Libbie didn't have any breakfast milk so we went to Publix for milk, cheese and more cereal. After the grocery store we hitched up the bikes and drove over to Turtle Beach. Had a very nice but short bike ride on the South end of Siesta Key. Stopped at Island Reef and saw Suzy who we chatted with for a few minutes. Checked out some private streets and rode a total of 45 minutes before going back to the clubhouse for lunch. I had a Yuengling with BLT and side of fruit. Quite a bit of food. Came back and started working on the serial libraries for Arduino commands. Dinner was some Chinese from Publix and cheese and crackers with our last bottle of Trader Joes wine, this time Sauvignon Blanc.

After breakfast we went to downtown Sarasota to the Ringling. Had a very nice time wandering the museum. Saw a traveling exhibit showing Lithographed historic circus posters. They really tried to sell the hype back then. Did people actually read these posters and then go to the show expecting this? Afterward we sat on the Cas D'Azan back porch overlooking the bay. We got to muse that john Ringling sold tickets to all those people to see elephants while he lived like this overlooking Sarasota Bay. Quite a life. After the museum we had a very nice lunch at Marina Jacks. I ordered seafood chowder and a half a Cuban. Came back sleepy. For dinner we only had cheese and cracker and the two slices of leftover pizza with Shiraz. Listened to Anna Bolena live on Met Radio.

We did a short bike ride after breakfast out to the wetlands in front and up and down Sarasota Parkway for one hour total. We came back and had the leftover Pad Thai from last night for lunch. I did a Walmart run and bought mollys for the closet light and hung it. Also picked up a clock battery and a plaster patch for the old light holes in the closet. We went to a 5:20 showing of the Lion king in 3 D. It was pretty cool, our first 3D Movie. After the movie we ordered a Mushroom pizza from Antonelinos on Clark. It's supposed to be the best pizza in Sarasota. Taste is good but crust was not great, however I would do it again. We came back and had it with shiraz while watching 60 Minutes.

After breakfast we left at 9:06 for Clearwater. Got lost a little in Feather Sound but GPS helped us out and got us to the Holiday Inn. The show was pretty neat. We met the Kasts and saw their 40 minute video of a trip to Ecuador with John Clark. It was a little longer than we planned to watch but it was pretty interesting. The theme was Dancing with the Stars. The designs reflected various dance routines such as Tango, Waltz, Paso Double, and Ballet. Had a lunch at McDonalds across the street. There were three teenabge girls in very inappropriate but nice bikini's in Mickey Dees. One of the girl's bottoms were between a bikini and a thong fully revealing her ass cheeks. It was shocking to see but very shapely. We went back to the show where I took more photos while Libbie shopped. Came back and visited with Peter and Christa where we stopped in for a glass of wine and chatted. Went out to dinner to the Bangkok Thai restaurant on Swift and Proctor. I ordered Chicken Pad Thai and took over half of it home. Instead of a drink I had a green tea which was excellent. Without alcohol the bill was only $29 plus tip.

After breakfast today we went out to Selby Gardens and enjoyed the tropical house and the gardens. They had the teachers exposition going on in the Selby house. i always enjoy the best of the teachers. We went over to marina Jacks for lunch. Had a half cuban and a bowl of seafood chowder. On the way home stopped in to home Depot for a fluorescent tube, a faucet aerator and a can of paint for the lockup door. Came home and fell asleep surfing the web.
For dinner we went out to the clubhouse around 7. We had a couple of Shiraz and I ordered the white fish stuffed with shrimp and salmon. Pretty nice. Libbie took part of her eggplant home.

After a slow start watching GMA and drinking coffee I got the bikes out and pumped up the tires and hooked up the bike rack to the back of the Corolla. We went to the Venice train station and drove to Caspersen Beach where we stopped and had an apple near the Dog Beach at the end. On the way back I was exhausted. The last half mile was a killer. Was glad to slump into the AC car and drive home slowly. Picked up some gas at Raceway for 3.34 before arriving at Stoneybrook. Left the bikes on the car and took a shower then slept for over an hour. Wow. Before that we went to the Clubhouse for lunch. We split a lobster sandwich which we had with a glass of beer, Yuengling draft of course. Went back out at 7 for dinner. We each had Prime Rib with wine and Chocolate Quattro with Rocky Road ice cream in Butterfinger crumbs on a brownie with chocolate grenache for desert. Yummy.

We left at 7 am for the drive to Sarasota. The trip went smoothly without incident, even through Orlando at rush hour. We were lucky. Libbie used her McDonalds buy one get one coupons in Florence for a Bacon and cheese biscuit in Florence and for chicken wraps in St Marys Georgia. I used the $25 gas gift card from our July Northeast trip. Gas was 3.21 in Florence and 3.29 in St Marys, both at Shell stations. Got to Stoneybrook at 6 PM. Went over for dinner for pub night. I had the roast beef sundae which was outstanding. I also had a bread pudding for desert with coffee. A very nice night. I hooked up the 3G card and also sharing using the free MaryFi and all went well. Libbie was able to share my connection. Surprisingly when we got to the condo, there was a package here. It was our Comcast digital cable boxes which were supposed to come to Downing Place. Dumb company.

Went to Krogers this morning at 9:30 because I needed gas and it was Tuesday. Bought some groceries then bought a $25 Home Depot gift card which pushed me over the top for a gas discount. Filled up then drove to Leith for my 11:00 appointment. They applied the TSB which seems to have helped with the jerky ride while cruising a little bit. It didn't totally cure the problem, there is still some engine RPM variation. Called Libbie to check on what she wanted from Trader Joe on my way home and found she was at Logans with Jennifer and Joy. They waited and we had lunch together. Very nice. Came home to watch the 2 PM watering which went off without a hitch. I'm happy with the program. Manually set it for 30 seconds instead of the 15 it was set for today. It's due to activate on Oct 2 at 2 PM for the next watering of 2 benches for 30 seconds each. It seems to be robust. Spent the afternoon putting away the ladder, tools and materials from the backyard construction project. After packing we went out to La Cocina for a Margarita and dinner to celebrate the end of the retail phase of the greenhouse. I had the #26 combo which was chile rejano, an enchilada and a burrito. Very nice.

It was too wet to get on the ladder this morning. It rained overnight and the tar paper was covered with water. Worked on the Tower Timer. The DS2408 seems to be unreliable with occasionally stuck bits which is not acceptable. Libbie needed some trays brought to the greenhouse. Went over there and looked at a rabbit hole in the back as well as a sidewalk with Joe's name and handprints in the concrete. Came back and started hauling shingles up to the new roof. This was killing me. By the end I was really winded and dizzy. Went inside and took a shower then started working on the timer again. I decided to throw the DS2408 chip overboard and wire directly from the AVR ports to the relay driver transistors. This seems to be much more reliable. I'm using the RJ45 connector that was going to be for One Wire and repurposing it for the relays. I can drive all eight relays with the RJ and use an external ground. Dinner was a bean burger. Talked to the Score card people about our missing score card. They said they will look into it.

Did a Home Depot trip with the trailer and picked up another sheet of plywood, shingles, drip edge and flashing. Came home and put the plywood on the roof then covered it with the tar paper and attached the drip edge. I decided not to do the shingles until tomorrow. At least everything is dried in. Libbie took two of Joe's leftover pizza doughs and combined them into one for a very good white dough pizza.

It's still spitting a little bit of spotty rain but I want this job finished. Ripped off the existing corner 1x4 and built a small extension on the roof to make it 25 feet to match the greenhouse gutters. The gutters are 12 feet each but are offset one foot from the porch wall so I need 25 feet of roof. Had a trip to Lake Wheeler rd this morning. Fun. Dinner was ribs with squash and shiraz.

It rained all day today. I used the time for indoor activities. First step was to add an LCD to the Tower Timer. This was a lot of wires but it all worked on the first attempt. the LCD library was very useful. Had to do a few tweaks to my code but in short order I was able to display the current time and also the alarm time. There's some artifacts that need to be cleaned up but it's very functional. We watched the scheduled watering today at 2. One issue is the new alarm time is 2:01 instead of 2. The telephones arrived today. One of them has a bad LCD. I spent some time this afternoon wiring a new phone jack in the closet and then checking the house wiring. Some of the jacks are wired backward. I'll fix this. We had tuna sandwiches for dinner early then left at 7 for the Symphony. We thoroughly enjoyed the Bernstein concert with Jamie Bernstein, the composers daughter. The mezzo was from the Sarasota opera. The 5 singers were quite good, so was the symphony. our conductor was beautiful, she's nice eye candy.

Wrote out a 3,000 check to the credit union for paying Stoneybrook bills. Went online and paid the 1776 membership dues and also the 782 condo maintenance fee. From the Cu I went to Cary to renew the Prius and the trailer at the DMV office in South Hills shopping Center. Came home and worked on digging holes for the 4x4 posts and bolting them to the roof framing. After a lunch of pineapple and apple I went to Home Depot for 2 80 pound bags of concrete. Cemented both posts into the ground.. it was sprinkling lightly which was OK. Found a Facebook BOGO code for the Symphony and bought tickets for Friday night (tomorrow). It's a Bernstein night.

Cut the ends of the roof section that was three inches too long. Nailed the header back on and then started working on the roof supports. Cut 14 of them which will be nailed to the top of the joists to give the roof a 3/24 pitch. went on an adventure to home Depot with Libbie. We bought 16 foot 4x4's which we took home on our 6 foot trailer. Fun!!!! I propped them up in the back on a pallet which stopped them from dragging on the ground as the trailer bounced but all the weight was still not on the ball. the trailer sways badly when driven like this so we went down 64 at 35 MPH with our flashers on. The trip home was uneventful, thank goodness. Tomorrow I'll put the 4x4's up. Dinner was Vegetable Lasagna, frozen from Trader Joes. We enjoyed dinner on the back porch with the fig tree lights on and a single glass of Shiraz each. Nice.

After the grocery run I got to work cutting boards for the rest of the roof. Made a big mistake by cutting the boards to 24 inches instead of 21. I discovered this after I got it up. I decided to bolt it down and cut it in place. Went to Home Depot for a new Skil saw blade but will cut it tomorrow since I'm too tired this afternoon. We watched the season premiere of Dancing with the Stars which Libbie Tivo'ed last night. Donated $20 to Penny Smith for her Mama Jamma Ride in Austin.

I found the TT4 LCD display and checked out the pinout. It includes a PS/2 keyboard interface which only uses 2 wires, data and clock and the Arduino Library supports PS/2 keyboards. I'm going to connect the display/keyboard combo to the Arduino. Went outside and killed myself trying to get the roof section up. The first 3 attempts failed. As I manually lifted the roof over my head with the other end leaning on the wall, the ladder I wanted to rest it on fell over. I had to rethink the situation and used the come along to hoist the roof section. This worked well with more control but it was slow going. I was winded and tired after this exercise. For the next section I'll use the same technique. Dinner was Chile Rejano while Libbie had Mac and Cheese.

It's a rainy day. I stayed inside and put down the three remaining pipes on Tower 1. I also hooked up the relay for shelf 3 to the relay box which I mounted on the wall. Programmed the controller to do a 15 second watering cycle at 2 PM. It did this but we decided it needed more water so I did 15 more seconds at 2:20. The mistake was doing a third watering, this time manually for 5 more seconds. This flooded the bench too much but all the plants are now watered. Libbie said we need an LCD to show what's happening. I agree and started looking into deploying one. Arduino has an LCD library available. This was a successful day. Libbie also talked to a guy named Keith at Family Garden Center about buying the greenhouse steel. I prepared a price list of all the equipment.

Today I mounted the relays into a steel box along with a power supply. I have a single power cord feeding everything - the transformer and a 5 volt power cube. The power cube runs the Arduino and the relay board. It all seems good. Tomorrow I'll mount it all on the wall and wire it up to the solenoids. In the afternoon Libbie and I went to BJ's at crossroads for ribs and cheese then stopped into Home Depot across the street for plumbing pipes and 2x6x8 to finish the roof framing for the new greenhouse. Dinner was ribs, shiraz and butternut squash.

I had trouble getting the relays to work on the card then found that I had the One Wire chip, DS2408, soldered in upside down. After I carefully unsoldered each pin I put it down correctly and fired up the Arduino and was able to run the led strobe program which exercised each relay back and forth. Worked on getting my tower timer program working correctly. At first it seemed like the timer was not working but it really was the while loop handling in Arduino. Another issue was the check alarm. Couldn't get the return working. It turns out that I left out a return statement, I had only set the return value but did not send it back. I had to leave this momentarily because Libbie wanted to go out to dinner at La Cocina. We had the usual Quesadilla and a Margarita. When I came home I worked some more on the timer and had overwhelming success. The thing is ready to be packaged and deployed.

This was a much nicer day. I found the problem with my Arduino uploader. The wrong board was selected in the IDE. I uploaded and finished debugging the time and alarm routines. this can now be used in timing functions. Outdoors I took down the dish from above my workshop then went to the greenhouse and got the smaller extension ladder. This made a big difference. I threaded the new wire for the floodlight, finished cutting the 1.5 inches off the siding and installed the first piece of header. i also cut all the new header blocks. The project is moving along OK. Dinner was crabcakes with Farmers market tomato on a bun.

Worked outside on trimming 1 1/2 inches from the upper siding above the new roof to accommodate a slope. This was hard work. I also decided to relocate floodlight up higher but the satellite pole is in the way. need to remove it. Came inside to work on the tower timer and was bummed out that the thing won't upload anymore. I got online quickly and ordered a new USB FTDI chip. While ordering I also picked up some Xbee sockets and more headers. We had BBQ sandwiches for dinner before we had to go out to the Carolina Ballet rehearsal. The rehearsal was great. We had free wine (3 glasses ), imported chocolates and a very nice performance. We left at 10:30 but it probably was still going to continue. A nice evening.

Worked on the RTC alarm function this morning before going to Home Depot for framing wood for the Downing greenhouse roof. Came back and got ready for TAVS at 12:30. Sheila came early at 12:00. The meeting was nice and was basically planning for next year. After the meeting I spent hours worth of time figuring out how to write the DS2408 PIO. I think I have it figured out. I'm expecting the Hobby Board relay board on Thursday. Dinner was the Eggplant Parmesan again.

Joe left this morning for TN. He was going to white water raft in the mountains on his way there. He offered to come back in Nov to help with the greenhouse. I spent some time getting the RTC running. It seems to work OK. I need to find how to get the library functions to read/write the RAM. I also need some DS2408 programming info for the Hobby Board relay board which will be coming. I went to Krogers for Broccoli salad ingredients for violet club tomorrow. Made the salad and refrigerated it. Libbie made eggplant Parmesan which we had for dinner. I took down the strip of siding on the back of the house where the lean to greenhouse will attach. This went well.

Didn't watch the Sunday morning shows. They were doing 9/11 junk which I wasn't too interested in. Started looking at how I was going to assemble the RTC, Xbee, moisture sensing and relays. Went outside to put away the myrtle and rose of Sharon I cut down. Libbie and Joe went to the greenhouse, Joe returned with the Jade and put it on the backporch. He volunteered to remove the two stumps from the bushes which was great. In the meantime I was putting away bricks and got stung by yellow jackets next to the shed. Painful!!!! Joe had a Panthers pizza party at 4. Cole and Emily, Josh and Kelly with their two kids and us. The pizza was great. I had 2 Yuenglings and a glass of wine. Too much alcohol. In the meantime I cut a proto board and glued two RJ45's on it upside down. Will mount connectors for the RTC and Xbee.

Finished up the water on Tower 1 then went outside to cut down the shrubs for the new greenhouse. While doing this Joe arrived with Libbie. He went to the greenhouse first from his TN trip. We got cleaned up and went to the Farmers Market restaurant for lunch. I had BBQ chicken with field peas and sweet potato fries. I did not care for the peas. We had tuna sandwiches for dinner because we were full from lunch. Joe went to Josh's for dinner with the gang.