Did some more LCD research. Loaded the trial version of Eagle PCB onto my PC so I could look at the schematics of an improvement to the CCI design contest TFT LCD. I ordered two LCD's last night from Electronic Goldmine. I will use an 8515 AVR to act as a display controller for the thing. Went to Home Depot this morning and bought sand. The parking lot was pretty crowded - it is Saturday after all. Ripped up some bricks, removed another root and then used the sand for a new bed. This time I put down felt paper which gives a smoother surface to lay the bricks on. Put down quite a few bricks but I wanted to listen to Gotterdammerung at 12:00 from the Met.
After Gotterdammerung we did a grocery run foraging for food at Trader Joes. Picked up Shiraz, ribs and sweet potatoes as well as a variety of frozen fish and veggies. Dinner was a wonderful plate of ribs and sweet potato with Shiraz. I started looking at the AVR32 for a display controller. The AP7000 is on a BGA which requires an 8 layer board, however the UC3A and UC3B are in conventional packages. The clss I took gave us an EVk1001 with aa UC3B chip on board. This is the version with USB but without Ethernet.

Looked some more at LCD displays in the morning. Went outside and took apart the brick sidewalk on the side where roots pushed the bricks up. Also mowed the front grass along the street and did a little tree branch pickup. When Libbie came home we went out to Duke Gardens and spent the afternoon. Stopped at the CU on the way home then mailed the postcards to Brenda. Dinner this evening is Curry chicken.

I spent a lot of today researching LCD's and how to drive them. Found the index for Circuit Cellar and did some looking at back issues. I also researched how to write SD cards using an AVR and also took a look at intercepting the picture frame to SD communications so I can transparently write the card while it is in the frame. Heard from Rich Follett, he now wants to be entertainment chair. I don't know about this. Dinner was bean burger with vidalia onion.

It's warm today but a little windy. Did some reading on LCD displays. My laptop internet connection is a little flakey this morning. Got the wireless weather station from JC Penney working on the network. Hung the outdoor sensor on the front porch column to get outdoor temperatures. Libbie added chicken to the Indian veggie mix for dinner. It was quite good.

We got in at 2 AM this morning from Reno. I was forced to get up early instead of sleeping in because of an 8:30 dentist appointment. All went well at the checkup. I spent most of the day catching up on bills, email and putting stuff away. Did the grocery run, dinner was pasta from Trader Joes. I fell asleep during Dancing with the Stars this evening. Edita wss eliminated. I'll miss her.

Got up early and went down to Starbucks for coffee. Libbie packed
our stuff while I drank the coffee and did some offline computer
work. We left the hotel at noon and had lunch at Wendy's around the corner from the hotel. Afterwards we looked for a drugstore for Libbie so she could take Sudafed for her ears before flying. Our flight from Reno was ontime which was too bad because I enjoyed the free WiFi in the terminal. Changed planes in Las Vegas where we had a Cinnabon. Landed at RDU at half past midnnight. Our chuttle to the EasyPark was right there at shuttle station 9. We picked up a free water in the parking lot then paid our bill which was $45 for the 10 days which included a coupon I had for a free day.

My face hurts from the sunburn this morning. After showering I
used the towel to carefully blot it instead of rubbing it
normally to dry it. We don't have internet access so I'm working
offline. After breakfast at Rosie's where I had French toast we
got in the car and headed for Carson City with our checks from
the promotional table auction. I asked for an envelope at the
front desk of our hotel. The nice lady gave me two business
envelopes into which I put all the signed MAAVS checks along
with a $700 check Libbie made out to AVSA 2010 for our cash. We
mailed it at the post office in Carson City. On the way to
Carson City I stopped for a Starbucks while Libbie went into
Krogers and got sandwich bags for her plants and aloe for our
sunburned faces. We drove up to Tahoe then went around the lake.
It was beautiful. We bought a lunch sandwich and some chips at a
deli on the other side of the lake and stopped at emerald Bay to
have lunch. It was spectacular. Leaving Emeral Bay the road is
on a ridge that drops hundreds of feet on both sides. We drove
it twice to take photos. What a sight!!! When we got back we
tried to scope out a pizza place for dinner later but the GPS
led us to a non existant business again. When I got back to our
room I purchased a one hour internet access. Found out that
Richard quit the vice chair job which was good because I was
wondering how to get rid of him in the first place. He hasn't
done a thing. Others were expressing the same opinion to me.

There were 6 of us for breakfast. The Nicholas's, the
Deutsche's, Tatiana and Vladimir and us. It was a very relaxing
breakfast. We left there at 9 and went to the bus pickup for our
10 o'clock trip to Tahoe. We brought jackets but didn't need
them. The lake was very beautiful. Many people were in Bikinis
although it was a little cold for that kind of attire. I was
comfortable in a flannel shirt but put on a jacket out on the
water. My face got badly sunburned. After we got back Libbie
talked to Jennifer before we got in the car and drove to
downtown Reno for food. We found river walk and walked around
before finding the silver peak grill which was a brewery. I had
the blonde ale and a black bean chili which came with an
outstanding jalapeno corn muffin. I loved watching the ultra
ultra short skirts on several young girls. We cruised the strip in
our Prius. It was entertaining to see how that thing kept turning it's
engine on and off.

Breakfast at Rosies. I had the Pancakes this time. We met Anne
and Richard and talked about the applications for AVSA Board
members. In the afternoon I filled out and submitted an
application. We closed the auctions at 2:30 and collected all
the money. Almost everyone showed up. At 3:15 we had the general
meeting. I welcomed everyone and Libbie described the tours. We
had a very nice prime rib dinner for the installation banquet. I
invited everyone again and Richard did his skit with three
"SaintPaulia" girls. After dinner we went to bed instead of
going to the showroom to beg for plants.

We started with breakfast in the hotel restaurant Rosie's. I had
the French Toast again. Kent Stork joined us for breakfast.
Afterwards we worked on setting up our Raleigh table again from
boxes in the storage room. Bill Price donated many bags of
cuttings to our cause. I attended the Bill Price trailer talk
which was verygood. While Libbie worked at the auction lunch I
went to JC Penneys and bought some pants and shirts which I
later returned with Libbie and got different sizes. We also
picked up a new large suitcase. On the way back from Penneys I
stopped at Wendy's for lunch. Richard donated some leaves for us
to use in the silent auctions. Our table is growing in size. I
took a picture of our promo tables for the web site. Inn the
evening we went out with a large bunch to Washoe's in Reno. I
had the best steak ever but didn't care for the fries. The bill
was one of our highest ever at $115 with tip and only one glass
of wine. There were 12 of us including the Carters, Davidsons
and Nicholas's.

This morning we went to the commercial sales meeting in the
sales room. The group was friendly and interested when I presented
why they should come to Raleigh for the convention.
I enjoyed guarding the door at 12:30 before the sales room opened
at 1. I took photos of the winner of the early entry person, Laurel
Goretsky along with all the commercial vendors lined up greeting her
to the sales room. After that we started the photography. Because
the show was small we finished early. We walked the Casino looking for
a dinner idea. A lot of the restaurants were closed but we waited for
a table at the Oyster Bar. It was excellent and wonderful. I had the Ciappino
while Libbie had a Crab Chowder. They both were in large bowls. We got a
bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon with dinner. Have to stop eating like this.

We had breakfast in the train diner - I had the French toast.
After breakfast we stayed in the sky car watching the last of
the scenery and taking a few pictures. We stopped at Sparks and
saw our hotel. Got off in Reno and took a cab back to the
Nugget. We were able to check in right away at 11 AM. The hotel
is very nice but the casino and lobby is very smokey. Brenda had
a lot of our table set up. I made two boxes for raffle tickets
for the two raffles we will have. Libbie and I went to the Reno
airport to get a rental car. The only sedan they had available
was a Prius. We didn't know how to operate it so Libie looked up
things in the manual while I waited. We stopped at Office Depot
and made some copies of our promo sheet. For dinner we went over
to the Mexican place across the street with Michelle who is
doing entries for MAAVS in Raleigh. She's a nice girl, I enjoyed
our dinner conversation. It snowed on and off all day today and
was pretty cold.

We woke pretty early, before the alarm since our bodies are
still on East Coast time. Got a bagle across the street in a
little coffee shop. The elevator quit part way down so I had to
carry our suitcases from the second floor down. The train was
waiting at the station when we checked our bags. Got on and then
settled into a spot in the lounge car before taking a number for
breakfast. I had scrambled eggs with bacon, OJ and coffee. It
was quite good. For lunch I had a burger which I didn't care
for. We sat with two students from England who were crossing the
country by rail. Our dinner companions were a retired couple
from MD who lived in Colorado skiing for the winter where they
have an RV. They were going to Reno for gambling, etc. For
dinner I had the Flat steak with Cabernet. IT was very very
good. I slept well at night, rarely waking till it was light
outside. We put the chairs back up at daybreak.

We left home around 4:30 for our 6:25 flight. Tried the new
relax.com parking over on 70 because it's covered and I had a
free day coupon. I liked it - the pickup bus followed us to our
spot which was row I space 44 and took us to Terminal 2 for
American. They wouldn't take my or Libbie's credit card which
was of some concern because we had 8 days in front of us. We
found later the computer was down for account maintenance.
Picked up a Brueggers bagle and coffee at our gate. The flight
was very smooth until we got to Dallas then we lost an hour as
we went to the South in some very bumpy weather. We landed at
the time our Denver flight was to take off but they held the
plane for us. Very nice. The Denver flight was surprisingly
smooth although Denver was socked in with some miserable foggy
and dreary weather. Stopped at iHop for Easter brunch then drove
to the Denver Art Museum. What an unusually weird shaped
building. I enjoyed the Western Art. From there went to our
hotel and checked in. Loved the old feel of this hotel. There
are antique moldings and fixtures, etc. Our room is newly
refurbished with modern fixtures, a Bose radio and even WIFI
which I was able to connect to without a hitch. For dinner we
went McCormicks fish house which is part of the hotel. I had
Asahi Tuna which was outstanding with a bottle of Columbia Crest
Chardonnay. We shared a chocolate truffle cake for dessert.
Before dinner I returned the rental car. The trip took 2 hours
although it didn't seem that long. I took the highway 20 miles
to the airport, got gas at the aairport, rode the Hertz shuttle
to the terminal, went in the terminal to buy a Super Shuttle
ticket then went around town in the shuttle and the rain until
the Oxford hotel.

We listened to the Met Walkure at noon. I earlier picked up ribs and wine at Trader Joes. After the opera we did some serious packing since we need camera gear in addition to dress clothes and warm weather clothes. It's snowing in the Sierras but is supposed to end by the time we get there. Went to bed early to get up at 4 but I had trouble getting to sleep.

While I dragged the aerator around on the new grass seed I had the septic pump running. I was very pleased that the liquid was coming out at the top of the hill when I lifted the cover and looked. Picked up a few branches up there and then worked on the lawn. Libbie picked up the mower at noon and went back to the greenhouse to mow and wait for a Wyatt Quarles delivery. I finished the taxes by adding the K-1's to the return in Turbotax and then Libbie took all to the post office and also picked up $150 for our trip to Reno next week. I built an adapter to power the GPS from a wall plug and also programmed the Denver Art Museum and Denver hotel into it. Dinner was peas and creamed tuna over a bed of rice. Very simple but good. I gave Libbie her chocolate bunny a little early for easter.

It's nice to have Libbie back. This morning during and after breakfast I replaced the left hinge on my laptop. The hinge previously broke off so I used a hinge from an old R40 laptop that had a bad screen but otherwise good case and hinges. It was quite a job with all the tiny screws but I managed. Our dinner was chicken over the Curry veggies from Trader Joes.

Not a very good day. Everything has gone wrong. The septic doesn't appear to be pumping. There was water around it and when I turned it on and looked at the top of the hill there was nothing coming out although it may be trickling out because the tank level seemed to go down a little while the pump ran for about an hour. Tried doing the taxes. They are overwhelming. Bluebird is not in very good shape. Entered Bluebird, Stoneybrook and Schwab tax amounts. Still need to do Scottrade and that should be it!!!! I will try to ignore the K-1's this year and only use the consolidated statements although the K-1's reduce my taxes but I don't think I need any reduction. The web server in Bonnard is also acting up. I think I have some bad html because when I quit ahead of it the thing works. Left at 7 to pick up Libbie. She called me when I was on Old Raleigh Rd at 7:01. I got to the airport at 7:15. For dinner we had microwaved Carolina barbecue on buns. I previously picked up the buns in Kroger's along with sugar and coffee. At 8:30 we called Vicki o wish her a happy birthday.

Not a bad day. It's clear but a little chilly. I power washed the tiller, mower and lawn tractor. Changed the oil in the Toro mower. Mowed the grass out by the street then used the blower to clean the tractor and the garage floor and turnaround. Mixed up some roundup and walked the hill trying to zap weeds using my Ace Hardware 2 gallon sprayer. Went over to the greenhouse late in the PM and rewired the thermostats so that house 3 heater comes on when Big Bertha in house 1 fires up. Also repaired the plastic curtain wall which fell down quite a bit. The houses are nicely inflated after I cleaned the screen inlet yesterday of the pollen clogging it up.

It's raining pretty good this morning. The tractor is getting cleaned in the backyard. There's a tornado warning on this morning.

Got the paper early then talked to Lib and answered eMail from Lynn. She wants an auction in Reno. Brenda and I decided not to have one. Bought a tow behind disk aerator on sale in Northern Tools for $59. Picked up the tractor from the greenhouse and hitched it to the aerator. IT did a nice job however the cinder blocks kept falling off. Went to Lowes to pick up bungy cords and also grass seed. On the same trip returned the Guitar DVD to Krogers and picked up a French Bread pizza for dinner. The bungys worked better than expected. After the pizza I watched Dolly Parson on 60 minutes then the Country Music Awards which were entertaining although I decided I don't like country music because all the songs sound the same.

Mixed up some Roundup and sprayed the grass on the powerline. Tried fixing the Solo but it's got a cracked plastic piece. Listened to Elixir on the Met this afternoon while transferring files to the new 1TB disk drive. I'm organizing the movies and jpg files from many hard drives onto a single large drive. I will have one drive for movies, one for Music and the Western Digital MyBook for misc data files. Dinner was a Healthy choice spicy Gerneral Tsao chicken. I watched the Guitar this evening and liked it so much I screwed around with converting it to DIVX. I found that I needed to load something called SLy Fox DVD driver which removed copy protection then I used a Sourceforge open source program called DVDx which made a DIVX file of the DVD. It worked pretty good although my first pass was only 320 wide which made a blocky picture but then using 720 x 480 it worked pretty good.

A perfect day. I worked a little outside. Went to Tigerdirect and picked up a SATA cable for the new 1TB disk drive. Also stopped into HH Gregg in Apex. Not sure why this place exists. It had almost nothing.Fell asleep during Moulin rouge in the evening. Got up and went upstairs to bed. Dinner was cereal.

We had more rain today but I got out in the morning and planted yesterdays Camellia purchase and spread one bag of cypress mulch on the rose bed. It still needs another bag to finish the job. Rented National Lampoons Cattle Call and Nights in Rodanthe. I hated Cattle Call but really liked Nights in Rodanthe. The play between Richard Geere and Diane Lane was good. Very attractive people in a tender story. Had to return it this afternoon before 7 PM. Got some frozen dinners while in Krogers. Talked to Brenda about the Reno convention. We're going to concentrate on silent auctions. Had a frozen Healthy Choice dinner for both lunch and dinner today.

A rainy day. Left at 8:30 to drop Lib off at the airport for her 10 AM Providence flight. Stopped at Brueggers on the Cary Pkwy on the way home and picked up bagels and coffee. Got a call around noon that the minivan was ready. Walked up Old Raleigh Rd because it stopped raining. The starter was $300 and was bad because it filled with oil according to the guy at Gastons. While I had the minivan I went to Home Depot and got 4 more bags of cypress mulch and 2 Camellias. The Camellias rang up as Rhododendron for 7.99. The price was OK because last year I saw Camellias for $39 in the Garden Center near Ace and then $21 at Ace. These were in 1 gallon cans which is a fine size. They probably won't bloom for a couple more years. I had a Krogers mini pizza for dinner.