Not an exciting week…………………………………

As always, first the chronology:

11/21/21 – Sunday – Up at the usual time.  Chores around the house.  Cleaned up and out to church.  Home and lunch.  Down to do the blog and some banking.  More chores and out to Gary’s for the afternoon get together.  Home and took Kathy’s car to the service center.  Then to Hometown Pizza for dinner. Home and usual evening routine.

11/22/21 – Monday – Up at the usual time.  Cleaned up and out to do chores in the shop.  In for lunch.  Kathy took off for her woman’s circle meeting.  I spent all day in the shack doing computer work and refreshing myself on perl.  Kathy came home and we put away groceries.  Then to the service center to pick up her car.  Dinner and usual evening routine.

11/23/21 – Tuesday – Up at the usual time.  Cleaned up and downstairs to play radio.  Worked on my project awhile.  Lunch and nap this afternoon while Kathy was getting her hair done.  Did more work on my project, dinner and usual evening routine.

11/24/21 – Wednesday – Up at the usual time.  Cleaned up and downstairs to work on my project.  Kathy came over with the grand children.  Had lunch then played Mastermind and Cribbage with my grandson.  Mike came to pick them up.  Kathy and I ran over to Arby’s in Shelbyville for a quick dinner.  Home and usual evening routine.

11/25/21 – Thursday – Up a little early today with dogs barking.  Usual morning routine.  Cleaned up and helped Kathy load the car with things she cooked.  Over to Mike and Julie’s for a late lunch.  All the food you could want.  Wrapped things up and headed home.  Unloaded things at the house and put the truck away.  Light snack for dinner and usual evening routine.

11/26/21 – Friday – Up a little late.  Didn’t sleep well last night.  Did some chores around the house then lunch and down to the shack.  Worked on the UPS awhile then my audio project.  Sandwich for dinner and usual evening routine.

11/27/21 – Saturday – Up at the usual time.  Spent the day in the shack.  Made some contacts and checked into a digital net.  First time for that.  Rest of the time worked on my audio project.  Usual evening routine.

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Now the specifics:

Last week Kathy complained that there was a funny smell in the garage. I couldn’t tell what it was other than it smelled a lot like hot grease. So we rode over to Shelbyville for something and she drove. I heard what I thought was something with the right front wheel that changed pace with the speed of the car. So, made an appointment with the garage and took it in Sunday evening. Picked it up Monday afternoon with no trouble found. I swear, I’m hearing gremlins in my old age.

Well here is the update on the audio project I’m working on. Box is done, panel for the back and front are done. DC input jack is mounted in the panel on the back and the speaker is secured in the box. Need to finish up the front panel wiring and put it in the box. Then the final step of labeling everything.

I guess the highlight of my week was Wednesday afternoon. Kathy was watching the grand children and brought them over so the girls could help her make pies. So, Carter and I spent the afternoon playing Mastermind and Cribbage. A great time with my grandson and he didn’t have his nose in a phone or electronic game.

Well we did the usual bullshit again this year. Kathy roasted a turkey , made green bean casserole, candied sweet potatoes and an apple and pumpkin pie. Put all the stuff in the truck and hauled if over to Mike and Julie’s. The usual situation over there. Everyone she had invited called and said they wouldn’t make it. So it was just the Rice family and Kathy and me. It was good being around everyone. Then we loaded up all the left over stuff and carted it back home. What a ridiculous way of doing things.

But Kathy has gone into her Christmas Nazi mode already so I don’t dare say anything. Just do what I’m told, don’t ask questions and stay the hell out of her way. I’ll be glad when the middle of January comes. If I make it that long in one piece.

Came home Thursday and went to the shack. The UPS that keeps my shack computer and phone modem alive was having issues. So I plugged everything directly into the wall and took a look at the UPS. Batteries seemed OK but when it tried to switch to inverter mode the voltage dropped significantly. Not sure if it’s the batteries or something in the UPS. I ordered some replacement batteries as that is the most common point of failure. I will know more when they arrive.

I checked into a digital net on HF for the first time this week. I didn’t know all the protocols and should have probably listened more before jumping in. But it was cool getting a couple guys calling for me on the net. I’ll do some more research into how they operate and try it again.

I guess the most important news is Todd coming to visit. I was sure I was going to have to take Kathy back to New York soon if he didn’t come to visit. Anyway, he will be here this Thursday. He’s working an overnight before he gets on the plane so he will probably come to the house and sleep. That will be good as we have reservations at a famous German restaurant on the other side of Louisville for dinner at 8:15. Of course the Rice family will be joining us. Todd will be here for Chloe’s dance debut in the Nut Cracker at the Palace Theater in downtown Louisville on Saturday. I’m sure he will want to go shooting sometime while he is here. More on that next week.

That’s about it for this week. As always, hope this finds everyone safe and healthy. Stay that way. Blog at you again next week.