And interesting week……………………………………
As always, first the chronology:
7/26/20 – Sunday – Up a little late again today and the usual morning routine. Downstairs to do the blog. Upstairs for a light lunch. Kathy took off to do some things with Julie and the grand children. I went back downstairs and finished the blog. Then out to the Morton building and cleaned up Mike’s zero turn mower before I return it to him tomorrow. Fixed the APRS system on the Chrysler. Back to the house and cooled down. Did some research on the computer. Then a shower and cleaned up. Kathy texted that she would not be home for dinner. So I had a simple snack for dinner. Downstairs and cleaned up my room a little. Computer updates and chores. To bed, Big Bang and sleep.
7/27/20 – Monday – Up a little early this morning. Kathy was already up and out to watch the grand children. I checked the weather and it looked like it was going to get nasty around lunch time so I hurried out, got Mike’s mower loaded on the trailer and headed over to his house to return it. Home and put things away. Had lunch then downstairs to play radio. Chatted with a guy across the Mississippi river from New Orleans, LA. on 20 meters. Had a nice conversation. Said they are having a lot of rain from the storms coming in the gulf. Did some work on the Raspberry Pi. Then upstairs for a nap till Kathy came home. Had dinner. Downstairs and chatted with Mike on 2 meters. Did computer updates and more Pi work. Upstairs to bed, TV and sleep.
7/28/20 – Tuesday – Up at the usual time and usual morning routine. Kathy was already up and out to watch the grand children. I went downstairs and played radio. Then work on the Pi awhile. Upstairs for a light lunch and cleaned up. Out to do some shopping. Home and a short nap. Kathy came home and we went to Hometown Pizza for dinner. Home and chatted with the guys on 2 meters. Upstairs, chores, bed, Big Bang and sleep.
7/29/20 – Wednesday – Up at the usual time and usual morning routine. Checked the radios and band conditions were not good. Pulled emails and did some administrative stuff. Then outside to the pool to help Kathy do some cleanup. In for lunch. Out to the Morton building. Cleaned up after all the mess last weekend. Changed the carburetor, cleaned the gas tank and replace the gas hose. Had the wrong spark plug so in the house and cleaned up. Then down to the auto parts store for the correct one. Back and installed it. Chipper/Mulcher runs like it’s new now. Kathy got cleaned up and we went to McDonald’s to pick up dinner. Home and ate. Downstairs to chat with the guys on 2 meters. Upstairs, chores, bed, Big Bang and sleep.
7/30/20 – Thursday – Up at the usual time and usual morning routine. Chores. Kathy went grocery shopping. I made some phone calls and set up some appointments. Kathy came home and we unloaded groceries and put things away. Had lunch. Downstairs and worked on my Pi. Got WSJT working. Upstairs for dinner. Down and chatted with the guys on 2 meters. Upstairs and dessert. Bed, computer updates, Big Bang and sleep.
7/31/20 – Friday – Up at the usual time and usual morning routine. Kathy took Bella to the groomers then we went over to Shelbyville and retrieved the John Deere. Stopped at the bank to get some cash then to Subway and picked up some sandwiches for lunch. Home and unloaded the John Deere, put the trailer and truck away. In for lunch. Downstairs and did computer updates and tested the Raspberry Pi on the Pacomm with the new cables and adapters I got. Up for dinner. Down and chatted with Mike on 2 meters. Upstairs for dessert. Bed, computer updates, TV and sleep.
8/1/20 – Saturday – Up at the usual time and usual morning routine. Cleaned up and out a little after 10AM to go up to the church in Middletown for Kathy to take pictures of Shelby’s first communion. The service started at 11AM and only immediate family members were allowed in. So Kathy and I went after the cake Julie ordered and took it back to the house. Julie, Mike and the grand kids came back from church. We did burgers and brats on the grill and had a “cup cake” cake for dessert. Kathy and I came home and took a nap. Up and had dinner. Chatted with the guys on 2 meters. Did computer updates then upstairs. Chores, bed, TV and sleep.
Now the particulars:
Yesterday was Shelby’s first communion. Because of COVID they held a service for immediate family members only and dispensed with the communal wine. So, Kathy was allowed to take pictures before the service so we were up and out of the house a little after 10AM. We got to the church in Middletown a little after 10:30. No one else was there. But Kathy had to leave early to make sure she got a parking place. Anyway, Julie, Mike and the grand kids showed up and Kathy went in with them. I stayed in the car. She took her pictures and came back out about 11:15. We drove up to Walmart to get Shelby’s cake and got in slow traffic on 71 around some construction. Finally got the cake and got back to Mike and Julies house about 12:30. They came home shortly after. I did burgers and brats on the grill and we all ate. Then we ate the cup cakes that they made Shelby’s cake with. Mike had to go to his mother’s place to do some work. Julie was tired and wanted to take a nap. So Kathy and I came home. Put things away and took a nap. A long day but we had to do it for Shelby.
And the sage of the lawn tractor. If you remember, last Friday we were mowing and the John Deere quit. That’s to say, the engine ran fine and the blades turned but it would not go forward of backward on it’s own power. I towed it over to the Morton building and called the dealership. They explained there was a belt that ran from the engine to the hydrostatic drive mechanism in the back. I found the belt and it was lose. It was all up under the frame of the tractor which made it very hard to get to. So, I took the mower deck off of it and ran it over to the dealership in Shelbyville. Called Thursday and it was done. They replaced two idler pulleys and put the belt back on. Cost me a few cents less than $140. I consider that very cheap in that I didn’t have to crawl under it and fool with something I had no idea about.
On a side note, after I dropped off the John Deere at the dealer I went over and picked up Mike’s zero turn mower. I didn’t have too much trouble getting it on and off the trailer. But when I tried to take it over to where I stopped mowing, I almost ran it off the bridge and into the ditch. I tried doing some mowing and it was obvious I wasn’t equipped to handle a zero turn mower. So, Kathy came out and finished the mowing with it. She did a much better job than I could have done. It took two days to get everything done this time with the John Deere breaking down.
Got a couple things repaired that have been outstanding. The APRS on the Chrysler has not been working. The modem was not getting a GPS fix from the GPS receiver. I took a look at it awhile ago and didn’t find anything obvious so I ordered a replacement GPS receiver. I got that installed this week and that works again.
I also got to working on the chipper/mulcher. Replaced the carburetor, the gas line from the tank to the carburetor and blew all the crap out of the gas tank. Also replaced the spark plug and air filter. That is all better now and runs great.
Kathy watched the grand kids Monday and Tuesday again this week. This may continue for awhile as the school they are scheduled to go to this year has to cut back on class sizes to meet the COVID constraints. The twins may only be going every other day. So, it’s up in the air how that will be handled.
That’s it for this week. I’m still working hard at maintaining an even keel here. Nothing is consistent so you never know what to expect. It is difficult to say the least. I thank God I’m not paranoid of this virus like some folks. I don’t know what I’d do if I had the monkey on my back as well.
OK, that’s it for this week. Hope this finds everyone safe and well. Keep up the good work. Blog at you again next week.
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