Another extremely busy week……………………………………………………

As always, first the chronology:

11/19/23 – Sunday – Up at the usual time.  Out for church with Kathy.  Had lunch at church.  Home and got packed up for Mike’s birthday party later today then headed into J-town to help with the HAM testing.  Home and did the blog.  Then up to Mike and Julie’s house with Kathy to celebrate Mike’s birthday.  Home, put things away otherwise, usual evening routine.

11/20/23 – Monday – Up at the usual time.  Down to practice code.  Out to the Morton building to start the heaters.  Talked with Lee Roy on the phone awhile.  Inside and Kathy was getting ready to leave for physical therapy.  I had lunch then back out to the Morton building.  Spent the afternoon working on the motorcycle.  Still nothing definitive.  Did clean up the battery terminals and put protective spray on them.  Disconnected the adjunct stuff I had to power my Tom-Tom and cell phone.  Replaced the covers and put it over where it belongs.  Inside and a nap, dinner then usual evening routine.

11/21/23 – Tuesday – Up at the usual time.  Cleaned up and out for errands.  Stopped at the place I get my hair cut to change my appointment for next week.  Then down to the county clerks office to apply for my HAM license plate for the truck.  Stopped at the garage and saw the guy I gave the Chrysler to and gave him the third key that Kathy found.  Then home.  Kathy came home and we had lunch.  I went to the shack and practiced code.  Then built up a Raspberry Pi with WSJT-X for my friend Jim Vaughan.  Finished that up just in time for dinner.  Usual evening routine.

11/22/23 – Wednesday – Up at the usual time.  Kathy was already out to get her blood drawn before she went to Physical Therapy.  I went down to the shack and practiced my code.  Then brought the golf cart around and hauled some things out of the house and put them over in the Morton building to make more space in the house.  Made an appointment for the Pontiac Vibe.  Had lunch.  Finished up the work on the Raspberry Pi for my friend Jim Vaughn and finished testing it.  Kathy came home and we decided on pizza for dinner.  I finished up some other testing in the shack.  Then up for dinner and usual evening routine.

11/23/23 – Thursday – Up at the usual time.  Down to practice code.  Up and help Kathy get things ready to go up to Julie’s.  Got cleaned up and left about noon to head up to Mike and Julie’s.  Not a bad time up there.  Left about 5:30 to come home.  Missed my 6PM Zoom class.  Helped put things away then to bed.  Very tired.

11/24/23 – Friday – Up a little late.  Did some chores and got cleaned up.  Had lunch then took the golf cart over to the Morton building and did the maintenance on it.  Spark plug, oil, gas and air filter.  Changed the oil.  Checked tire pressure.  Almost all of them needed air.  Brought it back to the house and put if on the battery conditioner for the winter.  In and down for my 4PM zoom class.  Up for dinner then usual evening routine.

11/25/23 – Saturday – Up at the usual time.  Did my Saturday morning chores then down to the shack.  Kathy went grocery shopping.  I did some research and order some things online.  Up and lunch.  Then out to the Morton building.  Did the maintenance on Kathy’s zero turn mower and put it on the battery conditioner for the winter.  Did the maintenance on the D-170, took the mower deck off it and put the plow blade on.  Had to replace a grease fitting on one of the wheels.  Then took it over to the house and parked it in the garage there as an insurance policy that I won’t need it to plow snow.  Inside and cleaned up.  Dinner and usual evening routine.

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Now the specifics:

Sunday started the week busy. After church and lunch there I headed into J-town to help with HAM testing. Got two new Technician class HAMs and another guy upgraded to General. So that was successful.

Then home and picked up Kathy and up to Mike and Julie’s for dinner and to celebrate Mike’s birthday.

I decided to bite the bullet and spend the $39 for my call sign on the license plate on the truck. Here in Kentucky you take you HAM license to the County Clerk’s office then they order the plate. When it’s in they will call me and I’ll go pick it up.

Tuesday morning I was going to run some errands so I thought I’d take the Pontiac Vibe but it is running like shit. No idea what it’s problem is. Runs rough and has no power. Got an appointment for it on Monday so I’ll take it down Sunday night after the traffic dies down. It goes great down hill but up any kind of grade it slows to about 25 to 30 MPH. Hope its something simple. If course it would happen right after I gave the Chrysler away.

A good part of Tuesday and Wednesday I spent getting a Raspberry Pi setup with WSJT-X. My friend Jim Vaughan helps at the testing and reminded me he was looking for one. So I told him I had this one and would build it up for him. I’ll make an appointment to go over to his house in the next couple weeks and set it up for him. He has some cardiac issues and can’t sit without his legs elevated for long periods. So he wants to do some HAM radio stuff while he’s in his easy chair or the bed. So this will allow him to operate remote from his station. It should work out fine.

Monday I spent most of the day in the Morton building doing the last once over on the motorcycle before putting it back together and putting it over in it’s spot for the winter. Still didn’t find anything that would have absolutely cause the problem. But there’s nothing more I can do with it right now.

Friday and Saturday I spent most of the day doing annual maintenance on all the motorized things around the house. I got the golf cart maintenance done and put it back in the garage on the battery conditioner. So that is good for the winter. Then did Kathy’s zero turn mower and got it on the battery conditioner. Then took the mower deck off the D170, did the maintenance on it. Put the plow blade on it and put it over at the house beside the golf cart ready to plow snow if needed. It is also on the battery tender. So that’s all done for this year. Here’s what it looks like.

Now if we get any snow, I just need to put the chains on it, open the bay door and start plowing.

Thursday was Thanksgiving of course. Kathy cooked up a storm and we hauled it all over to Mike and Julie’s. They invited some other folks so there was a total of 11 people there. It was a good time I guess but not worth all the effort in my humble opinion.

Got to talk to some folks I don’t talk to often. That was a good thing. Everyone seems well.

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