A cold day. I moved one of the logs from our downed Maple tree then came inside to work on building a Kahlo card to re-purpose for the packet system. I moved another Maple log, boy was it cold out. Dinner was bean burger again with onion, tomato, ketchup and rice-spinach steamfresh veggies.

We got a nice coating of ice last night but it wasn't bad enough to take down trees. We had extra gas on hand just in case. Libbie stayed inside and worked on cleaning kitchen cabinets. I worked on the packet radio. In the afternoon I did a grocery run then we both went back to pick up additional items. Dinner was beanburger and mixed veggies.

Waiting for the snow and then ice to start this afternoon. It never happened. We got almost no snow but are supposed to get ice tonight. I struggled today getting the TinyTrak programmed with the USB to serial adapter cables. They don't work very well. I tried Traviata and had much success. It has a normal serial port. I used Traviata over the LAN using the remote terminal login and it worked pretty good. I finally got both TT4's updated with new firmware. Now I have to figure out how to utilize them for communications. Dinner was chicken curry and spaghetti. It was spicy and very good. The Dr Oz program continues with success. I've been food logging everything I eat which is a good way to track weight loss or more accurately, why I'm still fat. We listened to Tosca tonight live from the Met.

Went early for the paper, watched the CBS Early Show then worked on the packet hardware some more. I got it to the point where I was able to apply power but not much further. We took a walk in Seagroves this afternoon as part of the weigth loss challenge. cliff Mitchell, our neighbor, had done a nice job cutting up and splitting the beech tree on our property line. It was pretty cold so we just walked the loop before going home for soup. Talked to Anne this afternoon about kids, albums and violets. Dinner was Libbie's nice pizza again, She started a crust fresh froms cratch this afternoon. Amazing.

The snow never happened last night, there's about 1/2 inch at the Virginia border. Today we have La Fanciulla at 1 PM in North hills. Left home at 11:40 and about the time we got on US 1 it started snowing and getting colder. The temp dropped 10 degrees on our journey to North hills. It was snowing pretty hard when we entered the theater. Fanciulla was lovely. I enjoyed it although some Opera L devotees didn't csre for Deborah Voight. Great opera!!! Very detailed sets, the behind the scenes work looked complicated. On the way home we had a brief slowdown between Western Blvd and Crossroads. Got off at Crossroads and picked up Salmon in BJ's which we had with leftover rice and veggies. We started our Dr Oz weight loss challenge this weekend. This morning I went to Lowes and got an electrical box to contain the TinyTrak4 and Radio. The box is roomier. Before I got dressed for the Opera I spent some time in the garage drilling holes and mounting the terminal strip and other misc screws.

Took apart the dishwasher. The problem appears to be a kinked drain hose. The black plastic hose from Home Depot has 3 kinks in it. I went to Home Depot and got the white corrugated hose that is similar to the one that came with the dishwasher. This seems to have fixed the problem. While in Home Depot I came across a Philips 40 watt equivalent LED bulb that screws into a normal 110 vac socket. I tried it in the back hall and it works just fine!!!! My other purchase was an electrical box for the 2 meter Handi Talkie and TinyTrak 4. I'll mount them along with a terminal strip and toggle switch in the box. Power is a concern. The Talkie needs 12 VDC and the TinyTrak needs 5 volts (I think). Correction: the tiny trak will work on anything up to 15 volts. It has a built in regulator. Dinner tonight was bean burger with mixed Steamfresh vegetables. I started building a cable to go from the tiny trak serial port to the radio but didn't finish.

Stayed inside all day today studying the packet radio controller for the greenhouse. We are supposed to get snow Monday night so I want to have something ready before then. For now I will use Mars with an old 8515 based Fred6 AVR that I have laying around. Printed schematics for Fred 6. I also took a look at the Gesneriad registration which is now available. There is one trip, Chanticleer gardens which I nor Libbie never heard of. I may also sign up for judging school, mainly to learn about Gesneriad growth habits. I also took a look at the design category. Dinner tonight was whole wheat spaghetti with tomato sauce and a little bit of Parmesan. After dinner I tried working on the Art Server on Traviata. I crashed the system making thumbnails. When it was time to go to bed I noticed a flood on the kitchen floor. The dishwasher pump is not working, the tub overflowed all over the place. I left it all after mopping the floor and went to bed. Boo.

Back home this morning. It's a little chilly compared to the past week, 29 this morning. I went outside and worked at cutting up the maple tree and moved one of the logs to the creek. I may have to investigate splitting these logs to move them. Came inside and studied how to implement packet environmental monitoring of the greenhouse. I also discovered some software for one wire devices that may be useful for monitoring Stoneybrook with the NSLU2. I would like to resurrect this thing and utilize it since it has a built-in web server. Dinner was the leftover rotisserie chicken which we had with Steamfresh rice and veggies. This was the 88 cent trial pack I picked up before Christmas. It's good. Tonight UNC ran Don Pasquale from the HD performance. I watched the first act before going to bed.

Got up at 5 am, took a shower and loaded the car. Got going by 5:50 am. Traffic was light, had to stop for gas just after Lakeland for 3.10 per gal. Orlando was a little congested but moving along about 35 mph. Once we cleared downtown we were doing 70 again. Stopped for biscuits at McDonald's in Ormond Beach around 8:50. I-95 was surprisingly empty, went straight through Jax as I usually do, stopped at the SC welcome center then got gas at 2.97 at the first exit just beyond the welcome center. We debated about lunch and had cheese and crackers in the car instead. I topped off the tank in Florence at 2.89. We got home at 4:40 PM. Libbie went out to get the mail from the Post Office and then we went together to Krogers for groceries. We picked up a rotisserie chicken for dinner which we had with Steamfresh Southwestern rice and veggies.

This is packing day. We took a walk around one of the streets in the Estates and also explored a few houses for sale over by Walmsrt which were fixer uppers. On the way back we stopped at the clubhouse for lunch. I had a Yuengling draft and a classic hamburger with a side of fruit. At 2:30 we helped take the decorations down from our building. Packed it all in tubs which are stored in our shed. The ground lights which are light nets were wet. We layed them out on top of the boxes in the shed to dry. I'll probably have to put them away on my next trip. Later in the evening we had eggnog with rum, cheese and crackers and beef barley soup. Libbie vacuumed and cleaned the countertops. I touched up some of the paint where there were marks on the walls. We'r enow ready to travel home!

Watched GMA this morning then went out for a paper and Dunkin Donuts at the Dunkin shop on Tamiami. Got back in time to watch CBS Sunday Morning which I really like. We went to Publix for mildew remover then stopped at an open house in the estates. It was an 1800 square foot house for 259. not bad price but the back yard backs up to McIntosh. We had a sandwich and beer at the club for a late lunch. Mine was a BLT. There was a lot of football going on in the grill room. I still don't understand it but I never will. We watched some of the Oprah network on TV today. For dinner we had cheese and crackers and soup.

Didn't get up until 7 am after going to bed at 12:30 last night after the New Years party. Reviewed finances this morning. Total divvys for 2010 were 18806. compared with 14787 in 2009 and 6337 the year before(2008). Wow!!!
We went out for a walk this morning then came back and there was a message from Lorraine confirming our visit. We left at 2:15 for her house taking Tamiami and arrived about 5 after 3. We heard about Ted's spleen removal surgery in Tampa. Tommy drove her there and stayed with her. This was in August and September. We went to dinner at 5:30 to a restaurant in Punta Gorda. Very nice, inexpensive. I had butterfish with crab stuffing on top. Stopped at Lorraines for a little afterwards then went home. Got back to the condo around 8:30.

Up early today at 6:15 AM. I feel quite stuffed from all the eating out that we've been doing. We did a ride South with stops at Tervis Tumbler, Venice Rookery, Walmart, Target and Publix. I had never been in Tervis Tumbler, very expensive plastic glasses that I don't care for. We walked all around the lake at the rookery. They cleared all the Brazilian peppers all the way around. We enjoyed the pairs of nesting birds. looked at Pots and Pans in both Walmart and Target because the ones in the condo are scratched and in bad shape, especially the 2 quart sauce pan. We saw a few possibilities. I think I may go with ordinary stainless without the non stick coating. Picked up cereal, OJ and soup at Publix before getting back to reading. finished the Claire Cook book, "7 year switch". Nice "what will I do with the rest of my life" book. We showered and left for the club just before 7 for cocktails and hors d'œuvre. We had cheese and hand pass with 2 glasses each of Sauvignon Blanc before switching to Cabernet for dinner. Dinner was sea bass and fillet. We joined Peter and Christa's friends, Tony and Siggy, Heidi and Hans, Hurda and ?. It's a nice group of mostly Europeans except for Heidi who is from Vermont. Heidi and Hans are from MA, Hurda is from Canada and Tony-Siggy are Germans. At midnight the husband-wife band had a countdown, we toasted and kissed then they played one last song that sounded like a Polka and they said good night everyone. we were back home by 12:08. Amazing and fun night.

This morning we chose not to go to Disney World. The park was closed on Tuesday 2 hours after it opened because it reached capacity. We decided not to join the crowds. It's supposed to be in the 70's today although it's quite cloudy this morning.
We spent the whole day inside reading. Took a little break in the PM by going to Comcast about the cable bill and then parked at Marina Jacks and walked around the bay front. Went to rib night at the clubhouse. We had a reservation in the dining room for ribs. Service was very nice, white table cloth dining. I had the half rack with Shiraz, baked potato, salad and veggies. Quite nice. Came home and read my book some more before going to bed at 9:15 PM.

Watched the snow woes of the NorthEast on GMA then started reading about weather stations. I'm going to implement something in conjunction with my greenhouse monitor stuff. Lib and I walked to the front wetland area in Stoneybrook then came back, got in the car and went to Publix for some supplies. Came back and listened to Il Trovotore on Sirius satellite. Went at 6 PM to pub night. There were no tables so we waited in the lobby. A couple sitting at a table for 6 offered to share their table with us. We met them after dinner, they were nice. Names were Penny and Rich. They have lived here for 2 years and love it. For dinner I had a cajun seafood souffe which was shrimp and cray fish with rice. Very nice. We had 2 glasses each of house Cabernet. Came back and read some more about weather instruments.

Wow, what a day. It started out very very cold (for Sarasota). It got down to 27. Our thermometer was showing 30. My first activity was to mix some epoxy and use the new bar clamp across the top of the refrigerator to attach the hook for the clock to the side of the refrigerator. It worked! The clock has stayed up all day. While the epoxy was setting I tackled the carbon filter under the sink. I also punched a one inch hole in the sink to mount the filtered water faucet. Got everything mounted and the filter working smoothly. Next task was to put the broken clock back together. It was in pieces from the last time it fell which was Thanksgiving. Took a trip to home Depot and bought an aluminum filter grill to replace the rusty one on the A/C input. The aluminum one was $75, the steel was $30. I bought the aluminum so that hopefully there won't be anymore rust. I had to cut one inch into the sides of the Sheetrock to change the filter size from 18x18 to 20x20. I'm very happy with how well it fit into the opening. There was a wood header at the top and bottom which allowed me to screw the new filter assembly into. The filter is solid and looks great. We went to the club and had dinner in the grill. It was pretty full but tables were available. I had a special, Tilapia with shrimp Rosetto. It was very tasty. We had 2 glasses of house Cabernet each. When we got home there was a call from Lorraine. We're going to get together this Saturday after our New Year bash on Friday night. This will be fun.

Libbie heard from Jennifer at the greenhouse. All is well back there. After 7 inches of snow yesterday, Jennifer was able to get to the greenhouse. She didn't drive down since she was afraid to get stuck but she reported all was well. There was some worry yesterday because it snowed yesterday and her power was out. We didn't know how things were. Temps inside were OK. We went South to the Venice rookery, saw some nesting Herons. Went to Racetrac to get gas at 3.04 per gal then went to Lowes looking for a new intake grill. the old one is rusted. Next stop was Yoders looking for fruit then JC Pennys for new pillows which were on sale. $17 for 2 King pillows. Next stop was Whole Foods in downtown Sarasota. We saw a Dr Oz show about metabolism. He recommended GG Bran Scandinavian bread and Oolong tea. We bought both in whole Foods and met a couple searching for the same thing. We briefly chatted about Dr Oz and how we'll live to 100. When I got my Lobster Bisque seafood I met a very nice woman who was disappointed that the Chiopini soup was out. She said this happened to her yesterday. I liked her, she was fun to talk to. After our soup at whole food we walked through Selby. They were preparing for freezing temperatures tonight. We stopped to visit with Peter and Christa and had wine and cookies. Watched a nice sunset then went out to dinner. The Grill only had a limited sandwich menu so we went out to Bangock Thai on Swift. I had Pad Thai Beef. Before that we had an appetizer of Sataya which was chicken on skewers that we grilled over a flaming hibachi on the table. The waitress talked like a 10 year old girl and was very tiny. She was definitely Thai. Very nice.

We awoke a little anxious this morning. it's snowing badly in Raleigh and we're down here. Jennifer reports that she has 12 inches of snow and it's still coming down and her power is out. Libbie checked with Nancy and she said there's only about 6 inches on her deck. Libbie was able to call the neighbors answer machine several times to ascertain that the power was indeed on. I need to fix the power and temperature reporting so that we know both variables. This is not rocket science!!!! We went to Publix for some Progresso soup for lunch. Also bought some frozen jambalaya for dinner, another bottle of Shiraz and a 750 ml bottle of rum from the liquor store for our eggnog. Took a walk around Stoneybrook. it was bitter. The temps are only in the 50's and the wind was blowing pretty had.

Got up at 5:45 today and left the home by 6:30. The snow may be worse than forecast. Traffic was fairly light until Orlando. Naturally everything was closed and only half the gas stations were open. Had to stop in exit 193 in SC because the gas light came on. Most of the time I try to get to Florence. We paid 2.76 per gallon. Next stop was in GA at the GA/FL border. Gas there was 2.92. We had peanut butter sandwiches in the car after this stop. I bought a coke to have with my sandwich for lunch. The Lake Buena Vista exit had 2 lines of traffic which slowed the interstate down but once we were past there we got back up to 75 again. We arrived at the condo at 4:47 after buying a bottle of wine at 7-11 to have with our Christmas dinner. We had frozen chicken Serenada for dinner with the Yellow Tail shiraz.

The dishwasher drain hose leaked water all over the floor. We think it's a mouse. Two trips to Home Depot for a new hose and then an adapter to fit the hose to the drain.
I cut the board for the silverware drawer in Sarasota and got two coats of paint on it. Packed all our stuff for the trip tomorrow. Dinner was tuna steak, veggies and rice. The grocery store was a disaster today. I needed last minute fruit for the trip. The place was packed with last minute grocery shoppers.

It's cold today. I went to Home Depot for the faucet for Sarasota. I also got ammonia reducer for the fish pond. We worked on getting the ammonia level down today. Dinner was creamed tuna and green peas over toast.

Did a trip to Petsmart to get our water tested. It's high in ammonia. I calculated the pond at 268 gals when it's at 10 inches. We drained it this low starting out at 13 inches. This should be a 25% water change. We bought an ammonia test kit which is showing the ammonia is still way high. Need to work at this. Dinner was crab cakes and butternut squash.

Groceries at both Trader Joes and Krogers today. I started the genealogy project again. I saw a post on Wired about best open source genealogy software. When I didn't like the choices I fired up Family Tree Maker and dove in. Found quite a bit of detail on the Chmielewski side by piecing together searches, cemetery grave markers and notes. Worked a little in the woods on moving logs. This is good exercise and is cleaning the woods. Dinner was Briyani which was very good. Listened to Xmas carols on Sirius downstairs. Quiet evening. I also found the password for Libbie's IRA and made some changes to better put the money to work. I also started fine tuning my Roth to maximize income.

The bill from Citi came today. I've been trying to get this from them since first payment is due Jan 4 and they sent the bill initially to the wrong address. This is for the Stoneybrook furniture. Dealing with them so far has not been fun. There doesn't seem to be an automatic payment option. Oh well, I'll use the CU bill pay service. Juggled some funds around and paid the bill. I also paid the condo maintenance and reserved some money for Joe and Christa's Christmas present. Cut some logs out in the yard and used the cart to move them to the brush pile. The cart needed air in the itres which were less than 10 psi. They require 40 psi.

Up late today, picked up the paper even later, 9 AM. Libbie started painting the trim upstairs but I worked on the MAAVS website. I got the AVSA 2010 section and the Williamsburg sections completed. Now it's time to turn towards the Fredericksburg 2008 data. This is going slow but forward. After lunch we went outside and took a walk around Seagrove out to 1010 and back through Surry. I need to map this to measure the mileage. 60 Minutes was good tonight. It's about people who can remember every day of their lives including actress Mary Lou Henner. I wish I had this gift. Th epeople are otherwise normal. They showed us Mary Lou was super organized as well with a tour of her closet with dresses sorted by color and shoes turned so you could see both the toe and heel.