Another very busy week…………………..

As always, first the chronology:

7/16/23 – Sunday – Up a little late today.  Blew off church.  Did some chores in the kitchen then downstairs to do the blog.  Up for lunch and cleaned up.  In to J-town for HAM testing this afternoon.  Stopped at Kroger on the way home.  Had a frozen dinner this evening.  Then out to the Morton building to work on the mower deck.  Need some more parts.  Will get them in the morning.  Inside and usual evening routine.

7/17/23 – Monday – Up at the usual time.  Over to the John Deere Dealer for more parts.  Of course they were missing one item I need to finish the mower deck.  Over to Harbor Freight for some things.  Again, they didn’t have what I wanted.  So home and lunch.  Then over to Shepardsville to another John Deere dealer and picked up the last part I needed.  Then over to see my friend Gary.  Then up to the motorcycle apparel place for another set of gloves.  Home and dinner.  Usual evening routine.  

7/18/23 – Tuesday – Up at the usual time.  Out to the shop to finish up rebuilding the mower deck.  Put it back on the tractor and all is good.  In for lunch and 1/2 hour nap.  Then cleaned up and waited for Kathy to get home.  She got home around 2:30.  We unloaded her car and chatted.  Then down to Taylorsville for dinner.  Was going to the new diner but it was closed so we went for Mexican.  Home and usual evening routine.

7/19/23 – Wednesday – Up at the usual time.  Down to the shack and work on my CW.  Up for lunch.  Back to the shack and did some work on my portable stuff.  Got cleaned up and had a snack for dinner.  Then over to Shelbyville to help with some HAM testing.  Home and usual evening routine.

7/20/23 – Thursday – Up at the usual time.  Shelby was staying over so we had a big breakfast.  Then out to do the yard work.  Finished up a little after 2PM.  Started to rain.  Inside, cooled down and showered.  Took a little nap.  Mike came to get Shelby.  Had dinner then usual evening routine.

7/21/23 – Friday – Up at the usual time.  Cleaned up and downstairs to work on CW.  Kathy was out to drop Bella at the groomers then shopping.  I had a sandwich for lunch.  Kathy came home and I helped unload the groceries.  Back to working on CW.  Up for dinner.  Then out for a ride with a stop at Lowes for a new water filter for the refrigerator.  Home and usual evening routine.

7/22/23 – Saturday – Up at the usual time.  Cleaned up and down to the shack to practice CW.  Our friend Dee came over and I got her car parked in the Morton building.  Mike, Julie and the grand kids showed up a little before noon.  Kathy, Dee, Mike and Julie headed out for the concert they are going to tonight in Nashville, TN.  I took the grand kids to Dairy Queen for lunch.  Back to the house.  Shelby and Chloe did their own thing.  Carter and I played Cribbage.  Around 4:30 we started over to Shelbyville and to Milano’s for dinner.  Home and put the truck away.  To the shack and did computer work and practice CW.  Then spent some time with the grand kids before bed.

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Now the specifics:

If you read last week’s post you know that Kathy was traveling up to NY to stay with Todd and then attend a renewing of the vows at some farm in upstate, PA. So, needless to say I was by myself (Well with the exception of the dogs) for the beginning of the week. That had its blessings and its curse. Kathy got back on Tuesday. She drove from Todd’s place to Fairmont, WV on Monday then finished the drive on Tuesday. She was tired but she enjoyed the trip.

While Kathy was away I had several things I wanted to get done. The big thing was getting the mower deck for the D170 rebuilt. Sunday night I worked on it awhile but things were not going well. I re-secured the mulching kit then prepared to weld the lose piece. Things started fine then I ran out of wire in the MIG welder. So, I had to stop and put a new reel in the welder. Of course I was about 2/3 done so I wasn’t going to grind it down and do it all again so the result was a little messy. But it will hold. Then I started to strip the deck and found the center of the pulleys on the top of the blade spindles was stripped or near stripped. So I needed three new pulleys that I hadn’t purchased. So I knocked off for the night. Monday I went over to John Deere and they only had 2 of the 3 that I needed. So I got those two. After a trip to Harbor Freight I came home and had lunch. Called the dealer in Shepardsville and they had one. So after lunch I went over to Shepardsville before going to see Gary. Then Tuesday I went out and finished up the project. Got the deck back on the D170 and everything works great. Amazing how much quieter it is and how much better it cuts. Well worth all the hassles.

A sign of getting old. I got a new pair of motorcycle gloves last week. I thought I put them with my vest and helmet that I use for just riding around here. This week I went out to pick up trash in the yard and found one of the gloves in the yard. I can only guess that I laid them on the truck somewhere and took off without noticing. Anyway, had to go buy another new pair this week as I could only find the one.

Went to see Gary on Monday. His friend Bill was there. Gary started talking very strangely. I just agree with him when he gets like that but Bill confirmed my observation and asked if I knew what he was talking about. I told him I didn’t and I just agree with him. It got bad enough that there was no point in my staying. I’m not sure he even knew I was there. But, Loretta had him moved back to the Forum to the place they live. Had to order a hospital bed and Hoyer lift so she could handle him. I’m not sure this is going to last much longer. One of them is doomed. Only a question of which one goes first. Don’t see how their kids can let this happen. But none of my business.

We had a HAM club meeting the week before last and had an individual that wanted to upgrade. But the ARRL had not gotten the updated test he needed so he couldn’t be tested. Our coordinator got the test earlier this week so we got together Wednesday evening and he upgraded to General.

Kathy wanted to do yard work Thursday. It was bright and shiny but the grass was still wet and it was suppose to rain later in the day. But she said do it, so I was out. Got the new mower deck clogged a few times with the wet grass. Then it started to rain before we got done. So, she got her wish. A half ass’ed job. At least we got the mowing done. The trimming can wait till the next time.

It’s summer and of course they are doing a lot of road work in the area. So Friday evening we took a ride to check out a few spots and to pick up a water filter for the refrigerator.

Carter won 4 tickets to an Ed Shearing concert in Nashville this weekend. Of course he wasn’t interested in going. So, Julie and Mike brought the grand kids over here on Saturday and they, Kathy and a mutual friend Dee took off for Nashville for the concert. I had a great time with the kids. I’m not sure how much they liked it. I made them get up and go to church this morning. Time will tell if they come back.

Well that’s it for this week. Hope this finds everyone safe and well. Stay the way and I’ll blog at you again next week.