Because the roads may be icy we left at 5:40 for Libbie's 7:30 flight. The temps were above freezing so we did OK on our trip. It started raining later in the morning. Libbie's plane was on time all the way though she didn't call me to tell me this. Went to the greenhouse and met the UPS truck who had the convection tube. Installed the tube and punched the holes. It works much better with the larger tube - I seem to have more airflow. Now I need to rewire the thermostats to get back to the original configuration. Picked up my groceries today.

I was disappointed with my retirement payment. It was short $82 for the increase in healthcare premiums. This is bad news. I worked on the controller some more and got the keyboard working. Apparently I reassigned the keypad I/O. After rewriting the software and getting this working I found a short in the temperature line. Fixed this and it all works. Libbie packed for her trip tomorrow. We made another trip to the greenhouse today. While Libbie was out the Post Office truck came with the AVSA pins. I thought it was Libbie returning but I ended up missing the truck. Ran after it and caught up in the back of Buckingham. Got the pins!!!!

This morning around noon I went with Libbie to the greenhouse. The roads weren't too bad if you o slow. Everything looked great. The place was warm and toasty. I stopped on the way back at the BP and bought a Sunday paper. After reading the paper I tried working on the new controller PCB. The good news is the LCD works but not the keyboard or temperature. I worked on the LCD pins cleaning up an old LCD and removing the wires and solder then fastening it to the PCB with solid pins. Dinner was Libbie's fantastic pizza one again. I really enjoyed the Grammy's tonight.

We got a good coating of snow but the driveway only seems to have 1 to 2 inches even though the airport is reporting 5 inches. Five inches is wishful thinking by somebody. I hooked up the laptop to the TV this morning because they pre-empted GMA in order to show morons reporting on snow. We watched the streaming feed from Sarasota which was surprisingly good. I worked all day today assembling the two PCB's that came in while I was gone. I'm out of CPU's so I salvaged one from an old controller. I'm getting close to firing p one of the cards. Dinner as well as lunch was Libbie's home made chili.

I decided I would leave whenever I woke in the morning to pee. I woke up at 2 AM after about 4 hours of sleep. I laid in bed a while then finally stirred about 2:30 and got in high gear. I made coffee and filled the thermos, threw the leftover food into the car and hit the road at 3:24. It was 57 degrees out. The drive up I-4 was beautiful. Only me and the big beautiful full moon. I sipped coffee, set the cruise and listened to a mix of Dvorak, Wagner, Gershwin and other choices on the SD card in the radio. Jacksonville was no problem. I got there around 7:15. Traffic was getting heavier but still moving at 70 or so. There was a little bit of rain on the North side of the city. Once North of Jacksonville there was no traffic to speak of which was quite surprising. I stopped in Kingsland, GA Exit for gas and a McDonalds Bacon egg and cheese biscuit. Stopped again in Florence for gas and also a McChicken sandwich from the dollar menu. It was like a fish filet on a bun. It was beautiful in Florence - sunny, blue skies and 52 degrees. Hard to believe it's supposed to snow. Got home at 2:15 and went with Libbie immediately to see why the Hot Dawg was not coming on which is what she told me. Looked at the Hot Dawg and it was OK. Looked in the thermostat control box over the doorway and it had a broken wire on the Hot Dawg 2. Fixed the wire and all was well. Next I removed the Loge controller and took it home. The orange wire seems to be broken. Will look at it when home. Did the bills and mail. Looked at the new PC boards and also the relays that came from Hosfelt. Libbie is making Chili for dinner. We're ready for the big snow. All greenhouse heaters are in good condition as well as their respective controllers.
The snow started around 7 PM. Around 8 the greenhouse was only at 54 so Libbie and I drove out there in the snow. The louvers on the new hot dawg were not fully open. I opened the louvers, did some temperature measurements with the IR probe. Not much heat coming out of the ducts. The burners are on full. It's only 29 outside. Libbie adjusted the second thermostat to come on at 62. It seems to be cycling between 54 and 60 as reported by the telephone.

Libbie called this morning to report that Bertha was not coming on even though the relay is indicating this heater is being selected. I was in the middle of putting the new solenoid and door connector in the refrigerator and had water all over the floor and was not a happy camper. I talked to her later with a solution that took the card out of the picture and allowed the new thermostat to control the Hot Dawg in house 1 as well as the overhead heater in house 2. I looked at the weather picture and made a decision to speed up the repairs and head home. The bad news is that it is almost 80 here. I painted the hallway which really came out nice. The new paint matches perfectly. I got the refrigerator water supply working without leaks. I had to run out to Walmart late at night for a roll of teflon tape to stop the leaks in the threads of the shower nozzle. This fixed the dripping around the nozzle threads. I got everything packed up then took a walk around Stoneybrook and through one of the single family home streets. The alligators are all out in this weather. I finished the laundry and had Spicy Caribbean chicken for dinner. The Scooba wouldn't work when I pressed the power button which is a bummer. I washed the floor with the mop and then took the mop onto the back porch and washed the table. All this work was expedited because I want to drive home tomorrow and help Libbie. Not sure why the Loge controller is not functioning. The snow and ice worries me.

The carpet guy came at 9:30 this morning. He was supposed to be here at 9:00 but was late. The shampoo looks great. I had the bedroom and the living room done for $70. Left the doors open and the fans running while I went down to Venice. Got gas for 2.73 at the Mobil just before McDonalds. Picked up lunch at 2:00 in McDonalds. Cheeseburgers were the special at .69 as told to me by an old guy standing in line. He also pointed out the senior coffee which was .69 or something like that. For dinner I had a delicious Spicy Caribbean Chicken dinner which I picked up in Walmart. This was a treat. Earlier today I took a walk to the prudential office to sign a lease then walked all the way around Stoneybrook. It was a pleasant stroll. I'll do it again tomorrow. Libbie took a greenhouse trip this evening after dark because she didn't think Bertha would come on. I thought all was well with the Hot Dawg. She had doubts. The Bertha crossover temp was lowered which was why she didn't see it come on. It was too warm.

It was a little chillier today than I expected. I ended up not doing much today. Did a lot of online reading and also read yesterdays Herald Tribune which I picked up at Publix last night. I went out and bought paint at Home Depot in the afternoon then stopped in an oil change place on Clark for a "16.99" oil change which ended up costing 29.99 with shop fees and oil disposal fees and also to get Castrol instead of generic oil. I did this because the change oil light (Maint light) came on on my trip Monday and it was going to be cold at home. Dinner was a frozen non meat ribs from Morningstar. This was a buy one get one free at Publix Monday night.

It rained overnight. It was still raining this morning so I decided to leave at 8:30. The roads were pretty wet up until the 70 cutoff in Garner. When I reached I-95 there were patches of blue and finally in SC the sky was all blue. Stopped in Florence for 2.47 gas and then bought 2.49 gas at exit 4 in Georgia just before the FL-GA border. Travel was congested but moving through rush hour Orlando. This time around I kept a log of times at key cities/exits so I can have a reference for future travel estimates. I went straight to Publix at 7:30 and arrived in the condo at 7:45 PM. It was an all around easy trip. Dinner tonight was the McDonalds stop I made at Exit 4 in Georgia. Didn't need anything else.

It rained overnight. It was still raining this morning so I decided to leave at 8:30. The roads were pretty wet up until the 70 cutoff in Garner. When I reached I-95 there were patches of blue and finally in SC the sky was all blue. Stopped in Florence for 2.47 gas and then bought 2.49 gas at exit 4 in Georgia just before the FL-GA border. Travel was congested but moving through rush hour Orlando. This time around I kept a log of times at key cities/exits so I can have a reference for future travel estimates. I went straight to Publix at 7:30 and arrived in the condo at 7:45 PM. It was an all around easy trip. Dinner tonight was the McDonalds stop I made at Exit 4 in Georgia. Didn't need anything else.

No greenhouse today. Worked in the morning On the tax forms and W2, W3 generation. As usual the printer was the bottleneck. I usually have a hard time getting the forms to line up correctly in the laser printer. It took several passes to get this to work correctly. Libbie made her outstanding pizza tonight using the frozen dough ball from last weekends pizza party. She thinks she ruined it with pepperoni and bacon. I liked it except for the calories. Packing for the trip was easy. I threw together a bunch of clothes in the suitcase and then started gathering tools. I was able to use my online list of things to bring to assist with packing tools and things in the egg crate.

Last night we measured the CFM and temperatures of the new heater and compared it to the old. Improvement is needed. This morning I went to the greenhouse and hung the 18 inch portion of the new Fanjet tube. I think we will replace the combined 24 and 18 inch sections. For some reason the transition is causingg an extreme drop in pressure resulting in us not being able to get the heat distributed. I drove to Northern Tool looking for an agricultural thermostat but had no luck so I bought a simple thermostat in Home Depot. Libbie and I ran the wire and put the overhead heater in House 2 on the separate thermostat. Dinner was some Tony Romas ribs with Cabernet Sauvignon and steamfresh corn. I'm feeling much better today as the remnants of my cold leave.

I had a rough sleep last night. Woke up at 1, 2, 3 and 4 before falling asleep. I took a drixoryl which helped the running nose but gave me a buzz. I couldn't lie still and felt sorry for Libbie sleeping next to me. Went over to the greenhouse and found why the new hot dawg wouldn't start. There's an on/off switch on the gas valve. now I'm disappointed by both the amount of heat coming out and the fanjet air velocity. Have ordered a smaller belt at Grainger to see if this fixes the problem.
Picked up a 3L260 fan belt at Graingers and installed it. Also put a solid panel on the cool cell side of the fanjet. The intent is to concentrate gathering of heat to send down the tube. I'm still disappointed by the airflow. I don't know why it's so low. Came home, layed down and fell asleep after taking a Sudafed. This cold is killing me. When I awoke I finished reading the Fair Maiden book by Joyce Oates. It was s traditional predictable book until the ending which was a surprise. Dinner was BLT with Avocado. Not as good as one with Tomato, my opinion. Tracking is showing Joe at the Phoenix airport tonight. He had tickets back for today and Sunday. We guessed that after a week with Mark he would be ready to go back sooner rather than later.

I'm under the weather today with a full blown cold. Lots of sniffles. I felt this coming on for several days. I'm enjoying reading my new book, Fair Maiden but so far it's predictable. A 16 year old makes acquaintance with an old guy who pays her to model for him. I think we know where this is going. At the greenhouse I hooked up the tubing on the new heater. I may have to make a better way to clamp the transition piece onto the 24 and the 18 inch tubing. For now I'm using a piece of wire but this won't be adequate. I'm really miserable with this cold. The heater wouldn't come on but I didn't pursue it since I was cold and miserable. There's a cold raining falling outside. Libbie went to do a talk at the Fuquay womans club tonight. Dinner was a bowl of soup. I ran out to Krogers for milk but I also picked up a reeses peanut butter egg. This isn't good. Took some drixoryl before bedtime.

Brenda is bringing the properties this morning. I received an eMail that said she would be here at 10. Libbie wants to come home from the greenhouse as well. We've been tracking Mark and Joe on Google. They're in Jackson, MS last night. We enjoyed the visit with Brenda and Mahlen. They're visiting their daughter in Smithfield and also looking at real estate in the Smithfield area. It's still a warm day but not as warm as yesterday. Dinner was Briyani with chicken. Yumm.

I had lots of work to do at home. Finished up the articles for Marjorie in the Lonestar newsletter then worked with Kathy on the layout and finding out about hospitality. Went to the greenhouse and put a support on the vent stack then hooked up one side of the aisle with an 18 inch duct. I left there for lunch then went to the grocery store and never returned. Wrote an article for the Ohio magazine. I feel like I'm getting a cold. don't know what's wrong. Maybe I'm eating too much. My new flannel shirts from Kohls feel tight. Dinner tonight was pasta I picked up in the grocery store this afternoon on old geezers day.

Picked up the vent stack from Home Depot and hooked it all up. Went outside and installed the cap. The stack needs supporting. I framed an opening in the end wall and used the preformed tin from home depot to cover it. The great news is that it has a 4 inch round hole in it that I did not have to cut. The pipe slipped right in.
Dinner tonight was another pizza because we had the ingredients. Working on a Lonestar article for Marjorie.

It rained hard last night but was clear this morning. We checked online and Joe's flight to Atlanta landed on time. We left home at 9:40 when we saw it landed in Raleigh early. It was supposed to land at 10:06. Emptied the tools from the car and picked him up at Terminal 2. We needed the trunk since he had a suitcase and a carryon. We went through the Bojangles divethorugh and got biscuits for breakfast. They were sinfully good. In the later afternoon I went to the greenhouse and wired the Hot Dawg in house 2 while Lib and Joe went grocery shopping. We had a pizza party here. We met Cole's fiance, Emilie. She's a quiet but a very nice girl. We liked her, she's a keeper. Johs's little boy ran all over the place. He's very active and was a lot of fun. We had Mark, Josh & Kelly, Cole and Emilie plus Joe. There was a ton of pizza ingredients left over.

I worked a little on the wiring for the heater before going home. We left for Carmen at 11:40. It was the best Carmen I have ever seen. So realistic. She sings, she dances and she acts like a slut. Wow, the complete package. Alagna cracked on one night during the flower song but it was still a good performance. I tried several times with various managers to trade my coupons for an encore performance ticket but I didn't get anywhere. We really enjoyed this performance. We came home and had shrimp and broccoli for dinner.

Busy day in the greenhouse hooking up the wiring to the heater. In the late afternoon Libbie and I went out to get the 18 inch duct work for over the aisle. They didn't have the 26 gauge 4 inch exhaust pipe so I'll have to use some Home Depot 30 gauge. For dinner tonight we just had some soup. I wasn't really hungry.

Went to the greenhouse early. Nancy and Libbie were working the orchids. Moved the heater down the skinny aisle using 4 water pipes. After it was set up I went home and picked up 20 bricks for the base. After setting the heater on the bricks I next started running the gas line. Needed a 6 inch nipple instead of the 10 inch I was using since the pipe is too long going to the end wall. This will shorten it 4 inches. Libbie and I went to RE Michels for 18 inch ductwork and 4 inch exhaust pipes. They didn't have the heavy wall 4 inch so we only got the 18 inch. Visited Furniture 4 Less and also Consigning Design looking at beds. We bought one at Furniture 4 Less for $249. It's alarming that my Schwab card is within $250 of the limit. We used the trailer to take the bed frame home. Afterwards we went to home depot for the 6 inch nipple and then had dinner at La Cocina. We had the Quesadilla's again but I did not order a Margarita. Too much food!!!!

Picked up outlet covers and breaker box covers in Lowes. Went to the greenhouse and started complying with the fire code. When it warmed up a little I put the 6 inch numbers on the building facing the road. Chopped 3 feet off the house 2 bench then used the space to roll the fanjet into. Next I slid the fanjet from the heater space to under the bench in the middle of house 2. Libbie and I propped up table legs with bricks to raise the bench a little. This was back breaking work. Dinner was stuffed flounder and broccoli.
Affter dinner I ran out to Lowes and got a 10 foot l ong 1/2inch galvanized pipe for the heater project.

I skipped the groceries this morning and went straight to unhooking the house 3 Fanjet. While lowering it the Fire inspector showed up. We have a number of issues to deal with including outlet covers and extension cords. She spent several hours there taking up my time. Next was the TAVS meeting and luncheon. It was a lot of fun. I sold 10 patches to the TAVS group bringing the patch total to 30 now. I spent 160 for them. We sold 20 at 5.50 = $110. eBay, paypal and postage cost $20 netting $110-$20 = $90. TAVS payed $35, making the grand total $125. Dinner tonight was out to dinner at La Cocina because we were tired.

I did some convention work this morning fulfilling patch orders and answering questions. I agreed to write two articles for Marjorie. Went to the greenhouse and finished the ground and labeling of the new Modine Hot Dawg outlet. Hooked up the come along in house 3 to lower the fanjet but did not unbolt it from the wall. Will do that tomorrow. Later I returned to the greenhouse with Libbie because I forgot to turn the Hot Dawg breaker back on after working on the outlet. The heat had not turned on yet. It's supposed to be warmer tonight anyway. After a dinner of Curry chicken Libbie and I went to Trader Joe's and picked up some chocolate chip cookie dough. We tried baking 6 of them as a sample. They were yummy. My application for the Schwab One account was returned for insufficient postage. What a bummer since I was counting on this money link to help pay the Visa bill by doing a brokerage to credit card transfer. Libbie said the AP Circuits card arrived. This is for the microwave controller which had the LCD controller mirror imaged.

After reading the newspaper I went to Lowes for conduit and then to Office Max to get a wireless mouse for Libbie's computer. Ran the new power line to house 2 where the new Hot Dawg will go. This was a struggle pulling wire through the conduit until Libbie came back to help. It still was hard. Spent the rest of the afternoon tacking down the conduit across the two houses and wiring up the new outlet. While I w as finishing up, Bertha came on. The Hot Dawg was powered down so the controller put the greenhouse in fail safe mode. This was a good test of fail safe although it was unintentional. Dinner was Libbie's great pizza as usual.