After the morning shows I worked on the Pi some more. I'm looking for a remote control music player. Libbie delivered the finished quilt to Joy while I did this then she went to the greenhouse and worked a little more. After lunch I took down the rest of the shade cloth then we went for a walk around Seagrove farm. It's a sunny day around 60 which is perfect. I had a lot of success with the Logitech server software and a slave player on the Raspberry called Squeezeplug. The whole thing is controlled by an Android app called Squeezedroid. I love it!!!!! There also is an Android player app but it is not free. Libbie made another one of her most excellent pizzas. It was great. I made reservations in Augustine, FL for my drive down on Tuesday. Not sure if it's really necessary.

This morning I worked on more scanning before we left for the Opera at 12:30. We had a very good performance of Maria Stuarda with joyce DiDonato. Also this morning I registered for the Gesneriad convention and made our Niagra Falls plans. Still need to sign up for Road Scholar and then get the airfare, After the Opera we drove to the Credit Union for trip money for this week.

This is a frosty and icy mmorning. Yesterdays rain turned to snow in the past 2 hours overnight putting a coating on everything. The bad news was I had to get a blood sample taken at 7:50. There was no problem. I allowed plenty of time but didn't need it. Came back and did more Toronto trip planning. Removed the spa light from the hot tub this afternoon. It's cracked and was the source of our leak. A new one is on order. Dinner was chili, corn bread and Shiraz.

Nancy came over this morning and we talked about the weather and the possibility of snow tomorrow. The Pi came today. It worked on the first try after getting everything hooked up. Earlier I made a trip to Walmart to get a USB wall charger to supply the thing since I didn't have any USB chargers. Dinner was BBQ on a bun with salad.

I got Orcad going and did a schematic for a new 8 relay irrigation timer with bluetooth. It's a cloudy rainy day. It may snow tomorrow evening. Dinner was Lentil Curry soup with butternut squash. Very good. I bought the ingredients yesterday including a Jalapeno pepper.

Studied plans for both the LA trip and the Toronto trip. Richard would like me to update the new website but there is no hurry since it will be a while before that thing flies. This afternoon I made a trip to Tigerdirect for an HDMI cable and an SD card for the Raspberry Pi. I got a tracking number for the PI yesterday. Dinner was Trader Joes pasta.

Most of the bills for the month have cleared and we will have over $1k left over which is great thanks to Social Security. Started working on the Hot Tub. It looks like the leak is the spa light and not the pump which is good news. It also means lowering the water level to find why the spa light is leaking. I suspect a cracked lens. Dinner was Briyani with chicken.

It's warm today. Libbie joined me at the greenhouse. I brought the miter saw out and used it to chop up the conduit into 6 foot lengths to be bundled and taken to the dump. This was successful. While I did that, Libbie emptied one table of potted orchids and also took down a heat tube and water line under the bench. There's still much to do. Came home and worked in the garden. I trimmed the rose bushes and the Lantana and hauled away the trimmings in the cart. We watched the Golden Globe red carpet and then the show tonight while we enjoyed Libbie's outstanding pizza. She made a very thin crust this time which was excellent.

Worked on relay stuff then went to the grocery store for dinner fixins before the 1 PM opera today. Il Trovotore is a favorite. Lib and I also took a quick walk around Seagroves. The sun is out and it's beautiful and warm today, over 70. While the opera was on I worked on the relay board for the garden irrigation. Dinner was salmon, broccoli and rice with Shiraz.

Today would have been Mom's 92nd birthday. Sad. It's warm out so I went under the house to trace the telephone wires. No luck. The next step will be to try another pair in the cable. It's real foggy this evening. We had a light dinner of Briyani then went to the NC Symphony. I really enjoyed the performance. Tchaikoovsky on both ends and guest violin soloist playing Piazzolo and Vivaldi 4 seasons in the middle. It was well matched, powerful and enjoyable.

I worked on the bluetooth version of an 8 relay box for the garden and also for use in the plant room. Dinner was Pork BBQ from Trader Joes.

Doing much better today!!!! Talked to Anne this morning and then Richard about the AVSA website. It's amazing how long this thing is dragging on. Received SSA #2 today which also included the $32 increase after Medicare deduction. Paid off the fence with the money I borrowed from Libbie before our trip. She said to apply it to the fence. It was $3,000 a year ago and paid off today. I also paid off this months credit card with current cashflow which felt pretty good. After lunch we went to the Post Office with Libbie's shipping, AC Moore for a picture frame for the Rose Parade poster, Lowes for dry worms and Target for a plastic box for the wrapping paper Libbie is organizing in the dining room. Dinner was Lobster pasta.

Libbie worked on cleaning the house and I worked on selecting slides for our "program" for TAVS today. I ran over to Kroger and got the fixins for the buffet lunch as well as the normal Tuesday groceries. The meeting went well. We had a new member, Gretchen, who seemed to be an over achiever. Later in the afternoon Libbie and I went to Trader Joes for the rest of our groceries. I enjoyed Donizetti Maria Stuarda live tonight. Received an interesting eMail about the AVSA website. Dinner was leftover chicken salad sandwiches on Hawaiian Rolls with macaroni salad. JoAnn Raymer brought a nice grilled vegetable dish for lunch which was yummy. It contained parsnips and turnips in a soy base. We had the leftover for dinner.

Wow, what misery. I stayed close to my tissue box all day. Went out in the PM and picked up 2 bags of trash at the greenhouse since this is garbage day. Received a call from Road Scholar that our LA Opera class was canceled. We'll do it on our own to take advantage of the air fare. Still don't have good trip plans yet other than we want to do 2 operas in LA on back to back nights. Dinner was curry chicken over spaghetti.

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.