This morning I went to DeSears ppliances tent sale. They were advertising scratch and dent sale with good prices. I bought a GE microwave for $28. Next I went to Venice. First stop was the rookery. Saw some egret juveniles getting fed by their Mom. The trees were loaded with young anihingas. The island contained egrets. There weren't many great gray Herons. Next stop was Raceway across the street - gas was 2.25 which was about 10 cents lower than most other places. After the gas I stopped into a Venice Toyota dealer to look at sticker prices. They had selling price in the windshield. I photographed the sticker with the car and the factory prices and options for my records. back at the condo I disassembled the GE. Much of the interior is the same, however the controller is different. There was a wiring diagram in an envelope inside the unit although it's hard to read. I need to hook a scope to the relay coils to determine the order of activation. There is one relay called an inrush relay. It seems to activate the Magnetron through a varistor type device in parallel with the Main relay which my mean the inrush turns on first then the main relay takes over. At 7 PM I left for drumming. It's a very clear evening with some high level clouds. Sunset is at 8:13. There was a good crowd there - lots of fine woman in bikini's, lots of drums. I stayed until around 9. Came back and had a Lean Cuisine parmesan fish.

After talking with Lib I decided to go to the East coast today. Left around 8:30 and decided to take Route 60. The stretch through Brandon is bad with many many lights but once I got going it was great. It's a 4 lane road with a 65 MPH speed limit. I hit many bugs, turning the windshield into a whitewash. Found the Backus gallery. I was surprised it's a city museum located on a very attractive waterfront. The water was very pretty. Walked through the museum - enjoyed the paintings, learned a little about the Highwaymen. Ended up buying a DVD of their story. The coffee table books were $59 so I didn't bite. Stopped in a McDonalds on Route 1 before finding FL60 to get to I-95 for the drive to Melbourne.
In Ft Pierce I found a self wash place and put 2 dollars worth of quarters in the machine and pressure washed the windshield to get most of the bugs off so I could see again.
In Melbourne I visited Mom's brick, took some pictures then briefly toured the old Trailer Haven which is now called Tropical Haven. Found the old Twins site - there seems to be building going up there. Was quite surprised that the Melbourne Mall was nuked and replaced with a high rise hotel. Sears is still on the end however. Drove back down to SR60 in Vero and headed East around 5:30. Got back at 8:30.

Got up early and had the hotel breakfast bagels and coffee. Left and got onto 295 South but it was stopped around exit 3. Got off and got gas for 2.27 then did a McDonalds coffee. Also got 2 Egg McMuffins because they were buy one get one free. Didn't need that much food. Used the GPS and took a parallel road to 295 direct to I-95. The rest of the trip was not eventful. Stopped into Ellenton outlets for some Reebok sneakers which were buy one get the second pair for 50% off. Bought 2 pairs then stopped into the Stoneybrook office and picked up a transponder and a fitness center key card. Total was $30 on my account. For dinner I had ribs to go which was an outstanding dinner - ribs, veggies, baked potato and salad.

I was still reluctant to go to Florida since I'm doing so much stuff around here and don't want to leave. During breakfast I pushed the button to reserve a Comfort Suites room in Jacksonville. In the morning I went to the Credit Union to get money then I went to Lowes and bought some fencing. At home I planted the marigolds and zinnias then I installed the fencing to keep the rabbits out of the flower bed. We'll see how this works. I left at 12:30 after stopping into the greenhouse to say goodbye. Felicia was there helping Libbie plant plugs. The trip was fairly good. In Savannah I hit blinding rain and whiteout conditions with the heavy rain nd the spray from cars and trucks. On the other side of Savannah it was like emerging from a cave - the sun was shining and trip was uneventful. I only stopped for gas once in Florence, SC at 2.09 but I didn't need much. Also got some McDonald hamburgers but then I got onto the wrong ramp for I-95 and headed North up to the next exit which was TV road and got turned around in the correct direction. I got into the Jax motel at 7:15. It was a beautiful place - a brand new Comfort Suites. Walked next door and had a Wendys spicy chicken with a side salad. The hotel has WiFi so I went online and did email.

I still don't want to go to Florida. Libbie called at noon saying that the violet club was meeting at Giovanni's, a new restaurant that replaced Blue Rain. I enjoyed lunch over there with the group. Got Joann hoover signed up to be chair of the information table.

Got up pretty early, picked up a paper and returned the movie at Krogers at 7 AM. After reading the paper I went outside and worked on the wiring for the electric fence around the grow boxes. I also used the chain saw on the log that had fallen on the lawn. Dinner was Libbie's outstanding pizza.

I didn't feel like going to the opera today but I knew I would enjoy it. I have so much to do around here. We left at 11 for the 12:30 performance. Libbie made sandwiches - we were the first ones in the theater. I loved the performance - the lead soprano is an opera babe. She's a very pretty blonde Mezzo from Latvia. The opera was over the top great. When we got outside it was warm and windy - the car temp said it was 93. At home I cut the lawn in front by the street since it was getting long. Dinner was salmon and broccolli but without wine. We're trying to cut back.

I pulled some wire today in the attic to run ethernet and telephone to Libbie's computer in Joe's old room. Went to Home Depot and picked up some staples and a box with outlet cover for the jacks. In the afternoon I worked in the yard with the chain saw. Took down some lower branches and 2 saplings on lot 67 for the Bluebird house then sliced up a pine tree that fell by the old transformer location. The tree was laying on the lawn so it needed slicing up. Dinner was crab cakes with bean salad.

I installed more software on Libbie's new computer. This time it was MS Office and McAfee antivirus. Worked on installing the electric fence around the grow boxes. I chose not to put in a Williamsburg type garden with the thought that it would be like a trailer park garden. In the evening we went to the Carying place benefit auction for wine and nice dinner with heavy hors'doeuvres. We bid on several silent auctions and ended up spending $260 which was more than I wanted to.

Planted an eggplant in the grow boxes and worked on the other gardens a little. Libbie's PC arrived this afternoon - it was only ordered on Monday. I worked on the build and had a little trouble getting the new XP install CD to boot. I ended up unplugging the CD drive, botting from CD then hot plugging the drive back in. The thing installed OK by itself including formatting the hard drive. Dinner was the Indian veggie mix with chicken on it. The red head Allison was eliminated tonight. She sang like Janis Joplin with a raspy voice.

It rained last night which was good but we had severe weather this afternoon. Tornados were reported in several areas, the closest being on the Cary Parkway by Route 1. Dinner was Trader Joe pasta. Little Kim was eliminated tonight on Dancing with the stars.

Workedon the Media center a little after ordering Libbie's new PC fron NewEgg. Went to TigerDirect at noon to get a remote for the Media Center. Got one for $32 with tax which was for Vista but I found a driver on the web that worked for XP MCE. I really like the control I now have over moview and pictures. Still need something better for music. Tried mowing the grass but the mower started smoking. I think it has too much oil in it.

I got up surprisingly early. I was getting the paper at the gas station at 6:45 AM. Wow. After the paper I played with the PIO some more. Finally got the thing to output onto a PIO pin. Did some more gardening. Planted the flower seeds, the remaining tomato and hooked up the electric fence again. Dinner was Libbie's excellent pizza. We took a walk around Seagrove Farm. The pool is finished and lot 67 is sold.

Tried watering everything. Spent lot of time on theAVR32 getting the tool chain to compile and run. There's lots I don't understand. Dinner was ribs from Sams, Trader Joe siraz and rice and beans. Also started working on getting my MCE PC updated so it could be a media center.

First Friday. We went to Sams for dishwashing powder and $209 of other items. I wasreluctant to leave the gardening. I planted the grow boxes and the flower beds. Dinner was salmon and sweet potato with shiraz.

We left at 8:15 for Williamsburg, arrived at the Woodlands at 11:55 AM. Met Judy and Adrienne in the parking lot. We stopped at a Dunkin donuts on I-95 on the way for coffee and a bagel with cream cheese. The hotel has a lot of compromises. After the hotel tour we had a business meeting in the Seasons restaurant in Market Square. I had a turkey and bacon sandwich with a Blue Moon beer. It was yummy. Got home at around 7 PM. It was an easy drive with the bypass giving us interstate driving all the way. Dinner for me was just fruit and a piece of bread since I had such a big lunch.

Did some gardening today. I almost hate to leave here tomorrow for Williamsburg but it's a one day trip so it will be easy. We had pasta for dinner.

Went to the Dr office with Libbie for her colonoscopy. Waited outside while they did the procedure. She was done round 11:45 from her 11:00 appt. Came home and had a chicken rice vegetable soup for lunch. Took a walk up the hill - it's a beautiful dy. They were string trimming and running a brush hog in the pond. Fired up the EVK1101 board and installed the USB driver. The USB powers the thing. Did some more reading about the GPIO reads/writes. Dinner was pasta from Trader Joes and then chocolate yogurt.

Southwest has an airfare sale on Bay area airports. I'm thinking of the Maker Faire again. Can't believe it. Spent some more time on the LCD again. Found the EVK1101 but can't find the NGW100. Libbie was incapacitated getting ready for her colonoscopy tomorrow so i went to Krogers and picked up a Szechuan Lean cuisine. Aunt Helens doctor called today about a blood clot they found. They're going to install a filter to stop it from migrating. I was pretty tired this evening - fell asleep out cold during Dancing with the stars.

No shower because I'll do that later after working in the yard. Went out before 7 and got the newspaper. Looked at the AVR32 some more. I think I'll code it up to interface the Sony display then go all out and configure it for the Sparkfun higher resolution TFT LCD. The Sony is adequate, the Sparkfun is awesome. I would be adopting the CCI Design contest winner code but on an AVR32 instead of an 8515. Worked in the backyard moving dirt around the oak tree roots to make it easier to mow. I finished leveling the brick sidewalk. While I was at it, Libbie and I leveled the birdbath. It was leaning to the left (downhill). Libbie mde her wonderful pizza for dinner. After dinner we wrote thank yous for all promo donations in between phone calls from Sue.

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.