A very busy week and lots to tell, hold on……………………………………………………..

As always, first the chronology:

7/9/23 – Sunday – Up at the usual time.  Cleaned up and out to church with Kathy.  Home and lunch.  Down to the shack to do the blog and some research.  Found a nice case to put my new radio in at Harbor Freight.  Kathy and I took a ride over there and picked up the case and a locking head for my grease gun.  Then to Taylorsville and Chinese for dinner.  Home and usual evening routine.

7/10/23 – Monday – Up at the usual time.  Kathy was up and out to watch the grand kids.  I got cleaned up and rode the motorcycle down to ACE Hardware for some glue.  Then took the long way home.  Did some work in the shack then lunch.  Rode the motorcycle into J-town to see Gary.  Spent a couple hours and came home.  Kathy came home and we took my truck down to Daugherty’s.  It’s scheduled for an oil change tomorrow.  Then to Shelbyville to pick up another case.  Stopped at Cattleman’s for dinner on the way back.  Home and usual evening routine.

7/11/23 – Tuesday – Up at the usual time.  Kathy was off to get a pedicure.  I did my code practice then chores around the house till Kathy got home.  Had lunch.  Kathy went to get her hair done and I went to the Morton Building and took the mower deck off the D-170.  It needs a idler and a couple spindles so I figure while I have it off I’m going to replace everything.  Made up a shopping list for Lowes and the John Deere dealer tomorrow.  Then inside and made up my shopping list for Friday.  Got cleaned up.  Had dinner then out on the bike to the HAM club meeting in Shelbyville.

7/12/23 – Wednesday – Up a little early today.  Kathy was traveling to PA and then up to NY to visit Todd and attend a wedding function.  She is staying tonight with her sister and husband in central PA.  She was off around 8:30 so I got cleaned up and headed out.  Stopped at the John Deere dealer and spent about $600 on parts.  Then over to Lowes and spent another $50.  Came home and put things away and did inventory.  Did some chores in the kitchen then had lunch.  Out on the motorcycle to visit my friend Gary.  Apparently he has the green light to go home.  Stayed and visited with him and his wife a couple hours.  Then home and more chores around the house.  Mike is coming over Saturday to make Jambalaya so Julie and the kids are coming over to go swimming.  So I checked the pool and had to change the chlorine canister.  Had dinner and then the usual evening routine.

7/13/23 – Thursday – Up a little early today.  Got cleaned up and rode the motorcycle down to get my hair cut.  Home and started the wash.  Did some other chores around the house.  Finished up with things around 3PM.  Went over to Cycle Gear and bought a new set of gloves.  Then up to Hobby Lobby for some rubber foam sealer.  Then over to Mike and Julie’s for dinner.  Home and had a zoom meeting with the CW net people.  Otherwise the usual evening routine.

7/14/23 – Friday – Up at the usual time.  Cleaned up and out to Kroger to do grocery shopping.  Got all the stuff to make Jambalaya tomorrow with my son-in-law and a couple extra items.  Home and put things away.  Had lunch.  Then in to see my friend Gary at the Rehab facility.  Rode the bike and it was hot as hell.  Home and did some chores.  Took a 45 minute nap then dinner.  Usual evening routine.

7/15/23 – Saturday – Up a little early this morning.  Cleaned up and down to join my Zoom class.  Upstairs and cleaned out the dish washer.  Had lunch.  Then back to the shack to work on a browser problem.  Julie, Mike and the Grand Kids came over.  Mike and I made Jambalaya.  Then Mike did Dogs and Burgers on the grill for dinner.  We ate, they left and I spent an hour cleaning up.  Then down to the shack and usual evening routine.

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Now the specifics:

Kathy was off traveling this week. Wednesday morning she started up to Pennsylvania and was staying the night with her sister and my cousin/brother-in-law. Thursday she traveled up to Todd’s place in New York. This was all for some kind of celebration and I’m not sure what it was called. We have a niece that got married to a guy that is in the military several months ago. The did the right thing and when it was possible for him to be deployed they got married so she would have benefits. So this weekend they had a formal thing for the marriage. Anyway, no one was getting along with anyone else or thought things were being done correctly. A lot of drama and bullshit I didn’t need to be around. So I opted to say home and watch the dogs and stay out of trouble. While she is up there she plans on visiting some folks in Carmel and start back on Tuesday. She will drive back as far as Weston, WV and complete the trip on Wednesday.

The big thing around here in the HAM community is what they call “Go Boxes”. They mount their equipment in a case that opens up and sits on a table so they can operate it. I don’t understand it. There is no protection for the equipment as it’s mounted solid in the case with no vibration protection. Since I payed a thousand dollars for my portable radio I decided to do it differently. I did some research online and of course Pelican has a lot of gear to protect equipment but the prices are outrages. So, I found almost the same kind of case at Harbor Freight called an Apache 4800 case. Only cost around $50 and looks like it does the same thing as the pelican case. And the reviews were very favorable. So Sunday I went over to Harbor Freight and got one. Managed to get the foam rubber cut. It was very easy as they have it perforated. Used a box cutter and it came apart very clean. The foam rubber was just laying in the case which the reviews complained about because it kept falling out. So I tried some Elmer “Glue All” on a piece of scrap and it worked great. So Monday I went to ACE hardware and got some more and glued the foam rubber in place. It looks good and I think it will provide much more protection than their “Go Boxes”. Actually was so impressed with the product I went over Monday and got another one. They come in different colors so I can put the radio in one and the accessories in another and with the different colors I’ll know what is in which box.

I’ve been keeping up somewhat with my code practice. I did make the Zoom class this Saturday. Not going as fast as I’d like but I’m sticking with it. Still checking into the CW Traffic Net in the evenings at 9PM when I can.

Been riding the motorcycle a lot this week. Monday I took it down to Taylorsville to get the glue at ACE hardware. Then rode it into J-town to visit with Gary. Tuesday I rode it over to the HAM club meeting in Shelbyville. Wednesday I rode it over to J-town again to visit with Gary awhile. Thursday I rode it down to get my haircut. I didn’t take it over to Mike and Julies as they were forecasting rain. Friday I rode it over to see Gary again. I think that’s the most I’ve been on it for a long time. Of course the weather has cooperated and since Kathy is gone I’ve kept it parked in the garage at the house making it much more convenient.

My friend Gary went to the orthopedic doctor on Tuesday and the doctor told him he didn’t see any reason he couldn’t go home. I think that doctor should lose his license. Gary can’t walk. He has little to no upper body strength to help get from one place to another. Loretta is a tiny and not very strong woman. Loretta thinks she is going to be able to handle things at home. So tentatively he will be moving Tuesday back to their unit at the Forum. She is arranging for physical therapy at the unit. Getting a hospital type bed and a Hoyer lift. Between Gary being lazy and spoiled and Loretta enabling him, I don’t see this is going to have a good outcome. I think their kids are used to seeing this and have given up on trying to intervene. One just seems to enable Loretta even more. It’s all very concerning but nothing I can do anything about. So I just go visit Gary and grit my teeth. Of course on a positive note, when he gets moved back to their unit I won’t have to travel to the rehab facility 2 or 3 times a week to visit him.

The mower deck on the John Deere D170 has been making funny sounds lately like the blades are scrapping against something. So Tuesday I took the deck off the tractor and sure enough, the mulching kit I put on it was coming lose. While I had the deck off I checked over things and a couple of the spindles have a little play in them and one of the idlers was making noise. So I decided to just replace all three spindles, the 3 idlers, the blades and the belt. I also need to do some welding to get the frame back in shape and tighten the mulching kit back in place or take it off. Perhaps I’ll get to work on that a bit this afternoon.

I talked to Mike (My son-in-law) this week and suggested we make Jambalaya while Kathy is gone. So then Julie called back and said they would be over Saturday so Mike and I can make the Jambalaya and then they would bring stuff to cook on the grill and she and the kids would go swimming. So Friday went to Kroger and spent $100 on things to make a couple batches of Jambalaya. That wasn’t bad. Then Mike went out to do the grill work and managed to set the grill on fire. Needless to say the burgers were thrown away. So, I cleaned up the mess for that and Carter did the cooking. Had dinner and they left. I had a disaster in the kitchen to clean up. But it’s all done now and everything is back in order.

Other than the normal domestic chores I did the laundry on Thursday as is the usual routine. Nothing else notable for the week.

So, as always, hope this finds everyone safe and healthy. Stay that way and I’ll blog at you again next week.