Welcome to December………………………………………….

As always, first the chronology:

11/29/20 – Sunday – Up a little early this morning and usual morning routine.  Down to do the blog then helped Kathy with a few things.  Had lunch then cleaned up.  Took a short nap then out to Gary’s for the Sunday afternoon get together.  Home and got Kathy.  Took the truck down and dropped it off at the service center for routine maintenance tomorrow.  Picked up fish at Moby Dick’s for dinner.  Home and ate.  Down to play radio and do computer updates.  Upstairs to bed, TV and sleep.

11/30/20 – Monday – Up at the usual time and usual morning routine.  Got a text already that the truck is done.  Got cleaned up and went down to pay for the maintenance on the truck and picked up some things at the hardware store.  Into J-town for my second and last shingles shot.  Up to Mike and Julies to re-fix the drain in the laundry tub.  Home and had a sandwich.  Down to play radio.  Not much happening.  Upstairs for a nap.  Kathy called and said she was on her way home.  I put my shoes on and met her in the driveway.  Down to do some shopping at Country Mart then over to get my truck.  Home and dinner.  Chatted with the guys on 2 meters.  Played radio awhile.  Computer updates.  Upstairs to bed, TV and sleep.

12/01/20 – Tuesday – Up a little early this morning.  Did not sleep well at all last night.  Second Shingles shot beat the crap out of me as much as the first one.  Ache all over.  Finally gave in and took a pain pill around 8:30.  Laid down and tried to rest.  Wasn’t too bad after the pill kicked in.  Finally around lunch I couldn’t lay in bed any longer.  Went downstairs and started playing with computers.  Kathy called and was picking up Chinese this afternoon.  Then I started getting chills.  Took a couple Motrin and that seem to subside.  Kathy suggested I take another pain pill tonight and an extra Tylenol and if things go the way they did for the first shot I should be good to go tomorrow morning.  Chatted with the guys on 2 meters.  Upstairs to bed, pills, TV and sleep.

12/02/20 – Wednesday – Up at the usual time this morning and usual morning routine.  Felt 250% better than yesterday.  Dressed and out to do routine maintenance on the overhead garage door on the Morton building.  Then the two doors at the house.  Checked furnace filter and changed it.  Lunch and a quick run over to Garys to pick up a CD he needs help with.  Started a recovery program on it and finished upgrading FLDIGI.  Spent the rest of the day play radio and printing out the manual for the new version of FLDIGI.  Dinner, chatted with the guys on 2 meters.  Bed, TV and sleep.

12/03/20 – Thursday – Up a little early and usual morning routine.  Kathy was already up and out to watch the grand children.  Spent the morning cleaning up the kitchen and cleaning out a pot Kathy had burnt.  Had lunch then a short nap.  Downstairs and played radio.  Kathy came home and we had dinner.  Down and chatted with Gary then with Dave awhile.  Upstairs to bed, computer updates, TV and sleep.

12/04/20 – Friday – Up at the usual time and usual morning routine.  Kathy is in her Christmas Nazi mode lately.  So I went to the bathroom and got cleaned up.  Then spent the day in my room playing radio and doing some things for other people.  Otherwise an uneventful day.

12/05/20 – Saturday – Up at the usual time and usual morning routine.  Down to play radio.  Up for lunch.  Cleaned up.  Chores, took a nap.  Up and out to Shelby’s birthday party.  Had dinner over there.  Home, more radio.  Bed, TV, Computer updates and sleep.

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Now the specifics:

We got our first snow of the season this week. Tuesday morning we awoke to about an inch or so on the grassy and raised areas. Nothing on the roads or sidewalks. And by afternoon it was gone except for what was in the shade. But it was pretty for a few hours.

For some reason I let the maintenance on the truck get away from me. Been getting console warnings that the oil needed changed so I made an appointment a couple weeks ago to get it in this week. They did all the recommended service and it’s good now for awhile. Last we got it serviced was before we went to Florida in February. It takes a high performance synthetic oil and has a feature built in that tells you when it’s time to change oil based on engine hours. So if we don’t go anywhere in the next year it should be good till next December.

If you ever go into a hardware store to get material to fix the drain on a sink and they tell you not to use plumber’s putty and to use silicon instead, tell the to go fly a kite. I helped Mike fix the drain in their laundry tub and took the word of the guy in Lowes and used a silicone sealer. It leaked. And on top of that, the silicon was a royal pain in the ass to clean off. But I finally got the most of it off and used plumber’s putty the way you are suppose to and all is good again. We’ll see how long it lasts.

Got my second Shingle’s shot on Monday. The after affects were as bad as the first one. Tuesday I spent most of the day in bed. Ached all over and I mean I really ached. Arms felt like someone beat them with a baseball bat. With the help of the wife and some medication I had pigeon holed I got through it with minor inconvenience. Probably the worst vaccination I’ve ever had but if it eliminates or minimizes the impact of the Shingles virus it will be well worth it. I know several people that have gotten Shingles and they all have indicated that it’s a very painful and miserable thing.

btw, I’m going to make an effort to abbreviate the chronology a little more. I stopped giving you the blow-by-blow on my morning routine and by now I think everyone knows that at 6:30 in the evening I meet the guys on 2 meter sideband and we chat for 1/2 hour. So I will eliminate that detail. Also, it seems that it’s always “Bed, Computer Updates, TV and sleep” so I think I’ll do something about that as well. Thank you all for not complaining but I have realized it’s rather pointless.

Had a “bring up” on my calendar that told me the overhead doors were due for their routine maintenance. Since I got the company out of Louisville to come out and fix the door in Morton building and explained what I should be doing, I thought I should probably do it. And it does make the doors run smoother and they make a hell of a lot less noise. It only takes 20 minutes or so per door. I use a low temperature grease they suggested on the screw drive and chains. And I use a lithium spray lubricant on the door hinges. Just need to be very careful not to put on too much lubricant or you get it all over the garage and anything parked under the door.

Also checked and replace the air filter in the furnace which I do the first of every month.

Well my friend Gary did it again. Seems he recalled or dreamed up a commercial that said CDs were indestructible. As a result he managed to scratch the hell out of the CD that had all the documentation for his John Deere LX178 lawn tractor. I tried to retrieve the information with a data recovery tool I have on Linux. It ran for 3 days and finally crashed after recovering almost 80% of the data. I’m really not sure how his errors in judgment become my issues. I just hope there is some nice guy around when I get Gary’s age to help me with things.

Kathy has transitioned into Christmas Nazis mode this week. Actually seems to have started a little late this year. As I recall, it normally starts the middle of November. Just this morning I was looking for some clarification. I commented that Shelby had just turned 9 and the twins were 11. I thought there was more than just 2 years difference. Kathy told me it was 4 years difference. I didn’t say anything. I just let it go. I still get 2 when I subtract 9 from 11.

Yea, I know, she looks a little possessed in this picture. But it’s the only one I have of her birthday party last evening. Someone said something she didn’t like about her new dolls hair color and she was giving dad the evil stare. Anyway, she turned 9 yesterday. Kathy and I went over around 4:30 and we all had dinner. Then the party for Shelby. Everyone had a good time.

OK, that’s it for this week. As always, hope this finds everyone safe and well. Try to stay that way in these difficult times. I will blog at you again next week. Bye for now.