Miserable day. I have a cold and my nose was running all day. I finally got a good result on authenticating Win 7 on my server. MS thinks my Windows is a pirate version. I found a script to remove the authentication registration entries and a program called Windows Loader that registers Windows. It worked. Windows now reports that it is authentic. Yay! In between bouts of blowing my nose and taking pills to dry up my nose I finished the MyPublisher photo album and submitted it. Because Libbie wanted the Wisconsin band we went over by a few pages beyond 70. Total was 74 pages for about $44. Libbie made her fabulous pizza again for dinner.

I am sniffling pretty bad today. I have a cold and am miserable with a runny nose, etc. This is a catch up day but I'm not very motivated. Libbie went out and picked up the mail and we went through it this morning. Received an interesting scam letter requesting my tax money because they say Wells Fargo accidentally overpaid. This is a new type of scam. I listened to Les Troyans by Berlioz this afternoon. It's very beautiful but long. Dinner was ribs, Lima Beans and Barefoot Merlot. I spent most of my down time today working on a Photo Book using My Publisher. I have a coupon for a 70 page book for $30. which expires Monday. (today is Saturday) The hardest part is making selections from all the photos we took.

We had a nice morning with Joe. Christa had a Dr appt so we walked Main St downtown and then down the pier. I found a green hoodie for $15 at a sidewalk sale on the corner of main and PAC Coast hwy. It's a beautiful and warm day for a walk. At 11 am we left for LAX and got there in plenty of time. On the plane we had wonderful seats on the exit row. Our seat mate was a very pretty blonde 16 year old. When we heard she was traveling alone to meet someone she met on the Internet our only thought was jailbait. We had to change planes in Las Vegas. In the airport we had a slice of Sbarros mushroom and spinach pizza as our dinner meal. The flight to RDU was ontime and very smooth. I discovered the free WiFi flight tracker provided by Southwest. Nice. We got in 10 minutes early. While Libbie waited for our bags I bailed our car out of the pay parking. Our bill was $72 for 12 days. We got home at 1 am which wasn't bad.

What a great sleep. Went to bed at 8:30 and didn't wake until 7 am. What a good night's sleep. I'm freezing cold today. Lots of shivering and numb finger tips. Wow, I don't understand it. I hope it isn't serious. Lunch was tacos by Christa. In the evening we went to Newport Beach where Joe and Christa rented an electric boat for a harbor tour. I wasn't well. They had crackers and cheese as well as wine onboard. We really enjoyed the harbor tour of Christmas lights. Wow. After the tour we went out to dinner at Mama Di's. I shared a spinach ravioli with Libbie. I was finally warmed up after dinner. The restaurant was incredibly good, especially the bread. Craig treated us to this meal.

We were at breakfast at 4:45 this morning. We had scrambled eggs, potatoes, sausage and toast. Libbie and I packed our suitcases and brought them down for the bus. The driver for our bus was a little late but still before the 6:15 takeoff time. It's a bright sunny morning but definitely crisp and cold. At the post parade we had to wait in line for about 20 minutes until the gates opened at 7:30. Seeing the finished floats up close was a real treat. There is so much detail that is missed when they go by but you really do need both experiences to see. At about quarter to ten we heard from Joe and Christa. They met the bus and took our suitcases. Fortunately, Christa was able to find parking on the nearest side street, Riviera. We had to pay the $10 admission again to do the floats with Joe and Christa for a total of $40. After getting totally exhausted walking approx 7 miles we headed back. Stopped for sandwiches at Secret Spot in Sunset Beach. Libbie and I split a turkey, Swiss and avocado sandwich. Once back at Joe and Christa's I fell asleep for a one hour nap. In the evening we went out to dinner to La Capelia, the place we had the rehearsal dinner at 4 years ago. I ordered the #7 special which was a taco and a Chile Rejeno. I was shivering and freezing cold. Don't know what's wrong. My throat is also very dry and hoarse like.

We had an early breakfast at 4:45 then the bus left at 6:15. As we approached the parade area the freeway was jammed up. Our driver was good and threaded her way through Pasadena to the parking lot. Our seats were excellent. We had front row bleacher seats for the parade which were outstanding. After the parade we walked Colorado taking in the Jesus freaks, the Occupy movement and the parade of tow trucks which were not needed. Only one float was broken down and needed a tow. We patiently waited for our bus to get out of the lot since we had to wait for the buses behind us to leave. After an hour we too got going. The freeway of course was also very crowded. Once back at the hotel we were served soup and salad which was nice. I took an hour nap in the afternoon which was refreshing. Dinner on New Years day was salmon with veggies and a fruit cup desert.

This was a leisurely day. We had breakfast at 6:30 then went to the lecture about float judging at 8:30. Tommy Cairns was excellent. He had a good presentation and was a dynamic speaker. Amazingly there are only 3 judges and they judge a float in 5 minutes. Wow, too much to absorb at once. At 11 we went to the Getty Villa which was excellent. Well done collection of antiquities. There was a lot to see. Sculpture was the most prominent feature of the museum but it has similar architecture and landscaping that the Getty Center on the hill contains. We got back to the hotel around 4:30 and were very very tired. Dinner tonight is at 7.

Up for a 5 am breakfast and then to the Rose Bowl at 6:15. We worked all day float decorating. Libbie and I put white carnation blossoms on the words “Freedom is Not Free”. It takes 7,500 white carnations to cover the letters. The Kiwanis supplied a Kiwanis tee shirt and fed us lunch. We got back at 5:00. I ran across the street and got a mailing tube at Staples before dinner. Dinner was lasagna with veggies and bread pudding for desert. After dinner we listened to an equestrian unit talk about their culture and preserving the Western costumes. The costumes were quite nice, the talk was very interesting. They will be riding in position 70 in the parade. Can't wait to see them. I bought Internet access and posted a lot of decorating photos on Facebook. We got a lot of feedback.

It was cold outside. We heard Julie King, Rose Queen of 1988 speak about her experiences as queen and the selection process to be a queen. Some of the stories are amusing of her as a 17 year old going anywhere for the first time in her life sch as Miami and entertaining the football team at night since her chaperone was several floors below in the hotel. She was excited at meeting the team she called her Dad to tell him. Her Dad was upset and called the Rose tournament the next day. The chaperone got fired. After a coffee break we saw the DVD about how a band gets to the Rose Bowl, focusing on a small town band in Butler PA and their fund raising efforts. The trip was going to cost $1300 each which they had bake sales, raffles, etc. After a cold cut sandwich lunch we left for Bandfest. We stood in the very cold rain outside the stadium before getting in. There wasn't too much rain in the bleachers but it was very long and extremely cold. The last band from El Salvador was worth it. They had a Samba beat and their dance team really knew how to move their bodies. Quite nice. We had a nice easy bus ride back and had a buffet dinner of pork, stuffing, potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Desert was cherry crumb cake. After dinner we heard about the White Suits and how they get picked. They handed out posters after the talk.

After breakfast we left Huntington Beach around 8:30 and went to Pasadena with Libbie, myself, Joe and Christa. We found the Cal Poly tent and Christa's school group and joined them decorating the Cal Poly float. It was great. First task was to separate blue flower petals from seeds on dried flowers. My next task was to climb the float and glue Malakai bark on Penguin hands then paint elmers glue on the ice sections of a float and sprinkle rice powder on the glue. This simulated ice between the rocks of black onion seed. This was a fn morning. Libbie glued cinnamon on the back of letters whiles Joe painted Dill seed on the edges of the Cal Poly letters. After the float work we drove to Woodland Hills and had lunch at the Baja Fresh. I had chipotle mango salad on a tortilla. Lots of good food. We checked into the Hilton and got room 1237 on the concierge level. It was quite a nice room. We checked into Road Scholar. We are the Orange group of about 50. We are split into 7 groups since there are 300 participants which is quite a few but Road Scholar is able to handle it with their super organization. Dinner was a plated dinner of chicken with wine, broccoli and rice. Desert was a yogurt fruit cup. Nice kickoff to the week.

This morning we went to the HB Community gardens that Joe and Christa are members of. It's a beautiful day for being out and about. Later in the day we went to Target where I found a pair of Wrangler jeans in lack for $16. Excellent. I didn't bring enough pants for the trip.
For dinner we went to Gulf Thai for the Thai experience. I had chicken Pad Thai with egg rolls, dew drops, thai tea and fried bananas for desert. Bill for 4 was $45 including tip.

Spent some time this morning on the tablet reading and then added the Downloader to Libbie's laptop and a cable to the D7 camera and downloaded the camera to her laptop. Libbie and I walked the neighborhood in the morning. I tried many times to access Traviata but did not know the FTP password. I tried all the usual suspects with no luck. In the evening we went out to a Korean BBQ which was pretty unique. They brought various kinds of shaved meats sch as brisket, pork, chicken and shrimp where we cooked it ourself accompanied by veggies such as lettuce, rice paper, potato salad, etc. Very entertaining and unique. As we left there were long lines waiting to get in. On the way home we stopped at Home Depot for parts to repair the toilet.

We slept very well last night. Woke this morning at 6:30 . Joe was up and made coffee already. Christa came down later. We had a nice pancake breakfast then opened our presents with Joe & Christa. The Lapworths came over at 1 with the grandchildren. It's amazing to see how they've grown. Cailyn is 3 and the boy is 6 months. They got over the top grandparent gifts such as an electric car. Joe & Christa got them a bicycle and helmet. Joe made a fantastic pizza dinner with a salad and lots of hors d'ouvers. We hung around all day then at night went to Fountain Valley to see a house with 92000 Christmas lights. It was a lot of lights and very little choreography. The rest of the lights in the neighborhood were pretty spectacular.

I set the alarm for 5:15 but it didn't go off. The battery quit at 4. Good thing Libbie set hers as a backup. Left the house at 5:54 for our 8:05 flight. The parking lot was pretty full but we had no problem. Security and check in lines were long. Our flight left on time and was pretty pleasant. We were 30 minutes late due to a late departure from Phoenix.
Our seatmate was a pleasant Indian guy who just graduated wiith his Masters degree and was going to a new job for Intel in Oregon. Christa and Joe met us at John Wayne. After we got our luggage we went to Rubys in Newport.nIt's a little hamburger shack on the beach. The food is good and the view is spectacular. I had a cashew chicken salad sandwich which has cashews, cranberries, raisins and chicn on whole wheat. Very good. Came back to decompress hwile Joe and Christa went to Target for a helmet. TSA unwrapped the presents Libbie had in her suitcase. They also dented one of the cookie tins. Dinner was by Christa. We had ham with green bean casserole, and cranberry salad.

Libbie reminded me this morning that we have to check in to Southwest at 8:05. I did it exactly at 8:05 and got a B06 ticket. Libbie booked a free flight to Providence in January using Southwest points. I found that American has $99 flights from LAX for Mary Elaines wedding. What a deal. We paid $121 for tickets to go out. I went to the greenhouse and stripped a few more benches and moved some bench top scraps to the shed to get them out of the way. After lunch we went to the Post Office, Credit Union and Target. The iron quit so we did a Target trip to replace it. Used my $10 gift card from BAC which was good. Picked up ingredients for ting a lings but had to return because one of the packages didn't make it home. They had a shopping basket of packages that people had bought and left behind. This must happen hourly! Libbie made her wonderful pizza again for dinner.

At the greenhouse today I Carried some of the 4 foot benching into the shed and stripped a few more benches. Came home and listened to the Sat broadcast of Barber in Seville from the Met. After that we went back to the greenhouse and picked up the 4 bundles of pipes and 2 garbage bags and took them to the dump. It was a good night for this - nobody else was there. I'm happy we got rid of all those pipes. Hooray. At dark we went over to Crimmons Circle to see a synchronized light display in the Woods of Kildaire. The guy has speakers outside so we were able to see the lights and hear the music outside the car standing in front of his house. Very nice. We got back around 6:30 pm. Dinner was Lobster tails once again with rice, broccoli and Shiraz.

Libbie got good news on her blood work from her Dr. Liver and Kidney function are back to normal. I went to the greenhouse and took down the rest of the conduit on the cool cell wall. I also carried a few rolls of 4 foot benching out to the shed. This is good storage for it. I wanted to strip a table but ran out of time and energy. Spent 2 hours there. Helped Libbie this afternoon at the Post Office then went to Kroger and found lobster tail on sale, 2/$10. We had them for dinner with broccoli, rice and Shiraz. Quite nice. After dinner we went back to Kroger and bought 3 lobster tails for tomorrow night.

Went to the greenhouse and took down more of the cool cell wall conduit and collected the copper wire. When I was ready to come home I decided to strip another bench top. Walked outside and looked in the shed. I found a nice spot in there for the benchtops and it will look like it belongs there without messing up the property too much. When I came home I started playing with the Nexus tablet. I bought an app for $4, EZpdf for reading PDFs. I really like it and the price is right. The tablet is turning into a nice toy. Earlier today I installed Google Voice on the thing and made a phone call to our home phone. Now with the PDF reader I can read the family address list. I also installed the Next Issue app which gives me access to the free subscription we have to Southern Living. Joy came over and she and Libbie worked on the binding for her quilt. After lunch I went to Kroger for lettuce then tried out the roof rake on the front porch when I returned. Next was a walk to my solar site again, picking up various twigs and sticks which had fallen on my defined pathway. The site still looks great although I have doubts about the amount of cable it will take to do the job. It may be cost prohibitive. I wonder what my threshold of pain is? $1,000, $2,000, $3,000? This is in addition to the cost of panels and inverters.
Dinner was BBQ sandwiches again with a salad. Nice.

Went to the greenhouse and took off one bench top and also removed the copper tubing from the Modine heaters. Little by little this is getting done. It's warm again for December - in the 50s. After my hour at the greenhouse I came home and took the chain saw to the back and dropped the Oak Tree against the pond dam. Cut the tree up and stacked it on my branches pile in the back. Still unsure about the viability of installing a solar array back there.
After lunch Libbie and I went to Barnes and Noble for cookbooks for Christmas (Joe & Christa), then went across the street to Penneys to buy a new large suitcase. We paid $110, the store was remarkably not crowded. The main entrance to the mall was gridlock but we went around and had an easy time. On the way to B-N we first stopped in Kroger where I got a flu shot using the free insurance card. It was my first. Came home tired. Dinner was BBQ sandwiches and a salad.

Did the grocery store this morning and also visited Home Depot and Lowes looking for a remote control. No luck at either store. Ace Hardware is my last hope. I want to use a power remote for the fan timer to control under the house and also control the outdoor lighting. Did some more greenhouse work. This time I stripped the bench top in house 1. Pulled the water hose out from under the bench and also took down some more conduit. At home I took the chain saw out back and started trimming some smaller trees where I want to locate the solar panel. I also removed the big cedar tree on the property line which would have shaded the panels. It's a 60 degree plus day out, very nice. Dinner was Briyani which we did not have for a while. We listened to BArber of Seville live tonight. It was a modified for families on Christmas version. Sung in english and shortened which seemed to work. Talked to Sue Hoffmann today about the New Bern hotel. She still isn't sure about what to do about a hotel. I'm going to try to back out of it.

A little bit of patchy rain today. Went over to the greenhouse and did another hour of cleanup. Took the large duct down on the heater in house 3. Will come back and remove the bench top in house 1 and also the piece of benching touching the wall of the cool cells so that I could start working on the conduit wall. Came home and did some click n ship then helped Libbie carry two big bags of packages and a handful of envelopes to the Post Office. She can't lift stuff after the surgery and this is the busiest day of the year at the Post Office. fun. Dinner was spinach pasta from Trader Joes.

Libbie is recovering nicely but she stayed upstairs this morning and didn't come down till later. Watched the CBS Morning Show together, then on to our day. I did a little more configuration of the router and Traviata Server. We went to "Lincoln" in Apex at 11:50 am. It was quite good if not historically accurate. Reading Killing Lincoln at the same time was great for me since I had the scoop on the real Lincoln History. The local theater accepted our free passes from the failed Hoffmann of several years ago. I still have two more passes. Dinner was Libbie's excellent pizza which she managed to start from scratch after the theater today.

Got in the car with Libbie and drove to the greenhouse to get the mail then we stopped at Seagrove Farm and walked around the park they built around the lake. Examined the new pavilion and play area. Very nice. Left for Aida from the Met at 12:20 today. We met Meg Calcagni and her Mother in the theater. The Opera was spectacular as Aida always is. The singing is first rate. The new Aida from the Ukraine is a treat. We had the usual collection of popcorn bag rattlers. I don't know why they choose the pianissimo moments to make their noise.
When we came home we had the rest of the chicken for dinner. I had a carrot and sunflower seed salad and also the cranberry salad.

This morning I made a scrambled egg for Libbie. Stayed around the house all day to make sure she was OK. The instructions were not to leave her alone for the first 24 hours. Our router is a pain in the butt. It keeps crashing. The replacement seems to be lost between Memphis and here. Dinner was a rotisserie chicken with Trader Joe Mac N Cheese and Kroger Cranberry salad. The salad has cranberries, cherries, celery and walnuts. It's way too sweet and suitable more as a dessert. Ran out to HH Gregg this evening sand bought a Netgear router which is highly rated. After a succession of phone calls from her family, Libbie went to bed and I proceeded to configure the new router. The menu is extensive and the Genie tool is quite good. All seems to be working.

Today is a warmer day, around 60. Libbie can't have anything to eat today because of her surgery this afternoon. I worked on SQL databases in my office for a while. We got a call from the hospital that they were ahead of schedule and to come over when we could. We were originally supposed to be there for prep at 2:15 for 4:15 surgery. We left home at 1:39 PM and went straight in. They collected $200 at admissions and told us to wait in the day surgery area. In about 10 minutes they took Libbie and gave me a pager. I was called when she was ready for the OR and again at 4 when the operation was concluded. I spoke with her doctor who told me her gallbladder probably had not functioned in quite a while. They called me again at 6 to say she was awake. I went in and waited with her for a half hour then went to get the car and picked her up at the entrance. We stopped at Kroger first for pain medication then went home. I made chicken soup for her then escorted her up to bed. She's in quite a bit of pain and moving slowly. Tonight will be interesting. For dinner I had leftover BBQ and a PBJ sandwich.