Motor Home roof, Barry's drone

 1-6-2025

I went out to start the van last week and the battery was dead from it not being used regularly.  Some of the electronics stay on even when the key is turned off.  I had a Battery Tender that I used on the Smart Car so I added the wiring today so I could start using it again on the van.

I was going to sell this Corsair since I had two but after looking at it I decided to keep it and carry it in the van.  It took a little rearranging but I got it in the van without taking it apart which is a big job.

1-9-2025

I had cleaned the motor home roof so I got the Holy Stone drone out this morning to take some pictures of it.

Tuesday morning Vera got the scaffolding out so I could work on the motor home roof.  She had it half way out before I got my shoes on so I could help.  I cleaned the right side of the motor home roof.  I also cleaned off the roof of the container which meant I had to clean the trailer since most of the debris ended up on it.  Wednesday I did the left side of the motor home roof and we put the scaffolding away.

I also flew over to check on the progress of the new house.  As quick as it is going up I wonder if it is a prefab home.

I had a dental cleaning and X-rays this afternoon.  We left early so I could stop at T-Mobile with a question.  We had time to kill after that so we did some shopping at the Longview Safeway.  I also texted Barry to see if he had flown his drone yet.  My cleaning went great, the dentist checked my teeth afterwards and said everything looks good.

Barry got his drone going this afternoon and sent me this picture he took.

Christmas Lights

 

James came up today and helped me take down the last of the Christmas lights.

Boy does the garland hold a lot of rain water, my gloves were soaked when I got it wound up.

I got a call from Barry asking about why he wasn't getting any video from his drone.  I didn't have a clue but got mine out to see what it did.  Of course the batteries hadn't been charged the last time I used it so I had to charge them.  After charging I discovered it worked best if things were turned on in sequence starting with the drone.  After taking off the first thing I did was take a picture of myself. 

I had left it in the Beginner mode so it would only let me go up to 103 feet where I took this picture.

While I was looking around I notice what looks like a new house going in on the other side of the highway.  I called Barry back this evening and told him what I had done that seemed to work.

Optometry and the 49er

 I had an 8:10 Optometry appointment this morning.  The vision in my right eye had been getting more and more blurry the last few months.  It turned out to be what I thought, a coating had built up on the cataract lens.  I had the left lens cleaned a few years ago and it is still fine.  They do it with a laser and there is no pain.  I now have a referral to Ophthalmology for treatment.

After the appointment we made a stop at Home Depot for some new pressure washer nozzles.  Then we stopped at Safeway for gas as the car was telling us there was only 30 miles to empty.  We had enough points to get a dollar off per gallon.

We hadn't been to the 49er since they reopened after the fire we went there for breakfast.  It has about the same layout as before but some things are a lot newer.  I must have been tired from the work yesterday as I didn't do anything this afternoon except surf the web.

New Years Day

 Instead of flying on New Years Day this year I decided to turn off and take down the Christmas lights.  Vera and I talked about having something special today and Vera suggested the halibut we had gotten with a gift card from Mik, Michelle and James for the Pacific Northwest Best Fish in Ridgefield.

 Vera found a recipe for crispy breading and heated up the oil.  This is the second batch cooking.

This is the second batch after deep frying, it tasted great and there is no picture of the first batch as we had already eaten it.

When I came over to unplug the lights on the house I decided the deck was too slick to do it safely so I got the pressure washer out.  I got the first two decks done before taking a break for the halibut.

After eating and taking a short break I came out and finished the decks on the East side of the house.  Now it seems safe enough that I can take down the rest of the lights on the next nice day.

New Years Eve

 

I flew three of my helicopters this afternoon.  The flight with the FW-450 was a short one, I had installed a new GPS module and it shut it's self down after a couple of minutes because I hadn't calibrated the compass yet.  I did get full flights on the Jet Ranger and the BO-105.  After I was done with them I took the game camera back out in the woods and set it up.  While I was out there I found two fir trees that got blown down during the last windstorm.

When I was done in the woods I decided to bring the new game camera I was testing on the back deck in and it happened to have a picture of James' car in the driveway.  It turns out he was looking for me and I was out in the woods.  He went over and visited Steve and Dianne when he couldn't find me and had a nice visit with them.  He came back and we had a nice time talking with him.

I was looking through the pictures on the new  game camera and came across several of a bus going up the driveway, but none of it coming back!  One of life's little mysteries I guess.

It has been a busy and a good year for us.  We are both pretty healthy and enjoy life.  We are not planning on doing anything this evening except listen to fireworks which I have been hearing all day.

We hope you have a Safe and Happy New Year!

More Gifts

 When Debbie, Josh and the Boys stopped by here on the way to skating the boys had Christmas presents for us that they had picked out.

These are the ones Jordon got for me.  On the tape measure it says "The Man-The Myth-The Legend GRANDPA".  I will have to write him a note on the note pads.

Jacob got me this pyramid.

I can't argue with that statement.

They also got Vera these butterflies for her pot outside, but she likes them so well that she put them into a flower arrangement in the living room.

We have been snacking on this tin of desserts that the boy's grandma Natalie made for us.  I forgot all about putting it in the the post about gifts.  Vera tried out the new vacuum today and said it worked good and has lots of suction.

As I came in the house for dinner I noticed that the fog they forecast was already forming.  It is pretty dense now, looking at the security cameras I can hardly see the neighborhood lights.  Lunch and dinner were great today because Vera made bread.

Ice Skating and the Cowlitz River

 

We had a nice visit with Josh, Debbie and the boys today.  They were on the way to Portland to ice skate.  Right away Jordon got out the car carrying helicopter and filled it with Hot Wheel cars.

The remote control helicopter needs new batteries as it was having trouble flying over the edge of the coffee table.  It has been several years since I changed them and they have gotten lots of use.

I was wondering why the boys had gloves and stocking caps on until Debbie told us they were going skating, then I understood! 

Debbie sent me this picture of them at the skating rink.  She said it is a temporary one they set up in downtown Portland.  She said Jordon loved skating but Jacob was content to be pushed around on the seal sled.

We made a run to the Post office and picked up the mail.  Afterwards we drove down to Lions Pride Park to check the river.  It looks like it is 3 or 4 feet higher than the last time we went by it.