i started digging the post holes with my shovel but ran into trouble in the hard ground. Went to a rental place next to Kmart Cary and found they only rented furniture. They sent me to Mikes Garden Center across from Burkes. The state fair is going on so it was no easy task. They didn't have rentals either. Ended up going to Home Depot in Fuquay and buying a post hole digger. It did the job exceedingly well but just about killed me. Libbie is not feeling well so we skipped the State Fair which was good because I have too much to do. Dinner was the leftover eggplant parmesan which is very good.

First thing this morning I expoxied a new connector on the relay board. After an hour or so I wired the eight relays to this new connector and then wired the Arduino card. Did some program changes and it was ready. Libbie and i watched the watering at 2 PM. It did all the shelves. Dinner was eggplant parmesan that Libbie made today. We had it with a bottle of shiraz. It rained all day today. I went out in the rain to the greenhouse corn crib and found some pipes and clips that we will be able to use. Will bring the trailer to fetch them later in the week.

I registered for the MAAVS hotel and Libbie filled out the MAAVS registration and wrote a check this morning. After this I went to do the Tuesday groceries while she wrapped packages. Came home and did the Click n Ship for the boxes she packaged. Went outside and layed out the stakes for the new greenhouse. The gutter will be lower than i first thought although the posts will be the same 8 footers we have used out on Jessie. I have really gotten into the Kindle Book, "The Voyeur" although I'm not sure I like where it's leading which is multi partner sex. This is not my thing. Mowed the front lawn and some of the back then set up some 2x4's to gauge how high the post has to be to support the gutter. It looks like a normal 8 foot post will suffice. Now i have to locate some in ground extensions. Dinner was pulled pork sandwiches from the Lancaster Carolina BBQ from Krogers. It was an early to bed night. I felt tired at 8:15 but stayed on the computer until 9.

Libbie stayed home packing the Monday orders while I went to the greenhouse to disassemble the end wall and take down the gutters. The wall came down easily after i removed the bolts on each side and gave it a push. Spent the next hour hammering apart the 2x4's and cleaning up the foam board pieces. Went home for lunch at 1:30 totally exhausted. After lunch I did the Click N Ship labels on our new printer that arrived during lunch hour. Setup was easy - plug her in and watch windows go out for drivers and install them. All worked well. Went back to the greenhouse at 4 and finished disassembling the gutter. Had a dinner of chili Releno (Trader Joe's) and then Libbie and I went to Office Max at 8:15 PM to get an 8 foot table. The table was $99 and we had a $10 off coupon which we used. Put it in the trunk, all 8 feet of it, and got it home safely. Took the cardboard box off and put it in the recycle bin for tomorrow. Whe have the box for the new furnace, the new printer and the table out for recycling. A full load. When we got home there was a message from Diane Richardson that the hotel deadline had passed for MAAVS Baltimore. I put a notice on the website. We still have not registered!!!! Did not know about the deadline.

Went over to the greenhouse at 9 to remove the bow this morning. the job went well and finished up by 11 am. Packed up the tools and Libbie and I picked up some Dunkin donuts down the street. Next stop was Foodlion for our food donation for the state Fair this Thursday. Came home by noon and checked out the DIVX of a 2006 Anna Bolena from Italy I downloaded. It's pretty risque but has nice singing.

Had a can of soup then left for the ballet at 1 for a 2 PM performance. I really like Dracula as done by the Carolina Ballet. The music matches the theme, the dancing is wonderful and the narrator is fantastic. This is a well done work. After the ballet we stopped by the greenhouse so Libbie could pick up supplies that she couldn't bring home this morning because I had the ladder and tools in the car.

Of course we had Libbie's super pizza for dinner. We found some of the good Sargento cheese in Foodlion this morning.

Today is the first day of our HD series at the Met. It's Anna Bolena at 1 so I went into the backyard at 9 and started putting up the top clips onto the facia board. Finished this job then showered and dressed for the theater so that we could leave at 11:30. After the performance we went to Harris Teeter across the street to forage for food. Picked up some shrimp and Chardonnay which we had with Broccoli and Brown rice. This was a very nice evening dinner. I took the Nook to the theater with me today. The backlit screen made reading in the dark easy. I did not intend for the Android device to be a reader but it works well as a kindle or a nook reader. I also downloaded a PDF reader for it to peruse PDF's as well.

Stayed home this morning and wired the next bench for automatic watering. When Libbie came home we watched the watering of 2 shelves on Tower 1 and one shelf on Tower 2. This was the first watering of Tower 2. I also increased the watering time to 35 seconds instead of 30. In the afternoon I went over to Bluebird with the intention of removing the bows but it was too windy. I removed the fan instead and put it inside the greenhouse. Now without the weight of the fan on the end wall I can remove the guy wires and hopefully the wall won't lean over in the wind like it was with the weight of the fan leaning on the wall outside. Dinner was scallops with broccoli, rice and Yellow Tail Chardonnay.

Played with android and developed a "Hello World" application on the emulator. Put this away and went over to the greenhouse to drop the top on the back of house 4 before it rained. Brought the trailer with the ladders so we could get up on the gutters and remove the clips. Also had the 8 foot step ladder to cut the ridge pole so the plastic could drop through. This was more work than I expected although everything went OK. It was just a long task. Went home for Minestrone soup, took a shower to wash the slime off then put on dry clothes. Went back over to finish buttoning up the project. Jennifer was there giving plants away to her friend from Greenville. I had to build some framing on each side of the top plastic hanging through because it didn't reach the sides. Added pieces of plastic to the sides attached to the new framing. I used the old bench materials for the framing and to complete the recycling, I used rusty old nails. Dinner tonight was crabcakes with tomatoes on sandwich rounds. The live Met Opera tonight is Don Giovanni.

Played inside with the Nook Android some more this morning. It's a slick little toy. Found out it will synch addresses with Gmail easily. Went over to the greenhouse and stapled down the plastic between house 3 and 4. I also Prepped a base for dropping the top plastic onto. will staple the top to this base. Part of the job was cleaning up the scrap lumber in house 4 and moving it forward onto a pile. Went back over there in the afternoon to talk to Jennifers carpenter about the greenhouse. He seems to be mildly interested.
Came back dead tired. Libbie fixed some Briyani with chicken. It was excellent.

Did the normal grocery run then packed up some tools and went over to the greenhouse. Put down a base between house 3 and 4 then hung the plastic from the gutter. I was there until 5:30. Came home and had success with the Android. I am now able to read both Nook and kindle books on the thing. Dinner was Margaritas and a Quesadilla at La Cocina. It rained on the way home which doesn't bode well for tomorrow.

This is a holiday. While Libbie collected and taped plants for shipping I worked on disassembling the benches in house 4. Ran out to Northern for some large pipe wrenches which helped tremendously in removing the pipes. Dinner tonight was Chinese with a little wine. We were both pretty tired.

We watched the watering today on tower 1. It was scheduled for 8:50 am. It went smoothly. Left at 10:40 for the theater in Morrisville. Saw the Bolshoi live doing Esmeralda. Loved it!!!! What a large Ballet company. Fantastic dancing by a large company. It lasted over 3 hours. Libbie made her great pizza when we came back. Didn't have the normal cheese but it was still very very good.

Went to the greenhouse primarily to reset the thermostat wiring so that Hot Dawg 2 warms the place. Spent some time taking apart another bench and clearing the space for where we will drop the plastic. Came home with some of the smaller wood pieces and worked on building another bench as well as the legs for the benches. It was a long day. For dinner we had stuffed flounder with butternut squash and Ravenswood shiraz. The shiraz was quite nice. I have not had Ravenswood shiraz in the past.

I put in a long day today. Disassembled the benches at the greenhouse then loaded up the trailer with the parts and bench tops. Came home and built one 36 inch bench which we moved onto the back porch. It still needs legs and the matching benches. Dinner was Chinese from the takeout next to Krogers. We had it with a bottle of Santa Barbara Chardonnay. Very nice evening.

I had a hard time getting into the swing of things. Went to the greenhouse late in the morning and started disassembling a bench in house 4 for the back porch. I ended up cutting it to the 36 inch size I needed. I decided I needed to take the three benches down in order to take out the section of greenhouse I want to relocate to home. Dinner was mushroom pasta from Krogers that Libbie didn't like. I was neutral about it. Libbie filled out the Score card affidavit today. It had to be notarized. With luck we will get our points on time for the Lonestar trip.

Libbie got up first and asked if we should leave. IT was just after 4:30. I got up, took a shower and started packing the car. I didn't feel like having breakfast, just a little OJ and then a thermos of coffee for the road. We got going going by 5:10. Traffic was light, even through Orlando. Stopped at a McDonalds the other side of the St Johns. There was an accident out front but it didn't slow us down. Got back on I-4 and encountered another accident a few miles East. It stopped traffic for about 9 minutes which wasn't too bad. Got gas in Brunswick at 3.19 and once again in Florence at 3.15. Had some snack wraps in McDonalds Florence. They charged us 49 cents each for water!!!!! We got home around 4:30. The exit at Crossroads was backed up over a mile so we continued to the Cary Mall exit and went home down Maynard towards Lake Pine. I picked up some fried chicken in Krogers for dinner which we had with Macaroni and Potato salad. It was not a bad day for driving. The weather was in the 70's all the way.

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.