I added the side wall to the shed today which ties the front and back together ready for trusses. I also nailed the remaining plates onto the trusses with the nails I purchased last night. Dinner was pork chops,leftover rice and lima beans. I need to get more frozen Lima beans since this was the last of them. I helped John Carter get his update to the First Class program. He need to update the program before he could get the database update.

Fast early this morning then out to Waverly place to get blood drawn at 7:30. There's a surprising number of people going everywhere in the morning. Stopped into whole foods and picked up a dozen roses for our anniversary today. Went outside and nailed most of the plates onto the trusses but ran out of 6d nails before finishing. I have 3 more plates to nail. Went to HD to get nails just before dance. It was nice returning to the Studio today. It has been since March 4 that we were there. Robert was pretty helpful with our waltz amalgamation. I didn't have the lock step or the transition into the flip flops but Robert straightened me out. I feel I learned a lot in this lesson. My knee started bothering me again and I was tired by the end of the lesson. I'm not sure what's going on. I weighed myself this morning and was delighted at 223. It's getting closer to the 216-218 from last year although I want to go lower. Dinner was a salad with tuna over the top. Ingredients included bacon bits, olives and tomatoes. Very good but I'm hungry. I'm on a weight loss quest and know it's not going to be easy.

Picked up some plywood at Home Depot today and cut the braces for the trusses out of this plywood. This involved making a template out of cardboard first then tracing the cardboard onto the plywood. I got covered with sawdust doing this. I also fastened the aluminum flashing to the base of the shed decking and pushed the dirt against this for a ramp then covered it all with Pine Straw to keep the mud down. We practiced our waltz today for the first time in a long time. It went pretty good. Learning the chase' from a promenade. Dinner was spaghetti with sauce and cheese.

I cut out the old siding on the shed and put a nailer up to support the front wall of the extension. Next I raised the wall and fastened it in place. I'm still eating light since I need to lose 10 pounds by my doctor appointment next week in order to be at least the same weight as last year. I'm not sure I'm going to make it. This is tough, I wish I had not gained back so much weight in the first place. Dinner was a salad covered with tuna fish but Libbie also heated up the leftover ribs from Saturday so we had 2 ribs each. I hope this doesn't impact anything with my weight loss plans.

After the morning shows today I returned to the shed project and assembled the front wall for the shed. It still needs to be raised but that's coming. We did a trip to Walmart and picked up kitchen garbage bags and also got a couple of packs of snapdragons for the flower boxes. Libbie made her pizza today from scratch. We're both doing a lot better since out colds last week. Hurray. Dinner was the pizza on freshly made crust. Yummy

It's a beautiful warm sunny day for a change. I was going to work on the shed some more but instead worked on the garden which really needed work. I trimmed the roses and the lantana and butterfly bushes. The Gardenia also took a pretty good winter hit so I basically chopped it in half. Ed Lyons came over during the afternoon for plants from Libbie. The work today really wore me out and I only trimmed bushes. Not sure if I'm getting old or the effects of the recent cold are still lingering in my body. We had a nice meal tonight consisting of shrimp, basmati rice and broccoli. We had Ravenswood Cabernet with the meal.

It's a yucky wet morning. Went out to see if the fox returned in the rain overnight and the answer is no. It's pretty wet and cold today. In the afternoon we went to the CU to deposit a check, Lowes for nails and wood and then to Target for ribs. We found there is no meat or seafood dept in Target. they only have pre packaged foods. Picked up 2 bottles of Ravenswood and also the package of ribs which was on sale for 8.99. dinner was ribs, broccoli and a bottle of Ravenswood Zinfandel. It's been a while since we've been well enough to have a nice meal and is really the first since we've been home from NY. I started looking at the Universal IR remote using a YUN. This seems promising to use the Arduino side of YUN for IR transmission and the Linux side to run a Flask web server. I can get this going easily I think. I ordered some IR receiver modules from Davis, CA on eBay today to support learning remote codes. I think this is going to be useful. I read the Jan/Feb issue of florida Gardening today and was disappointed to see the owners in Port Malabar sold the magazine. Not sure if I will renew when it expires.

It's supposed to rain today. The fox didn't get through my mesh last night but did dig some big holes and a lot of smaller ones. I nailed together the wood I cut yesterday and built the first wall for the place. Now it needs the front wall and I can support trusses.
It rained in the afternoon putting a damper on further construction. I didn't feel like working on the shed anyway as I continue to recover from the cold.
Dinner tonight was a salad with tuna over the top.

Weight this morning was fair. Down to 225 which is a vast improvement over the 238+ I was at when we returned from Florida at the end of January. This was a lackadaisical day. The fox dug huge holes under the shed so I spent the day closing the gaps. Ran over to the greenhouse and retrieved a roll of screening from the fan housings that was laying in the old greenhouse foundation. Installed this all around which did involve some digging. Libbie did a lot raking so I assisted with some of the trailer work. Wow did I get tired fast. Dinner tonight was Salmon and broccoli. The Salmon was great, I'm just OK wth the Broccoli. I tried a little hot sauce on it to make it more flavorful but it was way too hot.

Not doing so well today. Lots of phlegm in my throat causing me ot breathe with a wheeze. Went outside and finished the platform for the shed extension. Now I have to build the walls and roof trusses. The trusses will be the hardest part to replicate all the angles. I tired out pretty quickly but still pumped up the tires on the cart and picked up the pine straw that Libbie had raked a few days before. Last night I finally got the update out for First Class for Android.
This took a while and required a program update. Dinner tonight was spaghetti with cheese sprinkles. I'm not happy with the amount of weight loss but at least it's going down. I did some research today on transferring a file to Android. I'm going to need this in order to import a user database.

It's a beautiful day out but I relentlessly pursued the updates for First Class. After struggling with the SQL and the fact that it added extra spaces to the SQL when I autoupdated the credits file, I managed to get everything patched up so it doesn't crash anymore. I hope I caught everything I was supposed to. I put the release onto Google this evening. At the same time I distributed the MAAVS Memo. Dinner tonight was a salad with tuna fish. The weight loss thing has to go ballistic this week since in 2 weeks I go for the weigh in.

Today was a lost day. I can't concentrate. This cold has done me in, I have been taking a half an antihistamine tab as needed to get through the day. The rain really did a number on the tar paper covering the decking for the shed extension. I'll have to rip it up and redo it. Libbie made her wonderful pizza for dinner. She said she jazzed it up a little with balsamic and red pepper. It was very good.

Started to finally look at creating an update package for Android. I'm really out of it. Took another antihistamine to stop the drippy nose. Not sure how I'm going to do today in the theater. We left at 12:15 in the rain for a 12:55 performance. What a yucky day. Donna del Lago was way over the top. It was incredibly beautiful and a showcase for Joyce. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. The cold, sneezing and coughing held off enough to make it through the performance and to enjoy it fully. The theater was surprisingly full. I thought because it was a crummy day and this was a little known opera that it would be sparsely attended. this was not to be. After the opera Libbie needed to go to joann fabric to get material for the binding around her quilt. I was not in favor of this but sat in the parking lot numbly while she ran in for the fabric. For dinner tonight we had beef pot roast soup and a peanut butter sandwich. Not great but passable and hopefully nutritious. I tried to keep at the updates but had a hard time concentrating with the cold and the antihistamine. Went to bed shortly after 8. It took a lot of will power to even last that long.

My cold has abated somewhat but I feel lethargic. Went outside for a little bit and hammered down three more deck planks for the shed extension. Libbie is doing much better today. Went to kroger and picked up the freeby which was a snickers egg. It was an easter egg made of Snickers candy. I didn't do too much today except did a lot of reading online. I'm sort of out of it. In the evening the sniffles came back real bad so after dinner I had a half a tablet. This seems to work better than the whole tablet. dinner was noodles, peas and creamed tuna. It was yummy and just what the doctor ordered!

Went outside this morning and raked around the timbers and covered the rakings with pine straw to prevent me from getting too muddy. Used the 2x4's and made a joist frame to start the floor decking. I got about 4 feet of decking down when I ran out of outdoor spiral decking nails. The great news was I found a property side iron. By my estimate of the distance from the shed to the iron I have a comfortable margin from the property line. Did a run out to Lowes for more nails and also an additional 2x6 which I estimate I am short by. Dinner was BBQ chicken leftovers and potato salad. After dinner my head cold hit with full force. I did some research online and decided i needed an antihistamine. Found the names of 2 antihistamine chemicals and went to Walgreens at 8 PM in search of either. The nice young pharmacist told me that one was non drowsy and the other will knock me out. I chose the non drowsy and it did the trick The drip totally stopped but I think the does is too strong since I could feel it tightening up my sinuses. Next does will be half a tablet using my tablet slicer.

I went out and took a few wheelbarrows of dirt out of the shed area. Before this I took some empty pails to the gravel place and bought 284 pounds of rock for under $6. It's 20 cents per pound. Finished cleaning up the dirt under the floor area and got the timbers situated. I bought water softener crystals before it rained so I could line the bottom of each side of the timbers with salt as termite proofing. Poured the gravel over the salt. Now I'm ready for the wood floor joists to go over this, probably tomorrow. while i was at Lowes i found a Scott lawn patch kit which has mulch, seed and fertilizer mixed up to repair grass areas. I put this over the new dirt I put down between the flagstones on the path in back. In a few weeks I'm hoping this will be grass growing between the flagstones. Dinner was BBQ chicken and southern potato salad. Did some more portfolio adjusting today. I need to withdraw money to pay the credit card bill. This bill is over $9,000 and has the European trip, some Stoneybrook charges, and the New york trip. Even more amazing the credit card balance is over $10,000. Ouch!
Listening to Merry Widow tonight from the Met. I'm really enjoying this, it's nice light music with good tunes.

I got the middle timber set today on the shed project. I also attempted to use the level and get them leveled. Probably need to buy some gravel to level these timbers. It's a beautiful day. Libbie is really sick. i decided to inquire with Cary medical about walk ins and took her there to see a nurse practitioner. the diagnosis was a sinus infection. He prescribed an anti-biotic and ann $89 bottle of Codeine. I had several calls about the FC update status. I need to really get to work on this. Dinner was baked BBQ chicken and potato salad wit a bag of chips. This is not good anymore. i need to slow down on the eating. I listened to and recorded Donna del lago from the Met this evening. Margaret is still out. Wonder what's wrong with her? I also did some portfolio adjustments today. Added a few more FGP and KMI. Breitburn has really gone south with the oil prices being depressed.

The tiller is working much better today. I guess the carburetor seals needed to be lubricated by running a little. i tilled the area some more and installed one more timber. libbie is pretty sick. i called Joy and told her no shipping this week. Dinner was a salad with tuna fish.

I took the roto tiller out and tried to do some leveling behind the shed. The tiller still has a problem in that it stalls out when the governor demands power. It jut coughs and dies. Not sure what's wrong. It may be time to replace the motor. A new one is $250 at Northern. I just need to know the diameter of the shaft. Some disassembly required. I managed to cut one timber and lay it in the ditch i made but did not level or secure it. I will have 3 timbers total under the shed extension supporting the 2x4 floor joists. Libbie is pretty sick. I ran out to Kroger and picked up 4 cans of Chicken noodle soup which was a clear broth with noodles in it so she can have warm soup for her cold. I spent some time this afternoon learning about Drupal entities. Dinner was bits and pieces. I had a bowl of chicken noodle soup and a salad. Later I had a glassful of chocolate chip cereal which was not a good idea. Need to deep six the sweet cereal which I thought was a good idea at the time since it owuld be a low calorie snack. It doesn't work for binge eaters which I finally decided was my problem.

The scale is cooperating. If i held my breath i can get it to just barely read 226 which is another pound down but I suspect it's not real. Doctor appt is at the end of the month and I want to see 215. That's only 11 pounds but it will be difficult. Maybe when Libbie goes to her parents next week I can really throttle back to just a few hundred calories per day. I estimate I'm doing around 1250 to 1500 now. Went to Kroger and ran into Anita and daughter Rebecca. Daughters Rebecca and Lisa are going to cook dinner for Anita's birthday which is today. I picked up my Friday Freebie which was a Hormel wrap.
Libbie and I went to Home Depot. She bought a new bird bell and worms. I got some Dahlias and pepper seeds. This completes my seeds for starter trays. The Rototiller Magneto came this afternoon in the mail when we returned from Lowes. I installed it and the tiller started right up. It's running a little rough but smooths out when I loosen the air filter. I went to Town and Country Hardware in Parkway Point and bought an air filter which matched my old one. I brought the old one into the store in a baggy. Came home and installed it but did not try running the tiller. It's supposed to be 65 tomorrow so I'll prepare the ground for the new shed extension. Dinner was the leftover bean soup with corn bread. i had a salad with my soup. I hope I lose some more weight. this afternoon I listened to the Sat Met broadcast of Carmen live. Recorded it and then in the evening I used Audacity to split the file into acts and intermissions.

I was happy this morning because the scale finally budged. I was at 227 finally. I never should have gained all this weight. Looked up the Time Warner history today. I have contacted them 3 times about getting the $18 removed from my bill. It's still there.
Went down to the Cary office TWC. They assured me the $18 charge will be removed by a supervisor. I told him that was the story last time and it's still there. My tiller magneto didn't come today. It's coming from IN and the midwest is undergoing a winter storm yesterday and today which may impact delivery. It's too cold outside anyway to deal with it but I want to see if at least the mounting holes match up. Libbie is sleeping this afternoon. She has a bad cough deep inside. I filled a tray with dirt today and watered it from the bottom hoping to plant my tomato and pepper seeds. Spring will be here one of these days. Spent some time this afternoon editing the Tales of Hoffmann ?i recorded live last night from the Met. I'm finally getting the hang of using Audacity. It's a pretty nice program if only I understood the UI better. I also did soome work on the AVSA website adding the feedback requested statement on the education pages and adding a News item.

I got the Foxtrot DVD from Steve last night and proceeded to use the Handbrake program to rip it. I also did some future research for NY hotels. I loved the Marriott but also looked for alternatives. There is a Hilton Garden Inn around the corner on 8th and a Hilton on 42nd St near 7th which was across the street from the Lyric theater which is where we saw "On the Town". My weight this morning was a disappointing 229 but I'm back in the groove and working on it.
We practiced a little Bolero this morning but had trouble remembering some of the steps.
Spent the afternoon scanning playbills and filling out the traviata life bits and blogs. Libbie is under the weather today. This is not good. Dinner tonight was 15 bean ham soup and corn bread. The soup was made with the Christmas ham. I hope the meal doesn't make my weight go up. I only had cereal and soup today plus apples and carrots. Listened to and recorded hoffmann tonight. This is the cast we heard this past weekend in the house. They are good.

It's a warm one today. Spent some time cleaning up the Learning section of the AVSa website then did some scanning of programs from our trip. At 3 we went to dance and had a great lesson with Robert doing waltz amalgamations. This is another eating light day which meant a dinner of salad with tuna over the top.
We went back for Tango with Andy and then Bolero with Robert. It was my first exposure to Bolero. I had a lot of fun.

It was a slow start to get back. I did a Kroger grocery run for the normal Tuesday groceries. I also went to Lowes to look at the cultivators which are smaller roto tillers. The one I looked at was made by Troy Built and included a port to electrically start the thing with a drill. Price around $200. I also picked up an armful of treated 2x4s for the shed. Had to deposit a check in the Credit Union. For some strange reason I got a check refund from Cary Medical from 2 years ago. Wonder what was up with that. Dinner was spaghetti with sauce and cheese.

I was up at 5 and quickly jumped into the shower. Packed up our things and walked to the deli off times square at 5:30 in the morning. The clerk wanted to know what we were doing there so early. Told him we had a train to catch at 7 from Penn Station. They had egg, bacon and English muffin biscuits prepared. They weren't very warm but acceptable. We also had them make some sandwiches for the train. We ordered a ham and cheese and a turkey and cheese on wheat bread. They sure put a lot of meat into the sandwiches. This is NY Deli style. At the hotel the doorman got us a cab at 6 AM. We didn't see any but he had his whistle and Walkie talkie and a cab magically appeared. The roads were surprisingly clear on the way to the station. He let us out at the corner on 8th ave where we got to step into the slush puddles to get to the station. There is a ticketed entry waiting area with airline style seating that is nice since they keep the street people out. The train left on time. Our business class tickets were well worth it, we have comfortable seats, drink service and AC Power.
We arrived about 15 minutes late in Cary which was acceptable. Temps around 40 felt pretty good to us. There also was no snow on the ground. We went out tonight to la Cocina for dinner. The mail was waiting for us in the mailbox since we had the held mail delivered.