Wow, coming up on Christmas fast……………………………………..

As always, first the chronology:

12/12/21 – Sunday – Up at the usual time.  Kathy was off to color Julie’s hair and go shopping with Chloe.  I went to church.  Home and had a snack for lunch.  Over to Gary’s for the afternoon get together.  Home and took Kathy to Cattleman’s Steakhouse for dinner.  Home, finished the blog, had dessert and otherwise just the usual evening routine.

12/13/21 – Monday – Up at the usual time.  Didn’t sleep well last night for some reason.  Got cleaned up while Kathy went after Chloe.  She was not feeling well today and didn’t go to school.  I took a picture of the gauge on the propane tank and went down to Taylorsville to the hardware store.  Stopped at the propane company on the way home.  They will be out to check the tank.  Finished refitting the commode downstairs.  Now everything is dry as a bone.  Had a snack for lunch as Kathy was going to a ladies church meeting.  I did some banking and try to work on the Arduino project.  Kept getting interrupted by throngs of people.  The only good interruption was the guy who came to routine the Generac.  Kathy came home and I helped her bring in groceries.  Had dinner and the usual evening routine.

12/14/21 – Tuesday – Up at the usual time.  Kathy was already out for a doctor’s appointment.  After her appointment she went to pick up Chloe for a doctor’s appointment.  Apparently she has a bug that’s going around.  Kathy didn’t get home till mid-afternoon.  I spent the day in the shack doing Arduino coding.  Lunch time I went to Subway and picked up a sandwich.  Also picked up a few things at Country Mart while out.  Usual evening routine.

12/15/21 – Wednesday – Up a little early today.  Went to pick up Gary and be back to Elk Creek in time to get our hair cuts at 9AM.  Took Gary home and returned to the house.  Kathy and I went to Taylorsville and picked up goodies to distribute from the Tea Cup.  Then to Lynda’s for a burger for an early lunch.  Then to the post office to mail a package and give them some goodies for Christmas.  Then to the dog groomer and the hair salon.  Then home.  Spent most of the afternoon in the shack working on Arduino coding.  Had a great meatloaf dinner.  Tried to take a short nap but that wasn’t in the cards.  Back out and up to Oldham MIddle School to listen to Carter’s band concert.  Picked up an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen on the way home.  Otherwise, usual evening routine.

12/16/21 – Thursday – Up at the usual time.  Kathy wasn’t feeling top notch today because of a cold.  So I ran some errands including getting her some medicine.  Stopped and picked up Chinese takeout for lunch.  Then made potato soup this afternoon.  Made two batches.  Helped her with doing her Christmas letter.  Snacked for dinner.  Usual evening routine.

12/17/21 – Friday – Up at the usual time.  Helped Kathy finish up her annual Christmas letter and get things printed off.  Had some potato soup for lunch.  I think it tastes very good.  Spent the afternoon reading about TARPN (Terrestrial Amateur Radio Packet Network).  I ordered a few things.  Had left over meatloaf sandwich for dinner.  Usual evening routine.

12/18/21 – Saturday – Up at the usual time.  Kathy is still not feeling better. Has a cold and is getting frustrated.  I ordered some things and posted the Christmas letter to the blog.  Had soup again for lunch.  Then downstairs to work on the Arduino project.  Julie came over with some more medicine.  Had dinner and usual evening routine.

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Now the specifics:

As you know we had some strong tornadoes hit Kentucky. We made out very well. No damage and only lost power and internet for around 7 hours. Monday this week a checked the gauge on the propane tank and took a picture down to the office. They were not sure either so they sent someone out to look at it. Apparently I only used a small amount so it’s not worth it to have them out to top off the tank. By my calculations, I’m probably good for around 3 days and I’m sure I can have them out to refill the tank in that time period.

Also got a call from the guy that manages the maintenance on the generator on Saturday. He was just checking to see if everything was OK. Can’t ask for better service than that. He also sent a guy out Monday to change the oil and filter on it and do the normal routine at no cost. I think we made a good decision to go with Morris Electric to install and maintain it.

Kathy got a call to go pick up Chloe on Monday morning. She wasn’t feeling well with stomach cramps and a cold. She didn’t get any better on Tuesday so after Kathy went to the doctor’s she went and picked up Chloe and took her to the pediatrician. It was concluded that it’s just a bug going around. But she was tested for COVID, the regular flu and something else. All came back negative.

Wednesday I went over and picked up Gary to get our hair cuts. After I dropped him off back at his house, Kathy and I went to town to get goodies at the Tea Cup pastry shop in Taylorsville. Went over to Lynda’s for lunch then to the post office to mail a package and drop off some of the goodies. Then hit the dog groomer and the hair salon and dropped off goodies. We will leave something for the garbage man and something in the mail box for the mail person.

Went to Carter’s band concert Wednesday evening. It was amazing how much they improved since October. Except for one song when the cymbal player wasn’t paying attention and pulled a bunch of people off their game, the rest was rather good. Of course Carter (the perfectionist) thought it sucked but that’s just his opinion.

Thursday afternoon I made a couple batches of potato soup. I peeled a 5 pound bag of potatoes, divided them into the two batches. The first batch was a little hot so I cut back on the second batch. Then I married the two off and mixed it up well before putting it in freezer containers. I left a bunch in the refrigerator and had it twice and Kathy had some. Julie came over yesterday and I gave her some.

Well the Christmas letter was a trying thing. Last minute of course. Kathy can’t seem to get in the Christmas spirit and I never do. Anyway, she announced she wanted to send a page with pictures. Of course she had no idea what pictures she wanted or where they were. After we got past that, her printer was leaving streaks. So I took things down to the shack and printed 20 copies before my color print cartridge ran out of ink. By that time she call Epson and they told her how to clean the print heads. She then finished the printing on her printer. I’ve ordered a replacement color print cartridge.

I’m still working on Gary’s new project. He wants to be able to reboot his linux computer in his shack from the house. So I got him an Arduino and a couple shields. Now just writing the code so he can point a browser to it and then just click a button. Having issues as always with keeping things syntactically correct for the Arduino IDE and keeping the HTML for the webpage doing what I want it to. Yea, I know, that sounds all techy but it’s not.

I’ve started a new effort. Some guys down around Fort Knox are setting up a TARPN (Terrestrial Amateur Radio Packet Network). It’s like having a LAN connection between various points that any HAM can connect to and send messages. Just like last weekend when the internet was down, a HAM could still send messages over the packet network. It’s an excellent system and invaluable when shit hits the fan. I ordered some material to build the modems I’ll need and did some calculations. I should be able to use a directional antenna and connect to the backbone and then provide a VHF interconnect here for HAMs in the county.

I won’t blog again till after Christmas so I’ll wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas. Hope the best for you and your families. And please stay safe and healthy my friends. Blog at you again next weekend.