Slept well this morning. Got up at 6:20, had breakfast, went outside and took the bike out of the car and put the handle bars on then did a test ride around the pool before going to the sequence of meetings for the commons, the homeowners and the board budget meeting. Afterward I went out and bought oil at Walmart for the bike and took it on a 5 mile journey down the Legends trail to the Scherer park. It was a nice trip. For dinner I had the Boca burger again since I was too lazy to go to the clubhouse.

I woke naturally at 4 AM and hit the road by 4:30. Fog was pretty thick in NC and some of SC. Traffic was light or non existent. I made pretty good time. Stopped to top off the tank in florence and picked up a couple of sausage and egg biscuits in Mickey D's at 2 for $2. Next stop was the Fla visitors center to pee. I listened to Rheingold and then the 125th Met gala which I enjoyed. I stopped in Volusia county at McDonalds and the Raceway across the way. This is the exit with Ray Price Harley. I like the McDonalds - it has an outdoor deck for the entryway. This is just before I-4. I-4 was heavy through Orlando as usual. Saw a spa place to the left on I- West called "Crawford Construction Co.". I thought of Uncle Fred. Arrived in Stoneybrook at 3:15. sally was sweeping glass by the dumpster and Peter was walking across the driveway. It was nice to be greeted by everyone. Picked up some frozen yogurt and Boca burgers in Publix along with the paper. I had a Boca burger for dinner.

We got going at 6:40 today. Headed over to the breakfast room but the room had a line of kids waiting to get in. This has happened many times this week. Of course they didn't have the keys at the front desk like Sarah said they would. We finally got somebody to open the conference center but the lights were not on in the building. We did use the kitchen elevator because the little one up front was broken. Libbie had to pick up Dale at 8 at the lobby to take her to the airport. She got going and I finished loading up. Got to the greenhouse before noon and into our front door shortly thereafter just as Libbie called. I unpacked then repacked the car. did a Krogers run for coffee and dinner. Sorted pictures and backed up my files then updated MAAVS.org. All set to go in the morning!!! Dinner was California Pizza Kitchen thin crust pizza mergherita.

Breakfast this morning was crowded with an eighth grade class. We survived and had our cereal at a table next to Brenda and Mahlen. I bought 16 bottles of wine at Trader Joes and some cheese and crackers. Felicia and JoAnne cut up the cheese and helped me set out the food for the party. Everybody showed up at 6 and then just before 7 we headed out for the restaurant. We drove and the Texas crowd drove as well, getting to the restaurant before everyone else. The food and service was fantastic. Ann-Marie and Lenny showed up this afternoon and started the photography

We left after breakfast today. The drive was horrible. At times we couldn't see on I-95 as the rain was blowing sideways and winds were over 50 MPH really blowing us around. It was so nice to finally get to the conference center but it continued pouring a cold rain. The little conference center elevator was inadequate for unloading but we got the job done. We went out in the storm for dinner. I thought we were going to a nice restaurant but ended up in the chain restaurants part of Williamsburg and had ribs at Red Hot and Blue. Not what I expected.

The greenhouse got flooded by the broken sump pump and unrelenting rains. I have everything done for Williamsburg. Took time out and dug a trench by the tanks to let the water drain from the pipe better. I next punched a hole in the blocks to drain the garage and dug another trench from the block to a hole I dug down to the drain pipe. The cars are packed and we're set to go but it's not going to be fun - lots more rain predicted tonight and up there. Dinner was chicken over pasta.

I did the grocery run this morning and picked up the fruit cake ingredients along with everything else. Did not get too much stuff because we travel this week to Williamsburg. Did some last minute counting of meals from the latest list provided by Laurene. Worked on my Disney Story for unknown reasons. I'm going to write a story for the Winter Holidays theme for the same website I wrote earlier in the summer. The theme back then was "nude day". On my PC I got the backup program backing up my PC to the external drive as well as the Udrive on Traviata. The Udrive contains all the Linux related php info of Toms Lifebits, the art and pb databases and the music server, but not the music collection itself. Dinner was Briyani over spaghetti. We watched Dancing with the stars while I worked more on the Disney story.

After the paper today I worked a little on the microwave project. I started building the probes for the temperature. In the PM Libbie and I raked the yard, spread pinestraw and blew off the driveway. Dinner was the usually excellent Libbie pizza.

I started taking the laptop apart to replace the hinges which came Thursday. Can't seem to get the top off but it was 11:20 and time to change clothes to go to the opera, leaving home at 11:30.
We attended the HD performance this afternoon and loved it. We had a problem with sound dropouts but the Nessun Dorma was intact. The singing was wonderful even though we knew Maria Guiligiana was getting over a cold. Patricia Racette was the interviewer and it was truly a delight with her as host. Th interviews seemed natural and interesting instead of a game of 20 questions. I loved the interview with the Met Brass players about their new CD.
There were many many buses waiting for the old geezers outside the theater.
Stopped at Harris Teeter on the way home and got shrimp and Orange Juice.

I started the morning with wiring the under counter lights in up over the sink. Went to Home Depot looking for a plug in outlet for the light strip. No luck so I bought a conduit connector which was most difficult to install because of location. Late in the PM I realized I had a Will Call at Graingers for a new inflation blower for house 3&4 so I went out at 4 PM and picked it up. Traffic was stop and go on the way home as expected. Libbie made a Lemon Meringue pie while I was gone. We left at 6 for First Friday. Went to Nicloes and talked to Nicole and Rocky, had some avocado dip and red wine then went to Artspace. Lots of shapely young woman in boots and miniskirts as well as painted on jeans. It was a nice site other than the art. Had some wine at Visual Art but did not like the oddball exhibit they had along with loud DJ music outside the place. Walked through Artspace where I liked the salsa supplied by a restaurant. At Cafe Luna for our 8 PM dinner it was crowded. We sat in mid room and I had the Lobster Ravioli special in cream sauce which was yummy. Libbie had her usual Farfali. As we were going to the parking garage, the Imax theater got out so we had quite a wait in line getting out of the garage. I had lots of nice greetings on Facebook. Opened presents and got a book, "Blink" from George and Mary as well as chocolate pmegranate candy from Arlene. At Caffe Luna I was given a Hagan Daze ice cream with a lit candle. It was a nice evening.

Went to PIP in Cary earlier and set up the booklet print job. I previously emailed the files to them. They printed a proof while I waited which was nice.

I worked all day drilling the cabinets and concealing the wires to run the under the counter lights. Libbie came home in the PM and painted the remaining wall. I picked up the muted slate color earlier from Home Depot. We'll use the same paint in the front Foyer. At the end of the afternoon we were both tired and went out to eat at La Cocina. I had a Margarita with the quasadilla.

Today we painted the breakfast area orange. It's an entirely different look. The woodwork was previously taped. After a few hours we stripped the tape and started putting the room back together. Dinner was the whole wheat ravioli from Krogers yesterday. Libbie didn't like it but I did.

I finished the booklet today after Laurene sent me the registrants and their states. Put it up on google docs and sent out the link to the team. Quilting cowgirl called saying the quilt was on the frame. Libbie and I went to the voting place where I voted. She voted previously. Next was the quilt place to see the quilt being sewn. It was pretty exciting seeing this. Lastly we went to Home Depot and picked up the paint but did not put it on. Too late in the day to start.
Heard from Ken that one eMail address was wrong. Fixed it and found that I can't upload a new file over the old. The link I sent everyone changes! Went out after the polls closed and picked up 10 political signs for use as backing material for the convention posters.

I pretty much shot most of today putting the MAAVS book together. Received the awards from Richard which I formatted and put in the booklet. Judi informed me she was sending a letter. I added her page and renumbered everything. Now I just need locations. Libbie went tot he Apex garden club where she talked about Violets and showed the Reno DVD. Pat Knight had me change the website and eMail the membership that the designs deadline has been extended. Dinner was a can of Trader Joe's organic chili. Too much to eat once again.

We used the Kilz and painted the primer on the kitchen walls. I did a little more light sanding before taping the trimwork to protect it from the paint. It was a tiring job. After this I worked on MAAVS some more. Dinner was Libbie's fantastic pizza.

It's a beautiful day outside but I finished the plastering of the kitchen walls after wallpaper removal. It looks pretty smooth. Worked some more on the MAAVS booklet. So much to do. I also cut the holes for the plastic box so I can mount the keyboard and display for the microwave project, Kahlo 4.

The light in the back foyer was blown so I went to Home Depot looking for an energy efficient solution. I bought some kitchen under the counter flourescents to try out. I stopped in Krogers and bought a mini CF 60 watt bulb which fits very nicely into the fixtures. I'll replace the others with 60 watt CF's and get more than twice the light for half the power. Finally heard from Richard today. He said he will have the awards list tomorrow. We'll see.
When Libbie came home we worked some more on the breakfast area wallpaper before going to Home Depot to pick paint colors. We bought another package of under cabinet lights which means 6 more. The first 3 added some nice lighting to the counter although at the expense of looking like an ad on. We also went to the Body Works store and got packages of hand cleaner. Explored Apex driving through the Orchards of Apex and the Villages of Apex amazed at all the construction that has totally stopped. Endless rows of streets and stop signs with curbs and street lights but no houses. Drove through downtown Apex and stopped at the bookstore we didn't know was there. Bought a $1 bag of books.

Today was pig out day. I had a can of chili for lunch and apple pie (two pieces) for desert in the evening. I went to Sears to look at Scroll saws and blades. Bought a kit to convert my saw to a no pin design but it didn't fit well. The bottom blade holder hit the casing. Returned it and bought a plain package of blades. Tried one on the plastic box and it fell off the saw. Ended up cutting the first hole, the one hidden by the keyboard, by hand, Dinner was pasta I picked up in Trader Joe's earlier today. The first Opera News arrived today. I resubscribed after a few years lapse. I saw a trip to London and Paris that included 7 operas and ballets from Dailey Thorpe travel. I sent them an inquiry for pricing. I also looked online at the Opera houses in Paris and London in order to plan this trip on our own.

I pretty much finished the booklet today except for AVSA 201 and the awards. Dinner was a chicken Gonzolla caserole from Trader Joes. I did accounting of the Bluebird loan today. Libbie wasn't happy that I did this but since the SS check came today and I credited the loan, I needed to do it. We are clueless as to where we are.

It's lightly raining today. I did some research on Blood Pressure based on a mention of the Peoples Pharmacy website on GMA. They were talking about generics but I researched Hydrochlorothiazide since I wanted to see if People's had anything to say about it. Found out the doses go from 12.5 to 100 MG. I'm currently using the 25 MG product. Also looked at and downloaded the government pamphlet on the DASH diet which emphasizes whole grains, vegetables and low salt in the diet.

Started working on the VBasic program that formats the addresses. Did all three groups, the commercials, the individuals and the affiliates. Got them all placed in the book. Now I need the welcome letter which I will write during Dancing with the Stars tonight. Dinner was the last of the leftover turkey, stuffing, potato and cranberry. I joined Classmates today and after looking through some of the profiles I couldn't see before, I decided it wasn't worth it. Did not write the welcome letter, too tired so I surfed the web and watched Dancing. I enjoyed tonights competition, especially the group dance Mambo tag elimination round. Swimsuit model Joanna has a very nice body. We think Maya got screwed by Len the judge since he only gave her a "7" for too much intro to the dance.

We actually slept in today until 7:30. What a late start for us! My kidney pain is gone this morning and better yet, my weight is 215. Watched a special on sunday Morning covering weight loss and the obesity epidemic. It featured Valerie Bertinelli which I enjoyed. We took a walk around Seagroves today - found the cinder block house on 1010 is going for $190k. Wow. My BP is now 121/75 which is excellent. I had a turkey sandwich for lunch without incident. Worked a little but not enough on the MAAVS booklet. I was able to organize several years of the 60's in the eMags database.

I took the second blood pressure tablet this morning. This stuff is really working. My BP was 123/78 which was amazing and agreed with the two or three readings yesterday which had it down in the 120's. I'm going to start the booklet for MAAVS in earnest today. We leave for AIDA in HD at 11:45 for a 1 PM performance.
Aida was perfect. We really enjoyed the backstage stuff as well. Libbie made turkey sandwiches which we had at intermission. We sat between two bozos. The guy next to me emptied a whole box of Milk Duds into his mouth one at a time rattling away and chewing loudly. Libbie's guy had an enormous drink in the drink holder and kept tapping his book on his shoe during the performance. What a bunch of losers. We bought tickets for the January performances of Rosenkavalier and Carmen. Dinner was the turkey dinner and fixings from yesterday. My right kidney killed me after dinner - I also awoke during the night in pain. The Blood Pressure med is causing this I'm sure.

This was another busy day. Went to South Hills to the train shop to get brass tubing for the microwave. This was painful. The moron running the cash register was painfully slow and blind. He needed a magnifier to see anything and overcharged me for the brass tube. It was supposed to be 4.89 but he charged 5.20. I complained but it would be too painful to have him check the price on the display. I won't be going back there anytime soon. From there I went to RTP and took a tour of TechShop. This place is too expensive for what they have. In addition, the Shopbot CNC seems to use their own proprietary CAD program. I would rather use some open source software to lay out the panel. The bottom line is I decided it would be cheaper to buy my own CNC or better yet, find the company in St Pete that does this. I came home and went over to the library for a 2 PM program called the Deadly Diva's, which was a panel of 5 mystery writers. I enjoyed the program and got some new insight into their writing craft. This was an interesting bunch of women from all over the country. Dinner this evening was turkey with all the fixings including stuffing, mashed potatoes, and lima beans. I forgot to break open the cranberries. Thank goodness there was no wine in the house. I started the blood pressure meds today and surprisingly I think I'm seeing results. Have not really experienced side effects yet. Blood pressure readings several times during the day was in the 120's. Wow, this is a miracle drug.

Worked on the controller cards some more and complete them except for LCD and keypad. I went over to the library at noon and returned the Elizabeth Adler book. I picked up a Sibley tree book to look at and also a book inside Sergey and Brin's brain. This is a book about the two Google founders. We left at 2 for the State Fair with our 4 cans each of Foodlion food. At the Fair we parked at our usual spot next to Carter Finley and began the many miles of walking. We ran into Jennifer at the ATM at the Fair entrance. We toured the gardens and flowers but the Flower show was closed for judging. Next it was the Village of Yesteryear. We stopped at the pottery wheels and then made the complete circle before leaving the way we came in. Stopped into the building with crafts, sampled "American Fudge" but bought half a pound of peanut butter chocolate fudge from "Amish Fudge" for $5.20. It was good, Libbie and I shared it while we walked. Visited the cows then walked through the rooster barn. It's amazing there are so many varieties of Roosters, making all kinds of crowing sounds. NExt it was the education buildings where we sampled peanuts and talked to TechShop of Durham. This is a membership facility that features a machine shop at RTP including a CNC machine. I'm interested!!! Viewed the cakes and quilts before leaving and going to the Scott building where Libbie got her milk. We looked at the paintings, including one by Rocky Alexander, my oil painting instructor. We went down the midway eating a very fresh Funnel Cake for $5. before leaving. Artisan bakery was demoing bread baking in a tent where we sampled some very good pumpernickel raisin bread. Our exit was smooth and uneventful but traffic on the beltline was heavy and creepy crawley. We got home at 5:30 but decided not to go out for dinner because we were tired and I wasn't hungry. Libbie fixed some chicken soup instead. I researched CNC's in the evening before reading a little of the Google book before bed.