They were good. Did a gas stop in Emporia, VA where we paid 3.92 which was a ripoff. Also did a chicken wrap at Mcdonalds for one stop eaat and gas. The people in the McDonalds were awful - dress seemed to be undershirts which I think is disgusting. It was nice to find 64 at MM 138 and cruise in peace to Raleigh. We got home at 3 pm. After Lib drove to the greenhouse and unloaded she had to water the plants because they were super dry. Later she found the Kitty Get Well card with all the AVSA signatures under her violets. I looked up her address, filled it out and stamped it then took it to the Post office. I also tried looking for milk in Walgreens. Some some teenage hookers in short dresses but no skim milk. Drove to Krogers and got slim milk. I noticed Krogers gas was 3.77 or 3.67 with points. Libbie made her pizza from scratch because 3 PM was enough time to make bread for a crust. ~ May 23, 2011 home --------------- I got the OOMA device working correctly this morning. I had a wiring problem plugging the ethernet into the wrong port. I liked it so much I ended up canceling the Vonage service. It also sounds much better than I expected. I'll get the Scout device to make it easier to retrieve voicemail. I spent time organizing pictures and backing up folders. I still don't have everything on the server. Libbie and I went out after lunch today and picked up groceries in Trader Joes. I continued to work on the AVSA Shop shopping cart. There's much I don't understand about templates, etc. Dinner was pasta we picked up in TJ's today. ~ May 24, 2011 Tuesday --------------- I worked on understanding the Zencart and almost forgot about the groceries. Went to Krogers and did a minimal purchase of groceries since we didn't need too much. Dinner was Pad Thai which we picked up at Trader joes the other day. It was pretty good. Watched some of dancing with the stars because the Black Eye Peas were on. ~ May 25, 2011 Zen Cart working --------------- This was a great day for the Zen Cart installation. I got everything working more or less the way I wanted including image handling and buttons. Dinner was pork cops with green beans. Didn't like the green beans but the chop was excellent. ~ May 26, 2011 productive --------------- This was a very productive day. I got the categories fixed on the shopping cart using the "better categories" addon. Next I went up the ladder and washed the two windows and caulked. While waiting for the caulk to dry I mowed the front lawn. Libbie came home for lunch and after lunch I climbed the ladder and painted the two windows. This wore me down for the day. Did some research on SSL certificates and put in a support question to netfirms about Rapid SSL. They answered I could buy a GeoTrust certificate which doesn't answer the question. Dinner was a barbecue sandwich using Jack Daniels pork barbecue which was very tasty. This was good stuff!!! ~ May 27, 2011 More success --------------- Worked some more on the shopping cart and had lots of success. I bought a second domain, this time its avsashop.org. I believe i need to transfer the Netfirms account to avsashop.org to get it configured the way I want or else I'll be stuck with two domains forever. I'm not exactly sure what's wrong with avsashop.com. I like the way this cart is shaping up and I'll definitely consider porting Bluebird over to it. Dinner was Jack Daniels Baby Back ribs with Lima beans and Shiraz. ~ May 28, 2011 disaster --------------- I put up a very wet ladder on the front window over the garage and tried climbing it with my the screen I fetched from the attic. I slipped on the wet ladder rungs and fell over pulling the ladder and screen with me. Bruised my leg, arm and butt pretty badly. Rested a while then climbed the ladder, scraped the window and installed the screen. I also went to Lowes and bought a new PVC Brick Mold for the side door. I previously removed the brick mold because it was rotted on the bottom. Will fill the cavity at the bottom with cement before installing the new one. In the PM we went to the Farmers market. Picked up some produce as well as plants for our dish gardens for the design entries on June 11. On the way home we stopped at BJ's for ribs and Sargento cheese. It's hard getting in and out of the car with my bruised body. The pain is pretty sharp but since I can put full weight on my leg, nothing is broken. Dinner was roasted beets, ribs and shiraz. Nice. ~ May 29, 2011 Bolshoi --------------- Watched Sunday Morning which I didn't care for then it was time to leave for the ballet. Ii had to get gas in kogers first. since we left at 10:20 for an 11:00 performance in Morrisville, there was plenty of time. Gas came down a little. I paid 3.55 with grocery points. We got to the theater at quarter of but went in anyway to hang out. Got to see the backstage warmups and listen to the beautiful host, Katarina who spoke multiple languages. Wearing a stunning blue dress with print on it, she had a neckline that plunged to her navel. I loved it. The ballet was the best I have ever seen. We can't wait for more from the Bolshoi. Once again, Libbie made her fantastic pizza. ~ May 30, 2011 Hot Dogs --------------- Worked on the door frame today. Tried patching below the frame with an old batch of hydraulic cement I found in the garage but it was no go. The stuff didn't cure. Will need to purchase new stuff. We had Nathans hot dogs for lunch today for memorial day. This is a once in a blue moon treat. I dressed mine with Vidalia and brown spicy mustard. For dinner we had porkchops with beets and apple sauce. Very nice. ~ May 31, 2011 Memorial Day --------------- I worked out in the yard. Went to Ace and got some hydraulic cement then mixed some up and poured it below the new door trim. Installed the trim after the concrete cured. It looks pretty good. It's a hot day but I worked in the garden trimming the roses and apple tree. The magnet came from Walmart for Arlene's rock. I went into the shop and glued it on with epoxy. Dinner this evening was pasta that I picked up earlier in Krogers. ~ June 01, 2011 caulk --------------- Did some money re-balancing and paid Home Depot $200 of the zero interest bill due next March. $2,000 left to go. This was for the new oven, range and hood. I installed the security latch assembly on the side garage door today. This needed to be done a long time ago, maybe 3 or 4 years, but I just got to it. Caulked the door as well. It's ready for painting. Built the bio-filter today for the outdoor pond. Now I need to rip up one step and run the plumbing and wiring from the pump to the filter. Hopefully the filter can go under the deck since it needs minimal maintenance. Answered some eMail about the library website from Richard and Anne. Dinner was crabcake with tomato and flat bread. It's hot out today, supposed to be around 96. It seems OK to me. All projects went well. ~ June 02, 2011 pond --------------- This was a killer day. I worked on the pond all day and was sore all over as well as incredibly tired. Dug out a spot for the upper pond and falls then removed a deck board to drill a few one inch holes. Put the filter under the deck and hooked up the pump but no deal. The pump is shot. I calculated the pond capacity at 250 gallons and the change rate should be 2 changes per hour so the pump needs to be 500 gallons per hour (GPH) minimum. Earlier today Ii bought the one inch pipe and some fittings for the filter drain. I also tried the one new door handle that Libbie calls a "Granny Handle". I liked it so I bought 3 more while picking up the plumbing supplies. Dinner was fresh barbecue chicken with baked sweet potato. Libbie and I went to the Post Office to mail the rock to Arlene for her birthday party then we went to Lowes to look at pond pumps. Nothing jumped out at me. We wound up our trip by going to Krogers for frozen yogurt, our favorite flavor - skinny Minty. ~ June 03, 2011 Pumps 800 GPH --------------- Did a Trader joes run and also looked at pumps in Northern Tool. Ended up buying an 800 GPH in Home Depot as well as a roll of one inch tubing. Hooked it up to the filter and promptly overflowed the thing. Went out to home Depot again and bought a 2 inch pipe as well as a 2 inch shower drain to put on the side of the filter to attach the pipe. The filter now works perfectly except for a leak on the inlet port. i'll deal with that later. We decided not to go out to First Friday today but instead had ribs, Lima beans and shiraz. We checked on Joes drive across the state and he appeas to be stopping at the TN/Nc border for the night. ~ June 04, 2011 Saturday --------------- We watched Google Latitude and saw that Joe was crossing the state with an expected arrival of around 11 am. He hung around with us most of the day - took a walk through Seagrove Farm looking at all the new construction before coming back to the house and hanging out some more. For dinner we went to La Cocina where we had the usual Quesadilla with 2 Margaritas. Joe had a huge Margarita which they call large. We had 2 small which was one too many. ~ June 05, 2011 Busy Day --------------- I blew off the driveway and trimmed the Spirea while Libbie and Joe went to the greenhouse to swap shade cloths between house 4 and house 1. After that Job I replaced three of the deck boards including the one where I ripped it up to run the filter drain pipe under. Painted the drain pipe black and then dressed up the edge with the rest of the rock that I could find as well as the bag of river rock i purchased a few days ago. Still need more large rocks. Took a shower and cleaned up for the day since Joe is having his friends over for a pizza party at 5 PM. I laid on the bed and read some more of Eugenia Price's Lighthouse which I'm really getting to like. The party went really well - lots of kids running around. Steve, Brandon, Josh and Cole all made it here with their respective wives and in some cases, kids. It was a nice noisy party with lots of Joe's homemade pizza. ~ June 06, 2011 UV --------------- After studying a few online reviews I bit the bullet and invested in a UV light for the outdoor pond. I decided that the only way to tackle the algae and green water problem was with a light that zapped algae. I got it all hooked up and leak free. I installed a bypass around the UV filter but ended up not using it since flow rate seemed OK. I cut some of the log up in the front yard and also cut one log slice out for a natural container. I used a chisel in the garage to make the center larger but the sides broke on me. I'll still use it but will glue it back together. Dinner was bean burger and a slice of Joe's leftover pizza. I had a multiple eMail conversation with Andrea and Anne about the Commercials DVD. I was thinking of doing a vendor visit on a circle tour of PA and NY. ~ June 07, 2011 Lighthouse --------------- I did the grocery run today and also cleaned the pump prefilter a few times. This thing is plugging up about every 4 to 5 hours but I think the water is getting clearer. Did a lot of communicating with Andrea about the Commercial DVD then I watched the tutorial on enabling downloads in Zencart. I now have downloads working satisfactorily. It hasn't rained in over a week so I used pond water to water the new daylilies and the geraniums in front of them. I also watered my Marigolds, Zinnias and Dahlias. I may have to water the bushes as well - the Gardenia and Stella D'ora's are looking dry. Dinner was Jack Daniels pulled pork barbecue on sandwich rounds. I went out after dinner to pick up a box of Skinny Minty ice cream. I'm reading the Eugenia Price Lighthouse book. It's very interesting since it now is covering where James Gould arrived on St Simons Island. I watched some videos of a huge explosion on the sun from yesterday morning. Beautiful! ~ June 08, 2011 Niches --------------- Did a run to Jerrys Artarama and bought the niche material for the Violet show Saturday. Talked for quite a while with Andrea about her idea to use a Black Eye Peas song "Time of My Life". Found the album on Easynews and downloaded it. I did some more watering with the green pond water. It's dry out. Watered the Zinnias and Marigolds as well as 3 pepper plants. I need to weed the tomatoes and get some water on them as well. I planted the garden for my natural garden and have an idea for the vacation design. Dinner tonight was Pasta. ~ June 09, 2011 flat tractor tire --------------- Went to the greenhouse first thing to fix the flat tire in the garden tractor. It looks like it needs a new tube. Went to Northern then Lowes and home Depot. No luck. Drove to AgriSupply and struck out there as well. Came back and bought a tube in Northern that was a little too wide. Worked on replacing the tube but had lots of troubles. I may have punctured the new tube putting it in. In any event, i lost the valve stem into the tire. Couldn't work too much since Andrea called. Will deal with this after the show. Worked on the Violet show instead cutting the niches and working out my design. Dinner was barbecue chicken with wine and veggies. ~ June 10, 2011 Getting Ready --------------- Studied BP extensively and found interesting people. Went to jerry's Artarama and picked up 2 more poster boards because JoAnn needed a niche and i wanted to have at least one extra. Assembled the design and it looks OK. Folded the maps for tomorrow. I found a piece of foam for the maps but I'll need to nail it to something solid to support it, then cover everything in Sand to hide it. Dinner was BBQ chicken breast again with wine and baked beans. After dinner I went out to Krogers to get a $50 gas gift card for the judges as well as ice cream for us and gas for my car. They seem to have a new way of taking the bonus. You take the whole credit at once. I took 30 cents a gallon with my 300 points. ~ June 11, 2011 Violet Show Today --------------- Got up at 5:45 this morning. Sheila promptly knocked on our door at 6:30. The arboretum opens at 7 for show setup. Libbie and sheila left promptly but I had to get some weeds from the field as well as a fern for my designs then i spent some time looking for the small camera with no luck. I took the DSLR instead which worked OK. I was happy with the pictures. The setup went well. I had to build the niches which went together well with the quilt pins I had. The judges arrived from Richmond around 10 when we were still setting up the show. It was open to the public at 10 as well. We had people waiting at the door to buy plants before 10. The surprise was Ed who came with his guitar, sax, violin and another guy to play music. it was great since he rewrote some of the words to fit a violet show. We delayed lunch a half hour and went over to Iris for lunch. Lunch was $111 for 7 of us. Sheila and JoAnne Raymer payed me cash for their lunch. The day went very fast. Before I had a chance to get photographs, the show was over and the judges were heading back to Richmond. we had Barbara Stewart, Vicki Carr and Bill Schmidt. After we dragged ourselves home we lay on the floor exhausted. Got up and went out at 7 for dinner at La Cocina. We had the medium Margarita which was too large for me. I also left some of the food because I was full from lunch. at Iris for lunch I had the burger with sweet potato fries. It was yummy but a $12 hamburger! Ouch. Our waiter, Kyle, came over to the show around closing time. That was pretty nice. ~ June 12, 2011 Normal --------------- Back to normal today. Libbie and i went to Walmart looking for a radio and plastic tub for the niches. We found neither. I used my old trunk instead for the niches. We'll order a radio from Walmart online for her. I worked on the wiring in the playroom. i got most of the cosmetic work done - outlets and boxes installed, wall plates on. I'm still not sure how to handle the supplemental A/C. I think I want to have it run when the house thermostat is calling for cooling. We'll play this one by ear. Dinner was Libbie's made from scratch pizza. It started raining around 6:30 but didn;t really come down too hard. I think we're getting ahead on our pond water. At least it seems to be clearing up and the filter running longer between cleanings. It used to rn for 5 hours but now we seem to get 7 or 8 hours out of it. The water looks better as well. ~ June 13, 2011 A/C wiring and Cell Phones --------------- I went into the attic this morning and ran a 2 conductor thermostat wire from the furnace to the closet in my shop. This is to control the aux AC unit I'm planning to add to the playroom. I somehow need to monitor temperature and factor that into the control mix. I started looking at a 585 network of temperature sensors. These will probably be smart sensors with AVR. The pond continues to do well. It seems to be clearer. I may add more media to the filter as well as a grill across the top to hold the stuff in the water. Sheila sent the Violet show database and I added the major awards. Got one wrong for best design. Libbie and I went out to the Verizon store to replace her phone. I spent some time online with her phone hooked to my laptop's USB port to get a better ringtone for her. I tried a Pachelbel MP3 file. The volume is extremely low. I need to convert to midi and see if that's louder. ~ June 14, 2011 dentist replace filling --------------- This morning I worked on finances and musings catch up. stayed clean for a dental appointment at 11:20. On the way to the Dentist I stopped at Lowes and looked at industrial racks for use as light shelves. They're a little pricey. Perhaps I can recycle the greenhouse benches into light stands. Bought some more poly rope for the outdoor fishpond filter then got to the dentist on time. They were running late. Finally got into the chair and chatted with Dr Beaver and his Yosemite and Monterey vacation. He drilled a filling in tooth #11 and replaced it. It wasn't tooo bad except he said it's close to the nerve and to monitor the tooth. Bad news! The pond continues to improve. Dinner tonight was pasta from Trader Joes this morning. ~ June 15, 2011 ADF --------------- This was a successful day. Studied RS485 networking in the morning then went out in the PM and added the 50 more feet of poly to the outdoor filter. Put a grate over the top and held it down with a brick. The filter is now done except I want to bring it indoors under the house for freezing weather. We had pulled pork barbecue early then left at 6:45 for ADF. Got there around 7:30. duke has eliminated all on street parking forcing us to pay for the parking garage. I saw lots of pretty woman getting off the bus in front of Reynolds. There was a wine tasting in the lobby which we did before the performance. I liked Yossi and Berg but Libbie wasn't excited by it. She has a real problem - nothing makes her smile. There were some comedic moments as well as some superb dancing about Zoo animals breaking out of their skin and having human emotions. It was about releasing the inner animal in you. Afterwards we stopped at Goodberrys for Carolina concrete. I had the featured flavor which was pistachio and banana. Yumm. I also liked the many many young women in summer shorts hanging around Goodberrys. Pretty. ~ June 16, 2011 Rebalance --------------- A lot of my divvys posted yesterday which was good since I need money to pay the credit card bill for the AVSA convention as well as the quarterly maintenance fee for Stoneybrook. I sold the duke Realty preferreds this morning and picked up some BAC-H which has an 8% yield. Duke only had 6.73% but I made a nice profit buying it in the teens and riding it up to $25. Not bad since it also paid divvys over this period. My retirement cash flow only went up by a few hundred annually with this move but a nickel here and a dime there and we'll have a nice cashflow. I'm waiting for the day that it crosses $50k annually. Just checked and the divvys from reg ira, roth ira and individual accounts is $51,033. Forget about crossing the $50k boundary, I'm already there. Dinner was Chicken Pad thai. We ate late, about 7:30. Unfortunately, the pond pump quit and I want to return it to Home Depot tonight. Unhooked everything, put the pump and sponges in baggies and headed to Home Depot Cary where I bought it. They exchanged the pump. Also picked up a surface outlet box and conduit for mounting an LED indicator to tell when the pump is on. ~ June 17, 2011 garden --------------- Worked outdoors this morning. I routed the electrical wire for the replacement pump. Next step was to tie the plants to stakes including peppers, tomatoes and Dahlias. I weeded the tomatoes which just about killed me, literally. I felt really weak and possibly slight chest pains. I need to lose some weight to get in better shape. This can't go on. Looked at how to pay bills. Schwab has a hold on my funds transferred in from Scott. The Visa is due next week and the condo maintenance is due at the end of the month. For dinner we had a Groupon for Dixie Belles BBQ. I paid $7 for $15 worth of food on Groupon. We bought a full rack of ribs with 2 sides, baked beans and loaded potato salad. The bill was $16.98 which was pretty good. We had the ribs with Shiraz at home then went out after dinner to Krogers for a carton of Moose Tracks frozen yogurt. In the mid afternoon today I came in to rest and chose to lay on the bed and read the Eugenia Price "Lighthouse" which I'm really liking. Unfortunately Andrea called in the middle of my read to vent about her run in with Rob and Olive over the Commercial DVD tour. ~ June 18, 2011 Lazy Saturday --------------- I finished the Eugenia Price today. Loved it. I'm going to read the next in the trilogy, New Moon Rising. Late in the afternoon, 5 PM, we went to Fresh Market for Almond Crusted Salmon and Sourdough bread which we had for dinner with fresh asparagus and shiraz. ~ June 19, 2011 Fathers Day --------------- This was a slow day. It was Fathers Day and I decided to hang around and read and not do much of anything else. Joe never called for Fathers Day today. It's pretty dry outside, I may have to water the plants again. Took a look at hardware for an RS485 network. I think I'll have to send out for client cards to be made. We skipped the RLT performance today, Three Penny Opera. Dinner was Libbie's excellent pizza. She has perfected thin crust pizza. I had to go out to Krogers earlier to get cheese. ~ June 20, 2011 Gardening --------------- The Japanese Beetles have arrived. I didn't have any powerful insecticide so I used Malathion as a short term and put down systemic granules for a long term solution on the three roses. The big advantage to Malathion is I was able to spray the vegetable plants. The garden is looking good and also the outdoor pond is coming back to life with the new bio filter. I made a Trader Joes run for Libbie because she needed almonds. I picked up some Thai salad for our lunch and pasta for dinner. I completed the Pasquale schematic and made an attempt at layout but I didn't like some of the footprints I used so I aborted it. ~ June 21, 2011 Early --------------- Today started very early. We got up at 4:15 and then were out the door at 4:40 am for Libbie's 6:10 flight. Came back at 5:40 and laid down on the couch. I slept for about an hour and woke up very groggy. A little bit of breakfast woke me up but I was still very much out of it. Shortly after 9 I went to Great Clips and got a hair cut that I'm happy with but she didn't thin my hair on top. It seems to be bushy to me. Dinner was TJ's Chili Rejeno which I really like. I had Krogers chocolate cherry truffle for desert which is bad considering I've been good all day. We had a thunderstorm at 9 and then another one overnight at 2 am. I had to disconnect the driveway alarm for the second one. ~ June 22, 2011 temperature --------------- Spent most of today making a schematic for a temperature monitoring system in the upstairs. I want to know what's going on with the A/C and why it's performing so poorly. Dinner was a Bean burger. Yummy ~ June 23, 2011 Slow day --------------- Drove out to Tony Avents in vain. Came home and went up to RTP. There is an amazing amount of new construction going out 55 to the Park. In the evening I took everything out of the workshop closet and started running the conduit with the wire in it for the upstairs wiring. I got tired so I stopped working on the project. Dinner was Vegeterian Pad Thai from Trader Joes. It had a strong garlicy flavor which I didn't care for. ~ June 24, 2011 oil change --------------- I left at 9:30 this morning for a 10:00 appointment at Leith for an oil change and tire rotation. Even with a $34.95 coupon the bottom line was $42. The good news was i did not have to rotate the tires. Changing the oil is easy, rotating tires is bad news. On the way home I stopped at Northern and bought a fiberglass handle rubber grip 4 pound sledge hammer. Went over to the greenhouse after lunch and started knocking the wood apart of the fallen bench. It was hot and I got pretty tired. I almost crawled to the car I was so weak and overcome with heat exhaustion. Dinner was a bean burger which totally revived me. ~ June 25, 2011 ductwork --------------- Went into the attic this morning and implemented the permanent fix for the hole in the duct. Cut a piece of metal and caulked then screwed it onto the ductwork. Next step was to tape the seams with aluminum duct tape and then cover everything with aluminum faced self stick insulation. Finished in the attic for now. One thin i noticed, after the A/C stops the ducts still have cold air in them. The room temp was 81 and I turned the fan to on and measured the air temp. It was 74. I need to run the fan a little longer after the compressor turns off. Possibly I need to measure the delta difference between the room and the ducts and use that. Dinner was vegetable lasagna followed by a Klondike bar. In the PM I went to the greenhouse and finished taking apart the fallen bench. Started cleaning up the 2x4's as well by pulling nails. Got about half of them done. ~ June 26, 2011 Cutting --------------- Had a nice time this morning. Packed up to head out at 12:30 and Libbie called at that moment. At the greenhouse I brought the miter saw, some extension cord and nails. As i cleaned up a board of nails I cut it into lengths to build a lightstand. At 4:30 I brought everything home and hooked up the nail gun in the garage and assembled one shelf. i'm not happy because the wood is splitting badly with the framing nails, even when I switched to smaller nails (2 inch instead of 3 inch). Dinner was a beanburger and Bushs baked beans. I'm certainly getting my fill of beans! Went to bed after reading a chapter of New Moon Rising by eugenia price. this is the second ~ June 27, 2011 check in --------------- Got up bright and early to check Libbie in at 6:05. When I did the check in it failed. Called Southwest and found her flight takes off at 7:05, not 6:05. The fish pond is really looking good. Dinner this evening was Trader Joes BBQ with baked beans. I ate too much. Picked up a carton of Mango Sherbet which is yummy. My favorite flavor to date. ~ June 28, 2011 lightening --------------- While GMA was on I played What IF with flights to Lonestar and also to Beaumont. The best way is to fly Southwest to Houston round trip. We can arrange for the Beaumont trip on either end of Lonestar. I left at 9:40 to get Libbie from the airport. Her flight was on time. After resting at home briefly we went to the Farmers Market for the TAVS meeting and lunch. Picked up some produce after lunch. Late in the day we had a really good rain and lightening storm. It seems to have taken out the upstairs switch. There was a loud snap inside the closet. Dinner was just corn and ice cream (Mango Sherbet). ~ June 29, 2011 Switch --------------- This morning I went to TigerDirect and picked up a new switch for upstairs. This fixed the problem. All is well once again. I ordered a GE THQLsurge whole house surge suppressor for our electrical panel but this won't fix the Ethernet lines which are still vulnerable. Worked out in the garden tying up everything that fell in the rain. Pounded some more poles into the ground for the rest of the tomato plants to be tied. I bought these in Home Depot today along with 4 2x4's to experiment with light shelves. I want to build a large light stand. After a dinner of corn and BLT's, we left for ADF. We had a wine and cheese tasting in the lobby before the performance and then went to our seats in row P which was far back but OK. These were Groupon seats, $28 for two. The Rosie performance was long with lots of skits involving dancing and music, including a Soprano singing very nice operatic arias. After the performance we stopped at Goodberrys. Got there by going down Davis from I-40 which was weird but a great way to get there. The place was very crowded with hundreds of swim team kids crawling all over along with the normal assortment of teenagers. ~ June 30, 2011 Nail accident --------------- I went into the garage and started using the new 2x4's I bought yesterday. I assembled a large rectangle 8 feet by 40 inches. Unfortunately, on one of the corners the nail gun double fired. The first nail went into the wood while the second one hit my left index finger. Oh, what pain. It's throbbing 6 hours later as I type this, and I cam only type with one hand sort of. I'm using a finger or two on my left hand occasionally. This morning I bought tickets to Pilobolus at dPac. We have never been here. Ticket cost was $114 for 2 seats in row s. ~ July 01, 2011 Pilobolus --------------- I had to pay Stoneybrook first thing today - it was due yesterday. Also did some bill paying online of Home Depot account. The market has recovered nicely and all my divvys for June are now in. Wish there was more. Talked to Andrea a little about her tale of woe with cupcake orders and no overn, then no power. Joe Bruns has endorsed Zencart. Now if the EC will follow suit all will be good for the library project. We had a simple dinner of BLT before going to Pilobus at DPAC. Never been there. Had some trouble getting around since there was a game going on. Navigated the area and parked in the garage next to the DPAC. It's a nice facility. We loved the Pilobolus performance. Two things stand out - the solo dance with two hovercraft called Seraph and the last number which was "Day Two". We have seen Day 2 many times, the girls dance topless which is always nice. Pilobolus dancers have wonderful bodies. After the performance we stopped by Goodberry's for ice cream.. I had the concrete feature which was Pistachio and Pineapple. Yummy. Overall it was a very nice night. On the drive to DPAC we called Christa for her birthday. ~ July 02, 2011 Pilobolus aftermath --------------- This morning I did some research and reading of reviews of Pilobolus. Took the Memory Lab quiz online and signed up for a workshop scheduled for Tuesday at 6:30. Looked at some sculpture poses for Tammy. She wants to pose, I'm not sure if I'm up to this or not. In the garage I rerouted some breakers and got the surge suppressor installed. I'm happy it arrived so quickly. I'm using this opportunity to add the aux panel as well, something we need for the extra light stands and attached greenhouse. We went to the Farmers Market today - very busy on a Holiday afternoon. Stopped by BJ's for ribs on the way home. The girl sampling wine was worthless. She was calling a Cabernet a "Claret". She also said it had blackberries in it. wrong! Dinner was corn, ribs and Shiraz. We had the last of the ice cream for desert. ~ July 03, 2011 aux box --------------- This morning I cut a plywood piece for the aux box mounting. Installed the box then cut the flexible conduit to fix. Ran the wire to the main breaker panel inside the conduit and mounted a circuit breaker and routed the ground and neutral. Closed the main panel up - this part of the project is complete. I had to go to Home Depot for a ground strip since the new box does not come with one. Mounted the ground and hooked up the aux cable to the inside busses. Tomorrow I will run the A/C line from upstairs through my closet completing this project phase. Dinner was brisket and corn on the cob. Yummy. I have been reading the New Moon Rising Book and have been really getting into it. ~ July 04, 2011 Happy 4th --------------- Fourth of July. I spent the day running the conduit down to the tool room in the garage and wiring up the aux breaker box. Unfortunately, the power only goes to one outlet. The outlets on the other side of the room don't have power. My goal was to finish the power by 4th of July. It didn't happen. We had Nathans hot dogs for lunch for our 4th of July celebration. I chopped up a Vidalia to put on my hot dog in the bun. For dinner Libbie made her pizza because we didn't have pizza yesterday. I don't know what to do about the power problem. I got a lot of pages read in the second of the St Simons Trilogy. I really like this book, "New Moon Rising". ~ July 05, 2011 --------------- I went up into the hot attic this morning after trying to do some debug on the playroom outlets. I decided to cut the line in the middle and see which end was bad. It turned out that the line in the wall next to the stairs was open. I went back into the attic with a drill and drilled a second hole for the wire to go down into the wall. Libbie was below and I took the roll of wire into the attic and passed the end down until Libbie grabbed it from below. I hooked it up into the box with the sockets and re-assembled the box into the wall but did not go into the attic to hook up the junction box. Took a shower and lay on the bed a while reading "New Moon Rising" until it was time to leave for the Memory for Movement Workshop. The Workshop was at 6:30 by Susan Day of the Duke Memory Lab. It was pretty good. We did some live demos trying to remember dance steps, then watched a few live videos of professional dancers and wrote down what we saw. She then gave us some tips about how to remember steps and a performance. We learned Chunking, Naming steps, Capturing a performance in our mind, doing the steps with some part of our body. This was reinforced with Castanets that she played. She also did some dance movements and had the participants try to remember the sequnce, first without names for the steps then with names. It was easier with names doing sun, cover the flowers, pet the daog, etc. After Duke we went to Thai Lanna in RTP for dinner. The wine was terrible. I have never had such bad wine, even the Merlot we ordered to replace the House Cabernet was not great. We had Spring Rolls as an appetizer then we both ordered Chicken Pad Thai. Libbie had hotness #2 and had #4 out of 5. It was really hot, the way I liked it. ~ July 06, 2011 junction box, pond pump --------------- Went into the attic this morning to install the junction box. Instead of a Lowes trip I took a junction box that was mounted in the shed. This was fine. Got it all hooked up and went downstairs to turn on the circuit breaker and BAM - it blew. Went back upstairs and actually disassembled one of the outlet boxes thinking the short was in there when I noticed I had my cable with the intentional short still plugged in from troubleshooting. Disconnected and tried the breaker again - this time all was well. I plugged all the light stands into the new circuit. When the mail came my pond pump and "Exposure" book came. The book is a new one I saw on GMA about teen sexting and how one woman's son got in real trouble. The Pond Pump went in and energized at 4:30 PM. I'm marking the date here to see how long I can make this one last. Dinner tonight was BLT. On mine I put a fresh banana pepper. It made a big difference - crunchy and flavorful. After dinner I went to Apex Walmart and bought fish food/pond pellets/ The 5 pound bag was $13 but the 10 pound was only $19.95. 5 pounds lasts over 6 months, so that's all I bought. The IRA closed at 401,700 today! Just last month it was in the 390's. wow. ~ July 07, 2011 plaster --------------- Started plastering the corners of the Playroom. I also looked at temperature measuring upstairs. I'll probably go with a Hobby Board and 3 or more sensors wired to it. The pond continues to function normally. Dinner was pulled pork barbecue on a sandwich round. Very good. ~ July 08, 2011 Logans --------------- Continued the plaster job this morning. Went out to lunch at Logans. We had the crabcake sandwiches - yumm. Bought the needed rocks to dress out the pond. They look good. The biofilter started overflowing today. Went under the porch and found the shower drain was plugged with scum. I may be able to just remove the drain and run free flowing. On the way back from Logans we stopped at Trader Joes and got wine and some other foods. Dinner was ribs, steamfresh veggies and Shiraz. Very mellow. I finished the New Moon Rising book. Outstanding. We definitely have to go to St Simons island now. ~ July 09, 2011 Selling --------------- A guy came over this morning and bought the tractor aluminum ramps for $50. After that I went to the Post Office and mailed the two Alien Bees to Torence, CA. The postage was $38 for priority mail. Got cleaned up and went to Carmike in Morrisville for the Paris Ballet live performance of Children of Paradis. They forgot to switch it on. I went to the usher and reported that it was after 1:30 and the screen was blank. Enjoyed the ballet but Libbie said it wasn't her favorite. I didn't think it was too bad. A unique feature was the ballet on the stairs of the lobby during intermission while the audience was wandering around. On the way home we stopped at Fresh market and picked up a pair of Parmesan Tilapia and some sourdough bread for dinner. Because the bio-filter clogged the other day we decided to clean the sludge out. I disconnected the thing and dragged it out. Libbie hosed the rope and inner parts. Assembled it all and poured some pond flush into the outside pond which is supposed to contain live bacteria to break down the fish waste. We also have a lot of plant waste in the pond from the trees. Dinner was steamfresh veggies, Tilapia and shiraz with sourdough bread. ~ July 10, 2011 Door Knobs --------------- Finished the first coat of plastering this morning in the playroom. In the afternoon we went to Home Depot to get caulking for the playroom window molding. We also looked at new entrance door-sets with a lever design. Our old door handles are getting pretty ratty so it's time to bite the bullet and replace them. They are 30 years old. Libbie made her great pizza again. She has mastered the new oven. she said it cooks slower than the old one. In the meantime I found I needed to lower the door strike but that would put the top hole into the strike cavity. Went back to Lowes and picked up a bigger strike plate. I also exchanged the door lock since i screwed up the keying. The keys don't work anymore. ~ July 11, 2011 door latch continued --------------- Started right away this morning carving wood for the new door strike. We need this done before we leave for vacation. Marjorie sent her pictures this morning. Need to get going on that stuff. I'm so down on AVSA. Went outside and tied tomatoes and peppers. One pepper plant broke but had huge gorgeous peppers on it. I used them on my BLT at lunch and then again for dinner. dinner was a bean burger with Vidalia, pepper and tomato. What a flavor delight. ~ July 12, 2011 packing --------------- Today was an easy day getting ready for our trip. I did a small grocery run picking up milk and cereal. Went to Walmart for new shorts, new socks and a 12 volt adapter for our boombox. Dinner was pasta I picked up in Walmart when I was there. ~ July 13, 2011 Violet Gallery --------------- Left shortly after 7:30 this morning. Good drive up 95 and then did the West side of the beltway where everything was torn up. Slow going until we got to 270. Still lots of construction but we moved along. Stopped in Gettysburg for gas and McDonalds. Brenda isn't too far from there. We got to her place a little early. They greeted us warmly and took us through all the growing and propagating areas. Showed us packing and the office, then went into the farmhouse for iced tea and brownies. After leaving there we allowed GPS to take us over hill and dale until we arrived at the hotel in Mechanicsburg. Went out to dinner down the street at an excellent Mexican restaurant called El Rodeo. The Margaritas were huge. I had the Guadalajara special. Very good. The Sopopilla afterwards that Libbie ordered was over the top. ~ July 14, 2011 Violet Barn --------------- Left Mechanicsburg after breakfast at around 8. We decided to go to Watkins Glen on the way to Naples. Did a gas and donut stop just outside of Harrisburg. Of course we stopped in Mansfield and walked the campus a little. visited the student center where we used the facilities then otured the library which used to be Libbie's old dormitory. At Watkins Glen, Walked the park a little then headed out. i needed a bathroom break badly so we stopped at t public park on Lake Seneca next to Captain Bills Lake Cruises. Got to the Violet Barn at around 2:30. Rob and Olive were very gracious, took us around everywhere explaining each of the areas. We visited the Karen washing pots in bleach. visited the employee work room where they were separating babies for planting. Each had a personal work area. Rob explained his employee manual which shows each task and how it should be done. He also explained that each of the tasks is timed and showed me the timings of what he and olive can do, then what each employee can do average and what is considered minimally acceptable. The manual had detailed pictures showing how to cut a leaf, propagate it, pot a violet, pack a plant for shipping, etc. It's a very good how to manual. The soil room has buckets for mixing 4 different kinds of medium. We saw the A/C water filling a bucket for use in the growing area. I like the benchtops with a resin coated holding tray over each thin sheet of plywood. This makes a giant 4x8 water reservoir. The A/C is distributed by exposed 8 inch ducts with openings every few feet. I need something like this. We next went out to dinner with Rob and Olive at an American Food place called Poor Richards. I ordered Meatload. Libbie had turkey breast. Very good food. Got a tour of the Violet House next. Incredibly restored old home downtown. The first floor had no sheetrock and had plant stands in their when they have no roomm back up the hill. Amazingly there is WiFi. ~ July 15, 2011 drive to RI --------------- We got up early in the Violet /house and went down the street to the Grainery for breakfast. I had a very nice bagel with cream cheese and some excellent coffee. All of /Naples must stop there. Next we went up the hill to say goodby to Rob and Olive. Met Rob at the lookout on the lake when we were taking pictures. Went back down to the Violet Barn to say goodby. Libbie bought a lipstick plant, sunshine sunrise or something like that. headed out of town using GPS and found it took us to Route 17. Stopped in Elmira for McDonalds break and gas. The trip up i-88 was excellent but the Mass Pike was stopped solid at Sturbridge. We bailed out and took Rte 20 to 146 where the journey was better. Made it all the way to RI. Had pizza and wine at George and Marys. Everyone except the Bill Condons was there. We left at 7 when the mornon ball game started and made our way to Seekonk. It's quite far but reasonably priced. ~ July 16, 2011 Seekonk --------------- Got a late start, down to breakfast at 7:30. We met Mary, John, Laura, Bob and Connor in the Comfort Inn Seekonk. after breakfast I uploaded a pic of Joe and Christa to Walgreens in Bristol for pickup on the way to the park. We're also supposed to pick up chicken for the picnic. Started out looking for Carbelas for the chicken which we found OK. Got the pic of Joe and Christa in Walgreens then topped off the tank in Bristol. 3.78 per gallon, which is high by our standards but cheaper than New York where it is 3.89. The traffic going to Colts State Park was bumper to bumper but manageable. The park is beautiful. Bill and Jeff set up a tent over 6 picnic tables which worked out fine. We brought chicken wings but later there was veggie burgers with all the trimmings and baked beans and stuff. ~ July 17, 2011 Dolgeville --------------- We left the hotel at 8:30 this morning heading to Dolgeville. Ran over something on the road on the NY Thruway going to Pauls. Lots of people checking their tires at the Rest Area since they all hit it too. Got to Paul's shortly after 1. Talked to Andrea beforehand then met Paul outside his greenhouse. It was a fun time. He said he will close this Fall if he does not get Natural Gas installed. Those old glass houses heated with oil are just not efficient. This is all too bad and would be a loss for the violet world. Left thre around 4 stopping in front of the Post Office to get a picture. Took an interesting road after lunch in McDonalds in Little Falls, NY. We went over hill and dale in a very scenic route straight down to get to I-88. Once on 88 it was high speed all the way to our hotel in Clark Summit. Had some trouble with Visa but got our card unlocked over the phone. Went down the street to a fantastic pizza and beer. They had Yuengling, we ordered a mushroom pizza which was very very good. ~ July 18, 2011 going home --------------- After the hotel breakfast we got onto I-81 about 8 am going home. The Comfort Inn in Clarks Summit was pretty old and beat up. Breakfast was cold only, no hot choices but it was convenient. We took I-66/US17 around Winchester which goes over to I-95 in Fredericksburg. Got gas and bathroom stop in 7-11 in Fredericksburg. Gas was 3.58 which was way better than NY and New England. We had the leftover pizza for lunch which we stored overnite in the hotel refrigerator. Libbie took over driving at the NC Visitors Center while I fell asleep. Woke up when traffic was stopped for road construction 10 miles before the US64 exit. The rest of the way home was without incident, even the Raleigh rush hour traffic. We arrived home at 5 PM and were very surprised how clear the pond water was. Dinner was our usual Margarita and Quesadilla at La Cocina with a minor twist. We had a Sopaipilla which was tough and chewy, not like the one in Mechanicsburg last week. Started archiving the pictures this evening. ~ July 19, 2011 shipping --------------- On the way to Trader Joe's I went to the greenhouse for a cardboard box to ship the Alien Bees then stopped into Staples for bubble wrap and tape. Took everything to the Post Office and met Libbie there. On the way from there I stopped into Lowes and picked up an entry lock for the side garage door. Painted the door then installed the handle. This was a very full day. Anne sent the photo list which I need to get started on. Listed the last of the Alien Bees this evening and it sold right away. Here we go again. I also listed the Chumby. Next I want to list the PSP and the Short Wave Radio as well as misc photo stuff. I have a lot of junk!!!! ~ July 20, 2011 JPG viewers --------------- Dropped the Bee off at the Post Office and when I came home the Chumby One was sold. Wrapped it up and printed USPS postage for dropoff in Priority Mail. Dinner was Briyani. Had lots of trouble using ACDSee on my computer. Tried to Irfanview for a while but it doesn't have the nice database that ACDSee has. Photographed violets for Libbie as well as the Sony shortwave radio and the Playstation for my next eBay listings. Researched moisture sensing by reading the Circuit Cellar article. Will order the leaf wetness sensor from Hobby Boards. This may be what i need to detect wet mats on the lightstand. According to CCI, a square wave drives one sensor lead through a capacitor. The CPU monitors the other lead using the AD converter and looks for correlation. Positive correlation indicates the presence of moisture. No correlation means there is no conductivity due to a dry pad. ~ July 21, 2011 Birthday --------------- Libbie's birthday today! Put the Chumby in the PO dropbox then picked up the 8x10 for Libbie's birthday. Did some serious work on the AVSA convention pics. They really came out good but there is much to do. I found that the old Burbank project has op amps and an Atmega128 which will be handy to test the leaf wetness sensors from Hobby Boards. I placed the order today for 2 temperature kits and four moisture sensor boards. Got back to more serious work on the AVSA pics. Got all the way to pic 40 but skipped a dozen designs. The Sony shortwave radio sold on eBay so I packaged that item and dropped it at the Post Office. We left at 6:15 for our 6:45 Pit reservation. The beltline South end was stopped so we went to Western Blvd which was not much of a problem. Got there in plenty of time and parked on the street around the corner from the PIT near the new contemporary Art Museum. Unfortunately we were seated next to a crying baby who seemed to calm down after a while. I had the ribs and 2 glasses of Melbec. Very nice evening. ~ July 22, 2011 adf --------------- I finished the photos of Philly 2011 after a very full day of doing this. In the evening we had a BLT and then went to the ADF MFA performances at Reynolds. It was an entertaining evening. When we arrived there were all these dancers performing movements in the lobby. We weren't sure what this was all about but then caught on. The movement continued down the aisles of the auditorium all the way to the stage. Pretty girls, summer clothes, it was heaven! The last number of the night was a full New Orleans jazz band with lots of colorful dancers and audience participation. Wow. After the performances we stopped at Goodberry's for Ice Cream. I had a concrete flavor of the day, banana, walnut and chocolate. ~ July 23, 2011 ADF ending --------------- Sanded the playroom seam then put on a coat of plaster. Now that the bulk of the AVSA work is done it;s time to tackle the playroom. We had a lite dinner of BLT sandwiches then went to the last night of ADF, this was nite 2 of the student performances. There were no big numbers like last nights jazz band but we saw some wonderful dancing of male and female. Simply exquisite as she did leaps and formations into her partners waiting arms. Good stuff. Goodberry's afterward. It seemed to be High School girls night out. There were gaggles of them around. ~ July 24, 2011 sprinklers --------------- Watched the Sunday morning stuff as usual then went outside and did some watering of the flowers and general yard maintenance. Tried playing with hooking up a mist sprinkler to the garden hose with some Home depot plumbing fittings but I had no luck. Libbie made her usual excellent pizza using up all the tomato sauce we had in the closet. Need to get some more this week. ~ July 25, 2011 tiring --------------- This was an exhausting day. Did a trip to Home Depot for more plaster, filled the car up at 3.58 using Kroger points and took a trip to Garner. Came home and sanded the playroom corner seam then plastered it. We had 3 deliveries today - the Hobby Board moisture sensors, the whole house carbon filter and our Kodak album. Dinner was Trader Joes BBQ pork on buns. I had two plus some Mango ice cream. I went to bed exhausted. ~ July 26, 2011 Bayreuth --------------- Did a grocery run this morning then came back to tackle renumbering the AVSA slides. This is quite a job. The Bayreuth Festival was going on so it was a fantastic opportunity to be seated and listen to Meistersinger, all 6 hours and 41 minutes of it. Exquisite!!!! Next I lightly sanded the playroom seams and put down what I hope will be the final plaster coat. The AVSA slides need the descriptions put into the onboard captions so that this data moves with the slide. Dinner tonight was pasta. Worked late at night doing fixups and talking to the Nicholas's on the phone walking them through problems with their browser cache. ~ July 27, 2011 farmers market --------------- This morning I mounted a Hobby Boards temperature sensor into a box and mounted it in the attic. I ran the Cat 5 cable to the top of the attic stairs. It looks like I can pry up one piece of plywood and route the cable into my office. The office closet is centrally located for home monitoring. I will order an Arduino Ethernet for this project to post it's sensor data to a web page. After lunch we went to AgriSupply to research water tanks, picked up a will call at Wyatt Quarle, then went to the Farmers Market and BJ's. Dinner was the corn from the farmers market along with crab cakes. After dinner I started receiving the Nicholas audio files. We got a call at 10 pm from the Nicholas's who had finished sending all the audio files. ~ July 28, 2011 Arduino --------------- Did some studying of the Arduino shields and decided the best route would be the Arduino Ethernet from Sparkfun since it's based on the Wiznet and is all on one board. I had to order an FTDI breakout board as well to program the thing. The Arduino seems to have a lot of software libraries I can potentially use to implement the monitoring system I've always wanted. i was in Lowes to buy a hose repair coupling and noticed a scratch and dent water heater on sale for $175. We went back with the trailer and bought the water heater as well as 8 sheets of $10 plywood to make the bill $280. I had a coupon that took $25 off $250. After the Lowes trip we went to La Cocina for Quesadilla's and a Margarita then home for skinny Minty ice cream. I stayed up studying Arduino some more. ~ July 29, 2011 cleanup --------------- I tried taking the housing off the new water heater and ended up cutting it away then scraped off the poured foam. What a mess. Packed up the garage and the foam and loaded the trailer for a dump trip. We had to wait at the dump for about an hour while they changed dumpsters. I was committed to getting rid of this stuff. We had a late lunch then after lunch I spackled the garage while Libbie sanded the water tank. I put the posing table on Craigslist and got a call right away. Things are moving along. We had stuffed flounder, corn and tomatoes for dinner with Shiraz. ~ July 30, 2011 Arduino and Painting --------------- I went out into the garage early. The guy was coming between 9 and 10 to pick up the posing stools and tables. I sanded the plaster and did a little touch-up. He arrived on time at 9:30 and picked up the stuff for $100. I threw in the camera case and overhead paper rolls. I'm glad to get rid of it all. I painted the outside wall but had lots of trouble. the roller was coming off the handle, using the extension the handle cracked. Worse, the paint can was leaking out the bottom and it's the wrong color. I finished the job with the wrong color paint. It will be OK since the shelves will cover it all up. When Libbie came home we went to Home Depot for paint and plumbing parts. She painted the hot water heater steel tank with Rustoleum Hunter Green. I put the outlet covers back on and picked up the drop cloths. We also did a greenhouse trip to measure the existing shelves that I'm going to duplicate. On the way home we stopped at Krogers for Sherbet and U shuck em corn. We bought 4 pieces for dinner which we had with Ribs and Shiraz. The corn was yummy for grocery store corn. During the day today I worked on an Arduino program. The plan is to measure one wire temps, send them to Pachube and also display them on a web page. There's lots of learning here. ~ July 31, 2011 Arduino and Rain --------------- I finished the Meistersinger 2 program for Arduino today. Learning Arduino is not hard and there are a lot of user written libraries that make it easy to do complex functions such as webserving and Pachube updates. i worked on the new water tank pan and got it plumbed which involved a Home Depot trip to get a 45 degree PVC fitting. Placed the new tank in the pan and started planning the filter hookup. Libbie painted a 2x6 for the support of the water filter and I picked up some galvanized pipes for the plumbing portion. Thank goodness it rained all day today. It's been a while. Dinner was Libbie's super pizza which she almost burned. We also were using up some Kroger cheese which was mozzarella only, no Parmesan. ~ August 01, 2011 Garage Shelves --------------- Today starts my enrollment period for medicare! Wow, we've come a long way baby. I started the day by working on the cold water supply to the carbon filter next to the water heater in the laundry room. Had some trouble with leaks the first time around but rewrapped the teflon and got it on tight and leak free. Behind the water manifold is the 2x6 Libbie painted yesterday. I placed it at a height that the bracket screwed into it will support the carbon filter. After I mount the filter I'll plumb it to the water tank using CPVC pipe. Went to Home Depot with the trailer and picked up a dozen 2x4's and 5 sheets of wafer board. The sheets on the trailer cause the trailer to be unbalanced towards the rear. Had some trouble on 64 coming home because the trailer started swaying back and forth. Pulled over and checked the load but no troubles found so I continued home but slower. Started the shelf building by starting with making the first shelf level. The others on top of that one as a base should be easier. Went back to Home Depot after lunch to get 16 penny nails which I ran out of. Should have also picked up 8 penny nails for the shelving sheets but I have enough for now. Dinner was Briyani. Received the Gel Cell battery charger today for Meistersinger and also the resin and cloth for the plant trays. Moving forward! The big thing will be when the Arduino arrives Wednesday! Hopefully the software is ready to go. ~ August 02, 2011 Shelves --------------- Did the grocery run and also stopped by the greenhouse to pick up some wood. I also went to Home Depot for more 8 penny nails as well as CPVC plumbing fittings to finish the filter and watering plumbing. At the greenhouse today I took some pictures of Jennifers purple hair. She wanted to match MacKenzie's hair. Did not finish the shelves - there is still a few more pieces to put on as well as trim work. Quit at 4 PM today which was still too long. Dinner tonight was corn and bean burger with Mango Sherbet desert. Very good. ~ August 03, 2011 Arduino --------------- Hooked up the trailer and got some 2x4's from the greenhouse. Finished up the garage shelves then hooked up the blower and cleaned everything up. When Libbie came home she went out to Home Depot and had them match the blue garage paint. She then painted the shelves. They look nice. Dinner was pasta from Trader Joes. The Arduino came today. I downloaded the FTDI drivers, installed them and familiarized myself with programming on the Arduino. Made the cables for the upstairs temperature but that's a little beyond my level at this point. I'm still learning how to walk before I can run. I tried the UPS on the Arduino. Wow, the regulator on the Arduino gets hot. I need to feed the device with way less than 12 volts with a pre-regulator that has a big heat sink! I put the brackets up for the filter supports. I'm now ready to start the plastic plumbing. First line will be down to the water tank input. ~ August 04, 2011 Plant Shelves --------------- Built a plant shelf and took one apart. I need to cut the long 2x4's by 3 inches each. i found this out when I tried to put the 4x8 sheet of Plywood on and saw that it was short. Had to disassemble it. In the laundry room I got a lot of the CPVC plumbing done. The tank is plumbed to the filter and a line goes to the laundry tub. need a backer board to hook up the laundry tub spigot. In the other direction i need to run the lines for the plant shelf automatic waterers. I put the probes into the furnace and wired up the rest of the One Wire including putting a connector on the wire end. I successfully read the temperatures in the attic and the AC unit. Attic temp was 104, AC output was 58 for an 82 degree input. Dinner was Trader joe BBQ on sandwich rounds. This is nice chopped BBQ. ~ August 05, 2011 Plant Shelves again --------------- The Sony PSP sold for $50. plus $10 postage. I packaged it up and dropped it in the Post Office. On the way home i stopped in Lowes and bought some plumbing parts and a roll of CAT 5 wire. Ran the wire from my work table to the closet via the attic. This will allow me to locate a switch in the closet for Traviata use and also for Meistersinger to monitor the house. Went outside and built a few more plant shelves as well as the sides for the fiberglass tray. When Libbie came home we had BLT's for lunch then hooked up the trailer and returned a sheet of particle board. I bought more nails and a dozen 2x4's. This is First Friday but George and Mary informed us yesterday they were moving next week so Libbie booked tickets to go there. We went to La Cocina for dinner. Had 2 Margarita's which will effect me tonight. Stopped at Krogers on the way home and got milk. Listened to Armida a little on Met Opera Radio before going to bed. Happily the 2 sets of AVM's we listed on eBay sold, both for $10. ~ August 06, 2011 Rainy day --------------- We got an unusual amount of rain this morning. Wake County is reporting 2 to 3 inches and a flood watch of all things. I used the down time to get the Arduino web server working reporting the HVAC and attic temperatures. The ethernet wire I strung yesterday from my office table to the closet through the attic is working well. I crimped an RJ45 on each end surprisingly all is working. Meistersinger is putting readings to Pachube every 15 seconds and the web server is being updated every 5 seconds although the page is not refreshing automatically. I need to manually refresh the browser. We put the last of the paint in the playroom although it may need another coat tomorrow. At least this job is almost done. Went to Lowes in the PM for more wood and CPVC plumbing parts. Dinner was fresh Krogers corn and robs with Shiraz. ~ August 07, 2011 Oyster Bar --------------- Loved Sunday Morning the TV show. It was about design and covered some Corning products, buildings, and the Villages where everyone rides a gold cart. Went outside and finished building shelves and the 1x2 tray around them. Will probably paint them next or perhaps build the fiberglass tray next and paint them in the plant room. Pachube continues to record my data. I'm going to add the water heater next. Put the second coat of paint on the remainder of the Plant room. This concludes te painting project. At 5 pm we went out to dinner with the Troutmans, Hanlans and HErners to Tony's Oyster bar. It was quite good. I had a Yuengling and blackened tilapia. We had a nice time with everyone. ~ August 08, 2011 Car registration --------------- Finished up the plant trays. We now have 5 of them made. Libbie is packing for her PVD trip. I went to Cary and renewed the Corolla registration then stopped in Trader joes for Pasta and a few items. We had the pasta for dinner. It was quick and easy for Libbie since she's packing. in the middle of pasta making Bill called about the arrangements to pick her up and stay at his place. I turned the water and sauce off until she was done on the phone. The market is down over 500 today because of the S&P downgrade of US debt. It's ugly. I'm not going to look until the dust settles. ~ August 09, 2011 Lackadaisacal --------------- It was not a productive day. Woke at 4:15 and took Libbie to the airport for her PVD trip which took off at 6:10 am. Hooked up the water tank plumbing and filled the tank so i could monitor it on Pachube. Puttered with the shelf and discovered i cut the 1x2 edging to the wrong size. Came in and found the water from the backporch fish pond had drained onto the porch floor. The fish were in less than 2 inches of water. I went into panic mode and grabbed the backyard hose which luckily I had just repaired. Hook it to the newly installed spigot in the laundry tub and gave then about 100 gallons of carbon filtered water. Went down to Petsmart looking for a chlorine test kit and also chlorine remover. When I returned the fish were still alive which means the carbon filter worked. But in the chlorine remover anyway then topped the pond off with 200 more gallons of water. A while later I was in my chair and heard a crash on the back porch. The yellow koi had jumped out of the pond, knocked the water can over and was flopping around on the floor. I picked him up and threw him back in. Dinner was shitake mucshroom and tofu over jasmine rice, a trader joes entree. I loved it. I also had a Chile Relano earlier for lunch/dinner. ~ August 10, 2011 resin --------------- I put the new 1x2 top on a plant shelf outside today and attached the fiberglass tape all around the edges. Mixed up a quart of resin and painted the shelf and glass. I sure was stinky but went well. Mixed another 1/2 quart and finished the job. Left it to cure for several hours before moving it to the garage. I'm happy with the result. had a trip to Lowes in Garner today. Took 401 on the way back to 1010. Stopped at Smithfields and had a BBQ platter for lunch/dinner. It was good along with sides of beans and potato salad. This evening i set up another tray on the saw horses. I built the 1x2 edging and applied fiberglass tape. Tomorrow I'll prepare a second on the trailer and then use the rest of the resin to see how far I get with the two trays. I have more resin on order from the Ohio dealer on eBay. ~ August 11, 2011 Fiberglass --------------- I had a pretty good morning. Went to Overtons but they were out of resin. Went next to AgriSupply in Garner and bought a gallon of resin. I'll try this out and cancel the resin from the eBay company in Ohio. Mixed up the old can of resin which had a little over half a gallon left. My first batch was a quart but it started hardening before I was finished. The next batch was half a quart. This went along better. Mixed another half quart for the second tray which was on the trailer. It's a lot easier with the tray on the saw horses. My back hurt from bending over to the panel on the trailer. I finished both panels with the remainder of the one gallon can. That makes it 3 panels per gallon of resin. The new gallon should get me through the next 2 panels with resin to spare although I will run out of tape before I'm done. Dinner was stouffers French bread pizza. I ate too much this evening. ~ August 12, 2011 rain --------------- After GMA I went into the shop and cut the protoboard and mounted the Arduino connectors as well as the RJ45 connectors. The RJ45's are epoxied down. Hope that holds up. Next I went outdoors and set up to begin fiberglass operations. The new fiberglass comes with tubes of hardener. You're supposed to count 14 drops per ounce!!!! Since there were 2 ounces of hardener for a gallon of resin I calculated that the needed amount it 1/4 oz per quart. I'm mixing the stuff a quart at a time to coat the panels. Just as I was preparing the last panel which was on the trailer it started raining!!!! I covered everything with the unused sheets of plywood since the resin was still wet on some of the panels and the third uncoated panel I did not want to get wet. Dinner was a rotisserie chicken from Krogers. On sale for 3.99 and I also had a 0.80 coupon making it 3.19. Wow. Moved the panels back into the garage - one unfinished and 2 finished panels. Will resume tomorrow. In the evening I wired up the RJ45 connectors previously glued to the Arduino board. I also watched "The Proposal" with Sandra Bullock. I liked it, it was a cute movie. Went to bed at midnight. ~ August 13, 2011 Rain --------------- Got up this morning and got back to learning Spanish. It's probably been a week since I last did this. It's raining out so I probably won't set up the fiberglass outside today. It's also supposed to rain tomorrow. I may paint the supports in the garage instead. Well, the rains did come. I moved 2 more plant shelves into the plantroom. I also picked up some sliders for the sofa so I could move it to the other side of the room. Went to Kmart for a new filter for my vacuum. The store is pathetic. I later learned it will be closing. Dinner was also lunch. I picked up a pulled pork sandwich in Krogers for 1.99. this was a pretty good deal. ~ August 14, 2011 rain again --------------- Today is another spotty rainy day. Moved some furniture around in the Playroom and laid the base shelf on the floor. This was after I attached wheels. It seems to roll around pretty good. I calculated the height of the support studs and set up outside to cut them. I only had 2 straight boards, the other two were warped. I'll see if I could use them for building more shelves. Went to Home Depot and picked up 4 more new studs. I cut each of 4 studs to 77.5 inches then painted them all blue. Used the remainder of the paint in the roller tray to paint some of the shelves in the plant room until I ran out of paint. Cleaned up and moved on to the Arduino. Hooked up the proto board i built and plugged all the sensors in. The H2O sensor does not work. It reads 85 all the time which gets converted to 185 Fahrenheit. Will probably have to put a scope on the line to figure out what's going wrong. Dinner was potato salad and the leftover rotisserie chicken. Not bad. ~ August 15, 2011 AVSA DVDs --------------- Mowed the lawn today. It's been a while, especially for the lower half by the creek. finished the entire back. It's looking good. Had an interesting trip to Crabtree today. Enjoyable. Before that I worked some more on the AVSA DVD. I sure would like to finish this thing. Got the DVD Styler menus designed and finished. Now I need to create the backstage tour and it's done. Dinner was prepackaged ribs in bbq sauce from Krogers. Not very good. Won't repeat that one. Listened to Hoffman on the Met in the evening. Made a run to Home Depot around closing time to get bolts for the upright supports on the plant shelves. They need 5 inch long carriage bolts which I didn't have. All set to start mounting shelves now. After Hoffman this evening I listened to Aida until Midnight. ~ August 16, 2011 WooHoo --------------- WooHoo! Finished the AVSA DVD and burned 3 copies. Sent two to Anne via Priority Mail using the USPS Click n Ship, paying for postage online. Put that out plus a Birthday Card for Aunt Helen. Her 96th birthday was yesterday! Moved to the garage and set up the 5th shelf out in the yard. Fiberglassed the whole thing before the sun got on it. This is now going well. UPS delivered another roll of Fiberglass tape. Checked Libbie in this morning. she is on a B list to Philly tomorrow and has an A seat on the flight to Raleigh. Spent a lot of time this afternoon trying to install some sort of Linux on the Windows Server. Tried andLinux twice making further progress each time. Still can't install the device drivers which kills this whole project. Did the normal Tuesday grocery run then talked to Libbie. Mary is about to arrive and they are all going to meet in the empty condo. Dinner was a chicken sandwich with pepper and tapatio. Very nice. Orange sherbet for desert. ~ August 17, 2011 Cable outage --------------- Juggled some finances this morning. don't have enough in checking to cover $256 car payment at the end of the month. I'll have to do some creative juggling. Installed a shelf on the plant shelf rack before I went to pick up Libbie. The internet went out at 10:30. Cable crew on the corner made it go out. Left to pick up Libbie from her 1:05 arrival however I couldn't tell if the plane was on time since the cable is out. Stopped by Ace on the way there to get screws for the drill press stand wood top. Picked up Libbie and listened to her tales of dealing with the sibs. Lots of emotions and conflicts and stupidity. When we got home the cable was still out so I talked to the Troutmans who are not happy. Called Time Warner who had no record of anybody calling them. Escalated the repair - they eventually got it running a little after 6. Put up more shelves on the plant stand. The total is now at 4. We went out to dinner tonight at La Cocina. They put us in the back in a booth for 8. It was OK but noisey because of the carts of dishes going by. Had the usual La cocina Quesadilla and a Margarita. Libbie brought half of hers home for lunch tomorrow. ~ August 18, 2011 --------------- Went out to Lowes to pick up more light fixtures. I bough one 4 foot and two 8 foot strips. It took a while to get a procedure for hooking up the lights but after getting the 8 foot strip mounted and running I liked it enough to abandon putting up the four footer and did another trip to the store to get 6 more 8 foot strips. After lunch Libbie and I took a trip to JoAnne fabrics for matting. I wanted 18 square yards. They sold me 18 linear yards so we got almost twice what we need. This is OK since the second light shelf will be coming almost immediately behind the first one. Libbie worked on wash and waxing the back porch this afternoon after the fish tank emptied onto the floor last week. Dinner was BBQ on a bun. I still felt energetic and wanted to get the second shelf lights running but I needed wire nuts. Made a late night run to Home Depot. It was 8:30 and dark enough that I needed to use headlights. Summer is quickly slipping away. Returned home and got another shelf up and running. I also mounted the quad outlet on the stand but still need to wire it up. Went to bed happy because we're making forward progress on all of this. ~ August 19, 2011 Bottom shelf lighting --------------- This was a tough day. i essentially spent the whole day installing light fixtures on one shelf - the bottom shelf. This was a job I did on my back and it was truly a struggle. At least I got the thing in. Now all that remains is to install the top shelf and then install lights on the underside of the top shelf. Dinner was a very nice Scallops in cream sauce with a Brown Rice base. The Brown rice took 45 minutes to cook but was very very good. After dinner spent some time on the phone with Anne about the DVD. She wanted the captions corrected for a few of the exhibits. There were extraneous commas and periods throughout. She sent a list of changes needed. I'll make the changes and turn it around in tomorrows mail. ~ August 20, 2011 Lightstand complete --------------- This morning I finished the corrections for the AVSA DVD then packaged up a flat rate priority mail envelope with Click N ship postage to Dallas and set it out for USPS pickup. Next step was to move the remaining plant tray up into the plant room. This went pretty easily. With a little bit of a struggle I put the shelf on the top of the light stand and drilled all the holes to insert and tighten the bolts. Installed the last light fixture which went well and tested it. Next step was to build a 4 way receptacle set on the side of the stand and plug all the lights in. Fired it up and our wattage was 880. as measured by the Kill A Watt. Libbie took over the project and painted the shelves. Dinner was ribs with Broccoli and Shiraz. ~ August 21, 2011 electricity --------------- This was a pretty busy day. I flattened the cardboard from all the light fixtures and fit it into the recycle bin. Next step was to finish changing out the old receptacles in the plant room. As a bonus I put a receptacle in my office closet. I badly needed one in there for the monitoring computer. When i hooked up that one I also mounted the power strip and the Trendnet Ethernet switch. traviata is now on this switch eliminating the wire running across the floor. In the plantroom I used borax and washed the shelves. this seemed to eliminate some of the tackiness of the fiberglass resin. Libbie moved the "tower" into place. All is well. We finally got some rain tonight just as the yummy pizza by Libbie was coming out of the oven. I don't think it was much rain though. Our plant room project is moving along. ~ August 22, 2011 More Shelves --------------- Built 3 more shelves. The design is a little different this time. I will center the lights over half the shelf instead of every 16 inches over a 4 foot shelf. Ran out of materials so after dinner Libbie and /i picked up plywood and 2x4's with the trailer. It was dark on the way home which is a problem because there are no lights on the trailer. Dinner tonight was Chicken Pad Thai which Libbie made with noodles from a box and our own chicken. Very nice. ~ August 23, 2011 earthquake --------------- Finished building the last two shelves however it required a trip to Home Depot for more 6 penny nails for the sheets of plywood. Set up 2 shelves outside on the saw horses for resin which I don't have. Will have to make an AgriSupply run for more and also pick up the bolts for the shelves. While working on my computer at 1:53 this afternoon the hose started shaking. We had an earthquake. It was 5.9 centered in VA. Wow, how unusual. Worked on Pachube code. Still can't the server to recognize me. Frustrating. Dinner was fresh pasta tortellini from Kroger. ~ August 24, 2011 AgriSupply --------------- This was a long morning. After playing with the Pachube stuff for a while I went to Garner then to AgriSupply for Resin and bolts. this took a while since the bolts had to be counted out. NExt stop was Northern Tool. Big mistake. They only had 2 of the 4 casters. why couldn't I have bought them in AgriSupply? Worse, they are repaving Buck Jones road and getting out of there was gridlock. To make matters worse I was stuck in line and the gravel truck was next to me receiving the road milling junk from the conveyor belt. Uggh. Sand and pebbles falling everywhere and it smelled awful. Used the resin after lunch and coated 2 of the plant shelves. I may have to get yet another can of resin! Watching the track of Irene. It seems to be on a track for a glancing blow to the Outer Banks. Dinner tonight was Trader Joe's BBQ on a bun. ~ August 25, 2011 The help --------------- I set up 3 of the shelves out in the yard this morning for fiberglass. I had to install the 1x2 rail around the top of each of them then staple down the fiberglass tape around the edges. I chose not to do the resin today but instead did some reading about the USB host shield which I don't understand at all. This will be an adventure. This evening we left at 5:45 for a 6:10 movie in Apex, "The Help". It was excellent. This was one of the best movies I have seen in many years. The movie didn't get out until 8:50. We had a very late dinner at the Longhorn Steakhouse. We chose the 2 dinners for $29 which included salads and an appetizer. We had chilled shrimp, Salmon with baked potato and a glass of Woodbridge Cabernet. When I came home Janet Castiglione had called and left a message that she needed a new picture for the cover of the DVD. I called her back and chatted about the Movie then listened to what she needed. Went upstairs to the desktop computer and changed the background on picture 1 so that she would have a collage with a compatible color to the rest of her artwork. ~ August 26, 2011 hurricane --------------- Supposed to be a hurricane this weekend, beginning this evening with rain. Started outside putting down resin on the plant trays. Tried to use up some stuff I had in a one quart can. This can was bad, congealed and came out lumpy. I discarded it, losing the brush in the process. Started over with the AgriSuply resin which ran out before I could finish. Made a quick trip to AgriSupply and picked up another can. Finished the job by 1:40 then took a shower and studied USB programming the rest of the afternoon. It started to thunder around 5 so I quickly brought the trays into the garage. The storm started with a pretty heavy downpour. Received some shocking news from Arlene that my cousin Tom Kawejsza died of a heart attack yesterday. I went to Trader joes and it was extremely crowded. The cashier said it was all hurricane evacuees coming inland and buying party food. Dinner was scallops in cream sauce over brown rice. Yummy. We also had a bottle of Santa Barbara Chardonnay which was an impulse purchase while waiting in the long checkout lines at Trader joes. The hurricane eye should hit NC tomorrow morning around 7:30 on the Outer Banks. ~ August 27, 2011 Hurricane wind and rain --------------- Watched the approach of the hurricane on TV. It made landfall at Cape Lookout at 7:45. We had light rain all day and breezy winds but according to local weather stations, nothing above 20 MPH. By late afternoon everything had calmed down. I used the time to install a temperature sensor in the Plant Room and I also got the Pachube feed update working in Arduino with my own code in a simple function instead of the library which I had trouble getting to run. We chose to stay inside because of the nasty weather and thawed some ribs from the freezer which we had with brown rice, broccoli and a bottle of Shiraz. ~ August 28, 2011 RLT --------------- Libbie raked the driveway of all the debris. I took the cart and picked up all the pinestraw using it to mulch the large dogwood in the backyard. I also used the cart to pick up several loads of twigs around the yard. Came in and took a quick shower and then we were off to our first RLT performance of the season, Ruthless. I didn't care for it. The singing was awful, the acting pretty good. Libbie made her wonderful pizza again. We heard from Bill that all the power in Portsmouth was out. Also heard from Mary that they had no power in Waterville. ~ August 29, 2011 UV light --------------- Had a few home depot trips about water faucets for the plant room and a UV tube for the outdoor fish pond. Installed the new tube and also did some cleanup of the flower bed. I want a bigger flower garden next year. We had a nasty thunderstorm late in the afternoon. Power blinked once and I think the fish pump turned itself off. Activated the remote control to keep it running. We'll see if the new UV tube clears the water by next week. Dinner was pasta in tomato sauce. ~ August 30, 2011 yard work --------------- After the grocery run I worked out in the yard with the chain saw. Moved half of the log from the front yard that fell this Spring. Also cut up some logs in the back that fell but did not move them yet. Had some success talking to the new Conexant modem with Arduino. Still have not tried sending and receiving command strings. That's the next big step. Came in tired and slept for an hour. dinner was BBQ on a bun with sherbet for desert. Spent some time online figuring out how to pay the 3300 Visa bill. This included plane tickets to RI and Dallas for $1,000. ~ August 31, 2011 closet --------------- Started out with a Home Depot trip for a light and telephone jack for the closet. Started installing the switch for the light but had to leave for lunch with Libbie and the greenhouse gang. Ate too much of the BBQ chicken which was delicious. After lunch we walked the Farmers Market and picked up some veggies. Dinner was beets, potato and leftover biscuits, chicken and hush puppies from lunch. I worked some more on the light but didn't finish it up. Need to add a switch and then dress out the wires. Will tackle the telephone jack next. Drafted a letter for the board and the EC regarding the website. The tone is not nice so I'll sit on it for a day or two. ~ September 01, 2011 Eggplant Parmesan --------------- Spent a lot of time today working on the USB Host chip trying to understand how it works. Dinner tonight was Eggplant Parmesan. I ran to Krogers late in the afternoon for Parmesan cheese and bananas. ~ September 02, 2011 First Friday --------------- Started moving the plant shelves upstairs and constructing Tower 2. Eventually all the shelves were moved up and placed onto the tower and bolted in place. The fifth shelf is on but not bolted yet. I got cleaned up and we went to First Friday downtown. Surprisingly the beltline was bumper to bumper at 25 MPH because of beach traffic before Labor Day weekend. Walked around Artspace with a glass of wine. We talked to Pari Alexanders wife and also watercolor artist Nancy Taylor about her flowers. Libbie went into a rummage/jewelry sale in one of the galleries whie I went into Judy Cranes gallery and talked to her about her beautiful landscapes. On the way out we listened to a very nice band playing out in the City Market area before walking down the street to Caffe Luna. Our waitress screwed up our order and forgot to put it in. To make up she served some more wine on the house which was nice. When the bill came it was wrong since it showed 3 entrees. Not a good night for her but were in no hurry and it all worked well. ~ September 03, 2011 Lights --------------- Finished up the last shelf this morning then vacuumed everything. Libbie came home and painted the light shelf while I worked on the water plumbing. Drilled a hole in the door frame for the water pipe and glued together the beginning of a Hoson siphon station in the line. Late in the afternoon we made a Lowes trip to return some 1x2 lumber and then bought 4 light fixtures. This was half of what we need but all they had. Dinner was leftover eggplant Parmesan with Shiraz. We even sat on the back porch and talked about the phasing down of the greenhouse while we drank from a second bottle of wine. Not a good idea but we were happy. ~ September 04, 2011 Tower 2 --------------- After the usual sunday morning programs I started working on the lights for the second tower. This is a big job. I started with the hardest first which is the bottom shelf. Finished up the two shelves (four light fixtures). Now I need to get more lights from Lowes. I'll try Lowes North Cary tomorrow. Libbie made her wonderful pizza again which we had with leftover wine. I resumed reading "Exposed" which is a local story aboud sexting. I don't like stories where bad things happen. ~ September 05, 2011 Labor Day --------------- This was a 2 different Lowes day. In the morning I went to Lowes N Cary to get light fixtures. I need 4, they only had 2. Picked up some plumbing parts to work on the Tower Irrigation. In the afternoon Libbie went with me to Lowes at Crossroads where we got the two remaining light fixtures. We also stopped at Walmart in Apex to get containers for flour and rice in the cabinets. Finished up the remaining 2 lights. Tower 2 is completed with the exception of purchasing light tubes and building the power cord. I studied the needs of the controller for the tower and decided that in order to get 8 moisture sensors on a controller I need to build a custom PCB with relay switching of the sensors. This same controller will operate solenoid relays via a one wire interface to a Hobby Boards relay board. The dilemma is what to do for communications. I want to use a wireless Xbee but am unsure if i can get this working before we leave for Florida Sept 28. If I use RS485 for communication I will need to run wires. The Xbee however requires a 3 volt interface. Dinner was pork chops, sweet potato and apple sauce. We had a bottle of shiraz with dinner. The end of Labor day and the end of summer. ~ September 06, 2011 Tower 2 Lighting --------------- Worked on finishing the lighting on Tower 2. Picked up a box of tubes from Lowes and outfitted the fixtures. Finished wiring the 4 gang outlet and tested the Tower. One of the tubes has a problem, it won't light. I also bought a washing machine hose set to connect the towers to the water supply. Libbie cut some matte material for 2 shelves. Tomorrow i will finish the supply plumbing and will do some fill trials. Dinner was spinach filled tortellini. ~ September 07, 2011 Water test --------------- Finished up the manifold and also the plumbing to Tower 2. Put a cap in line where it will extend to Tower 1. I used the darkroom timer and did an experiment where I watered the bench for 2 cycles, each of 15 seconds. My future test will be a 10 second cycle. Eventually I will monitor shelf moisture but the goal right now is vacation at the end of the month. Dinner was Pad Thai from Whole Foods enhanced with chicken ala Libbie. ~ September 08, 2011 Nook --------------- Went to Home Depot and bought the rest of the fittings and solenoids to finish up the tower irrigation project. Built a manifold for Tower 1 but did not install it. Tower 2 is totally finished. I started doing some programming for the relay timer for the towers. Ordered a pair of plain Jane Arduinos from Sparkfun to get this going further. I really need the hobby Boards relay board. The UPS guy left 2 packages under our mailbox. My Nook color and the Ben Meadows squeeze bottles were left out there. Libbie brought them in. I like the clarity of the Nook color. It came with a charge on the battery although the warnings say to make sure it has a full charge before using. Dinner was Briyani. I'm still waiting for a 4 GB SDHC card so that I could root the Nook and install Android on the thing. It's pretty acceptable right now as is. ~ September 09, 2011 Tower 1 --------------- Moved Tower 1 away from the wall and installed the manifold. This went pretty well. In the afternoon Libbie and I went to Logans for lunch then drove over to Hancock fabrics. while she shopped fabric I did Trader Joes in front of the place and got wine and supplies. Dinner was chicken Serenada with TJ's Organic brown rice. I bought this as a trial. We like brown rice but it takes a while to cook. The Trader Joe's stuff is frozen in microwave packets. It wasn't too bad. ~ September 10, 2011 Farmers Market --------------- Finished up the water on Tower 1 then went outside to cut down the shrubs for the new greenhouse. While doing this Joe arrived with Libbie. He went to the greenhouse first from his TN trip. We got cleaned up and went to the Farmers Market restaurant for lunch. I had BBQ chicken with field peas and sweet potato fries. I did not care for the peas. We had tuna sandwiches for dinner because we were full from lunch. Joe went to Josh's for dinner with the gang. ~ September 11, 2011 pizza --------------- Didn't watch the Sunday morning shows. They were doing 9/11 junk which I wasn't too interested in. Started looking at how I was going to assemble the RTC, Xbee, moisture sensing and relays. Went outside to put away the myrtle and rose of Sharon I cut down. Libbie and Joe went to the greenhouse, Joe returned with the Jade and put it on the backporch. He volunteered to remove the two stumps from the bushes which was great. In the meantime I was putting away bricks and got stung by yellow jackets next to the shed. Painful!!!! Joe had a Panthers pizza party at 4. Cole and Emily, Josh and Kelly with their two kids and us. The pizza was great. I had 2 Yuenglings and a glass of wine. Too much alcohol. In the meantime I cut a proto board and glued two RJ45's on it upside down. Will mount connectors for the RTC and Xbee. ~ September 12, 2011 broccoli salad --------------- Joe left this morning for TN. He was going to white water raft in the mountains on his way there. He offered to come back in Nov to help with the greenhouse. I spent some time getting the RTC running. It seems to work OK. I need to find how to get the library functions to read/write the RAM. I also need some DS2408 programming info for the Hobby Board relay board which will be coming. I went to Krogers for Broccoli salad ingredients for violet club tomorrow. Made the salad and refrigerated it. Libbie made eggplant Parmesan which we had for dinner. I took down the strip of siding on the back of the house where the lean to greenhouse will attach. This went well. ~ September 13, 2011 TAVS --------------- Worked on the RTC alarm function this morning before going to Home Depot for framing wood for the Downing greenhouse roof. Came back and got ready for TAVS at 12:30. Sheila came early at 12:00. The meeting was nice and was basically planning for next year. After the meeting I spent hours worth of time figuring out how to write the DS2408 PIO. I think I have it figured out. I'm expecting the Hobby Board relay board on Thursday. Dinner was the Eggplant Parmesan again. ~ September 14, 2011 no uploads --------------- Worked outside on trimming 1 1/2 inches from the upper siding above the new roof to accommodate a slope. This was hard work. I also decided to relocate floodlight up higher but the satellite pole is in the way. need to remove it. Came inside to work on the tower timer and was bummed out that the thing won't upload anymore. I got online quickly and ordered a new USB FTDI chip. While ordering I also picked up some Xbee sockets and more headers. We had BBQ sandwiches for dinner before we had to go out to the Carolina Ballet rehearsal. The rehearsal was great. We had free wine (3 glasses ), imported chocolates and a very nice performance. We left at 10:30 but it probably was still going to continue. A nice evening. ~ September 15, 2011 Success --------------- This was a much nicer day. I found the problem with my Arduino uploader. The wrong board was selected in the IDE. I uploaded and finished debugging the time and alarm routines. this can now be used in timing functions. Outdoors I took down the dish from above my workshop then went to the greenhouse and got the smaller extension ladder. This made a big difference. I threaded the new wire for the floodlight, finished cutting the 1.5 inches off the siding and installed the first piece of header. i also cut all the new header blocks. The project is moving along OK. Dinner was crabcakes with Farmers market tomato on a bun. ~ September 16, 2011 relays --------------- I had trouble getting the relays to work on the card then found that I had the One Wire chip, DS2408, soldered in upside down. After I carefully unsoldered each pin I put it down correctly and fired up the Arduino and was able to run the led strobe program which exercised each relay back and forth. Worked on getting my tower timer program working correctly. At first it seemed like the timer was not working but it really was the while loop handling in Arduino. Another issue was the check alarm. Couldn't get the return working. It turns out that I left out a return statement, I had only set the return value but did not send it back. I had to leave this momentarily because Libbie wanted to go out to dinner at La Cocina. We had the usual Quesadilla and a Margarita. When I came home I worked some more on the timer and had overwhelming success. The thing is ready to be packaged and deployed. ~ September 17, 2011 Relay box --------------- Today I mounted the relays into a steel box along with a power supply. I have a single power cord feeding everything - the transformer and a 5 volt power cube. The power cube runs the Arduino and the relay board. It all seems good. Tomorrow I'll mount it all on the wall and wire it up to the solenoids. In the afternoon Libbie and I went to BJ's at crossroads for ribs and cheese then stopped into Home Depot across the street for plumbing pipes and 2x6x8 to finish the roof framing for the new greenhouse. Dinner was ribs, shiraz and butternut squash. ~ September 18, 2011 Water!!!! --------------- It's a rainy day. I stayed inside and put down the three remaining pipes on Tower 1. I also hooked up the relay for shelf 3 to the relay box which I mounted on the wall. Programmed the controller to do a 15 second watering cycle at 2 PM. It did this but we decided it needed more water so I did 15 more seconds at 2:20. The mistake was doing a third watering, this time manually for 5 more seconds. This flooded the bench too much but all the plants are now watered. Libbie said we need an LCD to show what's happening. I agree and started looking into deploying one. Arduino has an LCD library available. This was a successful day. Libbie also talked to a guy named Keith at Family Garden Center about buying the greenhouse steel. I prepared a price list of all the equipment. ~ September 19, 2011 roof section --------------- I found the TT4 LCD display and checked out the pinout. It includes a PS/2 keyboard interface which only uses 2 wires, data and clock and the Arduino Library supports PS/2 keyboards. I'm going to connect the display/keyboard combo to the Arduino. Went outside and killed myself trying to get the roof section up. The first 3 attempts failed. As I manually lifted the roof over my head with the other end leaning on the wall, the ladder I wanted to rest it on fell over. I had to rethink the situation and used the come along to hoist the roof section. This worked well with more control but it was slow going. I was winded and tired after this exercise. For the next section I'll use the same technique. Dinner was Chile Rejano while Libbie had Mac and Cheese. ~ September 20, 2011 greenhouse --------------- After the grocery run I got to work cutting boards for the rest of the roof. Made a big mistake by cutting the boards to 24 inches instead of 21. I discovered this after I got it up. I decided to bolt it down and cut it in place. Went to Home Depot for a new Skil saw blade but will cut it tomorrow since I'm too tired this afternoon. We watched the season premiere of Dancing with the Stars which Libbie Tivo'ed last night. Donated $20 to Penny Smith for her Mama Jamma Ride in Austin. ~ September 21, 2011 Trailering 16 foot 4x4 posts --------------- Cut the ends of the roof section that was three inches too long. Nailed the header back on and then started working on the roof supports. Cut 14 of them which will be nailed to the top of the joists to give the roof a 3/24 pitch. went on an adventure to home Depot with Libbie. We bought 16 foot 4x4's which we took home on our 6 foot trailer. Fun!!!! I propped them up in the back on a pallet which stopped them from dragging on the ground as the trailer bounced but all the weight was still not on the ball. the trailer sways badly when driven like this so we went down 64 at 35 MPH with our flashers on. The trip home was uneventful, thank goodness. Tomorrow I'll put the 4x4's up. Dinner was Vegetable Lasagna, frozen from Trader Joes. We enjoyed dinner on the back porch with the fig tree lights on and a single glass of Shiraz each. Nice. ~ September 22, 2011 work --------------- Wrote out a 3,000 check to the credit union for paying Stoneybrook bills. Went online and paid the 1776 membership dues and also the 782 condo maintenance fee. From the Cu I went to Cary to renew the Prius and the trailer at the DMV office in South Hills shopping Center. Came home and worked on digging holes for the 4x4 posts and bolting them to the roof framing. After a lunch of pineapple and apple I went to Home Depot for 2 80 pound bags of concrete. Cemented both posts into the ground.. it was sprinkling lightly which was OK. Found a Facebook BOGO code for the Symphony and bought tickets for Friday night (tomorrow). It's a Bernstein night. ~ September 23, 2011 timer watering --------------- It rained all day today. I used the time for indoor activities. First step was to add an LCD to the Tower Timer. This was a lot of wires but it all worked on the first attempt. the LCD library was very useful. Had to do a few tweaks to my code but in short order I was able to display the current time and also the alarm time. There's some artifacts that need to be cleaned up but it's very functional. We watched the scheduled watering today at 2. One issue is the new alarm time is 2:01 instead of 2. The telephones arrived today. One of them has a bad LCD. I spent some time this afternoon wiring a new phone jack in the closet and then checking the house wiring. Some of the jacks are wired backward. I'll fix this. We had tuna sandwiches for dinner early then left at 7 for the Symphony. We thoroughly enjoyed the Bernstein concert with Jamie Bernstein, the composers daughter. The mezzo was from the Sarasota opera. The 5 singers were quite good, so was the symphony. our conductor was beautiful, she's nice eye candy. ~ September 24, 2011 framing --------------- It's still spitting a little bit of spotty rain but I want this job finished. Ripped off the existing corner 1x4 and built a small extension on the roof to make it 25 feet to match the greenhouse gutters. The gutters are 12 feet each but are offset one foot from the porch wall so I need 25 feet of roof. Had a trip to Lake Wheeler rd this morning. Fun. Dinner was ribs with squash and shiraz. ~ September 25, 2011 plywood --------------- Did a Home Depot trip with the trailer and picked up another sheet of plywood, shingles, drip edge and flashing. Came home and put the plywood on the roof then covered it with the tar paper and attached the drip edge. I decided not to do the shingles until tomorrow. At least everything is dried in. Libbie took two of Joe's leftover pizza doughs and combined them into one for a very good white dough pizza. ~ September 26, 2011 roofing --------------- It was too wet to get on the ladder this morning. It rained overnight and the tar paper was covered with water. Worked on the Tower Timer. The DS2408 seems to be unreliable with occasionally stuck bits which is not acceptable. Libbie needed some trays brought to the greenhouse. Went over there and looked at a rabbit hole in the back as well as a sidewalk with Joe's name and handprints in the concrete. Came back and started hauling shingles up to the new roof. This was killing me. By the end I was really winded and dizzy. Went inside and took a shower then started working on the timer again. I decided to throw the DS2408 chip overboard and wire directly from the AVR ports to the relay driver transistors. This seems to be much more reliable. I'm using the RJ45 connector that was going to be for One Wire and repurposing it for the relays. I can drive all eight relays with the RJ and use an external ground. Dinner was a bean burger. Talked to the Score card people about our missing score card. They said they will look into it. ~ September 27, 2011 Leith & Logans --------------- Went to Krogers this morning at 9:30 because I needed gas and it was Tuesday. Bought some groceries then bought a $25 Home Depot gift card which pushed me over the top for a gas discount. Filled up then drove to Leith for my 11:00 appointment. They applied the TSB which seems to have helped with the jerky ride while cruising a little bit. It didn't totally cure the problem, there is still some engine RPM variation. Called Libbie to check on what she wanted from Trader Joe on my way home and found she was at Logans with Jennifer and Joy. They waited and we had lunch together. Very nice. Came home to watch the 2 PM watering which went off without a hitch. I'm happy with the program. Manually set it for 30 seconds instead of the 15 it was set for today. It's due to activate on Oct 2 at 2 PM for the next watering of 2 benches for 30 seconds each. It seems to be robust. Spent the afternoon putting away the ladder, tools and materials from the backyard construction project. After packing we went out to La Cocina for a Margarita and dinner to celebrate the end of the retail phase of the greenhouse. I had the #26 combo which was chile rejano, an enchilada and a burrito. Very nice. ~ September 28, 2011 Drive --------------- We left at 7 am for the drive to Sarasota. The trip went smoothly without incident, even through Orlando at rush hour. We were lucky. Libbie used her McDonalds buy one get one coupons in Florence for a Bacon and cheese biscuit in Florence and for chicken wraps in St Marys Georgia. I used the $25 gas gift card from our July Northeast trip. Gas was 3.21 in Florence and 3.29 in St Marys, both at Shell stations. Got to Stoneybrook at 6 PM. Went over for dinner for pub night. I had the roast beef sundae which was outstanding. I also had a bread pudding for desert with coffee. A very nice night. I hooked up the 3G card and also sharing using the free MaryFi and all went well. Libbie was able to share my connection. Surprisingly when we got to the condo, there was a package here. It was our Comcast digital cable boxes which were supposed to come to Downing Place. Dumb company. ~ September 29, 2011 Caspersen Beach --------------- After a slow start watching GMA and drinking coffee I got the bikes out and pumped up the tires and hooked up the bike rack to the back of the Corolla. We went to the Venice train station and drove to Caspersen Beach where we stopped and had an apple near the Dog Beach at the end. On the way back I was exhausted. The last half mile was a killer. Was glad to slump into the AC car and drive home slowly. Picked up some gas at Raceway for 3.34 before arriving at Stoneybrook. Left the bikes on the car and took a shower then slept for over an hour. Wow. Before that we went to the Clubhouse for lunch. We split a lobster sandwich which we had with a glass of beer, Yuengling draft of course. Went back out at 7 for dinner. We each had Prime Rib with wine and Chocolate Quattro with Rocky Road ice cream in Butterfinger crumbs on a brownie with chocolate grenache for desert. Yummy. ~ September 30, 2011 Selby --------------- After breakfast today we went out to Selby Gardens and enjoyed the tropical house and the gardens. They had the teachers exposition going on in the Selby house. i always enjoy the best of the teachers. We went over to marina Jacks for lunch. Had a half cuban and a bowl of seafood chowder. On the way home stopped in to home Depot for a fluorescent tube, a faucet aerator and a can of paint for the lockup door. Came home and fell asleep surfing the web. For dinner we went out to the clubhouse around 7. We had a couple of Shiraz and I ordered the white fish stuffed with shrimp and salmon. Pretty nice. Libbie took part of her eggplant home. ~ October 01, 2011 Violet show --------------- After breakfast we left at 9:06 for Clearwater. Got lost a little in Feather Sound but GPS helped us out and got us to the Holiday Inn. The show was pretty neat. We met the Kasts and saw their 40 minute video of a trip to Ecuador with John Clark. It was a little longer than we planned to watch but it was pretty interesting. The theme was Dancing with the Stars. The designs reflected various dance routines such as Tango, Waltz, Paso Double, and Ballet. Had a lunch at McDonalds across the street. There were three teenabge girls in very inappropriate but nice bikini's in Mickey Dees. One of the girl's bottoms were between a bikini and a thong fully revealing her ass cheeks. It was shocking to see but very shapely. We went back to the show where I took more photos while Libbie shopped. Came back and visited with Peter and Christa where we stopped in for a glass of wine and chatted. Went out to dinner to the Bangkok Thai restaurant on Swift and Proctor. I ordered Chicken Pad Thai and took over half of it home. Instead of a drink I had a green tea which was excellent. Without alcohol the bill was only $29 plus tip. ~ October 02, 2011 Lion king --------------- We did a short bike ride after breakfast out to the wetlands in front and up and down Sarasota Parkway for one hour total. We came back and had the leftover Pad Thai from last night for lunch. I did a Walmart run and bought mollys for the closet light and hung it. Also picked up a clock battery and a plaster patch for the old light holes in the closet. We went to a 5:20 showing of the Lion king in 3 D. It was pretty cool, our first 3D Movie. After the movie we ordered a Mushroom pizza from Antonelinos on Clark. It's supposed to be the best pizza in Sarasota. Taste is good but crust was not great, however I would do it again. We came back and had it with shiraz while watching 60 Minutes. ~ October 03, 2011 Ringling --------------- After breakfast we went to downtown Sarasota to the Ringling. Had a very nice time wandering the museum. Saw a traveling exhibit showing Lithographed historic circus posters. They really tried to sell the hype back then. Did people actually read these posters and then go to the show expecting this? Afterward we sat on the Cas D'Azan back porch overlooking the bay. We got to muse that john Ringling sold tickets to all those people to see elephants while he lived like this overlooking Sarasota Bay. Quite a life. After the museum we had a very nice lunch at Marina Jacks. I ordered seafood chowder and a half a Cuban. Came back sleepy. For dinner we only had cheese and cracker and the two slices of leftover pizza with Shiraz. Listened to Anna Bolena live on Met Radio. ~ October 04, 2011 bike ride --------------- Libbie didn't have any breakfast milk so we went to Publix for milk, cheese and more cereal. After the grocery store we hitched up the bikes and drove over to Turtle Beach. Had a very nice but short bike ride on the South end of Siesta Key. Stopped at Island Reef and saw Suzy who we chatted with for a few minutes. Checked out some private streets and rode a total of 45 minutes before going back to the clubhouse for lunch. I had a Yuengling with BLT and side of fruit. Quite a bit of food. Came back and started working on the serial libraries for Arduino commands. Dinner was some Chinese from Publix and cheese and crackers with our last bottle of Trader Joes wine, this time Sauvignon Blanc. ~ October 05, 2011 Drive Home --------------- Libbie got up first and asked if we should leave. IT was just after 4:30. I got up, took a shower and started packing the car. I didn't feel like having breakfast, just a little OJ and then a thermos of coffee for the road. We got going going by 5:10. Traffic was light, even through Orlando. Stopped at a McDonalds the other side of the St Johns. There was an accident out front but it didn't slow us down. Got back on I-4 and encountered another accident a few miles East. It stopped traffic for about 9 minutes which wasn't too bad. Got gas in Brunswick at 3.19 and once again in Florence at 3.15. Had some snack wraps in McDonalds Florence. They charged us 49 cents each for water!!!!! We got home around 4:30. The exit at Crossroads was backed up over a mile so we continued to the Cary Mall exit and went home down Maynard towards Lake Pine. I picked up some fried chicken in Krogers for dinner which we had with Macaroni and Potato salad. It was not a bad day for driving. The weather was in the 70's all the way. ~ October 06, 2011 Back --------------- I had a hard time getting into the swing of things. Went to the greenhouse late in the morning and started disassembling a bench in house 4 for the back porch. I ended up cutting it to the 36 inch size I needed. I decided I needed to take the three benches down in order to take out the section of greenhouse I want to relocate to home. Dinner was mushroom pasta from Krogers that Libbie didn't like. I was neutral about it. Libbie filled out the Score card affidavit today. It had to be notarized. With luck we will get our points on time for the Lonestar trip. ~ October 07, 2011 long day --------------- I put in a long day today. Disassembled the benches at the greenhouse then loaded up the trailer with the parts and bench tops. Came home and built one 36 inch bench which we moved onto the back porch. It still needs legs and the matching benches. Dinner was Chinese from the takeout next to Krogers. We had it with a bottle of Santa Barbara Chardonnay. Very nice evening. ~ October 08, 2011 benches --------------- Went to the greenhouse primarily to reset the thermostat wiring so that Hot Dawg 2 warms the place. Spent some time taking apart another bench and clearing the space for where we will drop the plastic. Came home with some of the smaller wood pieces and worked on building another bench as well as the legs for the benches. It was a long day. For dinner we had stuffed flounder with butternut squash and Ravenswood shiraz. The shiraz was quite nice. I have not had Ravenswood shiraz in the past. ~ October 09, 2011 Bolshoi --------------- We watched the watering today on tower 1. It was scheduled for 8:50 am. It went smoothly. Left at 10:40 for the theater in Morrisville. Saw the Bolshoi live doing Esmeralda. Loved it!!!! What a large Ballet company. Fantastic dancing by a large company. It lasted over 3 hours. Libbie made her great pizza when we came back. Didn't have the normal cheese but it was still very very good. ~ October 10, 2011 Columbus Day --------------- This is a holiday. While Libbie collected and taped plants for shipping I worked on disassembling the benches in house 4. Ran out to Northern for some large pipe wrenches which helped tremendously in removing the pipes. Dinner tonight was Chinese with a little wine. We were both pretty tired. ~ October 11, 2011 groceries --------------- Did the normal grocery run then packed up some tools and went over to the greenhouse. Put down a base between house 3 and 4 then hung the plastic from the gutter. I was there until 5:30. Came home and had success with the Android. I am now able to read both Nook and kindle books on the thing. Dinner was Margaritas and a Quesadilla at La Cocina. It rained on the way home which doesn't bode well for tomorrow. ~ October 12, 2011 Android --------------- Played inside with the Nook Android some more this morning. It's a slick little toy. Found out it will synch addresses with Gmail easily. Went over to the greenhouse and stapled down the plastic between house 3 and 4. I also Prepped a base for dropping the top plastic onto. will staple the top to this base. Part of the job was cleaning up the scrap lumber in house 4 and moving it forward onto a pile. Went back over there in the afternoon to talk to Jennifers carpenter about the greenhouse. He seems to be mildly interested. Came back dead tired. Libbie fixed some Briyani with chicken. It was excellent. ~ October 13, 2011 topless --------------- Played with android and developed a "Hello World" application on the emulator. Put this away and went over to the greenhouse to drop the top on the back of house 4 before it rained. Brought the trailer with the ladders so we could get up on the gutters and remove the clips. Also had the 8 foot step ladder to cut the ridge pole so the plastic could drop through. This was more work than I expected although everything went OK. It was just a long task. Went home for Minestrone soup, took a shower to wash the slime off then put on dry clothes. Went back over to finish buttoning up the project. Jennifer was there giving plants away to her friend from Greenville. I had to build some framing on each side of the top plastic hanging through because it didn't reach the sides. Added pieces of plastic to the sides attached to the new framing. I used the old bench materials for the framing and to complete the recycling, I used rusty old nails. Dinner tonight was crabcakes with tomatoes on sandwich rounds. The live Met Opera tonight is Don Giovanni. ~ October 14, 2011 Watering --------------- Stayed home this morning and wired the next bench for automatic watering. When Libbie came home we watched the watering of 2 shelves on Tower 1 and one shelf on Tower 2. This was the first watering of Tower 2. I also increased the watering time to 35 seconds instead of 30. In the afternoon I went over to Bluebird with the intention of removing the bows but it was too windy. I removed the fan instead and put it inside the greenhouse. Now without the weight of the fan on the end wall I can remove the guy wires and hopefully the wall won't lean over in the wind like it was with the weight of the fan leaning on the wall outside. Dinner was scallops with broccoli, rice and Yellow Tail Chardonnay. ~ October 15, 2011 Downing Place new greenhouse work --------------- Today is the first day of our HD series at the Met. It's Anna Bolena at 1 so I went into the backyard at 9 and started putting up the top clips onto the facia board. Finished this job then showered and dressed for the theater so that we could leave at 11:30. After the performance we went to Harris Teeter across the street to forage for food. Picked up some shrimp and Chardonnay which we had with Broccoli and Brown rice. This was a very nice evening dinner. I took the Nook to the theater with me today. The backlit screen made reading in the dark easy. I did not intend for the Android device to be a reader but it works well as a kindle or a nook reader. I also downloaded a PDF reader for it to peruse PDF's as well. ~ October 16, 2011 No bows --------------- Went over to the greenhouse at 9 to remove the bow this morning. the job went well and finished up by 11 am. Packed up the tools and Libbie and I picked up some Dunkin donuts down the street. Next stop was Foodlion for our food donation for the state Fair this Thursday. Came home by noon and checked out the DIVX of a 2006 Anna Bolena from Italy I downloaded. It's pretty risque but has nice singing. Had a can of soup then left for the ballet at 1 for a 2 PM performance. I really like Dracula as done by the Carolina Ballet. The music matches the theme, the dancing is wonderful and the narrator is fantastic. This is a well done work. After the ballet we stopped by the greenhouse so Libbie could pick up supplies that she couldn't bring home this morning because I had the ladder and tools in the car. Of course we had Libbie's super pizza for dinner. We found some of the good Sargento cheese in Foodlion this morning. ~ October 17, 2011 Busy day --------------- Libbie stayed home packing the Monday orders while I went to the greenhouse to disassemble the end wall and take down the gutters. The wall came down easily after i removed the bolts on each side and gave it a push. Spent the next hour hammering apart the 2x4's and cleaning up the foam board pieces. Went home for lunch at 1:30 totally exhausted. After lunch I did the Click N Ship labels on our new printer that arrived during lunch hour. Setup was easy - plug her in and watch windows go out for drivers and install them. All worked well. Went back to the greenhouse at 4 and finished disassembling the gutter. Had a dinner of chili Releno (Trader Joe's) and then Libbie and I went to Office Max at 8:15 PM to get an 8 foot table. The table was $99 and we had a $10 off coupon which we used. Put it in the trunk, all 8 feet of it, and got it home safely. Took the cardboard box off and put it in the recycle bin for tomorrow. Whe have the box for the new furnace, the new printer and the table out for recycling. A full load. When we got home there was a message from Diane Richardson that the hotel deadline had passed for MAAVS Baltimore. I put a notice on the website. We still have not registered!!!! Did not know about the deadline. ~ October 18, 2011 easy day --------------- I registered for the MAAVS hotel and Libbie filled out the MAAVS registration and wrote a check this morning. After this I went to do the Tuesday groceries while she wrapped packages. Came home and did the Click n Ship for the boxes she packaged. Went outside and layed out the stakes for the new greenhouse. The gutter will be lower than i first thought although the posts will be the same 8 footers we have used out on Jessie. I have really gotten into the Kindle Book, "The Voyeur" although I'm not sure I like where it's leading which is multi partner sex. This is not my thing. Mowed the front lawn and some of the back then set up some 2x4's to gauge how high the post has to be to support the gutter. It looks like a normal 8 foot post will suffice. Now i have to locate some in ground extensions. Dinner was pulled pork sandwiches from the Lancaster Carolina BBQ from Krogers. It was an early to bed night. I felt tired at 8:15 but stayed on the computer until 9. ~ October 19, 2011 tower timer --------------- First thing this morning I expoxied a new connector on the relay board. After an hour or so I wired the eight relays to this new connector and then wired the Arduino card. Did some program changes and it was ready. Libbie and i watched the watering at 2 PM. It did all the shelves. Dinner was eggplant parmesan that Libbie made today. We had it with a bottle of shiraz. It rained all day today. I went out in the rain to the greenhouse corn crib and found some pipes and clips that we will be able to use. Will bring the trailer to fetch them later in the week. ~ October 20, 2011 Post Hole Digger --------------- i started digging the post holes with my shovel but ran into trouble in the hard ground. Went to a rental place next to Kmart Cary and found they only rented furniture. They sent me to Mikes Garden Center across from Burkes. The state fair is going on so it was no easy task. They didn't have rentals either. Ended up going to Home Depot in Fuquay and buying a post hole digger. It did the job exceedingly well but just about killed me. Libbie is not feeling well so we skipped the State Fair which was good because I have too much to do. Dinner was the leftover eggplant parmesan which is very good. ~ October 21, 2011 steel assembly. --------------- Went to the greenhouse this morning with the trailer and brought home the gutters and dead man poles that were in the corn shed. Worked on the slope of the posts for a while then started assembling the gutters and dead men. Finished around 5, now it's ready for concrete. Used the new post hole digger to dig out the deadman post hole. not sure if I needed it for this. Libbie and I took a trip to Home Depot and picked up 6 bags of 80 lb concrete mixx for tomorrow. Libbie called the Chinese takeout from Home Depot and our order was ready when we arrived there. Dinner was eggrolls and Szechuan 3 meat and a bottle of Shiraz. ~ October 22, 2011 Concrete day --------------- My finger is still bleeding this morning from yesterday's pipe pinching. Looking at how to monitor greenhouse and back porch temperature. Will use an Arduino with Xbee and three temperature sensors or possibly a humidity sensor. I want to monitor temperature outdoors, the porch and the new greenhouse. Today is the day to mix and pour concrete around the greenhouse poles. It's a little chilly today to be outdoors but after moving bags of 80 pound concrete I warmed up quickly. Poured the concrete on the poles and deadmen for the two corners. The center pole is in bad shape, very crooked. I'm tempted to pull it out and relocate it. Libbie raked the driveway so I used the pine straw as mulch around the Camelias in the back. Dinner was pork chops with butternut squash, a Libbie baked Apple Pie and Rodney Strong Chardonnay. ~ October 23, 2011 more concrete --------------- After a leisurely morning of coffee, apple pie leftovers and CBS Sunday Morning I went outside and started setting the last of the poles. Had to run to the greenhouse to pick some pole extensions for the deadmen that we cut off. Drilled the extensions and bolted them on. Libbie and I went to Home Depot for another bag of concrete and then she mixed the three bags in the wheel barrow while I shoveled the concrete into the holes holding the support pipes. That finishes this phase of the project. Next up is the bows. Each one will be cut, drilled and mounted. We skipped RLT today to make progress on the greenhouse. Dinner was Libbie's outstanding pizza. ~ October 24, 2011 Bows --------------- Went outside early to start the bows. Found one of the gutters was reversed such that the holes for the bows didn't line up in synch with the first gutter. After a while I discovered the ridge pole was also backwards. Unbolted the bows and put it back together correctly. Had to return the screws I bought to Home Depot because they were too short. Also returned the one leftover bag of concrete. After Home Depot we went to the greenhouse and picked up the rest of the bows. Struggled with the first but then the rest just fell together. At 5:30 we went to the greenhouse again looking for the insert piece for the two ridge pole pieces in order to align them. I have 2 more bows to install. I wanted to finish the job before we leave tomorrow but it's not going to happen. 1010 was backed up all way to the Apex Peakway at 5:30 with rush hour traffic. We stayed in the line and eeked our way to the greenhouse. No luck finding the ridge pole insert. Can't finish. dinner was Tortellini with fresh tomato in the tomato sauce. I checked into Southwest this afternoon and got A tickets. Tried to view our seat assignments on Airtran for the return and found they charge $6 each for advanced seat reservations. No thanks. ~ October 25, 2011 flying --------------- This morning I put tools away and updated the Bluebird website before we had to get into the car and drive to the airport at 11:30. We parked at the Relax and Park near route 70 and got a shuttle ride to Southwest. The plane ride was very smooth and on time but it was pretty long. We went from RDU to Tampa to Austin then changed planes for a Dallas flight. For lunch we split a turkey sandwich and water at RDU. Dinner was intersting. We landed at 7 PM and forgot our GPS. We tried map driving looking for a BBQ or steak place. Stumbled upon Dunstons on Lovers Lane. It was enjoyable. We both had baby backs with potato and salad bar and also a Beringers Pinot Noir glass. Bill with tip was $56. We arrived at the Comfort Inn pretty tired after having been in a traffic jam due to construction on the spur from 75 to I-35E. After driving lost for a while we eventually decided to go for the Interstate to approx where our hotel was. Drove the service road for many miles looking for the Comfort Inn. We miss the GPS! ~ October 26, 2011 Opera --------------- We had a leisurely morning reading the Wall St journal in the room before heading to the other side of Dallas to buy a GPS from FRY's Electronics. We got a refurbished Magellan for $59 which I'm happy with. We programmed it for the Dallas Arboretum and got there with no trouble. The Arboretum was wonderful. They had 50,000 pumpkins on their 66 acres lining the paths.. There were many people everywhere but it was a warm 88 degree day and very pleasant. The flowers were spectacular, the water falls and manmade rapids and streams were incredible. We had lunch in a beergarten which was dressed for oktoberfest. We split a polish sausage and each had a bottle of special Oktoberfest beer. Nice. Dragged ourselves very tired to the car and got to the hotel via GPS with no problem. Layed down for an hour or so before we had to get dressed for the Opera. Left at 5:15 for Dickeys BBQ. The first one we tried closed at 3 PM but found another near downtown near a bad neighborhood. Had a beef brisket BBQ sandwich and split a side of beans. Crossed under the freeway and amazingly we were among opulence and splendor. The opera house is spectacular. We used self serve parking for $5 about a block away. Our toyota was in good company among Porsches, Mercedes and Lexus cars. Lucia was spectacular. The Orchestra was amazing, the singing was extraordinary. The opera was long with two intermissions. Our only glitch was the long line for champagne which cost $24. By the time we got our glasses we had to chug them because intermission was almost over. We stayed in the opera house for the second intermission. Going home was a breeze thanks to GPS and the hotel only being 6 miles away. ~ October 27, 2011 Ft Worth --------------- It was a leisurely but cold morning reading the paper and drinking coffee in the room. Left around 10 for the Kimbell Art museum in Ft Worth. It was a small museum but of high quality. We had lunch in the Museum Cafe. I had a small buffet plate with a ham sandwich, carrot and cabbage salad and Southwestern Corn chowder soup. Next stop was the Crowne Plaza. Set up the GPS and had no trouble getting to our hotel. Met Andrea in the parking lot. Did an early check in which was nice. Went over to sales and found some of our friends. Libbie helped with entries. At lunchtime we had a sandwich in the hotel cafe. I had a Cuban then went up to finish the Thomas Kinkade book, Christmas Gift, which was very nice. Libbie came up around 9 when entries were done. ~ October 28, 2011 clerking --------------- We had the very nice breakfast buffet in the hotel then did the clerking. I was assigned to Kathy Bell then a second team was formed to help with Gesneriads. I helped Clerk that one. We had lunch at the Rig across the street then saw the show. Bill Price led a walk through of the Gesneriad section of the show which we attended. Andrea did her interview of us and the song. At 6 PM we met in the lobby and went out to Joe T Garcias with the Nicholas's, Bill Price and Elmer. The Mexican food was outstanding. Our only trouble was it was cash which was $45. We have lots of plastic, very little cash. After a nice dinner with friends, 18 of the Lonestar bunch to be exact, Richard drove us on a tour of the Stockyards in Ft Worth. We saw Billy Bobs, the old train station, the Cowboy Hall of Fame, a rodeo and many other sites lit up at night. ~ October 29, 2011 Lonestar --------------- We had another nice breakfast buffet then did showroom hosting duty until it was time for the Bill Price lecture. There were issues with the sound and the projector colors. I wasn't too interested in the presentation. When it was done we went out to find lunch and a sweatshirt. Got a cheap shirt in Walmart that looks like it will do. Had a nice lunch Texas Style at Cousins BBQ. They served a huge beef BBQ sandwich and a gigantic frosted mug of beer. Yummy. Got back to the hotel and took a deserved nap. Went to the banquet at 5:30 for Social Hour. Sat at a table with Janet, her Mother and girlfriend as well as a young couple new to Violets. It was an enjoyable evening. Dinner was a banquet where I had the chicken fried steak, potatoes, corn, salad and both chocolate cake and cheesecake for desert. No coffee was the only drawback. ~ October 30, 2011 fly home --------------- We got up at 5:05 and got going right away. Out the door in the dark into a chilly car. I was glad I bought the fleece pullover yesterday in Walmart. It was warm. We stopped at a QT 10 minutes before the airport to top off the gas tank. I bought 5.9 gallons at 3.19 per gallon. We easily found the car rental drop and checked our terminal on the monitors. It was E31. Got on the E shuttle which was very very full. I had to stand but it was a short ride. Breezed through security except Libbie who had to have her hands swabbed. We were not sure if it was random or a detection of fertilizer. Bought a bacon and egg biscuit at Popeyes before boarding the plane. Everything went ontime and the flight was very smooth. Bought a turkey melt in Atlanta with fries for lunch. We got home at 3:45. Found that part of the ceiling fell in the foyer. The culprit seems to be the shower drain which is leaking. Did a Krogers run for cheese, milk and to top off my gas tank at 3.48 less the 20 cents for fuel points for a total of 3.28. ~ October 31, 2011 catch up --------------- I spent some time today cstching up. The mail had my new Capital One card which I then used to switch a lot of my online payments. There are a lot of payments to deal with but I think I caught them all. Dinner was Briyanni. I spent a lot of time today putting the MAAVS Souvenir book together. Finished it up by midnight. ~ November 01, 2011 Bows --------------- Did a grocery run this morning. Went to Krogers, Trader Joes and Walmart for fish food. Put the remaining two bows up in the greenhouse. Dinner was barbecue on buns. ~ November 02, 2011 Tub drains --------------- This morning I started working on the bathroom tub drain and got nowhere. Ended up cutting open the sheetrock some more and cutting away the plywood subfloor. I got the drain out of the tub. Went to Home Depot and Lowes for the drain. Bought the gas pipes in Home Depot for the greenhouse. It looks like some of the bows are too high. May have to do some adjusting. Dinner was lobster Ravioli which was yummy. I want more. will return the tub drain to Lowes. ~ November 03, 2011 Successful Day --------------- This was a day of successes. Started out by taking the booklet to the printer. Dave at PIP printed me a proof copy which I took home. It looks great. I had the page count wrong, submitted 30 pages but the booklet has to be divisible by 4. I had them put two more pages in the back as "Notes". Next step was to assemble the 10 foot long gas pipes for painting. Libbie painted the pipes and when she was done she gave me the wet brush and can. I painted the generator gas pipe and the pipe going under the deck to the grill and the porch. I also knocked a hole in the foundation by the new greenhouse for the power and gas to come out. I may make it bigger to pass a conduit through as well. Next stop was the bathroom. After a lunch of corn chowder I assembled the bathroom drain. It works and it's leak free. Now i need to cut a plywood to paint and cover up the hole I cut in the sheetrock. Dinner was TJ's spinach tortellini. After dinner I installed Drupal on the LSAVC website. Earlier in the day Mary Corodan sent me the login and password. Didn't go to bed until midnight. ~ November 04, 2011 cold and rainy --------------- What a cold rainy day. I didn't accomplish much compared to yesterday. Libbie gave me an early birthday present, a head mounted LED flashlight to use under the house for the new greenhouse wiring and furnace installation. Dinner was scallops with Lima Beans and Santa Barbara Chardonnay. ~ November 05, 2011 Siegfried --------------- It's a short day because of Opera this afternoon. Worked on the back porch and under the porch disassembling the gas line and installing a tee for the new greenhouse branch. Buttoned all this up and bubble tested it for leaks. Cleaned up and left at 11:00 for Siegfried at Crossroads. This theater is a little closer and very very empty. It was a very memorable Siegfried. Jay Hunter Morris is a wonderful, playful Siegfried played by an unlikely Texan. Libbie made sandwiches for in the theater. We got out at 5:30 from a 12:00 start. When I got home I checked the air in the Prius because the light was on. Air was 22 on the passenger side front and back. It should be 35 and 33 respectively. Pumped up all 4 tires. Dinner was Chinese take out and Shiraz. ~ November 06, 2011 happy 65th birthday --------------- Went outside and ran the gas pipe from the foundation up to the entry into the backporch. installed a shutoff in the back porch end above the clock. This was a days worth of work. I also managed to run 20 feet of pipe under the porch. Tried out the new LED head worn headlamp. it works well for hands free in the dark work. Libbie made her wonderful pizza. At noon today we went to the Farmers Market for pansies. Also got some Hummingbird cupcakes for a birthday treat which I had with lunch. After pizza this evening Libbie served a homemade apple pie which was yummy. ~ November 07, 2011 eye exam --------------- Got the gas line run all the way to where it ties into the main line. Still have not secured it to the ceiling. Next step will be to secure it then tie it in and leak test it. This will probably happen tomorrow when we come back from Sheila's house. I had to make a Home Depot run for the final pipe sizes to reach the main line. Next issue will be the exhaust stack. It has to be 3 inch type B. I only saw 4 inch today in HD. Had an eye checkup this morning. At $160 this is getting to be expensive!!! Dinner tonight was Briyani. Burned the DVD tonight for the meeting tomorrow. ~ November 08, 2011 TAVS --------------- This morning I went under the house and put the pipe strapping on the length of the gas pipe supporting it. When I was done it was time to get cleaned up to go to Sheila's. Left at noon with Sylvia and JoAnn for the 40 mile trip. Sheila had a nice lunch prepared of Ziti and crock pot sausage. Yummy. The program was a business meeting and the DVD of the TAVS show. In the evening we went to LaCocina for Margaritas and dinner. Good stuff. ~ November 09, 2011 travel --------------- Went under the porch this morning and hooked the gas line up and put the final strapping on. I did not turn the gas on because it would take some time to test it all. We got busy and packed everything for the MAAVS show including the plants since they will be OK overnight in the car in the garage. I went to Krogers for pasta which we had tonight for dinner. I finished the Nicholas Sparks "Best of Me" book tonight which was quite enjoyable. ~ November 10, 2011 MAAVS --------------- Left at 8 for Baltimore. Stopped somewhere around the VA/NC border on I-95 for coffee and biscuits. The Mickey D coffee was free and the biscuits 2 for 1. What a deal. Lunch at Mickey D near the hotel. Arrived at 1:30 PM at the Crowne Plaza. Nice hotel but old. After unloading in a cold rain we met with the Barbi's and Loomis's and went to a seafood restaurant called Mo's. It was outstanding including our outspoken waitress. I had the broiled seafood dinner with mixed veggies and baked potato. We each had 2 glasses of Fetzer Chardonnay for a total of $72 which included tip and tax. Going to the place was in rush hour traffic so we crept on I-83 4 miles to the exit. We enjoyed the evening. ~ November 11, 2011 MAAVS Friday --------------- We didn't get up this morning until 7:24. I slept very well. Had the hotel breakfast which was a not too bad buffet for 10.95 each. The showroom opened at 9 and the show at 1 but we couldn't be there because we were on the Inner Harbor bus tour. Enjoyed the ride through downtown Baltimore. There is a lot to offer down there. We may come back to the Peabody institute with Road Scholar. The banquet this evening was fun. I dressed in my Pink Flamingo costume which was voted most outrageous costume. Michelle also dressed as a Flamingo. The banquet dinner was Prime rib which was very good. ~ November 12, 2011 MAAVS --------------- Things are pretty slow at MAAVS. I went to the Gesneriads in China talk which was very informative and entertaining, especially the life in Southern china near the Vietnam border. In the evening we got dressed up and went to the banquet. We were seated with Donna and her Mother, Janet Reimer, Nancy Hayes and Francis Silva. Sue Hoffmann also joined us. We used our priority coupons and got 2 for 1 drinks at the hotel bar, then took them into the banquet. ~ November 13, 2011 Going home --------------- We got up early and started loading the car in the 48 degree weather. It's a blue sky Fall morning. We drove down the street and got breakfast at McDonalds before driving to Silver Spring. I dropped Libbie off at Sue's then continued the journey. It was an easy drive with me arriving home at 2:30. i was shocked to see the garage door was open!!!1 Apparently it had not closed when we left - it must have auto reversed, something it does if there's a leaf or two hanging from the door. Unloaded everything and then took a shower and washed my hair. Did a Krogers trip for milk and OJ then started straightening out my finances. FIA online account has disappeared so I couldn't make a payment. I called them and they said it was changed to BankAmerica. I made a phone payment. What a pain in the ass. When the card gets here I'm not going to use it. It's out of here! ~ November 14, 2011 Catch Up --------------- Did a little financial catchup today and then visited the Credit Union to deposit the MAAVS check plus a $700 withdrawal from Scottrade. Still a little short. Picked up a fluorescent fixture and wire from Lowes then went under the house and ran the wire. Still need to tie it in under the house but this allowed me to mount a junction box outside. Packaged up the mail orders, weighed them and then printed Click n ship labels. I also searched for a home dock for the Sirius Radio. Found one on Amazon which I ordered along with ink carts and a whole house carbon filter for the back porch. Dinner was Chile Rejeno. After dinner i tried to listen to Rodelinda live from the met but it was not an Opera I could get into. ~ November 15, 2011 Lighting --------------- Dropped the boxes at the PO and picked up our mail. I have my new license!!!!! Went to Lowes and got two more shop lights to cannibalize. The first light i converted to T8 was placed in service this morning and all seems well. I put the convention leftover plants on the stand in Libbie's office utilizing the rebuilt light. Finished up the outdoor conduit and wires to the heater. Next step is to control under the house and tie the power in to the existing downstairs furnace circuit. Dinner was Veggie Pad Thai, a TJ's frozen entree. ~ November 16, 2011 Porch heater --------------- Went under the house and tied the porch heater power into the downstairs furnace. Called the IBM Health line this morning about Aetna PPO. They said I couldn't do it because Libbie is on the IBM supplemental plan. That sucks. Aetna gives me a free physical, the IBM plan doesn't. I don't know if it's an approved pharmacy plan either which means I have to buy a plan. Big sucko. Installed the hooks in the porch ceiling for the heater and went to Lowes for the 3 inch flu pipes. Hopefully I can hang the heater tomorrow and install the flu pipe after that. Unfortunately the weather will work against me. It's supposed to be cold tomorrow. Dinner was a bean burger with onion and ketchup on a sandwich round. ~ November 17, 2011 cold rain --------------- Rain and cold in the morning then the sun came out. Went to Home Depot and picked up some chain which I cut into 45 and 35 inch lengths. Moved the ceiling hooks over 18 inches and installed the chains. The hooks needed moving to allow 12 inches of horizontal vent pipe per the instruction manual. I rebuilt the lower light shelf in Libbie's office. There are now 2 shelves done. The upper shelf has plants on it so it will be more difficult. Dinner was Krogers fried chicken with macaroni and potato salads. Listened to Nabucco live and also packed up a box of 10 pots for a customer. ~ November 18, 2011 cold --------------- Took the box to the Post office that I packed yesterday. It's going to be cold again tonight. I woke at 4:30 this morning and came down to check the porch temperature. It's 30 outside, the porch was at 56 so I put the gas heater on low and went back to bed. Came down at 7 and turned the heater off. It climbed to 60 on the porch with the fans running all night long. I need to find a better way to monitor the back porch. Libbie called from RI. she talked to Joe and he said Christa is pregnant with twins. Dinner was fried chicken and the potato salad I picked up yesterday. ~ November 19, 2011 Satygraha --------------- Went to the greenhouse this morning to get the mail. All looked well. I removed the white thermostat to use at home and then stopped by Lowes to return a piece of vent pipe I don't need. Went to the Opera, Satygraha at 12:15. Libbie called at around 12 from RI. she has a pretty bad cold. I enjoyed Satygraha. Met an interesting couple in the seats next to me. They have a business writing program notes for opera programs. After the Opera at 5:15 I stopped in Home Depot and picked up a reduction bushing for my gas line to the porch heater. The shutoff is 3/4 inch and the furnace flex line is 1/2 inch. Dinner was Lancasters BBQ on a bun. Very good. Talked to Libbie again, she is moving her flight up one day to Sunday. Vicki also called to talk about her trip out west and Joe and Christa's babies. ~ November 20, 2011 vent pipes --------------- This morning I finished hooking up the vent pipe for the furnace. Skipped going to the Bolshoi because of this. Started wiring up the thermostat. Mounted the box on the brick wall and ran a piece of Cat 5 over to the sink. This wire will carry both thermostat lines and also temperature sensing. I will route the wire to the shop where two of the lines will break out and resume their journey to the heater. The heater is mostly set to go - gas hooked up and cover put back on, vent pipe completed both inside and outside. At approx 8:00 I left to pick up Libbie at the airport. She was due at 8:40 but the plane was coming in early. I brought two peanut butter sandwiches I made at home with PN and J purchased at Krogers this afternoon. ~ November 21, 2011 Pizza Monday --------------- Finished running the thermostat wire. Ran the wire into my shop and then built two temperature prones, one for near the thermostat and the second for monitoring the heater stack temperature. I will look for a Zigbee based Arduino to do this temperature monitoring. Libbie still has her cold but she took out some pizza dough from the freezer and made a traditional Libbie pizza for dinner. ~ November 22, 2011 Tuesday --------------- Went out for a grand shopping run. Returned the gas pipe to lowes and looked at shelves and lights. I like the metal and particle board shelves. The price is $77 and they are 4 feet wide. They also have an Ott light floor lamp. Looked at shelves in Home Depot but they weren't as large. I bought the outdoor outlet cover in Home Depot and went home and installed it. On this same trip I stopped at Office Max and got a box of paper. Next stop was Krogers for Thanksgiving food. I ended up spending $116 after coupons and old geezers discount. Did a Trader Joes run then got out the blower and cord onto the roof and blew the pine needles off. This was so I could walk down the garage front and install the satellite antenna. Went inside and tested the antenna - I now get a full scale signal strength. Picked up the pine straw which came from the roof and put it around the azaleas in the back. Dinner was lobster ravioli from Trader Joes which was excellent. Listened to La Boheme live from the Met tonight. ~ November 23, 2011 spotlight --------------- Lazy day. I rebuilt the top light shelf of the FloraCart in Libbie's office. Next stop was to Lowes to get the shelves and Ott light for the "living room to be" packing area. It's warm outside which is a nice pre-Thanksgiving day. I wanted to work on the greenhouse walls but the car was full with the shelves so I didn't purchase the wood. I may be able to get by with the former greenhouse benches. Will visit the greenhouse tomorrow possibly with the trailer. Hooked up the spotlight which involved cutting holes in a new weatherproof PVC box and mounting it on the wall. This went well and after dark I tested the spotlight. Dinner was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the sandwich rounds. We wanted something light. Found out Joe and Christa are expecting triplets! Whoa. Late night (8:30) we ran over to Home Depot and picked up furniture coasters to more the shelves and sofa in the living room. We also stopped by Krogers and picked up a small tabletop Christmas tree. ~ November 24, 2011 Thanksgiving Day --------------- Watched the Macys parade on TV then worked on the Tower Timer program. I added a table that will contain water time for each shelf individually. Tried it at the 2 PM scheduled watering and everything worked the way it was supposed to which was a delightful surprise. Next I went outside and put the top row of shingles on the greenhouse roof. started putting down flashing but I ran out with approx 25 or 30 more feet to do. Moved over to the end wall where it meets the house cornice board. The cornice is very rotted. started replacement and trying to concoct a plan to tie it into the new greenhouse. Much to do. Talked to Joe and Christa about the triplets. They were very surprised but it's still too early to count on three full term babies. used the moving discs to rearrange the furniture in the living room so we could have a pack and ship center. Still much to do. After a lovely Thanksgiving dinner of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberries and Andre Champagne we watched 2 hours of the Punkin Chunkin competition on the Discovery channel. It was amazing to see grown men with these huge machines investing an incredible amount of money and time in order to toss a pumpkin 4,000 feet. ~ November 25, 2011 Black Friday --------------- This morning I went outside and started working on the West wall of the greenhouse. Went to home Depot for some 2x4's and flashing. Dug out for the base plate and placed it down. Cut some of the vertical studs for the wall, then went inside for lunch and did not return to the project. After lunch Libbie and I photographed violets that had blooms that would not last much longer. Next activity was a trip to Lowes. The shelves I bought Wednesday were now $30 less. They refunded the difference then we bought a second set of shelves for $49. This is a pretty good deal. Anne Nicholas called when we got home. She was excited about the triplets of Joe and Christa. Dinner was turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes with a bottle of Shiraz. ~ November 26, 2011 Black Saturday --------------- Built the second shelf in the living room. Later in the day I cut the plywood squares to put under the shelf legs. Outdoors it was a gorgeous day with perfect temperatures. I put the West wall up but discovered it was in the wrong place. It needs to be directly under the bow. Cut the wall off and started building a new one. I need about 8 more 2x4's to finish this wall. Will probably cannibalize wood from the old greenhouse benches. Dinner was turkey sandwiches and Libbie's first baking of fruit cakes. She made them all afternoon, we were short of raisins so i made a Kroger run. Didn't do anymore outside. ~ November 27, 2011 Cinderella --------------- Short work day. Cinderella is at 2 so after the morning shows I went to Lowes for more treated 2x4's. Cut them and built a wall which I temporarily propped up since time was up. Have to shower and clean up for Cinderella. The performance was a surprise in more ways than one. I couldn't get over how many kids were here. It apparently is a holiday family treat for little girls mostly brought there by grandparents. My second surprise was tha it was in memorial instead of Fletcher. I chose balcony seats thinking we were in Fletcher. We were way up high but it ended up being OK. I enjoyed the excellent performance with custom composed music and played on piano by the composer. The company was in fine form. The second piece was the Grieg Piano Concerto. It was OK but paled compared to Cinderella. When we got back dinner was Lib's home made pizza. ~ November 28, 2011 rain --------------- Started out leveling the wall with gravel I picked up at Jessie Dr earlier. Worked on the cornice somewhat before hooking up the trailer for a Lowes trip. Picked up a French Door, hardi siding and some bolts. On the way home it started raining. The saw and tools at home got wet which we dried with old tools. It continued raining off and on all day. Instead I finished the Lonestar website. Dinner was leftover turkey with mashed potato and gravy. Very delicious. Listened to LaBoheme live in the evening on Sirius. ~ November 29, 2011 Cold --------------- We still have a little rain this morning. Did the groceries, first Trader Joes then Krogers. We didn't need much. Bolted the wall to the greenhouse gutter support. Next I worked on the cornice repair adding some 2x4's to replace rotted wood. Dinner was Lobster Ravioli which i picked up in Trader Joes today. ~ November 30, 2011 still cold --------------- It was a sunny but chilly day. I went to AC Moore for some poster paper and made a template to cut the hardiboard for the cornice. This went well. I cut most of the pieces but did not nail them. Will work on the rest of that tomorrow. I came in pretty tired. Removed an Orange background from a pic of Brianna for Anne and also reviewed the latest MAAVS Memo for Ken. Went upstairs to lay down and read and as expected, I fell asleep. It felt good. I switched gears in reading putting aside the Murakami book in order to start the Stephen King book about JFK and time travel, 11/23/63. Dinner was BBQ pork with steamfresh veggies. Nice! ~ December 01, 2011 Busy Day --------------- Cleaned the house up because Nancy was coming over. It turns out she came but we didn't hear her at the front door. need to fix that, either a bell on the porch or in the back room. I finished enclosing the cornice and built some more of the greenhouse wall including a header over the door frame. I planted all the daffodil bulbs - some in the front yard, some in the woods in the back and a few in the garden below our porch chairs. I also pulled the dahlias. After lunch today we went to the farmers market and visited with Jennifer who was selling xmas trees. I also gave her the parrot toys from Vicki Carr. ~ December 02, 2011 First Friday --------------- This was a productive day. I worked on the roof putting up flashing from the window to the edge of the West side. This was in preparation for the two pieces of 1x4 PVC corner bead that I installed next. This essentially completes the cornice work. Out in the back somewhere is a noisy and annoying machine that just roars. I don't know what they are doing but it gets to me after a while. We had a long list of errands to do which included a post office trip to drop off a package, a trip to Whole Foods to use our Groupon and get tomorrow's dinner then a stop by Ira's office for Libbie to get her glasses. We also went to the greenhouse where I picked up 4 more pails of gravel. Lots of running around! Came in and cleaned up for First Friday. We went to Nichole's and had some wine and bought some fused glass angels for the TAVS gift exchange. Next stop was Raleigh CAM. Had a hard time finding parking but eventually a block down from CAM we got a spot. Admission was $5 each. The building is lovely, it's a converted produce warehouse. The art was not to my taste. Downstairs they had a weird NC State School of Design high tech art display. Once again, not for me. We had dinner at the Pit. I had Carolina style Spare ribs with beans abd french fries and some Brooklyn beer which was a microbrew. Excellent. I remarked to Libbie that we were the oldest people in the place. Surrounding us were tables of young professionals. ~ December 03, 2011 Busy day --------------- Worked the first few hours of the morning on an Xbee temperature monitor for the porch and greenhouse. I glued down 4 RJ45's onto a proto board as the first step. One wire buses will plug into this. Next I went outside and started the East wall by digging up the Mondo grass and dumping it in the front for transplanting. Measured what I needed for wood and went to Home Depot for the stuff. I'll put it up tomorrow. Dinner was parmesan crusted tilapia with steamfresh veggies and sweet potato. This was accompanied by a bottle of Shiraz. ~ December 04, 2011 Pizza --------------- After the normal Sunday programs I went out to work on the greenhouse some more. Put the shutter wall up. I roughed in the shutter at 40 inches but it looks too big. Need some bolts to fasten this wall to the vertical post. Libbie made some of her best Pizza yet. She used peppers from the garden and some onions in the refrigerator to make an outstanding pizza. ~ December 05, 2011 Walls --------------- Went to home Depot first thing for bolts and more wood. Jack and Joy were coming over today at 10. I didn't get started on the greenhouse project until after lunch. Added some baseboards and nailers to the mix. I also bolted the shutter wall to the vertical pipe. The greenhouse is closing in on the day it will be covered. I'm hoping for next week. Dinner was a Korger Rotisserie chicken with Bush baked beans. ~ December 06, 2011 destroyed lawn --------------- This was a busy day. The market only went up 51 today but my IRA port broke 400 going to 400.7. WooHoo. I tilled the front yard and then went for groceries. Jack came over and got Mondo grass out of the greenhouse area. After the groceries I painted the cornice work because it's supposed to rain tomorrow then get cold. I then planted the Mondo in the front yard and criss crossed the area with electric fencing. Some moron from Time Warner did a U Turn on our front yard. I went out and yelled at him then called Time Warner. what a mess. We went to LaCosina tonight and had Margarita's and the usual. Very nice. Afterward we hit Kroger again for missing groceries like tea and milk. I also bought another gift card for Home Depot to get 4X the gas points. I need to go to Home Depot anyway so this is a good deal. ~ December 07, 2011 Stock transfer --------------- It's supposed to rain today with a major cold front. I went outside to get the name of the contractor who ripped up my lawn. One guy wouldn't say who he was, the other said they were Time Warner subs. Timer Warner told me they don't have them on their list of contractors. It's probably ATT. Bought some more 2x6's at Home Depot today with a gift card purchased in Krogers to get gas points. Installed all the baseboard. Went to Scottrade in Cary twice today. Once to make the IRA transfer and the second time to transfer the Schwab accounts to Scott. I want one consolidated account. Dinner was Lobster Ravioli. ~ December 08, 2011 Plastic --------------- In the morning I worked on finishing the baseboard for the greenhouse. After lunch Libbie and I went to Wyatt Quarles and picked up pots, trays and domes. We also got our roll of plastic for the roof of the new greenhouse. Got the run around from Time Warener so i called ATT. They will send someone out tomorrow to look at the damage. Dinner was chili with cornbread and shiraz wine. This is a very nice meal for the weather which is turning colder. ~ December 09, 2011 cold --------------- It's in the thirties this morning. I chose to stay inside and work on the temperature sensor for the new greenhouse. Jack came over to get more Mondo grass. I started working on relocating the dryer and kitchen vents. Need to go through the roof with them. Ended up getting some stove pipes from Home Depot and also a new jigsaw. i bought a gift card in Kroger first to get the gas points. They are offering 4X the points this month for gift card purchases. Dinner was Chili with Ravenwood Zinfindel. ~ December 10, 2011 Faust --------------- Worked inside on the temperature sensor this morning. It's a nice Fall day but we have to leave for Faust at 12:15. The Opera was grand. Never have I enjoyed Faust more. Since we were at Crossroads we went to BJ's after the performance and got ribs which we had this evening with Louis Martinin Cabernet Sauvignon. ~ December 11, 2011 pizza --------------- After dragging my feet most of the morning on little projects, I went outside on the ladder and built a transition box for the kitchen vent. This morning I successfully got the porch temperature sensor working on both the thermostat and the heat stack. There were some wiring errors and also Arduino switched to version 1 which was not compatible with the one wire libraries. Dinner was Libbie's pizza. She put pepper and onion in it which was good but she also put leftover barbecue in it which wasn't great. I painted the transition box this evening in my shop. Hopefully it will be dry tomorrow. ~ December 12, 2011 lazy day --------------- Today was a lazy day. I painted the transition box in the morning and lined it with flashing in the afternoon. When I finally got outside on the ladder it was 3 PM. Got a hole cut in the roof for the pipe. now I need a hole for the dryer vent and then put the roof cap on. Dinner was chili with cornbread. nice. ~ December 13, 2011 Xbee --------------- Spent the morning on the Xbee transceivers. I ended up ordering 3 of them from Digikey. i could not get the config program to recognize this level of firmware. We left for the Violet party at 11:30 but dropped some packages off at the Post Office first. Got to jAnn Raymers at noon. wow, what a spread she put out. Pork chop ribs smoked outside with mac and cheese and greenbeans. Desert was apple pie and ice cream. Fantastic. We did a gift exchange which Libbie and i will donate to a charity. We don't need anything else. dinner was Lobster Pasta. Yummy. I got the Xbee to transmit from my shop to the office, just dummy data. now the challenge is for real data to make the trip. ~ December 14, 2011 great day --------------- This was a successful day all around. i went to Wake crisis Ministry with Libbie to donate our gift exchange items from yesterday. We each got a throw. Next we went to Lowes and then Home Depot for a garbage can and silicon caulk. We also got two rugs for the family room. A runner and a throw rug to take up traffic patterns on the white rug. I went on the roof and finished the two caps for the dryer and the kitchen vent complete with flashing and shingles. Still need to caulk the exposed nail heads but the job went well. I finished in the evening around 4 PM. ~ December 15, 2011 Xbee --------------- Another great day. Spent the morning working on temperature sensing and Xbee in my workshop sensing the porch temperatures. At noon I went outside and started working on the greenhouse. I framed up the fan and shutter, caulked the nails on the roof. Remaining is the attachment to the porch. This will be a challenge. Libbie made Pad Thai for dinner. Time Warner called about the tire tracks. They want me to file a police report to get the license number address. ~ December 16, 2011 --------------- Finished the framing then tried putting up the ridge beam. This is a huge task. It started raining while I was putting the first U bolt in. Came down and started brining in the tools. The rain wasn't supposed to start until this evening. It's early. Went in to work on the Zigbee temperature sensing. Dinner was stuffed flounder, peas and mushrooms and brown rice. ~ December 17, 2011 Christmas Lights --------------- Started the day outside finishing the ridge beam and then the baseboard. This was the extent of the outdoor work today. I came in to listen to Madama Butterfly live from the Met while we photographed Violets. When Butterfly was done we went to Jennifers birthday party for MacKenzie. It was her 15th. Jenns house is a disaster but definitely a family place. There is junk everywhere. Stewart fixed some nice Pork shoulders on his cooker all day. After the party we drove downn Penny Rd to see the Christmas lights of the 100,000 light display. It was awesome as usual. ~ December 18, 2011 cold --------------- It's cold but sunny today. We took a walk around the new pathway in Seagroves around the pond. there are two bridges. Very nice. It's still under construction but lots of people were out using it. I finished the clips above and the ridge beam. Now I'm ready for the top. Dinner was Libbie's excellent pizza. The crust came out nice and thin and yummy. ~ December 19, 2011 Tops --------------- Started the day with a dentist appointment at 8:30. Dr Paul spent a lot of time talking to me about twins and how easy they are to raise when you have a schedule. He talked about his trips to Disney including next week when he takes the grandkids to Disneyworld. Her wife told me they have 10 grandchildren. When I came home it was still cold outside so I worked indoors on the Xbee temperature sensing. I had success receiving temperature packets and displaying them on a web page. Just before lunch we took the roll of plastic out of the garage and unrolled it on the back lawn. Next I took a corner and pulled it up to the top corner. Then I climbed bow by bow and pulled the plastic up. When done I put the clips on the top and bottom edges. It looks pretty good. I went out on the roof from the workshop window. This worked well. When the plastic was not there it looked scary but with the plastic hiding the ground going outside onto the roof was easy. Tomorrow i will button up the sidewalls in anticipation of 3 days of rain this week but at least it will be warm. I should be able to do wiring and gas plumbing with the top on. ~ December 20, 2011 computer --------------- I broke down and picked up a new computer at Office Max. It's an i3 by Acer. It seems to have enough power. I'm having trouble with Win 7 networking in order to transfer files from my other computer. The keyboard also seems to be smaller but not much of a problem. Put some plastic on the sidewalls this afternoon. It's a warm day but I didn't get much done. Next item is to run the power everywhere. I also need the Xbee temperture sensing so we can remotely monitor everything. Dinner was lobster Ravioli. I spent the evening installing software on my new laptop. ~ December 21, 2011 christmas lights --------------- This was a relatively productive day. We went to Lowes and got conduit and fittings to run power to the shutters and heater in the greenhouse. I installed all that stuff so now rough in is done. Still much to do. It's a reiny day and the greenhouse leaks like heck all along the bow to house attachment. Dinner was Quesadilla and a Margarita at La Cosina. After dinner we watched a pretty interesting synchronized light display in Cary on Balmoral Drive. It was pretty cool, the first time I have ever seen one of these. ~ December 22, 2011 Happy Winter --------------- I had to get blood. taken in Cary this morning. When I came back home I had breakfast then went to Home Depot for electrical stuff and gas pipes. I have everything needed to finish wiring. Installed the inside plastic on the shutter wall then ran the rest of the conduit and hooked up 3 outlets. WooHoo! Next I'll run a wire inside conduit to the fan wall for the fan. Today is a very warm day - 70 degrees for the first day of winter! Dinner was veggie lasagna. After dinner I read and listened to a live broadcast of madama Butterfly. ~ December 23, 2011 Productive --------------- We started the day by going to the greenhouse to look for staples and pick up a roll of leftover plastic. No staples so it was a trip to Lowes for staples. Brought this stuff home and then went to Krogers for our Christmas ham and fixings. Put more plastic up on the sidewall then switched to working on the gas line. I ran a new gas line all the way up to the heater and capped it with a shutofff. Leak tested everything and came in satisfied. Dinner was ham, sweet potato, broccoli and Chardonnay. During dinner the Met was playing Hoffman from 1989. This was a very productive day. ~ December 24, 2011 Wiring --------------- Worked the morning inside trying to get Meistersinger to compile with Arduino 1.0. After a while I finally found the errors of my way calling the client wrong. Fixed that and it now compiles. would like to add this to the current setup but I'll wait till tomorrow so I'll have ample debug time. I ran the conduit with wire in it over to the fan in the greenhouse. Next I'll figure out how to hang the heater. Dinner was ham, sweet potato and Broccoli along with Beringers Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine was nice and hearty and dry but not much oak characteristic. In the afternoon we listened to La Fille Du Regiment live from the Met. ~ December 25, 2011 Merry Christmas --------------- For Christmas morning Libbie made ham and eggs with toast. We next opened some Christmas presents. Libbie gave me a replacement socket for the one lost at the greenhouse. I had put two boxes of Russel Stover under the tree. I used the day off to continue working on the Meistersinger program. I added two more feeds to Pachube so we could monitor this from Florida this week. Libbie made her wonderful pizza once again. It looks like now Meistersinger has the correct feeds coming from the porch via an Xbee and also the stuff is on the web and on Pachube. ~ December 26, 2011 Heater --------------- Talked to Arlene this morning. She called because we left a Xmas message yesterday. Chatted for a long time. Next I went to home Depot for u clamps and a conduit fitting. Finished wiring the fan socket in the greenhouse then went to work on hanging the heater. Cut the rusty 1.5 inch pipe into 55 inch lengths and attached it to the bows with the u clamps. Went back to buy chain then cut the chain in 4 lengths and carried the heater up the ladder to hang it. Using the chains I was able to hang the heater level and so that the exhaust clears the side wall. Tomorrow I'll work on framing a chimmney feedthru and then cut a piece of sheet metal for the pipe to go through. Dinner was warm cheese and ham sandwiches. This was all I needed. Read some more of 11/22/62 by Stephen King while the met had Hansel & Gretel live. Kate Lindsey played Hansel which was nice since she's a favorite. Watch a CBS 2 interview with her via youtube. She was promoting Hansel and Gretel for the met. ~ December 27, 2011 rain --------------- This morning we woke to rain which wasn't supposed to start until noon. Had to go outside in my slippers and retrieve the roll of plastic in a cardboard box which was on the trailer. It got a little wet. Moved it into the garage. The Tower Timer crashed. I went through and put watchdog resets throughout the program to make sure this doesn't happen again. Tested it with the water turned off. It cleared a little after lunch so I went out and installed the flue pipe on the greenhouse furnace. This went as planned - frame a swuare hole, cut some flashing to support the pipe and then bolt the pipe to the furnace. Three feet of Type B pipe was perfect. Put the cap on. This is another completed job. Next is to hook up the gas and then finish the sidewall plastic. Will order the relays in Florida. Hopefully they will come as we arrive home. Will wait till New Years Day to do this. Dinner was pasta from Krogers. I didn't like it as much as the Lobster pasta we have had from Trader Joe's. ~ December 28, 2011 travel --------------- We left this morning at 7:04 and got off to a good start. It was a blue sky sunny trip. At Hardeeville SC we were stopped in stop and go traffic which cleared up mysteriously once we lceared the exit. Stopped for lunch and gas at St Mary exit 3. Gas was 3.25 per gallon, lunch was snack wraps at McDonalds. The Mickey D was crowded and dirty. Our next issue was traffic just past Orlando through the Disney World exits we were once again stopped. We also were stopped at the I-4 and I-75 merge. In all we lost an hour, arriving at Stoneybrook at 7 PM. We had time to change our clothes and have dinner at the Clubhouse. It was pub night. We had crab cakes with salad and garlic bread and 2 glasses of Shiraz each. It was a nice end to a not so nice drive. After dinner we picked up coffee and Moose Tracks yogurt at Publix. We had the yogurt back at the condo. On the way down Libbie told me the triplets are named Sweetpea, Chickadee and Monkey. ~ December 29, 2011 Sarasota --------------- This was a lazy day. We did stuff around the condo and took inventory of our sheets and towels. We took the queen comforter to Bobs Cleaners behind Publix at Clark and Tamiami for cleaning. Left for a quilt shop in North Sarasota called Quilters Stash. It has only been open 7 weeks and was very nice but didn't have much. Libbie wanted a cutter and board but no dice. Next we went downtown to Whole Foods and had a slice of pizza and a bottle of generic water. We then went to Selby which is always a treat. Had a nice talk with one of the volunteers about Gesneriads. Came back via Midnight Pass. Stopped in Kohls to get the towels and pillows we decided we needed. The cashier was a very pretty young girl who gave me an eyeful with her low cut top and extremely short tight skirt. It was actually the shortest skirt I have ever seen. When she bent over to put the pillows in the bag I was treated to a view of everything. Wow. We stopped in the Publix liquor store and got some individual bottles of Rum for our egg nog. Had cheese, crackers and egg nog during sunset then went to the club for Rib night. I had a half rack with baked potato and salad. We each had a glass of Shiraz. The food was great, our server Kevin was not so great. We were pretty much ignored. We noticed he wasn't very good with his other tables either. ~ December 30, 2011 Quilts and Thai --------------- We left this morning at 9:30 for Dunedin. Had not trouble at all finding the Rainbows End quilt shop on Broadway. We followed GPS up 275 to 19 to Dunedin. Travel was easy. The shop was unbelievable. I have never seen so many bolts of fabric or notions. It was colorful. We drove through the little downtown and then stopped at a Micky D for snack wraps for lunch. On the way home stopped at Bobs Cleaners to pick up our comforter which came out excellently then stopped at Michaels to get cutting supplies for Libbie's quilt. Rested at home before going out to our favorite Thai restaurant, Bangkok Thai. Our server was a tiny and petite Thai girl with the unlikely name of Nicole. I had a mixed seafood Pad Thai. We each had a glass of Merlot. Nicole had a little baby voice, it was cute. ~ December 31, 2011 Happy New Years --------------- We spent some time this morning working in the condo washing towels, putting some of the new stuff away. Called Lorraine and arranged for a visit and found out that the other phones do not work in the condo. Investigated and found the Ooma was hooked up wrong. When it was hooked up right, the Scout device didn't work. I found the Scout output needs to be put on a second set of wires in the telephone cable, a jobe for a splitter. Looked at them in Radio Shack but I rejected a $10 splitter. Bought some parts in Sears but still wasn't happy. Went to Walmart and bought some junction boxes and made the splitter I needed. It worked but the light wouldn't come on in the Scout device. Took apart outlets in the house to trace the wiring and then found that the brightness was turned down. Turned it up and the light was working all along!!!! Left at 7 for the party. Ordered a wine at a table in the lobby then went to the horsdouevres. We had scallops, duck, cheese, fruit, beef on a skewer, etc. This was a meal itself. We had another wine then they brought out lobster followed by strawberry sorbet. We then had a salad of cucumbers, tomatillo, pecans and lots of stuff. Next course was the desert of chocolate covered raspberry mousse. We ended the evening with a champagne toast at midnight. I was tired and had too much to drink. After our second glass of wine we ordered a bottle of Ravenswood Zin but had to sub Clove Zin which was $36 but they gave it to us at the $27 price. We sat with Hort and heidi from MA, Tony and Siggy from Germany and Hurda and ??? from Canada. ~