A Day When Time Stood Still.


Penny and I did go to P.F. Changs today and it was a fun lunch. I’d like to say that the experience at the restaurant with Penny was so moving that it seemed as if time had stopped and it was just the two of us together. We did enjoy each other’s company but it was not that emotional.


The reason I titled this blog the way I did was because I had 2 timepieces stop on me today. When we left the restaurant I checked my watch and it said 11:44. Penny’s watch said 12:15. I checked mine again and the digital display was frozen at 11:44. Hey, maybe 11 and 44 are good lottery numbers. When we got home I noticed that the cat feeder didn’t dispense on time. I checked its display and it was frozen with every LED turned on.


I opened the cat timer and found that it had 2 identical timing circuits. One for the a/c circuit and one for the DC circuit. Each was connected with identical connectors. So I swapped the connectors making the good timer run the feeder. After I put the unit back together the timer circuit that was broken appeared to be OK.


I then opened up the watch and lifted the battery out and put it back in. That’s all it needed.

So time is no longer at a standstill.

A Surprising Sunday

We had a couple of surprises this Sunday morning. The first came when we arrived at church. They had a survey for us to fill out and we were told that one of the weekend masses would be dropped. So far this is a rumor but we’ve been expecting it. The church has been struggling to provide a priest. Whenever we do get one assigned he gets deployed by the air force. The reason given for dropping one of the 3 masses was that a priest is not supposed to say 3 masses in a weekend. Since the 7:15 mass has the smallest number attending and it is a bother to get priests for this early mass it is the logical mass to drop. If they do drop it then we may go to the early mass at St Mary’s. We could change our ways and start going on Sat eve. Who Knows?


The second surprise came after mass. We got invited to breakfast at Golden Corral by the Kennedys. I used to work with Ken and Penny LEMs with Denise. Penny also had their daughter Dawna for CCD and she is very special to Penny. It was interesting to see Penny lie this morning without giving a tell. Denise led up to the invite by asking us if we had breakfast yet. Anyone who knows us well – especially Penny- knows that we would not leave the house without breakfast. (You gotta eat!) When Denise asked, Penny answered quickly and naturally “No”. I was truly impressed. (and maybe a little worried). Penny saw that they wanted to talk and made it easy for us to get together.


We had a nice breakfast and a lot of conversation. Evidently Ken doesn’t find it easy to talk with most people but has no problem talking with me. After I had eaten my omelet I got myself a piece of apple pie. A guy at a table nearby said that I needed to put some ice cream on that because “That’s the only way to eat that.” So I did. We finished up close to 10:30. Ken jokily suggested we get new plates and have lunch.


The 3rd surprise came at Wallgreens. We went there to get some Egmont Key pictures developed. When we walked in I commented to the girl behind the counter who was dressed as a pirate for Halloween. The surprise came when we found out their photo processing machine couldn’t read our SD card. That slot was broken. Not to worry, we had the USB card reader with us. Sadly the same electronics that were broken also read the USB port. So we headed off to the other Wallgreens. As we left Penny was spouting off, as she usually does when something upsets her. The girl behind the counter said, Don’t yell at me, I’m just the Pirate who works behind the counter.”


We were successful at the 2nd Wallgreens We spent the next couple of hours doing pictures and getting ready for the upcoming trip. We figured we already had lunch.


Our original plan for lunch was to head out to a new Oriental restaurant in Sandestin, P. F. Changs. Going to Golden Coral put the ol’ kibosh on those plans. But hey, we are flexible (and retired). We will try again tomorrow.

I’m still wearing the splint on my left hand. I made a special trip in to Wal-Mart this evening to get a dress for Sophia. I arrived at the cashier about a half step behind a guy who had an armful of personal items. I stopped and said that he beat me and was letting him go ahead. Instead he takes a backward step and says,” No, You go. Nobody’s going to argue with a guy wearing a cast.”

Flu Shot and Feeder.

That about sums up the day. We made a hasty trip through Target this morning and then went to Penny’s doctor’s appointment. Both Penny and I got our flu shots while there.

When I got home I put the finishing touches on the feeder. It is now in place and ready to serve the first feeding tomorrow morning at 5 AM. I put some food in the feed tray and 3 of the cats came right away and ate. I think they approve.

.............................MOD IV -Next generation feeder

Pam cancelled out on our dinner tonight so Penny and I had wine and cheese and watched yesterdays Greys Anatomy.


There was a beautiful full moon this morning. I tried to take a shot of it zoomed all the way in to see if image stabilization would give me a unblurry picture. It did a good job for a hand held shot.

I finished Harry Potter today. Now I have to read the final book.

More Cat Feeder Adventures.


I’ve spent a good portion of this week working on my next-generation cat feeder. I disassembled the feeder we had been using and salvaged some of the parts. The new design has to work reliably if we are to feed the cats when we go out of town. It’s got to be critter proof, too.


I’ve had to assemble and disassemble everything on this new design fixing issues along the way. Yesterday I had the feeder wheel all set up when I quit. Today when I cranked it up the motor was too weak to turn the wheel. I disassembled the motor (this is the rotisserie motor we got for 25 cents) and found it had some corrosion and crud on all the metal gears. I polished the gears and added some lubrication and put everything back together. I had to play around some with the axle to make it turn as easily as possible. Tonight the basic feeder is together (food bin, feeding wheel, motor drive) and works without food in it. Tomorrow, with luck, I will put on the finishing touches, check that it also works loaded with food and set it out to feed the cats.


I’m now through 14 of the 17 CDs in the Harry Potter book. I think this is the best-written one.


My left hand is healing more slowly than I expected. I’m still wearing the splint part-time. By the end of the day my left hand and right thumb feel as if they never are going to get better. It’s been 3 weeks since I fell. Maybe I’m just impatient.

It was a cool 46 degrees this morning. We are supposed to have a beautiful fall weekend. Penny and I are planning on finishing up any “have to do” items tomorrow and just enjoy the good weather on Saturday and Sunday. Our fu actually starts Friday night when we join Pam at Ruth’s Chris Steak House for dinner.

Another Rainy Day


We had 8 – 10 inches of rain last Friday. We got another half-inch today – the old rainy days and Mondays situation.

I spent the day doing housework, watching some shows we recorded and thinking about possible plots for the 50,000-word novel. I’ve got 2 ideas, one serious, one more light hearted.

The lighthearted one would be the hardest to write but probably the most fun. Here is the plot. It involves a guy who has had a remarkable ability to dream all his life. He succeeds in becoming an astronaut and because of his dreaming ability is recruited into a NASA study on hibernation and sleep for long space voyages. A lab accident changes his dreaming. He can’t readily distinguish what is a dream and what is reality. His dreams also can foretell future events. It gets a little complicated from here so that’s all I’ll say for now. I’m planning on him having a nerdy sidekick.


The serious plot would be about a terrorist threat that has the potential to wipe out the human race. The president assembles a special team to either neutralize the threat or guarantee the survival of the race. This story could turn into a new Adam and Eve story determining what parts of civilization to keep and what to let go.

Kitty Update – The count is still at 5 cats. Velcro likes being pet and about once a week Meredith allows me to pet her. The auto cat feeder may be down for the count after 1 year of operation. Whatever critter is hitting it at night has learned how to break the feeding cup and gain access to the entire food supply. I’m designing the next generation feeder. It will use a rotisserie motor to turn the feeding wheel. We got the motor for 25 cents at an estate sale. With the year of experience on the current feeder I should be able to make a reliable critter-proof feeder.

I began reading the last Harry Potter book yesterday. I finished 1 of the 17 discs. If the rest of the story is as interesting as disc 1 I will enjoy it.

Maybe the sun will be out tomorrow.

Mom and Daughter

.............................................Karen

............................Sophia

When the Rain Comes


It RAINED today. It was a good day to stay inside and be lazy. We did some more catch up with the house (a never-ending task) but because of all the lightning using anything electrical was not a good idea. No washing machine, no vacuum, not even the treadmill for exercise. It rumbled and rained all day. Pensacola even had a tornado touch down. Before this storm we were 22 inches below our normal rainfall for this time of year. I guess the sprinkler system paid off after all. October is usually our driest month. Most of the festivals and fairs are held this time of year. Fortunately the rain should be gone for the weekend. We got 2-4 inches of rain today.


The Egmont Key pictures and postcards we had made arrived in the mail today. We spent a little time putting some in frames. We have to paint and decorate most of the frames before we put the pictures in them. That’s a job for later.

I’ve had no formal training for writing other than some for technical writing. (You know this since you’ve read my blogs.) When Christy suggested we write a novel I went on line and learned a little about writing. I definitely don’t have the proper training. Just thinking about it gives me more respect for writers. I’m seriously thinking about my plot and story lines. We will see if I’m ready In Nov.

Spicy Snapper Fingers…..

Cheese grits, coleslaw and hushpuppies-


Yup, we went to Harbordocks today . Penny has had a few bad days so I decided to cheer her up by taking her to my favorite restauraunt. (hmm – does that make sense?).


Penny started her day with a long soaky bath. After that I made her banana pecan pancakes. She had a bad time yesterday trying to embroider a couple of dish towels. Today she successfully did 2 of them. Then she said, “Let’s go somewhere.” So we did.

...................................Destin Bridge panorama

We went to Destin Pass with our cameras and took some pictures. Then it was Harbordocks. Finally we went out to the outlet stores in Sandestin so Penny could participate in her favorite form of recreation.


The outlet experience was a little depressing. Last year they closed the Black and Decker outlet store. This year 2 other stores that we go to are biting the dust. The Mikasa outlet and the Little Me store are both closing. Evidently all the Mikasa and Little Me outlet stores are closing. Little Me will be sold in Belk’s and Macy’s.


Yesterday Christy suggested we participate in this years National Novel Writing Month. It involves writing a 50,000 word novel beginning on Nov 1 and finishing by the end of the month. No prizes, no judging, they just want people to write. Karen threw down the blogging gauntlet. Now Christy is suggesting a new commitment.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

I’m not sure I can write that much but it is an interesting challenge (1667 words a day and maybe even a plot). Everyone thinks they have a book inside them. This is a way to force the issue. If I try it I will likely blog less or use my writing as my blog.

Now, what would I write a novel about?

Cracked or Crazed –


I went to our dentist to see if I cracked my tooth in my fall in Texas. The first thing she told me is to get my story straight. She said that chased by wasps is no good. I should tell people I was riding one of those mechanical bulls and-----. That’s better than telling people I had a run in with some liquored-up wasps. She took an x-ray and polished (actually sanded with a tiny sanding wheel) the little ridge on my tooth that the crack caused. It turns out that I may not know if I hurt my tooth for years. It all depends upon how much trauma the tooth actually experienced. Everybody in the dentist’s office had a story of how someone whacked his teeth and it took from 1 to 6 years for the tooth to die. So my tooth may be fine but then again---.


We did some successful shopping today. We went to Tuesday Morning (on Monday morning) in search of a red highlighted Mr. Coffee machine that Christy was searching for. They actually had it. So we picked it up. We also went to Sam’s and somehow spent $200. (outside cat food, cheese, apples, sausage, bread, benefiber, splenda, peanut butter, paper plates… ) Sam’s is a dangerous place.


When we got home we got some really good news. You may remember we had a safe-house inspection done a little while back. We found out what effect it had on our insurance premium. Our premium was decreased by $2641! We would much rather have that $220 a month for us then giving it to the insurance company. It just goes to show that unless you prove otherwise the insurance company will make the worst case assumptions and set rates accordingly. This sure helps the retirement budget out.


I’m back to wearing my splint on my left hand full time again. I left it off most of Sunday and the hand swelled up. I’ll have to recover a little more slowly.

We have absolutely no plans made for tomorrow. I guess it’s time to play catch up with the house.

Slow Week

Friday the 12th –

It’s been a tough week to get anything substantial done. I think some of the reason is I’m still recovering from the fall. I tried to take a walk yesterday but after about a mile my right ankle started hurting so badly I couldn’t walk on it. I must have stressed it in the fall and didn’t realize it. After resting for a few minutes I was able to gradually walk again. I headed home and the pain eased as I walked it off. I didn’t try a walk today because the ankle was still sore.


I did get my stitches out of my lip yesterday. Penny says I look much better. I’m wearing the wrist splint part time now. What do you think?


Kitty Update – Izzy is gone now, too. That leaves 5 cats. We went by the pound (PAWS) yesterday to see if any of our missing cats had shown up there. They had one cat that looked like Izzy but it did not have a cropped left ear. No Izzy, No Seal, No Unsub. I did get to pet Meredith today. She is still not confident that petting is OK. Last night a possum showed up at the feeder. Tonight I have a net rigged up at the feeder to try to catch him. The cats, however, seem to think I put the net there for them to sleep in. The 4 youngsters spent most of the night sleeping on it. I’m not catching any possum like that.


By bedtime I was achy all over. All my joints ached. I thought I was catching something that took 7 days to incubate. Last Friday I was in the emergency room – maybe I caught some bug there.


Saturday the 13th-

Surprisingly I slept well. I felt better and my aches were gone. Penny and I made our usual Saturday morning visit to Waffle House. We are regulars at 3 places in town; Target, Waffle House and Lowes. Today’s visit to Waffle House was interesting. We normally get there at shift change. That’s not smart because service is usually poor. Today the new shift had taken over and we got served immediately. We got our coffee and I noticed it looked a little light in color. We creamed and sugared and took a sip. It was tea! I think the previous shift sabotaged the next one by making tea in the coffe maker. What was funny was that a guy sitting at the counter didn’t realize he was drinking tea until we told him.


I haven’t mentioned here that we just got another camera. A canon camera that has 12X zoom and image stabilization went on sale for better than half its original price. Penny noticed it and scooped it up. Today I found out that sister Kathy just bought the new canon camera that replaced ours. Ours is 6 megapixel, hers is 8. She’s going to have lots of fun with that camera – she’s got the eye for good photos.



One neat feature on the camera is called stitch-assist. With it you can take up to 26 pictures - a panorama or a large mountain – and then the software will stitch the pictures together seamlessly. This picture of Fort Walton Beach Landing is made from 4 separate shots.







Speaking of Kathy, Penny and I spent a good part of the day picking out pictures of Egmont Key to put into picture frames we have and to use as picture post cards. Penny just finished making an order on line for them.

We are finally getting some typical Fall (I don’t like that word) weather here. I succeeded with a nice long walk this afternoon with no problems. My body isn’t achy today either. One good thing is that with all the other hurts on me my back has been relatively trouble free this week. It’s my dad’s solution to pain. Make something else hurt worse and you don’t notice the original.

Don't Mess With Texas

Our drive to Texas was normal. I haven't seen any of the "Drive Friendly" signs that used to be here but there was a cute little rest area full of picnic tables that were covered by roofs that looked like oil derricks. The roads are in bad condition and the drivers are worse.

Our visit with DeDe (Penny's sister) has been relaxing. Our activities have been centered around eating and shopping. Last night Penny provided dinner for DeDe's son John's family. I missed most of it because I was in the emergency room with a split lip that needed mending.

I was getting rid of a big hornet's nest that was built right on DeDe' entry way light. She had a full can of wasp spray that sprays 20 ft so I set out to do the task. Everything was fine…at first….The spray accurately hit the wasps and they dropped like flies, er, wasps. All except a couple who somehow were able to fly and were invading my personal space. Now, I know that a wasp sting or 2 is not the end of the world. I know this logically. Somehow, however when 2 or 3 of the critters are buzzing around your head you don't think straight. That was my first mistake. My second was not scoping out my escape route (which I have always done before). The third was wearing sandals. I remember jumping away from the wasps and turning to run. The next thing I knew I was leaning too far forward looking at the concrete driveway coming up at my face. I just couldn't get my legs up under me to stop the fall. My mind said, "This is not good.". A couple more steps and "crack" (that's what I heard) my head hit left cheek first.I got up and did a quick survey of my mouth with my tongue. All the teeth seemed OK but my lip had a hole in it the size of a dime. Surprisingly it was not bleeding badly. I covered it with my hand and went inside.

I told Penny I busted my lip. She looked at me and said that my eye looked pretty bad too. She quickly got me some ice. The lip needed stitches so off to the emergency room we went. I won't go into detail on that process - let's just say I was there 6 hours, most of it spent waiting for things to get done. The doctor did note as he was stiching me up that there were a lot of good exterminators right there in the phone book. I ended up with the split lip, a beauty of a shiner(it really does shine!), scrapes and cuts on the side of my face, the side of my knee and on my shoulder.

.............................................This is day 1

When I called Debbie to make arrangements for our visit with them tomorrow she asked me if I forgot to put my hands out. No, I didn't. I've got a sprained hand, too and I'm wearing a splint for it.The good news is that I didn't break any bones in my face or hands. My teeth are sore but appear to be OK (I may have a crack in one but I cant be sure). My glasses did absorb some of the impact and got badly bent and one lens is severely scratched. They are usable (I bent things back into place and the scratched area is on the side of the lens and doesn't really impair my vision.) but they will have to be fixed or replaced when I get home. Now when I walk around people take one look and step aside. Actually people avert their eyes from me and then sneak peaks when they think I'm not looking.

............................................day 4

Now the phrase "Take a trip in Texas" has taken on new meaning for me.