I created he 16x20 for our sign and sent it off to whcc.com for delivery to Brenda. Went outside and added the additional plank to the septic cover. This is looking pretty good. Took down a gum tree adjacent to the tank. Heard from Runnels about Aunt Helen. She did not have a urinary infection. Fixed the clock on the oven. It seemed to be covered in sawdust inside. I used the shop vac to clean it out then gave the wheels a twirl. All seemed to be well. We ran a cleaning cycle this evening. Dinner was TJ's frozen lasagna and chocolate frozen yogurt. Interestingly, this monring I had incredible oain across my chest and radiating down my shoulders. I wonder what this is? It seened to be triggered by brushing my teeth. Bending over the sink? Probing sensitive gum tissue?

I'm pretty groggy today. Went with Libbie to Logans at noon to look at landscaping bushes. Still looking for pyracantha which do not seem to be a spring item. This is our last 80 degree day for a while. Mailed the postcards to Reno via parcel post. The package costed $12 to send. In the PM I wasn't feeling hungry when Libbie suggested chicken and yam for dinner but later in the PM my appetite seemed to retun. We had her yummy barbecue chicken with yams. After dinner we watched American Idol. Got a phone call at 9 from Runnels that they were shipping Aunt Helen to Overlook because she was running a fever and had low blood pressure. She seems to be bouncing in and out of hospitals and rehab in these past few months. Libbie said we may be going to a funeral soon.

Took another Drixoral to stop my running nose. Went to the Credit Union to deposit the convention postcard reimbursement then went to Krogers for minimal groceries. Didn't feel like doing much running around so just did the one grocery store. In the backyard I lowered the septic pipe below the tank surface, dug the muck out around the tank, partially buried the pipe where it ran above ground and dressed the wires going to the outlet. I put the home made cover onto the tank but it needs to be bigger. In addition, the top of the tank is uneven leaving a good seal hard to achieve. I may look into some garage door rubber seal or equivalent for the tank.

Not such a great day either. I'm walking round like a zombie today. Went in the backyard for a little bit and notched the spetic tank for the pipe to pas through. I used the ball peen hammer and hacked away at it. Interestingly there was a metal mesh reinforcing wire that I broke through with the ball peen. The rest of the day was pretty much a washed up affair. My nose started running during the premiere of Dancing with the Stars. None of the celebs impressed me very much. Dinner was bean burgers with tomato on a bun.

I pretty much lost all of today. I was sick and slept all day. I Laid down on the couch at 9 AM when Libbie left and woke at noon when she came back. This pretty much shot the whole day. For dinner I had a bowl of Oatmeal and went to bed at 8 PM.

I put a new pole onto the birdhouse from up by our mailbox and moved it back by the edge of the field. Let's see if this works out. I plugged the pump in to see if it would pump our sewage from overnight but there wasn't enough liquid to trip the float switch. We got cleaned up and left for the 1PM performance of Butterfly at 11:30. There was a glitch at the beginning - the projector quit. They saved the opera and showed it on a 10 minute tape delay. It was a vocally stunning Butterfly. The same person, Patricia Racette, sang this last year for San Francisco. I felt a tickle in my throat during the performance - I'm getting Libbie's cold. What a bummer. Dinner tonight was stuffed salmon with Beauregard Sweet Potato and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Looked at the pump this morning. It's still jammed but the Drano dissolved some of the sludge. The pump was filled with sand and gravel. I managed to shake it out and work it out with a screwdriver. Plugged it in and it turned OK after spitting out some gravel particles. I hooked up the pump to the Home Depot flower pot (irrigation control box). Got the rig all hooked up with power and plumbing then lowered the contraption into the tank. It went down inside fairly well then hooked up a short pipe aimed at the creek and turned it on. The pump worked well. Hooked everything up but had to make another Home Depot trip to get another coupling. Ran the pump and went up the hill to watch. The sewage was bubbling up from the distribution box at the top of the hill. This is good. May have to dump root killer into the distribution box to fix the leach field. I also need to find a backflow prevention valve. I have a small problem because both places where I drilled inspection holes in the pipe are shooting sewage up in the air. I covered them both up which may not have been a good idea since the lower one is oozing out of the ground. Dinner tonight was crab cakes. We skipped First Friday because I was tired and we're going out tomorrow to Met HD Butterfly and also went out last night to the Comedy Club.

This morning I hooked the come along up over the septic and pulled the new pump out of the tank. It was an easy job pulling it up. The pump is definitely jammed. I went to Home Depot and bought Drano to try clearing the pump but it seems to run through. Left it all alone for the day. I got cleaned up in the afternoon and we left at 6 PM for Goodnights comedy club in Raleigh. We stopped into Irregardless and talked to the manager about a group dinner next year. We then went into Goodnights and had dinner at the bar. I ordered a Tostada salad with sirloin and chili beans ver te top. Beforehand they served is an appetizer of chips and Queso (cheese). I had a Yuengling with dinner. Afterwards we went upstairs to the comedy club. The first 3 comedians were mildly funny but the headliner was very very good. He had a good knack for story telling to draw you into the story.

From Charley Goodnights web site:

Stewart Huff is an established comic known for his clever material. His high-energy storytelling style is winning over audiences in clubs all over the country. Stewart is on the cutting edge of comedy's move toward thoughtful and well crafted comedy... Huff’s unique choice of material is what sets him apart.

He covers topics ranging from The Wright Brothers to the greatest job he ever had: The Dairy Queen. If that's not enough, Stewart has a bit about penguins that will change your life. Stewart’s unique, clean material, energetic delivery and comfortable stage presence make for a night of non-stop laughter.

Went right to working on the DVD's. Burned a few bad copies trying to get the menu working correctly. Finally finished it all by around 1 PM and put it in the mail. Had lunch with Libbie on the back porch then tackled the septic pump. The step I tried to rig on the bottom of the pump failed. As soon as I put it in the septic tank, air in the step caused it to slip sideways away from the pump. I had to pull everything up and cut the round step loose from the wires that attached it to the pump. Lowered the pump without it, hooked everything up, plugged it in and the pump ran, shuttered and then stalled. What a disappointment. There apparently is a lot of sludge on the bottom of the tank. Not sure if I can ever get the pump to work on the bottom of the tank. This is a major setback. Received the cassette tape and went to work on digitizing it. There is a lot of tape hiss. Tried Audacity to clean up the noise but Anne said it sounded like a Science Fiction movie. Dinner was chicken jambalaya. Watched American Idol where they picked the wild card candidates for a sing off tomorrow night. Afterward I went back to working on the tape.

Did the grocery store thing. Lean Cuisinne was on sale for a very nice price. Normally 3.19, but 1.99 but if you buy 10 you get an additional $5 off. I had a 2.50 coupon for 13 or more and it was 5% off for senior day so I estimated I paid !.20 each. Libbie came home wiped out with her cold. So far I haven't had any symptoms. Town of Apex called admitting that I was double billed for water. They are crediting my bill. While Libbie slept after lunch I pulled up the septic pump and tried running it but it would only hum. Brought it back to Graingers and tried the new one in the 220VAC outlet out back and it runs fine. Now I need to put the plumbing back together. Dinner was Trader Joe's pasta. After dinner I watched American Idol then went upstairs and worked on the species program until midnight. Finished the corrections on all 4 programs. Now I need to modify the menu's for the credits and burn the DVD's.

We woke to a dusting of snow. The road and driveway were clear but there was snow on the grass and bushes. Libbie was in bad shape today so I took her to the illness clinic that Cary Medical runs every day from 1 to 3. They prescribed antibiotics which we picked up in Krogers on the way back. While she waited to be seen I drove over to the greenhouse and clipped a few loose clips on the interior house 3 to 4 divider. I also took a look at the inflation and the hot dawg fanjet fanbelt. All was well. Picked up Libbie and stopped at Krogers - the antibiotic was $18 which was the insurance rate. Talked to Anne today about the species and trailers program.

I went to Krogers early this morning and picked up milk and the newspaper. It's still raining and the temp was 34 degrees. It's supposed to get cold and change over to snow tonight. I didn't take a shower this morning in anticipation of pulling out the septic pump and then cleaning up before going to RLT. Didn't do that because it was raining too hard.

Left for the theater at 2:15 in the cold rain. The performance was excellent, but RLT has never disappointed us. This story was gripping. I didn't know the story so was riveted to the compelling story line which was very well staged. Afterwards we picked up a pizza at NY Pizza in Wellington. It took a little longer than it should have because Libbie ordered our pizza from the wrong store. There was a teen girls basketball team celebrating a victory while we waited for our pizza to be made.

I'm a little sore this morning from the heavy pump lifting of yesterday. We are having a steady rain. Went out to Home Depot and got more 2 inch fittings and a 10 inch fiberglass irrigation control box to put under the pump. Hopefully this will keep it off the floor of the sump tank. If this doesn't work I will probably get the tank pumped. Listened to Trovatore this afternoon while working on some more of the Species audio files. Barb Pershing sent me a new credits slide for the end of the Species program. Richard narrated new credit endings for each of the sections. dinner was stuffed salmon and sweet potatoes. Libbie has a pretty bad cough this evening. Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow and also we have RLT tickets tomorrow.

I went outside around 9 and started working on the septic pump. After installing the 2 inch pipe and taping the wiring to the pipe I hooked up the rope and lowered it into the tank. It went in a lot easier than I thought. Installed a 220 VAC outlet by the tank and rewired the panel in the garage but I made an error picking up the same phase for both sides of the 220 VAC. After a quick change to pick up both sides i tried again but the punp was stalled. I could hear it humming but it didn't pump. I initially thought the line was plugged so I dug a hole 100 feet up the hill and drilled a 1/4 inch hole but no water. Went further down and dug another hole about 30 feet up the pipe. Drilled another hole and also dry. Cut the pipe at the creek and tried the pump again. This was when i realized the pump was stalled and not pumping. I will have to raise it again and get it to spin freely. Dinner was Libbie's barbecued chicken with Southwestern corn. Her BBQ sauce is still good. Libbie has a bad cough today. I'll probably get it tomorrow.

Went over to the greenhouse at 8:30 to cap a plumbing leak on bench 10. The pipe broke from the solenoid. While there I noticed the inflation blower was not working. Took a look and it was hot to touch and not spinning. Unplugged it and ordered a new blower as well as a Hot Dawg Fanjet fan belt spare. The current fan belt is 6 weeks old and seems to be holding up but I don't have a backup. I studied the old spreadsheets for a septic pump and then bit the bullet and spent $850 to get the larger high head pump. I will need to rewire the panel to deliver 220 volts to the septic tank. Libbie went to Graingers with me to pick up the stuff. She stayed home while I went to the greenhouse and installed the inflation blower. Installation went without a problem. Dinner was the Trader Joe's Calzone. After dinner I went over to Home Depot and picked up the 2 inch pipe fittings for the septic pump.

It was a nice day out but I didn't work on woods cleanup since my back hurts. I studied CNC routers some more and pretty much decided I want to get the Fireball base unit and populate it with 3rd party stepper motors and driver board. The computer is another issue that I haven't dealt with yet. I possibly may replace Manon as my main desktop and repurpose Manon as a Linux CNC machine. Took a look at wireless once again. I may build a growbox controller with moisture sensors and a wireless interface back to the house. I went to sculpting tonight for the last session. i really don't like the piece. Proportions are all off. Dinner was tomato soup and cheese toast.

Went to Krogers and Trader Joe's then went in search of an Earth Box. Didn't have them at Garden Supply or at Family Garden on 55. I researched them some more and found a clone at the Garden Patch for half the price, $29 vs $59 and if you order 3 they knock money off the shipping so I ordered 3 for $105. Found a nice wiki of a university, USC, that covers the Fireball V90 router they bought. It covers stepper motor sources, specs, wiring and driver boards. It seems I can save much by buying the base and going elsewhere for motors and drivers.
Regarding the Earth Box, I learned of it in Circuit Cellar. A guy fixtured his grow box to detect that it needed water and added solenoid drivers to give it water. All this is monitored by a wireless handheld controller.

I checked the web and the package delivery was attempted at 8:30 in Maine but no-one home. They had 17 inches of snow, the news was reporting power failures. Heard from John later that Mary picked up the package and he made some test runs. The ethanol is still overshooting but it's better now, only going over by 1 to 3 degrees. I studied CNC machines on the web. I don't think I have the mechanical expertise or tools to build one myself so I found a few kits with all the parts for assembly. These thing are driven by an open source Linux program and typically cost less than $1,000. I could use one for prototype packages. Libbie made some Trader Joe's shrimp and broccoli which came with white pepper that I used. We watched some of the Oscar fashion reviews on Extra and Entertainment Hollywood which I usuallyenjoy. It was too cold to go outside today. It was 41 but there was a stff wind.

A slow day. TRied working on the php program to build library pages but the skies cleared, the sun came out and I worked outside a little. We took a walk through Seagroves and discussed where to put a bird box. Picked up a few branches then came inside to watch the red carpe at 6 then the Academy Awards at 8. Libbie made 2 pizzas for dinner tonight. We learned the package left Raleigh last night. The microwave controller was sent Express Mail on Saturday evening. We didn't know if it would sit in the Post Office till Monday. Apparently not.

Listened to Cenerentola on my server while working on microwave stuff. I finished the runs of H2O and isopropyl alcohol. I think I'll add an xlow setting to the mix. Heard from Anne. She like the newsletter - she asked if either of us wants to be on the Board of Directors. I went outside to finish trimming the Oak trees next to the brick sidewalk. Didn't finish hauling the branches because I wanted to listen to the opera. Adriana Lecouver today with domingo and Borodin. Very nice.

I worked on the microwave algorithms today testing various quantities of media and timing the slope for use in the firmware. Blew a fuse while testing water at 5 PM so turned it off and got ready for the opera. Libbie made soup and cheese toast for lunch then we had a lean cuisine before the performance. Left at 6:30 for the 7:30 performance. Parking was crowded because of Dora the Explorer going on at the same time. Cenerentola was delightful. The singing was amazing, the acting was quite good which we got to see up close since we were in Row C. My postcards came today in two 15 pound boxes. That's a lot of cards. Marjorie sent the Lonestar newsletter which was amazingly great.

I'm going to do the trailer program for AVSA since Rich Follett doesn't know what he's doing. Heard from John about the microwave. It's better but it still overshoots the target temperature. I need to re-adjust the timings. Dinner was Trader Joe's pasta. Received all the trailer images from Barb in California. The slides are pretty old.

Talked with Anne many times today about the Trailer program and what to do about it. I spent a lot of the day working on the library website revamp. I want to use PHP to read an XML file to generate the web pages. Went to sculpting tonight - I'm getting better at legs. Charlotte our model is a beauty. I'm thinking of a private posing session for a more dynamic dance pose. Still need to work out the details. Dinner before sculpting was chicken and fresh asparagus. It rained today and was a little wet returning home.

I spent a lot of time working on the DVD and ended up with 2 DVD's for the species program. I read about writing to an SD card using a microcontroller and using relays to switch back to another host for the card in a circuit cellar contest article. The importance of this is I can use it to write a card in a digital picture frame and use the picture frame as a cheap LCD display device. This has possibilities. We didn't get shredded wheat from the stores today so Libbie and I went out for shredded wheat and then had dinner at La cocina. It's Tuesday which is 99 cent Margarita night. We each had a Margarita and I had the chicken chipotle. When we got home Anne called about the library program that Richard was going to do. He hasn't and said he needs a program to merge sound and pictures.

Spent almost the whole day messing with the Species program DVD. I can't get the 4 videos to fit on one DVD. I ended up going to bed with the 4 videos rendered in high quality. Tomorrow I'll try making the DVD's. Outdoors I set the ladder up against the Oak tree and cut off the lower limbs. I hauled about 3/4 of them to the branches pile. While I was at it I also cleaned up a few downed logs on the hillside. Dinner was cheese toast and chunky soup sausage gumbo. We spent the rest of the evening listening to the Chicago symphony on WCPE and reading. I'm reading Mitso Soup by Ryu Murakami which I accidentally checked out of the library thinking it was Haruki Murakami.