Another interesting week……………………………….

As always, first the chronology:

2/7/21 – Sunday – Up at the usual time.  Down to do the blog then played radio till lunch.  A quick bite for lunch.  Kathy went to give blood.  I went over to pick up Gary then over to Mike’s for the afternoon get together.  Dropped Gary off at his house then home and picked up Kathy.  Out to Cracker Barrel for dinner.  Home and usual evening routine.

2/8/21 – Monday – Up at the usual time.  Had plans to run errands but temp was in the teens so we stayed inside.  I started to play radio and Julie called and said they had open appointments for COVID shots at Baptist hospital and we spent some time getting me an appointment.  I’m on the schedule for the 16th around noon.  Kathy is still scheduled for the 20th.  So then ordered some parts for my ICOM IC-735 that’s broke.  Cleaned off the work bench for now and had lunch.  Back to play radio and nothing going on so took a nap.  Up for dinner.  Usual evening routine.

2/9/21 – Tuesday Up at the usual time and out to the County Clerk’s Office to renew registration on 4 vehicles and my trailer.  Then a stop at our propane supplier to pay for the rental on the tank.  In to J-town and Kroger for 2 prescriptions.  Home and put new stickers on all the license plates.  In to eat and clean up the kitchen.  Took a nap.  Up and played radio till Kathy got home.  Had dinner and usual evening routine.

2/10/21 – Wednesday – Up at the usual time.  Downstairs to play radio.  Bands where great.  Made several contacts.  Started going through some things I hadn’t seen lately to refresh my memory as to what was where.  Stopped for a snack for lunch.  Continue checking things out.  Took a nap.  Cleaned up and out for some errands and to pick up Chinese for dinner.  Home and had dinner.  Usual evening routine.

2/11/21 – Thursday – Up at the usual time.  1/2 inch of ice on everything outside this morning.  Not going anywhere.  Played radio this morning.  Lunch then outside to put down some ice melt. In for a nap.  Chores and dinner.  Usual evening routine.

2/12/21 – Friday – Up at the usual time.  Cleaned up and out to Walmart for some shopping.  Home and chores.  Lunch.  Played radio.  Then out to help with HAM license testing in J-town.  Julie called and invited us to the Yoki Buffet.  After testing I met everyone at the Buffet.  Home and usual evening routine.

2/13/21 – Saturday – Up a little early and out to the shop to light the kerosene heaters.  My son-in-law Mike came over about 8:30.  We had Bacon, Egg and Cheese on a buttered roll sandwiches and coffee for breakfast.  Then out to replace the headlight for his Land Rover again.  Finished up everything a little before lunch.  Cleaned up and in for lunch.  Didn’t sleep well last night so took a nap.  Up and chores around the house.  Dinner and usual evening routine.

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Now the specifics:

The week started off interesting. Our HAM friend Mike invited us over to his house for the afternoon get together. He actually invited us several weeks ago. Neither Gary or I have been inside his house so we had no idea what to expect. We were invited in through the entrance from the garage to the family room and into the kitchen. It was very nice. Mike’s wife Gloria made us a very nice cake to have with out coffee. It was clear to me that Mike was not interested in having us go downstairs to where his work bench/HAM shack is located. So I didn’t say a word. But Gary had to be his rude and arrogant self and started on Mike about wanting to see his shack. It was unbelievable. Both Mike and Gloria explained that it wasn’t cleaned up and with Gary’s mobility issues it wasn’t safe for him to go down. So Gary insisted that Mike take his phone down and take pictures. I’m sure that’s the last time we will be invited over to Mike’s house. Very sad.

I registered about everywhere I could to get the COVID vaccine but Baptist hospital did not have a waiting list. So Monday morning Julie spied an announcement that Baptist had received vaccine. So we got on the website and after multiple tries it was evident that their website did not have a valid security certificate and would not let the robot protection work correctly. So, Julie called and got me scheduled for Tuesday at 12:05PM. I am very anxious to get these shots and be over this hurdle.

I had planned to go out to run errand on Monday but it was very cold (in the teens) so we decided to stay inside instead. So I ran the errands Tuesday while Kathy was watching the grand children. I went to the County Clerks office to renew the registration on my vehicles. They collect a tax on the value of each vehicle and that registration comes due annually in the month of your birthday. They send the reminders about 2 months ahead which is nice. But it does take a bite out of my ass. I have the truck, Chrysler, Vibe, Motorcycle and my trailer to pay taxes and registration on. Cost a little over $500 to register them all. You don’t need to register trailers in Kentucky but that only costs $20.00. Since I may want to take it out of state I decided to keep it registered so there would be no problem. And it’s always nice going there as a friend I made during one of my stints as election officer works there. She is a delight. Very pretty and nice young lady. Is a single mom with 3 lovely boys. She found a guy she really likes and they bought a house together last year. It makes you feel good to see someone like that pulling themselves up by the belt and making a success for themselves.

After socializing a bit at the Clerks Office I stopped at the propane dealer and payed the rental fee on our tank. We have what I think is a 250 gallon propane tank buried in the back yard that runs our generator and is also hooked up to a fire place in our living room that we never use. So the only propane I use is the little bit to test run the generator for 10 minutes every other Friday at 11AM. That doesn’t use much gas. So since I don’t get routine deliveries during the year they bill us for tank rental. That’s $75 a year and I’ve only paid to fill it once since we have been here. I don’t think that’s a bad deal.

Then on into J-town to Kroger Pharmacy to pick up a couple prescriptions. Was going to stop for lunch but was running to much ahead of schedule, so, decided to head on home, get all the stickers on all the license plates then inside and had a snack for lunch.

We had icing conditions here Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night. Monday and Tuesday were nothing and everything was gone by 10AM. However, on Thursday morning we woke up to 1/2 inch of ice on everything.

This is what it looked like out our doors to the deck. Didn’t bother us as we could still get out but there were accidents all over the county and surrounding counties. It is true, these people have no idea how to drive in winter weather. And we are suppose to get hit with a couple systems coming through next week. One on Monday and another on Thursday. The dooms-day people are forecasting tons of snow but I doubt it. I will have the tractor ready with the plow blade as usual but don’t plan on using it.

My son-in-law called Thursday and announced that the headlights went out on his Land Rover again. This time it was only about 6 weeks. I have no idea what is causing them to go out but they certainly don’t last long. I have a gut feeling it’s the lack of air circulation inside the headlight housing. But, that’s just a guess. In any event, the last ones we got were the super bright kind so he decided to go back to the regular kind. He dated the pack they came in and put that in the glove compartment. We’ll see how long that lasts.

So with my son-in-law coming over we had to go shopping for fresh rolls on Friday morning so I could have his favorite bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on a buttered hard roll. He loves those things.

About the only other item of note was doing HAM testing on Friday evening. We hold that every other month at the Masonic lodge in J-town. We normally only have a hand full of people but this week we had a dozen. I think everyone is trying to get their license before the FCC starts charging the $35 fee. Now it is free other than $10 you must pay for the testing. So that will be a total of $45 if you pass the exam. Of course it’s still only $10 to take the test and if you fail the FCC doesn’t get involved.

Well that’s about it for this week. Just trying not to go crazy with this semi-isolation. You can only do so much shopping. Anyway, hope this finds everyone safe and well. Please stay that way. Blog at you again next week.