Not a bad week ………………………………………………………

As always, first the chronology:

4/21/24 – Sunday – Up at the usual time.  Cleaned up and out to church with Kathy.  It was the quarterly business meeting so we had that after service then a pot luck dinner.  Cleaned up and got home a little after 1PM.  Downstairs and did a little CW.  Then out to Gary’s for the afternoon get together.  Home and waited for Kathy to get back from Julie’s.  Then down for dinner at the Chinese restaurant in Taylorsville.  Got gas in the Vibe while there.  Home and usual evening routine.

4/22/24 – Monday – Up a little late and missed the “Over the Hill” net.  Made a bunch of phone calls setting up appointment for wellness visit, spring HVAC checkup, etc.  Got on the air and made a CW contact.  Kathy was off for a doctor’s appointment in Shelbyville.  I had lunch then got cleaned up and took some stuff down to the sheriff’s office.  Home and out to the Morton building.  Did the annual maintenance on the roto-tiller.  Then started the chipper.  Needed a spark plug for it so went to Taylorsville and got a couple.  Home and checked with Kathy on what she found out at the doctors.  Back out to continue work on the chipper.  Carburetor needs some looking at but didn’t feel like getting into that today.  So put things away and came inside.  Kathy was out taking Bella to the vets to get some shots.  She came home and we had dinner.  Usual evening routine.

4/23/24 – Tuesday –  Up at the usual time and made the net this morning.  Out to the Morton building and married off gas cans and filled mowers.  Took the gas cans down and got them filled.  Home and started the yard work around 9:30AM.  Kathy came out a little before 10AM and helped.  Stopped for lunch around Noon.  Back out and finished up around 2:30PM.  Inside, Gatorade and some salty crackers.  A nap and shower.  Down to the shack to take care of some issues with Riverlink.  Up for dinner and usual evening routine.

4/24/24 – Wednesday – Up at the usual time and made the net.  Went to the shack and copied some CW from W1AW.  Then out and started cleaning out the area Kathy wanted to put stone.  Got the edging in then a break for lunch.  Kathy came out and helped put down the landscape cloth.  Then I took the truck with the trailer and went to the nursery to get the stone.  Back and put the stone down.  Looks rather good.  Had a lot left over so just left it on the trailer for now and put that back in the Morton building.  Inside, rested and showered.  Dinner and usual evening routine

4/25/24 – Thursday – Up at the usual time and made the net.  Kathy was up and out for her volunteer thing at the VA hospital.  I got cleaned up and out in the truck to Shelbyville.  Picked up some plastic smoked glasses at Harborfreight, stopped at the bank for money and ran the truck through the car was.  Then into J-town to Kroger for my prescription that was ready.  Over to the Preston Highway for a fish sandwich at Hooters.  Then a quick stop at one of my favorite watering holes and home.  Got home before Kathy so let the dogs out and did some chores around the house.  Kathy got home and took a nap.  Then dinner.  Usual evening routine.

4/26/24 – Friday – Up at the usual time and made the net.  Got cleaned up then took a nap.  Up and lunch.  Kathy headed out for some shopping.  I did paperwork today.  Got insurance and other important papers in all the vehicles.  Copied the ones for the motorcycle and put them in my wallet.  Got my medical information card out of my wallet for updating.  Uploaded my HAM log to the online systems.  Made my Zoom class at 3PM.  Kathy came home and we went over to Shelbyville and ran her car through the car wash.  Then to the Mexican restaurant for dinner.  A little shopping at Harborfreight then Ruralking.  Home, dessert, put things away.  Otherwise the usual evening routine.

4/27/24 – Saturday – Up a little late this morning.  Mexican food did not sit well with either one of us.  Did the usual Saturday morning routine.  Then Kathy and I started on the closet in the bathroom.  It was full of expired medicine among other things.  We took it shelf by shelf and spent the better part of three hours.  Had lunch in the middle.  After we finished with that we took a nap.  Up and worked a project for Todd.  Then dinner and usual evening routine.

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Now the specifics:

Monday I spent the day in the in the Morton building. Finished up the maintenance on the roto-tiller and started the chipper. But the chipper has issues with the carburetor and I didn’t feel like messing with that. I just need to blow it out and that should probably fix it. If not, I’ll have to order a new one for. I don’t use it enough to keep the carburetor cleaned out. Anyway, I got the big stuff all finished up with the exception of the chipper and that lets the string trimmer and leaf blower to do then I’ll be done with them all for this year.

Tuesday I did that yard work. Not that it really needed it but we had a break in the weather so I took advantage and did it. Wasn’t too bad but for some reason it kicked my ass. Guess I need to do some more exercises.

Wednesday I did some landscaping work in the back of the house. We have a concrete slab where you walk out the door downstairs. There was an area to the right of it that you can’t get a lawn mower in and it was just weeds. So I cleaned it all out and put edging along the end. It measures 5′ X 10′ so it’s not that big an area. Kathy came out and helped me put down the landscaping fabric. Then I went to the Twin-M nursery and got some of the same kind of stone we put down out front. Brought that home on the trailer and put that down. Have a shit load left over so I think I’ll do the other side of the cement slab this coming week.

Thursday would have been motorcycle day but it just wasn’t warm enough. I had some errands I had to run so since Kathy was at the VA hospital and I was already out I took advantage of the time and went to Hooter’s for lunch then a quick stop at one of my watering holes. A good day.

Friday I got caught up on paper work. Big thing was getting the registration and insurance stuff in the appropriate vehicles. While I was at it I copied the paperwork in the motorcycle as I like to keep a copy of that in my wallet. When I put that in my wallet I noticed the Medical Information card was very much out of date. So I downloaded the template again and got that up to date.

Friday night we went to a Mexican restaurant in Shelbyville for dinner. Kathy wanted to get her car washed and wanted to go to Rural King and look at plants. The food really tasted good and wasn’t excessively hot at all. But we both suffered for it all night. I ended up taking so many anti-acids that it messed up my GI system.

So, Saturday we both stayed close to the house and took on the chore of going through the closet in the bathroom and throwing out all the expired stuff. Filled one and part of another large garbage bag. Needless to say, it hasn’t been done in a long time.

Had an issue with Riverlink this week. I got a bill for the full price going across the bridge and back to see Footloose. First I have an account so it should have been deducted from that since I have the transponder for that on the truck and I shouldn’t have to pay full price. With the account you pay a discounted price. So I’m getting ready to call and yell then I noticed the license plate number on the bill. It was for my new vanity play and I hadn’t updated my information with them. So I guess their system got confused seeing my truck with the transponder and a different license plate. After I explained they took care of it in a heartbeat and reduced the payment to the discounted amount and deducted if from my account. All is well.

Still working the CW stuff. Not practicing as much as I should. I am having a problem just sitting back and thinking of what to say, transposing that into words, then letters, then sending the DIts and Dahs to make up the communication. But I did a contact this week and forced myself to do just that. I made a couple mistakes but got through it and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Had to do the same thing on my Zoom class on Friday. Again, I made a few mistakes but got through it and was complimented on my sending. So I just need to keep at it. I have two more items that need attention. First is to send as well with a straight key as with paddles. The next thing is to start head copying. That’s where you don’t have to write it down but you hear it and comprehend it as you hear it. Just like someone talking to you. One step at a time. I’ll get there.

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